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NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York City's Rockefeller Center. It is now part of the media conglomerate NBC Universal, and supplies programming to more than 200 affiliated U.S. stations. NBC Universal is a unit of General Electric. The last U.S. network holding company to legally abandon the name behind its acronym, in 2003 the corporate name was shrunk from "National Broadcasting Company, Inc.", as it had been from 1926, to NBC Universal, Inc. following a merger with Vivendi Universal's Entertainment division in 2004. (ABC still occasionally uses American Broadcasting Company or Companies for some copyrights and on-air branding.) Control of the network passed to GE in 1986 following the purchase of NBC's original parent, RCA. Since this acquisition, the President and CEO of NBC has been Bob Wright.

History

Bob Wright]

Radio

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) radio network went on the air with twenty-four affiliated stations on November 15, 1926. It was owned by Radio Corporation of America (RCA), itself set up in 1919 to control Guglielmo Marconi's American patents; RCA in turn was owned by General Electric Company (GE), the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, the United Fruit Company and American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T). In a time of consolidation in the radio business, RCA had bought New York station WEAF from AT&T. RCA shareholder Westinghouse had a competing facility in Newark, pioneer station WJZ, which also served as originating station for a loosely-structured network. As NBC took over responsibility for these stations, WEAF and its affiliates became the NBC Red network; the WJZ group was dubbed the NBC Blue network. WEAF had been a laboratory for AT&T's Western Electric, which manufactured transmitters and antennas. AT&T's long-distance and local Bell operating divisions were developing technologies for transmitting voice- and music-grade audio over short and long distances, via both wireless and wired methods. So AT&T's creation of station WEAF in 1922 offered a research-and-development center for these activities. WEAF put together a regular schedule of programs of all types, and created some of the first broadcasts to incorporate commercial endorsements or sponsorships. An immediate success, and created links with other stations to offer coverage of sports or political events. WEAF's first efforts in what would become known first as "chain broadcasting" and later as "networking" tied together Outlet Company's WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island with AT&T's WCAP in Washington, D.C. (named for the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company division of AT&T). RCA also saw an advantage in sharing programming, and after getting a license for station WRC in Washington, D.C. in 1923, attempted to transmit audio between cities via low-quality telegraph lines (since AT&T refused outside companies access to their high-quality phone lines.) The effort was poor at best, with the uninsulated telegraph lines incapable of good audio transmission quality and very susceptible to both atmospheric and man-made electrical interference. In 1925 the management of AT&T decided that WEAF and its network was not compatible with AT&T's goal of providing phone service, and offered to sell the station to RCA, whose business was set manufacturing. When RCA bought WEAF, it gained rights to rent AT&T's phone lines for network transmission. For $1 million, RCA got WEAF and a Washington sister-station, WCAP. It closed WCAP, and created a wholly-owned division called the National Broadcasting Company (it was actually owned 50% by RCA, 30% by General Electric, and 20% by Westinghouse). WEAF and Westinghouse's WJZ and the two networks were operated side-by-side for about a year, but in 1927 NBC formally split the two networks: the NBC Red Network offered entertainment and music programming; the NBC Blue Network carried many of the "sustaining" or non-sponsored programs, especially news and cultural in nature. Legend has it that the color designations originated from the color of the push-pins early engineers used to designate affiliates of WEAF (red pins) and WJZ (blue pins). At various times in the 1930s there were other color designations, with the NBC White, Gold, and Orange networks operating in various configurations in the south, the midwest and on the west coast. The famous three-note NBC chimes came about after several years of trying different musical note combinations. The three note combination (G-E-C; not related at all to RCA's original stockholder General Electric-and as such NBC was basically controlled by GE, since GE held a 30% share combined with RCA's 50%) came from WSB in Atlanta which used it for its own purposes until one day someone at NBC in New York heard the WSB version of the notes during a networked broadcast of a Georgia Tech football game and asked permission to use it on the national network. NBC started to use the three notes in 1931, and it was the first ever audio trademark to be accepted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. An alternate jingle was also used that went E-G-C-C, known as "the fourth chime" and used during wartime (especially in the wake of the Pearl Harbor bombing) and other disasters. The NBC chimes were mechanized in 1932 by Richard H. Ranger of the Rangertone company; their purpose was to send a low level signal of constant amplitude that would be heard by the various switching stations manned by NBC and AT&T engineers, and thus used as a system cue for switching different stations between the Red and Blue network feeds. Because of fears of offending commercial sponsors by cutting their programs off in mid-sentence, the mechanized chimes were always rung by an announcer pushing a button; they were never set to an automatic timer, although heavy discussions on the subject were held between the Engineering and Programming departments throughout the 1930s and 1940s. NBC became the primary tenant in the brand new Rockefeller Center project in 1936. It would serve as the home of radio operations, some RCA corporate operations, and RCA-owned RKO Pictures. From its creation in 1934, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had studied the monopolistic effects of network broadcasting on the industry, and found that NBC's two networks and their owned-and-operated stations dominated audiences, affiliates and advertising dollars in American radio. In 1939 the FCC ordered RCA to divest itself of one of the two networks; RCA fought the divestiture order, but divided NBC into two companies in 1940 in case an appeal was lost. The Blue network became the "NBC Blue Network, Inc." and the NBC Red became "NBC Red Network, Inc." 1940 With the loss of the final appeal before the United States Supreme Court, RCA sold the NBC Blue Network, Inc. for $8 million to Lifesavers magnate Edward J. Noble in 1943. For his money Noble got the network name, leases on land-lines and the New York studios, two-and-a half stations (WJZ in Newark/New York, KGO in San Francisco, and WENR in Chicago which shared a frequency with "Prairie Farmer" station WLS), and about 60 affiliates. Noble renamed the company "The Blue Network, Inc." but wanted something more memorable. In 1944 he acquired rights to the name "American Broadcasting Company" from George Storer and the Blue Network became ABC. "NBC Red" reverted to being simply "NBC" when Blue was sold. In the golden days of network broadcasting, 1930 to 1950, NBC was the pinnacle of American radio. Home to many of the most popular stars and programs, NBC stations were often the most powerful, or occupied clear-channel frequencies so that they were heard nation-wide. Such well-known stars as Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Edgar Bergen and Fred Allen called NBC home, as did Arturo Toscanini's NBC Symphony. As television became more popular in the 1950s, many NBC radio stars gravitated there, and by 1960 the radio network's schedule was much reduced. By the late 1960s, there was little more to NBC Radio than news bulletins and news-related features. Since the 1986 acquisition of RCA, NBC has been GE's most consistently profitable division. In compliance with FCC rules, NBC Radio was sold following the sale to GE, to Westwood One. While the chimes and an hourly newscast still appear on radio at certain times on weekdays, the NBC Radio Network as a programming service ceased to exist in 1989, and became a brand-name on material produced by Westwood One.

Television

For many years NBC was closely identified with David Sarnoff, who used it as a vehicle to sell consumer electronics. It was Sarnoff who ruthlessly stole innovative ideas from competitors, using RCA's muscle to prevail in the courts. RCA and Sarnoff had dictated the broadcasting standards put in place by the FCC in 1938, and stole the spotlight by introducing television to the public at the 1939-40 New York World's Fair. While rivals CBS and DuMont also offered color broadcasting plans, RCA convinced a waffling FCC that its color system should prevail, and in 1953 the FCC agreed; the NBC network was to begin offering color programming within days of the FCC's decision. The first NBC show to air all episodes in color, Bonanza, began in the fall of 1959. By 1963, most of NBC's schedule was in color; without television sets to sell, rival networks followed more slowly, CBS in 1965 and ABC in 1966. In 1983, NBC began its new fall season with nine new series. All nine of them were eventually cancelled before completing a year. This is the only time that a network's entire line of new series has failed to be renewed. It was estimated in 2003 that NBC is viewable by 97.17% of all households, reaching 103,624,370 houses in the United States. NBC has 207 VHF and UHF affiliated stations in the U.S. and U.S. possessions. It is also seen throughout Latin America and the Caribbean via cable and satellite using the WNBC feed.

Evolution of the NBC logo

NBC has used a number of logos throughout its history, early logos were similar to the logo of its then parent company, RCA, but later logos included stylized peacock images.

NBC News

While CBS has received more attention from historians discussing broadcast journalism history, NBC's news operation was equal to it. From 1956 through 1970, the television broadcast team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley consistently exceeded the viewership levels attained by CBS News and its main anchor Walter Cronkite. The pair, together with fellow correspondent Frank McGee, distinguished itself in the coverage of American manned space missions in the Project Mercury, Project Gemini and Project Apollo programs, during an era when space missions rated continuous coverage. (An entire studio, Studio 8H, was configured for this coverage, complete with models and mockups of rockets and spacecraft, maps of the earth and moon to show orbital trackage, and stages on which animated figures created by puppeteer Bil Baird were used to depict movements of astronauts before on-board spacecraft television cameras were feasible. Studio 8H is now the home of the NBC entertainment program Saturday Night Live.) The dominance ended when Huntley retired, to only die from cancer in 1974. The loss of Huntley, along with a reluctance of RCA to fund NBC News at the level CBS was funding CBS News, left NBC News in the doldrums. NBC News did not recover viewership levels until after GE acquired RCA. NBC News got the first interview from two Russian presidents (Putin, Gorbachev) and was the only American eye-witness of the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. In the second Iraq war, NBC News and main anchor Tom Brokaw covered the war like no other television company, in part owing to the willingness of GE to fund it. NBC News correspondent David Bloom pushed through the GE and U.S. Department of Defense bureaucracies permission to construct a mobile news vehicle that could transmit live video broadcasts from the battlefield. The "Bloommobile" brought satellite images and videos (clear, detailed) into homes of America and Europe, live and one-on-one. Bloom did not live to accept the accolades after the armed conflict; he died of natural causes unrelated to combat during the final phase of the fighting. NBC News also benefits from the GE corporate structure by having the ability to take reports from its cable counterpart MSNBC.

External links

- [http://www.nbc.com/ NBC Television official site]
- [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/N/htmlN/nationalbroa/nationalbroa.htm Museum of Broadcast Communications - NBC History]
- [http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/international/us_nbc.html Screen captures of NBC logos past and present, as well as footage of vintage promos]
- [http://www.nbcumv.com/broadcast/ NBC press releases and photos on NBC Universal Media Village]
- Category:Companies based in New York City Category:General Electric subsidiaries NBC television network Category:United States television networks ja:National Broadcasting Company nb:National Broadcasting Company

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded¹ from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world. Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Society

Demographics

Hawaii The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]

Ethnicity and race

:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada. Russia Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South. Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as American Indians and Inuit, make up 0.9% of the population (2000 census). About 35% live on Indian reservations.

Religion

Polls estimate that just under 80 percent of Americans are Christians of various denominations. The other 20 percent comprises other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, other various faiths, and those without a specific religion. The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, about 44% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week. However, this rate is not uniform across the country; attendance is more common in the Bible Belt—composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states—than in the Northeast and West Coast. In the Southern states, Baptists are the largest group, followed by Methodists; Roman Catholics are dominant in the Northeast and in large parts of the Midwest due to their being settled by descendants of Catholic immigrants from Europe (such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) or other parts of North America (mainly Quebec and Puerto Rico). The rest of the country for the most part has a complex mixture of various Christian groups.

Education

West Coast's home at Monticello and the University of Virginia (library building shown above, and designed by Jefferson), the only collegiate campus on the list. Both sites are located in Charlottesville, Virginia.]] In the United States, education is a state, not federal, responsibility, and the laws and standards vary considerably. However, the federal government, through the Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. In most states, all students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten, which children normally enter at age 5, and following through 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18

Television

: Television is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound over a distance. The term has come to refer to all the aspects of television programming and transmission as well. programming ]]

History

The development of television technology can be partitioned along two lines: those developments that depended upon both mechanical and electronic principles, and those which are purely electronic. From the latter descended all modern televisions, but these would not have been possible without discoveries and insights from the mechanical systems. The word television is a hybrid word, created from both Greek and Latin. Tele- is Greek for "far", while -vision is from the Latin visio, meaning "vision" or "sight". It is often abbreviated as TV or the telly.

Electromechanical television

The German student Paul Gottlieb Nipkow proposed and patented the first electromechanical television system in 1885. Nipkow's spinning disk design is credited with being the first television image rasterizer. However, it wasn't until 1907 that developments in amplification tube technology made the design practical. Meanwhile, Constantin Perskyi had coined the word television in a paper read to the International Electricity Congress at the International World Fair in Paris on August 25, 1900. Perskeyi's paper reviewed the existing electromechanical technologies, mentioning the work of Nipkow and others. 1900 In 1911, Boris Rosing and his student Vladimir Kosma Zworykin achieved a television system that used a mechanical mirror-drum scanner to transmit, in Zworykin's words, "very crude images" over wires to the electronic Braun tube (cathode ray tube) in the receiver. Moving images were not possible because, in the scanner, "the sensitivity was not enough and the selenium cell was very laggy." Zworykin later went to work for RCA to build a purely electronic television, the design of which was eventually found to violate patents by Philo Taylor Farnsworth. On March 25, 1925, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gave a demonstration of televised silhouette images at Selfridge's Department Store in London. But if television is defined as the transmission of live, moving, half-tone (grayscale) images, and not silhouette or still images, Baird achieved this privately on October 2, 1925, and gave the world's first public demonstration of a working television system to members of the Royal Institution and a newspaper reporter on January 26, 1926 at his laboratory in London. Unlike later electronic systems with several hundred lines of resolution, Baird's vertically scanned image, using a scanning disc embedded with a double spiral of lenses, had only 30 lines, just enough to reproduce a recognizable human face. In 1928 Baird's company (Baird Television Development Company / Cinema Television) broadcast the first transatlantic television signal, between London and New York, and the first shore to ship transmission. He also demonstrated an electromechanical colour, infrared (dubbed "Noctovision"), and stereoscopic television, using additional lenses, disks and filters. In parallel he developed a video disk recording system dubbed "Phonovision"; a number of the Phonovision[http://www.tvdawn.com/tvimage.htm] recordings, dating back to 1927, still exist. In 1929 he became involved in the first experimental electromechanical television service in Germany. In 1931 he made the first live transmission, of the Epsom Derby. In 1932 he demonstrated ultra-short wave television. Baird's electromechanical system reached a peak of 240 lines of resolution on BBC television broadcasts in 1936, before being discontinued in favor of a 405 line all-electronic system. In the U.S., Charles Francis Jenkins was able to demonstrate on June 13, 1925, the transmission of the silhouette image of a toy windmill in motion from a naval radio station to his laboratory in Washington, using a lensed disc scanner with 48 lines per picture, 16 pictures per second. AT&T's Bell Telephone Laboratories transmitted half-tone images of transparencies in May 1925. But Bell Labs gave the most dramatic demonstration of television yet on April 7, 1927, when it field tested reflected-light television systems using small-scale (2 by 2.5 inches) and large-scale (24 by 30 inches) viewing screens over a wire link from Washington to New York City, and over-the-air broadcast from Whippany, New Jersey. The subjects, which included Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, were illuminated by a flying spot beam and scanned by a 50-aperture disc at 16 pictures per second.

Electronic television

Herbert Hoover Although the discoveries of Nipkow, Rosing, Baird and others were extraordinary, little of their technology is used in modern television. By 1934, all electromechanical television systems were outmoded, although electromechanical broadcasts continued on some stations until 1939. A.A. Campbell-Swinton wrote a letter to Nature on the 18 June 1908 describing his concept of electronic television using the cathode ray tube, which had been invented in 1897 by the German physicist and Nobel prize winner Karl Ferdinand Braun. He proposed using an electron beam in both the camera and the receiver, which could be steered electronically to produce moving pictures. He lectured on the subject in 1911 and displayed circuit diagrams, but no one, including Swinton, knew how to realize the design. Although his system was never built, the cathode ray tube did come to be used to display images in almost all television sets and computer monitors until the invention of the LCD panel. A fully electronic system was first achieved by Philo Taylor Farnsworth on September 7, 1927, although the low-resolution, light-insensitive camera tube limited the image to a plate of glass painted black, with a straight line etched across it, rotated in front of a bright carbon arc lamp. Seven years later, on August 25, 1934, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Farnsworth gave the world's first public demonstration of a working, all-electronic television system, with 220 lines per picture, 30 pictures per second. Over a three week period, vaudeville acts, athletic and sports demonstrations, politicians, and hundreds of ordinary citizens were captured on Farnsworth's cameras in the open air and simultaneously shown on his receiving sets. Farnsworth, a Mormon farm boy from Rigby, Idaho, first envisioned his system at age 14. He discussed the idea with his high school chemistry teacher, who could think of no reason why it would not work (Farnsworth would later credit this teacher, Justin Tolman, as providing key insights into his invention). He continued to pursue the idea at Brigham Young Academy (now Brigham Young University). At age 21, he demonstrated a working system at his own laboratory in San Francisco. His breakthrough freed television from reliance on spinning discs and other mechanical parts. All modern picture tube televisions descend directly from his design. Vladimir Kosma Zworykin is also sometimes cited as the father of electronic television because of his invention of the iconoscope in 1923 and his invention of the kinescope in 1929. His design was one of the first to demonstrate a television system with all the features of modern picture tubes. His previous work with Rosing on electromechanical television gave him key insights into how to produce such a system, but his (and RCA's) claim to being its original inventor was largely invalidated by three facts: a) Zworykin's 1923 patent presented an incomplete design, incapable of working in its given form (it was not until 1933 that Zworykin achieved a working implementation), b) the 1923 patent application was not granted until 1938, and not until it had been seriously revised, and c) courts eventually found that RCA was in violation of the television design patented by Philo Taylor Farnsworth, whose lab Zworykin had visited while working on his designs for RCA. The controversy over whether it was first Farnsworth or Zworykin who invented modern television is still hotly debated today. Some of this debate stems from the fact that while Farnsworth appears to have gotten there first as an inventor, RCA brought television sets to market before Farnsworth, and it was RCA employees who first wrote the history of television. Even though Farnsworth eventually won the legal battle over this issue, he was never able to fully capitalize financially on his invention.

Color television

Most television researchers appreciated the value of color image transmission, with an early patent application in Russia in 1889 for a mechanically-scanned color system showing how early the importance of color was realized. John Logie Baird demonstrated the world's first color transmission on July 3, 1928, using scanning discs at the transmitting and receiving ends with three spirals of apertures, each spiral with filters of a different primary color; and three light sources at the receiving end, with a commutator to alternate their illumination. Color television in the United States had a protracted history due to conflicting technical systems vying for approval by the Federal Communications Commission for commercial use. Mechanically scanned color television was demonstrated by Bell Laboratories in June 1929 using three complete systems of photoelectric cells, amplifiers, glow-tubes, and color filters, with a series of mirrors to superimpose the red, green, and blue images into one full color image. In the electronically scanned era, the first color television demonstration was on February 5, 1940, when RCA privately showed to members of the FCC at the RCA plant in Camden, New Jersey, a television receiver producing images in color by a field sequential color system. CBS began non-broadcast color experiments using film as early as August 28, 1940, and live cameras by November 12. The CBS "field sequential" color system was partly mechanical, with a disc made of red, blue, and green filters spinning inside the television camera at 1,200 rpm, and a similar disc spinning in synchronization in front of the cathode ray tube inside the receiver set. RCA's later "dot sequential" color system had no moving parts, using a series of dichroic mirrors to separate and direct red, green, and blue light from the subject through three separate lenses into three scanning tubes, and electronic switching that allowed the tubes to send their signals in rotation, dot by dot. These signals were sorted by a second switching device in the receiver set and sent to red, green, and blue picture tubes, and combined by a second set of dichroic mirrors into a full color image. The first field test (i.e., broadcast) of color television was by NBC (owned by RCA) on February 20, 1941. CBS began daily color field tests on June 1, 1941. These color systems were not compatible with existing black and white television sets, and as no color television sets were available to the public at this time, viewership of the color field tests was limited to RCA and CBS engineers and the invited press. The War Production Board halted the manufacture of television and radio equipment for civilian use from April 1, 1942 to October 1, 1945, limiting any opportunity to introduce color television to the general public. The post-war development of color television was dominated by three systems competing for approval by the FCC as the U.S. color broadcasting standard: CBS's field sequential system, which was incompatible with existing black and white sets without an adaptor; RCA's dot sequential system, which in 1949 became compatible with existing black and white sets; and CTI's system (also incompatible with existing black and white sets), which used three camera lenses, behind which were color filters that produced red, green, and blue images side by side on a single scanning tube, and a receiver set that used lenses in front of the picture tube (which had sectors treated with different phosphorescent compounds to glow in red, green, or blue) to project these three side by side images into one combined picture on the viewing screen. After a series of hearings beginning in September 1949, the FCC found the RCA and CTI systems fraught with technical problems, inaccurate color reproduction, and expensive equipment, and so formally approved the CBS system as the U.S. color broadcasting standard on October 11 1950. An unsuccessful lawsuit by RCA delayed the world's first network color broadcast until June 25 1951, when a musical variety special titled simply Premiere was shown over a network of five east coast CBS affiliates. Viewership was again extremely limited: the program could not be seen on black and white sets, and Variety estimated that only thirty prototype color receivers were available in the New York area. Regular color broadcasts began that same week with the daytime series The World Is Yours and Modern Homemakers. While the CBS color broadcasting schedule gradually expanded to twelve hours per week (but never into prime time), and the color network expanded to eleven affiliates as far west as Chicago, its commercial success was doomed by the lack of color receivers necessary to watch the programs, the refusal of television manufacturers to create adaptor mechanisms for their existing black and white sets, and the unwillingness of advertisers to sponsor broadcasts seen by almost no one. In desperation, CBS bought a television manufacturer, and on September 20, 1951, production began on the first and only CBS color television model. But it was too little, too late. Only 200 sets had been shipped, and only 100 sold, when CBS pulled the plug on its color television system on October 20, 1951, and bought back all the CBS color sets it could to prevent law suits by disappointed customers. Starting before CBS color even got on the air, the U.S. television industry, represented by the National Television System Committee, worked in 1950-1953 to develop a color system that was compatible with existing black and white sets and would pass FCC quality standards, with RCA developing the hardware elements. When CBS testified before Congress in March 1953 that it had no further plans for its own color system, the path was open for the NTSC to submit its petition for FCC approval in July 1953, which was granted in December. The first publicly announced experimental TV broadcast of a program using the NTSC-RCA "compatible color" system was an episode of NBC's Kukla, Fran and Ollie on August 30, 1953. NBC made the first coast-to-coast color broadcast when it covered the Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1 1954, with public demonstrations given across the United States on prototype color receivers. A few days later Admiral brought out the first commercially made color television set using the RCA standards, followed in March by RCA's own model. Television's first prime time network color series was The Marriage, a situation comedy broadcast live by NBC in the summer of 1954. NBC's anthology series Ford Theatre became the first color filmed series that October. NBC was naturally at the forefront of color programming because its parent company RCA manufactured the most successful line of color sets in the 1950s. CBS and ABC, which were not affiliated with set manufacturers, and were not eager to promote their competitor's product, dragged their feet into color, with ABC delaying its first color series (The Flintstones and The Jetsons) until 1962. The Du Mont network, although it did have a television-manufacturing parent company, was in financial decline by 1954 and was dissolved two years later. Thus the relatively small amount of network color programming, combined with the high cost of color television sets, meant that as late as 1964 only 3.1 percent of television households in the U.S. had a color set. NBC provided the catalyst for rapid color expansion by announcing that its prime time schedule for fall 1965 would be almost entirely in color (the exception being I Dream of Jeannie). All three broadcast networks were airing full color prime time schedules by the 1966–67 broadcast season. But the number of color television sets sold in the U.S. did not exceed black and white sales until 1972, which was also the first year that more than fifty percent of television households in the U.S. had a color set. In Mexico, Guillermo González Camarena (1917–1965), invented the early color television transmission system. He received patents for color television systems in 1940 (U.S. Patent 1942 (2296019), 1960 and 1962. The 1942 patent was for a mechanically scanned color filter adapter for an existing monochrome electronic transmission system. In August 31, 1946 he sent his first color transmission from his lab in the offices of The Mexican League of Radio Experiments in Lucerna St. #1, in Mexico City. The video signal was transmitted at a frequency of 115 MHz. and the audio in the 40 metre band. European color television was developed somewhat later and was hindered by a continuing division on technical standards. Having decided to adopt a higher-definition 625-line system for monochrome transmissions, with a lower frame rate but with a higher overall bandwidth, Europeans could not directly adopt the U.S. color standard, which was widely perceived as wanting anyway, because of its tint control problems. There was also less urgency, since there were fewer commercial motivations, European television broadcasters being predominantly state-owned at the time. As a consequence, although work on various color encoding systems started already in the 1950s, with the first SECAM patent being registered in 1956, many years had passed till the first broadcasts actually started in 1967. Unsatisfied with the performance of NTSC and of initial SECAM implementations, the Germans unveiled PAL (phase alternating line) in 1963, staying closer to NTSC but borrowing some ideas from SECAM. The French continued with SECAM, notably involving Russians in the development. The first regular colour broadcasts in Europe were by BBC2 beginning on July 1, 1967, using PAL. Germans did their first broadcast in September (PAL), while the French in October (SECAM). PAL was eventually adopted by West Germany, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, much of Africa, Asia and South America, and most Western European countries except France. In addition to France and Luxembourg, SECAM was adopted by Soviet Union, much of Eastern Europe, much of Africa and of the Middle East. Both systems broadcast on UHF frequencies, the VHF being used for legacy black and white, 405 lines in UK or 819 lines in France, till the beginning of the eighties. It should be noted that some British television programmes, particularly those made by or for ITC Entertainment, were made in colour before the introduction of colour television to the UK, for the purpose of sales to US networks. The first British show to be made in colour was the drama series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956-57), which was initially made in black and white but later shot in colour for sale to the NBC network in the United States. In Japan, NHK introduced color television in the year 1960.

Broadcast television

NHK The first regularly scheduled television service in the United States began on July 2, 1928. The Federal Radio Commission authorized C.F. Jenkins to broadcast from experimental station W3XK in a suburb of Washington, D.C. But for at least the first eighteen months, only silhouette images from motion picture film were broadcast due to the narrow 10kHz bandwidth allotted by the FRC. General Electric's experimental station in Schenectady, New York, on the air sporadically since January 13, 1928, was able to broadcast reflected-light, 48-line images via shortwave as far as Los Angeles, and by September was making four television broadcasts weekly. CBS's New York City station W2XAB began broadcasting the first regular seven days a week television schedule in the United States on July 21, 1931, with a 60-line electromechanical system. The first broadcast included Mayor Jimmy Walker, the Boswell Sisters, Kate Smith, and George Gershwin. The service ended in February 1933. By 1935, electromechanical television broadcasting had ceased in the United States except for a handful of stations run by public universities that continued to 1939. The Federal Communications Commission saw television in the continual flux of development with no consistent technical standards, hence all such stations in the U.S. were granted only experimental and not commercial licenses, hampering television's economic development. Just as importantly, Philo Farnsworth's 1934 demonstration of an all-electronic system pointed the direction of television's future. On June 15, 1936, Don Lee Broadcasting began a month-long demonstration of all-electronic television in Los Angeles on W6XAO (later KTSL) with a 300-line image from motion picture film. RCA demonstrated in New York City a 343-line electronic television broadcast, with live and film segments, to its licensees on July 7, 1936, and made its first public demonstration to the press on November 6. By April 1939, regularly scheduled 441-line electronic television broadcasts were available in New York City and Los Angeles, and by November on General Electric's station in Schenectady. With the adoption of NTSC television engineering standards in 1941, the FCC saw television ready for commercial licensing, with the first such licenses issued to NBC and CBS owned stations in New York on July 1, 1941, followed by Philco's station in Philadelphia. Electromechanical broadcasts began in Germany in 1929, but were without sound until 1934. Network electronic service started on March 22, 1935, on 180 lines using only telecine transmission of film or an intermediate film system. Live transmissions began on January 15, 1936. The Berlin Summer Olympic Games were televised, using both direct television and intermediate film cameras, to 28 public television rooms in Berlin and Hamburg in August 1936. The Germans had a 441-line system on the air in February 1937, and during World War II brought it to France, where they broadcast off the Eiffel Tower. The first British television broadcast was made by Baird Television's electromechanical system over the BBC radio transmitter in September 1929. Baird provided a limited amount of programming five days a week by 1930. On August 22, 1932, BBC launched its own regular service using Baird's 30-line electromechanical system, continuing until September 11, 1935. On November 2, 1936 the BBC began broadcasting a dual-system service, alternating on a weekly basis between Marconi-EMI's 405-line standard and Baird's improved 240-line standard, from Alexandra Palace in London, making the BBC the world's first regular high-definition television service. The corporation decided that Marconi-EMI's electronic picture gave the superior picture, and the Baird system was dropped in February 1937. The outbreak of the Second World War caused the BBC service to be suspended on September 1, 1939, resuming from Alexandra Palace on June 7, 1946. The Soviet Union began offering 30-line electromechanical test broadcasts in Moscow on October 31, 1931, and a commercially manufactured television set in 1932. The first experimental transmissions of electronic television took place in Moscow on March 9, 1937, using equipment manufactured and installed by RCA. Regular broadcasting began on December 31, 1938. The first regular television transmissions in Canada began in 1952 when the CBC put two stations on the air, one in Montreal, Quebec on September 6, and another in Toronto, Ontario two days later. two days later The first live transcontinental television broadcast took place in San Francisco, California from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference on September 4, 1951. In 1958, the CBC completed the longest television network in the world, from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Victoria, British Columbia. Reportedly, the first continuous live broadcast of a breaking news story in the world was conducted by the CBC during the Springhill Mining Disaster which began on October 23 of that year. Programming is broadcast on television stations (sometimes called channels). At first, terrestrial broadcasting was the only way television could be distributed. Because bandwidth was limited, government regulation was normal. In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission allowed stations to broadcast advertisements, but insisted on public service programming commitments as a requirement for a license. By contrast, the United Kingdom chose a different route, imposing a television licence fee on owners of television reception equipment, to fund the BBC, which had public service as part of its Royal Charter. Development of cable and satellite means of distribution in the 1970s pushed businessmen to target channels towards a certain audience, and enabled the rise of subscription-based television channels, such as HBO and Sky. Practically every country in the world now has developed at least one television channel. Television has grown up all over the world, enabling every country to share aspects of their culture and society with others. By the late 1980s, 98% of all homes in the U.S. had at least one TV set. On average, Americans watch four hours of television per day. An estimated two-thirds of Americans got most of their news about the world from TV, and nearly half got all of their news from TV. These figures are now estimated to be significantly higher.

Technology

Broadcasting

There are many means of distributing television broadcasts, including both analogue and digital versions of:
- Terrestrial television
- Stratovision (From aircraft flying in a loop)
- Satellite television
- Cable television
- MMDS (Wireless cable)

Receiving

Television sets

In television's electromechanical era, commercially made television sets were sold from 1928 to 1934 in the United Kingdom, United States, and Russia. The earliest commercially made sets sold by Baird in the U.K. and the U.S. in 1928 were radios with the addition of a television device consisting of a neon tube behind a mechanically spinning disk (the Nipkow disk) with a spiral of apertures that produced a red postage-stamp size image, enlarged to twice that size by a magnifying glass. The "televisor" was also available without the radio. The Baird televisor sold in 1930-1933 is considered the first mass-produced set, selling about a thousand units. The first commercially made electronic television sets with cathode ray tubes were manufactured by Telefunken in Germany in 1934, followed by other makers in Britain (1936) and America (1938). The cheapest of the pre-War World II factory-made American sets, a 1938 image-only model with a 3-inch (8 cm) screen, cost US$125, the equivalent of US$1,732 in 2005. The cheapest model with a 12-inch (30 cm) screen was $445 ($6,256). An estimated 19,000 electronic television sets were manufactured in Britain, and about 1,600 in Germany, before World War II. About 7,000-8,000 electronic sets were made in the U.S. before the War Production Board halted manufacture in April 1942, which resumed in October 1945. Television usage in the United States skyrocketed after World War II with the lifting of the manufacturing freeze, war-related technological advances, the gradual expansion of the television networks westward, the drop in set prices caused by mass production, increased leisure time, and additional disposable income. While only 0.5% of U.S. households had a television set in 1946, 55.7% had one in 1954, and 90% by 1962. In Britain, there were 15,000 television households in 1947, 1.4 million in 1952, and 15.1 million by 1968. For many years different countries used different technical standards. France initially adopted the German 441-line standard but later upgraded to 819 lines, which gave the highest picture definition of any analogue TV system, approximately four times the resolution of the British 405-line system. Eventually the whole of Europe switched to the 625-line PAL standard, once more following Germany's example. Meanwhile in North America the original NTSC 525-line standard from 1941 was retained. NTSC Television in its original form involves sending images and sound over radio waves in the VHF and UHF bands, which are received by a television set. Over-the-air broadcast television requires an antenna (aerial). This can be an outdoor Yagi antenna. In strong signal areas the antenna can be indoors, attached to or near the receiver, such as an adjustable dipole antenna called "rabbit ears" for the VHF band and a small loop antenna for the UHF band.

Specifications

Modern displays

Starting in the 1990s, modern television sets diverged into three different trends:
- standalone TV sets;
- integrated systems with DVD players and/or VHS VCR capabilities built into the TV set itself (mostly for small size TVs with up to 21" screen, the main idea is to have a complete portable system);
- component systems with separate big-screen video monitor, tuner, audio system which the owner connects the pieces together as a high-end home theater system. This approach appeals to videophiles who prefer components that can be upgraded separately. There are many kinds of video monitors used in modern TV sets. The most common are direct view CRTs for up to 40in (100cm) (in 4:3) and 46in (115cm) (in 16:9) diagonally; most big screen TVs (up to over 100 inch (254 cm)) use projection technology. Three types of projection systems are used in projection TVs: CRT-based, LCD-based, and DLP(reflective micromirror chip)-based. Modern advances have brought flat panels to TV that use active matrix LCD or plasma display technology. Flat panel LCDs and plasma displays are as little as 4in (10cm) thick and can be hung on a wall like a picture or put over a pedestal. They are multifunctional, because they are used like computer monitors too (VGA and DVI or HDMI connections). Some TVs integrate a pair of ports to connect computer cases and peripherals to it or to connect the set to an A/V home network (HAVI) (USB port for cord connection and BlueTooth/WiFi for wireless). Today, some LCD and Plasma sets have SD Card slots, so users can view pictures from a digital camera. On the new Panasonic LCDs and Plasmas (Viera), users have the capability to record onto SD card and then play it back on a hand-held PC or digital camera (anything that allows MPEG4). With SD cards now available with 1G of memory (soon 2GB, and Panasonic is also working on one that contains over 30GB of memory), a user can record over 1,000 minutes at low quality, and around 80 minutes on the highest quality. The playback of the recording is not brilliant, but these are the first generation. They will get better with time.

Signal connections

The number of ways to connect a video device to a television has increased over the years: WiFi
- HDMI - a compact 19 to 29 pin connector that carries digital video and digital audio signals. Essentially an enhanced version of DVI that includes digital audio. This is the most advanced form of connection currently available. DVI
- DVI - a 17 to 29 pin connector that carries digital video signals, designed to carry HDTV but also used in current DVD players and latest digital displays. Copy protection is available using HDCP. HDCP
- Component video - three separate RCA jacks (colored red, green and blue) carry three video signals, one brightness (luminance) and two colors (chromas), and is usually referred to as "Y, B-Y, R-Y", "Y Cr Cb" (interlaced) or "Y Pr Pb" (progressive), or YUV. Audio is not carried on this cable. This connection provides for picture quality superior to S-Video and is typically used in home theater for DVDs, satellite and analogue HDTV; less common in Europe but is starting to become more widely available. Europe
- SCART - a large 21 pin connector that may carry: one video signal composite video; or two video signals S-Video; or for picture quality similar to component video, three signals of separate red, green and blue or RGB; or for best picture quality, four video signals of separate red, green, blue and sync or RGBS; plus right and left line-level audio channels; along with a number of control signals including an aspect-ratio flag (e.g. widescreen). This system has been standard in Europe since mid-1980s for all consumer electronics, which meant that RGBS was available on even the earliest PAL DVD players and satellite receivers. Japan uses a 21 pin RGB connector which is visually similar to SCART but with different pin configurations. Japan
- S-Video - small round connector with two separate video signals, one carrying brightness (luminance), the other carrying color (chroma). Also referred to as Y/C video. Provides most of the benefit of component video, with slightly less color fidelity. Use started in the 1980s for S-VHS, Hi-8, and early NTSC DVD players to relay high quality video before component was available. Audio is not carried on this cable. Hi-8
- Composite video - The most common form of connecting external devices, putting all the video information into one signal. Most televisions provide this option with a yellow RCA jack. Audio is not carried on this cable, though two separate cables with similar red and white RCA jacks for right and left line-level audio are commonly bonded to composite video cables.
- Coaxial RF - All audio channels and picture components are transmitted through one coaxial cable and modulated on a radio frequency. Most TVs manufactured during the past 15–20 years accept coaxial connection, and the video is typically "tuned" on channel 3 or 4. This is the type of cable usually used for cable television. Most modern DVD players and other video devices no longer modulate RF output, so very old TV sets made before composite video jacks became commonplace will need a modulator.

Aspect ratios

Mechanically scanned television as first demonstrated by John Logie Baird in 1926 used a 7:3 vertical aspect ratio, oriented for the head and shoulders of a single person in close-up. Most of the early electronic TV systems from the mid-1930s onward shared the same aspect ratio of 4:3 which was chosen to match the Academy Ratio used in cinema films at the time. This ratio was also square enough to be conveniently viewed on round cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), which were all that could be produced given the manufacturing technology of the time. (Today's CRT technology allows the manufacture of much wider tubes, and the flat screen technologies which are becoming steadily more popular have no aspect ratio limitations at all.) The BBC's television service used a more squarish [http://tcc.members.beeb.net/tchistory.html 5:4] ratio from 1936 to circa 1949, when it too switched to a 4:3 ratio. In the 1950s, movie studios moved towards widescreen aspect ratios such as Cinerama in an effort to distance their product from television. Although this was initially just a gimmick widescreen is still the format of choice today and square aspect ratio movies are rare. Some people argued that widescreen is actually a disadvantage when showing objects that are tall instead of panoramic, others would say that natural vision is more panoramic than tall, and therefore widescreen is easier on the eye. The switch to digital television systems has been used as an opportunity to change the standard television picture format from the old ratio of 4:3 (approximately 1.33:1) to an aspect ratio of 16:9 (approximately 1.78:1). This enables TV to get closer to the aspect ratio of modern widescreen movies, which range from 1.78:1 through 1.85:1 to 2.35:1. There are two methods for transporting widescreen content, the better of which uses what is called anamorphic widescreen format. This format is very similar to the technique used to fit a widescreen movie frame inside a 1.33:1 35mm film frame. The image is squashed horizontally when recorded, then expanded again when played back. The anamorphic widescreen 16:9 format was first introduced via European PAL-Plus television broadcasts and then later on "widescreen" DVDs; the ATSC HDTV system uses straight widescreen format, no image squashing or expanding is used. Recently "widescreen" has spread from television to computing where both desktop and laptop computers are commonly equipped with widescreen displays, and it remains to be seen whether Work or movie enjoyment will take over. There are some complaints about distortions of movie picture ratio due to some DVD playback software not taking account of aspect ratios; but this will subside as the DVD playback software matures. Furthermore, computer and laptop widescreen displays are in the 16:10 aspect ratio both physically in size and in pixel counts, and not in 16:9 of consumer televisions, leading to further complexity. This was a result of widescreen computer display engineers' uninformed assumption that people viewing 16:9 content on their computer would prefer that an area of the screen be reserved for playback controls or subtitles, as opposed to viewing content full-screen.

Aspect ratio incompatibility

The television industry changing aspect ratios is not without teething difficulties, and can present a considerable problem. Displaying a widescreen aspect (rectangular) image on a conventional aspect (square) display can be shown:
- in "letterbox" format, with black horizontal bars at the top and bottom
- with part of the image being cropped, usually the extreme left and right of the image being cut off (or in "pan and scan", parts selected by an operator)
- with the image horizontally compressed A conventional aspect (square) image on a widescreen aspect (rectangular) display can be shown:
- in "pillarbox" format, with black vertical bars to the left and right
- with upper and lower portions of the image cut off
- with the image horizontally distorted A common compromise is to shoot or create material at an aspect ratio of 14:9, and to lose some image at each side for 4:3 presentation, and some image at top and bottom for 16:9 presentation. Horizontal expansion has advantages in situations in which several people are watching the same set, as it compensates for watching at an oblique angle.

Sound

Television add-ons

Today there are many add-ons for the television set. A few add-ons include Video Game Consoles, VCRs, Cable Boxes, Satellite Boxes, DVD players, or Digital Video Recorders, the television add-on market is ever growing.

New developments

- Broadcast flag
- CableCARD™
- Digital Light Processing (DLP)
- Digital Rights Management (DRM)
- Digital television (DTV)
- Digital Video Recorders
- Direct Broadcast Satellite TV (DBS)
- DVD
- Flicker-free (100Hz)
- High Definition TV (HDTV)
- High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI)
- IPTV
- Internet television
- LCD and Plasma display Flat Screen TV
- Pay Per View
- Picture-in-picture (PiP)
- Video on-demand (VOD)
- Ultra High Definition Video (UHDV)
- Web TV

Geographical usage

Content

Advertising

Since their inception in the USA in 1941, TV commercials have become one of the most effective, most pervasive, and most popular methods of selling products of many sorts, especially consumer goods. U.S. advertising rates are determined primarily by Nielsen ratings. The exception to this is the publicly-funded British Broadcasting Corporation.

Programming

Getting TV programming shown to the public can happen in many different ways. After production the next step is to market and deliver the product to whatever markets are open to using it. This typically happens on two levels: #Original Run or First Run - a producer creates a program of one or multiple episodes and shows it on a station or network which has either paid for the production itself or to which a license has been granted by the producers to do the same. #Syndication - this is the terminology rather broadly used to describe secondary programming usages (beyond original run). It includes secondary runs in the country of first issue, but also international usage which may or may not be managed by the originating producer. In many cases other companies, TV stations or individuals are engaged to do the syndication work, in other words to sell the product into the markets they are allowed to sell into by contract from the copyright holders, in most cases the producers. In most countries, the first wave occurs primarily on FTA television, while the second wave happens on subscription TV and in other countries. In the U.S. however, the first wave occurs on the FTA networks and subscription services, and the second wave travels via all means of distribution. First run programming is increasing on subscription services outside the U.S., but few domestically produced programs are syndicated on domestic FTA elsewhere. This practice is increasing however, generally on digital only FTA channels, or with subscriber-only first run material appearing on FTA. Unlike the U.S., repeat FTA screenings of a FTA network program almost only occur only on that network. Also, affiliates rarely buy or produce non-network programming that isn't intensely local.

Social aspects

Alleged dangers

Paralleling television's growing primacy in family life and society, an increasingly vocal chorus of legislators, scientists and parents are raising objections to the uncritical acceptance of the medium. For example, the Swedish government imposed a total ban on advertising to children under twelve in 1991 (see advertising). In the U.S., the [http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_tveffect.shtml National Institute on Media and the Family] (not a government agency) points out that U.S. children watch an average of 25 hours of television per week and features studies showing it interferes with the educational and maturational process. A February 23 2002 article in [http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=0005339B-A694-1CC5-B4A8809EC588EEDF Scientific American] suggested that compulsive television watching was no different from any other addiction, a finding backed up by reports of withdrawal symptoms among families forced by

Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings between 48th and 51st Streets in New York. It is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, straddling both Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. Today's Rockefeller Center is essentially a combination of two building complexes: the older Art Deco office buildings from the 1930s and a set of four International-style towers built along the Avenue of the Americas during the 1960s and 1970s. (The Time & Life Building and the News Corporation/Fox News Channel headquarters are part of the "newer" Rockefeller Center buildings.) Rockefeller Center was named after John D. Rockefeller Jr. who leased the space from Columbia University in 1928 and developed it between 1929 and 1940. Rockefeller initially planned to build an opera house for the Metropolitan Opera Company on the site but changed his mind after the stock market crash of 1929, and withdrawal of the Met from the project. Construction of buildings in the Art Deco style began in 1931. Principal architect for the complex was Raymond Hood, working with a team that included a young Wallace Harrison. The nation's largest indoor theater, Radio City Music Hall, is located in the Rockefeller Center complex. One of the complex's first tenants was the Radio Corporation of America, hence the names "Radio City" and "Radio City Music Hall." The centerpiece of Rockefeller Center is the 71-floor, 872-foot GE Building (30 Rockefeller Plaza, formerly known as the RCA Building), centered behind the sunken plaza. It was renamed in the 1980s after General Electric (GE) re-acquired RCA, which it helped found in 1919. The skyscraper is the headquarters of NBC and houses most of the network's New York studios, including the legendary Studio 8H, home of Saturday Night Live. Unlike most other Art Deco towers built during the 1930s, the GE Building was constructed as a slab with a flat roof, where the Center's observation deck, [http://www.topoftherocknyc.com Top of the Rock], is located. The Rainbow Room restaurant is located on the 65th floor. The entire Rockefeller Center complex was purchased by a Mitsubishi subsidiary in 1989. Ten years later, [http://www.tishmanspeyer.com Tishman Speyer Properties, L.P.], purchased the original Art Deco buildings from Mitsubishi. Among other public art in the complex, Paul Manship's highly recognizable gilded statue of Prometheus recumbent, bringing fire to mankind, features prominently. It stands above a below-level plaza which is used as an ice-skating rink during winter. Sculptor Lee Lawrie contributed a number of friezes and the statue of Atlas. Mexican socialist artist Diego Rivera had been commissioned to create a mural for the center, but Man at the Crossroads was removed soon after completion because it contained a portrait of Lenin. Writer and former New York Times ombudsman Daniel Okrent wrote Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center in 2003.

Gallery

Image:RockefellerCenterRinkTree.JPG|Lower Plaza of Rockefeller Center in December 2004. Image:GEBuilding.jpg|GE Building at Rockefeller Center. Image:07-21-2004 130 (Large).jpg|GE Building at night. Image:Rockefeller_Center_Prometheus.jpg|4th of July (U.S. flags). U.S. flags

External link

- [http://www.wnbc.com/wxcam/1210190/detail.html Rockefeller Center Webcam]
- [http://www.rockefellercenter.com/home.html Rockefeller Center homepage] Category:The Rockefellers Category:New York City skyscrapers Category:Manhattan Category:Art Deco

Conglomerate (company)

A conglomerate is a large company that consists of divisions of often seemingly unrelated businesses. Conglomerates were popular in the 1960s due to a combination of low interest rates and a repeating bear/bull market, which allowed the conglomerates to buy companies in leveraged buyouts, sometimes at temporarily deflated values. Famous examples of the 1960s conglomerators include Ling-Temco-Vought, ITT, Litton Industries, Textron, Teledyne, and Gulf and Western Industries. As long as the target company had profits greater than the interest on the loans, the overall return on investment (ROI) of the conglomerate appeared to grow. For many years this was enough to make the company's stock price rise, as companies were often valued largely on their ROI. The aggressive nature of the conglomerators themselves was enough to make many investors, who saw a "powerful" and seemingly unstoppable force in business, buy their stock. High stock prices allowed them to raise more loans, based on the value of their stock, and thereby buy even more companies. This led to a chain reaction, which allowed them to grow very rapidly. However, all of this growth was somewhat illusory. As soon as interest rates started to rise in order to offset inflation, the profits of the conglomerates fell. Investors also noticed that the companies inside the conglomerate were growing no faster than they had before they were purchased, whereas the excuse for buying a company was often that "synergies" would lead to more efficiency. By the late 1960s they were frowned on by the market, and a major sell off of their shares ensued. In order to keep the companies going, many conglomerates were forced to shed the industries they had purchased recently, and by the mid-1970s most had been reduced to shells. The conglomerate fad was subsequently replaced by newer ideas like focusing on a company's core competency. Most conglomerates have generally proven unsuccessful. One exception is General Electric, whose huge industrial equipment surplus was turned into a successful rental and leasing business. Cash flush during the 1980s, GE also moved into financing and financial services, which today accounts for half of the company's income. In some ways GE is the opposite of the "typical" 1960s conglomerate: the company was not highly leveraged, and when interest rates went up they were able to turn this to their advantage as it was often less expensive to lease from GE than buy new equipment using loans. The best known British conglomerate was Hanson plc. It followed a rather different timescale than the U.S. examples mentioned above, as it was founded in 1964 and ceased to be a conglomerate when it split itself into five separate listed companies between 1995 and 1997. It was quite a successful example of a conglomerate.

Potential Advantages of the Conglomerate Organizational Form

To modern business analysts, the best argument for conglomerate organizational form is that it may allow capital to be allocated in a more efficient way. For example, a hypothetical conglomerate consists of a candy store and an internet website. Suppose the candy store has high cash flow, but very few profitable investment opportunities. The startup has low cash flow, but lots of good investment projects. By combining the businesses together, the cash from the candy store can be used to make profitable investments that would otherwise not be made in the web site. The main question associated with this strategy is why this improves upon a market-based allocation of captial. That is, if the entities were standalone, then presumably the investors in the candy store could receive dividends, and then reinvest those dividends in the startup. If this market-based mechanism works well, then all profitable internet startup investments can be made without having the two entities be under common ownership. Research suggests that financial markets may not always operate efficiently due to the presence of asymmetric information. If this problem is severe, then the common ownership of the assets might yield a more efficient allocation of capital. See, for example, Chapter 5 ("Diversification") of the textbook "Economics of Strategy" by David Besanko, David Dranove, Mark Shanley and Scott Schaefer.

Media conglomerates

In her 1999 book No Logo, Naomi Klein provides several examples of mergers and acquisitions between media companies designed to create conglomerates for the purposes of creating synergies between them:
- Time Warner (now merged with AOL) have a series of tenuously linked business including internet access, internet content provision and music, film and traditional publishing. Their diverse portfolio of assets allow cross-promotion and economies of scale.
- Clear Channel Communications, a quoted company, which owns a variety of TV and radio stations, together with a large number of concert venues, across the US and a diverse portfolio of assets in the UK and other countries around the world. The concentration of bargaining power in this one entity allows it to gain better deals for all of its business units. For example, the promise of playlisting (allegedly, sometimes, coupled with the threat of blacklisting) on its radio stations is often used to secure better deals from artists performing in events organised by the entertainment division. These policies have been attacked as unfair and even monopolistic, but are a clear advantage of the conglomerate strategy.

General Electric

The General Electric Company, or GE () is a multinational technology and services company. Going into 2005, it was the world's largest corporation in terms of market capitalization ([http://screen.yahoo.com/b?mc=100000000/&b=1&z=mc&db=stocks&vw=1]). It should not be confused with The General Electric Company plc, which was renamed Marconi plc in 1999. In the 1960s, peculiarities in U.S. tax laws and accounting practices made it fashionable to assemble conglomerates. GE, which was a conglomerate long before the term was coined, is one of the very few corporations to achieve great success with this kind of organization.

History

In 1876, Thomas Alva Edison opened a new laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Out of the laboratory was to come perhaps the most famous invention of all—a successful development of the incandescent electric lamp. By 1890, Edison had organized his various businesses into the Edison General Electric Company. In 1879, Elihu Thomson and E. J. Houston formed the rival Thomson-Houston Company. It merged with various companies and was later led by Charles A. Coffin, a former shoe manufacturer from Lynn, Massachusetts. Mergers with competitors and the patent rights owned by each company put them into dominant positions in the electrical industry. As businesses expanded, it became increasingly difficult for either company to produce complete electrical installations relying solely on their own technology. In 1892, these two major companies combined, in a merger arranged by financier J. P. Morgan, to form the General Electric Company, with its headquarters in Schenectady, New York. In 1896, General Electric was one of the original 12 companies listed on the newly-formed Dow Jones Industrial Average. GE is the only one that remains today. The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was founded by GE and American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) in 1919 to further international radio. General Electric was one of the eight major computer companies (with IBM - the largest, Burroughs, Scientific Data Systems, Control Data Corporation, Honeywell, RCA and UNIVAC) through most of the 1960s. GE had an extensive line of general purpose and special purpose computers. Among them were the GE 200, GE 400, and GE 600 series general purpose computers, the GE 4010, GE 4020, and GE 4060 real time process control computers, and the Datanet 30 message switching computer. A Datanet 600 computer was designed, but never sold. It has been said that GE got into the computer manufacturing business because in the 1950's they were the largest user of computers outside of the United States federal government. In 1970 GE sold its computer division to Honeywell. In 1986, GE re-acquired RCA, primarily for the NBC television network. The rest was sold to various companies, including Bertelsmann and Thomson. In 2004, GE bought the television and movie assets of Vivendi Universal and became the third largest media conglomerate in the world. The new company was named NBC Universal. Also in 2004, GE completed the spinoff of most of its life and mortgage insurance assets into an independent company, Genworth Financial, based in Richmond, Virginia. In that same year, GE also acquired the credit card unit of the department store Dillard's for $1.25 billion. In 2005, General Electric bought the financial assets of the Canadian airplane manufacturer Bombardier for $1.4 billion [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aeIc.zt1tBbc]

Today

GE is an enormous multinational industrial company headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut. The company describes itself as composed of a number of primary business units or "businesses." Each "business" is itself a vast enterprise, any of which would, even as a standalone company, rank in the Fortune 500. The list of GE businesses varies over time as the result of acquisitions, divestitures and reorganizations.

GE subsidiaries

:Main article: List of assets owned by General Electric
- Access Distribution
- GE Advanced Materials
- GE Capital IT Solutions
- GE Capital Rail Services
- GECAS
- GE Commercial Finance
- GE Consumer & Industrial
- GE Consumer Finance
- GE Energy
- GE Engine Services, Inc.
- GE Equipment Services
- GE Fanuc Automation North America, Inc.
- GE Financial Assurance Holdings, Inc.
- GE Franchise Finance Corporation
- GE Global Research
- GE Healthcare
- GE Infrastructure
- GE Insurance
- GE Money
- GE Osmonics
- GE SeaCo SRL
- GE Security
- GE Small Business Finance Corporation
- GE Supply
- GE Transportation
- General Electric Mortgage Insurance Corporation
- Global Nuclear Fuel - Japan Co., Ltd.
- HPSC, Inc.
- Instrumentarium Corporation
- MRA Systems, Inc.
- NBC Universal, Inc.
- Transport International Pool Inc.
- WMC Mortgage Corp. Through these businesses, GE participates in a wide variety of markets including the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, lighting, industrial automation, medical imaging equipment, motors, railway locomotives, aircraft jet engine, aviation services and materials such as plastics, silicones and abrasives. It was co-founder and is 80% owner (with Vivendi Universal) of NBC Universal, the National Broadcasting Company. Through GE Commercial Finance, GE Consumer Finance, GE Equipment Services, and GE Insurance it offers a range of financial services as well. It has a presence in over 100 countries. Interestingly, over half of GE's revenue is derived from financial services, ostensibly making it a financial company with a manufacturing arm. It is also one of the largest lenders in countries other than the United States, such as Japan. Even though the first wave of conglomerates (such as ITT, Ling-Temco-Vought, Tenneco, etc) fell by the wayside by the mid-1980s, in the late 1990s, another wave (consisting of Westinghouse, Tyco, and others) tried and failed to emulate GE's success.

Jack Welch

The CEO from 1981-2001 was Jack Welch, who many regard as one of the premier business managers of his era. Nicknamed "Neutron Jack", he presided over a 28-fold increase in earnings (on a 5-fold increase in revenue) with his policy (referred to by detractors as "rank and yank") of sacking the worst performing 10% of his staff every year. In running GE's many diverse businesses he maintained a policy of only keeping those businesses which were #1 or #2 within their respective industries. In 1987, GE was the United States' second largest nuclear power company and third largest producer of nuclear weapons systems. Jack Welch introduced the use of the six sigma quality system, originally developed at Motorola, within GE.

Corporate information

The company's market capitalization ([http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GE]) is almost $100 billion higher than that of Microsoft ([http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=msft]). In 2004, GE was named number one company for employers and employees on the Forbes 500 Global Player list. Jeffrey Immelt is succeeded Jack Welch as CEO of General Electric and holds that office today. Current members of the board of directors of General Electric are: James Cash, Jr., William Castell, Dennis Dammerman, Ann Fudge, Claudio Gonzalez, Jeffrey Immelt, Andrea Jung, A.G. Lafley, Robert Lane, Ralph Larsen, Rochelle Lazarus, Sam Nunn, Roger Penske, Robert Swieringa, Douglas Warner, and Bob Wright.

Analyst coverage

See [http://finance.yahoo.com/q/sa?s=GE Yahoo! analyst converage]
- Germanotta, Jeffrey (William Blair & Company, L.L.C.)
- Cornell, Robert (Lehman Brothers)
- Parent, Nicole (Credit Suisse First Boston)
- Dray, Deane (Goldman Sachs)

Financials

[http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000040545&owner=exclude SEC filings including 10-k]

External links

- [http://www.ge.com/ General Electric's website]

Data

- [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/10/10634.html Yahoo! - General Electric Company Company Profile] Category:Conglomerate companies Category:Companies based in Connecticut Category:Fortune 500 companies Category:Companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange ja:ゼネラル・エレクトリック

Vivendi Universal

Vivendi Universal (VU) is a French company active in media and communications with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications and the Internet. The company disclosed a corporate loss of 23.3 billion euros in its 2002 annual report: the worst loss to this date for a French company. Amid intense media scrutinty, its flamboyant Chairman and CEO, Jean-Marie Messier (who had overseen the most dramatic phase of the company's diversification), was subsequently replaced by Jean-René Fourtou.

History

Vivendi Universal was created in December of 2000 with the massive merger of the Vivendi media empire with Canal+ television networks and the Canadian company Seagram, the owner of Universal Studios film company. What had once been Vivendi's core business (water and waste services and other utilities) had previously been spun off as a separate company, now known as Veolia Environnement. See the individual companies' articles for pre-merger company history.

2001

- In 2001, VU acquired MP3.com and a leading American publisher, Houghton Mifflin.

2002

- In 2002, VU began facing financial trouble. It began financial reshuffling, trying to shore up media holdings while selling off shares in its spin-off companies.
- VU reduced its stake in Vivendi Environnement to 40% and sold its stake in Vinci Construction.
- The flamboyant company's Chairman and CEO, Jean-Marie Messier (who had overseen the most dramatic phase of Vivendi's diversification) resigned. He was replaced by Jean-Rene Fourtou. The company then began reorganizing to stave off bankruptcy. The company announced its strategy to sell non-strategic assets. Its largest single shareholder was the family of Edgar Bronfman, Jr., who was head of Seagram at the time of the merger.
- VU sold its stake in Vizzavi to Vodafone, with the exception of Vizzavi France. It also sold 20.4% of Vivendi Environnement's capital to a group of investors, and its stake in North American satellite operator EchoStar Communications Corporation.

2003

- VU sold Canal+ Technologies to Thomson (formerly Thomson Multimédia); Tele+ to News Corporation and Telecom Italia. It also sold its 26.3% interest in Xfera.
- On March 6, 2003, Vivendi disclosed its annual report (term ended at December 31,2002), that is downloadable in pdf format on its site. Some highlights include:
- Corporate loss of 23.3 billion euros: the worst loss for a French company.
- Net debt of 12.3 billion euros
- Vivendi will sell assets for 7 billons euros in 2003
- On December 1, 2003, Vivendi closed a deal to sell MP3.com to CNET.

2004

- The Vivendi Universal Entertainment branch merged with NBC to form NBC Universal.
- VU also sold its interests in Kencell, Monaco Telecom and Sportfive (which it held through Canal+ Group).
- VU sold Newsworld International to the business partnership of Joel Hyatt and former Vice-President of the United States Al Gore
- VU and Valve Software (makers of Half-Life) went head to head over the distribution of Half-Life 2 to cyber cafés, they later came to an agreement stating:
- The authority of distributing cyber café licenses are to be handed over to Valve from VUG (and Sierra), and licenses granted by VUG and Sierra to cyber cafés prior to the agreement are revoked.
- VUG would cease distributing all retail packaged versions of Valve games by August 31, 2005.

2005

- VU shuts down the fanmade King's Quest [http://www.kqix.com/ IX] project, a few months before the final release date.
- Petition is started to save the shut down King's Quest [http://www.kqix.com/ IX] project is started. [http://www.savekqix.org/ Save Kings Quest IX]
- VUG (Vivendi Universal Games) on the 9th December 2005, reaches agreement with [http://www.kqix.com/info/phoenix/ Phoenix Freeware] (developers of the [http://www.kqix.com/ King's Quest IX] project) to continue development. Press release: "After extensive evaluation, Vivendi Universal Games is pleased to announce that the fan developed trilogy project 'The Silver Lining' (previously known as King's Quest IX: Every Cloak Has A Silver Lining), based on characters from Sierra Entertainment's 'Kings Quest' series, has been given approval to continue development. We look forward to seeing the first of its three upcoming chapters, 'Shadows', completed soon." - VIVENDI UNIVERSAL GAMES
- King's Quest [http://www.kqix.com/ IX] is set 3 months behind shedule but back in development now. The developers hope to release the first game in the trilogy Q2 of 2006 or earlier. No official date has been set.

Current assets (partial list)

- Canal+ Group - 100%
- Universal Music Group - 92%
- Vivendi Universal Games - 99% (which includes Blizzard Entertainment)
- NBC Universal - 20% long-term ownership interest
- SFR - 56%
- Maroc Telecom - 51%
- Sierra Entertainment
- Seagram

External links

- [http://www.vivendiuniversal.com/ VivendiUniversal.com - Official site]
- [http://www.ketupa.net/vivendi.htm Ketupa - Vivendi and Universal] extensive profile Category:Companies of France Category:Media companies Category:Vivendi Universal ja:ヴィヴェンディ・ユニバーサル

1986

1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January

Gregorian calendar
- January 1 - Spain and Portugal enter the European Community
- January 1 - Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands and is separated from the Netherlands Antilles.
- January 9 - After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak leaves the instant camera business.
- January 12 - Space shuttle Columbia is launched with the first Hispanic-American astronaut, Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz.
- January 20 - The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel.
- January 20 - The first federal Martin Luther King Day, honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
- January 24 - Voyager 2 space probe makes first encounter with Uranus
- January 28 - Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates 73 seconds after launch, killing its crew of six astronauts and a schoolteacher.
- January 29 - Yoweri Kaguta Museveni became President of the Republic of Uganda after leading a successful five-year liberation struggle.

February

- February 7 - 28 years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.
- February 9 - Mohinder Amarnath becomes the first batsman dismissed for handling the ball in one-day international cricket.
- February 9 - Comet Halley reaches its perihelion, the closest point to the Earth, during its second visit to the solar system in the 20th century.
- February 11 - Human Rights activist Anatoly Shcharansky is released by the USSR and leaves the country.
- February 16 - The Soviet liner Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand
- February 19 - The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station
- February 19 - After waiting 37 years, the United States Senate approves a treaty outlawing genocide
- February 25 - EDSA Revolution: President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines goes into exile to USA after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the first Filipino woman president, first as in interim president.
- February 25 - Egyptian military police, protesting bad salaries, enter four luxury hotels near the pyramids, set fire to them and loot them
- February 27 - The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis
- February 28 - Swedish prime minister Olof Palme is shot dead on his way home from the cinema.

March

- March 8 - Japanese spacecraft Suisei flies by Halley's Comet, studying its UV hydrogen corona and solar wind.
- March 9 - United States Navy divers find the largely intact but heavily-damaged crew compartment of the Space Shuttle Challenger. The bodies of all seven astronauts were still inside.
- March 27 - A car bomb explodes at Russell Street Police HQ in Melbourne, killing 1 police officer.
- March 31 - A fire devastates Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, England.

April

England
- April 2 - A bomb explodes on a TWA flight from Rome to Athens - 4 dead
- April 5 - In the terroristic La Belle discotheque bombing the West-Berlin discotheque, a known hangout for U.S. soldiers, was bombed, killing 3 and injuring 230 people. Libya is held responsible.
- April 13 -- Pope John Paul II officially visits the Synagogue of Rome — the first time a modern Pope had visited a synagogue.
- April 14 - 2.2 lb (1 kg) hailstones fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92.
- April 15 - At least 100 people died after USA planes bombed targets in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the Benghazi region as part of Operation El Dorado Canyon
- April 17 - British journalist John McCarthy kidnapped in Beirut (released in August 1991) - three others are found dead, Revolutionary Cells claims responsibility in retaliation for the US bombing of Libya.
- April 17 - Treaty signed, ending Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly.
- April 26 - In Ukraine, one of the reactors at the Chornobyl (Chernobyl) nuclear plant explodes creating the world's worst nuclear disaster. 31 are killed directly by the incident, many thousands more were exposed to significant amounts of radioactive material, vast territories in Ukraine and Belarus rendered uninhabitable.
- April 27 - "Captain Midnight" interrupts HBO satellite feed

May-July

- May 2 - The 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada opens.
- May 7 - Steaua Bucharest wins the European Champions Cup in Sevilla
- May 25 - Hands Across America
- May 26 - The European Community adopts the European flag.
- June 4 - Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.
- June 8 - Former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim is elected president of Austria.
- June 9 - The Rogers Commission releases its report on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
- June 17 - The The Legend of Zelda is release for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
- June 29 - Argentina defeat West Germany 3-2 to win the Football World Cup 1986
- June 22 - Pirate radio Euro Weekend begins to broadcast
- July 5 - The Statue of Liberty is reopened to the public after an extensive refurbishing
- July 23 - In London, Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.
- July 30 - Estate agent Suzy Lamplugh vanishes after a meeting in London

August-September

- August 6 - A low pressure system moving from South Australia and redeveloping off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimetres of rain in a day on Sydney.
- August 18 - Australian Democrats leader Don Chipp retires from federal parliment and is succeded by Janine Haines, becoming the first woman to lead a political party in Australia
- August 19 - Picasso painting Weeping Woman is found in a locker at the Spencer Street Station in Melbourne, Australia. It had been stolen from the Victoria National Gallery two weeks earlier
- August 20 - In Edmond, Oklahoma, United States Postal Service employee Patrick Sherrill guns down 14 of his co-workers before committing suicide.
- August 21 - The Lake Nyos tragedy occurs, killing nearly 2000 people.
- August 31 - The Soviet passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov collides with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev in the Black Sea and sinks almost immediately, killing 398.
- August 31 - An Aeroméxico Douglas DC-9 collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 on both aircraft and 15 on the ground.
- August 31 - Cargo ship Khian Sea departs from the docks of Philadephia, Pennsylvania, carrying 14,000 tons of toxic waste. It will wander the seas for the next 16 months trying to find a place to dump its cargo
- September 5 - Pan Am Flight 73 with 358 people on board is hijacked at Karachi International Airport.
- September 6 - In Istanbul, two Arab terrorists from Abu Nidal's terror organization kill 22 and wound six inside the Neve Shalom synagogue during Sabbath services.
- September 7 - Desmond Tutu becomes the first black to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa.

October

- October 1 - President Ronald Reagan signs the Goldwater-Nichols Act into law, making official the largest reorganization of the United States Department of Defense since the Air Force was made a separate branch of service in 1947.
- October 9 - United States District Court Judge Harry E. Claiborne becomes the fifth federal official to be removed from office through impeachment.
- October 10 - An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale strikes San Salvador, El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people.
- October 11 - Cold War: Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, in an effort to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe (the talks break down in failure).
- October 26 - Bus deregulation in the United Kingdom, except Greater London and Northern Ireland.
- October 27 - The New York Mets win the Major League Baseball World Series, beating the Boston Red Sox in seven games.
- October 28 - The centennial of the Statue of Liberty's dedication is celebrated in New York Harbor.
- October 28 - Jeremy Bamber is found guilty of the murder of his parents, sister and twin nephews and is given five life sentences.

November

- November 1 - Queensland, Australia: Joh Bjelke-Petersen wins his final election as Premier of Queensland with 38.6% of the vote. He resigns on December 1 1987 following revelations of his involvement corruption released in the Fitzgerald Inquiry.
- November 3 - Iran-Contra Affair: The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been selling weapons to Iran in secret in order to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.
- November 9 - Romania: Ellection of Patriarch Teoctist Arǎpaşu/Theoctist
- November 11 - Sperry Rand and Burroughs merge to form Unisys, becoming the second largest computer company
- November 12 - Australian singer John Farnham releases the album "Whispering Jack", which becomes the highest selling album in Australia's history.
- November 21 - Iran-Contra Affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
- November 25 - Iran-Contra Affair: US Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
- November 26 - Iran-Contra Affair: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces that as of Monday, December 1 former Senator John Tower, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft will serve as members of the Special Review Board looking into the scandal (they became known as the Tower Commission). Reagan denies involvement in the scandal.

December

- December 14 - Voyager, an experimental aircraft designed by Burt Rutan and piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, begins its flight around the world.
- December 19 - Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov is permitted to return to Moscow after years of internal exile
- December 23 - Voyager completes the first nonstop circumnavigation of the earth by air without refueling in 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds
- December 31 - A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.

Unknown dates

- Rajendra Sethia flees from England to India owing £170 million
- Atomic force microscope invented
- The National park passport stamps program begins.

Births

- January 24 - Mischa Barton, English-born American actress
- January 24 - Ricky Ullman, Israeli-born actor
- February 19 - Maria Mena, Norwegian singer
- February 21 - Charlotte Church, Welsh soprano
- February 25 - Justin Berfield, American actor
- March 9 - Brittany Snow, American actress
- March 14 - Jamie Bell, English actor
- April 3 - Amanda Bynes, American actress and variety show host
- June 3 - Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis player
- June 11 - Shia LaBeouf, American actor
- June 13 - Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, American actresses and entrepreneurs
- June 25 - Aya Matsuura, Japanese singer
- July 2 - Lindsay Lohan, American actress and singer
- September 12 - Emmy Rossum, American actress and singer
- September 16 - Hasib Hussain, English suicide bomber (d. 2005)
- October 9 - Laure Manaudou, French swimmer
- November 3 - Jasmine Trias, American singer
- November 5 - BoA, Korean singer
- November 15 - Sania Mirza, Indian tennis player

Deaths

January-March

- January 1 - Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)
- January 8 - Pierre Fournier, French cellist (b. 1906)
- January 10 - Jaroslav Seifert, Czech writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
- January 14 - Donna Reed, American actress (b. 1921)
- January 24 - L. Ron Hubbard, American writer and founder of Scientology (b. 1911)
- January 24 - Gordon MacRae, American actor, singer (b. 1921)
- January 24 - Vincente Minnelli, American director (b. 1903)
- January 27 - Lilli Palmer, actress (b. 1914)
- January 28 - Crew of Space Shuttle Challenger:
- Greg Jarvis (b. 1944)
- Christa McAuliffe (b. 1948)
- Ronald McNair (b. 1950)
- Ellison Onizuka (b. 1946)
- Judith Resnik (b. 1949)
- Francis R. Scobee (b. 1939)
- Michael J. Smith (b. 1945)
- February 1 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, diplomat, and writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1902)
- February 11 - Frank Herbert, American author (b. 1920)
- February 27 - Jacques Plante, Canadian hockey player (b. 1929)
- February 28 - Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1927)
- March 4 - Richard Manuel, American musician (The Band) (b. 1943)
- March 6 - Georgia O'Keeffe, American artist (b. 1887)
- March 10 - Ray Milland, Welsh actor (b. 1907)
- March 30 - James Cagney, American actor (b. 1899)

April-June

- April 3 - Peter Pears, English tenor (b. 1910)
- April 7 - Leonid Kantorovich, Russian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
- April 14 - Simone de Beauvoir, French feminist writer (b. 1908)
- April 15 - Jean Genet, French writer (b. 1910)
- April 23 - Otto Preminger, Austrian-born film director (b. 1906)
- April 26 - Broderick Crawford, American actor (b. 1911)
- April 26 - Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (b. 1899)
- May 3 - Robert Alda, American-born actor (b. 1914)
- May 4 - Henri Toivonen, Finnish rally car driver (b. 1956)
- May 9 - Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese sherpa (b. 1914)
- May 12 - Elisabeth Bergner, Austrian actress (b. 1897)
- May 15 - Elio de Angelis, Italian race car driver (b. 1958)
- May 15 - Theodore H. White, American writer (b. 1915)
- May 23 - Sterling Hayden, American actor (b. 1916)
- May 25 - Chester Bowles, American politician (b. 1901)
- May 31 - James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- June 13 - Benny Goodman, American jazz musician (b. 1909)
- June 14 - Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer (b. 1899)
- June 16 - Maurice Duruflé, French composer (b. 1902)
- June 17 - Kate Smith, American singer (b. 1907))

July-December

- July 4 - Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (b. 1899)
- July 6 - Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician (b. 1908)
- July 8 - Hyman Rickover, American admiral (b. 1900)
- July 8 - Skeeter Webb, baseball player (b. 1909)
- July 14 - Raymond Loewy, French-born industrial designer (b. 1893)
- July 15 - Billy Haughton, American harness driver and trainer (b. 1923)
- July 24 - Fritz Albert Lipmann, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
- August 2 - Roy Cohn, American lawyer and anti-Communist (b. 1927)
- August 20 - Milton Acorn, Canadian poet, writer, and playwright (b. 1923)
- August 31 - Urho Kekkonen, President of Finland (b. 1900)
- August 31 - Henry Moore, British sculptor (b. 1898)
- September 4 - Hank Greenberg, baseball player (b. 1911)
- September 25 - Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov, Russian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
- September 27 - Cliff Burton, American bassist (Metallica) (b. 1962)
- October 5 - James H. Wilkinson, English mathematician (b. 1919)
- October 16 - Arthur Grumiaux, Belgian violinist (b. 1921)
- October 22 - Albert Szent-Györgyi, Hungarian physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
- October 23 - Edward Adelbert Doisy, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1893)
- October 25 - Forrest Tucker, American actor (b. 1919)
- October 26 - Jackson Scholz, American runner (b. 1897)
- October 28 - Ian Marter, British actor and writer (b. 1944)
- October 31 - Robert S. Mulliken, American physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1896)
- November 6 - Elisabeth Grümmer, Alsatian soprano (b. 1911)
- November 8 - Artur London, Czech statesman (b. 1915)
- November 8 - Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet politician (b. 1890)
- November 21 - Dar Robinson, American film stuntman (b. 1947)
- November 22 - Scatman Crothers, American actor, musician (b. 1910)
- November 29 - Cary Grant, British actor (b. 1904)
- December 8 - Ben Dover, American actor (b. 1940)
- December 28 - Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian film director (b. 1932)
- December 29 - Harold Macmillan, British statesman (b. 1894)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Ernst Ruska, Gerd Binnig, Heinrich Rohrer
- Chemistry - Dudley R Herschbach, Yuan T Lee, John C Polanyi
- Physiology or Medicine - Stanley Cohen, Rita Levi-Montalcini
- Literature - Wole Soyinka
- Peace - Elie Wiesel
- Economics - James Buchanan Jr

Fields Medalists

- Simon Donaldson, Gerd Faltings, Michael Freedman

Templeton Prize

- Rev. Dr. James McCord

Right Livelihood Award

- Robert Jungk, Rosalie Bertell / Alice Stewart, Ladakh Ecological Development Group and Evaristo Nugkuag / AIDESEP

Fiction

Events in the Video Games Shenmue and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City take place. Category:1986 als:1986 ko:1986년 ms:1986 ja:1986年 simple:1986 th:พ.ศ. 2529

President

President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership (from Latin prae- "before" + sedere "to sit"). Originally, the term usually referred to the presiding officer of a ceremony or meeting (i.e. chairman); but today it most commonly refers to an official with executive powers. Among other things, President is today a common title for the head of state of a republic, whether popularly elected, chosen by the legislature or a special electoral college. It is also often adopted by dictators. The bulk of this article is dedicated to this usage by heads of state. For more on other kinds of presidents, see Non-Governmental Presidents, below. For more on the usage of term "president", see President (history of the term). President (history of the term) (1789-1797)]]

History

Though there had been several republican countries in the past, it was the United States of America which popularized the position of President when the post was created as the new republic's Head of State (and Head of Government) in 1789. As South America became independent from Spanish rule, so too did these new republics adopt the title of "President" for their leaders, creating constitutions purposely similar to that of the US. The first European president was the President of France, a post created in the Second Republic of 1848. (The First Republic had harkened back to the ancient Roman Republic by appointing several consuls at its head.) The first Asian president was Emilio Aguinaldo the President of the 1st Republic of the Philippines (1898) though the first Asian President recognized internationally was the President of the Republic of China (1912), and the first African President was the President of Liberia created in 1848. Today, the majority of countries have a President as their Head of State.

Presidents in democratic countries and international organizations

Presidential systems

In states with what is called a Presidential system of government, the President is also the head of government, as well as the head of state. Countries with such a system include the United States and most nations in Latin America. In this system the office of President is very powerful, both in practice and theory. In the United States, the President is indirectly elected by the U.S. Electoral College made up of electors chosen by voters in the presidential election. In most U.S. states, each elector is committed to voting for a specified candidate determined by the popular vote in each state, so that the people, in voting for each elector, is in effect voting for the candidate. However, in several close U.S. elections (notably 1876, 1888, 2000), while one candidate received the most popular votes, another candidate managed to win more electoral votes in the Electoral College and so won the presidency.

Parliamentary systems

2000 (1950-1962)]] Other states have what is called a Parliamentary system of government, in which the President is only head of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of government. Countries with such systems include Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy and Singapore, as well as Portugal (which has a very similar system but slightly different from the aforementioned). Under such a system, executive authority is often vested in the president, with the Government governing in his or her name, producing phrases such as "His/Her Excellency's Government" in some formal state documentation. However a president may also possess some reserve powers or powers which can be exercised by the President without formal advice (ie, binding instruction) from 'His' or 'Her' Governnment. Usually in parliamentary systems, the president's role is primarily ceremonial. However, due to the combination of constitutionally established "reserve powers," protocol (which may require them to formally chair cabinet meetings and/or have access to all cabinet memoranda), and his or her role as the person in whose name executive authority is vested, often gives the president a degree of informal influence not often publicly realised. An example of this influence is the following: between 1870 and 1940, and again from 1945 to 1958, France operated a classic parliamentary system of government, with power in a cabinet chosen by the National Assembly, and a largely though not totally symbolic president; in 1877, President Mac-Mahon showed that his office was constitutionally significant when he dismissed the then prime minister before calling new elections, in the hope of achieving a royalist majority to restore the monarchy (the plan failed).

"President of Government" in parliamentary systems

Mac-Mahon (1982-1996)]] Some countries with parliamentary systems use the term 'president' in connection with the head of parliamentary government, often as President of the Government, President of the Council of Ministers or President of the Executive Council. However, such an official is explicitly not the president of the country. Rather, he or she is called a president in an older sense of the word to denote the fact that he or she heads the cabinet. A separate head of state generally exists in their country that instead serves as the president or monarch of the country. Thus, such leaders are really premiers, and to avoid confusion are often described simply as 'prime minister' when being mentioned internationally. There are several examples for this kind of presidency:
- Under the French Third and the Fourth Republics, the "President of the Council" (of ministers) was the head of government, with the President of the Republic a largely symbolic figurehead.
- The prime minister of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1937 was titled President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State. At the same time, the Irish Free State was a kingdom with a reigning monarch, the King of Ireland, as well as a resident Governor-General carrying out many head of state functions.
- The Prime Minister of Spain is officially referred to as the President of the Government of Spain, and informally known as the "President". Spain is also a kingdom with a reigning King of Spain.
- The official title of the Prime Minister of Serbia is President of the Government, while the country has a President of Serbia.

Semi-presidential systems

President of Serbia (1958-1969), wearing the Legion of Honour as grand-master of the order.]] A third system is the semi-presidential system, also known as the French system, in which like the Parliamentary system there is both a President and a Prime Minister, but unlike the Parliamentary system the President may have significant day-to-day power. When his party controls the majority of seats in the National Assembly the president can operate closely with the parliament and prime minister, and work towards a common agenda. When the National Assembly is controlled by opponents of the President however, the president can find himself marginalized with the opposition party prime minister exercising most of the power. Though the prime minister remains an appointee of the president, the president must obey the rules of parliament, and select a leader from the house's majority holding party. Thus, sometimes the president and PM can be allies, sometimes bitter rivals. This situation is known as cohabitation. The French semi-presidential system, which can be considered a hybrid between the first two, was developed at the beginning of the Fifth Republic by Charles de Gaulle. It is used (of course) in France, Russia, Sri Lanka , and several other post-colonial countries which have emulated the French model.

Collective Presidency

Only a tiny minority of modern republics do not have a head of state; examples include:
- Switzerland, where the headship of state is collectively vested in the seven-member Swiss Federal Council despite the fact the system includes a President of the Confederation. The President is a member of the Federal Council elected by the Swiss Federal Assembly (the Swiss Parliament) for a year; and the President is merely primus inter pares (first among equals). Nevertheless, on the international stage he or she is treated as head of state. Letters of Credence appointing ambassadors are formally addressed to him or her by other heads of state.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has a three-member Presidency, each of which are elected by a different constituent nation. The position of the President of the Presidency rotates between the three members.
- San Marino, which has two Captains Regent elected by the Great and General Council.
- The European Union is governed in part by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, a rotating post held by the member states of the European Union. In the past this has been one individual state presiding for a six-month period; as of 2007 it will be three states sharing the presidency during their overlapping 18-month terms. There is also a President of the European Commission.

Presidents in dictatorships

In dictatorships, the title is frequently taken by self-appointed and/or military-backed leaders. Such is the case in many African states; Idi Amin in Uganda, for example. Sometimes the title is even extended into the more presumptuous form of "president for life." In some communist states, the head of the Communist party was also given the presidency, such as Fidel Castro in Cuba and Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union. On other occasions in the Soviet Union, the real power was exercised by the General Secretary of the Communist Party, with some local notable holding the presidency. Soviet Union of Yugoslavia.]] President for Life is a title assumed by some dictators to ensure that their authority or legitimacy is never questioned. The first well-known incident of a leader extending his term indefinitely was Roman dictator Julius Caesar, who made himself "Perpetual Dictator" (commonly mistranslated as 'Dictator-for-life') in 45 BC. His actions would later be mimicked by the French leader Napoleon Bonaparte who was appointed "First Consul for life" in 1802. Ironically, most leaders who proclaim themselves President for Life do not in fact successfully serve a life term. Even so presidents like Alexandre Sabès dit Pétion, Rafael Carrera, Josip Broz Tito and François Duvalier died in office. The only living officially proclaimed president for life is Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan. Many of them do not proclaim it officially "for life" even if it is evident that they are, like Fidel Castro of Cuba, or Ceausescu of Romania, who ruled until his execution (q.v. Romanian revolution Several presidents have ruled until their death in democratic countries, but they have not actually been made and/or proclaimed themselves as President for Life. For instance, Archbishop President Makarios became president of Cyprus late in his life (in 1960) and ruled until his death in 1977, having successfully won re-election several times.

Presidential symbols

As the country's head of state, in most countries the president is entitled to certain symbolic honors, as well as luxury perks that come with the office. For example, most of the world's presidents have a special residence; often a lavish mansion or palace. The President of the United States for example resides in the famous White House. As well as an official residence, in some nations the Presidency brings with it certain symbols of office, such as an official uniform, decorations, or other accessories. Perhaps the most common presidential symbol are the presidential sashes worn by the presidents of Latin America. In these countries, the sash is a symbol of the presidency's continuity, and presenting the sash to the new president is a key part of the inauguration ceremony.

Presidential chronologies

- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Argentina
- Austria
- Bangladesh
- Benin
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Costa Rica
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France

- Gabon
- Gambia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Kenya
- Korea, North
- Korea, South
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Lithuania
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Yemen

- Pakistan
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Somalia
- Somaliland
- South Africa
- South Yemen
- Sri Lanka
- Switzerland
- Tajikistan
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turkey
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe

- European Commission
- Leaders of post-Soviet independent states

Specific information

- President of Argentina
- President of Austria
- President of the Republic of China
- President of the People's Republic of China
- President of Fiji
- President of France
- President of Germany
- President of India
- President of Ireland
- President of Israel
- President of Malta
- President of Mexico
- President of Pakistan
- President of the Philippines
- President of the Republic of Poland
- President of Serbia
- President of Serbia and Montenegro
- President of Switzerland
- President of Trinidad and Tobago
- President of the United States

Additional reading

The powers, functions and functioning of presidents were reviewed by six international experts for Australia's Republic Advisory Committee in 1993. Reports by among others Professor Klaus Von Beyme (on Germany), A.G Noorani (on India), Jim Duffy (on Ireland) and Sir Ellis Clarke (on Trinidad and Tobago) outline the role of various presidencies. The full report is called An Australian Republic: The Options - The Appendices (ISBN 0644325895)

Non-governmental presidents

President is also used as a title in some non-governmental organizations. The head of a university or non-profit corporation, particularly in the United States of America, is often known as president. President is also a title in many corporations. In some cases the president acts as chief operating officer under the direction of the chief executive officer. In British constitutional practice, the chairman of an Executive Council, acting in such a capacity, is known as a President of the Executive Council. Usually this person is the Governor but is not always so. In university systems with multiple independent campuses, the relationship between the roles of president and chancellor can become quite complicated. See chancellor. Many other organizations, clubs, and committees, both political and non-political are led by Presidents as well. Examples can vary from the President of a political party, to the president of a chamber of commerce, to the President of a students' union and even the president of a high school chess club. In French legal terminology, the president of a court consisting of multiple judges is the foremost judge; he chairs the meeting of the court and directs the debates (and this thus addressed as "Mr President", Monsieur le Président, or appropriate feminine forms). In general, a court comprises several chambers, each with its own president; thus the most senior of these is called the "first president" (as in: "the First President of the Court of Cassation is the most senior judge in France").

Robert Charles Wright

Robert Charles Wright ('Bob') (born 1943) is a U.S. television businessman. He graduated from Chaminade High School, the College of the Holy Cross and obtained also a LLB from University of Virginia Law School. He served as president, CEO, and chairman of NBC from 1986 to the present (2005). In addition, Bob Wright served as Vice Chairman of General Electric (the owner of NBC) from 1990's to the present (2005). Earlier he was President of GE Financial Services and before that President of Cox Cable.

Reference

[http://www.ge.com/annual01/directors/bios/wright.html Bio from GE Annual Report] Wright, Robert Charles Wright, Robert Charles Wright, Robert Charles

Radio network

A radio network is a network system which distributes radio programming to multiple radio stations. Most radio networks also produce much of their programming. Originally, radio networks owned some or all of the radio stations that broadcast the network's programming. Presently however, there are many networks that do not own any stations and only produce and/or distribute programing. Similarly station ownership does not always indicate network affiliation. A company might own stations in several different markets and purchase programing from a variety of networks. Radio networks rose rapidly with the growth of regular broadcasting of radio to home listeners in the 1920s. The growth took various paths in different places. In Britain the BBC was developed with government funding and a broadcasting monopoly in its early decades. In contrast in the United States of America various competing commercial networks arose funded by advertising revenue. Early on programs were sent to affiliate stations by various methods, including over telephone lines, on pre-recorded gramophone records, and somewhat later via relay stations. Later on coaxial cable linking stations became the norm. Many early radio networks evolved into Television networks.

Radio Networks in various nations

Japan

- NHK Radio 1
- NHK Radio 2
- JRN
- NRN
- NHK FM
- JFN
- JFL
- Meganet
- Radio Nikkei

New Zealand

Almost all radio stations in New Zealand are part of a radio network and most are network-owned.
- The Edge FM
- More FM
- ZM
- Flava
- Classic Hits
- Solid Gold
- Radio Hauraki
- Easy Listening i
- The Breeze
- The Rock
- Radio Live
- Radio Pacific
- Newstalk ZB
- Coast
- Radio Sport
- Tourist Information FM
- National Radio (public broadcaster)
- Life FM
- Radio Rhema
- Southern Star
- Concert FM (public broadcaster)

Philippines

- ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation
- Aliw Broadcasting Corporation
- Bombo Radyo Philippines
- Eagle Broadcasting Corporation
- Far East Broadcasting Company
- FBS Radio Network, Inc.
- Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation
- Manila Broadcasting Company
- Nation Broadcasting Corporation
- Philippine Broadcasting Service, Inc.
- Radio Mindanao Network, Inc.
- Radio Philippines Network, Inc.
- Rajah Broadcasting Network, Inc.
- RGMA Network, Inc.
- Southern Broadcasting Network, Inc.
- United Broadcasting Network, Inc.

United Kingdom

- British Broadcasting Corporation:
- BBC Radio 1
- BBC Radio 2
- BBC Radio 3
- BBC Radio 4
- BBC Radio Five Live
- BBC World Service
- Classic FM
- talkSPORT
- Virgin Radio

United States of America

See List of United States radio networks.
-

November 15

November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining.

Events

- 655 - Battle of Winwaed: Penda of Mercia defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria.
- 1515 - Thomas Cardinal Wolsey invested as a Cardinal
- 1533 - Francisco Pizarro arrives in Cuzco, Peru.
- 1777 - American Revolutionary War: After 16 months of debate the Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation.
- 1791 - The first U.S Catholic college, Georgetown University, opens its doors.
- 1806 - Pike expedition: Lieutenant Zebulon Pike sees a distant mountain peak while near the Colorado foothills of the Rocky Mountains (it was later named Pikes Peak).
- 1854 - In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is given the needed royal concession by Said.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman burns Atlanta, Georgia and starts Sherman's March to the Sea.
- 1889 - Brazil is declared a republic by Marechal Deodoro da Fonseca and Emperor Pedro II is deposed in a military coup.
- 1920 - First assembly of the League of Nations is held in Geneva.
- 1926 - The NBC radio network opens with 24 stations.
- 1939 - In Washington, DC, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial.
- 1941 - SS chief Heinrich Himmler orders the arrest and deportation to concentration camps of all homosexuals in Germany, with the exception of certain top Nazi officials.
- 1942 - World War II: Battle of Guadalcanal ends.
- 1943 - German SS leader Heinrich Himmler orders that Gypsies were to be put "on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps." (see Porajmos)
- 1948 - Louis Stephen St. Laurent succeeds William Lyon Mackenzie King as Prime Minister of Canada. King had the longest combined time (3 terms, 22 years in total) as Premier in Commonwealth of Nations history.
- 1956 - The first film starring Elvis Presley, Love Me Tender, opens.
- 1959 - Four members of the Herbert Clutter Family murdered at their farm outside Holcomb, Kansas.
- 1960 - The Polaris missile is test launched.
- 1961 - Roger Maris is voted the American League MVP (baseball)
- 1966 - Gemini program: Gemini 12 splashes down safely in the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1967 - The only fatality of the X-15 program occurs during the 191st flight when Air Force test pilot Michael J. Adams loses control of his aircraft, and is destroyed mid-air over the Mojave Desert.
- 1969 - Cold War: The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea.
- 1969 - Vietnam War: In Washington, DC, 250,000-500,000 protesters staged a peaceful demonstration against the war.
- 1970 the Soviet Lunokhod 1 moon rover lands on the moon
- 1971 - Intel releases world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004.
- 1976 - René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois take power to become the first Quebec government of the 20th century clearly in favour of independence.
- 1978 - A chartered DC-8 crashes near Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing 183.
- 1979 - A package from the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski begins smoking in the cargo hold of a flight from Chicago to Washington, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
- 1983 - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is founded.
- 1985 - A research assistant is injured as a package from the Unabomber addressed to a University of Michigan professor explodes.
- 1985 - The Anglo-Irish Agreement is signed at Hillsborough Castle by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald.
- 1987 - Continental Airlines Flight 1713, a Douglas DC-9-14 jetliner, crashes in a snowstorm at Denver, Colorado Stapleton International Airport, killing 28 occupants, while 54 survive the crash.
- 1988 - In the Soviet Union, the unmanned Shuttle Buran is launched on her first and last space flight.
- 1988 - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council.
- 1989 - Sachin Tendulkar makes his Test cricket debut playing for India against Pakistan.
- 1990 - Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis launches with flight STS-38.
- 1990 - Producers acknowledge that Milli Vanilli, who won the 1990 "Best New Artist" Grammy Award, did not sing themselves on their album.
- 1996 - UN [[Resolution 1080]] authorises Canada to lead the [[multi national force in Zaire.
- 2000 - A chartered Antonov AN-24 crashes after takeoff from Luanda, Angola killing more than 40 people
- 2001 - The Microsoft Xbox video game console launches in North America, along with the game Halo: Combat Evolved.
- 2002 - Hu Jintao becomes general secretary of the Communist Party of China.
- 2003 - The first day of the 2003 Istanbul Bombings takes place, to be followed by additional bombings on November 20.
- 2004 - Destiny's Child releases their final album: Destiny Fulfilled.
- 2004 - New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey leaves office, three months after resigning due to a gay extra-marital affair. State Senator Richard Codey takes over as interim governor.

Births

- 1316 - King John I of France (d. 1316)
- 1397 - Pope Nicholas V (d. 1455)
- 1498 - Eleonore of Austria, Queen of Portugal and France (d. 1558)
- 1511 - Johannes Secundus, Dutch poet (d. 1536)
- 1556 - Jacques-Davy Duperron, French cardinal (d. 1618)
- 1559 - Archduke Albert of Austria, Governor of the Low Countries (d. 1621)
- 1607 - Madeleine de Scudéry, French writer (d. 1701)
- 1660 - Hermann von der Hardt, German historian (d. 1746)
- 1661 - Christoph von Graffenried, Swiss settler in Americas (d. 1743)
- 1692 - Eusebius Amort, German Catholic theologian (d. 1775)
- 1708 - William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, English politician (d. 1778)
- 1731 - William Cowper, English poet (d. 1800)
- 1738 - William Herschel, German-born astronomer (d. 1822)
- 1741 - Johann Kaspar Lavater, German philosopher (d. 1801)
- 1784 - Jerome Bonaparte, French King of Westphalia (d. 1860)
- 1859 - Christopher Hornsrud, Prime Minister of Norway (d.1960)
- 1862 - Gerhart Hauptmann, German dramatist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1946)
- 1874 - August Krogh, Danish zoophysiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1949)
- 1879 - Lewis Stone, American actor (d. 1953)
- 1881 - Franklin Pierce Adams, American newspaper columnist (d. 1960)
- 1882 - Felix Frankfurter, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1965)
- 1886 - René Guénon, French-Egyptian author (d. 1951)
- 1887 - Marianne Moore, American poet (d. 1972)
- 1887 - Georgia O'Keeffe, American painter (d. 1986)
- 1889 - King Manuel II of Portugal (d. 1932)
- 1890 - Richmal Crompton, British author (d. 1969)
- 1891 - Averell Harriman, American businessman and politician (d. 1986)
- 1891 - Erwin Rommel, German field marshal (d. 1944)
- 1895 - Antoni Słonimski, Polish writer (d. 1976)
- 1897 - Aneurin Bevan, British politician (d. 1960)
- 1897 - Sacheverell Sitwell, English writer (d. 1988)
- 1899 - Iskander Mirza, first President of Pakistan (d. 1969)
- 1903 - Stewie Dempster, New Zealand cricketer (d. 1974)
- 1905 - Mantovani, Italian-born composer, musician, and arranger (d. 1980)
- 1906 - Curtis LeMay, U.S. Air Force general (d. 1990)
- 1907 - Claus von Stauffenberg, German army colonel who plotted to assassinate Hitler (d. 1944)
- 1913 - Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist and resistance fighter (d. 2005)
- 1919 - Judge Joseph Wapner
- 1925 - Howard Baker, U.S. Senator from Tennessee and White House Chief of Staff
- 1925 - Yuli Daniel, Russian writer (d. 1988)
- 1929 - Ed Asner, American actor
- 1930 - J. G. Ballard, British author
- 1931 - Pascal Lissouba, Republic of the Congo politician
- 1931 - Mwai Kibaki Kenya's third president
- 1932 - Petula Clark, English singer
- 1932 - Clyde McPhatter, American singer (d. 1972)
- 1936 - Wolf Biermann, German writer
- 1937 - Little Willie John, American singer (d. 1968)
- 1937 - Yaphet Kotto, American actor
- 1940 - Sam Waterston, American actor
- 1942 - Daniel Barenboim, Argentine-born pianist and conductor
- 1945 - Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Norwegian singer (ABBA)
- 1947 - Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico
- 1951 - Beverly D'Angelo, American actress
- 1952 - Randy Savage, American professional wrestler
- 1954 - Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of Poland
- 1956 - Michael Hampton, American guitarist (Funkadelic)
- 1957 - Kevin Eubanks, American jazz guitarist
- 1963 - Benny Elias, Australian rugby player
- 1965 - Nigel Bond, English snooker player
- 1968 - Ol' Dirty Bastard, American rapper (d. 2004)
- 1969 - Shane Mack, American politician
- 1970 - Patrick Mboma, Cameroonian footballer
- 1979 - Josemi, Spanish footballer
- 1986 - Sania Mirza, Indian tennis player
- 1988 - Zena Grey, American actress

Deaths

- 655 - Penda, King of Mercia
- 1028 - Constantine VIII Byzantine Emperor (b. 960)
- 1136 - Margrave Leopold III of Austria (b. 1073)
- 1280 - Albertus Magnus, German theologian
- 1463 - Giovanni Antonio del Balzo Orsini, Prince of Taranto and Constable of Naples
- 1579 - Ferenc Dávid, Hungarian religious reformer (b. 1510)
- 1628 - Roque Gonzales, Paraguayan missonary (b. 1576)
- 1630 - Johannes Kepler, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1571)
- 1670 - Comenius, Czech writer (b. 1592)
- 1691 - Aelbert Cuyp, Dutch painter (b. 1620)
- 1706 - Tsangyang Gyatso, 6th Dalai Lama (b. 1683)
- 1712 - James Douglas, 4th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish nationalist (b. 1658)
- 1712 - Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun, English politician (b. 1675)
- 1787 - Christoph Willibald Gluck, German composer (b. 1714)
- 1794 - John Witherspoon, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1723)
- 1795 - Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo, French painter (b. 1719)
- 1853 - Queen Maria II of Portugal (b. 1819)
- 1908 - Empress Dowager Cixi, Chinese ruler (b. 1835)
- 1910 - Wilhelm Raabe, German writer (b. 1831)
- 1916 - Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1846)
- 1917 - Émile Durkheim, French sociologist (b. 1858)
- 1919 - Alfred Werner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1866)
- 1954 - Lionel Barrymore, American actor (b. 1878)
- 1958 - Tyrone Power, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1959 - Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
- 1961 - Elsie Ferguson, American actress (b.1883)
- 1963 - Fritz Reiner, Hungarian conductor (b. 1988)
- 1965 - Dawn Powell, American poet (b. 1896)
- 1967 - Michael J. Adams, American test pilot (b. 1930)
- 1969 - Iskander Mirza, first President of Pakistan (b. 1899)
- 1971 - Rudolf Abel, Soviet spy (b. 1903)
- 1971 - Edie Sedgwick, American actress and model (b. 1943)
- 1978 - Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (b. 1901)
- 1983 - John Le Mesurier, British actor (b. 1912)
- 1990 - Alydar, American racehorse (b. 1975)
- 1996 - Alger Hiss, American government official and spy (b. 1904)
- 1998 - Stokely Carmichael, American civil rights activist (b. 1941)
- 2002 - Eddie Bracken, American actor (b. 1915)
- 2002 - Myra Hindley, English murderer (b. 1942)
- 2003 - Ray Lewis, Canadian athlete (b. 1910)
- 2003 - Dorothy Loudon, American actress (b. 1933)
- 2003 - Laurence Tisch, American businessman (b. 1923)
- 2004 - Elmer L. Andersen, Governor of Minnesota (b. 1909)
- 2004 - John Morgan, Canadian comedian (b. 1930)
- 2005 - Dr. Adrian Rogers, American Southern Baptist Minister and leader (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

- Roman festivals - Festival in honor of Feronia (others say 13 November)
- R.C. Saints - Albert the Great
- Eastern Orthodoxy - Feast of Saint Philip the Apostle and the beginning of Winter Lent; also see November 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Austria - Saint Leopold's day -- no school in Vienna, Lower Austria and Upper Austria
- Brazil - Republic Proclamation Day (1889)
- Palestine - Independence Day (declared 1988) ----
- Norway - The official skolebrød-day on Sunnland skole
- USA - America Recycles Day [http://www.americarecyclesday.org/]

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/15 BBC: On This Day] ---- November 14 - November 16 - October 15 - December 15 -- listing of all days ko:11월 15일 ms:15 November ja:11月15日 simple:November 15 th:15 พฤศจิกายน

1926

1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January-April

- January 1 - Ireland's first regular radio service, 2RN (later Radio Éireann), begins broadcasting.
- January 1, Turkey switches to the Gregorian calendar after reforms set by Kamal Ataturk
- January 8 - Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz
- January 12 - Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll premiere their radio program Sam 'n' Henry, in which the two white performers portrayed two black characters from Harlem looking for extra money during the Depression. It was a precursor to Gosden and Correll's more popular later program, Amos 'n' Andy.
- January 16 – BBC radio play about worker's revolution causes a panic in London
- January 26 - John Logie Baird demonstrates a mechanical television system.
- January 31 - British and Belgian troops leave Cologne
- February 9 - Flooding on London suburbs
- February 12 - Irish minister for Justice, Kevin O'Higgins, appoints the Committee on Evil Literature
- March 6 - The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon is destroyed by fire
- March 16 - Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts
- April 7 - Failed assassination attempt against Mussolini
- April 12 - By a vote of 45 to 41, the United States Senate unseats Iowa Senator Smith W. Brookhart and seats Daniel F. Steck, after Brookhart had already served for over one year.
- April 16 - Train crash in San Jose, Costa Rica - 178 dead
- April 21 - Princess Elizabeth born in London
- April 25 - Reza Khan is crowned Shah of Iran under the name "Pahlevi."

May-July

- May 1 - Coal miner's strike begins in Britain
- May 3 - General strike begins in support of the coal strike
- May 9 - Martial law in Britain because of the general strike
- May 9 - French navy bombards Damascus because of Druze riots
- May 9 - Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of his diary seems to indicate that this did not happen).
- May 10 - Talks between government and strikers begins in UK
- May 12 - March 15 - Military coup by Jozef Pilsudski succeeds in Poland
- May 12 - UK general strike called off
- May 12 - Roald Amundsen flies over north pole
- May 12 - UK General Strike 1926: In the United Kingdom, a general strike by trade unions ends (the strike began on May 3).
- May 18 - Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears while visiting a Venice, California beach.
- May 26 - Rifkabyl rebels surrender in Morocco
- May 28 - 1926 coup d'état commanded by Manuel Gomes da Costa in Portugal that installed the Ditadura Nacional (National Dictatorship) that would be followed be António de Oliveira Salazar's Estado Novo.
- June 4 - Ignacy Moscicki becomes president of Poland
- June 29 - Arthur Meighen returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.
- July 1 - Kuomingtang begins a campaign in the northern China for unification
- July 9 - New military coup in Portugal, now by general Antonio Carmona
- July 12 - Lightning strike destroys an ammunition depot in Dover, New Jersey
- July 15 - BEST buses make its début in Mumbai.
- July 23 - Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film.

August-October

- August 1 - Failed assassination attempt against Miguel Primo de Rivera in Barcelona
- August 6 - Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel from France to England
- August 6 - In New York, the Warner Brothers' Vitaphone system premieres with the movie Don Juan starring John Barrymore.
- August 18 - British miner's union begins negotiations with the government
- August 18 - A weather map is televised for the first time, sent from NAA Arlington to the Weather Bureau Office in Washington, D.C.
- August 22 - In Greece, Georgios Konfylis ousts Theodoros Pangalos
- August 25 - Pavlos Kountouriotis announces that dictatorship is finished in Greece and becomes a president
- September 11 - Spain leaves the League of Nations
- September 11 - Aloha Tower is officially dedicated at Honolulu Harbor in the Territory of Hawai'i
- September 18 - Great Miami Hurricane: A strong hurricane devastates Miami, Florida, leaving over 100 dead and caused several hundred million dollars in damage; equal to nearly $100 billion dollars today.
- September 20 - Twelve cars full of gangsters open fire at the Hawthorne Inn, headquarters of Al Capone in Chicago. Only one of Capone's men is wounded
- September 25 - William Lyon Mackenzie King returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.
- October 2 - Jozef Pilsudski becomes prime minister of Poland
- October 12 - British miners agree to end their strike
- October 20 - Hurricane kills 650 in Cuba
- October 23 - Decree in Italy bans women from holding public office
- October 31 - Magician Harry Houdini dies of gangrene and peritonitis that developed after his appendix ruptured.

November-December

- November 10 - In San Francisco, California, a necrophiliac serial killer named Earle Nelson (dubbed "Gorilla Man") kills and then rapes his 9th victim, a boardinghouse landlady named Mrs. William Edmonds.
- November 10 - Michinomiya Hirohito is crowned the 124th Emperor of Japan
- November 15 - The NBC radio network opens with 24 stations (it was formed by Westinghouse, General Electric and RCA).
- November 24 - The village of Rocquebillier in French Riviera is almost destroyed in a massive hail
- November 25 - Death penalty re-established in Italy
- November 27 - Vesuvius erupts
- November 27 - In Williamsburg, Virginia, the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg begins.
- December 2 - British prime minister Stanley Baldwin ends the martial law that had been declared due to general strike
- December 3 - Agatha Christie disappears from her home in Surrey; on December 14 she is found in Harrogate hotel
- December 18 - Turkey converted to Gregorian calendar making 'tomorrow' January 1 1927
- December 25 - In Japanese History, end of the Taishō period and beginning of the Shōwa era and the period of Japanese expansionism

Unknown dates

- League of Nations Slavery Convention abolishes all types of slavery.
- Afghanistan declares monarchy.
- Lebanon becomes a republic.
- Eamon de Valera organizes Fianna Fáil.
- The short-lived Western Australian Secession League is founded.
- International African Institute is founded.
- Raymond Pearl publishes landmark book, Alcohol and Longevity.

Births

January

- January 3 - George Martin, English producer of The Beatles
- January 8 - Evelyn Lear, American soprano
- January 8 - Hanae Mori, Japanese fashion designer
- January 8 - Soupy Sales, American comedian
- January 11 - Lev Demin, cosmonaut (d. 1998)
- January 12 - Ray Price, American singer
- January 14 - Maria Schell, Austrian actress (d. 2005)
- January 14 - Tom Tryon, American actor and novelist (d. 1991)
- January 17 - Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and dancer
- January 19 - Fritz Weaver, American actor
- January 20 - Patricia Neal, American actress
- January 20 - David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
- January 21 - Steve Reeves, American actor (d. 2000)
- January 27 - Fritz Spiegl, Austrian journalist (d. 2003)
- January 29 - Abdus Salam, Pakistani physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)

February

- February 2 - Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of France
- February 6 - Haskell Wexler, American cinematographer
- February 7 - Konstantin Feoktistov, cosmonaut
- February 8 - Neal Cassady, American writer (d. 1968)
- February 8 - Audrey Meadows, American actress (d. 1996)
- February 11 - Paul Bocuse, French chef
- February 11 - Alexander Gibson, British conductor and founder of the Scottish Opera
- February 11 - Leslie Nielsen, Canadian actor
- February 12 - Paul Kurtz, American philosopher
- February 16 - John Schlesinger, British film director (d. 2003)
- February 20 - Richard Matheson, American author
- February 20 - Bob Richards, American track and field athlete
- February 22 - Kenneth Williams, English actor (d. 1988)
- February 27 - David H. Hubel, Canadian neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- February 28 - Svetlana Alliluyeva, Russian author

March

- March 1 - Pete Rozelle, American commissioner of the National Football League (d. 1996)
- March 2 - Murray Rothbard, American economist (d. 1995)
- March 3 - James Merrill, American poet (d. 1995)
- March 6 - Alan Greenspan, American economist and Chairman of the Federal Reserve
- March 6 - Andrzej Wajda, Polish film director
- March 8 - Sultan Salahuddin (d. 2001)
- March 13 - Carlos Roberto Reina, President of Honduras (d. 2003)
- March 15 - Norm Van Brocklin, American football player (d. 1983)
- March 16 - Jerry Lewis, American comedian
- March 16 - Charles Goodell, American politician (d. 1987)
- March 17 - Siegfried Lenz, German writer
- March 18 - Peter Graves, American actor
- March 24 - Dario Fo, Italian author, Nobel Prize laureate
- March 26 - László Papp, Hungarian boxer (d. 2003)
- March 30 - Ingvar Kamprad, Swedish businessman
- March 31 - John Fowles, English writer (d. 2005)

April

- April 1 - Charles Bressler, American tenor
- April 1 - Anne McCaffrey, American author
- April 2 - Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver
- April 3 - Gus Grissom, astronaut (d. 1967)
- April 6 - Sergio Franchi, Italian tenor and actor (d. 1990)
- April 6 - Gil Kane, Latvian-born cartoonist (d. 2000)
- April 6 - Ian Paisley, British politician
- April 7 - Dame Joan Sutherland, Australian soprano
- April 9 - Hugh Hefner, American magazine editor
- April 17 - Gerry McNeil, Canadian hockey player (d. 2004)
- April 21 - Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
- April 22 - James Stirling, Scottish architect (d. 1992)
- April 24 - Thorbjörn Fälldin, Prime Minister of Sweden
- April 26 - Michael Mathias Prechtl, German illustrator (d. 2003)
- April 30 - Cloris Leachman, American actress

May

- May 5 - Ann B. Davis, American actress
- May 8 - Don Rickles, American comedian and actor
- May 15 - Peter Shaffer, English playwright
- May 26 - Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1991)

June

- June 1 - Andy Griffith, American actor
- June 1 - Marilyn Monroe, American actress (d. 1962)
- June 3 - Allen Ginsberg, American poet (d. 1997)
- June 6 - Klaus Tennstedt, German conductor (d. 1998)
- June 11 - Frank Plicka, Czech-born photographer
- June 21 - Conrad Hall, Tahitian-born cinematographer (d. 2003)
- June 25 - Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian writer (d. 1973)
- June 28 - Mel Brooks, American entertainer
- June 30 - Paul Berg, American chemist, Noble Prize laureate

July

- July 1 - Robert Fogel, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 1 - Hans Werner Henze, German composer
- July 4 - Alfredo Di Stefano, Argentine-born footballer
- July 8 - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-born psychiatrist (d. 2004)
- July 9 - Ben Roy Mottelson, American-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 15 - Leopoldo Galtieri, Argentine dictator (d. 2003)
- July 16 - Stanley Clements, American actor (d. 1981)
- July 16 - Irwin Rose, American biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- July 28 - Walt Brown, American Presidential candidate

August

- August 3 - Tony Bennett, American singer
- August 3 - Anthony Sampson, British journalist and biographer (d. 2004)
- August 11 - Aaron Klug, Lithuanian-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 14 - René Goscinny, French comic book writer (d. 1977)
- August 19 - Arthur Rock, American venture capitalist

September

- September 7 - Don Messick, American voice actor (d. 1997)
- September 15 - Jean-Pierre Serre, French mathematician
- September 16- John Knowles, American author (d. 2001)
- September 21 - Donald A. Glaser, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- September 21 - Noor Jehan, Pakistani and Indian actress (she could have been born in 1929)
- September 23 - John Coltrane, American jazz saxophonist (d. 1967)
- September 26 - Masatoshi Koshiba, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

October

- October 15 - Michel Foucault, French philosopher (d. 1984)
- October 15 - Karl Richter, German conductor (d. 1981)
- October 18 - Chuck Berry, American musician
- October 25 - Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano
- October 29 - Jon Vickers, Canadian tenor

November

- November 2 - Tsung-Dao Lee, Chinese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 3 - Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania
- November 20 - Andrzej W. Schally, Polish-born endocrinologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- November 23 - Sri Satya Sai Baba, Indian guru
- November 23 - R.L. Burnside, American musician
- November 25 - Poul Anderson, American author (d. 2001)

December

- December 9 - Henry Way Kendall, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
- December 13 - George Rhoden, Jamaican athlete
- December 16 - James McCracken, American tenor (d. 1988)
- December 17 - Allan V. Cox, American geologist (d. 1987)
- December 20 - Sir Geoffrey Howe, British politician
- December 21 - Joe Paterno, American football coach
- December 23 - Robert Bly, American poet

Deaths

- January 21 - Camillo Golgi, Italian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1843)
- February 21 - Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
- March 5 - Clément Ader, French engineer and inventor, airplane pioneer (b. 1841)
- April 30 - Bessie Coleman, American pilot (b. 1892)
- May 16 - Mehmed VI, last Ottoman Sultan (b. 1861)
- May 26 - Simon Petlyura, Ukrainian independence fighter (b. 1879)
- June 10 - Antoni Gaudí, Catalan architect (b. 1852)
- June 14 - Mary Cassatt, American artist (b. 1844)
- July 12 - Gertrude Bell, English archaeologist, writer, spy, and administrator known as the "Uncrowned Queen of Iraq" (b. 1868)
- July 26 - Robert Todd Lincoln, American statesman and businessman (b. 1843)
- August 22 - Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University (b. 1834)
- August 23 - Rodolfo Valentino, Italian actor (b. 1895)
- September 15 - Rudolf Christoph Eucken, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1846)
- September 21 - Leon Charles Thevenin, French telegraph engineer (b. 1857)
- October 20 - Eugene V. Debs, American labor and political leader (b. 1855)
- October 31 - Harry Houdini, Hungarian-born magician (b. 1874)
- October 31 - Charles Vance Millar, Canadian businessman (b. 1853)
- December 4 - Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian painter (b. 1861)
- December 5 - Claude Monet, French painter (b. 1840)
- December 25 - Emperor Taisho, 123rd Emperor of Japan (b. 1879)
- December 29 - Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet (b. 1875)

Nobel Prizes

- Physics - Jean Baptiste Perrin
- Chemistry - Theodor Svedberg
- Physiology or Medicine - Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger
- Literature - Grazia Deledda
- Peace - Aristide Briand, Gustav Stresemann
- ko:1926년 ms:1926 ja:1926年 simple:1926 th:พ.ศ. 2469

Radio Corporation of America

: This article is about the electronics, audio, and video company. For other uses of "RCA", see RCA (disambiguation). RCA (disambiguation) RCA, formerly an initialism for the Radio Corporation of America, is now a trademark used by two companies for products descended from that common ancestor:
- Thomson SA, which manufactures consumer electronics like RCA-branded televisions, DVD players, video cassette recorders, direct broadcast satellite decoders, camcorders, audio equipment, telephones, and related accessories; and
- Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which owns the RCA Victor and RCA Records record labels it received from one of its owners, BMG. The two companies bought those assets from General Electric, which took over the RCA conglomerate in 1986 and kept RCA's NBC broadcasting interests. Initially, GE continued to control the RCA trademarks (including the rights to the His Master's Voice trademark, or Nipper, in the Americas), which were then licensed to Thomson and Bertelsmann. Thomson eventually bought the RCA trademarks, subject to the perpetual license GE had issued to Sony BMG's predecessor. Although Bertelsmann AG is new to the RCA family (though the creation of Sony BMG is similar to that of EMI more than 70 years earlier), Thomson started as the French subsidiary of a company which later evolved into General Electric.

Prior to RCA

During World War I the patents of the major companies involved with radio in the United States of America were merged to facilitate the war effort. All production of radio equipment was for the military. The seizure of the assets of British-owned American Marconi by the United States Navy and the cooperation between General Electric, United Fruit and Westinghouse Electric Corporation laid the groundwork for the Radio Corporation of America, RCA. After the war, many saw radio as a natural monopoly. The United States Navy tried, but failed, to gain the monopoly for the Navy. Owen Young convinced the U.S. Congress to entrust in his company, General Electric (GE), together with American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), a monopoly of international radio.

History of RCA

American Telephone and Telegraph RCA was formed in 1919 as a publicly-held company owned in part by AT&T and GE. David Sarnoff was named General Manager. RCA's charter required it be mostly American-owned. RCA took over the assets of American Marconi, and was responsible for marketing GE and Westinghouse's radio equipment. It also acquired the patents of United Fruit and Westinghouse, in exchange for ownership stakes. By 1926, RCA had grasped the market for commercial radio, and purchased the WEAF and WCAP radio stations and network from AT&T, merged them with RCA's own attempt at networking, the WJZ New York/WRC Washington chain, and formed the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). In 1929, RCA purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company, then the world's largest manufacturer of phonographs (including the famous "Victrola") and phonograph records (in British English, "gramophone records"). The company then became RCA-Victor. With Victor, RCA acquired New World rights to the famous Nipper trademark. RCA Victor produced many radio-phonographs. The company also created new techniques for adding sound to film. In 1931, RCA Victor developed and released the first 33⅓ rpm records to the public. These had the standard groove size identical to the contemporary 78rpm records, rather than the "microgroove" used in post-WWII 33⅓ "Long Play" records. The format was a commercial failure at the height of the Great Depression, partially because the records and playback equipment were expensive. The system was withdrawn from the market after about a year. (This was not the first attempt at a commercial long play record format, as Edison Records had marketed a microgroove vertically recorded disc with 20 minutes playing time per side the previous decade; the Edison long playing records were also a commercial failure.) In 1939, RCA demonstrated an all-electronic television system at the New York World's Fair. With the introduction of the NTSC standard, the Federal Communications Commission authorized the start of commercial television transmission on July 1, 1941. World War II slowed the deployment of television in the US, but RCA began selling television sets almost immediately after the war was over. Antitrust concerns led to the breakup of the NBC radio networks by the FCC, a breakup affirmed by the United States Supreme Court. On October 12, 1943, the "NBC Blue" radio network was sold to Life Savers candy magnate Edward J. Noble for $8,000,000, and renamed "The Blue Network, Inc". It would become the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1946. The "NBC Red" network retained the NBC name, and RCA retained ownership. In 1949, RCA-Victor developed and released the first 45 rpm record to the public, answering CBS/Columbia's 33⅓ rpm "LP". LP In 1953, RCA's color-TV standard was adopted as the standard for American color TV. RCA cameras and studio gear, particularly of the TK-40/41 series, became standard equipment at many American television network affiliates. Perhaps surprisingly David Sarnoff commented in 1955, "Television will never be a medium of entertainment".

RCA's decline

In many ways the story of RCA is the story of David Sarnoff. His drive and business acumen led to RCA becoming one of the largest companies in the world, successfully turning it into a conglomerate during the era of their success. However in 1970, now 69 years old, Sarnoff retired and was succeeded by his son Robert. David Sarnoff died the next year; much of RCA's success died with him. RCA was one of the eight major computer companies (along with IBM, Burroughs, Control Data Corporation, General Electric, Honeywell, Scientific Data Systems and UNIVAC) through most of the 1960s, but abandoned computers in 1971. RCA was a major proponent of the eight-track tape cartridge, which it launched in 1965. The eight-track cartridge initially had a huge and profitable impact on the consumer marketplace. However, sales of the 8-track tape format peaked in 1974-75 as consumers increasingly favored the compact cassette format. During the 1970s, RCA Corporation, as it was now formally known, became increasingly ossified as a company. Robert Sarnoff was ousted in a boardroom coup by Anthony Conrad, who then resigned after admitting failing to file income tax returns for six years. Despite maintaining a high standard of engineering excellence in such fields as broadcast engineering and satellite communications equipment, other businesses such as the NBC radio and television networks declined. Forays into new consumer electronics products, such as the innovative but technologically obsolescent SelectaVision videodisc system, proved money losers. This eventually led to RCA's sale to GE and its subsequent break-up.

External sources

- Robert N. Sobel published RCA in 1986.

External links

- [http://www.rca.com/ RCA (Thomson) website]
- [http://rcarecords.com/ RCA Records website]
- [http://rcavictor.com/ RCA Victor website] Category:Electronics companies Category:Record labels Category:Consumer electronics Category:Defunct companies of the United States ja:RCA

Guglielmo Marconi

Guglielmo Marconi, GCVO (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937) was an Italian electrical engineer and Nobel laureate, known for the development of a practical wireless telegraphy system commonly known as the "radio". Marconi was President of the Accademia d'Italia and a member of the Fascist Grand Council of Italy.

Background

Marconi was born near to Bologna, Italy, the second son of Giuseppe Marconi, an Italian landowner, and his Irish wife[http://www.techsoc.com/marconi.htm], Annie Jameson, granddaughter of the founder of the Jameson & Sons Distillery on 25 April 1874. He was educated in Florence and, later, in Livorno.

Middle years

Although many scientists and inventors contributed to the invention of wireless telegraphy, including Oliver Lodge, Hans Christian Ørsted, Michael Faraday, Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, Jagadis Chandra Bose, Alexander Popov, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Alva Edison, Nathan Stubblefield, and others, Marconi's practical system achieved widespread use, so he is often credited as the "father of radio." A variety of Nikola Tesla's radio frequency systems were demonstrated during the widely known lecture, presented to meetings of the National Electric Light Association in St. Louis and the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Transmission and radiation of radio frequency energy was a feature exhibited in the experiments by Tesla and was primarily used for the telecommunication of information.[http://www.tfcbooks.com/mall/more/210tmot.htm#demonstration] Marconi supporters have stated that Marconi was not aware of the works of Nikola Tesla in the U.S. although the presentation at the Franklin Institute was reported across American and throughout Europe. It is unlikely, though, that Marconi was unaware of Tesla's presentation, "On Light and Other High Frequency Phenomena", in Philadelphia. Marconi demonstrated the transmission and reception of Morse Code based radio signals over a distance of 2 or more kilometres (and up to 6 kilometres) on Salisbury Plain (England) in 1896. Marconi was awarded the patent for Radio communications with British Patent GB12039, "Improvements in transmitting electrical impulses and signals and in apparatus there-for" on 2 July 1897 (sometimes recognised as the World's first patent in radio telecommunication). In July 1897, Marconi formed the London based Wireless Telegraph Trading Signal Company (later renamed the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company), which opened the World's first "wireless" factory in Hall Street, Chelmsford, England in 1898, employing around 50 people. 1898 Marconi made the first wireless transmission across water 13 May 1897 from Lavernock Point, South Wales to Flat holm Island. He made a wireless transmission across the water from Ballycastle (Northern Ireland) to Rathlin Island in 1898. He received the first trans-Atlantic radio signal on 12 December 1901 at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland (now in Canada) using a 400-foot kite-supported antenna for reception. This was surprising at the time as it was thought by the mainstream that a radio signal could only be transmitted in the line of sight. The transmitting station in Poldhu, Cornwall used a spark-gap transmitter to produce a signal with a frequency of approximately 500 kHz and a power of 100 times more than any radio signal previously produced (a maximum time-averaged power of 35 kilowatts, but with a peak pulse power of several tens of megawatts.[http://www.antiquewireless.org/otb/marconi1901a.htm]) The message received was three dots, the Morse code for the letter S. To reach Newfoundland the signal would have to bounce off the ionosphere twice. Dr Jack Belrose has recently contested this, however, based on theoretical work as well as an actual reenactment of the experiment; he believes that Marconi heard only random atmospheric noise and mistook it for the signal. Many other engineers agree with Jack Belrose that the 1901 bridging of the Atlantic never took place. The frequency was not suitable and the time of day was wrong. It wouldn't even be possible today with modern equipment. However there is little doubt that by February 1902, Marconi's apparatus was fairly reliably receiving complete messages at 2500 km (1550 miles) at night and 1100 km (700 miles) by day, and usually picked up a special test signal at 3400 km (2100 miles), the distance of Poldhu to Newfoundland. By 1903, the Marconi Company was carrying regular transatlantic news transmissions. On 16 March 1905 he married Beatrice O'Brien, daughter of Edward Donough O'Brien, 14th Baron Inchiquin, Ireland. They had three daughters, one of whom lived only a few weeks, and one son. They divorced later. Marconi did not achieve fully reliable transatlantic communication until 1907. He was the founder of the Marconi Corporation and the joint 1909 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics along with Karl Ferdinand Braun. During World War I, Marconi was in charge of the Italian wireless service. Marconi developed shortwave secret communication transmissions during this time.

Later years

shortwave secret communication transmissions In 1901, Marconi built a station near Wellfleet, MA. It was first called CC (Cape Cod), then MCC (Marconi Cape Cod) and finally WCC when the US government issued "W" call letters to stations east of the Mississippi. In 1903, from this station, Marconi sent the famous message from the President of the US to the King of England. This message was sent directly from Welfleet to England,without being relayed via Glace Bay, Nova Scotia (another Marconi station). During WWI, all radio stations went off the air. When the war was over, Marconi had planned to move this station to Chatham, mainly because the ocean had eroded the cliff where the Welfleet station stood. Reportedly, the U.S. Government was worried about foreign ownership of radio stations. Marconi was forced to sell all his interests in the US to the RCA Corp. WCC remained active for many years, was sold during the breakup of RCA in the 1990s to MCI and was finally shut down in 1996. In 1911, Marconi received patent GB13020, "Installations for wireless telegraphy". In 1914 Marconi built Chatham Radio WCC in Chatham Cape Cod, which would become the busiest ship to shore radio station for most of the twentieth century. The callsign WCC is still heard over the radio - from Globe Wireless's automated email by radio system from a new location in Maryland. In 1920 Marconi's Chelmsford factory was the location of the first officially publicised sound broadcasts in the UK, one of them featuring Dame Nellie Melba. In 1922 the World's first regular wireless broadcasts for entertainment commenced from the Marconi Research Centre at Writtle near Chelmsford. Marconi joined the Italian fascist party in 1923. Benito Mussolini made Marconi President of the Accademia d'Italia, which also made him a member of the Fascist Grand Council. He made fascist speeches on the radio in a number of countries. On 15 June 1927 he married Maria Cristina Bezzi-Scali; Mussolini was best man. Their daughter was named Maria Elettra Elena Anna Marconi. Marconi died in Rome on 20 July, 1937.

Who invented the radio?

Marconi's claim that he invented radio was always disputed by Nikola Tesla and Alexander Popov. Marconi did develop a practical model and was responsible for the first successful exploitation of the invention practically at the same time with Alexander Popov, who described his findings in a paper published in 1895. Popov publicly demonstrated the transmission of radio waves between different campus buildings to the St Petersburg Physical Society in March 1896. Actually, Marconi publicly demonstrated his system several months later, in September. Upon learning about Marconi's experiments, Popov effected ship-to-shore communication over a distance of 6 miles in 1898 and 30 miles in 1899. He died in 1905 and his claim was not pressed by the Russian government until 40 years later. Tesla initially held the rights to radio, but the US Patent Office reversed its decision and awarded Marconi the patent for radio. Tesla fought to re-acquire his radio patent. A lawsuit regarding this was resolved by American courts in Tesla's favor (1943). This decision was based on the fact that there was prior work existing before the establishment of Marconi's patent (developed by Tesla). At the time, the United States Army was involved in a patent infringement lawsuit with Marconi's company regarding radio, leading some to posit that the government granted Tesla the patent on order to nullify any claims Marconi would have to compensation (as, some posit, the government's initial reversal to grant Marconi the patent right in order to nullify any claims Tesla had for compensation). Another pioneer of wireless communication was Prof Jagdish Bose. In 1894, Bose ignited gunpowder and rang a bell at a distance using electromagnetic waves, confirming that communication signals can be sent without using wires. Mahlon Loomis of West Virginia has the oldest and most documented claim of inventing radio.

Honours

Marconi was ranked #38 on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history.

Patents

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External links and resources

- [http://homepage.mac.com/mooncusser/iMovieTheater215.html Guglielmo Marconi documentary narrated by Walter Cronkite]
- Nobel : [http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1909/marconi-bio.html Guglielmo Marconi] – Biography
- Marconi Corporation's [http://www.marconicalling.com/front.htm Marconi Calling]
- [http://www.nobel-winners.com/Physics/guglielmo_marconi.html Guglielmo Marconi]
- [http://www.infoage.org] Information about Marconi Wireless Station construction, with photos and personal accounts of daily life. Radio
- [http://www.wsone.com/fecha/electra.htm Who started the electronic era?]
- PBS : [http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_whoradio.html Marconi and Tesla: Who invented radio?]
- The Guglielmo Marconi Case [http://www.mercury.gr/tesla/marcen.html Who is the True Inventor of Radio]
- U.S. Supreme Court, "[http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=320&invol=1 Marconi Wireless Telegraph co. of America v. United States]". 320 U.S. 1. Nos. 369, 373. Argued April 9-12, 1943. Decided June 21, 1943.
- 21st Century Books : Priority in the Invention of Radio — [http://www.tfcbooks.com/mall/more/431pir.htm Tesla vs. Marconi]
- BBC Reference to his first transmission over water [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/historyhunters/locations/pages/3_1_flatholm.shtml]
- Faking the Waves..1901 http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/physicalscience/story/0,9836,616927,00.html Marconi, Guglielmo Marconi, Guglielmo Marconi, Guglielmo Marconi, Guglielmo Marconi, Guglielmo Marconi, Guglielmo Marconi, Guglielmo Marconi, Guglielmo Marconi, Guglielmo Marconi, Guglielmo ko:굴리엘모 마르코니 ja:グリエルモ・マルコーニ th:กูกลีเอลโม มาร์โคนี

General Electric Company

History

Today

GE subsidiaries

Jack Welch

Corporate information

Analyst coverage

Financials

[http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000040545&owner=exclude SEC filings including 10-k]

External links

- [http://www.ge.com/ General Electric's website]

Data

United Fruit Company

The United Fruit Company (1899–1970) was a corporation prominent in the import-export trade of tropical fruit (notably bananas and pineapples) coming from Third World plantations and sent to the United States and Europe. The company is notorious as an archetypal example of multinational influence extending deeply into the internal politics of so-called banana republics and is frequently cited as an example of exploitative neocolonialism. The United Fruit Company was known as la frutera (the fruit company) or Mamá Yunay ( "Mommy United") in Central America. It established a monopoly on the production and distribution of bananas in Latin America in the early 20th century, a monopoly which lasted until the end of the company in 1970, and arguably, through the company's successors, during the rest of the 1970s had long lasting ramifications for the economic and political development for the region. This monopoly was predicated on the fact that between 1920 and 1994 the United States purchased 60-90 percent of the region's exports, thereby ensuring the ongoing dependence on the United States. In turn this enabled the UFCO to penetrate the political and economic fabric of Central American societies and influence economic and political outcomes for its own gain.

Corporate history

United Fruit was established on March 30, 1899 in Boston, Massachusetts, by the merger of two banana companies. The Boston Fruit Company was established by Lorenzo Dow Baker, a sailor who in 1870 had bought his first bananas in Jamaica, and Andrew W. Preston. The other company was founded by Minor C. Keith, who had built railroads in Costa Rica and then went into the fruit business. In 1899 railroad entrepreneur Henry Meiggs won a contract in Costa Rica to lay track along the Caribbean coast in exchange for land. Meiggs had two nephews, Minor Keith and Henry Keith. Minor Keith had already begun his own business shipping bananas to New Orleans in 1878, so when Meiggs decided to give his nephews the railroad contract the decision was made to make one company out of the two ventures and call it the United Fruit Company. In 1930, Sam Zemurray (nicknamed "Sam the Banana Man") sold his Cuyamel Fruit Company company to United and retired. But in 1932, he returned because he felt the company was mismanaged. In June 1970, it merged with AMK Corporation, which owned the John Morrell meat company and was controlled by Eli H. Black, to become the United Brands Company. After Black's spectacular suicide on February 3, 1975 – he jumped out of the window of his New York City office on the forty-fourth floor of the Pan Am Building – Cincinnati-based American Financial, one of millionaire Carl H. Lindner, Jr.'s companies, bought into United Fruit. In August 1984, Lindner took control of the company and renamed it Chiquita Brands International. The headquarters was moved to Cincinnati in 1985.

History in Central America

The United Fruit Company owned vast tracts of land in the Caribbean lowlands. It also dominated regional transportation networks and owned a major railroad corporation called International Railways of Central America. In addition, UFCO branched out in 1913 by creating the Tropical Radio and Telegraph Company. By the end of the decade there would be virtually no aspect of the economic infrastructure of Latin American banana production untouched by the UFCO. The UFCO was so large that at the time of World War I it had no serious challengers or competiton for control of the banana trade. The huge number of ships that it used for transportation were referred to as the "great white fleet". One of the company's primary tactics for maintaining market dominance was to control the distribution of banana lands. UFCO claimed that hurricanes, blight and other natural threats required them to hold extra land or reserve land. But in practice what this meant was that UFCO was able to prevent the government from distributing banana lands to peasants who wanted a share of the banana trade. The fact that the UFCO relied so heavily on manipulation of land use rights in order to maintain their market dominance had a number of long term consequences for the region. For the company to maintain its unequal land holdings it had to have government concessions. And this in turn meant that the company had to be politically involved in the region even though it was an American company. If a particular government or a particular leader disagreed with UFCO tactics and refused to give them what they wanted, UFCO usually took steps to have the government undermined, discredited, or removed altogether. As a result, the UFCO became a political force opposing democratic social and political reform whenever and wherever it developed in order to preserve its dominant place in the banana trade. The Company overthrew governments which they considered insufficiently compliant to Company will. For example, in 1910 a group of armed toughs were sent from New Orleans to Honduras to install a new president by force when the incumbent failed to grant the Fruit Company tax breaks. The newly installed Honduran president granted the Company a waiver from paying any taxes for 25 years. The Company had a mixed record of encouraging and discouraging development in the nations it was involved in. For example, in Guatemala the Company built schools for the people who lived and worked on Company land, while at the same time for many years prevented the Guatemalan government from building highways, because this would lessen the profitable transportation monopoly of the railroads, which were owned by United Fruit. The Guatemalan government of Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán was toppled by covert action by the United States government in 1954 at the behest of United Fruit. This was in opposition to Arbenz's plans to purchase uncultivated land from United Fruit at the price the company had deemed it worth on their taxes and redistribute it among Native American peasants. The UFC and the bankers that supported the company convinced the CIA and President Dwight Eisenhower that redistributing uncultivated land was the first sign of a Communist takeover in Central America. The American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles was an avowed opponent of Communism whose law firm had represented United Fruit. His brother Allen Dulles was the director of the CIA. The brother of the Assistant Secretary of State for InterAmerican Affairs John Moors Cabot had once been president of United Fruit. Arbenz's government was overthrown by Guatemalan army officers invading from Honduras in what was known as Operation PBSUCCESS. As many as 100,000 people may have died in the ensuing civil war. Today, successor companies of United Fruit have interests in:
- Costa Rica
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Panama The impact of the United Fruit Company has inspired the poet Pablo Neruda to write a poem (in Spanish) with the company's name as the title. The 1929 strike of Colombian banana workers against United Fruit also inspired part of Gabriel García Márquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude. Little Steven released a song called "Bitter Fruit" about the company's misdeeds.

External links

- [http://www.unitedfruit.org United Fruit Historical Society]
- [http://www.mayaparadise.com/ufc1e.htm Banana Republic: The United Fruit Company] Category:Defunct agriculture companies of the United States Category:History of Honduras Category:History of Guatemala

WEAF

TO WNBC

NBC Red

History

Bob Wright]

Radio

Television

Evolution of the NBC logo

NBC has used a number of logos throughout its history, early logos were similar to the logo of its then parent company, RCA, but later logos included stylized peacock images.

NBC News

External links

NBC Blue

The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is a television and radio network in the United States. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company. Corporate headquarters are in New York, while programming offices are in Burbank, California, adjacent to the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank) and the Walt Disney Company corporate headquarters. The formal name of the holding company is ABC, Inc, although the company still uses on some on-air copyrights American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., which also was the holding company's name until 1985. It is the last of the Big Three networks to still make on-air use of ether its original name or a variant of it.

History

Creating ABC

From the organization of the first true radio networks in the late 1920s, broadcasting in the United States was dominated by two companies, CBS and RCA's NBC. Prior to NBC's 1926 formation, RCA had acquired AT&T's New York station WEAF (later WNBC, now WFAN). With WEAF came a loosely-organized system feeding programming to other stations in the northeastern U.S. RCA also took control of a second such group, fed by Westinghouse's Newark station WJZ (now WABC (AM), New York.) These were the foundations of RCA's two distinct programming services, the NBC "Red" and NBC "Blue" networks. After years of study the FCC in 1940 issued a "Report on Chain Broadcasting." Finding that two corporate owners (and the co-operatively owned Mutual Broadcasting System) dominated American broadcasting, this report proposed "divorcement," requiring the sale by RCA of one of its chains. NBC Red was the larger radio network, carrying the leading entertainment and music programs. In addition, many Red affiliates were high-powered, clear-channel stations, heard nationwide. NBC Blue offered most of the company's news and cultural programs, many of them "sustaining" or un-sponsored. Among other findings, the FCC claimed RCA used NBC Blue to suppress competition against NBC Red. Since the F.C.C. did not regulate or license networks directly but had influence only by means of its hold over individual stations, it said, "No license shall be issued to a standard broadcast station affiliated with a network which maintains more than one network." NBC argued this indirect style of regulation was illegal and appealed to the courts, but the F.C.C. was upheld, so the Blue network had to be sold. The task of selling of NBC Blue was given to Mark Woods; throughout 1942 and 1943, NBC Red and NBC Blue divided their assets. A price of $8 million was put on the assets of the Blue group, and Woods shopped the Blue package around to potential buyers. One such, investment bank Dillon, Read made an offer of $7.5 million, but Woods and RCA chief David Sarnoff held firm at $8 million. What the Blue package contained was: leases on land-lines and on studio facilities in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles; contracts with talent and with about sixty affiliates; the trademark and "good will" associated with the Blue name; and licenses for three stations (WJZ in New York, San Francisco's KGO, and WENR in Chicago - really a half-station, since WENR shared time and a frequency with "Prairie Farmer" station WLS.) Edward Noble, owner of Life Savers candy and owner of the Rexall Drug chain, was interested. The asking price of $8 million would prove to be the selling price. In order to complete the station-license transfer, Noble had to sell a New York station he owned, and F.C.C. hearings were required. Another stumbling block was Noble's intention to keep Mark Woods on as president, which led to the suggestion that Woods would continue to work with (and for) his former employers. This had the potential to derail the sale. During the hearings Woods was asked if the new network would sell time to the AFofL; Woods responded "No". When Noble was questioned on similar points, Noble hid behind the NAB code to avoid answering. Frustrated, the chairman advised Noble to do some rethinking, which apparently he did, because on October 12, 1943 the sale was approved. The new network sold air time to organized labor. Known until mid-1944 as "The Blue Network," the company was re-christened American Broadcasting Company. This set off a flurry of re-naming; to avoid confusion, CBS changed the call-letters of its New York flagship from WABC to WCBS; seeing a trend, RCA re-named its New York flagship as WNBC. In 1953, ABC's New York flagship WJZ took on the abandoned call-letters WABC. The new ABC radio network began slowly; with few "hit" shows, it had to build an audience. Noble sprang for more stations, among them Detroit's WXYZ; one of the founding stations of the Mutual network, WXYZ was where The Lone Ranger, Sergeant Preston, Sky King and other popular daily serials originated. With this purchase, ABC instantly acquired a bloc of established daily shows. Noble also bought KECA (now KABC) in Los Angeles, to give the network a Hollywood production base. Counter-programming became an ABC specialty, for example, placing a raucous quiz-show like Stop the Music against more thoughtful fare on NBC and CBS. ABC also abolished a long-standing ban on pre-recorded programming; advances in tape-recording brought back from conquered Germany meant that the audio quality of tape could not be distinguished from "live" broadcasts. As a result, several high-rated stars who wanted freedom from rigid schedules, among them Bing Crosby, moved to ABC. Though still rated third, by the late 1940s ABC had begun to close in on the better-established networks.

Enter Leonard Goldenson

Faced with huge expenses in building a radio network, ABC was in no position to take on the additional costs demanded by a television network. To secure a place at the table, though, in 1947 ABC submitted requests for licenses in the five cities where it owned radio stations; by coincidence, all five applications were for "Channel 7." On April 19, 1948 the ABC television network went on the air. For the next several years, ABC was a television network mostly in name. Except for the largest markets, most cities had only one or two stations. The FCC froze applications for new stations in 1948 while it sorted out the thousands of applicants, and re-thought the technical and allocation standards set down in 1938. What was meant to be a six-month freeze lasted until 1952, and until that time only 101 stations were licensed to broadcast. For a late-comer like ABC, this meant being relegated as a secondary affiliate in many markets. By 1952, it had only fourteen full-time affiliates, of which five were company-owned. Further, without the high-powered radio names that propelled NBC and CBS, ABC and fellow start-up DuMont commanded little affiliate loyalty. Divorced from Paramount Pictures at the end of 1949 by Supreme Court order, United Paramount Theaters was a company with plenty of money and nowhere to spend it. Cash- and real estate-rich, UPT head Leonard Goldenson immediately set out to find investment opportunities. Barred from the film business, Goldenson saw broadcasting as a possibility, and approached Noble about buying ABC. Since the transfer of station licenses was again involved, the F.C.C. set hearings. At the heart of this was the question of the Paramount Pictures-UPT divorce: were they truly separate? And what role did Paramount's long-time investment in DuMont Laboratories, parent of the television network, play? After a year of deliberation the FCC approved the purchase by UPT in a 5–2 split decision on February 9, 1953. Speaking in favor of the deal, one commissioner pointed out that UPT had the cash to turn ABC into a viable, competitive third network. Shortly after the ABC–UPT merger, Goldenson approached DuMont with a merger offer. Though it had been a pioneer in television broadcasting and was especially creative in programming, DuMont was in financial trouble. Under Goldenson's proposal, DuMont would get $5 million in cash; guaranteed advertising time for DuMont television receivers: the merged network would be called "ABC-DuMont" for at least five years; and DuMont staff would have a secure future. However, DuMont's nervous minority shareholder Paramount Pictures vetoed the sale, afraid of reviving anti-trust charges. By 1956, the DuMont network had shut down.

The 1960s

After its acquisition by UPT, ABC at last had the means to offer a full-time television network service. By mid-1953 Leonard Goldenson had begun a two-front campaign, calling on his old pals at the Hollywood studios (he had been head of the mighty Paramount theater chain since 1938) to convince them to move into programming. And he began wooing station owners to convince them that a refurbished ABC was about to burst forth. In some markets, like Seattle, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, he convinced long-time NBC and CBS affiliates to move to ABC. His two-part campaign paid off when the "new" ABC hit the air in October, 1954. Among the shows that brought in record audiences was "Disneyland," produced-by and starring Walt Disney. MGM, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century-Fox were also present that first season. Within two years, Warners was producing ten hours of programming for ABC each week, mostly interchangeable detective and western series. While ABC continued to languish in third place in national ratings, it often topped local ratings in the larger markets. With the arrival of Hollywood's slickly-produced series, with their emphasis on those old standbys sex and violence, ABC began to catch on with younger, urban viewers. As the network gained in the ratings, it became an attractive property, and over the next few years ABC approached, or was approached-by GE, Howard Hughes, Litton Industries, GTE, and ITT. ABC and ITT agreed to a merger in late 1965, but this deal was derailed by FCC and Department of Justice questions about ITT's foreign ownership influencing ABC's autonomy and journalistic integrity. ITT's management promised that ABC's autonomy would be preserved; while the merger was approved by the F.C.C, the Justice Department was not convinced, and the deal was called off on January 1, 1968. As had happened at NBC and CBS, from the mid-1950s ABC's radio audience gravitated to television. By the early 1960s, the radio network schedule consisted of a few long-running serials, Lawrence Welk's musical hour (simulcast from television), and Don McNeill's daily "Breakfast Club" variety show. ABC made a last-ditch effort to retain the radio audience by filling the schedule with talk-shows, but gave in after a few years. In 1968, ABC's remaining programming service was split in four parts, offering customized news and features for pop-music-, news-, or talk-oriented formats. Later, that plan was further broadened to offer seven formats, and ABC returned to programming by offering its more popular local talk shows to national audiences. During this time of expansion, ABC revised its corporate name to American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

Success at Last

Despite its relatively small size, ABC found increasing success with television programming aimed at the emerging "Baby Boomer" culture. Producer Roone Arledge helped ABC's fortunes with innovations in sports programming, creating Wide World of Sports and Monday Night Football. By doing so he helped to make sport into a multi-billion-dollar industry, and was rewarded by being made head of ABC News and Sports. By the early 1970s, ABC was showing signs of overtaking CBS and NBC. Broadcasting in color from the mid-1960s, ABC started using the new science of demographics to tweak its programming and ad sales. ABC invested heavily in shows with wide appeal, especially situation comedies, but also offered big-budget, extended-length miniseries, among them QB VII, and Rich Man, Poor Man. The most successful, Roots, based on Alex Haley's novel, became one of the biggest hits in television history. Combined with ratings for its regular weekly series, Roots propelled ABC to a first-place finish in the national Nielsen ratings for the 1976–1977 season— this was a first in the then thirty-year history of the network. Since 1984, the entire family of ESPN networks and franchises have been owned by ABC (80%) and the Hearst Corporation (20%). ABC's dominance carried into the early 1980s. But by 1985, veteran shows like The Love Boat had lost their steam; a resurgent NBC was leading in the ratings. ABC relied on that staple of programming, the situation comedy. During this period ABC seemed to have lost the momentum that once propelled it; there was little offered that was innovative or compelling. Like his counterpart at CBS, William S. Paley, founding-father Goldenson had withdrawn to the sidelines. ABC's ratings and the earnings thus generated reflected this loss of drive. So it was not a total surprise when in 1985 ABC was taken over by media company Capital Cities Communications; the corporate name was changed to Capital Cities/ABC. In 1984-85, ABC began the transition from coaxial cable/microwave delivery to satellite delivery via AT&T's Telstar 301. ABC maintained a West Coast feed network on Telstar 302, and in 1991 scrambled feeds on both satellites with the Leitch system. Currently, with the Leitch system abandoned, ABC operates clear feeds on Intelsat Americas 5 and Intelsat Americas 6, in addition to digital feeds on both satellites.

Acquisition by Disney

In 1996, The Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities/ABC, and renamed the broadcasting group ABC, Inc., although the network continues to also use American Broadcasting Companies, such as on TV productions it owns. ABC's relationship with Disney dates back to 1953, when Leonard Goldenson pledged enough money so that the "Disneyland" theme park could be completed. ABC continued to hold Disney notes and stock until 1960, and also had first call on the "Disneyland" television series in 1954. With this new relationship came an attempt at cross-promotion, with attractions based on ABC shows at Disney parks and an annual soap festival at Walt Disney World. The fomer president of ABC, Inc., Robert Iger, now heads Disney. Despite intense micro-managing on the part of Disney management, the flagship television network was slow to turn around. In 1999, the network was able to experience a brief resurgence with the hit game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. However, many analysts said that WWTBAM became overxposed, appearing on the network sometimes five or six nights during a week. ABC's ratings fell dramatically as competitors introduced their own game shows and the public grew tired of the format. In 2004, ABC was able to find its niche in dramas such as Desperate Housewives and Lost, which were both popular among viewers and critically acclaimed. Currently ABC is the United States' second-most watched network. Borrowing a proven Disney formula, there have been attempts to broaden the ABC brand name. The short-lived ABC Cable News began in 1995; unable to compete with CNN, it shut down in 1997. Undaunted, in 2004 ABC launched a news channel called ABC News Now. Its aim is to provide round-the-clock news on cable, the internet and mobile phones. A 2003 Nielsen estimate found that ABC could be seen in 96.75% of all homes in the United States, reaching 103,179,600 households. ABC has 10 VHF and UHF owned-and-operated television stations and 191 affiliated stations in the U.S. and U.S. possessions. Since the 1950s, ABC has split "live" production between east- and west-coast facilities; ABC Television Center West in Hollywood, (once the Vitagraph film studios) accommodates sets for the daily soap operas; and the ABC Television Center East, once clustered around a former stable on West 66th Street, and now split between several soundstages in the same New York neighborhood. (ABC's corporate headquarters and news studios are located on the north side of West 66th, while its soap facilities are across the street and the stage for The View are further west on 66th near the Hudson River.) ABC's west coast corporate offices are located in Burbank, CA adjacent to the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank) and the Walt Disney Company corporate headquarters. On the radio side, ABC radio stations have become more conservative. After passing up the rights to syndicate Rush Limbaugh, ABC Radio Networks now syndicates conservative talk show hosts such as Sean Hannity, John Batchelor, Larry Elder, and Mark Davis. Radio & Records Magazine early in 2005 said that Disney/ABC would sell its radio stations and radio-network operations. For major media conglomerates, this has become a chess game which allows them to swap stations in order to end with more television affiliates. Speculation is that the buyer for the ABC radio networks is Westwood One, a Viacom unit that in recent years has taken over distribution of the remains of the NBC, Mutual and CBS radio networks. Thus in sixty years the radio business comes more-or-less full circle, but now with one owner instead of two.

ABC identity

Viacom.]] Before its early color transmissions, the ABC identity was a lowercase 'abc' inside a lower case 'A'. That logo was known as the "ABC Circle A." The logo was modified in the fall of 1962 when ABC started using the current "ABC Circle" logo (designed by Paul Rand) with ultra-modern (for its time) lower case 'abc' inside. The typeface used is a simple geometric design inspired by the Bauhaus school of the 1920s; its simplicity makes it easy to duplicate, something ABC has taken advantage of many times over the years (especially before the advent of computer graphics). It does not correspond to a particular font; however, several common geometric typefaces (including Avant Garde and Horatio) are close, and a recently developed typeface is inspired by it. A variation of ABC's logo is used by Brazilian TV network SBT.

ABC1

Launched September 27, 2004, ABC1 is a British digital channel on Freeview's digital terrestrial service (except Wales), owned and operated by ABC Inc. Its current schedule is a selection of past and present American shows, mostly from ABC, and is offered 24 hours a day on the digital satellite and digital cable platforms, and from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the digital terrestrial platform, Freeview.

Notes on Sources

- Barnouw, Erik. The Golden Web: A History of Broadcasting in the United States, 1933-1953. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968.
- Goldenson, Leonard, and Marvin J. Wolf. Beating the Odds: The Untold Story Behind the Rise of ABC. New York: Scribners, 1991.
- Kisseloff, Jeff, The Box: An Oral History of Television, 1920-1961. New York: Viking Press, 1988.
- Sampson, Anthony. The Sovereign State of ITT. New York: Stein and Day, 1973.
- Sobel, Robert. ITT. New York: Truman Talley - Times Books, 1982.

External links

- [http://www.abc.go.com ABC website]
- [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/silvermanfr/silvermanfr.htm A bio of Former President Fred Silverman]
- [http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/international/us_abc.html Screen captures of ABC logos past and present, as well as footage of vintage promos] Category:ABC television network Category:United States television networks Category:Walt Disney Company subsidiaries ja:American Broadcasting Company

Bell System

The Bell System was a trademark and service mark used by the US telecommunications company American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) and its affiliated companies to co-brand their extensive circuit-switched telephone network and their affiliations with each other. For example, refer at right to a form of the trademark used by both the AT&T corporation and the regional operating corporations from 1921 to 1939 to co-brand themselves under a single Bell System trademark, where the regional operating corporation's name would appear where the "name of associated company" appears in this boilerplate version of the trademark. The Bell System trademark (as diagram) and service mark (as the words Bell System in text) was used prior to January 1, 1984, when the AT&T divestiture of its regional operating companies took effect. Prior to the 1984 break-up that ended the Bell System, the Bell System included not only AT&T corporate and its long-lines long-distance routing, but also its regional operating corporations that provided local exchange telephone-service in the United States and prior to 1956, in Canada and throughout the Caribbean islands. In 1984, the Bell System also included the Western Electric equipment manufacturing unit, the Bell Labs corporate research unit, and the BELLCORE regional operating companies' research unit. Prior to the 1956 break-up that restricted the boundaries of the Bell System, the Bell System also included the Northern Electric subsidiary of Western Electric, the Bell Canada regional operating company, and various Caribbean regional operating companies, as well as 54% ownership of NEC and a post-WWII-reconstruction relationship with NTT. Prior to 1956, the Bell System's reach was truly gargantuan, as the list below of now-divested formerly-held corporations indicates. Even during the period from 1956 to 1984, the Bell System's dominant reach into all forms of communications was pervasive within the United States and influential in telecommunication standardization throughout the industrialized world. NTT The 1984 divestiture that brought an end to the affiliation branded as the Bell System was the result of a lawsuit alleging illegal practices by the Bell System companies to stifle competition in the telecommunications industry; the lawsuit was brought against it by the United States Department of Justice (USDoJ). That lawsuit was filed in 1974, and was settled on January 8, 1982, displacing the former restrictions that AT&T and the USDoJ had agreed to in 1956 based on a previous anti-trust lawsuit filed by the USDoJ in 1949 that alleged that AT&T and its Bell System operating companies were using its near monopoly in telecommunications to attempt to establish allegedly unfair advantage in related technologies, especially the fledgling computer industry. That 1956 consent agreement limited AT&T to engaging in only activities related to a maximum of 85% of the United States' national telephone network and certain government contracts, which precluded the Bell System from extending its reach into the fledgling computer industry and from continuing to hold interests in Canada and the Caribbean. The Bell System's Canadian operations included the Bell Canada regional operating company and the Northern Electric manufacturing subsidiary of the Bell System's Western Electric equipment manufacturer. Northern Electric and Bell Canada were spun off in 1956 as separate companies outside of the Bell System proper. The Bell System's Caribean regional operating companies were sold to the then ITT. Of the various resulting 1984 spinoffs, only BellSouth and Cincinnati Bell continue to actively use and promote the Bell name and logo, although cessation of using either the Bell name or logo occurred for some of these companies more than a decade after the 1984 break up as part of an acquisition-related rebranding. The others have only used the marks on rare occasions to maintain their trademark rights, even less now that they have adopted names conceived long after divestiture, an example of this is Verizon still uses the Bell logo on their trucks and payphones. In 1984, each company was assigned a set list of names they were allowed to use in combination with the Bell marks. Again, aside from BellSouth and Cincinnati Bell, and to a limited extent SNET, none of these Bell System names are currently in use in the United States. For example, Southwestern Bell used both the Bell name and the circled-bell trademark until renaming itself SBC in 2002. Bell Atlantic used the Bell name and circled-bell trademark until renaming itself Verizon in 2000. Of the various resulting 1956 spinoffs, only Bell Canada continues to use the Bell name, although cessation of using either the Bell name and circled-bell trademark occurred for some of these companies multiple decades later. For example, for the multiple decades that Nortel was named Northern Telecom, their research and development arm was Bell Northern Research. Bell Canada and its holding-company parent, Bell Communications Enterprises, still use the Bell name and used variations the circled-bell logo until 1977, which until 1976 strongly resembled the 1921 to 1939 Bell System trademark shown above. Prior to the 1984 break-up, the Bell System consisted of the companies listed below. These companies were made separate from AT&T in 1984, except as noted. Due to the 1984 break-up, the regional Bell operating companies (RBOCs) that were formed out of many formerly separate regional operating companies were: BellSouth, US West, Southwestern Bell, Pacific Telesis, Ameritech, NYNEX, and Bell Atlantic. The formal term RBOC referring specifically to these seven corporations appeared as part of the 1984 break-up of the Bell System; the term regional operating company was in use in the Bell System prior to the 1984 break-up as referring to the smaller LECs that were wholly or partially owned by AT&T. In addition to the regional operating companies that were merged to form the seven RBOCs, Cincinnati Bell and SNET were also regional operating companies considered part of the Bell System prior to 1984. Also, in 1983, the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc. (NECA) was formed by the FCC and various Bell System companies to perform telephone industry tariff filings and revenue distributions following the 1984 breakup. The NECA was staffed with former employees of Bell-System-affiliated companies. The former units of the Bell System listed below are organized according to the current owners of the companies (or their successors).
- BellSouth, a currently-existing RBOC holding company
- South Central Bell Telephone Company, a former regional LEC
- Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company, a former regional LEC
- Cincinnati Bell, a currently-existing regional operating company of which AT&T owned a minority interest in 1984 and thus was left separate in by 1984 break-up
- Cincinnati Bell Telephone Company
- Qwest Communications International, a currently-existing holding company
- US West, a former RBOC holding company
- Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Company, a former regional LEC, more commonly known as Mountain Bell
- Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company, a former regional LEC
- Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, a former regional LEC
- AT&T, Inc, a currently-existing holding company
- SBC Communications, Inc., a currently-existing RBOC holding company
- Ameritech, a former RBOC holding company
- Illinois Bell Telephone Company, a former regional LEC
- Indiana Bell Telephone Company, Inc., a former regional LEC
- Michigan Bell Telephone Company, a former regional LEC
- The Ohio Bell Telephone Company, a former regional LEC
- Wisconsin Telephone Company, a former regional LEC
- Pacific Telesis, a former RBOC holding company
- Bell Telephone Company of Nevada, a former regional LEC
- The Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company, a former regional LEC
- Southern New England Telecommunications, Inc., a former regional operating company of which AT&T owned a minority interest in 1984 and thus was left separate by the 1984 break-up
- Southern New England Telephone Company
- Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, a former regional LEC
- AT&T Corporation
- AT&T Communications (AT&T Long Lines until 1984), the inter-operating-company routing unit
- AT&T Labs, once a portion of Bell Labs
- Verizon Communications, a currently-existing holding company
- Bell Atlantic, a former RBOC holding company
- The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania, a former regional LEC
- The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, a former regional LEC
- The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of Maryland, a former regional LEC
- The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of Virginia, a former regional LEC
- The Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of West Virginia, a former regional LEC
- The Diamond State Telephone Company, a former regional LEC
- New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, a former regional LEC
- NYNEX, a former RBOC holding company
- New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, a former regional LEC
- New York Telephone Company, a former regional LEC
- Lucent Technologies, a currently-existing equipment-manufacturing company that was spun off separately in 1995
- Western Electric, a former telecommunications and recording equipment-manufacturing company that ceased to have that name as of the 1984 break-up
- Bell Labs, the former AT&T-corporate research unit
- Telcordia Technologies, a currently-existing research company
- Bell Communications Research (BELLCORE), the former regional operating companies' research unit Prior to the 1956 break-up, the Bell System also included the companies listed below. Bell Canada, Northern Electric, and the Caribbean regional operating companies were considered part of the Bell System proper prior to the 1956 break-up. Nippon Electric was considered a more distant affiliate of Western Electric than Northern Electric, where Nippon Electric via its own research and development adapted the designs of Western Electric's North American telecommunications equipment for use in Japan, which to this day gives much of Japan's telephone equipment and network a closer resemblance to North American ANSI and Telcordia standards than to European-originated ITU-T standards. Prior to the 1956 break-up, Northern Electric was predominantly focused only on manufacturing without any significant amount of separate telecommunication-equipment research & development of its own. The post-WWII-occupation operation of NTT was considered an administrative adjunct to the North American Bell System.
- Bell Canada, a currently-existing regional operating company
- Nortel, a currently-existing equipment-manufacturing company
- Northern Electric, a former telecommunications equipment-manufacturing subsidiary of Western Electric
- Dominion Electric, a former recording equipment-manufacturing company
- various former Caribbean regional operating companies, sold to ITT
- NEC, a currently-existing equipment-manufacturing company in Japan
- Nippon Electric, a former telecommunications equipment-manufacturing company 54% owned by Western Electric
- NTT, a currently-existing telecommunications company in Japan that was administered by AT&T as part of General Douglas MacArthur's post-WWII reconstruction

Operating Company logos

External Links / References

- [http://www.bellsystemmemorial.com/ Bell System Memorial]
- [http://lw.bna.com/lw/19980602/971113.htm BellSouth vs. FCC - reference for company names]
- [http://www.uspto.gov USPTO - see trademark database] Category:Telecommunications companies Category:Telecommunications history Category:AT&T

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and largest city in Rhode Island, a state of the United States of America. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 173,618, but a July 1, 2004 Census estimate put the city's population at 178,126. It is located in Providence County and is the second largest city in New England. Providence is nicknamed the "Beehive of Industry", while the downtown area is nicknamed "Downcity". Providence was named by Roger Williams in honor of "God's merciful Providence" in his finding this spot to settle when expelled by the Puritans from Massachusetts. The official name of the state includes the name of the city, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The city was one of the first cities to industrialize in the United States and was noted for its jewelry and silverware industry. Today, Providence is the economic, cultural, and political hub of Rhode Island.

History

This area was first settled in 1636 by Roger Williams, and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies. Williams secured a title to the land from the Narragansett natives around this time, renaming the area "Providence," because of "God's merciful providence." Williams cultivated Providence as a refuge for persecuted religious dissenters, as he himself had been exiled from Massachusetts. Shortly after being settled, much of Providence was burned down in King Philip's War, which lasted from 1675 to 1676. 1676 Providence's growth was slow during the next quarter-century. The first census of the colony, taken in 1708, recorded 1,446 residents. However, in the second census taken in 1730, the colony's population had almost tripled to 3,916 people. The Providence territory would become smaller as more and more of the land would become part of different towns, including Scituate and Johnston. The city's slow growth was also due to the rocky, hilly, and heavily wooded land which made farming difficult, as well as the tradition of dissent and independent-mindedness. Residents often fought over land titles, politics, and religion. In the mid-1770s, Providence was focused on fishing and maritime trade, and was becoming a major commercial center. Nevertheless, the British government's passage of several laws levying various taxes caused Providence to join the other colonies in renouncing allegiance to the British Crown. One such law was the Sugar Act, which levied a tax on sugar and molasses imports, and impacted Providence's distilleries and its trade in rum and slaves. During this period, Providence's population had exceeded 4,300 citizens by 1776, and Providence was able to avoid occupation by British soldiers during the American Revolutionary War, though the city did suffer major interruptions in education and trade as a result of its location and facility as quarters for many troops passing through the area. Following the war, Providence's main focus on its economy shifted from maritime endeavors to manufacturing. Samuel Slater is credited as having begun the shift in about 1790, and historians mark the transformation's completion at about 1830. Manufacturing would be the city's major industry for the next one hundred years, particularly in jewelry and textiles. The city's industries attracted many people, including immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Sweden, England, and French Canada. Nevertheless, the city experienced social strife, notably with a series of race riots between whites and blacks during the 1820s. In response to continued growth and social conflicts, Providence residents issued ratified a city charter in November 1831. The city became the sole capital of Rhode Island in 1900. From, 1854 to 1900, Providence was the joint capital of the state with Newport. The city began to see a decline by the mid-1920s as industries, notably in textiles, began to shut down and unemployment rose. The Great Depression hit the city hard, and Providence was further hit by the New England Hurricane of 1938, which flooded the downtown area. The city saw further decline with the construction of highways and increased suburbanization after World War II. The city began to revive beginning in the 1970s. From 1975 until 1982, $606 million of Community Development money, including funds from other federal, state, and city sources, were invested in the downtown area and neighborhoods throughout the city. In the 1990s, Mayor Vincent Cianci, Jr. showcased the city as a center for the arts and pushed for further revitalization. These included opening up the Providence River and moving the railroad tracks underground, building Waterplace Park and riverwalks along the river's banks, and the construction of the Fleet Skating Rink (now the Bank of America Skating Rink) in downtown and the Providence Place Mall.

Geography and climate

Providence is located at 41°49'25" North, 71°25'20" West (41.823550, -71.422132). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 53.2 km² (20.5 mi²). 47.8 km² (18.5 mi²) of it is land and 5.3 km² (2.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 10.03% water. mi² Providence is located at the head of Narragansett Bay, with the Providence River running into the bay through the center of the city. The Waterplace Park amphitheater and riverwalks line the river's banks through downtown. Constitution Hill (near downtown), College Hill (east of the Providence River), and Federal Hill (west of downtown and is the city's Italian district) are the most prominent of the city's seven hills. The downtown area (Downcity) is the location of the city's tallest buildings, with the tallest being the Bank of America Building at 426 feet (130 m). The building imitates the Art Deco skyscrapers of New York City. Downcity is also the location of the Providence Biltmore and Westminster Arcade, the oldest enclosed shopping mall in the U.S. that was built in 1828. The city's waterfront, the location of many oil tanks and a power plant, is primarily industrial. Downcity primarily consists of modern structures as well as buildings in the Federal and various Victorian architectural styles. The rest of the city consists of small commercial districts and old mills interspersed amongst single-family and multi-family homes, and apartment buildings. Providence's climate is humid continental, with hot summers, cold winters, and high humidity year-round. The USDA rates the city at Zone 6, which is an "in-between" climate. The influence of the Atlantic Ocean keeps Providence, and the rest of the state of Rhode Island, warmer than many inland locales in New England. Average precipitation ranges from 3.38 inches (8.05 cm) in June to 4.43 inches (10.57 cm) in March, with the heaviest precipitation occurring from November to April. Average temperatures range from 20 °F (-6.7 °C) in January to 83 °F (27.2 °C) in July. The lowest recorded temperature was -13 °F (-25 °C) on January 23, 1976, while the highest recorded temperature was 104 °F (40 °C) on August 2, 1975. Though not frequent, Providence's location at the head of Narragansett Bay makes it vulnerable to Atlantic hurricanes.

Demographics

hurricane As of the census of 2000, there were 173,618 people, 62,389 households, and 35,873 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,629.4/km² (9,401.7/mi²). There were 67,915 housing units at an average density of 1,419.7/km² (3,677.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 54.53% Caucasian, 14.54% African American, 1.14% Native American, 6.01% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 17.55% from other races, and 6.08% from two or more races. 30.03% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Providence receives refugees in cooperation with the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement. The 2000 US Census estimate for the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) including Providence, Fall River, Massachusetts, and Warwick was 1,188,613. There were 62,389 households out of which 32.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.9% were married couples living together, 20.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.5% were non-families. 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.33. In the city the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 18.9% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 15.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 91.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $26,867, and the median income for a family was $32,058. Males had a median income of $28,894 versus $23,472 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,525. 29.1% of the population and 23.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 40.1% of those under the age of 18 and 19.0% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Economy

Providence was one of the first cities to industrialize in the U.S. By 1830, the city had manufacturing industries in metals, machinery, textiles, jewelry, and silverware. Though manufacturing has declined, the city is still one of the largest centers for jewelry and silverware design and manufacturing. Services, particularly education, health care, and finance, also make up a large portion of the city's economy. Since it is the capital of Rhode Island, Providence's economy also consists of government services. The conglomerate Textron is headquartered in the city. Another company whose origins are in the city is Fleet Bank. Once Rhode Island's largest bank, it moved its headquarters to Boston after acquiring Shawmut Bank in 1995. Before its acquisition by Bank of America, Fleet merged with BankBoston to become New England's largest commercial bank. The city is home to the Rhode Island Convention Center, opened in December 1993. Along with a hotel, the convention center is connected to the Providence Place Mall through a skywalk. The Providence Place Mall is a major retail center in the city. Providence also maintains a seaport which handles cargo such as cement, chemicals, heavy machinery, petroleum, and scrap metal.

Government

seaport Providence has a mayor-council form of government. There are fifteen city councilors, one for each of the city's wards. The city council is tasked with enacting ordinances and passing an annual budget. Providence also has probate and superior courts. The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island is located downtown on the opposite end of Kennedy Plaza from City Hall. Vincent Cianci, Jr, who was often credited with Providence's 1990s renaissance, was the city's longest serving mayor and a major presence in Providence politics. Nevertheless, during Operation Plunder Dome, Cianci was indicted in April 2001 on various federal criminal charges including racketeering, conspiracy, extortion, witness tampering, and mail fraud. He was ultimately convicted of conspiracy and is currently serving his sentence in federal prison. In 2002, David N. Cicilline was elected Mayor in a landslide, making him the first openly homosexual Mayor of an American state capital.

Education

Providence is the home of Brown University, an Ivy League university, and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), a very well respected art college. Several other institutions of higher learning include Johnson and Wales University, Providence College, Rhode Island College, the Community College of Rhode Island (Providence campus), and the Providence campus of the University of Rhode Island. The Providence Public School District serves about 26,000 students from pre-Kindergarten to grade 12. The district has 25 elementary schools, nine middle schools, and thirteen high schools. There are also two centers for students with special needs.

Culture

University of Rhode Island Providence is one of the most culturally diverse cities for its size. Because of the presence of Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design, the city attracts many intellectual minds. Much of the cultural awareness of the city arose after the Providence Renaissance, which was started by former mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci Jr.. Vincent "Buddy" Cianci Jr. The East Side neighborhood of Providence includes the largest contiguous area of National Historic Society-designated buildings in the U.S. The nearby Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum has a collection of trees and plants, including the largest sequoia on the East Coast. The southern part of the city is home to the famous roadside attraction Nibbles Woodaway (also known as the "Big Blue Bug"), the world's largest termite, as well as Roger Williams Park. The park contains a zoo and the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium. The main art museum is the RISD Museum. In addition to the Providence Public Library and its nine branches, the city is home to the Providence Athenaeum, which is one of the oldest lending libraries in the world. Edgar Allan Poe, a longtime Providence resident, was a regular fixture there. The city is also the home of the Tony winning theater group Trinity Repertory Company and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. Providence is also the home of several performing arts centers such as the Veterans Memorial Auditorium and the Providence Performing Arts Center. The Bank of America Skating Center, formerly the Fleet Skating Center, is located near Kennedy Plaza in the downtown district. During the summer months, the city regularly hosts WaterFire, an environmental art installation that consists of about 100 bonfires that blaze just above the surface of the three rivers that pass through the middle of downtown Providence. There are multiple Waterfire events that are accompanied by various pieces of classical and world music. The public art displays, most notably sculptures, change on a regular basis. Providence and the surrounding area have been used as a backdrop for movies and television series. The animated television series Family Guy takes place in Quahog, a fictional suburb of Providence. The city and its name were used in the television series Providence. The Farrelly brothers used the city as a backdrop for several of their movies, notably Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary.

Media

The city is served by the daily newspaper The Providence Journal, which is also available throughout Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. The alternate newspaper Providence Phoenix also serves Providence and the surrounding area. Providence is the center of Rhode Island's broadcasting market, which also encompasses New Bedford, Massachusetts. The city is served by television stations representing every major American television network as well radio stations originating from Providence and Boston. The major network-affiliated television stations based in Providence are WLNE-TV (ABC and licensed to New Bedford), WJAR (NBC), WPRI-TV (CBS), and WNAC-TV (FOX). Other stations serving the Providence market include WLWC (UPN/The WB and licensed to New Bedford), WRIW-LP (Telemundo), and WPXQ (i). WSBE-TV is Rhode Island's PBS member station.

Sports

The city is home to the American Hockey League team Providence Bruins, which plays at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. From 1926 to 1977, the AHL's Providence Reds (renamed the Rhode Island Reds in their last years) played at the Rhode Island Auditorium, which stood on North Main Street. They regularly won the league and division championships. Providence has its own roller derby league. Formed in 2004, it currently has two teams: the Providence Mob Squad and Sakonnet River Roller Rats. The NFL's New England Patriots and MLS's New England Revolution play in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is situated halfway between Providence and Boston. Providence was formerly home to two major league franchises: the NFL's Providence Steam Roller in the 1920s and 1930s, and the NBA's Providence Steamrollers in the 1940s. The city's defunct baseball team, the Providence Grays, won a national championship in 1884, and was later Babe Ruth's first professional team. Today, professional baseball is offered by the Pawtucket Red Sox, the AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox which plays in nearby Pawtucket. Most baseball fans — along with the local media — tend to follow the Boston Red Sox. Major colleges and universities fielding NCAA Division I athletic teams are Brown University and Providence College. The latter is a member of the Big East Conference. Much local hype is associated with games between these two schools or the University of Rhode Island. Providence has also hosted the Gravity Games alternative sports tournament during several recent summers.

Infrastructure

Health and medicine

Providence is home to Rhode Island Hospital, one of the largest medical centers in Rhode Island. The hospital is located in a complex along I-95 that includes Hasbro Children's Hospital and Women and Infants Hospital. The city is also home to the Roger Williams Medical Center and Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, which is associated with Brown University. A VA medical center is located in Providence.

Transportation

VA Providence is served by T. F. Green Airport, which is located in nearby Warwick. The railroad station, located between the Rhode Island State House and the downtown district, is served by Amtrak and MBTA commuter railroad services. I-95 runs from north to south through Providence while I-195 connects the city to eastern Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, including New Bedford, Massachusetts and Cape Cod. I-295 encircles Providence while RI 146 provides a direct connection with Worcester, Massachusetts. The city has commissioned and begun a long-term project to move I-195 partially for safety reasons, but also to free up land and to unify the neighborhoods split by the highway. The city's Kennedy Plaza, in downtown Providence, is a public transportation hub for the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, or RIPTA. RIPTA also operates the Providence LINK, a system of trolley buses in downtown Providence, as well as a ferry to Newport between May and October.

Notes

#[http://weather.yahoo.com/climo/USRI0050_f.html Records and Averages - Providence (2005)]. Yahoo! Weather. Accessed September 13, 2005. #[http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/?id=101896 Providence, Rhode Island (2004)]. Emporis.com. Accessed November 7, 2005. #[http://www.azhockey.com/Pr.htm#Providence%20Reds Providence Reds (October 4, 2005)]. A to Z Encyclopedia of Ice Hockey. Accessed November 9, 2005. #[http://rittmann-art.com/graphics/riaud.jpg JPEG Image of Rhode Island Auditorium]. Karl Robert Rittmann...Rhode Island Artist. Accessed November 9, 2005.

References

- [http://www.riedc.com/riedc/ri_databank/31/266/ Profile: City of Providence (2005)]. Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation - RI Databank.
- [http://www.providenceri.com/history/centuries1.html Three and One-Half Centuries at a Glance (May 2002)]. ProvidenceRI.com - History and Fact.
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External links

- [http://www.provchamber.com/ Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce]
- [http://www.pwcvb.com/ Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau]
- [http://www.provport.com/ ProvPort, Inc. - Port of Providence]
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/Providence Providence travel guide at Wikitravel] Category:Providence, Rhode Island Category:U.S. state capitals ja:プロヴィデンス (ロードアイランド)

NBC chimes

The NBC chimes of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) radio network in the United States was the first ever audio trademark to be accepted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The 3 notes of the chimes are G, E, and C, in that order. Beginning in 1931, the early version was actually a communications signal to the various stations and links in the network from NBC headquarters in New York City.

History

The famous 3-note chimes of NBC came about after several years of trying different musical note combinations. They were first broadcast over NBC's Red and Blue networks on Nov. 29, 1929. However, there are disagreements about the original source. One possibility is that they came from WSB in Atlanta which used it for its own purposes until one day someone at NBC headquarters in New York City heard the WSB version of the notes during a networked broadcast of a Georgia Tech football game and asked permission to use it on the national network. NBC started to use the 3 notes in 1931. The NBC chimes were mechanized in 1932 with a unit invented by Richard H. Ranger, a former Radio Corporation of America (RCA) engineer who also invented an early form of the modern FAX machine. The NBC chime machine generated the notes by means of finely tuned metal reeds that were plucked by fingers on a revolving drum, much like a music box. The purpose of the chimes was to send a low level signal of constant amplitude that would be heard by the various switching stations manned by NBC and AT&T engineers, and thus used as a system cue for switching different stations between the NBC Red network and NBC Blue network feeds; it also signaled the pause for local station identification immediately thereafter. Because of fears of offending commercial sponsors by cutting their programs off in mid-sentence, the mechanized chimes were always rung by an announcer pushing a button; they were never set to an automatic timer, although heavy discussions on the subject were held between the Engineering and Programming departments throughout the 1930s and 1940s. On November 20 1947, NBC filed with the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office to make the chimes a registered service mark for identification of radio broadcasting services, the first such audible service mark to be filed with that office. Registration was granted on April 4, 1950; the registration number was 0523616, serial number 71541873. This registration expired on November 3, 1992. A separate service mark registration was made in 1971 for identification of television broadcasting services (serial 72349496, registration 0916522) and this is still active. The use as a communications signal ended around 1971. However, in 1976, they were revived in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the network. Modern musical versions of the 3-note chimes are still in popular use on NBC radio and television networks, as well as in the closing logo of NBC Universal Television Studio, the TV production arm of NBC's current parent, NBC Universal.

Trivia

- An alternate jingle was also used that went E-G-C-C, known as "the fourth chime" and used during wartime (especially in the wake of the Pearl Harbor bombing) and other disasters.
- Despite an urban legend, the three note combination of G-E-C was not related at all to RCA's original stockholder, the General Electric Company.

External links

- [http://www.nbcchimes.info The NBC Chimes Museum]
- [http://www.old-time.com/misc/chimes.html History of the NBC chimes]
- [http://www.radioremembered.org/nbc_chimes.htm NBC chimes sound files]
- [http://www.oldradio.com/archives/stations/sf/chimes.htm NBC chimes machine]
- [http://www.ev1.pair.com/colorTV/colorTVlogos.html NBC TV chimes] Category:NBC television network

WSB

WSB (meaning "welcome south, brother") is the callsign of three broadcast stations in Atlanta:
- WSB AM, 750kHz
- WSB-TV, 2, DTV 39
- WSB-FM, 98.5MHz WSB could also be the initials of:
- William S. Baring-Gould, a scholar of Sherlock Holmes
- William Sterndale Bennett, an English composer
- William S. Bowdern, a Jesuit priest
- William S. Burroughs, a U.S. author
- William Seward Burroughs, a U.S. inventor ----

Georgia Institute of Technology

Motto Progress and Service

Established 1885

School type Public University

President G. Wayne Clough

Location Atlanta, GA, USA

Enrollment 16,500 undergraduate and graduate
Faculty 800
Endowment US$719 million
Campus Atlanta, 400 acres (1.61 km²)
Sports teams Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, NCAA Division 1A. 8 men's varsity teams, 7 women's. [http://ramblinwreck.collegesports.com// Tech Athletics]
Website [http://www.gatech.edu/ www.gatech.edu]

The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is located in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. With over 16,000 students, Georgia Tech is one of four public research universities in the University System of Georgia. Founded on October 13, 1885 as the Georgia School of Technology, it assumed its present name in 1948. Georgia Tech is best known for its programs in engineering, though it also offers degrees in architecture, science, management, computer science, and social sciences. It has the nation's top industrial engineering program, as well as one of the top aerospace engineering programs. The Institute's current president is Dr. G. Wayne Clough. Unlike similarly-named universities (such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology), Georgia Tech is a public institution.

The school

Georgia Tech's campus in midtown Atlanta was the site of the athletes' village, and a venue for a number of athletic events for the 1996 Summer Olympics. It was also the home of early radio station WGST AM from 1924 to 1930. WGSTGeorgia Tech is also sometimes called the North Avenue Trade School, although this was never its official title. The name stems from the fact that the campus is bordered to the south by North Avenue, and that the school, in its earlier years was operated much like a trade school, with students working part of the day in a machine shop, and the other part of the day in classrooms. Consistently ranked among the top engineering schools in the world and one of the top ten public universities in the United States, Georgia Tech has been broadening its programs by strengthening its undergraduate and graduate offerings in other fields. For example, its Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts includes degree programs in the humanities and social sciences (often with a distinct science-and-technology focus), such as public policy, international affairs, economics, modern languages, history and sociology, communication and cultural studies, and digital media. Georgia Tech has one of the most unbalanced male-to-female ratios of any co-ed university with almost three times as many male students as females. However, this is slowly changing, presumably due to the university's growing liberal arts programs, as well as outreach programs to encourage more female high school students to consider careers in science and engineering, such as the "Women In Engineering" program. The Freshman class of 2005-2006 currently has one of the highest male/female ratios at 71% to 29%. In 1999, Georgia Tech began offering local degree programs to engineering students in Southeast Georgia, and in 2003 established a physical campus in Savannah, Georgia. [http://www.gtsav.gatech.edu Georgia Tech Savannah] offers undergraduate and graduate programs in engineering, and boasts a robust research program with many activities centered on coastal concerns. It is also home to the regional offices of the Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute and the Advanced Technology Development Center. Georgia Tech also operates a campus in France, known as Georgia Tech Lorraine. Georgia Tech Lorraine is known for a much-publicized lawsuit pertaining to the language used in advertisements; see Toubon Law. The university further collaborated with the National University of Singapore to set up The Logistics Institute - Asia Pacific in Singapore.

Campus, buildings, and other structures

Singapore The Georgia Tech campus is located in Midtown, an area north of downtown Atlanta. Although a number of skyscrapers are visible from all points on campus — most notably the headquarters of both BellSouth and The Coca-Cola Company as well as Atlanta's tallest building, the Bank of America building — the campus itself has few buildings over a few stories and has a great deal of greenery. This gives it a distinctly suburban atmosphere quite different from other Atlanta campuses such as that of Georgia State University or Emory. The campus is organized into four main parts: West Campus, East Campus, Central Campus, and Technology Square. West Campus and East Campus are both occupied primarily by student living complexes, while Central Campus is reserved primarily for buildings used for teaching and research. Technology Square, located across the Downtown Connector and embedded in the city east of East Campus, is home to the College of Management, the official school bookstore, a hotel, as well as offices for a number of faculty and graduate students, the Graphics, Visualization, and Usability Center, the Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute, and Georgia Electronics Design Center research groups. The buildings in Technology Square also host a variety of small businesses as well as business ventures spawned by Georgia Tech research. West Campus is occupied primarily by apartments and coed undergraduate freshman dormitories. The Campus Recreation Center (formerly the Student Athletic Complex), a volleyball court, a large, low natural green area known as the Burger Bowl, a large, and a flat artificial green area known as the SAC Field are all located near the western side of the campus. Also within easy walking distance of West Campus is City Cafe, which is open 24 hours, Rocky Mountain Pizza, and Engineer's Bookstore, an alternative to Georgia Tech's official bookstore. West Campus is also home to a music club operated by students called Under the Couch as well as a small diner and convenience store, West Side Market. Due to limited space, all auto travel proceeds via a network of one-way streets which connects West Campus to the larger campus roads Ferst Road and Hemphill Avenue. The dining hall for West Campus, the Woodruff Dining Hall, or 'Woody's', is part of the Woodruff student dormitory. East Campus houses all of the Fraternities and Sororities as well as most of the undergraduate freshman dormitories. Although the residences are similar, East Campus is decidedly more urban than West Campus. It abuts on the Downtown Connector, which is infamous for its traffic and suffers from high pollution during peak hours. However, via a number of bridges over the highway as well as a tunnel under it, East Campus has quick access to Midtown and its businesses such as The Varsity as well as having access to Tech Square. Georgia Tech's stadiums, such as the famous Bobby Dodd Stadium, are located on East Campus, and tech Square is accessible on foot from there. East Campus's dining hall, Brittain, is modeled after a medieval church, complete with carved columns and stained-glass windows showing symbolic figures. While much more architecturally appealing than Woodruff, Brittain's food is consistently ranked below West Campus alternatives. The main road leading from East Campus to Central Campus is a sharp incline referred to as "Freshman Hill" or simply "The Hill." Bobby Dodd Stadium Reserved primarily for academic, research, and office buildings, Central Campus has no residences. Buildings like the Howey Physics Building, the Boggs Chemistry Building, the College of Computing, the Skiles building, which houses the math and humanities departments, and the Ford Environmental Science & Technology Building, provide the various academic functionalities of the campus. Intermingled with these are a variety of research facilities, such as the Centennial Research Building, the Pettit Microelectronics Research Center, the Electronic Research Building, and the Petit Biotechnology Building. Tech's administrative buildings, such as the Student Services Building (Flag Building), Tech Tower, and the Bursar's Office are also located here. However, Central Campus doesn't altogether lack places to waste time; it has a large library with sizable computer clusters, a small traditional eatery called Junior's Grill, as well as a large communal building for students, called the Student Center. The Student Center includes a number of eating places, computer clusters, a game room, the Post Office, a darkened Music Listening Room. In front of the Student Center is a fountain monument called the Kessler Campanile, which students often refer to as 'The Shaft'. Yellow Jacket Park, the area of Central Campus in front of the Student Center, has many trees and benches around its edges but the center is kept open and uninterrupted. Some areas of Central Campus, such as the Boggs Chemistry and Industrial Engineering buildings, are more accessible from West Campus. Others, such as Skiles, Junior's, Tech Tower, and the library are more accessible from East Campus. East Campus has foot access to Tech Square, but Tech Square can also be reached from anywhere on campus via the Tech Trolley transportation system.

Tech traditions

Tech has a number of legends and traditions, some of which have persisted for decades. Junior's Grill
- Stealing the T: Tech's historic primary administrative building, Tech Tower, has the letters TECH hanging atop it on each of its four sides. A number of times, students have orchestrated complex plans to steal the huge symbolic letter T, and on occasion have carried this act out successfully. The T was then returned at its traditional time, and the student's achievement celebrated. Stealing the T is sometimes also called climbing. Although the administration used to turn a blind eye to this practice, it is now officially discouraged, due to the risk of fatal falls and the potential for damage to the building. Security features such as pressure sensitive roof tiling and fiber optic cabling running throughout the letters have been added to the T to help prevent its theft and aid in catching the perpetrators. The last successful stealing of the "T" occurred in the spring of 2001 by two members of Beta Theta Pi named David Moeller and Jimmy Henderson. Tradition dictates that the first T to be stolen should be the one facing east, as this can most easily be seen from the Downtown Connector.
- The Whistle: A steam whistle that blows five minutes before the hour, every hour from 6:55am to 5:55pm. This tradition is a hold over from the trade school days, originally used to mark the end of a shift in the shops; now it is used both to mark the end of classes and as a ten minute warning to the beginning of the next classes.
- Triple Play: This is a shorthand term for executing 3 or more of the several officially discouraged traditions. They include stealing the T, swimming naked in the president's pool, climbing the coliseum, climbing the stadium lights, and jumping off the 10 meter high dive.
- To Hell With Georgia: Georgia Tech has an ongoing rivalry, mostly in sports, with another school in Georgia, the University of Georgia, often simply called Georgia for short. An annual issue of the school newspaper, The Technique, focuses on this rivalry with an issue that spoofs The Red and Black, the newspaper of the University of Georgia. "To Hell With Georgia" is also known as "The good word." If one student asks another "What's the Good Word?" the response is always "To Hell with Georgia!"
- RAT Caps: Every year new freshmen are given yellow caps and a number of freshmen wear yellow baseball caps throughout the year, most notably freshmen band members. RAT is short for 'Recruit At Tech,' although freshman are sometimes addressed as RATS, or 'Recently Acquired Tech Students' . The RAT caps are decorated with the football team's scores, the freshman's major, expected graduation date, and "To Hell With Georgia" emblazoned on the back of the cap. Freshmen caught not wearing the cap had their hair forcibly shaved into the shape of a T, however anti-hazing laws eliminated this threat and (by proxy) widespread usage of the RAT caps. The tradition of RAT caps is maintained mostly by the marching band.
- George P. Burdell: The legendary imaginary student George P. Burdell is said to possess nearly every degree Georgia Tech offers, after many students took a variety of classes in his name. Since the 1960's, some students have managed to ensure that George P. Burdell is always enrolled at the university in the school's registrar's computers. The initial forged enrollment was performed in the era of computer punch cards. When Tech switched to online class registration, Burdell managed to get his name on the roll for every single course offered that term. After initially vigorously searching for the hackers, the university has since accepted the presence of George P. Burdell in every year's class. George has also had a computer-printed report card generated. George was a sophomore majoring in civil engineering and taking five courses that quarter. His grades were A, B, C, D, and F. George P. Burdell is also a common tool for pranks at various school events and games. His name is paged over the stadium intercom at nearly every away sporting event.
- The Cumberland Game : College football game with the largest margin of victory in history. In 1916, Georgia Tech's football team (coached by the legendary John Heisman -- for whom the trophy is named) defeated Cumberland 222-0. Cumberland's total net yardage was -28 (minus 28), and it had only one play for positive yards. Neither team got a first down (Georgia Tech scored every time it got the ball). Cumberland beat Georgia Tech's baseball team 22 to 0 the previous year.
- 41-38: Score of two momentous victories by Georgia Tech over the University of Virginia in college football, hence a Tech rallying cry whenever the two teams meet. In 1990, Virginia won its first seven games and had a #1 ranking in both polls. Undefeated but unheralded Georgia Tech came into Scott Stadium in Charlottesville and beat the Cavaliers 41-38 on a last-second field goal by Scott Sisson. In 1998, the first year since 1990 that both teams had come into this game with high hopes, #25 GT hosted undefeated #7 UVa, and again pulled off the upset. This time, the Yellow Jackets came from three touchdowns behind and survived a 54-yard FG miss by UVa kicker Todd Braverman as time ran out. Since then, any time the two teams have met with rankings and bowl positions on the line, GT fans have used "41-38" as a rallying cry.
- Sideways the Dog: Sideways was a black and white female dog, who, after having been involved in a car accident, was forced to walk sideways. She was a favorite of the students, and often slept in a different dorm room every night, being fed through the generosity of the student body and Brittain Dining Hall. She died after accidentally ingesting some rat poison in one of the dorm rooms, and was buried (sideways) on the grounds near Tech Tower. A plaque marks her resting spot and briefly tells her story.
- Drownproofing: From 1936 to 1987, Tech offered a class called Drownproofing which was required for graduation. The class, developed by Coach Fred Lanoue for the Naval School which was located at GT prior to and during WWII, taught students how to float in water for extended periods of time with ankles and wrists bound, swim the length of an Olympic-sized pool and back underwater, and other water survival skills. At the time it was considered a prime example of the difficulty of Tech's curriculum, and referred to in jest by students as "Drowning 101".
- Anak Society -- The only official Secret Society on campus.
- I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech, the Tech fight song.
- Getting Shafted: Getting shafted is what happens pretty much any time you get a raw deal. The physical manifestation of the notion is the Kessler Campanile (A shaft like structure near the Student Center).
- Getting Out: Getting out refers to graduating from Tech. I didn't graduate in 1996, I got out in 1996.
- Theodore Roosevelt: Visited Tech October 20, 1905 and shook every student's hand.
- See the T-Book traditions for more traditions.
- Virgin Graduation: When a virgin graduates, the whistle blows seven quick times in the style of "shave and a haircut - two bits".

Distinguished alumni

Distinguished alumni and students include:
- Gil Amelio electrical engineer, one-time CEO of Apple Computer (physics)
- Kenny Anderson basketball player
- Jon Barry basketball player
- Travis Best basketball player
- Charles (Garry) Betty President and CEO of Earthlink
- Chris Bosh basketball player, 4th pick in 2003 NBA draft
- Keith Brooking football player, LB for the Atlanta Falcons
- Kevin Brown baseball player
- George P. Burdell, legendary fictional student continuously enrolled since 1927; received numerous degrees from Georgia Tech
- Kelly Campbell football player, wide receiver for NFL's Minnesota Vikings
- Jimmy Carter 39th President of the United States (attended Georgia Tech, but graduated from the United States Naval Academy)
- Clint Castleberry Heisman Trophy candidate as freshman, plane lost in WWII, #19 only retired football jersey
- Stewart Cink golfer
- Gen. Ray Davis Assistant Commandant of the USMC, Korean War Medal of Honor recipient
- Mike Duke president and CEO of Wal-Mart (industrial engineering)
- David Duval golfer
- Nick Ferguson National Football League defensive back
- Jeff Foxworthy comedian (electrical engineering)
- Y. Frank Freeman first winner of The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
- Nomar Garciaparra baseball player
- Phil Gordon professional poker player
- Frank Gordy founder of The Varsity chain of restaurants, which includes the world's largest drive-in
- Dennis Hayes founder of Hayes Communications, an early developer of PC modems
- Jarrett Jack basketball player
- Bobby Jones golfer (mechanical engineering)
- Kim King 60s quarterback, Atlanta developer, color-commentator for football, & one of the greatest Tech fans
- Chris Klaus founder of Internet Security Systems (attended but left to form ISS)
- Jan Lorenc designer
- Stephon Marbury basketball player
- Scottie Mayfield president of Mayfield Dairy Farms (industrial management 1973)
- Thomas McGuire USAAF second leading ace of WWII with 38 victories, Medal of Honor recipient, killed in action. Attended Georgia Tech before enlisting.
- Larry Mize golfer
- Kary Mullis winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Arthur Murray dance instructor and businessman (management)
- Sam Nunn former U.S. senator (attended but did not graduate from Tech; graduated from Emory University)
- Jay Payton baseball player
- John Portman architect
- Mark Price All-American basketball player, NBA All-Pro Point Guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, U.S. Olympic Team Member
- Joe Rogers Sr. co-founder Waffle House
- John Salley basketball player, co-host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period
- Herbert Saffir civil engineer, developed the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
- Randolph Scott movie star in the 1940s and 1950s
- Susan Still astronaut
- Pat Swilling former NFL player,Louisiana Politician
- Mark Teixeira baseball player
- Richard H. Truly astronaut, head of NASA
- Jason Varitek baseball player
- Dez White National Football League, wide receiver for Atlanta Falcons
- John Young astronaut, first commander of space shuttle (aeronautical engineering)

Sports

right Not many schools of Tech's relatively small size (around 16,000) and high academic standing (top 5 among engineering schools, top 10 among public schools, top 40 among all schools) do as well or better in the "big three" traditional American sports. Eliminating schools which are not state-supported, there are only a handful. The school's sports teams are variously called the Yellowjackets, the Ramblin' Wreck, and the Engineers, but the official nickname is Yellow Jackets. They participate in NCAA Division I-A, in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The school mascot is Buzz. The school's traditional football rival is UGA; the rivalry was, at one time, considered one of the fiercest in college football. The rivalry is commonly referred to as Clean Old Fashioned Hate, which is also the title of a 1986 book about the subject. Tech's fight song [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22Ramblin%27_Wreck_from_Georgia_Tech%22 "I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech"] is known worldwide. It was adapted from an old drinking song ("Son of a Gambolier"), and embellished with trumpet flourishes by Frank Roman. In 1959, then VP Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev sang it together when they had their famous cold war confrontation in Moscow, to reduce the tension. Nixon didn't know any Russian songs, but Khrushchev knew that one American one. It was sung on the Ed Sullivan show. It was played in space. Gregory Peck sang it while strumming a ukulele in Man in a Grey Flannel Suit. John Wayne whistled it in The High and the Mighty. It is played after every GT score in a football game. If GT is winning big, the opponent fans get sick of hearing it. The Edwin H. Morris & Company (later acquired by Paul McCartney's company, MPL) obtained a copyright in 1931. There are multiple explanations for where how the term "Ramblin' Wrecks" became associated with Georgia Tech. The most plausible is that many GT engineering grads found jobs in the jungles of South America in the early 1900s, where they concocted mechanical contraptions to tame the jungle and get around. The first Ramblin' Wreck of record was a 1914 Ford Model T owned by Floyd Field, Tech's first dean of men. In 1961, a gold and white Model A, known as the Ramblin' Wreck, led the team onto the field for the first time, and it has done so at home games ever since. The annual "Ramblin' Wreck" parade at Homecoming displays some really strange contraptions, judged for ingenuity. Tech has seventeen varsity sports. In men's sports, in addition to football, basketball, and baseball, there's golf, tennis, swimming & diving, track & field, and cross country. For women, there's basketball, softball, volleyball, tennis, swimming & diving, track & field, and cross-country. Fourteen of these sports finished in the top 25 during the 2004-5 school year.

Football

Georgia Tech's football team plays at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field, the oldest on campus stadium among Division I-A teams. Georgia Tech claims 4 national championships in football: 1917 under the legendary coach John Heisman; 1928 under William Alexander; 1952 under the famous Bobby Dodd; and, 1990 under Bobby Ross. The team is currently coached by Chan Gailey, who is best known for his stints with the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers. As of the end of the 2005 season, Tech is one of only six Div. I-A teams to have played in a bowl game in each of the past nine years. Only 5 schools have longer bowl streaks. Georgia Tech's winning percentage of .667 in bowl games is the best in college football among teams with 20 bowl appearances. The Yellow Jackets are 22-11 in bowl games as of 2004. During the Dodd glory years of the early 50s, Tech won six bowls in six years, back when there were few bowls. In 1955, it was the first school to win what were then considered the four major bowls: Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Cotton .

Basketball

Georgia Tech's men's basketball team plays at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The team is currently coached by Paul Hewitt. The Yellow Jackets advanced to their first NCAA finals in 2004, losing to UConn. In 2005, the Jackets lost to the University of Louisville in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. The 2005-2006 team, after losing rising senior Jarrett Jack to the NBA, features two upperclassmen and nationally ranked sophomore and freshmen recruiting classes. Bobby Cremins, the previous coach, led Georgia Tech to several NCAA basketball tournaments and finished with a 354-237 record. The Yellow Jackets reached the NCAA Final Four in 1990 under Cremins with his "Lethal Weapon 3" team featuring Brian Oliver, Dennis Scott, and Kenny Anderson. The basketball court at Georgia Tech was later named Cremins Court for Cremins' accomplishments.

Baseball

Georgia Tech's baseball team is currently coached by Danny Hall. The Yellow Jackets are frequently ranked in the Top 10 at the beginning of the season, and almost always finish in the Top 20. Tech has advanced to the NCAA playoffs in 19 of the past 20 years. Tech has been to the College World Series twice, in 1994 (when it lost the Championship game) and 2002. GT is second only to Stanford in players named to the USA Baseball National Team over the years. In 2005, Tech won the ACC Championship (regular season & tournament) and its regional, but lost it super-regional to the University of Tennessee. A new 3500-seat baseball stadium was built in 2002. The name of the old stadium, Russ Chandler Stadium, was retained, and it's still affectionately referred to as "the Rusty C." There are always a number of Tech alum in "the bigs." Two of them were among the starters in the 2005 "All Star Game."

Golf

Georgia Tech is consistently ranked near the top in golf. The success of several alumni on the pro circuit is testimony to the quality of GT players. These include David Duval, Stewart Cink, and the legendary Bobby Jones.

Women's sports

Tech's softball, volleyball, and tennis teams have improved dramatically in recent years. Individuals have excelled in track & field and swimming & diving.

Student life

The downside to being considered one of the most elite and toughest engineering schools in the world plays itself out on the students' social life. Because of the heavy workload at Georgia Tech, most students are overly stressed, worried about tomorrow's test, and driven by the desire for the degree. Students have only minimal time for social functions. Compounding this problem greatly are the fact that a majority of the students are from in state and many spend weekends and free time at home, and the heavily skewed population by sex (approximately 70% male). This has led to strong reputation within the school of it being more of a test of spirit than an enjoyable life experience, as well as a number of disturbing statistics. For five years in a row, the Princeton Review, a private review of colleges on many levels across the US (one of the institutions by which Georgia Tech openly lays claim to its reputations for excellence in engineering) ranked Georgia Tech amongst the top 10 most hated schools by its own students, and in the top 3 worst party schools, by a poll of students. US News and World report, in a nationwide review of college binge drinking and alcoholism, ranked Ga Tech 17th for alcoholism nationwide-the only school on the danger list that wasn't also in the top 50 party schools that year. In 2003, the School of Psychology found that nearly 30% of students polled on campus showed signs of antisocial alcoholism, or knew another student who expressed similar signs. The school has made great strides to correct these issues, to limited success. Most notably have been the FASET (Familiarization and Adaptation to the Surroundings and Environs of Tech - and also ' For All Students Entering Tech ') and Freshmen Experience (a freshman only dorm life program to encourage friendships and a feeling of social involvement) programs, encouraging freshman and new transfer students to become involved in social activities and extracurricular activities on campus. Part of the importance of the Freshmen Experience program comes from the schools high rate of underclassmen dropouts who are discouraged by lack of a social scene in their first year of college and daunted by the average time taken by most students to finish their undergraduate degrees(only 24% of freshmen make it to graduation in 4 years). The most notable improvement that the school has actively undertaken is to increase female student recruitment, with the incoming freshman class in 2004 having the highest incoming female percentage in recent history-almost 35%, largely due to increasing the number of liberal arts majors offered.

Georgia Tech in movies

Certain shots from the tour portions of the movie Road Trip (2000) (when Tom Green's character is giving the tour) were shot on Georgia Tech's campus. Buildings filmed include the main library (look for a fountain with no water in it) and Skiles classroom building. The Georgia Tech library was also featured as the library at the fictitious Atlanta A&T University in the movie Drumline (2002). Tech is also mentioned by name in the movie, when the only white student at the black university is asked (jokingly) "what's the matter, not enough black kids at Georgia Tech?" The Georgia Tech football team was portrayed near the end of the 1993 film Rudy. In a famous scene from the movie, the title character finally gets a chance to play for the University of Notre Dame as he is put into the ballgame towards the closing moments of the Irish-Yellow Jacket matchup. There are some inaccuracies in the portrayal. The Georgia Tech SAE fraternity house was featured in the 1992 film Love Potion No. 9 starring Tate Donovan and a then largely unknown Sandra Bullock. The Tech campus, especially Rose Bowl Field football practice area and the former Heisman Gym were used in filming the 1984 movie, The Bear, starring Gary Busey as Paul "Bear" Bryant. The 1993 Touchstone Pictures movie "The Program" (starring James Caan as the coach, Omar Epps and Craig Sheffer as players, and Halle Berry and Kristy Swanson as co-eds), features (at the start and near the end) Georgia Tech (in gold helmets with white GT logo, blue and then white jerseys, and gold pants) playing a fictional "ESU" team" (with garnet and gold colors suggesting FSU). In the movie, "Devil's Advocate", starring Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves, Pacino tells Reeves that one of the interns on their law firm goes to Georgia Tech. As mentioned in an earlier section, Gregory Peck played and sang the world-renowned "Ramblin' Wreck" fight song in "Man in a Gray Flannel Suit" and John Wayne whistled a bit of it in the 1954 movie "The High and the Mighty" (after convincing the captain to attempt to make it to San Francisco rather than ditch the plane in the ocean). It was no doubt carefully selected as a sign of success, since Georgia Tech was in its glory days of football, winning six bowl games in six years and being named National Champion by organizations in 1951, 1952, and 1956, though Georgia Tech currently only claims to the 1952 season. Scenes for various other movies have been filmed on the Tech campus, mostly in front of, or in, fraternity houses. The movie "Hyderabad Blues" depicts a graduate student returning home to India to face his parents' proposal of marriage. The student, Nagesh Kukunoor, is seen wearing a Georgia Tech T-shirt. Additionally, Nagesh attended Georgia Tech as a graduate student before becoming a movie producer.

Georgia Tech in books

"John Heisman: Principles of Football" [Hill Street Press, 2000] describes the philosophy and plays used by the great John Heisman, Tech's first paid coach. "Dodd's Luck" [Golden Coast Publishing, 1987] describes Bobby Dodd's highly successful football coaching career in his own words. In Tom Wolfe's "A Man in Full" novel, the central character, a developer named Charlie Croker (who was a former 250-lb GT football player), is pressured by Atlanta leaders to support Fareek Fanon, a modern, black, Georgia Tech football star who may or may not have raped the white socialite daughter of a prominent Atlanta businessman; while the girl's father pressures Charlie to denounce the accused football player. In B. B. Rose's novel, "Halls of Poison Ivy", Georgia Tech is the setting of the murder of a graduate student. The administration and several students feature prominently in the ensuing mystery.

Student media

- WREK-FM, 91.1MHz, "Wreck"
- The Technique newspaper

References

#[http://www.underthecouch.org Under the Couch] #[http://www.pbase.com/goldtimer/image/46590071 GT Tower with T missing] #[http://new.nique.net/issues/2005-08-26/freshman%20survival%20guide/4 RATS] #[http://www.cumberland.edu/about/gotc/index.html The Cumberland Game] #[http://gtalumni.org/Publications/techtopics/sum00/firstperson.html Coach Fred Lanoue] #[http://www.tbook.org/index.php?id=1 T-Book traditions] #[http://walkerrowe.com/amaninfull.html Book review] #[http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/win92/wreck.html Ramblin' Wreck]

External links

- [http://gtalumni.org/campusmap/ Campus Map]
- [http://www.gatech.edu/ Georgia Tech website]
- [http://www.ramblinwreck.com/ Official athletics site] Category:Universities and colleges in Georgia
- ko:조지아 공과대학교

American football

American football rules shape, and usually has a large set of stitches along one side.]] American football, known in North America simply as football, is a competitive team sport. The object of the game is to advance the football towards the opposing team's end zone and score points. The ball can be advanced by carrying the ball, or by throwing or handing it from one teammate to the other. Points can be scored in a variety of ways, including carrying the ball over the goal line, throwing the ball to another player past the goal line or kicking it through the goal posts. The winner is the team with the most points when the time expires. Outside of the United States, Canada, and a few other countries such as American Samoa, the sport is usually referred to as American football (or sometimes as gridiron) to differentiate it from other football games, especially association football and rugby football. American football evolved as a separate sport from rugby football in the late 19th century. Arena football is a variant of American football.

Popularity

Since the 1960s, football has surpassed baseball as the most popular spectator sport in the United States. The 32-team National Football League (NFL) is the most popular and only major professional American football league. Its championship game, the Super Bowl, is watched by nearly half of US television households, and is also televised in over 150 other countries. Super Bowl Sunday has become an annual ritual in late January or early February. It is also the most watched sport on television in the US. The NFL also operates a developmental league, NFL Europe, with 6 teams based in European cities. NFL Europe player tries to thwart his progress.]] College football is also extremely popular throughout the U.S., especially in markets not served by an NFL team. Several college football stadiums seat more than 100,000 fans -- which regularly sell out. Even high school football games can attract five-figure crowds, especially in hotbeds like Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Texas and Georgia. The weekly autumn ritual of college and high-school football -- which includes marching bands, cheerleaders and parties -- is an important part of the culture in much of smalltown America. Football is also played recreationally by amateur club and youth teams (e.g., the Pop Warner little-league programs). There are also many "semi-pro" teams in leagues where the players are paid to play, but at a small enough salary that they generally must also hold a full-time job. Organized football is played almost exclusively by men and boys.

The rules of American football

Objective: Like most other games of football, the object of American football is to advance the ball towards the opponent's end of the field and score more points than the opposing team within a set time limit.

Field and players

football The American football field is often called the gridiron because the markings on the field resemble that type of grill that can be used to cook food over a fire. The game is played on a rectangular field 120 yards (110 metres) long by 53 1/3 yards (49 metres) wide. The longer boundary lines are sidelines, while the shorter boundary lines are end lines. Near each end of the field is a goal line; they are 100 yards apart. A scoring area called an end zone extends 10 yards beyond each goal line to each end line. Yard lines cross the field every 5 yards, and are numbered from each goal line to the 50-yard line, or midfield (similar to a typical rugby league field). Two rows of lines, known as hash marks parallel the side lines near the middle of the field. All plays start with the ball on or between the hash marks. At the back of each end zone are two goal posts (also called uprights) that are 18.5 feet apart. The posts are connected by a crossbar 10 feet from the ground. Successful kicks must go above the crossbar and between the uprights. (At many fields the uprights and crossbar are attached by a curved bar to a post outside the field of play, to reduce the chance of players running into the supports.) Each team has 11 players on the field at a time. However, teams may substitute for any or all of their players between plays. As a result, players have very specialized roles, and almost all of the 53 players on an NFL team will play in any given game. Thus, teams are divided into three separate units: the offense, the defense and the special teams (see below).

Game duration

A standard football game consists of four 15-minute (typically 12 minutes in high school football) periods (called quarters), with an intermission (called halftime) after the second quarter. The clock stops after certain plays; therefore, a game can last considerably longer (often more than three hours in real time). If an NFL game is tied after four quarters, the teams play up to another 15 minutes. The first team that scores wins; if neither team scores, the game is a tie. College overtime rules are more complicated and are described at Overtime (sport).

Advancing the ball

Advancing the ball in American football resembles the six-tackle rule and the play-the-ball in rugby league football. The team that takes possession of the ball (the offense) has four attempts, called downs, to advance the ball 10 yards towards their opponent's (the defense's) end zone. When the offense gains 10 yards, it gets a first down, or another set of four downs to gain 10 yards. If the offense fails to gain a first down, it loses possession of the ball. Except at the beginning of halves and after scores (see Kickoffs and free kicks below), the ball is always put into play by a snap. All players line up facing each other at the line of scrimmage (the position on the field where the play begins). One offensive player, the center, then passes (or "snaps") the ball between his legs to a teammate, usually the quarterback. Players can then advance the ball in two ways:
- By running with the ball, also known as rushing.
- By throwing the ball to a teammate, known as passing. The forward pass is a key factor distinguishing American and Canadian football from other football sports. The offense can throw the ball forward only once on a play and only from behind the line of scrimmage. The ball can be thrown sideways or backwards at any time. This type of pass is known as a lateral and is much rarer in American football than in rugby league or rugby union. A play or down ends, and the ball becomes dead, after any of the following:
- The player with the ball is tackled to the ground by a member of the opposing team, or has his forward progress stopped (as determined by an official).
- A forward pass flies out of bounds or touches the ground before it is caught. This is known as an incomplete pass. The ball is returned to the original line of scrimmage for the next down.
- The ball or the player with the ball goes beyond the dimensions of the field (out of bounds).
- A team scores. Often an official will blow a whistle to notify all players that the play is over. The ball may also change position as a result of penalties. These penalties may be incurred by either the offensive or defensive team. Generally, penalties involve a loss of yardage for the penalized team, and sometimes an automatic first down. Field officials signal that a penalty has been incurred by throwing a yellow flag onto the field near the site of the penalty, while the play continues. When the play ends, the referee names the penalty and the consequences thereof.

Changes of possession

The offense maintains possession of the ball unless one of the following things happens:
- The team fails to get a first down, that is, move the ball forward at least 10 yards in four downs. The defensive team takes over the ball at the spot where the play ends.
- The offense scores a touchdown or field goal. The team that scored then kicks off the ball to the other team. (See Scoring and Kickoffs below.)
- The offense punts the ball to the defense. A punt is a kick in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground. Punts are nearly always made on fourth down, when the offensive team does not want to risk giving up the ball to the other team at its current spot on the field (through a failed attempt to make a first down) and feels it is too far from the other team's goal posts to kick a field goal.
- A defensive player catches a forward pass. This is called an interception, and the player who makes the interception can run with the ball until tackled, forced out of bounds, or scores.
- An offensive player drops the ball (a fumble), and a defensive player picks it up. As with interceptions, a player recovering a fumble can run with the ball until tackled or forced out of bounds. Lost fumbles and interceptions are together known as turnovers.
- The offensive team misses a field goal attempt. The defensive team gets the ball at the spot where the previous play began (or, in the NFL, at the spot of the kick). If the unsuccessful kick was attempted from very close to the end zone, the other team gets the ball at its own 20-yard line (that is, 20 yards from the end zone).
- An offensive player is tackled or forced out of bounds in his own end zone. This rare occurrence is called a safety. (See Scoring below.)

Scoring

A team scores points by the following plays:
- A touchdown (TD) is worth 6 points. A touchdown is scored when a player runs the ball into or catches a pass in his opponent's end zone.
- After a touchdown, the scoring team attempts a conversion. The ball is placed at the other team's 3-yard-line (the 2-yard-line in the NFL). The team can attempt to kick it over the crossbar and through the goal posts for 1 point (an extra point), or run or pass it into the end zone for 2 points (a two-point conversion). The extra point is usually attempted because it is significantly easier to achieve.
- A field goal (FG) is worth 3 points, and it is scored by kicking the ball over the crossbar and through the goal posts. Field goals must be placekicked, that is, kicked when the ball is held vertically against the ground by a teammate. A field goal is usually attempted on fourth down instead of a punt when the ball is close to the goal line.
- A safety is worth 2 points. A safety is scored by the defense when the offensive player in possession of the ball is forced back into his own end zone and is tackled there, or fumbles the ball out of the end zone. Certain penalties by the offense occurring in the end zone also result in a safety.

Kickoffs and free kicks

Each half begins with a kickoff. Teams also kick off after scoring touchdowns and field goals. The ball is kicked from a kicking tee, which is made from one's own 30-yard line in the NFL and from the 35-yard line in college football. The other team's kick returner tries to catch the ball and advance it as far as possible. Where he is stopped is the point where the offense will begin its drive, or series of offensive plays. If the kick returner catches the ball in his own end zone, he can either run with the ball, or elect for a touchback by kneeling in the end zone. The receiving team can then start its offensive drive from its own 20-yard line. A touchback can also occur when the kick goes out of the end zone. Punts and turnovers in the end zone can also end in touchbacks. If a kickoff goes out of bounds over the sidelines without being interfered by the recieving team, the ball will be placed 30 yards from the spot of the kickoff (traditionally at the receiving team's 40-yard line in the NFL or the 35-yard line in college football). After safeties, there is a free kick instead of a kickoff. A free kick is made from a team's own 20-yard-line and can be punted or placekicked.

The players

As noted above, most football players have highly specialized roles. At the college and NFL levels, most play only offense or only defense.

Offense

- The offensive line (OL) consists of five players (two offensive tackles (OT), two guards (G), and a center (C)) whose job is to protect the passer and clear the way for runners by blocking members of the defense. All plays begin with the center handing the ball backwards between his legs, or snapping it, to a teammate, usually the quarterback.
- The quarterback (QB) receives the ball on most plays. He then hands or tosses it to a running back, throws it to a receiver or runs with it himself.
- Running backs (RB) line up behind or beside the QB and specialize in rushing with the ball. They also block, catch passes and, on rare occasions, pass the ball to others. There are two main kinds of running backs: fullbacks (FB), who usually block, and halfbacks or tailbacks, who are more likely to carry the ball.
- Wide receivers (WR) line up near the sidelines. They specialize in catching passes.
- Tight ends (TE) line up outside the offensive line. They can either play like wide receivers (try to catch passes) or like offensive linemen (protect the QB or create spaces for runners). Not all of these types of players will be in on every offensive play. Teams can vary the number of wide receivers, tight ends and running backs on the field at one time.

Defense

- The defensive line (DL) consists of three to five players (two defensive ends, one or two defensive tackles (DT), and possibly one nose guard (DT)) who line up across from the offensive line. They try to tackle the running backs before they can gain yardage or the quarterback before he can throw a pass.
- At least four players line up as defensive backs (DB). They may be cornerbacks (CB), free safeties (FS), or strong safeties (SS). They cover the receivers and try to stop pass completions. They occasionally rush the quarterback. However, in high school, it is not uncommon to see a team go without the addition of a strong safety, due to the inexperience of high school quarterbacks and wide receivers.
- The other players on the defense are known as linebackers (LB). They line up between the defensive line and backs and may either rush the quarterback or cover receivers and/or running backs. However, they are more proficient at stopping rushing plays. They are split up into two different types, middle linebackers and outside linebackers. A middle linebacker/s is committed to runs up the middle (dives, powers). The outside linebackers are committed to runs to the outside (sweeps) or misdirection runs (counters).

Special teams

The units of players who handle kicking plays are known as special teams. Special-teams players include the punter (P), who handles punts, and the placekicker or kicker (PK or K), who kicks off and attempts field goals and extra points. Field goal and extra point attempts also require a holder who receives the ball from the center and holds it in a position that allows the kicker to easily kick the ball. The holder is usually a backup quarterback, as the field goal formation is very occasionally used for a pass or run play instead in a last-ditch effort to get a first down or touchdown, called a fake field goal. Kickers have also (very rarely) been known to take the snap and run a fake field goal play themselves.

Basic football strategy

To many fans, the chief draw of football is the chess game that goes on between the two coaching staffs. Each team has a playbook of dozens to hundreds of plays. Plays are the directions for what the players should do on a down. Some plays are very safe; they are very likely to get a few yards, but not much more than that. Other plays have the potential for long gains but a greater risk of a loss of yardage or a turnover. Generally speaking, rushing plays are less risky than passing plays. However, there are relatively safe passing plays and risky running plays. To fool the other team, there are passing plays designed to look like running plays and vice versa. There are many trick or gadget plays, such as when a team lines up like it is going to kick and then tries to run or pass for a first down. Such high-risk plays are a great thrill to the fans when they work. However, they can spell disaster if the opposing team realizes the deception and acts accordingly. It has been said that football is the closest sport that strategically resembles real war, which may explain why it is by far the most popular sport in the American military. In fact, the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, and the United States Air Force Academy each field football teams that participate in the collegiate leagues. The Army and Navy have a particularly historic rivalry.

Development of the game

Both American football and soccer have their origins in varieties of football played in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century, and American football is directly descended from rugby football. Rugby was first introduced to North America in Canada, brought by the British Army garrison in Montreal which played a series of games with McGill University. Both Canadian and American football evolved from this point. For an in-depth overview of the differences and similarities of Canadian football and American football see: Comparison of Canadian and American football American colleges spearheaded the growth of football. The [http://www.scarletknights.com/football/history/first_game.htm first inter-collegiate football game] was played between Rutgers and Princeton Universities on November 6, 1869. The game was won by Rutgers (6-4) although "The game, which bore little resemblance to its modern-day counterpart, was played with two teams of 25 men each under rugby-like rules, but like modern football, it was “replete with surprise, strategy, prodigies of determination, and physical prowess,” to use the words of one of the Rutgers players." - [http://www.scarletknights.com/football/history/first_game.htm Rutgers Football] American football in its current form grew out of a series of three games between Harvard University and McGill University of Montreal in 1874. McGill played rugby football while Harvard played the Boston Game, which was closer to soccer. As often happened in those days of far from universal rules, the teams alternated rules so that both would have a fair chance. The Harvard players liked having the opportunity to run with the ball, and in 1875 persuaded Yale University to adopt rugby rules for their annual game. In 1876 Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, which used the rugby code, except for a slight difference in scoring. In 1880 Walter Camp introduced the scrimmage in place of the rugby scrum. In 1882 the system of downs was introduced to thwart Princeton's and Yale's strategy of controlling the ball without trying to score. In 1883 the number of players was reduced, at Camp's urging, to eleven, and Camp introduced the soon standard arrangement of a seven-man offensive line with a quarterback, two halfbacks, and a fullback. On September 3, 1895 the first professional football game was played, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, between the Latrobe YMCA and the Jeannette Athletic Club. (Latrobe won the contest 12-0.). By the 1890s interlocking offensive formations such as the flying wedge and the practice of teammates physically dragging ball-carrying players forward had made the game extremely dangerous. Despite restrictions on the flying wedge and other precautions, in 1905 eighteen players were killed in games. President Theodore Roosevelt informed the universities that the game must be made safer. To force them to respond to his concerns, he threatened to pressure Congress to make playing football a federal crime. In 1906, two rival organizing bodies, the Intercollegiate Rules Committee and the Intercollegiate Athletic Association, met in New York; eventually they agreed on several new rules intended to make the game safer, among them the addition of a neutral zone between the scrimmage lines and a requirement that at least six players from each team line up on them. The most far-reaching innovation they considered, though, was the legalization of the forward pass. This was very controversial at the time, much derided by purists. As an alternative means of opening out the play, Walter Camp would have preferred widening the field; but representatives from Harvard pointed to recently constructed Harvard Stadium, which could not be widened, and the forward pass was adopted; it has come to shape the whole history of American football, as opposed to its cousins around the world. In 1910, after further deaths, interlocking formations were finally outlawed; and in 1912 the field was changed to its current size, the value of a touchdown increased to 6 points, and a fourth down added to each possession. The game had achieved its modern form.

Problems in Football

Injuries are more common in American football than in many other sports, although rule changes made in the past 90 years (for instance, the elimination of "horse-collar tackles") have gradually lowered the rates of injuries. In addition, protective equipment has become better - for example, the optional leather helmets introduced during the 1890s have been replaced (in several stages) by required high-tech padded plastic helmets with bars protecting the face. More recently, the use of steroids and the extent thereof has become an object of debate in professional, college, and even high school football leagues. (Pop Warner leagues appear to so far be immune to questions of whether players "juice up" or not.) Another problem with football is that it is an expensive sport. The specialized helmets, uniforms, and pads can cost hundreds of dollars. There is a widespread perception that football teams based in schools and public recreational leagues consume far more than their fair share of the sports budget, although sales of tickets to college (and to some extent high school) football games often make it a revenue-producing sport. Pop Warner, home of the Cleveland Browns.]]

Professional, college, and other leagues

Football is played at a number of levels in the United States and abroad. These include the following:
- The National Football League - top-level men's professional league
- College football - played by many US colleges
- The Arena Football League - mid-level men's professional league. Played in indoor stadiums, hence the name "arena" football. One of the nation's fastest-growing sports.
- The Canadian Football League - men's professional league based in Canada, played using a slightly different set of rules known as Canadian football
- The Mexican College Football League or ONEFA - played by many Mexican colleges, with the same rules as in the US
- The North American Football League - Amateur minor league with more than 100 member organizations since 1996,
- Women's American football - since 2000, there has been a surge of women's professional leagues.
- High school football - played by most high schools
- Nine-man football, Eight-man football, and Six-man football - variations of high school football, usually played in sparsely populated areas
- Amateur and youth league football
- Flag football and Touch football - non-tackle; almost exclusively amateur
- Pop Warner or youth football - involves younger children who are too young to play high school, generally in middle school.
- Sprint football - players must weigh no more than 172 pounds
- British Collegiate American Football League (BCAFL) - Fast-growing college football league in the UK The descriptions in this article are based primarily on the current rules of the National Football League (NFL, 1920-present). Differences with college rules will be noted. Professional, college, high school, and amateur rules are similar. Professional leagues that no longer exist include the World Football League (WFL, 1974-75), the United States Football League (USFL, 1983-1985), the XFL (XFL, 2001), the All-America Football Conference (1946-1949) (2 teams are now in the NFL), the World League of American Football (WLAF, 1991-1993 — now NFL Europe), and four separate American Football Leagues (AFL, 1926, 1937-28, 1940-1941 and 1960-1969). The fourth AFL (1960-1969) merged with the NFL in 1970 and now exists (mostly) as the AFC with several new teams. The old NFL appeared as the NFC.

References

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External links

- The [http://www.nfl.com/ National Football League (NFL)] - the top professional league
- [http://www.players.com NFL Players Association]
- NCAA [http://www2.ncaa.org/media_and_events/ncaa_publications/playing_rules/ Playing Rules] (complete college football rules are available as a PDF file)
- [http://www.afca.org American Football Coaches Association]
- [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/papr:@FILREQ(@field(TITLE+@od1(Chicago-Michigan+football+game++))+@FIELD(COLLID+workleis)) Movie of 1903 football game between the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan]
- [http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/ Chronology of many events in the NFL]
- [http://www.iwflsports.com The Women's League] ko:미식축구 ja:アメリカンフットボール simple:American football th:อเมริกันฟุตบอล

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