... ...... Angela Dorothea Merkel is the Chancellor of Germany and Chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Merkel is the first female Chancellor of Germany. A physical chemist by professional background, Merkel entered politics in the wake of the Revolutions of 1989 and briefly served as the deputy spokesperson for Lothar de Maizière's democratically elected East German government prior to the German reunification. Following reunification in 1990, she was elected to the Bundestag, where she has represented the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern since. She served as Federal Minister for Women and Youth 1991–1994 and as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety 1994–1998 in Helmut Kohl's fourth and fifth cabinets. She was Secretary General of the CDU 1998–2000, and was elected chairperson in 2000. From 2002 to 2005, she was also chair of the CDU/CSU parliamentary coalition. After her election as Chancellor following the 2005 federal election, she led a grand coalition consisting of her own CDU party, its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), until 2009. In the 2009 federal election, the CDU obtained the largest share of the votes, and formed a coalition government with the CSU and the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP).[3] In 2007, Merkel was President of the European Council and chaired the G8, the second woman (after Margaret Thatcher) to do so. She played a central role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Berlin Declaration. One of her priorities was also to strengthen transatlantic economic relations by signing the agreement for the Transatlantic Economic Council on 30 April 2007. Merkel is seen as playing a crucial role in managing the financial crisis at the European and international level, and has been referred to as "the decider."[4] In domestic policy, health care reform and problems concerning future energy development have been major issues of her tenure. Angela Merkel has for several years been described as the world’s most powerful woman and as "the de facto leader of the European Union".[5][6] Merkel was born Angela Dorothea Kasner in Hamburg, West Germany, the daughter of Horst Kasner (1926–2011),[7] native of Berlin, and his wife, Herlind (born 1928 in Danzig, as Herlind Jentzsch), a teacher of English and Latin. Her mother was once a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.[8] In an interview with Der Spiegel in 2000, Merkel stated that she was one quarter Polish.[9] The Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung, attempting to establish if this referred to her grandparents on her mother's side, Willi Jentzsch and Gertrud Drange, reported that, according to their researches, they were both of German descent and lived in Danzig where Willi Jentzsch was a Gymnasium teacher.[10] She has a brother, Marcus (born 7 July 1957), and a sister, Irene (born 19 August 1964). Merkel's father studied theology in Heidelberg and, afterwards, in Hamburg. In 1954 her father received a pastorate at the church in Quitzow (near Perleberg in Brandenburg), which then was in East Germany, and the family moved to Templin. Thus Merkel grew up in the countryside 80 km (50 mi) north of Berlin. Gerd Langguth, a former senior member of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, states in his book[11] that the family's ability to travel freely from East to West Germany during the following years, as well as their possession of two automobiles, leads to the conclusion that Merkel's father had a "sympathetic" relationship with the communist regime, since such freedom and perquisites for a Christian pastor and his family would have been otherwise impossible in East Germany. Like most pupils, Merkel was a member of the official, Socialist-led youth movement Free German Youth (FDJ). However, she did not take part in the secular coming of age ceremony Jugendweihe, which was common in East Germany, and was confirmed instead. Later, at the Academy of Sciences, she became a member of the FDJ district board and secretary for "Agitprop" (Agitation and Propaganda). Merkel herself claimed that she was secretary for culture. When Merkel's onetime FDJ district chairman contradicted her, she insisted that: "According to my memory, I was secretary for culture. But what do I know? I believe I won't know anything when I'm 80."[12] Merkel's progress in the compulsory Marxism-Leninism course was graded only genügend (sufficient, passing grade) in 1983 and 1986.[13] At school, she learned to speak Russian fluently, and was awarded prizes for her proficiency in Russian and Mathematics.[14] Merkel was educated in Templin and at the University of Leipzig, where she studied physics from 1973 to 1978. While a student, she participated in the reconstruction of the ruin of the Moritzbastei, a project students initiated to create their own club and recreation facility on campus. Such an initiative was unprecedented in the GDR of that period, and initially resisted by the University of Leipzig. However, with backing of the local leadership of the SED party, the project was allowed to proceed.[15] Merkel worked and studied at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin-Adlershof from 1978 to 1990. After being awarded a doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) for her thesis on quantum chemistry,[16] she worked as a researcher and published several papers. In 1989, Merkel got involved in the growing democracy movement after the fall of the Berlin Wall, joining the new party Democratic Awakening. Following the first (and only) democratic election of the East German state, she became the deputy spokesperson of the new pre-unification caretaker government under Lothar de Maizière.[17] Member of Bundestag and cabinet minister At the first post-reunification general election in December 1990, she was elected to the Bundestag from the constituency Stralsund – Nordvorpommern – Rügen, which is coextensive with the district of Vorpommern-Rügen. This has remained her electoral district until today. Her party merged with the west German CDU[18] and she became Minister for Women and Youth in Helmut Kohl's 3rd cabinet. In 1994, she was made Minister for the Environment and Nuclear Safety, which gave her greater political visibility and a platform on which to build her political career. As one of Kohl's protégées and his youngest cabinet minister, she was referred to by Kohl as "mein Mädchen" ("my girl").[19] Leader of the opposition Merkel as deputy government spokesperson together with Lothar de Maizière, August 1990 When the Kohl government was defeated in the 1998 general election, Merkel was named Secretary-General of the CDU. In this position, Merkel oversaw a string of Christian Democrat election victories in six out of seven state elections in 1999 alone, breaking the SPD-Green coalition's hold on the Bundesrat, the legislative body representing the states. Following a party financing scandal, which compromised many leading figures of the CDU (most notably Kohl himself, who refused to reveal the donor of DM 2,000,000 claiming he had given his word of honour and the then party chairman Wolfgang Schäuble, Kohl's hand-picked successor, who wasn't cooperative either), Merkel criticized her former mentor, Kohl, and advocated a fresh start for the party without him. She was elected to replace Schäuble, becoming the first female chair of her party, on 10 April 2000. Her election surprised many observers, as her personality offered a contrast to the party she had been chosen to lead; Merkel is a Protestant, originating from predominantly Protestant northern Germany, while the CDU is a male-dominated, socially conservative party with strongholds in western and southern Germany, and the Bavarian sister party, the CSU, has deep Catholic roots. Following Merkel's election as CDU leader, she enjoyed considerable popularity among the German population and was favoured by many Germans to become Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's challenger in the 2002 election. However, she did not receive enough support in her own party and particularly its sister party (the Bavarian Christian Social Union, or CSU), and was subsequently out-manoeuvred politically by CSU leader Edmund Stoiber, to whom she eventually ceded the privilege of challenging Schröder; however, he squandered a large lead in the opinion polls to lose the election by a razor-thin margin. After Stoiber's defeat in 2002, in addition to her role as CDU chairwoman, Merkel became leader of the conservative opposition in the lower house of the German parliament, the Bundestag. Her rival, Friedrich Merz, who had held the post of parliamentary leader prior to the 2002 election, was eased out to make way for Merkel.[citation needed] Merkel supported a substantial reform agenda concerning Germany's economic and social system and was considered to be more pro-market than her own party (the CDU); she advocated changes to German labour law, specifically removing barriers to laying off employees and increasing the allowed number of work hours in a week, arguing that existing laws made the country less competitive because companies cannot easily control labour costs at times when business is slow.[20] Merkel argued for Germany's nuclear power to be phased out less quickly than the Schröder administration had planned.[21] Merkel advocated a strong transatlantic partnership and German-American friendship. In the spring of 2003, defying strong public opposition, Merkel came out in favour of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, describing it as "unavoidable" and accusing Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of anti-Americanism. She criticised the government's support for the accession of Turkey to the European Union and favoured a "privileged partnership" instead. In doing so, she reflected public opinion that grew more hostile toward Turkish membership of the European Union.[22] Path to election On 30 May 2005, Merkel won the CDU/CSU nomination as challenger to Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of the SPD in the 2005 national elections. Her party began the campaign with a 21 point lead over the SPD in national opinion polls, although her personal popularity lagged behind that of the incumbent. However, the CDU/CSU campaign suffered[citation needed] when Merkel, having made economic competence central to the CDU's platform, confused gross and net income twice during a televised debate. She regained some momentum after she announced that she would appoint Paul Kirchhof, a former judge at the German Constitutional Court and leading fiscal policy expert, as Minister of Finance.[citation needed] Merkel and the CDU lost ground after Kirchhof proposed the introduction of a flat tax in Germany, again undermining the party's broad appeal on economic affairs and convincing many voters that the CDU's platform of deregulation was designed to benefit only the rich. This was compounded by Merkel proposing to increase VAT to reduce Germany's deficit and fill the gap in revenue from a flat tax. The SPD were able to increase their support simply by pledging not to introduce flat taxes or increase VAT. Although Merkel's standing recovered after she distanced herself from Kirchhof's proposals, she remained considerably less popular than Schröder, and the CDU's lead was down to 9% on the eve of the election. On 18 September 2005, Merkel's CDU/CSU and Schröder's SPD went head-to-head in the national elections, with the CDU/CSU winning 35.3% (CDU 27.8%/CSU 7.5%) of the second votes to the SPD's 34.2%. Neither the SPD-Green coalition nor the CDU/CSU and its preferred coalition partners, the Free Democratic Party, held enough seats to form a majority in the Bundestag, and both Schröder and Merkel claimed victory. A grand coalition between the CDU/CSU and SPD faced the challenge that both parties demanded the chancellorship. However, after three weeks of negotiations, the two parties reached a deal whereby Merkel would become Chancellor and the SPD would hold 8 of the 16 seats in the cabinet.[23][24] The coalition deal was approved by both parties at party conferences on 14 November 2005.[25] Merkel was elected Chancellor by the majority of delegates (397 to 217) in the newly assembled Bundestag on 22 November 2005, but 51 members of the governing coalition voted against her.[26] Reports had indicated that the grand coalition would pursue a mix of policies, some of which differ from Merkel's political platform as leader of the opposition and candidate for Chancellor. The coalition's intent was to cut public spending whilst increasing VAT (from 16 to 19%), social insurance contributions and the top rate of income tax.[27] Merkel had stated that the main aim of her government would be to reduce unemployment, and that it is this issue on which her government will be judged.[28] Chancellor of Germany President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama in 2009 went to visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband, professor Joachim Sauer, to Rathaus in Baden-Baden, Germany. Wikisource has original text related to this article: Angela Merkel's 2007 Speech to the European Parliament Merkel in conversation with Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko (7 February 2009) On 22 November 2005, Merkel assumed the office of Chancellor of Germany following a stalemate election that resulted in a grand coalition with the SPD. She was re-elected in 2009 with a larger majority and was able to form a governing coalition with the FDP. Foreign policy On 25 September 2007, Merkel met the 14th Dalai Lama for "private and informal talks" in Berlin in the Chancellery amid protest from China. China afterwards cancelled separate talks with German officials, including talks with Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries.[29] One of her priorities was to strengthen transatlantic economic relations by signing at the White House the agreement for the Transatlantic Economic Council on 30 April 2007. The Council is co-chaired by an EU and US official, and aims at removing barriers to trade in a further integrated transatlantic free trade area[30]. This project has been described as ultra-liberal by the socialist and french politician Jean-Luc Melenchon, who fear a transfer of sovereignty from citizens to multinationals and an alignment of the European Union on the american foreign policy and institutions[31][32]. Der Spiegel reported that tensions between Chancellor Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama[33] were eased during a meeting between the two leaders in June 2009. Commenting on a White House Press Conference held after the meeting, Spiegel stated, "Of course the rather more reserved chancellor couldn't really keep up with [Obama's]...charm offensive," but to reciprocate for Obama's "good natured" diplomacy, "she gave it a go...by mentioning the experiences of Obama's sister in Heidelberg, making it clear that she had read his autobiography".[34] Russia In 2006 Merkel expressed concern for overreliance on Russian energy, but she received little support from others in Berlin.[35] Iran According to the news agency Mehr (as reported in the Mail & Guardian Online and Deutsche Welle, quoting AFP), in August 2006, Merkel received a letter from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.[36][37] According to the reports, Merkel said that the letter contained "unacceptable" criticism of Israel and "put in question" the Jewish state's right to exist, and that therefore she would not formally respond to the letter. Israel On 16 March 2008, Merkel arrived in Israel to mark the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state. She was greeted at the airport by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, an honor guard and many of the country's political and religious leaders, including most of the Israeli Cabinet.[38] Until then, US President George W. Bush had been the only world leader Olmert had bestowed with the honor of greeting at the airport.[39][40] Merkel spoke before Israel's parliament, the only foreigner who was not a head of state to have done so,[41] although this provoked rumbles of opposition from Israeli MPs on the far right.[42] At the time, Merkel was also both the President of the European Council and the chair of the G8. Merkel has supported Israeli diplomatic initiatives, opposing the Palestinian bid for membership at the UN. However, Merkel was offended when settlement building continued beyond the Green Line,[43] and felt personally betrayed by the Israeli government's behavior. [44] Liquidity crisis Following major falls in worldwide stock markets in September 2008, the German government stepped in to assist the mortgage company Hypo Real Estate with a bailout which was agreed on October 6, with German banks to contribute €30 billion and the Bundesbank €20 billion to a credit line.[45] On 4 October 2008, a Saturday, following the Irish Government's decision to guarantee all deposits in private savings accounts, a move she strongly criticized,[46] Merkel said there were no plans for the German Government to do the same. The following day, Merkel stated that the government would guarantee private savings account deposits, after all.[47] However, two days later, on 6 October 2008, it emerged that the pledge was simply a political move that would not be backed by legislation.[48] Other European governments eventually either raised the limits or promised to guarantee savings in full.[48] India In 2011,[49] India became the first Asian country to hold a joint cabinet meeting with Germany when Merkel visited.[49] Failure of multiculturalism In October 2010 Merkel told a meeting of younger members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party at Potsdam that attempts to build a multicultural society in Germany had "utterly failed",[50] stating: "The concept that we are now living side by side and are happy about it does not work"[51] and that "we feel attached to the Christian concept of mankind, that is what defines us. Anyone who doesn't accept that is in the wrong place here."[52] She continued to say that immigrants should integrate and adopt Germany's culture and values. This has added to a growing debate within Germany[53] on the levels of immigration, its effect on Germany and the degree to which Muslim immigrants have integrated into German society. Approval Midway through her second term, Merkel's approval plummeted in the country, resulting in heavy losses in state elections for her party.[54] A poll in August 2011 found her coalition with only 36% support compared to a rival coalition which had 51%.[55] However, she scored well on her handling of the recent euro crisis (69% rated her performance as good rather than poor), and her approval rating reached an all-time high of 77% in February 2012.[56] Cabinets The first cabinet of Angela Merkel was sworn in at 16:00 CET, on 22 November 2005. On 31 October 2005, after the defeat of his favoured candidate for the position of Secretary General of the SPD, Franz Müntefering indicated that he would resign as Chairman of the party in November, which he did. Ostensibly responding to this, Edmund Stoiber (CSU), who was originally nominated for the Economics and Technology post, announced his withdrawal on 1 November 2005. While this was initially seen as a blow to Merkel's attempt at forming a viable coalition and cabinet, the manner in which Stoiber withdrew earned him much ridicule and severely undermined his position as a Merkel rival. Separate conferences of the CDU, CSU, and SPD approved the proposed Cabinet on 14 November 2005 The second cabinet of Angela Merkel was sworn in on 28 October 2009.[57] Personal life In 1977, Angela Kasner married physics student Ulrich Merkel. The marriage ended in divorce in 1982.[58] Her second and current husband is quantum chemist and professor Joachim Sauer, who has largely remained out of the media spotlight. They first met in 1981,[59] became partners later and married privately on 30 December 1998.[60] She has no children, but Sauer has two adult sons from a previous marriage.[61] Honours In 2006, Angela Merkel was awarded the Vision for Europe Award for her contribution toward greater European integration. In 2007, Merkel was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[62][63] In March 2006, the Italian President of the Republic gave the German Chancellor the recognition of Dama di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana. She received the Karlspreis (Charlemagne Prize) for 2008 for distinguished services to European unity.[64][65] In January 2008, Merkel was awarded Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.[66] She was also awarded the honorary doctorate from Leipzig University in June 2008,[67] University of Technology in Wrocław (Poland) in September 2008[68] and Babeş-Bolyai University from Cluj-Napoca, Romania on 12 October 2010 for her historical contribution to the European unification and for her global role in renewing international cooperation.[69][70][71] In March 2008 she received the B’nai B’rith Europe Award of Merit.[72] Merkel topped Forbes magazine's list of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women" in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011.[73] New Statesman named Angela Merkel in "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures" 2010.[74] On June 16, 2010, the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C. awarded Chancellor Merkel its Global Leadership Award (AICGS) in recognition of her outstanding dedication to strengthening German-American relations.[75] Angela Merkel in Hamburg on February 17, 2011. On September 21, 2010, the Leo Baeck Institute, a research institution in New York City devoted to the history of German-speaking Jewry, awarded Angela Merkel the Leo Baeck Medal. The medal was presented by former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and current Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin, W. Michael Blumenthal, who cited Merkel's support of Jewish cultural life and the integration of minorities in Germany.[76] On 15 February 2011, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Barack Obama.[77] The medal is presented to people who have made an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, or cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.[78] On 31 May 2011, she received the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for the year 2009 from the Indian government. She received the award for International understanding.[79] Comparisons As a female politician from a centre right party who is also a scientist, Merkel has been compared by many in the English-language press to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Some have referred to her as "Iron Lady", "Iron Girl", and even "The Iron Frau" (all alluding to Thatcher, whose nickname was "The Iron Lady"—Thatcher also has a science degree: an Oxford University degree in chemistry). Political commentators have debated the precise extent to which their agendas are similar.[80] Later in her tenure, Merkel acquired the nickname "Mutti" (a familiar form of 'mother'), said by Der Spiegel to refer to an idealised mother figure from the 1950s and 1960s.[81] In addition to being the first female German chancellor, the first to represent a Federal Republic of Germany that included the former East Germany (though she was born in the West and moved to the East a few weeks after her birth, when her father decided to return to East Germany as a Lutheran pastor[82]), and the youngest German chancellor since the Second World War, Merkel is also the first born after World War II, and the first chancellor of the Federal Republic with a background in natural sciences. She studied physics; her predecessors studied law, business or history or were military officers, among others. Forbes has named her the fourth most powerful person in the world as of 2011.[83] Controversy Merkel has been criticised for being personally present and involved at the M100 Media Award handover[84] to Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. This happened at a time of fierce emotional debate in Germany over disparaging remarks about Muslim immigrants made by the former Deutsche Bundesbank executive Thilo Sarrazin.[85] The Zentralrat der Muslime[86][87] and the left party[88] (Die Linke) as well as the German Green Party[89][90] criticised the action by the centre-right chancellor. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper wrote: "This will probably be the most explosive appointment of her chancellorship so far."[91] Others have praised Merkel and called it a brave and bold move for the cause of freedom of speech. In September 2010, concerning a debate on integration, Merkel said to the Frankfurter Allgemeine that "Germans will see more mosques".[92] In October 2010, following a speech by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany Christian Wulff during the German reunification day, she stated that "Islam is part of Germany".[93] Members of her cabinet and Merkel herself also support the idea of, and are already introducing, Islamic education and classes in schools. ... ...... Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL; formerly Apple Computer, Inc.) is an American multinational corporation that designs and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products are the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Its software includes the Mac OS X operating system; the iTunes media browser; the iLife suite of multimedia and creativity software; the iWork suite of productivity software; Aperture, a professional photography package; Final Cut Studio, a suite of professional audio and film-industry software products; Logic Studio, a suite of music production tools; the Safari web browser; and iOS, a mobile operating system. As of July 2011, Apple has 364 retail stores in thirteen countries,[5] and an online store.[6] It is the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization [7] [8] , as well as the largest technology company in the world by revenue and profit, more than Google and Microsoft combined.[9][10] As of September 24, 2011, the company had 60,400 permanent full-time employees and 2,900 temporary full-time employees worldwide;[4] its worldwide annual revenue in 2010 totalled $65 billion, growing to $108 billion in 2011.[3] Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2012.[11][12][13][14][15] However, the company has received widespread criticism for its contractors' labor, and for its environmental and business practices.[16][17] Established on April 1, 1976 in Cupertino, California, and incorporated January 3, 1977,[18] the company was named Apple Computer, Inc. for its first 30 years. The word "Computer" was removed from its name on January 9, 2007,[19] as its traditional focus on personal computers shifted towards consumer electronics.[20] Main article: History of Apple Inc. 1976–1980: The early years Apple was established on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne,[1] to sell the Apple I personal computer kit. They were hand-built by Wozniak[21][22] and first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club.[23] The Apple I was sold as a motherboard (with CPU, RAM, and basic textual-video chips)—less than what is today considered a complete personal computer.[24] The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66 ($2,723 in 2012 dollars, adjusted for inflation.) The Apple I, Apple's first product, was sold as an assembled circuit board and lacked basic features such as a keyboard, monitor, and case. The owner of this unit added a keyboard and a wooden case. Apple was incorporated January 3, 1977[18] without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800. Multi-millionaire Mike Markkula provided essential business expertise and funding of $250,000 during the incorporation of Apple.[31][32] The Apple II was introduced on April 16, 1977 at the first West Coast Computer Faire. It differed from its major rivals, the TRS-80 and Commodore PET, because it came with character cell based color graphics and an open architecture. While early models used ordinary cassette tapes as storage devices, they were superseded by the introduction of a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive and interface, the Disk II.[33] The Apple II was chosen to be the desktop platform for the first "killer app" of the business world—the VisiCalc spreadsheet program.[34] VisiCalc created a business market for the Apple II, and gave home users an additional reason to buy an Apple II—compatibility with the office.[34] According to Brian Bagnall, Apple exaggerated its sales figures and was a distant third place to Commodore and Tandy until VisiCalc came along.[35][36] By the end of the 1970s, Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line. The company introduced the ill-fated Apple III in May 1980 in an attempt to compete with IBM and Microsoft in the business and corporate computing market.[37] Jobs and several Apple employees including Jef Raskin visited Xerox PARC in December 1979 to see the Xerox Alto. Xerox granted Apple engineers three days of access to the PARC facilities in return for the option to buy 100,000 shares (800,000 split-adjusted shares) of Apple at the pre-IPO price of $10 a share.[38] Jobs was immediately convinced that all future computers would use a graphical user interface (GUI), and development of a GUI began for the Apple Lisa.[39] In 1980, Apple went public, generating more capital than any IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956 and instantly creating more millionaires (about 300) than any company in history.[40] 1981–1985: Lisa and Macintosh The Model from Apple's "1984" ad, set in a dystopian future modeled after the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, set the tone for the introduction of the Macintosh. Steve Jobs began working on the Apple Lisa in 1978 but in 1982 he was pushed from the Lisa team due to infighting, and took over Jef Raskin's low-cost-computer project, the Macintosh. A turf war broke out between Lisa's "corporate shirts" and Jobs' "pirates" over which product would ship first and save Apple. Lisa won the race in 1983 and became the first personal computer sold to the public with a GUI, but was a commercial failure due to its high price tag and limited software titles.[41] The first Macintosh, released in 1984 In 1984, Apple next launched the Macintosh. Its debut was announced by the now famous $1.5 million television commercial "1984". It was directed by Ridley Scott, aired during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984,[42] and is now considered a watershed event for Apple's success[43] and a "masterpiece".[44][45] The Macintosh initially sold well, but follow-up sales were not strong[46] due to its high price and limited range of software titles. The machine's fortunes changed with the introduction of the LaserWriter, the first PostScript laser printer to be offered at a reasonable price, and PageMaker, an early desktop publishing package. The Mac was particularly powerful in this market due to its advanced graphics capabilities, which had necessarily been built in to create the intuitive Macintosh GUI. It has been suggested that the combination of these three products was responsible for the creation of the desktop publishing market.[47] In 1985 a power struggle developed between Jobs and CEO John Sculley, who had been hired two years earlier.[48] The Apple board of directors instructed Sculley to "contain" Jobs and limit his ability to launch expensive forays into untested products. Rather than submit to Sculley's direction, Jobs attempted to oust him from his leadership role at Apple. Sculley found out that Jobs had been attempting to organize a putsch and called a board meeting at which Apple's board of directors sided with Sculley and removed Jobs from his managerial duties.[46] Jobs resigned from Apple and founded NeXT Inc. the same year.[49] 1986–1993: Rise and fall See also: Timeline of Apple II family and Timeline of Macintosh models The Macintosh Portable was Apple's first "portable" Macintosh computer, released in 1989. Having learned several painful lessons after introducing the bulky Macintosh Portable in 1989, Apple introduced the PowerBook in 1991. The Macintosh Portable was designed to be just as powerful as a desktop Macintosh, but weighed 7.5 kilograms (17 lb) with a 12-hour battery life. The same year, Apple introduced System 7, a major upgrade to the operating system, which added color to the interface and introduced new networking capabilities. It remained the architectural basis for Mac OS until 2001. The success of the PowerBook and other products brought increasing revenue.[48] For some time, it appeared that Apple could do no wrong, introducing fresh new products and generating increasing profits in the process. The magazine MacAddict named the period between 1989 and 1991 as the "first golden age" of the Macintosh. Following the success of the Macintosh LC, Apple introduced the Centris line, a low-end Quadra offering, and the ill-fated Performa line that was sold in several confusing configurations and software bundles to avoid competing with the various consumer outlets such as Sears, Price Club, and Wal-Mart, who were the primary dealers for these models. The result was disastrous for Apple as consumers did not understand the difference between models.[50] During this time Apple experimented with a number of other failed consumer targeted products including digital cameras, portable CD audio players, speakers, video consoles, and TV appliances. Enormous resources were also invested in the problem-plagued Newton division based on John Sculley's unrealistic market forecasts.[citation needed] Ultimately, all this proved too-little-too-late, as Apple's market share and stock prices continued to slide.[citation needed] Apple saw the Apple II series as too expensive to produce, while taking away sales from the low end Macintosh.[51] In 1990, Apple released the Macintosh LC with a single expansion slot for the Apple IIe Card to migrate Apple II users to the Macintosh platform.[51] Apple stopped selling the Apple IIe in 1993. Microsoft continued to gain market share with Windows, focusing on delivering software to cheap commodity personal computers while Apple was delivering a richly engineered, but expensive, experience.[52] Apple relied on high profit margins and never developed a clear response. Instead they sued Microsoft for using a graphical user interface similar to the Apple Lisa in Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation.[53] The lawsuit dragged on for years before it was finally dismissed. At the same time, a series of major product flops and missed deadlines sullied Apple's reputation, and Sculley was replaced by Michael Spindler.[54] 1994–1997: Attempts at reinvention The Newton was Apple's first foray into the PDA markets, as well as one of the first in the industry. Despite being a financial flop at the time of its release, it helped pave the way for the Palm Pilot and Apple's own iPhone and iPad in the future. By the early 1990s, Apple was developing alternative platforms to the Macintosh, such as the A/UX. Apple had also begun to experiment in providing a Mac-only online portal which they called eWorld, developed in collaboration with America Online and designed as a Mac-friendly alternative to other online services such as CompuServe. The Macintosh platform was itself becoming outdated because it was not built for multitasking, and several important software routines were programmed directly into the hardware. In addition, Apple was facing competition from OS/2 and UNIX vendors like Sun Microsystems. The Macintosh would need to be replaced by a new platform, or reworked to run on more powerful hardware.[55] In 1994, Apple allied with IBM and Motorola in the AIM alliance. The goal was to create a new computing platform (the PowerPC Reference Platform), which would use IBM and Motorola hardware coupled with Apple's software. The AIM alliance hoped that PReP's performance and Apple's software would leave the PC far behind, thus countering Microsoft. The same year, Apple introduced the Power Macintosh, the first of many Apple computers to use IBM's PowerPC processor.[56] In 1996, Michael Spindler was replaced by Gil Amelio as CEO. Gil Amelio made many changes at Apple, including extensive layoffs.[57] After multiple failed attempts to improve Mac OS, first with the Taligent project, then later with Copland and Gershwin, Amelio chose to purchase NeXT and its NeXTSTEP operating system, bringing Steve Jobs back to Apple as an advisor.[58] On July 9, 1997, Gil Amelio was ousted by the board of directors after overseeing a three-year record-low stock price and crippling financial losses. Jobs became the interim CEO and began restructuring the company's product line. At the 1997 Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would join Microsoft to release new versions of Microsoft Office for the Macintosh, and that Microsoft made a $150 million investment in non-voting Apple stock.[59] On November 10, 1997, Apple introduced the Apple Online Store, tied to a new build-to-order manufacturing strategy.[60][61] 1998–2005: Return to profitability On August 15, 1998, Apple introduced a new all-in-one computer reminiscent of the Macintosh 128K: the iMac. The iMac design team was led by Jonathan Ive, who would later design the iPod and the iPhone.[62][63] The iMac featured modern technology and a unique design, and sold almost 800,000 units in its first five months.[64] Through this period, Apple purchased several companies to create a portfolio of professional and consumer-oriented digital production software. In 1998, Apple announced the purchase of Macromedia's Final Cut software, signaling its expansion into the digital video editing market.[65] The following year, Apple released two video editing products: iMovie for consumers and, for professionals, Final Cut Pro, which has gone on to be a significant video-editing program, with 800,000 registered users in early 2007.[66] In 2002 Apple purchased Nothing Real for their advanced digital compositing application Shake,[67] as well as Emagic for their music productivity application Logic, which led to the development of their consumer-level GarageBand application.[68][69] iPhoto's release the same year completed the iLife suite.[70] Apple retail stores allow potential customers to use floor models without making a purchase. Mac OS X, based on NeXT's OPENSTEP and BSD Unix was released on March 24, 2001, after several years of development. Aimed at consumers and professionals alike, Mac OS X aimed to combine the stability, reliability and security of Unix with the ease of use afforded by an overhauled user interface. To aid users in migrating from Mac OS 9, the new operating system allowed the use of OS 9 applications through Mac OS X's Classic environment.[71] On May 19, 2001, Apple opened the first official Apple Retail Stores in Virginia and California.[72] Later on July 9 they bought Spruce Technologies, a DVD authoring company. On October 23 of the same year, Apple announced the iPod portable digital audio player, and started selling it on November 10. The product was phenomenally successful — over 100 million units were sold within six years.[73][74] In 2003, Apple's iTunes Store was introduced, offering online music downloads for $0.99 a song and integration with the iPod. The service quickly became the market leader in online music services, with over 5 billion downloads by June 19, 2008.[75] Since 2001 Apple's design team has progressively abandoned the use of translucent colored plastics first used in the iMac G3. This began with the titanium PowerBook and was followed by the white polycarbonate iBook and the flat-panel iMac.[76][77] 2005–2007: The Intel transition Main article: Apple's transition to Intel processors The MacBook Pro (15.4" widescreen) was Apple's first laptop with an Intel microprocessor. It was announced in January 2006 and is aimed at the professional market. At the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote address on June 6, 2005, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would begin producing Intel-based Mac computers in 2006.[78] On January 10, 2006, the new MacBook Pro and iMac became the first Apple computers to use Intel's Core Duo CPU. By August 7, 2006 Apple had transitioned the entire Mac product line to Intel chips, over one year sooner than announced.[78] The Power Mac, iBook, and PowerBook brands were retired during the transition; the Mac Pro, MacBook, and MacBook Pro became their respective successors.[79][80] On April 29, 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was building its own team of engineers to design microchips.[81] Apple also introduced Boot Camp to help users install Windows XP or Windows Vista on their Intel Macs alongside Mac OS X.[82] Apple's success during this period was evident in its stock price. Between early 2003 and 2006, the price of Apple's stock increased more than tenfold, from around $6 per share (split-adjusted) to over $80. In January 2006, Apple's market cap surpassed that of Dell.[83] Nine years prior, Dell's CEO Michael Dell said that if he ran Apple he would "shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."[84] Although Apple's market share in computers had grown, it remained far behind competitors using Microsoft Windows, with only about 8% of desktops and laptops in the U.S.[85] 2007–2011: Widespread success Apple achieved widespread success with consumer electronics that refer to Apple's iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad that introduced innovations in respective devices: mobile phones, portable music players and personal computers. The business model of offering a store for applications to be purchased was an innovation from a business point of view. Touch screens had been invented and seen in mobile devices before, but Apple was the first to achieve mass market adoption of a touch screen based user interface that included particular pre-programmed touch gestures. The widespread success was continuing when Apple's co-founder and chief executive officer Steve Jobs passed away, but some speculated that this would lead to Apple's days of technological innovation and compelling product design to become things of the past. Delivering his keynote speech at the Macworld Expo on January 9, 2007, Jobs announced that Apple Computer, Inc. would from that point on be known as Apple Inc., because computers were no longer the main focus of the company, which had shifted its emphasis to mobile electronic devices. The event also saw the announcement of the iPhone and the Apple TV.[86] The following day, Apple shares hit $97.80, an all-time high at that point. In May, Apple's share price passed the $100 mark.[87] In an article posted on Apple's website on February 6, 2007, Steve Jobs wrote that Apple would be willing to sell music on the iTunes Store without DRM (which would allow tracks to be played on third-party players) if record labels would agree to drop the technology.[88] On April 2, 2007, Apple and EMI jointly announced the removal of DRM technology from EMI's catalog in the iTunes Store, effective in May.[89] Other record labels followed later that year. In July of the following year, Apple launched the App Store to sell third-party applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch.[90] Within a month, the store sold 60 million applications and brought in $1 million daily on average, with Jobs speculating that the App Store could become a billion-dollar business for Apple.[91] Three months later, it was announced that Apple had become the third-largest mobile handset supplier in the world due to the popularity of the iPhone.[92] On December 16, 2008, Apple announced that after over 20 years of attending Macworld, 2009 would be the last year Apple would be attending the Macworld Expo, and that Phil Schiller would deliver the 2009 keynote in lieu of the expected Jobs.[93] Almost exactly one month later, on January 14, 2009, an internal Apple memo from Jobs announced that he would be taking a six-month leave of absence, until the end of June 2009, to allow him to better focus on his health and to allow the company to better focus on its products without having the rampant media speculating about his health.[94] Despite Jobs' absence, Apple recorded its best non-holiday quarter (Q1 FY 2009) during the recession with a revenue of $8.16 billion and a profit of $1.21 billion.[95] Wikinews has related news: Apple unveils iPhone 4, iOS 4 at Worldwide Developers Conference 2010 Apple to give free cases, refunds to iPhone 4 owners Apple unveils new iPods, Apple TV; updates iOS, iTunes Apple unveils new MacBook Air laptops, iLife '11 software suite After years of speculation and multiple rumored "leaks" Apple announced a large screen, tablet-like media device known as the iPad on January 27, 2010. The iPad runs the same touch based operating system that the iPhone uses and many of the same iPhone apps are compatible with the iPad. This gave the iPad a large app catalog on launch even with very little development time before the release. Later that year on April 3, 2010, the iPad was launched in the US and sold more than 300,000 units on that day and reaching 500,000 by the end of the first week.[96] In May of the same year, Apple's market cap exceeded that of competitor Microsoft for the first time since 1989.[97] Apple released the fourth generation iPhone, which introduced video calling, multitasking, and a new uninsulated stainless steel design, which acts as the phone's antenna. Because of this antenna implementation, some iPhone 4 users reported a reduction in signal strength when the phone is held in specific ways. After a large amount of media coverage including mainstream news organizations, Apple held a press conference where they offered buyers a free rubber 'bumper' case, which had been proven to eliminate the signal reduction issue. Later that year Apple again refreshed its iPod line of MP3 players which introduced a multi-touch iPod Nano, iPod Touch with FaceTime, and iPod Shuffle with buttons which brought back the buttons of earlier generations.[98][99][100] In October 2010, Apple shares hit an all-time high, eclipsing $300.[101] Additionally, on October 20, Apple updated their MacBook Air laptop, iLife suite of applications, and unveiled Mac OS X Lion, the latest installment in their Mac OS X operating system.[102] On January 6, 2011, the company opened their Mac App Store, a digital software distribution platform, similar to the existing iOS App Store.[103] Apple was featured in the documentary Something Ventured which premiered in 2011. 2011–present: Post–Steve Jobs era On January 17, 2011, Jobs announced in an internal Apple memo that he would take another medical leave of absence, for an indefinite period, to allow him to focus on his health. Chief operating officer Tim Cook took up Jobs' day-to-day operations at Apple, although Jobs would still remain "involved in major strategic decisions for the company."[104] Apple became the most valuable consumer-facing brand in the world.[105] In June 2011, Steve Jobs surprisingly took the stage and unveiled iCloud. iCloud is an online storage and syncing service for music, photos, files and software which replaced MobileMe, Apple's previous attempt at content syncing.[106] This would be the last product launch Jobs would attend before his death. It has been argued that Apple has achieved such efficiency in its supply chain[107] that the company operates as a monopsony (one buyer, many sellers), in that it can dictate terms to its suppliers.[108][109] Briefly in July 2011, due to the debt-ceiling crisis, Apple's financial reserves were greater than those of the US Government.[110] On August 24, 2011, Jobs resigned his position as CEO of Apple.[111] He was replaced by Tim Cook and Jobs became Apple's chairman. Prior to this, Apple did not have a chairman and instead had two co-lead directors, Andrea Jung and Arthur D. Levinson, who continued with those titles until Levinson became Chairman of the Board in November.[112] On October 4, 2011, Apple announced the iPhone 4S, which includes an improved camera with 1080p video recording, a dual core A5 chip capable of 7 times faster graphics than the A4, an "intelligent software assistant" named Siri, and cloud-sourced data with iCloud.[113][114] One day later, on October 5, 2011, Apple announced that Jobs had died, marking the end of an era for Apple Inc.[115][116] The iPhone 4S was officially released on October 14, 2011. On October 29, 2011, Apple purchased C3 Technologies, a mapping company, for $240 million. C3 is the third mapping company Apple has purchased so far.[117] On January 10, 2012, Apple acquired Anobit, an Israeli hardware company that developed and supplies a proprietary memory signal processing technology that improves the performance of flash-memory used in iPhones and iPads for $390 million.[118] On January 19, 2012, Apple's Phil Schiller introduced iBooks Textbooks for iOS and iBook Author for Mac OS X in New York.[119] This was the first major announcement by Apple since the passing of Steve Jobs, who stated in his biography that he wanted to reinvent the textbook and education. The 3rd generation iPad was announced on March 7, 2012. It includes a Retina display, a new CPU, a five megapixel camera, and 1080p video recording.[120][121] Products and marketing Current products See also: Timeline of Apple products and List of products discontinued by Apple Inc. Mac and accessories See also: Timeline of Macintosh models, List of Macintosh models grouped by CPU type, and List of Macintosh models by case type Mac Mini, consumer sub-desktop computer and server introduced in 2005. iMac, consumer all-in-one desktop computer introduced in 1998. Mac Pro, workstation-class desktop computer introduced in 2006, replacing the Power Macintosh. MacBook Pro, professional notebook introduced in 2006, replacing the PowerBook. MacBook Air, ultra-thin, ultra-portable notebook introduced in 2008. Apple also sells a variety of computer accessories for Mac computers including the AirPort wireless networking products, Time Capsule, Thunderbolt Display, Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, Wireless Keyboard, and the Apple Battery Charger. iPad Main article: iPad The Apple website home page, featuring The new iPad. On January 27, 2010, Apple introduced their much-anticipated media tablet, the iPad running a modified version of iOS. It offers multi-touch interaction with multimedia formats including newspapers, magazines, ebooks, textbooks, photos, movies, TV shows videos, music, word processing documents, spreadsheets, video games, and most existing iPhone apps.[122] It also includes a mobile version of Safari for web browsing, as well as access to the App Store, iTunes Library, iBooks Store, contacts, and notepad. Content is downloadable via Wi-Fi and optional 3G service or synced through the user's computer.[123] AT&T was initially the sole US provider of 3G wireless access for the iPad.[124] On March 2, 2011, Apple introduced an updated iPad model which had a faster processor and two cameras on the front and back respectively. The iPad 2 also added support for optional 3G service provided by Verizon in addition to the existing offering by AT&T.[125] However, the availability of the iPad 2 has been limited as a result of the devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Japan in March 2011.[126] On March 7, 2012, Apple introduced the iPad 3, aka, "The New iPad". The iPad 3 added LTE service from AT&T or Verizon and an upgraded processor, the A5X. It also added the "Retina" display (2048 by 1536 resolution) originally found on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The dimensions and form factor remained relatively unchanged, with "The New iPad" being a fraction thicker and heavier than the previous version, and minor positioning changes.[127] Since the tablet launched in 2010, iPad users have downloaded 3 billion apps, while the total App Store downloads is up to over 25 billion downloads.[128] iPod Main article: iPod The current iPod family, featuring the iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Classic, and iPod Touch On October 23, 2001, Apple introduced the iPod digital music player. It has evolved to include various models targeting the wants of different users. The iPod is the market leader in portable music players by a significant margin, with more than 220 million units shipped as of September 2009.[129] Apple has partnered with Nike to offer the Nike+iPod Sports Kit enabling runners to synchronize and monitor their runs with iTunes and the Nike+ website. Apple currently sells four variants of the iPod. iPod Shuffle, ultraportable digital audio player first introduced in 2005, currently available in a 2 GB model. iPod Nano, portable media player first introduced in 2005, currently available in 8 and 16 GB models. The latest generation has a FM radio, a pedometer, and a new multi-touch interface that replaced the traditional iPod click wheel. iPod Classic (previously named iPod from 2001 to 2007), portable media player first introduced in 2001, currently available in a 160 GB model.[130] iPod Touch, portable media player that runs iOS, first introduced in September 2007 after the iPhone went on sale. Currently available in 8, 32, and 64 GB models. The latest generation features the Apple A4 processor, a Retina Display, and dual cameras on the front and back. The back camera allows for HD video recording at 720p.[131] At the Macworld Conference & Expo in January 2007, Steve Jobs revealed the long anticipated[132] iPhone, a convergence of an Internet-enabled smartphone and iPod.[133] The original iPhone combined a 2.5G quad band GSM and EDGE cellular phone with features found in hand held devices, running scaled-down versions of Apple's Mac OS X (dubbed iOS, formerly iPhone OS), with various Mac OS X applications such as Safari and Mail. It also includes web-based and Dashboard apps such as Google Maps and Weather. The iPhone features a 3.5-inch (89 mm) touch screen display, 4, 8, or 16 GB of memory, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi (both "b" and "g").[133] The iPhone first became available on June 29, 2007 for $499 (4 GB) and $599 (8 GB) with an AT&T contract.[134] On February 5, 2008, Apple updated the original iPhone to have 16 GB of memory, in addition to the 8 GB and 4 GB models.[135] On June 9, 2008, at WWDC 2008, Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone 3G would be available on July 11, 2008.[136] This version added support for 3G networking, assisted-GPS navigation, and a price cut to $199 for the 8 GB version, and $299 for the 16 GB version, which was available in both black and white. The new version was visually different from its predecessor in that it eliminated the flat silver back, and large antenna square for a curved glossy black or white back. Following complaints from many people, the headphone jack was changed from a recessed jack to a flush jack to be compatible with more styles of headphones. The software capabilities changed as well, with the release of the new iPhone came the release of Apple's App Store; the store provided applications for download that were compatible with the iPhone. On April 24, 2009, the App Store surpassed one billion downloads.[137] On June 8, 2009, at Apple's annual worldwide developers conference, the iPhone 3GS was announced, providing an incremental update to the device including faster internal components, support for faster 3G speeds, video recording capability, and voice control. On June 7, 2010, at WWDC 2010, the iPhone 4 was announced, which Apple says is its "'biggest leap we've taken" since the original iPhone.[138] The phone includes an all-new design, 960x640 display, Apple's A4 processor used in the iPad, a gyroscope for enhanced gaming, 5MP camera with LED flash, front-facing VGA camera and FaceTime video calling. Shortly after the release of the iPhone 4, it was realized by consumers that the new iPhone had reception issues. This is due to the stainless steel band around the edge of the device, which also serves as the phone's cellular signal and Wi-Fi antenna. The current fix for this issue was a "Bumper Case" for the phone distributed for free to all iPhone 4 owners for a few months. In June 2011, Apple overtook Nokia to become the world's biggest smartphone maker by volume.[139] On October 4, 2011, Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S, which was released in the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan on October 14, 2011, with other countries set to follow later in the year.[140] This was the first iPhone model to feature the Apple A5 chip, as well as the first offered on the Sprint network (joining AT&T and Verizon Wireless as the United States carriers offering iPhone models). On October 19, 2011, Apple announced an agreement with C Spire Wireless to sell the iPhone 4S with that carrier in the near future, marking the first time the iPhone was officially supported on a regional carrier's network.[141] Another notable feature of the iPhone 4S was Siri voice assistant technology, which Apple had acquired in 2010,[142] as well as other features, including an updated 8 megapixel camera with new optics. Apple sold 4 million iPhone 4S phones in the first three days after its release, which made it not only the best iPhone launch in Apple's history, but the most-successful launch of any mobile phone ever.[143] Apple TV Main article: Apple TV The Apple TV, in its most recent revision At the 2007 Macworld conference, Jobs demonstrated the Apple TV, (previously known as the iTV),[144] a set-top video device intended to bridge the sale of content from iTunes with high-definition televisions. The device links up to a user's TV and syncs, either via Wi-Fi or a wired network, with one computer's iTunes library and streams from an additional four. The Apple TV originally incorporated a 40 GB hard drive for storage, includes outputs for HDMI and component video, and plays video at a maximum resolution of 720p.[145] On May 31, 2007 a 160 GB drive was released alongside the existing 40 GB model[146] and on January 15, 2008 a software update was released, which allowed media to be purchased directly from the Apple TV.[147] In September 2009, Apple discontinued the original 40 GB Apple TV and now continues to produce and sell the 160 GB Apple TV. On September 1, 2010, alongside the release of the new line of iPod devices for the year, Apple released a completely redesigned Apple TV. The new device is 1/4 the size, runs quieter, and replaces the need for a hard drive with media streaming from any iTunes library on the network along with 8 GB of flash memory to cache media downloaded. Apple with the Apple TV has added another device to its portfolio that runs on its A4 processor along with the iPad and the iPhone. The memory included in the device is the half of the iPhone 4 at 256 MB; the same as the iPad, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 3G, and iPod touch 4G.[148] It has HDMI out as the only video out source. Features include access to the iTunes Store to rent movies and TV shows (purchasing has been discontinued), streaming from internet video sources, including YouTube and Netflix, and media streaming from an iTunes library. Apple also reduced the price of the device to $99. Software See also: List of Macintosh software Apple develops its own operating system to run on Macs, OS X, the latest version being OS X Lion (version 10.7). Apple also independently develops computer software titles for its OS X operating system. Much of the software Apple develops is bundled with its computers. An example of this is the consumer-oriented iLife software package that bundles iMovie, iPhoto and GarageBand. For presentation, page layout and word processing, iWork is available, which includes Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. iTunes, QuickTime media player, Safari web browser, and Software Update are available as free downloads for both Mac OS X and Windows. Apple also offers a range of professional software titles. Their range of server software includes the operating system OS X Server; Apple Remote Desktop, a remote systems management application; and Xsan, a Storage Area Network file system. For the professional creative market, there is Aperture for professional RAW-format photo processing; Final Cut Pro, a video production suite; Logic Pro, a comprehensive music toolkit; and Motion, an advanced effects composition program. Apple also offers online services with iCloud, which provides cloud storage and syncing for a wide range of data, including email, contacts, calendars, photos and documents. It also offers iOS device backup, and is able to integrate directly with third-party apps for even greater functionality. iCloud is the fourth generation of online services provided by Apple, and was preceded by MobileMe, .Mac and iTools, all which met varying degrees of success. Marketing See also: Criticism of Apple Inc.#Comparison with a cult/religion Apple aficionados wait in line around an Apple retail store in anticipation of a new product. This branch is located on Fifth Avenue in New York City, with a glass cube housing a cylindrical elevator and a spiral staircase that lead into the subterranean store. "The scenes I witnessed at the opening of the new Apple store in London's Covent Garden were more like an evangelical prayer meeting than a chance to buy a phone or a laptop. " – Alex Riley, writing for the BBC[149] Apple' brand and brand community. Apple's brand's loyalty is considered unusual for any product. At one time, Apple evangelists were actively engaged by the company, but this was after the phenomenon was already firmly established. Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki has called the brand fanaticism "something that was stumbled upon".[150] Apple has, however, supported the continuing existence of a network of Mac User Groups in most major and many minor centers of population where Mac computers are available. Mac users would meet at the European Apple Expo and the San Francisco Macworld Conference & Expo trade shows where Apple traditionally introduced new products each year to the industry and public until Apple pulled out of both events. While the conferences continue, Apple does not have official representation there. Mac developers, in turn, continue to gather at the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. Apple Store openings can draw crowds of thousands, with some waiting in line as much as a day before the opening or flying in from other countries for the event.[151] The New York City Fifth Avenue "Cube" store had a line as long as half a mile; a few Mac fans took the opportunity of the setting to propose marriage.[152] The Ginza opening in Tokyo was estimated in the thousands with a line exceeding eight city blocks.[153] John Sculley told The Guardian newspaper in 1997: "People talk about technology, but Apple was a marketing company. It was the marketing company of the decade."[154] Research in 2002 by NetRatings indicate that the average Apple consumer was usually more affluent and better educated than other PC company consumers. The research indicated that this correlation could stem from the fact that on average Apple Inc. products are more expensive than other PC products.[155][156] Name According to Steve Jobs, Apple was so named because Jobs was coming back from an apple farm, and he was on a fruitarian diet. He thought the name was "fun, spirited and not intimidating".[157] Logos See also: U+F8FF and Typography of Apple Inc. The original logo, featuring Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree The original logo with Isaac Newton under an apple tree The rainbow logo, featuring a bitten apple in rainbow colors The rainbow "bitten" logo, used from late 1976 to 1998 The monochrome logo, featuring a bitten apple in monochrome The monochrome logo, used since 1998 Apple's first logo, designed by Ron Wayne, depicts Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. Almost immediately, though, this was replaced by Rob Janoff's "rainbow Apple", the now-familiar rainbow-colored silhouette of an apple with a bite taken out of it. Janoff presented Jobs with several different monochromatic themes for the "bitten" logo, and Jobs immediately took a liking to it. While Jobs liked the logo, he insisted it be in color to humanize the company.[158][159] The Apple logo was designed with a bite so that it would not be recognized as another fruit. The colored stripes were conceived to make the logo more accessible, and to represent the fact the Apple II could generate graphics in color.[160] This logo is often erroneously referred to as a tribute to Alan Turing, with the bite mark a reference to his method of suicide.[161][162] Both the designer of the logo and the company deny that there is any homage to Turing in the design of the logo.[160][163] In 1998, with the roll-out of the new iMac, Apple discontinued the rainbow theme and began to use monochromatic themes, nearly identical in shape to its previous rainbow incarnation, on various products, packaging and advertising. An Aqua-themed version of the monochrome logo was used from 2001–2003, and a Glass-themed version has been used since 2003. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were Beatles fans,[164][165] but Apple Inc. had trademark issues with Apple Corps Ltd., a multimedia company started by The Beatles in 1967, involving their name and logo. This resulted in a series of lawsuits and tension between the two companies. These issues ended with settling of their most recent lawsuit in 2007. Slogans Main article: List of Apple Inc. slogans Apple's first slogan, "Byte into an Apple", was coined in the late 1970s.[166] From 1997–2002, Apple used the slogan "Think Different" in advertising campaigns. Although the slogan has been retired, it is still closely associated with Apple.[167] Apple also has slogans for specific product lines — for example, "iThink, therefore iMac" was used in 1998 to promote the iMac,[168] and "Say hello to iPhone" has been used in iPhone advertisements.[169] "Hello" was also used to introduce the original Macintosh, Newton, iMac ("hello (again)"), and iPod.[170] Advertising Main article: Apple Inc. advertising See also: 1984 (advertisement), Lemmings (advertisement), iPod advertising, and music used by Apple Inc. Further information: Think Different, Get a Mac, and Apple Switch ad campaign Since the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984 with the 1984 Super Bowl commercial to the more modern 'Get a Mac' adverts, Apple has been recognized in the past for its efforts towards effective advertising and marketing for its products, though its advertising has been criticized for the claims of some more recent campaigns, particularly 2005 Power Mac ads[171][172][173] and iPhone ads in Britain. Apple's product commercials gained fame for launching musicians into stardom as a result of their eye-popping graphics and catchy tunes.[174] First, the company popularized Canadian singer Feist's "1234" song in its ad campaign.[174] Later, Apple used the song "New Soul" by French-Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naïm to promote the MacBook Air.[174] The debut single shot to the top of the charts and sold hundreds of thousands of copies in a span of weeks.[174] Corporate affairs See also: List of mergers and acquisitions by Apple, Braeburn Capital, and FileMaker Inc. During the Mac's early history Apple generally refused to adopt prevailing industry standards for hardware, instead creating their own.[175] This trend was largely reversed in the late 1990s beginning with Apple's adoption of the PCI bus in the 7500/8500/9500 Power Macs. Apple has since adopted USB, AGP, HyperTransport, Wi-Fi, and other industry standards in its computers and was in some cases a leader in the adoption of standards such as USB.[176] FireWire is an Apple-originated standard that has seen widespread industry adoption after it was standardized as IEEE 1394.[177] Ever since the first Apple Store opened, Apple has sold third party accessories.[178] For instance, at one point Nikon and Canon digital cameras were sold inside the store. Adobe, one of Apple's oldest software partners,[179] also sells its Mac-compatible software, as does Microsoft, who sells Microsoft Office for the Mac. Books from John Wiley & Sons, who publishes the For Dummies series of instructional books, are a notable exception, however. The publisher's line of books were banned from Apple Stores in 2005 because Steve Jobs disagreed with their decision to publish an unauthorized Jobs biography, iCon.[180] After the launch of the iBookstore, Apple stopped selling physical books, both online and at the Apple Retail Stores. Headquarters Worldwide Main article: Apple Campus Company headquarters on Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California Apple Inc.'s world corporate headquarters are located in the middle of Silicon Valley, at 1–6 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California. This Apple campus has six buildings that total 850,000 square feet (79,000 m2) and was built in 1993 by Sobrato Development Cos.[181] Apple created subsidiaries in low-tax places such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands to cut the taxes it pays around the world. According to the New York Times, Apple was among the first tech companies to designate overseas salespeople in high-tax countries in a manner that allowed the company to sell on behalf of low-tax subsidiaries on other continents, sidestepping income taxes. Apple was a pioneer of an accounting technique known as the "Double Irish With a Dutch Sandwich," which reduces taxes by routing profits through Irish subsidiaries and the Netherlands and then to the Caribbean.[182] In 2006, Apple announced its intention to build a second campus on 50 acres (200,000 m2) assembled from various contiguous plots (east of N Wolfe Road between Pruneridge Avenue and Vallco Parkway). Later acquisitions increased this to 175 acres. The new campus, also in Cupertino, will be about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the current campus.[183] The new campus building will be designed by Norman Foster.[184] On June 7, 2011, Steve Jobs gave a presentation to Cupertino City Council, detailing the architectural design of the new building and its environs. The new campus is planned to house up to 13,000 employees in one central four-storied circular building (with a café for 3,000 sitting people integrated) surrounded by extensive landscape (with parking mainly underground and the rest centralized in a parking structure). There will be additional buildings such as an auditorium, R&D facilities, a fitness center and a dedicated generating plant as primary source of electricity (powered by natural gas and other more environmentally sound means). Headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa Apple's headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) are located in Cork in the south of Ireland.[185][186][187][188][189][190][191] The facility, which opened in 1980, was Apple's first location outside of the United States.[192] Apple Sales International, which deals with all of Apple's international sales outside of the USA, is located at Apple's campus in Cork[193] along with Apple Distribution International, which similarly deals with Apple's international distribution network.[194] On April 20, 2012, Apple announced the addition of 500 new jobs to its European headquarters. This will bring the total workforce from around 2,800 to 3,300 employees.[195][196][197] The company will build a new office block on its Hollyhill Campus to accommodate the additional staff. [198] Corporate culture Apple was one of several highly successful companies founded in the 1970s that bucked the traditional notions of what a corporate culture should look like in organizational hierarchy (flat versus tall, casual versus formal attire, etc.). Other highly successful firms with similar cultural aspects from the same period include Southwest Airlines and Microsoft. Originally, the company stood in opposition to staid competitors like IBM by default, thanks to the influence of its founders; Steve Jobs often walked around the office barefoot even after Apple was a Fortune 500 company. By the time of the "1984" TV ad, this trait had become a key way the company attempted to differentiate itself from its competitors.[199] As the company has grown and been led by a series of chief executives, each with his own idea of what Apple should be, some of its original character has arguably been lost, but Apple still has a reputation for fostering individuality and excellence that reliably draws talented people into its employ, especially after Jobs' return. To recognize the best of its employees, Apple created the Apple Fellows program, awarding individuals who made extraordinary technical or leadership contributions to personal computing while at the company. The Apple Fellowship has so far been awarded to a few individuals including Bill Atkinson,[200] Steve Capps,[201] Rod Holt,[200] Alan Kay,[202][203] Guy Kawasaki,[202][204] Al Alcorn,[205] Don Norman,[202] Rich Page,[200] and Steve Wozniak.[200] Numerous employees of Apple have cited that projects without Jobs' involvement often take longer than projects with his involvement.[206] Another presents the image of Jobs "wandering the hall with a flame thrower in hand, asking random people 'do you work on MobileMe?'".[207] At Apple, employees are specialists who are not exposed to functions outside their area of expertise. Jobs saw this as a means of having best-in-class employees in every role. For instance, Ron Johnson who was Senior Vice President of Retail Operations until November 1, 2011, was responsible for site selection, in-store service, and store layout, yet he had no control of the inventory in his stores (which is done company wide by then-COO and now CEO Tim Cook who has a background in supply-chain management). This is the opposite of General Electric's corporate culture which has created well-rounded managers.[208] [208] Under the leadership of Tim Cook who joined the company in 1998 and ascended to his present position as CEO, Apple has developed an extremely efficient and effective supply chain which has been ranked as the world's best for the four years 2007–2010[citation needed]. The company's manufacturing, procurement and logistics enables it to execute massive product launches without having to maintain large, profit-sapping inventories; Apple's profit margins have been 40 percent compared with 10–20 percent for most other hardware companies in 2011. Cook's catchphrase to describe his focus on the company's operational edge is “Nobody wants to buy sour milk”. [109] [209] The company previously advertised its products as being made in America up to the late 1990s, however as a result of outsourcing initiatives in the 2000s almost all of its manufacturing is now done abroad. According to a report by the New York Times, Apple insiders "believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that “Made in the U.S.A.” is no longer a viable option for most Apple products".[210] Finance In its fiscal year ending in September 2011, Apple Inc. hit new heights financially with $108 billion in revenues (increased significantly from $65 billion in 2010) and nearly $82 billion in cash reserves. Apple achieved these results while losing market share in certain product categories.[211] On March 19, 2012, Apple announced plans for a $2.65 per share dividend beginning in fourth quarter of 2012, per approval by their board of directors.[212] Environmental record Greenpeace has campaigned against Apple on various environmental issues, including a global end-of-life take-back plan, non-recyclable hardware components and toxins within iPhone hardware.[213][214] Since 2003 Greenpeace has campaigned against Apple's use of particular chemicals in its products, more specifically, the inclusion of PVC and BFRs in their products.[213] On May 2, 2007, Steve Jobs released a report announcing plans to eliminate PVC and BFRs by the end of 2008.[215][216] Apple has since eliminated PVC and BFRs across its product range,[217] becoming the first laptop maker to do so.[218] In the first edition, released in August 2006, Apple scored 2.7/10.[219] The Environmental Protection Agency rates Apple highest amongst producers of notebook computers, and fairly well compared to producers of desktop computers and LCD displays. In June 2007, Apple upgraded the MacBook Pro, replacing cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlit LCD displays with mercury-free LED backlit LCD displays and arsenic-free glass,[222] and has since done this for all notebooks. Apple has also phased out BFRs and PVCs from various internal components.[215][223][224] Apple offers information about the emissions, materials, and electrical usage of each product.[225] In June 2009, Apple's iPhone 3GS was free of PVC, arsenic, BFRs and had an efficient power adapter.[222] In October 2009, Apple upgraded the iMac and MacBook, replacing the cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlit LCD displays with mercury-free LED backlit LCD displays and arsenic-free glass.[226] This means all Apple computers have mercury free LED backlit displays, arsenic-free glass and are without PVC cables. All Apple computers also have EPEAT Gold status. In 2010, Climate Counts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to directing consumers toward the greenest companies, gave Apple a score of 52 points out of a possible 100, which puts Apple in their top category "Striding".[227] This was an increase from May 2008, when Climate Counts only gave Apple 11 points out of 100, which placed the company last among electronics companies, at which time Climate Counts also labeled Apple with a "stuck icon", adding that Apple at the time was "a choice to avoid for the climate conscious consumer". In October 2011 Chinese authorities have ordered an Apple supplier to close part of its plant in Suzhou after residents living nearby raised significant environmental concerns. In November 2011 Apple featured in Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics that ranks electronics manufacturers on sustainability, climate and energy and how green their products are. The company ranked 4th out of 15 electronics companies (moving up five places from the previous year) with a score of 4.6/10 down from 4.9.[229] Greenpeace praises Apple's sustainability, noting that the company exceeded its 70% global recycling goal in 2010. It continues to score well on the products rating with all Apple products now being free of PVC vinyl plastic and brominated flame retardants. However, the guide criticizes Apple on the Energy criteria for not seeking external verification of its greenhouse gas emissions data and for not setting out any targets to reduce emissions.[229] In January 2012, Apple announced plans and requested that their cable maker Volex begin producing halogen-free USB and power cables.[230] Labor practices Further information: Apple labor practices In 2006, the Mail on Sunday reported on working conditions existed at factories in China where the contract manufacturers Foxconn and Inventec produced the iPod.[231] The article stated that one complex of factories that assembles the iPod (among other items) had over 200,000 workers that lived and worked in the factory, with employees regularly working more than 60 hours per week. The article also reported that workers made around $100 per month and were required to live pay for rent and food from the company, which generally amounted to a little over half of workers' earnings.[16][232][233][234] Apple immediately launched an investigation and worked with their manufacturers to ensure acceptable working conditions.[235] In 2007, Apple started yearly audits of all its suppliers regarding worker's rights, slowly raising standards and pruning suppliers that did not comply. Yearly progress reports have been published since 2008.[236] In 2010, workers in China planned to sue iPhone contractors over poisoning by a cleaner used to clean LCD screens. One worker claimed that he and his coworkers had not been informed of possible occupational illnesses.[237] After a spate of suicides in a Foxconn facility in China making iPads and iPhones, albeit at a lower rate than in China as a whole,[238] workers were forced to sign a legally binding document guaranteeing that they would not kill themselves.[239] In 2011 Apple admitted that its suppliers' child labor practices in China had worsened.[240] Workers in factories producing Apple products have also been exposed to n-Hexane, a neurotoxin that is a cheaper alternative than alcohol for cleaning the products. ... ...... Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama served as a U.S. Senator representing the state of Illinois from January 2005 to November 2008, when he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid against the Democratic incumbent for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for the United States Senate in 2004. Several events brought him to national attention during the campaign, including his victory in the March 2004 Illinois Democratic primary for the Senate election and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in Illinois in November 2004. His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In April 2011, he announced that he would be running for re-election in 2012. As president, Obama signed economic stimulus legislation in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. Other domestic policy initiatives include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, and the Budget Control Act of 2011. In May 2012, he became the first sitting U.S. president to openly support legalizing same-sex marriage. In foreign policy, he ended the war in Iraq, increased troop levels in Afghanistan, signed the New START arms control treaty with Russia, ordered U.S. involvement in the 2011 Libya military intervention, and ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at Kapiʻolani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital (now Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children) in Honolulu, Hawaii,[2][4][5] and is the first President to have been born in Hawaii.[6] His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in Wichita, Kansas, and was of mostly English ancestry,[7] along with Scottish, Irish, German, and Swiss.[8][9][10][11][12] His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was a Luo from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Nyanza Province, Kenya. Obama's parents met in 1960 in a Russian class at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where his father was a foreign student on scholarship.[13][14] The couple married on February 2, 1961,[15] separated when Obama Sr. went to Harvard University on scholarship, and divorced in 1964.[13] Obama Sr. remarried and returned to Kenya, visiting Barack in Hawaii only once, in 1971. He died in an automobile accident in 1982.[16] After her divorce, Dunham married Indonesian Lolo Soetoro, who was attending college in Hawaii. When Suharto, a military leader in Soetoro's home country, came to power in 1967, all Indonesian students studying abroad were recalled, and the family moved to the Menteng neighborhood of Jakarta.[4][17] From ages six to ten, Obama attended local schools in Jakarta, including Besuki Public School and St. Francis of Assisi School.[18] A young boy possibly in his early teens, a younger girl (about age five), a woman and an elderly man sit on a lawn wearing contemporary c.-1970 attire. The adults wear sunglasses and the boy wears sandals. Obama with his half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng, mother Ann Dunham and grandfather Stanley Dunham, in Hawaii In 1971, Obama returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Armour Dunham, and with the aid of a scholarship attended Punahou School, a private college preparatory school, from fifth grade until his graduation from high school in 1979.[19] Obama's mother returned to Hawaii in 1972, remaining there until 1977 when she went back to Indonesia to work as an anthropological field worker. She finally returned to Hawaii in 1994 and lived there for one year before dying of ovarian cancer.[15][20] Of his early childhood, Obama recalled, "That my father looked nothing like the people around me—that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk—barely registered in my mind."[14] He described his struggles as a young adult to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage.[21] Reflecting later on his years in Honolulu, Obama wrote: "The opportunity that Hawaii offered—to experience a variety of cultures in a climate of mutual respect—became an integral part of my world view, and a basis for the values that I hold most dear."[22] Obama has also written and talked about using alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine during his teenage years to "push questions of who I was out of my mind."[23] At the 2008 Civil Forum on the Presidency, Obama described his high-school drug use as a great moral failure.[24] Following high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to attend Occidental College. In February 1981, he made his first public speech, calling for Occidental to divest from South Africa in response to its policy of apartheid.[25] In mid-1981, Obama traveled to Indonesia to visit his mother and sister Maya, and visited the families of college friends in Pakistan and India for three weeks.[25] Later in 1981, he transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialty in international relations[26] and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1983. He worked for a year at the Business International Corporation,[27] then at the New York Public Interest Research Group.[28][29] Chicago community organizer and Harvard Law School Two years after graduating, Obama was hired in Chicago as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Roseland, West Pullman, and Riverdale on Chicago's South Side. He worked there as a community organizer from June 1985 to May 1988.[29][30] He helped set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens.[31] Obama also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing institute.[32] In mid-1988, he traveled for the first time in Europe for three weeks and then for five weeks in Kenya, where he met many of his paternal relatives for the first time.[33] He returned to Kenya in August 2006 for a visit to his father's birthplace, a village near Kisumu in rural western Kenya.[34] In late 1988, Obama entered Harvard Law School. He was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review at the end of his first year,[35] and president of the journal in his second year.[31][36] During his summers, he returned to Chicago, where he worked as an associate at the law firms of Sidley Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990.[37] After graduating with a J.D. magna cum laude[38] from Harvard in 1991, he returned to Chicago.[35] Obama's election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review gained national media attention[31][36] and led to a publishing contract and advance for a book about race relations,[39] which evolved into a personal memoir. The manuscript was published in mid-1995 as Dreams from My Father.[39] University of Chicago Law School and civil rights attorney In 1991, Obama accepted a two-year position as Visiting Law and Government Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School to work on his first book.[39][40] He then taught at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years—as a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and as a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004—teaching constitutional law.[41] From April to October 1992, Obama directed Illinois's Project Vote, a voter registration campaign with ten staffers and seven hundred volunteer registrars; it achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state, leading Crain's Chicago Business to name Obama to its 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be.[42] In 1993, he joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a 13-attorney law firm specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development, where he was an associate for three years from 1993 to 1996, then of counsel from 1996 to 2004. His law license became inactive in 2002.[43] From 1994 to 2002, Obama served on the boards of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund the Developing Communities Project; and of the Joyce Foundation.[29] He served on the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995 to 2002, as founding president and chairman of the board of directors from 1995 to 1999.[29] Legislative career: 1997–2008 State Senator: 1997–2004 Main article: Illinois Senate career of Barack Obama Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996, succeeding State Senator Alice Palmer as Senator from Illinois's 13th District, which at that time spanned Chicago South Side neighborhoods from Hyde Park – Kenwood south to South Shore and west to Chicago Lawn.[44] Once elected, Obama gained bipartisan support for legislation that reformed ethics and health care laws.[45] He sponsored a law that increased tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare.[46] In 2001, as co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, Obama supported Republican Governor Ryan's payday loan regulations and predatory mortgage lending regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures.[47] Obama was reelected to the Illinois Senate in 1998, defeating Republican Yesse Yehudah in the general election, and was reelected again in 2002.[48] In 2000, he lost a Democratic primary run for the U.S. House of Representatives to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one.[49] In January 2003, Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee when Democrats, after a decade in the minority, regained a majority.[50] He sponsored and led unanimous, bipartisan passage of legislation to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they detained, and legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations.[46][51] During his 2004 general election campaign for U.S. Senate, police representatives credited Obama for his active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms.[52] Obama resigned from the Illinois Senate in November 2004 following his election to the U.S. Senate.[53] U.S. Senate campaign County results of the 2004 U.S. Senate race in Illinois. Counties in blue were won by Obama. In May 2002, Obama commissioned a poll to assess his prospects in a 2004 U.S. Senate race; he created a campaign committee, began raising funds, and lined up political media consultant David Axelrod by August 2002. Obama formally announced his candidacy in January 2003.[54] Obama was an early opponent of the George W. Bush administration's 2003 invasion of Iraq.[55] On October 2, 2002, the day President Bush and Congress agreed on the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War,[56] Obama addressed the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq War rally,[57] and spoke out against the war.[58] He addressed another anti-war rally in March 2003 and told the crowd that "it's not too late" to stop the war.[59] Decisions by Republican incumbent Peter Fitzgerald and his Democratic predecessor Carol Moseley Braun to not participate in the election resulted in wide-open Democratic and Republican primary contests involving fifteen candidates.[60] In the March 2004 primary election, Obama won in an unexpected landslide—which overnight made him a rising star within the national Democratic Party, started speculation about a presidential future, and led to the reissue of his memoir, Dreams from My Father.[61] In July 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention,[62] seen by 9.1 million viewers. His speech was well received and elevated his status within the Democratic Party.[63] Obama's expected opponent in the general election, Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, withdrew from the race in June 2004.[64] Six weeks later, Alan Keyes accepted the Republican nomination to replace Ryan.[65] In the November 2004 general election, Obama won with 70 percent of the vote.[66] U.S. Senator: 2005–2008 Main article: United States Senate career of Barack Obama Obama was sworn in as a senator on January 3, 2005,[67] becoming the only Senate member of the Congressional Black Caucus.[68] CQ Weekly characterized him as a "loyal Democrat" based on analysis of all Senate votes in 2005–2007. Obama announced on November 13, 2008, that he would resign his Senate seat on November 16, 2008, before the start of the lame-duck session, to focus on his transition period for the presidency.[69] Legislation See also: List of bills sponsored by Barack Obama in the United States Senate Obama cosponsored the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act.[70] He introduced two initiatives that bore his name: Lugar–Obama, which expanded the Nunn–Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons;[71] and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which authorized the establishment of USAspending.gov, a web search engine on federal spending.[72] On June 3, 2008, Senator Obama—along with Senators Tom Carper, Tom Coburn, and John McCain—introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008.[73] Obama sponsored legislation that would have required nuclear plant owners to notify state and local authorities of radioactive leaks, but the bill failed to pass in the full Senate after being heavily modified in committee.[74] Regarding tort reform, Obama voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which grants immunity from civil liability to telecommunications companies complicit with NSA warrantless wiretapping operations.[75] Gray-haired man and Obama stand, wearing casual polo shirts. Obama wears sunglasses and holds something slung over his right shoulder. Obama and U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) visit a Russian facility for dismantling mobile-missiles (August 2005).[76] In December 2006, President Bush signed into law the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor.[77] In January 2007, Obama and Senator Feingold introduced a corporate jet provision to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which was signed into law in September 2007.[78] Obama also introduced Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections,[79] and the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007,[80] neither of which was signed into law. Later in 2007, Obama sponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act to add safeguards for personality-disorder military discharges.[81] This amendment passed the full Senate in the spring of 2008.[82] He sponsored the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran's oil and gas industry, which has not passed committee; and co-sponsored legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism.[83] Obama also sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children's Health Insurance Program, providing one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries.[84] Committees Obama held assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works, and Veterans' Affairs through December 2006.[85] In January 2007, he left the Environment and Public Works committee and took additional assignments with Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.[86] He also became Chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on European Affairs.[87] As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. He met with Mahmoud Abbas before Abbas became President of the Palestinian National Authority, and gave a speech at the University of Nairobi in which he condemned corruption within the Kenyan government.[88] Presidential campaigns 2008 presidential campaign Main articles: United States presidential election, 2008, Barack Obama presidential primary campaign, 2008, and Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008 Obama stands on stage with his family. They wave. Obama stands on stage with his wife and daughters just before announcing his presidential candidacy in Springfield, Illinois, February 10, 2007. Two men sit at a distance in front of a desk with their legs crossed and their backs on an angle toward the camera. They sit at right angles to each other. President George W. Bush meets with President-elect Obama in the Oval Office on November 10, 2008. On February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois.[89][90] The choice of the announcement site was viewed as symbolic because it was also where Abraham Lincoln delivered his historic "House Divided" speech in 1858.[89][91] Obama emphasized issues of rapidly ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and providing universal health care,[92] in a campaign that projected themes of "hope" and "change".[93] A large number of candidates entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries. The field narrowed to a duel between Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton after early contests, with the race remaining close throughout the primary process but with Obama gaining a steady lead in pledged delegates due to better long-range planning, superior fundraising, dominant organizing in caucus states, and better exploitation of delegate allocation rules.[94] On June 7, 2008, Clinton ended her campaign and endorsed Obama.[95] On August 23, Obama announced his selection of Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate.[96] Biden was selected from a field speculated to include former Indiana Governor and Senator Evan Bayh and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.[97] At the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, Hillary Clinton called for her supporters to endorse Obama, and she and Bill Clinton gave convention speeches in his support.[98] Obama delivered his acceptance speech, not at the center where the Democratic National Convention was held, but at Invesco Field at Mile High to a crowd of over 75,000; the speech was viewed by over 38 million people worldwide.[99][100] During both the primary process and the general election, Obama's campaign set numerous fundraising records, particularly in the quantity of small donations.[101] On June 19, 2008, Obama became the first major-party presidential candidate to turn down public financing in the general election since the system was created in 1976.[102] McCain was nominated as the Republican candidate and the two engaged in three presidential debates in September and October 2008.[103] On November 4, Obama won the presidency with 365 electoral votes to 173 received by McCain.[104] Obama won 52.9 percent of the popular vote to McCain's 45.7 percent.[105] He became the first African American to be elected president.[106] Obama delivered his victory speech before hundreds of thousands of supporters in Chicago's Grant Park.[107] 2012 presidential campaign Main articles: United States presidential election, 2012 and Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2012 On April 4, 2011, Obama announced his re-election campaign for 2012 in a video titled "It Begins with Us" that he posted on his website and filed election papers with the Federal Election Commission.[108][109][110] As the incumbent president he ran almost unopposed in the Democratic Party presidential primaries,[111] and on April 3, 2012, Obama had secured the 2778 convention delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.[112] Presidency Main article: Presidency of Barack Obama See also: Confirmations of Barack Obama's Cabinet and List of presidential trips made by Barack Obama First days Obama takes the oath of office as President of the United States. The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President, and Joe Biden as Vice President, took place on January 20, 2009. In his first few days in office, Obama issued executive orders and presidential memoranda directing the U.S. military to develop plans to withdraw troops from Iraq.[113] He ordered the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp,[114] but Congress prevented the closure by refusing to appropriate the required funds.[115][116][117] Obama reduced the secrecy given to presidential records,[118] and changed procedures to promote disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.[119] He also reversed George W. Bush's ban on federal funding to foreign establishments that allow abortions.[120] Domestic policy Main article: Barack Obama social policy The first bill signed into law by Obama was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, relaxing the statute of limitations for equal-pay lawsuits.[121] Five days later, he signed the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover an additional 4 million uninsured children.[122] In March 2009, Obama reversed a Bush-era policy which had limited funding of embryonic stem cell research and pledged to develop "strict guidelines" on the research.[123] Obama speaking at Joint session of Congress with Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on February 24, 2009 Obama appointed two women to serve on the Supreme Court in the first two years of his Presidency. Sonia Sotomayor, nominated by Obama on May 26, 2009, to replace retiring Associate Justice David Souter, was confirmed on August 6, 2009,[124] becoming the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.[125] Elena Kagan, nominated by Obama on May 10, 2010, to replace retiring Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, was confirmed on August 5, 2010, bringing the number of women sitting simultaneously on the Court to three, for the first time in American history.[126] On September 30, 2009, the Obama administration proposed new regulations on power plants, factories and oil refineries in an attempt to limit greenhouse gas emissions and to curb global warming.[127][128] On October 8, 2009, Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a measure that expands the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.[129][130] On March 30, 2010, Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, a reconciliation bill which ends the process of the federal government giving subsidies to private banks to give out federally insured loans, increases the Pell Grant scholarship award, and makes changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[131][132] In a major space policy speech in April 2010, Obama announced a planned change in direction at NASA, the U.S. space agency. He ended plans for a return of human spaceflight to the moon and development of the Ares I rocket, Ares V rocket and Constellation program, in favor of funding Earth science projects, a new rocket type, and research and development for an eventual manned mission to Mars, and ongoing missions to the International Space Station.[133] On December 22, 2010, Obama signed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, fulfilling a key promise made in the 2008 presidential campaign[134][135] to end the Don't ask, don't tell policy of 1993 that had prevented gay and lesbian people from serving openly in the United States Armed Forces.[136] President Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address focused on themes of education and innovation, stressing the importance of innovation economics to make the United States more competitive globally. He spoke of a five-year freeze in domestic spending, eliminating tax breaks for oil companies and reversing tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, banning congressional earmarks, and reducing healthcare costs. He promised that the United States would have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 and would be 80% reliant on "clean" electricity.[137][138] As a candidate for the Illinois state senate Obama had said in 1996 that he favored legalizing same-sex marriage;[139] but by the time of his run for the U.S. senate in 2004, he said that while he supported civil unions and domestic partnerships for same-sex partners, for strategic reasons he opposed same-sex marriages.[140] On May 9, 2012, shortly after the official launch of his campaign for re-election as president, Obama said his views had evolved, and he publicly affirmed his personal support for the legalization of same-sex marriage, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to do so.[141][142] Economic policy Main article: Economic policy of Barack Obama 20090124 WeeklyAddress.ogv Obama presents his first weekly address as President of the United States on January 24, 2009, discussing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. On February 17, 2009, Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $787 billion economic stimulus package aimed at helping the economy recover from the deepening worldwide recession.[143] The act includes increased federal spending for health care, infrastructure, education, various tax breaks and incentives, and direct assistance to individuals,[144] which is being distributed over the course of several years. In March, Obama's Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, took further steps to manage the financial crisis, including introducing the Public-Private Investment Program for Legacy Assets, which contains provisions for buying up to $2 trillion in depreciated real estate assets.[145] Obama intervened in the troubled automotive industry[146] in March 2009, renewing loans for General Motors and Chrysler to continue operations while reorganizing. Over the following months the White House set terms for both firms' bankruptcies, including the sale of Chrysler to Italian automaker Fiat[147] and a reorganization of GM giving the U.S. government a temporary 60 percent equity stake in the company, with the Canadian government shouldering a 12 percent stake.[148] In June 2009, dissatisfied with the pace of economic stimulus, Obama called on his cabinet to accelerate the investment.[149] He signed into law the Car Allowance Rebate System, known colloquially as "Cash for Clunkers", that temporarily boosted the economy.[150][151][152] Although spending and loan guarantees from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department authorized by the Bush and Obama administrations totaled about $11.5 trillion, only $3 trillion had been spent by the end of November 2009.[153] However, Obama and the Congressional Budget Office predicted that the 2010 budget deficit will be $1.5 trillion or 10.6 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the 2009 deficit of $1.4 trillion or 9.9 percent of GDP.[154][155] For 2011, the administration predicted the deficit will slightly shrink to $1.34 trillion, while the 10-year deficit will increase to $8.53 trillion or 90 percent of GDP.[156] The most recent increase in the U.S. debt ceiling to $16.4 trillion was signed into law on January 26, 2012.[157] On August 2, 2011, after a lengthy congressional debate over whether to raise the nation's debt limit, Obama signed the bipartisan Budget Control Act of 2011. The legislation enforces limits on discretionary spending until 2021, establishes a procedure to increase the debt limit, creates a Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to propose further deficit reduction with a stated goal of achieving at least $1.5 trillion in budgetary savings over 10 years, and establishes automatic procedures for reducing spending by as much as $1.2 trillion if legislation originating with the new joint select committee does not achieve such savings.[158] By passing the legislation, Congress was able to prevent an unprecedented U.S. government default on its obligations.[159] Employment statistics (changes in unemployment rate and net jobs per month) during Obama's tenure as U.S. President[160][161] The unemployment rate rose in 2009, reaching a peak in October at 10.1 percent and averaging 10.0 percent in the fourth quarter. Following a decrease to 9.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate fell to 9.6 percent in the second quarter, where it remained for the rest of the year.[162] Between February and December 2010, employment rose by 0.8 percent, which was less than the average of 1.9 percent experienced during comparable periods in the past four employment recoveries.[163] GDP growth returned in the third quarter of 2009, expanding at a rate of 1.6 percent, followed by a 5.0 percent increase in the fourth quarter.[164] Growth continued in 2010, posting an increase of 3.7 percent in the first quarter, with lesser gains throughout the rest of the year.[164] In July 2010, the Federal Reserve expressed that although economic activity continued to increase, its pace had slowed, and Chairman Ben Bernanke stated that the economic outlook was "unusually uncertain."[165] Overall, the economy expanded at a rate of 2.9 percent in 2010.[166] The Congressional Budget Office and a broad range of economists credit Obama's stimulus plan for economic growth.[167][168] The CBO released a report stating that the stimulus bill increased employment by 1–2.1 million,[168][169][170][171] while conceding that "It is impossible to determine how many of the reported jobs would have existed in the absence of the stimulus package."[167] Although an April 2010 survey of members of the National Association for Business Economics showed an increase in job creation (over a similar January survey) for the first time in two years, 73 percent of 68 respondents believed that the stimulus bill has had no impact on employment.[172] Within a month of the 2010 midterm elections, Obama announced a compromise deal with the Congressional Republican leadership that included a temporary, two-year extension of the 2001 and 2003 income tax rates, a one-year payroll tax reduction, continuation of unemployment benefits, and a new rate and exemption amount for estate taxes.[173] The compromise overcame opposition from some in both parties, and the resulting $858 billion Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 passed with bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress before Obama signed it on December 17, 2010.[174] Health care reform Main article: Health care reform in the United States Obama signs bill at desk while others look on. Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the White House, March 23, 2010 Obama called for Congress to pass legislation reforming health care in the United States, a key campaign promise and a top legislative goal.[175] He proposed an expansion of health insurance coverage to cover the uninsured, to cap premium increases, and to allow people to retain their coverage when they leave or change jobs. His proposal was to spend $900 billion over 10 years and include a government insurance plan, also known as the public option, to compete with the corporate insurance sector as a main component to lowering costs and improving quality of health care. It would also make it illegal for insurers to drop sick people or deny them coverage for pre-existing conditions, and require every American carry health coverage. The plan also includes medical spending cuts and taxes on insurance companies that offer expensive plans.[176][177] On July 14, 2009, House Democratic leaders introduced a 1,017-page plan for overhauling the U.S. health care system, which Obama wanted Congress to approve by the end of 2009.[175] After much public debate during the Congressional summer recess of 2009, Obama delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 9 where he addressed concerns over the proposals.[178] In March 2009, Obama lifted a ban on stem cell research.[179] Maximum Out-of-Pocket Premium as Percentage of Family Income and federal poverty level, under Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, starting in 2014. (Source: CRS) On November 7, 2009, a health care bill featuring the public option was passed in the House.[180][181] On December 24, 2009, the Senate passed its own bill—without a public option—on a party-line vote of 60–39.[182] On March 21, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed by the Senate in December was passed in the House by a vote of 219 to 212.[183] Obama signed the bill into law on March 23, 2010.[184] The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes health-related provisions to take effect over four years, including expanding Medicaid eligibility for people making up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) starting in 2014,[185] subsidizing insurance premiums for people making up to 400 percent of the FPL ($88,000 for family of four in 2010) so their maximum "out-of-pocket" payment for annual premiums will be from 2 to 9.5 percent of income,[186][187] providing incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits, prohibiting denial of coverage and denial of claims based on pre-existing conditions, establishing health insurance exchanges, prohibiting annual coverage caps, and support for medical research. According to White House and Congressional Budget Office figures, the maximum share of income that enrollees would have to pay would vary depending on their income relative to the federal poverty level.[186][188] The costs of these provisions are offset by taxes, fees, and cost-saving measures, such as new Medicare taxes for those in high-income brackets, taxes on indoor tanning, cuts to the Medicare Advantage program in favor of traditional Medicare, and fees on medical devices and pharmaceutical companies;[189] there is also a tax penalty for those who do not obtain health insurance, unless they are exempt due to low income or other reasons.[190] In March, 2010, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the net effect of both laws will be a reduction in the federal deficit by $143 billion over the first decade.[191] In March 2012, the Supreme Court heard arguments by a coalition of 26 states maintaining that it is unconstitutional to mandate that individuals must buy health insurance; the Court's decision is expected in June 2012.[192] Gulf of Mexico oil spill On April 20, 2010, an explosion destroyed an offshore drilling rig at the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, causing a major sustained oil leak. The well's operator, BP, initiated a containment and cleanup plan, and began drilling two relief wells intended to stop the flow. Obama visited the Gulf on May 2 among visits by members of his cabinet, and again on May 28 and June 4. On May 22, he announced a federal investigation and formed a bipartisan commission to recommend new safety standards, after a review by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and concurrent Congressional hearings. On May 27, he announced a 6-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling permits and leases, pending regulatory review.[193] As multiple efforts by BP failed, some in the media and public expressed confusion and criticism over various aspects of the incident, and stated a desire for more involvement by Obama and the federal government.[194] Foreign policy Main articles: Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration and Barack Obama foreign policy Obama speaking on "A New Beginning" at Cairo University on June 4, 2009 British Prime Minister David Cameron and Obama, during the 2010 G-20 Toronto summit. In February and March, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made separate overseas trips to announce a "new era" in U.S. foreign relations with Russia and Europe, using the terms "break" and "reset" to signal major changes from the policies of the preceding administration.[195] Obama attempted to reach out to Arab leaders by granting his first interview to an Arab cable TV network, Al Arabiya.[196] On March 19, Obama continued his outreach to the Muslim world, releasing a New Year's video message to the people and government of Iran.[197] This attempt at outreach was rebuffed by the Iranian leadership.[198] In April, Obama gave a speech in Ankara, Turkey, which was well received by many Arab governments.[199] On June 4, 2009, Obama delivered a speech at Cairo University in Egypt calling for "a new beginning" in relations between the Islamic world and the United States and promoting Middle East peace.[200] On June 26, 2009, in response to the Iranian government's actions towards protesters following Iran's 2009 presidential election, Obama said: "The violence perpetrated against them is outrageous. We see it and we condemn it."[201] On July 7, while in Moscow, he responded to a Vice President Biden comment on a possible Israeli military strike on Iran by saying: "We have said directly to the Israelis that it is important to try and resolve this in an international setting in a way that does not create major conflict in the Middle East."[202] On September 24, 2009, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to preside over a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.[203] In March 2010, Obama took a public stance against plans by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue building Jewish housing projects in predominantly Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.[204][205] During the same month, an agreement was reached with the administration of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with a new pact reducing the number of long-range nuclear weapons in the arsenals of both countries by about one-third.[206] The New START treaty was signed by Obama and Medvedev in April 2010, and was ratified by the U.S. Senate in December 2010.[207] On December 6, 2011, he instructed agencies to consider LGBT rights when issuing financial aid to foreign countries.[208] Iraq War On February 27, 2009, Obama declared that combat operations in Iraq would end within 18 months. His remarks were made to a group of Marines preparing for deployment to Afghanistan. Obama said, "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."[209] The Obama administration scheduled the withdrawal of combat troops to be completed by August 2010, decreasing troops levels from 142,000 while leaving a transitional force of 35,000 to 50,000 in Iraq until the end of 2011. On August 19, 2010, the last United States combat brigade exited Iraq. The plan is to transition the mission of the remaining troops from combat operations to counter-terrorism and the training, equipping, and advising of Iraqi security forces.[210][211] On August 31, 2010, Obama announced that the United States combat mission in Iraq was over.[212] On October 21, 2011 President Obama announced that all U.S. troops would leave Iraq in time to be, "home for the holidays".[213] War in Afghanistan Main article: War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Early in his presidency, Obama moved to bolster U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan.[214] He announced an increase to U.S. troop levels of 17,000 in February 2009 to "stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan", an area he said had not received the "strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires".[215] He replaced the military commander in Afghanistan, General David D. McKiernan, with former Special Forces commander Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal in May 2009, indicating that McChrystal's Special Forces experience would facilitate the use of counterinsurgency tactics in the war.[216] On December 1, 2009, Obama announced the deployment of an additional 30,000 military personnel to Afghanistan.[217] He also proposed to begin troop withdrawals 18 months from that date.[218][219] McChrystal was replaced by David Petraeus in June 2010, after McChrystal's staff criticized White House personnel in a magazine article.[220] Israel Obama meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, 2009 During the initial years of the Obama administration, the U.S. increased military cooperation with Israel, including a record number of U.S. troops participating in military exercises in the country, increased military aid, the re-establishment of the U.S.-Israeli Joint Political Military Group and the Defense Policy Advisory Group, and an increase in visits among high-level military officials of both countries, including Ehud Barak and Admiral Mike Mullen.[221] In 2011, the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, with the United States being the only nation to do so.[222] Obama supports the two-state solution to the Arab–Israeli conflict based on the 1967 borders with land swaps.[223] War in Libya Main article: 2011 military intervention in Libya In March 2011, as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi advanced on rebels across Libya, calls for a no-fly zone came from around the world, including Europe, the Arab League, and a resolution[224] passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate.[225] In response to the unanimous passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 on March 17, Gaddafi who had previously vowed to "show no mercy" to the citizens of Benghazi[226]—announced an immediate cessation of military activities,[227] yet reports came in that his forces continued shelling Misrata. The next day, on Obama's orders, the U.S. military took a lead role in air strikes to destroy the Libyan government's air defense capabilities in order to protect civilians and enforce a no-fly-zone,[228] including the use of Tomahawk missiles, B-2 Spirits, and fighter jets.[229][230][231] Six days later, on March 25, by unanimous vote of all of its 28 members, NATO took over leadership of the effort, dubbed Operation Unified Protector.[232] Some Representatives[233] questioned whether Obama had the constitutional authority to order military action in addition to questioning its cost, structure and aftermath.[234][235] Osama bin Laden Main article: Death of Osama bin Laden Obama and the U.S. national security team gathered in the Situation Room to monitor the military operation resulting in the death of Osama bin Laden on May 1, 2011. Starting with information received in July 2010, intelligence developed by the CIA over the next several months determined what they believed to be the location of Osama bin Laden in a large compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a suburban area 35 miles from Islamabad.[236] CIA head Leon Panetta reported this intelligence to President Obama in March 2011.[236] Meeting with his national security advisers over the course of the next six weeks, Obama rejected a plan to bomb the compound, and authorized a "surgical raid" to be conducted by United States Navy SEALs.[236] The operation took place on May 1, 2011, resulting in the death of bin Laden and the seizure of papers and computer drives and disks from the compound.[237][238] Bin Laden's body was identified through DNA testing,[239] and buried at sea several hours later.[240] Within minutes of the President's announcement from Washington, DC, late in the evening on May 1, there were spontaneous celebrations around the country as crowds gathered outside the White House, and at New York City's Ground Zero and Times Square.[237][241] Reaction to the announcement was positive across party lines, including from former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush,[242] and from many countries around the world.[243] 2010 midterm election Obama called the November 2, 2010 election, where the Democratic Party lost 63 seats in, and control of, the House of Representatives,[244] "humbling" and a "shellacking".[245] He said that the results came because not enough Americans had felt the effects of the economic recovery.[246] Cultural and political image Main article: Public image of Barack Obama See also: International media reaction to the United States presidential election, 2008 Obama conducting the first completely virtual interview from the White House in 2012[247] Obama's family history, upbringing, and Ivy League education differ markedly from those of African American politicians who launched their careers in the 1960s through participation in the civil rights movement.[248] Obama is also not a descendant of American slaves.[249] Expressing puzzlement over questions about whether he is "black enough", Obama told an August 2007 meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists that "we're still locked in this notion that if you appeal to white folks then there must be something wrong".[250] Obama acknowledged his youthful image in an October 2007 campaign speech, saying: "I wouldn't be here if, time and again, the torch had not been passed to a new generation."[251] Obama is frequently referred to as an exceptional orator.[252] During his pre-inauguration transition period and continuing into his presidency, Obama has delivered a series of weekly Internet video addresses.[253] According to the Gallup Organization, Obama began his presidency with a 68 percent approval rating[254] before gradually declining for the rest of the year, and eventually bottoming out at 41 percent in August 2010,[255] a trend similar to Ronald Reagan's and Bill Clinton's first years in office.[256] He experienced a small poll bounce shortly after the death of Osama bin Laden, which lasted until around June 2011, when his approval numbers dropped back to where they were prior to the operation.[257][258][259] Polls show strong support for Obama in other countries,[260] and before being elected President he met with prominent foreign figures including then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair,[261] Italy's Democratic Party leader and then Mayor of Rome Walter Veltroni,[262] and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.[263] Obama talks with pub-goers as the First Lady draws a pint of stout at the Ollie Hayes pub in Moneygall, Ireland, in 2011 In a February 2009 poll conducted by Harris Interactive for France 24 and the International Herald Tribune, Obama was rated as the most respected world leader, as well as the most powerful.[264] In a similar poll conducted by Harris in May 2009, Obama was rated as the most popular world leader, as well as the one figure most people would pin their hopes on for pulling the world out of the economic downturn.[265][266] Obama won Best Spoken Word Album Grammy Awards for abridged audiobook versions of Dreams from My Father in February 2006 and for The Audacity of Hope in February 2008.[267] His concession speech after the New Hampshire primary was set to music by independent artists as the music video "Yes We Can", which was viewed 10 million times on YouTube in its first month[268] and received a Daytime Emmy Award.[269] In December 2008, Time magazine named Obama as its Person of the Year for his historic candidacy and election, which it described as "the steady march of seemingly impossible accomplishments".[270] On October 9, 2009, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that Obama had won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".[271] Obama accepted this award in Oslo, Norway on December 10, 2009, with "deep gratitude and great humility."[272] The award drew a mixture of praise and criticism from world leaders and media figures.[273][274] Obama is the fourth U.S. president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the third to become a Nobel laureate while in office. Family and personal life Main article: Family of Barack Obama Obama posing in the White House with wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia in 2009 In a 2006 interview, Obama highlighted the diversity of his extended family: "It's like a little mini-United Nations", he said. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher."[275] Obama has a half-sister with whom he was raised, Maya Soetoro-Ng, the daughter of his mother and her Indonesian second husband and seven half-siblings from his Kenyan father's family – six of them living.[276] Obama's mother was survived by her Kansas-born mother, Madelyn Dunham,[277] until her death on November 2, 2008,[278] two days before his election to the Presidency. Obama also has roots in Ireland; he met with his Irish cousins in Moneygall in May 2011.[279] In Dreams from My Father, Obama ties his mother's family history to possible Native American ancestors and distant relatives of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.[280] Obama was known as "Barry" in his youth, but asked to be addressed with his given name during his college years.[281] Besides his native English, Obama speaks Indonesian at the conversational level, having learned the language during his four childhood years in Jakarta.[282] He plays basketball, a sport he participated in as a member of his high school's varsity team.[283] Obama about to take a shot while three other players look at him. One of those players is holding is arms up in an attempt to block Obama. Obama taking a shot during a game on the White House basketball court, 2009 Obama is a supporter of the Chicago White Sox baseball team, and he threw out the first pitch at the 2005 ALCS when he was still a senator.[284] In 2009, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the all star game while wearing a White Sox jacket.[285] He is also primarily a Chicago Bears football fan in the NFL, but in his childhood and adolescence was a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and recently rooted for them ahead of their victory in Super Bowl XLIII 12 days after he took office as President.[286] In 2011, Obama invited the 1985 Chicago Bears to the White House; the team had not visited the White House after their Super Bowl win in 1986 due to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.[287] In June 1989, Obama met Michelle Robinson when he was employed as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin.[288] Assigned for three months as Obama's adviser at the firm, Robinson joined him at group social functions, but declined his initial requests to date.[289] They began dating later that summer, became engaged in 1991, and were married on October 3, 1992.[290] The couple's first daughter, Malia Ann, was born on July 4, 1998,[291] followed by a second daughter, Natasha ("Sasha"), on June 10, 2001.[292] The Obama daughters attended the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. When they moved to Washington, D.C., in January 2009, the girls started at the private Sidwell Friends School.[293] The Obamas have a Portuguese Water Dog named Bo, a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy.[294] Applying the proceeds of a book deal, the family moved in 2005 from a Hyde Park, Chicago condominium to a $1.6 million house in neighboring Kenwood, Chicago.[295] The purchase of an adjacent lot—and sale of part of it to Obama by the wife of developer, campaign donor and friend Tony Rezko—attracted media attention because of Rezko's subsequent indictment and conviction on political corruption charges that were unrelated to Obama.[296] In December 2007, Money magazine estimated the Obama family's net worth at $1.3 million.[297] Their 2009 tax return showed a household income of $5.5 million—up from about $4.2 million in 2007 and $1.6 million in 2005—mostly from sales of his books.[298][299] On his 2010 income of $1.7 million, he gave 14 percent to non-profit organizations, including $131,000 to Fisher House Foundation, a charity assisting wounded veterans' families, allowing them to reside near where the veteran is receiving medical treatments.[300][301] As per his 2012 financial disclosure, Obama may be worth as much as $10 million.[302] Obama tried to quit smoking several times, sometimes using nicotine replacement therapy, and, in early 2010, Michelle Obama said that he had successfully quit smoking.[303][304] Religious views Obama is a Christian whose religious views developed in his adult life. He wrote in The Audacity of Hope that he "was not raised in a religious household". He described his mother, raised by non-religious parents (whom Obama has specified elsewhere as "non-practicing Methodists and Baptists"), to be detached from religion, yet "in many ways the most spiritually awakened person that I have ever known". He described his father as "raised a Muslim", but a "confirmed atheist" by the time his parents met, and his stepfather as "a man who saw religion as not particularly useful". Obama explained how, through working with black churches as a community organizer while in his twenties, he came to understand "the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change".[305] In an interview with the evangelical periodical Christianity Today, Obama stated: "I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life."[306] On September 27, 2010, Obama released a statement commenting on his religious views saying "I'm a Christian by choice. My family didn't—frankly, they weren't folks who went to church every week. And my mother was one of the most spiritual people I knew, but she didn't raise me in the church. So I came to my Christian faith later in life, and it was because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead—being my brothers' and sisters' keeper, treating others as they would treat me."[307][308] Obama was baptized at the Trinity United Church of Christ, a black liberation church, in 1988, and was an active member there for two decades.[309] Obama resigned from Trinity during the Presidential campaign after controversial statements made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright became public.[310] After a prolonged effort to find a church to attend regularly in Washington, Obama announced in June 2009 that his primary place of worship would be the Evergreen Chapel at Camp David. ... ...... Bette Midler (born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys. During her more than forty-year career, Midler has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and won three Grammy Awards, four Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, and a special Tony Award. She has sold over 30 million albums worldwide.[1] Her voice type is categorized as deep mezzo soprano.[2] Midler was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her parents moved from Paterson, New Jersey to Honolulu before she was born, and hers was one of the few Jewish families in a mostly Asian neighborhood.[3] Her mother, Ruth (née Schindel), was a seamstress and housewife, and her father, Fred Midler, worked at a Navy base in Hawaii as a painter.[4] She was named after actress Bette Davis, though Davis pronounced her first name in two syllables, and Midler uses one, /ˈbɛt/.[5] She was raised in Aiea and attended Radford High School, in Honolulu.[6] She was voted "Most Talkative" in the 1961 school Hoss Election, and in her Senior Year (Class of 1963), "Most Dramatic".[7] Midler majored in drama at the University of Hawaii, but left after three semesters.[8] She earned money in the 1966 film Hawaii as an extra,[5] playing an uncredited seasick passenger named Miss David Buff. Midler married Martin von Haselberg on December 16, 1984, about six weeks after their first meeting. Their daughter, Sophie Frederica Alohilani Von Haselberg, was born on November 14, 1986.[9] [edit]Career [edit]Theater work In the summer of 1965, Midler relocated to New York City, using the money from her work in the film Hawaii. She landed her first professional onstage role in Tom Eyen's Off-Off-Broadway plays in 1965, Miss Nefertiti Regrets and Cinderella Revisited, a children's play by day and an adult show by night.[10] From 1966 to 1969, she played the role of Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway.[5] After Fiddler, she joined the original cast of Salvation in 1969.[11] In the summer of 1970, Midler began singing in the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse in the city.[5] During this time, she became close to her piano accompanist, Barry Manilow, who produced her first album in 1972, The Divine Miss M.[10] It was during her time at the Continental Baths that she built up a core following. In the late 1990s, during the release of her album Bathhouse Betty, Midler commented on her time performing there, "Despite the way things turned out [with the AIDS crisis], I'm still proud of those days. I feel like I was at the forefront of the gay liberation movement, and I hope I did my part to help it move forward. So, I kind of wear the label of 'Bathhouse Betty' with pride".[12] In 1971, Midler starred in the first professional production of The Who's rock opera Tommy, with director Richard Pearlman and the Seattle Opera.[13] It was during the run of Tommy that Midler first appeared on The Tonight Show. [edit]1972–1980: The Divine Miss M and success Midler released her debut album, The Divine Miss M, on Atlantic Records, in December 1972. It reached Billboard's Top 10 and became a million-selling Platinum-certified album,[14] earning Midler the 1973 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.[15] It featured three hit singles, with "Do You Want To Dance?", "Friends", and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", which became Midler's first No. 1 Adult Contemporary hit. "Bugle Boy" became a very successful rock cover of the classic swing tune originally introduced and popularized in 1941 by the famous Andrews Sisters, of whom Midler has repeatedly referenced as her idols and inspiration, as far back as her first appearances on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. Midler told Carson in an interview that she always wanted to move like the sisters, and Patty Andrews once remembered, "When I first heard the introduction on the radio, I thought it was our old record. When Bette opened at the Amphitheater in Los Angeles, Maxene and I went backstage to see her. Her first words were, 'What else did you record?'"[16] During another one of Midler's concerts, Maxene went on stage and presented her with an honorary bugle. Bette recorded other Andrews Sisters hits, including "In the Mood" and "Lullaby of Broadway."[16] Her self-titled follow-up album was released at the end of 1973. It reached Billboard's Top 10 and eventually sold close to a million copies in the United States alone.[17] Midler returned to recording with the 1976 and 1977 albums, Songs for the New Depression and Broken Blossom. Midler at the premiere of The Rose, 1979 In 1974, she received a Special Tony Award for her contribution to Broadway,[18] with Clams on the Half Shell Revue playing at the Minskoff Theater. From 1975–1978, she also provided the voice of Woody the Spoon on the PBS educational series Vegetable Soup. In 1977, Midler's first television special, Ol' Red Hair is Back, premiered, featuring guest stars Dustin Hoffman and Emmett Kelly. It went on to win the Emmy Award[19] for Outstanding Special — Comedy-Variety or Music.[20] In 1979, Midler made her first motion picture, starring in the 1960s-era rock and roll tragedy The Rose, as a drug-addicted rock star modeled after Janis Joplin.[5] That year, she also released her fifth studio album, Thighs and Whispers. Midler's first foray into disco was a commercial and critical failure and went on to be her all-time lowest charting album, peaking at No. 65 on the Billboard album chart.[21] Soon afterward, she began a world concert tour, with one of her shows in Pasadena being filmed and released as the concert film Divine Madness (1980). In 1979, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Rose, a role for which she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress (Comedy or Musical).[5] The film's acclaimed soundtrack album sold over two million copies in the United States alone, earning a Double Platinum certification.[14] The single version of the song held the No. 1 position on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart for five consecutive weeks and reached No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100. It earned Midler her first Gold single[14] and won the Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. [edit]1981–89: Wind Beneath My Wings and Beaches In 1981, Midler worked on the troubled comedy project Jinxed!. However, during production, there was friction with co-star Ken Wahl and the film's director, Don Siegel.[citation needed] Released in 1982, the film was a major flop.[citation needed] Midler did not appear in any other films until 1986. During those four years, she concentrated on her music career and in 1983, released the album No Frills, produced by Chuck Plotkin, who was best known for his work with Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. The album included three single releases: the ballad "All I Need To Know", a cover of Detroit native Marshall Crenshaw's "You're My Favorite Waste of Time" – which Midler fell in love with after flipping his 45 of "Someday Someway"[citation needed] – and Midler's take on the Rolling Stones cover "Beast of Burden". The rock and New Wave album became Midler's third lowest charting album in the U.S. Midler performed on USA for Africa's 1985 fund-raising single "We Are the World", and participated at the Live Aid event at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.[22] Also in 1985, she signed a multi-picture deal with Touchstone Pictures. She was subsequently cast by director Paul Mazursky in Down and Out in Beverly Hills, beginning a successful comedic acting career.[5] She followed that role with Ruthless People (1986), Outrageous Fortune (1987), and Big Business (1988).[5] Later in 1988, Midler lent her voice to the animated character Georgette, a snobbish poodle, in Disney's Oliver & Company, and had a hit with the tearjerker Beaches, co-starring Barbara Hershey.[5] The accompanying soundtrack remains Midler's all-time biggest selling disc, reaching No. 2 on Billboard's album chart and with U.S. sales of four million copies. It featured her biggest hit, "Wind Beneath My Wings", which went to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100, achieved Platinum status,[14] and won Midler her third Grammy Award – for Record of the Year – at the 1990 telecast. Midler in Los Angeles, 1990 In 1990, Midler's single "From A Distance" topped the charts and achieved platinum status. The next year, Midler co-starred with Woody Allen in Scenes from a Mall, again for Mazursky. She earned another Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for 1991's For the Boys, directed by Mark Rydell, who also directed The Rose. For the latter, she was awarded another Golden Globe for Best Actress (Comedy or Musical).[20] She turned down the lead role in 1992's Sister Act, which instead went to Whoopi Goldberg.[23] In 1993, she starred with Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy in the movie, Hocus Pocus, as Winifred "Winnie" Sanderson, the head witch of the Sanderson Sisters.[5][24] Midler's other films include Stella (1990), The First Wives Club (1996), and The Stepford Wives (2004).[5] Her television work includes an Emmy-nominated version of the stage musical Gypsy and a guest appearance as herself in Fran Drescher's The Nanny. In 1997, Midler, along with her co-stars from The First Wives Club, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton, was a recipient of the Women in Film Crystal Award, which honors "outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry".[25] Midler won an Emmy Award in 1992 for her performance on the next-to-last episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in May 1992, during which she sang an emotion-laden "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" to Johnny Carson. That night, Midler began singing "Here's That Rainy Day", Carson's favorite song; Carson joined in a few lyrics later.[26] She appeared on Seinfeld in the episode "The Understudy", which was the season finale of that show's sixth season in 1995. Her 1997 HBO special Diva Las Vegas earned her a third Emmy Award, for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Music Program.[20] In 1995 and 1999, she reached the top of the US Dance Charts with remixes of her hits "To Deserve You"[27] on Atlantic and "I'm Beautiful"[28] on Warner Brothers Records. "To Deserve You" reached No. 2 and "I'm Beautiful" reached No. 1. [edit]2000–01 Midler has guest-starred in various sitcoms over the years, including The Simpsons in the episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled" (she is first seen traversing a highway picking up trash when she is approached by Bart and Lisa with a request for Midler to appear on a show to revive Krusty's dying career). In 2000, Midler starred in her own sitcom, Bette. Airing on CBS, initial ratings were high but soon declined and the show did not last a full season, being cancelled in early 2001. During the show's short lifespan, Bette's daughter (played by Lindsay Lohan in the pilot, then by Marina Malota starting with the third episode) and her husband were recast (Robert Hays succeeded Kevin Dunn in the final episode aired). The show was also reportedly rocked by backstage turmoil. Also in 2001, Bette or Bust, a book chronicling Midler's "Divine Miss Millennium Tour", was released. [edit]Music Midler has won three Grammy Awards.,[29] Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "The Rose" and Record of the Year for "Wind Beneath My Wings". Two of her recordings, "Wind Beneath My Wings" and "From a Distance" won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year. "From a Distance" became her longest running No. 1 – six consecutive weeks – on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. When the American Film Institute announced "The 100 Years of the Greatest Songs" on June 22, 2004, two of Midler's recordings were selected by the board: "Wind Beneath My Wings" (No. 44) and "The Rose" (No. 83). However, after years of erratic record sales, Midler was dropped from the Warner Brothers label in 2001, after nearly three decades with Warner Music Group. After a reported long-standing feud with Barry Manilow, the two joined forces after many years in 2003 to record Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook. Of the project, Manilow said he'd had a dream that he was recording with Midler again, so he called her up with the idea and she agreed that it was due time to work together again. Manilow duetted with Midler on the song "(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China", after a little dialogue between the two artists at the start of the track. Now signed to Columbia Records, the album was an instant success, being certified gold in only a few weeks. One of the Clooney Songbook selections, "This Ole House", became Midler's first Christian radio single shipped by Rick Hendrix and his positive music movement. The album was nominated for a Grammy the following year.[30] In 2003–04, Midler toured the U.S. in her new show, Kiss My Brass, to sell-out audiences. In early 2005, an Australian tour, Kiss My Brass Down Under, was equally successful. Midler joined forces again with Manilow for another tribute album, Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook. Released in October 2005, the album sold 55,000 copies the first week of release, returned Midler to the Top 10,[31] and was nominated for a Grammy Award. In 2006, Midler released a new Christmas album, Cool Yule, featuring the title song (written by Steve Allen) and a duet of "Winter Wonderland"/"Let It Snow" with Johnny Mathis. Midler starred in the 2007 film Then She Found Me, directed by Helen Hunt and starring Hunt, Matthew Broderick, and Colin Firth, and appeared on the American Idol season 6 finale, singing "Wind Beneath My Wings" live at the Kodak Theatre. On December 6, 2007, Midler's album Cool Yule received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.[33] Midler had a Vegas show entitled Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The show comprised The Staggering Harlettes, 20 female dancers called The Caesar Salad Girls and a 13-piece band. The show debuted on February 20, 2008, and played its final performance on January 31, 2010, after a two-year run.[34] The show was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding variety,music or comedy special in 2011.[35] A new "best of" album, Jackpot: The Best Bette, was released in 2008 and reached No. 66 on the U.S. charts, and No. 6 in the UK, where it was certified Platinum for sales of over 300,000 copies.[36] In June 2009, Midler appeared on the Bravo TV show My Life on the D-List with Kathy Griffin. In December 2009, Midler appeared in the Royal Variety Performance, an annual British charity event attended by Queen Elizabeth II. She performed "In My Life" and "Wind Beneath My Wings" as the closing act.[37] In 2010, Midler voiced the character Kitty Galore in the animated film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. The film was a modest success, grossing $112 million worldwide.[38] In November 2010, Midler released Memories of You, another compilation of lesser known tracks from her catalog. She promoted the album to her UK fans on Daybreak and The Graham Norton Show, on the latter of which she also performed "Dreamland" from For the Boys.[citation needed] Midler is one of the producers of the Broadway production of the musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert which opened in February 2011.[39] Midler will be co-starring alongside Billy Crystal in the movie Parental Guidance due to be released in 2012. Midler also auctioned her outfits and achievements from her 40-year career in November 2011 in order to raise money for the New York Restoration Project. Midler has an estimated net worth of $175 million.[40] In June 2012, she is slated to receive the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York in recognition of her having "captivated the world" with her "stylish presentation and unmistakable voice".[41] [edit]Charity work In 1995, Midler founded the New York Restoration Project (NYRP), a non-profit organization with the goal of revitalizing neglected neighborhood parks in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods of New York City.[5] These include Highbridge Park, Fort Washington Park, and Fort Tryon Park in upper Manhattan and Roberto Clemente State Park and Bridge Park in the Bronx.[42] In 1999, the city planned to auction 114 community gardens for commercial development. Midler led a coalition of greening organizations to save them. NYRP took ownership of 60 of the most neglected plots. Today, Midler and her organization work with local volunteers and community groups to ensure that these gardens are kept safe, clean and vibrant. In 2003, Midler opened Swindler Cove Park, a new 5-acre (20,000 m2) public park on the Harlem River shore featuring specially designed educational facilities and the Peter Jay Sharp Boathouse, the first community rowing facility to be built on the Harlem River in more than 100 years. The organization offers free in-school and after-school environmental education programming to students from high-poverty Title I schools. ... ...... William Henry "Bill" Gates III (born October 28, 1955)[4] is an American business magnate, computer programmer and philanthropist. Gates is the former chief executive and current chairman of Microsoft, the world’s largest personal-computer software company he co-founded with Paul Allen. He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people[5] and was the wealthiest overall from 1995 to 2009, excluding 2008, when he was ranked third;[6] in 2011 he was the wealthiest American and the second wealthiest person.[7][8] During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the largest individual shareholder, with 6.4 percent of the common stock.[9] He has also authored or co-authored several books. Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. Gates has been criticized for his business tactics, which have been considered anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by the courts.[10][11] In the later stages of his career, Gates has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000.[12] Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In June 2006, Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work, and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect, and Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. Gates's last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008. He remains at Microsoft as non-executive chairman. Bill Gates was photographed by the Albuquerque, New Mexico police in 1977 after a traffic violation (details of which have been lost over time). Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, to William H. Gates, Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates. His parents are of English, German, and Scots-Irish descent.[13][14] His father was a prominent lawyer, and his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way. Gates's maternal grandfather was J. W. Maxwell, a national bank president. Gates has one elder sister, Kristi (Kristianne), and one younger sister, Libby. He was the fourth of his name in his family, but was known as William Gates III or "Trey" because his father had the "II" suffix.[15] Early on in his life, Gates's parents had a law career in mind for him.[16] When Gates was young, his family regularly attended a Congregational church.[17][18][19] At 13 he enrolled in the Lakeside School, an exclusive preparatory school.[20] When he was in the eighth grade, the Mothers Club at the school used proceeds from Lakeside School's rummage sale to buy a Teletype Model 33 ASR terminal and a block of computer time on a General Electric (GE) computer for the school's students.[21] Gates took an interest in programming the GE system in BASIC, and was excused from math classes to pursue his interest. He wrote his first computer program on this machine: an implementation of tic-tac-toe that allowed users to play games against the computer. Gates was fascinated by the machine and how it would always execute software code perfectly. When he reflected back on that moment, he said, "There was just something neat about the machine."[22] After the Mothers Club donation was exhausted, he and other students sought time on systems including DEC PDP minicomputers. One of these systems was a PDP-10 belonging to Computer Center Corporation (CCC), which banned four Lakeside students—Gates, Paul Allen, Ric Weiland, and Kent Evans—for the summer after it caught them exploiting bugs in the operating system to obtain free computer time.[23] At the end of the ban, the four students offered to find bugs in CCC's software in exchange for computer time. Rather than use the system via Teletype, Gates went to CCC's offices and studied source code for various programs that ran on the system, including programs in FORTRAN, LISP, and machine language. The arrangement with CCC continued until 1970, when the company went out of business. The following year, Information Sciences, Inc. hired the four Lakeside students to write a payroll program in COBOL, providing them computer time and royalties. After his administrators became aware of his programming abilities, Gates wrote the school's computer program to schedule students in classes. He modified the code so that he was placed in classes with mostly female students. He later stated that "it was hard to tear myself away from a machine at which I could so unambiguously demonstrate success."[22] At age 17, Gates formed a venture with Allen, called Traf-O-Data, to make traffic counters based on the Intel 8008 processor.[24] In early 1973, Bill Gates served as a congressional page in the U.S. House of Representatives.[25] Gates graduated from Lakeside School in 1973. He scored 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT[26] and enrolled at Harvard College in the autumn of 1973.[27] While at Harvard, he met Steve Ballmer, who later succeeded Gates as CEO of Microsoft. The Poker Room in Currier House at Harvard University, in which Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer formed Microsoft In his sophomore year, Gates devised an algorithm for pancake sorting as a solution to one of a series of unsolved problems[28] presented in a combinatorics class by Harry Lewis, one of his professors. Gates's solution held the record as the fastest version for over thirty years;[28][29] its successor is faster by only one percent.[28] His solution was later formalized in a published paper in collaboration with Harvard computer scientist Christos Papadimitriou.[30] Gates did not have a definite study plan while a student at Harvard[31] and spent a lot of time using the school's computers. Gates remained in contact with Paul Allen, and he joined him at Honeywell during the summer of 1974.[32] The following year saw the release of the MITS Altair 8800 based on the Intel 8080 CPU, and Gates and Allen saw this as the opportunity to start their own computer software company.[33] He had talked this decision over with his parents, who were supportive of him after seeing how much Gates wanted to start a company.[31] After reading the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics that demonstrated the Altair 8800, Gates contacted Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), the creators of the new microcomputer, to inform them that he and others were working on a BASIC interpreter for the platform.[34] In reality, Gates and Allen did not have an Altair and had not written code for it; they merely wanted to gauge MITS's interest. MITS president Ed Roberts agreed to meet them for a demo, and over the course of a few weeks they developed an Altair emulator that ran on a minicomputer, and then the BASIC interpreter. The demonstration, held at MITS's offices in Albuquerque was a success and resulted in a deal with MITS to distribute the interpreter as Altair BASIC. Paul Allen was hired into MITS,[35] and Gates took a leave of absence from Harvard to work with Allen at MITS in Albuquerque in November 1975. They named their partnership "Micro-Soft" and had their first office located in Albuquerque.[35] Within a year, the hyphen was dropped, and on November 26, 1976, the trade name "Microsoft" was registered with the Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico.[35] Gates never returned to Harvard to complete his studies. Microsoft's BASIC was popular with computer hobbyists, but Gates discovered that a pre-market copy had leaked into the community and was being widely copied and distributed. In February 1976, Gates wrote an Open Letter to Hobbyists in the MITS newsletter saying that MITS could not continue to produce, distribute, and maintain high-quality software without payment.[36] This letter was unpopular with many computer hobbyists, but Gates persisted in his belief that software developers should be able to demand payment. Microsoft became independent of MITS in late 1976, and it continued to develop programming language software for various systems.[35] The company moved from Albuquerque to its new home in Bellevue, Washington on January 1, 1979, after the former rejected his loan application.[34] During Microsoft's early years, all employees had broad responsibility for the company's business. Gates oversaw the business details, but continued to write code as well. In the first five years, Gates personally reviewed every line of code the company shipped, and often rewrote parts of it as he saw fit.[37] IBM approached Microsoft in July 1980 regarding its upcoming personal computer, the IBM PC.[38] The computer company first proposed that Microsoft write the BASIC interpreter. When IBM's representatives mentioned that they needed an operating system, Gates referred them to Digital Research (DRI), makers of the widely used CP/M operating system.[39] IBM's discussions with Digital Research went poorly, and they did not reach a licensing agreement. IBM representative Jack Sams mentioned the licensing difficulties during a subsequent meeting with Gates and told him to get an acceptable operating system. A few weeks later Gates proposed using 86-DOS (QDOS), an operating system similar to CP/M that Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products (SCP) had made for hardware similar to the PC. Microsoft made a deal with SCP to become the exclusive licensing agent, and later the full owner, of 86-DOS. After adapting the operating system for the PC, Microsoft delivered it to IBM as PC-DOS in exchange for a one-time fee of $50,000.[40] Gates did not offer to transfer the copyright on the operating system, because he believed that other hardware vendors would clone IBM's system.[40] They did, and the sales of MS-DOS made Microsoft a major player in the industry.[41] Despite IBM's name on the operating system the press quickly identified Microsoft as being very influential on the new computer, with PC Magazine asking if Gates were "The Man Behind The Machine?"[38] He oversaw Microsoft's company restructuring on June 25, 1981, which re-incorporated the company in Washington state and made Gates President of Microsoft and the Chairman of the Board.[34] Windows Microsoft launched its first retail version of Microsoft Windows on November 20, 1985, and in August, the company struck a deal with IBM to develop a separate operating system called OS/2. Although the two companies successfully developed the first version of the new system, mounting creative differences caused the partnership to deteriorate. It ended in 1991, when Gates led Microsoft to develop a version of OS/2 independently from IBM.[42] Management style From Microsoft's founding in 1975 until 2006, Gates had primary responsibility for the company's product strategy. He aggressively broadened the company's range of products, and wherever Microsoft achieved a dominant position he vigorously defended it. He gained a reputation for being distant to others; as early as 1981 an industry executive complained in public that "Gates is notorious for not being reachable by phone and for not returning phone calls."[43] As an executive, Gates met regularly with Microsoft's senior managers and program managers. Firsthand accounts of these meetings describe him as verbally combative, berating managers for perceived holes in their business strategies or proposals that placed the company's long-term interests at risk.[44][45] He often interrupted presentations with such comments as, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"[46] and, "Why don't you just give up your options and join the Peace Corps?"[47] The target of his outburst then had to defend the proposal in detail until, hopefully, Gates was fully convinced.[46] When subordinates appeared to be procrastinating, he was known to remark sarcastically, "I'll do it over the weekend."[48][49][50] Gates's role at Microsoft for most of its history was primarily a management and executive role. However, he was an active software developer in the early years, particularly on the company's programming language products. He has not officially been on a development team since working on the TRS-80 Model 100,[51] but wrote code as late as 1989 that shipped in the company's products.[49] On June 15, 2006, Gates announced that he would transition out of his day-to-day role over the next two years to dedicate more time to philanthropy. He divided his responsibilities between two successors, placing Ray Ozzie in charge of day-to-day management and Craig Mundie in charge of long-term product strategy.[52] Further information: United States Microsoft antitrust case and European Union Microsoft competition case Bill Gates giving his deposition at Microsoft on August 27, 1998 Many decisions that led to antitrust litigation over Microsoft's business practices have had Gates's approval. In the 1998 United States v. Microsoft case, Gates gave deposition testimony that several journalists characterized as evasive. He argued with examiner David Boies over the contextual meaning of words such as, "compete", "concerned", and "we".[53] BusinessWeek reported: Gates later said he had simply resisted attempts by Boies to mischaracterize his words and actions. As to his demeanor during the deposition, he said, "Did I fence with Boies? ... I plead guilty. Whatever that penalty is should be levied against me: rudeness to Boies in the first degree."[55] Despite Gates's denials, the judge ruled that Microsoft had committed monopolization and tying, and blocking competition, both in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.[55] Appearance in ads Gates appeared in a series of ads to promote Microsoft in 2008. The first commercial, co-starring Jerry Seinfeld, is a 90-second talk between strangers as Seinfeld walks up on a discount shoe store (Shoe Circus) in a mall and notices Gates buying shoes inside. The salesman is trying to sell Mr. Gates shoes that are a size too big. As Gates is buying the shoes, he holds up his discount card, which uses a slightly altered version of his own mugshot of his arrest in New Mexico in 1977 for a traffic violation.[56] As they are walking out of the mall, Seinfeld asks Gates if he has melded his mind to other developers, after getting a yes, he then asks if they are working on a way to make computers edible, again getting a yes. Some say that this is an homage to Seinfeld's own show about "nothing" (Seinfeld).[57] In a second commercial in the series, Gates and Seinfeld are at the home of an average family trying to fit in with normal people. Post-Microsoft Since leaving day-to-day operations at Microsoft (where he remains Chairman[58]), Gates continues his philanthropy and, among other projects, purchased the video rights to the Messenger Lectures series called The Character of Physical Law, given at Cornell University by Richard Feynman in 1964 and recorded by the BBC. The videos are available online to the public at Microsoft's Project Tuva.[59][60] In April 2010, Gates was invited to visit and speak at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he asked the students to take on the hard problems of the world in their futures.[61][62] Gates married Melinda French on January 1, 1994. They have two daughters, Jennifer Katharine Gates (1996) and Phoebe Adele (2002), and one son, Rory John (1999). The Gates's home is an earth-sheltered house in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina. According to King County public records, as of 2006 the total assessed value of the property (land and house) is $125 million, and the annual property tax is $991,000. His 66,000 sq ft (6,100 m2) estate has a 60-foot (18 m) swimming pool with an underwater music system, as well as a 2,500 sq ft (230 m2) gym and a 1,000 sq ft (93 m2) dining room.[63] Also among Gates's private acquisitions is the Codex Leicester, a collection of writings by Leonardo da Vinci, which Gates bought for $30.8 million at an auction in 1994.[64] Gates is also known as an avid reader, and the ceiling of his large home library is engraved with a quotation from The Great Gatsby.[65] He also enjoys playing bridge, tennis, and golf.[66][67] Gates was number one on the Forbes 400 list from 1993 through to 2007 and number one on Forbes list of The World's Richest People from 1995 to 2007 and 2009. In 1999, Gates's wealth briefly surpassed $101 billion, causing the media to call him a "centibillionaire".[68] Since 2000, the nominal value of his Microsoft holdings has declined due to a fall in Microsoft's stock price after the dot-com bubble burst and the multi-billion dollar donations he has made to his charitable foundations. In a May 2006 interview, Gates commented that he wished that he were not the richest man in the world because he disliked the attention it brought.[69] Gates has several investments outside Microsoft, which in 2006 paid him a salary of $616,667 and $350,000 bonus totalling $966,667.[70] He founded Corbis, a digital imaging company, in 1989. In 2004 he became a director of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company headed by long-time friend Warren Buffett.[71] In March 2010 Bill Gates was bumped down to the second wealthiest man behind Carlos Slim. Gates (second from right) with Bono, Queen Rania of Jordan, Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, President Umaru Yar'Adua of Nigeria and other participants in a 'Call to Action on the Millennium Development Goals' during the Annual Meeting 2008 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Further information: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Gates began to appreciate the expectations others had of him when public opinion mounted suggesting that he could give more of his wealth to charity. Gates studied the work of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, and in 1994 sold some of his Microsoft stock to create the William H. Gates Foundation. In 2000, Gates and his wife combined three family foundations into one to create the charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the largest transparently operated charitable foundation in the world.[72] The foundation allows benefactors access to information regarding how its money is being spent, unlike other major charitable organizations such as the Wellcome Trust.[73][74] The generosity and extensive philanthropy of David Rockefeller has been credited as a major influence. Gates and his father met with Rockefeller several times, and modeled their giving in part on the Rockefeller family's philanthropic focus, namely those global problems that are ignored by governments and other organizations.[75] As of 2007, Bill and Melinda Gates were the second-most generous philanthropists in America, having given over $28 billion to charity.[76] They plan to eventually give 95% of their wealth to charity.[77] The foundation was at the same time criticized because it invests assets that it has not yet distributed with the exclusive goal of maximizing return on investment. As a result, its investments include companies that have been charged with worsening poverty in the same developing countries where the Foundation is attempting to relieve poverty. These include companies that pollute heavily, and pharmaceutical companies that do not sell into the developing world.[78] In response to press criticism, the foundation announced in 2007 a review of its investments, to assess social responsibility.[79] It subsequently canceled the review and stood by its policy of investing for maximum return, while using voting rights to influence company practices.[80] The Gates Millennium Scholars program has been criticized for its exclusion of Caucasian students.[81][82] Gates's wife urged people to learn a lesson from the philanthropic efforts of the Salwen family, which had sold its home and given away half of its value, as detailed in The Power of Half.[83] Gates and his wife invited Joan Salwen to Seattle to speak about what the family had done, and on December 9, 2010, Gates, investor Warren Buffett, and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook's CEO) signed a promise they called the "Gates-Buffet Giving Pledge", in which they promised to donate to charity at least half of their wealth over the course of time.[84][85][86] In 1987, Gates was listed as a billionaire in the pages of Forbes' 400 Richest People in America issue, just days before his 32nd birthday. As the world's youngest self-made billionaire, he was worth $1.25 billion, over $900 million more than he'd been worth the year before, when he'd debuted on the list.[87] Bill Gates and Steve Jobs at the fifth D: All Things Digital conference (D5) in 2007 Time magazine named Gates one of the 100 people who most influenced the 20th century, as well as one of the 100 most influential people of 2004, 2005, and 2006. Time also collectively named Gates, his wife Melinda and U2's lead singer Bono as the 2005 Persons of the Year for their humanitarian efforts.[88] In 2006, he was voted eighth in the list of "Heroes of our time".[89] Gates was listed in the Sunday Times power list in 1999, named CEO of the year by Chief Executive Officers magazine in 1994, ranked number one in the "Top 50 Cyber Elite" by Time in 1998, ranked number two in the Upside Elite 100 in 1999 and was included in The Guardian as one of the "Top 100 influential people in media" in 2001.[90] In 1994, he was honoured as the twentieth Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society. Gates has received honorary doctorates from Nyenrode Business Universiteit, Breukelen, The Netherlands, in 2000;[91] the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, in 2002;[92] Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, in 2005; Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in April 2007;[93] Harvard University in June 2007;[94] the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, in January 2008,[95] and Cambridge University in June 2009.[96] He was also made an honorary trustee of Peking University in 2007.[97] Gates was also made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005,[98] in addition to having entomologists name the Bill Gates flower fly, Eristalis gatesi, in his honor.[99] In November 2006, he and his wife were awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle for their philanthropic work around the world in the areas of health and education, particularly in Mexico, and specifically in the program "Un país de lectores".[100] In October 2009, it was announced that Gates will be awarded the 2010 Bower Award for Business Leadership of The Franklin Institute for his achievements in business and for his philanthropic work. In 2010 he was honored with the Silver Buffalo Award by the Boy Scouts of America, its highest award for adults, for his service to youth.[101] In 2011, Bill Gates was ranked as the fifth most powerful person in the world, according to rankings by Forbes magazine.[102] Cascade Investments LLC, a private investment and holding company, incorporated in United States, is controlled by Bill Gates, and is headquartered in the city of Kirkland, Washington. bgC3, a new think-tank company founded by Bill Gates. Corbis, a digital image licensing and rights services company. TerraPower, a nuclear reactor design company. To date, Bill Gates has authored two books. The Road Ahead, written with Microsoft executive Nathan Myhrvold and journalist Peter Rinearson, was published in November 1995, and it summarized the implications of the personal computing revolution and described a future profoundly changed by the arrival of a global information superhighway. Business @ the Speed of Thought was published in 1999, and discusses how business and technology are integrated, and shows how digital infrastructures and information networks can help getting an edge on the competition. Gates has appeared in a number of documentaries, including the 2010 documentary film Waiting for "Superman",[103] and the BBC documentary series The Virtual Revolution. Gates was prominently featured in Pirates of Silicon Valley, a 1999 film which chronicles the rise of Apple and Microsoft from the early 1970s to 1997. He was portrayed by Anthony Michael Hall. ... ...... Sir Robert William "Bobby" Robson, CBE (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009)[1] was an English footballer and manager, who managed seven European clubs and the England national team during his career. His professional playing career as an inside-forward spanned nearly 20 years, during which he played for three clubs: Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, and, briefly, Vancouver Royals. He also made 20 appearances for England, scoring four goals. After his playing career he found success as both a club and international manager, winning league championships in both the Netherlands and Portugal, earning trophies in England and Spain, and taking England to the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup, which remains the national team's best run in a World Cup since 1966. His last management role was as a mentor to the manager of the Irish national football team. Robson was created a Knight Bachelor in 2002, was inducted as a member of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2003, and was the honorary president of Ipswich Town. From 1991 onwards he suffered recurrent medical problems with cancer, and in March 2008, put his name and efforts into the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, a cancer research charity. In August 2008, his lung cancer was confirmed to be terminal; he said: "My condition is described as static and has not altered since my last bout of chemotherapy...I am going to die sooner rather than later. But then everyone has to go sometime and I have enjoyed every minute". He died just under a year later. Born in Sacriston, County Durham, Robson was the fourth of five sons of Philip and Lilian Robson (née Watt).[2] When he was a few months old, Robson's family moved to the nearby village of Langley Park where his father was a coal miner. As a boy, he was often taken by his father to watch Newcastle United at St James' Park, requiring a bus ride or a walk of several miles.[3][4][5] Robson describes Jackie Milburn and Len Shackleton as his childhood heroes.[4] Both played for Newcastle in the inside-forward position, the position Robson would later assume during his playing career. Robson attended Waterhouses Secondary Modern School but the headmaster did not allow the school football team to join a league.[6] Instead, he began to play for Langley Park Juniors on Saturday mornings at the age of eleven, and by the time he was 15, he was representing the club at Under-18 level.[7] Robson played football whenever he possibly could but also worked as an electrician's apprentice for the National Coal Board in the Langley Park colliery.[8] In May 1950, Bill Dodgin, the Fulham manager made a personal visit to the Robson household to offer Bobby a professional contract. Despite being offered a contract by nearby Middlesbrough, the offer made by Dodgin was too attractive to turn down, so he signed for Fulham and moved to London,[9][10][11] playing as a wing-half and inside-forward.[12] Robson had also interested his beloved Newcastle, but he opted to join Fulham as, in his opinion, "Newcastle made no appreciable effort to secure [my] signature". Playing career Club playing career Although Robson had signed professionally, his father insisted he continue to work as an electrician. He spent the day working at the Festival of Britain site and trained three nights a week at Fulham.[13] Eventually this took its toll on Robson and he gave up his trade for full-time football.[14] Robson made his debut in 1950 for Fulham, recently promoted to the First Division, in a match against Sheffield Wednesday.[15] He came to regard Fulham as "a nice club, a social club..." but "never...a serious, championship-challenging club".[16] Indeed, he and Fulham were relegated from the top-flight in the 1951–52 season,[17] but he made his return to the First Division, four years later, when he signed for Vic Buckingham's West Bromwich Albion in March 1956.[9] The transfer fee of £25,000 was a club record for Albion at the time.[18][19] He made his Albion debut in a 4–0 home defeat by Manchester City on 10 March 1956.[20] In 1957–58 he was the club's top league goalscorer; his tally of 24 goals included four in a 5–1 win against Burnley.[21][22] He went on to play 257 games and score 61 goals for West Bromwich Albion and captained the team for the 1960–61 and 1961–62 seasons.[23] In August 1962, however, he returned to Fulham after a disagreement with Albion vice-chairman Jim Gaunt over his salary.[24][25] The on-going dispute over both minimum and maximum wages in the game, instigated by Robson's team-mate Jimmy Hill and the Professional Footballers' Association, combined with the birth of Robson's second son, prompted Robson to demand a higher salary.[26] Gaunt refused to negotiate Robson's contract, so Robson placed a transfer request and was sold to Fulham for £20,000 in a deal which doubled his salary.[27] Soon after Robson joined Fulham, the club sold Alan Mullery and Rodney Marsh, meaning Robson's chances of securing any significant honour there were substantially reduced.[28] Robson himself stated "In all my time as a footballer, I didn't win a thing."[28] Despite press reports of interest from Arsenal,[29] and the offer of a player-manager role by Southend United,[30] Robson left Fulham in 1967 and accepted a three-year deal with Canada's Vancouver Royals. He was to be player-manager in their inaugural 1968 season in the North American Soccer League and believed it "...was a chance too good to miss".[9][31] The position proved difficult; a long-distance joint-ownership agreement gave the Hungarian footballer Ferenc Puskás control over the San Francisco section of the squad,[32] while Robson took care of the Vancouver squad. Robson was dissatisfied by this situation and when, in January 1968, Fulham offered him a contract as their manager, he accepted the position at Craven Cottage.[33] International playing career During his first spell at Fulham, Robson participated in two ambassadorial Football Association tours in the West Indies in 1955 and South Africa in 1956.[15] However, it was during his time at West Bromwich Albion that he graduated to the full England squad, with his first call-up in 1956. His manager, Vic Buckingham, advocated the "push and run" approach to the game, a precursor to "total football",[34] and playing this, Robson graduated to the full England squad in 1956,[35] It was also at West Bromwich Albion that Robson met future England international and assistant coach Don Howe.[36] He went on to make 20 appearances for the England national team, making his debut in a November 1957 victory against France, scoring twice in a 4–0 victory.[37] Although he made a successful debut, he was dropped for England's next game against Scotland, in favour of Bobby Charlton.[38] He was, however, selected for the 1958 World Cup squad, ahead of Nat Lofthouse and Stanley Matthews but returned from Sweden disappointed, as England were defeated by the Soviet Union in a group play-off match.[39] Following the 1958 World Cup, Robson became an established member of the England squad, enjoying considerable success in a period between October 1960 and March 1961 when he played in six England victories, including scoring a goal in the record 9–3 defeat of Scotland at Wembley Stadium.[40] He was selected for the 1962 World Cup finals in Chile but an injury to his ankle sustained in a pre-tournament friendly against a Chilean club side ruled him out of most of the tournament. As Robson recalled, "I never played for England again...my international career was unfulfilled". In 1959, the then England manager and the Football Association director of coaching Walter Winterbottom suggested to Robson that he take a coaching course at Lilleshall.[36] Robson made his debut as a manager in January 1968 at his former club Fulham, against Macclesfield Town, then in the Cheshire League, in the third round of the FA Cup. Fulham were struggling with 16 points from 24 games.[44][45] Despite the acquisition of the young Malcolm Macdonald, Robson could not save the club from relegation to the Second Division,[46] and he left them in November,[47] with the club sitting eighth in the Second Division. He discovered that he had been sacked, not from the club itself, but from the headline "Robson sacked" on an Evening Standard placard outside Putney station.[48] Statue of Robson at Portman Road He moved on to Ipswich Town in 1969 and it was there that he established his reputation as a successful manager. He won the vacant job at the Suffolk club after a chance encounter with Town director Murray Sangster while scouting at Portman Road for Chelsea manager Dave Sexton.[49] After four mediocre seasons, Robson led Ipswich to fourth place in the First Division and success in the Texaco Cup in the 1972–73 season.[50] In the following nine seasons, Ipswich finished lower than sixth place in the First Division only once, in the 1977–78 season. However, that season was a success with a 1–0 victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup Final.[51] His reign at Ipswich lasted 13 years, during which time the club twice finished as League runners-up, and made regular appearances in European competitions, capturing the UEFA Cup in 1981 with a 5–4 aggregate victory over Dutch side AZ 67 Alkmaar.[52] During his thirteen year tenure, he brought in only 14 players from other clubs, relying instead on players developed through Ipswich's youth programmes.[12] In 2002, in recognition of his achievements with the club, a life-size statue of Robson was unveiled opposite the Cobbold Stand of Ipswich Town's ground Portman Road.[53] On 7 July 2006, Robson was named as honorary president of Ipswich Town Football Club, the first since Lady Blanche Cobbold who had died in 1987.[54] England manager Robson's achievements with Ipswich earned him a job offer from the Football Association for the position of national coach, and he declined an offer of a ten-year contract extension from Ipswich director Patrick Cobbold.[55] On 7 July 1982, two days after England were knocked out of the 1982 World Cup, he succeeded Ron Greenwood as coach of the English national football team,[9] selecting former West Bromwich Albion team-mate Don Howe as his chief coach.[56] Robson's first game in charge saw immediate controversy, as he dropped Kevin Keegan for the match against Denmark.[57] On 21 September 1983, Robson suffered his only loss in the 28 qualifying matches he was to undertake as England manager.[58] The defeat, once again to Denmark, ultimately led to England's failure to qualify for the 1984 European Championships,[59] and resulted in Robson offering to resign in favour of Brian Clough.[60] The resignation was rejected by the FA chairman, Bert Millichip (primarily down to his and the FA's disdain for Clough), and Robson went on to lead the England team to qualify for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.[61] England began the competition poorly and captain Bryan Robson was injured with a recurrence of a dislocated shoulder.[62] Bobby Robson changed the team's tactics for the final match of the first round, selecting Peter Beardsley ahead of Mark Hateley as a striking partner for Gary Lineker.[63] The team won its next two matches, against Poland and Paraguay, 3–0 and qualified for the quarter-finals.[64] England were defeated in the last eight by Argentina with a brace of goals from Diego Maradona; the infamous "Hand of God" goal, and the "Goal of the Century" he scored five minutes later.[64] Robson was unimpressed by Maradona's claim of divine intervention:[65] “ It wasn't the hand of God. It was the hand of a rascal. God had nothing to do with it... That day, Maradona was diminished in my eyes forever. ” Robson's England dropped only one point in qualifying for Euro 1988 which included an 8–0 defeat of Turkey.[59] However this was followed by failure at the tournament itself, held in West Germany, where England were knocked out in the group stage. They finished bottom of their qualifying group, succumbing to defeats against Ireland, Holland and the USSR.[66] Robson was vilified by the British press, and after a draw in a friendly with Saudi Arabia, one newspaper demanded: "In the name of Allah, go".[67] Once again Robson submitted his resignation, and once again it was rejected by Millichip (again Brian Clough is often cited as a reason).[68] Robson led England without conceding a goal through the six-match qualification for the 1990 World Cup where they were one of six seeded teams.[69] Once again they were placed in a group with Holland and Ireland, with Egypt the fourth side.[70] As in the 1986 World Cup, Robson was denied the service of his captain, Bryan Robson, who suffered an achilles tendon injury which prevented him playing in the latter stages of the tournament.[71] England topped their qualifying group, accumulating four points from their three games.[72] However their progress was not without controversy. England changed formation from their traditional 4–4–2 to incorporate a sweeper, with some sources suggesting this was due to player revolt after the 1–1 draw in the first match with the Republic of Ireland.[73] Robson denies this claim:[74] “ ...I made the switch, not them. I had no intention of allowing van Basten and Gullit to rip holes in us... ” This was followed by victories over Belgium and Cameroon in the knock-out stages, to set up a semi-final with West Germany.[72] England lost the match on a penalty shoot-out, after the score had been tied at 1–1 following extra time.[75] Robson said afterwards that "not a day goes by when [he] does not think about the semi-final and other choices [he] might have made".[9] Robson remains only the second coach after Alf Ramsey to take England to a World Cup semi-final, and the only coach to do so on foreign soil. Continental management Before the 1990 World Cup, the FA told Robson that they would not renew his contract as England manager, so he moved on to the Netherlands to coach PSV of Eindhoven,[9] who sought a manager capable of instilling discipline into a fractious squad.[76] Robson described the move as "a culture shock" but felt "...a sense of adventure."[77] The Dutch penchant for tactical debate surprised Robson. In an interview with Voetbal International he lamented: "An English pro accepts the manager's decision. After every match here, the substitutes come and visit me."[78] Another of his challenges at PSV was handling the Brazilian international Romário. Robson became frustrated with the Brazilian's work ethic, although admitted "...in some matches he would be scintillating."[79] Robson arranged showdown talks with Romário, with Frank Arnesen, Robson's assistant, acting as a translator. The talks proved unsuccessful, with Romário unwilling to change his lifestyle.[80] Despite this, PSV won the Dutch league in both the 1990–91 and 1991–92 seasons. However, the team did not make the progress expected by the board in European competitions and Robson was informed that he would be leaving the club at the end of the 1991–92 season.[81] Robson moved to Sporting Clube de Portugal in July 1992, where his Portuguese interpreter was a young José Mourinho, future Porto, Chelsea, Internazionale and Real Madrid C.F. manager. Robson guided the club to a third place finish in his first season in charge while admitting the club was in "...a terrible state". He described the club's president as a "loose cannon", who frequently signed players without Robson's consent.[82] Robson was sacked in December 1993 with the club sitting at the top of the league table. The club President, Sousa Cintra, cited the club's early exit from the UEFA Cup at the hands of Casino Salzburg as the reason for his dismissal.[83] League finishes for clubs managed by Robson (* indicates Robson left the club before the end of the season) Sporting's rivals, F.C. Porto, quickly hired Robson, with Mourinho appointed as his assistant manager. Living in the same apartment block at the time was another future Porto and Chelsea manager, the young André Villas-Boas, who, aged 16, introduced himself to Robson. Robson subsequently appointed Villas-Boas to work in the Porto observation department and helped him gain his UEFA 'C' coaching badge in Scotland, despite him technically being ineligible as he was aged 17.[84][85] Porto were in a poor state when Robson arrived and the average attendance had dwindled to 10,000.[86] The club promptly went on to beat Robson's former club, Sporting, in the Portuguese Cup final,[9] following that achievement with successive League titles in the 1994–95 and 1995–96 seasons.[87] Such was the impact of Robson at Porto, he became known to the locals as "Bobby Five-O" in honour of the number of matches Porto won 5–0,[88] and he signed a new contract with the club in 1995.[88] Suffering from malignant melanoma and missing the first few months of the 1995–96 season, Robson still successfully led Porto in defence of their league title.[89] A phone call during the summer of 1996 from Barcelona's vice-president Joan Gaspart to discuss Luís Figo resulted in an offer of employment with the Spanish club.[90] Robson took over in July 1996, where once again his assistant was Mourinho; Robson had made Mourinho's move with him to the Camp Nou a condition of his employment.[89] One of the key decisions Robson made during his brief tenure at Barcelona was the US$19.5 million signing of Ronaldo,[91] who was influential in a season when Barcelona won the Spanish Cup, Spanish Super Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup.[92] Robson himself was voted European Manager of the Year for 1996–97, while Ronaldo stated, "as a trainer without doubt [Robson] is one of the greatest in the world".[93] The 1997–98 season saw Robson moved "upstairs" to the position of General Manager by Barcelona, with Louis van Gaal taking over the managerial reins,[9] but he stayed in this position for only one season before returning to manage PSV on a short-term deal for the 1998–99 season.[94] PSV missed out on the league title, finishing third behind Feyenoord and Willem II,[95] but Robson still led the club to qualification for the Champions League on the last day of the season.[96] Return to England After Robson's contract expired, he returned to England to take up a position in the Football Association's technical department,[97] but following the resignation of Ruud Gullit at Newcastle United, Robson moved to St James' Park in September 1999.[98] Robson was disappointed with the club's opening salary offer, stating "...it was miles below the going rate", but negotiated a one year, £1 million deal.[99] In his first home match in charge, Newcastle (at the bottom of the league) faced second bottom Sheffield Wednesday, thrashing them 8–0. In his first season in charge, 1999–2000, Robson led the club to an 11th place finish, with 14 wins from his 32 games in charge.[99][100] In late 2000, following the resignation of Kevin Keegan as England manager, the Football Association asked Newcastle Chairman Freddy Shepherd to permit Robson to take over in a part-time caretaker capacity but the request was refused.[101] Robson guided Newcastle from bottom of the Premier League to a fourth-place finish in the 2001–02 season.[102] The following season, Newcastle finished third, ensuring qualification for the Champions League for the second consecutive year.[103] Despite the qualification of third place however, Robson was unable to guide Newcastle through the Champions League qualifying rounds and the club was pushed back into the UEFA Cup for the 2003–04 season.[104] At the end of the 2003–04 season, Newcastle United finished fifth in the table, five points short of the Champions League qualifying fourth place but reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup before losing to Marseille.[105] He held the Newcastle post until 30 August 2004, when he was dismissed by Freddy Shepherd, after a poor start to the Premier League season and alleged discontent in the dressing room.[106] Robson's dismissal followed publication of his off the record observation of his disappointment that only 5,000 fans stayed to see the traditional lap of honour made by the players at St James' Park at the end of the previous season.[107] However, he remains held in the highest esteem by the fans;[108] he was granted the Freedom of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne on 2 March 2005.[109] His autobiography, entitled Bobby Robson: Farewell but not Goodbye was released in 2005.[110] The title is based on one of his quotes upon leaving the England job in 1990: "I'm here to say goodbye—maybe not goodbye but farewell".[111] In the book, Robson was critical of Shepherd, claiming that while manager he was denied information regarding the players' contracts and transfer negotiations. He also criticised Shepherd and the club's deputy chairman Douglas Hall, for their focus on the first team and St James' Park, causing them to neglect less glamorous issues, such as the training ground, youth development and talent scouts.[112] The club's training ground was later blamed by Graeme Souness, Robson's successor, for a series of injuries to first team players.[113] Football consultant On 7 June 2005 he declined the invitation to become Director of Football of Heart of Midlothian because he wanted to stay in the Newcastle area.[114] On 13 January 2006, Steve Staunton was appointed manager of the Republic of Ireland national team, with Robson named in a support role as International Football Consultant.[115] Robson stepped down from his role of consultant on 17 November 2007, after the Republic's final match in their unsuccessful qualifying campaign for Euro 2008.[116] Robson was a former Vice President of the League Managers Association, a non-executive role.[117] Life outside football Personal life Robson was married to Elsie from June 1955 until his death;[118] they have three sons: Andrew, Paul and Mark, all of whom survived him.[3][119] Since 1991, Robson was repeatedly diagnosed as suffering from cancer. He had several operations and, in 2006, was operated on for on a brain tumour.[120] This, on occasion, impacted on his work; while at Porto for example, Robson suffered from malignant melanoma, which resulted in him missing the first few months of the 1995–96 season.[121][122] Following the brain surgery, Sky Sports News reported that Robson had had an adverse reaction that had caused slight swelling of the brain, which had in turn caused the loss of feeling in his left side. On 17 October 2006, it was revealed that Robson had been given the all-clear and was set to see out his contract as consultant to the Irish team.[123] Robson revealed on 6 May 2007 that he had been diagnosed with cancer for the fifth time.[124] On Saturday 17 May 2008, Sir Bobby was the guest of honour at the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium when Portsmouth beat Cardiff City 1–0. He presented the trophy to the victorious captain, Sol Campbell. Other activities Robson made a number of product endorsements, including an appearance in Carlsberg's "Best Pub Side" television commercial.[125] He also acted as a pundit for ITV during the 2002 World Cup and the 2004 European Championship.[126][127] In 2004, following the death of Brian Clough, Robson briefly stood in for Clough as a columnist at FourFourTwo magazine, and from 2004 onwards wrote a weekly column for The Mail on Sunday.[128] Bobby Robson Foundation Robson defeated bowel cancer in 1992, a malignant melanoma in 1995, and a tumour in his right lung and a brain tumour, both in 2006. Treatment of these conditions had left him partially paralysed due to a stroke caused by the brain tumour, and also with a partially prosthetic upper jaw after the melanoma was surgically removed. His fifth diagnosis of cancer in 2007, consisting of cancerous nodules in both lungs, was diagnosed as terminal in February 2007, and as of December 2008 was being controlled through bouts of chemotherapy.[129] After these experiences, and following his fifth diagnosis with cancer, Robson devoted the remaining years of his life to helping fight the disease. On 25 March 2008, he launched the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. By November 2008, the Foundation had raised £1 million.[130] The money raised by the Foundation funded equipment for the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre, in the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne, and would go on to fund other cancer projects in the North East of England.[131] In aid of the Foundation, Robson's 1990 World Cup semi-final 4–3 loss after penalties against West Germany, was replayed on 26 July 2009 as the Sir Bobby Robson Trophy match at St James' Park, featuring players from the original 1990 World Cup squads and other special guests.[132][133][134] Robson was given a guard of honour before the game, which finished 3–2 to the England side.[135] At the time of his death, the Foundation had raised £1.6 million.[136] Donations totalling £156,000 were received by the Foundation in the 18 days following his death,[137] and on 15 October 2009, it was announced that the Foundation had raised over £2 million, and that at the request of Robson's family, Alan Shearer would take over Robson's role as the Foundation's patron.[138] It passed the £2.5 million mark in September 2010.[139] Three other patrons were added in 2010, Steve Gibson, Mick Mills and Niall Quinn.[140][141][142] Death On 31 July 2009, Robson died of lung cancer at his home in County Durham,[143] aged 76, after a long battle with the disease.[1] After the news of his death, leading figures from the world of football and politics paid tribute to him. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson called him a "great friend, a wonderful individual and tremendous football man." UEFA president Michel Platini said: "He will be remembered not only for his playing career and his outstanding managerial career at both club and international level, but also because he was a truly warm and passionate human being." Gary Lineker said: "It is a sad day and a great loss. He was a wonderful man and will be deeply missed by everybody in the country. I never played for a more enthusiastic man. He gave so much to the game."[144] Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, described Sir Bobby as a "real Geordie gentleman."[145] According to the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Robson "epitomised everything that is great about football in this country."[145] His friend, the broadcaster Michael Parkinson, said: "Robson will be remembered long after the present lot are old bones. By his decency, his humour, his love of the game's traditions and origins and confusion at what it had become, he made present day football look what it is – shabby by comparison. I can think of no more fitting epitaph."[146] Robson's funeral, a private family ceremony, took place on 5 August 2009. The location remained undisclosed at the request of his family until the funeral had taken place. It was later revealed to be Esh, County Durham.[147] A thanksgiving service for Robson was held on 21 September 2009 at Durham Cathedral. One thousand invited guests attended the service, which was also broadcast live on national television, and to Newcastle United's St James' Park, Ipswich Town's Portman Road ground, and Fulham's Craven Cottage.[148] Honours Bobby Robson was awarded a number of honours for his contributions to football. In 1990, at the end of his eight-year reign as England manager, he was awarded a CBE and in 2002, he was knighted; both awards were for services to football.[149][150] In 2002 (during his time as Newcastle manager), the 69-year-old Robson was awarded the freedom of Newcastle upon Tyne and the UEFA President's Award for 'services to football'.[11][20] He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2003 in recognition of his impact as a manager.[151] Following his time as Newcastle United manager in 2005, Robson was made an Honorary Freeman of Newcastle,[109] which, in his autobiography, he described as being "the proudest moment of my life".[152] Robson also won the 1992 Football Writers' Association Tribute Award for an outstanding contribution to the national game,[153] and the 2001 British Sports Writers' Association Pat Besford Trophy for Outstanding Achievement.[150] In 2005 he received a lifetime achievement award from the Sports Coach UK Awards,[154] and was also awarded the Eircom International Personality of the Year in 2006.[149] On 9 December 2007, Robson was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year show in recognition of "his contribution as both player and manager in a career spanning more than half a century".[155] On 5 May 2008, during the 30th anniversary celebrations of Ipswich Town's 1978 FA Cup win, Robson was granted the Freedom of Ipswich by the Lady Mayor.[156] On 8 December 2008, he earned another such accolade when he was given the Freedom of the City of Durham.[157] In March 2009, UEFA awarded Robson the Emerald UEFA Order of Merit award, awarded to "individuals who have dedicated their talents to the good of the game".[158] The award was presented to Sir Bobby at St James' Park on 26 July 2009, prior to the Sir Bobby Robson Trophy match, and just five days before his death.[135] Posthumous honours In December 2009, Robson was posthumously awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award, for the "gentlemanly qualities he showed throughout his career as a player and coach".[159] The Football League gave Newcastle United and Ipswich Town special dispensation to wear special commemorative kits for their Championship match on 26 September 2009 at Portman Road, in aid of Sir Bobby's Foundation. At half-time during this match, the North Stand of Portman Road was renamed the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.[160][161][162][163] The first anniversary of Robson's death on 31 July 2010 was marked with a ceremony and pre-season friendly match at Newcastle's St James' Park, between two of his former clubs Newcastle United and PSV Eindhoven, involving Robson's PSV captain Stan Valckx presenting a PSV shirt to the club.[164] In July 2010, plans were unveiled for a memorial garden to Robson to be built in Newcastle. It was to be created by the city council in partnership with the regeneration company NE1Ltd, and located on Gallowgate street close to the Newcastle United stadium St James' Park. Work began on the site in November 2010, with an expected completion of Spring 2011. The garden is to cover 400 square meters, and feature a tiered seating area and sculpted stone plinths reflecting aspects of his life and work. The area is also to host a 400 square metre memorial garden to Sir Bobby Robson, with work beginning in November 2010, to be opened in Spring 2011.[165][166] With a keen interest in cricket as well as football, Robson was to have replaced Mike Gatting as President of the Lord's Taverners charity and cricket club in 2007, but this was prevented by his ill-health. After his death, the club held a dinner in his honour, as the "The best President we never had".[167] In March 2011, the East Coast train operating company named one of its Class 91 electric locomotives Sir Bobby Robson, unveiled at Newcastle Central Station by his widow Elsie and Alan Shearer.[168][169] Similarly, in December 2011, the Port of Tyne Authority named its new work boat the Sir Bobby Robson.[170] On 6 May 2012, a statue of Robson created by sculptor Tom Maley was unveiled at St James' Park. ... ...... William Bradley "Brad" Pitt[1] (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received four Academy Award nominations and five Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one Golden Globe. He has been described as one of the world's most attractive men, a label for which he has received substantial media attention.[2][3] Pitt first gained recognition as a cowboy hitchhiker in the road movie Thelma & Louise (1991). His first leading roles in big-budget productions came with A River Runs Through It (1992), Interview with the Vampire (1994), and Legends of the Fall (1994). In 1995, he gave critically acclaimed performances in the crime thriller Seven and the science fiction film 12 Monkeys, the latter earning him a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and an Academy Award nomination. Four years later, Pitt starred in the cult hit Fight Club. He then starred in the major international hit Ocean's Eleven (2001) and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). His greatest commercial successes have been Troy (2004) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Pitt received his second and third Academy Award nominations for his leading performances in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Moneyball (2011). In addition, Pitt owns a production company, Plan B Entertainment, whose productions include The Departed (2006), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and Moneyball, which garnered a Best Picture nomination. Following a high-profile relationship with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Pitt was married to actress Jennifer Aniston for five years. Pitt lives with actress Angelina Jolie in a relationship that has attracted wide publicity.[4] He and Jolie have six children—Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. Since beginning his relationship with Jolie, he has become increasingly involved in social issues both in the United States and internationally. William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is the son of Jane Etta (née Hillhouse), a high school counselor, and William Alvin Pitt, a truck company owner, and was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma.[5] The family soon moved to Springfield, Missouri, where he lived together with his younger siblings, Doug (born 1966) and Julie Neal (born 1969).[6] Born into a conservative household, he was raised as Southern Baptist,[7] although he has since described himself as oscillating between atheism and agnosticism.[8] Pitt has stated that his family's ancestry consists of "probably... Irish-Scots-Germans who settled in the area... I know we have some Seminole, and some Cherokee Indian, in us".[9] Pitt has described Springfield as "Mark Twain country, Jesse James country", having grown up with "a lot of hills, a lot of lakes".[9] Pitt attended Kickapoo High School, where he was a member of the golf, tennis, wrestling and swimming teams.[10][11] He participated in the school's Key and Forensics clubs, in school debates, and in musicals.[12] Following his graduation from high school, Pitt enrolled in the University of Missouri in 1982, majoring in journalism, with a focus on advertising.[12] As a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity,[5] he acted in several fraternity shows.[13] As graduation approached, Pitt did not feel ready to settle down. He loved films—"a portal into different worlds for me"—and, since films were not made in Missouri, he decided to go to where they were made.[7] Two weeks before earning his degree, Pitt left the university and moved to Los Angeles, where he took acting lessons and worked odd jobs.[7] While struggling to establish himself in Los Angeles, Pitt took lessons from acting coach Roy London.[1][12][14] Pitt's onscreen career began in 1987, with uncredited parts in the films No Way Out, No Man's Land and Less Than Zero.[12] His television debut came in May 1987 with a two-episode role on the NBC soap opera Another World.[15] In November of the same year Pitt had a guest appearance on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains.[16] He appeared in four episodes of the CBS primetime series Dallas between December 1987 and February 1988 as Randy, the boyfriend of Charlie Wade (played by Shalane McCall).[17][1] Pitt described his character as "an idiot boyfriend who gets caught in the hay."[18] Speaking of his scenes with McCall, Pitt later said, "It was kind of wild, because I'd never even met her before."[1] Later in 1988, Pitt made a guest appearance on the Fox police drama 21 Jump Street.[19] In the same year, the Yugoslavian–U.S. co-production The Dark Side of the Sun (1988) gave Pitt his first leading film role, as a young American taken by his family to the Adriatic to find a remedy for a skin condition. The film was shelved at the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence, and was not released until 1997.[12] Pitt made two motion picture appearances in 1989: the first in a supporting role in the comedy Happy Together; the second a featured role in the horror film Cutting Class, the first of Pitt's films to reach theaters.[16] He made guest appearances on television series Head of the Class, Freddy's Nightmares, Thirtysomething, and (for a second time) Growing Pains.[20] Pitt was cast as Billy Canton, a drug addict who takes advantage of a young runaway (played by Juliette Lewis) in the 1990 NBC television movie Too Young to Die?, the story of an abused teenager sentenced to death for a murder.[21] Ken Tucker, television reviewer for Entertainment Weekly wrote: "Pitt is a magnificent slimeball as her hoody boyfriend; looking and sounding like a malevolent John Cougar Mellencamp, he's really scary."[21] The same year, Pitt co-starred in six episodes of the short-lived Fox drama Glory Days,[1] and took a supporting role in the HBO television movie The Image.[22] His next appearance came in the 1991 film Across the Tracks; Pitt portrayed Joe Maloney, a high school runner with a criminal brother, played by Ricky Schroder.[23] After years of supporting roles in movies and frequent television guest appearances, Pitt attracted wider recognition in his supporting role in the 1991 road film Thelma & Louise.[22] He played J.D., a small-time criminal who befriends Thelma (Geena Davis). His love scene with Davis has been cited as the event that defined Pitt as a sex symbol.[16][24] After Thelma & Louise, Pitt starred in the 1991 film Johnny Suede, a low-budget picture about an aspiring rock star,[25] and the 1992 film Cool World,[16] although neither furthered his career, having poor reviews and box office performance.[26][27] Pitt took the role of Paul Maclean in the 1992 biographical film A River Runs Through It, directed by Robert Redford.[28] His portrayal of the character has been described as a career-making performance,[29] proving that Pitt could be more than a "cowboy-hatted hunk."[30] He has admitted to feeling under pressure when making the film[6] and thought it one of his "weakest performances ... It's so weird that it ended up being the one that I got the most attention for."[6] Pitt believed that he benefited from working with such a talented cast and crew. He compared working with Redford to playing tennis with a superior player, saying "when you play with somebody better than you, your game gets better."[29][30] In 1993, Pitt reunited with Juliette Lewis for the road film Kalifornia. He played Early Grayce, a serial killer and the boyfriend of Lewis's character in a performance described by Peter Travers of Rolling Stone as "outstanding, all boyish charm and then a snort that exudes pure menace."[31] Pitt also garnered attention for a brief appearance in the cult hit True Romance as a stoner named Floyd, providing much needed comic relief to the action film.[32] He capped the year by winning a ShoWest Award for Male Star of Tomorrow.[33] 1994 marked a significant turning point in Pitt's career. Starring as the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac in the feature film Interview with the Vampire, based on Anne Rice's 1976 novel of the same name,[34] he was part of an ensemble cast that included Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater, and Antonio Banderas.[34] Despite his winning two MTV Movie Awards at the 1995 ceremony,[35] his performance was poorly received. According to the Dallas Observer, "Brad Pitt ... is a large part of the problem [in the film]. When directors play up his cocky, hunkish, folksy side ... he's a joy to watch. But there's nothing about him that suggests inner torment or even self-awareness, which makes him a boring Louis."[36] Following the release of Interview with the Vampire, Pitt starred in Legends of the Fall (1994),[37] based on a novel by the same name by Jim Harrison, set in the American West during the first four decades of the twentieth century. Portraying Tristan Ludlow, son of Colonel William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) a Cornish immigrant,[38] Pitt received his first Golden Globe Award nomination, in the Best Actor category.[39] Aidan Quinn and Henry Thomas co-starred as Pitt's brothers. Although the film's reception was mixed,[40] many film critics praised Pitt's performance. Janet Maslin of The New York Times said, "Pitt's diffident mix of acting and attitude works to such heartthrob perfection it's a shame the film's superficiality gets in his way."[41] The Deseret News predicted that Legends of the Fall would solidify Pitt's reputation as a lead actor.[42] In 1995, Pitt starred alongside Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow in the crime thriller Seven, playing a detective on the trail of a serial killer (played by Kevin Spacey).[43] Pitt called it a great movie and declared the part would expand his acting horizons.[44] He expressed his intent to move on from "this 'pretty boy' thing [...] and play someone with flaws."[45] His performance was critically well received, with Variety saying that it was screen acting at its best, further remarking on Pitt's ability to turn in a "determined, energetic, creditable job" as the detective.[46] Seven earned $327 million at the international box office.[26] Following the success of Seven, Pitt took a supporting role as Jeffrey Goines in Terry Gilliam's 1995 science-fiction film 12 Monkeys. The movie received predominantly positive reviews, with Pitt praised in particular. Janet Maslin of the New York Times called Twelve Monkeys "fierce and disturbing" and remarked on Pitt's "startlingly frenzied performance", concluding that he "electrifies Jeffrey with a weird magnetism that becomes important later in the film."[47] He won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film[39] and received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.[48] The following year he had a role in the legal drama Sleepers (1996), based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's novel of the same name.[49] The film received mixed reviews.[50] In the 1997 movie The Devil's Own Pitt starred, opposite Harrison Ford, as the Irish Republican Army terrorist Rory Devany,[51] a role for which he was required to learn an Irish accent.[52] Critical opinion was divided on his accent; "Pitt finds the right tone of moral ambiguity, but at times his Irish brogue is too convincing – it's hard to understand what he's saying", wrote the San Francisco Chronicle.[53] The Charleston Gazette opined that it had favored Pitt's accent over the movie.[54] The Devil's Own grossed $140 million worldwide,[26] but was a critical failure. Later that year he led as Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer in the Jean-Jacques Annaud film Seven Years in Tibet.[55] Pitt trained for months for the role, which demanded significant mountain climbing and trekking practice, including rock climbing in California and the European Alps with his co-star David Thewlis.[56] The film received mostly negative reviews, and was generally considered a disappointment.[57] Pitt had the lead role in 1998's Meet Joe Black. He portrayed a personification of death inhabiting the body of a young man to learn what it is like to be human.[58] The film received mixed reviews, and many were critical of Pitt's performance. According to Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle, Pitt was unable to "to make an audience believe that he knows all the mysteries of death and eternity."[59] Roger Ebert stated "Pitt is a fine actor, but this performance is a miscalculation."[60] In 1999, Pitt portrayed Tyler Durden, an uncompromising and charismatic individual, in Fight Club,[61][62] a film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel of the same name, directed by David Fincher.[63] Pitt prepared for the part with lessons in boxing, taekwondo, and grappling.[64] To look the part, Pitt consented to the removal of pieces of his front teeth which were restored when filming ended.[65] While promoting Fight Club, Pitt said that the film explored not taking one's aggressions out on someone else but to "have an experience, take a punch more and see how you come out on the other end."[66] Fight Club premiered at the 1999 Venice International Film Festival.[67] Despite divided critical opinion on the film as a whole,[68][69] Pitt's performance was widely praised. Paul Clinton of CNN noted the risky yet successful nature of the film,[70] while Variety remarked upon Pitt's ability to be "cool, charismatic and more dynamically physical, perhaps than [...] his breakthrough role in Thelma and Louise".[71] In spite of a worse-than-expected box office performance, Fight Club became a cult classic after its DVD release in 2000.[72] The following year Pitt starred opposite Julia Roberts in the romantic comedy The Mexican,[77] a film that garnered a range of reviews[78] but enjoyed box office success.[26] Pitt's next role, in 2001's $143 million-grossing Cold War thriller Spy Game,[26] was as Tom Bishop, an operative of the CIA's Special Activities Division, mentored by Robert Redford's character.[79] Mark Holcomb of Salon.com enjoyed the film, although he noted that neither Pitt nor Redford provided "much of an emotional connection for the audience".[80] On November 22, 2001, Pitt made a guest appearance in the eighth season of the television series Friends, playing a man with a grudge against Rachel Green, played by Jennifer Aniston, to whom Pitt was married at the time.[81] For this performance he was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.[82] In December 2001, Pitt had the role of Rusty Ryan in the heist film Ocean's Eleven, a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack original. He joined an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Andy García, and Julia Roberts.[83] Well-received by critics, Ocean's Eleven was highly successful at the box office, earning $450 million worldwide.[26] Pitt appeared in two episodes of MTV's reality series Jackass in February 2002, first running through the streets of Los Angeles with several cast members in gorilla suits,[84] and participating in his own staged abduction in another episode.[85] In the same year, Pitt had a cameo role in George Clooney's directorial debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.[86] He took on his first voice-acting roles in 2003, speaking as the titular character of the DreamWorks animated film Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas[87] and playing Boomhauer's brother, Patch, in an episode of the animated television series King of the Hill.[88] Pitt had two major film roles in 2004, starring as Achilles in Troy, and making a second appearance as Rusty Ryan, in the sequel Ocean's Twelve. He spent six months sword training before the filming of Troy, based on the Iliad.[89] An on-set injury to his Achilles tendon delayed production on the picture for several weeks.[90] With a total worldwide gross of $497 million, Troy remains Pitt's most commercially successful picture to date. The film earned $364 million outside the U.S. and $133 million domestically.[26][91] Stephen Hunter of The Washington Times stated that Pitt excelled at such a demanding role.[92] Troy was the first film produced by Plan B Entertainment, a film production company he had founded two years earlier with Jennifer Aniston and Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures.[93] Ocean's Twelve earned $362 million worldwide,[26] and Pitt and Clooney's dynamic was described by CNN's Paul Clinton as "the best male chemistry since Paul Newman and Robert Redford."[94] In 2005, Pitt starred in the Doug Liman-directed action comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, in which a bored married couple discover that each is an assassin sent to kill the other. The feature received reasonable reviews but was generally lauded for the chemistry between Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who played his character's wife Jane Smith. The Star Tribune noted that "while the story feels haphazard, the movie gets by on gregarious charm, galloping energy and the stars' thermonuclear screen chemistry."[95] Mr. & Mrs. Smith earned $478 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest hits of 2005.[96] For his next feature film, Pitt starred opposite Cate Blanchett in Alejandro González Iñárritu's multi-narrative drama Babel (2006).[97] Pitt's performance was critically well-received, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said that he was credible and gave the film visibility.[98] Pitt later said he regarded taking the part as one of the best decisions of his career.[99] The film was screened at a special presentation at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival[100] and was later featured at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.[101] Babel received seven Academy and Golden Globe award nominations, winning the Best Drama Golden Globe, and earned Pitt a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe.[39] That same year, Pitt's company Plan B Entertainment produced The Departed, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Pitt was credited on-screen as a producer; however, only Graham King was ruled eligible for the Oscar win.[102] Reprising his role as Rusty Ryan in a third picture, Pitt starred in 2007's Ocean's Thirteen.[103] While less lucrative than the first two films, this sequel earned $311 million at the international box office.[26] Pitt's next film role was as American outlaw Jesse James in the 2007 Western drama The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same name.[104] Directed by Andrew Dominik and produced by Pitt's company Plan B Entertainment, the film premiered at the 2007 Venice Film Festival,[105] with Pitt playing a "scary and charismatic" role, according to Lewis Beale of Film Journal International,[106] and earning Pitt the Volpi Cup award for Best Actor at the 64th Venice International Film Festival.[107] Although Pitt attended the festival to promote the film, he left early after being attacked by a fan who pushed through his bodyguards.[108] He eventually collected the award one year later at the 2008 festival.[109] Pitt's next appearance was in the 2008 black comedy Burn After Reading, his first collaboration with the Coen brothers. The film received a positive reception from critics, with The Guardian calling it "a tightly wound, slickly plotted spy comedy",[110] noting that Pitt's performance was one of the funniest.[110] He was later cast as Benjamin Button, the lead in David Fincher's 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a loosely adapted version of a 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story follows a man who is born an octogenarian and ages in reverse,[111] with Pitt's "sensitive" performance making Benjamin Button a "timeless masterpiece," according to Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun.[112] The performance earned Pitt his first Screen Actors Guild Award nomination,[113] as well as a fourth Golden Globe and second Academy Award nomination,[39][114] all in the category for Best Actor. The film received thirteen Academy Award nominations in total, and grossed $329 million at the box office worldwide.[26] Since 2008, Pitt's work has included a leading role in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, released in August 2009 at a special presentation at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.[115] Pitt played Lieutenant Aldo Raine, an American resistance fighter battling Nazis in German-occupied France.[116] The film was a box office hit, taking $311 million worldwide,[26] and garnered generally favorable reviews.[117] The film received multiple awards and nominations, including eight Academy Award nominations and seven MTV Movie Award nominations, including Best Male Performance for Pitt.[118][119] He voiced the superhero character Metro Man in the 2010 animated feature Megamind.[120] Pitt appeared in Terrence Malick's drama The Tree of Life, co-starring Sean Penn, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[121] In a performance that attracted strong praise, he portrayed the Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane in the drama Moneyball, which is based on the 2003 book of the same name written by Michael Lewis.[122] Moneyball received six Academy Award nominations including Best Actor for Pitt.[123] He has signed on to appear as a British explorer searching for a mysterious Amazonian civilization in The Lost City of Z, based on David Grann's 2009 book of the same name.[124] Pitt visited the University of Missouri campus in October 2004 to encourage students to vote in the 2004 U.S. presidential election,[125] in which he supported John Kerry.[125][126] Later in October he publicly supported the principle of public funding for embryonic stem-cell research. "We have to make sure that we open up these avenues so that our best and our brightest can go find these cures that they believe they will find," he said.[127] In support of this he endorsed Proposition 71, a California ballot initiative intended to provide federal government funding for stem-cell research.[128] Pitt supports the ONE Campaign, an organization aimed at combating AIDS and poverty in the developing world.[129][130] He narrated the 2005 PBS public television series Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge, which discusses current global health issues[131] and traveled to Pakistan in November 2005 with Angelina Jolie to see the impact of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.[132] The following year Pitt and Jolie flew to Haiti, where they visited a school supported by Yéle Haïti, a charity founded by Haitian-born hip hop musician Wyclef Jean.[133] In May 2007, Pitt and Jolie donated $1 million to three organizations in Chad and Sudan dedicated to those affected by the crisis in the Darfur region.[134] Along with Clooney, Damon, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub, Pitt is one of the founders of "Not On Our Watch", an organization that tries to focus global attention and resources to stop and prevent genocides such as that in Darfur.[135] Pitt has a sustained interest in architecture[136] and has narrated Design e2, a PBS television series focused on worldwide efforts to build environmentally friendly structures through sustainable architecture and design.[137] He founded the Make It Right Foundation in 2006, organizing housing professionals in New Orleans to finance and construct 150 sustainable, affordable new houses in New Orleans's Ninth Ward following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.[138][139] The project involves 13 architectural firms and the environmental organization Global Green USA, with several of the firms donating their services.[140][141] Pitt and philanthropist Steve Bing have each committed $5 million in donations.[142] The first six homes were completed in October 2008,[143] and in September 2009 Pitt received an award in recognition of the project from the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit trade organization that promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed, built and operated.[144][145] Pitt met with U.S. President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in March 2009 to promote his concept of green housing as a national model and to discuss federal funding possibilities.[146] In September 2006, Pitt and Jolie established a charitable organization, the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, to aid humanitarian causes around the world.[147] The foundation made initial donations of $1 million each to Global Action for Children and Doctors Without Borders,[147] followed by an October 2006 donation of $100,000 to the Daniel Pearl Foundation, an organization created in memory of the late American journalist Daniel Pearl.[148] According to federal filings, Pitt and Jolie invested $8.5 million into the foundation in 2006; it gave away $2.4 million in 2006[149] and $3.4 million in 2007.[150] In June 2009 the Jolie-Pitt Foundation donated $1 million to a U.N. refugee agency to help Pakistanis displaced by fighting between troops and Taliban militants.[151][152] In January 2010 the foundation donated $1 million to Doctors Without Borders for emergency medical assistance to help victims of the Haiti earthquake.[153][154] Pitt is a supporter of same-sex marriage. In an October 2006 interview with Esquire, Pitt said that he would marry Jolie when everyone in America is legally able to marry.[155] He reaffirmed his stance to Parade in August 2009,[156] and again to People in July 2011.[157] In September 2008, he donated $100,000 to the campaign against California's 2008 ballot proposition Proposition 8, an initiative to overturn the state Supreme Court decision that had legalized same-sex marriage.[158] Pitt stated his reasons for the stance: "Because no one has the right to deny another their life, even though they disagree with it, because everyone has the right to live the life they so desire if it doesn't harm another and because discrimination has no place in America, my vote will be for equality and against Proposition 8."[159] In March 2012, Pitt was featured in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play, '8' — a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage — as Judge Vaughn Walker.[160] The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, a non-profit organization funding the plaintiffs' legal team and sponsoring the play.[161][162] Pitt's sex appeal has been picked up by many sources including Empire, who named him one of the 25 sexiest stars in film history in 1995.[12] The same year, Pitt won People's Sexiest Man Alive, an accolade he won again in 2000.[2][163] Pitt appeared on Forbes's annual Celebrity 100 list of the 100 most powerful celebrities in 2006, 2007, and 2008, at No. 20, No. 5, and No. 10 respectively.[164][165][166] In 2007 he was listed among the Time 100, a compilation of the 100 most influential people in the world, as selected annually by TIME.[167] The magazine credited Pitt with using "his star power to get people to look [to where] cameras don't usually catch".[167] Pitt was again included in the Time 100 in 2009, this time in the Builders and Titans list.[168] Starting in 2005, Pitt's relationship with Angelina Jolie became one of the most reported celebrity stories worldwide. After confirming that Jolie was pregnant in early 2006, the unprecedented media hype surrounding the couple reached what Reuters, in a story titled "The Brangelina fever," called "the point of insanity".[4] To avoid media attention the couple flew to Namibia for the birth of their daughter Shiloh, "the most anticipated baby since Jesus Christ."[169] Similarly intense media interest greeted the announcement two years later of Jolie's second pregnancy; for the two weeks Jolie spent in a seaside hospital in Nice, reporters and photographers camped outside on the promenade to report on the birth.[170] In a 2006 global industry survey by ACNielsen in 42 international markets, Pitt, together with Jolie, was found to be the favorite celebrity endorser for brands and products worldwide.[171] Pitt has appeared in several television commercials. For the U.S. market, he starred in a Heineken commercial aired during the 2005 Super Bowl; it was directed by David Fincher, who had directed Pitt in Seven, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.[172] Other commercial appearances came in television spots designed for Asian markets, advertising such products as the Acura Integra, in which he was featured opposite Russian model Tatiana Sorokko,[173] as well as SoftBank and Edwin Jeans.[174][175] In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Pitt was involved in successive relationships with several of his co-stars, including Robin Givens (Head of the Class),[176] Jill Schoelen (Cutting Class),[176] and Juliette Lewis (Too Young to Die? and Kalifornia), who, at the age of 16, was ten years his junior when they started dating.[29] In addition, Pitt had a much-publicized romance and engagement to his Seven co-star Gwyneth Paltrow, whom he dated from 1994 to 1997.[176] Pitt met Friends actress Jennifer Aniston in 1998 and married her in a private wedding ceremony in Malibu on July 29, 2000.[1][177] For years their marriage was considered a rare Hollywood success;[1][178] however, in January 2005, Pitt and Aniston announced that they had decided formally to separate after seven years together.[177] Two months later Aniston filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.[179] Pitt and Aniston's divorce was finalized by the Los Angeles Superior Court on October 2, 2005, legally ending their marriage.[179] Despite media reports that Pitt and Aniston have an acrimonious relationship, Pitt said in a February 2009 interview that he and Aniston "check in with each other", adding that they were both big parts of each others' lives.[180] During Pitt's divorce from Aniston, his involvement with his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star Angelina Jolie attracted vigorous media attention.[181] While Pitt denied claims of adultery, he admitted that he "fell in love" with Jolie on the set.[182] In April 2005, one month after Aniston filed for divorce, a set of paparazzi photographs emerged showing Pitt, Jolie and her son Maddox at a beach in Kenya; the pictures were construed in the press as evidence of a relationship between Pitt and Jolie.[183] During the summer of 2005, the two were seen together with increasing frequency, and the entertainment media dubbed the couple "Brangelina".[184] On January 11, 2006, Jolie confirmed to People that she was pregnant with Pitt's child, thereby publicly acknowledging their relationship for the first time.[185] Pitt and Jolie announced their engagement in April 2012 after seven years together.[186] In July 2005, Pitt accompanied Jolie to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she adopted her second child, six-month-old Zahara Marley,[187] a decision which Jolie later stated she and Pitt had made together.[188] Pitt's publicist announced in December 2005 that Pitt was seeking to legally adopt Jolie's two children, Zahara and Cambodia-born Maddox Chivan.[189] On January 19, 2006, a California judge granted Jolie's request to change the children's surnames from "Jolie" to "Jolie-Pitt".[190] The adoptions were finalized soon after.[191] Jolie gave birth to daughter Shiloh Nouvel in Swakopmund, Namibia, on May 27, 2006. Pitt confirmed that their newborn daughter would have a Namibian passport.[192] The couple sold the first pictures of Shiloh through the distributor Getty Images; the North American rights were purchased by People for over $4.1 million, while Hello! obtained the British rights for approximately $3.5 million. The proceeds from the sale were donated to charities serving African children.[193] Madame Tussauds in New York unveiled a wax figure of two-month-old Shiloh; it marked the first time an infant was recreated in wax by Madame Tussauds.[194] On March 15, 2007, Jolie adopted three-year-old Pax Thien from an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.[195] Since Vietnam does not allow unmarried couples to adopt, Jolie adopted Pax as a single parent. In April 2007, Jolie filed a request to legally change her son's surname from "Jolie" to "Jolie-Pitt", which was approved on May 31, 2007.[196] The rights for the first post-adoption images of Pax were sold to People for a reported $2 million, as well as to Hello! for an undisclosed amount.[197] Pitt adopted Pax in the United States on February 21, 2008.[198] At the Cannes Film Festival in May 2008, Jolie confirmed that she was expecting twins.[199] She gave birth to son Knox Léon and daughter Vivienne Marcheline on July 12, 2008 in Nice, France.[200] The rights for the first images of Knox and Vivienne were jointly sold to People and Hello! for $14 million—the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken.[201][202] The couple donated the proceeds to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.[201][203] ... ...... Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a German-born American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles. He is well known for the role of John McClane in the Die Hard series, which were mostly critical and uniformly financial successes. He has also appeared in over sixty films, including box office successes like Pulp Fiction (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), Armageddon (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), Sin City (2005), Over the Hedge (2006) and Red (2010). Motion pictures featuring Willis have grossed US$2.64 billion to 3.05 billion at North American box offices, making him the ninth highest-grossing actor in a leading role and twelfth highest including supporting roles.[1][2] He is a two-time Emmy Award–winning, Golden Globe Award–winning and four-time Saturn Award–nominated actor. Willis was married to actress Demi Moore and they had three daughters before their divorce in 2000, following thirteen years of marriage. He is currently married to model Emma Heming, with whom he has one daughter. Willis was born in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany. His mother, Marlene K., was German and born in Kaufungen near Kassel, and his father, David Willis, was an American soldier.[3][4][5] Willis is the oldest of four children: he has a sister, Florence, and a brother, David. His brother Robert died of pancreatic cancer in 2001, aged 42.[6] After being discharged from the military in 1957, Willis's father took his family back to Carneys Point, New Jersey.[7] Willis has described himself as having come from a "long line of blue collar people";[7] his mother worked in a bank and his father was a welder, master mechanic, and factory worker.[8] Willis attended Penns Grove High School in his hometown, where he encountered issues with a stutter.[7] He was nicknamed Buck-Buck by his schoolmates.[8][9][10] Finding it easy to express himself on stage and losing his stutter in the process, Willis began performing on stage and his high school activities were marked by such things as the drama club and student council president.[8] After high school, Willis took a job as a security guard at the Salem Nuclear Power Plant[11][12] and also transported work crews at the DuPont Chambers Works factory in Deepwater, New Jersey.[12] After working as a private investigator (a role he would play in the television series Moonlighting as well as in the 1991 film, The Last Boy Scout), Willis returned to acting. He enrolled in the drama program at Montclair State University, where he was cast in the class production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Willis left school in his junior year and moved to New York City.[4] After multiple auditions, Willis made his theater debut in the off-Broadway production of Heaven and Earth. He gained more experience and exposure in Fool for Love, and in a Levi's commercial. Willis also played a lead role in the off-Broadway production Bullpen for four years which was written and directed by Dennis Watlington that was also presented at Joseph Papp's Public Theater. Willis left New York City and headed to California to audition for several television shows.[4] In 1984, he appeared in an episode of the TV series Miami Vice, titled "No Exit".[13] He auditioned for the role of David Addison Jr. of the television series Moonlighting (1985–89), competing against 3,000 other actors for the position.[14] The starring role, opposite Cybill Shepherd, helped to establish him as a comedic actor, with the show lasting five seasons.[7] During the height of the show's success, beverage maker Seagram hired Willis as the pitchman for their Golden Wine Cooler products.[15] The advertising campaign paid the rising star between $5–7 million over two years. In spite of that, Willis chose not to renew his contract with the company when he decided to stop drinking alcohol in 1988.[16] One of his first major film roles was in the 1987 Blake Edwards film Blind Date, with Kim Basinger and John Larroquette.[7] Edwards cast him again to play the real-life cowboy actor Tom Mix in Sunset (1988). However, it was his then-unexpected turn in the film Die Hard (1988) that catapulted him to movie star status.[7] He performed most of his own stunts in the film,[17] and the film grossed $138,708,852 worldwide.[18] Following his success with Die Hard, he had a supporting role in the drama In Country as Vietnam veteran Emmett Smith and also provided the voice for a talking baby in Look Who's Talking, as well as its sequel Look Who's Talking Too. In the late 1980s, Willis enjoyed moderate success as a recording artist, recording an album of pop-blues titled The Return of Bruno, which included the hit single "Respect Yourself",[19] promoted by a Spinal Tap–like rockumentary parody featuring scenes of him performing at famous events including Woodstock. Follow-up recordings were not as successful, though Willis has returned to the recording studio several times. (See Discography below.) Willis acquired major personal success and pop culture influence playing John McClane in 1988's Die Hard. This film was followed up by Die Hard 2: Die Harder in 1990 and Die Hard with a Vengeance in 1995.[7] These first three installments in the Die Hard series grossed over US$700 million internationally and propelled Willis to the first rank of Hollywood action stars. In the early 1990s, Willis's career suffered a moderate slump starring in flops such as The Bonfire of the Vanities, Striking Distance, and a film he co-wrote titled Hudson Hawk, among others. He starred in a leading role in the highly sexualized erotic thriller Color of Night (1994), which was very poorly received by critics, but did well in the home video market and became one of the Top 20 most-rented films in the United States in 1995.[20] In 1994, he had a supporting role in Quentin Tarantino's acclaimed Pulp Fiction,[7] which gave a new boost to his career. In 1996, he was the executive producer of the cartoon Bruno the Kid which featured a CGI representation of himself.[21] He went on to play the lead roles in Twelve Monkeys (1995) and The Fifth Element (1997). However, by the end of the 1990s, his career had fallen into another slump with critically panned films like The Jackal, Mercury Rising, and Breakfast of Champions, saved only by the success of the Michael Bay-directed Armageddon which was the highest grossing film of 1998 worldwide.[22] The same year his voice and likeness were featured in the PlayStation video game Apocalypse.[23] In 1999, Willis then went on to the starring role in M. Night Shyamalan's film, The Sixth Sense. The film was both a commercial and critical success[7] and helped to increase interest in his acting career. In 2000, Willis won an Emmy[24] for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on Friends (in which he played the father of Ross Geller's much-younger girlfriend).[25] He was also nominated for a 2001 American Comedy Award (in the Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series category) for his work on Friends. Also in 2000, Willis played Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski in The Whole Nine Yards alongside Matthew Perry. Willis was originally cast as Terry Benedict in Ocean's Eleven (2001) but dropped out to work on recording an album.[26] In Ocean's Twelve (2004), he makes a cameo appearance as himself. In 2007, he appeared in the Planet Terror half of the double feature Grindhouse as the villain, a mutant soldier. This marks Willis's second collaboration with director Robert Rodriguez, following Sin City. Willis has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman several times throughout his career. He filled in for an ill David Letterman on his show February 26, 2003, when he was supposed to be a guest.[27] On many of his appearances on the show, Willis stages elaborate jokes, such as wearing a day-glo orange suit in honor of the Central Park gates, having one side of his face made up with simulated buckshot wounds after the Harry Whittington shooting, or trying to break a record (parody of David Blaine) of staying underwater for only twenty seconds. On April 12, 2007, he appeared again, this time wearing a Sanjaya Malakar wig.[28] His most recent appearance was on June 25, 2007 when he appeared wearing a mini-turbine strapped to his head to accompany a joke about his own fictional documentary titled An Unappealing Hunch (a wordplay of An Inconvenient Truth).[29] Willis also appeared on Japanese Subaru Legacy television commercials.[30] Tying in with this, Subaru did a limited run of Legacys, badged "Subaru Legacy Touring Bruce", in honor of Willis. Willis has appeared in four films with Samuel L. Jackson (National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1, Pulp Fiction, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and Unbreakable) and both actors were slated to work together in Black Water Transit, before dropping out. Willis also worked with his eldest daughter, Rumer, in the 2005 film Hostage. In 2007, he appeared in the thriller Perfect Stranger, opposite Halle Berry, the crime/drama film Alpha Dog, opposite Sharon Stone, and marked his return to the role of John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard. Recently he appeared in the films What Just Happened and Surrogates, based on the comic book of the same name.[31] Willis was slated to play U.S. Army general William R. Peers in director Oliver Stone's Pinkville, a drama about the investigation of the 1968 My Lai Massacre.[32] However, due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, the film was cancelled. Willis appeared on the 2008 Blues Traveler album North Hollywood Shootout, giving a spoken word performance over an instrumental blues-rock jam on the track "Free Willis (Ruminations from Behind Uncle Bob's Machine Shop)". In early 2009, he appeared in an advertising campaign to publicize the insurance company Norwich Union's change of name to Aviva.[33] Willis starred with Tracy Morgan in the comedy Cop Out, directed by Kevin Smith and about two police detectives investigating the theft of a baseball card.[34] The film was released in February 2010. Willis appeared in the music video for the song "Stylo" by Gorillaz.[35] Also in 2010, he appeared in a cameo with former Planet Hollywood co-owners and '80s action stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film The Expendables. Bruce Willis played the role of "Mr. Church". This was the first time these three legendary action stars appeared on screen together. Although the scene featuring the three was short, it was one of the most highly anticipated scenes in the film. The trio filmed their scene in an empty church on October 24, 2009.[36] His most recent film is Red, an adaptation of the comic book mini-series of the same name, in which he portrays Frank Moses. The film was released on October 15, 2010.[37] Willis starred alongside Bill Murray, Edward Norton, and Frances McDormand in Moonrise Kingdom (2012). Filming took place in Rhode Island under the direction of Wes Anderson in 2011.[38] Willis will star in the movie adaptation of the video game Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, named Kane & Lynch.[39] He will also star in the upcoming movie Looper. On October 12, 2011, it was announced that A Good Day to Die Hard would see a February 14, 2013 (Valentine's Day) release, with Willis reprising his most famous role of John McClane for a fifth time.[40] Sylvester Stallone revealed that he is talking to Willis about returning for The Expendables 2. Stallone has said that he wants to expand Willis' role and that he wants Willis to play the villain in the next Expendables. Willis will be starring in the sequel on a more expanded role.[41] They have talked about Willis' schedule and possible actors that could join the sequel. Willis will team up with 50 Cent in a new film directed by David Barrett called Fire with Fire, starring opposite Josh Duhamel about a fireman who must save the love of his life.[42] Willis will also join Vince Vaughn and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Lay the Favorite, directed by Stephen Frears, about a Las Vegas cocktail waitress who becomes an elite professional gambler.[43] The two films will be distributed by Lionsgate Entertainment. Willis owns property in Los Angeles, rents an apartment in the Trump Tower in New York City,[44] and Trump Place,[45] as well as a home in Malibu, California, a ranch in Montana, a beach home on Parrot Cay in Turks and Caicos, and multiple properties in Sun Valley, Idaho.[4] In 2000 Willis, with his business partner Arnold Rifkin, started a motion picture production company called Cheyenne Enterprises. He left the company to be run solely by Rifkin in 2007 after Live Free or Die Hard.[46] He also owns several small businesses in Hailey, Idaho, including The Mint Bar and The Liberty Theater and is a co-founder of Planet Hollywood, with actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.[47] In 2009 Willis signed a contract to become the international face of Belvedere SA's Sobieski Vodka in exchange for 3.3% ownership in the company.[48] At the premiere for the film Stakeout, Willis met actress Demi Moore. Willis married Moore on November 21, 1987 and had three daughters: Rumer Willis (b. August 16, 1988), Scout LaRue Willis (b. July 20, 1991) and Tallulah Belle Willis (b. February 3, 1994) before the couple divorced on October 18, 2000. The couple gave no public reason for their breakup. Regarding the divorce, Willis stated, "I felt I had failed as a father and a husband by not being able to make it work." He credited actor Will Smith for helping him cope with the situation.[4][15] After their breakup, rumors persisted that the couple planned to re-marry, until Moore married the actor Ashton Kutcher. Willis has maintained a close relationship with both Moore and Kutcher, even attending their wedding. Willis was engaged to Brooke Burns until they broke up in 2004 after ten months together.[14] He married Emma Heming in Turks and Caicos on March 21, 2009;[50] guests included his three daughters, Moore, and Kutcher. The ceremony was not legally binding, so the couple wed again in a civil ceremony in Beverly Hills six days later.[51] The couple have one daughter, Mabel Ray Willis, born in 2012.[52] In 1988, he and Moore openly campaigned for Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis's Presidential bid. Four years later, he supported President George H. W. Bush for reelection and he was an outspoken critic of Bill Clinton. However, in 1996, he declined to endorse Clinton's Republican opponent Bob Dole, because Dole had criticized Moore for her role in the film Striptease.[55] Willis was an invited speaker at the 2000 Republican National Convention,[56] and openly supported George W. Bush that year. He did not make any contributions or public endorsements in the 2008 presidential campaign. In several June 2007 interviews, he declared that he still maintains some Republican ideologies.[4][15] In 2006, he said that the United States should invade Colombia, in order to end the drug trafficking.[57] In several interviews Willis has said that he supports large salaries for teachers and police officers, and says that he is disappointed in the United States' foster care and treatment of Native Americans.[55][58] Willis also stated that he is a big supporter of gun rights: “ "Everyone has a right to bear arms. If you take guns away from legal gun owners, then the only people who have guns are the bad guys." Even a pacifist, he insists, would get violent if someone were trying to kill him. "You would fight for your life."[59] ” In February 2006, Willis appeared in Manhattan to talk about 16 Blocks with reporters. One reporter attempted to ask Willis about his opinion on the current government, but was interrupted by Willis in mid-sentence: "I'm sick of answering this fucking question. I'm a Republican only as far as I want a smaller government, I want less government intrusion. I want them to stop shitting on my money and your money and tax dollars that we give 50 percent of... every year. I want them to be fiscally responsible and I want these goddamn lobbyists out of Washington. Do that and I'll say I'm a Republican... I hate the government, OK? I'm apolitical. Write that down. I'm not a Republican."[60] Willis's name was in an advertisement in the Los Angeles Times on August 17, 2006, that condemned Hamas and Hezbollah and supported Israel in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.[61] Throughout his film career, Willis has depicted several military characters in films such as The Siege, Hart's War, Tears of the Sun, and Grindhouse. Growing up in a military family, Willis has publicly sold Girl Scout cookies for the United States armed forces. In 2002, Willis's youngest daughter, Tallulah, suggested that he purchase Girl Scout cookies to send to troops. Willis purchased 12,000 boxes of cookies, and they were distributed to sailors aboard USS John F. Kennedy and other troops stationed throughout the Middle East at the time.[62] In 2003, Willis visited Iraq as part of the USO tour, singing to the troops with his band, The Accelerators.[63] Willis considered joining the military to help fight the second Iraq war, but was deterred by his age.[64] It was believed he offered US$1 million to any non combatant who turns in terrorist leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi; in the June 2007 issue of Vanity Fair, however, he clarified that the statement was made hypothetically and not meant to be taken literally. Willis has also criticized the media for its coverage of the war, complaining that the press were more likely to focus on the negative aspects of the war: “ I went to Iraq because what I saw when I was over there was soldiers—young kids for the most part—helping people in Iraq; helping getting the power turned back on, helping get hospitals open, helping get the water turned back on and you don't hear any of that on the news. You hear, 'X number of people were killed today,' which I think does a huge disservice. It's like spitting on these young men and women who are over there fighting to help this country.[65] ” Willis stated in 2005 that he wanted to "make a pro-war film in which American soldiers will be depicted as brave fighters for freedom and democracy."[66] The film would follow members of Deuce Four, the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry, who spent considerable time in Mosul and were decorated heavily for it. The film is to be based on the writings of blogger Michael Yon, a former United States Army Special Forces soldier who was embedded with Deuce Four and sent regular dispatches about their activities. Willis described the plot of the film as "these guys who do what they are asked for very little money to defend and fight for what they consider to be freedom."[67] ... ...... Catherine Astrid Salome "Cathy" Freeman, OAM (born 16 February 1973) is a former Australian sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, at which she lit the Olympic Flame.[1] Freeman was the first ever Aboriginal Commonwealth Games gold medalist at age 16 in 1990. [2] 1994 was her breakthrough season. At the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada, Freeman won gold in both the 200 m and 400 m. She also won the silver medal in the 1996 Olympics and came first at the 1997 World Champion in the 400 m event. 1998 saw Freeman taking a break from running due to injury. She returned to form with a first place in the 400 m at the 1999 World Championships. She announced her retirement from athletics in 2003. Freeman was born in Slade Point, Mackay, Queensland, where the local athletics track is now named after her. Her coach throughout her athletic career was Peter Fortune. In 1999, she married Sandy Bodecker, separating in February 2003. In 2009, she married James Murch, with whom she gave birth to a girl in 2011. In 1998, she was awarded Australian of the Year, in 2001 the World Sportswoman of the Year and the Medal of the Order of Australia. Freeman began athletics at a very young age. Her first coach was her stepfather, Bruce Barber. By her early teens she had a collection of regional and national titles, having competed in the 100 metres, 200 metres and high jump.[citation needed] In 1987, Freeman moved on to Kooralbyn International School to be coached professionally by Romanian Mike Danila, who become her first real coach and later a key influence throughout her career; he provided a strict training regime for the young athlete.[3][4][5] In 1988, She was awarded a scholarship to an exclusive girls' school, Fairholme College in Toowoomba. In a competition in 1989, Freeman ran 11.67s in the 100 metres and Danila began to think about entering her in the Commonwealth Games Trials in Sydney. In 1990, Freeman was chosen as a member of Australia's 4 x 100 m relay team for the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand. The team won the gold medal, making Freeman the first ever Aboriginal Commonwealth Games gold medallist, as well as one of the youngest, at 16 years old. She moved to Melbourne in 1990s after the Auckland Commonwealth Games. Shortly after moving to Melbourne, Bideau her manager introduced Freeman to athletics coach, Peter Fortune who would become Freeman's coach for the rest of her career. She was then selected to represent Australia at the 1990 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. There, she reached the semi-finals of the 100 m and placed fifth in the final of the 400 m. Freeman competed in her second World Junior Championships in Seoul, South Korea. She competed only in the 200 m, winning the silver medal behind China's Hu Ling. Also in 1992, she travelled to her first Olympic Games, reaching the second round of her new speciality event; the 400 metres. At the 1993 World Championships in Athletics, Freeman competed in the 200 m, reaching the semi-finals. 1994 was Freeman's breakthrough season, when she entered into the world's elite for the first time. Competing at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada, Freeman won gold in both the 200 m and 400 m. She also competed as a member of Australia's 4x100 m squad, winning the silver medal and as a member of the 4x400 m team, who finished first but were later disqualified. During the 1994 season, Freeman took 1.3 seconds from her 400 m personal best, achieving 50.04 seconds. She also set all-time personal bests in the 100 m (11.24) and 200 m (22.25). Although a medal favourite at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics in Sweden, Freeman finished fourth.[citation needed] She also reached the semi-finals of the 200 m. Freeman made more progress during the 1996 season, setting many personal bests and Australian records. By this stage, she was the biggest challenger to France's Marie-José Pérec at the 1996 Olympics.[citation needed] She eventually took the silver medal behind Pérec, in an Australian record of 48.63 seconds. This is still the sixth fastest time ever and the second fastest since 1985.[citation needed] Pérec's winning time of 48.25 was an Olympic record and the third fastest ever. In 1997, Freeman won the 400 m at the World Championships in Athens, with a time of 49.77 seconds. Her only loss in the 400 m that season was in Oslo where she injured her foot.[citation needed] Freeman took a break for the 1998 season, due to injury. Upon her return to the track in 1999, Freeman did not lose a single 400 m race, including at the World Championships.[citation needed] ABC Sydney Olympics Freeman.ogv ABC footage and interviews of crowds celebrating Freeman's Olympics win. Her winning streak continued into the 2000 season, despite Pérec's return to the track. Freeman was the home favorite for the 400 m title at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where she was expected to face-off with rival Pérec. This showdown never happened, as Pérec left the Games after what she describes as harassment from strangers.[6] Freeman won the Olympic title in a time of 49.13 seconds, becoming only the second Australian Aboriginal Olympic champion (the first was Nova Peris-Kneebone for field hockey in Atlanta).[citation needed] After the race, Freeman took a victory lap, carrying both the Aboriginal and Australian flags. This was despite the fact that unofficial flags are banned at the Olympic Games and the Aboriginal flag, while recognized as official in Australia, is not a national flag, nor recognized by the International Olympic Committee.[citation needed] Freeman also made the final of the 200 m, coming sixth.[7] In honour of her gold medal win in Sydney, she represented Oceania in carrying the Olympic flag at the opening ceremonies of the next Olympics, in Salt Lake City, joining Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Africa), John Glenn (The Americas), Kazuyoshi Funaki (Asia), Lech Wałęsa (Europe), Jean-Michel Cousteau (Environment), Jean-Claude Killy (Sport), and Steven Spielberg (Culture).[citation needed] Throughout her career, Freeman regularly competed in the Victorian Athletic League where she won two 400 m races at the Stawell Gift Carnival.[citation needed] Freeman did not compete during the 2001 season. In 2002, she returned to the track to compete as a member of Australia's victorious 4x400 m relay team at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.[citation needed] Freeman announced her retirement in 2003.[8] Since retiring from athletics Freeman has become involved in a range of community and charitable activities. She is an Ambassador of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.[9] Freeman was appointed as an Ambassador for Cottage by the Sea, alongisde celebrity chef Curtis Stone and big wave surfer Jeff Rowley. Cottage by the Sea is one of Australia's oldest charities and each year provides short-term beachside holidays and respite care for more than 900 children and families in need.[10] Personal life Freeman was born in 1973 at Slade Point, Mackay, Queensland to Norman Freeman and Cecelia. She and her brothers Gavin, Garth and Norman (who died after a motor vehicle accident on 16 September 2008) [11] were raised there and in other parts of Queensland. She also had a sister named Anne-Marie (1966–1990) who suffered from cerebral palsy and spent much of her life in a home for the disabled. Freeman attended several schools, but was mostly educated at Fairholme College, in Toowoomba.[citation needed] Her parents divorced in 1978.[12] Freeman has described how she has been influenced by early experiences with racism and also by her Bahá'í faith.[13] Freeman was raised a Baha'i, and says of her faith, "I'm not a devout Baha'i but I like the prayers and I appreciate their values about the equality of all human kind".[14][15] Freeman's mother Cecelia (nee Sibley) was born in the Aboriginal community on Palm Island. Freeman's father Norman's father was Frank Fisher; Norman was raised by his mother Geraldine Roy and his stepfather Claude Freeman [12]. Freeman's late grandfather, Frank Fisher was an outstanding rugby player.[16] Freeman had a long-term romantic relationship with Nic Bideau, her manager, that ended in acrimony and legal wranglings over Freeman's endorsement earnings.[17] [18] Freeman married Sandy Bodecker, a Nike executive and 20 years her senior, in 1999. After her success in Sydney she took an extended break from the track to nurse Bodecker through a bout of throat cancer between May–October 2002.[19] She announced their separation in February 2003. Later that year, Freeman began dating Australian actor Joel Edgerton whom she had initially met at the 2002 TV Week Logies. Their relationship ended in early 2005.[20] In October 2006 Freeman announced her engagement to Melbourne stockbroker James Murch.[21] They married at Spray Farm on the Bellarine Peninsula on 11 April 2009.[22] Freeman gave birth to Ruby Anne Susie Murch on 8 July 2011.[23] In 2008, Freeman participated in Who Do You Think You Are? and discovered that her mother was of Chinese and English heritage. As a result of a 1917 Queensland policy that Aborigines could serve in the military if they had a European parent, her paternal great grandfather, Frank Fisher served in the 11th Light Horse Regiment during WWI.[24][12] On her right arm, the side closest to the spectators on an athletics track, she had the words "Cos I'm Free" tattoed mid-way between her shoulder and elbow.[25] English textbook The story of Freeman and her accomplishments in the Olympics were used in an English book known as Sunshine in Japan. The book was used by Japanese junior high schools in their third year. It told of her winning the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics. It then goes on to talk about Australia's Aborigines and then about her personal life. Her story is used as a means to teach relative pronouns to the students. ... ...... Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro,[2] OIH, (born 5 February 1985),[3] commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team. Ronaldo became the most expensive footballer in history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth £80 million (€93.9 million/$131.6 million). In addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he is paid €12 million per year, makes him one of the highest-paid footballers in the world,[4] and his buyout clause is valued at €1 billion as per his contract.[5] Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, before moving to C.D. Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo's precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who signed him for £12.24 million (€15 million) in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup. He also played at Euro 2004 with Portugal and scored his first international goal in the opening game of the tournament against Greece, in addition to helping Portugal reach the final. He was featured in the UEFA Euro All-Star Team of this competition. Ronaldo was the first player to win all four main PFA and FWA awards, doing so in 2007. He was third in the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year award and second in the 2007 Ballon d'Or award. In 2008, Ronaldo won the Champions League with United, was named best forward and player of the tournament and was the competition's top goalscorer as well as winning the European Golden Shoe, becoming the first winger to do so, and topping the Premier League Golden Boot award. He won three of the four main PFA and FWA trophies, only missing the PFA Young Player of the Year, and was named the FIFPro, World Soccer, Onze d'Or,[6][7][8] and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to becoming Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or winner in 40 years.[9] Ronaldo holds the distinction of being the first player to win the FIFA Puskás Award, in 2009, an honour handed by FIFA to the best goal of the year. He scored that goal from 40 yards out against Porto in a UEFA Champions League quarter-final match, while playing for Manchester United.[10] Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Johan Cruyff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."[11] He was second in the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year award and also second in the 2009 Ballon d'Or award. After moving to Real Madrid in 2009, in his second season, Ronaldo became the highest goalscorer in a season in the history of Real Madrid with 53 goals, surpassing the club's previous high of 49 by Ferenc Puskás. During this season Ronaldo broke the record of most goals ever scored in a season in La Liga with 40, surpassing Telmo Zarra's and Hugo Sánchez's mark (38 goals) established in 1951 and 1990, respectively. Ronaldo also broke Zarra's record of most goals per minute, with a goal scored every 70.7 minutes. The newspaper Marca, the official deliverer of the Pichichi Trophy (the top La Liga goalscorer award), claimed that Ronaldo scored 41 goals (Marca assigned one more goal to Ronaldo than La Liga, which attributed it to Pepe). By doing so, he won the European Golden Shoe award once again, becoming the first player to win the trophy in two different championships. He was third in the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award and second in the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or. On 24 March 2012, with the first of two goals scored in the match against Real Sociedad, Ronaldo became the fastest La Liga player to score 100 goals in the league.[12] Ronaldo officially broke his previous record of 40 goals in a La Liga season in the 2011–12 season; by doing so, he became first player to reach 40 goals in a single season in two consecutive years in any of the top European leagues. On 13 May 2012, the last matchday, Ronaldo scored against Mallorca which made him the first player ever to score against every team in a single season in La Liga.[13] He finished the season with 60 goals in every competition, breaking the Real Madrid record he had set the previous season. Ronaldo has been described as a skillful winger who will take on any defender with his dribbling and pace; he hits his free kicks with power and pace, and is able to beat defenders off the dribble and cross the ball. He is able to score with his head and feet.[14] Ronaldo was born in Santo António, a neighbourhood of Funchal, Madeira, the youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro, a municipal gardener.[15] His second given name "Ronaldo" was chosen after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who was his father's favourite actor. He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia.[3] His great-grandmother Isabel da Piedade was from Cape Verde.[16] Club career Early career At the age of eight, Ronaldo played for amateur team Andorinha, where his father was the kit man. In 1995, Ronaldo signed with local club Nacional, and, after a title-winning campaign, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.[17] Sporting Clube de Portugal Ronaldo joined Sporting's other youth players who trained at the Academia Sporting, the club's football academy, in Alcochete. He became the only player ever to play for Sporting's under-16, under-17, under-18, B-team, and the first team, all within one season.[18] He scored two goals in his league debut on 7 October 2002, which Sporting CP won 3–0 against Moreirense, while featuring for Portugal in the 2002 European Under-17 Championship.[19] At the age of 15 Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart, a condition that might have forced him to give up playing football. The Sporting staff were made aware of the condition and Ronaldo's mother gave her authorisation for him to go into hospital. While there, he had an operation in which a laser was used to cauterise the area of his heart that was causing the problem. The surgery took place in the morning and Ronaldo was discharged from hospital by the end of the afternoon; he resumed training only a few days later.[20] In November 2002, Ronaldo was invited to Arsenal's training ground, London Colney to meet manager Arsène Wenger and his coaching staff.[21] Wenger, who was interested in signing the midfielder had arranged to meet Ronaldo's representatives, Formation (who suggested the player originally to Gérard Houllier, then Liverpool's manager) in the subsequent months to discuss a transfer arrangement.[22] However he came to the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, when Sporting defeated United 3–1 in the inauguration of the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. Ronaldo's performance impressed the Manchester United players, who urged Ferguson to sign him.[23] Manchester United 2003–2006 Ronaldo playing against Chelsea in April 2006. Ronaldo became Manchester United's first-ever Portuguese player when he signed for €15 million[24] (£12.24 million) after the 2002–03 season.[25] He requested the number 28 (his number at Sporting), as he did not want the pressure of living up to the expectation linked to the number 7 shirt, which had previously been worn by players such as George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham. "After I joined, the manager asked me what number I'd like. I said 28. But Ferguson said 'No, you're going to have No. 7,' and the famous shirt was an extra source of motivation. I was forced to live up to such an honour."[26] Ronaldo made his team debut as a 60th-minute substitute in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers. He scored his first goal for Manchester United with a free kick in a 3–0 win over Portsmouth on 1 November 2003. Ronaldo ended his first season in English football by scoring the opening goal in United's 3–0 FA Cup final victory over Millwall.[27] He scored United's 1000th Premier League goal on 29 October 2005 in a 4–1 loss to Middlesbrough.[28] He scored ten goals in all competitions, and fans voted him to his first FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year award in 2005. He was sent off in the Manchester derby at the City of Manchester Stadium on 14 January 2006 (a game which United lost 3–1) for kicking City's former United player Andrew Cole.[29] Ronaldo won his second trophy in English football in the 2005–06 season, scoring the third goal in Manchester United's 4–0 Football League Cup final victory over Wigan Athletic.[30] 2006–2009 Ronaldo with United during their 2006–2007 season. The 2006–2007 season proved to be the breakout year for Ronaldo, as he broke the 20 goal barrier for the first time and picked up his first league title with Manchester United. In November and December 2006, Ronaldo received consecutive Barclays Player of the Month honours, becoming only the third player in Premier League history to do so after Dennis Bergkamp in 1997 and Robbie Fowler in 1996.[31][32] He scored his 50th Manchester United goal against city rivals Manchester City on 5 May 2007 as United claimed their first Premier League title in four years, and he was voted into his second consecutive FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year award at the end of the year. Despite rumours circulating in March 2007 that Real Madrid were willing to pay an unprecedented €80 million (£54 million) for Ronaldo,[33] he signed a five-year, £120,000-a-week (£31 million total) extension with United on 13 April, making him the highest-paid player in team history.[34][35] Ronaldo amassed a host of personal awards for the season. He won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards, joining Andy Gray (in 1977) as the only players to receive this honour.[36] In April, he completed the treble by winning the PFA Fans' Player of the Year. Ronaldo was also one of eight Manchester United players named in the 2006–07 PFA Premier League Team of the Year. Ronaldo (left) and Carlos Tévez prior to a Champions League match. Ronaldo's 2007–08 season began with a red card for a headbutt on Portsmouth player Richard Hughes during United's second match of the season, for which he was punished with a three-match ban.[37] Ronaldo said he had "learned a lot" from the experience and would not let players "provoke" him in the future.[38] After scoring the only goal in a Champions League away match against Sporting, Ronaldo also scored the injury-time winner in the return fixture as Manchester United topped their Champions League group.[39] He finished as the runner-up to Kaká for the 2007 Ballon d'Or,[40] and was third in the running for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, behind Kaká and Lionel Messi.[41] Ronaldo scored his first hat trick for Manchester United in a 6–0 win against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on 12 January 2008, bringing Manchester United up to the top of the Premier League table.[42] He scored his twenty-third league goal of the season in a 2–0 win against Reading, equalling his entire total for the 2006–07 season.[43] During a 1–1 Champions League first knockout round draw against Lyon on 20 February, an unidentified Lyon supporter continuously aimed a green laser at Ronaldo and United teammate Nani, prompting an investigation by UEFA.[44] One month later, Lyon were fined CHF5,000 (£2,427) for the incident.[45] On 19 March 2008, Ronaldo captained United for the first time in his career in a home win over Bolton, scoring both goals in the 2–0 victory.[46] The second of the goals was his 33rd of the campaign, which set a new club single-season scoring record by a midfielder and thus topped George Best's forty-year-old total of 32 goals in the 1967–68 season.[47] Ronaldo scored another brace in a 4–0 win over Aston Villa on 29 March, which at the time gave him 35 goals in 37 domestic and European matches as both a starter and substitute. Ronaldo's scoring streak was rewarded with his becoming the first winger to win the 2007–08 European Golden Shoe, finishing eight points ahead of Mallorca's Dani Güiza.[48] In the 2007–08 Champions League final on 21 May against league rivals Chelsea, Ronaldo scored the opening goal after 26 minutes, which was negated by a Chelsea equaliser in the 45th minute as the match ended 1–1 after extra time. His misfire in the penalty shoot-out put Chelsea in position to win the trophy, but John Terry shot wide right after slipping on the pitch surface, and Manchester United emerged victorious 6–5 on penalties. Ronaldo was named the UEFA Fans' Man of the Match,[49] and wrapped up the campaign with a career-high 42 goals in all competitions, falling four short of Denis Law's team-record mark of 46 in the 1963–64 season. Ronaldo and Manchester United against Albert Riera and rivals Liverpool. On 5 June 2008, Sky Sports reported that Ronaldo had expressed an interest in moving to Real Madrid if they offered him the same amount of money the team had allegedly promised him earlier in the year.[50] Manchester United filed a tampering complaint with FIFA on 9 June over Madrid's alleged pursuit of Ronaldo, but FIFA declined to take any action.[51][52] Speculation that a transfer would happen continued until 6 August, when Ronaldo confirmed that he would stay at United for at least another year.[53] Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam on 7 July.[54] He returned to action on 17 September in United's UEFA Champions League goalless group-stage draw with Villarreal as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung,[55] and scored his first overall goal of the season in a 3–1 League Cup third round win over Middlesbrough on 24 September. In a 5–0 win over Stoke City on 15 November 2008, Ronaldo scored his 100th and 101st goals in all competitions for Manchester United, both from free kicks.[56] The goals also meant that Ronaldo had now scored against each of the other 19 teams in the Premier League at the time.[57] On 2 December, Ronaldo became Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or recipient since George Best in 1968. He finished with 446 points, 165 ahead of runner-up Lionel Messi.[58] He was awarded the Silver Ball after finishing with two goals as United won the Club World Cup on 19 December.[59] On 8 January 2009, Ronaldo was uninjured in a single-car accident in which he wrote off his Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano in a tunnel along the A538 near Manchester Airport. A breathalyser test he gave to police officers at the scene was negative, and he attended training later that morning.[60] Four days later, he became the first Premier League player ever to be named the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to being the first Portuguese player to win the award since Luís Figo in 2001.[61] Ronaldo scored his first Champions League goal of the season, and first since the final against Chelsea, in a 2–0 victory over Internazionale that sent United into the quarter-finals.[62] In the second leg against Porto, Ronaldo scored a 40-yard game-winning goal as United advanced to the semi-finals. He later called it the best goal he had ever scored.[63][64] Ronaldo participated in his second consecutive Champions League final, but made little impact in United's 2–0 loss to Barcelona. He finished with 53 appearances in all competitions, which was four higher than the previous year, but scored sixteen fewer goals (26) than his career-best total of 42 from the previous season. On 11 June, Manchester United accepted an unconditional offer of £80 million from Real Madrid for Ronaldo after it was revealed that he again had expressed his desire to leave the club.[65] It was confirmed by a representative of the Glazer family that the sale was fully condoned by Ferguson.[66] When Ronaldo had eventually completed his transfer to Real, he expressed his gratitude towards Ferguson for helping him develop as a player, saying, "He's been my father in sport, one of the most important factors and most influential in my career."[67] Real Madrid 2009–10 season Ronaldo and Real Madrid against Diego Forlán and city rivals Atlético Madrid. On 26 June 2009, Real Madrid confirmed that Ronaldo would join the club on 1 July 2009 from Manchester United for £80 million (€93.9 million/$131.6 million),[68] after agreeing terms and signing a six-year contract.[69] Ronaldo's contract is worth €11 million per year[4] and it has a €1 billion buy-out clause.[70] He was presented to the world media as a Real Madrid player on 6 July,[71] where he was handed the number 9 jersey.[72] The shirt was presented to him by Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stéfano.[73] Ronaldo was welcomed by 80,000 fans at his presentation at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, surpassing Diego Maradona's record of 75,000 fans when he was presented in Italy, after he was transferred from Barcelona to Napoli in 1984.[74] Ronaldo made his Madrid debut on 21 July in a 1–0 win over Shamrock Rovers. His first goal came one week later with a penalty in Madrid's 4–2 win over LDU Quito.[75] On 29 August, Ronaldo capped his La Liga debut with a goal, scoring Real's second from the penalty spot in a 3–2 home win against Deportivo La Coruña.[76] On 15 September, Ronaldo scored two free-kicks in a 5–2 away victory over Zürich, his first Champions League goals for Real.[77] He broke a Madrid club record when he scored in a league match against Villarreal and thus became the first ever player to score in his first four La Liga appearances.[78] An ankle injury suffered on 10 October, while Ronaldo was on international duty with Portugal against Hungary,[79] kept him out until 25 November, which in turn caused him to miss both of Madrid's Champions League group stage matches against Milan. Ronaldo made his first post-injury start in a 1–0 El Clásico defeat to Barcelona on 29 November. On 6 December, he was sent off for the first time in his Madrid career in Madrid's 4–2 victory against Almería, a match which also saw him miss a penalty. He was carded first for removing his shirt during a goal celebration, then for kicking out at an opponent three minutes later.[80] On 5 May 2010 Ronaldo scored his first Real Madrid hat-trick in an away game against Mallorca. Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuaín scored 53 league goals during the course of the season and became Real's highest scoring league duo in their history.[81] 2010–11 season Ronaldo during a friendly game against Peñarol before the beginning of the season. With the departure of Raúl during the summer of 2010, Ronaldo was handed the No. 7 jersey for Real Madrid.[82] On 23 October 2010, Ronaldo scored four goals against Racing de Santander,[83] the most goals he has ever scored in a single match.[84] This completed a goalscoring run of six consecutive matches (three in La Liga, one in the Champions League, and two for Portugal) in which Ronaldo scored in each match, totalling 11 goals, which is the most Ronaldo has scored in a single month. Before Real Madrid's 5–0 defeat by Barcelona at the Camp Nou, Ronaldo scored his second La Liga hat-trick of the season in a 5–1 win over Athletic Bilbao.[85] His final match of the calendar year saw him score a hat-trick in a 8–0 trashing of Levante in the Copa del Rey.[86] Ronaldo began the 2011 with a very promising outlook, especially after Real Madrid acknowledged he had broken numerous goalscoring records, previously settled and held by classic players such as Alfredo Di Stéfano, Hugo Sánchez, and Manuel Alday.[87][88] Ronaldo began his scoring spree by scoring two vital goals in a tight 3–2 victory away to Getafe.[89] He then consolidated his massive performances by scoring a hat-trick and assisting Kaká to score his first league goal after his return from injury, in a 4–2 victory over Villarreal on 9 January. One game away from the middle of the season, Ronaldo had a very clear chance of breaking Telmo Zarra's and Hugo Sánchez's record of 38 League goals in a single season, since he was the league's top scorer with 22 goals, above Lionel Messi.[90][91] However, shortly after, Ronaldo experienced the biggest goal drought in his entire career, scoring only 2 goals in more than a month. During this period, Real Madrid acknowledged to have hit the crossbar more than 12 times in the season, most of the shots belonging to Ronaldo and almost all having happened during crucial moments in drawn matches.[92] Ronaldo then made a massive comeback by scoring a hat-trick in a 7–0 trashing of Málaga on 3 March 2011, but was affected by a muscle injury at the end of the match, which forced him to spend 10 days on the sidelines. Ronaldo and Real Madrid against Gareth Bale and Tottenham in the UEFA Champions League. In April he made another massive comeback from injury, sustaining a three-game scoring streak (including 2 goals in Champions League quarter-finals against Tottenham Hotspur), thus arriving to the first of a historical series of four El Clásico encounters two goals short of breaking his personal record of 42 goals in all competitions in a single season, achieved at Manchester United in the 2007–08 season. During the second league edition of El Clásico, Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot and took his tally to 41 goals, also taking his scoring streak to four games. On 20 April, Ronaldo scored the winning goal against Barcelona in the 103rd minute of the Copa del Rey final.[93] This goal would later be chosen as both Ronaldo's and Real Madrid's best goal in the season by several fan polls, including those of Marca[94] and Real Madrid's website.[95] 7 May saw Real travel to the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán to take on Sevilla, where Ronaldo led the thrashing of a woeful Andalusian side, scoring four goals in a 6–2 victory. These four goals took him to 46 for the season which surpassed his previous record of 42 in a season playing for Manchester United.[96] Three days later he reached 49 goals for the season, by scoring another hat-trick in a 4–0 home win against Getafe. On 15 May, after scoring two free-kick goals in a 3–1 win over Villarreal, he equalled the La Liga record with most goals in a season with 38, a record previously held by Telmo Zarra and Hugo Sánchez. On 21 May, he scored two goals in the last league match of the season against Almería, taking his Pichichi total to 41, and La Liga total to 40, becoming the first and only player to score 40 goals in a La Liga season. By doing this, he won the European Golden Shoe award once again, becoming the first player to win the trophy in two different leagues. The sports newspaper Marca, who awards the Pichichi Trophy, included the goal scored on 18 September 2010 against Real Sociedad in Ronaldo's goal count, which had been officially attributed to Pepe.[97] Should this goal be granted to Ronaldo, his goal count in the Pichichi Trophy would tally 41 goals. However, regardless of this goal polemic, Ronaldo's record-breaking figures became a source of major attention from public media, such as being included in the Sports Illustrated World XI,[98] rating him as one of the world's best footballers. Accounting for all competitions, Ronaldo ended the season with a total of 53 goals (not granting him the controversial goal from Pepe), having scored 25 goals with his right foot (excluding free-kicks and penalty-kicks) and 9 with his left foot.[99] 2011–12 season Real Madrid's pre-season began with a 4–1 victory over MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy,[100] with goals from Callejón, Joselu, Ronaldo, and Benzema.[101] Four days later Ronaldo scored a second half hat-trick in a 3–0 win against Guadalajara. Ronaldo's preseason performance was highly praised as world media kept hailing Ronaldo's extreme competitiveness and motivation, even during friendly matches. On 17 August 2011, Ronaldo scored his 100th goal with Real Madrid with a first-half equalizer against Barcelona in the second leg of the 2011 Spanish Supercup in the Camp Nou. On August 27, 2011, he opened the 2011–12 La Liga season with a hat-trick in a 6–0 win at Real Zaragoza. In the first weeks of September, Ronaldo's physical performance was subject to scrutiny by world media, after Castrol released a television film named Ronaldo: Tested to the Limit where he was put to test in several fields, including mental and physical. Conclusions from the movie and doctors in the weeks following claimed that Ronaldo was one of the best athletes in the world, excelling in football and outstanding in almost every other category.[citation needed] Several sources[weasel words] drew comparisons between him and other top athletes, including sprinter Usain Bolt.[citation needed] On 24 September, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick (including two penalties) in Real Madrid's 6–2 win over Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabéu. This was his ninth La Liga hat-trick and tenth hat-trick for Real Madrid. On September 27, Ronaldo scored Real's opening goal in a 3–0 defeat of Ajax in the Champions League. On 22 October, after not scoring in his previous three games, Ronaldo scored his tenth La Liga hat-trick and eleventh in total for Real Madrid in a match away to Málaga, which Real Madrid won 4–0. His twelfth Real Madrid hat-trick followed on 6 November, in a 7–1 victory over Osasuna that ensured Madrid stayed top of the table heading into the international break.[102] On 19 November 2011, Ronaldo scored Real's second goal in a 2–3 defeat of Valencia. On 26 November 2011, Ronaldo scored two penalties in a 4–1 defeat of Atlético Madrid in the El Derbi madrileño. On 3 December 2011, Ronaldo scored Madrid's second goal in a 0–3 defeat of Sporting de Gijón in La Liga. He was one of the three finalists for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or. On 13 December 2011, Ronaldo scored the second goal against SD Ponferradina in the first leg of the Copa del Rey Round 4, the match ended in a 0–2 win. On 17 December 2011, Ronaldo scored his twelfth La Liga hat-trick and thirteenth overall in a 6–2 win away to Sevilla. Ronaldo was third in the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, behind Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernández, and second in the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, behind Lionel Messi and ahead of Xavi Hernández. In Real Madrid's next game in La Liga at home to Granada Ronaldo scored the fifth goal in a 5–1 win. He was notably criticized in the public media[who?] for not celebrating the goal. On 22 January 2012, Ronaldo scored two penalties in a 4–1 win over Athletic Bilbao, and on 28 January scored Real Madrid's second and winning goal in a 3–1 win against Zaragoza. Ronaldo also scored two goals against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey Quarter-finals, which Real lost 4–3 on aggregrate. On 12 February 2012, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick, his thirteenth in La Liga and fourteenth for Real Madrid, in a 4–2 home win over Levante. This win stretched Real Madrid's lead over second-placed Barcelona to 10 points. On 24 March 2012, Ronaldo reached more than 100 goals in La Liga in just three season at Real Madrid. As of March 24, 2012, Ronaldo had averaged 1.01 goals per game in La Liga. On 11 April, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick against Atletico Madrid in a 1–4 win, as well as assisting the last goal. His hat-trick, one goal from a free kick, one from 30 yards on the left wing and one penalty, gave him 40 league goals in the season, making him the only player in La Liga history to score 40 goals in two seasons, even doing so in consecutive seasons. Ronaldo officially broke his previous record of 40 goals in a La Liga season on 14 April, scoring in a 3–1 win against Sporting Gijón. International career Ronaldo playing against Brazil Ronaldo earned his first cap for Portugal in a 1–0 victory against Kazakhstan on 20 August 2003.[103] Euro 2004 Ronaldo was called up for Euro 2004,[104] scoring in a 2–1 group stage loss to eventual champions Greece[105] and in a 2–1 semi-final win over the Netherlands.[106] He was named in the team of the tournament despite finishing with only two goals.[107] He also represented Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[108][109] 2006 World Cup Ronaldo was the second-highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification in the European zone with seven goals,[107] and scored his first World Cup goal against Iran with a penalty kick.[110] During a quarter-final match against England on 1 July 2006, Ronaldo's United teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho. The English media speculated that Ronaldo had influenced referee Horacio Elizondo's decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney's dismissal. After the match, Ronaldo insisted that Rooney was a friend and that he was not pushing for Rooney to be sent off.[111] On 4 July, Elizondo clarified that the red card was due to Rooney's infraction and not the fracas between Rooney and Ronaldo that followed.[112] The angry reaction from the English press caused Ronaldo to consider leaving United,[113] and he allegedly told Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid.[114] In response to the speculation, Ferguson sent Portuguese assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to speak to Ronaldo in attempt to change his mind, a sentiment that was shared by Rooney.[115][116] Ronaldo stayed, and signed his new five-year extension in April 2007.[117] Ronaldo was booed during Portugal's semi-final defeat to France,[118] and missed out on the competition's Best Young Player award due to a negative e-mail campaign from England fans.[119] Though the online vote only affected the nomination process, FIFA's Technical Study Group awarded the honour to Germany's Lukas Podolski, citing Ronaldo's behaviour as a factor in the decision.[120] Post-World Cup One day after his 22nd birthday, Ronaldo captained Portugal for the first time in a friendly against Brazil on 6 February 2007.[121] This move was in honour of Portuguese Football Federation president Carlos Silva, who had died two days earlier. Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari explained, "Mr. Silva asked me to make [Ronaldo] captain as a gesture... [he] is too young to be captain, but Mr. Silva asked me, and now he is no longer with us."[122] Euro 2008 Ronaldo scored eight goals in Portugal's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign,[123] behind Poland's Ebi Smolarek, but finished with only one goal in the tournament as Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Germany.[124] When Carlos Queiroz was named Portugal's new coach in July 2008,[125] he appointed Ronaldo as team captain.[126] 2010 World Cup On 15 June 2010, in Portugal's opening World Cup match against Côte d'Ivoire, Ronaldo was tackled by right-back Guy Demel, which led to an argument and both being booked. The next day, Portugal contacted FIFA to suggest that Ronaldo's yellow card be rescinded since he was "pulled into" the confrontation after having already moved away from the spot where he was tackled, but the appeal was rejected.[127] Ronaldo failed to make an impact in the World Cup; after going scoreless in the qualifiers, his only goal came in Portugal's 7–0 group stage thrashing of North Korea on 21 June,[128] which marked his first international goal in 16 months.[129] Portugal were ultimately eliminated by Spain in the Round of 16. Ronaldo's father, José Dinis Aveiro, died of an alcoholism-related liver condition in September 2005[130] at age 52 when Ronaldo was 20. Ronaldo's mother and Manchester United coach have stated that he does not drink alcohol as a result and he has received libel damages over a Daily Mirror article that reported him drinking heavily in a nightclub while recovering from an injury in July 2008.[131] Ronaldo's autobiography, titled Moments, was published in December 2007.[132] Along with one of his sisters, Ronaldo opened a fashion boutique under the name "CR7" (his initials and shirt number).[133] There are currently two CR7 shop locations, both of which are in Portugal; one in Lisbon and the other in Madeira. On 9 June 2010, Madame Tussauds London unveiled Ronaldo's waxwork as part of the build-up to the World Cup. Ronaldo joined fellow footballers Steven Gerrard, Pelé and David Beckham at the event's venue.[134] Ronaldo announced that he had become a father on 3 July 2010. His official Facebook and Twitter pages reference the birth of his son and request privacy.[135] The child, named Cristiano[136] is in full custody of Ronaldo.[135] In August 2010, Ronaldo reached 10 million fans on Facebook and in doing so made history by becoming the first non-American personality ever to achieve that kind of success on the social networking site.[137] Ronaldo has previously dated English models Alice Goodwin[138] and Gemma Atkinson, and since the start of 2010, he has been dating Russian model Irina Shayk.[139] On December 5, 2011, Cristiano launched an iPhone game called Heads Up with Cristiano. The game is created by developer RockLive. In 17 May 2012, Ronaldo and Castrol EDGE launched a live-streamed football challenge against fans through Facebook. #RonaldoLIVE would be the world's first interactive football challenge streamed live through Facebook from a state-of-the-art testing facility in Madrid.[140] Philanthropy Television footage of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami showed an eight-year-old boy wearing a No. 7 Portuguese football jersey who was stranded for 19 days after his family was killed. Following this, Ronaldo visited Aceh, Indonesia, to raise funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction.[141][142] In support of the victims of the 2010 Madeira flood, Ronaldo played in a charity match in Madeira between the Primeira Liga club FC Porto and players from Madeiran based clubs Marítimo and Nacional. ... ...... David Robert Joseph Beckham is an English association footballer who plays for Los Angeles Galaxy. He has played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, Milan, and the England national team for which he holds the appearance record for an outfield player.[4] Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17.[5] During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999.[5] He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons,[6] clinching the La Liga championship in his final season with the club.[7] In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid for the Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy,[8] signing a five-year contract with them on 1 July 2007. While a Galaxy player, he spent two loan spells in Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010. On 20 November 2011, he joined an elite group of players to have won three league titles in three different countries, when Los Angeles won their third MLS Cup.[9] In international football, Beckham made his England debut on 1 September 1996, at the age of 21. He was made captain from 15 November 2000[10] until the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals,[11] during which he played 58 times. He earned a much-publicised hundredth cap against France on 26 March 2008,[12] and became the all-time outfield player appearance record holder on 28 March 2009 when he surpassed Bobby Moore's total of 108 caps.[4] With 115 career appearances to date, he has stated that he does not intend to retire from international football. Having missed the 2010 World Cup through injury, Beckham has not played for England since 14 October 2009.[13] Beckham has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year[5] and in 2004 was the world's highest-paid footballer when taking into account salary and advertising deals.[14] Beckham was the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches.[5] He is third in the Premier League's all time time assist provider chart, with 152 assists in 265 appearances.[15] When joining the MLS in 2007 he was given the highest player salary in the league's history, with his playing contract with the Galaxy over the next three years being worth US$6.5m per year.[16][17][18][19] He is married to Victoria Beckham and they have four children, Brooklyn Joseph, Romeo James, Cruz David, and Harper Seven. As of 2009, the couple's joint wealth is estimated at £125 million.[20] Beckham was born at Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone, London, England.[21] He is the son of Sandra Georgina (née West) (b. 1949), a hairdresser, and David Edward Alan "Ted" Beckham (b. Edmonton, London, July–September 1948), a kitchen fitter, who married at the London Borough of Hackney in 1969,[22][23] He regularly played football in Ridgeway Park, Chingford, as a child, and attended Chase Lane Primary School and Chingford Foundation School.[24] In a 2007 interview, Beckham said that, "At school whenever the teachers asked, 'What do you want to do when you're older?' I'd say, 'I want to be a footballer.' And they'd say, 'No, what do you really want to do, for a job?' But that was the only thing I ever wanted to do."[25] Beckham's maternal grandfather was Jewish,[26] and Beckham has referred to himself as "half Jewish"[27] and wrote in his autobiography "I've probably had more contact with Judaism than with any other religion".[28] In his book Both Feet on the Ground, he stated that growing up he attended church every week with his parents and his older sister, Lynne Georgina and younger sister, Joanne Louise.[29][30] His parents were fanatical Manchester United supporters who would frequently travel to Old Trafford from London to attend the team's home matches. David inherited his parents' love of Manchester United, and his main sporting passion was football. He attended one of Bobby Charlton's football schools in Manchester and won the chance to take part in a training session at FC Barcelona, as part of a talent competition. He played for a local youth team called the Ridgeway Rovers – coached by his father, Stuart Underwood and Steve Kirby. Beckham was a Manchester United mascot for a match against West Ham United in 1986. Young Beckham had trials with his local club Leyton Orient, Norwich City and attended Tottenham Hotspur's school of excellence. Tottenham Hotspur was the first club he played for. During a two-year period in which Beckham played for Brimsdown Rovers' youth team, he was named Under-15 Player of the Year in 1990.[31] He also attended Bradenton Preparatory Academy, but signed schoolboy forms at Manchester United on his fourteenth birthday, and subsequently signed a Youth Training Scheme contract on 8 July 1991. Manchester United Beckham was part of a group of young players at the club who guided the club to win the FA Youth Cup in May 1992, with Beckham scoring in the second leg[32] of the final against Crystal Palace. He made his first appearance for United's first-team that year, as a substitute in a League Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion, and signed his first professional contract shortly afterwards. United reached the final of the Youth Cup again the following year, with Beckham playing in their defeat by Leeds United, and he won another medal in 1994 when the club's reserve team won their league, although he did not play in any first team games that season. On 7 December 1994, Beckham made his UEFA Champions League debut, scoring a goal in a 4–0 victory at home to Galatasaray in the final game of the group stage. However, this victory was of little use as they finished third out of four in their group behind FC Barcelona on goal difference. He then went to Preston North End on loan for part of the 1994–95 season to get some first team experience. He impressed, scoring two goals in five appearances, notably scoring directly from a corner kick.[33] Beckham returned to Manchester and finally made his Premier League debut for Manchester United on 2 April 1995, in a goal-less draw against Leeds United. He played four times for United in the league that season, as they finished second behind Blackburn Rovers and missed a third successive Premier League title by a single point. He was not in the squad for United's FA Cup final clash with Everton on 20 May, which they lost 1–0 and were left without a major trophy for the first time since 1989. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had a great deal of confidence in the club's young players. Beckham was part of a group of young talents Ferguson brought in to United in the 1990s (known as "Fergie's Fledglings"), which included Nicky Butt and Gary and Phil Neville. When experienced players Paul Ince, Mark Hughes, and Andrei Kanchelskis left the club after the end of the 1994–95 season, his decision to let youth team players replace them instead of buying star players from other clubs (United had been linked with moves for players including Darren Anderton, Marc Overmars, and Roberto Baggio, but no major signings were made that summer), drew a great deal of criticism. The criticism increased when United started the season with a 3–1 defeat at Aston Villa,[34] with Beckham scoring United's only goal of the game; however, United won their next five matches and the young players performed well. Beckham swiftly established himself as United's right-sided midfielder (rather than a right-winger in the style of his predecessor Andrei Kanchelskis) and helped them to win the Premier League title and FA Cup double that season, scoring the winner in the semi-final against Chelsea and also provided the corner that Eric Cantona scored from in the FA Cup Final. Beckham's first title medal had, for a while, looked like it would not be coming that season, as United were still 10 points adrift of leaders Newcastle United at the turn of the new year, but Beckham and his team-mates had overhauled the Tynesiders at the top of the league by mid March and they remained top until the end of the season. Despite playing regularly (and to a consistently high standard) for Manchester United, Beckham did not break into the England squad before Euro 96.[35] At the beginning of the 1996–97 season David Beckham was given the number 10 shirt that had most recently been worn by Mark Hughes. On 17 August 1996 (the first day of the Premier League season), Beckham became something of a household name when he scored a spectacular goal in a match against Wimbledon. With United leading 2–0, Beckham noticed that Wimbledon's goalkeeper Neil Sullivan was standing a long way out of his goal, and hit a shot from the halfway line that floated over the goalkeeper and into the net.[36] When Beckham scored his famous goal, he did so in shoes custom-made for Charlie Miller ("Charlie" embroidered on boots), which had been given to Beckham by mistake.[37] In a UK poll conducted by Channel 4 in 2002, the British public voted the goal No.18 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.[38] During the 1996–97 season, he became an automatic first-choice player at United helping them to retain the Premier League championship, and being voted PFA Young Player of the Year by his peers.[39] On 18 May 1997, Eric Cantona retired as a player and left the coveted number 7 shirt free, and with Teddy Sheringham arriving from Tottenham Hotspur as Cantona's successor, Beckham left his number 10 shirt for Sheringham and picked up the number 7 jersey. Some fans had felt the number 7 shirt should be retired after Cantona had himself retired, but the shirt number remains in use to this day (most recently by another England star Michael Owen). United started the 1997–98 season well but erratic performances in the second half of the season saw United finish second behind Arsenal.[40] In the 1998–99 season, he was part of the United team that won The Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, a unique feat in English football. There had been speculation that the criticism that he had received after being sent off in the World Cup would lead to him leaving England, but he decided to stay at Manchester United. To ensure they would win the Premier League title, United needed to win their final league match of the season, at home to Tottenham Hotspur (with reports suggesting that the opposition would allow themselves to be easily beaten to prevent their deadly local rivals Arsenal from retaining the title), but Tottenham took an early lead in the match. Beckham scored the equaliser and United went on to win the match and the league. Beckham played centre-midfield in United's win over Bayern Munich in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, since United's first string centre-midfielders Paul Scholes and Roy Keane were suspended for the match. United were losing the match 1–0 at the end of normal time, but won the trophy by scoring two goals in injury time. Both of the goals came from corners taken by Beckham. Those crucial assists, coupled with great performances over the rest of the season, led to him finishing runner up to Rivaldo for 1999's European Footballer of the Year and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. Beckham in a match against Bristol Rovers Despite Beckham's achievements in the 1998–99 season, he was still unpopular among some opposition fans and journalists, and he was criticised after being sent off for a deliberate foul in Manchester United's World Club Championship match against Necaxa. It was suggested in the press that his wife was a bad influence on him, and that it might be in United's interests to sell him,[41] but his manager publicly backed him and he stayed at the club. During the 1999–2000 season, there was a talk of a transfer to Juventus in Italy, but this never happened. By the early 2000s, the relationship between Ferguson and Beckham had begun to deteriorate, possibly as a result of Beckham's fame and commitments away from football. In 2000, Beckham was given permission to miss training to look after his son Brooklyn, who had gastroenteritis, but Ferguson was furious when Victoria Beckham was photographed at a London Fashion Week event on the same night, claiming that Beckham would have been able to train if Victoria had looked after Brooklyn that day. He responded by fining Beckham the maximum amount that was permitted (two weeks' wages – then £50,000) and dropping him for a crucial match against United's rivals Leeds United. He later criticised Beckham for this in his autobiography, claiming he had not been "fair to his teammates"[42] Beckham had a good season for his club, though, and helped United to win the Premier League by a record margin. "He was never a problem until he got married. He used to go into work with the academy coaches at night time, he was a fantastic young lad. Getting married into that entertainment scene was a difficult thing – from that moment, his life was never going to be the same. He is such a big celebrity, football is only a small part."' – Alex Ferguson speaking about Beckham's marriage in 2007.[43] Beckham helped United retain the Premier League title in 1999–2000 by an 18-point margin – after being pushed by Arsenal and Leeds United for much of the season, United won their final 11 league games of the season, with Beckham scoring five goals during this fantastic run of form. He managed six league goals that season, and scored eight goals in all competitions. He was a key player in United's third successive league title in 2000–01 – only the fourth time that any club had achieved three league titles in a row. He scored nine goals that season, all in the Premier League. On 10 April 2002, Beckham was injured during a Champions League match against Deportivo La Coruña, breaking the second metatarsal bone in his left foot. There was speculation in the British media that the injury might have been caused deliberately, as the player who had injured Beckham was Argentine Aldo Duscher, and England and Argentina were due to meet in that year's World Cup.[44] The injury prevented Beckham from playing for United for the rest of the season and they missed out on the Premier League title to Arsenal (also being knocked out of the European Cup by Bayer Leverkusen on away goals in the semi-finals), but he signed a three-year contract in May, following months of negotiations with the club, mostly concerning extra payments for his image rights. The income from his new contract, and his many endorsement deals, made him the highest-paid player in the world at the time.[45] 2001–02 was arguably Beckham's best season as a United player, though. He scored 11 goals in 28 league games, and a total of 16 goals in 42 games in all competitions, the best tally of his career. Following an injury early in the 2002–03 season, Beckham was unable to regain his place on the Manchester United team, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær having replaced him on the right side of midfield. His relationship with his manager deteriorated further on 15 February 2003 when, in the changing room following an FA Cup defeat to Arsenal, a furious Alex Ferguson threw[46][47][48][49][50] [51][52] or kicked a boot that struck Beckham over the eye, causing a cut that required stitches. The incident led to a great deal of transfer speculation involving Beckham, with bookmakers offering odds on whether he or Ferguson would be first to leave the club.[53] Although the team had started the season badly, their results improved greatly from December onwards and they won the league, with Beckham managing a total of 11 goals in 52 games in all competitions. He was still a first-choice player for England, however, and was awarded an OBE for services to football on 13 June 2003.[54] Beckham had made 265 Premier league appearances for United and scored 61 goals. He also made 81 Champions league appearances, scoring 15 goals. Beckham won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, one European Cup, one Intercontinental Cup, and one FA Youth Cup in the space of 12 years. By this stage, he was their joint second longest serving player behind Ryan Giggs (having joined them at the same time as Nicky Butt, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes). Real Madrid Beckham (top) and Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid in August 2003 As the summer 2003 transfer window approached Manchester United appeared keen to sell Beckham to FC Barcelona[55] and the two clubs even announced that they reached a deal to move the player to Barcelona,[56] but instead he joined reigning Spanish champions Real Madrid for €35 million (£25m) transfer fee[57] on a four-year contract as the latest of the galáctico signings by club president Florentino Pérez. The news came as a bitter pill to the newly elected Barça president Joan Laporta who based much of his presidential campaign precisely on signing Beckham.[58] Though announced in mid-June, the transfer was completed on 1 July 2003, making him the third Englishman to play for the club after Laurie Cunningham and Steve McManaman. Following a successful medical on 2 July, Beckham was unveiled in front of 500 accredited journalists from 25 countries at Real's basketball facility where he was handed the Real shirt by club legend Alfredo di Stéfano.[59] Although Beckham had worn the number seven shirt for Manchester United and England, he was unable to wear it at Madrid as it was currently assigned to club captain Raúl. The Englishman decided to wear number 23 instead, citing his admiration of basketball player Michael Jordan, who also wore the number 23 shirt, as the reason behind his decision.[60] In the week before Beckham presentation, Real named Carlos Queiroz as their new head coach, meaning that Beckham got reunited with a familiar face upon arriving to Madrid since Queiroz spent the previous season as Alex Ferguson's assistant at Manchester United. In late July 2003, the club went on a tour of the Far East as part of the pre-season training, but also to cash in on Beckham's huge marketing appeal in Asia where he enjoyed tremendous following. Real's brand recognition in that part of the globe was already well established as the club made financially successful trips to Asia during previous off-seasons, however the presence of global marketing icon such as Beckham made this particular tour a financial smash for los Merengues.[61] Shortly after his Real switch, Beckham also ended his relationship with agent Tony Stephens of SFX Europe who had guided him through his career up until this point, including helping to engineer Beckham's move from Manchester to Madrid. Beckham signed on with Simon Fuller and his company 19 Entertainment that already managed the career of David's wife Victoria.[62] Beckham also appointed close friend Terry Byrne to be his personal manager.[16][63] In late August 2003, Real Madrid won the Spanish Super Cup over two legs versus RCD Mallorca, with Beckham scoring the final goal in a 3–0 return leg win at home, thus setting the stage for the start of the league season. Playing on a star-laden team along with Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raúl, Iker Casillas, etc., Beckham did not require much time to settle in, scoring five times in his first 16 matches (including a goal less than three minutes into his La Liga debut). Queiroz mostly favoured the adaptable 5–3–2 formation with two fullbacks Michel Salgado and Roberto Carlos often joining the attack down the wings, while Beckham quickly found a regular playing spot on the right of the 3-man midfield alongside Zidane and Figo.[64] Real Madrid were runners-up in the Copa del Rey, were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League at the quarter-final stage and finished the league season in fourth place, meaning the team, whose president Pérez expected them to win either the Spanish league or the Champions League each season, did not match expectations. In July 2004, while Beckham was in pre-season training in Spain, an intruder scaled a wall at the Beckham home while carrying a can of petrol. Victoria and their children were in the house at the time, but security guards apprehended the man before he reached the house.[65] The league season began with new head coach José Antonio Camacho behind the bench, but he ended up lasting only three matches, handing in his resignation following week 3 fixture as Real dropped to eighth spot in the La Liga standings. Camacho's assistant Mariano García Remón took over on temporary basis as Real leadership scrambled to find a permanent replacement. Beckham made more headlines on 9 October 2004 when he admitted intentionally fouling Ben Thatcher in an England match against Wales in order to get himself booked. Beckham was due to receive a one-match suspension for his next caution, and had picked up an injury, which he knew would keep him out of England's next match, so he deliberately fouled Thatcher in order to serve his suspension in a match that he would have had to miss anyway. The Football Association asked Beckham for an explanation of his actions and he admitted that he had "made a mistake" and apologised.[66] He was sent off shortly afterwards, this time in a league match for Real Madrid against Valencia CF. Having received a yellow card, he was judged to have sarcastically applauded the referee and was given a second yellow card, causing an automatic dismissal, although the suspension was cancelled on appeal two days later. By Christmas 2004, with the team sitting in second league spot, García Remón was gone as Vanderlei Luxemburgo became the new head coach. However, the well-traveled Brazilian failed to inspire the team to the title as Real again finished the season in the runner-up spot. On 3 December 2005, Beckham was sent off for the third time that season in a league match against Getafe CF. One day later Luxemburgo got the axe and was replaced with Juan Ramón López Caro. By the end of that season, Beckham led La Liga in number of assists. Warming up with Real Madrid in August 2006 During the season, Beckham established football academies in Los Angeles and east London and he was named a judge for the 2006 British Book Awards.[67] Real Madrid finished second to Barcelona in the 2005–06 La Liga, albeit with a large 12-point gap, and reached the last 16 only in the Champions League after losing to Arsenal. The season also marked the end of an era for the club as Pérez resigned his president post in January 2006 with Vicente Boluda named as replacement on interim basis until the end of the season. The summer 2006 off-season marked a turbulent time as club president elections were held. Ramón Calderón became the new Real president. As expected, none of the club officials that served under the previous president were kept, including head coach López Caro. Initially out of favour with newly arrived head coach Fabio Capello, Beckham started only a few games at the beginning of the season, as the speedier José Antonio Reyes was normally preferred on the right wing. In the first nine matches Beckham started, Real lost seven. On 10 January 2007, after prolonged contract negotiations, Real Madrid's sporting director Predrag Mijatović announced that Beckham would not remain at Real Madrid after the end of the season. However, he later claimed that he was mistranslated and that he actually said that Beckham's contract had not yet been renewed.[68] On 11 January 2007, Beckham announced that he had signed a five-year deal to play for Los Angeles Galaxy beginning 1 July 2007. On 13 January 2007, Fabio Capello said that Beckham had played his last game for Real Madrid, although he would continue to train with the team.[69] A few days later while speaking to the students at Villanueva University Center in Madrid, club president Calderón said that Beckham is "going to Hollywood to be half a film star", adding "our technical staff were right not to extend his contract, which has been proved by the fact that no other technical staff in the world wanted him except Los Angeles".[70] However, about a month later, Capello backtracked on his earlier statement, allowing Beckham to rejoin the team for the match against Real Sociedad on 10 February 2007. The player immediately repaid his head coach's trust by scoring the equalising goal from a 27-yard free kick as Real Madrid eventually recorded a 2–1 victory.[71] In his final UEFA Champions League appearance for the club, Real Madrid were knocked out of the competition by Bayern Munich at the round-of-16 stage (on the away goals rule) on 7 March 2007. The return leg against Bayern was Beckham's 103rd match in the Champions League, at the time placing him third on the all-time appearances list in the competition. Beckham's last season in Real Madrid On 17 June 2007, the last day of the La Liga season, Beckham started in his final match for the club, a 3–1 win over RCD Mallorca, which saw them clinch the title from Barcelona. With Real down 0–1 Beckham limped off the field and was replaced by José Antonio Reyes who scored two goals leading the team to that season's La Liga title, their first since Beckham had signed with them and 30th overall in club's history. Although Real and Barca both finished level on points, Madrid took the title because of superior head-to-head record, capping a remarkable six-month turnaround for Beckham. With his wife and children along with celebrity friends Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes watching from a luxury box at Bernabeu Stadium, it was only Beckham's second piece of silverware since he joined the famous club. Towards the end of the season, as Beckham was getting back into Capello's good books after successfully fighting his way back into the first team, Real Madrid announced they would try to untie his transfer to LA Galaxy, but were ultimately unsuccessful.[72] Several weeks before Beckham's scheduled arrival to the United States, Real's management contacted LA Galaxy's ownership group about reacquiring the player, but were quickly turned down.[73] A month after the conclusion of Beckham's Real career, Forbes magazine reported that he had been the party primarily responsible for the team's huge increase in merchandise sales, a total reported to top US$600 million during Beckham's four years at the club.[74] Los Angeles Galaxy I'm coming there not to be a superstar. I'm coming there to be part of the team, to work hard and to hopefully win things. With me, it's about football. I'm coming there to make a difference. I'm coming there to play football ... I'm not saying me coming over to the States is going to make soccer the biggest sport in America. That would be difficult to achieve. Baseball, basketball, American football, they've been around. But I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I could make a difference.[75] Beckham on going to America From ESPN Beckham (centre) scores his first goal for LA Galaxy Beckham's involvement with Major League Soccer began while he was still a Real Madrid player when it was confirmed on 11 January 2007 that he would be leaving Madrid in six months in order to join MLS' Los Angeles Galaxy. Beckham's official press conference to announce the decisions was held the following day in conjunction with the 2007 MLS SuperDraft.[76] Some media outlets reported the deal to be worth US$250 million.[77] The figure was disputed, as it was misreported as an official offer from the Galaxy rather than a floated request from Beckham's management that included other sources of revenue. For example, it was reported that part of the contract included the right to purchase an MLS-expansion team at a fixed price.[78] Beckham's actual deal with the Galaxy was a 5-year contract worth US$32.5 million in total or $6.5 million per year (more than fifty times the average salary of an MLS player).[79][80] The cost of his signing was spread evenly among the then 14 MLS teams rather than picked up just by LA Galaxy because the goal was to boost the standing in America of professional soccer as a whole, against the country’s indigenous sports.[81] The high-profile acquisition paid immediate financial dividends for Galaxy long before Beckham joined the team. On the strength of the signing and the media frenzy it created, the club was able to pull off a new 5-year shirt sponsorship deal with Herbalife nutrition company worth US$20 million. The gate revenue peaked as well with 11,000 new season tickets holders and sold-out luxury suites (each one of the 42 inside the team's home ground, the Home Depot Center).[82] Even the LA Galaxy owners Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) saw an immediate spike in business. Involved on many business fronts worldwide, AEG was already leveraging its Beckham association in places such as China, where the company had been working aggressively in Shanghai and Beijing for years to receive clearance to build arenas and stadiums. The company's CEO Tim Leiweke put it as follows: "Suddenly, we're known as the company that owns the team that David Beckham is going to play for, so our world changed".[83] In the months following the announcement, the additional terms of Beckham's contract became public knowledge. One unique contract provision was giving him the option of buying an MLS expansion franchise at a fixed price whenever he stopped playing in the league – an allowance that the league's owners had never given to a player before. Another provision was the opt-out clause after the 2009 season, meaning that should he decide so, Beckham was free to leave the club after completing year three of his 5-year contract.[82] In April 2007, he and wife Victoria bought an $18.2 million home on San Ysidro Drive in Beverly Hills.[84] Beckham's contract with LA Galaxy took effect on 11 July, and on 13 July, the famous Englishman was officially unveiled as a Galaxy player at the Home Depot Center to much fanfare and world media interest in front of more than 5,000 gathered fans and some 700 accredited media members.[85] Beckham chose to wear number 23. It was announced that Galaxy jersey sales had already reached a record figure of over 250,000 prior to this formal introduction.[86] In conjunction with his move to Los Angeles Beckham was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine in July of 2007,[87] and a few weeks earlier Adidas launched the extensive 13-part ad campaign "Fútbol meets Football" featuring Beckham,[88] and W magazine published a photo spread featuring David and wife Victoria photographed by Steven Klein. The photo spread's title made reference to Beckham's management company and it's owner's relationship with American Idol.[89] A television documentary entitled David Beckham: New Beginnings was produced by his management company as well, directed by Gary Brooks, which aired before the friendly match versus Chelsea,[90] which was Beckham's American debut. On 16 July, CAA had hosted a welcome event for David at its new eight-storey, $400 million headquarters in Century City that was covered by tabloid news magazines including Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood.[91] David Beckham became the Los Angeles Galaxy captain immediately upon joining the team On Saturday afternoon, 21 July, despite still nursing the injured left ankle that he picked up a month earlier during the final match of La Liga's season, Beckham made his Galaxy debut, coming on for Alan Gordon in the 78th minute of a 0–1 friendly loss to Chelsea as part of the World Series of Soccer.[92] With a capacity crowd, along with a long Hollywood celebrity list featuring Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Eva Longoria, Mary-Kate Olsen, governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, Alicia Silverstone and Drew Carey among others, present at the Home Depot Center, the match was broadcast live on ESPN's main network. However, the proceedings on the field of play completely took a back seat to the Beckham spectacle, and despite the presence of worldwide football stars Andriy Shevchenko, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, and John Terry, the US television cameras were firmly focused on Beckham who spent most of the match on the bench. The match's added time featured a scare for already injured Beckham when he got tackled by Steve Sidwell whose cleats struck Beckham's right foot, sending him airborne before he crumpled hard to the ground. Though the existing injury was not aggravated too much, Beckham's recovery process was set back by about a week. ESPN's presentation of Beckham's debut earned a 1.0 TV rating, meaning it was seen in an average of 947,000 television homes in the US – a disappointing figure given the national media buzz and two weeks of constant promotion by ESPN. For comparison ESPN2's weekly MLS broadcasts on Thursdays drew a consistent 0.2 rating on virtually no promotion while Freddy Adu's MLS debut televised on ABC back in 2004 earned a 1.3 rating.[84] As far as sporting events that were televised that weekend in the United States, Beckham's much publicised debut drew less TV viewers than British Open golf tournament, a regular-season national baseball game, and even the Indy Racing League's Honda 200 motor race.[84] The day after the made-for-TV debut was reserved for the welcoming party for the Beckhams at LA's Museum of Contemporary Art, formally billed as being hosted by Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Will Smith, and Jada Pinkett Smith though in actuality a CAA-organized event. Attended by many Hollywood A-listers, the lavish bash was big news in the US celebrity tabloid media, including daily entertainment TV magazines such as Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood.[93] Back on the soccer front, Beckham missed the next four Galaxy matches – three in the North American SuperLiga and an MLS game away at Toronto FC though he still made the trip with his teammates, sitting on the bench in street clothes. It was in Toronto on 5 August that the team got its first taste of what life would be like on the road with Beckham on the roster. Due to security concerns, it was the first time the team flew on a charter for a road match, rather than flying commercial (MLS normally forbids charter flights for away matches, claiming they provide competitive advantage, but in this case they made an exception due to the frenzy created around Beckham and resulting security issues). Also, instead of the usual MLS-mandated modest hotels, LA Galaxy stayed at the five-star Le Méridien King Edward in downtown Toronto (an expense paid for by the local Toronto promoter), while the glitz and glamour continued with the velvet rope, red carpet party at the Ultra Supper Club with Beckham as the centerpiece guest.[94] Two weeks after his 12-minute appearance vs. Chelsea, still not fully healed Beckham finally made his league debut as a substitute on 9 August away versus DC United in front of the sellout crowd of 46,686 (nearly three times the average DC United home crowd) at the RFK Stadium, coming on for Quavas Kirk in the 71st minute.[95] Coming into the nationally televised match on ESPN, played under a heavy downpour with his team down a man and down a goal, even if only 70% fit, Beckham left a mark during the remaining twenty plus minutes. He hit a long free kick that Carlos Pavón failed to finish on for the equalizier, and then in the final minutes Beckham served a weighted through ball into Donovan's path that United's keeper Troy Perkins managed to break up in the last moment – the Galaxy lost 1–0. The next match on the road trip was at New England Revolution and Beckham decided to sit it out, fearing further aggrivating his ankle on the Gillette Stadium's artificial surface. Beckham returned to the pitch the following week, again facing DC United, in the SuperLiga semi-final on 15 August. During this game he had many firsts with the Galaxy; his first start, first yellow card and first game as team captain.[96] He also scored his first goal for the team, from a free kick, and also made his first assist, for Landon Donovan in the second half. These goals gave the team a 2–0 victory, and a place in the North American SuperLiga final versus Pachuca on 29 August. During the SuperLiga final against Pachuca, Beckham injured his right knee, with an MRI scan revealing that he had sprained his medial collateral ligament and would be out for six weeks. He returned to play in the final home match of the season. The Galaxy were eliminated from playoff contention on 21 October, in the final MLS match of the season, a 1–0 loss to the Chicago Fire. Beckham played as a substitute in the match, bringing his season totals to eight matches played (5 league); one goal scored (0 league); and three assists (2 league). Beckham trained with Arsenal from 4 January 2008 for three weeks, until he returned to the Galaxy for pre-season training.[97] Beckham scored his first league goal with the Galaxy on 3 April against the San Jose Earthquakes in the 9th minute.[98] On 24 May 2008, the Galaxy defeated the Kansas City Wizards 3–1, giving the Galaxy their first winning record in two years and moving the club into first place in the Western Conference. In the match, Beckham scored an empty-net goal from 70 yards out. The goal marked the second time in Beckham's career that he had scored from his own half, the other being a 1996 goal from the half-way line against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park.[99] Overall, however, the Galaxy had a disappointing year, failing to qualify for the end-of-season play-offs. Loan to Milan Beckham playing for Milan In 2008, Beckham's success in the England national team under Fabio Capello led to speculation that he might return to Europe in order to retain match fitness for the World Cup qualifying matches in 2009. On 30 October 2008, Milan announced that Beckham was to join them on loan from 7 January 2009.[100] Despite this and other speculation, Beckham made it clear that the move in no way signalled his intent to leave MLS and announced his intent to return to the Galaxy in time for the start of the 2009 season in March.[101] Many at Milan both within and outside of the club expressed serious reservations about the transfer, with it considered by some players no more than a marketing move.[102] At Milan, he chose the number 32 shirt previously worn by Christian Vieri, as both the number 7 and 23 shirts were already used by Alexandre Pato and club captain Massimo Ambrosini, respectively. After his physical, Beckham was reportedly told by a club doctor that he believed he can continue playing football for another five years, when he will be 38.[103] Beckham made his Serie A debut for Milan against Roma on 11 January 2009 and played 89 minutes of the 2–2 draw.[104] He scored his first goal in Serie A for Milan in a 4–1 victory over Bologna on 25 January, his third appearance for the club.[105] Though Beckham was expected to return to L.A. in March, after impressing at the Italian club, scoring two goals in his first four matches and assisting on several more, rumours began to swirl that Beckham would stay in Milan, with the Italian club reportedly offering to pay a multi-million dollar fee for him. The rumours were confirmed on 4 February, when Beckham stated that he was seeking a permanent transfer to Milan, in a bid to sustain his England career through the 2010 World Cup. However, Milan failed to match Galaxy's valuation of Beckham, in the US$10–15 million range.[106] Still, negotiations continued during a month of speculation.[107] On 2 March, the Los Angeles Times reported that Beckham's loan had been extended through mid-July.[108] This was later confirmed by Beckham, revealing what was described as a unique "timeshare" deal, in which Beckham would play with L.A. from mid-July till the end of the 2009 MLS season.[109] Return to Galaxy After his return from Milan, many LA fans showed dislike and anger towards him as he missed the first half of the season and several held up signs saying "Go home fraud", and "Part time player".[110] However, the Galaxy had a much more successful season than in previous years, rising from third to first in the Western Conference during Beckham's time with them. He remained a key part of the squad which saw Galaxy win the 2009 Western Conference final after a 2–0 overtime victory over the Houston Dynamo.[111] In the final on 22 November 2009, the Galaxy lost to Real Salt Lake by 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw. Beckham also scored in the shootout.[112] Second loan spell at Milan In November 2009, after the end of 2009 MLS season, it was confirmed that Beckham would return to Milan for a second loan period beginning in January 2010.[113] On 6 January 2010, Beckham made a winning return in a Milan shirt, playing 75 minutes of a 5–2 victory over Genoa.[114] On 16 February 2010, Beckham played against Manchester United for the first time since he left the club in 2003. He played 76 minutes of the match at the San Siro – which ended 3–2 to Manchester United – before being substituted for Clarence Seedorf.[115] Beckham returned to Old Trafford for the second leg of the tie on 10 March 2010; he did not start the match, but was brought on for Ignazio Abate in the 64th minute to a positive reception from the Manchester United fans. The score was 3–0 for United at that point and the tie was all but decided. The match was the first time Beckham had played against Manchester United at Old Trafford and saw him create several scoring opportunities via crosses and corner kicks, but Manchester United dominated Milan and beat them 4–0, winning the tie 7–2.[116] Following the final whistle, he aroused a bit of controversy by draping the green-and-gold scarf around his neck that was given to him by the Manchester United supporters protesting against club owner Malcolm Glazer. As the fan protests against Glazer by the people gathered around Manchester United Supporters' Trust gained steam in 2010, the green-and-gold scarf had come to be seen as an anti-Glazer symbol, and by extension many saw Beckham's decision to publicly put it on as gesture of support. However, when asked about it later Beckham responded that protests are not his business.[117] In Milan's next game, against ChievoVerona, Beckham suffered a torn left Achilles tendon,[118] causing him to miss the World Cup as well as the MLS season due to the injury, which took him out of action for the next five months. Doctor Sakari Orava performed surgery on Beckham's tendon in Turku, Finland, on 15 March 2010.[119] After the operation, Orava affirmed that "it went quite fine. The prognosis is he needs a rehabilitation for the next few months, and the plaster cast is the next six to eight weeks. I would say that [it will be] maybe four months before he's running, but six months before he's jumping and kicking."[120] Second return to Galaxy On 11 September 2010, after recovering from his Achilles tendon injury, Beckham returned to the game as a substitute in the 70th minute in the Galaxy's 3–1 win over Columbus Crew.[121] On 4 October, Beckham scored a trademark free kick in a 2–1 win over Chivas to mark his first goal in 2010.[122] On 24 October, Beckham scored his second goal of the season in the Galaxy's 2–1 win over Dallas which secured them their second successive Western Conference title and first MLS Supporters' Shield since 2002.[123] During January and February 2011, ahead of the 2011 MLS season, Beckham trained with Tottenham Hotspur. Rumours in the media claimed that the club were in talks with the Galaxy to sign the player on loan, but, according to Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, the move was blocked by Galaxy, who wanted a full final season from their number 23.[124] As a result, he ended up only training with the club as he had done with Arsenal three years earlier. With Beckham playing in the centre of midfield, the Los Angeles Galaxy won the 2011 MLS cup. MLS Cup Champion On 15 May, Beckham scored his first goal of the season for the Galaxy from a 30-yard free kick, in a 4–1 victory over Sporting Kansas City.[125] On 9 July, Beckham scored directly from a corner in a 2–1 win over Chicago Fire, repeating a feat he also achieved while playing for Preston North End.[126] After having his best season with the Galaxy to date and finishing second in the league in assists, Beckham finished his fifth MLS season on a high. On 20 November 2011, he joined an elite group of players to have won three league titles in three different countries, when Los Angeles won their third MLS Cup against Houston Dynamo, winning 1–0 on a goal by captain Landon Donovan, with assists from Beckham and fellow designated player, Robbie Keane.[9][127] Had it been Beckham's final match for the Galaxy, it would have been the third time he has won a league championship in his final match for a club, repeating the feat he accomplished with Manchester United in 2003 and Real Madrid in 2007.[9] Following the 2011 season, in which the Galaxy won their second consecutive Supporters' Shield, having the second most points in MLS history, Beckham's five-year contract with the Galaxy expired on 31 December 2011. Despite being 36, he stated that he did not intend to retire. Beckham was heavily linked with Paris Saint-Germain, but on 18 January 2012, Galaxy announced Beckham had signed a new two-year contract to remain in Los Angeles.[128][129][130][131][132] International career Beckham as England captain Beckham made his first appearance for the England national football team on 1 September 1996, in a World Cup qualifying match against Moldova.[133] Beckham had played in all of England's qualifying matches for the 1998 World Cup and was part of the England squad at the World Cup finals in France,[134] but the team's manager Glenn Hoddle publicly accused him of not concentrating on the tournament,[135] and he did not start in either of England's first two matches. He was picked for their third match against Colombia and scored from a long-range free kick in a 2–0 victory, which was his first goal for England. In the second round (last 16) of that competition, he received a red card in England's match against Argentina.[136] Beckham, after having been fouled by Diego Simeone, kicked Simeone whilst lying on the floor, striking him on the calf muscle. Sports Illustrated was critical of the Argentinians' theatrics in that incident, stating that Simeone first delivered a "heavy-handed challenge" on Beckham and then "fell like a ton of bricks" when Beckham retaliated.[137] Simeone later admitted to trying to get Beckham sent off by over-reacting to the kick and then, along with other members of his team, urging the referee to send Beckham off.[138] The match finished in a draw and England were eliminated in a penalty shootout. Many supporters and journalists blamed him for England's elimination and he became the target of criticism and abuse, including the hanging of an effigy outside a London pub, and the Daily Mirror printing a dartboard with a picture of him centred on the bullseye. Beckham also received death threats after the World Cup.[139] The abuse that Beckham was receiving from English supporters peaked during England's 3–2 defeat by Portugal in Euro 2000, a match where Beckham set up two goals, when a group of England supporters taunted him throughout the match.[140] Beckham responded by raising his middle finger and, while the gesture attracted some criticism, many of the newspapers that had previously encouraged his vilification asked their readers to stop abusing him.[141] On 15 November 2000, following Kevin Keegan's resignation as England manager in October, Beckham was promoted to team captain by the caretaker manager Peter Taylor, and then kept the role under new manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. He helped England to qualify for the 2002 World Cup Finals, with their performances including an impressive 5–1 victory over Germany in Munich. The final step in Beckham's conversion from villain to hero happened in England's 2–2 draw against Greece on 6 October 2001. England needed to win or draw the match in order to qualify outright for the World Cup, but were losing 2–1 with little time remaining. When Teddy Sheringham was fouled eight yards (7 metres) outside the Greek penalty area, England were awarded a free-kick and Beckham ensured England's qualification with a curling strike of the kind that had become his trademark. Shortly afterwards, he was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2001. He once again finished runner-up, to Luís Figo of Portugal, for the FIFA World Player of the Year award. Beckham was partially fit by the time of the 2002 World Cup and played in the first match against Sweden. Beckham scored the winning goal of the match against Argentina with a penalty, causing Argentina to fail to qualify for the knockout stage. England were knocked out of the tournament in the quarter-finals by eventual winners Brazil. The following month, at the opening ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Beckham escorted Kirsty Howard as she presented the Jubilee Baton to the Queen. Beckham played in all of England's matches at Euro 2004, but the tournament was a disappointment for him. He had a penalty saved in England's 2–1 defeat to France and missed another in a penalty shootout in the quarter-final match against Portugal. England lost the shootout thus going out of the competition. Beckham became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in January 2005 and was involved in promoting London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.[142] In October 2005, Beckham's sending off against Austria made him the first ever England captain to be sent off and the first player to be sent off twice while playing for England. He captained England for the 50th time in a friendly international against Argentina the following month. In England's opening game at the 2006 World Cup, against Paraguay on 10 June 2006, Beckham's free kick led to an own-goal by Carlos Gamarra as England won 1–0. In England's next match, played against Trinidad and Tobago on 15 June 2006, Beckham's cross in the 83rd minute led to a Peter Crouch goal, which put England into the lead 1–0. Beckham gave another assist to Steven Gerrard. In the end they won 2–0. He was named Man of the Match by tournament sponsor Budweiser for this game. During England's second round match against Ecuador, Beckham scored from a free kick in the 59th minute, becoming the first ever English player to score in three separate World Cups,[143] and giving England a 1–0 victory and a place in the quarter-finals. He was sick before the game and vomited several times as a result of dehydration and illness after he scored the winning goal. In the quarter-final against Portugal, Beckham was substituted following an injury shortly after half time and the England team went on to lose the match on penalties (3–1), the score having been 0–0 after extra time. After his substitution, Beckham was visibly shaken and emotional for not being able to play, being in tears at one point. A day after England were knocked out of the World Cup, an emotional Beckham made a statement in a news conference saying that he had stepped down as England captain,[144] saying, "It has been an honour and privilege to captain my country but, having been captain for 58 of my 95[145] games, I feel the time is right to pass on the armband as we enter a new era under Steve McClaren." (Beckham had actually won 94 caps up to that point.) He was succeeded by Chelsea captain John Terry.[146] Having stepped down as captain after the World Cup, Beckham was dropped completely from the England national team selected by new coach Steve McClaren on 11 August 2006. McClaren claimed that he was "looking to go in a different direction" with the team, and that Beckham "wasn't included within that." McClaren said Beckham could be recalled in future. Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kieran Richardson, and the World Cup alternative to Beckham, Aaron Lennon, were all included, although McClaren eventually opted to employ Steven Gerrard in that role. Beckham takes the free kick against Brazil from which John Terry scored On 26 May 2007, McClaren announced that Beckham would be recalled to the England squad for the first time since stepping down as their captain. Beckham started against Brazil in England's first match at the new Wembley Stadium and put in a positive performance. In the second half, he set up England's goal converted by captain John Terry. It looked as though England would claim victory over Brazil, but newcomer Diego equalised in the dying seconds. In England's next match, a Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia, Beckham sent two trademark assists for Michael Owen and Peter Crouch, helping England to prevail 3–0. Beckham had assisted in three of England's four total goals in those two games,[147] and he stated his desire to continue to play for England after his move to Major League Soccer. On 22 August 2007, Beckham played in a friendly for England against Germany, becoming the first ever to play for England while with a non-European club team.[148] On 21 November 2007, Beckham earned his 99th cap against Croatia, setting up a goal for Peter Crouch to tie the game at 2–2. Following the 2–3 loss, England failed to qualify for the Euro 2008 Finals. Despite this, Beckham said that he has no plans to retire from international football and wanted to continue playing for the national team.[149] After being passed over by new England coach and Beckham's former manager at Real Madrid, Fabio Capello, for a friendly against Switzerland which would have given him his hundredth cap; Beckham admitted that he was not in shape at the time, as he had not played a competitive match in three months.[150] On 20 March 2008, Beckham was recalled to the England squad by Capello for the friendly against France in Paris on 26 March. Beckham became only the fifth Englishman to win 100 caps. Capello had hinted on 25 March 2008 that Beckham had a long term future in his side ahead of crucial qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.[151] On 11 May 2008, Capello included an in-form Beckham in his 31 man England squad to face the United States at Wembley Stadium on 28 May before the away fixture with Trinidad and Tobago on 1 June. Beckham was honoured before the match by receiving an honorary gold cap representing his 100th cap from Bobby Charlton, and was given a standing ovation from the crowd. He played well and assisted John Terry on the match-winning goal. When substituted at half-time for David Bentley, the pro-Beckham crowd booed the decision.[152] In a surprise move, Capello handed Beckham the captaincy for England's friendly against Trinidad and Tobago on 1 June 2008. The match was the first time since the 2006 World Cup that Beckham had skippered England and marked a dramatic turnaround for Beckham. In two years, he had gone from being dropped completely from the England squad to being reinstated (though temporarily) as England captain.[153] During the 2010 World Cup Qualifier against Belarus in which England won 3–1 in Minsk, Beckham came off the bench in the 87th minute to earn his 107th cap making him England's 3rd highest capped player in history, over-taking Bobby Charlton in the process. On 11 February 2009, Beckham drew level with Bobby Moore's record of 108 caps for an English outfield player, coming on as a substitute for Stewart Downing in a friendly match against Spain.[154] On 28 March 2009, Beckham surpassed Moore to hold the record outright when he came on as a substitute in a friendly against Slovakia, providing the assist for a goal from Wayne Rooney in the process.[155] In all, Beckham had made 16 appearances out of a possible 20 for England under Capello until his ruptured Achilles tendon of March 2010 ruled him out of selection for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.[13] His last game for England before injury had been on 14 October 2009 as a substitute in England's last World Cup qualifying game, which ended England 3 – 0 Belarus.[13] While unable to play, Beckham still went to the tournament as part of the England back-room staff, acting as a mediator between management and the players.[156] After a poor performance from England at the World Cup Capello remained as manager, but was under pressure to revamp the England squad for the imminent UEFA Euro 2012 qualification campaign. He unveiled a new team at the next England match, a home friendly game against Hungary on 11 August 2010, with Beckham still unavailable for selection but aiming for a return to playing in the MLS by the following month.[13] In the post-match interview, Capello said of the prospect of the now 35-year-old Beckham playing any future competitive matches for England, that "I need to change it. David is a fantastic player but I think we need new players for the future", referring to the new players that play in Beckham's right midfield position, including Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson, adding "This is the future of the team under Fabio Capello or another manager".[13] He said that Beckham may be selected for one last friendly game, stating, "If he is fit, I hope we will play one more game here at Wembley so the fans can say goodbye". In response to the comments, Beckham's agent released a statement reiterating Beckham's position that he had no desire to retire from international football, and would always make himself available for selection for England if fit and if needed. Due to an injury suffered to his torn left Achilles tendon, Beckham was forced to miss the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a player. On 14 May 2010 it was announced that Beckham would work as a mediator between management and the players, and as an English member of the coaching staff for the England national football team at the tournament.[156] As an agreement between Beckham, his representatives, his club, Los Angeles Galaxy and Fabio Capello, the former England captain was on the plane to South Africa on 2 June. Discipline Former manager Alex Ferguson said that he "practised with a discipline to achieve an accuracy that other players wouldn't care about."[174] He maintained his training routine at Real Madrid and even when his relationship with management was strained in early 2007, Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón and manager Fabio Capello praised Beckham for maintaining his professionalism and commitment to the club.[175][176] Beckham was the first England player ever to collect two red cards and the first England captain to be sent off.[177] Beckham's most notorious red card was during the 1998 FIFA World Cup after Argentina's Diego Simeone had fouled him, Beckham lashed out with his leg and the Argentine fell. He amassed 41 yellow cards and four red cards for Real Madrid. In 2005, Beckham founded the David Beckham Academy football school, operating from two sites: in London and in Los Angeles, California. It was announced in late 2009 that both would close.[193] A mobile academy is being developed by Beckham, to travel around the UK and further afield.[194] Personal life David and Victoria Beckham at the 2007 British Grand Prix at Silverstone In 1997, Beckham started dating Victoria Adams, after she attended a Manchester United match. She was famously known as "Posh Spice" of the pop music group Spice Girls, one of the world's top pop groups at the time, and his team was also enjoying a great run of success. Therefore, their relationship instantly attracted a great deal of media attention. The couple were dubbed "Posh and Becks" by the media. He proposed to her on 24 January 1998 in a restaurant in Cheshunt, England. On 4 July 1999, David and Victoria married at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland. The wedding attracted tremendous media coverage. Beckham's teammate Gary Neville was the best man, and the couple's infant son, Brooklyn, was the ring bearer. The media were kept away from the ceremony, as the Beckhams had an exclusive deal with OK! Magazine, but newspapers were still able to obtain photographs showing them sitting on golden thrones.[195] 437 staff were employed for the wedding reception, which was estimated to have cost £500,000.[196] In 1999, David and Victoria Beckham purchased their most famous home in Hertfordshire, unofficially dubbed Beckingham Palace, estimated to be worth £7.5 million. David and Victoria Beckham have four children: sons Brooklyn Joseph (born 1999 in London), Romeo James (born 2002 in London), and Cruz David (born 2005 in Madrid; the word "cruz" is Spanish for "cross"); and daughter Harper Seven (born 2011, in Los Angeles).[197][198] Elton John is godfather to Brooklyn and Romeo Beckham; their godmother is Elizabeth Hurley.[199] In April 2007, the family purchased their current main residence, an Italian villa in Beverly Hills, to coincide with Beckham's transfer to the Galaxy that July. The mansion, priced at $22 million, is near the homes of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and talk-show host Jay Leno, in an exclusive gated community in the hills overlooking the city. The family also owned a home in Dubai.[200] Affair claims In April 2004, the British tabloid News of the World carried claims by Beckham's former personal assistant Rebecca Loos that he and Loos had an extramarital affair.[201][202] A week later, the Malaysian-born Australian model Sarah Marbeck claimed that she had slept with Beckham on two occasions. Beckham dismissed both accusations as "ludicrous".[203] In an interview with W Magazine, Victoria Beckham told a reporter, "I'm not going to lie: it was a really tough time. It was hard for our entire families. But I realised a lot of people have a price."[204] Legal issues In December 2008, Beckham and his bodyguard were sued by paparazzi photographer Emicles da Mata, who claimed that he was assaulted by them when attempting to take a picture of Beckham in Beverly Hills. Da Mata is seeking unspecified damages for assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.[205] In September 2010 Beckham announced that he was pressing charges against prostitute Irma Nici and several others over claims in the magazine In Touch that he had had sex with her.[206] Beckham's court application was dismissed. Fame beyond football Beckham in December 2009 Beckham's fame extends beyond the pitch; in much of the world his name is "as instantly recognisable as that of multinational companies like Coca-Cola and IBM."[207] Beckham's relationship and marriage to Victoria, who has been famous in her own right as part of the musical group Spice Girls, contributed to David's celebrity beyond football. So gilded has been the career of Beckham that Victoria revealed her nickname for her husband to be "Golden Balls",[208] an epithet he shares with an obscure mediaeval Anglo-Norman knight whose French name was Latinised to de Aureis Testiculis. Beckham became known as a fashion plate, and together with Victoria, the couple became lucrative spokespeople sought after by clothing designers, health and fitness specialists, fashion magazines, perfume and cosmetics manufacturers, hair stylists, exercise promoters, and spa and recreation companies. One recent example is a new line of aftershave and fragrances called David Beckham Instinct.[209] In 2002 Beckham was hailed as the ultimate "metrosexual" by the man who invented the term[210][211] and has been described as such by numerous other articles since. The Beckhams were reportedly paid $13.7 million in 2007 to launch his fragrance line in the US. In the world of fashion, David has already appeared on the covers of many magazines. U.S. covers have included the men's magazine Details, and with his wife for the August 2007 issue of W.[212] According to Google, "David Beckham" was searched for more than any other sports topic on their site in 2003 and 2004.[213] The search engine Ask Jeeves named Beckham in December 2009 as the third most online searched person in the last decade. The findings are based on online activity by British users of the search engine.[214] Upon their arrival in Los Angeles on 12 July 2007, the night before Beckham's formal introduction, Los Angeles International Airport was filled with paparazzi and news reporters.[215] On the next night, Victoria appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to talk about the their move to LA, and presented Leno with a number 23 Galaxy jersey with his own name on the back. Victoria also talked about her NBC TV show Victoria Beckham: Coming to America.[216] On 22 July, a private welcoming party was held for the couple at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. A-list celebrities attending included Steven Spielberg, Jim Carrey, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Oprah Winfrey.[217] Beckham's many endorsement deals make him one of the most recognisable athletes throughout the world. On 31 December 2008, it was announced that Pepsi Co. was ending its endorsement deal with the player after a 10-year collaboration.[218] Beckham has several eponymous video games, including Go! Go! Beckham! Adventure on Soccer Island, a platform game for the Game Boy Advance, and David Beckham Soccer, a football game for the Xbox.[219][220] In August 2010, Beckham signed an endorsement deal with EA SPORTS to become brand ambassador for EA SPORTS Active 2.[221] Beckham visited Afghanistan in May 2010 for a morale-boosting visit to British troops fighting the Taliban insurgency.[222][223][224] The appearance of Beckham as well as British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Defence Secretary Liam Fox was believed to have prompted a Taliban attack on Kandahar airfield. [225][226] Charitable work Beckham has supported UNICEF since his days at Manchester United and in January 2005, the English national team captain became a Goodwill Ambassador with a special focus on UNICEF's Sports for Development program. More recently Beckham has pledged his support for the current Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS campaign. On 17 January 2007, Rebecca Johnstone, a 19-year-old cancer patient from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, received a surprise phone call from Beckham. After the conversation, he sent her a Real Madrid jersey with his signature on it. Rebecca died on 29 January 2007.[227] Beckham is a spokesman for Malaria No More, a New York City-based non-profit launched in 2006. Malaria No More's mission is to end deaths caused by malaria in Africa. Beckham appears in a 2007 public service announcement advertising the need for inexpensive bed nets. The TV spot currently airs in the U.S. on Fox Networks, including Fox Soccer Channel, and can also be seen on YouTube.[228] Since joining Major League Soccer, Beckham has been a very public advocate in the U.S. for related charities such as "MLS W.O.R.K.S." On 17 August 2007, he conducted a youth clinic in Harlem, along with other current and former MLS players. This was in advance of his first New York City area match the following day against the New York Red Bulls. That team's Jozy Altidore and Juan Pablo Ángel were also with Beckham, teaching skills to disadvantaged youth to benefit FC Harlem Lions.[229] Appearances in films Bend It Like Beckham Beckham never personally appeared in the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham, except in archive footage. He and his wife wanted to make cameo appearances, but scheduling proved difficult, so the director used lookalikes instead.[230] The Goal! Trilogy Beckham makes a cameo appearance with Zinedine Zidane and Raúl, in the 2005 film Goal!: The Dream Begins. Lookalike Andy Harmer, who played him in Bend It Like Beckham, also appears here in one party scene as Beckham.[231] Beckham himself appears in the sequel Goal! 2: Living the Dream...[232] in a larger role, when the film's lead character gets transferred to Real Madrid. This time the story centres around the Real Madrid team, and besides Beckham, other real life Real Madrid players also appear on and off the pitch, alongside the fictional characters. Beckham appeared in Goal! 3: Taking on the World, which was released straight to DVD on 15 June 2009.[233] Despite moving to Los Angeles, California, Beckham has expressed no personal interest in pursuit of acting roles, saying he is too "stiff".[234] Records Beckham has captained England 59 times,[235] the fourth highest after Bobby Moore (90), Billy Wright (90) and Bryan Robson (65). With his free kick goal against Ecuador in the second round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Beckham gained membership into two of football's exclusive clubs: he became the only English player – and the 21st player regardless of nationality – to score in three world cups; Real Madrid teammate Raúl also achieved this feat a few days earlier.[236] It also made him only the fifth player in World Cup history to score twice from a direct free kick; the other four were Pelé, Roberto Rivelino, Teófilo Cubillas, and Bernard Genghini (Beckham had previously scored this way against Colombia in the first round of the 1998 FIFA World Cup). All three goals were against South American teams (Colombia, Argentina, and Ecuador) and from set pieces (the two aforementioned free kicks and a penalty against Argentina). Tattoos Beckham has at least 20 tattoos adorning his body, including recent black-and-white image of Christ drawn on his right side, based on a painting called "The Man Of Sorrows" by Catholic artist Matthew R. Brooks done after the death of his grandfather in 2009.[237] There are also names of his sons Romeo, Cruz and Brooklyn, name of his wife Victoria, written in Hindi, because Beckham thought it would be "tacky" to have it in English. On his right shoulder, there's an angel with the text 'In the face of adversity'.[237] Another tattoo is a Bible verse written in Hebrew, reads אני לדודי ודודי לי הרעה בשושנים, translated into: "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine, that shepherds among the lilies." In 2004 Beckham added the four-by-six-inch "winged cross" neck tattoo prior to England's three-nation tournament soccer match against Japan in the City of Manchester Stadium.[237][238] In his autobiography "David Beckham: My Side", Becks reveals some of his thoughts on tattoos: "The idea came to me much later, a little while after Brooklyn was born. I was talking to Mel B and her then-husband, Jimmy Gulzar, and the subject of tattoos came up. I ended up going to this Dutch guy who'd done all of Jimmy's. I'd finally realised what I wanted a tattoo to represent. Mine are all about the people in my life, my wife and sons, who I want with me always. When you see me, you see the tattoos. You see an expression of how I feel about Victoria and the boys. They're part of me." ... ...... David William Donald Cameron (pronunciation: /ˈkæmərən/; born 9 October 1966) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. He represents Witney as its Member of Parliament (MP).[1] Cameron studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Oxford, gaining a first class honours degree. He then joined the Conservative Research Department and became Special Adviser to Norman Lamont, and then to Michael Howard. He was Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications for seven years. He was defeated in his first candidacy for Parliament at Stafford in 1997, but was elected in 2001 as the Member of Parliament for the Oxfordshire constituency of Witney. He was promoted to the Opposition front bench two years later, and rose rapidly to become head of policy co-ordination during the 2005 general election campaign. With a public image of a youthful, moderate candidate who would appeal to young voters, he won the Conservative leadership election in 2005.[2] In the 2010 general election held on 6 May, the Conservatives won 307 seats in a hung parliament. After five days of intense negotiations, Cameron formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The 43-year-old Cameron became the youngest British Prime Minister since the Earl of Liverpool 198 years earlier.[3] Cameron leads the first coalition government of the United Kingdom since the Second World War. David Cameron is the younger son of stockbroker Ian Donald Cameron (12 October 1932 – 8 September 2010)[4] and his wife Mary Fleur (née Mount, born 1934,[5] a retired Justice of the Peace, daughter of Sir William Mount, 2nd Baronet).[6] His father, Ian, was born with both legs deformed and underwent repeated operations to correct them. Cameron's parents were married on 20 October 1962.[5] He was born in London, and brought up in Peasemore, Berkshire.[7] Cameron has a brother, Allan Alexander (born 1963, a barrister and QC)[8] and two sisters, Tania Rachel (born 1965) and Clare Louise (born 1971).[5][9] His father was born at Blairmore House, a country house near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, and died near Toulon in France on 8 September 2010.[10] Blairmore was built by his great-great-grandfather, Alexander Geddes,[11] who had made a fortune in the grain trade in Chicago, and returned to Scotland in the 1880s.[12] Through his paternal grandmother, Enid Agnes Maud Levita, Cameron is a direct descendant of King William IV by his mistress Dorothea Jordan. This illegitimate line consists of five generations of women starting with Elizabeth Hay, Countess of Erroll, née FitzClarence, William and Jordan's sixth child,[13] through to Cameron's grandmother (thereby making Cameron a 5th cousin of Queen Elizabeth II).[14] Cameron's paternal forebears also have a long history in finance. His father Ian was senior partner of the stockbrokers Panmure Gordon, in which firm partnerships had long been held by Cameron's ancestors, including David's grandfather and great-grandfather,[9] and was a Director of estate agent John D. Wood. David Cameron's great-great grandfather Emile Levita, a German-Jewish financier (and descendant of Renaissance scholar Elia Levita) who obtained British citizenship in 1871, was the director of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China which became Standard Chartered Bank in 1969.[14] His wife, Cameron's great-great grandmother, was a descendant of the wealthy Danish Jewish Rée family on her father's side.[15][16] One of Emile's sons, Arthur Francis Levita (died 1910, brother of Sir Cecil Levita),[17] of Panmure Gordon stockbrokers, together with great-great-grandfather Sir Ewen Cameron,[18] London head of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, played key roles in arranging loans supplied by the Rothschilds to the Japanese Central Banker (later Prime Minister) Takahashi Korekiyo for the financing of the Japanese Government in the Russo-Japanese war.[19] Cameron's maternal grandfather was Sir William Mount, 2nd Baronet, an Army officer and the High Sheriff of Berkshire, and Cameron's maternal great-grandfather was Sir William Mount, 1st Baronet, CBE, Conservative MP for Newbury 1918–1922. Cameron's great-great grandmother was Lady Ida Matilda Alice Feilding. His great-great-great grandfather was William Feilding, 7th Earl of Denbigh, GCH, PC, a courtier and Gentleman of the Bedchamber.[20] His mother's cousin, Sir Ferdinand Mount, was head of 10 Downing Street's Policy Unit in the early 1980s. Cameron is the nephew of Sir William Dugdale, brother-in-law of Katherine, Lady Dugdale (died 2004) Lady-in-Waiting to HM The Queen since 1955,[21][22] and former Chairman of Aston Villa Football Club. Birmingham born documentary film-maker Joshua Dugdale is his cousin.[23] From the age of seven, Cameron was educated at two independent schools: at Heatherdown Preparatory School at Winkfield, in Berkshire, which counts Prince Andrew and Prince Edward among its alumni. Due to good academic grades, Cameron entered its top academic class almost two years early.[24] At the age of thirteen, he went to Eton College in Berkshire, following his father and elder brother.[25] Eton is often described as the most famous independent school in the world,[26] and "the chief nurse of England's statesmen".[27] His early interest was in art. Six weeks before taking his O-Levels he was named as having smoked cannabis.[2] He admitted the offence and had not been involved in selling drugs, so he was not expelled, but was fined, prevented from leaving school grounds, and given a "Georgic" (a punishment which involved copying 500 lines of Latin text).[28] Cameron passed 12 O-levels, and then studied three A-Levels in History of Art, History and Economics with Politics. He obtained three 'A' grades and a '1' grade in the Scholarship Level exam in Economics and Politics.[29] The following autumn he passed the entrance exam for Oxford University, where he was offered an exhibition.[30] After leaving Eton in 1984,[31] Cameron started a nine month gap year. He worked as a researcher for Tim Rathbone, Conservative MP for Lewes and his godfather. In his three months he attended debates in the House of Commons.[32] Through his father, he was then employed for a further three months in Hong Kong by Jardine Matheson as a 'ship jumper', an administrative post.[33] Returning from Hong Kong he visited the then Soviet Union, where he was approached by two Russian men speaking fluent English. Cameron was later told by one of his professors that it was 'definitely an attempt' by the KGB to recruit him.[34] Cameron then began his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Brasenose College, Oxford.[35] His tutor, Professor Vernon Bogdanor, described him as "one of the ablest"[36] students he has taught, with "moderate and sensible Conservative" political views.[9] Guy Spier, who shared tutorials with him, remembers him as an outstanding student; "We were doing our best to grasp basic economic concepts. David - there was nobody else who came even close. He would be integrating them with the way the British political system is put together. He could have lectured me on it, and I would have sat there and taken notes.."[37] When commenting in 2006 on his former pupil's ideas about a "Bill of Rights" to replace the Human Rights Act, however, Professor Bogdanor, himself a Liberal Democrat, said, "I think he is very confused. I've read his speech and it's filled with contradictions. There are one or two good things in it but one glimpses them, as it were, through a mist of misunderstanding".[38] While at Oxford, Cameron was a member of the elite student dining society the Bullingdon Club, which has a reputation for an outlandish drinking culture associated with boisterous behaviour and damaging property.[39] A photograph showing Cameron in a tailcoat with other members of the club, including Boris Johnson, surfaced in 2007, but was later withdrawn by the copyright holder.[40] Cameron's period in the Bullingdon Club is examined in the Channel 4 docu-drama When Boris Met Dave broadcast on 7 October 2009.[41] Cameron graduated in 1988 with a first class honours degree.[42] After graduation, Cameron worked for the Conservative Research Department between September 1988[43] and 1993. A feature on Cameron in The Mail on Sunday on 18 March 2007 reported that on the day he was due to attend a job interview at Conservative Central Office, a phone call was received from Buckingham Palace. The male caller stated, "I understand you are to see David Cameron. I've tried everything I can to dissuade him from wasting his time on politics but I have failed. I am ringing to tell you that you are about to meet a truly remarkable young man."[44] In 1991, Cameron was seconded to Downing Street to work on briefing John Major for his then bi-weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions. One newspaper gave Cameron the credit for "sharper [...] despatch box performances" by Major,[45] which included highlighting for Major "a dreadful piece of doublespeak" by Tony Blair (then the Labour Employment spokesman) over the effect of a national minimum wage.[46] He became head of the political section of the Conservative Research Department, and in August 1991 was tipped to follow Judith Chaplin as Political Secretary to the Prime Minister.[47] However, Cameron lost to Jonathan Hill, who was appointed in March 1992. He was given the responsibility for briefing Major for his press conferences during the 1992 general election.[48] During the campaign, Cameron was one of the young "brat pack" of party strategists who worked between 12 and 20 hours a day, sleeping in the house of Alan Duncan in Gayfere Street, Westminster, which had been Major's campaign headquarters during his bid for the Conservative leadership.[49] Cameron headed the economic section; it was while working on this campaign that Cameron first worked closely with Steve Hilton, who was later to become Director of Strategy during his party leadership.[50] The strain of getting up at 4:45 am every day was reported to have led Cameron to decide to leave politics in favour of journalism.[51] The Conservatives' unexpected success in the 1992 election led Cameron to hit back at older party members who had criticised him and his colleagues, saying "whatever people say about us, we got the campaign right," and that they had listened to their campaign workers on the ground rather than the newspapers. He revealed he had led other members of the team across Smith Square to jeer at Transport House, the former Labour headquarters.[52] Cameron was rewarded with a promotion to Special Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont.[53] Cameron was working for Lamont at the time of Black Wednesday, when pressure from currency speculators forced the Pound sterling out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. At the 1992 Conservative Party conference, Cameron had difficulty trying to arrange to brief the speakers in the economic debate, having to resort to putting messages on the internal television system imploring the mover of the motion, Patricia Morris, to contact him.[54] Later that month Cameron joined a delegation of Special Advisers who visited Germany to build better relations with the Christian Democratic Union; he was reported to be "still smarting" over the Bundesbank's contribution to the economic crisis.[55] Lamont fell out with John Major after Black Wednesday and became highly unpopular with the public. Taxes needed to be raised in the 1993 Budget, and Cameron fed the options Lamont was considering through to Conservative Central Office for their political acceptability to be assessed.[56] However, Lamont's unpopularity did not necessarily affect Cameron: he was considered as a potential "kamikaze" candidate for the Newbury by-election, which includes the area where he grew up.[57] However, Cameron decided not to stand. During the by-election, Lamont gave the response "Je ne regrette rien" to a question about whether he most regretted claiming to see "the green shoots of recovery" or admitted "singing in his bath" with happiness at leaving the ERM. Cameron was identified by one journalist as having inspired this gaffe; it was speculated that the heavy Conservative defeat in Newbury may have cost Cameron his chance of becoming Chancellor himself, even though as he was not a Member of Parliament he could not have been.[58] Lamont was sacked at the end of May 1993, and decided not to write the usual letter of resignation; Cameron was given the responsibility to issue to the press a statement of self-justification.[59] After Lamont was sacked, Cameron remained at the Treasury for less than a month before being specifically recruited by Home Secretary Michael Howard; it was commented that he was still "very much in favour".[60] It was later reported that many at the Treasury would have preferred Cameron to carry on.[61] At the beginning of September 1993, Cameron applied to go on Conservative Central Office's list of Prospective Parliamentary Candidates.[62] According to Derek Lewis, then Director-General of Her Majesty's Prison Service, Cameron showed him a "his and hers list" of proposals made by Howard and his wife, Sandra. Lewis said that Sandra Howard's list included reducing the quality of prison food, although Sandra Howard denied this claim. Lewis reported that Cameron was "uncomfortable" about the list.[63] In defending Sandra Howard and insisting that she made no such proposal, the journalist Bruce Anderson wrote that Cameron had proposed a much shorter definition on prison catering which revolved around the phrase "balanced diet", and that Lewis had written thanking Cameron for a valuable contribution.[64] During his work for Howard, Cameron often briefed the media. In March 1994, someone leaked to the Press that the Labour Party had called for a meeting with John Major to discuss a consensus on the Prevention of Terrorism Act. After an enquiry failed to find the source of the leak, Labour MP Peter Mandelson demanded assurance from Howard that Cameron had not been responsible, which Howard gave.[65][66] A senior Home Office Civil Servant noted the influence of Howard's Special Advisers saying previous incumbents "would listen to the evidence before making a decision. Howard just talks to young public school gentlemen from the party headquarters."[67] In July 1994, Cameron left his role as Special Adviser to work as the Director of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications.[68] Carlton, which had won the ITV franchise for London weekdays in 1991, was a growing media company which also had film distribution and video producing arms. In 1997 Cameron played up the Company's prospects for digital terrestrial television, for which it joined with Granada television and BSkyB to form British Digital Broadcasting.[69] In a roundtable discussion on the future of broadcasting in 1998 he criticised the effect of overlapping different regulators on the industry.[70] Carlton's consortium did win the digital terrestrial franchise but the resulting company suffered difficulties in attracting subscribers. In 1999 the Express on Sunday newspaper claimed Cameron had rubbished one of its stories which had given an accurate number of subscribers, because he wanted the number to appear higher than expected.[71] Cameron resigned as Director of Corporate Affairs in February 2001 in order to fight for election to Parliament, although he remained on the payroll as a consultant.[72] Having been approved for the Candidates' list, Cameron began looking for a seat. He was reported to have missed out on selection for Ashford in December 1994 after failing to get to the selection meeting as a result of train delays.[73] Early in 1996, he was selected for Stafford, a new constituency created by boundary changes, which was projected to have a Conservative majority.[74] At the 1996 Conservative Party Conference he called for tax cuts in the forthcoming Budget to be targeted at the low paid and to "small businesses where people took money out of their own pockets to put into companies to keep them going".[75] He also said the Party, "Should be proud of the Tory tax record but that people needed reminding of its achievements ... It's time to return to our tax cutting agenda. The socialist Prime Ministers of Europe have endorsed Tony Blair because they want a federal pussy cat and not a British lion."[76] When writing his election address, Cameron made his own opposition to British membership of the single European currency clear, pledging not to support it. This was a break with official Conservative policy but about 200 other candidates were making similar declarations.[77] Otherwise, Cameron kept very closely to the national party line. He also campaigned using the claim that a Labour Government would increase the cost of a pint of beer by 24p; however the Labour candidate David Kidney portrayed Cameron as "a right-wing Tory". Stafford had a swing almost the same as the national swing, which made it one of the many seats to fall to Labour: David Kidney had a majority of 4,314.[78][79] In the round of selection contests taking place in the run-up to the 2001 general election, Cameron again attempted to be selected for a winnable seat. He tried out for the Kensington and Chelsea seat after the death of Alan Clark,[80] but did not make the shortlist. He was in the final two but narrowly lost at Wealden in March 2000,[81] a loss ascribed by Samantha Cameron to his lack of spontaneity when speaking.[82] On 4 April 2000 Cameron was selected as prospective candidate (PPC) for Witney in Oxfordshire. This had been a safe Conservative seat but its sitting MP Shaun Woodward (who had worked with Cameron on the 1992 election campaign) had "crossed the floor" to join the Labour Party; newspapers claimed Cameron and Woodward had "loathed each other",[83] although Cameron's biographers Francis Elliott and James Hanning describe them as being "on fairly friendly terms".[84] Cameron put a great deal of effort into "nursing" his potential constituency, turning up at social functions, and attacking Woodward for changing his mind on fox hunting to support a ban.[85] During the election campaign, Cameron accepted the offer of writing a regular column for The Guardian's online section.[86] He won the seat with a 1.9% swing to the Conservatives and a majority of 7,973.[87][88] Upon his election to Parliament, he served as a member of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, a prominent appointment for a newly elected MP. Cameron's proposed that the Committee launch an inquiry into the law on drugs,[89] and urged the consideration of "radical options".[90] The report recommended a downgrading of Ecstasy from Class A to Class B, as well as moves towards a policy of 'harm reduction', which Cameron defended.[91] Cameron determinedly attempted to increase his public profile, offering quotations on matters of public controversy. He opposed the payment of compensation to Gurbux Singh, who had resigned as head of the Commission for Racial Equality after a confrontation with the police;[92] and commented that the Home Affairs Select Committee had taken a long time to discuss whether the phrase "black market" should be used.[93] However, he was passed over for a front bench promotion in July 2002; Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith did invite Cameron and his ally George Osborne to coach him on Prime Minister's Questions in November 2002. The next week, Cameron deliberately abstained in a vote on allowing same-sex and unmarried couples to adopt children jointly, against a whip to oppose; his abstention was noted.[94] The wide scale of abstentions and rebellious votes destabilised the Iain Duncan Smith leadership. In June 2003, Cameron was appointed as a shadow minister in the Privy Council Office as a deputy to Eric Forth, who was then Shadow Leader of the House. He also became a vice-chairman of the Conservative Party when Michael Howard took over the leadership in November of that year. He was appointed as the Opposition frontbench local government spokesman in 2004, before being promoted into the shadow cabinet that June as head of policy co-ordination. Later, he became Shadow Education Secretary in the post-election reshuffle.[95] From February 2002[96] until August 2005 he was a non-executive director of Urbium PLC, operator of the Tiger Tiger bar chain.[97] Following the Labour victory in the May 2005 general election, Michael Howard announced his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party and set a lengthy timetable for the leadership election. Cameron announced formally that he would be a candidate for the position on 29 September 2005. Parliamentary colleagues supporting him initially included Boris Johnson, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, then Shadow Defence Secretary and deputy leader of the party Michael Ancram, Oliver Letwin[98] and former party leader William Hague.[99] Despite this, his campaign did not gain significant support prior to the 2005 Conservative Party Conference. However his speech, delivered without notes, proved a significant turning point. In the speech he vowed to make people, "feel good about being Conservatives again" and said he wanted, "to switch on a whole new generation."[100] In the first ballot of Conservative MPs on 18 October 2005, Cameron came second, with 56 votes, slightly more than expected; David Davis had fewer than predicted at 62 votes; Liam Fox came third with 42 votes and Kenneth Clarke was eliminated with 38 votes. In the second ballot on 20 October 2005, Cameron came first with 90 votes; David Davis was second, with 57, and Liam Fox was eliminated with 51 votes.[101] All 198 Conservative MPs voted in both ballots. The next stage of the election process, between Davis and Cameron, was a vote open to the entire Conservative party membership. Cameron was elected with more than twice as many votes as Davis and more than half of all ballots issued; Cameron won 134,446 votes on a 78% turnout, beating Davis's 64,398 votes.[102] Although Davis had initially been the favourite, it was widely acknowledged that Davis's candidacy was marred by a disappointing conference speech, whilst Cameron's was well received. Cameron's election as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition was announced on 6 December 2005. As is customary for an Opposition leader not already a member, upon election Cameron became a member of the Privy Council, being formally approved to join on 14 December 2005, and sworn of the Council on 8 March 2006.[103] Cameron's appearance on the cover of Time in September 2008 was said by the Daily Mail to present him to the world as 'Prime Minister in waiting'.[104] Cameron's relative youth and inexperience before becoming leader have invited satirical comparison with Tony Blair. Private Eye soon published a picture of both leaders on their front cover, with the caption "World's first face transplant a success".[105] On the left, New Statesman has unfavourably likened his "new style of politics" to Tony Blair's early leadership years.[106] Cameron is accused of paying excessive attention to image, with ITV News broadcasting footage from the 2006 Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth which showed him wearing four different sets of clothes within the space of a few hours.[107] Cameron was characterised in a Labour Party political broadcast as "Dave the Chameleon", who would change what he said to match the expectations of his audience. Cameron later claimed that the broadcast had become his daughter's "favourite video".[108] He has also been described by comedy writer and broadcaster Charlie Brooker as being "like a hollow Easter egg with no bag of sweets inside" in his Guardian column.[109] On the right, Norman Tebbit, former Chairman of the Conservative Party, has likened Cameron to Pol Pot, "intent on purging even the memory of Thatcherism before building a New Modern Compassionate Green Globally Aware Party".[110] Quentin Davies MP, who defected from the Conservatives to Labour on 26 June 2007, branded him "superficial, unreliable and [with] an apparent lack of any clear convictions" and stated that David Cameron had turned the Conservative Party's mission into a "PR agenda".[111] Traditionalist conservative columnist and author Peter Hitchens has written that, "Mr Cameron has abandoned the last significant difference between his party and the established left", by embracing social liberalism[112] and has dubbed the party under his leadership "Blue Labour", a pun on New Labour.[113] Cameron responded by calling Hitchens a "maniac".[114] Daily Telegraph correspondent and blogger Gerald Warner has been particularly scathing about Cameron's leadership, arguing that it is alienating traditionalist conservative elements from the Conservative Party.[115] Cameron is reported to be known to friends and family as "Dave", though he invariably uses "David'" in public.[116] Critics often refer to him as "Call me Dave", implying populism in the same way as "Call me Tony" was used in 1997.[117] The Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein has condemned those who attempt to belittle Cameron by calling him 'Dave'.[118] His Shadow Cabinet appointments have included MPs associated with the various wings of the party. Former leader William Hague was appointed to the Foreign Affairs brief, while both George Osborne and David Davis were retained, as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and Shadow Home Secretary respectively. Hague, assisted by Davis, stood in for Cameron during his paternity leave in February 2006.[119] In June 2008 Davis announced his intention to resign as an MP, and was immediately replaced as Shadow Home Secretary by Dominic Grieve, the surprise move seen as a challenge to the changes introduced under Cameron's leadership.[120] David Cameron with Theresa May, who was a member of the Shadow Cabinet from 1999 until 2010. In January 2009 a reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet was undertaken. The chief change was the appointment of former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke as Shadow Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Secretary, David Cameron stating that "With Ken Clarke's arrival, we now have the best economic team." The reshuffle saw eight other changes made.[121] During his successful campaign to be elected Leader of the Conservative Party, Cameron pledged that the Conservative Party's Members of the European Parliament would leave the European People's Party group, which had a "federalist" approach to the European Union.[122] Once elected Cameron began discussions with right-wing and eurosceptic parties in other European countries, mainly in eastern Europe, and in July 2006 he concluded an agreement to form the Movement for European Reform with the Czech Civic Democratic Party, leading to the formation of a new European Parliament group, the European Conservatives and Reformists, in 2009 after the European Parliament elections.[123] Cameron attended a gathering at Warsaw's Palladium cinema celebrating the foundation of the alliance.[124] In forming the caucus, which had 54 MEPs drawn from eight of the 27 EU member states, Cameron reportedly broke with two decades of Conservative cooperation with the centre-right Christian Democrats, the European People's Party (EPP),[125] on the grounds that they are dominated by European federalists and supporters of the Lisbon treaty.[125] EPP leader Wilfried Martens, former prime minister of Belgium, has stated "Cameron's campaign has been to take his party back to the centre in every policy area with one major exception: Europe. ... I can't understand his tactics. Merkel and Sarkozy will never accept his Euroscepticism."[125] The left-wing New Statesman magazine reported that the US administration had "concerns about Cameron among top members of the team" and quoted David Rothkopf in saying that the issue "makes Cameron an even more dubious choice to be Britain's next prime minister than he was before and, should he attain that post, someone about whom the Obama administration ought to be very cautious."[126] Shortlists for Parliamentary Candidates Similarly, Cameron's initial "A-List" of prospective parliamentary candidates has been attacked by members of his party,[127] with the policy now having been discontinued in favour of gender balanced final shortlists. These have been criticised by senior Conservative MP and Prisons Spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe as an "insult to women", Widdecombe accusing Cameron of "storing up huge problems for the future."[128][129] The plans have since led to conflict in a number of constituencies, including the widely reported resignation of Joanne Cash, a close friend of Cameron, as candidate in the constituency of Westminster North following a dispute described as "a battle for the soul of the Tory Party".[129] On 11 May 2010, following the resignation of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister and on his recommendation, Queen Elizabeth II invited Cameron to form a government.[131] At age 43, Cameron became the youngest British Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool, who was appointed in 1812.[3] In his first address outside 10 Downing Street, he announced his intention to form a coalition government, the first since the Second World War, with the Liberal Democrats. Cameron outlined how he intended to "put aside party differences and work hard for the common good and for the national interest."[3] As one of his first moves Cameron appointed Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, as Deputy Prime Minister on 11 May 2010.[131] Between them, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats control 363 seats in the House of Commons, with a majority of 76 seats.[132] On 2 June 2010, when Cameron took his first session of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) as Prime Minister, he began by offering his support and condolences to those affected by the shootings in Cumbria.[133] On 5 February 2011, Cameron criticised the failure of 'state multiculturalism', in his first speech as PM on radicalisation and the causes of terrorism.[134] Cameron describes himself as a "modern compassionate conservative" and has spoken of a need for a new style of politics, saying that he was "fed up with the Punch and Judy politics of Westminster".[135] He has stated that he is "certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite."[136] He has also claimed to be a "liberal Conservative", and "not a deeply ideological person."[137] As Leader of the Opposition, Cameron stated that he did not intend to oppose the government as a matter of course, and would offer his support in areas of agreement. He has urged politicians to concentrate more on improving people's happiness and "general well-being", instead of focusing solely on "financial wealth".[138] There have been claims that he described himself to journalists at a dinner during the leadership contest as the "heir to Blair".[139] He believes that British Muslims have a duty to integrate into British culture, but notes that they find aspects such as high divorce rates and drug use uninspiring, and that "Not for the first time, I found myself thinking that it is mainstream Britain which needs to integrate more with the British Asian way of life, not the other way around."[140] Daniel Finkelstein has said of the period leading up to Cameron's election as leader of the Conservative party that "a small group of us (myself, David Cameron, George Osborne, Michael Gove, Nick Boles, Nick Herbert I think, once or twice) used to meet up in the offices of Policy Exchange, eat pizza, and consider the future of the Conservative Party".[141] Cameron co-operated with Dylan Jones, giving him interviews and access, to enable him to produce the book Cameron on Cameron.[142] During November 2001, Cameron voted to modify legislation allowing people detained at a police station to be fingerprinted and searched for an identifying birthmark to be applicable only in connection with a terrorism investigation.[144] In March 2002, he voted against banning the hunting of wild mammals with dogs,[145] being an occasional hunter himself.[146] In April 2003, he voted against the introduction of a bill to ban smoking in restaurants.[147] In June 2003, he voted against NHS Foundation Trusts.[148] Also in 2003, he voted to keep the controversial Section 28 clause.[149] In March 2003, he voted against a motion that the case had not yet been made for the Iraq War,[150] and then supported using "all means necessary to ensure the disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction".[151] In October 2003, however, he voted in favour of setting up a judicial inquiry into the Iraq War.[152] In October 2004, he voted in favour of the Civil Partnership Bill.[153] In February 2005, he voted in favour of changing the text in the Prevention of Terrorism Bill from "The Secretary of State may make a control order against an individual" to "The Secretary of State may apply to the court for a control order ..."[154] In October 2005, he voted against the Identity Cards Bill.[155] Cameron criticised Gordon Brown (when Brown was Chancellor of the Exchequer) for being "an analogue politician in a digital age" and referred to him as "the roadblock to reform".[156] He has also said that John Prescott "clearly looks a fool" in light of allegations of ministerial misconduct.[157] During a speech to the Ethnic Media Conference on 29 November 2006, Cameron also described Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, as an "ageing far left politician" in reference to Livingstone's views on multiculturalism.[158] Since becoming prime minister, he has reacted to press reports that Brown could be the next head of the International Monetary Fund by hinting that he may block Brown from being appointed to the role, citing the huge national debt that Brown left the country with as a reason for Brown not being suitable for the role.[159] Cameron has accused the United Kingdom Independence Party of being "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists, mostly,"[160] leading UKIP leader Nigel Farage to demand an apology for the remarks. Right-wing Conservative MP Bob Spink, who later defected to UKIP, also criticised the remarks,[161] as did the Daily Telegraph.[162] Cameron was seen encouraging Conservative MPs to join the standing ovation given to Tony Blair at the end of his last Prime Minister's Question Time; he had paid tribute to the "huge efforts" Blair had made and said Blair had "considerable achievements to his credit, whether it is peace in Northern Ireland or his work in the developing world, which will endure".[163] In 2006, Cameron made a speech in which he described extremist Islamic organisations and the British National Party as "mirror images" to each other, both preaching "creeds of pure hatred".[164] Cameron is listed as being a supporter of Unite Against Fascism.[165] Cameron, in late 2009, urged the Lib Dems to join the Conservatives in a new "national movement" arguing there was "barely a cigarette paper" between them on a large number of issues. The invitation was rejected by the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, who attacked Cameron at the start of his party's annual conference in Bournemouth, saying that the Conservatives were totally different from his party and that the Lib Dems were the true "progressives" in UK politics.[166] At the launch of the Conservative Party's education manifesto in January 2010, Cameron declared an admiration for the "brazenly elitist" approach to education of countries such as Singapore and South Korea and expressed a desire to "elevate the status of teaching in our country". He suggested the adoption of more stringent criteria for entry to teaching and offered repayment of the loans of maths and science graduates obtaining first or 2.1 degrees from "good" universities. Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, said "The message that the Conservatives are sending to the majority of students is that if you didn't go to a university attended by members of the Shadow Cabinet, they don't believe you're worth as much." In response to the manifesto as a whole, Chris Keates, head of teaching union NASUWT, said teachers would be left "shocked, dismayed and demoralised" and warned of the potential for strikes as a result.[173][174][175] South Africa In April 2009, The Independent reported that in 1989, while Nelson Mandela remained imprisoned under the apartheid regime, David Cameron had accepted a trip to South Africa paid for by an anti-sanctions lobby firm. A spokesperson for Cameron responded by saying that the Conservative Party was at that time opposed to sanctions against South Africa and that his trip was a fact-finding mission. However, the newspaper reported that Cameron's then superior at Conservative Research Department called the trip "jolly", saying that "it was all terribly relaxed, just a little treat, a perk of the job. The Botha regime was attempting to make itself look less horrible, but I don't regard it as having been of the faintest political consequence." Cameron distanced himself from his party's history of opposing sanctions against the regime. He was criticised by Labour MP Peter Hain, himself an anti-apartheid campaigner.[176] Turkey and Israel In a speech in Ankara in July 2010, Cameron stated unequivocally his support for Turkey's accession to the EU, citing economic, security and political considerations, and claimed that those who opposed Turkish membership were driven by "protectionism, narrow nationalism or prejudice".[177][178] In that speech, he was also critical of Israeli action during the Gaza flotilla raid and its Gaza policy, and repeated his opinion that Israel had turned Gaza into a "prison camp",[177] having previously referred to Gaza as "a giant open prison".[179] These views were met with mixed reactions.[180][181][182] At the end of May 2011, Cameron stepped down as patron of the Jewish National Fund[183][184] the first British prime minister not to be patron of the charity in the 110 years of its existence.[185] Allegations of recreational drug use During the leadership election, allegations were made that Cameron had used cannabis and cocaine recreationally before becoming an MP.[186] Pressed on this point during the BBC programme Question Time, Cameron expressed the view that everybody was allowed to "err and stray" in their past.[187] During his 2005 Conservative leadership campaign he addressed the question of drug consumption by remarking that "I did lots of things before I came into politics which I shouldn't have done. We all did."[187] Cameron and Andy Coulson In 2007 Cameron appointed Andy Coulson, former editor of the News of the World as his director of communications. Coulson had resigned as the paper's editor following the conviction of a reporter in relation to illegal phone hacking, although stating that he knew nothing about it.[188][189] In June 2010 Downing Street confirmed Coulson's annual salary as £140,000, the highest pay of any special adviser to UK Government.[190] In January 2011 Coulson left his post, saying coverage of the phone hacking scandal was making it difficult to give his best to the job.[188] In July 2011 he was arrested and questioned by police in connection with further allegations of illegal activities at the News of the World, and released on bail. Despite a call to apologise for hiring Coulson by the leader of the opposition Ed Miliband, Cameron defended the appointment, saying that he had taken a conscious choice to give someone who had screwed up a second chance.[191][192] On 20 July, in a special parliamentary session at the House of Commons, arranged to discuss the News of the World phone hacking scandal, Cameron said that he "regretted the furore" that had resulted from his appointment of Coulson, and that "with hindsight" he would not have hired him.[193][194] Coulson was detained and charged with perjury by Strathclyde Police on 30 May 2012.[195][196] Standing in opinion polls In the first month of Cameron's leadership, the Conservative Party's standing in opinion polls rose, with several pollsters placing it ahead of the ruling Labour Party. While the Conservative and Labour Parties drew even in early spring 2006, following the May 2006 local elections various polls once again generally showed Conservative leads.[197][198] When Gordon Brown became Prime Minister on 27 June 2007, Labour moved ahead and its ratings grew steadily at Cameron's expense, an ICM poll[199] in July showing Labour with a seven point lead in the wake of controversies over his policies. An ICM poll[200][201] in September saw Cameron rated the least popular of the three main party leaders. A YouGov poll for Channel 4[202] one week later, after the Labour Party Conference, extended the Labour lead to 11 points, prompting further speculation of an early election. Following the Conservative Party Conference in the first week of October 2007, the Conservatives drew level with Labour[203] When Brown declared he would not call an election for the autumn,[204] a decline in his and Labour's standings followed. At the end of the year a series of polls showed improved support for the Conservatives[205] giving them an 11 point lead over Labour. This decreased slightly in early 2008,[206] and in March the Conservatives had their largest lead in opinion polls since October 1987, at 16 points.[207] In May 2008, following the worst local election performance from the Labour Party in 40 years, the Conservative lead was up to 26 points, the largest since 1968.[208] In December 2008, a ComRes poll showed the Conservative lead had decreased dramatically [209] though by February 2009 it had recovered to reach 12 points.[210] A period of relative stability in the polls was broken in mid-December 2009 and by January 2010 some polls were predicting a hung parliament[211][212] A YouGov poll on party leaders conducted on 9–10 June 2011 found 44% of the electorate thought he was doing well and 50% thought he was doing badly, whilst 38% thought he would be the best PM, 23% preferred Ed Miliband and 35% didn't know.[213] Until his veto on treaty changes to the European Union in December 2011 amid the Eurozone crisis, most opinion polls that year had shown a slim Labour lead. However, many opinion polls showed that the majority of voters felt that Cameron made the right decision,[214] Subsequent opinion polls have shown a narrow lead for the Conservatives ahead of Labour.[215] Personal life Cameron married Samantha Gwendoline Sheffield, the daughter of Sir Reginald Adrian Berkeley Sheffield, 8th Baronet and Annabel Lucy Veronica Jones (now The Viscountess Astor), on 1 June 1996 at the Church of St Augustine of Canterbury, East Hendred, Oxfordshire.[5] The Camerons have had four children. Their first child, Ivan Reginald Ian, was born on 8 April 2002 in Hammersmith and Fulham, London,[216] with a rare combination of cerebral palsy and a form of severe epilepsy called Ohtahara syndrome, requiring round-the-clock care. Recalling the receipt of this news, Cameron is quoted as saying: "The news hits you like a freight train... You are depressed for a while because you are grieving for the difference between your hopes and the reality. But then you get over that, because he's wonderful."[217] Ivan died at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, on 25 February 2009, aged six.[218] Cameron leaving St Stephen's Club David and Samantha Cameron have two daughters, Nancy Gwen[219] (born 2004), and Florence Rose Endellion (born 24 August 2010),[220] and a son, Arthur Elwen (born 2006).[221][222] Cameron took paternity leave when his second son was born, and this decision received broad coverage.[223] It was also stated that Cameron would be taking paternity leave after his second daughter was born.[220] His second daughter, Florence Rose Endellion, was born on 24 August 2010, three weeks prematurely, while the family was on holiday in Cornwall. Her third given name, Endellion, is taken from the village of St Endellion near where the Camerons were holidaying.[224][225] A Daily Mail article from June 2007 quoted Sunday Times Rich List compiler Philip Beresford, who had valued the Conservative Leader for the first time, as saying: "I put the combined family wealth of David and Samantha Cameron at £30 million plus. Both sides of the family are extremely wealthy."[226] Another estimate is £3.2 million, though this figure excludes the million-pound legacies Cameron is expected to inherit from both sides of his family.[227][228] In early May 2008, David Cameron decided to enroll his daughter Nancy at a State school. The Camerons had been attending its associated church,[229] which is near the Cameron family home in North Kensington, for three years.[230] Cameron's constituency home is in Dean, Oxfordshire, and the Camerons are key members of the Chipping Norton set. [231] On 8 September 2010 it was announced that Cameron would miss Prime Minister's Questions in order to fly to southern France to see his father, Ian Cameron, who had suffered a stroke with coronary complications. Later that day, with David and other family members at his bedside, Ian died.[232][233] On 17 September 2010, Cameron attended a private ceremony for the funeral of his father in Berkshire, which prevented him from hearing the address of The Pope to Westminster Hall, an occasion he would otherwise have attended.[234] Cameron supports Aston Villa Football Club.[235] ... ...... Gary Winston Lineker, OBE (born 30 November 1960), is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live. He remains England's top scorer in the FIFA World Cup finals, with ten goals. Lineker began his football career at Leicester City and became known as a prolific goalscorer; despite failing to score in his first ten games, he finished as the First Division's joint top goalscorer in 1984–85 and earned his first England cap. He then moved to League Champions Everton where he remained a clinical finisher, scoring 40 goals in 57 games. His first team honours came at Barcelona, where he won the Copa del Rey in 1988 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1989. He returned to England in 1989, joining Tottenham Hotspur, and over three seasons he scored 67 goals in 105 games and won the FA Cup. Lineker's final club was Nagoya Grampus Eight and he retired in 1994 after two seasons at the Japanese side. Lineker made his England debut in 1984 and over the following eight years earned 80 caps and scored 48 goals, finishing as England's all-time second highest scorer behind Bobby Charlton. His international goals-to-games ratio remains one of the best for the country and he is regarded as one of the all-time best English strikers. He was top scorer in the 1986 World Cup and received the Golden Boot, the only time an Englishman has achieved this feat. He is also the only player to have won the English golden boot with 3 different clubs (Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur). After his retirement from football he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. He moved in to broadcasting, working at the BBC, firstly working as a pundit on Match of the Day before he went on to present the flagship show. Lineker also worked on other programmes at the BBC. He led a consortium that invested in his old club Leicester, saving it from bankruptcy, and was appointed honorary vice-president. Since 1994, Lineker has featured in several television commercials for Walkers Crisps. He has four sons with his ex-wife Michelle and is now married to model Danielle Lineker. Despite his long career, Lineker was never cautioned by a referee for foul play (never once receiving a yellow or red card).[1] [2] As a result of this accomplishment he was honoured in 1990 with the FIFA Fair Play Award. In a senior career which spanned 16 years and 567 competitive games, Lineker scored a total of 282 goals at club level. Added to the 48 goals he scored in internationals, he managed a total of 330 goals. Lineker was born in Leicester to Barry and Margaret Lineker (both born 1939). His middle name came from Winston Churchill, with whom he shares his birthday. He has one younger brother, Wayne who is two years younger. Lineker's father was a greengrocer in Leicester and he grew up with his family in the city, playing football with his brother Wayne.[3] Lineker first attended Caldecote Road School[4] (Caldecote Juniors), Braunstone in Leicester (east of the Meridian Centre) although he lived outside the borough. He went to the City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School (now City of Leicester College) on Downing Drive in Evington, inside the borough of Leicester due to his preference for football rather than rugby, which was the main sport of most schools near his home. As a result he lived with his grandmother, who lived in the city, while attending school. Lineker was equally talented at both football and cricket. From the ages of 11 to 16 he captained the Leicestershire Schools cricket team and had felt that he had a higher chance of succeeding at it rather than football.[5] He later stated on They Think It's All Over that as a teenager he idolised former England captain David Gower, who was playing for Leicestershire at the time.[6] Lineker left school with four O Levels. One of his teachers wrote on his report card that he "concentrates too much on football" and that he would "never make a living at that". He then joined the youth academy at Leicester City in 1976.[5] In the 1985 close season, Lineker was sold to defending league champions Everton for £800,000, and scored 40 goals in 57 games for his new team. He was again the First Division's leading goal scorer, this time with 30 goals, and helped Everton finish second in the league. While he was at Everton, they reached the FA Cup final for the third year in a row but they lost 3–1 to Liverpool, despite Lineker giving them an early lead when he outpaced Alan Hansen to score. Liverpool (double winners) had also pipped Everton to the title by just two points. "I was only on Merseyside a short time, nine or 10 months in total really, but it was still a happy time personally, while professionally it was one of the most successful periods of my career," he says. "I still have an affinity towards Everton." Lineker scored three hat-tricks for Everton; at home to Birmingham City in a 4–1 league win on 31 August 1985, at home to Manchester City in a 4–0 home win on 11 February 1986, and then in the penultimate league game of the season on 3 May 1986, when they kept their title hopes alive with a 6–1 home win over Southampton. On his final league appearance, he scored twice in a 3–1 home win over a West Ham side whose title hopes had just disappeared. However, he and his colleagues were denied title glory as Liverpool also won their final league game of the season at Chelsea.[7]After winning the Golden Boot at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Lineker was signed by Barcelona for £2,800,000. Barcelona were being managed by former Queens Park Rangers manager Terry Venables, who had also brought in Manchester United and Wales striker Mark Hughes. His Golden Boot-winning performance at the finals led to much anticipation of success at the Camp Nou, and he did not disappoint, scoring 21 goals in 41 games during his first season, including a hat-trick in a 3–2 win over arch rivals Real Madrid.[8] Barcelona went on to win the Copa del Rey in 1988 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1989. Lineker played in Barcelona's home and away defeats to Dundee United. Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff decided to play Lineker on the right of the midfield and he eventually lost his place in the first team. Lineker began his career at his home town club Leicester City after leaving school. Lineker began scoring prolifically in the early 1980s, helping Leicester win promotion to the First Division in 1980 and again in 1983. Lineker's career at Leicester started slowly and was mostly kept to odd appearances. However he began to break into being a regular starter in 1981 and forging a prolific strike-force alongside Alan Smith, Lineker hit 19 goals in all competitions in the 1981–82 season. The following season he was the English Second Division's top scorer as he helped Leicester win promotion to the top flight. Despite the step up, his scoring exploits continued and he was runner-up only to Ian Rush in the goalscoring charts the following season and then went one better as he was the First Division's joint top goalscorer in 1984–85 with 24 goals. By this stage, however, he was attracting the attention of bigger clubs, and a move from Filbert Street was looking certain. Alex Ferguson attempted to sign Lineker to partner his ex-Barcelona team-mate Mark Hughes in attack, but Lineker spurned the Manchester club. Instead, he signed with Tottenham Hotspur in July 1989. Over three seasons, he scored 67 goals in 105 games and won the FA Cup at White Hart Lane. He finished as top scorer in the First Division in the 1989–90 season, scoring 24 goals as Spurs finished third. He finally collected an English piece of silverware when he won the 1991 FA Cup Final with Spurs, who beat Nottingham Forest 2–1. This was despite Lineker having a goal controversially disallowed for offside and also having a penalty saved by goalkeeper Mark Crossley.[9] Lineker had contributed to Tottenham's run to the final. In the semi-final he scored twice in a 3–1 win over North London rivals Arsenal.[10] He was the top division's second-highest goalscorer in 1991–92 with 28 goals from 35 games, behind Ian Wright, who scored 29 times in 42 games. Despite Lineker's personal performance, Tottenham finished this final pre-Premier League season in 15th place. He first played for the England national team against Scotland in 1984. He played five games in the 1986 World Cup, and was top scorer of the tournament with six goals, winning the Golden Boot, making him the first and to this day only English player to have done so. He scored the second quickest hat-trick ever at a FIFA World Cup tournament against Poland—in doing so, he became only the second English player to score a hat-trick at a FIFA World Cup. He played most of the tournament wearing a lightweight cast on his forearm. He did score for England in the World Cup quarter-final against Argentina, but the game ended in defeat as Diego Maradona scored twice for the opposition (the first goal being the "Hand of God" handball) and England went out of the competition. Lineker also scored a brace against Paraguay in the second round of the tournament. Lineker combined with Peter Beardsley, who also scored—to effortlessly dismantle the South American team's defence. In 1988, Lineker played in the Euro 1988, but failed to score as England lost all three Group games. It was later established that he had been suffering from hepatitis.[13][14] In the 1990 World Cup, he scored four goals to help England reach the semi-finals after a string of draws and narrow victories. After Andreas Brehme sent England 1–0 down, he scored an equaliser after receiving a pass from Paul Parker and escaping from two German defenders, but the West Germans triumphed in the penalty shoot-out and went on to win the trophy. Later he said: "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win." He retired from international football with 80 caps and 48 goals, one fewer goal than Bobby Charlton's England record (although Charlton took 26 more caps to score his one extra goal). In what proved to be his last England match, against Sweden at Euro 1992, he was substituted by England coach Graham Taylor, in favour of Arsenal striker Alan Smith, ultimately denying Lineker the chance to equal—or even better—Charlton's record of 49 goals.[15] He had earlier missed a penalty that would have brought him level, in a pre-tournament friendly against Brazil.[16] He was visibly upset at the decision, not looking at Taylor as he took the bench. He scored four goals in an England match on two occasions and is one of very few players never to have been given a yellow card or a red card in any type of game.[17] Following retirement from professional football, he developed a career in the media, initially on BBC Radio 5 Live and as a football pundit before replacing Des Lynam as the BBC's anchorman for football coverage, including their flagship football television programme Match of the Day, and as a team captain on the acerbic sports game show, They Think It's All Over from 1995 to 2003, where he was heavily (though affectionately) ridiculed for being a "goal hanger", described as "lethal from twelve inches" – a parody of Lineker's short-range scoring prowess. Following the departure of Steve Rider from the BBC, Lineker, who is a keen recreational golfer with a handicap of four, became the new presenter for the BBC's golf coverage. Despite receiving some criticism from his peers,[3] he continued to front the BBC's coverage of the Masters and The Open, where he put his language skills to good use by giving an impromptu interview in Spanish with Argentinian Andrés Romero.[18] He presented a six-part TV Series for the BBC in 1998 (directed by Lloyd Stanton) called Golden Boots,[19] with other football celebrities. It was an extensive history of the World Cup focusing on the 'Golden Boots' (top scorers). In 2002, Lineker took on his first acting role, barring roles playing himself in films such as Bend It Like Beckham or in the adapted-for-television stage play An Evening with Gary Lineker, as the voice of Underground Ernie on the BBC's children's channel, CBeebies. Both Gary and Michelle Lineker make a 'blink-and-you'll-miss-them' appearance as diners leaving a restaurant in the 1993 Eric Idle film Splitting Heirs. In 2003, Lineker was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. In 2005, Lineker was sued for defamation by Australian footballer Harry Kewell over comments Lineker had made writing in his column in the Sunday Telegraph about Kewell's transfer from Leeds United to Liverpool. However the jury was unable to reach a verdict. It transpired in the case that the article had actually been ghost-written by a journalist at the Sunday Telegraph following a telephone interview with Lineker.[20] In December 2008, Lineker appeared on the ITV1 television programme Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Christmas Special where he and English rugby union player Austin Healey won £50,000 for the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation. In 2009, Lineker and his wife Danielle hosted a series of the BBC's Northern Exposure, following on from Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen from the previous year in visiting and showcasing locations throughout Northern Ireland.[21] In May 2010, Lineker resigned from his role as columnist for The Mail on Sunday in protest over the sting operation against Lord Triesman that jeopardised England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup. Triesman resigned as chairman of the bid and the FA on 16 May 2010 after the publication of a secret recording of a conversation between the peer and a former ministerial aide, during which he claimed that Spain and Russia were planning to bribe referees at the World Cup in South Africa.[22] Lineker currently anchors the English language football coverage for Al Jazeera Sports, which is broadcast throughout much of the Middle East. Lineker was made a freeman of the City of Leicester (which entitles him to graze his sheep—should he have any—on Town Hall Square) in 1995 and he is often referred to as "Leicester's favourite son". As a youngster, he famously worked on his family's stall in Leicester Market. Lineker still helped out on the stall at the height of his playing career during the late 1980s and early 1990s, though usually only in the closed season. His links with cricket were renewed when he was invited to become Honorary President of Kent-based wandering cricket club, Paraguayan Elbows CC.[24] The club, which was founded in 1986, was named in his honour after an incident in that summer's World Cup match between England and Paraguay. Lineker married Michelle Cockayne in 1986, but they divorced in August 2006. They announced their split in April 2006 but stated that the situation was amicable.[25] They have four sons, George, Harry, Tobias, and Angus. His oldest son George survived a rare form of leukaemia as a baby in the early 1990s;[3] Lineker now supports children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent and has since appeared in adverts encouraging people to give blood as a result. Lineker has been actively involved with other cancer charities such as Leukaemia Busters, where between 1994 and 2005 Gary and Michelle were the charity’s patrons.[26][27] He has also been involved with Fight for Life and Cancer Research UK.[28][29] In October 2002, Lineker backed a £5 million bid to rescue his former club Leicester City which recently had gone into administration, describing his involvement as charity rather than an ego trip.[30] He said that he would invest a six-figure sum and other members of his consortium would invest a similar amount.[31] Lineker met the fans' group to persuade them to try and raise money to rescue his former club. Another six-figure sum donor was Emile Heskey, who had not only followed in Lineker's footsteps by going to the same school as him, but also went on to play for Leicester City and England. The club was saved from liquidation. Lineker is now honorary vice-president of Leicester City, along with former players Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton. Lineker married Danielle Bux on 2 September 2009, in Italy. The ceremony was attended by friends and family. They went on to win £30,000 for charity in ITV's gameshow Mr. and Mrs. ... ...... General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States.[1][4] The company operates through four segments: Energy, Technology Infrastructure, Capital Finance and Consumer & Industrial.[5][6] In 2011, GE ranked among the Fortune 500 as the 6th largest firm in the U.S. by gross revenue,[7] as well as the 14th most profitable.[8] However, the company is currently listed the 3rd largest in the world among the Forbes Global 2000, further metrics being taken into account.[9] Other rankings for 2011/2012 include No. 7 company for leaders (Fortune), No. 5 best global brand (Interbrand), No. 63 green company (Newsweek), No. 15 most admired company (Fortune), and No. 19 most innovative company (Fast Company).[10] By 1890, Thomas Alva Edison had brought together several of his business interests under one corporation to form Edison General Electric. At about the same time, Thomson-Houston Electric Company, under the leadership of Charles Coffin, gained access to a number of key patents through the acquisition of a number of competitors. Subsequently, General Electric was formed by the 1892 merger of Edison General Electric of Schenectady, New York and Thomson-Houston Electric Company of Lynn, Massachusetts and both plants remain in operation under the GE banner to this day.[11] The company was incorporated in New York, with the Schenectady plant as headquarters for many years thereafter. Around the same time, General Electric's Canadian counterpart, Canadian General Electric, was formed. Public company In 1896, General Electric was one of the original 12 companies listed on the newly formed Dow Jones Industrial Average and still remains after 116 years, the only one remaining on the Dow index. General Electric has however not been on the DOW continuously.[12] 23 Ton diesel electric locomotive made at the General Electric Corp. plant in Schenectady, New York In 1911 the National Electric Lamp Association (NELA) was absorbed into General Electric's existing lighting business. GE then established its lighting division headquarters at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio. Nela Park is still the headquarters for GE's lighting business. RCA Main article: Radio Corporation of America The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was founded by GE in 1919 to further international radio. GE used RCA as its retail arm for radio sales from 1919, when GE began production, until separation in 1930.[13] RCA would quickly grow into an industrial giant of its own. Power generation See also: GE Wind Energy GE's long history of working with turbines in the power-generation field gave them the engineering know-how to move into the new field of aircraft turbosuperchargers. Led by Sanford Alexander Moss, GE introduced the first superchargers during World War I, and continued to develop them during the Interwar period. Superchargers became indispensable in the years immediately prior to World War II, and GE was the world leader in exhaust-driven supercharging when the war started. This experience, in turn, made GE a natural selection to develop the Whittle W.1 jet engine that was demonstrated in the United States in 1941. Although their early work with Whittle's designs was later handed to Allison Engine Company, GE Aviation emerged as one of the world's largest engine manufacturers, second only to the well-founded and older British company, Rolls-Royce plc, which led the way in the design and manufacture of innovative, reliable, efficient, high-performance, heavy-duty jet engines. In 2002, GE acquired the windpower assets of Enron during its bankruptcy proceedings.[14] Enron Wind was the only surviving U.S. manufacturer of large wind turbines at the time, and GE increased engineering and supplies for the Wind Division and doubled the annual sales to $1.2 billion in 2003.[15] It acquired ScanWind in 2009.[16] Some consumers boycotted GE light bulbs, refrigerators and other products in the 1980s and 1990s to protest GE’s role in nuclear weapons production.[17] Computing GE was one of the eight major computer companies during the 1960s — with IBM, the largest, called "Snow White" followed by the "Seven Dwarfs": Burroughs, NCR, Control Data Corporation, Honeywell, RCA, UNIVAC and GE. 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, the Datanet 30 and Datanet 355 message switching computers (Datanet 30 and 355 were also used as front end processors for GE mainframe computers). A Datanet 500 computer was designed, but never sold. In 1962, GE started developing its GECOS (later renamed GCOS) operating system, originally for batch processing, but later extended to timesharing and transaction processing. Versions of GCOS are still in use today. In 1964–1969, GE and Bell Laboratories (which soon dropped out) joined with MIT to develop the pioneering and influential Multics operating system on the GE 645 mainframe computer. The project took longer than expected and was not a major commercial success, but it demonstrated important concepts such as single level store, dynamic linking, hierarchical file system, and ring-oriented security. Active development of Multics continued until 1985. It has been said[by whom?] that GE got into computer manufacturing because in the 1950s they were the largest user of computers outside of the United States federal government. However, in 1970, GE sold its computer division to Honeywell, exiting the computer manufacturing industry, though it retained its timesharing operations for some years afterwards. GE was a major provider of computer timesharing services, through General Electric Information Services (GEIS, now GXS), offering online computing services that included GEnie. Acquisitions This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) For a complete list of acquisitions and divestitures, see General Electric timeline In 1986 GE reacquired RCA, primarily for the NBC television network (also parent of Telemundo Communications Group). The remainder was sold to various companies, including Bertelsmann (Bertelsmann acquired RCA Records) and Thomson SA which traces its roots to Thomson-Houston, one of the original components of GE. Also in 1986, Kidder, Peabody & Co. a U.S.-based securities firm was sold to GE and following heavy losses was subsequently sold to PaineWebber in 1994.[18] In 2002 Francisco Partners and Norwest Venture Partners acquired a division of GE called GE Information Systems (GEIS). The new company, named GXS, is based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. GXS is a leading provider of B2B e-Commerce solutions. GE maintains a minority ownership position in GXS. Also in 2002, GE bought wind turbine manufacturing assets of Enron Wind after the Enron scandals.[19] In 2004 GE bought 80% of Universal Pictures from Vivendi. Vivendi bought 20% of NBC forming the company NBCUniversal. GE then owned 80% of NBC Universal and Vivendi owned 20%. As of January 28, 2011 GE owns 49% and Comcast 51%. In 2004 GE completed the spin-off of most of its mortgage and life insurance assets into an independent company, Genworth Financial, based in Richmond, Virginia. Genpact formerly known as GE Capital International Services (GECIS) was established by GE in late 1997 as its captive India based BPO. GE sold 60% stake in Genpact to General Atlantic and Oak Hill Capital Partners in 2005 and hived off Genpact into an independent business. GE is still a major client to Genpact getting its services in customer service, finance, information technology and analytics. GE Plastics was sold in 2007 to SABIC. In May 2007, GE acquired Smiths Aerospace for $4.8 billion. In May 2008, GE announced it was exploring options for divesting the bulk of its Consumer and Industrial business. General Electric's Schenectady, New York facilities (including GE's original headquarters) are assigned the ZIP code 12345. (All Schenectady ZIP codes begin with 123, but no others begin with 1234.) On December 3, 2009, it was announced that NBCUniversal will become a joint venture between GE and cable television operator Comcast. The cable giant will hold a controlling interest in the company, while GE retains a 49% stake and will buy out shares currently owned by Vivendi.[20] Vivendi will sell its 20% stake in NBCUniversal to GE for US$5.8 billion. Vivendi will sell 7.66% of NBCUniversal to GE for US$2 billion if the GE/Comcast deal is not completed by September 2010 and then sell the remaining 12.34% stake of NBCUniversal to GE for US$3.8 billion when the deal is completed or to the public via an IPO if the deal is not completed.[21][22] On March 1, 2010, General Electric (GE) announced that the company is planning to sell its 20.85% stake in Turkey-based Garanti Bank.[23] In August 2010, GE Healthcare signed a strategic partnership to bring cardiovascular Computed Tomography (CT) technology from start-up Arineta Ltd. of Israel to the hospital market.[24] In October 2010, General Electric acquired gas engines manufacture Dresser Inc. for a $3 billion deal and also bought a $1.6 billion portfolio of retail credit cards from Citigroup Inc. This is the first major deal since the start of the financial crisis.[25] On October 14, 2010, GE announced acquisition of data migration & SCADA simulation specialists Opal Software.[26] December 2010: For the second times of this year (after Dresser acquisition), General Electric Co. buy oil sector company British Wellstream Holding Plc. an oil drilling pipe maker for 800 million pounds ($1.3 billion).[27] February 2011: The company has agreed to buy the well-support division of John Wood Group Plc for about $2.8 billion. It is another aggressive moves recently of GE Oil & Gas made GE's acquisition was the largest of oil-service unit world wide in 2010.[28] March 2011: GE announced it has completed the acquisition of privately held Lineage Power Holdings, Inc., from The Gores Group, LLC. [29] GE Capital sold its $2 billion dollar Mexican assets to Santander for $162 million and exit the business in Mexico. Santander will additionally assume the portfolio debts of GE Capital in the country. The transaction will be finished at first half of 2011. GE Capital will focus in the core business and will shed its non-core assets.[30] In June 2012,CEO and President of GE said that the company would invest 300 crores to accelerate its businesses in Karnataka.[31] Corporate affairs Classic GE neon sign GE is a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut. Its New York main offices are located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Rockefeller Center, known as the GE Building for the prominent GE logo on the roof. NBC's headquarters and main studios are also located in the building. Through its RCA subsidiary, it has been associated with the Center since its construction in the 1930s. The company describes itself as composed of a number of primary business units or "businesses." Each unit is itself a vast enterprise, many of which would, even as a standalone company, rank in the Fortune 500[citation needed]. The list of GE businesses varies over time as the result of acquisitions, divestitures and reorganizations. GE's tax return is the largest return filed in the United States; the 2005 return was approximately 24,000 pages when printed out, and 237 megabytes when submitted electronically.[32] The company also "spends more on U.S. lobbying than any other company."[33] In 2005 GE launched its "Ecomagination" initiative in an attempt to position itself as a "green" company. GE is currently one of the biggest players in the wind power industry, and it is also developing new environment-friendly products such as hybrid locomotives, desalination and water reuse solutions, and photovoltaic cells. The company "plans to build the largest solar-panel-making factory in the U.S.,"[33] and has set goals for its subsidiaries to lower their greenhouse gas emissions.[34] On May 21, 2007, GE announced it would sell its GE Plastics division to petrochemicals manufacturer SABIC for net proceeds of $11.6 billion. The transaction took place on August 31, 2007, and the company name changed to SABIC Innovative Plastics, with Brian Gladden as CEO.[35] CEO Main article: Jeffrey R. Immelt Jeffrey Immelt is the current chairman of the board and chief executive officer of GE. He was selected by GE's Board of Directors in 2000 to replace John Francis Welch Jr. (Jack Welch) following his retirement. Previously, Immelt had headed GE's Medical Systems division (now GE Healthcare) as its President and CEO. His tenure as the Chairman and CEO started at a time of crisis — he took over the role on September 7, 2001[36] four days before the terrorist attacks on the United States, which killed two employees and cost GE's insurance business $600 million — as well as having a direct effect on the company's Aircraft Engines sector. Immelt has also been selected as one of President Obama's financial advisors concerning the economic rescue plan. Businesses Main article: List of assets owned by General Electric GE's divisions include GE Capital, GE Energy, GE Technology Infrastructure, and GE Home & Business Solutions Through these businesses, GE participates in a wide variety of markets including the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity (e.g. nuclear, gas and solar), lighting, industrial automation, medical imaging equipment, motors, railway locomotives, aircraft jet engines, and aviation services. It co-owns NBCUniversal with Comcast. 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. GE gauges to control a railway locomotive at a museum near Saskatoon, Canada[37] GE also produces General Imaging digital cameras.[38] In 2010, General Imaging released the Bridge Camera GE X5 with 14MP and 15x optical zoom.[39] In 2011, it is replaced by 16MP GE X500 with optional red color in Japan besides traditional black or white color in world wide.[40] Since over half of GE's revenue is derived from financial services, it is arguably 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 Corporation, 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. It was announced on May 4, 2008 that GE would auction off its appliances business for an expected sale of $5–8 billion.[41] However, this plan fell through as a result of the recession. Corporate recognition and rankings In 2011, Fortune ranked GE the 6th largest firm in the U.S.,[7] as well as the 14th most profitable.[8] Other rankings for 2011/2012 include the following:[10] #7 company for leaders (Fortune) #5 best global brand (Interbrand) #82 green company (Newsweek) #15 most admired company (Fortune) #19 most innovative company (Fast Company). For 2010, GE's brand was valued at $42.8 billion.[42] CEO Jeffrey Immelt had a set of changes in the presentation of the brand commissioned in 2004, after he took the reins as chairman, to unify the diversified businesses of GE. The changes included a new corporate color palette, small modifications to the GE logo, a new customized font (GE Inspira), and a new slogan, "imagination at work" replacing the longtime slogan "we bring good things to life", composed by David Lucas. The standard requires many headlines to be lowercased and adds visual "white space" to documents and advertising to promote an open and approachable company. The changes were designed by Wolff Olins and are used extensively on GE's marketing, literature and website. Recent controversies The six reactors in the 2011 Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant catastrophe had been designed by General Electric, the design of which had been criticised as far back as 1972.[43] In March 2011, The New York Times reported that, despite earning $14.2 billion in worldwide profits, including more than $5 billion from U.S. operations, General Electric did not owe taxes in 2010. General Electric had a tax benefit of $3.2 billion. This same article also pointed out that GE has reduced its American workforce by one fifth since 2002.[44] In December 2011, the non-partisan organization Public Campaign criticized General Electric for spending $84.35 million on lobbying and not paying any taxes during 2008–2010, instead getting $4.7 billion in tax rebates, despite making a profit of $10.4 billion, laying off 4,168 workers since 2008, and increasing executive pay by 27% to $75.9 million in 2010 for the top 5 executives.[45] Environmental record Pollution GE has a history of some of its activities giving rise to large-scale air and water pollution. Based on year 2000 data,[46] researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute listed the corporation as the fourth-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States, with more than 4.4 million pounds per year (2,000 tons) of toxic chemicals released into the air.[47] GE has also been implicated in the creation of toxic waste. According to EPA documents, only the United States Government, Honeywell, and Chevron Corporation are responsible for producing more Superfund toxic waste sites.[48] In 1983, New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York to compel GE to pay for the cleanup of what was claimed to be more than 100,000 tons of chemicals dumped (legally, at the time) from their plant in Waterford, New York.[49] In 1999, the company agreed to pay a $250 million settlement in connection with claims it polluted the Housatonic River (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) and other sites with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other hazardous substances.[50] From approximately 1947 to 1977, GE discharged as much as 1.3 million pounds of PCBs from its capacitor manufacturing plants at the Hudson Falls and Fort Edward upstate New York facilities into the Hudson River.[51] GE fought a media and political battle to avoid cleaning up the river and countered that dredging the river would actually stir up PCBs.[52] In 2002, GE was ordered to clean up a 40-mile (64 km) stretch of the Hudson River it had contaminated.[53] In 2003, acting on concerns that the plan proposed by GE did not "provide for adequate protection of public health and the environment," the United States Environmental Protection Agency issued a unilateral administrative order for the company to "address cleanup at the GE site" in Rome, Georgia, also contaminated with PCBs.[54] The nuclear reactors involved in the 2011 crisis at Fukushima I in Japan are GE designs,[55] and the architectural designs were done by Ebasco,[56] formerly owned by GE. Concerns over the design and safety of these reactors were raised as early as 1975.[57] Environmental initiatives On June 6, 2011, GE announced that it has licensed solar thermal technology from California-based eSolar for use in power plants that use both solar and natural gas.[58] On May 26, 2011, GE unveiled its EV Solar Carport, a carport that incorporates solar panels on its roof, with electric vehicle charging stations under its cover.[59] In May 2005 GE announced the launch of a program called "Ecomagination," intended, in the words of CEO Jeff Immelt "to develop tomorrow's solutions such as solar energy, hybrid locomotives, fuel cells, lower-emission aircraft engines, lighter and stronger durable materials, efficient lighting, and water purification technology”.[60] The announcement prompted an op-ed piece in The New York Times to observe that, "while General Electric's increased emphasis on clean technology will probably result in improved products and benefit its bottom line, Mr. Immelt's credibility as a spokesman on national environmental policy is fatally flawed because of his company's intransigence in cleaning up its own toxic legacy."[61] GE has said that it will invest $1.4 billion in clean technology research and development in 2008 as part of its Ecomagination initiative. As of October 2008, the scheme had resulted in 70 green products being brought to market, ranging from halogen lamps to biogas engines. In 2007, GE raised the annual revenue target for its Ecomagination initiative from $20 billion in 2010 to $25 billion following positive market response to its new product lines.[62] In 2010, GE continued to raise its investment by adding $10 billion into Ecomagination over the next five years.[63] GE (General Electric) Energy's renewable energy business has expanded greatly, to keep up with growing U.S. and global demand for clean energy. Since entering the renewable energy industry in 2002, GE has invested more than $850 million in renewable energy technology. In August 2008 it acquired Kelman Ltd,[64] a Northern Ireland company specializing in advanced monitoring and diagnostics technologies for transformers used in renewable energy generation, and announced an expansion of its business in Northern Ireland in May 2010.[65] In 2009, GE's renewable energy initiatives, which include solar power, wind power and GE Jenbacher gas engines using renewable and non-renewable methane-based gases,[66] employ more than 4,900 people globally and have created more than 10,000 supporting jobs.[67] GE Energy and Orion New Zealand Limited (Orion) have announced implementation of the first phase of a GE network management system to help improve power reliability for customers. GE's ENMAC Distribution Management System is the foundation of Orion's initiative. The system of smart grid technologies will significantly improve the network company's ability to manage big network emergencies and help it to restore power faster when outages occur. GE unveiled a 40W replacement Energy Smart LED bulb, to be available late 2010 or early 2011. The company claims that the new LED bulb will provide a 77% energy savings and produce nearly the same light output as a 40W incandescent bulb, while lasting more than 25 times as long.[68] Educational initiatives GE Healthcare is collaborating with The Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Medical University of South Carolina to offer an integrated radiology curriculum during their respective MD Programs led by investigators of the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity study.[69] GE has donated over one million dollars of Logiq E Ultrasound equipment to these two institutions.[70] Legal issues On August 4, 2009 the SEC fined General Electric $50 million for breaking accounting rules in two separate cases, misleading investors into believing GE would meet or beat earnings expectations.[71] GE has faced criminal action regarding its defense related operations. GE was convicted in 1990 of defrauding the US Department of Defense, and again in 1992 on charges of corrupt practices in the sale of jet engines to Israel.[72] Notable appearances in media This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2012) GE was the focus of a 1991 short subject Academy Award-winning documentary, Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment,[73] that juxtaposed GE's "We Bring Good Things To Life" commercials with the true stories of workers and neighbors whose lives have been affected by the company's activities involving nuclear weapons.[74] In the early 1950s Kurt Vonnegut was a writer for General Electric. A number of his novels and stories (notably Cat's Cradle) refer to the fictional city of Ilium, which appears to be loosely based on Schenectady, New York.[citation needed] The Ilium Works is the setting for the short story "Deer in the Works". The NBC sitcom 30 Rock is set at the NBC Studios in the GE Building at 30 Rockefeller Center (hence the title). All characters in the main cast are NBC (and therefore GE) employees, and one character, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) is portrayed as having risen through the ranks of GE management to become Vice President of NBC's East Coast operations through the company's microwave oven division. ... ...... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. The eldest son of Barbara Bush and George H. W. Bush, he was born in New Haven, Connecticut. After graduating from Yale University in 1968 and Harvard Business School in 1975, Bush worked in oil businesses. He married Laura Welch in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives shortly thereafter. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richards in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. In a close and controversial election, Bush was elected President in 2000 as the Republican candidate, defeating Vice President Al Gore in the Electoral College. Bush is the second American president to have been the son of a former president.[4] He is also the brother of Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida. Eight months into Bush's first term as president, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks occured. In response, Bush announced the War on Terror, an international military campaign which included the war in Afghanistan launched in 2001 and the war in Iraq launched in 2003. In addition to national security issues, Bush also promoted policies on the economy, health care, education, and social security reform. He signed into law broad tax cuts, the PATRIOT Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, and Medicare prescription drug benefits for seniors. His tenure saw national debates on immigration, Social Security, electronic surveillance, and enhanced interrogation techniques. His administration also withdrew the U.S. from the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.[5] Bush successfully ran for re-election against Democratic Senator John Kerry in 2004, in another relatively close election. After his re-election, Bush received increasingly heated criticism from across the political spectrum.[6][7][8] In 2005, the Bush Administration dealt with widespread criticism over its handling of Hurricane Katrina.[9][10][11] Following this and other controversies, as well as the growing unpopularity of the Iraq War, Democrats won control of Congress in the 2006 elections. In December 2007, the United States entered its longest post–World War II recession, prompting the Bush Administration to enact multiple economic programs intended to preserve the country's financial system. Though Bush was popular in the U.S. for much of his first term,[12] his popularity declined sharply during his second term. He was a highly controversial figure internationally, with public protests occurring even during visits to close allies, such as the United Kingdom.[13] After leaving office, Bush returned to Texas and purchased a home in a suburban area of Dallas. He is currently a public speaker and has written a book about his life entitled Decision Points.[14] George Walker Bush was born in New Haven, Connecticut at Grace-New Haven Hospital (now Yale – New Haven Hospital), on July 6, 1946,[15] the first child of George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush (née Pierce). He was raised in Midland and Houston, Texas, with four siblings, Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. Another younger sister, Robin, died from leukemia at the age of three in 1953.[16] Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut.[17] Bush's father, George H. W. Bush, was Vice President from 1981 to 1989 and President from 1989 to 1993. Bush is of primarily English descent and also more distant German, Dutch, Welsh, Irish, French, and Scottish ancestry.[18] Education Bush attended public schools in Midland, Texas until the family moved to Houston after he completed seventh grade. He then went to The Kinkaid School, a prep school in Houston, for two years.[19] Bush finished high school at Phillips Academy, a boarding school (then all-male) in Andover, Massachusetts, where he played baseball and during his senior year was the head cheerleader.[20][21] Bush attended Yale University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with an A.B. in history.[22] During this time, he was a cheerleader and a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon, being elected the fraternity's president during his senior year.[23][24][25] Bush also became a member of the Skull and Bones society as a senior.[26] Bush was a keen rugby union player and was on Yale's 1st XV.[27] He characterized himself as an average student.[28] His average during his first three years at Yale was 77 and he had a similar average under a nonnumeric rating system in his final year.[29] Beginning in the fall of 1973, Bush attended the Harvard Business School, where he earned a Master of Business Administration. He is the only U.S. President to have earned an M.B.A.[30] In May 1968, Bush was commissioned into the Texas Air National Guard.[31] After two years of active-duty service while training,[32] he was assigned to Houston, flying Convair F-102s with the 147th Reconnaissance Wing out of Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base.[31][33] Critics, including former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, have alleged that Bush was favorably treated due to his father's political standing, citing his selection as a pilot despite his low pilot aptitude test scores and his irregular attendance.[34] In June 2005, the United States Department of Defense released all the records of Bush's Texas Air National Guard service, which remain in its official archives.[35] In late 1972 and early 1973, he drilled with the 187th Fighter Wing of the Alabama Air National Guard, having moved to Montgomery, Alabama to work on the unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Winton M. Blount.[36][37] In 1972, Bush was suspended from flying for failure to take a scheduled physical exam.[38] He was honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserve on November 21, 1974.[39] At a backyard barbecue in 1977, friends introduced him to Laura Welch, a school teacher and librarian. Bush proposed to her after a three-month courtship, and they married on November 5 of that year.[40] The couple settled in Midland, Texas. Bush left his family's Episcopal Church to join his wife's United Methodist Church.[2] In 1981, Laura Bush gave birth to fraternal twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara;[40] they graduated from high school in 2000 and from the University of Texas at Austin and Yale University, respectively, in 2004. Prior to his marriage, Bush had multiple episodes of alcohol abuse.[41] In one instance, on September 4, 1976, he was arrested near his family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, for driving under the influence of alcohol. He pleaded guilty, was fined $150 and had his Maine driver's license suspended until 1978.[42] Bush's alleged drug usage is less clear; when asked about alleged past illicit drug use, Bush has consistently refused to answer. He defended his refusal to answer in a publicized casual conversation with a friend, saying that he feared setting a bad example for the younger generation.[43][44][45] Bush says his wife has had a stabilizing effect on his life,[40] and attributes to her influence his 1986 decision to give up alcohol.[46] While Governor of Texas, Bush said of his wife, "I saw an elegant, beautiful woman who turned out not only to be elegant and beautiful, but very smart and willing to put up with my rough edges, and I must confess has smoothed them off over time."[40] Bush mostly reads "serious historical nonfiction" for pleasure. During his time as president, Bush read 14 Lincoln biographies and, during the last three years of his presidency, he reportedly read 186 books. A reporter recalls seeing "books by John Fowles, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, and Gore Vidal lying about, as well as biographies of Willa Cather and Queen Victoria" in his home when Bush was a Texas oilman. Other hobbies include cigar smoking and golf.[47] In 1978, Bush ran for the House of Representatives from Texas's 19th congressional district. His opponent, Kent Hance, portrayed him as out of touch with rural Texans. Bush lost the election by 6,000 votes (6%) of the 103,000 votes cast.[48] He returned to the oil industry and began a series of small, independent oil exploration companies.[49] He created Arbusto Energy,[50] and later changed the name to Bush Exploration. In 1984, his company merged with the larger Spectrum 7, and Bush became chairman.[49] The company was hurt by decreased oil prices, and it folded into HKN, Inc.[49][51] Bush served on the board of directors for HKN.[49] Questions of possible insider trading involving HKN arose, but the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) investigation concluded that the information Bush had at the time of his stock sale was not sufficient to constitute insider trading.[49][52] Bush moved his family to Washington, D.C. in 1988 to work on his father's campaign for the U.S. presidency.[53][54] He served as a campaign adviser and liaison to the media;[49] he assisted his father by campaigning across the country.[49] Returning to Texas after the successful campaign, he purchased a share in the Texas Rangers baseball franchise in April 1989, where he served as managing general partner for five years.[55] He actively led the team's projects and regularly attended its games, often choosing to sit in the open stands with fans.[56] Bush's sale of his shares in the Rangers in 1998 brought him over $15 million from his initial $800,000 investment.[57] In December 1991, Bush was one of seven people named by his father to run his father's 1992 Presidential re-election campaign as "campaign advisor".[58] The prior month, his father asked him to tell White House chief of staff John H. Sununu that he should resign.[59] As Bush's brother, Jeb, sought the governorship of Florida, Bush declared his candidacy for the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. His campaign focused on four themes: welfare reform, tort reform, crime reduction, and education improvement.[49] Bush's campaign advisers were Karen Hughes, Joe Allbaugh, and Karl Rove.[60] After easily winning the Republican primary, Bush faced popular Democratic incumbent Governor Ann Richards.[49][61] In the course of the campaign, Bush pledged to sign a bill allowing Texans to obtain permits to carry concealed weapons. Richards had vetoed the bill, but Bush signed it after he became governor.[62] According to The Atlantic Monthly, the race "featured a rumor that she was a lesbian, along with a rare instance of such a tactic's making it into the public record – when a regional chairman of the Bush campaign allowed himself, perhaps inadvertently, to be quoted criticizing Richards for 'appointing avowed homosexual activists' to state jobs".[63] The Atlantic, and others, connected the lesbian rumor to Karl Rove,[64] but Rove denied being involved.[65] Bush won the general election with 53.5% against Richards' 45.9%.[66] Bush used a budget surplus to push through Texas's largest tax-cut, $2 billion.[60] He extended government funding for organizations providing education of the dangers of alcohol and drug use and abuse, and helping to reduce domestic violence.[67] Critics contended that during his tenure, Texas ranked near the bottom in environmental evaluations, but supporters pointed to his efforts to raise the salaries of teachers and improved educational test scores.[49] In 1999, Bush also helped make Texas eventually the leading producer of wind powered electricity in the U.S.[68][69][70] by signing a state law obliging electric retailers to buy a certain amount of energy from renewable sources (RPS).[71][72][73] In 1998, Bush won re-election with a record[49] 69% of the vote.[74] He became the first governor in Texas history to be elected to two consecutive four-year terms.[49] For most of Texas history, governors served two-year terms; a constitutional amendment extended those terms to four years starting in 1975.[75] In his second term, Bush promoted faith-based organizations and enjoyed high approval ratings.[49] He proclaimed June 10, 2000 to be Jesus Day in Texas, a day on which he "urge[d] all Texans to answer the call to serve those in need".[76] Throughout Bush's first term, national attention focused on him as a potential future presidential candidate. Following his re-election, speculation soared.[49] Within a year, he decided to seek the 2000 Republican presidential nomination. In June 1999, while Governor of Texas, Bush announced his candidacy for President of the United States. With no incumbent running, Bush entered a large field of candidates for the Republican Party presidential nomination consisting of John McCain, Alan Keyes, Steve Forbes, Gary Bauer, Orrin Hatch, Elizabeth Dole, Dan Quayle, Pat Buchanan, Lamar Alexander, John Kasich, and Robert C. Smith. Bush portrayed himself as a compassionate conservative, implying he was more centrist than other Republicans. He campaigned on a platform that included increasing the size of the United States Armed Forces, cutting taxes, improving education, and aiding minorities.[49] By early 2000, the race had centered on Bush and McCain.[49] Bush won the Iowa caucuses, but, although he was heavily favored to win the New Hampshire primary, he trailed McCain by 19% and lost that primary. Despite this, Bush regained momentum and, according to political observers, effectively became the front runner after the South Carolina primary, which according to The Boston Globe made history for his campaign's negativity; The New York Times described it as a smear campaign.[77][78][79] General election On July 25, 2000, Bush surprised some observers by asking Dick Cheney, a former White House Chief of Staff, U.S. Representative, and Secretary of Defense, to be his running mate. Cheney was then serving as head of Bush's Vice-Presidential search committee. Soon after, Cheney was officially nominated by the Republican Party at the 2000 Republican National Convention. Bush continued to campaign across the country and touted his record as Governor of Texas.[49] Bush's campaign criticized his Democratic opponent, incumbent Vice President Al Gore, over gun control and taxation.[80] When the election returns came in on November 7, Bush won 29 states, including Florida. The closeness of the Florida outcome led to a recount.[49] The initial recount also went to Bush, but the outcome was tied up in courts for a month until reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.[81] On December 9, in a controversial ruling[82] the Bush v. Gore case the Court reversed a Florida Supreme Court decision ordering a third count, and stopped an ordered statewide hand recount based on the argument that the use of different standards among Florida's counties violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.[49] The machine recount showed that Bush had won the Florida vote by a margin of 537 votes out of six million cast.[83] Although he received 543,895 fewer individual votes than Gore nationwide, Bush won the election, receiving 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266.[83] In 2004, Bush commanded broad support in the Republican Party and did not encounter a primary challenge. He appointed Ken Mehlman as campaign manager, with a political strategy devised by Karl Rove.[84] Bush and the Republican platform included a strong commitment to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,[85] support for the USA PATRIOT Act,[86] a renewed shift in policy for constitutional amendments banning abortion and same-sex marriage,[85][87] reforming Social Security to create private investment accounts,[85] creation of an ownership society,[85] and opposing mandatory carbon emissions controls.[88] Bush also called for the implementation of a guest worker program for immigrants,[85] which was criticized by conservatives.[89] The Bush campaign advertised across the U.S. against Democratic candidates, including Bush's emerging opponent, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Kerry and other Democrats attacked Bush on the Iraq War, and accused him of failing to stimulate the economy and job growth. The Bush campaign portrayed Kerry as a staunch liberal who would raise taxes and increase the size of government. The Bush campaign continuously criticized Kerry's seemingly contradictory statements on the war in Iraq,[49] and argued that Kerry lacked the decisiveness and vision necessary for success in the War on Terror. In the election, Bush carried 31 of 50 states, receiving a total of 286 electoral votes. He won an outright majority of the popular vote (50.7% to his opponent's 48.3%).[90] The previous President to win an outright majority of the popular vote was Bush's father in the 1988 election. Additionally, it was the first time since Herbert Hoover's election in 1928 that a Republican president was elected alongside re-elected Republican majorities in both Houses of Congress. Bush's 2.5% margin of victory was the narrowest ever for a victorious incumbent President, breaking Woodrow Wilson's 3.1% margin of victory against Charles Evans Hughes in the election of 1916.[91][92] Though Bush originally outlined an ambitious domestic agenda, his priorities were significantly altered following the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.[93] Wars were waged in Afghanistan and Iraq with significant domestic debates regarding immigration, healthcare, Social Security, economic policy, and treatment of terrorist detainees. Over an eight year period, Bush's once-high approval ratings[94] steadily declined, while his disapproval numbers increased significantly.[95] In 2007, the United States entered the longest post-World War II recession.[96] Bush took office during a period of economic recession in the wake of the bursting of the Dot-com bubble.[97] The terrorist attacks also impacted the economy. The Bush administration increased federal government spending from $1.789 trillion to $2.983 trillion (70%) while revenues increased from $2025 billion to $2524 billion (from 2000 to 2008). Individual income tax revenues increased by 14%, corporate tax revenues by 50%, customs and duties by 40%. Discretionary defense spending was increased by 107%, discretionary domestic spending by 62%, Medicare spending by 131%, social security by 51%, and income security spending by 130%. Cyclically adjusted, revenues rose by 35% and spending by 65%.[98] The increase in spending was more than under any predecessor since Lyndon B. Johnson.[99] The number of economic regulation governmental workers increased by 91,196.[100] The surplus in fiscal year 2000 was $237 billion—the third consecutive surplus and the largest surplus ever.[101] In 2001, Bush's budget estimated that there would be a $5.6 trillion surplus over the next ten years.[102] Facing congressional opposition, Bush held townhall style meetings across the U.S. in order to increase public support for his plan for a $1.35 trillion tax cut program—one of the largest tax cuts in U.S. history.[49] Bush argued that unspent government funds should be returned to taxpayers, saying "the surplus is not the government’s money. The surplus is the people’s money."[49] Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned of a recession and Bush stated that a tax cut would stimulate the economy and create jobs.[103] Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, opposed some of the tax cuts on the basis that they would contribute to budget deficits and undermine Social Security.[104] O'Neill disputes the claim, made in Bush's book "Decision Points", that he never openly disagreed with him on planned tax cuts.[105] By 2003, the economy showed signs of improvement, though job growth remained stagnant.[49] Another tax cut program was passed that year. Unemployment originally rose from 4.2% in January 2001 to 6.3% in June 2003, but subsequently dropped to 4.5% as of July 2007.[110] Adjusted for inflation, median household income dropped by $1,175 between 2000 and 2007,[111] while Professor Ken Homa of Georgetown University has noted that "after-tax median household income increased by 2%"[112] The poverty rate increased from 11.3% in 2000 to 12.3% in 2006 after peaking at 12.7% in 2004.[113] By October 2008, due to increases in spending,[114] the national debt had risen to $11.3 trillion,[115] an increase of over 100% from 2000 when the debt was only $5.6 trillion.[116][117] Most debt was accumulated as a result of what became known as the "Bush tax cuts" and increased national security spending.[118] By the end of Bush's presidency, unemployment climbed to 7.2%.[119] The perception of Bush's effect on the economy is significantly affected by partisanship, which makes it difficult to determine who or what caused which problems.[120] President Bush signing a $1.35 trillion tax cut into law. June 7, 2001 In December 2007, the United States entered the longest post–World War II recession,[121] which included a housing market correction, a subprime mortgage crisis, soaring oil prices, and a declining dollar value.[122] In February, 63,000 jobs were lost, a five-year record.[123][124] To aid with the situation, Bush signed a $170 billion economic stimulus package which was intended to improve the economic situation by sending tax rebate checks to many Americans and providing tax breaks for struggling businesses. The Bush administration pushed for significantly increased regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2003,[125] and after two years, the regulations passed the House but died in the Senate. Many Republican senators, as well as influential members of the Bush Administration, feared that the agency created by these regulations would merely be mimicking the private sector’s risky practices.[126][127] In September 2008, the crisis became much more serious beginning with the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac followed by the collapse of Lehman Brothers and a federal bailout of American International Group for $85 billion.[128] Bush undertook a number of educational priorities, such as increasing the funding for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health in his first years of office, and creating education programs to strengthen the grounding in science and mathematics for American high school students. Funding for the NIH was cut in 2006, the first such cut in 36 years, due to rising inflation.[136] Bush signs the No Child Left Behind Act into law, January 2002. One of the administration's early major initiatives was the No Child Left Behind Act, which aimed to measure and close the gap between rich and poor student performance, provide options to parents with students in low-performing schools, and target more federal funding to low-income schools. This landmark education initiative passed with broad bipartisan support, including that of Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.[137] It was signed into law by Bush in early 2002.[138] Many contend that the initiative has been successful, as cited by the fact that students in the U.S. have performed significantly better on state reading and math tests since Bush signed "No Child Left Behind" into law.[139] Critics argue that it is underfunded[140] and that NCLBA's focus on "high stakes testing" and quantitative outcomes is counterproductive.[141] After being re-elected, Bush signed into law a Medicare drug benefit program that, according to Jan Crawford Greenburg, resulted in "the greatest expansion in America's welfare state in forty years;" the bill's costs approached $7 trillion.[142] In 2007, Bush opposed and vetoed State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) legislation, which was added by the Democrats onto a war funding bill and passed by Congress. The SCHIP legislation would have significantly expanded federally funded health care benefits and plans to children of some low-income families from about six million to ten million children. It was to be funded by an increase in the cigarette tax.[143] Bush viewed the legislation as a move toward socialized health care, and asserted that the program could benefit families making as much as $83,000 per year who did not need the help.[144] Following Republican efforts to pass the Medicare Act of 2003, Bush signed the bill, which included major changes to the Medicare program by providing beneficiaries with some assistance in paying for prescription drugs, while relying on private insurance for the delivery of benefits.[145] The retired persons lobby group AARP worked with the Bush Administration on the program and gave their endorsement. Bush said the law, estimated to cost $400 billion over the first ten years, would give the elderly "better choices and more control over their health care".[146 Bush began his second term by outlining a major initiative to reform Social Security,[147] which was facing record deficit projections beginning in 2005. Bush made it the centerpiece of his domestic agenda despite opposition from some in the U.S. Congress.[147] In his 2005 State of the Union Address, Bush discussed the potential impending bankruptcy of the program and outlined his new program, which included partial privatization of the system, personal Social Security accounts, and options to permit Americans to divert a portion of their Social Security tax (FICA) into secured investments.[147] Democrats opposed the proposal to partially privatize the system.[147] Bush embarked on a 60-day national tour, campaigning vigorously for his initiative in media events, known as the "Conversations on Social Security", in an attempt to gain support from the general public.[148] Despite the energetic campaign, public support for the proposal declined[149] and the House Republican leadership decided not to put Social Security reform on the priority list for the remainder of their 2005 legislative agenda.[150] The proposal's legislative prospects were further diminished by the political fallout from the Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005.[151] After the Democrats gained control of both houses of the Congress as a result of the 2006 midterm elections, the prospects of any further congressional action on the Bush proposal were dead for the remainder of his term in office. Upon taking office in 2001, Bush stated his opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, an amendment to the UN Convention on Climate Change which seeks to impose mandatory targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, citing that the treaty exempted 80% of the world's population[152] and would have cost tens of billions of dollars per year.[153] He also cited that the Senate had voted 95–0 in 1997 on a resolution expressing its disapproval of the protocol. Bush delivers a statement on energy, urging Congress to end offshore oil drill ban, June 18, 2008. In May 2001, Bush signed an executive order to create an inter-agency task force to streamline energy projects,[154] and later signed two other executive orders to tackle environmental issues.[155] In 2002, Bush announced the Clear Skies Act of 2003,[156] aimed at amending the Clean Air Act to reduce air pollution through the use of emissions trading programs. Many experts argued that this legislation would have weakened the original legislation by allowing higher emission rates of pollutants than were previously legal.[157] The initiative was introduced to Congress, but failed to make it out of committee. Bush has said that he believes that global warming is real[158] and has noted that it is a serious problem, but he asserted there is a "debate over whether it's man-made or naturally caused".[159] The Bush Administration's stance on global warming remained controversial in the scientific and environmental communities. Critics have alleged that the administration[160] misinformed the public and did not do enough to reduce carbon emissions and deter global warming.[161] In his 2006 State of the Union Address, Bush declared, "America is addicted to oil" and announced his Advanced Energy Initiative to increase energy development research.[162] That same year, Bush declared the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument, creating the largest marine reserve to date. The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument comprises 84 million acres (340,000 km2) and is home to 7,000 species of fish, birds, and other marine animals, many of which are specific to only those islands.[163] The move was hailed by conservationists for "its foresight and leadership in protecting this incredible area".[164] In his 2007 State of the Union Address, Bush renewed his pledge to work toward diminished reliance on foreign oil by reducing fossil fuel consumption and increasing alternative fuel production.[165] Amid high gasoline prices in 2008, Bush lifted a ban on offshore drilling.[166] However, the move was largely symbolic as there is still a federal law banning offshore drilling. Bush said, "This means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil reserves is action from the U.S. Congress."[166] Bush had said in June 2008, "In the long run, the solution is to reduce demand for oil by promoting alternative energy technologies. My administration has worked with Congress to invest in gas-saving technologies like advanced batteries and hydrogen fuel cells.... In the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil. And that means we need to increase supply, especially here at home. So my administration has repeatedly called on Congress to expand domestic oil production."[167] In his 2008 State of the Union Address, Bush announced that the U.S. would commit $2 billion over the next three years to a new international fund to promote clean energy technologies and fight climate change, saying, "Along with contributions from other countries, this fund will increase and accelerate the deployment of all forms of cleaner, more efficient technologies in developing nations like India and China, and help leverage substantial private-sector capital by making clean energy projects more financially attractive." He also announced plans to reaffirm the United States' commitment to work with major economies, and, through the UN, to complete an international agreement that will slow, stop, and eventually reverse the growth of greenhouse gases; he stated, "This agreement will be effective only if it includes commitments by every major economy and gives none a free ride."[168] Stem cell research and first use of veto power Federal funding for medical research involving the creation or destruction of human embryos through the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health has been forbidden by law since the passage in 1995 of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment by Congress and the signature of President Bill Clinton.[169] Bush has said that he supports adult stem cell research and has supported federal legislation that finances adult stem cell research. However, Bush did not support embryonic stem cell research.[170] On August 9, 2001, Bush signed an executive order lifting the ban on federal funding for the 71 existing "lines" of stem cells,[171] but the ability of these existing lines to provide an adequate medium for testing has been questioned. Testing can only be done on 12 of the original lines, and all of the approved lines have been cultured in contact with mouse cells, which creates safety issues that complicate development and approval of therapies from these lines.[172] On July 19, 2006, Bush used his veto power for the first time in his presidency to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. The bill would have repealed the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, thereby permitting federal money to be used for research where stem cells are derived from the destruction of an embryo.[173] In 2006, Bush urged Congress to allow more than 12 million illegal immigrants to work in the United States with the creation of a "temporary guest-worker program". Bush did not support amnesty for illegal immigrants,[174] but argued that the lack of legal status denies the protections of U.S. laws to millions of people who face dangers of poverty and exploitation, and penalizes employers despite a demand for immigrant labor.[175] Nearly 8 million immigrants came to the United States from 2000 to 2005, more than in any other five-year period in the nation's history.[176] Almost half entered illegally.[177] Bush also urged Congress to provide additional funds for border security and committed to deploying 6,000 National Guard troops to the Mexico–United States border.[178] In May–June 2007, Bush strongly supported the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, which was written by a bipartisan group of Senators with the active participation of the Bush administration.[179] The bill envisioned a legalization program for illegal immigrants, with an eventual path to citizenship; establishing a guest worker program; a series of border and work site enforcement measures; a reform of the green card application process and the introduction of a point-based "merit" system for green cards; elimination of "chain migration" and of the Diversity Immigrant Visa; and other measures. Bush contended that the proposed bill did not amount to amnesty.[180] A heated public debate followed, which resulted in a substantial rift within the Republican Party, most conservatives opposed it because of its legalization or amnesty provisions.[181] The bill was eventually defeated in the Senate on June 28, 2007, when a cloture motion failed on a 46–53 vote.[182] Bush expressed disappointment upon the defeat of one of his signature domestic initiatives.[183] The Bush administration later proposed a series of immigration enforcement measures that do not require a change in law.[184] On September 19, 2010, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Bush offered to accept 100,000 Palestinian refugees as American citizens if a permanent settlement had been reached between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.[185] Hurricane Katrina, which was one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, struck early in Bush’s second term. Katrina formed in late August during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and devastated much of the north-central Gulf Coast of the United States, particularly New Orleans.[186] Bush shakes hands with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on September 2, 2005, after viewing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on August 27,[187] and in Mississippi and Alabama the following day;[188] he authorized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to manage the disaster, but his announcement failed to spur these agencies to action.[189] The eye of the hurricane made landfall on August 29, and New Orleans began to flood due to levee breaches; later that day, Bush declared that a major disaster existed in Louisiana,[190] officially authorizing FEMA to start using federal funds to assist in the recovery effort. On August 30, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff declared it "an incident of national significance",[191] triggering the first use of the newly created National Response Plan. Three days later, on September 2, National Guard troops first entered the city of New Orleans.[192] The same day, Bush toured parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and declared that the success of the recovery effort up to that point was "not enough".[193] As the disaster in New Orleans intensified, critics charged that Bush was misrepresenting his administration's role in what they saw as a flawed response. Leaders attacked Bush for having appointed apparently incompetent leaders to positions of power at FEMA, notably Michael D. Brown;[194] it was also argued that the federal response was limited as a result of the Iraq War[195] and Bush himself did not act upon warnings of floods.[196][197][198] Bush responded to mounting criticism by accepting full responsibility for the federal government's failures in its handling of the emergency.[192] It has been argued that with Katrina, Bush passed a political tipping point from which he would not recover.[199] During Bush's second term, a controversy arose over the Justice Department's midterm dismissal of seven United States Attorneys.[200] The White House maintained that the U.S. attorneys were fired for poor performance.[201] Attorney General Alberto Gonzales later resigned over the issue, along with other senior members of the Justice Department.[202][203] The House Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas for advisers Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten to testify regarding this matter, but Bush directed Miers and Bolten to not comply with those subpoenas, invoking his right of executive privilege. Bush maintained that all of his advisers were protected under a broad executive privilege protection to receive candid advice. The Justice Department determined that the President's order was legal.[204] Although Congressional investigations focused on whether the Justice Department and the White House were using the U.S. Attorney positions for political advantage, no official findings have been released. On March 10, 2008, the Congress filed a federal lawsuit to enforce their issued subpoenas.[205] On July 31, 2008, a United States district court judge ruled that Bush's top advisers were not immune from Congressional subpoenas.[206] In all, twelve Justice Department officials resigned rather than testify under oath before Congress. They included Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [207]and his chief of staff Kyle Sampson[208], Gonzales’ liaison to the White House Monica Goodling[209], aide to the president Karl Rove[210] and his senior aide Sara M. Taylor[211]. In addition, legal counsel to the president Harriet Miers [212] and deputy chief of staff to the president Joshua Bolten [213]were both found in Contempt of Congress. [214] In 2010, the Justice Department investigator concluded that though political considerations did play a part in as many as four of the attorney firings, [215] the firings were "inappropriately political", but not criminal. According to the prosecutors, "Evidence did not demonstrate that any prosecutable criminal offense was committed by the administration..." [216] In July 2001 Bush visited the pope at Castel Gandolfo.[217] During his Presidential campaign, Bush's foreign policy platform included support for stronger economic and political relationship with Latin Americas, especially Mexico, and a reduction of involvement in "nation-building" and other small-scale military engagements. The administration pursued a national missile defense.[218] Bush was an advocate of China's entry into the World Trade Organization.[219] He said free trade was a force for democratization in China.[220] In his 2002 State of the Union Address, announced aa axis of evil which consisted of Iraq, Iran and North Korea.[221] After the September 11 attacks on New York, Bush launched the War on Terror, in which the United States military and a small international coalition invaded Afghanistan, the location of Osama Bin Laden, who planned the New York attacks. In 2003, Bush then launched the invasion of Iraq, searching for Weapons of Mass Destruction, which he described as being part of the War on Terrorism.[222] Those invasions led to the toppling of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq as well as the deaths of many Iraqis, with surveys indicating between four hundred thousand to over one million dead, excluding the tens of thousands of civilians in Afghanistan.[223][224][225] Countries visited by President George W. Bush during his terms in office Bush began his second term with an emphasis on improving strained relations with European nations. He appointed long-time adviser Karen Hughes to oversee a global public relations campaign. Bush lauded the pro-democracy struggles in Georgia and Ukraine. In March 2006, a visit to India led to renewed ties between the two countries, reversing decades of U.S. policy.[226] The visit focused particularly on areas of nuclear energy and counter-terrorism cooperation, discussions that would lead eventually to the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement.[227][228] This is in stark contrast to the stance taken by his predecessor, Clinton, whose approach and response to India after the 1998 nuclear tests was that of sanctions and hectoring. The relationship between India and the United States was one that dramatically improved during Bush's tenure.[229] Midway through Bush's second term, it was questioned whether Bush was retreating from his freedom and democracy agenda, highlighted in policy changes toward some oil-rich former Soviet republics in central Asia.[230] In an address before both Houses of Congress on September 20, 2001, Bush thanked the nations of the world for their support following the September 11 attacks. He specifically thanked British Prime Minister Tony Blair for traveling to the Washington to show "unity of purpose with America", and said "America has no truer friend than Great Britain."[231] he September 11 terrorist attacks were a major turning point in Bush's presidency. That evening, he addressed the nation from the Oval Office, promising a strong response to the attacks. He also emphasized the need for the nation to come together and comfort the families of the victims. On September 14, he visited Ground Zero, meeting with Mayor Rudy Giuliani, firefighters, police officers, and volunteers. Bush addressed the gathering via a megaphone while standing on a heap of rubble, to much applause: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."[232] President Bush Declares "Freedom at War with Fear", September 20, 2001 Problems listening to this file? See media help. In a September 20 speech, Bush condemned Osama bin Laden and his organization Al-Qaeda, and issued an ultimatum to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, where bin Laden was operating, to "hand over the terrorists, or ... share in their fate".[233] War on Terrorism Main article: War on Terror Bush presents then UK Prime Minister Tony Blair with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. After September 11, Bush announced a global War on Terror. The Afghan Taliban regime was not forthcoming with Osama bin Laden, so Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime.[234] In his January 29, 2002 State of the Union Address, he asserted that an "axis of evil" consisting of North Korea, Iran, and Iraq was "arming to threaten the peace of the world" and "pose[d] a grave and growing danger".[235] The Bush Administration asserted both a right and the intention to wage preemptive war, or preventive war.[236] This became the basis for the Bush Doctrine which weakened the unprecedented levels of international and domestic support for the United States which had followed the September 11 attacks.[237] Dissent and criticism of Bush's leadership in the War on Terror increased as the war in Iraq continued.[238][239][240] In 2006, a National Intelligence Estimate concluded that the Iraq War had become the "cause célèbre for jihadists" which were growing.[241][242] On October 7, 2001, U.S. and British forces initiated bombing campaigns that led to the arrival of Northern Alliance troops in Kabul on November 13. The main goals of the war were to defeat the Taliban, drive al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan, and capture key al-Qaeda leaders. In December 2001, the Pentagon reported that the Taliban had been defeated,[243] but cautioned that the war would go on to continue weakening Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders.[243] Later that month the UN had installed the Afghan Transitional Administration chaired by Hamid Karzai.[244][245] Efforts to kill or capture al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden failed as he escaped a battle in December 2001 in the mountainous region of Tora Bora, which the Bush Administration later acknowledged to have resulted from a failure to commit enough U.S. ground troops.[246] On March 13, 2002, Bush stated that "I truly am not that concerned about him" when asked about bin Laden, brushing him off as "a person who has now been marginalized", despite declaring that he was wanted "Dead or Alive" shortly after 9/11, and statements from U.S. commanders that bin Laden was "still a threat in the new Afghanistan".[247] It was not until May 2011, two years after Bush left office, that bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces. Bin Laden's successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, as well as the leader of the Taliban, Mohammed Omar, remain at large. Despite the initial success in driving the Taliban from power in Kabul, by early 2003 the Taliban was regrouping, amassing new funds and recruits.[248] In 2006, the Taliban insurgency appeared larger, fiercer and better organized than expected, with large-scale allied offensives such as Operation Mountain Thrust attaining limited success.[249][250][251] As a result, Bush commissioned 3,500 additional troops to the country in March 2007.[252] Beginning with his January 29, 2002 State of the Union address, Bush began publicly focusing attention on Iraq, which he labeled as part of an "axis of evil" allied with terrorists and posing "a grave and growing danger" to U.S. interests through possession of weapons of mass destruction.[235][253] In the latter half of 2002, CIA reports contained assertions of Saddam Hussein's intent of reconstituting nuclear weapons programs, not properly accounting for Iraqi biological and chemical weapons, and that some Iraqi missiles had a range greater than allowed by the UN sanctions.[254][255] Contentions that the Bush Administration manipulated or exaggerated the threat and evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities would eventually become a major point of criticism for the president.[256][257] In late 2002 and early 2003, Bush urged the United Nations to enforce Iraqi disarmament mandates, precipitating a diplomatic crisis. In November 2002, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei led UN weapons inspectors in Iraq, but were advised by the U.S. to depart the country four days prior to the U.S. invasion, despite their requests for more time to complete their tasks.[258] The U.S. initially sought a UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of military force but dropped the bid for UN approval due to vigorous opposition from several countries.[259] More than 20 nations (most notably the United Kingdom), designated the "coalition of the willing" joined the United States[260] in invading Iraq. They launched the invasion on March 20, 2003. The Iraqi military was quickly defeated. The capital, Baghdad, fell on April 9, 2003. On May 1, Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq. The initial success of U.S. operations increased his popularity, but the U.S. and allied forces faced a growing insurgency led by sectarian groups; Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech was later criticized as premature.[261] From 2004 until 2007, the situation in Iraq deteriorated further, with some observers arguing that there was a full scale civil war in Iraq.[262] Bush's policies met with criticism, including demands domestically to set a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq. The 2006 report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, led by James Baker, concluded that the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating". While Bush admitted that there were strategic mistakes made in regards to the stability of Iraq,[263] he maintained he would not change the overall Iraq strategy.[264][265] Bush shakes hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. In January 2005, free, democratic elections were held in Iraq for the first time in 50 years.[266] According to Iraqi National Security Advisor Mowaffak al-Rubaie, "This is the greatest day in the history of this country."[266] Bush praised the event as well, saying that the Iraqis "have taken rightful control of their country's destiny".[266] This led to the election of Jalal Talabani as President and Nouri al-Maliki as Prime Minister of Iraq. A referendum to approve a constitution in Iraq was held in October 2005, supported by most Shiites and many Kurds.[267] On January 10, 2007, Bush addressed the nation regarding the situation in Iraq. In this speech, he announced a surge of 21,500 more troops for Iraq, as well as a job program for Iraqis, more reconstruction proposals, and $1.2 billion for these programs.[268] On May 1, 2007, Bush used his veto for only the second time in his presidency, rejecting a congressional bill setting a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.[269] Five years after the invasion, Bush called the debate over the conflict "understandable" but insisted that a continued U.S. presence there was crucial.[270] In March 2008, Bush praised the Iraqi government's "bold decision" to launch the Battle of Basra against the Mahdi Army, calling it "a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq".[271] He said he would carefully weigh recommendations from his commanding General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker about how to proceed after the end of the military buildup in the summer of 2008. He also praised the Iraqis' legislative achievements, including a pension law, a revised de-Baathification law, a new budget, an amnesty law, and a provincial powers measure that, he said, set the stage for the Iraqi elections.[272] On July 31, 2008, Bush announced that with the end of July, American troop deaths had reached their lowest number—thirteen—since the war began in 2003.[273] Due to increased stability in Iraq, Bush announced the withdrawal of additional American forces.[273] This reflected an emerging consensus between the White House and the Pentagon that the war has "turned a corner".[273] He also described what he saw as the success of the 2007 troop surge.[273] Surveillance Following the events of September 11, Bush issued an executive order authorizing the President's Surveillance Program which included allowing the NSA to monitor communications between suspected terrorists outside the U.S and parties within the U.S. without obtaining a warrant as required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.[274] As of 2009, the other provisions of program remained highly classified.[275]) Once the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel questioned its original legal opinion that FISA did not apply in a time of war, the program was subsequently re-authorized by the President on the basis that the warrant requirements of FISA were implicitly superseded by the subsequent passage of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists.[276] The program proved to be controversial, as critics of the administration, as well as organizations such as the American Bar Association, argued that it was illegal.[277] In August 2006, a U.S. district court judge ruled that the NSA electronic surveillance program was unconstitutional,[278] but on July 6, 2007, that ruling was vacated by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing.[279] On January 17, 2007, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales informed U.S. Senate leaders that the program would not be reauthorized by the President, but would be subjected to judicial oversight.[280] Bush authorized the CIA to use waterboarding as one of several enhanced interrogation techniques.[281][282][283] Between 2002 and 2003 the CIA considered certain enhanced interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, to be legal based on a secret Justice Department legal opinion arguing that terror detainees were not protected by the Geneva Conventions' ban on torture.[284] The CIA had exercised the technique on certain key terrorist suspects under authority given to it in the Bybee Memo from the Attorney General, though that memo was later withdrawn.[285] While not permitted by the U.S. Army Field Manuals which assert "that harsh interrogation tactics elicit unreliable information",[284] the Bush administration believed these enhanced interrogations "provided critical information" to preserve American lives.[286] Critics, such as former CIA officer Bob Baer, have stated that information was suspect, "you can get anyone to confess to anything if the torture's bad enough."[287] On October 17, 2006, Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006,[288] a law enacted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006),[289] which allows the U.S. government to prosecute unlawful enemy combatants by military commission rather than a standard trial. The law also denies them access to habeas corpus and bars the torture of detainees, but allows the president to determine what constitutes torture.[288] On March 8, 2008, Bush vetoed H.R. 2082,[290] a bill that would have expanded congressional oversight over the intelligence community and banned the use of waterboarding as well as other forms of interrogation not permitted under the United States Army Field Manual on Human Intelligence Collector Operations, saying that "the bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror".[291] In April 2009, the ACLU sued and won release of the secret memos that had authorized the Bush administration's interrogation tactics.[292] One memo detailed specific interrogation tactics including a footnote that described waterboarding as torture as well as that the form of waterboarding used by the CIA was far more intense than authorized by the Justice Department.[293] Bush publicly condemned Kim Jong-il of North Korea, naming North Korea one of three states in an "axis of evil", and saying that "the United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons."[235] Within months, "both countries had walked away from their respective commitments under the U.S.-DPRK Agreed Framework of October 1994."[294] North Korea's October 9, 2006, detonation of a nuclear device further complicated Bush's foreign policy, which centered for both terms of his presidency on "[preventing] the terrorists and regimes who seek chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons from threatening the United States and the world".[235] Bush condemned North Korea's position, reaffirmed his commitment to "a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula", and stated that "transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States", for which North Korea would be held accountable.[295] On May 7, 2007, North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear reactors immediately pending the release of frozen funds held in a foreign bank account. This was a result of a series of three-way talks initiated by the United States and including China.[296] On September 2, 2007, North Korea agreed to disclose and dismantle all of its nuclear programs by the end of 2007.[297] By May 2009, North Korea had restarted its nuclear program and threatened to attack South Korea.[298] Bush expanded economic sanctions on Syria.[299] In early 2007, the Treasury Department, acting on a June 2005 executive order, froze American bank accounts of Syria's Higher Institute of Applied Science and Technology, Electronics Institute, and National Standards and Calibration Laboratory. Bush's order prohibits Americans from doing business with these institutions suspected of helping spread weapons of mass destruction[300] and being supportive of terrorism.[301] Under separate executive orders signed by Bush in 2004 and later 2007, the Treasury Department froze the assets of two Lebanese and two Syrians, accusing them of activities to "undermine the legitimate political process in Lebanon" in November 2007. Those designated included: Assaad Halim Hardan, a member of Lebanon's parliament and current leader of the Syrian Socialist National Party; Wi'am Wahhab, a former member of Lebanon's government (Minister of the Environment) under Prime Minister Omar Karami (2004–2005); Hafiz Makhluf, a colonel and senior official in the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate and a cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; and Muhammad Nasif Khayrbik, identified as a close adviser to Assad.[302] On May 10, 2005, Vladimir Arutyunian, a native Georgian who was born to a family of ethnic Armenians, threw a live hand grenade toward a podium where Bush was speaking at Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was seated nearby. It landed in the crowd about 65 feet (20 m) from the podium after hitting a girl, but it did not detonate. Arutyunian was arrested in July 2005, confessed, was convicted and was given a life sentence in January 2006.[303] Other issues Bush, Mahmoud Abbas, and Ariel Sharon meet at the Red Sea Summit in Aqaba, Jordan, June 4, 2003. Bush withdrew U.S. support for several international agreements, including the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) with Russia. Bush emphasized a careful approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians; he denounced Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat for his support of violence, but sponsored dialogues between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Bush supported Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and lauded the democratic elections held in Palestine after Arafat's death. Bush also expressed U.S. support for the defense of Taiwan following the stand-off in April 2001 with the People's Republic of China over the Hainan Island incident, when an EP-3E Aries II surveillance aircraft collided with a People's Liberation Army Air Force jet, leading to the detention of U.S. personnel. In 2003–2004, Bush authorized U.S. military intervention in Haiti and Liberia to protect U.S. interests. Bush condemned the militia attacks Darfur and denounced the killings in Sudan as genocide.[304] Bush said that an international peacekeeping presence was critical in Darfur, but opposed referring the situation to the International Criminal Court. In his State of the Union address in January 2003, Bush outlined a five-year strategy for global emergency AIDS relief, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Bush announced $15 billion for this effort[305] which directly supported life-saving antiretroviral treatment for more than 3.2 million men, women and children worldwide.[306] On June 10, 2007, he met with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and became the first president to visit Albania.[307] Bush has voiced his support for the independence of Kosovo.[308] Bush opposed South Ossetia's independence.[309] On August 15, 2008, Bush said of Russia's invasion of the country of Georgia: "Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century."[310] Bush opened the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Departing from previous practice, he stood among a group of U.S. athletes rather than from a ceremonial stand or box, saying: "On behalf of a proud, determined, and grateful nation, I declare open the Games of Salt Lake City, celebrating the Olympic Winter Games."[311] In 2008, in the course of a good-will trip to Asia, he attended the Summer Olympics in Beijing.[312] Following the announcement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement on July 1, 2005, Bush nominated John Roberts to succeed her. On September 5, following the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, this nomination was withdrawn and Bush instead nominated Roberts for Chief Justice to succeed Rehnquist. Roberts was confirmed by the Senate as the 17th Chief Justice on September 29, 2005. On October 3, 2005, Bush nominated long time White House Counsel Harriet Miers for O'Connor's position. After facing significant opposition from both parties, who found her to be ill-prepared and uninformed on the law,[313] Miers asked that her name be withdrawn on October 27. Four days later, on October 31, Bush nominated federal appellate judge Samuel Alito. Alito was confirmed as the 110th Supreme Court Justice on January 31, 2006.[314] Other courts Main article: List of federal judges appointed by George W. Bush In addition to his two Supreme Court appointments, Bush appointed 61 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals and 261 judges to the United States district courts. Each of these numbers, along with his total of 324 judicial appointments, is third in American history, behind both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Bush experienced a number of judicial appointment controversies. Debate during one confirmation session lasted "39 stupefying hours" according to The New York Times. On August 3, 2001, the Senate did not consent to keep existing nominations in status quo, returning 40 judicial nominations, and 164 total nominations.[315][316][317] At the outset, Judicature magazine noted that the "Senate Democrats were gearing up for the approaching confirmation hearings. " before the first set of nominees were sent to the Senate. It then cites the New York Times as saying "Senate Democrats have pledged they will not automatically vote to confirm Mr. Bush's judicial nominees and will subject them to intense scrutiny." [318] The Senate only confirmed 8 out of 60 judicial nominations by October 2001. In February 2003, the Democrats successfully filibustered the nomination of Miguel Estrada. [319] Bush's upbringing in West Texas, his accent, his vacations on his Texas ranch, and his penchant for country metaphors contribute to his folksy, American cowboy image.[320][321] "I think people look at him and think John Wayne", says Piers Morgan, editor of the British Daily Mirror.[322] It has been suggested that Bush's accent was an active choice, as a way of distinguishing himself from Northeastern intellectuals and anchoring himself to his Texas roots.[323] Both supporters and detractors have pointed to his country persona as reasons for their support or criticism.[321] Bush's intelligence has been satirized by the media,[324] comedians, and other politicians.[325][326] Detractors tended to cite linguistic errors made by Bush during his public speeches, which are colloquially termed as Bushisms.[327] Editorials in Harper's Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, Common Dreams NewsCenter, and The Nation have referred to Bush as "the worst president ever".[328][329][330][331][332] In contrast to his father, who was perceived as having troubles with an overarching unifying theme, Bush embraced larger visions and was seen as a man of larger ideas and associated huge risks.[333] Tony Blair wrote in 2010 that the caricature of Bush as being dumb is "ludicrous" and that Bush is "very smart".[334] Bush began his presidency with approval ratings near 50%.[335] After the September 11 attacks, Bush gained an approval rating of 90%,[336] maintaining 80–90% approval for four months after the attacks. It remained over 50% during most of his first term and then fell to as low as 26% in his second term.[12] In 2000 and again in 2004, Time magazine named George W. Bush as its Person of the Year, a title awarded to someone who the editors believe "has done the most to influence the events of the year".[337] In May 2004, Gallup reported that 89% of the Republican electorate approved of Bush.[338] However, the support waned due mostly to a minority of Republicans' frustration with him on issues of spending, illegal immigration, and Middle Eastern affairs.[339] Within the United States armed forces, according to an unscientific survey, the president was strongly supported in the 2004 presidential elections.[340] While 73% of military personnel said that they would vote for Bush, 18% preferred his Democratic rival, John Kerry.[340] According to Peter Feaver, a Duke University political scientist who has studied the political leanings of the U.S. military, members of the armed services supported Bush because they found him more likely than Kerry to complete the War in Iraq.[340] Bush's approval rating went below the 50% mark in AP-Ipsos polling in December 2004.[341] Thereafter, his approval ratings and approval of his handling of domestic and foreign policy issues steadily dropped. Bush received heavy criticism for his handling of the Iraq War, his response to Hurricane Katrina and to the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse, NSA warrantless surveillance, the Plame affair, and Guantanamo Bay detention camp controversies.[342] Polls conducted in 2006 showed an average of 37% approval ratings for Bush,[343] the lowest for any second-term president at that point of his term since Harry S. Truman in March 1951, when Truman's approval rating was 28%,[341][344] which contributed to what Bush called the "thumping" of the Republican Party in the 2006 mid-term elections.[345] Throughout 2007, Bush's approval rating hovered in the mid-thirties,[346] although in an October 17, 2007, Reuters poll, Bush received a lower approval rating of 24%,[347] the lowest point of his presidency.[348] By April 2008, Bush's disapproval ratings were the highest ever recorded in the 70-year history of the Gallup poll for any president, with 69% of those polled disapproving of the job Bush was doing as president and 28% approving.[349] In September 2008, in polls performed by various agencies, Bush's approval rating ranged from 19%—the lowest ever[350]—to 34%.[351][352] and his disapproval rating stood at 69%.[94][95][351][353][354] Bush left the White House as one of the most unpopular American presidents, second in unpopularity only to Richard Nixon.[355][356] In response to his poll numbers and "worst president" accusations,[357][358] Bush said, "I frankly don't give a damn about the polls.... To assume that historians can figure out the effect of the Bush administration before the Bush administration has ended is ... in my mind ... not an accurate reflection upon how history works."[359] In 2006, 744 professional historians surveyed by Siena College regarded Bush's presidency as follows: Great: 2%; Near Great: 5%; Average: 11%; Below Average: 24%; Failure: 58%.[360] Thomas Kelly, professor emeritus of American studies at Siena College, said that "In this case, current public opinion polls actually seem to cut the President more slack than the experts do."[360] Similar outcomes were retrieved by two informal surveys done by the History News Network in 2004[361] and 2008.[362] A March 13, 2008, poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported that 53% of Americans believe that "the U.S. will ultimately succeed in achieving its goals" in Iraq.[363] That figure was up from 42% in September 2007 and the highest since 2006.[363] A 2010 Siena College poll of 238 Presidential scholars found that Bush was ranked 39th out of 43, with poor ratings in handling of the economy, communication, ability to compromise, foreign policy accomplishments and intelligence.[364] Calls for Bush's impeachment were made, though most polls showed a plurality of Americans did not support the president's impeachment.[365] The reasoning behind impeachment usually centered on the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy,[366] the Bush administration's justification for the war in Iraq,[367] and alleged violations of the Geneva Conventions.[368] Representative Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat from Ohio, introduced 35 articles of impeachment on the floor of the House of Representatives against Bush on June 9, 2008, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared that impeachment was "off the table".[369] Bush has been criticized internationally and targeted by the global anti-war and anti-globalization campaigns, particularly for his administration's foreign policy.[370][371] Views of him within the international community are more negative than previous American Presidents, with France largely opposed to what he advocated.[372] Bush was described as having especially close personal relationships with Tony Blair and Vicente Fox, although formal relations were sometimes strained.[373][374][375] Other leaders, such as Afghan president Hamid Karzai,[376] Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni,[377] Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero,[378] and Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez,[379] have openly criticized the president. Later in Bush's presidency, tensions arose between himself and Vladimir Putin, which has led to a cooling of their relationship.[380] In 2006, most respondents in 18 of 21 countries surveyed around the world were found to hold an unfavorable opinion of Bush. Respondents indicated that they judged his administration as negative for world security.[381][382] In 2007, the Pew Global Attitudes Project reported that during the Bush presidency, attitudes towards the United States and the American people became less favorable around the world.[383] A March 2007 survey of Arab opinion conducted by Zogby International and the University of Maryland found that Bush was the most disliked leader in the Arab world.[384] The Pew Research Center's 2007 Global Attitudes poll found that out of 47 countries, in only nine countries did most respondents express "a lot of confidence" or "some confidence" in Bush: Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Israel, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, and Uganda.[385] During a June 2007 visit to the predominantly Muslim[386] Eastern European nation of Albania, Bush was greeted enthusiastically. Albania has a population of 3.6 million, has troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and the country's government is highly supportive of American foreign policy.[387] A huge image of the President was hung in the middle of the capital city of Tirana flanked by Albanian and American flags while a local street was named after him.[388][389] A shirt-sleeved statue of Bush was unveiled in Fushe-Kruje, a few kilometers northwest of Tirana.[390] The Bush administration's support for the independence of Albanian-majority Kosovo, while endearing him to the Albanians, has troubled U.S. relations with Serbia, leading to the February 2008 torching of the U.S. embassy in Belgrade.[391] Following the inauguration of Barack Obama, Bush and his family flew from Andrews Air Force Base to a homecoming celebration in Midland, Texas, following which they returned to their ranch in Crawford, Texas.[393] They bought a home in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas, Texas, where they settled down.[394] Since leaving office, Bush has kept a relatively low profile[395] though he has made public appearances, most notably after the release of his memoirs in 2010 and for the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2011. He makes regular appearances at various events throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area, most notably when he conducted the opening coin toss at the Dallas Cowboys first game in the team's new stadium in Arlington[396] and an April 2009 visit to a Texas Rangers game, where he thanked the people of Dallas for helping him settle in and was met with a standing ovation.[397] In 2009, he delivered a speech in Calgary, Alberta,[398][399] appeared via video on The Colbert Report during which he praised U.S. troops for earning a "special place in American history,"[400] and attended the funeral of Senator Ted Kennedy.[401] Bush made his debut as a motivational speaker on October 26 at the "Get Motivated" seminar in Dallas.[402] In the aftermath of the Fort Hood shooting that took place on November 5, 2009 in Texas, the Bushes paid an undisclosed visit to the survivors and victims' families the day following the shooting, having contacted the base commander requesting that the visit be private and not involve press coverage.[403] They spent one to two hours at the base. Bush, Obama, and Clinton, January 2010 Bush released his memoirs, Decision Points, on November 9, 2010. During a pre-release appearance promoting the book, Bush said he considered his biggest accomplishment to be keeping "the country safe amid a real danger," and his greatest failure to be his inability to secure the passage of Social Security reform.[404] At President Obama's request, Bush and Bill Clinton established the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund to raise contributions for relief and recovery efforts following the 2010 Haiti earthquake earlier in January.[405] He also made news defending his administration's enhanced interrogation techniques, specifically the waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, saying, "I'd do it again to save lives."[406] He also attended every home playoff game for the Texas Rangers 2010 season and, accompanied by his father, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for Game 4 of the 2010 World Series on October 31, 2010.[407] In February 2011, Bush scrapped a planned visit to Switzerland amid threats of protest at a speech he intended to give at a dinner in Geneva; human rights groups have claimed the cancellation was due to fears of arrest by Swiss authorities based on his acknowledgement that he ordered the waterboarding of detainees.[408][409] Human rights groups, including the Center for Constitutional Rights, filed papers with Swiss authorities demanding his criminal prosecution pursuant to the Convention on Torture, an international treaty that requires authorities of all countries that have ratified the treaty to open an investigation of people suspected to torturing.[409][410] On May 2, 2011, President Obama called Bush, who was at a restaurant with his wife, to inform him that Osama bin Laden had been killed.[411] The Bushes joined the Obamas in New York City to mark the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At the Ground Zero memorial, Bush read a letter that President Abraham Lincoln wrote to a widow who lost five sons during the Civil War. ... ...... Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is an American multinational corporation which provides Internet-related products and services, including Internet search, cloud computing, software and advertising technologies.[5] Advertising revenues from AdWords generate almost all of the company's profits.[6][7] The company was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while both attended Stanford University. Together, Brin and Page own about 16 percent of the company's stake. Google was first incorporated as a privately held company on September 4, 1998, and its initial public offering followed on August 19, 2004. The company's mission statement from the outset was "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful",[8] and the company's unofficial slogan is "Don't be evil".[9][10] In 2006, the company moved to its current headquarters in Mountain View, California. Rapid growth since incorporation has triggered a chain of products, acquisitions, and partnerships beyond the company's core web search engine. The company offers online productivity software including email, an office suite, and social networking. Google's products extend to the desktop as well, with applications for web browsing, organizing & editing photos, and instant messaging. Google leads the development of the Android mobile operating system, as well as the Google Chrome OS browser-only operating system,[11] found on specialized netbooks called Chromebooks. Google has been estimated to run over one million servers in data centers around the world,[12] and process over one billion search requests[13] and about twenty-four petabytes of user-generated data every day.[14][15][16][17] As of September 2009 Alexa listed the main U.S.-focused google.com site as the Internet's most visited website, and numerous international Google sites as being in the top hundred, as well as several other Google-owned sites such as YouTube, Blogger and Orkut.[18] Google also ranks number two in the BrandZ brand equity database.[19] The dominant market position of Google's services has led to criticism of the company over issues including privacy, copyright, and censorship.[20][21] Main article: History of Google Google's homepage in 1998 Google's original homepage had a simple design, since its founders were not experienced in HTML, the language for designing web pages.[22] Google began in January 1996 as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were both PhD students at Stanford University in California.[23] While conventional search engines ranked results by counting how many times the search terms appeared on the page, the two theorized about a better system that analyzed the relationships between websites.[24] They called this new technology PageRank, where a website's relevance was determined by the number of pages, and the importance of those pages, that linked back to the original site.[25][26] A small search engine called "RankDex" from IDD Information Services designed by Robin Li was, since 1996, already exploring a similar strategy for site-scoring and page ranking.[27] The technology in RankDex would be patented[28] and used later when Li founded Baidu in China.[29][30] Page and Brin originally nicknamed their new search engine "BackRub", because the system checked backlinks to estimate the importance of a site.[31][32][33] Eventually, they changed the name to Google, originating from a misspelling of the word "googol",[34][35] the number one followed by one hundred zeros, which was picked to signify that the search engine wants to provide large quantities of information for people.[36] Originally, Google ran under the Stanford University website, with the domain google.stanford.edu.[37] The domain name for Google was registered on September 15, 1997,[38] and the company was incorporated on September 4, 1998. It was based in a friend's (Susan Wojcicki[23]) garage in Menlo Park, California. Craig Silverstein, a fellow PhD student at Stanford, was hired as the first employee.[23][39][40] In May 2011, the number of monthly unique visitors to Google surpassed 1 billion for the first time, an 8.4 percent increase from May 2010 (931 million).[41] Financing and initial public offering Google's first servers, showing lots of exposed wiring and circuit boards Google's first production server. The first iteration of Google production servers was built with inexpensive hardware.[42] The first funding for Google was an August 1998 contribution of US$100,000 from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, given before Google was even incorporated.[43] Early in 1999, while still graduate students, Brin and Page decided that the search engine they had developed was taking up too much of their time from academic pursuits. They went to Excite CEO George Bell and offered to sell it to him for $1 million. He rejected the offer, and later criticized Vinod Khosla, one of Excite's venture capitalists, after he had negotiated Brin and Page down to $750,000. On June 7, 1999, a $25 million round of funding was announced,[44] with major investors including the venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital.[43] Google's initial public offering (IPO) took place five years later on August 19, 2004. At that time Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt agreed to work together at Google for 20 years, until the year 2024.[45] The company offered 19,605,052 shares at a price of $85 per share.[46][47] Shares were sold in a unique online auction format using a system built by Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, underwriters for the deal.[48][49] The sale of $1.67 billion gave Google a market capitalization of more than $23 billion.[50] The vast majority of the 271 million shares remained under the control of Google, and many Google employees became instant paper millionaires. Yahoo!, a competitor of Google, also benefited because it owned 8.4 million shares of Google before the IPO took place.[51] Some people speculated that Google's IPO would inevitably lead to changes in company culture. Reasons ranged from shareholder pressure for employee benefit reductions to the fact that many company executives would become instant paper millionaires.[52] As a reply to this concern, co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page promised in a report to potential investors that the IPO would not change the company's culture.[53] In 2005, however, articles in The New York Times and other sources began suggesting that Google had lost its anti-corporate, no evil philosophy.[54][55][56] In an effort to maintain the company's unique culture, Google designated a Chief Culture Officer, who also serves as the Director of Human Resources. The purpose of the Chief Culture Officer is to develop and maintain the culture and work on ways to keep true to the core values that the company was founded on: a flat organization with a collaborative environment.[57] Google has also faced allegations of sexism and ageism from former employees.[58][59] The stock's performance after the IPO went well, with shares hitting $700 for the first time on October 31, 2007,[60] primarily because of strong sales and earnings in the online advertising market.[61] The surge in stock price was fueled mainly by individual investors, as opposed to large institutional investors and mutual funds.[61] The company is now listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol GOOG and under the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GGQ1. Growth In March 1999, the company moved its offices to Palo Alto, California, home to several other noted Silicon Valley technology startups.[62] The next year, against Page and Brin's initial opposition toward an advertising-funded search engine,[63] Google began selling advertisements associated with search keywords.[23] In order to maintain an uncluttered page design and increase speed, advertisements were solely text-based. Keywords were sold based on a combination of price bids and click-throughs, with bidding starting at five cents per click.[23] This model of selling keyword advertising was first pioneered by Goto.com, an Idealab spin-off created by Bill Gross.[64][65] When the company changed names to Overture Services, it sued Google over alleged infringements of the company's pay-per-click and bidding patents. Overture Services would later be bought by Yahoo! and renamed Yahoo! Search Marketing. The case was then settled out of court, with Google agreeing to issue shares of common stock to Yahoo! in exchange for a perpetual license.[66] During this time, Google was granted a patent describing its PageRank mechanism.[67] The patent was officially assigned to Stanford University and lists Lawrence Page as the inventor. In 2003, after outgrowing two other locations, the company leased its current office complex from Silicon Graphics at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California.[68] The complex has since come to be known as the Googleplex, a play on the word googolplex, the number one followed by a googol zeroes. The Googleplex interiors were designed by Clive Wilkinson Architects. Three years later, Google would buy the property from SGI for $319 million.[69] By that time, the name "Google" had found its way into everyday language, causing the verb "google" to be added to the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary, denoted as "to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet."[70][71] Acquisitions and partnerships See also: List of acquisitions by Google Since 2001, Google has acquired many companies, mainly focusing on small venture capital companies. In 2004, Google acquired Keyhole, Inc.[72] The start-up company developed a product called Earth Viewer that gave a three-dimensional view of the Earth. Google renamed the service to Google Earth in 2005. Two years later, Google bought the online video site YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock.[73] On April 13, 2007, Google reached an agreement to acquire DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, giving Google valuable relationships that DoubleClick had with Web publishers and advertising agencies.[74] Later that same year, Google purchased GrandCentral for $50 million.[75] The site would later be changed over to Google Voice. On August 5, 2009, Google bought out its first public company, purchasing video software maker On2 Technologies for $106.5 million.[76] Google also acquired Aardvark, a social network search engine, for $50 million, and commented on its internal blog, "we're looking forward to collaborating to see where we can take it".[77] In April 2010, Google announced it had acquired a hardware startup, Agnilux.[78] In addition to the many companies Google has purchased, the company has partnered with other organizations for everything from research to advertising. In 2005, Google partnered with NASA Ames Research Center to build 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) of offices.[79] The offices would be used for research projects involving large-scale data management, nanotechnology, distributed computing, and the entrepreneurial space industry. Google entered into a partnership with Sun Microsystems in October 2005 to help share and distribute each other's technologies.[80] The company also partnered with AOL of Time Warner,[81] to enhance each other's video search services. Google's 2005 partnerships also included financing the new .mobi top-level domain for mobile devices, along with other companies including Microsoft, Nokia, and Ericsson.[82] Google would later launch "Adsense for Mobile", taking advantage of the emerging mobile advertising market.[83] Increasing its advertising reach even further, Google and Fox Interactive Media of News Corporation entered into a $900 million agreement to provide search and advertising on popular social networking site MySpace.[84] In October 2006, Google announced that it had acquired the video-sharing site YouTube for US$1.65 billion in Google stock, and the deal was finalized on November 13, 2006.[85] Google does not provide detailed figures for YouTube's running costs, and YouTube's revenues in 2007 were noted as "not material" in a regulatory filing.[86] In June 2008, a Forbes magazine article projected the 2008 YouTube revenue at US$200 million, noting progress in advertising sales.[87] In 2007, Google began sponsoring NORAD Tracks Santa, a service that follows Santa Claus' progress on Christmas Eve,[88] using Google Earth to "track Santa" in 3-D for the first time,[89] and displacing former sponsor AOL. Google-owned YouTube gave NORAD Tracks Santa its own channel.[90] In 2008, Google developed a partnership with GeoEye to launch a satellite providing Google with high-resolution (0.41 m monochrome, 1.65 m color) imagery for Google Earth. The satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on September 6, 2008.[91] Google also announced in 2008 that it was hosting an archive of Life Magazine's photographs as part of its latest partnership. Some of the images in the archive were never published in the magazine.[92] The photos were watermarked and originally had copyright notices posted on all photos, regardless of public domain status.[93] In 2010, Google Energy made its first investment in a renewable energy project, putting $38.8 million into two wind farms in North Dakota. The company announced the two locations will generate 169.5 megawatts of power, or enough to supply 55,000 homes. The farms, which were developed by NextEra Energy Resources, will reduce fossil fuel use in the region and return profits. NextEra Energy Resources sold Google a twenty percent stake in the project to get funding for its development.[94] Also in 2010, Google purchased Global IP Solutions, a Norway-based company that provides web-based teleconferencing and other related services. This acquisition will enable Google to add telephone-style services to its list of products.[95] On May 27, 2010, Google announced it had also closed the acquisition of the mobile ad network AdMob. This purchase occurred days after the Federal Trade Commission closed its investigation into the purchase.[96] Google acquired the company for an undisclosed amount.[97] In July 2010, Google signed an agreement with an Iowa wind farm to buy 114 megawatts of energy for 20 years.[98] On April 4, 2011, The Globe and Mail reported that Google bid $900 million for six thousand Nortel Networks patents.[99] On August 15, 2011, Google announced that it would acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion[100][101] subject to approval from regulators in the United States and Europe. In a post on Google's blog, Google Chief Executive and co-founder Larry Page revealed that Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility is a strategic move to strengthen Google's patent portfolio. The company's Android operating system has come under fire in an industry-wide patent battle, as Apple and Microsoft have taken to court Android device makers such as HTC, Samsung and Motorola.[102] The merger was completed on the 22 May 2012, after the approval of People's Republic of China.[103] This purchase was made in part to help Google gain Motorola's considerable patent portfolio on mobile phones and wireless technologies to help protect it in its ongoing patent disputes with other companies,[104] mainly Apple and Microsoft[102] and to allow it to continue to freely offer Android.[105] In order to expand its social networing services, Google plans to purchase Silicon Valley start up Meebo.[106] On June 5, 2012 Google announced it acquired Quickoffice, a company widely known for their mobile productivity suite for both iOS and Android. Google plans to integrate Quickoffice's technology into its own product suite.[107] Google Data Centers Google Inc. currently owns and operates 6 data centers across the U.S., plus one in Finland and another in Belgium. On September 28, 2011 the company has announced to build three data centers at a cost of more than $200 million in Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan) and has already purchased the land for them. Google said they will be operational in one to two years.[108] Products and services See also: List of Google products Advertising Ninety-nine percent of Google's revenue is derived from its advertising programs.[109] For the 2006 fiscal year, the company reported $10.492 billion in total advertising revenues and only $112 million in licensing and other revenues.[110] Google has implemented various innovations in the online advertising market that helped make it one of the biggest brokers in the market. Using technology from the company DoubleClick, Google can determine user interests and target advertisements so they are relevant to their context and the user that is viewing them.[111][112] Google Analytics allows website owners to track where and how people use their website, for example by examining click rates for all the links on a page.[113] Google advertisements can be placed on third-party websites in a two-part program. Google's AdWords allows advertisers to display their advertisements in the Google content network, through either a cost-per-click or cost-per-view scheme. The sister service, Google AdSense, allows website owners to display these advertisements on their website, and earn money every time ads are clicked.[114] One of the disadvantages and criticisms of this program is Google's inability to combat click fraud, when a person or automated script "clicks" on advertisements without being interested in the product, which causes that advertiser to pay money to Google unduly. Industry reports in 2006 claim that approximately 14 to 20 percent of clicks were in fact fraudulent or invalid.[115] Furthermore, there has been controversy over Google's "search within a search", where a secondary search box enables the user to find what they are looking for within a particular website. It was soon reported that when performing a search within a search for a specific company, advertisements from competing and rival companies often showed up along with those results, drawing users away from the site they were originally searching.[116] Another complaint against Google's advertising is its censorship of advertisers, though many cases concern compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. For example, in February 2003, Google stopped showing the advertisements of Oceana, a non-profit organization protesting a major cruise ship's sewage treatment practices. Google cited its editorial policy at the time, stating "Google does not accept advertising if the ad or site advocates against other individuals, groups, or organizations."[117] The policy was later changed.[118] In June 2008, Google reached an advertising agreement with Yahoo!, which would have allowed Yahoo! to feature Google advertisements on its web pages. The alliance between the two companies was never completely realized due to antitrust concerns by the U.S. Department of Justice. As a result, Google pulled out of the deal in November 2008.[119][120] In an attempt to advertise its own products, Google launched a website called Demo Slam, developed to demonstrate technology demos of Google Products.[121] Each week, two teams compete at putting Google's technology into new contexts. Search Engine Journal said Demo Slam is "a place where creative and tech-savvy people can create videos to help the rest of the world understand all the newest and greatest technology out there."[122] Search engine Main article: Google Search On February 14, 2012, Google updated its homepage with a minor twist. There are no red lines above the options in the black bar, and there is a tab space before the "+You". The sign-in button has also changed, it is no longer in the black bar, instead under it as a button. Google Search, a web search engine, is the company's most popular service. According to market research published by comScore in November 2009, Google is the dominant search engine in the United States market, with a market share of 65.6%.[123] Google indexes billions[124] of web pages, so that users can search for the information they desire, through the use of keywords and operators. Despite its popularity, it has received criticism from a number of organizations. In 2003, The New York Times complained about Google's indexing, claiming that Google's caching of content on its site infringed its copyright for the content.[125] In this case, the United States District Court of Nevada ruled in favor of Google in Field v. Google and Parker v. Google.[126][127] Furthermore, the publication 2600: The Hacker Quarterly has compiled a list of words that the web giant's new instant search feature will not search.[128] Google Watch has also criticized Google's PageRank algorithms, saying that they discriminate against new websites and favor established sites,[129] and has made allegations about connections between Google and the NSA and the CIA.[130] Despite criticism, the basic search engine has spread to specific services as well, including an image search engine, the Google News search site, Google Maps, and more. In early 2006, the company launched Google Video, which allowed users to upload, search, and watch videos from the Internet.[131] In 2009, however, uploads to Google Video were discontinued so that Google could focus more on the search aspect of the service.[132] The company even developed Google Desktop, a desktop search application used to search for files local to one's computer (discontinued in 2011). Google's most recent development in search is its partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to create Google Patents, which enables free access to information about patents and trademarks. One of the more controversial search services Google hosts is Google Books. The company began scanning books and uploading limited previews, and full books where allowed, into its new book search engine. The Authors Guild, a group that represents 8,000 U.S. authors, filed a class action suit in a New York City federal court against Google in 2005 over this new service. Google replied that it is in compliance with all existing and historical applications of copyright laws regarding books.[133] Google eventually reached a revised settlement in 2009 to limit its scans to books from the U.S., the UK, Australia and Canada.[134] Furthermore, the Paris Civil Court ruled against Google in late 2009, asking it to remove the works of La Martinière (Éditions du Seuil) from its database.[135] In competition with Amazon.com, Google plans to sell digital versions of new books.[136] On July 21, 2010, in response to newcomer Bing, Google updated its image search to display a streaming sequence of thumbnails that enlarge when pointed at. Though web searches still appear in a batch per page format, on July 23, 2010, dictionary definitions for certain English words began appearing above the linked results for web searches.[137] Google's algorithm was changed in March 2011, giving more weight to high-quality content[138] possibly by the use of n-grams to remove spun content.[139] Productivity tools In addition to its standard web search services, Google has released over the years a number of online productivity tools. Gmail, a free webmail service provided by Google, was launched as an invitation-only beta program on April 1, 2004,[140] and became available to the general public on February 7, 2007.[141] The service was upgraded from beta status on July 7, 2009,[142] at which time it had 146 million users monthly.[143] The service would be the first online email service with one gigabyte of storage, and the first to keep emails from the same conversation together in one thread, similar to an Internet forum.[140] The service currently offers over 7600 MB of free storage with additional storage ranging from 20 GB to 16 TB available for US$0.25 per 1 GB per year.[144] Furthermore, software developers know Gmail for its pioneering use of AJAX, a programming technique that allows web pages to be interactive without refreshing the browser.[145] One criticism of Gmail has been the potential for data disclosure, a risk associated with many online web applications. Steve Ballmer (Microsoft's CEO),[146] Liz Figueroa,[147] Mark Rasch,[148] and the editors of Google Watch[149] believe the processing of email message content goes beyond proper use, but Google claims that mail sent to or from Gmail is never read by a human being beyond the account holder, and is only used to improve relevance of advertisements.[150] Google Docs, another part of Google's productivity suite, allows users to create, edit, and collaborate on documents in an online environment, not dissimilar to Microsoft Word. The service was originally called Writely, but was obtained by Google on March 9, 2006, where it was released as an invitation-only preview.[151] On June 6 after the acquisition, Google created an experimental spreadsheet editing program,[152] which would be combined with Google Docs on October 10.[153] A program to edit presentations would complete the set on September 17, 2007,[154] before all three services were taken out of beta along with Gmail, Google Calendar and all products from the Google Apps Suite on July 7, 2009.[142] Enterprise products Google's search appliance Google's search appliance at the 2008 RSA Conference Google entered the enterprise market in February 2002 with the launch of its Google Search Appliance, targeted toward providing search technology for larger organizations.[23] Google launched the Mini three years later, which was targeted at smaller organizations. Late in 2006, Google began to sell Custom Search Business Edition, providing customers with an advertising-free window into Google.com's index. The service was renamed Google Site Search in 2008.[155] Google Apps is another primary Google enterprise service offering. The service allows organizations to bring Google's web application offerings, such as Gmail and Google Docs, into its own domain. The service is available in several editions: a basic free edition (formerly known as Google Apps Standard edition), Google Apps for Business, Google Apps for Education, and Google Apps for Government. Special editions include extras such as more disk space, API access, a service level agreement (SLA), premium support, and additional apps. In the same year Google Apps was launched, Google acquired Postini[156] and proceeded to integrate the company's security technologies into Google Apps[157] under the name Google Postini Services.[158] Additional Google enterprise offerings include geospatial solutions (e.g., Google Earth and Google Maps); security and archival solutions (e.g., Postini), and Chromebooks for business and education (i.e., personal computing run on browser-centric operating systems). Other products Galaxy Nexus, the latest "Google phone" Google Translate is a server-side machine translation service, which can translate between 35 different languages. Browser extensions allow for easy access to Google Translate from the browser. The software uses corpus linguistics techniques, where the program "learns" from professionally translated documents, specifically UN and European Parliament proceedings.[159] Furthermore, a "suggest a better translation" feature accompanies the translated text, allowing users to indicate where the current translation is incorrect or otherwise inferior to another translation. Google launched its Google News service in 2002. The site proclaimed that the company had created a "highly unusual" site that "offers a news service compiled solely by computer algorithms without human intervention. Google employs no editors, managing editors, or executive editors."[160] The site hosted less licensed news content than Yahoo! News, and instead presented topically selected links to news and opinion pieces along with reproductions of their headlines, story leads, and photographs.[161] The photographs are typically reduced to thumbnail size and placed next to headlines from other news sources on the same topic in order to minimize copyright infringement claims. Nevertheless, Agence France Presse sued Google for copyright infringement in federal court in the District of Columbia, a case which Google settled for an undisclosed amount in a pact that included a license of the full text of AFP articles for use on Google News.[162] In 2006, Google made a bid to offer free wireless broadband access throughout the city of San Francisco along with Internet service provider EarthLink. Large telecommunications companies such as Comcast and Verizon opposed such efforts, claiming it was "unfair competition" and that cities would be violating their commitments to offer local monopolies to these companies. In his testimony before Congress on network neutrality in 2006, Google's Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf blamed such tactics on the fact that nearly half of all consumers lack meaningful choice in broadband providers.[163] Google currently offers free wi-fi access in its hometown of Mountain View, California.[164] One year later, reports surfaced that Google was planning the release of its own mobile phone, possibly a competitor to Apple's iPhone.[165][166][167] The project, called Android, turned out not to be a phone but an operating system for mobile devices, which Google acquired and then released as an open source project under the Apache 2.0 license.[168] Google provides a software development kit for developers so applications can be created to be run on Android-based phones. In September 2008, T-Mobile released the G1, the first Android-based phone.[169] More than a year later on January 5, 2010, Google released an Android phone under its own company name called the Nexus One.[170] Other projects Google has worked on include a new collaborative communication service, a web browser, and even a mobile operating system. The first of these was first announced on May 27, 2009. Google Wave was described as a product that helps users communicate and collaborate on the web. The service is Google's "email redesigned", with realtime editing, the ability to embed audio, video, and other media, and extensions that further enhance the communication experience. Google Wave was previously in a developer's preview, where interested users had to be invited to test the service, but was released to the general public on May 19, 2010, at Google's I/O keynote. On September 1, 2008, Google pre-announced the upcoming availability of Google Chrome, an open source web browser,[171] which was then released on September 2, 2008. The next year, on July 7, 2009, Google announced Google Chrome OS, an open source Linux-based operating system that includes only a web browser and is designed to log users into their Google account.[172][173] Google Goggles is a mobile application available on Android and iOS used for image recognition and non-text-based search. In addition to scanning QR codes, the app can recognize historic landmarks, import business cards, and solve Sudoku puzzles.[174] While Goggles could originally identify people as well, Google has limited that functionality as a privacy protection.[175] In 2011, Google announced that it will unveil Google Wallet, a mobile application for wireless payments.[176] In late June 2011, Google soft-launched a social networking service called Google+.[177] On July 14, 2011, Google announced that Google+ had reached 10 million users just two weeks after it was launched in this "limited" trial phase.[178] After four weeks in operation, it had reached 25 million users.[179] Corporate affairs and culture Eric Schmidt, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page sitting together Then-CEO, now Chairman of Google Eric Schmidt with Sergey Brin and Larry Page (left to right) in 2008. Asian man in his twenties wearing a blue, green, yellow and red propeller hat that says "Noogle" New employees are called "Nooglers," and are given a propeller beanie cap to wear on their first Friday.[180] Google is known for having an informal corporate culture. On Fortune magazine's list of best companies to work for, Google ranked first in 2007, 2008 and 2012[181][182][183] and fourth in 2009 and 2010.[184][185] Google was also nominated in 2010 to be the world’s most attractive employer to graduating students in the Universum Communications talent attraction index.[186] Google's corporate philosophy embodies such casual principles as "you can make money without doing evil," "you can be serious without a suit," and "work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun."[187] Employees Google's stock performance following its initial public offering has enabled many early employees to be competitively compensated.[188] After the company's IPO, founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt requested that their base salary be cut to $1. Subsequent offers by the company to increase their salaries have been turned down, primarily because their main compensation continues to come from owning stock in Google. Before 2004, Schmidt was making $250,000 per year, and Page and Brin each earned a salary of $150,000.[189] In 2007 and through early 2008, several top executives left Google. In October 2007, former chief financial officer of YouTube Gideon Yu joined Facebook[190] along with Benjamin Ling, a high-ranking engineer.[191] In March 2008, Sheryl Sandberg, then vice-president of global online sales and operations, began her position as chief operating officer of Facebook[192] while Ash ElDifrawi, formerly head of brand advertising, left to become chief marketing officer of Netshops, an online retail company that was renamed Hayneedle in 2009.[193] On April 4, 2011 Larry Page became CEO and Eric Schmidt became Executive Chairman of Google.[194] As a motivation technique, Google uses a policy often called Innovation Time Off, where Google engineers are encouraged to spend 20% of their work time on projects that interest them. Some of Google's newer services, such as Gmail, Google News, Orkut, and AdSense originated from these independent endeavors.[195] In a talk at Stanford University, Marissa Mayer, Google's Vice President of Search Products and User Experience, showed that half of all new product launches at the time had originated from the Innovation Time Off.[196] In March 2011, consulting firm Universum released data that Google ranks the first on list of ideal employers by nearly 25 percent chosen from more than 10,000 young professionals asked.[197] Fortune magazine ranked Google as number one on its 100 Best Companies To Work For list for 2012.[198] Googleplex Main article: Googleplex The Googleplex The Googleplex, Google's original and largest corporate campus Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California is referred to as "the Googleplex", a play on words on the number googolplex and the headquarters itself being a complex of buildings. The lobby is decorated with a piano, lava lamps, old server clusters, and a projection of search queries on the wall. The hallways are full of exercise balls and bicycles. Each employee has access to the corporate recreation center. Recreational amenities are scattered throughout the campus and include a workout room with weights and rowing machines, locker rooms, washers and dryers, a massage room, assorted video games, table football, a baby grand piano, a billiard table, and ping pong. In addition to the rec room, there are snack rooms stocked with various foods and drinks, with special emphasis placed on nutrition.[199] Free food is available to employees 24/7, with paid vending machines prorated favoring nutritional value.[200] In 2006, Google moved into 311,000 square feet (28,900 m2) of office space in New York City, at 111 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan.[201] The office was specially designed and built for Google, and it now houses its largest advertising sales team, which has been instrumental in securing large partnerships.[201] In 2003, they added an engineering staff in New York City, which has been responsible for more than 100 engineering projects, including Google Maps, Google Spreadsheets, and others. It is estimated that the building costs Google $10 million per year to rent and is similar in design and functionality to its Mountain View headquarters, including table football, air hockey, and ping-pong tables, as well as a video game area. In November 2006, Google opened offices on Carnegie Mellon's campus in Pittsburgh, focusing on shopping related advertisement coding and smartphone applications and programs.[202][203] By late 2006, Google also established a new headquarters for its AdWords division in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[204] Furthermore, Google has offices all around the world, and in the United States, including Ann Arbor, Michigan; Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colorado; Cambridge, Massachusetts; New York City; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Reston, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Google's NYC office building Google's NYC office building houses its largest advertising sales team.[201] Google is taking steps to ensure that its operations are environmentally sound. In October 2006, the company announced plans to install thousands of solar panels to provide up to 1.6 megawatts of electricity, enough to satisfy approximately 30% of the campus' energy needs.[205] The system will be the largest solar power system constructed on a U.S. corporate campus and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world.[205] In addition, Google announced in 2009 that it was deploying herds of goats to keep grassland around the Googleplex short, helping to prevent the threat from seasonal bush fires while also reducing the carbon footprint of mowing the extensive grounds.[206][207] The idea of trimming lawns using goats originated from R. J. Widlar, an engineer who worked for National Semiconductor.[208] Despite this, Google has faced accusations in Harper's Magazine of being an "energy glutton", and was accused of employing its "Don't be evil" motto as well as its very public energy-saving campaigns as an attempt to cover up or make up for the massive amounts of energy its servers actually require.[209] Easter eggs and April Fools' Day jokes Main article: List of Google's hoaxes and easter eggs Google has a tradition of creating April Fools' Day jokes. For example, Google MentalPlex allegedly featured the use of mental power to search the web.[210] In 2007, Google announced a free Internet service called TiSP, or Toilet Internet Service Provider, where one obtained a connection by flushing one end of a fiber-optic cable down their toilet.[211] Also in 2007, Google's Gmail page displayed an announcement for Gmail Paper, allowing users to have email messages printed and shipped to them.[212] In 2008 Google announced Gmail Custom time where users could change the time that the email was sent.[213] In 2010, Google jokingly changed its company name to Topeka in honor of Topeka, Kansas, whose mayor actually changed the city's name to Google for a short amount of time in an attempt to sway Google's decision in its new Google Fiber Project.[214][215] In 2011, Google announced Gmail Motion, an interactive way of controlling Gmail and the computer with body movements via the user's webcam.[216] In addition to April Fools' Day jokes, Google's services contain a number of Easter eggs. For instance, Google included the Swedish Chef's "Bork bork bork," Pig Latin, "Hacker" or leetspeak, Elmer Fudd, Pirate, and Klingon as language selections for its search engine.[217] In addition, the search engine calculator provides the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything from Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.[218] Furthermore, when searching the word "recursion", the spell-checker's result for the properly spelled word is exactly the same word, creating a recursive link.[219] Likewise, when searching for the word "anagram," meaning a rearrangement of letters from one word to form other valid words, Google's suggestion feature displays "Did you mean: nag a ram?"[220] In Google Maps, searching for directions between places separated by large bodies of water, such as Los Angeles and Tokyo, results in instructions to "kayak across the Pacific Ocean." During FIFA World Cup 2010, search queries like "World Cup", "FIFA", etc. caused the "Goooo...gle" page indicator at the bottom of every result page to read "Goooo...al!" instead.[221] Typing in 'Do a barrel roll' in the search engine will make the page do a 360° rotation. Philanthropy Main article: Google.org In 2004, Google formed the not-for-profit philanthropic Google.org, with a start-up fund of $1 billion.[222] The mission of the organization is to create awareness about climate change, global public health, and global poverty. One of its first projects was to develop a viable plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that can attain 100 miles per gallon. Google hired Dr. Larry Brilliant as the program's executive director in 2004[223] and the current director is Megan Smith.[224] In 2008 Google announced its "project 10100" which accepted ideas for how to help the community and then allowed Google users to vote on their favorites.[225] After two years of silence, during which many wondered what had happened to the program,[226] Google revealed the winners of the project, giving a total of ten million dollars to various ideas ranging from non-profit organizations that promote education to a website that intends to make all legal documents public and online.[227] In 2011, Google donated 1 million euros to International Mathematical Olympiad to support the next five annual International Mathematical Olympiads (2011–2015).[228] Network neutrality Google is a noted supporter of network neutrality. According to Google's Guide to Net Neutrality: Network neutrality is the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet. The Internet has operated according to this neutrality principle since its earliest days... Fundamentally, net neutrality is about equal access to the Internet. In our view, the broadband carriers should not be permitted to use their market power to discriminate against competing applications or content. Just as telephone companies are not permitted to tell consumers who they can call or what they can say, broadband carriers should not be allowed to use their market power to control activity online.[229] On February 7, 2006, Vint Cerf, a co-inventor of the Internet Protocol (IP), and current Vice President and "Chief Internet Evangelist" at Google, in testimony before Congress, said, "allowing broadband carriers to control what people see and do online would fundamentally undermine the principles that have made the Internet such a success."[230] Privacy Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, said in a 2007 interview with the Financial Times: "The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as ‘What shall I do tomorrow?’ and ‘What job shall I take?'".[231] Schmidt reaffirmed this 2010 in an interview with the Wall Street Journal: "I actually think most people don't want Google to answer their questions, they want Google to tell them what they should be doing next."[232] On December 2009, Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, declared after privacy concerns: "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines – including Google – do retain this information for some time and it's important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities."[233] Privacy International ranked Google as "Hostile to Privacy", its lowest rating on its report, making Google the only company in the list to receive that ranking.[234][235][236] At the Techonomy conference in 2010 Eric Schmidt predicted that "true transparency and no anonymity" is the way forward for the internet: "In a world of asynchronous threats it is too dangerous for there not to be some way to identify you. We need a [verified] name service for people. Governments will demand it." He also said that "If I look at enough of your messaging and your location, and use artificial intelligence, we can predict where you are going to go. Show us 14 photos of yourself and we can identify who you are. You think you don't have 14 photos of yourself on the internet? You've got Facebook photos!"[237] The non-profit group Public Information Research launched Google Watch, a website advertised as "a look at Google's monopoly, algorithms, and privacy issues."[238][239] The site raised questions relating to Google's storage of cookies, which in 2007 had a life span of more than 32 years and incorporated a unique ID that enabled creation of a user data log.[240] Google has also faced criticism with its release of Google Buzz, Google's version of social networking, where Gmail users had their contact lists automatically made public unless they opted out.[241] Google has been criticized for its censorship of certain sites in specific countries and regions. Until March 2010, Google adhered to the Internet censorship policies of China by removing certain search results, arguing that providing no service to Chinese users at all was "more inconsistent with our mission".[242] There were reports in 2010 from leaked diplomatic cables that the Chinese Politburo had hacked into Google's computers as part of a worldwide coordinated campaign of computer sabotage carried out by "government operatives, private security experts and Internet outlaws recruited by the Chinese government."[243] Despite being highly influential in local and national public policy, Google does not disclose its political spending online. In August 2010, New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio launched a national campaign urging the corporation to disclose all of its political spending.[244] During 2006–2010 Google Streetview camera cars collected about 600 gigabytes of data from users of unencrypted public and private Wi-Fi networks in more than 30 countries. No disclosures nor privacy policy was given to those affected, nor to the owners of the Wi-Fi stations. A Google representative claimed that the company was not aware of its own data collection activities until an inquiry from German regulators was received, and that none of this data was used in Google's search engine or other services. A representative of Consumer Watchdog replied, "Once again, Google has demonstrated a lack of concern for privacy. Its computer engineers run amok, push the envelope and gather whatever data they can until their fingers are caught in the cookie jar." In a sign that legal penalties may result, Google said it will not destroy the data until permitted by regulators. ... ...... Ritchie was born in,[1] the second of two children born to Amber (née Parkinson) and Captain John Vivian Ritchie (b. 1928), former Seaforth Highlanders serviceman and advertising executive. John Vivian's father was Major Stewart Ritchie, who died in France, in 1940, during World War Two. John Ritchie's mother was Doris Margaretta McLaughlin (b. 1896), daughter of Vivian Guy McLaughlin (b. 1865) and Edith Martineau (b. 1866). Most of Ritchie's family on the McLaughlin and Martineau lines were appointed Reverends, Barons or Knighted at some point. The peerage started with the Very Rev. Hubert McLaughlin (b. 1805), father of famous nurse Louisa McLaughlin, and ancestor of Patrick McLaughlin, who was the first in his direct family to be given the according title, as he was born into a blue collar family and worked hard to find nobility. Ritchie's mother, Amber, would later go on to marry a baronet herself.[2][3] His father's second marriage was to Shireen Ritchie, Baroness Ritchie of Brompton, a former model and later Conservative politician and life peer. [4] Ritchie, who is dyslexic, was expelled from Stanbridge Earls School, one of the most prominent institutions specialising in dyslexia in the UK, at the age of 15.[1] He has stated that drug use was the reason for the expulsion; his father has said that it was because his son was caught "cutting class and entertaining a girl in his room."[5] He also attended Sibford School. In addition to his elder sister, Tabitha, a dance instructor, Ritchie has a half-brother, Kevin Bayton, who was born to Amber Parkinson when she was a teenager and given up for adoption.[6][7] From 1973 until 1980, when they divorced,[5][8] Ritchie's mother was married to Sir Michael Leighton, 11th baronet. As a divorcée, she is correctly styled as Amber, Lady Leighton. Directing career Ritchie directed a 20-minute short film in 1995 entitled The Hard Case. In 1998, Ritchie and his dad contacted their friend Peter Morton, of the Hard Rock Cafe chain, wondering if he had any potential investors for a debut film, Morton knew his nephew Matthew Vaughn had been studying film production in Los Angeles. Peter informed Vaughn of Ritchie's new film idea, and Vaughn knew he could help out with his own found production ideas he had gained from his travels to America. Matthew, John, Guy and Peter all contacted their mutual acquaintance, Trudie Styler, who they knew had enough acting money to invest in the production of Ritchie's second film. Styler informed them that she had previously seen The Hard Case, and decided that co-funding the project would be a worthwhile opportunity. After about eight months, the production of the film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was completed, and it was released in 1998 to a national audience, then later went global after its positive reviews. Richie was introduced to Madonna when the soundtrack for the film was issued on her Maverick Records label. The film, whose main actor was Jason Flemyng, also introduced actors Jason Statham (The Transporter), Nick Moran and Dexter Fletcher to worldwide audiences, as well as introducing former footballer Vinnie Jones to a new career as a film star. In 2000 Ritchie won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. Ritchie created and produced a spin-off television series called Lock, Stock....[9] His second feature film was Snatch, released in the year 2000. Originally known as Diamonds, it was another caper comedy, this time backed by a major studio. The cast featured such Hollywood big names as Brad Pitt, Benicio del Toro and Dennis Farina, along with the returning Vinnie Jones and Statham. Similar to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in featuring a complex and inventive storyline in which the characters weave in and out of each others' lives, the film also plays with time, depicting events from various perspectives. It currently has a rating of 72% on Rotten Tomatoes. Ritchie accompanied Madonna to the debuts of her film The Next Best Thing and album Music. Following his marriage to Madonna, Ritchie began focusing his filmmaking on his famous wife, directing her in both a music video (for the song "What It Feels Like for a Girl", a controversial video that showed Madonna engaging in violent behaviour, ostensibly directed at men, including T-boning a car with three men in it, tasering and robbing a man at an ATM, scratching a police car and shooting two officers with a water gun, driving her car through a group of men playing street hockey and incinerating a man by throwing a lighter into a pool of gasoline) and a short film, Star, for the BMW films series. Ritchie's next film, also featuring Madonna, was a remake of the 1974 Lina Wertmüller hit Swept Away (also entitled Swept Away). Ritchie cast Madonna as a rich, rude, socialite who, after a shipwreck, is trapped on a deserted island with a slovenly Communist sailor who humiliates her. Ritchie renamed the woman Amber Leighton after his mother. This film was both a critical and commercial disappointment. He later accompanied Madonna to the debuts of her films Die Another Day, I'm Going To Tell You A Secret, Arthur and the Invisibles, and I Am Because We Are, as well as her West End play debut in Up for Grabs. Madonna supported her husband by attending the debuts of Ritchie's films Snatch, Revolver, and RocknRolla. Ritchie, in September 2008. Ritchie's next project was a Vegas-themed heist film entitled Revolver, which was critically panned in the US and UK.[10][11] Ritchie was involved[clarification needed] with a hidden camera show called Swag, for Channel Five in the UK, which turned the table on criminals and opportunists by using stunts to trap them in the act. Ritchie has also written and directed RocknRolla starring Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Gerard Butler, Tom Hardy, Jeremy Piven, Thandie Newton, and Tom Wilkinson. It scores 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and was generally received well.[12] Ritchie intends to develop the film into a trilogy, with the next entry being "The Real RocknRolla," as is stated at the end of "RocknRolla." Ritchie will also direct a film based on a comic book series he created with Virgin Comics entitled Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper. The film rights were acquired by Warner Brothers in July 2007. The film's being produced by Silver Pictures.[13] In 2008, Ritchie directed a commercial for Nike called "Take It To The Next Level", about a young Dutch footballer who signs for Arsenal, showing the progression of his career from his viewpoint, until he makes his debut for the Netherlands. The commercial features cameo appearances from some football players with music by Eagles of Death Metal.[14] Ritchie's movie Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, received its theatrical release on 25 December 2009. The film was given generally positive reviews[15] and grossed more than $520 million worldwide,[16] becoming Ritchie's most successful film financially.[17] The sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, was released on 16 December 2011.[18] In June 2012 it was announced that Ritchie would direct an adaptation of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. [19] Personal life Ritchie and wife Madonna in 2005 On 18 May 2000, Ritchie was arrested by the police after he assaulted a 20-year-old man outside the Kensington home he shared with Madonna, causing actual bodily harm.[20] On 22 December 2000, Guy married the American pop singer and actress Madonna at Skibo Castle in Scotland. They have a son, Rocco John Ritchie, born 11 August 2000 in Los Angeles, and adopted a Malawian baby boy named David. On 15 October 2008, British media reported that a split was "imminent" between Ritchie and Madonna.[21] The split was confirmed by their spokesperson[22] and Ritchie and Madonna went public with the split because they "can’t bear to live with the pretense any longer".[23] On 15 December 2008, it was announced by Madonna's spokeswoman that the singer had agreed to a divorce settlement with Ritchie, the terms of which grant him between £50million and £60million, a figure that includes the value of the couple's London pub and residence and Wiltshire estate in England.[24] Madonna and Guy Ritchie's marriage was dissolved by District Judge Reid by decree nisi at the clinical Principal Registry of the Family Division in High Holborn, London. Madonna and Ritchie entered into a compromise agreement for Rocco and David, then aged eight and three respectively, and divided the children's time between Ritchie’s London home and Madonna’s in New York, where the two will be joined by her daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship.[25][26] During his marriage to Madonna, Ritchie followed Kabbalah and was a regular attendee of services at the Kabbalah Centre in Los Angeles, which his former wife co-founded. He also adhered to the Kabbalah tradition of circumcision, undergoing the procedure at Madonna's request.[27] Ritchie was the inspiration for, and is the subject of, singer Robbie Williams' single She's Madonna from his 2006 album Rudebox. Ritchie started training in Shotokan karate at the age of seven at the Budokwai in London, where he later achieved a black belt in judo.[28] He also has a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.[29] Ritchie is a fan of the English football team Manchester United.[30] In February 2011 a £6m house he owns in London's Fitzrovia was occupied briefly by members of The Really Free School, a squatter organization.[31][32] His girlfriend, Jacqui Ainsley, gave birth to their first child, a boy, Rafael, in September 2011. [33] ... ...... Hasso Plattner is a cofounder of software giant SAP AG. Today he is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of SAP AG. Contents Hasso Plattner (born 21 January 1944 in Berlin, Germany) is a German entrepreneur. He is married, has two children, and lives in Schriesheim-Altenbach near Heidelberg, Germany. Together with Dietmar Hopp, Claus Wellenreuther, Hans Werner Hector and Klaus Tschira, he is one the founders of the software giant SAP AG. He was also chairman of the board until 2003 and is currently the chairman of the supervisory board. Commitment to education Since his retirement from SAP, Plattner has been particularly active as a benefactor in the field of technological research. Media reports have named him one of Germany's most important private sponsors of scientific research. Plattner received his honorary doctorate in 2002 and his honorary professorship in 2004 from the University of Potsdam. Plattner had also received an honorary doctorate (1990) and an honorary professorship in Information Systems (1994) from the Saarland University, Saarbrücken. The same university named him an honorary senator in 1998. Also in 1998, Plattner founded the Hasso Plattner Institute [1] for software systems engineering based at the University of Potsdam, and in Palo Alto, California, its only source of funding being the non-profit Hasso Plattner Foundation for Software Systems Engineering. Plattner has pledged €50 million of his personal fortune over a period of 20 years. Since its foundation, Plattner's commitment to the HPI has quadrupled to over €200 million. He not only fully finances the HPI, but is also actively involved as a director and lecturer in Enterprise Platforms and Integration Concepts[2]. In October 2005, with a donation of US$35 million, Plattner founded the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University [3]. Students of varying disciplines have been charged with the development of user-friendly innovations. Another of Plattner's pledges to promote science was of €10 million to redevelop the library at the University of Mannheim, Germany, given in 2003. The venture capital fund HassoPlattnerVentures, set up with a starting balance of more than 25 million euros, was founded on 1 July 2005 in the German city of Potsdam with the goal of supporting young entrepreneurs in transforming their ideas into marketable products. As of December 2009 HPV manages €150 million and has 17 companies in its portfolio. An affiliate fund, HPV Africa, was founded in 2008 with €29 million, and has already invested in five companies. SAP co-founder Prof. Dr. h.c. Hasso Plattner provides the lion’s share of this investment capital, along with InvestitionsBank of Brandenburg and CMEA Ventures. Recognition For his commitment to economics and science, Plattner has received a number of honours. Germany's manager magazin awarded its coveted Leadership Award for Global Integration to the "technology guru" and inaugurated him into their Hall of Fame, which honours personalities for their promotion of economic and social development in Germany. In 2001, Time Magazine Europe ranked Mr. Plattner number one on its list of the most important and influential IT personalities. On 21 January 2004, at a ceremony at the Hasso Plattner Institute celebrating the 60th birthday of its founder, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder made the following comments on Plattner’s achievements: "We need more Hasso Plattners and more SAPs in order to get Germany moving again economically." According to the Chancellor, Plattner was able to create an international corporation that proved "that German companies can be at the top of the technological hierarchy worldwide". The Chancellor argued that Germany could learn a lot from the HPI. In an interview in August 2004, the Munich-based management consultant Roland Berger named Hasso Plattner as one of the five Germans who have made the greatest impression on him. In the Welt am Sonntag article Berger pointed out how Plattner founded, built up and adapted SAP to a changing market was a "master achievement". In 2011, Plattner was estimated to be worth US$6.7 billion by Forbes, making him the 10th richest man in Germany.[1] Hobbies and Sports Sponsorships Plattner has occasionally been brought into the public eye due to disputes with Oracle's founder Larry Ellison. Both share an unusual passion: racing transoceanic yachts around the world. The two have frequently come head-to-head, and such meetings have not been without their animosity. Alongside sailing the high seas, Plattner is a keen golfer. He owns the Fancourt Golf Estate, near George, in South Africa which has four Gary Player designed championship courses. The Links of Fancourt staged the 2003 Presidents Cup matches between the USA and an international team, captained by Gary Player. Plattner is an investor in San Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises, which owns the San Jose Sharks, HP Pavilion at San Jose and other related properties. Philanthropy Plattner has had strong connections with South Africa over the years and spends some of his time living there, while participating in charitable work. In the fight against AIDS, he supports the universities of KwaZulu Natal and Cape Town. His donation of six million euros for the Isombululo programme, for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS was announced at the Presidents Cup, one of the world's leading international golf tournaments in 2003[4], and it is suggested that this amount will have helped 360 000 people. In the spring of 2005, Plattner personally covered the costs of the 46664 benefit concert, which took place at on his Gary Player designed golf course, The Links of Fancourt in George which is near Cape Town and which was broadcast globally on television. Proceeds went towards the former South African president Nelson Mandela's fund to fight AIDS/HIV. Plattner has contributed €20 million to the reconstruction of the Stadtschloss in Potsdam, Germany, which was damaged in the second world war and demolished in 1959. ... ...... Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (play /ˈhɪləri daɪˈæn ˈrɒdəm ˈklɪntən/; born October 26, 1947) is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001. In the 2008 election, Clinton was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. A native of Illinois, Hillary Rodham first attracted national attention in 1969 for her remarks as the first student commencement speaker at Wellesley College. She embarked on a career in law after graduating from Yale Law School in 1973. Following a stint as a Congressional legal counsel, she moved to Arkansas in 1974 and married Bill Clinton in 1975. Rodham cofounded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families in 1977 and became the first female chair of the Legal Services Corporation in 1978. Named the first female partner at Rose Law Firm in 1979, she was twice listed as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America. First Lady of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and 1983 to 1992 with husband Bill as Governor, she successfully led a task force to reform Arkansas's education system. She sat on the board of directors of Wal-Mart Stores and several other corporations. In 1994, as First Lady of the United States, her major initiative, the Clinton health care plan, failed to gain approval from the U.S. Congress. However, in 1997 and 1999, Clinton played a role in advocating the creation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and the Foster Care Independence Act. Her years as First Lady drew a polarized response from the American public. The only First Lady to have been subpoenaed, she testified before a federal grand jury in 1996 due to the Whitewater controversy, but was never charged with wrongdoing in this or several other investigations during her husband's administration. The state of her marriage was the subject of considerable speculation following the Lewinsky scandal in 1998. After moving to the state of New York, Clinton was elected as a U.S. Senator in 2000. That election marked the first time an American First Lady had run for public office; Clinton was also the first female senator to represent the state. In the Senate, she initially supported the Bush administration on some foreign policy issues, including a vote for the Iraq War Resolution. She subsequently opposed the administration on its conduct of the war in Iraq and on most domestic issues. Senator Clinton was reelected by a wide margin in 2006. In the 2008 presidential nomination race, Hillary Clinton won more primaries and delegates than any other female candidate in American history, but narrowly lost to Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Obama went on to win the election and appoint Clinton as Secretary of State; Clinton became the first former First Lady to serve in a president's cabinet. She has put into place institutional changes seeking to maximize departmental effectiveness and promote the empowerment of women worldwide, and has set records for most-traveled secretary for time in office. She has been at the forefront of the U.S. response to the Arab Spring, including advocating for the military intervention in Libya. She has used "smart power" as the strategy for asserting U.S. leadership and values in the world and has championed the use of social media in getting the U.S. message out. Early life Hillary Diane Rodham[nb 1] was born at Edgewater Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.[1][2] She was raised in a United Methodist family, first in Chicago and then, from the age of three, in suburban Park Ridge, Illinois.[3] Her father, Hugh Ellsworth Rodham (1911–1993), was the son of Welsh and English immigrants;[4] he managed a successful small business in the textile industry.[5] Her mother, Dorothy Emma Howell (1919–2011), was a homemaker of English, Scottish, French, French Canadian, and Welsh descent.[4][6] Hillary grew up with two younger brothers, Hugh and Tony. As a child, Hillary Rodham was a teacher's favorite at her public schools in Park Ridge.[7][8] She participated in swimming, baseball, and other sports.[7][8] She also earned numerous awards as a Brownie and Girl Scout.[8] She attended Maine East High School, where she participated in student council, the school newspaper, and was selected for National Honor Society.[1][9] For her senior year, she was redistricted to Maine South High School, where she was a National Merit Finalist and graduated in the top five percent of her class of 1965.[9][10] Her mother wanted her to have an independent, professional career,[6] and her father, otherwise a traditionalist, was of the opinion that his daughter's abilities and opportunities should not be limited by gender.[11] Raised in a politically conservative household,[6] at age thirteen Rodham helped canvass South Side Chicago following the very close 1960 U.S. presidential election, where she found evidence of electoral fraud against Republican candidate Richard Nixon.[12] She then volunteered to campaign for Republican candidate Barry Goldwater in the U.S. presidential election of 1964.[13] Rodham's early political development was shaped most by her high school history teacher (like her father, a fervent anticommunist), who introduced her to Goldwater's classic The Conscience of a Conservative,[14] and by her Methodist youth minister (like her mother, concerned with issues of social justice), with whom she saw and met civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., in Chicago in 1962.[15] In 1965, Rodham enrolled at Wellesley College, where she majored in political science.[16] During her freshman year, she served as president of the Wellesley Young Republicans;[17][18] with this Rockefeller Republican-oriented group,[19] she supported the elections of John Lindsay and Edward Brooke.[20] She later stepped down from this position, as her views changed regarding the American Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War.[17] In a letter to her youth minister at this time, she described herself as "a mind conservative and a heart liberal."[21] In contrast to the 1960s current that advocated radical actions against the political system, she sought to work for change within it.[22] In her junior year, Rodham became a supporter of the antiwar presidential nomination campaign of Democrat Eugene McCarthy.[23] Following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Rodham organized a two-day student strike and worked with Wellesley's black students to recruit more black students and faculty.[23] In early 1968, she was elected president of the Wellesley College Government Association and served through early 1969;[22][24] she was instrumental in keeping Wellesley from being embroiled in the student disruptions common to other colleges.[22] A number of her fellow students thought she might some day become the first woman President of the United States.[22] So she could better understand her changing political views, Professor Alan Schechter assigned Rodham to intern at the House Republican Conference, and she attended the "Wellesley in Washington" summer program.[23] Rodham was invited by moderate New York Republican Representative Charles Goodell to help Governor Nelson Rockefeller's late-entry campaign for the Republican nomination.[23] Rodham attended the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami. However, she was upset by how Richard Nixon's campaign portrayed Rockefeller and by what she perceived as the convention's "veiled" racist messages, and left the Republican Party for good.[23] Rodham wrote her senior thesis, a critique of the tactics of radical community organizer Saul Alinsky, under Professor Schechter.[25] (Years later, while she was First Lady, access to the thesis was restricted at the request of the White House and it became the subject of some speculation.)[25] In 1969, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts,[26] with departmental honors in political science.[25] Following pressure from some fellow students,[27] she became the first student in Wellesley College history to deliver its commencement address.[24] Her speech received a standing ovation lasting seven minutes.[22][28][29] She was featured in an article published in Life magazine,[30] due to the response to a part of her speech that criticized Senator Edward Brooke, who had spoken before her at the commencement.[27] She also appeared on Irv Kupcinet's nationally syndicated television talk show as well as in Illinois and New England newspapers.[31] That summer, she worked her way across Alaska, washing dishes in Mount McKinley National Park and sliming salmon in a fish processing cannery in Valdez (which fired her and shut down overnight when she complained about unhealthy conditions).[32] Rodham then entered Yale Law School, where she served on the editorial board of the Yale Review of Law and Social Action.[33] During her second year, she worked at the Yale Child Study Center,[34] learning about new research on early childhood brain development and working as a research assistant on the seminal work, Beyond the Best Interests of the Child (1973).[35][36] She also took on cases of child abuse at Yale-New Haven Hospital[35] and volunteered at New Haven Legal Services to provide free legal advice for the poor.[34] In the summer of 1970, she was awarded a grant to work at Marian Wright Edelman's Washington Research Project, where she was assigned to Senator Walter Mondale's Subcommittee on Migratory Labor. There she researched migrant workers' problems in housing, sanitation, health and education.[37] Edelman later became a significant mentor.[38] Rodham was recruited by political advisor Anne Wexler to work on the 1970 campaign of Connecticut U.S. Senate candidate Joseph Duffey, with Rodham later crediting Wexler with providing her first job in politics.[39] In the late spring of 1971, she began dating Bill Clinton, also a law student at Yale. That summer, she interned at the Oakland, California, law firm of Treuhaft, Walker and Burnstein.[40] The firm was well known for its support of constitutional rights, civil liberties, and radical causes (two of its four partners were current or former Communist Party members);[40] Rodham worked on child custody and other cases.[nb 2] Clinton canceled his original summer plans, in order to live with her in California;[41] the couple continued living together in New Haven when they returned to law school.[42] The following summer, Rodham and Clinton campaigned in Texas for unsuccessful 1972 Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern.[43] She received a Juris Doctor degree from Yale in 1973,[26] having stayed on an extra year to be with Clinton.[44] Clinton first proposed marriage to her following graduation, but she declined.[44] Rodham began a year of postgraduate study on children and medicine at the Yale Child Study Center.[45] Her first scholarly article, "Children Under the Law", was published in the Harvard Educational Review in late 1973.[46] Discussing the new children's rights movement, it stated that "child citizens" were "powerless individuals"[47] and argued that children should not be considered equally incompetent from birth to attaining legal age, but that instead courts should presume competence except when there is evidence otherwise, on a case-by-case basis.[48] The article became frequently cited in the field.[49] During her postgraduate study, Rodham served as staff attorney for Edelman's newly founded Children's Defense Fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts,[50] and as a consultant to the Carnegie Council on Children.[51] In 1974 she was a member of the impeachment inquiry staff in Washington, D.C., advising the House Committee on the Judiciary during the Watergate scandal.[52] Under the guidance of Chief Counsel John Doar and senior member Bernard Nussbaum,[35] Rodham helped research procedures of impeachment and the historical grounds and standards for impeachment.[52] The committee's work culminated in the resignation of President Richard Nixon in August 1974.[52] By then, Rodham was viewed as someone with a bright political future; Democratic political organizer and consultant Betsey Wright had moved from Texas to Washington the previous year to help guide her career;[53] Wright thought Rodham had the potential to become a future senator or president.[54] Meanwhile, Clinton had repeatedly asked her to marry him, and she continued to demur.[55] However, after failing the District of Columbia bar exam[56] and passing the Arkansas exam, Rodham came to a key decision. As she later wrote, "I chose to follow my heart instead of my head".[57] She thus followed Bill Clinton to Arkansas, rather than staying in Washington where career prospects were brighter. He was then teaching law and running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in his home state. In August 1974, Rodham moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and became one of only two female faculty members in the School of Law at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.[58][59] She gave classes in criminal law, where she was considered a rigorous teacher and tough grader, and was the first director of the school's legal aid clinic.[60] She still harbored doubts about marriage, concerned that her separate identity would be lost and that her accomplishments would be viewed in the light of someone else's.[61] Hillary Rodham and Bill Clinton bought a house in Fayetteville in the summer of 1975, and Hillary finally agreed to marry.[63] Their wedding took place on October 11, 1975, in a Methodist ceremony in their living room.[64] She announced she was keeping the name Hillary Rodham,[64] to keep their professional lives separate and avoid apparent conflicts of interest and because "it showed that I was still me,"[65] although her decision upset their mothers.[66] Bill Clinton had lost the congressional race in 1974, but in November 1976 was elected Arkansas Attorney General, and so the couple moved to the state capital of Little Rock.[67] There, in February 1977, Rodham joined the venerable Rose Law Firm, a bastion of Arkansan political and economic influence.[68] She specialized in patent infringement and intellectual property law[33] while also working pro bono in child advocacy;[69] she rarely performed litigation work in court.[70] Rodham maintained her interest in children's law and family policy, publishing the scholarly articles "Children's Policies: Abandonment and Neglect" in 1977[71] and "Children's Rights: A Legal Perspective" in 1979.[72] The latter continued her argument that children's legal competence depended upon their age and other circumstances and that in serious medical rights cases, judicial intervention was sometimes warranted.[48] An American Bar Association chair later said, "Her articles were important, not because they were radically new but because they helped formulate something that had been inchoate."[48] Historian Garry Wills would later describe her as "one of the more important scholar-activists of the last two decades",[73] while conservatives said her theories would usurp traditional parental authority,[74] allow children to file frivolous lawsuits against their parents,[48] and argued that her work was legal "crit" theory run amok.[75] In 1977, Rodham cofounded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, a state-level alliance with the Children's Defense Fund.[33][76] Later that year, President Jimmy Carter (for whom Rodham had been the 1976 campaign director of field operations in Indiana)[77] appointed her to the board of directors of the Legal Services Corporation,[78] and she served in that capacity from 1978 until the end of 1981.[79] From mid-1978 to mid-1980,[nb 3] she served as the chair of that board, the first woman to do so.[80] During her time as chair, funding for the Corporation was expanded from $90 million to $300 million; subsequently she successfully fought President Ronald Reagan's attempts to reduce the funding and change the nature of the organization.[69] Following her husband's November 1978 election as Governor of Arkansas, Rodham became First Lady of Arkansas in January 1979, her title for twelve years (1979–1981, 1983–1992). Clinton appointed her chair of the Rural Health Advisory Committee the same year,[81] where she secured federal funds to expand medical facilities in Arkansas's poorest areas without affecting doctors' fees.[82] In 1979, Rodham became the first woman to be made a full partner of Rose Law Firm.[83] From 1978 until they entered the White House, she had a higher salary than that of her husband.[84] During 1978 and 1979, while looking to supplement their income, Rodham made a spectacular profit from trading cattle futures contracts;[85] an initial $1,000 investment generated nearly $100,000 when she stopped trading after ten months.[86] The couple also began their ill-fated investment in the Whitewater Development Corporation real estate venture with Jim and Susan McDougal at this time.[85] On February 27, 1980, Rodham gave birth to a daughter, Chelsea, her only child. In November 1980, Bill Clinton was defeated in his bid for reelection. Bill Clinton returned to the governor's office two years later by winning the election of 1982. During her husband's campaign, Rodham began to use the name Hillary Clinton, or sometimes "Mrs. Bill Clinton", to assuage the concerns of Arkansas voters;[nb 4] she also took a leave of absence from Rose Law to campaign for him full-time.[87] As First Lady of Arkansas, Hillary Clinton was named chair of the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee in 1983, where she sought to reform the state's court-sanctioned public education system.[88][89] In one of the Clinton governorship's most important initiatives, she fought a prolonged but ultimately successful battle against the Arkansas Education Association, to establish mandatory teacher testing and state standards for curriculum and classroom size.[81][88] In 1985, she also introduced Arkansas's Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youth, a program that helps parents work with their children in preschool preparedness and literacy.[90] She was named Arkansas Woman of the Year in 1983 and Arkansas Mother of the Year in 1984.[91][92] Clinton continued to practice law with the Rose Law Firm while she was First Lady of Arkansas. She earned less than the other partners, as she billed fewer hours,[93] but still made more than $200,000 in her final year there.[94] She seldom did trial work,[94] but the firm considered her a "rainmaker" because she brought in clients, partly thanks to the prestige she lent the firm and to her corporate board connections.[94] She was also very influential in the appointment of state judges.[94] Bill Clinton's Republican opponent in his 1986 gubernatorial reelection campaign accused the Clintons of conflict of interest, because Rose Law did state business; the Clintons deflected the charge by saying that state fees were walled off by the firm before her profits were calculated.[95] From 1982 to 1988, Clinton was on the board of directors, sometimes as chair, of the New World Foundation,[96] which funded a variety of New Left interest groups.[97] From 1987 to 1991, she chaired the American Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession,[98] which addressed gender bias in the law profession and induced the association to adopt measures to combat it.[98] She was twice named by the National Law Journal as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America: in 1988 and in 1991.[99] When Bill Clinton thought about not running again for governor in 1990, Hillary considered running, but private polls were unfavorable and, in the end, he ran and was reelected for the final time.[100] Clinton served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital Legal Services (1988–1992)[101] and the Children's Defense Fund (as chair, 1986–1992).[1][102] In addition to her positions with nonprofit organizations, she also held positions on the corporate board of directors of TCBY (1985–1992),[103] Wal-Mart Stores (1986–1992)[104] and Lafarge (1990–1992).[105] TCBY and Wal-Mart were Arkansas-based companies that were also clients of Rose Law.[94][106] Clinton was the first female member on Wal-Mart's board, added following pressure on chairman Sam Walton to name a woman to the board.[106] Once there, she pushed successfully for Wal-Mart to adopt more environmentally friendly practices, was largely unsuccessful in a campaign for more women to be added to the company's management, and was silent about the company's famously anti-labor union practices.[104][106][107] Hillary Clinton received sustained national attention for the first time when her husband became a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination of 1992. Before the New Hampshire primary, tabloid publications printed claims that Bill Clinton had had an extramarital affair with Arkansas lounge singer Gennifer Flowers.[108] In response, the Clintons appeared together on 60 Minutes, where Bill Clinton denied the affair but acknowledged "causing pain in my marriage."[109] This joint appearance was credited with rescuing his campaign.[110] During the campaign, Hillary Clinton made culturally disparaging remarks about Tammy Wynette and her outlook on marriage,[nb 5] and about women staying home and baking cookies and having teas,[nb 6] that were ill-considered by her own admission. Bill Clinton said that in electing him, the nation would "get two for the price of one", referring to the prominent role his wife would assume.[111] Beginning with Daniel Wattenberg's August 1992 The American Spectator article "The Lady Macbeth of Little Rock", Hillary Clinton's own past ideological and ethical record came under conservative attack.[74] At least twenty other articles in major publications also drew comparisons between her and Lady Macbeth.[112] When Bill Clinton took office as president in January 1993, Hillary Rodham Clinton became the First Lady of the United States, and announced that she would be using that form of her name.[113] She was the first First Lady to hold a postgraduate degree[114] and to have her own professional career up to the time of entering the White House.[114] She was also the first to have an office in the West Wing of the White House in addition to the usual First Lady offices in the East Wing.[45][115] She was part of the innermost circle vetting appointments to the new administration, and her choices filled at least eleven top-level positions and dozens more lower-level ones.[116] She is regarded as the most openly empowered presidential wife in American history, save for Eleanor Roosevelt.[117][118] Some critics called it inappropriate for the First Lady to play a central role in matters of public policy. Supporters pointed out that Clinton's role in policy was no different from that of other White House advisors and that voters were well aware that she would play an active role in her husband's presidency.[119] Bill Clinton's campaign promise of "two for the price of one" led opponents to refer derisively to the Clintons as "co-presidents",[120] or sometimes the Arkansas label "Billary".[81][121] The pressures of conflicting ideas about the role of a First Lady were enough to send Clinton into "imaginary discussions" with the also-politically-active Eleanor Roosevelt.[nb 7] From the time she came to Washington, she also found refuge in a prayer group of The Fellowship that featured many wives of conservative Washington figures.[122][123] Triggered in part by the death of her father in April 1993, she publicly sought to find a synthesis of Methodist teachings, liberal religious political philosophy, and Tikkun editor Michael Lerner's "politics of meaning" to overcome what she saw as America's "sleeping sickness of the soul" and that would lead to a willingness "to remold society by redefining what it means to be a human being in the twentieth century, moving into a new millennium."[124][125] Other segments of the public focused on her appearance, which had evolved over time from inattention to fashion during her days in Arkansas,[126] to a popular site in the early days of the World Wide Web devoted to showing her many different, and frequently analyzed, hairstyles as First Lady,[127][128] to an appearance on the cover of Vogue magazine in 1998.[129] In January 1993, Bill Clinton appointed Hillary Clinton to head the Task Force on National Health Care Reform, hoping to replicate the success she had in leading the effort for Arkansas education reform.[131] She privately urged that passage of health care reform be given higher priority than the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which she was also unenthusiastic about the merits of).[132][133] The recommendation of the task force became known as the Clinton health care plan, a comprehensive proposal that would require employers to provide health coverage to their employees through individual health maintenance organizations. Its opponents quickly derided the plan as "Hillarycare"; some protesters against it became vitriolic, and during a July 1994 bus tour to rally support for the plan, she was forced to wear a bulletproof vest at times.[134][135] The plan did not receive enough support for a floor vote in either the House or the Senate, although Democrats controlled both chambers, and the proposal was abandoned in September 1994.[134] Clinton later acknowledged in her book, Living History, that her political inexperience partly contributed to the defeat, but mentioned that many other factors were also responsible. The First Lady's approval ratings, which had generally been in the high-50s percent range during her first year, fell to 44 percent in April 1994 and 35 percent by September 1994.[136] Republicans made the Clinton health care plan a major campaign issue of the 1994 midterm elections,[137] which saw a net Republican gain of fifty-three seats in the House election and seven in the Senate election, winning control of both; many analysts and pollsters found the plan to be a major factor in the Democrats' defeat, especially among independent voters.[138] The White House subsequently sought to downplay Hillary Clinton's role in shaping policy.[139] Opponents of universal health care would continue to use "Hillarycare" as a pejorative label for similar plans by others.[140] Along with Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch, she was a force behind the passage of the State Children's Health Insurance Program in 1997, a federal effort that provided state support for children whose parents could not provide them with health coverage, and conducted outreach efforts on behalf of enrolling children in the program once it became law.[141] She promoted nationwide immunization against childhood illnesses and encouraged older women to seek a mammogram to detect breast cancer, with coverage provided by Medicare.[142] She successfully sought to increase research funding for prostate cancer and childhood asthma at the National Institutes of Health.[45] The First Lady worked to investigate reports of an illness that affected veterans of the Gulf War, which became known as the Gulf War syndrome.[45] Together with Attorney General Janet Reno, Clinton helped create the Office on Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice.[45] In 1997, she initiated and shepherded the Adoption and Safe Families Act, which she regarded as her greatest accomplishment as First Lady.[45][143] In 1999, she was instrumental in the passage of the Foster Care Independence Act, which doubled federal monies for teenagers aging out of foster care.[143] As First Lady, Clinton hosted numerous White House conferences, including ones on Child Care (1997),[144] on Early Childhood Development and Learning (1997),[145] and on Children and Adolescents (2000).[146] She also hosted the first-ever White House Conference on Teenagers (2000)[147] and the first-ever White House Conference on Philanthropy (1999).[148] Clinton traveled to 79 countries during this time,[149] breaking the mark for most-traveled First Lady held by Pat Nixon.[150] She did not hold a security clearance or attend National Security Council meetings, but played a soft power role in U.S. diplomacy.[151] A March 1995 five-nation trip to South Asia, on behest of the U.S. State Department and without her husband, sought to improve relations with India and Pakistan.[152] Clinton was troubled by the plight of women she encountered, but found a warm response from the people of the countries she visited and a gained better relationship with the American press corps.[152][153] The trip was a transformative experience for her and presaged her eventual career in diplomacy.[154] In a September 1995 speech before the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, Clinton argued very forcefully against practices that abused women around the world and in the People's Republic of China itself,[155] declaring "that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women's rights as separate from human rights".[155] Delegates from over 180 countries heard her say: "If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights, once and for all."[156] In doing so, she resisted both internal administration and Chinese pressure to soften her remarks.[149][156] She was one of the most prominent international figures during the late 1990s to speak out against the treatment of Afghan women by the Islamist fundamentalist Taliban.[157][158] She helped create Vital Voices, an international initiative sponsored by the United States to promote the participation of women in the political processes of their countries.[159] It and Clinton's own visits encouraged women to make themselves heard in the Northern Ireland peace process.[160] First Lady Clinton was a subject of several investigations by the United States Office of the Independent Counsel, the independent prosecutor of the United States Congress, and others. Some believed the Independent Counsels were politically motivated.[161][162] The Whitewater controversy was the focus of media attention from the publication of a New York Times report during the 1992 presidential campaign,[163] and throughout her time as First Lady. The Clintons had lost their late-1970s investment in the Whitewater Development Corporation;[164] at the same time, their partners in that investment, Jim and Susan McDougal, operated Madison Guaranty, a savings and loan institution that retained the legal services of Rose Law Firm[164] and may have been improperly subsidizing Whitewater losses.[163] Madison Guaranty later failed, and Clinton's work at Rose was scrutinized for a possible conflict of interest in representing the bank before state regulators that her husband had appointed;[163] she claimed she had done minimal work for the bank.[165] Independent counsels Robert Fiske and Kenneth Starr subpoenaed Clinton's legal billing records; she said she did not know where they were.[166][167] The records were found in the First Lady's White House book room after a two-year search, and delivered to investigators in early 1996.[167] The delayed appearance of the records sparked intense interest and another investigation about how they surfaced and where they had been;[167] Clinton's staff attributed the problem to continual changes in White House storage areas since the move from the Arkansas Governor's Mansion.[168] After the discovery of the records, on January 26, 1996, Clinton became the first First Lady to be subpoenaed to testify before a Federal grand jury.[166] After several Independent Counsels had investigated, a final report was issued in 2000 that stated there was insufficient evidence that either Clinton had engaged in criminal wrongdoing.[169] Scrutiny of the May 1993 firings of the White House Travel Office employees, an affair that became known as "Travelgate", began with charges that the White House had used audited financial irregularities in the Travel Office operation as an excuse to replace the staff with friends from Arkansas.[170] The 1996 discovery of a two-year-old White House memo caused the investigation to focus more on whether Hillary Clinton had orchestrated the firings and whether the statements she made to investigators about her role in the firings were true.[171][172] The 2000 final Independent Counsel report concluded she was involved in the firings and that she had made "factually false" statements, but that there was insufficient evidence that she knew the statements were false, or knew that her actions would lead to firings, to prosecute her.[173] Following deputy White House counsel Vince Foster's July 1993 suicide, allegations were made that Hillary Clinton had ordered the removal of potentially damaging files (related to Whitewater or other matters) from Foster's office on the night of his death.[174] Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr investigated this, and by 1999, Starr was reported to be holding the investigation open, despite his staff having told him there was no case to be made.[175] When Starr's successor Robert Ray issued his final Whitewater reports in 2000, no claims were made against Hillary Clinton regarding this.[169] An outgrowth of the Travelgate investigation was the June 1996 discovery of improper White House access to hundreds of FBI background reports on former Republican White House employees, an affair that some called "Filegate".[176] Accusations were made that Hillary Clinton had requested these files and that she had recommended hiring an unqualified individual to head the White House Security Office.[177] The 2000 final Independent Counsel report found no substantial or credible evidence that Hillary Clinton had any role or showed any misconduct in the matter.[176] In March 1994, newspaper reports revealed her spectacular profits from cattle futures trading in 1978–1979;[178] allegations were made in the press of conflict of interest and disguised bribery,[179] and several individuals analyzed her trading records, but no formal investigation was made and she was never charged with any wrongdoing.[179] In 1998, the Clintons' relationship became the subject of much speculation when investigations revealed that the President had had extramarital relations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.[180] Events surrounding the Lewinsky scandal eventually led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton by the House of Representatives. When the allegations against her husband were first made public, Hillary Clinton stated that they were the result of a "vast right-wing conspiracy",[181] characterizing the Lewinsky charges as the latest in a long, organized, collaborative series of charges by Bill Clinton's political enemies[nb 8] rather than any wrongdoing by her husband. She later said that she had been misled by her husband's initial claims that no affair had taken place.[182] After the evidence of President Clinton's encounters with Lewinsky became incontrovertible, she issued a public statement reaffirming her commitment to their marriage,[183] but privately was reported to be furious at him[184] and was unsure if she wanted to stay in the marriage.[185] There was a variety of public reactions to Hillary Clinton after this: some women admired her strength and poise in private matters made public, some sympathized with her as a victim of her husband's insensitive behavior, others criticized her as being an enabler to her husband's indiscretions, while still others accused her of cynically staying in a failed marriage as a way of keeping or even fostering her own political influence.[186] Her public approval ratings in the wake of the revelations shot upward to around 70 percent, the highest they had ever been.[186] In her 2003 memoir, she would attribute her decision to stay married to "a love that has persisted for decades" and add: "No one understands me better and no one can make me laugh the way Bill does. Even after all these years, he is still the most interesting, energizing and fully alive person I have ever met."[187] Clinton initiated and was Founding Chair of the Save America's Treasures program, a national effort that matched federal funds to private donations to preserve and restore historic items and sites,[188] including the flag that inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the First Ladies Historic Site in Canton, Ohio.[45] She was head of the White House Millennium Council,[189] and hosted Millennium Evenings,[190] a series of lectures that discussed futures studies, one of which became the first live simultaneous webcast from the White House.[45] Clinton also created the first White House Sculpture Garden, located in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, which displayed large contemporary American works of art loaned from museums.[191] In the White House, Clinton placed donated handicrafts of contemporary American artisans, such as pottery and glassware, on rotating display in the state rooms.[45] She oversaw the restoration of the Blue Room to be historically authentic to the period of James Monroe,[192] the redecoration of the Treaty Room into the presidential study along 19th century lines,[193] and the redecoration of the Map Room to how it looked during World War II.[193] Clinton hosted many large-scale events at the White House, such as a Saint Patrick's Day reception, a state dinner for visiting Chinese dignitaries, a contemporary music concert that raised funds for music education in public schools, a New Year's Eve celebration at the turn of the 21st century, and a state dinner honoring the bicentennial of the White House in November 2000.[45] When the long-serving United States Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, announced his retirement in November 1998, several prominent Democratic figures, including Representative Charles B. Rangel of New York, urged Clinton to run for Moynihan's open seat in the United States Senate election of 2000.[194] Once she decided to run, the Clintons purchased a home in Chappaqua, New York, north of New York City, in September 1999.[195] She became the first First Lady of the United States to be a candidate for elected office.[196] Initially, Clinton expected to face Rudy Giuliani, the Mayor of New York City, as her Republican opponent in the election. However, Giuliani withdrew from the race in May 2000 after being diagnosed with prostate cancer and having developments in his personal life become very public, and Clinton instead faced Rick Lazio, a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives representing New York's 2nd congressional district. Throughout the campaign, opponents accused Clinton of carpetbagging, as she had never resided in New York nor participated in the state's politics before this race. Clinton began her campaign by visiting every county in the state, in a "listening tour" of small-group settings.[197] During the campaign, she devoted considerable time in traditionally Republican Upstate New York regions.[198] Clinton vowed to improve the economic situation in those areas, promising to deliver 200,000 jobs to the state over her term. Her plan included tax credits to reward job creation and encourage business investment, especially in the high-tech sector. She called for personal tax cuts for college tuition and long-term care.[198] The contest drew national attention. Lazio blundered during a September debate by seeming to invade Clinton's personal space trying to get her to sign a fundraising agreement.[199] The campaigns of Clinton and Lazio, along with Giuliani's initial effort, spent a record combined $90 million.[200] Clinton won the election on November 7, 2000, with 55 percent of the vote to Lazio's 43 percent.[199] She was sworn in as United States Senator on January 3, 2001. Upon entering the Senate, Clinton maintained a low public profile and built relationships with senators from both parties.[201] She forged alliances with religiously inclined senators by becoming a regular participant in the Senate Prayer Breakfast.[122][202] Clinton served on five Senate committees: Committee on Budget (2001–2002),[203] Committee on Armed Services (since 2003),[204] Committee on Environment and Public Works (since 2001),[203] Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (since 2001)[203] and Special Committee on Aging.[205] She was also a Commissioner of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe[206] (since 2001).[207] Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, Clinton sought to obtain funding for the recovery efforts in New York City and security improvements in her state. Working with New York's senior senator, Charles Schumer, she was instrumental in quickly securing $21 billion in funding for the World Trade Center site's redevelopment.[202][208] She subsequently took a leading role in investigating the health issues faced by 9/11 first responders.[209] Clinton voted for the USA Patriot Act in October 2001. In 2005, when the act was up for renewal, she worked to address some of the civil liberties concerns with it,[210] before voting in favor of a compromise renewed act in March 2006 that gained large majority support.[211] Clinton strongly supported the 2001 U.S. military action in Afghanistan, saying it was a chance to combat terrorism while improving the lives of Afghan women who suffered under the Taliban government.[212] Clinton voted in favor of the October 2002 Iraq War Resolution, which authorized United States President George W. Bush to use military force against Iraq, should such action be required to enforce a United Nations Security Council Resolution after pursuing with diplomatic efforts. After the Iraq War began, Clinton made trips to Iraq and Afghanistan to visit American troops stationed there. On a visit to Iraq in February 2005, Clinton noted that the insurgency had failed to disrupt the democratic elections held earlier, and that parts of the country were functioning well.[213] Noting that war deployments were draining regular and reserve forces, she cointroduced legislation to increase the size of the regular United States Army by 80,000 soldiers to ease the strain.[214] In late 2005, Clinton said that while immediate withdrawal from Iraq would be a mistake, Bush's pledge to stay "until the job is done" was also misguided, as it gave Iraqis "an open-ended invitation not to take care of themselves."[215] Her stance caused frustration among those in the Democratic Party who favored immediate withdrawal.[216] Clinton supported retaining and improving health benefits for veterans, and lobbied against the closure of several military bases.[217] Hillary Rodham Clinton's Gallup Poll favorable and unfavorable ratings, 2001–2009[130] favorable unfavorable no opinion Senator Clinton voted against President Bush's two major tax cut packages, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.[218] Clinton voted against the 2005 confirmation of John G. Roberts as Chief Justice of the United States and the 2006 confirmation of Samuel Alito to the United States Supreme Court.[219] In 2005, Clinton called for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate how hidden sex scenes showed up in the controversial video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.[220] Along with Senators Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh, she introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act, intended to protect children from inappropriate content found in video games. In 2004 and 2006, Clinton voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment that sought to prohibit same-sex marriage.[218][221] Looking to establish a "progressive infrastructure" to rival that of American conservatism, Clinton played a formative role in conversations that led to the 2003 founding of former Clinton administration chief of staff John Podesta's Center for American Progress, shared aides with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, founded in 2003, and advised the Clintons' former antagonist David Brock's Media Matters for America, created in 2004.[222] Following the 2004 Senate elections, she successfully pushed new Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid to create a Senate war room to handle daily political messaging.[223] In November 2004, Clinton announced that she would seek a second Senate term. The early frontrunner for the Republican nomination, Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, withdrew from the contest after several months of poor campaign performance.[224] Clinton easily won the Democratic nomination over opposition from antiwar activist Jonathan Tasini.[225] Clinton's eventual opponents in the general election were Republican candidate John Spencer, a former mayor of Yonkers, along with several third-party candidates. She won the election on November 7, 2006, with 67 percent of the vote to Spencer's 31 percent,[226] carrying all but four of New York's sixty-two counties.[227] Clinton spent $36 million for her reelection, more than any other candidate for Senate in the 2006 elections did. Some Democrats criticized her for spending too much in a one-sided contest, while some supporters were concerned she did not leave more funds for a potential presidential bid in 2008.[228] In the following months, she transferred $10 million of her Senate funds toward her presidential campaign.[229] Clinton opposed the Iraq War troop surge of 2007.[230] In March 2007, she voted in favor of a war-spending bill that required President Bush to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq by a deadline; it passed almost completely along party lines[231] but was subsequently vetoed by President Bush. In May 2007, a compromise war funding bill that removed withdrawal deadlines but tied funding to progress benchmarks for the Iraqi government passed the Senate by a vote of 80–14 and would be signed by Bush; Clinton was one of those who voted against it.[232] Clinton responded to General David Petraeus's September 2007 Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq by saying, "I think that the reports that you provide to us really require a willing suspension of disbelief."[233] In March 2007, in response to the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy, Clinton called on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign.[234] In May and June 2007, regarding the high-profile, hotly debated comprehensive immigration reform bill known as the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007, Clinton cast several votes in support of the bill, which eventually failed to gain cloture.[235] As the financial crisis of 2007–2008 reached a peak with the liquidity crisis of September 2008, Clinton supported the proposed bailout of United States financial system, voting in favor of the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, saying that it represented the interests of the American people.[236] It passed the Senate 74–25. Clinton had been preparing for a potential candidacy for United States President since at least early 2003.[237] On January 20, 2007, Clinton announced via her web site the formation of a presidential exploratory committee for the United States presidential election of 2008; she stated, "I'm in, and I'm in to win."[238] No woman had ever been nominated by a major party for President of the United States. In April 2007, the Clintons liquidated a blind trust, that had been established when Bill Clinton became president in 1993, to avoid the possibility of ethical conflicts or political embarrassments in the trust as Hillary Clinton undertook her presidential race.[239] Later disclosure statements revealed that the couple's worth was now upwards of $50 million,[239] and that they had earned over $100 million since 2000, with most of it coming from Bill Clinton's books, speaking engagements, and other activities.[240] Clinton led candidates competing for the Democratic nomination in opinion polls for the election throughout the first half of 2007. Most polls placed Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina as Clinton's closest competitors.[241] Clinton and Obama both set records for early fundraising, swapping the money lead each quarter.[242] By September 2007, polling in the first six states holding Democratic primaries or caucuses showed that Clinton was leading in all of them, with the races being closest in Iowa and South Carolina. By the following month, national polls showed Clinton far ahead of Democratic competitors.[243] At the end of October, Clinton suffered a rare poor debate performance against Obama, Edwards, and her other opponents.[244][245][246] Obama's message of "change" began to resonate with the Democratic electorate better than Clinton's message of "experience".[247] The race tightened considerably, especially in the early caucus and primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, with Clinton losing her lead in some polls by December.[248] Clinton campaigning at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, two days before Super Tuesday 2008. In the first vote of 2008, she placed third in the January 3 Iowa Democratic caucus to Obama and Edwards.[249] Obama gained ground in national polling in the next few days, with all polls predicting a victory for him in the New Hampshire primary.[250][251] However, Clinton gained a surprise win there on January 8, defeating Obama narrowly.[252] Explanations for her New Hampshire comeback varied but often centered on her being seen more sympathetically, especially by women, after her eyes welled with tears and her voice broke while responding to a voter's question the day before the election.[252][253] The nature of the contest fractured in the next few days. Several remarks by Bill Clinton and other surrogates,[254] and a remark by Hillary Clinton concerning Martin Luther King, Jr., and Lyndon B. Johnson,[nb 9] were perceived by many as, accidentally or intentionally, limiting Obama as a racially oriented candidate or otherwise denying the post-racial significance and accomplishments of his campaign.[255] Despite attempts by both Hillary Clinton and Obama to downplay the issue, Democratic voting became more polarized as a result, with Clinton losing much of her support among African Americans.[254][256] She lost by a two-to-one margin to Obama in the January 26 South Carolina primary,[257] setting up, with Edwards soon dropping out, an intense two-person contest for the twenty-two February 5 Super Tuesday states. Bill Clinton had made more statements attracting criticism for their perceived racial implications late in the South Carolina campaign, and his role was seen as damaging enough to her that a wave of supporters within and outside of the campaign said the former President "needs to stop."[258] The Clinton campaign had counted on winning the nomination by Super Tuesday, and was unprepared financially and logistically for a prolonged effort; lagging in Internet fundraising, Clinton began loaning her campaign money.[247][262] There was continuous turmoil within the campaign staff and she made several top-level personnel changes.[262][263] Obama won the next eleven February caucuses and primaries across the country, often by large margins, and took a significant pledged delegate lead over Clinton.[261][262] On March 4, Clinton broke the string of losses by winning in Ohio among other places,[262] where her criticism of NAFTA, a major legacy of her husband's presidency, had been a key issue.[264] Throughout the campaign, Obama dominated caucuses, which the Clinton campaign largely ignored organizing for.[247][261][265] Obama did well in primaries where African Americans or younger, college-educated, or more affluent voters were heavily represented; Clinton did well in primaries where Hispanics or older, non-college-educated, or working-class white voters predominated.[266][267] Some Democratic party leaders expressed concern that the drawn-out campaign between the two could damage the winner in the general election contest against Republican presumptive nominee John McCain, especially if an eventual triumph for Clinton was won via party-appointed superdelegates.[268] Clinton's admission in late March, that her repeated campaign statements about having been under hostile fire from snipers during a 1996 visit to U.S. troops at Tuzla Air Base in Bosnia-Herzegovina were not true, attracted considerable media attention and risked undermining both her credibility and her claims of foreign policy expertise as First Lady.[269] On April 22, she won the Pennsylvania primary, and kept her campaign alive.[270] However, on May 6, a narrower-than-expected win in the Indiana primary coupled with a large loss in the North Carolina primary ended any realistic chance she had of winning the nomination.[270] She vowed to stay on through the remaining primaries, but stopped attacks against Obama; as one advisor stated, "She could accept losing. She could not accept quitting."[270] She won some of the remaining contests, and indeed, over the last three months of the campaign she won more delegates, states, and votes than Obama, but she failed to overcome Obama's lead.[262] Clinton speaks during the second night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Following the final primaries on June 3, 2008, Obama had gained enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee.[271] In a speech before her supporters on June 7, Clinton ended her campaign and endorsed Obama, declaring, "The way to continue our fight now to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama."[272] By campaign's end, Clinton had won 1,640 pledged delegates to Obama's 1,763;[273] at the time of the clinching, Clinton had 286 superdelegates to Obama's 395,[274] with those numbers widening to 256 versus 438 once Obama was acknowledged the winner.[273] Clinton and Obama each received over 17 million votes during the nomination process,[nb 10] with both breaking the previous record.[275] Clinton also eclipsed, by a very large margin, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm's 1972 mark for most primaries and delegates won by a woman.[276] Clinton gave a passionate speech supporting Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and campaigned frequently for him in Fall 2008, which concluded with his victory over McCain in the general election on November 4.[277] Clinton's campaign ended up severely in debt; she owed millions of dollars to outside vendors and wrote off the $13 million that she lent it herself.[278] In mid-November 2008, President-elect Obama and Clinton discussed the possibility of her serving as U.S. Secretary of State in his administration,[279] and on November 21, reports indicated that she had accepted the position.[280] On December 1, President-elect Obama formally announced that Clinton would be his nominee for Secretary of State.[281] Clinton said she was reluctant to leave the Senate, but that the new position represented a "difficult and exciting adventure".[281] As part of the nomination and in order to relieve concerns of conflict of interest, Bill Clinton agreed to accept several conditions and restrictions regarding his ongoing activities and fundraising efforts for the Clinton Presidential Center and Clinton Global Initiative.[282] The appointment required a Saxbe fix, passed and signed into law in December 2008.[283] Confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee began on January 13, 2009, a week before the Obama inauguration; two days later, the Committee voted 16–1 to approve Clinton.[284] By this time, her public approval rating had reached 65 percent, the highest point since the Lewinsky scandal.[285] On January 21, 2009, Clinton was confirmed in the full Senate by a vote of 94–2.[286] Clinton took the oath of office of Secretary of State and resigned from the Senate that same day.[287] She became the first former First Lady to serve in the United States Cabinet.[288] Clinton spent her initial days as Secretary of State telephoning dozens of world leaders and indicating that U.S. foreign policy would change direction: "We have a lot of damage to repair."[289] She advocated an expanded role in global economic issues for the State Department and cited the need for an increased U.S. diplomatic presence, especially in Iraq where the Defense Department had conducted diplomatic missions.[290] She pushed for a larger international affairs budget;[290] the Obama administration's proposed 2010 budget contained a 7 percent increase for the State Department and other international programs.[291] In March 2009, Clinton prevailed over Vice President Joe Biden on an internal debate to send an additional 20,000 troops to the war in Afghanistan.[292] An elbow fracture and subsequent painful recuperation caused Clinton to miss two foreign trips in June 2009.[292][293] Clinton announced the most ambitious of her departmental reforms, the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, which establishes specific objectives for the State Department's diplomatic missions abroad; it is modeled after a similar process in the Defense Department that she was familiar with from her time on the Senate Armed Services Committee.[294] (The first such review was issued in late 2010 and called for the U.S. leading through "civilian power" as a cost-effective way of responding to international challenges and defusing crises.[295] It also sought to institutionalize goals of empowering women throughout the world.[156]) In September, Clinton unveiled the Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative at the annual meeting of her husband's Clinton Global Initiative.[296] The new initiative seeks to battle hunger worldwide as a strategic part of U.S. foreign policy, rather than just react to food shortage emergencies as they occur, and emphasizes the role of women farmers.[296] In October, on a trip to Switzerland, Clinton's intervention overcame last-minute snags and saved the signing of an historic Turkish–Armenian accord that established diplomatic relations and opened the border between the two long-hostile nations.[297][298] In Pakistan, she engaged in several unusually blunt discussions with students, talk show hosts, and tribal elders, in an attempt to repair the Pakistani image of the U.S.[154] In a major speech in January 2010, Clinton drew analogies between the Iron Curtain and the free and unfree Internet.[299] Chinese officials reacted negatively towards it, and it garnered attention as the first time a senior American official had clearly defined the Internet as a key element of American foreign policy.[300] By mid-2010, Clinton and Obama had forged a good working relationship without power struggles; she was a team player within the administration and a defender of it to the outside, and was careful that neither she nor her husband would upstage him.[301][302] She met with him weekly, but did not have the close, daily relationship that some of her predecessors had had with their presidents.[301] In July 2010, Secretary Clinton visited Korea, Vietnam, Pakistan and Afghanistan, all the while preparing for the July 31 wedding of daughter Chelsea amid much media attention.[303] In late November 2010, Clinton led the U.S. damage control effort after WikiLeaks released confidential State Department cables containing blunt statements and assessments by U.S. and foreign diplomats.[304][305] A few of the cables released by WikiLeaks concerned Clinton directly: they revealed that directions to members of the foreign service, written by the CIA, had gone out in 2009 under her (systematically attached) name to gather biometric and other personal details on foreign diplomats, including officials of the United Nations and U.S. allies.[306][307][308] The 2011 Egyptian protests posed the biggest foreign policy crisis for the administration yet.[309] Clinton was in the forefront of U.S. public response to it, quickly evolving from an early assessment that the government of Hosni Mubarak was "stable" to a stance that there needed to be an "orderly transition [to] a democratic participatory government" to a condemnation of violence against the protesters.[310][311] Obama also came to rely upon Clinton's advice, organization, and personal connections in the behind-the-scenes response to developments.[309] As protests spread throughout the region, Clinton was at the forefront of a U.S. response that she recognized was sometimes contradictory, backing some regimes while supporting protesters against others.[312] As the 2011 Libyan civil war took place, Clinton's shift in favor of military intervention was a key turning point in overcoming internal administration opposition and gaining the backing for, and Arab and U.N. approval of, the 2011 military intervention in Libya.[312][313][314] She later used U.S. allies and what she called "convening power" to help keep the Libyan rebels unified as they eventually overthrew the Gaddafi regime.[314] Following the successful May 2011 U.S. mission to kill Osama bin Laden, Clinton played a key role in the administration's decision not to release photographs of the dead al-Qaeda leader.[315] In a December 2011 speech before the United Nations Human Rights Council, she said that the U.S. would advocate for gay rights abroad and that "Gay rights are human rights" and that "It should never be a crime to be gay."[316] The same month saw her conclude the first visit to Burma by a U.S. secretary of state since 1955, as she met with Burmese leaders as well as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and sought to support the 2011 Burmese democratic reforms.[317] Throughout her tenure, Clinton has looked towards "smart power" as the strategy for asserting U.S. leadership and values, combining military strength with U.S. capacities in global economics, development aid, and technology.[314] She has also greatly expanded the State Department's use of social media, including Facebook and Twitter, both to get its message out and to help empower people vis à via their rulers.[314] And in the Mideast turmoil, Clinton particularly saw an opportunity to advance one of the central themes of her tenure, the empowerment and welfare of women and girls worldwide.[156] Moreover, she viewed women's rights and human rights as critical for U.S. security interests.[302] By early 2011, Clinton had set the record for most-traveled Secretary of State for a comparable period of time, logging 465,000 miles (748,000 km) and visiting 79 countries.[156] (Time magazine wrote that "Clinton's endurance is legendary."[314]) Throughout her term, Clinton had indicated she had no interest in running for president again[318] or in holding any other office. In March 2011, she expanded upon that by saying she was not interested in serving a second term as Secretary of State should Obama be re-elected in 2012.[313][319] In a Gallup poll conducted during May 2005, 54 percent of respondents considered Clinton a liberal, 30 percent considered her a moderate, and 9 percent considered her a conservative.[320] Several organizations attempted to measure Clinton's place on the political spectrum scientifically using her Senate votes. National Journal's 2004 study of roll-call votes assigned Clinton a rating of 30 in the political spectrum, relative to the then-current Senate, with a rating of 1 being most liberal and 100 being most conservative.[321] National Journal's subsequent rankings placed her as the 32nd-most liberal senator in 2006 and 16th-most liberal senator in 2007.[322] A 2004 analysis by political scientists Joshua D. Clinton of Princeton University, Simon Jackman and Doug Rivers of Stanford University found her to be likely the sixth-to-eighth-most liberal Senator.[323] The Almanac of American Politics, edited by Michael Barone and Richard E. Cohen, rated her votes from 2003 through 2006 as liberal or conservative, with 100 as the highest rating, in three areas: Economic, Social, and Foreign; averaged for the four years, the ratings are: Economic = 75 liberal, 23 conservative; Social = 83 liberal, 6 conservative; Foreign = 66 liberal, 30 conservative. Average = 75 liberal, 20 conservative.[nb 11] Interest groups also gave Clinton scores based on how well her Senate votes aligned with the positions of the group. Through 2008, she had an average lifetime 90 percent "Liberal Quotient" from Americans for Democratic Action[324] and a lifetime 8 percent rating from the American Conservative Union.[325] As First Lady of the United States, Clinton published a weekly syndicated newspaper column titled "Talking It Over" from 1995 to 2000, distributed by Creators Syndicate.[326] It focused on her experiences and those of women, children and families she met during her travels around the world.[1] In 1996, Clinton presented a vision for the children of America in the book It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us. The book made the New York Times Best Seller list and Clinton received the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 1997 for the book's audio recording.[327] Other books released by Clinton when she was First Lady include Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets (1998) and An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History (2000). In 2001, she wrote an afterword to the children's book Beatrice's Goat.[328] In 2003, Clinton released a 562-page autobiography, Living History. In anticipation of high sales, publisher Simon & Schuster paid Clinton a near-record advance of $8 million.[329] The book set a first-week sales record for a nonfiction work,[330] went on to sell more than one million copies in the first month following publication,[331] and was translated into twelve foreign languages.[332] Clinton's audio recording of the book earned her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.[333] Hillary Clinton has frequently been featured in the media and popular culture from a wide spectrum of perspectives. In 1995, New York Times writer Todd Purdum labeled Clinton "the First Lady as Rorschach test",[334] an assessment echoed at the time by feminist writer and activist Betty Friedan, who said, "Coverage of Hillary Clinton is a massive Rorschach test of the evolution of women in our society."[335] Clinton has often been described in the popular media as a polarizing figure,[334][336][337][338][339][340] with some arguing otherwise.[340][341] James Madison University political science professor Valerie Sulfaro's 2007 study used the American National Election Studies' "feeling thermometer" polls, which measure the degree of opinion about a political figure, to find that such polls during Clinton's First Lady years confirm the "conventional wisdom that Hillary Clinton is a polarizing figure", with the added insight that "affect towards Mrs. Clinton as first lady tended to be very positive or very negative, with a fairly constant one fourth of respondents feeling ambivalent or neutral."[342] University of California, San Diego political science professor Gary Jacobson's 2006 study of partisan polarization found that in a state-by-state survey of job approval ratings of the state's senators, Clinton had the fourth-largest partisan difference of any senator, with a 50 percentage point difference in approval between New York's Democrats and Republicans.[343] Northern Illinois University political science professor Barbara Burrell's 2000 study found that Clinton's Gallup poll favorability numbers broke sharply along partisan lines throughout her time as First Lady, with 70 to 90 percent of Democrats typically viewing her favorably while 20 to 40 percent of Republicans did not.[344] University of Wisconsin–Madison political science professor Charles Franklin analyzed her record of favorable versus unfavorable ratings in public opinion polls, and found that there was more variation in them during her First Lady years than her Senate years.[345] The Senate years showed favorable ratings around 50 percent and unfavorable ratings in the mid-40 percent range; Franklin noted that, "This sharp split is, of course, one of the more widely remarked aspects of Sen. Clinton's public image."[345] McGill University professor of history Gil Troy titled his 2006 biography of her Hillary Rodham Clinton: Polarizing First Lady, and wrote that after the 1992 campaign, Clinton "was a polarizing figure, with 42 percent [of the public] saying she came closer to their values and lifestyle than previous first ladies and 41 percent disagreeing."[346] Troy further wrote that Hillary Clinton "has been uniquely controversial and contradictory since she first appeared on the national radar screen in 1992"[347] and that she "has alternately fascinated, bedeviled, bewitched, and appalled Americans."[347] Burrell's study found women consistently rating Clinton more favorably than men by about ten percentage points during her First Lady years.[344] Jacobson's study found a positive correlation across all senators between being women and receiving a partisan-polarized response.[343] Colorado State University communication studies professor Karrin Vasby Anderson describes the First Lady position as a "site" for American womanhood, one ready made for the symbolic negotiation of female identity.[348] In particular, Anderson states there has been a cultural bias towards traditional first ladies and a cultural prohibition against modern first ladies; by the time of Clinton, the First Lady position had become a site of heterogeneity and paradox.[348] Burrell, as well as biographers Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta, Jr., note that Clinton achieved her highest approval ratings as First Lady late in 1998, not for professional or political achievements of her own, but for being seen as the victim of her husband's very public infidelity.[186][344] University of Pennsylvania communications professor Kathleen Hall Jamieson saw Hillary Clinton as an exemplar of the double bind, who though able to live in a "both-and" world of both career and family, nevertheless "became a surrogate on whom we projected our attitudes about attributes once thought incompatible", leading to her being placed in a variety of no-win situations.[335] Quinnipiac University media studies professor Lisa Burns found press accounts frequently framing Clinton both as an exemplar of the modern professional working mother and as a political interloper interested in usurping power for herself.[349] University of Indianapolis English professor Charlotte Templin found political cartoonists using a variety of stereotypes – such as gender reversal, radical feminist as emasculator, and the wife the husband wants to get rid of – to portray Hillary Clinton as violating gender norms.[350] Over fifty books and scholarly works have been written about Hillary Clinton, from many different perspectives. A 2006 survey by The New York Observer found "a virtual cottage industry" of "anti-Clinton literature",[351] put out by Regnery Publishing and other conservative imprints,[351] with titles such as Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House, Hillary's Scheme: Inside the Next Clinton's Ruthless Agenda to Take the White House, and Can She Be Stopped? : Hillary Clinton Will Be the Next President of the United States Unless .... Books praising Clinton did not sell nearly as well[351] (other than the memoirs written by her and her husband). When she ran for Senate in 2000, a number of fundraising groups such as Save Our Senate and the Emergency Committee to Stop Hillary Rodham Clinton sprang up to oppose her.[352] Van Natta, Jr., found that Republican and conservative groups viewed her as a reliable "bogeyman" to mention in fundraising letters,[353] on a par with Ted Kennedy and the equivalent of Democratic and liberal appeals mentioning Newt Gingrich.[353] Going into the early stages of her presidential campaign for 2008, a Time magazine cover showed a large picture of her, with two checkboxes labeled "Love Her", "Hate Her",[354] while Mother Jones titled its profile of her "Harpy, Hero, Heretic: Hillary".[355] Democratic netroots activists consistently rated Clinton very low in polls of their desired candidates,[356] while some conservative figures such as Bruce Bartlett and Christopher Ruddy were declaring a Hillary Clinton presidency not so bad after all[357][358] and an October 2007 cover of The American Conservative magazine was titled "The Waning Power of Hillary Hate".[359] By December 2007, communications professor Jamieson observed that there was a large amount of misogyny present about Clinton on the Internet,[360] up to and including Facebook and other sites devoted to depictions reducing Clinton to sexual humiliation.[360] She noted that, in response to widespread comments on Clinton's laugh,[361] that "We know that there's language to condemn female speech that doesn't exist for male speech. We call women's speech shrill and strident. And Hillary Clinton's laugh was being described as a cackle."[360] Use of the "bitch" epithet, which taken place against Clinton going back to her First Lady days and was seen by Karrin Vasby Anderson as a tool of containment against women in American politics,[362] flourished during the campaign, especially on the Internet but via conventional media as well.[363] Following Clinton's "choked up moment" and related incidents before the January 2008 New Hampshire primary, both The New York Times and Newsweek found that discussion of gender's role in the campaign had moved into the national political discourse.[364][365] Newsweek editor Jon Meacham summed the relationship between Clinton and the American public by saying that the New Hampshire events, "brought an odd truth to light: though Hillary Rodham Clinton has been on the periphery or in the middle of national life for decades ... she is one of the most recognizable but least understood figures in American politics."[365] Once she became Secretary of State, Clinton's image seemed to dramatically improve among the American public and become one of a respected world figure.[366][302] She gained consistently high approval ratings (by 2011, the highest of her career except for during the Lewinsky scandal),[367] and her favorable-unfavorable ratings during 2010 and 2011 were easily the highest of any active, nationally prominent American political figure.[366][368][369] She continued to do well in Gallup's most admired man and woman poll; in 2011 she was named the most admired woman by Americans for the tenth straight time and the sixteenth time overall.[370] Clinton herself said in 2012, "There's a certain consistency to who I am and what I do, and I think people have finally said, 'Well, you know, I kinda get her now.'"[302] ... ...... International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology.[3] The company was founded in 1911 as the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation through a merger of three companies: the Tabulating Machine Company, the International Time Recording Company, and the Computing Scale Corporation.[4][5] CTR adopted the name International Business Machines in 1924, using a name previously designated to CTR's subsidiary in Canada and later South America. Its distinctive culture and product branding has given it the nickname Big Blue. In 2012, Fortune ranked IBM the #2 largest U.S. firm in terms of number of employees (433,362),[2] the #4 largest in terms of market capitalization,[6] the #9 most profitable,[7] and the #19 largest firm in terms of revenue.[8] Globally, the company was ranked the #31 largest in terms of revenue by Forbes for 2011.[9][10] Other rankings for 2011/2012 include #1 company for leaders (Fortune), #2 best global brand (Interbrand), #1 green company worldwide (Newsweek), #5 most admired company (Fortune), and #18 most innovative company (Fast Company).[11] IBM holds more patents than any other U.S.-based technology company, and has nine research laboratories worldwide.[12] Its employees have garnered four Nobel Prizes, six Turing Awards, nine National Medals of Technology, and five National Medals of Science.[13] Famous inventions by IBM include the automated teller machine (ATM), the floppy disk, the hard disk drive, the magnetic stripe card, the relational database, the Universal Product Code (UPC), the financial swap, SABRE airline reservation system, DRAM, and Watson artificial intelligence. The company has undergone several organizational changes since its inception, acquiring companies like SPSS (2009) and PwC consulting (2002), spinning off companies like Lexmark (1991), and selling off product lines like ThinkPad to Lenovo (2005). Sam Palmisano stepped down as chief executive officer on January 1, 2012, but retained his position as chairman. He was replaced by veteran IBMer Ginni Rometty.[14][15] Main articles: History of IBM and Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation 1880–1929 Thomas J Watson Sr.jpg "THINK" Thomas J. Watson, who led IBM from 1914–1956, discussing the company's motto "THINK" Problems listening to this file? See media help. Starting in the 1880s, various technologies came into existence that would form part of IBM's predecessor company. Julius E. Pitrap patented the computing scale in 1885;[16] Alexander Dey invented the dial recorder (1888);[17] in 1889, Herman Hollerith patented the Electric Tabulating Machine[18] and Willard Bundy invented a time clock to record a worker's arrival and departure time on a paper tape.[19] On June 16, 1911, these technologies and their respective companies were merged by Charles Ranlett Flint to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (C-T-R).[20] The New York City-based company had 1,300 employees and offices and plants in Endicott and Binghamton, New York; Dayton, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Washington, D.C.; and Toronto, Ontario. It manufactured and sold machinery ranging from commercial scales and industrial time recorders to meat and cheese slicers, along with tabulators and punched cards. Flint recruited Thomas J. Watson, Sr., from the National Cash Register Company to help lead the company in 1914.[20] Watson implemented "generous sales incentives, a focus on customer service, an insistence on well-groomed, dark-suited salesmen and an evangelical fervor for instilling company pride and loyalty in every worker".[21] His favorite slogan, "THINK", became a mantra for C-T-R's employees, and within 11 months of joining C-T-R, Watson became its president.[21] The company focused on providing large-scale, custom-built tabulating solutions for businesses, leaving the market for small office products to others. During Watson's first four years, revenues more than doubled to $9 million and the company's operations expanded to Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia.[21] On February 14, 1924, C-T-R was renamed the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM),[11] citing the need to align its name with the "growth and extension of [its] activities".[22] 1930–1979 NACA researchers using an IBM type 704 electronic data processing machine in 1957 In 1937, IBM's tabulating equipment enabled organizations to process unprecedented amounts of data, its clients including the U.S. Government, during its first effort to maintain the employment records for 26 million people pursuant to the Social Security Act,[23] and the Third Reich,[24] largely through the German subsidiary Dehomag. During the Second World War the company produced small arms for the American war effort (M1 Carbine, and Browning Automatic Rifle). In 1952, Thomas J. Watson, Jr., became president of the company, ending almost 40 years of leadership by his father. In 1956, Arthur L. Samuel of IBM's Poughkeepsie, New York, laboratory programmed an IBM 704 to play checkers using a method in which the machine can "learn" from its own experience. It is believed to be the first "self-learning" program, a demonstration of the concept of artificial intelligence. In 1957, IBM developed the FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation) scientific programming language. In 1961, Thomas J. Watson, Jr., was elected chairman of the board and Albert L. Williams became president of the company. IBM develops the SABRE (Semi-Automatic Business-Related Environment) reservation system for American Airlines. The IBM Selectric typewriter was a highly successful model line of electric typewriters introduced by IBM on July 31, 1961. In 1963, IBM employees and computers helped NASA track the orbital flight of the Mercury astronauts, and a year later, the company moved its corporate headquarters from New York City to Armonk, New York. The latter half of that decade saw IBM continue its support of space exploration, with IBM participating in the 1965 Gemini flights, the 1966 Saturn flights, and the 1969 mission to land a man on the moon. On April 7, 1964 IBM announced the first computer system family, the IBM System/360. Sold between 1964 and 1978, it was the first family of computers designed to cover the complete range of applications, from small to large, both commercial and scientific. For the first time, companies could upgrade their computing capabilities with a new model without rewriting their applications. In 1973, IBM engineer George J. Laurer developed the Universal Product Code.[25] On October 11, 1973, IBM introduced the IBM 3660, a laser-scanning point-of-sale barcode reader which would become the workhorse of grocery checkouts. On June 26, 1974, the first-ever product, a pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum, was swiped at Marsh's supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The pack is now on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. IBM's Blue Gene supercomputers were awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by U.S. President Barack Obama on September 18, 2009. In the late 1970s, IBM underwent some internal convulsions between those in management wanting to concentrate on their bread-and-butter mainframe business, and those wanting the company to invest heavily in the emerging personal computer industry. 1980–present Financial swaps were first introduced to the public in 1981 when IBM and the World Bank entered into a swap agreement.[26] The IBM PC, originally designated IBM 5150, was introduced in 1981, and it soon became the industry standard. In 1991, IBM sold Lexmark, and in 2002, it acquired PwC consulting. In 2003, IBM initiated a project to rewrite its company values. Using its Jam technology, the company hosted Internet-based online discussions on key business issues with 50,000 employees over 3 days. The discussions were analyzed by sophisticated text analysis software (eClassifier) to mine online comments for themes. As a result of the 2003 Jam, the company values were updated to reflect three modern business, marketplace and employee views: "Dedication to every client's success", "Innovation that matters—for our company and for the world", "Trust and personal responsibility in all relationships".[27] In 2004, another Jam was conducted during which 52,000 employees exchanged best practices for 72 hours. They focused on finding actionable ideas to support implementation of the values previously identified.[28] IBM showing their various innovations at CeBIT 2010 in Hanover, Germany In 2005 the company sold its personal computer business to Lenovo, and in 2009, it acquired software company SPSS Inc. Later in 2009, IBM's Blue Gene supercomputing program was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by U.S. President Barack Obama. In 2006, IBM launched Secure Blue, a low-cost hardware design for data encryption that can be built into a microprocessor.[29] In 2011, IBM gained worldwide attention for its artificial intelligence program Watson, which was exhibited on Jeopardy! where it won against game show champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. As of 2011, IBM had been the top annual recipient of U.S. patents for 19 consecutive years.[30] IBM's closing value of $214 billion on September 29, 2011 surpassed Microsoft which was valued at $213.2 billion. It was the first time since 1996 that IBM exceeded its software rival based on closing price. However, as of June 11, 2012, IBM's value remained less than half of Apple's value of $541 billion.[31] Corporate affairs IBM's headquarter complex is located in Armonk, Town of North Castle, New York, United States.[32][33][34] The 283,000-square-foot (26,300 m2) IBM building has three levels of custom curtainwall. The building is located on a 25 acre site.[35] IBM has been headquartered in Armonk since 1964.[36] The company has ten research labs worldwide—Almaden, Austin, Australia, Brazil, China, Israel, India, Tokyo, Watson (New York), and Zurich—with Watson (dedicated in 1961) serving as headquarters for the research division and the site of its annual meeting. Other campus installations include towers in Montreal, Paris, and Atlanta; software labs in Raleigh-Durham, Rome and Toronto; buildings in Chicago, Johannesburg, and Seattle; and facilities in Hakozaki and Yamato. The company also operates the IBM Scientific Center, Hursley House, the Canada Head Office Building, IBM Rochester, and the Somers Office Complex. The company's contributions to architecture and design, including Chicago's 330 North Wabash building designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, were recognized with the 1990 Honor Award from the National Building Museum.[37] IBM's Board of Directors, with 14 members, is responsible for the overall management of the company. With Cathie Black's resignation from the board in November 2010, the remaining 13 members (along with their affiliation and year of joining the board) are as follows: Alain J. P. Belda '08 (Alcoa), William R. Brody '07 (Salk Institute / Johns Hopkins University), Kenneth Chenault '98 (American Express), Michael L. Eskew '05 (UPS), Shirley Ann Jackson '05 (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Andrew N. Liveris '10 (Dow Chemical), W. James McNerney, Jr. '09 (Boeing), James W. Owens '06 (Caterpillar), Samuel J. Palmisano '00 (IBM), Joan Spero '04 (Doris Duke Charitable Foundation), Sidney Taurel '01 (Eli Lilly), and Lorenzo Zambrano '03 (Cemex).[38] In 2012, Fortune ranked IBM the #2 largest U.S. firm in terms of number of employees,[2] the #4 largest in terms of market capitalization,[6] the #9 most profitable,[7] and the #19 largest firm in terms of revenue.[8] Globally, the company was ranked the #31 largest firm in terms of revenue by Forbes for 2011.[9] Other rankings for 2011/2012 include the following:[11] For 2010, IBM's brand was valued at $64.7 billion.[40] For 2012, Vault ranked IBM Global Technology Services #1 in tech consulting for cyber security, operations and implementation, and public sector; and #2 in outsourcing.[41] Working at IBM In 2010, IBM employed 105,000 workers in the U.S., a drop of 30,000 since 2003, and 75,000 people in India, up from 9,000 seven years previous.[42] IBM's employee management practices can be traced back to its roots. In 1914, CEO Thomas J. Watson boosted company spirit by creating employee sports teams, hosting family outings, and furnishing a company band. In 1924, the Quarter Century Club, which recognizes employees with 25 years of service, was organized and the first issue of Business Machines, IBM's internal publication, was published. In 1925, the first meeting of the Hundred Percent Club, composed of IBM salesmen who meet their quotas, convened in Atlantic City, New Jersey. IBM was among the first corporations to provide group life insurance (1934), survivor benefits (1935) and paid vacations (1937). In 1932 IBM created an Education Department to oversee training for employees, which oversaw the completion of the IBM Schoolhouse at Endicott in 1933. In 1935, the employee magazine Think was created. Also that year, IBM held its first training class for women systems service professionals. In 1942, IBM launched a program to train and employ disabled people in Topeka, Kansas. The next year classes begin in New York City, and soon the company was asked to join the President's Committee for Employment of the Handicapped. In 1946, the company hired its first black salesman, 18 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1947, IBM announced a Total and Permanent Disability Income Plan for employees. A vested rights pension was added to the IBM retirement plan. In 1952, Thomas J. Watson, Jr., published the company's first written equal opportunity policy letter, one year before the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education and 11 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1961, IBM's nondiscrimination policy was expanded to include sex, national origin, and age. The following year, IBM hosted its first Invention Award Dinner honoring 34 outstanding IBM inventors; and in 1963, the company named the first eight IBM Fellows in a new Fellowship Program that recognizes senior IBM scientists, engineers and other professionals for outstanding technical achievements. An IBM delivery tricycle in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1965 On September 21, 1953, Thomas Watson, Jr., the company's president at the time, sent out a controversial letter to all IBM employees stating that IBM needed to hire the best people, regardless of their race, ethnic origin, or gender. He also publicized the policy so that in his negotiations to build new manufacturing plants with the governors of two states in the U.S. South, he could be clear that IBM would not build "separate-but-equal" workplaces.[43] In 1984, IBM added sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination policy. The company stated that this would give IBM a competitive advantage because IBM would then be able to hire talented people its competitors would turn down.[44] IBM was the only technology company ranked in Working Mother magazine's Top 10 for 2004, and one of two technology companies in 2005.[45][46] On October 10, 2005, IBM became the first major company in the world to commit formally to not using genetic information in employment decisions. The announcement was made shortly after IBM began working with the National Geographic Society on its Genographic Project. IBM provides same-sex partners of its employees with health benefits and provides an anti-discrimination clause. The Human Rights Campaign has consistently rated IBM 100% on its index of gay-friendliness since 2003 (in 2002, the year it began compiling its report on major companies, IBM scored 86%).[47] In 2007 and again in 2010, IBM UK was ranked first in Stonewall's annual Workplace Equality Index for UK employers.[48] The company has traditionally resisted labor union organizing,[49] although unions represent some IBM workers outside the United States. In 2009, the Unite union stated that several hundred employees joined following the announcement in the UK of pension cuts that left many employees facing a shortfall in projected pensions.[50] A dark (or gray) suit, white shirt, and a "sincere" tie[51] was the public uniform for IBM employees for most of the 20th century. During IBM's management transformation in the 1990s, CEO Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. relaxed these codes, normalizing the dress and behavior of IBM employees to resemble their counterparts in other large technology companies. Since then IBM's dress code is business casual although employees often wear formal clothes during client meetings.[52] On 16 June 2011, the company announced a grants programs, called IBM100, to fund its employees participation in volunteer projects - the year long initiative is part of the company's centenary celebrations.[53] Research and inventions An anechoic chamber inside IBM's Yamato research facility In 1945, The Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory was founded at Columbia University in New York, New York. The renovated fraternity house on Manhattan's West Side was used as IBM's first laboratory devoted to pure science. The lab was the forerunner of IBM's Research Division, which today operates research facilities around the world. In 1966, IBM researcher Robert H. Dennard invented Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) cells, one-transistor memory cells that store each single bit of information as an electrical charge in an electronic circuit. The technology permits major increases in memory density and is widely adopted throughout the industry where it remains in widespread use today. IBM has been a leading proponent of the Open Source Initiative, and began supporting Linux in 1998.[54] The company invests billions of dollars in services and software based on Linux through the IBM Linux Technology Center, which includes over 300 Linux kernel developers.[55] IBM has also released code under different open source licenses, such as the platform-independent software framework Eclipse (worth approximately US$40 million at the time of the donation),[56] the three-sentence International Components for Unicode (ICU) license, and the Java-based relational database management system (RDBMS) Apache Derby. IBM's open source involvement has not been trouble-free, however (see SCO v. IBM). DeveloperWorks is a website run by IBM for software developers and IT professionals. It contains how-to articles and tutorials, as well as software downloads and code samples, discussion forums, podcasts, blogs, wikis, and other resources for developers and technical professionals. Subjects range from open, industry-standard technologies like Java, Linux, SOA and web services, web development, Ajax, PHP, and XML to IBM's products (WebSphere, Rational, Lotus, Tivoli and Information Management). In 2007, developerWorks was inducted into the Jolt Hall of Fame.[57] alphaWorks is IBM's source for emerging software technologies. These technologies include: Flexible Internet Evaluation Report Architecture – A highly flexible architecture for the design, display, and reporting of Internet surveys. IBM History Flow Visualization Application – A tool for visualizing dynamic, evolving documents and the interactions of multiple collaborating authors. IBM Linux on POWER Performance Simulator – A tool that provides users of Linux on Power a set of performance models for IBM's POWER processors. Database File Archive And Restoration Management – An application for archiving and restoring hard disk drive files using file references stored in a database. Policy Management for Autonomic Computing – A policy-based autonomic management infrastructure that simplifies the automation of IT and business processes. FairUCE – A spam filter that verifies sender identity instead of filtering content. Unstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA) SDK – A Java SDK that supports the implementation, composition, and deployment of applications working with unstructured data. Accessibility Browser – A web-browser specifically designed to assist people with visual impairments, to be released as open source software. Also known as the "A-Browser," the technology will aim to eliminate the need for a mouse, relying instead completely on voice-controls, buttons and predefined shortcut keys. Watson, an IBM artificial intelligence computer, is capable of "learning" as it operates. Virtually all console gaming systems of the latest generation use microprocessors developed by IBM. The Xbox 360 contains a PowerPC tri-core processor, which was designed and produced by IBM in less than 24 months.[58] Sony's PlayStation 3 features the Cell BE microprocessor designed jointly by IBM, Toshiba, and Sony. IBM will provide the microprocessors that serve as the heart of Nintendo's new Wii U system, which will debut in 2012.[59] The new Power Architecture-based microprocessor includes IBM's latest technology in an energy-saving silicon package.[60] Nintendo's seventh-generation console, Wii, features an IBM chip codenamed Broadway. The older Nintendo GameCube utilizes the Gekko processor, also designed by IBM. In May 2002, IBM and Butterfly.net, Inc. announced the Butterfly Grid, a commercial grid for the online video gaming market.[61] In March 2006, IBM announced separate agreements with Hoplon Infotainment, Online Game Services Incorporated (OGSI), and RenderRocket to provide on-demand content management and blade server computing resources.[62] IBM announced it will launch its new software, called "Open Client Offering" which is to run on Linux, Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS X. The company states that its new product allows businesses to offer employees a choice of using the same software on Windows and its alternatives. This means that "Open Client Offering" is to cut costs of managing whether to use Linux or Apple relative to Windows. There will be no necessity for companies to pay Microsoft for its licenses for operating systems since the operating systems will no longer rely on software which is Windows-based. One alternative to Microsoft's office document formats is the Open Document Format software, whose development IBM supports. It is going to be used for several tasks like: word processing, presentations, along with collaboration with Lotus Notes, instant messaging and blog tools as well as an Internet Explorer competitor – the Mozilla Firefox web browser. IBM plans to install Open Client on 5% of its desktop PCs. The Linux offering has been made available as the IBM Client for Smart Work product on the Ubuntu and Red Hat Enterprise Linux platforms.[63] The UC2 (Unified Communications and Collaboration) Client Platform is an IBM and Cisco Systems joint project based on Eclipse and OSGi. It will offer the numerous Eclipse application developers a unified platform for an easier work environment. The software based on UC2 platform will provide major enterprises with easy-to-use communication solutions, such as the Lotus based Sametime. In the future the Sametime users will benefit from such additional functions as click-to-call and voice mailing.[64] Redbooks are publicly available online books about best practices with IBM products. They describe the products features, field experience and dos and don'ts, while leaving aside marketing buzz. Available formats are Redbooks, Redpapers and Redpieces. Extreme Blue is one of IBM's internship programs, which tasks students with developing high-value technology.[65] In 2003, participants in the program filed 98 patents.[66] In 2006, IBM launched Secure Blue, encryption hardware that can be built into microprocessors. In May 2007, IBM unveiled Project Big Green, a re-direction of $1 billion per year across its businesses to increase energy efficiency. On November 2008, IBM’s CEO, Sam Palmisano, during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, outlined a new agenda for building a Smarter Planet.[67] In addition, an official company blog exists. Smarter Planet @ IBM On Aug 18, 2011, as part of its effort in cognitive computing, IBM has produced chips that imitate neurons and synapses. These microprocessors do not use von Neumann architecture, and they consume less memory and power.[68] IBM also holds the SmartCamp program globally. The program searches for fresh start-up companies that IBM can partner with to solve world problems. IBM holds 17 SmartCamp events around the world.[69] Since July 2011, IBM has partnered with Pennies, the electronic charity box, and produced a software solution for IBM retail customers that provides an easy way to donate money when paying in-store by credit or debit card. Customers donate just a few pence (1p-99p) a time and every donation goes to UK charities. Environmental record IBM was recognized as one of the "Top 20 Best Workplaces for Commuters" by the United States Environmental Protection Agency‎ (EPA) in 2005. The award was to recognize Fortune 500 companies which provided employees with excellent commuter benefits to help reduce traffic and air pollution.[70] The birthplace of IBM, Endicott, suffered pollution for decades, however. IBM used liquid cleaning agents in circuit board assembly operation for more than two decades, and six spills and leaks were recorded, including one leak in 1979 of 4,100 gallons from an underground tank. These left behind volatile organic compounds in the town's soil and aquifer. Trace elements of volatile organic compounds have been identified in Endicott’s drinking water, but the levels are within regulatory limits. Also, from 1980, IBM has pumped out 78,000 gallons of chemicals, including trichloroethane, freon, benzene and perchloroethene to the air and allegedly caused several cancer cases among the townspeople. IBM Endicott has been identified by the Department of Environmental Conservation as the major source of pollution, though traces of contaminants from a local dry cleaner and other polluters were also found. Despite the amount of pollutant, state health officials could not verify whether air or water pollution in Endicott has actually caused any health problems. According to city officials, tests show that the water is safe to drink.[71] Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd. (TOK) and IBM are collaborating to establish new, low-cost methods for bringing the next generation of solar energy products, called CIGS (Copper-Indium-Gallium-Selenide) solar cell modules, to market. Use of thin film technology, such as CIGS, has great promise in reducing the overall cost of solar cells and further enabling their widespread adoption.[72][73] IBM is exploring four main areas of photovoltaic research: using current technologies to develop cheaper and more efficient silicon solar cells, developing new solution processed thin film photovoltaic devices, concentrator photovoltaics, and future generation photovoltaic architectures based upon nanostructures such as semiconductor quantum dots and nanowires.[74] Company logo and nickname The company used the "globe" logo until 1946, when it began using an acronym-based logo. IBM's current "8-bar" logo was designed in 1972 by graphic designer Paul Rand.[75] It was a general replacement for a 13-bar logo that first appeared in the public on the 1966 release of the TSS/360. Logos designed in the 1970s tended to be sensitive to the technical limitations of photocopiers, which were then being widely deployed. A logo with large solid areas tended to be poorly copied by copiers in the 1970s, so companies preferred logos that avoided large solid areas. The 1972 IBM logos are an example of this tendency. With the advent of digital copiers in the mid-1980s this technical restriction had largely disappeared; at roughly the same time, the 13-bar logo was abandoned for almost the opposite reason – it was difficult to render accurately on the low-resolution digital printers (240 dots per inch) of the time. Big Blue is a nickname for IBM. There are several theories explaining the origin of the name. One theory, substantiated by people who worked for IBM at the time, is that IBM field representatives coined the term in the 1960s, referring to the color of the mainframes IBM installed in the 1960s and early 1970s. "True Blue" was a term used to describe a loyal IBM customer, and business writers later picked up the term.[76][77] Another theory suggests that Big Blue simply refers to the Company's logo. A third theory suggests that Big Blue refers to a former company dress code that required many IBM employees to wear only white shirts and many wore blue suits.[76][78] In any event, IBM keyboards, typewriters, and some other manufactured devices have played on the "Big Blue" concept, using the color for enter keys and carriage returns. IBM has also used blue logos since 1947, making blue the defining color of the company's corporate design, which might be another, more plausible reason for the term. ... ...... Lawrence "Larry" Page[2] (born March 26, 1973) is an American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur who, with Sergey Brin, is best known as the co-founder of Google. On April 4, 2011, he took on the role of chief executive officer of Google, replacing Eric Schmidt.[3][4] As of 2012, his personal wealth is estimated to be $18.7 billion.[1] He is the inventor of PageRank, which became the foundation of Google's search ranking algorithm.[5] Together, Brin and Page own about 16 percent of the company's stake. Larry Page was born in Lansing, Michigan.[6][7] His father, Carl Page, earned a Ph.D. in computer science in 1965 when the field was in its infancy, and is considered a "pioneer in computer science and artificial intelligence." Both he and Page's mother were computer science professors at Michigan State University.[8][9] Gloria Page, his mother, is Jewish but he was raised without religion.[10] Page attended the Okemos Montessori School (now called Montessori Radmoor) in Okemos, Michigan from 1975 to 1979, and graduated from East Lansing High School in 1991.[11] He holds a Bachelor of Science in computer engineering from the University of Michigan with honors and a Master of Science in computer science from Stanford University. While at the University of Michigan, "Page created an inkjet printer made of Lego bricks" (actually a line plotter),[12] served as the president of the Eta Kappa Nu in Fall 1994,[13] and was a member of the 1993 "Maize & Blue" University of Michigan Solar Car team. During an interview, Page recalled his childhood, noting that his house "was usually a mess, with computers and Popular Science magazines all over the place". His attraction to computers started when he was six years old when he got to "play with the stuff lying around". He became the "first kid in his elementary school to turn in an assignment from a word processor."[14] His older brother also taught him to take things apart, and before long he was taking "everything in his house apart to see how it worked". He said that "from a very early age, I also realized I wanted to invent things. So I became really interested in technology...and business . . . probably from when I was 12, I knew I was going to start a company eventually".[14] After enrolling for a Ph.D. program in computer science at Stanford University, Larry Page was in search of a dissertation theme and considered exploring the mathematical properties of the World Wide Web, understanding its link structure as a huge graph.[15][16] His supervisor Terry Winograd encouraged him to pursue this idea, which Page later recalled as "the best advice I ever got".[17] Page then focused on the problem of finding out which web pages link to a given page, considering the number and nature of such backlinks to be valuable information about that page (with the role of citations in academic publishing in mind).[16] In his research project, nicknamed "BackRub", he was soon joined by Sergey Brin, a fellow Stanford Ph.D. student.[16] John Battelle, co-founder of Wired magazine, wrote of Page that he had reasoned that the "entire Web was loosely based on the premise of citation – after all, what is a link but a citation? If he could devise a method to count and qualify each backlink on the Web, as Page puts it 'the Web would become a more valuable place'."[16] Battelle further described how Page and Brin began working together on the project: "At the time Page conceived of BackRub, the Web comprised an estimated 10 million documents, with an untold number of links between them. The computing resources required to crawl such a beast were well beyond the usual bounds of a student project. Unaware of exactly what he was getting into, Page began building out his crawler. "The idea's complexity and scale lured Brin to the job. A polymath who had jumped from project to project without settling on a thesis topic, he found the premise behind BackRub fascinating. "I talked to lots of research groups" around the school, Brin recalls, "and this was the most exciting project, both because it tackled the Web, which represents human knowledge, and because I liked Larry".[16] Brin and Page originally met in March 1995, during a spring orientation of new computer Ph.D. candidates. Page, who had already been in the program for two years, was assigned to show some students, including Brin, around campus, and they later became good friends.[18] To convert the backlink data gathered by BackRub's web crawler into a measure of importance for a given web page, Brin and Page developed the PageRank algorithm, and realized that it could be used to build a search engine far superior to existing ones.[16] It relied on a new kind of technology that analyzed the relevance of the back links that connected one Web page to another.[18] In August 1996, the initial version of Google was made available, still on the Stanford University Web site.[16] Business Main articles: Google and History of Google In 1998, Brin and Page founded Google, Inc.[19] Page ran Google as co-president along with Brin until 2001 when they hired Eric Schmidt as Chairman and CEO of Google. In January 2011 Google announced that Page would replace Schmidt as CEO in April the same year.[20] Both Page and Brin earn an annual compensation of one dollar. On April 4, 2011, Page officially became the chief executive of Google, while Schmidt stepped down to become executive chairman. Personal life Page married Lucinda Southworth at Richard Branson's Caribbean island, Necker Island in 2007.[21] Southworth is a research scientist and sister of actress and model Carrie Southworth.[22][23][24] They have one child. Other interests Page is an active investor in alternative energy companies, such as Tesla Motors, which developed the Tesla Roadster, a 244-mile (393 km) range battery electric vehicle.[25] He continues to be committed to renewable energy technology, and with the help of Google.org, Google's philanthropic arm, promotes the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric cars and other alternative energy investments.[14] Brin and Page are the executive producers of the 2007 film Broken Arrows.[26] Awards and recognition PC Magazine has praised Google as among the Top 100 Web Sites and Search Engines (1998) and awarded Google the Technical Excellence Award, for Innovation in Web Application Development in 1999. In 2000, Google earned a Webby Award, a People's Voice Award for technical achievement, and in 2001, was awarded Outstanding Search Service, Best Image Search Engine, Best Design, Most Webmaster Friendly Search Engine, and Best Search Feature at the Search Engine Watch Awards."[27] In 2002, Page, along with Sergey Brin, was named to the MIT Technology Review TR100, as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.[28] In 2003, both Brin and Page received an honorary MBA from IE Business School "for embodying the entrepreneurial spirit and lending momentum to the creation of new businesses...."[29] And in 2004, they received the Marconi Foundation Prize, the "Highest Award in Engineering," and were elected Fellows of the Marconi Foundation at Columbia University. "In announcing their selection, John Jay Iselin, the Foundation's president, congratulated the two men for their invention that has fundamentally changed the way information is retrieved today." They joined a "select cadre of 32 of the world's most influential communications technology pioneers...."[30] He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2004. In 2005, Brin and Page were elected Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[31] In 2002 the World Economic Forum named Page a Global Leader for Tomorrow and in 2004 the X PRIZE chose Page as a trustee for their board.[12] In 2004, Page and Brin were named "Persons of the Week" by ABC World News Tonight. Page received an honorary doctorate from the University of Michigan in 2009 during graduation commencement ceremonies.[32] In 2011, he was ranked 24th on the Forbes list of billionaires and as the 11th richest person in the United States. ... ...... Lionel Andrés Messi (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi], born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine footballer who plays for La Liga club FC Barcelona and is the current captain of the Argentina national team, playing mainly as a forward. By the age of 21, Messi had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. The following year in 2009 he won both the Ballon d'Or[2] and FIFA World Player of the Year, and won the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010 and 2011.[3] He also won the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. Messi is the fourth football player to win three Ballons d'Or, after Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten and the second player to win three consecutive Ballons d'Or, after Michel Platini. His playing style and small stature have drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his "successor".[4][5] Messi has won five La Liga titles and three Champions League titles. In 2012, Messi made UEFA Champions League history by becoming the first player to score five goals in one match, in a 7–1 win against Bayer Leverkusen.[6] With two goals in the next round against Milan, he matched José Altafini's record of 14 goals in a single Champions League season.[7] He also became the first player to top-score in four successive Champions League campaigns.[8][9] He set the world record for most goals scored in a season during the 2011–12 season, with 73 goals.[10] Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with six goals. In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup and he won a runners-up medal at the Copa América tournament the following year, in which he was elected young player of the tournament.[11] In 2008, he won his first international honour, an Olympic gold medal, with the Argentina Olympic football team. Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, to parents Jorge Horácio Messi, a factory steel worker, and Celia María Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner.[12][13][14][15] His paternal family originates from the Italian city of Ancona, from which his ancestor, Angelo Messi, emigrated to Argentina in 1883.[16][17] He has two older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, and a sister, María Sol.[18] At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge.[19] In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys who were based in his home city Rosario.[19] At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency.[20] Local powerhouse River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for treatment for his condition, which cost $900 a month.[15] Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, had been made aware of his talent as Messi had relatives in Lleida and Messi and his father were able to arrange a trial with the team.[15] Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered Messi a contract written on a paper napkin.[21][22] Barcelona offered to pay for Messi's medical bills if he was willing to move to Spain. Messi and his father moved to Barcelona where Messi enrolled in the club's youth academy.[19][22] Club career Barcelona Messi played in Barcelona's junior Infantil B and Cadete B & A teams from 2000 to 2003 (scoring 37 goals in 30 matches in Cadete A). Season 2003–04 saw him on a record[23] five different teams: He started one match in Juvenil B (one goal) and got promoted to Juvenil A (14 matches, 21 goals). Later he debuted for FC Barcelona C team (Tercera División) on 29 November 2003 and for FC Barcelona B (Segunda División B) on 6 March 2004. He played for both teams during the season (eight matches, five goals and five games, zero goals, respectively).[24][25][26] Even before these two debuts, Messi made his official debut for the first-team on 16 November 2003 aged 16 years and 145 days, in a friendly match against Porto.[27][28] Less than a year after his start, Frank Rijkaard gave him his league debut against RCD Espanyol on 16 October 2004 (at 17 years and 114 days), becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga, which would be broken by Bojan Krkić in September 2007. When he scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete Balompié on 1 May 2005, Messi was 17 years, ten months and seven days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for Barcelona[29] until it was again broken by Bojan Krkić in 2007, scoring from a Messi assist.[30] Messi said about his ex-coach Rijkaard: "I'll never forget the fact that he launched my career, that he had confidence in me while I was only sixteen or seventeen."[31] During the season, Messi played also in Barcelona B (Segunda División B) scoring 6 goals in 17 matches. 2005–06 season On 16 September, for the second time in three months, Barcelona announced an update to Messi's contract; this time it was improved to pay him as a first team member and extended until June 2014.[19] Messi obtained Spanish citizenship on 26 September 2005[32] and was finally able to make his debut in the season's Spanish First Division. Messi's first home outing in the Champions League came on 27 September against Italian club Udinese.[27] Fans at Barcelona's stadium, the Camp Nou, gave Messi a standing ovation upon his substitution, as his composure on the ball and passing combinations with Ronaldinho had paid dividends for Barcelona.[33] Messi netted six goals in 17 league appearances, and scored one Champions League goal in six. His season ended prematurely on 7 March 2006, however, when he suffered a muscle tear in his right thigh during the second leg of the second round Champions League tie against Chelsea.[34] Rijkaard's Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.[35][36] 2006–07 season Messi in a match against Rangers in 2007 In the 2006–07 season, Messi established himself as a regular first team player, scoring 14 times in 26 matches.[37] On 12 November, in the game against Real Zaragoza, Messi suffered a broken metatarsal, ruling him out for three months.[38][39] On 11 March, El Clásico saw Messi in top form, scoring a hat-trick to earn 10-man Barcelona a 3–3 draw, equalising three times, with the final equaliser coming in injury time.[40] In doing so he became the first player since Iván Zamorano (for Real Madrid in the 1994–95 season) to score a hat-trick in El Clásico.[41] Messi is also the youngest player ever to have scored in this fixture. Towards the end of the season he began finding the net more often; 11 of his 14 league goals for the season came from the last 13 games.[42] Messi shortly before scoring a goal against Getafe Messi also proved the "new Maradona" tag was not all hype, by nearly replicating Maradona's most famous goals in the space of the single season.[43] On 18 April 2007, he scored two goals during a Copa del Rey semi-final against Getafe CF, one of which was very similar to Maradona's famous goal against England at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, known as the Goal of the Century.[44] The world's sports press drew comparisons with Maradona, and the Spanish press labelled Messi as "Messidona".[45] He ran about the same distance, 62 metres (203 ft), beat the same number of players (six, including the goalkeeper), scored from a very similar position, and ran towards the corner flag just as Maradona did in Mexico 21 years before.[43] In a press conference after the game, Messi's team-mate Deco said: "It was the best goal I have ever seen in my life."[46] Against RCD Espanyol Messi also scored a goal which was remarkably similar to Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal against England in the World Cup quarter-finals. Messi launched himself at the ball and connected with his hand to guide the ball past the goalkeeper Carlos Kameni.[47] Despite protests by Espanyol players and replays showing it was clear handball, the goal stood.[47] During his time at Barcelona, manager Frank Rijkaard decided to move Messi from the left flank onto the right wing, initially against the player's wishes, allowing him to cut into the centre of the pitch and shoot or cross with his left foot.[48] 2007–08 season Messi takes Barcelona to 2–0 against Sevilla at Camp Nou on 22 September 2007 On 27 February, Messi played in his 100th official match for Barcelona against Valencia CF.[49] Messi was nominated for a FIFPro World XI Player Award under the category of Forward.[50] A poll conducted in the online edition of the Spanish newspaper Marca had him as the best player in the world with 77 percent of the vote.[51] Columnists from Barcelona-based newspapers El Mundo Deportivo and Sport stated that the Ballon d'Or should be given to Messi, a view supported by Franz Beckenbauer.[52] Football personalities such as Francesco Totti have declared that they consider Messi to be one of the current best footballers in the world.[53] Messi was sidelined for six weeks following an injury on 4 March when he suffered a muscle tear in his left thigh during a Champions League match against Celtic FC. It was the fourth time in three seasons that Messi suffered this type of injury.[54] When the season was over Messi managed to score 16 goals and assisted 13 times in all competitions. 2008–09 season Upon Ronaldinho's departure from the club, Messi inherited his number 10 jersey.[55] During this season he placed second in the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year awards with 678 points. Michael Carrick defending a shot from Messi in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final Messi scored his first hat-trick of 2009 in a Copa del Rey tie against Atlético Madrid which Barcelona won 3–1.[56] Messi scored another important double on 1 February 2009, coming on as a second half substitute to help Barcelona defeat Racing Santander 1–2 after being 1–0 down. The second of the two strikes was Barcelona's 5000th league goal.[57] On 8 April 2009, he scored twice against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, setting a personal record of eight goals in the competition.[58] As Barcelona's season was drawing to a close, Messi scored twice (his 35th and 36th goals in all competitions) to cap a 6–2 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu[59] in what was Real's heaviest defeat since 1930.[60] He won his first Copa del Rey on 13 May, scoring one goal and assisting another two, in a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao.[61] He helped his team win the double by winning La Liga. On 27 May he helped Barcelona win the Champions League by scoring a second goal in the 70th minute giving Barcelona a two goal lead; he also became the top scorer in the Champions League, the youngest in the tournament's history, with nine goals.[62] Messi also won the UEFA Club Forward of the Year: and the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year rounding off a spectacular year in Europe.[63] This victory meant Barcelona had won the Copa del Rey, La Liga and Champions League in the one season,[64] and was the first time a Spanish club had ever won the treble.[65] Messi finished the season with 38 goals and 18 assists in all competitions. 2009–10 season "The Maradona and Pelé polemics will end" —Diego Maradona, on the consequences if Messi won the 2010 World Cup[66] After winning the 2009 UEFA Super Cup, Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola asserted that Messi was probably the best player he had ever seen.[67] This would also be the season in which Guardiola would first move Messi from the position of right winger into his now iconic "false-9" role in the centre of the front line at Barcelona.[68] On 18 September, Messi signed a new contract with Barcelona, running until 2016 and with a buy-out clause of €250 million included, making Messi, along with Zlatan Ibrahimović, the highest paid players in La Liga, with earnings of around €9.5 million yearly.[69][70] Messi was named winner of the 2009 Ballon d'Or on 1 December 2009, beating runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo by largest ever margin of 473 to 233.[71][72][73] Messi at the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup On 19 December, Messi scored the winner in the final of the 2009 Club World Cup against Estudiantes in Abu Dhabi, giving the club their sixth title of the year.[74] Two days later, he was given the FIFA World Player of the Year award,[75] beating Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Kaká and Andrés Iniesta to the award. This was the first time he had won the award, and he became the first Argentinian to ever receive this honour.[76] On 10 January 2010, Messi scored his first hat-trick in 2010 and his first hat-trick of the season against CD Tenerife in the 0–5 victory,[77] and on 17 January he scored his 100th goal for the club in the 4–0 victory over Sevilla FC.[78] Messi scored a hat-trick against Valencia CF in a 3–0 home win,[79] and finally he scored another hat-trick against Real Zaragoza in a 4–2 away win,[80] becoming the first Barcelona player to score back-to-back hat-tricks in La Liga.[81] He played his 200th official match for Barcelona against CA Osasuna on 24 March 2010.[82] "Once he's on the run, Messi is unstoppable. He's the only player who can change direction at such a pace." "He is the best player in the world by some distance. He's (like) a PlayStation. He can take advantage of every mistake we make." Arsène Wenger after Barcelona won 4–1 against Arsenal.[83][84] On 6 April 2010, for the first time in Messi's career he scored four goals in a single match, netting the lot in a 4–1 home win over Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-final second leg.[85][86] This also saw him overtake Rivaldo as Barcelona's all time greatest scorer in the competition.[87] In the final league match of the season against Valladolid, he scored two goals in the second half to tie Ronaldo's club record of 34 goals in a single league season, set in 1996–97,[88][89] and to finish four goals behind the all-time record held by Telmo Zarra.[90] He was named La Liga player of the year for the second year in a row on 3 June 2010.[91] He finished the season with 47 goals in all competitions, tying Ronaldo's record from the 1996-97 season, and he provided 11 assists.[92] 2010–11 season On 21 August 2010, Messi scored a hat-trick in his first start of the season in a 4–0 victory over Sevilla FC in the Supercopa de España, helping Barcelona secure their first trophy of the season after a 1–3 first leg loss.[93] On 19 September 2010, Messi suffered an ankle injury due to an ill-advised tackle by Atlético Madrid defender Tomáš Ujfaluši in the 92nd minute of their Round 3 match at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. At first sight it was feared that Messi suffered a broken ankle that could have kept the star player away from the pitch for a minimum of six months, but MRI performed the next day in Barcelona showed he suffered a sprain in the internal and external ligaments of his right ankle.[94] Team-mate David Villa stated "the tackle on Messi was brutal" after watching the video of the play and also added that he believed the Atlético defender "didn't go into the tackle to hurt".[95] The incident caused widespread media attention and brought up the debate of equality in protecting all players in the game. Against Almería Messi scored his second hat-trick of the season in an impressive 8–0 away win, the second of which was his 100th La Liga goal.[96] Messi playing against Real Madrid in a Champions League match Messi won the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or, beating his Barcelona teammates Xavi and Iniesta.[97] Messi had been nominated for the awards for the fourth consecutive year.[98] On 5 February, Barcelona broke the record for most consecutive league wins with 16 victories after they defeated Atlético Madrid 3–0 at the Camp Nou.[99] Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to ensure the victory for his side and after the match he stated, "it's an honor to be able to pass a record set by a great like Di Stéfano" and "if the record has been around for so long is because it's very complicated to achieve and we have reached it by defeating a very difficult team who's going through a bad situation, which makes it even more difficult."[100] After failing to score for a month he scored a brace against UD Almería; the second goal was his 47th of the season, equalling his club record return of the previous season.[101] He surpassed his record on 12 April 2011 by scoring the winner against Shakhtar Donetsk in a UEFA Champions League game, which put him in the record book as all time top scorer in a single season for Barcelona.[102] He scored his eighth goal on El Clásico on a 1–1 tie at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. On 23 April, Messi scored his 50th goal of the season against CA Osasuna in a 2–0 home victory which he came on as a substitute in the 60th minute.[103] He finished the season by winning La Liga and scoring 31 goals as he finished runner-up in the Pichichi trophy to Cristiano Ronaldo, who had managed to score 40. Messi finished the league season as the top assist provider with 18 assists. On 20 April, Barcelona were defeated by arch-rivals Real Madrid in the 2011 Copa del Rey Final. Messi set up a goal for Pedro, which was however ruled offside. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal of the match in extra time. Messi was however the joint top-scorer of the tournament along with Cristiano Ronaldo, with 7 goals.[104] [105][105] In the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, he gave a memorable performance, scoring twice against Real Madrid in a 2–0 win, the second goal (a dribble past several players) being acclaimed as one of the best ever at that stage of the competition.[106][107] At the Champions League Final at Wembley, Messi scored the eventual game-clinching goal to give Barcelona their third title in six years and fourth overall.[108] This was also Messi's 12th goal in the Champions League that season, which allowed him to tie Ruud Van Nistelrooy's record of 12 goals in a single European Cup season, after it was re-established as the UEFA Champions League, in 1992.[105] The overall record of goals scored in a single European Cup Season, is José Altafini's record of 14 goals, which Messi did however equal in the following season.[105] Messi finished the 2010-11 season with 53 goals and 24 assists in all competitions. 2011–12 season Messi started the season by lifting the Spanish Supercup with Barcelona, scoring three goals and providing two assists in a 5–4 aggregate win against Real Madrid.[109] His vital interventions continued in the next official match played against Porto when he scored again following a weak back pass from Fredy Guarín before setting up Cesc Fàbregas to give Barcelona a 2–0 victory and the UEFA Super Cup,[110] then the only official competition that remained for him to score in.[111] After scoring his first goal of an eventual hat-trick in an 8–0 rout against CA Osasuna, Messi produced a special celebration for Soufian, a 10-year-old Moroccan boy with Laurin Sandrow syndrome, a rare medical condition that can eventually lead to the loss of the lower extremities. Whilst Messi usually points to the sky after scoring a goal, Messi slapped his thighs as a dedication to Soufian.[112] In August, Messi became the second highest goalscorer surpassing László Kubala on 194 goals, being behind only to César Rodríguez on 232 goals in all official competitions.[113] On 28 September, Messi scored his first two Champions League goals of the season against BATE Borisov,[114] becoming Barcelona's second highest goalscorer in its history, tying László Kubala, at 194 goals in all official competitions.[115] He surpassed that record when he scored two goals against Racing Santander.[116] He became second in Barcelona's La Liga goalscorers list with 132 goals, one more than Kubala.[117] He scored his 200th Barcelona goal and two more as part of a hat-trick in his next game against Viktoria Plzeň in the Champions League.[118] Messi scored a brace in the Club World Cup Final against Santos FC and was recognized as the man of the match and also awarded the Golden Ball for his performance during the tournament.[119] Messi won the 2011 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, beating his FC Barcelona team-mate Xavi Hernández and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi won the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, again beating his team-mate Xavi and Cristiano Ronaldo. By winning the FIFA Ballon d'Or again, Messi become the fourth player to win three Ballon d'Ors, after Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco Van Basten and the second player to win three consecutive Ballon d'Ors, after Michel Platini (although two of his Ballon d'Ors are FIFA Ballon d'Ors, which he won consecutively). On 19 February 2012, Messi, on his 200th La Liga appearance, scored four goals against Valencia CF in a 5–1 win.[120] On 7 March, Messi became the first player to score five goals in an UEFA Champions League match since the tournament's re-establishment in 1992, helping the defending champions Barcelona win 7–1 against Bayer Leverkusen.[121] On 20 March, Messi scored three goals against Granada CF, making him FC Barcelona's leading goalscorer in official competitions, surpassing club legend César Rodríguez, who had previously held the record with 232.[122] On 3 April, Messi scored two goals from penalty kicks against Milan in the second leg of the Champions League Quarter-final, allowing him to surpass his personal record, joint with Ruud van Nistelrooy, of 12 goals in a single UEFA Champions League season. These goals allowed him to tie José Altafini's record of 14 goals in a single European Cup season in the 1962–63 season, before the tournament's re-establishment as the UEFA Champions League in 1992.[105] Barcelona were knocked out in the semi-finals to eventual winners Chelsea. On 11 April, Messi scored his 61th goal against Getafe CF, surpassing Isidro Langara's record of 60 goals in 1933–34, and became the best goalscorer in history in one season in Spain.[citation needed] On 2 May, Messi scored a hat-trick against Málaga CF surpassing Gerd Müller's record (67 goals in 1972-73) with 68 goals, and thus becoming the best goalscorer in history in one season in Europe.[123] It was the 21st multi-goal game of the season for Messi and his seventh La Liga hat-trick.[124] He then scored four goals on 5 May against RCD Espanyol to take his tally to an unprecedented 72 goals, in the process becoming only the second player to pass 70 goals in a first division season since Archie Stark of Bethlehem Steel in the American Soccer League in 1924–25.[125] On 25 May, he scored again in the 2012 Copa del Rey Final, helping Barcelona win their 26th Spanish Cup title, and increasing his seasonal goalscoring record to an unmatched 73 goals in all competitions.[126] [127] This was also Guardiola's last match as Barcelona's manager, and the Cup win marked Messi's second Copa del Rey title, after losing the final the year before, as well as his 14th Barcelona trophy during Guardiola's four seasons at the club. Although Barcelona failed to win their 4th consecutive Liga title under Guardiola, finishing runners up to arch-rivals Real Madrid, Messi finished the 2011–12 season as the top goalscorer in La Liga for a second time, with a Liga record of 50 goals. He was the second best assist provider in La Liga that season with 16 assists, after Mesut Özil, who managed 17. He also ended the season as the UEFA Champions' League Top Scorer for a fourth consecutive time, with 14 goals.[128] He was one of the top assist providers of the tournament with 5 assists and finished the season with 73 goals and 29 assists in all club competitions, with more goals and assists than any other player. International career Often referred to as an Argentinian-Spanish player, this crossover was brought into sharp focus when in 2004, Lionel was offered the chance to play for the Spanish national U-20 team. He declined the offer given his Argentinian heritage, and was given the opportunity to play for Argentina's U-20 team in a friendly match against Paraguay in June 2004.[129] Messi scored once against Paraguay and twice in friendly against Uruguay in July 2004[130]. In 2005 he was part of a team that finished 3rd in 2005 South American Youth Championship in Colombia. He won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands with the team and won the Golden Ball and the Golden Shoe,[131] scoring in the last four of Argentina's matches and netting a total of six for the tournament. He made his full international debut on 17 August 2005 against Hungary at the age of 18. He was substituted on during the 63rd minute, but was sent off on the 65th minute because the referee, Markus Merk, claimed that Messi had allegedly elbowed defender Vilmos Vanczák, who was tugging Messi's shirt. The decision was contentious and Maradona even claimed the decision was pre-meditated. Messi was later reportedly found weeping in the changing rooms after the decision.[132][133] Messi returned to the team on 3 September in Argentina's 1–0 World Cup qualifier away defeat to Paraguay. Ahead of the match he had said "This is a re-debut. The first one was a bit short."[134] He then started his first game for Argentina against Peru, in which he was able to win a crucial penalty for Argentina; after the match Pekerman described Messi as "a jewel".[135] He scored his first goal for Argentina in a friendly match against Croatia on 1st March 2006.[136] On 28 March 2009, in a World Cup Qualifier against Venezuela, Messi wore the number 10 jersey for the first time with Argentina. This match was the first official match for Diego Maradona as the Argentina manager. Argentina won the match 4–0 with Messi opening the scoring.[137] On 17 November 2010, Messi scored a last-minute goal against South American rivals Brazil after an individual effort to help his team to a 1–0 win in the friendly match, which was held in Doha. This was the first time that he had scored against Brazil at senior level.[138] Messi scored another last-minute goal on 9 February 2011 against Portugal in a penalty kick which gave his side a 2–1 victory in the friendly match, which was held in Geneva, Switzerland. He had also previously assisted the first goal.[139] His first hat-trick for Albiceleste came against Switzerland, on 29 February 2012 which the game ended 3–1 for Argentina.[140] On 9 June 2012, Messi scored his second international hat-trick in a friendly match against rivals Brazil, including the match winner. The match ended 4-3 to Argentina and Messi was voted man of the match.[141] This brought his international goalscoring tally up to 26 goals in 70 matches, and brought his 2012 tally up to 7 goals in 3 matches. This was also his record-breaking 82nd goal of the season, including all club and international matches.[142] 2006 World Cup The injury that kept Messi from playing for two months at the end of the 2005–06 season jeopardised his presence in the 2006 World Cup. Nevertheless, Messi was selected in the Argentina squad for the tournament on 15 May 2006. He also played in the final match before the World Cup against the Argentine U-20 team for 15 minutes and a friendly match against Angola from the 64th minute.[143][144] He witnessed Argentina's opening match victory against Ivory Coast from the substitute's bench.[145] In the next match against Serbia and Montenegro, Messi became the youngest player to represent Argentina at a World Cup when he came on as a substitute for Maxi Rodríguez in the 74th minute. He assisted Hernán Crespo's goal within minutes of entering the game and also scored the final goal in the 6–0 victory, making him the youngest scorer in the tournament and the sixth youngest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup.[146] Messi started in Argentina's following 0–0 draw against the Netherlands.[147] In the following game against Mexico, Messi came on as a substitute in the 84th minute, with the score tied at 1–1. He appeared to score a goal, but it was ruled offside with Argentina needing a late goal in extra time to proceed.[148][149] Coach José Pekerman left Messi on the bench during the quarter-final match against Germany, which they lost 4–2 on a penalty shootout.[150] 2007 Copa América Messi at the 2007 Copa América Messi played his first game in the 2007 Copa América on 29 June 2007, when Argentina defeated United States 4–1 in the first game. In this game, he showed his capabilities as a playmaker. He set up a goal for fellow striker Hernán Crespo and had numerous shots on target. Tevez came on as a substitute for Messi in the 79th minute and scored minutes later.[151] His second game was against Colombia, in which he won a penalty that Crespo converted to tie the game at 1–1. He also played a part in Argentina's second goal as he was fouled outside the box, which allowed Juan Roman Riquelme to score from a freekick, and increase Argentina's lead to 3–1. The final score of the game was 4–2 in Argentina's favor and guaranteed them a spot in the tournament's quarterfinals.[152] In the third game, against Paraguay the coach rested Messi having already qualified for the quarter-finals. He came off the bench in place of Esteban Cambiasso in the 64th minute, with the score at 0–0. In the 79th minute, he assisted a goal for Javier Mascherano.[153] In the quarter-finals, as Argentina faced Peru, Messi scored the second goal of the game, from a Riquelme pass in a 4–0 win.[154] During the semi-final match against Mexico, Messi scored a lob over Oswaldo Sánchez to see Argentina through to the final with a 3–0 win.[155] Argentina went on to lose 3–0 to Brazil in the final.[156] Messi was elected young player of the tournament.[157] 2008 Summer Olympics Messi in the semi-final against Brazil at the 2008 Olympics Having barred Messi from playing for Argentina in the 2008 Olympics,[158] Barcelona agreed to release him after he held talks with newly appointed coach Josep Guardiola.[159] He joined the Argentina squad and scored the first goal in a 2–1 victory over Ivory Coast.[159] He then scored the opening goal and assisted Ángel di María in the second to help his side to a 2–1 extra-time win against the Netherlands.[160] He also featured in Argentina's match against rivals Brazil, in which Argentina took a 3–0 victory, thus advancing to the final. In the gold medal match, Messi again assisted Di María for the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Nigeria.[161] 2010 World Cup Messi and Argentina lost 0–4 against Germany in the quarter-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup For the 2010 World Cup, Messi wore the number 10 shirt for the first time in a major tournament.[162] Messi played the entire game on Argentina's opening match in the 2010 World Cup, the 1–0 victory against Nigeria. He had several opportunities to score but was repeatedly denied by Vincent Enyeama.[163] Messi started in Argentina's following 4–1 win against Korea Republic; he played in more of an attacking midfielder and playmaking role under Maradona,[164] [165] [166] [167] and participated in all of the goals of his team, helping Gonzalo Higuaín score a hat-trick.[168] On the third and last group stage match Messi captained during Argentina's 2–0 win over Greece, again being the centrepoint of Argentina's play and was voted man of the match.[169] At the Round of 16 he assisted Carlos Tévez for the first goal in a 3–1 win against Mexico. The World Cup ended for Argentina with a 4–0 loss against Germany in the quarter-finals.[170] Messi was nominated in ten player shortlist for Golden Ball award by FIFA Technical Study Group. The group identified Messi with words: "Outstanding in his pace and creativity for his team, dribbling, shooting, passing – spectacular and efficient".[171] Messi took part in the Copa América in Argentina, where he failed to score a goal but notched three assists. He was selected man-of-the-match in matches against Bolivia (1–1) and Costa Rica (3–0). Argentina were eliminated in the quarter-finals in a penalty shoot-out against Uruguay (1–1 a.e.t.), with Messi scoring as the first penalty taker. Outside football Messi was at one stage romantically linked to Macarena Lemos, also from his hometown of Rosario. He is said to have been introduced to her by the girl's father when he returned to Rosario to recover from his injury a few days before the start of the 2006 World Cup.[172][173] He has in the past also been linked to the Argentine glamour model Luciana Salazar.[174][175] In January 2009 he told "Hat Trick Barça", a programme on Canal 33: "I have a girlfriend and she is living in Argentina. I am relaxed and happy".[175] He was seen with the girl, Antonella Roccuzzo,[176] at a carnival in Sitges after the Barcelona-Espanyol derby. Roccuzzo is a fellow native of Rosario.[177] On June 2nd, 2012, Messi assisted and scored a goal in Argentina's 4-0 win against Ecuador in a World Cup 2014 Qualifying match. He celebrated scoring his 23rd goal for Argentina, by placing the ball under his jersey, as his girlfriend is reportedly 12 weeks pregnant. She posted on twitter that she is expected to give birth in September.[178] Messi has two cousins also involved in football: Maxi, a winger for Club Olimpia of Paraguay, and Emanuel Biancucchi, who plays as a midfielder for Spain's Girona FC.[179] In 2007, Messi established the Leo Messi Foundation, a charity supporting access to education and health care for vulnerable children.[181][182] In response to Messi’s own childhood medical difficulties, the Leo Messi Foundation has offered Argentine children diagnosed with illnesses treatment in Spain and funds covering the transport, hospital and recuperation costs.[183] Messi’s foundation is supported by his own fundraising activity with additional assistance from Herbalife. On 11 March 2010 Messi was announced as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.[184] Messi’s UNICEF ambassador activities are aimed at supporting children’s rights. Messi is supported in this by Barcelona, who also have a strong association with UNICEF.[185] Wealth In March 2010, France Football ranked him at the top of its list of the world's richest footballers, ahead of David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, with £29.6 million (€33 million) in combined income from salaries, bonuses and off-field earnings.[186][187] His net wealth is estimated at $110 millon.[188] Media An example of Messi's popularity and influence. Photographed in India. Messi was featured on the front covers of the video games Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 and is also involved in promotional campaigns for the games.[189][190] Messi, along with Fernando Torres,[191] is the face of Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, and was also involved in the motion capturing and the trailer.[192][193][194] However, in November 2011 Messi was confirmed as the new face of PES's rival football series FIFA with his debut as a cover star of the series coming in 2012's FIFA Street. Messi is sponsored by the German sportswear company Adidas and features in their television advertisements.[195] In June 2010, Messi also signed a three–year contract with Herbalife[196] which further supports the Leo Messi Foundation. Messi was named twice in the Time 100, the magazine's annual list of the most influential people in the world, respectively in 2011[197] and in 2012.[198] Also in April 2011, Messi launched a Facebook page and within a few hours, his page had attracted more than six million followers. His Facebook page had over 33 million followers in March 2012.[199] In May 2012, ex-Real Madrid player Royston Drenthe claimed Lionel Messi repeatedly called him "negro" during his time in Spain.[200] A counter statement issued by Barcelona said: "Messi has always shown a maximum respect and sportsmanship towards his rivals, something which has been recognized by his fellow professionals many times.[201] On 26 May 2012, Messi was mistakenly announced dead by FOX Sports on its Twitter feed. "We must report the sad news that Lionel Messi is deceased from a heart attack during training #RipMessi," said the tweet that was sent to its followers. The message was deleted seconds later, with FOX Sports then going into damage control mode, while also blaming hackers for the incident. ... ...... Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone /tʃɪˈkoʊneɪ/ chi-KOH-nay; August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and entrepreneur. She has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the world's top-selling female recording artist of all time by Guinness World Records. Considered to be one of the "25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century" by Time for being an influential figure in contemporary music, she is known for continuously reinventing both her music and image, and for retaining a standard of autonomy within the recording industry. Critics have praised her diverse musical productions which have also served as a lightning rod for controversy. Born in Bay City, Michigan, Madonna moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983. She followed it with a series of albums that attained immense popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV. Throughout her career, many of her songs have hit number one on the record charts, including "Like a Virgin", "Papa Don't Preach", "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Frozen", "Music", "Hung Up", and "4 Minutes". Although she received generally positive reviews for her role in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985),[1] her later film appearances received mixed commentary. She received critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Evita (1996), but has received harsh feedback for other performances. Her other ventures include: fashion design, writing children's books, and film directing and producing. She has been acclaimed as a businesswoman. In 1992, she founded entertainment company Maverick as a joint venture with Time Warner. In 2007, she signed an unprecedented US $120 million contract with Live Nation. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Madonna is the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States, with 64 million certified albums. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked her at number two, behind only The Beatles, on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, making her the most successful solo artist in the history of the chart. She was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the same year. In 2012, she was crowned the "Greatest Woman In Music" by VH1. 1958–81: Early life and career beginnings Madonna was born in Bay City, Michigan, on August 16, 1958. Her father, Silvio Anthony Ciccone, is a first-generation Italian American (with roots in Pacentro, Italy), while her mother, Madonna Louise (née Fortin), was of French Canadian descent.[2] Her father later worked as a design engineer for Chrysler and General Motors. As Madonna had the same name as her mother, family members called her "Little Nonni".[3][4] The third of six children from her father's first marriage, her full-blood siblings are: Martin, Anthony, Paula, Christopher, and Melanie.[4] Madonna was raised Roman Catholic. Upon receiving confirmation, she adopted Veronica as an additional confirmation name.[5] She was raised in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Avon Township (now part of Rochester Hills). Her mother died of breast cancer at the age of 30 in 1963.[6] Months before her mother's death, Madonna noticed changes in her behavior and personality from the attentive homemaker she was, although she did not understand the reason.[6] Mrs. Ciccone, at a loss to explain her dire medical condition, would often begin to cry when questioned by Madonna, at which point Madonna would respond by wrapping her arms around her mother tenderly. "I remember feeling stronger than she was," Madonna recalled, "I was so little and yet I felt like she was the child."[6] Madonna later acknowledged that she had not grasped the concept of her mother dying. "There was so much left unsaid, so many untangled and unresolved emotions, of remorse, guilt, loss, anger, confusion ... I saw my mother, looking very beautiful and lying as if she were asleep in an open casket. Then I noticed that my mother's mouth looked funny. It took me some time to realize that it had been sewn up. In that awful moment, I began to understand what I had lost forever. The final image of my mother, at once peaceful yet grotesque, haunts me today also."[7] Madonna as a junior in high school, 1975. Madonna turned to her grandmother in the hope of finding some solace and some form of her mother in her. The Ciccone siblings resented housekeepers and invariably rebelled against anyone brought into their home ostensibly to take the place of their beloved mother.[6] In an interview with Vanity Fair, Madonna commented that she saw herself in her youth as a "lonely girl who was searching for something. I wasn't rebellious in a certain way. I cared about being good at something. I didn't shave my underarms and I didn't wear make-up like normal girls do. But I studied and I got good grades ... I wanted to be somebody."[6] Terrified that her father could be taken from her as well, Madonna was often unable to sleep unless she was near him.[6] Her father married the family's housekeeper Joan Gustafson in 1966, and they had two children: Jennifer and Mario Ciccone.[4] At this point, Madonna began to express unresolved feelings of anger towards her father that lasted for decades, and developed a rebellious attitude.[6] She attended St. Frederick's and St. Andrew's Catholic Elementary Schools, and then West Middle School. She was known for her high grade point average, and achieved notoriety for her unconventional behavior: she would perform cartwheels and handstands in the hallways between classes, dangle by her knees from the monkey bars during recess, and pull up her skirt during class—all so that the boys could see her underwear.[8] Madonna later attended Rochester Adams High School where she became a straight-A student and a member of the cheerleading squad.[9] After graduating, she received a dance scholarship to the University of Michigan.[10] She convinced her father to allow her to take ballet lessons[11] and was persuaded by Christopher Flynn, her ballet teacher, to pursue a career in dance.[12] In 1978, she dropped out of college and relocated to New York City.[13] She had little money and worked as a waitress at Dunkin' Donuts and with modern dance troupes.[14] Madonna said of her move to New York, "It was the first time I'd ever taken a plane, the first time I'd ever gotten a taxi cab. I came here with $35 in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I'd ever done."[15] She started to work as a backup dancer for other established artists. During a late night, Madonna was returning from a rehearsal, when she was dragged up an alleyway by a pair of men and forced to perform fellatio at knifepoint. Madonna had later commented that "the episode was a taste of my weakness, it showed me that I still could not save myself in spite of all the strong-girl show. I could never forget it."[16] While performing as a dancer for the French disco artist Patrick Hernandez on his 1979 world tour,[8] Madonna became romantically involved with musician Dan Gilroy. They formed her first rock band, the Breakfast Club,[17][18] for which Madonna sang and played drums and guitar. In 1980[4] or 1981[19] she left Breakfast Club and, with her former boyfriend Stephen Bray as drummer, formed the band Emmy. Their music impressed DJ and record producer Mark Kamins who arranged a meeting between Madonna and Sire Records founder Seymour Stein.[19] 1982–85: Madonna, Like a Virgin and marriage to Sean Penn After Madonna signed a singles deal with Sire, her debut single, "Everybody", was released on April 24, 1982, and became a dance hit.[20] She started developing her debut album Madonna, which was primarily produced by Reggie Lucas, a Warner Bros. producer. However, she was not happy with the completed tracks and disagreed with Lucas' production techniques, so decided to seek additional help. Madonna moved in with boyfriend John "Jellybean" Benitez, asking his help for finishing the album's production. Benitez remixed most of the tracks and produced "Holiday", which was her third single. The overall sound of Madonna is dissonant, and is in the form of upbeat synthetic disco, utilizing some of the new technology of the time, like the Linn drum machine, Moog bass and the OB-X synthesizer.[21][22] The album peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200, and yielded the hit singles "Holiday", "Borderline" and "Lucky Star".[23][24] Gradually, Madonna's look and manner of dressing, her performances and her music videos started influencing young girls and women. Her style became a female fashion trend of the 1980s. It was created by stylist and jewelry designer Maripol and the look consisted of lace tops, skirts over capri pants, fishnet stockings, jewelry bearing the crucifix, bracelets, and bleached hair.[27] She achieved global recognition after the release of her second studio album: Like a Virgin in 1984. It topped the charts in several countries and became her first number one album on the Billboard 200.[23][28] The title track, "Like a Virgin", topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six consecutive weeks.[24] It attracted the attention of organizations who complained that the song and its accompanying video promoted premarital sex and undermined family values,[29] and moralists sought to have the song and video banned.[30] Madonna came under further fire when she performed the song at the first MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) where she appeared on stage atop a giant wedding cake, wearing a wedding dress and white gloves. The performance is noted by MTV as an iconic performance in VMA history.[31] In later years, Madonna commented that she was actually terrified of the performance. She recalled, "I remember my manager Freddy shouting to me, 'Oh my God! What were you doing? You were wearing a wedding dress. Oh my God! You were rolling around on the floor!' It was the bravest, most blatant sexual thing I had ever done on television."[32] Like a Virgin was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and sold more than 21 million copies worldwide.[33][34] Madonna married actor Sean Penn (above) on her birthday in 1985. Madonna entered mainstream films in 1985, beginning with a brief appearance as a club singer in Vision Quest, a romantic drama film. Its soundtrack contained her U.S. number-one single, "Crazy for You".[35] She also appeared in the comedy Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), a film which introduced the song "Into the Groove", her first number one single in the United Kingdom.[36] Although not the lead actress for the film, her profile was such that the movie widely became seen (and marketed) as a Madonna vehicle.[37] The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby named it one of the ten best films of 1985.[38] While filming the music video for the second single from Like a Virgin—"Material Girl"—Madonna started dating actor Sean Penn and married him on her birthday in 1985.[39] Beginning in April 1985, Madonna embarked on her first concert tour in North America, The Virgin Tour, with the Beastie Boys as her opening act.[40] Madonna commented: "That whole tour was crazy, because I went from playing CBGB and the Mudd Club to playing sporting arenas. I played a small theater in Seattle, and the girls had flap skirts on and the tights cut off below their knees and lace gloves and rosaries and bows in their hair and big hoop earrings ... After Seattle, all of the shows were moved to arenas."[41] In July, Penthouse and Playboy magazines published a number of nude photos of Madonna, taken in New York in 1978. She had posed for the photographs as she needed money at the time, and was paid as little as $25 a session.[42] The publication of the photos caused a media uproar, but Madonna remained defiant and unapologetic. The photographs were ultimately sold for up to $100,000.[42] She referred to the whole experience at the 1985 outdoor Live Aid charity concert saying that she would not take her jacket off because "[the media] might hold it against me ten years from now."[43][44] In June 1986, Madonna released her third studio album, True Blue, which was inspired by and dedicated to Sean Penn.[45] Rolling Stone magazine was generally impressed with the effort, writing that the album "sound[s] as if it comes from the heart".[46] It spawned three number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "Live to Tell", "Papa Don't Preach" and "Open Your Heart", and two more top-five singles: "True Blue" and "La Isla Bonita".[24][35] The album topped the charts in over 28 countries worldwide, an unprecedented achievement at the time.[47] She also starred in the critically panned film Shanghai Surprise, and made her theatrical debut in a production of David Rabe's Goose and Tom-Tom, both co-starring Penn.[48] The next year, Madonna's second feature film Who's That Girl was released. She contributed four songs to its soundtrack, including the title track and "Causing a Commotion".[24] In July 1987, she embarked on the Who's That Girl World Tour which continued until September.[49] Regarding the tour, Madonna commented "I realized that I could go from being unmolded clay, and over time and with the help of people, I could turn myself into something else. This tour is the reflection of that belief and it's as if saying to me 'Who are you girl?' Hence the name, it's the new me."[50] Later that year, she released a remix album of past hits, entitled You Can Dance, which reached 14 on the Billboard 200.[51][23] Madonna and Penn filed for divorce in December 1987, citing irreconcilable differences, with Madonna's lawyer pointing to Penn's drinking problem and his abusive nature. The divorce was finalized in January 1989.[52] Of her marriage to Penn, Madonna later said, "I was completely obsessed with my career and not ready to be generous in any shape or form."[39] Madonna starred as "Breathless" Mahoney in the film Dick Tracy (1990), with Warren Beatty playing the title role.[62] To accompany the film, she released the soundtrack album I'm Breathless, which included songs inspired by the film's 1930s setting. It also featured the U.S. number-one hit, "Vogue",[63] and "Sooner or Later", which earned songwriter Stephen Sondheim an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1991.[64] While shooting the film, Madonna began a relationship with Beatty which dissolved by the end of 1990.[65][66] In April 1990 she began her Blond Ambition World Tour, which continued for nearly four months. Regarding the tour, Madonna commented "I know that I'm not the best singer and I know that I'm not the best dancer. But, I can fucking push people's buttons and be as provocative as I want. The tour's goal is to break useless taboos."[67] Rolling Stone called it an "elaborately choreographed, sexually provocative extravaganza" and proclaimed it "the best tour of 1990".[68] The tour was met with strong reaction from religious groups for her performance of "Like a Virgin", during which two male dancers caressed her body before she simulated masturbation.[49] The Pope asked the general public and the Christian community not to attend the concert.[69] A private association of Catholics calling themselves Famiglia Domani also boycotted the tour for its eroticism.[70] In response, Madonna said, "I am Italian American and proud of it ... The tour in no way hurts anybody's sentiments. It's for open minds and gets them to see sexuality in a different way. Their own and others"; she declared that the Church "completely frowns on sex ... except for procreation."[71] The Laserdisc release of the tour won Madonna a Grammy Award in 1992 for Best Long Form Music Video.[72] The Immaculate Collection, Madonna's first greatest-hits compilation album, was released in November 1990. It included two new songs, "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me".[73] The album was certified diamond by RIAA and sold over 30 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling compilation album by a solo artist in history.[33][74] "Justify My Love" reached number one in the U.S. and top ten worldwide.[35][75] Its music video featured scenes of sadomasochism, bondage, same-sex kissing and brief nudity.[76][77] The video was deemed too sexually explicit for MTV and was banned from the network.[76] Madonna responded to the banning: "Why is it that people are willing to go and watch a movie about someone getting blown to bits for no reason at all, and nobody wants to see two girls kissing and two men snuggling? ... MTV has been good to me, and they know their audience. If it's too strong for them, I understand. Although, half of me thought I was going to get away with it."[78] The second single, "Rescue Me", became the highest-debuting single by a female artist in Hot 100 chart history at that time, entering at number 15 and peaking at number nine.[73] In December 1990, Madonna decided to leave Jennifer Lynch's film Boxing Helena, which she had previously agreed to star in, without any explanation to the producers.[79] From late 1990 to early 1991, Madonna dated Tony Ward, a model and pornography performer who appeared in her music videos for "Cherish" and "Justify My Love". She also had an eight-month relationship with rapper Vanilla Ice.[80] Her first documentary film Truth or Dare (known as In Bed with Madonna outside North America) was released in mid-1991. The documentary chronicled her Blond Ambition World Tour.[19] 1992–96: Maverick, Sex, Erotica, Bedtime Stories and Evita A picture of a Evita, former first lady of Argentina. Her hair is drawn into a tight bun at the back. She is wearing a black, low-cut dress. Around her neck is a number of chains. The lady's hands are folded in her front and she has a white fur shawl around her. Madonna's portrayal of Eva Perón (above) in the film Evita garnered her critical acclaim. In 1992, Madonna had a role in A League of Their Own as Mae Mordabito, a baseball player on an all-women's team. She recorded the film's theme song, "This Used to Be My Playground", which became a Hot 100 number one hit.[35] The same year, she founded her own entertainment company, Maverick, consisting of a record company (Maverick Records), a film production company (Maverick Films), and associated music publishing, television broadcasting, book publishing and merchandising divisions. The deal was a joint venture with Time Warner and paid Madonna an advance of $60 million. It gave her 20% royalties from the music proceedings, one of the highest rates in the industry, equaled at that time only by Michael Jackson's royalty rate established a year earlier with Sony.[81] The first release from the venture was Madonna's book, entitled Sex. It consisted of sexually provocative and explicit images, photographed by Steven Meisel. The book caused strong negative reaction from the media and the general public, but sold 1.5 million copies at $50 each in a matter of days.[82][83] At the same time she released her fifth studio album, Erotica, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200.[23][83] Its title track peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.[35] Erotica also produced five further singles: "Deeper and Deeper", "Bad Girl", "Fever", "Rain" and "Bye Bye Baby".[84] The provocative imagery that was her trademark continued in the 1990s with the erotic thriller Body of Evidence, a film which contained scenes of sadomasochism and bondage. It was poorly received by critics.[85][86] She also starred in the film Dangerous Game, which was released straight to video in North America. The New York Times described the film as "angry and painful, and the pain feels real."[87] In October 1993, she embarked on The Girlie Show World Tour, in which she dressed as a whip-cracking dominatrix surrounded by topless dancers.[88] The show faced negative reaction, specifically in Puerto Rico where she rubbed the island's flag between her legs on stage.[49] In March 1994, she appeared as a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, using profanity that was required to be censored on television and handing Letterman a pair of her underwear and asking him to smell it.[89] The releases of her sexually explicit films, albums and book, and the aggressive appearance on Letterman all made critics question Madonna as a sexual renegade. She faced strong negative publicity from critics and fans, who commented that "she had gone too far" and that her career was over.[90] According to biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, the ballad "I'll Remember" (1994), was an attempt to tone down her provocative image. The song was recorded for Alek Keshishian's film With Honors.[91] She made a subdued appearance with Letterman at an awards show and appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno after realizing that she needed to change her musical direction in order to sustain her popularity.[92] With her sixth studio album, Bedtime Stories (1994), Madonna employed a softer image to reconnect with the general public.[92] The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and produced four singles, including "Secret" and "Take a Bow", the latter topping the Hot 100 for seven weeks.[35] At the same time, she became romantically involved with fitness trainer Carlos Leon.[93] Something to Remember, a collection of ballads, was released in November 1995. The album featured three new songs: "You'll See", "One More Chance", and a cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Want You".[35][94] In later years, Madonna commented that she was very fond of the albums between Like a Prayer and Something to Remember, "though I would agree that all of these albums were watershed moments for me".[95] The following year saw the release of Evita in which she played the title role of Eva Perón.[97][98] For a long time, Madonna had desired to play Perón and even wrote to director Alan Parker, explaining how she would be perfect for the part. After securing it, she underwent vocal training and learned about the history of Argentina and Perón. During shooting she fell sick many times, commenting that "The intensity of the scenes we have been shooting and the amount of emotional work and concentration needed to get through the day are so mentally and physically exhausting that I'm sure I will need to be institutionalized when its over." It was on the set of Evita Madonna found out that she was pregnant, which further complicated the shooting for her.[99] Evita was a period drama and almost 6,000 costumes were needed for the scenes. Madonna herself wore 370 different costumes, earning her a Guinness World Record for the most costume changes in a film.[98] After its release, the film garnered critical appreciation. Zach Conner from Time magazine commented "It's a relief to say that Evita is pretty damn fine, well cast and handsomely visualized. Madonna once again confounds our expectations. She plays Evita with a poignant weariness and has more than just a bit of star quality. Love or hate Madonna-Eva, she is a magnet for all eyes."[100][101] Madonna won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for the role.[102] She released three singles from the Evita soundtrack album including "You Must Love Me" (which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1997) and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina".[103] On October 14, 1996, Madonna gave birth to Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, her daughter with Leon.[104] 1997–2002: Ray of Light, Music and Drowned World Tour A blond woman sitting on a block of hay. She is playing a guitar and singing in front of a standing microphone. She has short hair and wears grey colored cowboy clothes. Madonna performing on the Drowned World Tour After Lourdes' birth, Madonna became involved in Eastern mysticism and Kabbalah. She was introduced to Jewish mysticism by actress Sandra Bernhard in 1997.[105] Her seventh studio album, Ray of Light, (1998) reflected this change in her perception and image.[106] She commented: "This record, more than any other records, covers all the areas of life. I had recently joined Kabbalah and I had left off partying—but I had just had a baby, so my mood was complete, and I was incredibly thoughtful, retrospective and intrigued by the mystical aspects of life."[107] The album garnered critical acclaim and Slant Magazine declared it as "one of the great pop masterpieces of the '90s".[108] Ray of Light was honored with four Grammy Awards, and listed as one of Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[109][110] Topping the charts in Australia, Canada, UK and mainland Europe, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200—held off from the top spot by the soundtrack to the film Titanic—and sold over 20 million copies worldwide.[23][111] The album's first single, "Frozen", became Madonna's first single to debut at number one in the UK, while in the U.S. it became her sixth number-two single and set another record for Madonna as the artist with the most number two hits.[35][112] The song was banned in Belgium, however, adjudicated to be plagiarized from Belgian songwriter Salvatore Acquaviva's 1993 song "Ma Vie Fout L'camp".[113] The second single, "Ray of Light", debuted at number five on the Billboard Hot 100.[114] Madonna's relationship with Leon ended in December 1998; she declared that they were "better off as best friends."[115] Following their break-up, Madonna signed to play a violin teacher in the film Music of the Heart but left the project, citing "creative differences" with director Wes Craven.[116] She followed the success of Ray of Light with the single "Beautiful Stranger", recorded for the 1999 film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. It reached number 19 on the Hot 100 solely on radio airplay and earned Madonna a Grammy Award for "Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media".[35][72] In 2000, Madonna starred in the film The Next Best Thing, and contributed two songs to the film's soundtrack: "Time Stood Still" and the international hit "American Pie", a cover version of Don McLean's 1971 song.[117] She released her eighth studio album, Music, in September 2000. It featured elements from the electronica-inspired Ray of Light era, and catered to her gay audience.[118] Collaborating with French producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï, Madonna commented: "I love to work with the weirdos that no one knows about—the people who have raw talent and who are making music unlike anyone else out there. Music is the future of sound."[118] Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic felt that "Music blows by in a kaleidoscopic rush of color, technique, style and substance. It has so many depth and layers that it's easily as self-aware and earnest as Ray of Light."[119] The album took the number-one position in more than 20 countries worldwide and sold four million copies in the first ten days.[109] In the U.S., Music debuted at the top, and became her first number-one album in eleven years since Like a Prayer.[120] It produced three singles: the Hot 100 number one "Music", "Don't Tell Me" and "What It Feels Like for a Girl".[35] The music video of "What It Feels Like for a Girl" depicted Madonna committing murders and involved in car accidents, and was banned by MTV and VH1.[121] Around the same time of the Music album, Madonna became involved in a relationship with Guy Ritchie, whom she had met in 1999 through mutual friends Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler. On August 11, 2000, she gave birth to their son, Rocco Ritchie.[122] In December, Madonna and Ritchie were married in an exclusive ceremony in Scotland.[123] Her fifth concert tour, entitled Drowned World Tour, started in April 2001.[49] The tour visited cities in the U.S. and Europe and was the highest-grossing concert tour of the year by a solo artist, earning $75 million from 47 sold-out shows.[124] She also released her second greatest-hits collection, entitled GHV2, to coincide with the home video release of the tour. GHV2 debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200.[125] Madonna starred in the film Swept Away, directed by Ritchie. Released direct-to-video in the UK, the film was a commercial and critical failure.[126] Later that year, she released "Die Another Day", the title song of the James Bond film Die Another Day, in which she had a cameo role. The song reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated both for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and a Golden Raspberry for Worst Song.[35][127] 2003–06: American Life and Confessions on a Dance Floor The front profile, from the waist up, of a middle-aged blond woman. She is wearing a white, sleeveless coat and white pants. Her hair is parted in the middle and is in locks around her face. She is holding a microphone in her right hand while her left hand is placed behind her head. She is smiling looking down. Behind her a video screen is red. Madonna performing at the Live 8 benefit concert (2005) Following Die Another Day, Madonna collaborated with fashion photographer Steven Klein in 2003 for an exhibition installation named X-STaTIC Pro=CeSS. It included photography from a photo shoot in W magazine, and seven video segments. The installation ran from March to May in New York's Deitch Projects gallery. It then traveled the world in an edited form.[128] Madonna released her ninth studio album, American Life, which was based on her observations of American society, and received mixed reviews.[129] She commented, "[American Life] was like a trip down memory lane, looking back at everything I've accomplished and all the things I once valued and all the things that were important to me."[130] Larry Flick from The Advocate felt that "American Life is an album that is among her most adventurous and lyrically intelligent ... It is like the flip side to 2000's Music, and turns out to be a lazy, half-arsed effort to sound and take her seriously."[130][131] The title song peaked at number 37 on the Hot 100.[35] Its original music video was canceled as Madonna thought that the video, featuring violence and war imagery, would be deemed unpatriotic since America was then at war with Iraq.[132] With only four million copies sold worldwide, American Life was the lowest-selling album of her career.[133] She gave another provocative performance later that year at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, while singing "Hollywood" with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott. Madonna kissed Spears and Aguilera suggestively during the performance, triggering a tabloid frenzy.[134][135] In October 2003, Madonna provided guest vocals on Spears' single "Me Against the Music".[136] It was followed with the release of Remixed & Revisited. The EP contained remixed versions of songs from American Life and included "Your Honesty", a previously unreleased track from the Bedtime Stories recording sessions.[137] Madonna also signed a contract with Callaway Arts & Entertainment to be the author of five children's books. The first of these books, entitled The English Roses, was published in September 2003. The story was about four English schoolgirls and their envy and jealousy of each other.[138] Kate Kellway from The Guardian commented "[Madonna] is an actress playing at what she can never be—a JK Rowling, an English rose."[139] The book debuted at the top of The New York Times Best Seller list and became the fastest-selling children's picture book of all time.[52] The next year, Madonna and Maverick sued Warner Music Group and its former parent company Time Warner, claiming that mismanagement of resources and poor bookkeeping had cost the company millions of dollars. In return, Warner filed a countersuit alleging that Maverick had lost tens of millions of dollars on its own.[140][141] The dispute was resolved when the Maverick shares, owned by Madonna and Ronnie Dashev, were purchased by Warner. Madonna and Dashev's company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music, but Madonna was still signed to Warner under a separate recording contract.[140] In mid-2004 Madonna embarked on the Re-Invention World Tour in the U.S., Canada and Europe. It became the highest-grossing tour of 2004, earning $125 million.[142] She made a documentary about the tour named I'm Going to Tell You a Secret.[143] Rolling Stone ranked her at number 36 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".[144] In January 2005, Madonna performed a cover version of the John Lennon song "Imagine" at Tsunami Aid.[145] She also performed at the Live 8 benefit concert in London.[146] "I tried several different things when Stuart [producer Stuart Price] brought me music. And it was like divine inspiration. It just clicked, like: 'This is the direction of my record.' That's what we intended, to make a record that you can play at a party or in your car, where you don't have to skip past a ballad. It's nonstop." —Madonna talking about Confessions on a Dance Floor.[147] Her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, was released in November 2005. Musically the album was structured like a club set composed by a DJ. The songs on the album started out light and happy, and as it progressed, it became intense, with the lyrics dealing more about personal feelings, hence "Confessions."[148] Keith Caulfield from Billboard commented that the album was a "welcome return to form for the Queen of Pop."[149] The album won a Grammy Award for "Best Electronic/Dance Album".[72] Confessions on a Dance Floor and its lead single, "Hung Up", went on to reach number one in 40 and 41 countries respectively, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.[150] "Sorry", the second single, became Madonna's twelfth number-one single in the UK.[36] She embarked on the Confessions Tour in May 2006, which had a global audience of 1.2 million and grossed over $194.7 million, becoming the highest-grossing tour to that date for a female artist.[151] Madonna used religious symbols, such as the crucifix and Crown of Thorns, in the performance of "Live to Tell". It caused the Russian Orthodox Church and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia to urge all their members to boycott her concert.[152] The Vatican protested the concert, as did bishops from Düsseldorf.[153] Madonna responded: "My performance is neither anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous. Rather, it is my plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole."[154] In the same year, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry announced officially that Madonna had sold over 200 million copies for her albums alone worldwide.[155] While on tour, Madonna participated in the Raising Malawi initiative by partially funding an orphanage in and traveling to that country.[156] On October 10, 2006, she filed adoption papers for a boy from the orphanage, David Banda Mwale. He was later renamed David Banda Mwale Ciccone Ritchie.[157] The adoption raised strong public reaction, because Malawian law requires would-be parents to reside in Malawi for one year before adopting, which Madonna did not do.[158] She addressed this on The Oprah Winfrey Show, saying that there were no written adoption laws in Malawi that regulated foreign adoption. She described how Banda had been suffering from pneumonia after surviving malaria and tuberculosis when she first met him.[159] Banda's biological father, Yohane, commented, "These so-called human rights activists are harassing me every day, threatening me that I am not aware of what I am doing ... They want me to support their court case, a thing I cannot do for I know what I agreed with Madonna and her husband."[160] The adoption was finalized on May 28, 2008.[161] A clothing line titled M by Madonna, in collaboration with Swedish clothing retailer H&M, was launched internationally in 2006.[162] The collection consisted of leather trench coats, sequined shift dresses, cream-colored calf-length pants and matching cropped jackets. H&M said the collection reflected Madonna's "timeless, unique and always glamorous style."[163] Madonna released the song "Hey You" for the Live Earth series of concerts. The song was available as a free download during its first week of release. She also performed it at the London Live Earth concert.[164] Madonna announced her departure from Warner Bros. Records, and a new $120 million, ten-year contract with Live Nation. She became the founding artist for the new music division, Live Nation Artists.[165] She produced and wrote I Am Because We Are, a documentary on the problems faced by Malawians. The documentary was directed by Nathan Rissman, who worked as Madonna's gardener.[166] She also directed her first film Filth and Wisdom. The story of the film was about three friends and their aspirations. Madonna commented that it was Ritchie who inspired her to develop the screenplay for the film. "The fact of the matter is that all the work I do is very autobiographical, directly or indirectly, because who do I know better than me?"[167] The Times said she had "done herself proud" while The Daily Telegraph described the film as "not an entirely unpromising first effort [but] Madonna would do well to hang on to her day job."[168][169] In December 2007, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced Madonna as one of the five inductees of 2008.[170] At the induction ceremony on March 10, 2008,[171] Madonna did not sing but asked fellow Hall of Fame inductees and Michigan natives The Stooges to perform her songs "Burning Up" and "Ray of Light". She thanked Christopher Flynn, her dance teacher from 35 years earlier, for his encouragement to follow her dreams.[172] The album debuted at number one in 37 countries and on the Billboard 200.[176][177] It received generally positive reviews worldwide though some critics panned it as "an attempt to harness the urban market".[178][179] Its lead single, "4 Minutes", reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was Madonna's 37th Hot 100 top-ten hit—it pushed Madonna past Elvis Presley as the artist with the most top-ten hits.[180] In the UK, she retained her record for the most number-one singles for a female artist; "4 Minutes" becoming her thirteenth.[181] At the 23rd Japan Gold Disc Awards, Madonna received her fifth "Artist of the Year" trophy from Recording Industry Association of Japan, the most for any artist.[182] To further promote the album, Madonna embarked on the Sticky & Sweet Tour; her first major venture with Live Nation. With a gross of $280 million, it became the highest-grossing tour by a solo artist, surpassing the previous record Madonna set with the Confessions Tour.[183] It was extended to the next year, adding new European dates, and after it ended, the total gross was $408 million.[183][184] Life with My Sister Madonna, a book by Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone, debuted at number two on The New York Times Bestseller List.[185] It was not authorized by Madonna, and led to a rift between them.[186] Problems also arose between Madonna and Ritchie, with the media reporting that they were on the verge of separation. Ultimately, Madonna filed for divorce from Ritchie, citing irreconcilable differences, which was finalized in December 2008.[187][188] She decided to adopt again from Malawi. The country's High Court initially approved the adoption of Chifundo "Mercy" James;[189] however, the application was rejected because Madonna was not a resident of Malawi.[190] Madonna appealed, and on June 12, 2009, the Supreme Court of Malawi granted Madonna the right to adopt Mercy James.[191] She also released Celebration, her third greatest-hits album, and the closing release with Warner. It contained the new songs "Celebration" and "Revolver" along with 34 hits spanning her career.[192] Celebration reached number one in the UK, tying her with Elvis Presley as the solo act with most number one albums in the British chart history.[193] She appeared at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on September 13, 2009, to speak in tribute to deceased pop star Michael Jackson.[194] Madonna ended the 2000s as the best-selling single artist of the decade in the U.S. and the most-played artist of the decade in the UK.[195][196] Billboard also announced her as the third top-touring artist of the decade—behind only The Rolling Stones and U2—with a gross of over $801 million, 6.3 million attendance and 244 sell-outs of 248 shows.[197] Madonna's music has been the subject of much analysis and scrutiny by critics. Robert M. Grant, author of Contemporary Strategy Analysis (2005), commented that what has brought Madonna success is "certainly not outstanding natural talent. As a vocalist, musician, dancer, songwriter, or actress, Madonna's talents seem modest."[227] He asserts Madonna's success is in relying on the talents of others, and that her personal relationships have served as cornerstones to the numerous reinventions in the longevity of her career.[227] Madonna's approach was far from the music industry wisdom of "Find a winning formula and stick to it." Her musical career has been a continuous experimentation with new musical ideas and new images and a constant quest for new heights of fame and acclaim. Grant concluded that "having established herself as the queen of popular music, Madonna did not stop there, but continued re-inventing."[228] Conversely, Rolling Stone has named Madonna "an exemplary songwriter with a gift for hooks and indelible lyrics, and a better studio singer than her live spectacles attest."[19][not in citation given] Mark Bego, author of Madonna: Blonde Ambition, called her "the perfect vocalist for lighter-than-air songs", despite not being a "heavyweight talent."[229] Madonna has always been self-conscious about her voice, especially in comparison to her vocal idols such as Ella Fitzgerald, Prince and Chaka Khan.[230] Throughout her career, Madonna has written or co-written most of her own materials, as well as songs of other artists such as Nick Kamen's "Each Time You Break My Heart" and Gary Barlow's "Love Won't Wait".[231] According to Freya Jarman-Ivens, Madonna's talent for developing "incredible" hooks for her songs allows the lyrics to capture the attention of the audience, even without the influence of the music. As an example, Jarman-Ivens cites the 1985 single "Into the Groove" and its line "Live out your fantasy here with me, just let the music set you free; Touch my body, and move in time, now I know you're mine."[232] From 1983 to 1986, Madonna's musical productions were often girlish and naïve in nature, focusing primarily on love, romance, passion and boy-meets-girl relationships.[232] This changed with the album Like a Prayer, when the lyrics became much more personal, as in "Promise to Try", which references Madonna's lingering pain at the loss of her mother.[232] Madonna's lyrics often suggest an identification with the gay community. Santiago Fouz-Hernández believes that when Madonna sings "Come on girls, do you believe in love?" in "Express Yourself", she is addressing both the gay audience and the heterosexual female.[232] Even in the Erotica era, with its often adult-oriented lyrics, the songs appear free-flowing and gullible ("So won't you go down, where it's warm inside" — "Where Life Begins" from Erotica). Madonna's songwriting ability has been criticized, with Rolling Stone's Maria Raha calling her lyrics "flighty and not sophisticated. Madonna can only bring a trunk full of trite lyrics on the long standing tradition of pop music, love; when she wasn't singing about love, she was singing about partying and dancing."[233] Her lyrics were considered banal, and her songwriting capability was largely ignored by critics until the release of Ray of Light and Music. According to Jarman-Ivens, lyrics such as "You're frozen, when your heart's not open" ("Frozen", 1998) and "I can't remember, when I was young, I can't express if it was wrong" ("Paradise (Not for Me)", 2000) reflected an artistic palette, "encompassing diverse musical, textual and visual styles in its lyrics."[232] Madonna has a mezzo-soprano vocal range.[234] She started her musical career with songs that she described as "soulful pop music". Madonna recalled in a 1983 interview with Island magazine that she had wanted to grow up as a black kid.[235] "First of all, all the black girls in my neighborhood had these dances in their yard where they had these little turntables with 45 records and they'd play all this Motown stuff and they would dance, just dance, all of them dancing together and none of the white kids I knew would ever do that. They were really boring and stiff. And I wanted to be part of the dancing. I didn't like my friends. I had to be beaten up so many times by these little black girls before they would accept me and finally one day they whipped me with a rubber hose till I was like, lying on the ground crying. And then they just stopped doing it all of a sudden and let me be their friend, part of their group."[235] On her 1983 debut album, Madonna's vocal abilities and personal artistry were not fully formed. Her vocal style was similar to other pop stars of that period like Paula Abdul, Debbie Gibson and Taylor Dayne.[230] The songs on Madonna reveal several key trends that have continued to define her success, including a strong dance-based idiom, catchy hooks, highly polished arrangements and Madonna's own vocal style. In songs such as "Lucky Star" and "Borderline", Madonna introduced a style of upbeat dance music that would prove particularly appealing to gay audiences. The bright, girlish vocal timbre of the early years became passé in Madonna's later works, the change being deliberate, since Madonna was constantly reminded of how the critics had once labelled her as "Minnie Mouse on helium", because of her early voice.[230] Her second album, Like a Virgin (1984), foreshadowed several trends in Madonna's later works. It contained references to classical works (pizzicato synthesizer line that opens "Angel"); potential negative reaction from social groups ("Dress You Up" was blacklisted by the Parents Music Resource Center); and retro styles ("Shoo-Bee-Doo", Madonna's homage to Motown).[230] Madonna's early style, and the change that she ushered in it, is best evident in the song "Material Girl". It opens with Madonna using a little-girl voice, but following the first verse, she switches to a richer, more mature voice in the chorus.[230] This mature artistic statement was visible in True Blue (1986). The song "Papa Don't Preach" was a significant milestone in her artistic career. The classical introduction, fast tempo and the gravity in her voice were unprecedented in Madonna's œuvre at that time.[230] With Like a Prayer (1989), Madonna again entered a new phase, musically. The album introduced live recorded songs and incorporated different genres of music, including dance, R&B and gospel music.[54] Madonna continued to compose ballads and uptempo dance songs for Erotica (1992) and Bedtime Stories (1994). She tried to remain contemporary by incorporating samples, drum loops and hip hop into her music. Her voice grew much deeper and fuller, evident in the tracks like "Rain" and "Take a Bow".[236] During the filming of Evita, Madonna had to take vocal lessons, which increased her range further. Of this experience she commented, "I studied with a vocal coach for Evita and I realized there was a whole piece of my voice I wasn't using. Before, I just believed I had a really limited range and was going to make the most of it."[237] Continuing her musical evolution with Ray of Light, the track "Frozen" displayed her fully formed vocal prowess and her allusions to classical music. Her vocals were restrained and she sang the songs in Ray of Light without vibrato. However, the intake of breath within the songs became more prominent.[230] With the new millennium came her album Music in which Madonna sang in her normal voice in a medium range, and sometimes in a higher register for the chorus.[230] A change was also noted in the content of the songs, with most of them being simple love songs, but with an underlying tone of melancholy. Her next record, American Life, was infused with thumping techno rhythm, liquid keyboard lines, acoustic choruses and a rap on the title track. The unconventional rock songs of the album were intermingled with dramatic lyrics about patriotism and composition, including the appearance of a gospel choir in the song "Nothing Fails".[238] Musically, things changed with Confessions on a Dance Floor, which returned Madonna to pure dance songs, infusing club beats and retro music, but the lyrics continued to be about paradoxical metaphors and reference to her earlier works.[239] In her studio album, Hard Candy, she mixed R&B and hip hop music with dance tunes. The album also had songs whose lyrics were autobiographical and expressed support for helping Africa.[175] Fouz-Hernández commented that "Throughout her career, Madonna's manipulation of her voice shows us that, by refusing to be defined in one way, she has in fact opened up a space for new kinds of musical analysis."[230] ... ...... Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is most noted for his novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885),[2] the latter often called "the Great American Novel." Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. He apprenticed with a printer. He also worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper. After toiling as a printer in various cities, he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River, before heading west to join Orion. He was a failure at gold mining, so he next turned to journalism. While a reporter, he wrote a humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", which became very popular and brought nationwide attention. His travelogues were also well received. Twain had found his calling. He achieved great success as a writer and public speaker. His wit and satire earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty. He lacked financial acumen, and, though he made a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he squandered it on various ventures, in particular the Paige Compositor, and was forced to declare bankruptcy. With the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers he eventually overcame his financial troubles. Twain worked hard to ensure that all of his creditors were paid in full, even though his bankruptcy had relieved him of the legal responsibility. Twain was born during a visit by Halley's Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it" as well. He died the day following the comet's subsequent return. He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age,"[3] and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature."[4] Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835. He was the son of Jane (née Lampton; 1803–1890), a native of Kentucky, and John Marshall Clemens (1798–1847), a Virginian by birth. His parents met when his father moved to Missouri and were married several years later, in 1823.[5][6] He was the sixth of seven children but only three of his siblings survived childhood: his brother Orion (1825–1897), Henry, who died in a riverboat explosion (1838–1858), and Pamela (1827–1904). His sister Margaret (1833–1839) died when he was three, and his brother Benjamin (1832–1842) died three years later. Another brother, Pleasant (1828–1829), died at six months.[7] Twain was born two weeks after the closest approach to Earth of Halley's Comet. When he was four, Twain's family moved to Hannibal, Missouri,[8] a port town on the Mississippi River that inspired the fictional town of St. Petersburg in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.[9] Missouri was a slave state and young Twain became familiar with the institution of slavery, a theme he would later explore in his writing. Twain's father was an attorney and judge.[10] The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was organized in his office in 1846. The railroad connected the second and third largest cities in the state and was the westernmost United States railroad until the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. It delivered mail to and from the Pony Express.[11] Samuel Clemens, age 15 In 1847, when Twain was 11, his father died of pneumonia.[12] The next year, he became a printer's apprentice. In 1851, he began working as a typesetter and contributor of articles and humorous sketches for the Hannibal Journal, a newspaper owned by his brother Orion. When he was 18, he left Hannibal and worked as a printer in New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. He joined the newly formed International Typographical Union, the printers union, and educated himself in public libraries in the evenings, finding wider information than at a conventional school.[13] Clemens came from St. Louis on the packet Keokuk in 1854,[14] and lived in Muscatine during part of the summer of 1855. The Muscatine newspaper published eight stories which amounted to almost 6,000 words.[15] On a voyage to New Orleans down the Mississippi, steamboat pilot Horace E. Bixby inspired Twain to become a pilot himself. As Twain observed in Life on the Mississippi, the pilot surpassed a steamboat's captain in prestige and authority; it was a rewarding occupation with wages set at $250 per month.[16] A steamboat pilot needed to know the ever-changing river to be able to stop at the hundreds of ports and wood-lots. Twain studied 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of the Mississippi for more than two years before he received his steamboat pilot license in 1859. This occupation gave him his pen name, Mark Twain, from "mark twain," the cry for a measured river depth of two fathoms. While training, Samuel convinced his younger brother Henry to work with him. Henry was killed on June 21, 1858, when the steamboat he was working on, the Pennsylvania, exploded. Twain had foreseen this death in a dream a month earlier,[17] which inspired his interest in parapsychology; he was an early member of the Society for Psychical Research.[18] Twain was guilt-stricken and held himself responsible for the rest of his life. He continued to work on the river and was a river pilot until the American Civil War broke out in 1861 and traffic along the Mississippi was curtailed. During the Civil War, Missouri was considered by many to be part of the South and was represented in both the Confederate and Federal governments. Twain wrote a sketch, "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed," which claimed he and his friends had been Confederate volunteers for two weeks before disbanding their company.[19] Travels Library of Twain House, with hand-stenciled paneling, fireplaces from India, embossed wallpapers, and hand-carved mantel purchased in Scotland Twain joined Orion, who in 1861 became secretary to James W. Nye, the governor of Nevada Territory, and headed west. Twain and his brother traveled more than two weeks on a stagecoach across the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, visiting the Mormon community in Salt Lake City. The experiences inspired Roughing It and provided material for "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". Twain's journey ended in the silver-mining town of Virginia City, Nevada, where he became a miner.[19] Twain failed as a miner and worked at a Virginia City newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise.[20] Here he first used his pen name. On February 3, 1863, he signed a humorous travel account "Letter From Carson – re: Joe Goodman; party at Gov. Johnson's; music" with "Mark Twain."[21] Twain moved to San Francisco, California in 1864, still as a journalist. He met writers such as Bret Harte, Artemus Ward, and Dan DeQuille. The young poet Ina Coolbrith may have romanced him.[22] His first success as a writer came when his humorous tall tale, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," was published in a New York weekly, The Saturday Press, on November 18, 1865. It brought him national attention. A year later, he traveled to the Sandwich Islands (present-day Hawaii) as a reporter for the Sacramento Union. His travelogues were popular and became the basis for his first lectures.[23] In 1867, a local newspaper funded a trip to the Mediterranean. During his tour of Europe and the Middle East, he wrote a popular collection of travel letters, which were later compiled as The Innocents Abroad in 1869. It was on this trip that he met his future brother-in-law, Charles Langdon. Both were passengers aboard the Quaker City on their way to the Holy Land. Langdon showed a picture of his sister Olivia to Twain; Twain claimed to have fallen in love at first sight. Upon returning to the United States, Twain was offered honorary membership in the secret society Scroll and Key of Yale University in 1868.[24] Its devotion to "fellowship, moral and literary self-improvement, and charity" suited him well. Marriage and children Twain in 1867 Throughout 1868, Twain and Olivia Langdon corresponded but she rejected his first marriage proposal. Two months later, they were engaged. In February 1870, Twain and Langdon were married in Elmira, New York,[23] where he had courted her. She came from a "wealthy but liberal family," and through her he met abolitionists, "socialists, principled atheists and activists for women's rights and social equality," including Harriet Beecher Stowe (his next-door neighbor in Hartford, Connecticut), Frederick Douglass, and the writer and utopian socialist William Dean Howells,[25] who became a long-time friend. The couple lived in Buffalo, New York from 1869 to 1871. Twain owned a stake in the Buffalo Express newspaper and worked as an editor and writer. While living in Buffalo, their son Langdon died of diphtheria at 19 months. They had three daughters: Susy (1872–1896), Clara (1874–1962)[26] and Jean (1880–1909). The couple's marriage lasted 34 years, until Olivia's death in 1904. All of the Clemens family are buried in Elmira's Woodlawn Cemetery. Twain moved his family to Hartford, Connecticut, where starting in 1873, he arranged the building of a home (local admirers saved it from demolition in 1927 and eventually turned it into a museum focused on him). In the 1870s and 1880s, Twain and his family summered at Quarry Farm, the home of Olivia's sister, Susan Crane.[27][28] In 1874,[27] Susan had a study built apart from the main house so that her brother-in-law would have a quiet place in which to write. Also, Twain smoked pipes constantly, and Susan Crane did not wish him to do so in her house. During his seventeen years in Hartford (1874–1891) and over twenty summers at Quarry Farm, Twain wrote many of his classic novels, among them The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), The Prince and the Pauper (1881), Life on the Mississippi (1883), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885) and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889). Twain made a second tour of Europe, described in the 1880 book A Tramp Abroad. His tour included a stay in Heidelberg from May 6 until July 23, 1878, and a visit to London. Love of science and technology Twain in the lab of Nikola Tesla, early 1894 Twain was fascinated with science and scientific inquiry. He developed a close and lasting friendship with Nikola Tesla, and the two spent much time together in Tesla's laboratory. Twain patented three inventions, including an "Improvement in Adjustable and Detachable Straps for Garments" (to replace suspenders) and a history trivia game.[29] Most commercially successful was a self-pasting scrapbook; a dried adhesive on the pages only needed to be moistened before use. His book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court features a time traveler from contemporary America, using his knowledge of science to introduce modern technology to Arthurian England. This type of storyline would later become a common feature of a science fiction sub-genre, alternate history. In 1909, Thomas Edison visited Twain at his home in Redding, Connecticut and filmed him. Part of the footage was used in The Prince and the Pauper (1909), a two-reel short film. Financial troubles Twain made a substantial amount of money through his writing, but he lost a great deal through investments, mostly in new inventions and technology, particularly the Paige typesetting machine. It was a beautifully engineered mechanical marvel that amazed viewers when it worked, but was prone to breakdowns. Twain spent $300,000 (equal to $8,058,462 today[30]) on it between 1880 and 1894,[31] but before it could be perfected, it was made obsolete by the Linotype. He lost not only the bulk of his book profits but also a substantial portion of his wife's inheritance.[32] Twain also lost money through his publishing house, which enjoyed initial success selling the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, but went broke soon after, losing money on a biography of Pope Leo XIII; fewer than two hundred copies were sold.[32] Twain's writings and lectures, combined with the help of a new friend, enabled him to recover financially.[33] In 1893, he began a 15-year-long friendship with financier Henry Huttleston Rogers, a principal of Standard Oil. Rogers first made Twain file for bankruptcy. Then Rogers had Twain transfer the copyrights on his written works to his wife, Olivia, to prevent creditors from gaining possession of them. Finally, Rogers took absolute charge of Twain's money until all the creditors were paid. Twain embarked on a year-long, around-the-world lecture tour in July 1895[34] to pay off his creditors in full, although he was no longer under any legal obligation to do so.[35] It would be a long, arduous journey and he was sick much of the time, mostly from a cold and a carbuncle. The itinerary took him to Hawaii, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India, Mauritius, South Africa and England. Twain's three months in India became the centerpiece of his 712-page book Following the Equator. In mid-1900, he was the guest of newspaper proprietor Hugh Gilzean-Reid at Dollis Hill House. Twain wrote of Dollis Hill that he had "never seen any place that was so satisfactorily situated, with its noble trees and stretch of country, and everything that went to make life delightful, and all within a biscuit's throw of the metropolis of the world."[36] He then returned to America in 1900, having earned enough to pay off his debts. Speaking engagements Twain was in demand as a featured speaker, performing solo humorous talks similar to what would become stand-up comedy.[37] He gave paid talks to many men's clubs, including the Authors' Club, Beefsteak Club, Vagabonds, White Friars, and Monday Evening Club of Hartford. He was made an honorary member of the Bohemian Club in San Francisco. In the late 1890s, he spoke to the Savage Club in London and was elected honorary member. When told that only three men had been so honored, including the Prince of Wales, he replied "Well, it must make the Prince feel mighty fine."[38] In 1897, Twain spoke to the Concordia Press Club in Vienna as a special guest, following diplomat Charlemagne Tower, Jr.. In German, to the great amusement of the assemblage, Twain delivered the speech "Die Schrecken der deutschen Sprache" ("The Horrors of the German Language").[39] In 1901, Twain was invited to speak at Princeton University's Cliosophic Literary Society, where he was made an honorary member.[40] Later life and death Twain passed through a period of deep depression, which began in 1896 when his daughter Susy died of meningitis. Olivia's death in 1904 and Jean's on December 24, 1909, deepened his gloom.[41] On May 20, 1909, his close friend Henry Rogers died suddenly. In 1906, Twain began his autobiography in the North American Review. In April, Twain heard that his friend Ina Coolbrith had lost nearly all she owned in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and he volunteered a few autographed portrait photographs to be sold for her benefit. To further aid Coolbrith, George Wharton James visited Twain in New York and arranged for a new portrait session. Initially resistant, Twain admitted that four of the resulting images were the finest ones ever taken of him.[42] Twain formed a club in 1906 for girls he viewed as surrogate granddaughters, the Angel Fish and Aquarium Club. The dozen or so members ranged in age from 10 to 16. Twain exchanged letters with his "Angel Fish" girls and invited them to concerts and the theatre and to play games. Twain wrote in 1908 that the club was his "life's chief delight."[43] Oxford University awarded Twain an honorary doctorate in letters (D.Litt.) in 1907. Mark Twain headstone in Woodlawn Cemetery. In 1909, Twain is quoted as saying:[44] "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together." His prediction was accurate – Twain died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, in Redding, Connecticut, one day after the comet's closest approach to Earth. Upon hearing of Twain's death, President William Howard Taft said:[45][46] "Mark Twain gave pleasure – real intellectual enjoyment – to millions, and his works will continue to give such pleasure to millions yet to come... His humor was American, but he was nearly as much appreciated by Englishmen and people of other countries as by his own countrymen. He has made an enduring part of American literature." Twain's funeral was at the "Old Brick" Presbyterian Church in New York.[47] He is buried in his wife's family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York. His grave is marked by a 12-foot (i.e., two fathoms, or "mark twain") monument, placed there by his surviving daughter, Clara.[48] There is also a smaller headstone. Although he expressed (e.g. in Life on the Mississippi) a preference for cremation, he acknowledged that his surviving family would have the last word. Writing Overview Mark Twain in his gown (scarlet with grey sleeves and facings) for his D.Litt. degree, awarded to him by Oxford University Twain began his career writing light, humorous verse, but evolved into a chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies and murderous acts of mankind. At mid-career, with Huckleberry Finn, he combined rich humor, sturdy narrative and social criticism. Twain was a master at rendering colloquial speech and helped to create and popularize a distinctive American literature built on American themes and language. Many of Twain's works have been suppressed at times for various reasons. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been repeatedly restricted in American high schools, not least for its frequent use of the word "nigger," which was in common usage in the pre-Civil War period in which the novel was set. A complete bibliography of his works is nearly impossible to compile because of the vast number of pieces written by Twain (often in obscure newspapers) and his use of several different pen names. Additionally, a large portion of his speeches and lectures have been lost or were not written down; thus, the collection of Twain's works is an ongoing process. Researchers rediscovered published material by Twain as recently as 1995.[32] Early journalism and travelogues Cabin where Twain wrote "Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", Jackass Hill, Tuolumne County. Click on historical marker and interior view. While writing for the Virginia City newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise in 1863, Clemens met lawyer Tom Fitch, editor of the competing newspaper Virginia Daily Union and known as the "silver-tongued orator of the Pacific."[49]:51 He credited Fitch with giving him his "first really profitable lesson" in writing. In 1866, Clemens presented his lecture on the Sandwich Islands to a crowd in Washoe City, Nevada.[50] Clemens commented that, "When I first began to lecture, and in my earlier writings, my sole idea was to make comic capital out of everything I saw and heard." Fitch told him, "Clemens, your lecture was magnificent. It was eloquent, moving, sincere. Never in my entire life have I listened to such a magnificent piece of descriptive narration. But you committed one unpardonable sin—the unpardonable sin. It is a sin you must never commit again. You closed a most eloquent description, by which you had keyed your audience up to a pitch of the intensest interest, with a piece of atrocious anti-climax which nullified all the really fine effect you had produced."[51] It was in these days that Twain became a writer of the Sagebrush School, and was known later as the most notable within this literary genre.[52] Twain's first important work, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," was first published in the New York Saturday Press on November 18, 1865. The only reason it was published there was that his story arrived too late to be included in a book Artemus Ward was compiling featuring sketches of the wild American West. After this burst of popularity, the Sacramento Union commissioned Twain to write letters about his travel experiences. The first journey he took for this job was to ride the steamer Ajax in its maiden voyage to Hawaii, referred to at the time as the Sandwich Islands. These humorous letters proved the genesis to his work with the San Francisco Alta California newspaper, which designated him a traveling correspondent for a trip from San Francisco to New York City via the Panama isthmus. All the while, Twain was writing letters meant for publishing back and forth, chronicling his experiences with his burlesque humor. On June 8, 1867, Twain set sail on the pleasure cruiser Quaker City for five months. This trip resulted in The Innocents Abroad or The New Pilgrims' Progress. This book is a record of a pleasure trip. If it were a record of a solemn scientific expedition it would have about it the gravity, that profundity, and that impressive incomprehensibility which are so proper to works of that kind, and withal so attractive. Yet not withstanding it is only a record of a picnic, it has a purpose, which is, to suggest to the reader how he would be likely to see Europe and the East if he looked at them with his own eyes instead of the eyes of those who traveled in those countries before him. I make small pretense of showing anyone how he ought to look at objects of interest beyond the sea – other books do that, and therefore, even if I were competent to do it, there is no need. In 1872, Twain published a second piece of travel literature, Roughing It, as a semi-sequel to Innocents. Roughing It is a semi-autobiographical account of Twain's journey to Nevada and his subsequent life in the American West. The book lampoons American and Western society in the same way that Innocents critiqued the various countries of Europe and the Middle East. Twain's next work kept Roughing It's focus on American society but focused more on the events of the day. Entitled The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, it was not a travel piece, as his previous two books had been, and it was his first attempt at writing a novel. The book is also notable because it is Twain's only collaboration; it was written with his neighbor Charles Dudley Warner. Twain's next two works drew on his experiences on the Mississippi River. Old Times on the Mississippi, a series of sketches published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1875, featured Twain's disillusionment with Romanticism.[53] Old Times eventually became the starting point for Life on the Mississippi. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn Twain's next major publication was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which drew on his youth in Hannibal. Tom Sawyer was modeled on Twain as a child, with traces of two schoolmates, John Briggs and Will Bowen. The book also introduced in a supporting role Huckleberry Finn, based on Twain's boyhood friend Tom Blankenship. The Prince and the Pauper, despite a storyline that is omnipresent in film and literature today, was not as well received. Telling the story of two boys born on the same day who are physically identical, the book acts as a social commentary as the prince and pauper switch places. Pauper was Twain's first attempt at historical fiction, and blame for its shortcomings is usually put on Twain for having not been experienced enough in English society, and also on the fact that it was produced after a massive hit. In between the writing of Pauper, Twain had started Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (which he consistently had problems completing[54]) and started and completed another travel book, A Tramp Abroad, which follows Twain as he traveled through central and southern Europe. Twain's next major published work, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, solidified him as a noteworthy American writer. Some have called it the first Great American Novel, and the book has become required reading in many schools throughout the United States. Huckleberry Finn was an offshoot from Tom Sawyer and had a more serious tone than its predecessor. The main premise behind Huckleberry Finn is the young boy's belief in the right thing to do though most believed that it was wrong. Four hundred manuscript pages of Huckleberry Finn were written in mid-1876, right after the publication of Tom Sawyer. Some accounts have Twain taking seven years off after his first burst of creativity, eventually finishing the book in 1883. Other accounts have Twain working on Huckleberry Finn in tandem with The Prince and the Pauper and other works in 1880 and other years. The last fifth of Huckleberry Finn is subject to much controversy. Some say that Twain experienced, as critic Leo Marx puts it, a "failure of nerve." Ernest Hemingway once said of Huckleberry Finn: If you read it, you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating. Hemingway also wrote in the same essay: All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.[55] Near the completion of Huckleberry Finn, Twain wrote Life on the Mississippi, which is said to have heavily influenced the former book.[32] The work recounts Twain's memories and new experiences after a 22-year absence from the Mississippi. In it, he also states that "Mark Twain" was the call made when the boat was in safe water – two fathoms (12 ft/3.7 m). Later writing After his great work, Twain began turning to his business endeavors to keep them afloat and to stave off the increasing difficulties he had been having from his writing projects. Twain focused on President Ulysses S. Grant's Memoirs for his fledgling publishing company, finding time in between to write "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed" for The Century Magazine. This piece detailed his two-week stint in a Confederate militia during the Civil War. The name of his publishing company was Charles L. Webster & Company, which he owned with Charles L. Webster, his nephew by marriage.[56] Twain in his later years Twain next focused on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which featured him making his first big pronouncement of disappointment with politics. Written with the same "historical fiction" style of The Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee showed the absurdities of political and social norms by setting them in the court of King Arthur. The book was started in December 1885, then shelved a few months later until the summer of 1887, and eventually finished in the spring of 1889. Twain had begun to furiously write articles and commentary with diminishing returns to pay the bills and keep his business projects afloat, but it was not enough. He filed for bankruptcy in 1894. His next large-scale work, Pudd'nhead Wilson, was written rapidly, as Twain was desperately trying to stave off the bankruptcy. From November 12 to December 14, 1893, Twain wrote 60,000 words for the novel.[32] Critics have pointed to this rushed completion as the cause of the novel's rough organization and constant disruption of continuous plot. There were parallels between this work and Twain's financial failings, notably his desire to escape his current constraints and become a different person. Like The Prince and the Pauper, this novel also contains the tale of two boys born on the same day who switch positions in life. Considering the circumstances of Twain's birth and Halley's Comet, and his strong belief in the paranormal, it is not surprising that these "mystic" connections recur throughout his writing. The actual title is not clearly established. It was first published serially in Century Magazine, and when it was finally published in book form, Pudd'nhead Wilson appeared as the main title; however, the disputed "subtitles" make the entire title read: The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson and the Comedy of The Extraordinary Twins.[32] Twain's next venture was a work of straight fiction that he called Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc and dedicated to his wife. Twain had long said that this was the work he was most proud of, despite the criticism he received for it. The book had been a dream of his since childhood. He claimed he had found a manuscript detailing the life of Joan of Arc when he was an adolescent.[32] This was another piece Twain was convinced would save his publishing company. His financial adviser, Henry Huttleston Rogers, quashed that idea and got Twain out of that business altogether, but the book was published nonetheless. During this time of dire financial straits, Twain published several literary reviews in newspapers to help make ends meet. He famously derided James Fenimore Cooper in his article detailing Cooper's "Literary Offenses." He became an extremely outspoken critic not only of other authors, but also of other critics, suggesting that before praising Cooper's work, Professors Loundsbury, Brander Matthes, and Wilkie Collins "ought to have read some of it."[57] Other authors to fall under Twain's attack during this time period (beginning around 1890 until his death) were George Eliot, Jane Austen, and Robert Louis Stevenson.[58] In addition to providing a source for the "tooth and claw" style of literary criticism, Twain outlines in several letters and essays what he considers to be "quality writing." He places emphasis on concision, utility of word choice, and realism (he complains that Cooper's Deerslayer purports to be realistic but has several shortcomings). Ironically, several of his works were later criticized for lack of continuity (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) and organization (Pudd'nhead Wilson). Twain's wife died in 1904 while the couple were staying at the Villa di Quarto in Florence, and after an appropriate time Twain allowed himself to publish some works that his wife, a de facto editor and censor throughout his life, had looked down upon. Of these works, The Mysterious Stranger, depicting various visits of Satan to the Earth, is perhaps the best known. This particular work was not published in Twain's lifetime. There were three versions found in his manuscripts made between 1897 and 1905: the Hannibal, Eseldorf, and Print Shop versions. Confusion between the versions led to an extensive publication of a jumbled version, and only recently have the original versions as Twain wrote them become available. Twain's last work was his autobiography, which he dictated and thought would be most entertaining if he went off on whims and tangents in non-chronological order. Some archivists and compilers have rearranged the biography into more conventional forms, thereby eliminating some of Twain's humor and the flow of the book. The first volume of autobiography, over 736 pages, was published by the University of California in November 2010, 100 years after his death as Twain wished.[59][60] It soon became an unexpected[61] best seller,[62] making Twain one of very few authors publishing new best-selling volumes in all 3 of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Friendship with Henry H. Rogers A late life friendship for each, Mark Twain and Henry Huttleston Rogers in 1908 While Twain credited Henry H. Rogers, a Standard Oil executive, with saving him from financial ruin, their close friendship in their later years was mutually beneficial. When Twain lost three of his four children and his beloved wife, the Rogers family increasingly became a surrogate family for him. He became a frequent guest at their townhouse in New York City, their 48-room summer home in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and aboard their steam yacht, the Kanawha. The two men introduced each other to their acquaintances. Twain was an admirer of the remarkable deafblind girl Helen Keller. He first met Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan at a party in the home of Laurence Hutton in New York City in the winter of 1894. Twain introduced them to Rogers, who, with his wife, paid for Keller's education at Radcliffe College. Twain is credited with labeling Sullivan, Keller's governess and companion, a "miracle worker." His choice of words later became inspiration for the title of William Gibson's play and film adaptation, The Miracle Worker. Twain also introduced Rogers to journalist Ida M. Tarbell, who interviewed him for a muckraking expose that led indirectly to the breakup of the Standard Oil Trust. On cruises aboard the Kanawha, Twain and Rogers were joined at frequent intervals by Booker T. Washington, the famed former slave who had become a leading educator. While the two famous old men were widely regarded as drinking and poker buddies, they also exchanged letters when apart, and this was often since each traveled a great deal. Unlike Rogers' personal files, which have never become public, these insightful letters were published.[63] The written exchanges between the two men demonstrate Twain's well-known sense of humor and, more surprisingly, Rogers' sense of fun, providing a rare insight into the private side of the robber baron. In April 1907, Twain and Rogers cruised to the opening of the Jamestown Exposition in Virginia. Twain's public popularity was such that many fans took boats out to the Kanawha at anchor in hopes of getting a glimpse of him. As the gathering of boats around the yacht became a safety hazard, he finally obliged by coming on deck and waving to the crowds. Because of poor weather conditions, the steam yacht was delayed for several days from venturing into the Atlantic Ocean. Rogers and some of the others in his party returned to New York by rail; Twain disliked train travel and so elected to wait and return on the Kanawha. However, reporters lost track of his whereabouts; when he failed to return to New York City as scheduled, The New York Times speculated that he might have been "lost at sea." Upon arriving safely in New York and learning of this, the humorist wrote a satirical article about the episode, offering to "...make an exhaustive investigation of this report that I have been lost at sea. If there is any foundation for the report, I will at once apprise the anxious public."[64] This bore similarities to an earlier event in 1897 when he made his famous remark "The report of my death was an exaggeration," after a reporter was sent to investigate whether he had died. In fact, it was his cousin who was seriously ill. Later that year, Twain and Rogers's son, Henry Jr., returned to the Jamestown Exposition aboard the Kanawha. The humorist helped host Robert Fulton Day on September 23, 1907, celebrating the centennial of Fulton's invention of the steamboat. Twain, filling in for ailing former U.S. President Grover Cleveland, introduced Rear Admiral Purnell Harrington. Twain was met with a five-minute standing ovation; members of the audience cheered and waved their hats and umbrellas. Deeply touched, Twain said, "When you appeal to my head, I don't feel it; but when you appeal to my heart, I do feel it."[65] In April 1909, the two old friends returned to Norfolk, Virginia for the banquet in honor of Rogers and his newly completed Virginian Railway. Twain was the keynote speaker in one of his last public appearances, and was widely quoted in newspapers across the country.[66] A month later, Twain was en route from Connecticut to visit his friend in New York City when Rogers died suddenly on May 20, 1909. Twain arrived at Grand Central Terminal to be met by his daughter with the news. Stricken with grief, he uncustomarily avoided news reporters who had gathered, saying only "This is terrible...I cannot talk about it." Two days later, he served as an honorary pallbearer at the funeral in New York City. However, he declined to join the funeral party on the train ride for the interment at Fairhaven. He said "I cannot bear to travel with my friend and not converse." Views Twain's views became more radical as he grew older. He acknowledged that his views changed and developed over his life, referring to one of his favorite works: When I finished Carlyle's French Revolution in 1871, I was a Girondin; every time I have read it since, I have read it differently – being influenced and changed, little by little, by life and environment ... and now I lay the book down once more, and recognize that I am a Sansculotte! – And not a pale, characterless Sansculotte, but a Marat.[67] Anti-imperialist In the New York Herald, October 15, 1900, he describes his transformation and political awakening, in the context of the Philippine-American War, from being "a red-hot imperialist": I wanted the American eagle to go screaming into the Pacific ...Why not spread its wings over the Philippines, I asked myself? ... I said to myself, Here are a people who have suffered for three centuries. We can make them as free as ourselves, give them a government and country of their own, put a miniature of the American Constitution afloat in the Pacific, start a brand new republic to take its place among the free nations of the world. It seemed to me a great task to which we had addressed ourselves. But I have thought some more, since then, and I have read carefully the treaty of Paris [which ended the Spanish-American War], and I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone there to conquer, not to redeem. It should, it seems to me, be our pleasure and duty to make those people free, and let them deal with their own domestic questions in their own way. And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.[68] Before 1899 Twain was an ardent imperialist. In the late 1860s and early 1870s he spoke out strongly in favor of American interests in the Hawaiian Islands.[69] In the mid-1890s he explained later, he was "a red-hot imperialist. I wanted the American eagle to go screaming over the Pacific."[70] He said the war with Spain in 1898 was "the worthiest" war ever fought.[71] In 1899 he reversed course, and from 1901, soon after his return from Europe, until his death in 1910, Twain was vice-president of the American Anti-Imperialist League,[72] which opposed the annexation of the Philippines by the United States and had "tens of thousands of members."[25] He wrote many political pamphlets for the organization. The Incident in the Philippines, posthumously published in 1924, was in response to the Moro Crater Massacre, in which six hundred Moros were killed. Many of his neglected and previously uncollected writings on anti-imperialism appeared for the first time in book form in 1992.[72] Twain was critical of imperialism in other countries as well. In Following the Equator, Twain expresses "hatred and condemnation of imperialism of all stripes."[25] He was highly critical of European imperialism, notably of Cecil Rhodes, who greatly expanded the British Empire, and of Leopold II, King of the Belgians.[25] King Leopold's Soliloquy is a stinging political satire about his private colony, the Congo Free State. Reports of outrageous exploitation and grotesque abuses led to widespread international protest in the early 1900s, arguably the first large-scale human rights movement. In the soliloquy, the King argues that bringing Christianity to the country outweighs a little starvation. Leopold's rubber gatherers were tortured, maimed and slaughtered, until the movement forced Brussels to call a halt.[73][74] During the Philippine-American War, Twain wrote a short pacifist story entitled The War Prayer, which makes the point that humanism and Christianity's preaching of love are incompatible with the conduct of war. It was submitted to Harper's Bazaar for publication, but on March 22, 1905 the magazine rejected the story as "not quite suited to a woman's magazine." Eight days later, Twain wrote to his friend Daniel Carter Beard, to whom he had read the story, "I don't think the prayer will be published in my time. None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth." Because he had an exclusive contract with Harper & Brothers, Twain could not publish The War Prayer elsewhere; it remained unpublished until 1923. It was republished as campaigning material by Vietnam War protesters.[25] Twain acknowledged he originally sympathized with the more moderate Girondins of the French Revolution and then shifted his sympathies to the more radical Sansculottes, indeed identifying as "a Marat." Twain supported the revolutionaries in Russia against the reformists, arguing that the Tsar must be got rid of, by violent means, because peaceful ones would not work.[75] He summed up his views of revolutions in the following statement: I am said to be a revolutionist in my sympathies, by birth, by breeding and by principle. I am always on the side of the revolutionists, because there never was a revolution unless there were some oppressive and intolerable conditions against which to revolute.[76] Civil rights Twain was an adamant supporter of abolition and emancipation, even going so far to say "Lincoln's Proclamation ... not only set the black slaves free, but set the white man free also."[77] He argued that non-whites did not receive justice in the United States, once saying "I have seen Chinamen abused and maltreated in all the mean, cowardly ways possible to the invention of a degraded nature....but I never saw a Chinaman righted in a court of justice for wrongs thus done to him."[78] He paid for at least one black person to attend Yale Law School and for another black person to attend a southern university to become a minister.[79] Mark Twain was a staunch supporter of women's rights and an active campaigner for women's suffrage. His "Votes for Women" speech, in which he pressed for the granting of voting rights to women, is considered one of the most famous in history.[80] Helen Keller benefited from Twain's support, as she pursued her college education and publishing, despite her disabilities and financial limitations. Twain's views on race were not reflected in his early sketches of Native Americans. Of them, Twain wrote in 1870: His heart is a cesspool of falsehood, of treachery, and of low and devilish instincts. With him, gratitude is an unknown emotion; and when one does him a kindness, it is safest to keep the face toward him, lest the reward be an arrow in the back. To accept of a favor from him is to assume a debt which you can never repay to his satisfaction, though you bankrupt yourself trying. The scum of the earth![81] As counterpoint, Twain's essay on "The Literary Offenses of Fenimore Cooper" offers a much kinder view of Indians.[57] "No, other Indians would have noticed these things, but Cooper's Indians never notice anything. Cooper thinks they are marvelous creatures for noticing, but he was almost always in error about his Indians. There was seldom a sane one among them."[82] In his later travelogue Following the Equator (1897), Twain observes that in colonized lands all over the world, "savages" have always been wronged by "whites" in the most merciless ways, such as "robbery, humiliation, and slow, slow murder, through poverty and the white man's whiskey"; his conclusion is that "there are many humorous things in this world; among them the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages."[83] Labor Twain wrote glowingly about unions in the riverboating industry in Life on the Mississippi, which was read in union halls decades later.[84] He supported the labor movement, especially one of the most important unions, the Knights of Labor.[25] In a speech to them, he said: Who are the oppressors? The few: the King, the capitalist, and a handful of other overseers and superintendents. Who are the oppressed? The many: the nations of the earth; the valuable personages; the workers; they that make the bread that the soft-handed and idle eat.[85] Vivisection Twain was opposed to the vivisection practices of his day. His objection was not on a scientific basis but rather an ethical one. He specifically cited the pain caused to the animal as his basis of his opposition.[86] I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't. ... The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further. Religion Although Twain was a Presbyterian, he was sometimes critical of organized religion and certain elements of Christianity through his later life. He wrote, for example, "Faith is believing what you know ain't so," and "If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be – a Christian."[87] Nonetheless, as a mature adult he engaged in religious discussions and attended services, his theology developing as he wrestled with the deaths of loved ones and his own mortality.[88] His own experiences and suffering of his family made him particularly critical of "faith healing," such as espoused by Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science. His more inflammatory works on religion require a nuanced understanding of his theological arguments and criticism.[88] Twain generally avoided publishing his most heretical opinions on religion in his lifetime, and they are known from essays and stories that were published later. In the essay Three Statements of the Eighties in the 1880s, Twain stated that he believed in an almighty God, but not in any messages, revelations, holy scriptures such as the Bible, Providence, or retribution in the afterlife. He did state that "the goodness, the justice, and the mercy of God are manifested in His works," but also that "the universe is governed by strict and immutable laws," which determine "small matters," such as who dies in a pestilence.[89] At other times he wrote or spoke in ways that contradicted a strict deist view, for example, plainly professing a belief in Providence.[90] In some later writings in the 1890s, he was less optimistic about the goodness of God, observing that "if our Maker is all-powerful for good or evil, He is not in His right mind." At other times, he conjectured sardonically that perhaps God had created the world with all its tortures for some purpose of His own, but was otherwise indifferent to humanity, which was too petty and insignificant to deserve His attention anyway.[91] Main article: Twain-Ament Indemnities Controversy In 1901 Twain criticized the actions of missionary Dr. William Scott Ament (1851–1909) because Ament and other missionaries had collected indemnities from Chinese subjects in the aftermath of the Boxer Uprising of 1900. Twain's response to hearing of Ament's methods was published in the North American Review in February 1901: To the Person Sitting in Darkness, and deals with examples of imperialism in China, South Africa, and with the U.S. occupation of the Philippines.[92] A subsequent article, "To My Missionary Critics" published in The North American Review in April 1901, unapologetically continues his attack, but with the focus shifted from Ament to his missionary superiors, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.[93] After his death, Twain's family suppressed some of his work that was especially irreverent toward conventional religion, notably Letters from the Earth, which was not published until his daughter Clara reversed her position in 1962 in response to Soviet propaganda about the withholding.[94] The anti-religious The Mysterious Stranger was published in 1916. Little Bessie, a story ridiculing Christianity, was first published in the 1972 collection Mark Twain's Fables of Man.[95] Despite these views, he raised money to build a Presbyterian Church in Nevada in 1864, although it has been argued that it was only by his association with his Presbyterian brother that he did that.[96] Twain created a reverent portrayal of Joan of Arc, a subject over which he had obsessed for forty years, studied for a dozen years and spent two years writing.[97] In 1900 and again in 1908, he stated, "I like Joan of Arc best of all my books, it is the best." [97][98] Those who knew Twain well late in life recount that he dwelt on the subject of the afterlife, his daughter Clara saying: "Sometimes he believed death ended everything, but most of the time he felt sure of a life beyond."[99] Mark Twain's frankest views on religion appeared in his final Autobiography, which was published 100 years after his death, in November 2010. In it, he said,[100] There is one notable thing about our Christianity: bad, bloody, merciless, money-grabbing, and predatory as it is--in our country particularly and in all other Christian countries in a somewhat modified degree--it is still a hundred times better than the Christianity of the Bible, with its prodigious crime--the invention of Hell. Measured by our Christianity of to-day, bad as it is, hypocritical as it is, empty and hollow as it is, neither the Deity nor his Son is a Christian, nor qualified for that moderately high place. Ours is a terrible religion. The fleets of the world could swim in spacious comfort in the innocent blood it has spilled. Twain was a Freemason.[101][102] He belonged to Polar Star Lodge No. 79 A.F.&A.M., based in St. Louis. He was initiated an Entered Apprentice on May 22, 1861, passed to the degree of Fellow Craft on June 12, and raised to the degree of Master Mason on July 10. Pen names Twain used different pen names before deciding on "'Mark Twain". He signed humorous and imaginative sketches as "Josh" until 1863. Additionally, he used the pen name "Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass" for a series of humorous letters.[103] He maintained that his primary pen name came from his years working on Mississippi riverboats, where two fathoms, a depth indicating safe water for passage of boat, was measured on the sounding line. Twain is an archaic term for "two". The riverboatman's cry was "mark twain" or, more fully, "by the mark twain", meaning "according to the mark [on the line], [the depth is] two [fathoms]," that is, "The water is 12 feet (3.7 m) deep and it is safe to pass." Twain claimed that his famous pen name was not entirely his invention. In Life on the Mississippi, he wrote: Captain Isaiah Sellers was not of literary turn or capacity, but he used to jot down brief paragraphs of plain practical information about the river, and sign them "MARK TWAIN," and give them to the New Orleans Picayune. They related to the stage and condition of the river, and were accurate and valuable; ... At the time that the telegraph brought the news of his death, I was on the Pacific coast. I was a fresh new journalist, and needed a nom de guerre; so I confiscated the ancient mariner's discarded one, and have done my best to make it remain what it was in his hands – a sign and symbol and warrant that whatever is found in its company may be gambled on as being the petrified truth; how I have succeeded, it would not be modest in me to say.[104] Twain's story about his pen name has been questioned by biographer George Williams III,[105] the Territorial Enterprise newspaper,[106] and Purdue University's Paul Fatout.[107] The claim is that "mark twain" refers to a running bar tab that Twain would regularly incur while drinking at John Piper's saloon in Virginia City, Nevada. Honors Twain statue at Finney County Public Library in Garden City, Kansas Twain's legacy lives on today as his namesakes continue to multiply. Several schools are named after him, including Mark Twain Elementary School in Houston, Texas, which has a statue of Twain sitting on a bench, and Mark Twain Intermediate School in New York. There are several schools named Mark Twain Middle School in different states, as well as Samuel Clemens High School in Schertz, near San Antonio, Texas. There are also other structures, such as the Mark Twain Memorial Bridge. Mark Twain Village is a United States Army installation located in the Südstadt district of Heidelberg, Germany. It is one of two American bases in the United States Army Garrison Heidelberg that house American soldiers and their families (the other being Patrick Henry Village). Awards in his name proliferate. In 1998, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts created the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, awarded annually. The Mark Twain Award is an award given annually to a book for children in grades four through eight by the Missouri Association of School Librarians. Stetson University in DeLand, Florida sponsors the Mark Twain Young Authors' Workshop each summer in collaboration with the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal. The program is open to young authors in grades five through eight.[108] The museum sponsors the Mark Twain Creative Teaching Award.[109] Twain's house, "Stormfield", in Redding, Connecticut (front view) Buildings associated with Twain, including some of his many homes, have been preserved as museums. His birthplace is preserved in Florida, Missouri. The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum in Hannibal, Missouri preserves the setting for some of the author's best known work. The home of childhood friend Laura Hawkins, said to be the inspiration for his fictional character Becky Thatcher, is preserved as the "Thatcher House." In May 2007, a painstaking reconstruction of the home of Tom Blankenship, the inspiration for Huckleberry Finn, was opened to the public. The family home he had built in Hartford, Connecticut, where he and his wife raised their three daughters, is preserved and open to visitors as the Mark Twain House. Asteroid 2362 Mark Twain was named after him. On December 4, 1985, the United States Postal Service issued a stamped envelope for "Mark Twain and Halley's Comet," noting the connection with Twain's birth, his death, and the comet.[110] On June 25, 2011, the Postal Service released a Forever stamp in his honor.[111] Depictions Main article: Mark Twain in popular culture Twain is often depicted wearing a white suit. While there is evidence that suggests that, after Livy's death in 1904, Twain began wearing white suits on the lecture circuit, modern representations suggesting that he wore them throughout his life are unfounded. However, there is evidence of him wearing a white suit before 1904. In 1882, he sent a photograph of himself in a white suit to 18-year-old Edward W. Bok, later publisher of the Ladies Home Journal, with a handwritten dated note on verso. It did eventually become his trademark, as illustrated in anecdotes about this eccentricity (such as the time he wore a white summer suit to a Congressional hearing during the winter).[32] McMasters' The Mark Twain Encyclopedia states that Twain did not wear a white suit in his last three years, except at one banquet speech.[112] Actor Hal Holbrook created a one-man show called Mark Twain Tonight, which he has performed regularly for about 57 years.[113] The broadcast by CBS in 1967 won him an Emmy Award. Of the three runs on Broadway (1966, 1977, and 2005), the first won him a Tony Award. Twain was portrayed by Fredric March in the 1944 film The Adventures of Mark Twain. ... ...... Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, United States that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing. Established on April 4, 1975 to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800, Microsoft rose to dominate the home computer operating system market with MS-DOS in the mid-1980s, followed by the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. Microsoft is the largest software corporation in the world. Microsoft dominates the office suite market with Microsoft Office. The company has also diversified into areas including the video game industry (with the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles), consumer electronics (with the Zune), the digital services market (through MSN), and mobile phones (via the Windows Phone OS). The ensuing rise of stock in the company's 1986 initial public offering (IPO) created an estimated three billionaires and 12,000 millionaires from Microsoft employees (Forbes 400 list revealed that in March 2011 both Jon Shipley and Nathan Myhrvold lost their billionaire status). In May 2011, Microsoft Corporation acquired Skype for $8.5 billion.[2] In the 1990s, critics began to contend that Microsoft used monopolistic business practices and anti-competitive strategies including refusal to deal and tying, put unreasonable restrictions in the use of its software, and used misrepresentative marketing tactics; both the U.S. Department of Justice and European Commission found the company in violation of antitrust laws. Known for its interviewing process with obscure questions, various studies and ratings were generally favorable to Microsoft's diversity within the company as well as its overall environmental impact with the exception of the electronics portion of the business. Main articles: History of Microsoft and History of Microsoft Windows Paul Allen and Bill Gates (respectively) on October 19, 1981, in a sea of PCs after signing a pivotal contract. IBM called Microsoft in July 1980 inquiring about programming languages for its upcoming PC line;[3]:228 after failed negotiations with another company, IBM gave Microsoft a contract to develop the OS for the new line of PCs.[4] Early history Paul Allen and Bill Gates, childhood friends with a passion in computer programming, were seeking to make a successful business utilizing their shared skills. The January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics featured Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems's (MITS) Altair 8800 microcomputer. Allen noticed that they could program a BASIC interpreter for the device; after a call from Gates claiming to have a working interpreter, MITS requested a demonstration. Since they didn't actually have one, Allen worked on a simulator for the Altair while Gates developed the interpreter. Although they developed the interpreter on a simulator and not the actual device, the interpreter worked flawlessly when they demonstrated the interpreter to MITS in Albuquerque, New Mexico in March 1975; MITS agreed to distribute it, marketing it as Altair BASIC.[3]:108, 112–114 They officially established Microsoft on April 4, 1975, with Gates as the CEO.[5] Allen came up with the original name of "Micro-Soft," as recounted in a 1995 Fortune magazine article. In August 1977 the company formed an agreement with ASCII Magazine in Japan, resulting in its first international office, "ASCII Microsoft".[6] The company moved to a new home in Bellevue, Washington in January 1979.[5] Microsoft Inc. logo history Logo Years Microsoft Logo Historical.svg Microsoft "blibbet" logo, filed August 26, 1982 at the USPTO and used until 1987.[7] Microsoft - Where do you want to go today.svg Microsoft "Pac-Man" logo, designed by Scott Baker and used since 1987, with the 1994–2002 slogan "Where do you want to go today?".[8][9] Microsoft logo & slogan.svg Microsoft logo as of 2006–2011, with the slogan "Your potential. Our passion."[9] The Microsoft logo & slogan.png Logo by Microsoft with the slogan"Be What's Next." 2011–present.[10] Microsoft entered the OS business in 1980 with its own version of Unix, called Xenix.[11] However, it was MS-DOS that solidified the company's dominance. After negotiations with Digital Research failed, IBM awarded a contract to Microsoft in November 1980 to provide a version of the CP/M OS, which was set to be used in the upcoming IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC).[12] For this deal, Microsoft purchased a CP/M clone called 86-DOS from Seattle Computer Products, branding it as MS-DOS, which IBM rebranded to PC-DOS. Following the release of the IBM PC in August 1981, Microsoft retained ownership of MS-DOS. Since IBM copyrighted the IBM PC BIOS, other companies had to reverse engineer it in order for non-IBM hardware to run as IBM PC compatibles, but no such restriction applied to the operating systems. Due to various factors, such as MS-DOS's available software selection, Microsoft eventually became the leading PC operating systems vendor.[4][13]:210 The company expanded into new markets with the release of the Microsoft Mouse in 1983, as well as a publishing division named Microsoft Press.[3]:232 Paul Allen resigned from Microsoft in February after developing Hodgkin's disease.[3]:231 1984–1994: Windows and Office While jointly developing a new OS with IBM in 1984, OS/2, Microsoft released Microsoft Windows, a graphical extension for MS-DOS, on November 20.[3]:242–243, 246 Microsoft moved its headquarters to Redmond on February 26, 1986, and on March 13 the company went public;[14] the ensuing rise in the stock would make an estimated four billionaires and 12,000 millionaires from Microsoft employees.[15] Due to the partnership with IBM, in 1990 the Federal Trade Commission set its eye on Microsoft for possible collusion; it marked the beginning of over a decade of legal clashes with the U.S. Government.[16] Microsoft announced the release of its version of OS/2 to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) on April 2, 1987;[3]:243–244 meanwhile, the company was at work on a 32-bit OS, Microsoft Windows NT, using ideas from OS/2; it shipped on July 21, 1993 with a new modular kernel and the Win32 application programming interface (API), making porting from 16-bit (MS-DOS-based) Windows easier. Once Microsoft informed IBM of NT, the OS/2 partnership deteriorated.[17] Microsoft introduced its office suite, Microsoft Office, in 1990. The software bundled separate office productivity applications, such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.[3]:301 On May 22 Microsoft launched Windows 3.0 with a streamlined user interface graphics and improved protected mode capability for the Intel 386 processor.[18] Both Office and Windows became dominant in their respective areas.[19][20] Novell, a Word competitor from 1984–1986, filed a lawsuit years later claiming that Microsoft left part of its APIs undocumented in order to gain a competitive advantage.[21] On July 27, 1994, the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division filed a Competitive Impact Statement that said, in part: "Beginning in 1988, and continuing until July 15, 1994, Microsoft induced many OEMs to execute anti-competitive "per processor" licenses. Under a per processor license, an OEM pays Microsoft a royalty for each computer it sells containing a particular microprocessor, whether the OEM sells the computer with a Microsoft operating system or a non-Microsoft operating system. In effect, the royalty payment to Microsoft when no Microsoft product is being used acts as a penalty, or tax, on the OEM's use of a competing PC operating system. Since 1988, Microsoft's use of per processor licenses has increased."[22] 1995–2005: Internet and the 32-bit era Bill Gates giving his deposition in 1998 for the United States v. Microsoft trial. Once the U.S. Department of Justice 1993 took over from the Federal Trade Commission, a protracted legal wrangling between Microsoft and the department ensued, resulting in various settlements and possible blocked mergers. Microsoft would point to companies such as AOL-Time Warner in its defense.[16] Following Bill Gates's internal "Internet Tidal Wave memo" on May 26, 1995 Microsoft began to redefine its offerings and expand its product line into computer networking and the World Wide Web.[23] The company released Windows 95 on August 24, 1995, featuring pre-emptive multitasking, a completely new user interface with a novel start button, and 32-bit compatibility; similar to NT, it provided the Win32 API.[24][25]:20 Windows 95 came bundled with the online service MSN, and for OEMs Internet Explorer, a web browser. Internet Explorer was not bundled with the retail Windows 95 boxes because the boxes were printed before the team finished the web browser, and instead was included in the Windows 95 Plus! pack.[26] Branching out into new markets in 1996, Microsoft and NBC Universal created a new 24/7 cable news station, MSNBC.[27] Microsoft created Windows CE 1.0, a new OS designed for devices with low memory and other constraints, such as personal digital assistants.[28] In October 1997, the Justice Department filed a motion in the Federal District Court, stating that Microsoft violated an agreement signed in 1994 and asked the court to stop the bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows.[3]:323–324 Bill Gates handed over the CEO position on January 13, 2000 to Steve Ballmer, an old college friend of Gates and employee of the company since 1980, creating a new position for himself as Chief Software Architect.[5][3]:111, 228 Various companies including Microsoft formed the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance in October 1999 to, among other things, increase security and protect intellectual property through identifying changes in hardware and software. Critics decry the alliance as a way to enforce indiscriminate restrictions over how consumers use software, and over how computers behave, a form of digital rights management; for example the scenario where a computer is not only secured for its owner, but also secured against its owner as well.[29][30] On April 3, 2000, a judgment was handed down in the case of United States v. Microsoft,[31] calling the company an "abusive monopoly";[32] it settled with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2004.[14] On October 25, 2001 Microsoft released Windows XP, unifying the mainstream and NT lines under the NT codebase.[33] The company released the Xbox later that year, entering the game console market dominated by Sony and Nintendo.[34] In March 2004 the European Union brought antitrust legal action against the company, citing it abused its dominance with the Windows OS, resulting in a judgment of €497 million ($613 million) and to produce new versions of Windows XP without Windows Media Player, Windows XP Home Edition N and Windows XP Professional N.[35][36] 2006–present: Windows Vista, mobile, SaaS CEO Steve Ballmer at the MIX event in 2008. In an interview about his management style in 2005, he mentioned that his first priority was to get the people he delegates to in order. Ballmer also emphasized the need to continue pursuing new technologies even if initial attempts fail, citing the original attempts with Windows as an example.[37] Released in January 2007, the next version of Windows, Windows Vista, focused on features, security, and a redesigned user interface dubbed Aero.[38][39] Microsoft Office 2007, released at the same time, featured a "Ribbon" user interface which was a significant departure from its predecessors. Relatively strong sales of both titles helped to produce a record profit in 2007.[40] The European Union imposed another fine of €899 million ($1.4 billion) for Microsoft's lack of compliance with the March 2004 judgment on February 27, 2008, saying that the company charged rivals unreasonable prices for key information about its workgroup and backoffice servers. Microsoft stated that it was in compliance and that "these fines are about the past issues that have been resolved".[41] Bill Gates retired from his role as Chief Software Architect on June 27, 2008 while retaining other positions related to the company in addition to being an advisor for the company on key projects.[42] Azure Services Platform, the company's entry into the cloud computing market for Windows, launched on October 27, 2008.[43] On February 12, 2009, Microsoft announced its intent to open a chain of Microsoft-branded retail stores, and on October 22, 2009 the first retail Microsoft Store opened in Scottsdale, Arizona; the same day the first store opened Windows 7 was officially released to the public. Windows 7's focus was on refining Vista with ease of use features and performance enhancements, rather than a large reworking of Windows.[44][45][46] As the smartphone industry boomed beginning in 2007, Microsoft struggled to keep up with its rivals Apple and Google in providing a modern smartphone operating system. As a result, in 2010, Microsoft revamped their aging flagship mobile operating system, Windows Mobile, replacing it with the new Windows Phone OS; along with a new strategy in the smartphone industry that has Microsoft working more closely with smartphone manufactures, such as Nokia, and to provide a consistent user experience across all smartphones using Microsoft's Windows Phone OS. Microsoft is a founding member of the Open Networking Foundation started on March 23, 2011. Other founding companies include Google, HP Networking, Yahoo, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom and 17 other companies. The nonprofit organization is focused on providing support for a new cloud computing initiative called Software-Defined Networking.[47] The initiative is meant to speed innovation through simple software changes in telecommunications networks, wireless networks, data centers and other networking areas.[48] In May 2012, Microsoft opened its social networking site So.cl to the general public. [49] On 31st May 2012, Microsoft released the release preview version of its next generation Windows 8 software. It is designed to power devices ranging from tablets to desktop computers.[50] Product divisions Main article: Microsoft Product Divisions For the 2010 fiscal year, Microsoft had five product divisions: Windows & Windows Live Division, Server and Tools, Online Services Division, Microsoft Business Division, and Entertainment and Devices Division. Windows & Windows Live Division, Server and Tools, Online Services Division The company's Client division produces the flagship Windows OS line such as Windows 7; it also produces the Windows Live family of products and services. Server and Tools produces the server versions of Windows, such as Windows Server 2008 R2 as well as a set of development tools called Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Silverlight, a web application framework, and System Center Configuration Manager, a collection of tools providing remote-control abilities, patch management, software distribution and a hardware/software inventory. Other server products include: Microsoft SQL Server, a relational database management system, Microsoft Exchange Server, for certain business-oriented e-mail and scheduling features, Small Business Server, for messaging and other small business-oriented features; and Microsoft BizTalk Server, for business process management. Microsoft provides IT consulting ("Microsoft Consulting Services") and produces a set of certification programs handled by the Server and Tools division designed to recognize individuals who have a minimal set of proficiencies in a specific role; this includes developers ("Microsoft Certified Solution Developer"), system/network analysts ("Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer"), trainers ("Microsoft Certified Trainers") and administrators ("Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator" and "Microsoft Certified Database Administrator"). Microsoft Press, which publishes books, is also managed by the division. The Online Services Business division handles the online service MSN and the search engine Bing. As of December 2009, the company also possesses an 18% ownership of the cable news channel MSNBC without any editorial control; however, the division develops the channel's website, msnbc.com, in a joint venture with the channel's co-owner, NBC Universal.[51] Business Division The Commons, located on the campus of the company's headquarters in Redmond. The Microsoft Business Division produces Microsoft Office including Microsoft Office 2010, the company's line of office software. The software product includes Word (a word processor), Access (a relational database program), Excel (a spreadsheet program), Outlook (Groupware, frequently used with Exchange Server), PowerPoint (presentation software), Publisher (desktop publishing software) and Sharepoint. A number of other products were added later with the release of Office 2003 including Visio, Project, MapPoint, InfoPath and OneNote. The division also develops enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for companies under the Microsoft Dynamics brand. These include: Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics GP, and Microsoft Dynamics SL. They are targeted at varying company types and countries, and limited to organizations with under 7,500 employees.[52] Also included under the Dynamics brand is the customer relationship management software Microsoft Dynamics CRM, part of the Azure Services Platform. Entertainment and Devices Division The Entertainment and Devices Division produces the Windows CE OS for embedded systems and Windows Phone for smartphones.[53] Microsoft initially entered the mobile market through Windows CE for handheld devices, eventually developing into the Windows Mobile OS and now, Windows Phone. Windows CE is designed for devices where the OS may not directly be visible to the end user, in particular, appliances and cars. The division also produces computer games that run on Windows PCs and other systems including titles such as Age of Empires, Halo and the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, and houses the Macintosh Business Unit which produces Mac OS software including Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac. Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division designs, markets, and manufactures consumer electronics including the Xbox 360 game console, the handheld Zune media player, and the television-based Internet appliance MSN TV. Microsoft also markets personal computer hardware including mice, keyboards, and various game controllers such as joysticks and gamepads. Culture Technical reference for developers and articles for various Microsoft magazines such as Microsoft Systems Journal (or MSJ) are available through the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN). MSDN also offers subscriptions for companies and individuals, and the more expensive subscriptions usually offer access to pre-release beta versions of Microsoft software.[54][55] In April 2004 Microsoft launched a community site for developers and users, titled Channel9, that provides a wiki and an Internet forum.[56] Another community site that provides daily videocasts and other services, On10.net, launched on March 3, 2006.[57] Free technical support is traditionally provided through online Usenet newsgroups, and CompuServe in the past, monitored by Microsoft employees; there can be several newsgroups for a single product. Helpful people can be elected by peers or Microsoft employees for Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) status, which entitles them to a sort of special social status and possibilities for awards and other benefits.[58] Noted for its internal lexicon, the expression "eating our own dog food" is used to describe the policy of using prerelease and beta versions of products inside Microsoft in an effort to test them in "real-world" situations.[59] This is usually shortened to just "dog food" and is used as noun, verb, and adjective. Another bit of jargon, FYIFV or FYIV ("Fuck You, I'm [Fully] Vested"), is used by an employee to indicate they are financially independent and can avoid work anytime they wish.[60] The company is also known for its hiring process, mimicked in other organizations and dubbed the "Microsoft interview", which is notorious for off-the-wall questions such as "Why is a manhole cover round?".[61] Microsoft is an outspoken opponent of the cap on H1B visas, which allow companies in the U.S. to employ certain foreign workers. Bill Gates claims the cap on H1B visas makes it difficult to hire employees for the company, stating "I'd certainly get rid of the H1B cap" in 2005.[62] Critics of H1B visas argue that relaxing the limits would result in increased unemployment for U.S. citizens due to H1B workers working for lower salaries.[63] The Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, a report of how progressive the organization deems company policies towards LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) employees, rated Microsoft as 87% from 2002 to 2004 and as 100% from 2005 to 2010 after they allowed gender expression.[64] Criticism Main article: Criticism of Microsoft Criticism of Microsoft has followed the company's existence because of various aspects of its products and business practices. Ease of use, stability, and security of the company's software are common targets for critics. More recently, Trojan horses and other exploits have plagued numerous users due to faults in the security of Microsoft Windows and other programs. Microsoft is also accused of locking vendors into their products, and of not following and complying with existing standards in its software.[65] Total cost of ownership comparisons of Linux as well as Mac OS X to Windows are a continuous point of debate. The company has been in numerous lawsuits by several governments and other companies for unlawful monopolistic practices. In 2004, the European Union found Microsoft guilty in a highly publicized anti-trust case. Additionally, Microsoft's EULA for some of its programs is often criticized as being too restrictive as well as being against open source software. Microsoft has been criticized (along with Yahoo, AOL, and other companies) for its involvement in censorship in the People's Republic of China.[66] Microsoft has also come under criticism for outsourcing jobs to China and India.[67][68][69] There were reports of poor working conditions at a factory in southern China that makes some of Microsoft's products.[70] Criticism of the company has resulted in it being deemed "the evil empire" by some.[71] In a sci-fi allusion, Microsoft has also been called "The Borg" after the fictional race of aliens in the Star Trek universe. It reflects the perception that Microsoft often acquires technology from other companies rather than developing it in-house[72], as well as to Microsoft's ability to adapt to and overwhelm its opponents' strategies. [73][74][75][76][77][78] Corporate affairs The company is run by a board of directors made up of mostly company outsiders, as is customary for publicly traded companies. Members of the board of directors as of June 2010 are: Steve Ballmer, Dina Dublon, Bill Gates (chairman), Raymond Gilmartin, Reed Hastings, Maria Klawe, David Marquardt, Charles Noski, and Helmut Panke.[79] Board members are elected every year at the annual shareholders' meeting using a majority vote system. There are five committees within the board which oversee more specific matters. These committees include the Audit Committee, which handles accounting issues with the company including auditing and reporting; the Compensation Committee, which approves compensation for the CEO and other employees of the company; the Finance Committee, which handles financial matters such as proposing mergers and acquisitions; the Governance and Nominating Committee, which handles various corporate matters including nomination of the board; and the Antitrust Compliance Committee, which attempts to prevent company practices from violating antitrust laws.[80] Five year history graph of (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock on September 29, 2009.[81] When Microsoft went public and launched its initial public offering (IPO) in 1986, the opening stock price was $21; after the trading day, the price closed at $27.75. As of July 2010, with the company's nine stock splits, any IPO shares would be multiplied by 288; if one was to buy the IPO today given the splits and other factors, it would cost about 9 cents.[82][3]:235–236[83] The stock price peaked in 1999 at around $119 ($60.928 adjusting for splits).[84] The company began to offer a dividend on January 16, 2003, starting at eight cents per share for the fiscal year followed by a dividend of sixteen cents per share the subsequent year, switching from yearly to quarterly dividends in 2005 with eight cents a share per quarter and a special one-time payout of three dollars per share for the second quarter of the fiscal year.[84][85] Though the company had subsequent increases in dividend payouts, the price of Microsoft's stock remained steady for years.[85][86] One of Microsoft's business tactics, described by an executive as "embrace, extend and extinguish," initially embraces a competing standard or product, then extends it to produce their own version which is then incompatible with the standard, which in time extinguishes competition that does not or cannot use Microsoft's new version.[87] Various companies and governments sue Microsoft over this set of tactics, resulting in billions of dollars in rulings against the company.[88][31][36] Microsoft claims that the original strategy is not anti-competitive, but rather an exercise of its discretion to implement features it believes customers want.[89] Financial Standard and Poor's and Moody's have both given a AAA rating to Microsoft, whose assets were valued at $41 billion as compared to only $8.5 billion in unsecured debt. Consequently, in February 2011 Microsoft released a corporate bond amounting to $2.25 billion with relatively low borrowing rates compared to government bonds.[90] For the first time in 20 years Apple Inc. surpassed Microsoft in Q1 2011 quarterly profits and revenues due to a slowdown in PC sales and continuing huge losses in Microsoft's Online Services Division (which contains its search engine Bing). Microsoft profits were $5.2 billion, while Apple Inc. profits were $6 billion, on revenues of $14.5 billion and $24.7 billion respectively.[91] Microsoft's Online Services Division has been continuously loss-making since 2006 and in Q1 2011 it lost $726 million. This follows a loss of $2.5 billion for the year 2010.[92] Environment Microsoft is ranked on the 17th place in Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics (16th Edition) that ranks 18 electronics manufacturers according to their policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change.[93] Microsoft’s timeline for phasing out BFRs and phthalates in all products is 2012 but its commitment to phasing out PVC is not clear. As yet (January 2011) it has no products that are completely free from PVC and BFRs.[94] Microsoft's main U.S. campus received a silver certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program in 2008, and it installed over 2,000 solar panels on top of its buildings in its Silicon Valley campus, generating approximately 15 percent of the total energy needed by the facilities in April 2005.[95] Microsoft makes use of alternative forms of transit. It created one of the worlds largest private bus systems, the "Connector", to transport people from outside the company; for on-campus transportation, the "Shuttle Connect" uses a large fleet of hybrid cars to save fuel. The company also subsidises regional public transport as an incentive.[95][96] In February 2010 however, Microsoft took a stance against adding additional public transport and high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to a bridge connecting Redmond to Seattle; the company did not want to delay the construction any further.[97] Microsoft was ranked number 1 in the list of the World's Best Multinational Workplaces by the Great Place to Work Institute in 2011.[98] Marketing In 2004, Microsoft commissioned research firms to do independent studies comparing the total cost of ownership (TCO) of Windows Server 2003 to Linux; the firms concluded that companies found Windows easier to administrate than Linux, thus those using Windows would administrate faster resulting in lower costs for their company (i.e. lower TCO).[99] This spurred a wave of related studies; a study by the Yankee Group concluded that upgrading from one version of Windows Server to another costs a fraction of the switching costs from Windows Server to Linux, although companies surveyed noted the increased security and reliability of Linux servers and concern about being locked into using Microsoft products.[100] Another study, released by the OSDL, claimed that the Microsoft studies were "simply outdated and one-sided" and their survey concluded that the TCO of Linux was lower due to Linux administrators managing more servers on average and other reasons.[101] As part of the "Get the Facts" campaign Microsoft highlighted the .NET trading platform that it had developed in partnership with Accenture for the London Stock Exchange, claiming that it provided "five nines" reliability. After suffering extended downtime and unreliability[102][103] the LSE announced in 2009 that it was planning to drop its Microsoft solution and switch to a Linux based one in 2010.[104][105] Microsoft adopted the so-called "Pac-Man Logo", designed by Scott Baker, in 1987. Baker stated "The new logo, in Helvetica italic typeface, has a slash between the o and s to emphasize the "soft" part of the name and convey motion and speed."[106] Dave Norris ran an internal joke campaign to save the old logo, which was green, in all uppercase, and featured a fanciful letter O, nicknamed the blibbet, but it was discarded.[107] Microsoft's logo with the "Your potential. Our passion." tagline below the main corporate name, is based on a slogan Microsoft used in 2008. In 2002, the company started using the logo in the United States and eventually started a TV campaign with the slogan, changed from the previous tagline of "Where do you want to go today?".[8][9][108] During the private MGX (Microsoft Global Exchange) conference in 2010, Microsoft unveiled the company's next tagline, "Be What's Next.". ... ...... Nicolas Sarkozy is a French politician who served as the 23rd President of the French Republic from 16 May 2007 until 15 May 2012. Before his presidency, he was leader of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Under Jacques Chirac's presidency he served as Minister of the Interior in Jean-Pierre Raffarin's (UMP) first two governments (from May 2002 to March 2004), then was appointed Minister of Finances in Raffarin's last government (March 2004 to May 2005) and again Minister of the Interior in Dominique de Villepin's government (2005–2007). Sarkozy was also president of the General council of the Hauts-de-Seine department from 2004 to 2007 and mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the wealthiest communes of France from 1983 to 2002. He was Minister of the Budget in the government of Édouard Balladur (RPR, predecessor of the UMP) during François Mitterrand's last term. In foreign affairs, he promised a strengthening of the entente cordiale with the United Kingdom[1] and closer cooperation with the United States.[2] During his term, he faced the late-2000s financial crisis (followed by the recession and the debt crisis caused by it) and the Arab Spring (especially in Tunisia, Libya, and Syria). He also married Italian-French singer-songwriter Carla Bruni on 2 February 2008 at the Élysée Palace in Paris. On 6 May 2012, Sarkozy was defeated in the 2012 election by Socialist François Hollande by a margin of 3.2 percent, or 1,139,983 votes.[3] After leaving the office, Sarkozy retired from political life.[4] As a former president, Sarkozy is entitled to de jure membership in the Constitutional Council. Sarkozy is the son of Pál István Ernő Sárközy de Nagy-Bócsa[5] (Hungarian: nagybócsai Sárközy Pál [nɒɟ͡ʝboːt͡ʃɒi ʃaːrkøzi paːl] ( listen); in some sources Nagy-Bócsay Sárközy Pál István Ernő),[6] a Hungarian aristocrat, and Andrée Jeanne "Dadu" Mallah (b. Paris, 12 October 1925), whose Greek Jewish father converted to Catholicism to marry her French Catholic mother.[7][8] They were married in the Saint-François-de-Sales church, 17th arrondissement of Paris, on 8 February 1950 and divorced in 1959.[9] Early life During Sarkozy's childhood, his father founded his own advertising agency and became wealthy. The family lived in a mansion owned by Sarkozy's maternal grandfather, Benedict Mallah, in the 17th Arrondissement of Paris. The family later moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the wealthiest communes of the Île-de-France région immediately west of the 17th Arrondissement just outside of Paris. According to Sarkozy, his staunchly Gaullist grandfather was more of an influence on him than his father, whom he rarely saw. Sarkozy was, accordingly, raised Catholic.[7] Sarkozy said that being abandoned by his father shaped much of who he is today. He also has said that, in his early years, he felt inferior in relation to his wealthier and taller classmates.[10] "What made me who I am now is the sum of all the humiliations suffered during childhood", he said later.[10] Education Sarkozy was enrolled in the Lycée Chaptal, a well regarded public middle and high school in Paris's 8th arrondissement, where he failed his sixième. His family then sent him to the Cours Saint-Louis de Monceau, a private Catholic school in the 17th arrondissement, where he was reportedly a mediocre student,[11] but where he nonetheless obtained his baccalauréat in 1973. He enrolled at the Université Paris X Nanterre, where he graduated with an MA in Private law, and later with a DEA degree in Business law. Paris X Nanterre had been the starting place for the May '68 student movement and was still a stronghold of leftist students. Described as a quiet student, Sarkozy soon joined the right-wing student organization, in which he was very active. He completed his military service as a part time Air Force cleaner.[12] After graduating, he entered the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, better known as Sciences Po, (1979–1981) but failed to graduate[13] due to an insufficient command of the English language.[14] After passing the bar, he became a lawyer specializing in business and family law,[14] and was one of Silvio Berlusconi's top French advocates.[15][16][17] Marriages Marie-Dominique Culioli Sarkozy married his first wife, Marie-Dominique Culioli, on 23 September 1982; her father was a pharmacist from Vico (a village north of Ajaccio, Corsica), her uncle was Achille Peretti, the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine from 1947-1983 and Sarkozy's political mentor. They had two sons, Pierre (born in 1985), now a hip-hop producer,[18] and Jean (born in 1986) now a local politician in the city of Neuilly-sur-Seine where Sarkozy started his own political career. Sarkozy's best man was the prominent right-wing politician Charles Pasqua, later to become a political opponent.[19] Sarkozy divorced Culioli in 1996, after they had been separated for several years. Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz As mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, Sarkozy met former fashion model and public relations executive Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz (great-granddaughter of composer Isaac Albéniz and daughter of a Moldovan father), when he officiated at her wedding[20] to television host Jacques Martin. In 1988, she left her husband for Sarkozy, and divorced Martin one year later. Sarkozy married her in October 1996, with witnesses Martin Bouygues and Bernard Arnault.[21] They have one son, Louis, born 23 April 1997. Between 2002 and 2005, the couple often appeared together on public occasions, with Cécilia Sarkozy acting as the chief aide for her husband.[22] On 25 May 2005, however, the Swiss newspaper Le Matin revealed that she had left Sarkozy for French-Moroccan national Richard Attias, head of Publicis in New York.[23] There were other accusations of a private nature in Le Matin, which led to Sarkozy suing the paper.[24] In the meantime, he was said to have had an affair with a journalist of Le Figaro, Anne Fulda.[25] Sarkozy and Cécilia ultimately divorced on 15 October 2007, soon after his election as President.[26] Carla Bruni President Barack Obama is greeted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni at the G8 Summit dinner in Deauville, France, 26 May 2011. Less than a month after separating from Cécilia, Sarkozy met Italian-born singer Carla Bruni at a dinner party, and soon entered a relationship with her.[27] They married on 2 February 2008 at the Élysée Palace in Paris.[28] The couple has a daughter, Giulia, born on 19 October 2011.[29] It is the first time a French president has had a child while in office.[30] Personal wealth Sarkozy declared to the Constitutional Council a net worth of €2 million, most of the assets being in the form of life insurance policies.[31] As the French President, one of his first actions was to give himself a pay raise: his yearly salary went from €101,000 to €240,000 (to match his European/French peers).[32] He is also entitled to a mayoral pension as a former mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine. Member of National Assembly Sarkozy is recognised by both the right and left's French parties as a skilled politician and striking orator.[33] His supporters within France emphasize his charisma, political innovation and willingness to "make a dramatic break" amid mounting disaffection against "politics as usual". Overall, he is considered more pro-United States and pro-Israeli than most French politicians. Since November 2004, Sarkozy has been president of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), France's major right-wing political party, and he was Minister of the Interior in the government of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, with the honorific title of Minister of State, making him effectively the number three official in the French State after President Jacques Chirac and Villepin. His ministerial responsibilities included law enforcement and working to co-ordinate relationships between the national and local governments, as well as Minister of Worship (in this role he created the CFCM, French Council of Muslim Faith). Previously, he was a deputy to the French National Assembly. He was forced to resign this position in order to accept his ministerial appointment. He previously also held several ministerial posts, including Finance Minister. In government Sarkozy's political career began when he was 23, when he became a city councillor in Neuilly-sur-Seine. A member of the Neo-Gaullist party RPR, he went on to be elected mayor of that town, after the death of the incumbent mayor Achille Peretti. Sarkozy had been close to Peretti, as his mother was Peretti's secretary. The senior RPR politician at the time, Charles Pasqua, wanted to become mayor, and asked Sarkozy to organize his campaign. Instead Sarkozy profited from Pasqua's short illness to propel himself into the office of mayor.[34] He was the youngest mayor of any town in France with a population of over 50,000. He served from 1983 to 2002. In 1988, he became a deputy in the National Assembly. In 1993, Sarkozy was in the national news for personally negotiating with the "Human Bomb", a man who had taken small children hostage in a kindergarten in Neuilly.[35] The "Human Bomb" was killed after two days of talks by policemen of the RAID, who entered the school stealthily while the attacker was resting. At the same time, from 1993 to 1995, he was Minister for the Budget and spokesman for the executive in the cabinet of Prime Minister Édouard Balladur. Throughout most of his early career, Sarkozy had been seen as a protégé of Jacques Chirac. During his tenure, he increased France's public debt more than any other French Budget Minister, by the equivalent of €200 billion (USD260 billion) (FY 1994–1996). The first two budgets he submitted to the parliament (budgets for FY1994 and FY1995) assumed a yearly budget deficit equivalent to six percent of GDP.[36] According to the Maastricht Treaty, the French yearly budget deficit may not exceed three percent of France's GDP. In 1995, he spurned Chirac and backed Édouard Balladur for President of France. After Chirac won the election, Sarkozy lost his position as Minister for the Budget, and found himself outside the circles of power. However, he returned after the right-wing defeat at the 1997 parliamentary election, as the number two candidate of the RPR. When the party leader Philippe Séguin resigned, in 1999, he took the leadership of the Neo-Gaullist party. But it obtained its worst result at the 1999 European Parliament election, winning 12.7% of the votes, less than the dissident Rally for France of Charles Pasqua. Sarkozy lost the RPR leadership. Nicolas Sarkozy speaking at the congress of his party, 28 November 2004 In 2002, however, after his re-election as President of the French Republic (see French presidential election, 2002), Chirac appointed Sarkozy as French Minister of the Interior in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, despite Sarkozy's support of Edouard Balladur for French President in 1995.[37] Following Chirac's 14 July keynote speech on road safety, Sarkozy as interior minister pushed through new legislation leading to the mass purchase of speed cameras and a campaign to increase the awareness of dangers on the roads. In the cabinet reshuffle of 30 April 2004, Sarkozy became Finance Minister. Tensions continued to build between Sarkozy and Chirac and within the UMP party, as Sarkozy's intentions of becoming head of the party after the resignation of Alain Juppé became clear. In party elections of 10 November 2004, Sarkozy became leader of the UMP with 85% of the vote. In accordance with an agreement with Chirac, he resigned as Finance Minister. Sarkozy's ascent was marked by the division of UMP between sarkozystes, such as Sarkozy's "first lieutenant", Brice Hortefeux, and Chirac loyalists, such as Jean-Louis Debré. Sarkozy was made Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by President Chirac in February 2005. He was re-elected on 13 March 2005 to the National Assembly (as required by the constitution,[38] he had to resign as a deputy when he became minister in 2002). On 31 May 2005 the main French news radio station France Info reported a rumour that Sarkozy was to be reappointed Minister of the Interior in the government of Dominique de Villepin without resigning from the UMP leadership. This was confirmed on 2 June 2005, when the members of the government were officially announced. First term as Minister of the Interior Towards the end of his first term as Minister of the Interior, in 2004, Sarkozy was the most divisive conservative politician in France, according to polls conducted at the beginning of 2004. Sarkozy has sought to ease the sometimes tense relationships between the general French population and the Muslim community. Unlike the Catholic Church in France with their official leaders or Protestants with their umbrella organisations, the French Muslim community had a lack of structure with no group that could legitimately deal with the French government on their behalf. Sarkozy supported the foundation in May 2003 of the private non-profit Conseil français du culte musulman ("French Council of the Muslim Faith"), an organisation meant to be representative of French Muslims.[39] In addition, Sarkozy has suggested amending the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State, mostly in order to be able to finance mosques and other Muslim institutions with public funds[40] so that they are less reliant on money from outside of France. It was not followed by any concrete measure. Minister of Finance During his short appointment as Minister of Finance, Sarkozy was responsible for introducing a number of policies. The degree to which this reflected libéralisme (a hands-off approach to running the economy) or more traditional French state dirigisme (intervention) is controversial. He resigned the day following his election as president of the UMP. In September 2004, Sarkozy oversaw the reduction of the government ownership stake in France Télécom from 50.4 percent to 41 percent.[41] Sarkozy backed a partial nationalisation of the large engineering company Alstom decided by his predecessor when the company was exposed to bankruptcy in 2003.[42] In June 2004, Sarkozy reached an agreement with the major retail chains in France to concertedly lower prices on household goods by an average of two percent; the success of this measure is disputed, with studies suggesting that the decrease was close to one percent in September.[43] Taxes: Sarkozy avoided taking a position on the ISF (solidarity tax on wealth). This is considered an ideological symbol by many on the left and right. Some in the business world and on the liberal right, such as Alain Madelin, wanted it abolished. For Sarkozy, that would have risked being categorised by the left as a gift to the richest classes of society at a time of economic difficulties.[44] Villepin government Second term as Minister of the Interior Sarkozy as Minister of the Interior with then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, after their bilateral meeting in Washington, D.C., 12 September 2006 During his second term at the Ministry of the Interior, Sarkozy was initially more discreet about his ministerial activities: instead of focusing on his own topic of law and order, many of his declarations addressed wider issues, since he was expressing his opinions as head of the UMP party. Main article: Response to the 2005 civil unrest in France However, the civil unrest in autumn 2005 put law enforcement in the spotlight again. Sarkozy was accused of having provoked the unrest by calling young delinquents from housing projects "rabble" ("racaille") in Argenteuil near Paris, and controversially suggested cleansing the minority suburbs with a Kärcher. After the accidental death of two youths, which sparked the riots, Sarkozy first blamed it on "hoodlums" and gangsters. These remarks were sharply criticised by many on the left wing and by a member of his own government, Delegate Minister for Equal Opportunities Azouz Begag.[45] After the rioting, he made a number of announcements on future policy: selection of immigrants, greater tracking of immigrants, and a reform on the 1945 ordinance government justice measures for young delinquents. UMP leader Before he was elected President of France, Sarkozy was president of UMP, the French conservative party, elected with 85 percent of the vote. During his presidency, the number of members has significantly increased. In 2005, he supported a "yes" vote in the French referendum on the European Constitution, but the "No" vote won. Throughout 2005, Sarkozy called for radical changes in France's economic and social policies. These calls culminated in an interview with Le Monde on 8 September 2005, during which he claimed that the French had been misled for 30 years by false promises.[46] Among other issues: he called for a simplified and "fairer" taxation system, with fewer loopholes and a maximum taxation rate (all direct taxes combined) at 50 percent of revenue; he approved measures reducing or denying social support to unemployed workers who refuse work offered to them; he pressed for a reduction in the budget deficit, claiming that the French state has been living off credit for some time. Such policies are what are called in France libéral (that is, in favour of laissez-faire economic policies) or, with a pejorative undertone, ultra-libéral. Sarkozy rejects this label of libéral and prefers to call himself a pragmatist. Sarkozy opened another avenue of controversy by declaring that he wanted a reform of the immigration system, with quotas designed to admit the skilled workers needed by the French economy. He also wants to reform the current French system for foreign students, saying that it enables foreign students to take open-ended curricula in order to obtain residency in France; instead, he wants to select the best students to the best curricula in France. In early 2006, the French parliament adopted a controversial bill known as DADVSI, which reforms French copyright law. Since his party was divided on the issue, Sarkozy stepped in and organised meetings between various parties involved. Later, groups such as the Odebi League and EUCD.info alleged that Sarkozy personally and unofficially supported certain amendments to the law, which enacted strong penalties against designers of peer-to-peer systems. Presidential campaigns 2007 presidential campaign Main article: French presidential election, 2007 Ségolène Royal was Sarkozy's final opponent during the second (last) round of the 2007 presidential election. Sarkozy was a likely candidate for the presidency in 2007; in an oft-repeated comment made on television channel France 2, when asked by a journalist whether he thought about the presidential election when he shaved in the morning, Sarkozy commented, "Not just when I shave".[47] On 14 January 2007, Sarkozy was chosen by the UMP to be its candidate in the 2007 presidential election. Sarkozy, who was running unopposed, won 98 percent of the votes. Of the 327,000 UMP members who could vote, 69 percent participated in the online ballot.[48] In February 2007, Sarkozy appeared on a televised debate on TF1 where he expressed his support for affirmative action and the freedom to work overtime. Despite his opposition to same-sex marriage, he advocated civil unions and the possibility for same-sex partners to inherit under the same regime as married couples. The law was voted in July 2007.[49] Meeting in Toulouse for the 2007 French Presidential election. On 7 February, Sarkozy decided in favour of a projected second, non-nuclear, aircraft carrier for the national Navy (adding to the nuclear Charles de Gaulle), during an official visit in Toulon with Defence Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie. "This would allow permanently having an operational ship, taking into account the constraints of maintenance", he explained.[50] Demonstrations and riots, Paris, May 6, 2007, following the election of Nicolas Sarkozy to the presidency of the French republic. On 21 March, President Jacques Chirac announced his support for Sarkozy. Chirac pointed out that Sarkozy had been chosen as presidential candidate for the ruling UMP party, and said: "So it is totally natural that I give him my vote and my support." To focus on his campaign, Sarkozy stepped down as interior minister on 26 March.[51] During the campaign, rival candidates had accused Sarkozy of being a "candidate for brutality" and of presenting hard-line views about France's future.[52] Opponents also accused him of courting conservative voters in policy-making in a bid to capitalise on right-wing sentiments among some communities. However, his popularity was sufficient to see him polling as the frontrunner throughout the later campaign period, consistently ahead of rival Socialist candidate, Ségolène Royal. The first round of the presidential election was held on 22 April 2007. Sarkozy came in first with 31.18 percent of the votes, ahead of Ségolène Royal of the Socialists with 25.87 percent. In the second round, Sarkozy came out on top to win the election with 53.06 percent of the votes ahead of Ségolène Royal with 46.94 percent.[53] In his speech immediately following the announcement of the election results, Sarkozy stressed the need for France's modernisation, but also called for national unity, mentioning that Royal was in his thoughts. In that speech, he claimed "The French have chosen to break with the ideas, habits and behaviour of the past. I will restore the value of work, authority, merit and respect for the nation." 2012 presidential campaign Main article: French presidential election, 2012 Sarkozy was one of ten candidates who qualified for the first round of voting.[54] François Hollande, the Socialist Party candidate, received the most votes in the first round held on 22 April election, with Sarkozy coming second, meaning that both progressed to the second round of voting on 5–6 May 2012.[55] Sarkozy lost in the runoff and conceded to Hollande. He received an estimated 48.38% compared to Hollande's 51.62%.[56] Political career President of the French Republic: 2007-2012. Co-Prince of Andorra: 2007-2012. Governmental functions Minister of Budget and government's spokesman : 1993–1995. Minister of Communication and government's spokesman : 1994–1995. Minister of State, minister of Interior, of the Internal Security and Local Freedoms : 2002–2004. Minister of State, minister of Economy, Finance and Industry : March–November 2004 (resignation). Minister of State, minister of Interior and Planning : 2005–2007 (resignation). Electoral mandates European Parliament Member of the European Parliament : July–September 1999 (Resignation). Elected in 1999. National Assembly of France Member of the National Assembly of France for Hauts-de-Seine (6th constituency) : 1988–1993 (became minister in 1993) / 1995–2002 (became minister in 2002) / March–June 2005 (became minister in June 2005). Elected in 1988, reelected in 1993, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2005. Regional Council Regional councillor of Île-de-France : 1983–1988 (Resignation). Elected in 1986. General Council President of the General Council of Hauts-de-Seine : 2004–2007 (Resignation, became President of the French Republic in 2007). Vice-president of the General Council of Hauts-de-Seine : 1986–1988 (Resignation). General councillor of Hauts-de-Seine : 1985–1988 / 2004–2007 (Resignation, became President of the French Republic in 2007). Municipal Council Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine : 1983–2002 (Resignation). Reelected in 1989, 1995, and 2001. Deputy-mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine : 2002–2007 (Resignation). Municipal councillor of Neuilly-sur-Seine : 1977–2007 (Resignation). Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, and 2001. Political functions President of the Union for a Popular Movement : 2004–2007 (resignation, became President of the French Republic in 2007). Elected in 2004. President of the Rally for the Republic : April–October 1999. General secretary of the Rally for the Republic : 1998–1999. Deputy general secretary of the Rally for the Republic : 1992–1993. Presidency Main article: Presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy On 6 May 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy became the sixth person to be elected President of the Fifth Republic (which was established in 1958), and the 23rd president in French history. He is the first French president to have been born after World War II. Indeed, his predecessor Jacques Chirac, the president born most recently apart from Sarkozy himself, was born in 1932. The official transfer of power from Chirac to Sarkozy took place on 16 May at 11:00 am (9:00 UTC) at the Élysée Palace, where he was given the authorization codes of the French nuclear arsenal.[57] In the afternoon, the new President flew to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Sarkozy greets US first lady Laura Bush in Germany, June 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy and General Jean-Louis Georgelin, Chief of the Defence Staff, reviewing troops during the Bastille Day 2008 military parade on the Champs-Élysées, Paris Popularity polls Under Sarkozy's government, François Fillon replaced Dominique de Villepin as Prime Minister.[58] Sarkozy appointed Bernard Kouchner, the left-wing founder of Médecins Sans Frontières, as his foreign minister, leading to Kouchner's expulsion from the Socialist Party. In addition to Kouchner, three more Sarkozy ministers are from the left, including Eric Besson, who served as Ségolène Royal's economic adviser at the beginning of her campaign. Sarkozy also appointed seven women to form a total cabinet of 15; one, Justice Minister Rachida Dati, is the first woman of Northern African origin to serve in a French cabinet. Of the 15, two attended the elite École nationale d'administration (ENA).[59] The ministers were reorganised, with the controversial creation of a 'Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development'—given to his right-hand man Brice Hortefeux—and of a 'Ministry of Budget, Public Accounts and Civil Administration'—handed out to Éric Wœrth, supposed to prepare the replacement of only a third of all civil servants who retire. However, after the 17 June parliamentary elections, the Cabinet has been adjusted to 15 ministers and 16 deputy ministers, totalling 31 officials. Shortly after taking office, Sarkozy began negotiations with Colombian president Álvaro Uribe and the left-wing guerrilla FARC, regarding the release of hostages held by the rebel group, especially Franco-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. According to some sources, Sarkozy himself asked for Uribe to release FARC's "chancellor" Rodrigo Granda.[60] Furthermore, he announced on 24 July 2007, that French and European representatives had obtained the extradition of the Bulgarian nurses detained in Libya to their country. In exchange, he signed with Muammar Gaddafi security, health care and immigration pacts—and a $230 million (168 million euros) MILAN antitank missile sale.[61] The contract was the first made by Libya since 2004, and was negotiated with MBDA, a subsidiary of EADS. Another 128 millions euros contract would have been signed, according to Tripoli, with EADS for a TETRA radio system. The Socialist Party (PS) and the Communist Party (PCF) criticised a "state affair" and a "barter" with a "Rogue state".[62] The leader of the PS, François Hollande, requested the opening of a parliamentary investigation.[61] On 8 June 2007, during the 33rd G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Sarkozy set a goal of reducing French CO2 emissions by 50 percent by 2050 in order to prevent global warming. He then pushed forward Socialist Dominique Strauss-Kahn as European nominee to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).[63] Critics alleged that Sarkozy proposed to nominate Strauss-Kahn as managing director of the IMF to deprive the Socialist Party of one of its more popular figures.[64] In 2010, a study of Yale and Columbia universities ranked France the most respectful country of the G20 concerning the environment.[65] The Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), Sarkozy's party, won a majority at the June 2007 legislative election, although by less than expected. In July, the UMP majority, seconded by the Nouveau Centre, ratified one of Sarkozy's electoral promises, which was to partially revoke the inheritance tax.[66][67] The inheritance tax formerly brought eight billion euros into state coffers.[68] Sarkozy (at left) attending the G-8 Summit in 2009 Sarkozy's UMP majority prepared a budget that reduced taxes, in particular for upper middle-class people, allegedly in an effort to boost GDP growth, but did not reduce state expenditures. He was criticised by the European Commission for doing so. Sarkozy broke with the custom of amnestying traffic tickets and of releasing thousands of prisoners from overcrowded jails on Bastille Day, a tradition that Napoleon had started in 1802 to commemorate the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution.[61] Sarkozy's government issued a decree on 7 August 2007 to generalise a voluntary biometric profiling program of travellers in airports. The program, called 'Parafes', was to use fingerprints. The new database would be interconnected with the Schengen Information System (SIS) as well as with a national database of wanted persons (FPR). The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) protested against this new decree, opposing itself to the recording of fingerprints and to the interconnection between the SIS and the FPR.[69] On 21 July 2008, the French parliament passed constitutional reforms which Sarkozy had made one of the key pledges of his presidential campaign. The vote was 539 to 357, one vote over the three-fifths majority required; the changes are not yet finalized. They would introduce a two-term limit for the presidency, and end the president's right of collective pardon. They would allow the president to address parliament in-session, and parliament, to set its own agenda. They would give parliament a veto over some presidential appointments, while ending government control over parliament's committee system. He has claimed that these reforms strengthen parliament, while some opposition socialist lawmakers have described it as a "consolidation of a monocracy".[70] On 23 July 2008, parliament voted the "loi de modernisation de l'économie" (Modernization of the Economy Law) which loosened restrictions on retail prices and reduced limitations on the creation of businesses. The Government has also made changes to long-standing French work-hour regulations, allowing employers to negotiate overtime with employees and making all hours worked past the traditional French 35-hour week tax-free.[71] However, as a result of the global financial crisis that came to a head in September 2008, Sarkozy has returned to the state interventionism of his predecessors, declaring that "laissez-faire capitalism is over" and denouncing the "dictatorship of the market". Confronted with the suggestion that he had become a socialist, he responded: "Have I become socialist? Perhaps." He has also pledged to create 100,000 state-subsidised jobs.[72] This reversion to dirigisme is seen as an attempt to stem the growing popularity of revolutionary socialist leader Olivier Besancenot.[73] President Nicolas Sarkozy with President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff Nicolas Sarkozy with Cypriot opposition leader Nicos Anastasiades Sarkozy wielded special international power when France held the rotating EU Council Presidency from July 2008 through December 2008. Sarkozy has publicly stated his intention to attain EU approval of a progressive energy package before the end of his EU Presidency. This energy package would clearly define climate change objectives for the EU and hold members to specific reductions in emissions. In further support of his collaborative outlook on climate change, Sarkozy has led the EU into a partnership with China.[74] On 6 December 2008, Nicolas Sarkozy, as part of France's then presidency of the Council of the EU, met the Dalai Lama in Poland and outraged China, which has announced that it would postpone the China-EU summit indefinitely.[75] On 3 April 2009, at the NATO Summit in Strasbourg, Sarkozy announced that France would offer asylum to a former Guantanamo captive.[76][77] "We are on the path to failure if we continue to act as we have", French President Nicolas Sarkozy cautioned at the U.N. Climate Summit on 22 September 2009.[78] On 27 February 2011, Sarkozy did for the 10th time of his presidency a government reshuffle.[79] On 29 June 2011, he did an 11th government reshuffle, after the resignation of Christine Lagarde, who was appointed to head the International Monetary Fund. Five new ministers were appointed. Middle East On 5 January 2009, Sarkozy called for a ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip Conflict.[80] The plan, which was jointly proposed by Sarkozy and Egyptian ex-President Hosni Mubarak envisions the continuation of the delivery of aid to Gaza and talks with Israel on border security, a key issue for Israel as it says Hamas smuggles its rockets into Gaza through the Egyptian border. Welcoming the proposal, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for a "ceasefire that can endure and that can bring real security".[81] Involvement in Libya Nicolas Sarkozy address the E-G8 Forum in Paris in 2011 In March 2011, after having been criticized for his unwillingness to support the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions, and persuaded by the philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy to have France actively engage against the forces of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, Nicolas Sarkozy was amongst the first Heads of State to demand the resignation of Gaddafi and his government, which was then fighting a civil war in Libya. On 10 March 2011, Nicolas Sarkozy welcomed to the Elysee Palace, three emissaries from the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC), brought to him by Bernard-Henri Levy who mediated at the meeting. Nicolas Sarkozy promised them a no-fly zone would be imposed on Gaddafi's aeroplanes. He also promised them France's military assistance. On 17 March 2011, at the behest of France, resolution 1973 was adopted by the Security Council of the United Nations, permitting the creation of a "no fly" zone over Libya, and for the undertaking of "necessary measures" for the protection of the country's civilian population. On 19 March 2011, Nicolas Sarkozy officially announced the beginning of a military intervention in Libya, with France's participation. These actions of Nicolas Sarkozy were favorably received by the majority of the French political class and public opinion.[82][83][84] Public image Sarkozy was named the 68th best-dressed person in the world by Vanity Fair, alongside David Beckham and Brad Pitt.[85] However, Sarkozy has also been named as the third worst-dressed person in the world by GQ,[86] a listing that has been disputed.[87] Beside publicizing, at times, and at others, refusing to publicise his ex-wife Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz's image,[88] Sarkozy takes care of his own personal image, sometimes to the point of censorship—such as in the Paris Match affair, when he allegedly forced its director to resign following an article on his ex-wife and her affair with Publicis executive Richard Attias, or pressures exercised on the Journal du dimanche, which was preparing to publish an article concerning Ciganer-Albéniz's decision not to vote in the second round of the 2007 presidential election.[89] In its 9 August 2007 edition, Paris Match retouched a photo of Sarkozy in order to erase a love handle.[90][91][92] His official portrait destined for all French town halls was done by SIPA photographer Philippe Warrin, better known for his paparazzi work.[93] Former Daily Telegraph journalist Colin Randall has highlighted Sarkozy's tighter control of his image and frequent interventions in the media: "he censors a book, or fires the chief editor of a weekly."[93] Sarkozy is reported by Reuters to be sensitive about his height (believed to be 165 cm (5 ft 5 in)).[94] The French media have pointed out that Carla Bruni frequently wears flats when in public with him. In 2009, this was the subject of a political row, when a worker at a factory where Sarkozy gave a speech said she was asked to stand next to him because she was of a similar height (this story was corroborated by some trade union officials). The president's office called the accusation "completely absurd and grotesque", while the Socialist Party mocked his fastidious preparation.[95] Sarkozy lost a suit against a manufacturer of Sarkozy voodoo dolls, in which he claimed that he had a right to his own image.[96] La Conquête The biopic La Conquête is a 2011 film that dramatizes Sarkozy's rise to power, with candid portrayals of Sarkozy himself, Chirac and Villepin, and that was shown at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[97] Controversies Unbalanced scales.svg This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the article's neutral point of view of the subject. Please integrate the section's contents into the article as a whole, or rewrite the material. (May 2011) Generally, Sarkozy is strongly disliked by the Left, and is also criticised by some on the Right, most vocally by supporters of Jacques Chirac and Dominique de Villepin, such as Jean-Louis Debré.[98][99] The magazine Marianne accused Sarkozy of changing opinion in an Airbus affair.[100] The communist-leaning magazine L'Humanité accused Sarkozy of being a populist.[101] Many on the Left have a particular distrust for Nicolas Sarkozy; specific "anti-Sarko" movements have been started In 2004 Sarkozy co-authored a book, La République, les religions, l'espérance (The Republic, Religions, and Hope),[102] in which he argued that the young should not be brought up solely on secular or republican values. He advocated reducing the separation of church and state, arguing for the government subsidy of mosques in order to encourage Islamic integration into French society.[103] He opposes financing of religious institutions with funds from outside France. After meeting with Tom Cruise, Sarkozy was criticised by some for meeting with a member of the Church of Scientology, which is seen as a cult in France (see Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France).[104] Sarkozy stated that "the roots of France are essentially Christian" at December 2007 speech in Rome. He called Islam "one of the greatest and most beautiful civilizations the world has known" at a speech in Riyadh in January 2008. Both comments drew criticism from Christians.[105] In the midst of a tense period and following the accidental death of an 11-year-old boy in the Paris suburb of La Courneuve in June 2005, Sarkozy quoted a local resident and vowed to clean the area out "with a Kärcher" (nettoyer la cité au Kärcher, referring to a well-known German brand of pressure-cleaning equipment), and two days before the 2005 Paris riots he referred to the criminal youth of the housing projects as voyous (thugs) and racaille, a slang term which can be translated into English as rabble, scum or riff-raff;[106] the French Communist Party's publication L'Humanité branded this language as inappropriate.[107] Following Sarkozy's use of the word racaille many people in the banlieus identified him as a politician of the far right. His period as Interior Minister had seen the use of police as shock troops in the banlieus and a police "raid" on the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois in October 2005 had led to two boys being electrocuted in a power sub-station. The riots began that night.[108] In September 2005 Sarkozy was accused of pushing for a hasty inquiry into an arson attack on a police station in Pau, of which the alleged perpetrators were acquitted for lack of proof.[109] On 22 June 2005 Sarkozy told law enforcement officials that he had questioned the Minister of Justice about the future of "the judge" who had freed a man on parole who had later committed a murder.[110] Sarkozy opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. However, he was critical of the way Jacques Chirac and his foreign minister Dominique de Villepin expressed France's opposition to the war. Talking at the French-American Foundation in Washington, D.C. on 12 September 2006, he denounced what he called the "French arrogance" and said: "It is bad manners to embarrass one's allies or sound like one is taking delight in their troubles."[111] He added: "We must never again turn our disagreements into a crisis." Jacques Chirac reportedly said in private that Sarkozy's speech was "appalling" and "a shameful act".[111] Even though his former foreign minister Bernard Kouchner (excluded from the Socialist party after his inclusion in François Fillon's government) had been one of the few supporters in France of removal of Saddam Hussein from power, Sarkozy's stance on the war has not changed. A few weeks before the first round of the 2007 presidential elections, Sarkozy said during an interview with philosopher Michel Onfray[112] that he thinks disorders such as paedophilia and depression have a genetic as well as social basis, saying "I don't agree with you, I'd be inclined to think that one is born a paedophile, and it is actually a problem that we do not know how to cure this disease"; he also claimed that suicides among youth were linked to genetic predispositions by stating, "I don't want to give parents a complex. It's not exclusively the parents' fault every time a youngster commits suicide." These statements were criticised by some scientists, including controversial geneticist Axel Kahn.[113][114] Sarkozy later said, "What part is innate and what part is acquired? At least let's debate it, let's not close the door to all debate."[115] On 27 July 2007, Sarkozy delivered a speech in Senegal, written by Henri Guaino, in which he made reference to "African peasants".[116][117] The controversial remarks were widely condemned by Africans, who viewed them as racist.[117][118][119] South African president Thabo Mbeki praised Sarkozy's speech, which raised criticism by some in the South African media.[117][119] On 23 February 2008, Sarkozy was filmed by a reporter for French newspaper Le Parisien having the following exchange while visiting the Paris International Agricultural Show:[120] While quickly crossing the hall Saturday morning, in the middle of the crowd, Sarkozy encounters a recalcitrant visitor who refuses to shake his hand. "Ah no, don't touch me!", said the man. The president retorted immediately: "Get lost, then." "You're making me dirty", yelled the man. With a frozen smile, Sarkozy says, his teeth glistening, a refined "Get lost, then, poor dumb-ass, go."[121] This exchange has been cause for much humour and debate regarding its propriety in the French press. It should also be noted that a precise translation into English has many possible variations.[122][123][124] On 28 August 2008, Hervé Eon, from Laval came to an anti-Sarkozy demonstration with a sign bearing the words Casse-toi pov' con, the exact words Sarkozy had uttered. Eon was arrested for causing offence to the presidential function and the prosecutor, who in France indirectly reports to the president, requested a fine of 1000€.[125][126] The court eventually imposed a symbolic 30€ suspended fine, which has generally been interpreted as a defeat for the prosecution side.[127] This incident was widely reported on, in particular as Sarkozy, as president of the Republic, is immune from prosecution, notably restricting Eon's rights to sue Sarkozy for defamation.[128] On 8 November 2009, Sarkozy posted on his Facebook page a picture supposedly showing him chipping away at the Berlin Wall during its fall. However, the dates were inconsistent and the picture was proven to be fake – and later archived footage confirmed this. This news of forgery spread in France, and later evolved into a meme, "Sarkozy Was There", where Sarkozy is photoshopped into historical events. On 5 July 2010, following its investigations on the Bettencourt affair, online newspaper Mediapart ran an article in which Claire Thibout, an ex-accountant working for Liliane Bettencourt, accused Nicolas Sarkozy and Eric Woerth of receiving illegal campaign donations in 2007, in cash.[129][130] On 30 July 2010, Sarkozy suggested a new policy of security, and he proposed "stripping foreign-born French citizens who opted to acquire their nationality at their majority of their citizenship if they are convicted of threatening the life of a police officer or other serious crimes".[131] This policy has been criticized for example by the US newspaper The New York Times,[131] by Sarkozy's political opponents, including the leader of the PS, Martine Aubry,[132] and by experts of French law, including the ex-member of the Constitutional Council of France, Robert Badinter, who said that such action would be unconstitutional.[133] Sarkozy was accused of nepotism for helping his son, Jean Sarkozy, try to become head of the public body running France's biggest business district EPAD. ... ...... Nicole Mary Kidman, AC (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian actress, singer, film producer,[1] and humanitarian. Kidman began her career in 1983, starring in various Australian film and television productions until her breakthrough in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm. Following several films over the early 1990s, she came to worldwide recognition for her performances in Days of Thunder (1990), Far and Away (1992), and Batman Forever (1995). Kidman followed this with other successful films in the late 1990s. It was her performance in the musical, Moulin Rouge! (2001) which earned Kidman her second Golden Globe Award and first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Her performance as Virginia Woolf the following year in the drama film The Hours (2002) received critical acclaim and earned Kidman the Academy Award for Best Actress. Kidman's other notable films include To Die For (1995), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Cold Mountain (2003), The Interpreter (2005), and Australia (2008). Her performance in 2010's Rabbit Hole (which she also produced) earned Kidman further accolades including a subsequent Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Kidman has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF since 1994[2] and for UNIFEM since 2006.[3] Kidman's work has earned her a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, three Golden Globe Awards, one BAFTA, and an Academy Award. In 2006, Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honor,[4] and was also the highest-paid actress in the motion picture industry.[5] As a result of being born to Australian parents in Hawaii, Kidman has dual citizenship in Australia and the United States.[6] Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her parents were in the United States on educational visas at the time. Kidman can thus claim both U.S. and Australian citizenship.[7] Her father, Dr. Antony David Kidman, is a biochemist, clinical psychologist, and author, with an office in Lane Cove, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.[8][9] Her mother, Janelle Ann (née Glenny), is a nursing instructor who edits her husband's books and was a member of the Women's Electoral Lobby. Kidman's ancestry includes Scottish and Irish.[10] At the time of Kidman's birth in 1967, her father was a graduate student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He soon after became a visiting fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health of the United States. Opposed to the War in Vietnam, which was causing social unrest in both Australia and the United States, Kidman's parents participated in anti-war protests while they were living in Washington, DC.[11] The family returned to Australia when Kidman was four and her parents now live on Sydney's North Shore. Kidman has a younger sister, Antonia Kidman, a journalist and TV presenter. Kidman attended Lane Cove Public School and North Sydney Girls' High School. She was enrolled in ballet at three and showed her natural talent for acting in her primary and high school years.[12] Kidman revealed she was timid as a child, saying, "I am very shy – really shy – I even had a stutter as a kid, which I slowly got over, but I still regress into that shyness. So I don’t like walking into a crowded restaurant by myself; I don’t like going to a party by myself".[13] In 1984, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, which caused Kidman to temporarily halt her education and help provide for the family by working as a massage therapist at age 17.[12] She studied at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Victoria, and at the Phillip Street Theatre in Sydney, with actress and friend Naomi Watts who had attended the same high school as she did.[12][14] This was followed by attending the Australian Theatre for Young People.[12] Here she took up drama, mime and performing in her teens, finding acting to be a refuge. Due to her fair skin and naturally red hair, the Australian sun forced the young Kidman to rehearse in halls of the theatre. A regular at the Phillip Street Theatre, she received both encouragement and praise to pursue acting full-time.[15] In 1983, aged 16, Kidman made her film debut in the Australian holiday season favourite, Bush Christmas.[15] By the end of 1983, she had a supporting role in the television series Five Mile Creek and began gaining popularity in the mid-1980s after appearing in several film roles, including BMX Bandits, Watch the Shadows Dance, and the romantic comedy Windrider (1986), which earned Kidman attention due to her racy scenes. Also during the decade, she appeared in several Australian productions, including the soap opera A Country Practice and the miniseries Vietnam (1986). She also made guest appearances on Australian television programs and TV movies. She also appeared in Sesame Street. In 1988, Kidman appeared in Emerald City, based on the play of the same name. The Australian film earned her an Australian Film Institute for Best Supporting Actress. After appearing in the Australian miniseries Bangkok Hilton, Kidman starred in Dead Calm (1989) as Rae Ingram, playing the wife of a naval officer. The thriller garnered strong reviews and brought Kidman to international recognition; Variety commented: "Throughout the film, Kidman is excellent. She gives the character of Rae real tenacity and energy."[16] Meanwhile, critic Roger Ebert noted the excellent chemistry between the leads, stating, "Kidman and Zane do generate real, palpable hatred in their scenes together."[17] She moved on to star alongside her then-boyfriend and future husband, Tom Cruise, in the 1990 auto racing film Days of Thunder, playing a young doctor who falls in love with a NASCAR driver. This was Kidman's American debut and was among the highest-grossing films of the year.[18] In 1991, she co-starred with former classmate and friend Naomi Watts and Thandie Newton in the independent film Flirting. Kidman and Watts portrayed two high school girls in this coming of age story, which won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film.[19] That same year, her work in the film Billy Bathgate earned Kidman her first Golden Globe Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actress. The New York Times, in its film review, called her "a beauty with, it seems, a sense of humor".[20] The following year, she and Cruise re-teamed for Ron Howard's Irish epic Far and Away (1992), which was a modest critical[21][22] and commercial[23] success. In 1993, she starred in My Life opposite Michael Keaton and the thriller, Malice opposite Alec Baldwin. In 1995, Kidman appeared in her highest-grossing live-action film as of 2011,[24] playing Dr. Chase Meridian, the damsel in distress, in the superhero film Batman Forever, opposite Val Kilmer as the film's title character. That same year Kidman appeared in Gus Van Sant's critically acclaimed To Die For, earning praise and another Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of murderous newscaster Suzanne Stone Maretto.[25][26] Kidman next appeared in The Portrait of a Lady (1996), based on the novel the same name, alongside, Barbara Hershey, John Malkovich and Mary-Louise Parker. The following year she appeared in the action-thriller The Peacemaker (1997) as White House nuclear expert Dr. Julia Kelly, opposite George Clooney. The film received mixed reviews but grossed some $110,000,000 worldwide.[27][28] That same year she appeared opposite Sandra Bullock in the poorly received fantasy Practical Magic as a modern-day witch.[29] Kidman returned to her work on stage the same year in the David Hare play The Blue Room, which opened in London. In 1999, Kidman reunited with then husband, Tom Cruise, to portray a married couple in Eyes Wide Shut, the final film of Stanley Kubrick. The film opened to generally positive reviews but was subject to censorship controversies due to the explicit nature of its sex scenes.[30] The film received further attention following Kubrick's death shortly before its release. After brief hiatus and a highly publicized divorce from Cruise,[31] Kidman returned to the screen to play a mail-order bride in the British-American drama Birthday Girl. In 2001, Kidman appeared in two of her most critically and commercially successful films. In the first she played the cabaret actress and courtesan Satine in Baz Luhrmann's musical Moulin Rouge!, opposite Ewan McGregor. Subsequently, Kidman received her second Golden Globe Award, for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, as well as other acting awards. She also received her first Academy Award nomination, for Best Actress. Also in 2001, she had a well-received starring role in Alejandro Amenábar's Spanish horror film The Others as Grace Stewart. Grossing over $210,947,037 worldwide, the film also earned several Goya Awards award nominations, including a Best Actress nomination for Kidman. Additionally she received her second BAFTA and fifth Golden Globe nominations.[citation needed] In 2003, Kidman won critical praise for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in Stephen Daldry's The Hours, which also featured Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore. Kidman wore prosthetics that were applied to her nose making her almost unrecognisable playing the author during her time in 1920s England, and her bouts with depression and mental illness while trying to write her novel, Mrs. Dalloway. The film earned positive notices and several nominations, including for an Academy Award for Best Picture. The New York Times wrote that, "Kidman tunnels like a ferret into the soul of a woman besieged by excruciating bouts of mental illness. As you watch her wrestle with the demon of depression, it is as if its torment has never been shown on the screen before. Directing her desperate, furious stare into the void, her eyes not really focusing, Ms. Kidman, in a performance of astounding bravery, evokes the savage inner war waged by a brilliant mind against a system of faulty wiring that transmits a searing, crazy static into her brain".[32] Kidman won numerous critics' awards, including her first BAFTA, third Golden Globe, and the Academy Award for Best Actress. As the first Australian actress to win an Academy Award, Kidman made a teary acceptance speech about the importance of art, even during times of war, saying, "Why do you come to the Academy Awards when the world is in such turmoil? Because art is important. And because you believe in what you do and you want to honour that, and it is a tradition that needs to be upheld."[33] Following her Oscar win, Kidman appeared in three very different films in 2003. The first, a leading role in Dogville, by Danish director Lars von Trier, was an experimental film set on a bare soundstage. The second was an adaptation of Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain, opposite Anthony Hopkins. Her third film, Anthony Minghella's war drama Cold Mountain, was a critical and commercial success. Kidman appeared opposite Jude Law and Renée Zellweger, playing Southerner Ada Monroe, who is in love with Law's character and separated by the Civil War. TIME magazine wrote, "Kidman takes strength from Ada's plight and grows steadily, literally luminous. Her sculptural pallor gives way to warm radiance in the firelight".[34] The film garnered several award nominations and wins for its actors; Kidman received her sixth Golden Globe nomination at the 61st Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress. In 2004 she appeared in the film, Birth, which received controversy over a scene in which Kidman shares a bath with her co-star, 10-year old Cameron Bright. At a press conference at the Venice Film Festival, Kidman addressed the controversy saying, "It wasn't that I wanted to make a film where I kiss a 10-year-old boy. I wanted to make a film where you understand love".[35] Though the film received negative to mixed reviews, Kidman earned her seventh Golden Globe nomination, for Best Actress – Motion Picture. That same year she appeared in the black comedy-science-fiction film The Stepford Wives, a remake of the 1975 film of the same name. Kidman appeared in the lead role as Joanna Eberhart, a successful producer. The film, directed by Frank Oz, was critically panned and a commercial failure. The following year, Kidman appeared opposite Sean Penn in the Sydney Pollack thriller The Interpreter, playing UN translator Silvia Broome. Also that year she starred in Bewitched, based on the 1960s TV sitcom of the same name, opposite Will Ferrell. Both Kidman and Ferrell earned that year's Razzie Award for "Worst Screen Couple". Neither film fared well in the United States, with box office sales falling well short of the production costs, but both films fared well internationally.[36][37] In conjunction with her success in the film industry, Kidman became the face of the Chanel No. 5 perfume brand. She starred in a campaign of television and print ads with Rodrigo Santoro, directed by Moulin Rouge! director Baz Luhrmann, to promote the fragrance during the holiday seasons of 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008. The three-minute commercial produced for Chanel No. 5 made Kidman the record holder for the most money paid per minute to an actor after she reportedly earned US$12million for the three-minute advert.[38] During this time, Kidman was also listed as the 45th Most Powerful Celebrity on the 2005 Forbes Celebrity 100 List. She made a reported US$14.5 million in 2004–2005. On People magazine's list of 2005's highest paid actresses, Kidman was second behind Julia Roberts, with US$16–17 million per-film price tag.[39] Nintendo in 2007 announced that Kidman would be the new face of Nintendo's advertising campaign for the Nintendo DS game More Brain Training in its European market.[40] Kidman portrayed photographer Diane Arbus in the biography Fur (2006), opposite Robert Downey Jr.. Though the film was released to mixed reviews, both Kidman and Downey Jr. received praise for their performances. She also lent her voice to the animated film Happy Feet (2006), which grossed over US$384 million worldwide. In 2007, she starred in the science-fiction movie The Invasion directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, a remake of the 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers that proved a critical and commercial failure. She also played opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jack Black in Noah Baumbach's comedy-drama Margot at the Wedding, released to positive reviews and earning Kidman a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy. She then starred in the commercially successful fantasy-adventure, The Golden Compass (2007), playing the villainous Marisa Coulter. In 2008, she reunited with Moulin Rouge! director Baz Luhrmann in the Australian period film Australia, set in the remote Northern Territory during the Japanese attack on Darwin during World War II. Kidman played opposite Hugh Jackman as an Englishwoman feeling overwhelmed by the continent. Despite the film's mixed reviews, the acting was praised and the movie was a box office success worldwide.[41] Kidman was originally set to star in the post-World War II German drama, The Reader, working with previous collaborators Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella, but due to her pregnancy prior to filming she had to back out.[42] The role went to Kate Winslet, who ultimately won the Oscar for Best Actress, which Kidman presented to her during the 81st Academy Awards. Kidman appeared in the 2009 Rob Marshall musical Nine, portraying the Federico Fellini-like character's muse, Claudia Jenssen. She was featured alongside fellow Oscar winners Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz and Sophia Loren. Kidman's, whose screen time was brief compared to the other actresses, performed the musical number "Unusual Way" alongside Day-Lewis. Although the film was released to mixed reviews, it received several Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, and earned Kidman a third Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, as part of the Outstanding Cast. Also in 2009, Kidman was the face of an international Schweppes advertisement.[43] In 2010, she starred with Aaron Eckhart in the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Rabbit Hole, for which she vacated her role in the Woody Allen picture You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger.[44] She lent her voice to a promotional video that Australia used to support its bid to host the 2018 World Cup. The five-minute video was broadcast at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.[45] TV Guide reported in 2008 that Kidman will star in The Danish Girl, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name, playing Lili Elbe, the world's first postoperative transsexual.[46] Screen Daily reported that shooting would begin in Germany in July 2011.[47] However the project has been delayed following the exit of the director, Lasse Hallström and Kidman's co-star Rachel Weisz.[48] In 2009, Variety said that she would produce and star in a film adaptation of the Chris Cleave novel Little Bee, in association with BBC Films.[49][50] In June 2010, TV Guide announced that Kidman and Clive Owen will star in an HBO film about Ernest Hemingway and his relationship with Martha Gellhorn. entitled Hemingway & Gellhorn. The film, directed by Philip Kaufman,[51] began shooting in March 2011, with an air date scheduled for 2012.[52] She also stars alongside Nicolas Cage in director Joel Schumacher's action-thriller Trespass, with the stars playing a married couple taken hostage.[53] On 17 September 2010, ContactMusic. com said Kidman will return to Broadway to portray Alexandra Del Lago in David Cromer's revival of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth, with Scott Rudin producing[54] On 30 August 2011 Cromer spoke to the The New York Times and explained that the production will not meet its original fall 2011 revival date but that it remains an active project.[55] In February 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported Kidman is in talks to join the cast of Park Chan Wook's Stoker.[56] In May 2011 it was reported that Kidman would star and produce in Spectre, a supernatural thriller directed by James Wan. The film closed major territory deals at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[57] In June Kidman was cast in Lee Daniels' upcoming adaptation of the Pete Dexter novel, The Paperboy[58] and began filming the thriller on 1 August 2011.[59] On 2 November 2011, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Kidman is attached to star in My Wild Life, a Philip Noyce-directed biopic of conservationist, Daphne Sheldrick. Production for the project is scheduled for the first quarter of 2012.[60] In April 2012, various sources, including Variety, announced that Kidman was in talks to star in upcoming Grace Kelly biopic Grace of Monaco. The film will focus on the 1962 crisis, in which Charles de Gaulle blockaded the tiny principality, angered by Monaco's status as a tax haven for wealthy French subjects.[61] Singing Her collaboration with Ewan McGregor on "Come What May" peaked at No.27 in the UK Singles Chart.[62] Later she collaborated with Robbie Williams on "Somethin' Stupid", a cover of Williams' swing covers album Swing When You're Winning. It peaked at No.8 in the Australian ARIAnet Singles Chart, and at No.1 for three weeks in the UK.[63] In 2006, while voicing a role in the animated movie Happy Feet, she provided vocals for Norma Jean's "heartsong", a slightly altered version of "Kiss" by Prince.[citation needed] Kidman sang in Rob Marshall's movie musical Nine. Kidman has been married twice, first to actor Tom Cruise, and then to singer Keith Urban. She has an adopted son and daughter with Cruise, as well as two biological daughters with Urban. She met Cruise in November 1989 on the set of their 1990 movie Days of Thunder. Kidman and Cruise were married on Christmas Eve 1990 in Telluride, Colorado. The couple adopted a daughter, Isabella Jane (born 22 December 1992),[64] and a son, Connor Anthony (born 17 January 1995).[64] On February 5, 2001, the couple's spokesperson announced their separation.[65] Cruise filed for divorce two days later, and the marriage was dissolved in August of that year, with Cruise citing irreconcilable differences.[66] Kidman was three months pregnant at the time; shortly afterward, she suffered a miscarriage.[67] In Marie Claire, Kidman said she had an ectopic pregnancy early in their marriage.[68] In the June 2006 Ladies' Home Journal, she said she still loved Cruise: "He was huge; still is. To me, he was just Tom, but to everybody else, he is huge. But he was lovely to me and I loved him. I still love him." In addition, she has expressed shock about their divorce.[69] Prior to marrying Cruise, Kidman cohabited with Australian stage actor Marcus Graham in the late 1980s.[70] In the mid-1980s, Kidman dated her Windrider co-star Tom Burlinson,[71][72] with whom she lived with on and off for three years, according to biographer Andrew Morton.[73] She dated musician Lenny Kravitz from 2003 to 2004.[74] Robbie Williams stated that he had a short romance with Kidman on her yacht during the summer of 2004. In a 2007 interview, Kidman revealed that she was secretly engaged to someone between her marriages to Cruise and Urban, but did not identify to whom.[75] Kidman met her second husband, New Zealand country singer Keith Urban, at G'Day LA, an event honouring Australians, in January 2005. They married on 25 June 2006, at Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly in Sydney.[76][77] They maintain homes in Sydney, Sutton Forest (New South Wales, Australia), Los Angeles,[78] and Nashville (Tennessee, USA).[79] The couple's daughter, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, was born on 7 July 2008, in Nashville.[80] Kidman's father said the daughter's middle name was after Urban's late grandmother, Rose.[81] On 28 December 2010, Kidman and Urban welcomed his second daughter and her third daughter, Faith Margaret Kidman Urban, via gestational carrier[82] at Nashville's Centennial Women's Hospital. The child is biologically Kidman and Urban's. Faith's middle name is after Kidman's late grandmother.[83][84] Kidman is a practicing Roman Catholic.[85] She attended Mary Mackillop Chapel in North Sydney. Following criticism of The Golden Compass by Catholic leaders[86] as anti-Catholic,[87] Kidman told Entertainment Weekly that "the Catholic Church is part of her 'essence'", and that her religious beliefs would prevent her from taking a role in a film she perceives as anti-Catholic.[88] During her divorce from Tom Cruise, she stated that she did not want their children raised as Scientologists.[89] She has been reluctant to discuss Scientology since her divorce.[90] Kidman has donated to U.S. Democratic party candidates.[91] In 2002, Kidman first appeared on the Australian rich list published annually in the Business Review Weekly with an estimated net worth of A$122 million.[92] In the 2011 published list, Kidman's wealth was estimated at A$304 million, down from A$329 million in 2010.[93] Kidman has raised money for, and drawn attention to, disadvantaged children around the world. In 1994, she was appointed a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF,[2] and in 2004, she was honoured as a "Citizen of the World" by the United Nations.[citation needed] Kidman joined the Little Tee Campaign for breast cancer care to design T-shirts or vests to raise money to fight the disease;[94] motivated by her mother's own battle with breast cancer in 1984.[95] On Australia Day 2006, Kidman received Australia's highest civilian honor when she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. The citation acknowledged Kidman's service to the performing arts as an acclaimed motion picture performer, to health care through contributions to improve medical treatment for women and children and advocacy for cancer research, to youth as a principal supporter of young performing artists, and to humanitarian causes in Australia and internationally.[96] Kidman was appointed goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in 2006.[2] In this capacity, Kidman has addressed international audiences at UN events, raised awareness through the media and testified before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs to support the International Violence against Women Act. Kidman visited Kosovo in 2006 to learn about women's experiences of conflict and UNIFEM's support efforts. She is the international spokesperson for UNIFEM's Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women initiative.[97] Kidman and the UNIFEM executive director presented over five million signatures collected during the first phase of this to the UN Secretary-General on 25 November 2008.[98] In the beginning of 2009, Kidman appeared in a series of postage stamps featuring Australian actors. She, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, and Cate Blanchett each appear twice in the series: once as themselves and once as their Academy Award-winning character.[99] On 8 January 2010, Kidman, alongside Nancy Pelosi, Joan Chen and Joe Torre, attended the ceremony to help Family Violence Prevention Fund break ground on a new international center located in the Presidio of San Francisco.[100][101] ... ...... Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM (born 18 June 1942) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. With John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, he gained worldwide fame as a member of the Beatles, and with Lennon formed one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships of the 20th century. Following the band's break-up, he began a solo career and later formed the group Wings with his first wife Linda Eastman and singer-songwriter Denny Laine. McCartney has been described by Guinness World Records as the "most successful composer and recording artist of all time", with 60 gold discs and sales of over 100 million albums and 100 million singles, and "the most successful songwriter" in UK chart history.[1][2] His Beatles song "Yesterday" has been covered by over 2,200 artists—more than any other song in the history of recorded music. Wings' 1977 release "Mull of Kintyre", co-written with Laine, was one of the best-selling singles ever in the UK. He has written or co-written 32 songs that have reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and as of 2012 he has sold over 15.5 million RIAA-certified units in the United States. McCartney has composed film scores, classical and electronic music, and has released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist. He has taken part in projects to help international charities, been an advocate for animal rights, vegetarianism and music education, campaigned against landmines and seal hunting, and supported efforts such as Make Poverty History. His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 25,000 songs, including those written by Buddy Holly, as well as the publishing rights to the musicals Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line and Grease. He is one of the UK's wealthiest people, with an estimated fortune of £475 million in 2010. He has been married three times and is the father of five children. McCartney was born on 18 June 1942 in Walton Hospital in Liverpool, England, where his mother, Mary (née Mohin), had twelve years earlier qualified to practise as a nurse.[3] His father, James ("Jim") McCartney, was absent from his son's birth due to his work as a volunteer firefighter during World War II.[3] Paul has one brother, Michael, born 7 January 1944, and though they were baptised in their mother's Roman Catholic faith, religion was not emphasised in their household, as Jim was a Protestant turned agnostic who felt Catholic schools sacrificed the education of their students for religion.[4] In 1947 McCartney began attending Stockton Wood Road Primary School. By 1952, he was at Joseph Williams Junior School; the following year, he passed the 11-plus exam with three others out of ninety examinees and gained admission to the Liverpool Institute.[5] In 1954 while taking the bus from his home in the suburb of Speke to the Institute, he met George Harrison, who had also passed the exam, meaning they could both go to a grammar school rather than a secondary modern school, which the majority of pupils attended until they were eligible to work.[6] Exterior of a two-story brick building, with a hedge in front of it. Six windows are visible, three on each level, as are two doorways on the lower level. McCartney's former home, 20 Forthlin Road Mary was the family's primary wage earner, and her job as a midwife allowed them to move into 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton, where they lived through 1964.[7] Paul was the first member of his family to own a car and his mother rode a bicycle to homes where she worked; he describes an early memory of her leaving at "about three in the morning [the] streets ... thick with snow".[8] On 31 October 1956, when he was fourteen, his mother died of an embolism after a mastectomy operation to stop the spread of her breast cancer,[9] diagnosed several years prior.[10] The loss of his mother was later a point of relation with John Lennon, whose mother, Julia, died when he was seventeen.[11] McCartney's father was a trumpet player and pianist who had led Jim Mac's Jazz Band in the 1920s and encouraged his son to be musical. He kept an upright piano, purchased from Harry Epstein's North End Music Stores, in the front room.[12] His father, Joe McCartney, played an E-flat tuba.[13] Jim used to point out the bass parts in songs on the radio, and often took his sons to local brass band concerts.[14] Jim gave Paul a nickel-plated trumpet for his fourteenth birthday,[15] but when rock and roll became popular on Radio Luxembourg,[16] Paul traded it for a £15 Framus Zenith (model 17) acoustic guitar, realising it would be too difficult to sing "with a trumpet stuck in your mouth."[15] Being left-handed, he found right-handed guitars difficult to play, but when he saw a poster advertising a Slim Whitman concert, he realised that Whitman played left-handed with his right-handed guitar strung the opposite way. He then restrung his guitar and, after some adjustments, found it easier to play.[15] McCartney wrote his first song, "I Lost My Little Girl", on the Zenith, and an early tune which became "When I'm Sixty-Four" on the piano; despite his father's advice, he took only a couple of piano lessons, preferring instead to learn by ear.[17] He was heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues music, and has stated that Little Richard was his idol when he was in school. The first song he ever performed in public was "Long Tall Sally", at a Butlins holiday camp talent competition.[18] At the age of fifteen, McCartney met Lennon and his skiffle band, the Quarrymen, at the St. Peter's Church Hall fête in Woolton on 6 July 1957.[19] He joined the group soon thereafter, and formed a close working relationship with Lennon. Harrison joined in 1958 as lead guitarist, followed in 1960 by Lennon's art school friend Stuart Sutcliffe on bass.[20] By May 1960 they had tried several new names, including "Johnny and the Moondogs" and "the Silver Beetles", touring Scotland under the latter name as a supporting act for Johnny Gentle.[21] The name of the group was changed to "the Beatles" in mid-August 1960, and drummer Pete Best was recruited prior to the first of what would be five engagements in Hamburg, Germany.[22] From August 1960 the Beatles were booked by Allan Williams to perform in Hamburg.[23] During their extended stays there over the next two years they performed as the resident group at two of Bruno Koschmider's clubs, the Indra, then the Kaiserkeller, and upon returns to Liverpool at the Cavern Club.[24] In 1961 Sutcliffe left the band and McCartney reluctantly became their bass player.[25] The Beatles recorded professionally for the first time in Hamburg, performing as the backing band for Tony Sheridan on the single "My Bonnie".[26] The recording would later bring them to the attention of a key figure in their subsequent development and commercial success, Brian Epstein, who became their manager in January 1962.[27] Epstein negotiated a record contract for the group with Parlophone that May.[28] After replacing Best with Ringo Starr in August, and releasing their first hit; "Love Me Do" in October, they became increasingly popular in the UK during 1963 and in the US in 1964. Their fans' frenzied adulation became known as "Beatlemania"; during which McCartney was dubbed the 'cute Beatle'.[29] During 1963 and '64 the band released four studio LPs: Please Please Me , With The Beatles , A Hard Day's Night and Beatles for Sale.[30] McCartney's contributions to the band's early hits include: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (1963); co-written with Lennon, "Can't Buy Me Love" (1964) and "We Can Work It Out" (1965); co-written with Lennon.[31] In 1965 the Beatles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), and they recorded the McCartney composition "Yesterday", featuring a string quartet. Included on the Help! LP, it was the group's first recorded use of classical music elements in their music and their first recording that did not include more than one band member.[32] After the song's recording McCartney contacted the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in Maida Vale, London, to ask if they would record an electronic version of the song, but he never followed up.[33] When visiting artist John Dunbar's flat in London, he would bring along tapes he had compiled at then girlfriend Jane Asher's home,[34] mixes of various songs, musical pieces and comments made by McCartney that Dick James made into a demo for him.[35] Heavily influenced by American avant-garde musician John Cage, he made tape loops by recording voices, guitars and bongos on a Brenell tape recorder and splicing the various loops together. He reversed the tapes, sped them up and slowed them down to create the effects he wanted, some of which were later used on Beatles recordings, such as "Tomorrow Never Knows" (1966). He referred to the tapes as "electronic symphonies".[36] Gould describes the McCartney composed Beatles hits "Paperback Writer" as "a satire of pop ambition", and "Eleanor Rigby", which included a string octet, as "a neoclassical tour de force"; "a true hybrid, conforming to no recognizable style or genre of song."[37] With the exception of some backing vocals the song included only McCartney's lead vocal and the double-quartet arranged by Martin.[38] After touring almost non-stop for a period of nearly four years, and giving more than 1,400 live performances internationally, the group gave their final commercial concert at the end of their 1966 US tour.[39] Following the 1967 death of Epstein the group was left disorientated and fearful about their future. Lennon comments, "We collapsed. I knew that we were in trouble then. I didn't really have any misconceptions about our ability to do anything other than play music, and I was scared. I thought, we've had it now."[40] McCartney, stepping in to fill the void left by Epstein's death, gradually became the de facto leader and business manager of the group Lennon had once led.[41] By 1968 relations within the band were deteriorating quickly, particularly during the recording of The Beatles, commonly known as "the White Album", and especially the following year during the Let It Be sessions.[42] In March 1969 McCartney married Linda Eastman, and the couple had their first child together, Mary, named after Paul's late mother, in August.[43] For Abbey Road, which was to become the band's last recorded LP, producer George Martin had suggested "a continuously moving piece of music", urging the group to think symphonically.[44] McCartney agreed, but Lennon did not. They eventually compromised, agreeing to individual songs on side A with side B including a long medley; McCartney's suggested compromise.[44] In October 1969 a rumour surfaced that McCartney had died in a car crash in 1966 and been replaced by a look-alike, but this was quickly proven false when a November Life magazine cover featured him and his family with the caption, "Paul is Still With Us."[45] McCartney eventually found himself pitted against his bandmates, leading him to announce his departure from the group on 10 April 1970.[46] He filed suit for their dissolution on 31 December 1970. More legal disputes followed, as McCartney's representation, his in-laws the Eastmans, fought Lennon, Harrison and Starr's business manager Allen Klein over royalties and creative control of musical projects. The band was formally dissolved on 9 January 1975, though lawsuits against their record company EMI, Klein and each other persisted until 1989.[41] When the Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, 1988, McCartney did not attend, stating that unresolved "business differences" would make him "feel like a complete hypocrite waving and smiling with them at a fake reunion."[47] Between 1962 and 1970 the group released twenty-two UK singles and twelve LPs, of which seventeen of the singles and eleven of the LPs became number ones.[48] The band topped the US Billboard Hot 100 twenty times, and recorded fourteen number one albums as Lennon and McCartney became one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships of the 20th century.[49] Before their break-up in 1970 they produced what some critics consider to be their finest material, including the innovative and widely influential albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (1968) and Abbey Road (1969).[50] McCartney was the primary writer of five of their last six US number one singles: "Hello, Goodbye" (1967), "Hey Jude" (1968), which was the band's most successful single ever, "Get Back (1969)", "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road" (1970).[51] After the Beatles' break-up in 1970 McCartney continued his musical career, releasing his first solo album, McCartney, which contained the stand-out track "Maybe I'm Amazed", written for Linda.[53] With the exception of some vocal contributions from her, it is a self-performed album, Paul providing all the instrumentation himself.[54] In 1971 Paul collaborated with Linda and drummer Denny Seiwell on a second album, Ram, a UK number one which included the co-written US number one hit single, "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey".[55] Later that year, the McCartneys and Seiwell were joined by ex-Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine to form the group Wings, and release their first album together, Wild Life. On the band's formation McCartney comments: "Wings was always a difficult idea ... any group having to follow [the Beatles'] success would have a hard job ... I found myself in that very position. However, it was a choice between going on or finishing, and I loved music too much to think of stopping."[56] In September 1971 the McCartney family added a second child, Stella, named in honour of Linda's grandmothers.[57] Wings' first concert tour began in 1972 with a début performance in front of an audience of seven hundred at the University of Nottingham, ten more dates followed as they traveled across the UK in a van during an unannounced tour of universities that had the band staying in modest accomodations and receiving pay in coinage collected from students, while avoiding playing any Beatles songs during their performances.[58] A seven-week, 25-show tour of Europe followed, in which the band played almost entirely Wings and McCartney solo material with the exception of a few covers, including the Little Richard hit, "Long Tall Sally", which McCartney performed during the encore, the only song he played during the tour that had previously been recorded by the Beatles. McCartney wanted the tour to avoid large venues; most of the small halls they played had capacities of less than 3,000 people.[59] Of his first two post-Beatles tours, McCartney says: "The main thing I didn't want was to come on stage, faced with the whole torment of five rows of press people with little pads, all looking at me and saying, 'Oh well, he is not as good as he was.' So we decided to go out on that university tour which made me less nervous ... by the end of that tour I felt ready for something else, so we went into Europe."[60] In March 1973 Wings achieved their first US number one, "My Love", included on their second LP, Red Rose Speedway.[61] In May they began a 21-show tour of the UK, this time using a supporting act; Brinsley Schwarz.[60] McCartney's collaboration with Linda and former Beatles producer George Martin resulted in the James Bond theme song and Wings hit, "Live and Let Die". The song was nominated for an Oscar, and it earned Martin a Grammy for his orchestral arrangement.[62] A top-ten US and UK hit for the band in 1973; music professor and author Vincent Benitez describes the track as "symphonic rock at its best".[63] The song became a staple of McCartney's live show; it's modern sound well suited for the pyrotechnics and laser light displays Wings employed during their 1970's stadium performances, as well as his more recent solo tours.[64] In 1974 Wings achieved a second US number one single, "Band on the Run"; the acclaimed album of the same name, their third, was a massive success that became Wings' first platinum LP.[65] The album was recorded in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1973, after the departure of guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Seiwell from the group. It was a US and UK number one, the first LP ever to reach Billboard magazine's album charts on three separate occasions. One of the best-selling LPs of the decade, Rolling Stone named it Album of the Year for 1974 and in 1975 it won Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary/Pop vocal and Best Engineered Album.[66] The LP also included the US and UK top-ten hit "Jet", and the US top-ten "Helen Wheels", not released on the UK version of the album.[67] The LP is regarded by some as McCartney's finest post-Beatles work, earning the 413th spot on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[68] In 1974, as the album was enjoying widespread success, McCartney hired guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Geoff Britton to replace McCullough and Seiwell. Britton subsequently quit during recording sessions in 1975 and was replaced by Joe English.[69] Wings followed Band on the Run with the chart topping albums, Venus and Mars (1975) and Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976).[70] In 1975 they began a fourteen-month excursion, Wings Over the World Tour, which included stops in the UK, Australia, Europe and the US. The tour marked the first time McCartney was willing to perform Beatles songs live, and he included five in their two-hour set list, which were: "I've Just Seen a Face", "Yesterday", "Blackbird", "Lady Madonna" and "The Long and Winding Road".[71] Following the second European leg of the tour, and extensive rehearsals in London, they organized an ambitious US stadium tour that yielded the US number one live triple LP Wings over America.[72] In September 1977 a third child was born to the McCartneys, a son they named James,[73] and in November, the Wings song "Mull of Kintyre", co-written with Laine, was fast becoming one of the best-selling singles in UK chart history.[74] The most successful single of his solo career; achieving double the sales of the previous record holder "She Loves You", the track would go on to sell 2.5 million copies, and hold the UK sales record until the 1984 charity single, "Do They Know It's Christmas?".[75] In 1977 he released Thrillington, an orchestral arrangement of Ram, under the pseudonym Percy "Thrills" Thrillington,[76] with a cover designed by Hipgnosis.[77] While the albums London Town (1978) and Back to the Egg (1979) passed with little critical or commercial notice, the latter involved McCartney's collaboration with a rock supergroup dubbed "the Rockestra", though credited to Wings, that included Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, Gary Brooker, John Paul Jones and John Bonham.[78] During the recording of London Town McCulloch and English quit Wings; they were replaced by guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Steve Holley.[79] Wings completed their final concert tour together in 1979; with twenty shows in the UK that included the live début of the Beatles songs, "Got to Get You into My Life", "The Fool on the Hill" and "Let it Be".[80] Wings produced seven studio albums, five of which topped the US charts, as well as their live triple LP, Wings over America, one of few live albums ever to achieve the top spot in America.[81] They also recorded six US number one singles including: "Listen to What the Man Said", "Silly Love Songs, "With a Little Luck" and "Coming Up".[82] Following disagreements over royalties and wages; dissappointment caused by the commercial and financial failure of their last effort, Back to the Egg, and McCartney's 1980 drug bust in Japan; which resulted in the cancelling of the tour and massive financial losses for the band, Wings disbanded in April 1981 and a formal announcement came in May. Laine claimed that a significant cause of their dissolution was McCartney's reluctance to tour, fearing for his personal safety after the 1980 murder of Lennon. McCartney's then spokesmen said: "Paul is doing other things, that's all."[83] In 1980 McCartney released his second solo LP, the self-produced McCartney II, and as with his first, he composed all the music and performed the instrumentation himself.[84] The album contained the hit song "Coming Up", as well as; "Waterfalls", "Temporary Secretary" and "One of These Days".[85] In 1982, following the dissolution of Wings, he collaborated with Stevie Wonder on the Martin-produced number one hit, "Ebony and Ivory", included on McCartney's Tug of War LP, and with Michael Jackson on "The Girl Is Mine" from Thriller.[86] The following year he worked with Jackson on the US number one, "Say Say Say", and he earned a UK number one with the title track of his LP release that year, "Pipes of Peace".[87] In 1984 McCartney starred in Give My Regards to Broad Street, a feature film he also wrote and produced. A musical which included Starr in an acting role, it "was savagely panned by the critics" writes Beatles biographer Bill Harry; and is described by Variety as "Characterless, bloodless, and pointless."[88] Roger Ebert awarded the film a single star and wrote, "you can safely skip the movie and proceed directly to the sound track",[89] which fared much better, reaching number one in the UK and producing the hit single "No More Lonely Nights" featuring Gilmour on lead guitar.[90] McCartney collaborated with Eric Stewart on Press to Play (1986), who co-wrote more than half the songs on the LP and in 1988 McCartney released Снова в СССР, a Russia-only album that contained eighteen covers which he recorded over the course of two days.[91] In 1989 he joined forces with fellow Merseysiders Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers and Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood to record an updated version of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" to generate money for the appeal fund of the Hillsborough disaster, which occurred in April that year when ninety-five Liverpool F.C. fans died as a result of their injuries.[92] The recording was a number one hit in the UK.[93] In 1989 he released Flowers in the Dirt, a collaborative effort with Elvis Costello which included musical contributions from Gilmour and Nicky Hopkins.[94] Later that year McCartney formed a band consisting of he and Linda, with Hamish Stuart and Robbie McIntosh on guitars, Paul Wickens on keyboards and Chris Whitten on drums.[95] In September 1989 they launched the Paul McCartney World Tour, his first in over a decade; it yielded the triple album Tripping the Live Fantastic.[96] During the ten-month, 104-show tour, the most ambitious ever for an ex-Beatle, he played as many as fourteen Beatles songs a night; nearly half the performance. In 1990 the US publication Amusement Business presented McCartney with an award for the highest grossing show of the year; his two performances at Berkeley earned over $3.5 million.[97] He performed for the largest paying stadium audience in history when 184,000 people attended his concert at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 21 April 1990.[98] In 1991 McCartney ventured into orchestral music, when the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society commissioned a musical piece by him to celebrate its sesquicentennial. He collaborated with Carl Davis to release Liverpool Oratorio; involving opera singers Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sally Burgess, Jerry Hadley and Willard White, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the choir of Liverpool Cathedral.[99] Reviews were generally poor, The Guardian was especially critical of the work describing the music as "afraid of anything approaching a fast tempo", and stating that the piece has "little awareness of the need for recurrent ideas that will bind the work into a whole".[100] In response, McCartney wrote a defensive letter to the paper, which they published, where he states: "Happily, history shows that many good pieces of music were not liked by the critics of the time so I am content to ... let people judge for themselves the merits of the work."[100] The New York Times was slightly more generous stating, "There are moments of beauty and pleasure in this dramatic miscellany ... The music's innocent sincerity makes it difficult to be put off by its ambitions."[101] In 1991 McCartney released a live album of acoustic-only performances called, Unplugged (The Official Bootleg).[102] During the 1990s McCartney twice collaborated with Youth of Killing Joke as the musical duo dubbed "the Fireman", releasing the electronica albums: Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (1993) and Rushes (1998).[103] Released in 1993, the rock album Off the Ground was supported by the New World Tour, which produced the LP Paul Is Live later that year.[104] His 1993 tour of the US was the second highest grossing effort of the year in America, bringing in $32.3 million from twenty-four shows.[105] Starting in 1994 he took a four-year hiatus from his solo career to work on Apple's the Beatles Anthology project with Harrison, Starr and Martin. He recorded a radio series called "Oobu Joobu" in 1995 for the American network Westwood One, which he described as "wide-screen radio".[106] Also in 1995, Prince Charles presented him with an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Music, "kind of amazing for somebody who doesn't read a note of music" commented McCartney, and in December 1996 he was informed that he was to be named in the 1997 New Year Honours and knighted for services to music; his ceremony took place in March 1997.[107] In 1997 McCartney released the rock album Flaming Pie, and the classical work Standing Stone. In 1998 Rushes, the second electronica album by the Fireman, was released.[108] Run Devil Run (1999), recorded in one week, and featuring Ian Paice and David Gilmour, was primarily an album of covers with three McCartney originals, something he said he had "wanted to do for years", having been previously encouraged to do so by Linda, who died in April 1998 after losing a seventeen-month battle with cancer.[109] He contributed a song, "Nova", to a tribute album of classical choral music dedicated to her called, A Garland for Linda (2000).[110] He continued his experimentation with orchestral music on Working Classical (1999), and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in March of the same year.[111] In May 2000 he was awarded a Fellowship by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and in August he released the electronica album, Liverpool Sound Collage with Super Furry Animals and Youth, utilising the sound collage and musique concrète techniques that fascinated him in the mid-1960s.[112] In 2001 McCartney formed a band with guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, Paul "Wix" Wickens on keyboards and drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr.; as of 2012 they continue playing together.[113] Having witnessed the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks from the JFK airport tarmac, he was inspired to take a lead role in organising the Concert for New York City, and his studio album release that year, Driving Rain, included the song "Freedom", written for the event as a response to the tragedy.[114] McCartney began a world-tour in 2002 that resulted in the double live album Back in the U.S., released internationally in 2003 as Back in the World.[115] McCartney's top-grossing Driving World Tour included stops in the US, Mexico and Japan. During the tour he performed twenty-three Beatles songs in a thirty-six song set, including an all Beatles encore. The tour earned a reported $126.2 million, an average of over $2 million per night, and was named Billboard's top tour of the year.[116] In November 2002, on the first anniversary of Harrison's death, McCartney performed at the Concert for George.[117] He has also participated in the National Football League's Super Bowl, performing "Freedom" in the pre-game show for Super Bowl XXXVI[118] and headlining the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIX.[119] In 2005 McCartney released the electronica offering, Twin Freaks; a collaborative project with bootleg producer and remixer Freelance Hellraiser, consisting of remixed versions of songs from throughout his solo career. Later that year he released the rock album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, on which he played most of the instrumentation himself.[120] He supported the album's release with The 'US' Tour; the tenth top earning act of 2005 in the US; taking in over $17 million in ticket sales for eight shows.[121] In 2006 he released the classical work Ecce Cor Meum; the rock album Memory Almost Full followed in 2007, and in 2008, his third Fireman release, Electric Arguments. In 2008 he performed at a concert in Liverpool to celebrate the city's year as European Capital of Culture,[122] and in 2009, after a four-year break, he returned to touring, performing over 80 shows since. More than forty-five years after the Beatles first appeared on American television during the Ed Sullivan Show, he returned to the same New York theatre to perform on Late Show with David Letterman in 2009.[123] In 2010 he was honoured by President Barack Obama with the Gershwin Prize for his contributions to popular music in a live show for the White House with performances by Stevie Wonder, Lang Lang and others.[124] He returned to the White House later that year as a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. McCartney's enduring fame has made him a popular choice to open new venues. In 2009 he played three sold-out concerts at the newly built Citi Field in Queens, New York, constructed to replace Shea Stadium, and he released a double live album culled from those performances called, Good Evening New York City later that year.[125] In 2010 he opened the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,[126] and in 2011 he performed the first concerts at the new Yankee Stadium, and released the classical work, "Ocean's Kingdom". An upcoming tribute album is expected in June 2012, to coincide with his 70th birthday, featuring recordings of his songs by Kiss, Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, Brian Wilson, Willie Nelson, Steve Miller, B.B. King and others.[127] Kisses on the Bottom, a collection of standards, was released in February 2012;[128] that same month he was honoured as MusiCares Person of the Year, two days prior to his performance at the 54th Grammy Awards.[129] He remains one of the world's top draws; playing to over 100,000 people, his two performances in Mexico City in May 2012 grossed nearly $6 million.[130] In June 2012 McCartney closed the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert held outside Buckingham Palace, performing a set that included "Let It Be" and "Live and Let Die".[131] In June McCartney confirmed he would close the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London in July.[132] As a musician McCartney was largely self-taught; musicologist Ian MacDonald describes his approach as, "by nature drawn to music's formal aspects yet wholly untutoured ... [He] produced technically 'finished' work almost entirely by instinct, his harmonic judgement based mainly on perfect pitch and an acute pair of ears."[133] "[A] natural melodist—a creator of tunes capable of existing apart from their harmony".[134] McCartney comments: "I prefer to think of my approach to music as ... rather like the primitive cave artists, who drew without training."[135] Bass guitar McCartney has been acknowledged by a diverse group of bass players including, Sting, long-time Dr. Dre bassist Mike Elizondo, and Colin Moulding of XTC.[136] McCartney is known to play using a plectrum, or pick almost exclusively, but he occasionally plays fingerstyle as well.[137] McCartney has stated that he does not use slapping or muting techniques while playing bass.[138] During McCartney's early years with the Beatles he primarily used a Höfner 500/1 live and when recording, though in 1965 he began sporadically using a Rickenbacker 4001s for recording, while typically using Vox amplifiers, though by 1967 he had also began using a Fender Bassman for amplification.[139] During the late 1980s and early '90s he used a Wal 5-String, which he said made him play "more solid, deep bass", unlike the much lighter Höfner which inspired him to play "delicately", something he called "a key" to his playing style.[138] In recent years he has used Mesa Boogie bass amplifiers while performing live.[140] McCartney confirms the influence of Motown on his playing, in particular that of James Jamerson, whom he described as a "hero", and included with Brian Wilson as his "two biggest influences".[141] He has also mentioned Stanley Clarke as a favourite bassist.[142] When McCartney took his A-level exams at age nineteen, he passed only one subject – Art.[174] During the 1960s, he delved into the visual arts, becoming a close friend of leading dealers and gallery owners, explored experimental film, and regularly attended movie, theatrical and classical music performances. His first contact with the London avant-garde scene was through artist John Dunbar, who introduced him to the art dealer Robert Fraser, who in turn introduced McCartney to an array of writers and artists.[175] He later became involved in the renovation and publicising of the Indica Gallery in Mason's Yard, London — where Lennon first met Yoko Ono.[176] The Indica Gallery brought McCartney into contact with Miles, whose underground newspaper, the International Times, McCartney helped to start.[177] Miles would become de facto manager of Apple's short-lived Zapple Records label,[178] and he wrote McCartney's official biography, Many Years From Now (1997).[179] While living at then girlfriend Jane Asher's parent's house, McCartney took piano lessons arranged by Jane's mother, provided by a teacher from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, a school Beatles producer Martin had previously attended.[180] McCartney studied composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Luciano Berio.[181] He later wrote and released several pieces of modern classical music and ambient electronica, as well as writing poetry and painting. He is lead patron of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, an arts school in the building formerly occupied by the Liverpool Institute for Boys. The 1837 building, which he attended during his schooldays, had become derelict by the mid-1980s, however, on 7 June 1996, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the redeveloped building.[182] Painting In 1966 McCartney met gallery-owner Robert Fraser, whose flat was visited by many well-known artists, some of which McCartney met, including; Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Peter Blake, and Richard Hamilton, and it was at Fraser's flat where McCartney first learned about art appreciation.[183] He later started buying paintings by Magritte, using his painting of an apple for the Apple Records logo, and McCartney now owns one of Magritte's easels and a pair of his spectacles.[184] McCartney's love of painting surfaced after watching artist Willem de Kooning paint, in Kooning's Long Island studio.[185] He took up painting in 1983,[186] and in 1999, he first exhibited his work, featuring portraits of Lennon, Andy Warhol, and David Bowie in Siegen, Germany, and included photographs by Linda. He chose the gallery because Wolfgang Suttner (local events organiser) was genuinely interested in his art, and the positive reaction led to McCartney showing his work in UK galleries.[187] The first UK exhibition of his work was opened in Bristol, England with more than 50 paintings on display. McCartney had previously believed that "only people that had been to art school were allowed to paint" – as Lennon had.[187] In October 2000, Ono and McCartney presented art exhibitions in New York and London. McCartney said, "I've been offered an exhibition of my paintings at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool where John and I used to spend many a pleasant afternoon. So I'm really excited about it. I didn't tell anybody I painted for 15 years but now I'm out of the closet."[188] McCartney designed a series of six postage stamps issued by the Isle of Man Post in 2002, and according to BBC News, he is the first major rock star in the world to do so.[189] Writing and poetry When McCartney was young, his mother read him poems and encouraged him to read books, and his father was interested in crosswords and invited him and his brother Michael to solve them with him, so as to increase their "word power", says McCartney.[190] He was later inspired – in his school years – by Alan Durband, an English literature teacher at the Liverpool Institute.[191] Durband was a co-founder and fund-raiser at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, where Willy Russell also worked, and introduced McCartney to Geoffrey Chaucer's works.[192] In 2001 McCartney published 'Blackbird Singing', a volume of poems and lyrics to his songs for which he gave readings in Liverpool and New York City.[193] In the foreword of the book, he explains: "When I was a teenager ... I had an overwhelming desire to have a poem published in the school magazine. I wrote something deep and meaningful——which was promptly rejected——and I suppose I have been trying to get my own back ever since."[194] Years later, he wrote a poem about the death of his childhood friend, Ivan Vaughan.[194] In 2005 he collaborated with author Philip Ardagh and animator Geoff Dunbar to write, High in the Clouds: An Urban Furry Tail, which the Guardian labelled an "anti-capitalist children's book".[195] McCartney was interested in animated films as a child, and in 1981 he asked Geoff Dunbar to direct a short animated film called Rupert and the Frog Song. McCartney was the writer and producer and he also added some of the character voices.[196] In 1992 he worked with Dunbar on an animated film about the work of French artist Honoré Daumier, which won both of them a BAFTA award.[197] In 2004 they worked together on the animated short film, Tropic Island Hum. In 1995 he made a guest appearance in the "Lisa the Vegetarian" episode of the Simpsons, and directed a short documentary about the Grateful Dead.[198] In May 2000 McCartney released Wingspan: An Intimate Portrait, a retrospective documentary that features behind-the-scenes film and photographs that he and Linda took of their family and bands.[199] Interspersed throughout the eighty-eight minute film is an interview by Mary McCartney with her father. Mary was the baby photographed inside McCartney's jacket on the back cover of his first solo album, McCartney, and was one of the producers of the documentary.[200] McCartney's introduction to drugs started in Hamburg, Germany, when the Beatles would play for long hours and were often using Preludin to maintain energy, sometimes supplied by friend Astrid Kirchherr. According to McCartney, he would usually take only one, but Lennon would often take four or five by the end of a night.[201] He recalls getting "very high" and "giggling uncontrollably" when the Beatles were introduced to marijuana by Bob Dylan in a New York hotel room in 1964.[202] His use of which soon after became habitual,[203] and according to Miles, any future Beatles lyrics containing the words "high", or "grass" were written specifically as a reference to cannabis, as was the phrase "another kind of mind" in "Got to Get You into My Life".[204] During the filming of Help!, he claims he occasionally smoked a joint in the car on the way to the studio during filming, which often made him forget his lines.[205] Director Dick Lester says that he overheard "two beautiful women" trying to cajole McCartney into using heroin, but he refused.[205] He was introduced to cocaine by art dealer Robert Fraser, and it was readily available during the recording of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.[206] McCartney admits that he used the drug for about a year but stopped because of his dislike of the unpleasant melancholy he felt after it wore off.[207] While initially reluctant to try LSD, McCartney eventually did so in the fall of 1966 with friend Tara Browne.[208] He took his second "acid trip" with Lennon on 21 March 1967 after a Sgt. Pepper studio session.[209] He later became the first Beatle to discuss the drug publicly, declaring in a magazine interview that "it opened my eyes" and "made me a better, more honest, more tolerant member of society."[210] His attitude about cannabis was made public in 1967, when he added his name to a 24 July advertisement in The Times which called for its legalisation, the release of all prisoners imprisoned because of possession, and research into marijuana's medical uses. The advertisement was produced by a group called Soma and was signed by sixty-five people, including Members of Parliament, the Beatles, Epstein, RD Laing, Francis Crick, and Graham Greene.[211] Though never arrested by Norman Pilcher's Drug Squad as Lennon, Harrison and Mick Jagger had been, in 1972 McCartney was fined £1,000 by a Swedish court for cannabis possession, and soon after Scottish police found marijuana plants growing on his farm, leading to his 1973 conviction for illegal cultivation resulting in a £100 fine. Due to his drug convictions he was repeatedly denied a US visa until December 1973.[212] He was again arrested for marijuana possession, this time in Los Angeles in 1975. In January 1980, when Wings flew to Tokyo for an eleven concert tour of Japan, as McCartney was going through customs, officials found approximately 8 ounces (218.3 g) of cannabis in his luggage, and he was arrested and taken to a local jail while the Japanese government decided what to do. After ten days, he was released without charge and deported.[213] In 1984, while vacationing in Barbados, he was arrested for possession of marijuana and fined $200.[214] Upon his return to England, he commented: "[C]annabis is a whole lot less harmful than rum punch, whiskey, nicotine and glue, all of which are perfectly legal ... I don't think ... I was doing anyone any harm whatsoever."[215] In 1997 he spoke out in support of decriminalisation of the drug: "People are smoking pot anyway and to make them criminals is wrong."[175] Football McCartney attended the 1968 FA Cup Final played by West Bromwich Albion against the Everton Football Club, and after the match, shared cigarettes and whisky with other fans.[231] Though he has publicly professed support for Everton,[232] he has also shown support for Liverpool F.C., as in 1968 when he was photographed wearing their rosette.[233] The ex-Liverpool footballer, Albert Stubbins, was shown on the Sgt. Pepper cover,[234] and the video for his song "Pipes of Peace" (1983) recreated the 1915 Christmas football game played between German and British troops during World War I.[235] At the end of "Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)" the crowd chants "Paul McCartney!" until McCartney takes over and changes it to "Kenny Dalglish!", referring to then Liverpool and Scotland striker. At the same concert, Gordon Smith, former football player for the Rangers and Brighton & Hove Albion, met the McCartneys, and later accepted an invitation to visit their home in East Sussex in 1980. Smith later said that McCartney was "thrilled I knew Kenny Dalglish"[236] McCartney attended the 1986 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Everton,[231] and performed at the Liverpool F.C. Anfield stadium in 2008, as a part of Liverpool's European Capital of Culture year. Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters sang with McCartney on "Band on the Run", and played drums on "Back in the U.S.S.R.".[237] Ono and Olivia Harrison attended the concert, along with Ken Dodd, and the former Liverpool F.C. football manager Rafael Benítez.[238] In 2008 he ended speculation about his allegiance when he said: "Here's the deal: my father was born in Everton, my family are officially Evertonians, so if it comes down to a derby match or an FA Cup final between the two, I would have to support Everton. But after a concert at Wembley Arena I got a bit of a friendship with Kenny Dalglish, who had been to the gig and I thought 'You know what? I am just going to support them both because it's all Liverpool."[239] Meditation On 24 August 1967, McCartney met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the London Hilton, and later went to Bangor, in North Wales, to attend a weekend 'initiation' conference, at which time he and the other Beatles learned Transcendental Meditation.[240] "The whole meditation experience was very good and I still use the mantra ... I find it soothing and I can imagine that the more you were to get into it, the more interesting it would get."[241] The time McCartney later spent in India at the Maharishi's ashram was highly productive, as nearly all of the songs that would later be recorded for The White Album and Abbey Road were composed there.[242] Although he was told never to repeat the mantra to anyone else, he admitted he told Linda, and said he meditated a lot while he was in jail in Japan.[243] In 2009 McCartney and Starr headlined a benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall, raising three million dollars for the David Lynch Foundation to fund instruction in Transcendental Meditation for at-risk youth.[244]McCartney's first serious girlfriend in Liverpool was Dot Rhone, whom he met at the Casbah club in 1959.[245] According to Spitz, Rhone feels McCartney had a compulsion to control situations, choosing clothes and make-up for Rhone, encouraging her to grow her hair out like Brigitte Bardot's,[246] and at least once insisting she have it re-styled, to disappointing effect.[247] When he first went to Hamburg with the Beatles, he wrote to Rhone regularly, and she accompanied Cynthia Lennon to Hamburg when they played there again in 1962.[248] The couple had a two-and-a-half-year relationship, and were due to marry until Rhone's miscarriage, when according to Spitz, McCartney now "free of obligation", ended the engagement.[249] Jane Asher McCartney first met the British actress Jane Asher on 18 April 1963, when a photographer asked them to pose together at a Beatles performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.[250] The two began a relationship and he took up residence with Asher at her parents' house at 57 Wimpole Street London, where he lived for nearly three years before the couple moved to McCartney's own house in St. John's Wood.[251] He wrote several songs while at the Ashers', including "Yesterday" and several inspired by Asher, among them "And I Love Her", "You Won't See Me", and "I'm Looking Through You".[252] They had a five-year relationship, and planned to marry, but Asher broke off the engagement after she discovered he had become involved with another woman, Francie Schwartz.[253] Linda Eastman was a music fan who once commented: "All my teen years were spent with an ear to the radio", and who would at times be truant from school to instead see artists such as: Fabian, Bobby Darin, and Chuck Berry.[254] She was a popular photographer with groups such as: the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Grateful Dead, the Doors, and the Beatles, whom she first met at Shea Stadium in 1966, about which she commented: "It was John who interested me at the start. He was my Beatle hero. But when I met him the fascination faded fast and I found it was Paul I liked."[255] The pair first properly met in 1967 at a Georgie Fame concert at The Bag O'Nails club,[256] during her UK assignment to take photographs of rock musicians in London,[257] Paul remembers: "The night Linda and I met, I spotted her across a crowded club, and although I would normally have been nervous chatting her up, I realised I had to ... Pushiness worked for me that night!"[255] Linda said this about their meeting: "I was quite shameless really. I was with somebody else [that night] ... and I saw Paul at the other side of the room. He looked so beautiful that I made up my mind I would have to pick him up."[255] The pair were married in 1969; he describes their relationship: "We had a lot of fun together ... just the nature of how we are, our favourite thing really is to just hang, to have fun. And Linda's very big on just following the moment."[258] He also added, "We were crazy. We had a big argument the night before we got married and it was nearly called off ... [its] miraculous that we made it. But we did."[259] They collaborated musically after the break-up of the Beatles, and later formed Wings together in 1971, a commercially successful band that was active through 1981.[260] They faced derision from some fans and critics who questioned her inclusion in Wings, and she was nervous about performing with Paul, who explains: "she conquered those nerves, got on with it and was really gutsy."[261] Paul defends her musical ability: "I taught Linda the basics of the keyboard ... She took a couple lessons and learned some bluesy things ... she did very well and made it look easier than it was ... The critics would say, 'She's not really playing' or 'Look at her — she's playing with one finger.' But what they didn't know is that sometimes she was playing a thing called a Minimoog, which could only be played with one finger. It was monophonic."[261] "We thought we were in it for the fun ... it was just something we wanted to do, so if we got it wrong – big deal. We didn't have to justify ourselves."[261] They were both vegetarian and supported the animal rights organisation PETA.[262] They had four children – Linda's daughter Heather (legally adopted by Paul), Mary, Stella and James – and remained married until Linda's death from breast cancer in 1998.[263] After her death, Paul stated in The Daily Mail: "I got a counsellor because I knew that I would need some help. He was great, particularly in helping me get rid of my guilt [about wishing I'd been] perfect all the time ... a real bugger. But then I thought, hang on a minute. We're just human. That was the beautiful thing about our marriage. We were just a boyfriend and girlfriend having babies."[264] Heather Mills In 2002 McCartney married Heather Mills, a former model and anti-landmines campaigner.[265] In 2003, the couple had a child, Beatrice Milly, the first name in honour of Heather's late mother, the second for one of Paul's aunts.[266] They separated in April 2006 and suffered an acrimonious divorce in March 2008.[267] In 2004 he commented on media animosity toward his partners, "They [the British public] didn't like me giving up on Jane Asher", "I married a New York divorcee with a child [Linda], and at the time they didn't like that."[268] Nancy Shevell McCartney married New Yorker Nancy Shevell in a civil ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall, London on 9 October 2011. The wedding was a "low-key affair" attended by a group of around 30 family and friends.[269] The couple had been dating since November 2007.[270] A breast cancer survivor,[271] she is a member of the board of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority as well as vice president of a family-owned transportation conglomerate which owns New England Motor Freight.[272] ... ...... Robin van Persie (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɔbɪn vɑmˈpɛrsi] ( listen); born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Arsenal and the Dutch national team. He is a youth product of Feyenoord.[3] Having joined Arsenal in 2004, Van Persie became the club captain on 16 August 2011.[4] His playing style and ability have drawn comparison to Dutch legend Marco van Basten.[5][6] The son of two artists, Van Persie was encouraged to follow in his parents' footsteps,[7] but he instead preferred football and joined SBV Excelsior's youth squad. He made his breakthrough at his hometown club Feyenoord, where he spent three seasons and won the 2002 UEFA Cup.[8] He was named the Dutch Football Talent of the Year for the 2001–02 season.[9] Disagreements with manager Bert van Marwijk culminated in a change of club and Van Persie moved to Premier League side Arsenal for £2.75 million in 2004 as a long-term replacement for Dennis Bergkamp.[10][11] He won the FA Community Shield and the FA Cup in his first season with the London club and went on to win the 2006 Rotterdam Sportsman of the year award.[12] Van Persie has been named Premier League Player of the Month three times.[13] Van Persie topped the goal assists leader board with 11 assists in the 2008–09 Premier League.[14][15][16] Van Persie was a Dutch youth international, having represented the Netherlands under-17, under-19 and under-21 sides. He made his senior international debut in 2005 in a friendly match against Romania. One month later, he netted his first senior international goal in a 4–0 win over Finland. Van Persie has 65 caps so far and has scored 28 goals for the Netherlands.[17][18] He has participated in the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups and UEFA Euro 2008, including a World Cup Final in which he lost.[19] He is currently the longest serving foreign player in the Premier League following the releases of the two players who had served longer at one club than him, Ricardo Gardner and Jussi Jääskeläinen in 2012. Most noteably recently he carried Arsenal to third place in the Premier League.[20] Van Persie joined Dutch side SBV Excelsior's youth squad at the age of 14 years, but left at the age of 15, due to the relationship with the coach and his mother, and thus signed for Feyenoord.[21] He was quickly promoted into the first team due to injury problems among the squad, and made his debut for the club at 17, which was the first of 15 total starts. He received the KNVB Best Young Talent award at the end of the 2001–02 season. He signed a professional three-and-a-half year contract with Feyenoord in the following season, and scored five goals in a 6–1 Amstel Cup thrashing of AGOVV on 6 February 2003. However, clashes with manager Bert van Marwijk saw Van Persie demoted to the reserve squad, and an irate van Marwijk told reporters, "His behaviour made it impossible for him to remain in the squad any longer so he will join the reserve side for the time being."[22] During a match featuring the Feyenoord and Ajax reserves, he was one of several Feyenoord players assaulted by hooligans who had invaded the pitch.[21] Van Persie's rift with van Marwijk continued when he was sent home on the eve of the 2002 UEFA Super Cup final against Real Madrid after the coach was displeased with Van Persie's body language after being asked to warm up for a Champions League qualifier.[23] Van Persie finished his tumultuous debut season on the first team, making a total of 28 appearances and scoring eight goals, in addition to finishing runner-up in the KNVB Cup. 'I don't see things the way my parents do,' he says. 'They can look at a tree and see something amazing, whereas I just see a tree. That's not to say I don't appreciate its beauty. When I watch the sea in somewhere like Sardinia, I see the beauty in that. 'But I think there is a creative connection with my parents. It's hard to explain in words, hard to put my finger on it. But I think football is where my creativity comes out. Robin van Persie[7] Feyenoord unsuccessfully attempted to extend Van Persie's contract during the off-season, and his deteriorating relationship with van Marwijk led to his spending most of the 2003–04 season on the bench. He again played 28 matches, but finished with two fewer goals than the previous season. Feyenoord shopped him at the end of the campaign but found few takers due to Van Persie's past disciplinary issues. During the January transfer window, the Eredivisie club opened negotiations with Arsenal, who were seeking a long-term replacement for aging veteran Dennis Bergkamp, but both parties could not agree to terms. Arsenal 2004–05 On 17 May 2004, Van Persie signed a four-year deal with Arsenal for £2.75 million, just over half of Feyenoord's original asking price of £5 million.[24] Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, who planned to convert Van Persie from a left winger to a centre forward as he had successfully done with star player Thierry Henry,[25] said of his new acquisition, "He can play on the left side of midfield, as a creative player behind the main strikers or as a target man."[26] Arsenal had further padded their stable of strikers in January by signing Spanish forward José Antonio Reyes,[27] leaving the two to battle for playing time. Van Persie made his debut and won a trophy in the process, as he came on as a substitute in the 3–1 FA Community Shield victory over Manchester United on 8 August 2004. Van Persie spent most of his time on the bench during earlier parts of the 2004–05 season, and made his competitive debut on 27 October by scoring Arsenal's opening goal in a 2–1 League Cup win over Manchester City. It was the goal of a lifetime. He's played for a long time and I'm not sure he's scored one like that. (Quote made regarding Van Persie's goal against Charlton Athletic in the 2006–07 Premier League) Arsène Wenger[28] When the referee has sent off a home player, he is under pressure, so, if any player had to behave, it was him." Meanwhile, Telegraph sportswriter Clive White described Van Persie in his match report as "21 going on nine."[29] Van Persie was consequently benched for a number of games, starting with Arsenal's upcoming FA Cup replay against Sheffield United,[30] and he was reintroduced into the squad only after Henry was out with a calf injury, and his return to the first team saw him score twice in a FA Cup semi-final win over Blackburn Rovers. The rest of Van Persie's season was cut short by injury, and he finished with ten goals in 41 appearances in all competitions.[31] 2005–06 Van Persie with Thierry Henry in 2006. Van Persie's good form at the start of the 2005–06 season earned him the Player of the Month award for November 2005 after eight goals in eight starts,[25] and he was rewarded with a five-year contract extension until 2011 on 4 January.[32] Two days after signing the contract, however, Van Persie was again hit by injury when an opponent stepped on his foot and broke his toe during an FA Cup match against Cardiff.[33] Van Persie played the next three matches with a hole cut into his shoe to alleviate the pain until he was finally rested for Arsenal's Premier League match against West Ham United on 1 February.[23] He was an unused substitute in Arsenal's first Champions League final appearance, a 2–1 loss to FC Barcelona.[34] 2006–07 Van Persie and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba in 2008 The beginning of the 2006–07 season included an airborne volley against Charlton Athletic that Wenger called "the goal of a lifetime"[35] and was later named BBC Sport's Goal of the Month for September,[36] and he capped off the calendar year by being named the 2006 Rotterdam Sportsman of the Year. His season, however, ended early for the second time in his career on 21 January, when he fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot while celebrating his late equalizer in a match against Manchester United.[37] Although Van Persie was injured for a large part of the season he still managed to finish as Arsenal's top goalscorer with 13 goals in all competitions. 2007–08 After Henry departed for Barcelona prior to the 2007–08 season, Van Persie assumed the role as Arsenal's main striker. Following a streak of seven goals in ten regular-season games, Van Persie was sidelined for two months with a knee injury suffered on international duty.[38] He made his comeback in Arsenal's Champions League group stage win over Steaua Bucureşti on 12 December and made his Premier League return in the win against Chelsea over the weekend. He picked up, however, a recurrent injury that kept him sidelined until January when he played 45 minutes in a League Cup game against Tottenham Hotspur. He was withdrawn at half-time following another injury scare and featured sporadically throughout the rest of the campaign.[39] 2008–09 Van Persie in 2009 Van Persie opened his 2008–09 account on 31 August with a brace in Arsenal's 3–0 league victory over Newcastle United.[40] On 29 October, he scored his fiftieth career Arsenal goal in a 4–4 home draw with North London derby rivals Tottenham, but was hit with his first red card of the season on 1 November after knocking down goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen with a shoulder charge in a 2–1 loss to Stoke City. Sørensen later admitted to "teasing" Van Persie in an attempt to provoke a reaction.[41] On 30 November, he scored a brace against Chelsea to help Arsenal come from behind and pick up a 2–1 victory at Stamford Bridge.[42] On 21 December 2008, he scored a spectacular goal against Liverpool, which became his second-career BBC Goal of the Month.[43] With captain Cesc Fàbregas injured and regular stand-in skipper Manuel Almunia rested, Van Persie captained Arsenal for the first time on 3 January 2009 for the club's 3–1 third-round FA Cup victory over Plymouth Argyle.[44] Van Persie scored Arsenal's first and third goals, while the second was a result of his cross being deflected into the net by a Plymouth player for an own goal.[45] In January 2009, every Arsenal goal that month was either scored or assisted by Van Persie, which earned him the club's Player of the Month award.[46] His most inspirational display being against Hull City, where he struck the post with a freekick, and provided three assists to his teammates; he later received the Man of the Match award. On 24 February, Van Persie scored a crucial penalty that earned Arsenal a 1–0 win over Roma in the Champions League Round of 16 encounter, after he was fouled by defender Philippe Mexès.[47] He followed it up with a fifth Champions League goal by converting another penalty against Villarreal in a 3–0 victory. On the final day of the Premier League, Van Persie scored a brace against Stoke City, which guaranteed him for the second time in his career as Arsenal's top scorer. He had his best season overall for Arsenal as he scored 11 Premier League goals, along with a league-leading 11 assists and a career-best of 20 goals in all competitions. Van Persie was named the 2008–09 Arsenal.com Player of the Season.[48] "Robin van Persie's such an amazing footballer. He hardly needs any space or time to become dangerous Bert van Marwijk[49] 2009–10 Van Persie in 2009 With only one year remaining of his contract, Van Persie was in negotiations with Arsenal about an extension for several months in 2009. Finally, it was announced in July that he had signed a new long-term contract with his club, stating, "My heart is with Arsenal and I just can't picture myself in a different shirt."[50] The departure of Emmanuel Adebayor also meant that the Dutchman was now the main striker in Wenger's 4–3–3 system. Van Persie started the 2009–10 season with two assists in the first match against Everton, which led to a 6–1 victory. As one of the first choice penalty and corner takers, he has set up many of Arsenal's goals, including Thomas Vermaelen's debut goal against Everton. He scored his first goal of the season in the 4–2 loss at Eastlands to Manchester City, where he later had his head stomped on by former teammate Adebayor (an act which the referee failed to notice, but the FA later charged Adebayor with violent conduct and served him with a three-game suspension).[51] He then scored goals against Olympiacos, Fulham, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, West Ham United, and Tottenham. Van Persie's excellent form in October did not go unrecognised as he was named Barclays Player of the Month for October, his second such award.[52] On 14 November, however, he injured his ankle in an international friendly and was initially expected to be out for six weeks,[53] but further tests showed that he would be out for five months. Van Persie made his return on 14 April, in a 2–1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur. He then scored a header against Blackburn Rovers in the 2–1 defeat, and a goal assisted by Theo Walcott in the 4–0 win over Fulham in the last league game of 2009–10 season. 2010–11 Van Persie with Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Busquets Before the start of the 2010–11 season, Van Persie changed his squad number to 10, previously worn by Arsenal and Netherlands legend Dennis Bergkamp.[54] He made his 200th appearance on 28 August but an ankle injury suffered in the same game placed him on the sidelines once again. He returned as a substitute for Arsenal's 0–1 defeat to Newcastle United on 7 November. On 1 January 2011, Van Persie scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 away win over Birmingham City.[55] On 15 January, he added two more goals to his tally in a comfortable 3–0 win over West Ham. This made him only the fourth Dutchman to reach 50 goals in England's top division.[56] Van Persie scored his first career hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Wigan Athletic on 22 January[57] and two goals against Newcastle United in a 4–4 draw on 5 February.[58] Continuing his fine form, he hit a brace the following week against Wolverhampton Wanderers scoring both Arsenal goals in a 2–0 win including a volley from inside the box.[59] The ten goals he scored between 1 January and 12 February set a new Premier League record for most goals scored in the first two months of a calendar year.[60] Van Persie set the Emirates alight with a goal from an almost impossible angle in Arsenal's fightback against Barcelona in the Champions League Round of 16 which ended 2–1 in favour of the Gunners.[61] On 27 February 2011, Van Persie captained Arsenal at Wembley Stadium in the League Cup final, scoring the first half equalizer for the Gunners. It was his first goal at Wembley and his first in a cup final for Arsenal. However, he was later taken off in the second half with a knee injury he picked up while scoring the goal. On 1 March 2011 he was ruled out for 3 weeks which would see him miss the Champions League return leg with Barcelona. However, he recovered in time for the return leg at Camp Nou. During the game, he received a yellow card in the first half for a foul. In the second half, he was sent off after he received a second yellow card when the referee, Massimo Busacca, deemed him to be time-wasting by taking a shot at goal after the whistle was blown (one second earlier) for offside. Barcelona went on to score twice more and advanced to the quarter finals on a 4–3 aggregate result. Afterwards, Van Persie described the Busacca's decision as a "total joke", claiming that with the noise of the 95,000-strong crowd he could not hear the whistle. On 19 March 2011, he scored the equalizing goal in a 2–2 against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns. The match finished 2–2 with Arsenal still five points behind the current leaders, Manchester United. On 10 April 2011 in a match against Blackpool, Van Persie put in a man of the match performance to give Arsenal a crucial 3–1 win as Van Persie set up a goal and scored the 3rd. On 24 April 2011, Van Persie became the first player to score in seven successive Premier League away games when he scored against Bolton, beating Didier Drogba's record who was on six successive away games, between August and November 2009. However, the Gunners lost 2–1, all but ending their title hopes. On 1 May he assisted Aaron Ramsey who scored the winning goal against league leaders Manchester United to add a twist to the Premier League. Van Persie was named EA Sports Player of the Month for April.[62] On 8 May 2011, Arsenal lost 3–1 against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, Van Persie scored the goal for Arsenal and with that goal Van Persie extended his Premier League record by scoring in an eighth successive away match. On the last home game for the season Van Persie scored against Aston Villa, but Arsenal lost the match 2–1. On the last game of the season away to Fulham, Van Persie managed to score in his ninth consecutive away match, bringing his goal tally for the season to a personal record of 18 league goals. He also equalled the record held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry by scoring 18 league goals from the turn of the year to the end of the season. He ended the season just two goals behind joint league top scorers, Carlos Tévez and Dimitar Berbatov in the race for the golden boot, despite being injured for half of the season. He was voted as the second best player of the 2010–11 season on Arsenal's official website and also received the team's Goal of the Season award for his audacious strike in the 2–1 victory over Barcelona in the Champions League. 2011–12 Van Persie and Arsenal against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League Having been appointed vice-captain for the 2010–11 season, Van Persie was promoted to club captain following the transfer of Cesc Fàbregas to FC Barcelona at the start of the 2011–12 season.[63] On 24 August, Van Persie scored his first goal of the 2011–12 season in the second leg of Arsenal's 2–1 away victory against Udinese in a Champions League play off match. On 24 September 2011, Van Persie scored twice against Bolton Wanderers to raise his tally for Arsenal to 100 goals, he became the 17th Arsenal player to reach this milestone. On 16 October 2011, Van Persie scored the fastest goal of the 2011–12 Premier League season, 28 seconds into a home match against Sunderland.[64] He went on to score a late winner from a curling left foot free kick, to put Arsenal 2–1 ahead. After the match, Van Persie stated his dedication to the club after speculation surrounding a future transfer away from the Emirates. On 23 October, Van Persie came on as a substitute on the 66th minute replacing Marouane Chamakh and scored two goals against Stoke City. The match ended 3–1 with another home win for Arsenal.[65] He then continued his scoring run for Arsenal on 29 October by scoring a hat-trick in Arsenal's 5–3 victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.[66] Due to his consistent performances and good goal-scoring form, Van Persie was named the Premier League Player of the Month for October 2011. Van Persie continued scoring as he scored Arsenal's opening goal of the match in their 3–0 win over West Bromwich Albion on 5 November along with two assists. Then after the international break Van Persie scored both Arsenal goals against Norwich City to help the Gunners to a 2–1 win on 19 November 2011.[67] In Van Persie's fifth Champions League match of the season he scored twice in the 49th and 86th minute to lift Arsenal to a 2–1 victory over Borussia Dortmund and to qualify Arsenal for the knockout phase on 23 November 2011.[68] After failing to score against Fulham, Van Persie scored again for Arsenal, this time against Wigan Athletic to make the score 4–0 to Arsenal on 3 December 2011.[69] He then added to his tally with the only goal of the game against Everton, an exquisite volley from an Alex Song long ball.[70] The following match, versus Aston Villa, saw him score a penalty and provide an assist.[71] Van Persie's final goal of the 2011 calendar year came in Arsenal's one-goal win over Queens Park Rangers on the last day of the year. The goal took his tally for the year to 35 goals, one short of Alan Shearer's Premier League record.[72] The following calendar year started in the same fashion for Van Persie, but Arsenal began to falter, losing three consecutive matches against Fulham, Manchester United and Swansea City, even though Van Persie scored in the latter two. On 29 January, he rescued his team, scoring two penalties against Aston Villa in the fourth-round of the FA Cup to help Arsenal to a 3–2 win after falling 2–0 down in a Man of the Match performance. It was also his 120th goal in an Arsenal shirt, equalling fellow Dutch legend Dennis Bergkamp's total. On 4 February, he overtook Bergkamp as the 10th highest scorer in Arsenal's history,[73] scoring another hat-trick as Arsenal beat Blackburn 7–1 at home, with three close-range goals from crosses by Theo Walcott and Francis Coquelin. He was also credited with two assists in the game as he set up Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's first Premier League goal and unselfishly passed to Thierry Henry enabling him to score his first Premier League goal since returning on loan.[74] With Arsenal in unpredictable form, van Persie was again of supreme importance for Arsenal, this time in the North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur, played on 26 February. Arsenal went 2–0 down at half in the first half, but Van Persie equalized before half-time. In the second half, Van Persie gave the assist to Walcott's goal as Arsenal performed a remarkable comeback to win the game 5–2.[75] A week later, Van Persie scored both goals in a 2–1 away win at Liverpool, one being a left foot volley assisted by Alex Song which was similar to the one he scored against Everton earlier in the campaign. On 11 April 2012, after scoring the penalty against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 3–0 away win, he became only the second player to score against 17 different Premier League opponents in a single campaign. Van Persie is currently the top goal-scorer in the Premier League with 30 goals,[76] and Arsenal's 8th all-time top scorer with 132 goals.[77] International career Van Persie (right) and Ruud van Nistelrooy training with the Netherlands Van Persie was a U-21 international and took part in the 2004 and 2006 European Championship qualifying. Van Persie was used in a wider role as a left wing due to the preference of the experienced Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in the striker role.[78] The Jong Oranje failed to qualify for the 2004 tournament and Van Persie did not participate in the latter as he was already in the senior squad for the FIFA World Cup. He earned his first caps for the Netherlands in less than the span of a week, first in a 2–0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over Romania on 4 June 2005,[79][80] and in another qualifier four days later against Finland, which saw him pick up his first international goal in a 4–0 victory.[81] 2006 FIFA World Cup Despite not being a regular starter for Arsenal, Van Persie was part of coach Marco van Basten's roster for the 2006 World Cup finals. He played in all four of the Netherlands' matches and scored his only goal in the group stage against Côte d'Ivoire via a free kick as Oranje were eliminated in the Round of 16.[82][83] Van Persie (right) with Arjen Robben. UEFA Euro 2008 Van Persie scored a team-best four UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying goals,[84][85] and was deployed as a winger behind lone striker Ruud van Nistelrooy during the tournament after van Basten decided to change to a 4–2–3–1 formation. As Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart were preferred in the midfield, Van Persie was left to battle with Arjen Robben for the remaining spot on the wing. On 13 June, he scored as a 55th-minute substitute in a 4–1 Group C victory over 2006 World Cup finalists France, and started the next match against Romania, scoring off a pass from Demy de Zeeuw with an excellent volley into the back of the net. He finished with two goals as the Netherlands finished atop their group but again suffered a first knock-out round, second stage elimination. Post-Euro 2008 Van Persie scored in the friendlies played against Russia and Sweden, and also scored a header in a World Cup qualifying match against Scotland, which stirred debate whether he should be taking corners or receiving them. He was injured during that match and was substituted early in the second-half. 2010 FIFA World Cup Van Persie (right) with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Van Persie was included in the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.[86] On 27 May 2010, Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk announced that he was in the final squad of 23 participating in the competition.[87] Van Persie was in the starting line-up for their first match in the competition, a 2–0 victory over Denmark.[88] On 24 June, he scored the first goal against Cameroon in a 2–1 win to ensure that the Netherlands finished as group winners, and was officially named the man of the match.[89] He started every match for the Oranje, though he did not increase his goal tally following the match. However The Oranje reached the 2010 World Cup Final, in which he was on the losing side due to Andrés Iniesta's extra time goal. UEFA Euro 2012 On 2 September 2011, Van Persie scored four goals in a record breaking 11–0 victory over San Marino. He entered the Dutch national team top 10 all-time topscorer ranking with a tally of 25 goals, dislodging Marco van Basten in the process.[90] Van Persie had not scored four goals in a single match for a long while.[91] On 13 June 2012, Van Persie scored the Dutch goal in a 2–1 loss to Germany in the European Championship group stage. Having missed two earlier chances, Van Persie picked up the ball near the halfway line, turned and ran at the German defence, before firing into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area.[92] Personal life Van Persie was born on 6 August 1983 in a multi-ethnic area of Rotterdam to an artistic family. José Ras, his mother, is a painter and jewellery designer who also teaches children with special needs.[93] Bob, his father, is a sculptor. After Van Persie's parents divorced he was brought up by his father. At school, Van Persie was one of the most misbehaved children and was excluded from class almost daily.[93] After joining Arsenal in England, Van Persie settled in Hampstead, an affluent suburb of North London. Van Persie is married to his long-time girlfriend Bouchra. The couple have two children; a boy named Shaqueel and daughter Dina. In June 2005, while in Rotterdam with the Dutch national team for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, Van Persie was arrested on suspicion of rape by Dutch police.[94] Sandra Krijgsman, a former Miss Nigeria Holland winner, claimed she was attacked by Van Persie in a hotel.[95] He was held for fourteen nights in prison while the police investigated the allegations made against him[96] but was then released without charge, though he was still under suspicion.[97] In February 2006, the case against Van Persie was dismissed by the Dutch Public Prosecution Service after they completed their investigations stating that no sexual contact with coercion happened, with Van Persie's accuser later admitting she had made up the story to gain publicity.[98][99] Van Persie admitted being unfaithful by having sex with Sandra Krijgsman, and he was forgiven by his wife.[100] Van Persie spoke of his ordeal several months later, saying how degrading the experience was and how he was treated like a criminal despite his innocence. He revealed that conditions in the prison were so hot that they caused him to lose consciousness. It also emerged that over 200 Rotterdam police officers had attempted to view his case files, with the vast majority of them unauthorised to do so.[7][101] Van Persie uses Twitter to communicate with his fans.[102][103] He is a table tennis fan and challenges everyone who visits his house.[104] Style of play Van Persie with Dutch admirers Van Persie started his senior club career as a left winger and possessed exceptional dribbling skills and was also a talented striker of the ball. He was bought by Arsenal as a long term replacement for Dennis Bergkamp. Manager Arsène Wenger planned to convert Van Persie from a left winger to a centre forward as he had successfully done with star player Thierry Henry. He was at first mostly deployed as a second striker in League Cup and FA Cup matches. Due to the retirement of Bergkamp and departure of Freddie Ljungberg, Van Persie was given a starting role to play alongside Henry as a second striker. Van Persie impressed in this position, having many assists and goals to his name. Van Persie is described by Wenger as Bergkamp with goals. Van Persie is highly regarded for his dribbling and shooting technique, but has become prone to injury.[26][105][106][107][108][109] Van Persie has become a pivotal figure for club and country and this was recognized when he was named Arsenal Player of The Season for the 2008–09 season.[110][111][112] Van Persie's 50th Premier League strike made him only the fourth Dutchman to reach 50 goals in England's top division, along with Bergkamp, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.[56] The departure of Emmanuel Adebayor and Henry meant the Dutchman was now the main striker in Wenger's 4–3–3 system, though Van Persie often drops in the midfield to use his vision and passing skills to create chances for other attacking players in the midfield such as Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott. Van Persie topped the goal assists leader board with 11 assists in the 2008–09 Premier League season.[113] Van Persie is also a set piece specialist and a vast number of his assists come from both corners and freekicks. He is also a proven direct freekick taker scoring regularly for his club and country. ... ...... Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima (Portuguese pronunciation: [χoˈnawdu luˈiz naˈzaɾiu dʒi ˈlimɐ]; born 18 September 1976[1] or 22 September 1976[2]) is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Corinthians. He is considered by experts and fans as one of the greatest football players of all time.[3] In 2012, he was voted Goal.com's "Player of the Decades" in an online poll gathering 29.55% of all votes.[4] He won his first Ballon d'Or as the European Footballer of the Year in 1997 (aged only 21) and again won the award in 2002 (26 years old). Additionally, he is one of only three men to have won the FIFA Player of the Year award three times, along with French footballer Zinedine Zidane and Argentine striker Lionel Messi. Considered by many as the most complete striker in the past 30 years, in 2007, he was named as one of the best starting eleven of all-time by France Football and was named to the FIFA 100, a list of the greatest footballers compiled by fellow countryman Pelé. In 2010, he was voted Goal.com's "Player of the Decade" in an online poll, gathering 43.63 percent of all votes[5] and was also included as centre forward in the "Team of the Decade".[6] On 23 February 2010, Ronaldo announced that he would retire after the 2011 season, signing a two-year contract extension with the Corinthians at the same time.[7] Ronaldo has played for Brazil in 98 international matches, scoring 62 goals. He was a part of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 and 2002 World Cups. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo became the highest goalscorer in the history of the World Cup with his fifteenth goal, surpassing Gerd Müller's previous record of 14. He is also the only player to have won the World Cup Golden Ball and Golden Boot in separate tournaments. Having suffered a string of serious injuries throughout his career, Ronaldo retired on 14 February 2011, citing pain and hypothyroidism as the reasons for his premature retirement.[8] This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009) 1993: Cruzeiro In 1993, Ronaldo began his football career playing for Cruzeiro which was already going on to become a successful club. In his first and only year with Cruzeiro, he amassed 12 goals in 14 appearances and led them to their first Copa do Brasil championship. Prior to this, he was turned down by his boyhood favourite team Flamengo, but Brazilian World Cup legend Jairzinho saw Ronaldo's potential and helped get him the move to Cruzeiro. 1994–1996: PSV Eindhoven Ronaldo chose to join PSV after the 1994 World Cup, for he was selected despite being just 17, but did not play. It was Romário who advised Ronaldo to start his European career at PSV; Romário being a former striker of the team from 1988 to 1993. Ronaldo scored 30 league goals in his first season in the Netherlands. His second season was marred by a knee injury which kept him out of most of the campaign, but he still averaged nearly a goal a game in the league, with 12 in his 13 appearances. With PSV, Ronaldo won the Dutch Cup in 1996 and he was Eredivisie top scorer in 1995. 1996–1997: Barcelona During his spell at PSV, Ronaldo attracted the attention of both Inter Milan and FC Barcelona. It was Barcelona that was willing to pay the then record fee of $17 million. During the 1996–97 season, Ronaldo scored 47 goals in 49 games (in all competitions) for Barcelona, leading the Catalan side to UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph (where he capped the season with the winning goal in the cup final itself) and to Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España wins. He also won La Liga top scorer award in 1997 with 34 goals in 37 games. Until the 2008–09 season, Ronaldo remained the last player to score more than 30 goals in La Liga. At the age of 20, Ronaldo became the youngest player to win FIFA World Player of the Year in 1996. He also finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or. Ronaldo scoring the winning penalty in the 1997 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final against Paris Saint-Germain. 1997–2002: Inter Milan Ronaldo's time at Barça was brief, as there were problems with the renegotiation of Ronaldo's contract. Ronaldo's unhappiness became evident and at the end of the season, by paying the buy out clause fee in his contract, Inter Milan signed him in the summer of 1997 for a then world record fee of £19 million. He had spent just one year with Barcelona. Ronaldo duly helped them repeat his former side's cup-winning run, this time in the UEFA Cup, in which he scored their third goal in the final itself. Ronaldo at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival Ronaldo adapted to the Italian style of the game in his first season, finishing second on the league's scoring charts. Ronaldo started to develop into a complete forward. He began racking up assists, became first-choice penalty taker, taking and scoring freekicks, and captaining the team at the end of the season. During his time with Inter, he scored several goals against city rivals A.C. Milan in the Derby della Madonnina. He won FIFA World Player of the Year for the second time in 1997, and collected the Ballon d'Or the same year. The following year, after the FIFA World Cup, he finished second for FIFA player of the year, and third for European Footballer of the Year. At this point in his career, he was clearly and widely regarded as the best player in the world. On 21 November 1999, during a Serie A match against Lecce, Ronaldo felt his knee buckle and was forced to limp off the pitch. Medical exams after the match confirmed that the striker had ruptured a tendon in his knee and would require surgery.[9] During his first comeback on 12 April 2000, he played only seven minutes during the first leg of the Coppa Italia final against Lazio before injuring his knee for a second time.[10] Ronaldo's recurring injury problems forced him to miss the entire 2000-01 season and much of the two seasons either side of it. After two operations and months of rehabilitation, Ronaldo came back for the 2002 World Cup, helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup title. Later in 2002, he won the World Player of the Year award for the third time, and transferred from Inter to Real Madrid. Ronaldo was given his most recognizable nickname, Il Fenomeno, by the Italian press while playing there. He was named the 20th top footballer of all time for Inter, according to Times Online, and only his injuries prevented a higher ranking. He played 99 games and scored 59 goals for Nerazzurri. 2002–2006: Real Madrid Ronaldo playing for Real Madrid, 21 December 2005. Having signed for Real Madrid for €46 million, his jersey sales broke all records on the first day, such was the obsession and hype surrounding him. He was sidelined through injury until October 2002 but the fans kept on chanting his name. Ronaldo scored twice in his debut for Real Madrid. He received a standing ovation at the Stadium Bernabéu. That same reception was observed on the night of the final game of the season against Athletic Bilbao, where Ronaldo scored again to seal his first season with 23 league goals and the La Liga Championship title for 2003. With Madrid, he also won an Intercontinental Cup in 2002 and Spanish Super Cup in 2003. Ronaldo taking a shot for Real Madrid, 2 March 2005 In the second leg of Real Madrid's Champions League quarter-final, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick against Manchester United at Old Trafford, knocking the English team out of the competition.[11] Ronaldo was substituted on 80 minutes and was given a standing ovation from both sets of fans.[11] Madrid was on track to win the treble, until Ronaldo was injured towards the end of the 2003–04 season; they subsequently lost the Copa del Rey final,[12] were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, and suffered a league form breakdown. That season, he finished as the league's top scorer with 24 goals and was awarded the Pichichi Trophy, despite Madrid losing the league title to Valencia CF. With the acquisition of Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2006, Ronaldo grew more and more out of favour with the manager Fabio Capello due to injuries and weight issues. 2007–2008: A.C. Milan On 18 January 2007, it was reported that Ronaldo agreed terms with A.C. Milan for a transfer of €8.05 million.[13] Ronaldo was forced to pay for the remaining period on his contract which tied him to Real Madrid, only because the latter did not agree to release him, while AC Milan were not ready to pay such a sum. On 25 January, Ronaldo flew from Madrid to Milan to watch the team play in a cup tie against Roma. Statements on the club's website said that Ronaldo was in Milan for a medical, and that a meeting had been arranged for Monday with Real Madrid officials to discuss and finalize his transfer to the Milanese club. On 26 January, Ronaldo successfully completed his medical tests at the Milanello training complex under the supervision of club doctors, and the transfer completed on 30 January[14] and got the squad number 99. He made his debut as a substitute on 11 February 2007, during the 2–1 victory over Livorno. The next game at Siena, on 17 February, Ronaldo scored twice and assisted on a third goal in his first start for AC Milan, as they won an exciting game 4–3. In his first season, Ronaldo scored seven goals in 14 appearances.[9] After his move to AC Milan, Ronaldo joined the list of the few players to have played for both Inter Milan and AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina, and is one of two players to have scored for both sides in the derby game (for Inter in the 1998–99 season and for AC Milan in the 2006–07 season), the other player being Zlatan Ibrahimović. Ronaldo is also one of the few players to have started for Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, which also boasts a heated rivalry. Ronaldo, however, has never transferred directly between rival clubs. Ronaldo only played 300-plus minutes in his single season at AC Milan due to recurring injury problems and weight issues. Ronaldo's only goals in the 2007–08 season, besides his goal against Lecce in pre-season, came in a 5–2 victory against Napoli at the San Siro, where he scored an emotional brace. It was also the first time AC Milan's much hyped attacking trio of Kaká, Alexandre Pato and Ronaldo, known as Ka-Pa-Ro, played together. In total, he scored nine goals in 20 appearances for AC Milan. Despite tremendous success over the past decade, Ronaldo has never won the UEFA Champions League in his club career. During the 2006–07 season, though AC Milan won the 2006–07 title, Ronaldo was cup-tied with Madrid and ineligible to take part. The closest that he has been was in 2003 when he helped Real Madrid to the semi-finals, in which they lost to Juventus. On 13 February 2008, Ronaldo suffered a severe season-ending knee injury while jumping for a cross in AC Milan 1–1 draw with Livorno, and was stretchered off and taken to a hospital. The club confirmed after the match that Ronaldo had ruptured the kneecap ligament in his left knee. It marked the third such occurrence of this injury, which he suffered twice to his right knee in 1998 and 2000.[15] He was released by AC Milan at the end of the season, as his contract expired and was not renewed. 2009–2011: Corinthians Ronaldo in 2010 Ronaldo trained with Flamengo during his recovery from knee surgery, and the club's board of directors said that the doors were open for him to join. On 9 December, however, Ronaldo signed a one-year deal with Flamengo's league rival Corinthians.[16] The announcement received high publicity in the Brazilian press about his favouring Corinthians over Flamengo, since Ronaldo publicly declared himself a Flamengo lover and had promised to defend the club.[17] Ronaldo played his first match for Corinthians on 4 March 2009, a Copa do Brasil match against Itumbiara at Estádio Juscelino Kubitschek, in which he came as a substitute for Jorge Henrique.[18] Ronaldo scored his first goal for Corinthians on 8 March 2009 in a Campeonato Paulista match against Palmeiras.[19] He helped Corinthians win the Campeonato Paulista with 10 goals in 14 games.[20] Ronaldo helped Corinthians defeat Internacional with an aggregate score of 4–2 to help the club win its third Brazil Cup (the second of his career), thus earning a spot in the Copa Libertadores 2010. He returned on 20 September in a match against Goiás. On 27 September 2009, he scored for Corinthians in the 1–1 draw against São Paulo FC. He finished the Brazilian Serie A 2009 with 12 goals in 20 matches. In February 2010, Ronaldo signed a contract extension with Corinthians that would keep him with the club until the end of 2011, and said he would then retire.[21] In February 2011, after Corinthians were eliminated from the 2011 Copa Libertadores by the Colombian team Deportes Tolima, Ronaldo announced his retirement from football.[22][23][24] In an emotional press conference on 14 February 2011, he admitted his body had finally succumbed to the crippling litany of injuries that have blighted his career. "It's very hard to leave something that made me so happy. Mentally I wanted to continue but I have to acknowledge that I lost to my body," he stated.[25][26] International career Ronaldo made his international debut for Brazil in 1994, in a friendly match in Recife against Argentina. He went to the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States as a 17-year-old, but did not play. He came to be known as Ronaldinho ("little Ronaldo" in Portuguese), because Ronaldo Rodrigues de Jesus, his older team-mate on the tournament, was also called Ronaldo and also nicknamed Ronaldão ("big Ronaldo") to further distinguish them.[27] Another Brazilian player, Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, who is widely known as Ronaldinho, would come to be called Ronaldinho Gaúcho when he joined the Brazilian main national team in 1999. In the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ronaldo played with the name Ronaldinho on his shirt, since centreback Ronaldo Guiaro, two years his senior, was one of his teammates. Brazil went on to win the bronze medal in Atlanta. 1998 FIFA World Cup He entered the 1998 FIFA World Cup and was billed by reporters and experts as the world's greatest footballer. He scored four goals and made three assists. The night before the final, he suffered a convulsive fit. At first, Ronaldo was removed from the starting lineup 72 minutes before the match, but he requested to play and was later reinstated by coach Mario Zagallo. Ronaldo's performance was below par and he was injured in a collision with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. Brazil lost the final to hosts France 3–0.[28] Adrian Williams, professor of clinical neurology at Birmingham University, said that Ronaldo should not have played, saying that he would have been feeling the after effects of the seizure and that "there is no way that he would have been able to perform to the best of his ability within 24 hours of his first fit – if it was his first fit."[29] 2002 FIFA World Cup During the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo again led the national team to their record fifth championship and won the Golden Shoe as top scorer with eight goals and was runner-up to the Golden Ball as most valuable player in the tournament. He also scored against every opponent in the tournament except in the quarter-finals against England. In the final match against Germany, Ronaldo scored his 11th and 12th goals to a round of applause and tied Pelé's Brazilian record of 12 career World Cup goals.[30] 2006 FIFA World Cup On 2 June 2004, Ronaldo scored an unusual hat-trick of penalties for Brazil against arch-rivals Argentina in a 2006 World Cup qualifying match. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although Brazil won their first two group games against Croatia and Australia, respectively, Ronaldo was repeatedly jeered for being overweight and slow. Nonetheless, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira kept him in the starting lineup in face of calls to have Ronaldo replaced. With his two goals against Japan in the third match, he became the 20th player ever to score in three different FIFA World Cups and also equalled the all-time World Cup finals scoring record of 14, held by Gerd Müller (Ronaldo scored at France 98, Korea/Japan 2002 and Germany 2006). and then broke Müller's record in the Round of 16 match against Ghana by scoring his 15th World Cup goal. He also equalled a much-less-talked-about mark: with his third goal of the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo became only the second player ever, after Jürgen Klinsmann, to score at least three goals in each of three World Cups. Brazil, however, were knocked out by France 1–0 in the quarter-finals. Ronaldo and Klinsmann's record of at least three goals in each of three World Cup finals has now been both equalled and bettered by the German Miroslav Klose, who now has a record of at least four goals in each of three tournaments, having netted five at both the 2002 and 2006 finals, and four at the 2010 tournament. Farewell match In February 2011 it was announced that Ronaldo will be given one very last match for Brazil, five years after his last match with the national team, a friendly against Romania was held in São Paulo on 7 June 2011. Despite it being almost unheard of in international football for players to be given farewell matches for their national side, CBF officials have stated that given the extraordinary career of Ronaldo, it is only fitting that his last hurrah should take place in Brazil while representing his nation.[31] He played for 15 minutes in a match that ended with a Brazilian victory with a single goal from Fred at the 21st minute.[32][33] Goalscorer Fred celebrated his goal with Ronaldo's famous 'finger wag' celebration along with his Brazilian teammates who joined in as well. When Ronaldo was introduced to the pitch around the thirty minute mark, he had three shots on target which were saved by the Romanian keeper, Ciprian Tătăruşanu. As soon as the first half was over, Ronaldo made a speech to the crowd at the game. Ronaldo is the third child of Nélio Nazário de Lima, Snr and Sônia dos Santos Barata, Ronaldo has a brother Nélio Jr.[37][38] Ronaldo during a meeting at the Brazilian Ministry of Education. During 1997, Ronaldo met the Brazilian model and actress Susana Werner on the set of Brazilian telenovela Malhação when they acted together in three episodes.[39][40] Although never marrying, they began a long-term relationship and lived together in Milan until the beginning of 1999.[41] In April 1999, Ronaldo married female Brazilian footballer Milene Domingues, at the time pregnant with the couple's first son, Ronald. The marriage lasted four years. The couple had a son, Ronald (born in Milan, on April 6, 2000).[42] In 2005, Ronaldo became engaged to Brazilian model and MTV VJ Daniela Cicarelli, who became pregnant but suffered a miscarriage; the relationship lasted for only three months after their luxurious wedding at the Château de Chantilly. The ceremony reportedly cost £700,000 (€896,000).[43] In April 2008, Ronaldo was involved in a scandal involving three transvestite prostitutes whom he met in a nightclub located in the city of Rio de Janeiro.[44] Upon discovering that they were men, Ronaldo offered them $600 to leave.[45] One of the three, however, André Luís Ribeiro Albertini (better known as Andréia Albertini), demanded $30,000 and exposed the case to the media.[46] According to the local police chief, "[Ronaldo] was very excited and wanted to go out and have fun, without the press knowing. Ronaldo said that he is not mentally stable and is having psychological problems because of his recent surgery. But he committed no crime at all, it was immoral at best."[47] Ronaldo's engagement to Maria Beatriz Antony was cancelled immediately after the prostitution scandal[48] but resumed a little later. Maria Beatriz Antony gave birth to their first daughter, named Maria Sophia, in Rio de Janeiro, on 24 December 2008. In April 2009, the whole family moved to a new penthouse in São Paulo.[49] On 6 April 2010, Maria Beatriz Antony gave birth to their second daughter. The girl, born in São Paulo, was named Maria Alice. Coincidently, Maria Alice was born exactly 10 years after her older brother Ronald.[50] In December 2010, Ronaldo and his family moved to a new mansion in São Paulo.[51] Also in December, Ronaldo performed a parental testing and confirmed to be the father of a boy named Alexander (born in April 2005). The boy was born after a brief relationship between Ronaldo and Michele Umezu, a Brazilian waitress whom Ronaldo first met in Tokyo, in 2002.[52][53] After the confirmation of his fourth child, the striker declared that four is enough, causing him to "close the factory". So, on 26 December 2010, he revealed his recent vasectomy.[54] Since 2005, Ronaldo has been the co-owner of A1 Team Brazil, along with Brazilian motorsports legend Emerson Fittipaldi.[55] Ronaldo is set to become President of Brazil Soccer Federation 2014. ... ...... Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin (Russian: Сергей Михайлович Брин; born August 21, 1973) is a Russian-American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur who, with Larry Page, co-founded Google, one of the most profitable Internet companies.[3][4] As of 2012, his personal wealth is estimated to be $18.7 billion.[1] Together, Brin and Page own about 16 percent of the company. Brin immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union at the age of six. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland, following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps by studying mathematics, as well as computer science. After graduation, he moved to Stanford University to acquire a Ph.D in computer science. There he met Larry Page, with whom he later became friends. They crammed their dormitory room with inexpensive computers and applied Brin's data mining system to build a superior search engine. The program became popular at Stanford and they suspended their PhD studies to start up Google in a rented garage. The Economist magazine referred to Brin as an "Enlightenment Man", and someone who believes that "knowledge is always good, and certainly always better than ignorance", a philosophy that is summed up by Google’s motto of making all the world’s information "universally accessible and useful"[5] and "Don't be evil". Brin was born in Moscow to Russian Jewish parents, Michael Brin and Eugenia Brin, both graduates of Moscow State University.[6] His father is a mathematics professor at the University of Maryland, and his mother is a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.[7][8] Childhood in the Soviet Union In 1979, when Brin was six, his family felt compelled to emigrate to the United States. In an interview with Mark Malseed, co-author of The Google Story,[9] Sergey's father explains how he was "forced to abandon his dream of becoming an astronomer even before he reached college". Although an official policy of anti-Semitism did not exist in the Soviet Union, Michael Brin claims Communist Party heads barred Jews from upper professional ranks by denying them entry to universities: "Jews were excluded from the physics departments, in particular..." Michael Brin therefore changed his major to mathematics where he received nearly straight A's. He said, "Nobody would even consider me for graduate school because I was Jewish."[10] At Moscow State University, Jews were required to take their entrance exams in different rooms from non-Jewish applicants, which were nicknamed "gas chambers", and they were marked on a harsher scale.[11] The Brin family lived in a three-room apartment in central Moscow, which they also shared with Sergey's paternal grandmother.[10] Sergey told Malseed, "I've known for a long time that my father wasn't able to pursue the career he wanted", but Sergey only picked up the details years later after they had settled in the United States. He learned how, in 1977, after his father returned from a mathematics conference in Warsaw, Poland, he announced that it was time for the family to emigrate. "We cannot stay here any more", he told his wife and mother. At the conference, he was able to "mingle freely with colleagues from the United States, France, England and Germany, and discovered that his intellectual brethren in the West were 'not monsters.'" He added, "I was the only one in the family who decided it was really important to leave..."[10] Sergey's mother was less willing to leave their home in Moscow, where they had spent their entire lives. Malseed writes, "For Genia, the decision ultimately came down to Sergey. While her husband admits he was thinking as much about his own future as his son's, for her, 'it was 80/20' about Sergey." They formally applied for their exit visa in September 1978, and as a result his father "was promptly fired". For related reasons, his mother also had to leave her job. For the next eight months, without any steady income, they were forced to take on temporary jobs as they waited, afraid their request would be denied as it was for many refuseniks. During this time his parents shared responsibility for looking after him and his father taught himself computer programming. In May 1979, they were granted their official exit visas and were allowed to leave the country.[10] At an interview in October, 2000, Brin said, "I know the hard times that my parents went through there, and am very thankful that I was brought to the States."[12] A decade earlier, in the summer of 1990, a few weeks before his 17th birthday, his father led a group of gifted high school math students, including Sergey, on a two-week exchange program to the Soviet Union. "As Sergey recalls, the trip awakened his childhood fear of authority" and he remembers that his first "impulse on confronting Soviet oppression had been to throw pebbles at a police car." Malseed adds, "On the second day of the trip, while the group toured a sanitarium in the countryside near Moscow, Sergey took his father aside, looked him in the eye and said, 'Thank you for taking us all out of Russia.'"[10] Education in the United States Brin attended grade school at Paint Branch Montessori School in Adelphi, Maryland, but he received further education at home; his father, a professor in the department of mathematics at the University of Maryland, nurtured his interest in mathematics and his family helped him retain his Russian-language skills. In September 1990, after having attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, Brin enrolled in the University of Maryland to study computer science and mathematics, where he received his Bachelor of Science in May 1993 with honors.[13] Brin began his graduate study in computer science at Stanford University on a graduate fellowship from the National Science Foundation. In 1993, he interned at Wolfram Research, makers of Mathematica.[13] He is on leave from his Ph.D. studies at Stanford.[14] Search engine development During an orientation for new students at Stanford, he met Larry Page. In a recent interview for The Economist, Brin jokingly said: "We're both kind of obnoxious." They seemed to disagree on most subjects. But after spending time together, they "became intellectual soul-mates and close friends". Brin's focus was on developing data mining systems while Page's was in extending "the concept of inferring the importance of a research paper from its citations in other papers."[5] Together, the pair authored what is widely considered their seminal contribution, a paper entitled "The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine."[15] Combining their ideas, they "crammed their dormitory room with cheap computers" and tested their new search engine designs on the web. Their project grew quickly enough "to cause problems for Stanford's computing infrastructure." But they realized they had succeeded in creating a superior engine for searching the web and suspended their PhD studies to work more on their system.[5] As Mark Malseed wrote, "Soliciting funds from faculty members, family and friends, Sergey and Larry scraped together enough to buy some servers and rent that famous garage in Menlo Park. ... [soon after], Sun Microsystems co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim wrote a $100,000 check to “Google, Inc.” The only problem was, “Google, Inc.” did not yet exist—the company hadn’t yet been incorporated. For two weeks, as they handled the paperwork, the young men had nowhere to deposit the money."[10] The Economist magazine describes Brin's approach to life, like Page's, as based on a vision summed up by Google's motto, "of making all the world's information 'universally accessible and useful.'" Others have compared their vision to the impact of Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of modern printing: "In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg introduced Europe to the mechanical printing press, printing Bibles for mass consumption. The technology allowed for books and manuscripts – originally replicated by hand – to be printed at a much faster rate, thus spreading knowledge and helping to usher in the European Renaissance. . . Google has done a similar job."[16] The comparison was likewise noted by the authors of The Google Story: "Not since Gutenberg . . . has any new invention empowered individuals, and transformed access to information, as profoundly as Google."[9]:1 Not long after the two "cooked up their new engine for web searches, they began thinking about information that is today beyond the web", such as digitizing books, and expanding health information.[5] Personal life In May 2007, Brin married Anne Wojcicki in The Bahamas. Wojcicki is a biotech analyst and a 1996 graduate of Yale University with a B.S. in biology.[2][17] She has an active interest in health information, and together she and Brin are developing new ways to improve access to it. As part of their efforts, they have brainstormed with leading researchers about the human genome project. "Brin instinctively regards genetics as a database and computing problem. So does his wife, who co-founded the firm, 23andMe", which lets people analyze and compare their own genetic makeup (consisting of 23 pairs of chromosomes).[5] In a recent announcement at Google’s Zeitgeist conference, he said he hoped that some day everyone would learn their genetic code in order to help doctors, patients, and researchers analyze the data and try to repair bugs.[5] Brin's mother, Eugenia, has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. In 2008, he decided to make a donation to the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where his mother is being treated.[18] Brin used the services of 23andMe and discovered that although Parkinson's is generally not hereditary, both he and his mother possess a mutation of the LRRK2 gene (G2019S) that puts the likelihood of his developing Parkinson's in later years between 20 and 80%.[5] When asked whether ignorance was not bliss in such matters, he stated that his knowledge means that he can now take measures to ward off the disease. An editorial in The Economist magazine states that "Mr Brin regards his mutation of LRRK2 as a bug in his personal code, and thus as no different from the bugs in computer code that Google’s engineers fix every day. By helping himself, he can therefore help others as well. He considers himself lucky. ... But Mr. Brin was making a much bigger point. Isn’t knowledge always good, and certainty always better than ignorance?"[5] Brin and his wife run The Brin Wojcicki Foundation.[19] In November, 2011 Brin and his wife's foundation, The Brin Wojcicki Foundation, awarded 500,000 dollars to the Wikimedia Foundation as it started its eighth annual fundraising campaign. Censorship of Google in China For more details on this topic, see Censorship in the People's Republic of China. Remembering his youth and his family's reasons for leaving the Soviet Union, he "agonized over Google’s decision to appease the communist government of China by allowing it to censor search engine results", but decided that the Chinese would still be better off than without having Google available.[5] He explained his reasoning to Fortune magazine: "We felt that by participating there, and making our services more available, even if not to the 100 percent that we ideally would like, that it will be better for Chinese web users, because ultimately they would get more information, though not quite all of it."[20] On January 12, 2010, Google reported a large cyber attack on its computers and corporate infrastructure that began a month earlier, which included accessing numerous Gmail accounts and the theft of Google's intellectual property. After the attack was determined to have originated in China, the company stated that it would no longer agree to censor its search engine in China and may exit the country altogether. The New York Times reported that "a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, but that the attack also targeted 20 other large companies in the finance, technology, media and chemical sectors."[21][22] It was later reported that the attack included "one of Google’s crown jewels, a password system that controls access by millions of users worldwide."[23] In late March, 2010, it officially discontinued its China-based search engine while keeping its uncensored Hong Kong site in operation. Speaking for Google, Brin stated during an interview, "One of the reasons I am glad we are making this move in China is that the China situation was really emboldening other countries to try and implement their own firewalls."[24] During another interview with Spiegel, he added, "For us it has always been a discussion about how we can best fight for openness on the Internet. We believe that this is the best thing that we can do for preserving the principles of the openness and freedom of information on the Internet."[25] While only a few large companies so far pledged their support for the move, many Internet "freedom proponents are cheering the move," and it is "winning it praise in the U.S." from lawmakers.[24][26] Senator Byron Dorgan stated that "Google's decision is a strong step in favor of freedom of expression and information."[27] And Congressman Bob Goodlatte said, "I applaud Google for its courageous step to stop censoring search results on Google.com. Google has drawn a line in the sand and is shining a light on the very dark area of individual liberty restrictions in China."[28] From the business perspective, many recognize that the move is likely to affect Google's profits: "Google is going to pay a heavy price for its move, which is why it deserves praise for refusing to censor its service in China."[29] The New Republic adds that "Google seems to have arrived at the same link that was obvious to Andrei Sakharov: the one between science and freedom," referring to the move as "heroism."[30] Awards and recognition In 2002, Brin, along with Larry Page, was named to the MIT Technology Review TR100, as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.[31] In 2003, both Brin and Page received an honorary MBA from IE Business School "for embodying the entrepreneurial spirit and lending momentum to the creation of new businesses...".[32] And in 2004, they received the Marconi Foundation Prize, the "Highest Award in Engineering", and were elected Fellows of the Marconi Foundation at Columbia University. "In announcing their selection, John Jay Iselin, the Foundation's president, congratulated the two men for their invention that has fundamentally changed the way information is retrieved today." They joined a "select cadre of 32 of the world's most influential communications technology pioneers..."[33] In 2004, Brin received the Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award with Larry Page at a ceremony in Chicago, Illinois. In November 2009, Forbes magazine decided Brin and Larry Page were the fifth most powerful people in the world.[34] Earlier that same year, in February, Brin was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering, which is "among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer ... [and] honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice...". He was selected specifically, "for leadership in development of rapid indexing and retrieval of relevant information from the World Wide Web."[35] In their "Profiles" of Fellows, the National Science Foundation included a number of earlier awards: "he has been a featured speaker at the World Economic Forum and the Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference. ... PC Magazine has praised Google [of] the Top 100 Web Sites and Search Engines (1998) and awarded Google the Technical Excellence Award, for Innovation in Web Application Development in 1999. In 2000, Google earned a Webby Award, a People's Voice Award for technical achievement, and in 2001, was awarded Outstanding Search Service, Best Image Search Engine, Best Design, Most Webmaster Friendly Search Engine, and Best Search Feature at the Search Engine Watch Awards."[36] According to Forbes he is the 24th richest person in the world with a personal wealth of US$18.7 billion as of March 2012.[37] Other interests Brin is working on other, more personal projects that reach beyond Google. For example, he and Page are trying to help solve the world’s energy and climate problems at Google’s philanthropic arm Google.org, which invests in the alternative energy industry to find wider sources of renewable energy. The company acknowledges that its founders want "to solve really big problems using technology."[38] In October 2010, for example, they invested in a major offshore wind power development to assist the East coast power grid,[39] which may eventually become the first "offshore wind farm" in the United States.[40] A week earlier they introduced a car that, with "artificial intelligence," can drive itself using video cameras and radar sensors.[38] In the future, drivers of cars with similar sensors would have fewer accidents. These safer vehicles could therefore be built lighter and require less fuel consumption.[41] They are trying to get companies to create innovative solutions to increasing the world's energy supply.[42] He is an investor in Tesla Motors, which has developed the Tesla Roadster, a 244-mile (393 km) range battery electric vehicle. Brin has appeared on television shows and many documentaries, including Charlie Rose, CNBC, and CNN. In 2004, he and Larry Page were named "Persons of the Week" by ABC World News Tonight. In January 2005 he was nominated to be one of the World Economic Forum's "Young Global Leaders". He and Page are also the executive producers of the 2007 film Broken Arrows. In June 2008, Brin invested $4.5 million in Space Adventures, the Virginia-based space tourism company. His investment will serve as a deposit for a reservation on one of Space Adventures' proposed flights in 2011. So far, Space Adventures has sent seven tourists into space.[43] He and Page co-own a customized Boeing 767–200 and a Dornier Alpha Jet, and pay $1.4 million a year to house them and two Gulfstream V jets owned by Google executives at Moffett Federal Airfield. The aircraft have had scientific equipment installed by NASA to allow experimental data to be collected in flight.[44][45] Brin is a member of AmBAR, a networking organization for Russian-speaking business professionals (both expatriates and immigrants) in the United States. He has made many speaking appearances. ... ...... Stefanie Maria "Steffi" Graf[3] (born 14 June 1969, in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany) is a former World No. 1 German tennis player. In total, Graf won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, second among male and female players only to Margaret Court's 24. In 1988, she became the first and only tennis player (male or female) to achieve the Calendar Year Golden Slam by winning all four Grand Slam singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year. Graf was ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for a record 377 total weeks—the longest period for which any player, male or female, has held the number-one ranking since the WTA and the Association of Tennis Professionals began issuing rankings. She also holds the open era record for finishing as the year-end World No. 1 the most times, having done so on eight occasions.[4] She won 107 singles titles, which ranks her third on the WTA's all-time list after Martina Navratilova (167 titles) and Chris Evert (157 titles). A notable feature of Graf's game was her versatility across all playing surfaces, having won each of the four Grand Slams at least four times, the only player to do so. She won six French Open singles titles (second to Evert) and seven Wimbledon singles titles (third behind Navratilova and Helen Wills Moody). She is the only singles player to have achieved a Calendar Year Grand Slam while playing on all three major types of tennis courts (grass courts, clay courts and hard courts), as the Calendar Year Grand Slams won by other players before her occurred when the Australian and US Opens were still played on grass. Graf reached thirteen consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, from the 1987 French Open through to the 1990 French Open, winning nine of them. She played in 36 Grand Slam singles tournaments from the 1987 French Open, her first Grand Slam win, through the 1999 French Open, her last Grand Slam win, winning 22 titles. She reached a total of 31 Grand Slam singles finals, third overall behind Evert (34 finals) and Navratilova (32 finals).[citation needed] Graf is considered by some to be the greatest female player. Billie Jean King said in 1999, "Steffi is definitely the greatest women's tennis player of all time."[5] Martina Navratilova has included Graf on her list of great players.[6] In December 1999, Graf was named the greatest female tennis player of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by the Associated Press.[7] Tennis writer Steve Flink, in his book The Greatest Tennis Matches of the Twentieth Century, named her as the best female player of the 20th century.[8]. In March 2012, Tennis Channel picked Graf as the greatest female tennis player ever in their list of 100 greatest tennis players of all time.[9] Graf retired in 1999 while she was ranked World No. 3. She married former World No. 1 men's tennis player Andre Agassi in October 2001 and they have two children, Jaden Gil and Jaz Elle. Steffi Graf was introduced to tennis by her father Peter Graf, a car and insurance salesman and aspiring tennis coach, who taught his three-year-old daughter how to swing a wooden racket in the family's living room. She began practising on a court at the age of four and played in her first tournament at five. She soon began winning junior tournaments with regularity, and in 1982 she won the European Championships 12s and 18s. Graf played in her first professional tournament in October 1982 at Stuttgart, Germany. She lost her first round match 6–4, 6–0 to Tracy Austin, a two-time US Open champion and former World No. 1 player. (Twelve years later, Graf defeated Austin 6–0, 6–0 during a second round match at the Evert Cup in Indian Wells, California, which was their second and last match against each other.) At the start of her first full professional year in 1983, the 13-year-old Graf was ranked World No. 124. She won no titles during the next three years, but her ranking climbed steadily to World No. 98 in 1983, No. 22 in 1984, and No. 6 in 1985. In 1984, she first gained international attention when she almost upset the tenth seed, Jo Durie of the United Kingdom, in a fourth round Centre Court match at Wimbledon. In August as a 15-year-old (and youngest entrant) representing West Germany, she won the tennis demonstration event at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.[10] Graf's schedule was closely controlled by her father, who limited her play so that she would not burn out. In 1985, for instance, she played only 10 events leading up to the US Open, whereas another up-and-coming star, Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, who was a year younger than Graf, played 21. Peter also kept a tight rein on Graf's personal life. Social invitations on the tour were often declined as Graf's focus was kept on practising and match play. Working with her father and then-coach Pavel Složil, Graf typically practised for up to four hours a day, often heading straight from airports to practice courts. This narrow focus meant that Graf, already shy and retiring by nature[citation needed], made few friends on the tour in her early years, but it led to a steady improvement in her play. In 1985 and early 1986, Graf emerged as the top challenger to the dominance of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. During that period, she lost six times to Evert and three times to Navratilova, all in straight sets. She did not win a tournament but consistently reached tournament finals and semifinals, with the highlight being her semifinal loss to Navratilova at the US Open. On 13 April 1986, Graf won her first WTA tournament and beat Evert for the first time in the final of the Family Circle Cup in Hilton Head, South Carolina. (She never lost to Evert again, beating her a further seven times over the next three and a half years.) Graf then won her next three tournaments at Amelia Island, Charleston, and Berlin, culminating in a 6–2, 6–3 defeat of Navratilova in the final of the latter. Illness caused her to miss Wimbledon, and an accident where she broke a toe several weeks later also curtailed her momentum. She returned to win a small tournament at Mahwah just before the US Open where, in one of the most anticipated matches of the year, she encountered Navratilova in a semifinal. The match was played over two days with Navratilova finally winning after saving three match points 6–1, 6–7, 7–6. Graf then won three consecutive indoor titles at Tokyo, Zürich, and Brighton, before once again contending with Navratilova at the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships in New York City. This time, Navratilova beat Graf 7–6, 6–3, 6–2. Breakthrough year: 1987 Graf's Grand Slam breakthrough came in 1987. She started the year strongly, with six tournament victories heading into the French Open, the highlight being at the tournament in Miami, where she defeated Martina Navratilova in a semifinal and Chris Evert in the final and conceded only 20 games in the seven rounds of the tournament. In the French Open final, Graf defeated Navratilova, who was the World No. 1, 6–4, 4–6, 8–6 after beating Gabriela Sabatini in a three-set semifinal. Graf then lost to Navratilova 7–5, 6–3 in the Wimbledon final, her first loss of the year. However, in the Federation Cup final in Vancouver, Canada, three weeks later, she defeated Evert easily 6–2, 6–1. The US Open ended anti-climactically as Navratilova defeated Graf in the final 7–6, 6–1. Unprecedented Calendar Year Golden Slam : 1988 Steffi Graf hitting a backhand shot. Graf started 1988 by winning the Australian Open, defeating Chris Evert in the final 6–1, 7–6. Graf did not lose a set during the tournament and lost a total of only 29 games. Graf lost twice to Gabriela Sabatini during the spring, once on hardcourts in Boca Raton, Florida, and once on clay at Amelia Island, Florida. Graf, however, won the tournament in San Antonio, Texas and retained her title in Miami, where she once again defeated Evert in the final. Graf then won the tournament in Berlin, losing only twelve games in five matches. At the French Open, Graf successfully defended her title by defeating Natasha Zvereva 6–0, 6–0 in a 32-minute final.[11] That was the first double bagel in a Grand Slam final since 1911.[11] Zvereva, who had eliminated Martina Navratilova in the fourth round, won only thirteen points in the match.[11] Next came Wimbledon, where Navratilova had won six straight titles. Graf was trailing Navratilova in the final 7–5, 2–0 before winning the match 5–7, 6–2, 6–1. She then won tournaments in Hamburg and Mahwah (where she lost only eight games all tournament). At the US Open, Graf defeated Sabatini in a three-set final to win the Calendar Year Grand Slam, a feat previously performed by only two other women, Maureen Connolly Brinker in 1953 and Margaret Court in 1970. Graf then defeated Sabatini 6–3, 6–3 in the gold medal match at the Olympic Games in Seoul and achieved what the media had dubbed the "Golden Slam". Graf also won her only Grand Slam doubles title that year—at Wimbledon partnering Sabatini—and picked up a women's doubles Olympic bronze medal. At the year-ending Virginia Slims Championships, Graf – hampered by illness – was upset by Pam Shriver, only her third loss of the year. She was named the 1988 BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year. New challengers and personal challenges 1989 Speculation was rife at the beginning of 1989 about the possibility of Graf winning another Grand Slam. Some noted observers, such as Margaret Court, suggested that Graf could achieve the feat a couple more times. And the year began as expected, with Graf extending her Grand Slam winning streak to five events at the Australian Open, defeating Helena Suková in the final. Her 6–3, 6–0 defeat of Gabriela Sabatini in a semifinal was described by veteran observer Ted Tinling as "probably the best tennis I've seen".[12] Graf followed this with easy victories in her next four tournaments at Washington, D.C., San Antonio, Texas, Boca Raton, Florida, and Hilton Head, South Carolina. The Washington, D.C. tournament was notable because Graf won the first twenty points of the final against Zina Garrison.[13] In the Boca Raton final, Graf lost the only set she conceded to Chris Evert in their final seven matches.[14] In the subsequent Amelia Island final on clay, Graf lost her first match of the year to Sabatini but returned to European clay with easy victories at Hamburg and Berlin. Graf's Grand Slam winning streak ended at the French Open, where 17-year-old Spaniard Arantxa Sánchez Vicario beat Graf in three sets. Graf served for the match at 5–3 in the third set but lost the game at love and won only three more points in the match. She had struggled to beat Monica Seles in their semifinal 6–3, 3–6, 6–3. Graf, however, recovered to defeat Martina Navratilova 6–2, 6–7, 6–1 in the Wimbledon final after defeating Seles 6–0, 6–1 in a fourth round match, Sánchez Vicario in a quarterfinal, and Chris Evert in a semifinal. Graf warmed up for the US Open with easy tournament victories in San Diego and Mahwah. In her semifinal match at the US Open, Graf defeated Sabatini 3–6, 6–4, 6–2. In the final, Navratilova led 6–3, 4–2 before Graf rallied to win 3–6, 7–5, 6–1 for her third Grand Slam singles title of the year. Victories at Zürich and Brighton preceded the Virginia Slims Championships, where Graf cemented her top-ranked status by beating Navratilova in the final 6–4, 7–5, 2–6, 6–2. Graf ended 1989 with an 86–2 match record and the loss of only twelve sets. 1990 Graf defeated Mary Joe Fernandez in the final of the Australian Open, which was her eighth Grand Slam singles title in the last nine she contested. Her winning streak (unbeaten since the 1989 French Open loss to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario) continued with victories in Tokyo, Amelia Island, and Hamburg. In Berlin, she extended her unbeaten streak to 66 matches (second in WTA history to Martina Navratilova's 74) before losing the final to Monica Seles, 6–4, 6–3. While the Berlin tournament was being played, the largest-circulation German tabloid, Bild, ran a story about an alleged scandal involving Graf's father. The difficulty of answering questions about the matter came to a head at a Wimbledon press conference, where Graf broke down in tears. Wimbledon authorities then threatened to immediately shut down any subsequent press conferences where questions about the issue were asked. Whether this scandal affected Graf's form is open to debate. In an interview with Stern magazine in July 1990, Graf stated, "I could not fight as usual."[15] Graf again lost to Monica Seles in the final of the French Open 7–6, 6–4. Seles was behind 2–6 in the first set tiebreaker, but then came back to win six points in a row and take the set. At Wimbledon, Graf lost in the semifinals to Zina Garrison, who with this victory broke Graf's string of 13 consecutive Grand Slam finals. After victories in Montreal and San Diego, Graf reached the US Open final, where she lost in straight sets to Sabatini. Graf won four indoor tournaments after the US Open, but lost again to Sabatini in a Virginia Slims Championships semifinal. Even though Graf won only one Grand Slam singles title in 1990, she finished the year as the top ranked player. 1991 A mixture of injury problems, personal difficulties, and loss of form made 1991 a tough year for Graf. Seles established herself as the new dominant player on the women's tour, winning the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open and, in March, ending Graf's record 186 consecutive-weeks hold on the World No. 1 ranking. Graf briefly regained the top ranking after winning at Wimbledon but lost it again after her loss to Navratilova at the US Open. Graf lost an Australian Open quarterfinal to Jana Novotná, the first time she did not reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament since the 1986 French Open. She then lost to Gabriela Sabatini in her next three tournaments before winning the U.S. Hardcourt Championships in San Antonio, beating Monica Seles in the final. After losing a fifth straight time to Sabatini in Amelia Island, Florida, Graf once again defeated Seles in the Hamburg final. Following her tournament victory in Berlin, Graf suffered one of the worst defeats of her career in a French Open semifinal where she won only two games against Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and lost her first 6–0 set since 1984. Graf did, however, win her third Wimbledon title, defeating Sabatini in the final. Navratilova then defeated Graf 7–6, 6–7, 6–4 in a US Open semifinal, the first time she had beaten Graf in four years. Graf then won Leipzig, with her 500th career victory coming in a quarterfinal against Judith Wiesner. After winning two more indoor tournaments at Zürich and Brighton, she failed once again in the Virginia Slims Championships, losing her quarterfinal to Novotná. Soon after, she split with her long-time coach, Pavel Složil. 1992 A bout of German measles forced Graf to miss the first major event of 1992, the Australian Open. Her year continued indifferently with losses in three of her first four tournaments, although she did win unconvincingly at Boca Raton, Florida. Victories at Hamburg and Berlin (beating Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the finals of both) prepared her for the French Open, where she defeated Sánchez Vicario in the semifinals after losing the first set 6–0. She then renewed her rivalry with Monica Seles in the final, which Seles won 10–8 in the third set. Seles won the match on her 5th match point; Graf came within 2 points of winning the match a few games earlier. At Wimbledon, after struggling through early-round three-setters against lowly-ranked Mariaan de Swardt and Patty Fendick, she easily defeated Natasha Zvereva in a quarterfinal, Sabatini in a semifinal, and Seles in the final 6–2, 6–1, with Seles playing in almost complete silence because of widespread media and player criticism of her grunting. Graf then won all five of her Fed Cup matches, helping Germany defeat Spain in the final by defeating Sánchez Vicario 6–4, 6–2. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Graf lost to Jennifer Capriati in the final and claimed the silver medal. At the US Open, Graf was upset in a quarterfinal by Sánchez Vicario 7–6(5), 6–3. Four consecutive indoor tournament victories in the autumn improved her year, but for the third consecutive year, she failed to win the Virginia Slims Championships, where she lost in the first round to Lori McNeil. Second period of dominance 1993 Monica Seles beat Graf in three sets in the final of the Australian Open 4–6, 6–3, 6–2. The burgeoning rivalry between them was then cut short. During a quarterfinal match between Seles and Magdalena Maleeva in Hamburg, Seles was stabbed between the shoulder blades by a mentally ill German fan of Graf, Günter Parche. He claimed that he committed the attack to help Graf reclaim the World No. 1 ranking, which she did on 7 June 1993. More than two years elapsed before Seles competed again. In the absence of Seles, Graf won three of four Grand Slam events to re-establish herself as the dominant player in women's tennis. It took some time, however, for Graf to separate herself from her challengers, with four losses in her first six tournaments of the year: two to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and one each to Seles and the 36 year-old Martina Navratilova. She struggled at the tournament in Berlin where she lost a 6–0 set to the unheralded Sabine Hack before defeating Mary Joe Fernandez and Gabriela Sabatini in three-set matches to claim her seventh title there in eight years. Nor was she at her best at the French Open but still managed to win her first title there since 1988 with a three-set victory over Fernandez in the final. The win elevated Graf to the World No. 1 ranking for the first time in 22 months. Her fifth Wimbledon title was aided by a celebrated meltdown in the final from Jana Novotná, who had a point on serve to go up 5–1 in the deciding set before losing the next five games. Graf had an injured right foot during that tournament (and for the next few months), finally resulting in surgery on 4 October. In the meantime, she lost surprisingly to Nicole Bradtke of Australia in a Fed Cup match on clay before winning the tournament in San Diego and the tournament in Toronto in preparation for the US Open. She won there, beating Helena Suková comfortably in the final after eliminating Sabatini in a three-set quarterfinal. She won the tournament in Leipzig yet again the day before her foot operation, losing only two games to Novotná in the final. Graf lost to Conchita Martínez in her return tournament a month later in Philadelphia. However, she finished her year with a highlight, winning her first Virginia Slims Championships since 1989 by beating Sánchez Vicario in the final despite needing painkillers for a back injury. 1994 Seemingly free of injury for the first time in years, Graf began the year by winning the Australian Open, where she defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the final with the loss of only two games. She then won her next four tournaments easily. In the Miami final, she lost her first set of the year—to Natasha Zvereva—after winning 54 consecutive sets. In the Hamburg final, she lost for the first time in 1994 after 36 consecutive match victories, losing to Sánchez Vicario in three sets. She then won her eighth German Open, but there were signs that her form was worsening as she almost lost to Julie Halard in a quarterfinal.Back-to-back losses followed; Graf lost to Mary Pierce in a French Open semifinal, 6–2, 6–2, and followed that with a first-round straight-sets loss at Wimbledon to Lori McNeil, her first loss in a first round Grand Slam tournament in ten years. Graf still managed to win San Diego the following month but aggravated a long-time back injury in beating Sánchez Vicario in the final. She then began to wear a back brace and was unsure about playing the US Open but elected to play while receiving treatment and stretching for two hours before each match. She made it to the final and took the first set there against Sánchez Vicario—Sanchez Vicario's last victory over Graf. Her back injury, however, flared up and she lost the next two sets. She took the following nine weeks off, returning only for the Virginia Slims Championships where she lost to Pierce in a quarterfinal. 1995 Injury kept Graf out of the Australian Open. She came back to beat Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon. The US Open was Monica Seles's first Grand Slam event since the 1993 attack. Seles and Graf met in the final, with Graf winning 7–6, 0–6, 6–3. Graf then capped the year by beating countrywoman Anke Huber in a five-set final at the season-ending (6–1, 2–6, 6–1, 4–6, 6–3) in 2 hours 46 minutes. WTA Tour Championships. In personal terms, 1995 was a difficult year for Graf, as she was accused by German authorities of tax evasion in the early years of her career. In her defense, she stated that her father Peter was her financial manager, and all financial matters relating to her earnings at the time had been under his control. As a result, Peter was sentenced to 45 months in jail. He was eventually released after serving 25 months. Prosecutors dropped their case against Steffi Graf in 1997, when she agreed to pay a fine of 1.3 million Deutsche Marks to the government and an unspecified charity. 1996 Graf again missed the Australian Open because of injury and then successfully defended the three Grand Slam titles she won the year before. In a close French Open final, Graf again overcame Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, taking the third-set 10–8. Graf then had straight-sets wins against Sánchez Vicario in the Wimbledon final and Monica Seles in the US Open final. Graf also won her fifth and final Chase Championships title with a five set win over Martina Hingis. She was unable to participate in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta because of an injured left knee.[16] Final years on the tour: 1997–99 The last few years of Graf's career were beset by injuries, particularly to her knees and back. She lost the World No. 1 ranking to Martina Hingis and failed to win a Grand Slam title for the first time in ten years. In 1997 Graf lost in the 4th round of Australian open in straight sets 2–6, 5–7 to Amanda Coetzer.[17] After several months injury lay off, Graf returned to play in the German Open in Berlin in front of a home crowd and had the worst defeat of her career in the quarter final, when Amanda Coetzer beat her in just 56 minutes 6–0, 6–1.[17][18] In the French Open Graf was again beaten by Amanda Coetzer in straight sets 6–1, 6–4.[19] Graf then skipped Wimbledon due to injury. After missing almost half of the tour in 1998, Graf defeated World No. 2 Hingis and World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport en route to the Philadelphia title. At the first round of the season-ending Chase Championships, Graf defeated World No. 3 Jana Novotná. At the beginning of 1999 Graf played the warm up event to the Australian Open in Sydney; she defeated Serena Williams in the 2nd round and Venus Williams in the quarter-finals before losing to Lindsay Davenport in the semi-final. Graf then went on to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open before losing to Monica Seles 7–5, 6–1. Graf stated after the match she was extremely nervous heading into match primarily because of how strongly Seles had started in their prior match at the 1998 Corel WTA Championships. In Indian Wells,1999 Graf lost to Serena Williams 3–6,6–3,5–7.[20] Serena hit 8 times more winners than Graf in this match.[21] At the 1999 French Open, Graf reached her first Grand Slam final in three years and fought back from a set and two breaks down in the second set to defeat the top ranked Hingis in three sets for a memorable victory. Graf also became the first player in the open era to defeat the first, second, and third ranked players in the same Grand Slam tournament by defeating second ranked Davenport in the quarter-finals and third ranked Monica Seles in the semifinals. Graf said after the final that it would be her last French Open,[22] fueling speculation about her retirement. Graf then reached her ninth Wimbledon singles final, losing to Davenport 6–4, 7–5. In mixed doubles at Wimbledon, Graf partnered with John McEnroe, but she withdrew at the semi-final stage to protect her knee in advance of the singles final.[23] In August 1999, after retiring from a match in San Diego, Graf announced her retirement from the women's tour. She was ranked World No. 3 at that time. Graf said, "I have done everything I wanted to do in tennis. I feel I have nothing left to accomplish. The weeks following Wimbledon [in 1999] weren't easy for me. I was not having fun anymore. After Wimbledon, for the first time in my career, I didn't feel like going to a tournament. My motivation wasn't what it was in the past."[24] Post-retirement activity 2005 Graf competed in one tie of World Team Tennis on the Houston Wranglers team. Graf was beaten in two out of three matches. Each match was one set. Graf lost her singles match to Elena Likhovtseva 5–4. She teamed with Ansley Cargill in women's doubles against Anna Kournikova and Likhovtseva but lost 5–2. She was successful in the mixed doubles match, however. Graf completely ruled out a return to professional tennis. "It was a lot of fun. It was not as I expected it to be."[citation needed] 2009 Graf played a singles exhibition match against Kim Clijsters and a mixed doubles exhibition alongside husband Andre Agassi against Tim Henman and Clijsters as part of a test event and celebration for the newly installed roof over Wimbledon's Centre Court. She lost a lengthy one-set singles match to Clijsters and also the mixed doubles. 2010 Graf participated in the World Team Tennis Smash Hits exhibition in Washington, D.C., to support The Elton John Aids Foundation. She and her husband, Andre Agassi, were on Team Elton John who competed against Team Billie Jean King. Graf played in the celebrity doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles before straining her left calf muscle and being replaced by Anna Kournikova. Summary of career Graf won seven singles titles at Wimbledon, six singles titles at the French Open, five singles titles at the US Open, and four singles titles at the Australian Open. Her overall record in 56 Grand Slam events was 282–34 (89 percent) (87–10 at the French Open, 75–8 at Wimbledon, 73–10 at the US Open, and 47–6 at the Australian Open). Her career prize-money earnings totalled US$21,895,277 (a record until Lindsay Davenport surpassed this amount in January 2008). Her singles win-loss record was 900–115 (88.7 percent).[25] She was ranked World No. 1 for 186 consecutive weeks (from August 1987 to March 1991, still the record in the women's game) and a record total 377 weeks overall. Graf also won 11 doubles titles. The main weapons in Graf's game were her powerful inside-out forehand drive, which earned her the moniker "Fräulein Forehand," and her foot speed.[26] She often positioned herself in her backhand corner, and although this left her forehand wide open and vulnerable to attack, her court speed meant that only the most accurate shots wide to her forehand caused any trouble. Graf also had a powerful backhand drive but over the course of her career tended to use this less frequently, opting more often for her very effective backhand slice. In baseline rallies, she used the slice almost exclusively. Her accuracy with the slice, both cross-court and down the line, and her ability to skid the ball and keep it low, enabled her to use it as an offensive weapon to set the ball up for her forehand put-aways. She built her powerful and accurate serve up to 180 km/h (110 mph), making it one of the fastest serves in women's tennis, and was a capable volleyer. Personal life In the 1990s, she had a long term relationship with racing car driver Michael Bartels.[27] She married Andre Agassi on 22 October 2001, with only their mothers as witnesses.[28] Four days later Graf gave birth, six weeks prematurely, to their son Jaden Gil. Their daughter, Jaz Elle, was born 3 October 2003. In 1991, the Steffi Graf Youth Tennis Center in Leipzig was dedicated.[29] She is the founder and chairperson of "Children for Tomorrow", a non-profit foundation for implementing and developing projects to support children who have been traumatized by war or other crises. ... ...... Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies[7] and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books. As of 2011, King has written and published 49 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, five non-fiction books, and nine collections of short stories. Many of his stories are set in his home state of Maine. King has received Bram Stoker Awards, World Fantasy Awards, British Fantasy Society Awards, his novella The Way Station was a Nebula Award novelette nominee,[8] and in 2003, the National Book Foundation awarded him the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.[9] He has also received awards for his contribution to literature for his whole career, such as the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement (2004), the Canadian Booksellers Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2007) and the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America (2007).[10] King's father, Donald Edwin King, who was born circa 1913 in Peru, Indiana, was a merchant seaman.[11] King's mother, Nellie Ruth (née Pillsbury; March 13, 1913 – December 28, 1973) was born in Scarborough, Maine.[11] They were married July 23, 1939, in Cumberland County, Maine.[11] Stephen King was born September 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine. When King was two years old, his father left the family under the pretense of "going to buy a pack of cigarettes," leaving his mother to raise King and his adopted older brother, David, by herself, sometimes under great financial strain. The family moved to De Pere, Wisconsin, Fort Wayne, Indiana and Stratford, Connecticut. When King was eleven years old, the family returned to Durham, Maine, where Ruth King cared for her parents until their deaths. She then became a caregiver in a local residential facility for the mentally challenged.[12] King was raised Methodist.[13] As a child, King apparently witnessed one of his friends being struck and killed by a train, though he has no memory of the event. His family told him that after leaving home to play with the boy, King returned, speechless and seemingly in shock. Only later did the family learn of the friend's death. Some commentators have suggested that this event may have psychologically inspired some of King's darker works,[14] but King makes no mention of it in his memoir On Writing.[15] King's primary inspiration for writing horror fiction was related in detail in his 1981 non-fiction Danse Macabre, in a chapter titled "An Annoying Autobiographical Pause". King makes a comparison of his uncle successfully dowsing for water using the bough of an apple branch with the sudden realization of what he wanted to do for a living. While browsing through an attic with his elder brother, King uncovered a paperback version of an H.P. Lovecraft collection of short stories entitled The Lurker in the Shadows that had belonged to his father. The cover art—an illustration of a yellow-green Demon hiding within the recesses of a Hellish cavern beneath a tombstone—was, he writes, the moment in his life which "that interior dowsing rod responded to.” King told Barnes & Noble Studios during a 2009 interview, "I knew that I'd found home when I read that book."[16] Education and early career King attended Durham Elementary School and graduated from Lisbon Falls High School, in Lisbon Falls, Maine. He displayed an early interest in horror as an avid reader of EC's horror comics, including Tales from the Crypt (he later paid tribute to the comics in his screenplay for Creepshow). He began writing for fun while still in school, contributing articles to Dave's Rag, the newspaper that his brother published with a mimeograph machine, and later began selling stories to his friends which were based on movies he had seen (though when discovered by his teachers, he was forced to return the profits). The first of his stories to be independently published was "I Was a Teenage Grave Robber", serialized over three published and one unpublished issue of a fanzine, Comics Review, in 1965.[17] That story was published the following year in a revised form as "In a Half-World of Terror" in another fanzine, Stories of Suspense, edited by Marv Wolfman.[18] From 1966, King studied English at the University of Maine, graduating in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. That same year his first daughter, Naomi Rachel, was born. He wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Maine Campus, titled "Steve King's Garbage Truck", took part in a writing workshop organized by Burton Hatlen,[1] and took odd jobs to pay for his studies, including one at an industrial laundry. He sold his first professional short story, "The Glass Floor", to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967.[12] The Fogler Library at the University of Maine now holds many of King's papers. After leaving the university, King earned a certificate to teach high school but, being unable to find a teaching post immediately, initially supplemented his laboring wage by selling short stories to men's magazines such as Cavalier. Many of these early stories have been published in the collection Night Shift. In 1971, King married Tabitha Spruce, a fellow student at the University of Maine whom he had met at the University's Fogler Library after one of Professor Hatlen's workshops.[1] That fall, King was hired as a teacher at Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine. He continued to contribute short stories to magazines and worked on ideas for novels.[12] It was during this time that King developed a drinking problem, which would plague him for more than a decade.[citation needed] Bibliography Main articles: Stephen King bibliography and Stephen King short fiction bibliography 1970s–1980s work In 1973, King's novel Carrie was accepted by publishing house Doubleday. King threw an early draft of the novel in the trash after becoming discouraged with his progress writing about a teenage girl with psychic powers. His wife retrieved the manuscript and encouraged him to finish it.[19] His advance for Carrie was $2,500, with paperback rights earning $400,000 at a later date. King and his family moved to southern Maine because of his mother's failing health. At this time, he began writing a book titled Second Coming, later titled Jerusalem's Lot, before finally changing the title to 'Salem's Lot (published 1975). In a 1987 issue of The Highway Patrolman magazine, he stated, "The story seems sort of down home to me. I have a special cold spot in my heart for it!"[20] Soon after the release of Carrie in 1974, his mother died of uterine cancer. His Aunt Emrine read the novel to her before she died. King has written of his severe drinking problem at this time, stating that he was drunk delivering the eulogy at his mother's funeral.[15] After his mother's death, King and his family moved to Boulder, Colorado, where King wrote The Shining (published 1977). The family returned to western Maine in 1975, where King completed his fourth novel, The Stand (published 1978). In 1977, the family, with the addition of Owen Phillip (his third and last child), traveled briefly to England, returning to Maine that fall where King began teaching creative writing at the University of Maine. He has kept his primary residence in Maine ever since.[citation needed] In 1985 King wrote his first work for the comic book medium,[21] writing a few pages of the benefit X-Men comic book Heroes for Hope Starring the X-Men. The book, whose profits were donated to assist with famine relief in Africa, was written by a number of different authors in the comic book field, such as Chris Claremont, Stan Lee, and Alan Moore, as well as authors not primarily associated with that industry, such as Harlan Ellison.[22] The following year, King wrote the introduction to Batman No. 400, an anniversary issue in which he expressed his preference for that character over Superman.[23][24] The Dark Tower books Main article: The Dark Tower (series) Stephen King at the Harvard Book Store, January 8, 2007 In the late 1970s, King began what became a series of interconnected stories about a lone gunslinger, Roland, who pursues the "Man in Black" in an alternate-reality universe that is a cross between J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth and the American wild west as depicted by Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone in their spaghetti westerns. The first of these stories, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, was first published in five installments by The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction under the editorship of Edward L. Ferman, beginning in 1977 and the last in 1981. The Gunslinger was continued as a large 7-book epic called The Dark Tower, which were written and published infrequently over four decades. In 1982, the fantasy small-press Donald M. Grant (known for publishing the entire canon of Robert E. Howard) printed these stories for the first time together in hardcover form with color and black-and-white illustrations by fantasy artist Michael Whelan, as The Gunslinger. Each chapter was named for the story previously published in magazine form. King dedicated the hardcover edition to his editor at F&SF, Ed Ferman, who "took a chance on these stories". The original print-run was only 10,000 copies, which was, by this time, a comparatively low run for a first printing of a King novel in hardcover. His 1980 novel, Firestarter, had an initial print-run in trade hardcover at 100,000 copies, and his 1983 novel, Christine, had a trade hardcover print-run of 250,000 copies, both by the much larger publisher Viking. The Gunslinger's initial release was not highly publicized, and only specialty science-fiction and related bookstores carried it on their shelves. The book was generally not available in the larger chain stores, except by special order. Rumors spread among avid fans that there was a King book out that few readers knew about, let alone had actually read. When the initial 10,000 copies sold out, Grant printed another 10,000 copies in 1984, but these runs were still far short of the growing demand among fans for this book. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger was the beginning of his magnum opus fantasy epic. Both the first and second printings of The Gunslinger garner premium prices on the collectible book market, notably among avid readers and collectors of Stephen King, horror literature, fantasy literature, American western literature, and fans of the artwork of Michael Whelan.[citation needed] In 1987, King released the second installment, The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three, in which Roland draws three people from 20th-century United States into his world through magical doors. Grant published The Drawing of the Three with illustrations by Phil Hale in a slightly larger run of 30,000 copies, which was still well below King's typical initial hardcover print-run of a new book. (It, published in 1986, had an initial print-run of 1,000,000 copies, King's largest to date.) King had believed that the Dark Tower books would only be of interest to a select group of his fans, and he had resisted releasing it on a larger scale. Finally, in the late 1980s, bowing to pressure from his publishers and fans who were searching for the books (at this point fewer than 50,000 of his millions of readers would have been able to own any of the Dark Tower books), King agreed to release The Gunslinger and all subsequent Dark Tower books in trade paperback and mass market formats.[citation needed] In the early 2000s King revised the original book, The Gunslinger, because he felt the voice and imagery of the original stories of the late 1970s did not seem to fit the voice of the final installment of 2004. King felt the style of the work had markedly changed during the intervening 27 years. The revised version was published in 2003 by his former hardcover publisher Viking. Grant published its hardcover limited edition of the revised version of The Gunslinger along with a prequel story set in the Dark Tower world called "The Little Sisters of Eluria" (originally published in 1998 in the collection Legends: Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy) in 2009. Adaptations In October 2005, King signed a deal with Marvel Comics to publish a seven-issue, miniseries spin-off of the series called The Gunslinger Born. The series, which focuses on a young Roland Deschain, is plotted by Robin Furth, with dialogue by Peter David, and illustrated by Eisner Award-winning artist Jae Lee. The first issue was published on February 7, 2007, and King, David, Lee and Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada appeared at a midnight signing at a Times Square, New York comic book store to promote it.[25][26] The work had sold over 200,000 copies by March 2007. The success of The Gunslinger Born led to an ongoing series of miniseries published by Marvel, with Furth and David continuing to collaborate, featuring both adapted material from the Dark Tower books and new material approved by King; it also led to a second series of King adaptations in the same format, serializing the events of The Stand. Although The Hollywood Reporter announced in February 2007 that plans were underway for Lost co-creator J. J. Abrams to do an adaptation of King's epic Dark Tower series,[5] Abrams stated in a November 2009 interview with MTV that he would not be adapting the series.[27] Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer will produce a feature film based on The Dark Tower series, with Howard slated to direct.[citation needed] Richard Bachman Main article: Richard Bachman In the late 1970s-early 1980s, King published a handful of short novels—Rage (1977), The Long Walk (1979), Roadwork (1981), The Running Man (1982) and Thinner (1984)—under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. The idea behind this was to test whether he could replicate his success again and to his fears that his popularity was an accident. An alternate explanation was that publishing standards at the time allowed only a single book a year.[28] He picked up the name from the hard rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, of which he is a fan.[29] Richard Bachman was exposed as King's pseudonym by a persistent Washington D.C. bookstore clerk, Steve Brown, who noticed similarities between the works and later located publisher's records at the Library of Congress that named King as the author of one of Bachman's novels.[30] This led to a press release heralding Bachman's "death"—supposedly from "cancer of the pseudonym."[31] King dedicated his 1989 book The Dark Half, about a pseudonym turning on a writer, to "the deceased Richard Bachman", and in 1996, when the Stephen King novel Desperation was released, the companion novel The Regulators carried the "Bachman" byline. In 2006, during a press conference in London, King declared that he had discovered another Bachman novel, titled Blaze. It was published on June 12, 2007. In fact, the original manuscript had been held at King's alma mater, the University of Maine in Orono, for many years and had been covered by numerous King experts. King completely rewrote the original 1973 manuscript for its publication.[citation needed] King has used other pseudonyms, such as John Swithen for The Fifth Quarter.[citation needed] Car accident and thoughts of retirement On June 19, 1999 at about 4:30 pm, King was walking on the shoulder of Route 5, in Lovell, Maine. Driver Bryan Smith, distracted by an unrestrained dog moving in the back of his minivan, struck King, who landed in a depression in the ground about 14 feet from the pavement of Route 5.[15] According to Oxford County Sheriff deputy Matt Baker, King was hit from behind and some witnesses said the driver was not speeding, reckless, or drinking.[32] King was conscious enough to give the deputy phone numbers to contact his family but was in considerable pain. The author was first transported to Northern Cumberland Hospital in Bridgton and then flown by helicopter to Central Maine Medical Center, in Lewiston. His injuries—a collapsed right lung, multiple fractures of his right leg, scalp laceration and a broken hip—kept him at CMMC until July 9. His leg bones were so shattered doctors initially considered amputating his leg, but stabilized the bones in the leg with an external fixator.[33] After five operations in ten days and physical therapy, King resumed work on On Writing in July, though his hip was still shattered and he could only sit for about forty minutes before the pain became worse. Soon it became nearly unbearable.[34] King's lawyer and two others purchased Smith's van for $1,500, reportedly to prevent it from appearing on eBay. The van was later crushed at a junkyard, much to King's disappointment, as he dreamed of beating it with a baseball bat once his leg was healed. King later mentioned during an interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross that he wanted to completely destroy the vehicle himself with a pickaxe.[35] During this time, Tabitha King was inspired to redesign his studio. King visited the space while his books and belongings were packed away. What he saw was an image of what his studio would look like if he died, providing a seed for his novel Lisey's Story.[36] In 2002, King announced he would stop writing, apparently motivated in part by frustration with his injuries, which had made sitting uncomfortable and reduced his stamina. He has since resumed writing, but states on his website that: "I'm writing but I'm writing at a much slower pace than previously and I think that if I come up with something really, really good, I would be perfectly willing to publish it because that still feels like the final act of the creative process, publishing it so people can read it and you can get feedback and people can talk about it with each other and with you, the writer, but the force of my invention has slowed down a lot over the years and that's as it should be."[37] 2000s work In 2000, King published a serialized novel, The Plant, online, bypassing print publication. At first it was presumed by the public that King had abandoned the project because sales were unsuccessful, but he later stated that he had simply run out of stories.[38] The unfinished epistolary novel is still available from King's official site, now free. Also in 2000, he wrote a digital novella, Riding the Bullet, and has said he sees e-books becoming 50% of the market "probably by 2013 and maybe by 2012." But he also warns: "Here's the thing—people tire of the new toys quickly."[39] In August 2003 King began writing a column on pop culture appearing in Entertainment Weekly, usually every third week. The column is called "The Pop of King", a play on the nickname "The King of Pop" commonly given to Michael Jackson.[40] In 2006, King published an apocalyptic novel, Cell. The book features a sudden force in which every cell phone user turns into a mindless killer. King noted in the book's introduction that he does not use cell phones. In 2007, Marvel Comics began publishing comic books based on King's Dark Tower series, followed by adaptations of The Stand in 2008 and The Talisman in 2009. In 2008, King published both a novel, Duma Key, and a collection, Just After Sunset. The latter featured 13 short stories, including a novella, N., which was later released as a serialized animated series that could be seen for free, or, for a small fee, could be downloaded in a higher quality; it then was adopted into a limited comic book series. In 2009, King published Ur, a novella written exclusively for the launch of the second-generation Amazon Kindle and available only on Amazon.com, and Throttle, a novella co-written with his son Joe Hill, which later was released as an audiobook Road Rage, which included Richard Matheson's short story "Duel". On November 10 that year, King's novel, Under the Dome, was published. It is a reworking of an unfinished novel he tried writing twice in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and at 1,074 pages, it is the largest novel he has written since 1986's It. It debuted at No. 1 in The New York Times Bestseller List.[41] 2010s work On February 16, 2010, King announced on his website that his next book will be a collection of four previously unpublished novellas. The book is called Full Dark, No Stars. In April of that year, King published Blockade Billy, an original novella issued first by independent small press Cemetery Dance Publications and later released in mass market paperback by Simon & Schuster. The following month, DC Comics premiered American Vampire, a monthly comic book series written by King with short story writer Scott Snyder, and illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque, which represents King's first original comics work.[42][43][44] King's next novel, 11/22/63, was published November 8, 2011,[45][46] and the eighth Dark Tower volume, The Wind Through the Keyhole, was published in 2012.[47] King's next novel is the upcoming sequel to The Shining (1977), titled Dr. Sleep, scheduled to be published in 2013, and King is currently working on Joyland, a novel about "an amusement-park serial killer", according to an article in The Sunday Times published on April 8, 2012.[48] Collaborations King has written two novels with acclaimed horror novelist Peter Straub: The Talisman and a sequel, Black House. King has indicated that he and Straub will likely write the third and concluding book in this series, the tale of Jack Sawyer, but has set no time for its completion. King also wrote the nonfiction book, Faithful, with novelist and fellow Red Sox fanatic Stewart O'Nan. In 1996 King collaborated with Michael Jackson to create Ghosts, a 40-minute musical video in which the singer portrays a recluse living in a mansion confronting an unwelcoming group of townsfolk initially calling for his exodus from their community. "Throttle", a novella written in collaboration with his son Joe Hill, appears in the anthology He Is Legend: Celebrating Richard Matheson, (Gauntlet Press, 2009).[49] The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red, was a paperback tie-in for the King-penned miniseries Rose Red. The book was published under anonymous authorship, and written by Ridley Pearson. This spin-off is a rare occasion of another author being granted permission to write commercial work using characters and story elements invented by King. King wrote a musical play with John Mellencamp titled Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. King played guitar for the rock band Rock-Bottom Remainders, several of whose members are authors. Other members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount, Jr., Matt Groening, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Sam Barry, and Greg Iles. None of them claim to have any musical talent.[citation needed] King is a fan of the rock band AC/DC,[citation needed] who did the soundtrack for his 1986 film, Maximum Overdrive. He is also a fan of The Ramones,[citation needed] who wrote the title song for Pet Sematary and appeared in the music video. King referred to the band several times in various novels and stories[citation needed] and The Ramones referenced King on the song "It's Not My Place (In the 9 to 5 World)", which is on 1981's Pleasant Dreams. In addition he wrote the liner notes for their tribute album We're a Happy Family. In 1988, the band Blue Öyster Cult recorded an updated version of their 1974 song "Astronomy". The single released for radio play featured a narrative intro spoken by King.[50] On Sunday, October 25, 2009 the DC Comics/Vertigo announced King's collaboration with short story writer Scott Snyder and artist Rafael Albuquerque for the monthly Vertigo comic book series American Vampire, which debuted in March 2010.[42] King wrote the background history of the very first American vampire, Skinner Sweet, in the first five -issues story arc. Scott Snyder wrote the story of Pearl.[51] In 2010, King collaborated with musician Shooter Jennings and his band Hierophant, providing the narration for their album, Black Ribbons[52]. Analysis Writing style King's formula for learning to write well is: "Read and write four to six hours a day. If you cannot find the time for that, you can't expect to become a good writer." He sets out each day with a quota of 2000 words and will not stop writing until it is met. He also has a simple definition for talent in writing: "If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented."[53] Shortly after his accident, King wrote the first draft of the book Dreamcatcher with a notebook and a Waterman fountain pen, which he called "the world's finest word processor."[54] When asked why he writes, King responds: "The answer to that is fairly simple—there was nothing else I was made to do. I was made to write stories and I love to write stories. That's why I do it. I really can't imagine doing anything else and I can't imagine not doing what I do."[55] He is also often asked why he writes such terrifying stories and he answers with another question: "Why do you assume I have a choice?"[56] King often uses authors as characters, or includes mention of fictional books in his stories, novellas and novels, such as Paul Sheldon who is the main character in Misery and Jack Torrance in The Shining. See also List of fictional books in the works of Stephen King for a complete list. In September 2009 it was announced he would serve as a writer for Fangoria.[57] Influences King has called Richard Matheson "the author who influenced me most as a writer."[15] Both authors casually integrate characters' thoughts into the third person narration, just one of several parallels between their writing styles. In a current edition of Matheson's The Shrinking Man, King is quoted: "A horror story if there ever was one...a great adventure story—it is certainly one of that select handful that I have given to people, envying them the experience of the first reading." Ray Bradbury is another influence, with King himself stating "without Ray Bradbury, there is no Stephen King."[58] King refers to H. P. Lovecraft several times in Danse Macabre. "Gramma", a short story made into a film in the 1980s anthology horror show The New Twilight Zone, mentions Lovecraft's notorious fictional creation Necronomicon, also borrowing the names of a number of the fictional monsters mentioned therein. "I Know What You Need" from the 1976 collection Night Shift, and 'Salem's Lot also mention the tome. In On Writing, King is critical of Lovecraft's dialogue-writing skills, using passages from The Colour Out of Space as particularly poor examples. There are also several examples of King referring to Lovecraftian characters in his work, such as Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth. King acknowledges the influence of Bram Stoker, particularly on his novel 'Salem's Lot, which he envisioned as a retelling of Dracula.[59] Its related short story "Jerusalem's Lot", is reminiscent of Stoker's The Lair of the White Worm.[citation needed] King has also referenced author Shirley Jackson. 'Salem's Lot opens with a quotation from Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, and a character in Wolves of the Calla references the Jackson book We Have Always Lived in the Castle. King is a fan of John D. MacDonald, and dedicated the novella "Sun Dog" to MacDonald, saying "I miss you, old friend." For his part, MacDonald wrote an admiring preface to Night Shift, and even had his famous character, Travis McGee, reading Cujo in one of the last McGee novels and Pet Sematary in the last McGee novel, The Lonely Silver Rain. In 1987 King's Philtrum Press published Don Robertson's novel, The Ideal, Genuine Man. In his forenote to the novel, King wrote, "Don Robertson was and is one of the three writers who influenced me as a young man who was trying to 'become' a novelist (the other two being Richard Matheson and John D. MacDonald)."[60] Robert A. Heinlein's book The Door into Summer is repeatedly mentioned in King's Wolves of the Calla. In an interview with King, Published in the USA Weekend in March 2009, the author stated, "People look on writers that they like as an irreplaceable resource. I do. Elmore Leonard, every day I wake up and – not to be morbid or anything, although morbid is my life to a degree – don't see his obituary in the paper, I think to myself, "Great! He's probably working somewhere. He's gonna produce another book, and I'll have another book to read." Because when he's gone, there's nobody else."[61] King partly dedicated his book Cell to film director George Romero, and wrote an essay for the Elite DVD version of Night of the Living Dead. Critical response Although critical reaction to King's work has been mostly positive, he has occasionally come under fire from academic writers. Science fiction editors John Clute and Peter Nichols[62] offer a largely favorable appraisal of King, noting his "pungent prose, sharp ear for dialogue, disarmingly laid-back, frank style, along with his passionately fierce denunciation of human stupidity and cruelty (especially to children) [all of which rank] him among the more distinguished 'popular' writers." In his analysis of post-World War II horror fiction, The Modern Weird Tale (2001), critic S. T. Joshi[63] devotes a chapter to King's work. Joshi argues that King's best-known works (his supernatural novels), are his worst, describing them as mostly bloated, illogical, maudlin and prone to deus ex machina endings. Despite these criticisms, Joshi argues that since Gerald's Game (1993), King has been tempering the worst of his writing faults, producing books that are leaner, more believable and generally better written. Joshi suggests that King's strengths as a writer include the accessible "everyman" quality of his prose, and his unfailingly insightful observations about the pains and joys of adolescence. Joshi cites two early non-supernatural novels—Rage (1977) and The Running Man (1982)—as King's best, suggesting both are riveting and well-constructed suspense thrillers, with believable characters. In 1996, King won an O. Henry Award for his short story "The Man in the Black Suit".[64] In his short story collection A Century of Great Suspense Stories, editor Jeffrey Deaver noted that King “singlehandedly made popular fiction grow up. While there were many good best-selling writers before him, King, more than anybody since John D. MacDonald, brought reality to genre novels. He’s often remarked that 'Salem's Lot was “Peyton Place meets Dracula.” And so it was. The rich characterization, the careful and caring social eye, the interplay of story line and character development announced that writers could take worn themes such as vampirism and make them fresh again. Before King, many popular writers found their efforts to make their books serious blue-penciled by their editors. ‘Stuff like that gets in the way of the story,’ they were told. Well, it’s stuff like that that has made King so popular, and helped free the popular name from the shackles of simple genre writing. He is a master of masters.”[65] In 2003, King was honored by the National Book Awards with a lifetime achievement award, the Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, with his work being described thus: Stephen King’s writing is securely rooted in the great American tradition that glorifies spirit-of-place and the abiding power of narrative. He crafts stylish, mind-bending page-turners that contain profound moral truths–some beautiful, some harrowing–about our inner lives. This Award commemorates Mr. King’s well-earned place of distinction in the wide world of readers and book lovers of all ages. Some in the literary community expressed disapproval of the award: Richard Snyder, the former CEO of Simon & Schuster, described King's work as "non-literature", and critic Harold Bloom denounced the choice: The decision to give the National Book Foundation's annual award for "distinguished contribution" to Stephen King is extraordinary, another low in the shocking process of dumbing down our cultural life. I've described King in the past as a writer of penny dreadfuls, but perhaps even that is too kind. He shares nothing with Edgar Allan Poe. What he is is an immensely inadequate writer on a sentence-by-sentence, paragraph-by-paragraph, book-by-book basis.[66] However, others came to King's defense, such as writer Orson Scott Card, who responded: Let me assure you that King's work most definitely is literature, because it was written to be published and is read with admiration. What Snyder really means is that it is not the literature preferred by the academic-literary elite."[67] In Roger Ebert's review of the 2004 movie Secret Window, he stated, "A lot of people were outraged that [King] was honored at the National Book Awards, as if a popular writer could not be taken seriously. But after finding that his book On Writing had more useful and observant things to say about the craft than any book since Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, I have gotten over my own snobbery."[68] In 2008, King's book On Writing was ranked 21st on Entertainment Weekly list of "The New Classics: The 100 Best Reads from 1983 to 2008".[69] Appearances and adaptations in other media Main article: Media based on Stephen King works King and his wife Tabitha own Zone Radio Corp, a radio station group consisting of WZON 103.1 FM and 620 AM.[70] King has stated that his favorite book-to-film adaptations are Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Mist.[71] King's first film appearance was in George Romero's Knightriders as a buffoonish audience member. His first featured role was in Creepshow, playing Jordy Verrill, a backwoods redneck who, after touching a fallen meteorite in hopes of selling it, grows moss all over his body. He has since made cameos in several adaptations of his works. He appeared in Pet Sematary as a minister at a funeral, in Thinner as a pharmacist, in Rose Red as a pizza deliveryman, as a news reporter in The Storm of the Century, in The Stand as "Teddy Wieszack," in the Shining miniseries as a band member, in The Langoliers as Tom Holby and in Sleepwalkers as the cemetery caretaker. He has also appeared in The Golden Years, in Chappelle's Show and, along with fellow author Amy Tan, on The Simpsons as himself. In addition to acting, King tried his hand at directing with Maximum Overdrive, in which he also made a cameo appearance as a man using an ATM that is on the fritz. King produced and acted in a miniseries, Kingdom Hospital, which is based on the Danish miniseries Riget by Lars von Trier. He also co-wrote The X-Files season 5 episode "Chinga" with the creator of the series Chris Carter. King made an appearance as a contestant on Celebrity Jeopardy! in 1995, playing to benefit the Bangor Public Library. King provided the voice of Abraham Lincoln in the audiobook version of Assassination Vacation. In 2010, King appeared in a cameo role as a cleaner named Bachman (a reference to his pen name Richard Bachman) on the FX series Sons of Anarchy.[72] The Syfy TV series Haven is based on King's novella, The Colorado Kid.[73] Political activism In April 2008, King spoke out against HB 1423, a bill pending in the Massachusetts state legislature that would restrict or ban the sale of violent video games to anyone under the age of 18. Although King stated that he had no personal interest in video games as a hobby, he criticized the proposed law, which he sees as an attempt by politicians to scapegoat pop culture, and to act as surrogate parents to others' children, which he asserted is usually "disastrous" and "undemocratic". He also saw the law as inconsistent, as it would forbid a 17-year-old, legally able to see Hostel: Part II, from buying or renting Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which is violent but less graphic. While conceding that he saw no artistic merit in some violent video games, King also opined that such games reflect the violence that already exists in society, which would not be lessened by such a law, and would be redundant in light of the ratings system that already exists for video games. King argued that such laws allow legislators to ignore the economic divide between the rich and poor, and the easy availability of guns, which he felt were the more legitimate causes of violence.[74] Regarding video games, he later stated that he enjoys playing light gun shooter arcade games such as Time Crisis.[75] A controversy emerged on May 5, 2008, when a conservative blogger posted a clip of King at a Library of Congress reading event. King, talking to high-school students, had said: "If you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that."[76] The comment was described by the blog as "another in a long line of liberal media members bashing the military," and likened to John Kerry's similar remark from 2006.[77] King responded later that day, saying, "That a right-wing-blog would impugn my patriotism because I said children should learn to read, and could get better jobs by doing so, is beneath contempt...I live in a national guard town, and I support our troops, but I don’t support either the war or educational policies that limit the options of young men and women to any one career—military or otherwise." King again defended his comment in an interview with the Bangor Daily News on May 8, saying, "I’m not going to apologize for promoting that kids get better education in high school, so they have more options. Those that don’t agree with what I’m saying, I’m not going to change their minds."[78] King's website states that he is a supporter of the Democratic Party. During the 2008 presidential election, King voiced his support for Democratic candidate Barack Obama.[79] King was quoted as calling conservative commentator Glenn Beck "Satan's mentally challenged younger brother."[80] On March 8, 2011, King spoke at a political rally in Sarasota aimed against Governor Rick Scott (R-FL), voicing his opposition to the Tea Party movement.[81] In November 2011, King donated $70,000 in matched funding via his radio station to help pay the heating bills for families in need in his home town of Bangor, Maine, during the winter.[82] On April 30, 2012, King published an article in The Daily Beast calling for rich Americans, including himself, to pay more taxes, citing it as "a practical necessity and moral imperative that those who have received much should be obligated to pay ... in the same proportion".[83] Personal life King's home in Bangor King and his wife own and occupy three different houses, one in Bangor, one in Lovell, Maine, and they regularly winter in their waterfront mansion located off the Gulf of Mexico, in Sarasota, Florida. He and Tabitha have three children, Naomi, Joe and Owen, and three grandchildren.[12] Shortly after publication of The Tommyknockers, King's family and friends staged an intervention, dumping evidence of his addictions taken from the trash including beer cans, cigarette butts, grams of cocaine, Xanax, Valium, NyQuil, dextromethorphan (cough medicine) and marijuana, on the rug in front of him. As King related in his memoir, he then sought help and quit all forms of drugs and alcohol in the late 1980s, and has remained sober since.[15] Tabitha King has published nine of her own novels. Both King's sons are published authors: Owen King published his first collection of stories, We're All in This Together: A Novella and Stories, in 2005. Joseph Hillstrom King, who writes under the professional name Joe Hill, published a collection of short stories, 20th Century Ghosts, in 2005. His debut novel, Heart-Shaped Box, was published in 2007 and will be adapted into a feature film by director Neil Jordan.[84] King's daughter Naomi is a Unitarian Universalist Church minister in Plantation, Florida with her same-sex partner, Rev. Dr. Thandeka.[85] King is a fan of baseball, and of the Boston Red Sox in particular; he frequently attends the team's home and away games, and occasionally mentions the team in his novels and stories. He helped coach his son Owen's Bangor West team to the Maine Little League Championship in 1989. He recounts this experience in the New Yorker essay "Head Down", which also appears in the collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes. In 1999, King wrote The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, which featured former Red Sox pitcher Tom Gordon as the protagonist's imaginary companion. In 2004, King co-wrote a book titled Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season with Stewart O'Nan, recounting the authors' roller coaster reaction to the Red Sox's 2004 season, a season culminating in the Sox winning the 2004 American League Championship Series and World Series.[86] In the 2005 film Fever Pitch, about an obsessive Boston Red Sox fan, King tosses out the first pitch of the Sox's opening day game. ... ...... Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs was an American businessman, designer and inventor. He is best known as the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Through Apple, he was widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution[7][8] and for his influential career in the computer and consumer electronics fields. Jobs also co-founded and served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, when Disney acquired Pixar. In the late 1970s, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak engineered one of the first commercially successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series. Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of Xerox PARC's mouse-driven graphical user interface, which led to the creation of the Apple Lisa and, one year later, the Macintosh. During this period he also led efforts that would begin the desktop publishing revolution, notably through the introduction of the LaserWriter and the associated PageMaker software.[9] After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985, Jobs left Apple and founded NeXT, a computer platform development company specializing in the higher-education and business markets. In 1986, he acquired the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm, which was spun off as Pixar.[10] He was credited in Toy Story (1995) as an executive producer. He remained CEO and majority shareholder at 50.1 percent until its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company in 2006,[11] making Jobs Disney's largest individual shareholder at seven percent and a member of Disney's Board of Directors.[12][13] After difficulties developing a new Mac operating system, Apple purchased NeXT in 1996 in order to use NeXTSTEP as the basis for what became Mac OS X.[14] As part of the deal Jobs was named Apple advisor. As Apple floundered, Jobs took control of the company and was named "interim CEO" in 1997, or as he jokingly referred to it, "iCEO". Under his leadership, Apple was saved from near bankruptcy, and became profitable by 1998.[15][16] Over the next decade, Jobs oversaw the development of the iMac, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and iPad, and on the services side, the company's Apple Retail Stores, iTunes Store and the App Store.[17] The success of these products and services, providing several years of stable financial returns, propelled Apple to become the world's most valuable publicly traded company in 2011.[18] The reinvigoration of the company is regarded by many commentators as one of the greatest turnarounds in business history.[19][20][21] In 2003, Jobs was diagnosed with a pancreas neuroendocrine tumor. Though it was initially treated, he reported a hormone imbalance, underwent a liver transplant in 2009, and appeared progressively thinner as his health declined.[22] On medical leave for most of 2011, Jobs resigned as Apple CEO in August that year and was elected Chairman of the Board. He died of respiratory arrest related to his metastatic tumor on October 5, 2011. Jobs has received a number of honors and public recognition for his influence in the technology and music industries. He has widely been referred to as "legendary", a "futurist" or simply "visionary",[23][24][25][26] and has been described as the "Father of the Digital Revolution",[27] a "master of innovation",[28][29] and a "design perfectionist". Steven Paul Jobs was born in San Francisco on February 24, 1955 to two university students, Joanne Carole Schieble and Syrian-born Abdulfattah "John" Jandali (Arabic: عبدالفتاح جندلي‎), who were both unmarried at the time.[32] Jandali, who was teaching in Wisconsin when Steve was born in 1955, said he had no choice but to put the baby up for adoption because his girlfriend's family objected to their relationship.[33] The baby was adopted at birth by Paul Reinhold Jobs (1922–1993) and Clara Jobs (1924–1986), an Armenian-American[3] whose maiden name was Hagopian.[34] According to Steve Jobs's commencement address at Stanford, Schieble wanted Jobs to be adopted only by a college-graduate couple. Schieble learned that Clara Jobs didn't graduate from college and Paul Jobs only attended high school, but signed final adoption papers after they promised her that the child would definitely be encouraged and supported to attend college. Later, when asked about his "adoptive parents," Jobs replied emphatically that Paul and Clara Jobs "were my parents."[35] He stated in his authorized biography that they "were my parents 1,000%."[36] Unknown to him, his biological parents would subsequently marry (December 1955), have a second child Mona Simpson in 1957, and divorce in 1962.[36] The Jobs family moved from San Francisco to Mountain View, California when Steve was five years old.[1][2] The parents later adopted a daughter, Patti. Paul was a machinist for a company that made lasers, and taught his son rudimentary electronics and how to work with his hands.[1] The father showed Steve how to work on electronics in the family garage, demonstrating to his son how to take apart and rebuild electronics such as radios and televisions. As a result, Steve became interested in and developed a hobby of technical tinkering.[37] Clara was an accountant[35] who taught him to read before he went to school.[1] Clara Jobs had been a payroll clerk for Varian Associates, one of the first high-tech firms in what became known as Silicon Valley.[38] Jobs's youth was riddled with frustrations over formal schooling. At Monta Loma Elementary school in Mountain View, he was a prankster whose fourth-grade teacher needed to bribe him to study. Jobs tested so well, however, that administrators wanted to skip him ahead to high school—a proposal his parents declined.[39] Jobs then attended Cupertino Junior High and Homestead High School in Cupertino, California.[2] At Homestead, Jobs became friends with Bill Fernandez, a neighbor who shared the same interests in electronics. Fernandez introduced Jobs to another, older computer whiz kid, Stephen Wozniak (also known as "Woz"). In 1969 Woz started building a little computer board with Fernandez that they named “The Cream Soda Computer”, which they showed to Jobs; he seemed really interested.[40] Jobs frequented after-school lectures at the Hewlett-Packard Company in Palo Alto, California, and was later hired there, working with Wozniak as a summer employee.[41] Following high school graduation in 1972, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Reed was an expensive college which Paul and Clara could ill afford. They were spending much of their life savings on their son’s higher education.[40] Jobs dropped out of college after six months and spent the next 18 months dropping in on creative classes, including a course on calligraphy.[42] He continued auditing classes at Reed while sleeping on the floor in friends' dorm rooms, returning Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple.[43] Jobs later said, "If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts."[43] Early career Crystal Clear app kedit.svg This section may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia's layout guidelines. Please help by editing the article to make improvements to the overall structure. (March 2012) Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter, September 1976 In 1974, Jobs took a job as a technician at Atari, Inc. in Los Gatos, California.[44] He traveled to India in mid-1974[45] to visit Neem Karoli Baba[46] at his Kainchi Ashram with a Reed College friend (and, later, an early Apple employee), Daniel Kottke, in search of spiritual enlightenment. When they got to the Neem Karoli ashram, it was almost deserted as Neem Karoli Baba had died in September 1973.[44] Then they made a long trek up a dry riverbed to an ashram of Hariakhan Baba. In India, they spent a lot of time on bus rides from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh and back, then up to Himachal Pradesh and back.[44] After staying for seven months, Jobs left India[47] and returned to the US ahead of Daniel Kottke.[44] Jobs had changed his appearance; his head was shaved and he wore traditional Indian clothing.[48][49] During this time, Jobs experimented with psychedelics, later calling his LSD experiences "one of the two or three most important things [he had] done in [his] life".[50][51] He also became a serious practitioner of Zen Buddhism, engaged in lengthy meditation retreats at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the oldest Sōtō Zen monastery in the US.[52] He considered taking up monastic residence at Eihei-ji in Japan, and maintained a lifelong appreciation for Zen.[53] Jobs would later say that people around him who did not share his countercultural roots could not fully relate to his thinking.[50] Jobs then returned to Atari, and was assigned to create a circuit board for the arcade video game Breakout. According to Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, Atari offered $100 for each chip that was eliminated in the machine. At that time, Jobs had little specialized knowledge of circuit board design and made a deal with Wozniak to split the fee evenly between them if Wozniak could minimize the number of chips. Much to the amazement of Atari engineers, Wozniak reduced the number of chips by 50, a design so tight that it was impossible to reproduce on an assembly line.[further explanation needed] According to Wozniak, Jobs told him that Atari gave them only $700 (instead of the offered $5,000), and that Wozniak's share was thus $350.[54] Wozniak did not learn about the actual bonus until ten years later, but said that if Jobs had told him about it and had said he needed the money, Wozniak would have given it to him.[55] In the early 1970s, Jobs and Wozniak were drawn to technology like a magnet. Wozniak had designed a low-cost digital "blue box" to generate the necessary tones to manipulate the telephone network, allowing free long-distance calls. Jobs decided that they could make money selling it. The clandestine sales of the illegal "blue boxes" went well, and perhaps planted the seed in Jobs's mind that electronics could be fun and profitable.[56] Jobs began attending meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club with Wozniak in 1975.[2] He greatly admired Edwin H. Land, the inventor of instant photography and founder of Polaroid Corporation, and would explicitly model his own career after that of Land's.[57][58] In 1976, Jobs and Wozniak formed their own business, which they named “Apple Computer Company” in remembrance of a happy summer Jobs had spent picking apples. At first they started off selling circuit boards, but eventually they produced a complete computer prototype.[59] Career Apple Computer See also: History of Apple Home of Paul and Clara Jobs, on Crist Drive in Los Altos, California. Steve Jobs formed Apple Computer in its garage with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976. Wayne stayed only a short time leaving Jobs and Wozniak as the primary co-founders of the company. Home of Paul and Clara Jobs, on Crist Drive in Los Altos, California. Steve Jobs formed Apple Computer in its garage with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976. Wayne stayed only a short time, leaving Jobs and Wozniak as the primary co-founders of the company. Jobs and Steve Wozniak met in 1971, when their mutual friend, Bill Fernandez, introduced 21-year-old Wozniak to 16-year-old Jobs. In 1976, Wozniak invented the Apple I computer. Jobs, Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple computer in the garage of Jobs's parents in order to sell it.[60] They received funding from a then-semi-retired Intel product-marketing manager and engineer Mike Markkula.[61] In 1978, Apple recruited Mike Scott from National Semiconductor to serve as CEO for what turned out to be several turbulent years. In 1983, Jobs lured John Sculley away from Pepsi-Cola to serve as Apple's CEO, asking, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?"[62] In the early 1980s, Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of Xerox PARC's mouse-driven graphical user interface, which led to the creation of the Apple Lisa. One year later, Apple employee Jef Raskin invented the Macintosh.[63][64] The following year, Apple aired a Super Bowl television commercial titled "1984". At Apple's annual shareholders meeting on January 24, 1984, an emotional Jobs introduced the Macintosh to a wildly enthusiastic audience; Andy Hertzfeld described the scene as "pandemonium".[65] Apple logo in 1977, created by Rob Janoff with the rainbow color theme used until 1998. While Jobs was a persuasive and charismatic director for Apple, some of his employees from that time described him as an erratic and temperamental manager. Disappointing sales caused a deterioration in Jobs's working relationship with Sculley and it eventually became a power struggle between Jobs and Sculley.[66] Jobs kept meetings running past midnight, sent out lengthy faxes, then called new meetings at 7:00 am.[67] Sculley learned that Jobs—believing Sculley to be "bad for Apple" and the wrong person to lead the company—had been attempting to organize a boardroom coup, and on May 24, 1985, called a board meeting to resolve the matter.[66] Apple's board of directors sided with Sculley and removed Jobs from his managerial duties as head of the Macintosh division.[68][69] Jobs resigned from Apple five months later[66] and founded NeXT Inc. the same year.[67][70] In a speech Jobs gave at Stanford University in 2005, he said being fired from Apple was the best thing that could have happened to him; "The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life." And he added, "I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful-tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it."[43][71][72] NeXT Computer See also: NeXT A NeXTstation with the original keyboard, mouse and the NeXT MegaPixel monitor After leaving Apple, Jobs founded NeXT Computer in 1985, with $7 million. A year later, Jobs was running out of money, and with no product on the horizon, he appealed for venture capital. Eventually, he attracted the attention of billionaire Ross Perot who invested heavily in the company.[73] NeXT workstations were first released in 1990, priced at $9,999. Like the Apple Lisa, the NeXT workstation was technologically advanced, but was largely dismissed as cost-prohibitive by the educational sector for which it was designed.[74] The NeXT workstation was known for its technical strengths, chief among them its object-oriented software development system. Jobs marketed NeXT products to the financial, scientific, and academic community, highlighting its innovative, experimental new technologies, such as the Mach kernel, the digital signal processor chip, and the built-in Ethernet port. Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web on a NeXT computer at CERN.[75] The revised, second-generation NeXTcube was released in 1990, also. Jobs touted it as the first "interpersonal" computer that would replace the personal computer. With its innovative NeXTMail multimedia email system, NeXTcube could share voice, image, graphics, and video in email for the first time. "Interpersonal computing is going to revolutionize human communications and groupwork", Jobs told reporters.[76] Jobs ran NeXT with an obsession for aesthetic perfection, as evidenced by the development of and attention to NeXTcube's magnesium case.[77] This put considerable strain on NeXT's hardware division, and in 1993, after having sold only 50,000 machines, NeXT transitioned fully to software development with the release of NeXTSTEP/Intel.[78] The company reported its first profit of $1.03 million in 1994.[73] In 1996, NeXT Software, Inc. released WebObjects, a framework for Web application development. After NeXT was acquired by Apple Inc. in 1997, WebObjects was used to build and run the Apple Store,[78] MobileMe services, and the iTunes Store. Pixar and Disney In 1986, Jobs bought The Graphics Group (later renamed Pixar) from Lucasfilm's computer graphics division for the price of $10 million, $5 million of which was given to the company as capital.[79] The first film produced by the partnership, Toy Story, with Jobs credited as executive producer,[80] brought fame and critical acclaim to the studio when it was released in 1995. Over the next 15 years, under Pixar's creative chief John Lasseter, the company produced box-office hits A Bug's Life (1998); Toy Story 2 (1999); Monsters, Inc. (2001); Finding Nemo (2003); The Incredibles (2004); Cars (2006); Ratatouille (2007); WALL-E (2008); Up (2009); and Toy Story 3 (2010). Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up and Toy Story 3 each received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, an award introduced in 2001.[81] Steve Jobs on computer graphics Steve Jobs on computer graphics. Interview excerpt from 1995.[82] In the years 2003 and 2004, as Pixar's contract with Disney was running out, Jobs and Disney chief executive Michael Eisner tried but failed to negotiate a new partnership,[83] and in early 2004, Jobs announced that Pixar would seek a new partner to distribute its films after its contract with Disney expired. In October 2005, Bob Iger replaced Eisner at Disney, and Iger quickly worked to patch up relations with Jobs and Pixar. On January 24, 2006, Jobs and Iger announced that Disney had agreed to purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. When the deal closed, Jobs became The Walt Disney Company's largest single shareholder with approximately seven percent of the company's stock.[12] Jobs's holdings in Disney far exceeded those of Eisner, who holds 1.7 percent, and of Disney family member Roy E. Disney, who until his 2009 death held about one percent of the company's stock and whose criticisms of Eisner — especially that he soured Disney's relationship with Pixar — accelerated Eisner's ousting. Jobs joined the company's board of directors upon completion of the merger and also helped oversee Disney and Pixar's combined animation businesses from a seat on a special six-person steering committee.[84] Upon Jobs's death his shares in Disney were transferred to the Steven P. Jobs Trust led by Laurene Jobs.[85] Return to Apple See also: "1998–2005: Return to profitability" in Apple, Inc. Logo for the Think Different campaign designed by TBWA\Chiat\Day and initiated by Jobs after his return to Apple Computer in 1997. In 1996, Apple announced that it would buy NeXT for $427 million. The deal was finalized in late 1996,[86] bringing Jobs back to the company he co-founded. Jobs became de facto chief after then-CEO Gil Amelio was ousted in July 1997. He was formally named interim chief executive in September.[87] In March 1998, to concentrate Apple's efforts on returning to profitability, Jobs terminated a number of projects, such as Newton, Cyberdog, and OpenDoc. In the coming months, many employees developed a fear of encountering Jobs while riding in the elevator, "afraid that they might not have a job when the doors opened. The reality was that Jobs's summary executions were rare, but a handful of victims was enough to terrorize a whole company."[88] Jobs also changed the licensing program for Macintosh clones, making it too costly for the manufacturers to continue making machines. With the purchase of NeXT, much of the company's technology found its way into Apple products, most notably NeXTSTEP, which evolved into Mac OS X. Under Jobs's guidance, the company increased sales significantly with the introduction of the iMac and other new products; since then, appealing designs and powerful branding have worked well for Apple. At the 2000 Macworld Expo, Jobs officially dropped the "interim" modifier from his title at Apple and became permanent CEO.[89] Jobs quipped at the time that he would be using the title "iCEO".[90] Full-length portrait of man about fifty wearing jeans and a black turtleneck shirt, standing in front of a dark curtain with a white Apple logo Jobs on stage at Macworld Conference & Expo, San Francisco, January 11, 2005 The company subsequently branched out, introducing and improving upon other digital appliances. With the introduction of the iPod portable music player, iTunes digital music software, and the iTunes Store, the company made forays into consumer electronics and music distribution. On June 29, 2007, Apple entered the cellular phone business with the introduction of the iPhone, a multi-touch display cell phone, which also included the features of an iPod and, with its own mobile browser, revolutionized the mobile browsing scene. While stimulating innovation, Jobs also reminded his employees that "real artists ship".[91] Jobs was both admired and criticized for his consummate skill at persuasion and salesmanship, which has been dubbed the "reality distortion field" and was particularly evident during his keynote speeches (colloquially known as "Stevenotes") at Macworld Expos and at Apple Worldwide Developers Conferences. In 2005, Jobs responded to criticism of Apple's poor recycling programs for e-waste in the US by lashing out at environmental and other advocates at Apple's Annual Meeting in Cupertino in April. A few weeks later, Apple announced it would take back iPods for free at its retail stores. The Computer TakeBack Campaign responded by flying a banner from a plane over the Stanford University graduation at which Jobs was the commencement speaker.[43] The banner read "Steve, don't be a mini-player—recycle all e-waste". In 2006, he further expanded Apple's recycling programs to any US customer who buys a new Mac. This program includes shipping and "environmentally friendly disposal" of their old systems.[92] Resignation In August 2011, Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple, but remained with the company as chairman of the company's board.[93][94] Hours after the announcement, Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares dropped five percent in after-hours trading.[95] This relatively small drop, when considering the importance of Jobs to Apple, was associated with the fact that his health had been in the news for several years, and he had been on medical leave since January 2011.[96] It was believed, according to Forbes, that the impact would be felt in a negative way beyond Apple, including at The Walt Disney Company where Jobs served as director.[97] In after-hours trading on the day of the announcement, Walt Disney Co. (DIS) shares dropped 1.5 percent.[98] Business life Wealth Jobs earned only $1 a year as CEO of Apple,[99] Jobs held 5.426 million Apple shares worth $2.1 billion, as well as 138 million shares in Disney (which he received in exchange for Disney's acquisition of Pixar) worth $4.4 billion.[100][101] Jobs quipped that the $1 per annum he was paid by Apple was based on attending one meeting for 50 cents while the other 50 cents was based on his performance.[102] Forbes estimated his net wealth at $8.3 billion in 2010, making him the 42nd wealthiest American.[103] Stock options backdating issue Two men in their fifties shown full length sitting in red leather chairs smiling at each other Steve Jobs and Bill Gates at the fifth D: All Things Digital conference (D5) in 2007 In 2001, Jobs was granted stock options in the amount of 7.5 million shares of Apple with an exercise price of $18.30. It was alleged that the options had been backdated, and that the exercise price should have been $21.10. It was further alleged that Jobs had thereby incurred taxable income of $20,000,000 that he did not report, and that Apple overstated its earnings by that same amount. As a result, Jobs potentially faced a number of criminal charges and civil penalties. The case was the subject of active criminal and civil government investigations,[104] though an independent internal Apple investigation completed on December 29, 2006, found that Jobs was unaware of these issues and that the options granted to him were returned without being exercised in 2003.[105] On July 1, 2008, a $7-billion class action suit was filed against several members of the Apple Board of Directors for revenue lost due to the alleged securities fraud.[106][107] Management style Jobs was a demanding perfectionist[108][109] who always aspired to position his businesses and their products at the forefront of the information technology industry by foreseeing and setting trends, at least in innovation and style. He summed up that self-concept at the end of his keynote speech at the Macworld Conference and Expo in January 2007, by quoting ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky There's an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. 'I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.' And we've always tried to do that at Apple. Since the very very beginning. And we always will.[110] Steve Jobs announcing the transition to Intel processors in 2005. Much was made of Jobs's aggressive and demanding personality. Fortune wrote that he was "considered one of Silicon Valley's leading egomaniacs".[111] Commentaries on his temperamental style can be found in Michael Moritz's The Little Kingdom, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, by Alan Deutschman; and iCon: Steve Jobs, by Jeffrey S. Young & William L. Simon. In 1993, Jobs made Fortune's list of America's Toughest Bosses in regard to his leadership of NeXT. NeXT Cofounder Dan'l Lewin was quoted in Fortune as saying of that period, "The highs were unbelievable ... But the lows were unimaginable", to which Jobs's office replied that his personality had changed since then.[112] In 2005, Jobs banned all books published by John Wiley & Sons from Apple Stores in response to their publishing an unauthorized biography, iCon: Steve Jobs.[113] In its 2010 annual earnings report, Wiley said it had "closed a deal ... to make its titles available for the iPad."[114] Jef Raskin, a former colleague, once said that Jobs "would have made an excellent king of France", alluding to Jobs's compelling and larger-than-life persona.[115] Floyd Norman said that at Pixar, Jobs was a "mature, mellow individual" and never interfered with the creative process of the filmmakers.[116] Jobs had a public war of words with Dell Computer CEO Michael Dell, starting in 1987 when Jobs first criticized Dell for making "un-innovative beige boxes".[117] On October 6, 1997, in a Gartner Symposium, when Michael Dell was asked what he would do if he ran then-troubled Apple Computer, he said "I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."[118] In 2006, Jobs sent an email to all employees when Apple's market capitalization rose above Dell's. The email read: Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn't perfect at predicting the future. Based on today's stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today. Steve.[119] Jobs was also a board member at Gap Inc. from 1999 to 2002.[120] Reality distortion field Main article: Reality distortion field Apple's Bud Tribble coined the term "reality distortion field" in 1981, to describe Jobs's charisma and its effects on the developers working on the Macintosh project.[121] Tribble claimed that the term came from Star Trek.[121] Since then the term has also been used to refer to perceptions of Jobs's keynote speeches.[122] The RDF was said by Andy Hertzfeld to be Steve Jobs's ability to convince himself and others to believe almost anything, using a mix of charm, charisma, bravado, hyperbole, marketing, appeasement, and persistence. Although the subject of criticism, Jobs's so-called reality distortion field was also recognized as creating a sense that the impossible was possible. Once the term became widely known, it was often used in the technology press to describe Jobs's sway over the public, particularly regarding new product announcements.[123][124] Inventions and designs His design sense was greatly influenced by the Buddhism which he experienced in India while on a seven-month spiritual journey.[125] His sense of intuition was also influenced by the spiritual people with whom he studied.[125] As of October 9, 2011, Jobs is listed as either primary inventor or co-inventor in 342 United States patents or patent applications related to a range of technologies from actual computer and portable devices to user interfaces (including touch-based), speakers, keyboards, power adapters, staircases, clasps, sleeves, lanyards and packages. Most of these are design patents (specific product designs) as opposed to utility patents (inventions).[126][127] He has 43 issued US patents on inventions.[128] The patent on the Mac OS X Dock user interface with "magnification" feature was issued the day before he died.[129] Applying his Triple F Model to Apple under Steve Jobs, Anand Kurian opines that Job's contribution in the area of pure ‘Function’ are less significant, but that his contribution in the areas of ‘Functionality’ and ‘Form’ are major and substantial.[130][131] Apple I Computer Main article: Apple I The first significant invention that Steve Jobs was involved in was the Apple I which came along in 1976. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who was at the time working for HP, scraped together some cash for printed circuit boards. Then they planned to sell the machine as a kit for $666.66. A store called the Byte Shop ordered 50 fully assembled devices, and sold them all.[132] The Apple’s first computer was for hobbyists and engineers so it was made in small numbers.[133] Apple II Computer Main article: Apple II During 1976, Steve Wozniak began work on the Apple II, and left HP to join Apple computer. In March 1977, Apple Computer moved from Jobs's garage to an office in Cupertino. Apple Computer delivered its first Apple II system, for US$1295 in April 1977.[134] Steve Jobs once said the Apple II could be described as an "appliance" computer. The Apple II was the first computer to be enclosed in plastic.[135] Jobs insisted that molded plastic was essential to the computer as a consumer item. The Apple II was “elegantly styled" and it became compared to an "overgrown pocket calculator".[136] Ten months after its introduction, Apple Computer began work on an enhanced Apple II with custom chips, code-named Annie, in 1978. At the same year, they began work on a supercomputer named Lisa; it featured a bit-sliced architecture. After two and a half years, 50,000 Apple II units had been sold until 1979. Nearly one-third of Canadians credited the Apple II as the first personal computer which had the most impact on society.[137] The Macintosh Computer The Macintosh was introduced in January 1984. The computer had no “Mac” name on the front, but rather just the Apple logo.[132] The Macintosh had a friendly appearance since it was meant to be easy to use. The disk drive is below the display, the Macintosh was taller, narrower, more symmetrical, and far more suggestive of a face. The Macintosh was identified as a computer that ordinary people could understand.[138] The NeXT Computer Main article: NeXT Computer After Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985, he started a company that built workstation computers. The NeXT Computer was introduced in 1989. Sir Tim Berners-Lee created the world’s first web browser on the NeXT Computer. The NeXT Computer was the basis for today’s Macintosh OS X and iPhone operating system (iOS).[139] iMac Main article: IMac Apple iMac was introduced in 1998 and its innovative design was directly the result of Jobs's return to Apple. Apple boasted "the back of our computer looks better than the front of anyone else's".[140] Described as "cartoonlike" the first iMac, clad in Bondi Blue plastic, was unlike any personal computer that came before. In 1999, Apple introduced Graphite gray Apple iMac and since has switched to all-white. Design ideas were intended to create a connection with the user such as the handle and a breathing light effect when the computer went to sleep..[141] The Apple iMac sold for $1,299 at that time. There was some technical revolutions for iMac too. The USB ports being the only device inputs on the iMac. So the iMac’s success helped popularize the interface among third party peripheral makers, which is evidenced by the fact that many early USB peripherals were made of translucent plastic to match the iMac design.[142] iPod Main article: IPod The first generation of iPod was released October 23, 2001. The major innovation of the iPod was its small size achieved by using a 1.8" hard drive compared to the 2.5" drives common to players at that time. The capacity of the first generation iPod ranged from 5G to 10 Gigabytes.[143] The iPod sold for US$399 and more than 100,000 iPods were sold before the end of 2001. The introduction of the iPod resulted in Apple becoming a major player in the music industry.[144] Also, the iPod’s success prepared the way for the iTunes music store and the iPhone.[133] After the 1st generation of iPod, Apple released the hard drive-based iPod classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, video-capable iPod Nano, screenless iPod Shuffle in the following years.[144] iPhone Main article: IPhone Jobs began work on the first iPhone in 2005 and the first iPhone was released on June 29, 2007. The iPhone created such a sensation that a survey indicated six out of ten Americans were aware of its release. Time magazine declared it "Invention of the Year" for 2007.[145] The Apple iPhone is a small device with multimedia capabilities and functions as a quad-band touch screen smartphone.[146] A year later, the iPhone 3G was released in July 2008 with the key feature was support for GPS, 3G data and quad-band UMTS/HSDPA. In June 2009, the iPhone 3GS, added voice control, a better camera, and a faster processor was introduced by Phil Schiller.[147] iPhone 4 was thinner than previous models, had a five megapixel camera which can record videos in 720p HD, and added a secondary front facing camera for video calls.[148] A major feature of the iPhone 4S, introduced in October 2011, was Siri, which is a virtual assistant that is capable of voice recognition.[145] Philanthropy Arik Hesseldahl of BusinessWeek magazine stated that "Jobs isn't widely known for his association with philanthropic causes", compared to Bill Gates's efforts.[149] In contrast to Gates, Jobs did not sign the Giving Pledge of Warren Buffett which challenged the world’s richest billionaires to give at least half their wealth to charity.[150] In an interview with Playboy in 1985, Jobs said in respect to money that “the challenges are to figure out how to live with it and to reinvest it back into the world which means either giving it away or using it to express your concerns or values.”[151] Jobs also added that when he has some time we would start a public foundation but for now he does charitable acts privately.[152] After resuming control of Apple in 1997, Jobs eliminated all corporate philanthropy programs initially.[153] Jobs’s friends told The New York Times that he felt that expanding Apple would have done more good than giving money to charity.[154] Later, under Jobs, Apple signed to participate in Product Red program, producing red versions of devices to give profits from sales to charity. Apple has gone on to become the largest contributor to the charity since its initial involvement with it. The chief of the Product Red project, singer Bono cited Jobs saying there was "nothing better than the chance to save lives," when he initially approached Apple with the invitation to participate in the program.[155] Through its sales, Apple has been the largest contributor to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, according to Bono.[156] Personal life Jobs's birth parents met at the University of Wisconsin. Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, from Syria,[157] taught there. Joanne Carole Schieble was his student; they were the same age because Jandali had "gotten his PhD really young." [158][159][160] Schieble had a career as a speech language pathologist. Jandali taught political science at the University of Nevada in the 1960s, and then made his career in the food and beverage industry, and since 2006, has been a vice president at a casino in Reno, Nevada.[161][162] In December 1955, ten months after giving up their baby boy, Schieble and Jandali married. In 1957 they had a daughter, Mona. They divorced in 1962, and Jandali lost touch with his daughter.[163] Her mother remarried and had Mona take the surname of her stepfather, so she became known as Mona Simpson.[159] In the 1980s, Jobs found his birth mother, Joanne Schieble Simpson, who told him he had a biological sister, Mona Simpson. They met for the first time in 1985[163] and became close friends. The siblings kept their relationship secret until 1986, when Mona introduced him at a party for her first book.[35] After deciding to search for their father, Simpson found Jandali managing a coffee shop. Without knowing who his son had become, Jandali told Mona that he had previously managed a popular restaurant in the Silicon Valley where "Even Steve Jobs used to eat there. Yeah, he was a great tipper." In a taped interview with his biographer Walter Isaacson, aired on 60 Minutes,[164] Jobs said: "When I was looking for my biological mother, obviously, you know, I was looking for my biological father at the same time, and I learned a little bit about him and I didn't like what I learned. I asked her to not tell him that we ever met...not tell him anything about me."[165] Jobs was in occasional touch with his mother Joanne Simpson,[153][166] who lives in a nursing home in Los Angeles.[159] When speaking about his biological parents, Jobs stated: "They were my sperm and egg bank. That's not harsh, it's just the way it was, a sperm bank thing, nothing more."[36] Jandali stated in an interview with the The Sun in August 2011, that his efforts to contact Jobs were unsuccessful. Jandali mailed in his medical history after Jobs's pancreatic disorder was made public that year.[167][168][169] In her eulogy to Jobs at his memorial service, Mona Simpson stated: I grew up as an only child, with a single mother. Because we were poor and because I knew my father had emigrated from Syria, I imagined he looked like Omar Sharif. I hoped he would be rich and kind and would come into our lives (and our not yet furnished apartment) and help us. Later, after I'd met my father, I tried to believe he'd changed his number and left no forwarding address because he was an idealistic revolutionary, plotting a new world for the Arab people. Even as a feminist, my whole life I'd been waiting for a man to love, who could love me. For decades, I'd thought that man would be my father. When I was 25, I met that man and he was my brother.[163] Jobs's first child, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, was born in 1978, the daughter of his longtime partner Chris Ann Brennan, a Bay Area painter.[153] For two years, she raised their daughter on welfare while Jobs denied paternity by claiming he was sterile; he later acknowledged Lisa as his daughter.[153] Jobs later married Laurene Powell on March 18, 1991, in a ceremony at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. Presiding over the wedding was Kobun Chino Otogawa, a Zen Buddhist monk. Their son, Reed, was born September 1991, followed by daughters Erin in August 1995, and Eve in 1998.[170] The family lives in Palo Alto, California.[171] Shoulder-high portrait of two middle aged men, the one on left wearing a blue dress shirt and suitcoat, the one on right wearing a black turtleneck shirt and with his glasses pushed back onto his head and holding a phone facing them with an Apple logo visible on its back Jobs demonstrating the iPhone 4 to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on June 23, 2010 In the unauthorized biography, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, author Alan Deutschman reports that Jobs once dated Joan Baez. Deutschman quotes Elizabeth Holmes, a friend of Jobs from his time at Reed College, as saying she "believed that Steve became the lover of Joan Baez in large measure because Baez had been the lover of Bob Dylan" (Dylan was the Apple icon's favorite musician). In another unauthorized biography, iCon: Steve Jobs by Jeffrey S. Young & William L. Simon, the authors suggest that Jobs might have married Baez, but her age at the time (41) meant it was unlikely the couple could have children. Jobs was also a fan of The Beatles. He referred to them on multiple occasions at Keynotes and also was interviewed on a showing of a Paul McCartney concert. When asked about his business model on 60 Minutes, he replied: My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each other's negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts. Great things in business are never done by one person, they are done by a team of people.[172] In 1982, Jobs bought an apartment in The San Remo, an apartment building in New York City with a politically progressive reputation, where Demi Moore, Steven Spielberg, Steve Martin, and Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, daughter of Rita Hayworth, also had apartments. With the help of I.M. Pei, Jobs spent years renovating his apartment in the top two floors of the building's north tower, only to sell it almost two decades later to U2 singer Bono. Jobs never moved in.[173][174] In 1984, Jobs purchased the Jackling House, a 17,000-square-foot (1,600 m2), 14-bedroom Spanish Colonial mansion designed by George Washington Smith in Woodside, California. Although it reportedly remained in an almost unfurnished state, Jobs lived in the mansion for almost ten years. According to reports, he kept a 1966 BMW R60/2 motorcycle in the living room, and let Bill Clinton use it in 1998. From the early 1990s, Jobs lived in a house in the Old Palo Alto neighborhood of Palo Alto. President Clinton dined with Jobs and 14 Silicon Valley CEOs there on August 7, 1996, at a meal catered by Greens Restaurant.[175][176] Clinton returned the favor and Jobs, who was a Democratic donor, slept in the Lincoln bedroom of the White House.[177] Jobs allowed Jackling House to fall into a state of disrepair, planning to demolish the house and build a smaller home on the property; but he met with complaints from local preservationists over his plans. In June 2004, the Woodside Town Council gave Jobs approval to demolish the mansion, on the condition that he advertise the property for a year to see if someone would move it to another location and restore it. A number of people expressed interest, including several with experience in restoring old property, but no agreements to that effect were reached. Later that same year, a local preservationist group began seeking legal action to prevent demolition. In January 2007, Jobs was denied the right to demolish the property, by a court decision.[178] The court decision was overturned on appeal in March 2010, and the mansion was demolished beginning in February 2011.[179] Jobs usually wore a black long-sleeved mock turtleneck made by Issey Miyake (that was sometimes reported to be made by St. Croix), Levi's 501 blue jeans, and New Balance 991 sneakers.[180][181] Jobs told Walter Isaacson "...he came to like the idea of having a uniform for himself, both because of its daily convenience (the rationale he claimed) and its ability to convey a signature style." [182] He was a pescetarian.[183] Jobs's car was a silver Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG, which did not display its license plates, as he took advantage of a California law which gives a maximum of six months for new vehicles to receive plates; Jobs leased a new SL every six months.[184] In a 2011 interview with biographer Walter Isaacson, Jobs revealed at one point he met with U.S. President Barack Obama, complained of the nation's shortage of software engineers, and told Mr. Obama that he was "headed for a one-term presidency." Jobs proposed that any foreign student who got an engineering degree at a U.S. university should automatically be offered a green card. After the meeting, Jobs commented, "The president is very smart, but he kept explaining to us reasons why things can't get done.... It infuriates me." [185] Jobs contributed to a number of political candidates and causes during his life, giving $209,000 to Democrats, $45,700 to associated special interests and $1,000 to a Republican.[186] Health issues Jobs addressing concerns about his health in 2008. In October 2003, Jobs was diagnosed with cancer,[187] and in mid-2004, he announced to his employees that he had a cancerous tumor in his pancreas.[188] The prognosis for pancreatic cancer is usually very poor;[189] Jobs stated that he had a rare, far less aggressive type known as islet cell neuroendocrine tumor.[188] Despite his diagnosis, Jobs resisted his doctors' recommendations for mainstream medical intervention for nine months,[153] instead consuming a special alternative medicine diet in an attempt to thwart the disease. According to Harvard researcher Dr. Ramzi Amir, his choice of alternative treatment "led to an unnecessarily early death."[187] According to Jobs's biographer, Walter Isaacson, "for nine months he refused to undergo surgery for his pancreatic cancer – a decision he later regretted as his health declined."[190] "Instead, he tried a vegan diet, acupuncture, herbal remedies and other treatments he found online, and even consulted a psychic. He also was influenced by a doctor who ran a clinic that advised juice fasts, bowel cleansings and other unproven approaches, before finally having surgery in July 2004."[191] He eventually underwent a pancreaticoduodenectomy (or "Whipple procedure") in July 2004, that appeared to successfully remove the tumor.[192][193][194] Jobs apparently did not receive chemotherapy or radiation therapy.[188][195] During Jobs's absence, Tim Cook, head of worldwide sales and operations at Apple, ran the company.[188] In early August 2006, Jobs delivered the keynote for Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference. His "thin, almost gaunt" appearance and unusually "listless" delivery,[196][197] together with his choice to delegate significant portions of his keynote to other presenters, inspired a flurry of media and Internet speculation about his health.[198] In contrast, according to an Ars Technica journal report, Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) attendees who saw Jobs in person said he "looked fine".[199] Following the keynote, an Apple spokesperson said that "Steve's health is robust."[200] Two years later, similar concerns followed Jobs's 2008 WWDC keynote address.[201] Apple officials stated Jobs was victim to a "common bug" and was taking antibiotics,[202] while others surmised his cachectic appearance was due to the Whipple procedure.[195] During a July conference call discussing Apple earnings, participants responded to repeated questions about Jobs's health by insisting that it was a "private matter". Others, however, voiced the opinion that shareholders had a right to know more, given Jobs's hands-on approach to running his company.[203][204] The New York Times published an article based on an off-the-record phone conversation with Jobs, noting that "While his health problems amounted to a good deal more than 'a common bug', they weren't life-threatening and he doesn't have a recurrence of cancer."[205] On August 28, 2008, Bloomberg mistakenly published a 2500-word obituary of Jobs in its corporate news service, containing blank spaces for his age and cause of death. (News carriers customarily stockpile up-to-date obituaries to facilitate news delivery in the event of a well-known figure's death.) Although the error was promptly rectified, many news carriers and blogs reported on it,[206] intensifying rumors concerning Jobs's health.[207] Jobs responded at Apple's September 2008 Let's Rock keynote by quoting Mark Twain: "Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."[208] At a subsequent media event, Jobs concluded his presentation with a slide reading "110/70", referring to his blood pressure, stating he would not address further questions about his health.[209] On December 16, 2008, Apple announced that marketing vice-president Phil Schiller would deliver the company's final keynote address at the Macworld Conference and Expo 2009, again reviving questions about Jobs's health.[210][211] In a statement given on January 5, 2009, on Apple.com,[212] Jobs said that he had been suffering from a "hormone imbalance" for several months.[213] On January 14, 2009, in an internal Apple memo, Jobs wrote that in the previous week he had "learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought", and announced a six-month leave of absence until the end of June 2009, to allow him to better focus on his health. Tim Cook, who previously acted as CEO in Jobs's 2004 absence, became acting CEO of Apple,[214] with Jobs still involved with "major strategic decisions."[214] In April 2009, Jobs underwent a liver transplant at Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute in Memphis, Tennessee.[215][216] Jobs's prognosis was described as "excellent".[215] On January 17, 2011, a year and a half after Jobs returned from his liver transplant, Apple announced that he had been granted a medical leave of absence. Jobs announced his leave in a letter to employees, stating his decision was made "so he could focus on his health". As during his 2009 medical leave, Apple announced that Tim Cook would run day-to-day operations and that Jobs would continue to be involved in major strategic decisions at the company.[217][218] Despite the leave, he made appearances at the iPad 2 launch event (March 2), the WWDC keynote introducing iCloud (June 6), and before the Cupertino city council (June 7).[219] Jobs announced his resignation as Apple's CEO on August 24, 2011. "Unfortunately, that day has come," wrote Jobs, for he could "no longer meet [his] duties and expectations as Apple's CEO". Jobs became chairman of the board and named Tim Cook his successor.[220][221] Jobs had worked for Apple until the day before his death.[222] Death Flags flying at half-staff outside Apple HQ in Cupertino, on the evening of Steve Jobs's death. Memorial candles and iPads to Steve Jobs outside the Apple Store in Palo Alto California shortly after his death Jobs died at his California home around 3 p.m. on October 5, 2011, due to complications from a relapse of his previously treated islet-cell neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer,[2][223][224] resulting in respiratory arrest.[225] He had lost consciousness the day before, and died with his wife, children and sister at his side.[226] Both Apple and Microsoft flew their flags at half-staff throughout their respective headquarters and campuses.[227][228] Bob Iger ordered all Disney properties, including Walt Disney World and Disneyland, to fly their flags at half-staff, from October 6 to 12, 2011.[229] His death was announced by Apple in a statement which read: We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today. Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.[230] For two weeks following his death, Apple's corporate Web site displayed a simple page, showing Jobs's name and lifespan next to his grayscale portrait.[231] Clicking on the image led to an obituary, which read: Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.[231] An email address was also posted for the public to share their memories, condolences, and thoughts.[232][233] Over a million tributes were sent, which are now displayed on the Steve Jobs memorial page. Also dedicating its homepage to Jobs was Pixar, with a photo of Jobs, John Lasseter and Edwin Catmull, and the eulogy they wrote:[234] Steve was an extraordinary visionary, our very dear friend, and our guiding light of the Pixar family. He saw the potential of what Pixar could be before the rest of us, and beyond what anyone ever imagined. Steve took a chance on us and believed in our crazy dream of making computer animated films; the one thing he always said was to 'make it great.' He is why Pixar turned out the way we did and his strength, integrity, and love of life has made us all better people. He will forever be part of Pixar's DNA. Our hearts go out to his wife Laurene and their children during this incredibly difficult time.[234] A small private funeral was held on October 7, 2011, of which details were not revealed out of respect to Jobs's family.[235] Apple announced on the same day that they had no plans for a public service, but were encouraging "well-wishers" to send their remembrance messages to an email address created to receive such messages.[236] Sunday, October 16, 2011, was declared "Steve Jobs Day" by Governor Jerry Brown of California.[237] On that day, an invitation-only memorial was held at Stanford University. Those in attendance included Apple and other tech company executives, members of the media, celebrities, close friends of Jobs, and politicians, along with Jobs's family. Bono, Yo Yo Ma, and Joan Baez performed at the service, which lasted longer than an hour. The service was highly secured, with guards at all of the university's gates, and a helicopter flying overhead from an area news station.[238][239] A private memorial service for Apple employees was held on October 19, 2011, on the Apple Campus in Cupertino. Present were Cook, Bill Campbell, Norah Jones, Al Gore, and Coldplay, and Jobs's widow, Laurene, was in attendance. Some of Apple's retail stores closed briefly so employees could attend the memorial. A video of the service is available on Apple's website.[240] Jobs is buried at Alta Mesa Memorial Park, the only non-denominational cemetery in Palo Alto.[241][242]. He is survived by Laurene, his wife of 20 years, their three children, and Lisa Brennan-Jobs, his daughter from a previous relationship.[243] His family released a statement saying that he "died peacefully".[244][245] He "looked at his sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life's partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them" (Mona Simpson). Steve Jobs's death broke news headlines on ABC, CBS, and NBC. [246] Numerous newspapers around the world carried news of his death on their front pages the next day. Several notable people, including US President Barack Obama,[247] British Prime Minister David Cameron,[248] Microsoft founder Bill Gates,[249] and The Walt Disney Company's Bob Iger commented on the death of Jobs. Wired News collected reactions and posted them in tribute on their homepage.[250] Other statements of condolence were made by many of Jobs's friends and colleagues, such as Steve Wozniak and George Lucas.[251][252] After Steve Job's death, Adult Swim aired a 15-second segment with the words "hello" in a script font fading in and then changing into "goodbye". Major media published commemorative works. Time published a commemorative issue for Jobs on October 8, 2011. The issues cover featured a portrait of Jobs, taken by Norman Seeff, in which he is sitting in the lotus position holding the original Macintosh computer, first published in Rolling Stone in January 1984. The issue marked the eighth time Jobs has been featured on the cover of Time.[253] The issue included a photographic essay by Diana Walker, a retrospective on Apple by Harry McCracken and Lev Grossman, and a six-page essay by Walter Isaacson. Isaacson's essay served as a preview of his biography, Steve Jobs.[254] Bloomberg Businessweek also published an commemorative, ad-free issue, featuring extensive essays by Steve Jurvetson, John Sculley, Sean Wisely, William Gibson, and Walter Isaacson. On its cover, Steve Jobs is pictured in gray scale, along with his name and lifespan. Although reporters wrote glowing elegies after Jobs died, Los Angeles Times media critic James Rainey reported that they "came courtesy of reporters who—after deadline and off the record—would tell stories about a company obsessed with secrecy to the point of paranoia. They remind us how Apple shut down a youthful fanboy blogger, punished a publisher that dared to print an unauthorized Jobs biography and repeatedly ran afoul of the most basic tenets of a free press."[255] Free software pioneer Richard Stallman drew attention to the tight corporate control Apple exercised over consumer computers and handheld devices, how Apple restricted news reporters, and persistently violated privacy: "Steve Jobs, the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom, has died".[256][257] Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker asserted that "Jobs's sensibility was editorial, not inventive. His gift lay in taking what was in front of him ... and ruthlessly refining it."[258] Apple "has taken stances that, in my opinion, are outright hostile to the practice of journalism," said longtime Silicon Valley reporter Dan Gillmor.[255] Under Jobs, Apple sued three "small fry" bloggers who reported tips about the company and its unreleased products and tried to use the courts to force them to reveal their sources. Under Jobs, Apple even sued a teenager, Nicholas Ciarelli, who wrote enthusiastic speculation about Apple products beginning at age 13. His popular blog, ThinkSecret, was a play on Apple's slogan "Think Different." [255] Rainey wrote that Apple wanted to kill ThinkSecret as "It thought any leaks, even favorable ones, diluted the punch of its highly choreographed product launches with Jobs, in his iconic jeans and mock turtleneck outfit, as the star." [255] Honors and public recognition Steve Jobs with the first generation iPad tablet After Apple's founding, Jobs became a symbol of his company and industry. When Time named the computer as the 1982 "Machine of the Year", the magazine published a long profile of Jobs as "the most famous maestro of the micro".[259][260] Jobs was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, with Steve Wozniak (among the first people to ever receive the honor),[261] and a Jefferson Award for Public Service in the category "Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under" (also known as the Samuel S. Beard Award) in 1987.[262] On November 27, 2007, Jobs was named the most powerful person in business by Fortune magazine.[263] On December 5, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Jobs into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.[264] In August 2009, Jobs was selected as the most admired entrepreneur among teenagers in a survey by Junior Achievement,[265] having previously been named Entrepreneur of the Decade 20 years earlier in 1989, by Inc. magazine.[266] On November 5, 2009, Jobs was named the CEO of the decade by Fortune magazine.[267] In November 2010, Jobs was ranked No.17 on Forbes: The World's Most Powerful People.[268] In December 2010, the Financial Times named Jobs its person of the year for 2010, ending its essay [269] by stating, "In his autobiography, John Sculley, the former PepsiCo executive who once ran Apple, said this of the ambitions of the man he had pushed out: 'Apple was supposed to become a wonderful consumer products company. This was a lunatic plan. High-tech could not be designed and sold as a consumer product.'".[270] The Financial Times closed by rhetorically asking of this quote, "How wrong can you be."[269] At the time of his resignation, and again after his death, Jobs was widely described as a visionary, pioneer and genius[271][272][273][274]—perhaps one of the foremost—in the field of business,[267][275] innovation,[276] and product design,[277] and a man who had profoundly changed the face of the modern world,[271][273][276] revolutionized at least six different industries,[272] and who was an "exemplar for all chief executives".[272] His death was widely mourned[276] and considered a loss to the world by commentators across the globe.[274] After his resignation as Apple's CEO, Jobs was characterized as the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford of his time.[278][279] In his The Daily Show eulogy, Jon Stewart said that unlike others of Jobs's ilk, such as Thomas Edison or Henry Ford, Jobs died young. He felt that we had, in a sense, "wrung everything out of" these other men, but his feeling on Jobs was that "we're not done with you yet."[280] Statue of Jobs at Graphisoft Park, Budapest[281] On December 21, 2011, Graphisoft company in Budapest presented the world's first bronze statue of Steve Jobs, calling him one of the greatest personalities of the modern age.[281] In January 2012, when young adults (ages 16 – 25) were asked to identify the greatest innovator of all time, Steve Jobs placed second behind Thomas Edison.[282] On February 12, 2012, Jobs was posthumously awarded the Grammy Trustees Award, an award for those who have influenced the music industry in areas unrelated to performance.[283] In March 2012, global business magazine Fortune named Steve Jobs the "greatest entrepreneur of our time", describing him as "brilliant, visionary, inspiring", and "the quintessential entrepreneur of our generation".[284] The Disney movie John Carter is dedicated to Jobs[285], as well as the Pixar film Brave. Portrayals and coverage in books, film, and theater The Little Kingdom (1984) by Michael Moritz, documenting the founding of (then) Apple Computer. The Second Coming of Steve Jobs (2001), by Alan Deutschman iCon: Steve Jobs (2005), by Jeffrey S. Young & William L. Simon iWoz (2006), by Steve Wozniak, a co-founder of Apple. It is an autobiography of Steve Wozniak, but it covers much of Jobs's life and work at Apple. Steve Jobs (2011), an authorized biography written by Walter Isaacson. Inside Apple (2012), a book by Adam Lashinsky that reveals the secret systems, tactics, and leadership strategies that allowed Steve Jobs and his company to work. The Machine That Changed the World – Part 3 of this 1992 five-part documentary, called The Paperback Computer, prominently featured Jobs and his role in the early days of Apple. Triumph of the Nerds – a 1996 three-part documentary for PBS, about the rise of the home computer/personal computer. Nerds 2.0.1 – a 1998 three-part documentary for PBS, (and sequel to Triumph of the Nerds) which chronicles the development of the Internet. iGenius: How Steve Jobs Changed the World – a 2011 Discovery Channel documentary hosted by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman.[286] Steve Jobs: One Last Thing – a 2011 PBS documentary produced by Pioneer Productions.[287] A slightly shortened and localized[288] version of the show was broadcast[289] in the United Kingdom the following day titled, Steve Jobs: iChanged the World – on Channel 4.[290] Steve Jobs – A Sony Pictures film version of the biography by Walter Isaacson, with a screenplay and directed by Aaron Sorkin. Jobs – an upcoming independent film by Joshua Michael Stern. Jobs will be portrayed by Ashton Kutcher.[291] Pirates of Silicon Valley – a 1999 TNT film which chronicles the rise of Apple and Microsoft from the early 1970s to 1997. Jobs is portrayed by Noah Wyle.[292] The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs - The Public Theater, New York City, 2012, starring Mike Daisey. ... ...... Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946)[4] is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as archetypes of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years, his films began addressing such issues as the Holocaust, slavery, war and terrorism. He is considered one of the most popular and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema.[5] He is also one of the co-founders of DreamWorks movie studio. Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Three of Spielberg's films—Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993)—achieved box office records, each becoming the highest-grossing film made at the time. To date, the unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $8.5 billion worldwide. Forbes puts Spielberg's wealth at $3.0 billion.[2] Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a Jewish family.[6] His mother, Leah Adler (née Posner),[7] was a restaurateur and concert pianist, and his father, Arnold Spielberg, was an electrical engineer involved in the development of computers.[8] He spent his childhood in Haddon Township, New Jersey, where he saw one of his first films in a theater, as well as in Scottsdale, Arizona.[9] Throughout his early teens, Spielberg made amateur 8 mm "adventure" films with his friends, the first of which he shot at the Pinnacle Peak Patio restaurant in Scottsdale. He charged admission (25 cents) to his home films (which involved the wrecks he staged with his Lionel train set) while his sister sold popcorn. In 1958, he became a Boy Scout, and fulfilled a requirement for the photography merit badge by making a nine-minute 8 mm film entitled The Last Gunfight.[10] Spielberg recalled years later to a magazine interviewer, "My dad's still-camera was broken, so I asked the scoutmaster if I could tell a story with my father's movie camera. He said yes, and I got an idea to do a Western. I made it and got my merit badge. That was how it all started."[11] At age 13, Spielberg won a prize for a 40-minute war film he titled Escape to Nowhere which was based on a battle in east Africa. In 1963, at age 16, Spielberg wrote and directed his first independent film, a 140-minute science fiction adventure called Firelight (which would later inspire Close Encounters). The film, which had a budget of US$500, was shown in his local cinema and generated a profit of $1.[12] He also made several WWII films inspired by his father's war stories. After his parents divorced, he moved to Saratoga, California with his father. His three sisters and mother remained in Arizona. He attended Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Arizona for three years; Spielberg graduated from Saratoga High School in 1965. It was during this time Spielberg attained the rank of Eagle Scout. Spielberg attended Hebrew school from 1953 to 1957, in classes taught by Rabbi Albert L. Lewis,[13] who would later be memorialized as the main character in Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith. As a child, Spielberg faced difficulty reconciling being an Orthodox Jew with the perception of him by other children he played with. "It isn't something I enjoy admitting," he once said, "but when I was 7, 8, 9 years old, God forgive me, I was embarrassed because we were Orthodox Jews. I was embarrassed by the outward perception of my parents' Jewish practices. I was never really ashamed to be Jewish, but I was uneasy at times. My grandfather always wore a long black coat, black hat and long white beard. I was embarrassed to invite my friends over to the house, because he might be in a corner davening [praying], and I wouldn't know how to explain this to my WASP friends."[14] Spielberg also said he suffered from acts of anti-Semitic prejudice in his early life: he later said, "In high school, I got smacked and kicked around. Two bloody noses. It was horrible."[15] After moving to California, he applied to attend the film school at University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television two separate times, but was unsuccessful. He subsequently became a student at California State University, Long Beach. While attending Long Beach State in the 1960s, Spielberg became a member of Theta Chi Fraternity. His actual career began when he returned to Universal Studios as an unpaid, seven-day-a-week intern and guest of the editing department (uncredited). After Spielberg became famous, USC awarded him an honorary degree in 1994, and in 1996 he became a trustee of the university.[16][17] In 2002, thirty-five years after starting college, Spielberg finished his degree via independent projects at CSULB, and was awarded a B.A. in Film Production and Electronic Arts with an option in Film/Video Production.[17] As an intern and guest of Universal Studios, Spielberg made his first short film for theatrical release, the 26-minute Amblin' (1968),[8] the title of which Spielberg later took as the name of his production company, Amblin Entertainment. After Sidney Sheinberg, then the vice-president of production for Universal's TV arm, saw the film, Spielberg became the youngest director ever to be signed for a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio (Universal). He dropped out of Long Beach State in 1969 to take up the television director contract at Universal Studios and began his career as a professional director.[citation needed] In 1969, Variety announced that Spielberg would direct his first full length film, Malcolm Winkler, written by Claudia Salter, produced by John Orland, with Frank Price being the executive producer. However, because of the difficulty in casting the key male role, the film was not made. Steven Spielberg also attended Brookdale Community College for undergrad. Career Early career (1969–75) His first professional TV job came when he was hired to do[clarification needed] one of the segments for the 1969 pilot episode of Night Gallery. The segment, "Eyes," starred Joan Crawford, and she and Spielberg were reportedly close friends until her death. The episode is unusual in his body of work, in that the camerawork is more highly stylized than his later, more "mature" films. After this, and an episode of Marcus Welby, M.D., Spielberg got his first feature-length assignment: an episode of The Name of the Game called "L.A. 2017". This futuristic science fiction episode impressed Universal Studios and they signed him to a short contract. He did another segment on Night Gallery and did some work for shows such as Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law and The Psychiatrist before landing the first series episode of Columbo (previous episodes were actually TV films). Based on the strength of his work, Universal signed Spielberg to do four TV films. The first was a Richard Matheson adaptation called Duel. The film is about a psychotic Peterbilt 281 tanker truck driver who chases a terrified driver (Dennis Weaver) of a small Plymouth Valiant and tries to run him off the road. Special praise of this film by the influential British critic Dilys Powell was highly significant to Spielberg's career. Another TV film (Something Evil) was made and released to capitalize on the popularity of The Exorcist, then a major best-selling book which had not yet been released as a film. He fulfilled his contract by directing the TV film length pilot of a show called Savage, starring Martin Landau. Spielberg's debut feature film was The Sugarland Express, about a married couple who are chased by police as the couple tries to regain custody of their baby. Spielberg's cinematography for the police chase was praised by reviewers, and The Hollywood Reporter stated that "a major new director is on the horizon."[18] However, the film fared poorly at the box office and received a limited release. Studio producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown offered Spielberg the director's chair for Jaws, a thriller-horror film based on the Peter Benchley novel about an enormous killer shark. Spielberg has often referred to the gruelling shoot as his professional crucible. Despite the film's ultimate, enormous success, it was nearly shut down due to delays and budget over-runs. But Spielberg persevered and finished the film. It was an enormous hit, winning three Academy Awards (for editing, original score and sound) and grossing more than $470 million worldwide at the box office. It also set the domestic record for box office gross, leading to what the press described as "Jawsmania."[19] Jaws made him a household name, as well as one of America's youngest multi-millionaires, and allowed Spielberg a great deal of autonomy for his future projects.[20] It was nominated for Best Picture and featured Spielberg's first of three collaborations with actor Richard Dreyfuss. Mainstream breakthrough (1975–93) Rejecting offers to direct Jaws 2,[21] King Kong and Superman, Spielberg and actor Richard Dreyfuss re-convened to work on a film about UFOs, which became Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). One of the rare films both written and directed by Spielberg, Close Encounters was a critical and box office hit, giving Spielberg his first Best Director nomination from the Academy as well as earning six other Academy Awards nominations. It won Oscars in two categories (Cinematography, Vilmos Zsigmond, and a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing, Frank E. Warner). This second blockbuster helped to secure Spielberg's rise. His next film, 1941, a big-budgeted World War II farce, was not nearly as successful and though it grossed over $92.4 million dollars worldwide (and did make a small profit for co-producing studios Columbia and Universal) it was seen as a disappointment, mainly with the critics. Spielberg then revisited his Close Encounters project and, with financial backing from Columbia Pictures, released Close Encounters: The Special Edition in 1980. For this, Spielberg fixed some of the flaws he thought impeded the original 1977 version of the film and also, at the behest of Columbia, and as a condition of Spielberg revising the film, shot additional footage showing the audience the interior of the mothership seen at the end of the film (a decision Spielberg would later regret as he felt the interior of the mothership should have remained a mystery). Nevertheless, the re-release was a moderate success, while the 2001 DVD release of the film restored the original ending. Next, Spielberg teamed with Star Wars creator and friend George Lucas on an action adventure film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first of the Indiana Jones films. The archaeologist and adventurer hero Indiana Jones was played by Harrison Ford (whom Lucas had previously cast in his Star Wars films as Han Solo). The film was considered an homage to the cliffhanger serials of the Golden Age of Hollywood. It became the biggest film at the box office in 1981, and the recipient of numerous Oscar nominations including Best Director (Spielberg's second nomination) and Best Picture (the second Spielberg film to be nominated for Best Picture). Raiders is still considered a landmark example of the action-adventure genre. The film also led to Ford's casting in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.[22] Steven Spielberg with President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan after a showing of E.T. at the White House A year later, Spielberg returned to the science fiction genre with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. It was the story of a young boy and the alien he befriends, who was accidentally left behind by his companions and is attempting to return home. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial went on to become the top-grossing film of all time. E.T. was also nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. Between 1982 and 1985, Spielberg produced three high-grossing films: Poltergeist (for which he also co-wrote the screenplay), a big-screen adaptation of The Twilight Zone (for which he directed the segment "Kick The Can"),[23] and The Goonies (Spielberg, executive producer, also wrote the story on which the screenplay was based).[24] His next directorial feature was the Raiders prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Teaming up once again with Lucas and Ford, the film was plagued with uncertainty for the material and script. This film and the Spielberg-produced Gremlins led to the creation of the PG-13 rating due to the high level of violence in films targeted at younger audiences. In spite of this, Temple of Doom is rated PG by the MPAA, even though it is the darkest and, possibly, most violent Indy film. Nonetheless, the film was still a huge blockbuster hit in 1984. It was on this project that Spielberg also met his future wife, actress Kate Capshaw. In 1985, Spielberg released The Color Purple, an adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, about a generation of empowered African-American women during depression-era America. Starring Whoopi Goldberg and future talk-show superstar Oprah Winfrey, the film was a box office smash and critics hailed Spielberg's successful foray into the dramatic genre. Roger Ebert proclaimed it the best film of the year and later entered it into his Great Films archive. The film received eleven Academy Award nominations, including two for Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. However, much to the surprise of many, Spielberg did not get a Best Director nomination. The Color Purple is the second of two Spielberg films not to be scored by John Williams, the first being Duel. In 1987, as China began opening to Western capital investment, Spielberg shot the first American film in Shanghai since the 1930s, an adaptation of J. G. Ballard's autobiographical novel Empire of the Sun, starring John Malkovich and a young Christian Bale. The film garnered much praise from critics and was nominated for several Oscars, but did not yield substantial box office revenues. Reviewer Andrew Sarris called it the best film of the year and later included it among the best films of the decade.[25] Spielberg was also a co-producer of the 1987 film *batteries not included. After two forays into more serious dramatic films, Spielberg then directed the third Indiana Jones film, 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Once again teaming up with Lucas and Ford, Spielberg also cast actor Sean Connery in a supporting role as Indy's father. The film earned generally positive reviews and was another box office success, becoming the highest grossing film worldwide that year; its total box office receipts even topped those of Tim Burton's much-anticipated film Batman, which had been the bigger hit domestically. Also in 1989, he re-united with actor Richard Dreyfuss for the romantic comedy-drama Always, about a daredevil pilot who extinguishes forest fires. Spielberg's first romantic film, Always was only a moderate success and had mixed reviews. In 1991, Spielberg directed Hook, about a middle-aged Peter Pan, played by Robin Williams, who returns to Neverland. Despite innumerable rewrites and creative changes coupled with mixed reviews, the film proved popular with audiences, making over $300 million worldwide (from a $70 million budget). In 1993, Spielberg returned to the adventure genre with the film version of Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park, about a theme park with genetically engineered dinosaurs. With revolutionary special effects provided by friend George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic company, the film would eventually become the highest grossing film of all time (at the worldwide box office) with $914.7 million. This would be the third time that one of Spielberg's films became the highest grossing film ever. Spielberg's next film, Schindler's List, was based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a man who risked his life to save 1,100 Jews from the Holocaust.[26] Schindler's List earned Spielberg his first Academy Award for Best Director (it also won Best Picture). With the film a huge success at the box office, Spielberg used the profits to set up the Shoah Foundation, a non-profit organization that archives filmed testimony of Holocaust survivors. In 1997, the American Film Institute listed it among the 10 Greatest American Films ever Made (#9) which moved up to (#8) when the list was remade in 2007. 1994–present Spielberg in 1990 In 1994, Spielberg took a hiatus from directing to spend more time with his family and build his new studio, DreamWorks,[27] with partners Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. In 1997, he helmed the sequel to 1993's Jurassic Park with The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which generated over $618 million worldwide despite mixed reviews, and was the second biggest hit of 1997 behind James Cameron's Titanic (which topped the original Jurassic Park to become the new recordholder for box office receipts). His next film, Amistad, was based on a true story (like Schindler's List), specifically about an African slave rebellion. Despite decent reviews from critics, it did not do well at the box office. Spielberg released Amistad under DreamWorks Pictures,[28] which issued all of his films from Amistad until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in May 2008 (see below). In 1998, Spielberg re-visited Close Encounters yet again, this time for a more definitive 137-minute "Collector's Edition" that puts more emphasis on the original 1977 release, while adding some elements of the previous 1980 "Special Edition," but deleting the latter version's "Mothership Finale," which Spielberg regretted shooting in the first place, feeling it should have remained ambiguous in the minds of viewers. His next theatrical release in that same year was the World War II film Saving Private Ryan, about a group of U.S. soldiers led by Capt. Miller (Tom Hanks) sent to bring home a paratrooper whose three older brothers were killed in the last twenty four hours of action in France. The film was a huge box office success, grossing over $481 million worldwide and was the biggest film of the year at the North American box office (worldwide it made second place after Michael Bay's Armageddon). Spielberg won his second Academy Award for his direction. The film's graphic, realistic depiction of combat violence influenced later war films such as Black Hawk Down and Enemy at the Gates. The film was also the first major hit for DreamWorks, which co-produced the film with Paramount Pictures (as such, it was Spielberg's first release from the latter that was not part of the Indiana Jones series). Later, Spielberg and Tom Hanks produced a TV mini-series based on Stephen Ambrose's book Band of Brothers. The ten-part HBO mini-series follows Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Division's 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The series won a number of awards at the Golden Globes and the Emmys. In 2001, Spielberg filmed fellow director and friend Stanley Kubrick's final project, A.I. Artificial Intelligence which Kubrick was unable to begin during his lifetime. A futuristic film about a humanoid android longing for love, A.I. featured groundbreaking visual effects and a multi-layered, allegorical storyline, adapted by Spielberg himself. Though the film's reception in the US was relatively muted, it performed better overseas for a worldwide total box office gross of $236 million. Spielberg and actor Tom Cruise collaborated for the first time for the futuristic neo-noir Minority Report, based upon the science fiction short story written by Philip K. Dick about a Washington D.C. police captain in the year 2054 who has been foreseen to murder a man he has not yet met. The film received strong reviews with the review tallying website Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 92% approval rating, reporting that 206 out of the 225 reviews they tallied were positive.[29] The film earned over $358 million worldwide. Roger Ebert, who named it the best film of 2002, praised its breathtaking vision of the future as well as for the way Spielberg blended CGI with live-action.[30] Spielberg's 2002 film Catch Me If You Can is about the daring adventures of a youthful con artist (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). It earned Christopher Walken an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film is known for John Williams' score and its unique title sequence. It was a hit both commercially and critically.[citation needed] Spielberg collaborated again with Tom Hanks along with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stanley Tucci in 2004's The Terminal, a warm-hearted comedy about a man of Eastern European descent who is stranded in an airport. It received mixed reviews but performed relatively well at the box office. In 2005, Empire magazine ranked Spielberg number one on a list of the greatest film directors of all time. Also in 2005, Spielberg directed a modern adaptation of War of the Worlds (a co-production of Paramount and DreamWorks), based on the H. G. Wells book of the same name (Spielberg had been a huge fan of the book and the original 1953 film). It starred Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning, and, as with past Spielberg films, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) provided the visual effects. Unlike E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which depicted friendly alien visitors, War of the Worlds featured violent invaders. The film was another huge box office smash, grossing over $591 million worldwide. Spielberg in 2011, at the Paris premiere of The Adventures of Tintin. Spielberg's film Munich, about the events following the 1972 Munich Massacre of Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games, was his second film essaying Jewish relations in the world (the first being Schindler's List). The film is based on Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team, a book by Canadian journalist George Jonas. It was previously adapted into the 1986 made-for-TV film Sword of Gideon. The film received strong critical praise, but underperformed at the U.S. and world box-office; it remains one of Spielberg's most controversial films to date.[31] Munich received five Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture, Film Editing, Original Music Score (by John Williams), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director for Spielberg. It was Spielberg's sixth Best Director nomination and fifth Best Picture nomination. Spielberg directed Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which wrapped filming in October 2007 and was released on May 22, 2008.[32][33] This was his first film not to be released by DreamWorks since 1997. The film received generally positive reviews from critics,[34] and has performed very well in theaters. As of May 10, 2010, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has grossed $317 million domestically, and over $786 million worldwide. In early 2009, Spielberg shot the first film in a planned trilogy of motion capture films based on The Adventures of Tintin, written by Belgian artist Hergé,[35] with Peter Jackson. The Adventures of Tintin, was not released until October 2011, due to the complexity of the computer animation involved. The world premiere took place on October 22, 2011 in Brussels, Belgium.[36] The film was released in North American theaters on December 21, 2011, in Digital 3D and IMAX.[37] It received generally positive reviews from critics,[38] and grossed over $373 million worldwide.[39] The Adventures of Tintin won the award for Best Animated Feature Film at the Golden Globe Awards that year.[40] It is the first non-Pixar film to win the award since the category was first introduced.[41][42] Jackson has been announced to direct the second film,[43] which Spielberg will produce. Spielberg followed that with War Horse, shot in England in the summer of 2010.[44] It was released just four days after The Adventures of Tintin, on December 25, 2011. The film, based on the novel of the same name written by Michael Morpurgo and published in 1982, follows the long friendship between a British boy and his horse Joey before and during World War I — the novel was also adapted into a hit play in London which is still running there, as well as on Broadway. The film was released and distributed by Disney, with whom DreamWorks has made a 30-picture deal. War Horse received generally positive reviews from critics,[45] and was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture.[46] Production credits Since the mid-1980s, Spielberg has increased his role as a film producer. He headed up the production team for several cartoons, including the Warner Brothers hits Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Toonsylvania, and Freakazoid!, for which he collaborated with Jean MacCurdy and Tom Ruegger. Due to his work on these series, in the official titles, most of them say, "Steven Spielberg presents" as well as making numerous cameos on the shows. Spielberg also produced the Don Bluth animated features, An American Tail and The Land Before Time, which were released by Universal Studios. He also served as one of the executive producers of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and its three related shorts (Tummy Trouble, Roller Coaster Rabbit, Trail Mix-Up), which were all released by Disney, under both the Walt Disney Pictures and the Touchstone Pictures banners. He was furthermore, for a short time, the executive producer of the long-running medical drama ER. In 1989, he brought the concept of The Dig to LucasArts. He contributed to the project from that time until 1995 when the game was released. He also collaborated with software publishers Knowledge Adventure on the multimedia game Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair, which was released in 1996. Spielberg appears, as himself, in the game to direct the player. The Spielberg name provided branding for a Lego Moviemaker kit, the proceeds of which went to the Starbright Foundation. Spielberg at The Pentagon (1999) In 1993, Spielberg acted as executive producer for the highly anticipated television series seaQuest DSV; a science fiction series set "in the near future" starring Roy Scheider (who Spielberg had directed in Jaws) and Jonathan Brandis akin to Star Trek: The Next Generation that aired on Sundays at 8:00 pm. on NBC. While the first season was moderately successful, the second season did less well. Spielberg's name no longer appeared in the third season and the show was cancelled mid way through it. Spielberg served as an uncredited executive producer on The Haunting, The Prince of Egypt, Just Like Heaven,[47] Shrek, Road to Perdition,[48] and Evolution. He served as an executive producer for the 1998 film Men in Black, and its sequels, Men in Black II and Men in Black III. In 2005, he served as a producer of Memoirs of a Geisha, an adaptation of the novel by Arthur Golden, a film he was previously attached to as director. In 2006, Spielberg co-executive produced with famed filmmaker Robert Zemeckis a CGI children's film called Monster House, marking their eighth collaboration since 1990's Back to the Future Part III. He also teamed with Clint Eastwood for the first time in their careers, co-producing Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima with Robert Lorenz and Eastwood himself. He earned his twelfth Academy Award nomination for the latter film as it was nominated for Best Picture. Spielberg served as executive producer for Disturbia and the Transformers live action film with Brian Goldner, an employee of Hasbro. The film was directed by Michael Bay and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and Spielberg continued to collaborate on the sequels, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. In 2011, he produced the J. J. Abrams science fiction thriller film Super 8 for Paramount Pictures.[49] Other major television series Spielberg produced were Band of Brothers, Taken and The Pacific. He was an executive producer on the critically acclaimed 2005 TV miniseries Into the West which won two Emmy awards, including one for Geoff Zanelli's score. For his 2010 miniseries The Pacific he teamed up once again with co-producer Tom Hanks, with Gary Goetzman also co-producing'. The miniseries is believed to have cost $250 million and is a 10-part war miniseries centered on the battles in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Writer Bruce McKenna, who penned several installments of (Band of Brothers), was the head writer. In 2007, Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett co-produced On the Lot a short-lived TV reality show about filmmaking. Despite this, he never gave up working on television. He currently serves as one of the executive producers on United States of Tara, a show created by Academy Award winner Diablo Cody which they developed together (Spielberg is uncredited as creator). In 2011, Spielberg launched Falling Skies, a science fiction television series, on the TNT network. He developed the series with Robert Rodat and is credited as an executive producer. Spielberg is also producing the Fox TV series Terra Nova. Terra Nova begins in the year 2149 when all life on the planet Earth is threatened with extinction resulting in scientists opening a door that allows people to travel back 85 million years to prehistoric times.[50][51] Spielberg also produced The River[52] and Smash.[53] Acting credits Steven Spielberg had cameo roles in The Blues Brothers, Gremlins, Vanilla Sky, and Austin Powers in Goldmember, as well as small uncredited cameos in a handful of other films, such as a life-station worker in Jaws. He also made numerous cameo roles in the Warner Brothers cartoons he produced, such as Animaniacs, and even made reference to some of his films. Spielberg voiced himself in the film Paul, and in one episode of Tiny Toon Adventures titled Buster and Babs Go Hawaiian. Involvement in video games Apart from being an ardent gamer Spielberg has had a long history of involvement in video games.[54] In 2005 the director signed with Electronic Arts to collaborate on three games including an action game and an award winning puzzle game for the Wii called Boom Blox (and its 2009 sequel: Boom Blox Bash Party).[55] Previously, he was involved in creating the scenario for the adventure game The Dig.[56] In 1996, Spielberg worked on and shot original footage for a movie-making simulation game called Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair. He is the creator of the Medal of Honor series by Electronic Arts.[57] He is credited in the special thanks section of the 1998 video game Trespasser.[58] Upcoming and announced projects Spielberg is currently in post-production on Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln.[59] Based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's bestseller Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, the film follows Lincoln's leadership during the final portion of the American Civil War. Written by Tony Kushner, the film was shot in Richmond, Virginia in late 2011[60] and will be released at Christmas of 2012 by Disney's Touchstone Pictures division in the United States[61] and Twentieth Century Fox overseas.[62] From July–September 2012 Spielberg is scheduled to shoot a $200 million adaptation of Daniel H. Wilson's novel Robopocalypse, adapted for the screen by Drew Goddard.[63] The film follows a global human war against a robot uprising about 15–20 years in the future[64] and will be shot in Montreal.[65] Like Lincoln, it will be released by Disney in the United States and Fox overseas.,[66] on April 25, 2014.[67] In 2009, Spielberg reportedly tried to obtain the screen rights to make a film based on Microsoft's Halo series.[68] In September 2008, Steven Spielberg bought film rights for John Wyndham's novel Chocky and is interested in directing it. He is also interested in making an adaptation of A Steady Rain,[69] Pirate Latitudes,[70] The 39 Clues,[71] and Under the Dome,[72] along with a remake of When Worlds Collide. In May 2009, Steven Spielberg bought the rights to the life story of Martin Luther King, Jr.. Spielberg will be involved not only as producer but also as a director.[73] However, the purchase was made from the King estate, led by son Dexter, while the two other surviving children, the Reverend Bernice and Martin III, immediately threatened to sue, not having given their approvals to the project.[74] In June 2006, Steven Spielberg announced he would direct a scientifically accurate film about "a group of explorers who travel through a worm hole and into another dimension",[75] from a treatment by Kip Thorne and producer Lynda Obst.[76] In January 2007, screenwriter Jonathan Nolan met with them to discuss adapting Obst and Thorne's treatment into a narrative screenplay. The screenwriter suggested the addition of a "time element" to the treatment's basic idea, which was welcomed by Obst and Thorne.[76] In March of that year, Paramount hired Nolan as well as scientists from Caltech, forming a workshop who will begin adapting the treatment after completing the script for Warner Bros.' The Chicago Fire.[77] The following July, Kip Thorne said there was a push by people for him to portray himself in the film Interstellar.[78] Themes This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. (April 2011) Spielberg's films often deal with several recurring themes. Most of his films deal with ordinary characters searching for or coming in contact with extraordinary beings or finding themselves in extraordinary circumstances. In an AFI interview in August 2000 Spielberg commented on his interest in the possibility of extra terrestrial life and how it has influenced some of his films. Spielberg described himself as feeling like an alien during childhood,[79] and his interest came from his father, a science fiction fan, and his opinion that aliens would not travel light years for conquest, but instead curiosity and sharing of knowledge.[80] A strong consistent theme in his family-friendly work is a childlike, even naïve, sense of wonder and faith, as attested by works such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Hook, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. According to Warren Buckland,[81] these themes are portrayed through the use of low height camera tracking shots, which have become one of Spielberg's directing trademarks. In the cases when his films include children (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Empire of the Sun, Jurassic Park, etc.), this type of shot is more apparent, but it is also used in films like Munich, Saving Private Ryan, The Terminal, Minority Report, and Amistad. If one views each of his films, one will see this shot utilized by the director, notably the water scenes in Jaws are filmed from the low-angle perspective of someone swimming. Another child oriented theme in Spielberg's films is that of loss of innocence and coming-of-age. In Empire of the Sun, Jim, a well-groomed and spoiled English youth, loses his innocence as he suffers through World War II China. Similarly, in Catch Me If You Can, Frank naively and foolishly believes that he can reclaim his shattered family if he accumulates enough money to support them. The most persistent theme throughout his films is tension in parent-child relationships. Parents (often fathers) are reluctant, absent or ignorant. Peter Banning in Hook starts off in the beginning of the film as a reluctant married-to-his-work parent who through the course of his film regains the respect of his children. The notable absence of Elliott's father in E.T., is the most famous example of this theme. In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, it is revealed that Indy has always had a very strained relationship with his father, who is a professor of medieval literature, as his father always seemed more interested in his work, specifically in his studies of the Holy Grail, than in his own son, although his father does not seem to realize or understand the negative effect that his aloof nature had on Indy (he even believes he was a good father in the sense that he taught his son "self reliance," which is not how Indy saw it). Even Oskar Schindler, from Schindler's List, is reluctant to have a child with his wife. Munich depicts Avner as a man away from his wife and newborn daughter. There are of course exceptions; Brody in Jaws is a committed family man, while John Anderton in Minority Report is a shattered man after the disappearance of his son. This theme is arguably the most autobiographical aspect of Spielberg's films, since Spielberg himself was affected by his parents' divorce as a child and by the absence of his father. Furthermore to this theme, protagonists in his films often come from families with divorced parents, most notably E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (protagonist Elliot's mother is divorced) and Catch Me If You Can (Frank Abagnale's mother and father split early on in the film). Little known also is Tim in Jurassic Park (early in the film, another secondary character mentions Tim and Lex's parents' divorce). The family often shown divided is often resolved in the ending as well. Following this theme of reluctant fathers and father figures, Tim looks to Dr. Alan Grant as a father figure. Initially, Dr. Grant is reluctant to return those paternal feelings to Tim. However, by the end of the film, he has changed, and the kids even fall asleep with their heads on his shoulders. Most of his films are generally optimistic in nature. Critics frequently accuse his films of being overly sentimental, though Spielberg feels it is fine as long as it is disguised. The influence comes from directors Frank Capra and John Ford.[82] Contemporaries In terms of casting and production itself, Spielberg has a known penchant for working with actors and production members from his previous films. For instance, he has cast Richard Dreyfuss in several films: Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Always. Aside from his role as Indiana Jones, Spielberg also cast Harrison Ford as a headteacher in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (though the scene was ultimately cut). Although Spielberg directed him only once (in Raiders of the Lost Ark, for which he voiced many of the animals), veteran voice actor Frank Welker has lent his voice in a number of productions Spielberg has executively produced from Gremlins to its sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch, as well as The Land Before Time (and lending his voice to its sequels which Spielberg had no involvement in), Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and television shows such as Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, and SeaQuest DSV. Recently Spielberg has used Tom Hanks on several occasions and has cast him in Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, and The Terminal. Spielberg also has collaborated with Tom Cruise twice on Minority Report and War of the Worlds. Spielberg has also cast Shia LaBeouf in five films: Transformers, Eagle Eye, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Spielberg prefers working with production members with whom he has developed an existing working relationship. An example of this is his production relationship with Kathleen Kennedy who has served as producer on all his major films from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to the recent Munich. Other working relationships include Allen Daviau, a childhood friend and cinematographer who shot the early Spielberg film Amblin and most of his films up to Empire of the Sun; Janusz Kamiński who has shot every Spielberg film since Schindler's List (see List of film director and cinematographer collaborations); and the film editor Michael Kahn who has edited every film directed by Spielberg from Close Encounters to Munich (except E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial). Most of the DVDs of Spielberg's films have documentaries by Laurent Bouzereau. A famous example of Spielberg working with the same professionals is his long time collaboration with John Williams and the use of his musical scores in all of his films since The Sugarland Express (except The Color Purple and Twilight Zone: The Movie). One of Spielberg's trademarks is his use of music by John Williams to add to the visual impact of his scenes and to try and create a lasting picture and sound of the film in the memories of the film audience. These visual scenes often uses images of the sun (e.g. Empire of the Sun, Saving Private Ryan, the final scene of Jurassic Park, and the end credits of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (where they ride into the sunset), of which the last two feature a Williams score at that end scene. Spielberg is a contemporary of filmmakers George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, John Milius, and Brian De Palma, collectively known as the "Movie Brats". Aside from his principal role as a director, Spielberg has acted as a producer for a considerable number of films, including early hits for Joe Dante and Robert Zemeckis. Personal life Marriages and children From 1985 to 1989 Spielberg was married to actress Amy Irving. In their 1989 divorce settlement, she received $100 million from Spielberg after a judge controversially vacated a prenuptial agreement written on a napkin. Their divorce was recorded as the third most costly celebrity divorce in history.[83] Following the divorce, Spielberg and Irving shared custody of their son, Max Samuel. Spielberg subsequently developed a relationship with actress Kate Capshaw, whom he met when he cast her in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. They married on October 12, 1991. Capshaw is a convert to Judaism.[84] They currently move among their four homes in Pacific Palisades, California; New York City; Quelle Farm, Georgica Pond in East Hampton, NY;[85] and Naples, Florida. There are seven children in the Spielberg-Capshaw family: Jessica Capshaw (born August 9, 1976) – daughter from Kate Capshaw's previous marriage to Robert Capshaw Max Samuel Spielberg (born June 13, 1985) – son from Spielberg's previous marriage to actress Amy Irving Theo Spielberg (born 1988) – son adopted by Capshaw before her marriage to Spielberg, who later also adopted him[86] Sasha Rebecca Spielberg (born May 14, 1990, Los Angeles)[87] Sawyer Avery Spielberg (born March 10, 1992, Los Angeles)[88] Mikaela George (born February 28, 1996) – adopted with Kate Capshaw Destry Allyn Spielberg (born December 1, 1996) Genealogy (adoptions in Italics)[show] Wealth Forbes magazine places Spielberg's personal net worth at $3.0 billion.[89] Recognition In 2002, Spielberg was one of eight flagbearers who carried the Olympic Flag into Rice-Eccles Stadium at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. In 2006, Premiere listed him as the most powerful and influential figure in the motion picture industry. Time listed him as one of the 100 Most Important People of the Century. At the end of the 20th century, Life named him the most influential person of his generation.[90] Starbright In 1991 Steven Spielberg co-founded Starbright with Randy Aduana—a foundation dedicated to improving sick children's lives through technology-based programs focusing on entertainment and education. In 2002 Starbright merged with the Starlight Foundation forming what is now today the Starlight Children's Foundation. Politics Spielberg usually supports U.S. Democratic Party candidates. He has donated over $800,000 to the Democratic party and its nominees. He has been a close friend of former President Bill Clinton and worked with the President for the USA Millennium celebrations. He directed an 18-minute film for the project, scored by John Williams and entitled The American Journey. It was shown at America's Millennium Gala on December 31, 1999, in the National Mall at the Reflecting Pool at the base of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.[91] Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen escorts Steven Spielberg through a military honor cordon into the Pentagon. Spielberg resigned as a member of the national advisory board of the Boy Scouts of America in 2001 because of his disapproval of the organization's anti-homosexuality stance.[92][93] Spielberg joined Jeffrey Katzenberg and Haim Saban in endorsing the re-election of Hollywood friend Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican Governor of California, on August 7, 2006. In 2007 the Arab League voted to boycott Spielberg's movies after he donated $1 million for relief efforts in Israel during the 2006 Lebanon War.[94][95] On February 20, 2007, Spielberg, Katzenberg, and David Geffen invited Democrats to a fundraiser for Barack Obama.[96] However, on June 14, 2007, Spielberg endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) for President. While Geffen and Katzenberg supported Obama, Spielberg was always a supporter of Hillary Clinton. However Spielberg directed a video for Obama at the DNC in August 2008 and attended Obama's inauguration. In February 2008, Spielberg pulled out of his role as advisor to the 2008 Summer Olympics in response to the Chinese government's inaction over the War in Darfur.[97] Spielberg said in a statement that "I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual." It also said that "Sudan's government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these on-going crimes, but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more.."[98] The International Olympic Committee respected Spielberg's decision, but IOC president Jacques Rogge admitted in an interview that "[Spielberg] certainly would have brought a lot to the opening ceremony in terms of creativity."[99] Spielberg's statement drew criticism from Chinese officials and state-run media calling his criticism "unfair".[100] In September 2008, Spielberg and his wife offered their support to same-sex marriage, by issuing a statement following their donation of $100,000 to the "No on Proposition 8" campaign fund, a figure equal to the amount of money Brad Pitt donated to the same campaign less than a week prior.[101] Hobbies One of the three balsa sleds used in Citizen Kane, purchased at auction in 1982 by Steven Spielberg In June 1982 Steven Spielberg spent $60,500 to buy a Rosebud sled from the 1941 film Citizen Kane — one of three balsa sleds used in the closing scenes and the only one that was not burned.[102] Spielberg had paid homage to the Orson Welles classic in the final shot of the government warehouse in his 1981 film, Raiders of the Lost Ark. "When you look at Rosebud, you don't think of fast dollars, fast sequels and remakes," Spielberg said. "This to me says that movies of my generation had better be good."[103] In 1994 Spielberg also purchased an original script for Welles's 1938 radio broadcast The War of the Worlds — Welles's own directorial copy and one of only two radioscripts known to survive. Spielberg adapted The War of the Worlds for a feature film in 2005.[104][105] Spielberg is an avid film buff, and, when not shooting a picture, he will indulge in "movie orgies" (watching many over a single weekend).[106] He sees almost every major summer blockbuster in theaters if not preoccupied and enjoys most of them; "If I get pleasure from anything, I can't think of it as dumb or myself as shallow [...] I'll probably go late to that movie and go, 'What the dickens was everybody complaining about, that wasn't so bad!'".[107] Since playing Pong while filming Jaws in 1974, Spielberg has been an avid video gamer. He owns a Wii, a PlayStation 3, a PSP, and Xbox 360, and enjoys playing first-person shooters such as the Medal of Honor series and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. He has also criticized the use of cut scenes in games, calling them intrusive, and feels making story flow naturally into the gameplay is a challenge for future game developers.[108] Stalking In 2001, Spielberg was stalked by conspiracy theorist and former social worker Diana Napolis. She accused him, along with actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, of controlling her thoughts through "cybertronic" technology and being part of a satanic conspiracy against her. Napolis was committed for life in a mental institution before pleading guilty to stalking and released on probation with a condition that she have no contact with either Spielberg or Hewitt.[109][110][111][112] Spielberg was a target of the 2002 white supremacist terror plot.[113] Jonathan Norman was arrested after making two attempts to enter Spielberg's Pacific Palisades home in June and July 1997. Norman was jailed for 25 years in California. Spielberg told the court: "Had Jonathan Norman actually confronted me, I genuinely, in my heart of hearts, believe that I would have been raped or maimed or killed."[114][115] Achievements Spielberg with a public service award presented by United States Secretary of Defense William Cohen, 1999. Steven Spielberg's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Footprints and handprints of Steven Spielberg in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre Former President Clinton with Spielberg as he accepts the 2009 Liberty Award Spielberg has won three Academy Awards. He has been nominated for six Academy Awards for the category of Best Director, winning two of them (Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan), and seven of the films he directed were up for the Best Picture Oscar (Schindler's List won). In 1987 he was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for his work as a creative producer. Drawing from his own experiences in Scouting, Spielberg helped the Boy Scouts of America develop a merit badge in cinematography. The badge was launched at the 1989 National Scout Jamboree, which Spielberg attended, and where he personally counseled many boys in their work on requirements. That same year, 1989, saw the release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The opening scene shows a teenage Indiana Jones in scout uniform bearing the rank of a Life Scout. Spielberg stated he made Indiana Jones a Boy Scout in honor of his experience in Scouting. For his career accomplishments and service to others, Spielberg was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.[116] Steven Spielberg received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1995. In 1998 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit with Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Award was presented to him by President Roman Herzog in recognition of his film Schindler's List and his Shoa-Foundation.[117] In 1999, Spielberg received an honorary degree from Brown University. Spielberg was also awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service by Secretary of Defense William Cohen at the Pentagon on August 11, 1999; Cohen presented the award in recognition of Spielberg's film Saving Private Ryan. In 2001, he was honored as an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II.[118][119][120] In 2004 he was admitted as knight of the Légion d'honneur by president Jacques Chirac.[121] On July 15, 2006, Spielberg was also awarded the Gold Hugo Lifetime Achievement Award at the Summer Gala of the Chicago International Film Festival,[122] and also was awarded a Kennedy Center honour on December 3. The tribute to Spielberg featured a short, filmed biography narrated by Tom Hanks and included thank-yous from World War II veterans for Saving Private Ryan, as well as a performance of the finale to Leonard Bernstein's Candide, conducted by John Williams (Spielberg's frequent composer). In November 2007, he was chosen for a Lifetime Achievement Award to be presented at the sixth annual Visual Effects Society Awards in February 2009. He was set to be honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the January 2008 Golden Globes; however, the new, watered-down format of the ceremony resulting from conflicts in the 2007–08 writers strike, the HFPA postponed his honor to the 2009 ceremony.[123][124] In 2008, Spielberg was awarded the Légion d'honneur.[125] In June 2008, Spielberg received Arizona State University's Hugh Downs Award for Communication Excellence.[126] Spielberg received an honorary degree at Boston University's 136th Annual Commencement on May 17, 2009. In October 2009 Steven Spielberg received the Philadelphia Liberty Medal; presenting him with the medal was former US president and Liberty Medal recipient Bill Clinton. Special guests included Whoopi Goldberg, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. On the 22th of October 2011 he was admitted as a Commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown. He was given the badge on a red neck ribbon by the Belgian Federal Minister of Finance Didier Reynders. The Commander is the third highest rank of the Order of the Crown. U.S. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, with the Kennedy Center honorees in the Blue Room of the White House during a 2006 reception. From left: singer/songwriter William "Smokey" Robinson; composer Andrew Lloyd Webber; singer Dolly Parton; Steven Spielberg; and conductor Zubin Mehta. Steven Spielberg with Chandran Rutnam, in the Gala Dinner held on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, honoring Steven Spielberg. Praise and criticism Film In 2005, Steven Spielberg was rated the greatest film director of all time by Empire Magazine.[127] After watching the unconventional, off-center camera techniques of Jaws, Alfred Hitchcock praised "young Spielberg," saying "He's the first one of us who doesn't see the proscenium arch." Or, to paraphrase, he was the first mainstream director to think outside the visual dynamics of the theater,[128] although that didn't stop Hitchcock from removing Spielberg from the set of Family Plot, his last film.[129] Some of Spielberg's most famous fans include film legends Robert Aldrich,[130] Ingmar Bergman,[131] Werner Herzog,[132] Stanley Kubrick,[133] David Lean,[134] Sidney Lumet,[135] Roman Polanski,[136] Martin Scorsese,[137] Francois Truffaut,[138] David Lynch[139] and Zhang Yimou.[140] Subsequently, Spielberg's movies have also influenced many directors that followed, including Adam Green, J.J Abrams,[141] Paul Thomas Anderson,[142] Neill Blomkamp,[143] James Cameron,[144] Guillermo del Toro,[145] Roland Emmerich,[146] David Fincher, Peter Jackson,[147] Kal Ng,[148] Robert Rodriguez,[149] John Sayles,[150] Ridley Scott,[151] John Singleton,[152] Kevin Smith,[153] Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino.[154] British film critic Tom Shone has said of Spielberg, "If you have to point to any one director of the last twenty-five years in whose work the medium of film was most fully itself – where we found out what it does best when left to its own devices, it has to be that guy."[155] Jess Cagle, the managing editor of Entertainment Weekly, called Spielberg "...arguably (well, who would argue?) the greatest filmmaker in history."[156] However, Spielberg is not without his critics—many of whom complain that his films are overly sentimental and tritely moralistic.[157][158][159] In his book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, Peter Biskind summarized the views of Spielberg's detractors, accusing the director of "infantilizing the audience, reconstituting the spectator as child, then overwhelming him and her with sound and spectacle, obliterating irony, aesthetic self-consciousness, and critical reflection."[160] Critics of mainstream film such as Ray Carney and American artist and actor Crispin Glover (who starred in the Spielberg-produced Back to the Future and also sued Spielberg for using Glover's likeness in Back to the Future Part II)[161] claim that Spielberg's films lack depth and do not take risks.[162][163] French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard stated that he holds Spielberg partly responsible for the lack of artistic merit in mainstream cinema and accused Spielberg of using his film Schindler's List to make a profit of tragedy while Schindler's wife, Emilie Schindler, lived in poverty in Argentina.[164] In defense of Spielberg, critic Roger Ebert said "Has Godard or any other director living or dead done more than Spielberg, with his Holocaust Project, to honor and preserve the memories of the survivors?"[165] Author Thomas Keneally has also disputed claims that Emilie Schindler was never paid for her contributions to the film, "not least because I had recently sent Emilie a check myself."[166] The late film critic, Pauline Kael, who had championed Spielberg's films in the 1970s, expressed disappointment in his later development, stating that "he's become, I think, a very bad director.... And I'm a little ashamed for him, because I loved his early work.... [H]e turned to virtuous movies. And he's become so uninteresting now.... I think that he had it in him to become more of a fluid, far-out director. But, instead, he's become a melodramatist."[167] Imre Kertész, Hungarian Jewish author, Nazi concentration camp survivor, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, criticized Spielberg's depiction of the Holocaust in Schindler's List as kitsch, saying "I regard as kitsch any representation of the Holocaust that is incapable of understanding or unwilling to understand the organic connection between our own deformed mode of life and the very possibility of the Holocaust."[168] Veteran documentary filmmaker and professor Claude Lanzmann also labeled Schindler's List "pernicious in its impact and influence" and "very sentimental".[169] Stephen Rowley wrote an extensive essay about Spielberg and his career in Senses of Cinema. In it he discussed Spielberg's strengths as a film maker, saying "there is a welcome complexity of tone and approach in these later films that defies the lazy stereotypes often bandied about his films" and that "Spielberg continues to take risks, with his body of work continuing to grow more impressive and ambitious", concluding that he has only received "limited, begrudging recognition" from critics.[159] Other In 1999, Spielberg, then a co-owner of DreamWorks, was involved in a heated debate in which the studio proposed building on wetlands near Los Angeles, California, though development was later dropped for economic reasons.[170] In August 2007, Ai Weiwei, artistic designer for the Beijing Olympic Stadium, known as the "Bird's Nest", accused those choreographing the Olympic opening ceremony, including Spielberg, of failing to live up to their responsibility as artists. Ai said, "It's disgusting. I don't like anyone who shamelessly abuses their profession, who makes no moral judgment. ... ...... Thierry Daniel Henry (French pronunciation: [tjɛʁi ɑ̃ʁi]; born 17 August 1977) is a French footballer who plays as a striker for New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer. Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne (a suburb of Paris) where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and signed instantly, making his professional debut in 1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which he signed for the Serie A defending champions Juventus. He had a disappointing season playing on the wing, before joining Arsenal for £11 million in 1999. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer. Despite initially struggling in the Premier League, he emerged as Arsenal's top goal-scorer for almost every season of his tenure there. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals in all competitions. The Frenchman won two league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners; he was nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year twice, was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, and the FWA Footballer of the Year three times. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. In June 2007, after eight years with Arsenal, he transferred to Barcelona for a fee of €24 million. His first honours with the Catalan club came in 2009 when they won the La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League treble. He went on to achieve an unprecedented sextuple by also winning the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. In total, Henry has been named in the UEFA Team of the Year five times. In 2010, he joined the New York Red Bulls of the Major League Soccer, and won the Eastern Conference title with them in 2010. He returned to Arsenal on loan for two months in 2012. Henry enjoyed similar success with the French national team, having won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. In October 2007, he surpassed Michel Platini's record to become France's top goal-scorer of all time. Henry retired from international football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Off the pitch, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football, partially due to his own experiences. He married English model Nicole Merry in 2003 and had a daughter with her, but they divorced in 2007. Henry was also one of the top commercially marketed footballers; he was ranked ninth in the world in 2006. Henry is of Antillean heritage:[2] his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities.[3][4] As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football.[1] He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon and played there for two years.[2] US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.[3] Club career Monaco (1992–1999) and Juventus (1999) In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry, then at the age of 13 in a match.[5] Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player.[1] Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco, and made his professional debut on 31 August 1994, in a 2–0 loss against Nice.[5] Although Wenger suspected that Henry should be deployed as a striker, he put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full-backs than centre-backs.[2] After a tentative start to his Monaco career, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title.[1][6] During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition.[2][7] By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.[2] He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.[6] Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his friend and teammate David Trezeguet, and moved to Italian Serie A club Juventus for £10.5 million.[1] He played on the wing,[8] but he was ineffective against the Serie A defensive discipline in a position uncharacteristic for him, and scored just three goals in 16 appearances.[9] Arsenal (1999–2007) Henry was made captain following the departure of fellow Frenchman Patrick Vieira to Juventus in 2005 Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus on 3 August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger.[10][11] It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer,[12] and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee.[2] Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games.[3] After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking."[3] These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26.[13] Arsenal finished second in the league behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup Final against Turkish side Galatasaray.[2] Coming off the back of a victorious UEFA Euro 2000 campaign with the national team, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 season. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goalscorer.[14] Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal closed in quickly on perennial rivals Manchester United for the league title. Henry remained frustrated, however, by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.[2] Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the league title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final.[2] Henry became the league's top goal-scorer and netted 32 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club.[1][14] There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.[2] 2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker.[14] In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph (where he was man-of-the-match in the Final),[15] although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League crown.[16] Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the latter edged Henry to the title by a goal.[2] Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year.[17][18] His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award.[12] Henry in a game against Charlton Athletic in 2006 Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pirès, Henry ensured that the Gunners became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process.[19] Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year,[17][18] Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award.[12] With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot.[1][20] However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during UEFA Euro 2004.[2] This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although Arsenal did win the FA Cup (the Final of which Henry missed through injury).[6] Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring,[1] and with 31 goals in all competitions,[21] he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, and is currently the only player to have officially won the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist also had two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial).[20] The unexpected departure of compatriot Vieira in mid-2005 led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game.[1] Along with being chief goal-scorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to gel fully.[22] After the retirement of Dennis Bergkamp, Henry regularly partnered Robin van Persie up front in the Arsenal attack The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goal-scorer of all time;[23] two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals.[24] On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham United, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record.[25] Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League.[26] He completed the season as the league's top goal-scorer,[1] and for the third time in his career, he was voted the FWA Footballer of the Year.[6] Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the league title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, and Arsenal's inability to win the Premier League for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life.[18] Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract.[27] Had the transfer materialized, it would have surpassed the then world record £47 million paid for Zinédine Zidane.[27] Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries.[28] Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match,[29] but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season.[30] Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.[28] Barcelona (2007–2010) Henry in Barcelona colours On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season.[31] It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million.[32] Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving,[33][34] and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona."[35] Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry admitted that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated: "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on."[36] Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goal-scorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goal-scorer in Europe with 42 goals;[1] in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.[37] Henry takes on Rio Ferdinand inside the Manchester United penalty area during the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final. At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon,[38] and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a league match against Levante ten days later.[39] But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press".[40] However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's 10. Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, winning the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the league and Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season. Later in 2009, Henry helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.[41] The following season, the emergence of Pedro Rodríguez meant that Henry only started 15 league games.[14] Before the La Liga season ended, and with a year still left on his contract, club president Joan Laporta stated on 5 May 2010 that Henry "may go away in the summer transfer window if that's what he wants".[42] After Henry returned from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed to the sale of Henry to an unnamed club, with the player still to agree terms with the new club.[43] New York Red Bulls (2010–present) Henry facing Phil Jones in the 2011 MLS All-Star Game In July 2010, Henry signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls for the 2010 season as its second designated player.[44] He made his full MLS debut on 31 July in a 2–2 draw against Houston Dynamo, assisting both goals to Juan Pablo Angel. His first MLS goal came on 28 August in a 2–0 victory against San Jose Earthquakes. The Red Bulls eventually topped the MLS Eastern Conference by one point over Columbus Crew[45] before losing 3–2 on aggregate against San Jose Earthquakes in the quarterfinals of the 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs.[46] The next season, the Red Bulls were 10th overall in the league,[47] and bowed out in the Conference Semi-finals of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.[48] Henry on loan to Arsenal After training with Arsenal during the MLS off-season, Henry re-signed for the club on a two-month loan deal on 6 January 2012. This was to provide cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, who were unavailable due to their participation in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.[49] Henry made his second Arsenal debut as a substitute against Leeds United in the FA Cup third round and scored the only goal.[50] In his last league game on loan, he scored the winning goal in stoppage time in a 2–1 win against Sunderland.[51] On 17 February 2012, Henry returned to Red Bulls to prepare for the 2012 season. On 31 March 2012, Henry scored his first MLS hat-trick in a 5–2 Red Bulls win over Montreal Impact.[52] International career Henry enjoyed a successful career with the France national team, winning the first of his 123 caps in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trézéguet.[1] Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa.[53] Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals.[54] He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur, France's highest decoration.[55] Henry was a member of France's UEFA Euro 2000 squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equaliser against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer.[56] France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinédine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra-time in the Final, earning Henry his second major international medal.[57] During the tournament, Henry was voted man-of-the-match in three games, including the final against Italy.[58] The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games.[1] France lost their first match in group play and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay.[2] In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.[2] Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches.[1] In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon.[1] Henry was awarded both the adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goal-scorer with four goals.[1] In UEFA Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals.[6] France beat England in the group stages but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals.[59] During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil.[1] However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shoot-out, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped.[60] Henry was one of 10 nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane[61] and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.[62] On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goal-scorer of all time.[36] Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goal-scorer.[63] On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for national team in match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.[64] Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being grouped together with Italy, the Netherlands and Romania.[65] He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.[66] The French team struggled during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the play-offs against the Republic of Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner.[67] This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him.[68][69] The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined.[70] Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident,[71] but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game".[72] FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee.[73] Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident.[74] In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.[75] Henry did not feature in the starting line-up for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. France drew in their first game against Uruguay, and lost 2–0 in their second against Mexico. The team was thrown into disarray when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the team, and captain Patrice Evra led a team protest by refusing to train.[76] In the final group game against host-nation South Africa in which Henry came on as a second-half substitute, France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the tournament. He then announced his retirement from international football, having won 123 caps and scored 51 goals for Les Bleus.[77] Style of play Henry was the first-choice free kick taker for Arsenal Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth,[3] he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp.[8] During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4–5–1.[78] This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker.[8] Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger once said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take ball in the middle of park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".[79] One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones.[80] This, combined with his exceptional pace, means that he can get in behind defenders regularly enough to score.[3][81] When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position,[82][83] something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity.[23] Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat.[84] Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers.[2] In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, having scored regularly from those positions. Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year awards;[12] in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles.[17] Henry is the only player ever to have won the FWA Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006),[18] and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003,[86] and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers.[87] In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005) and is the first ever player to retain the award.[20] Henry was also the top goal-scorer in the Premier League for a record four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006).[1] In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006).[88] Henry is currently third in the list of all-time Premier League goal-scorers, behind Alan Shearer and Andy Cole. Given his accomplishments, France's all-time goal-scorer was in his prime regarded by many coaches, footballers and pundits as one of the best footballers in the world.[14][89][90][91] In November 2007, he was ranked 33rd on the Association of Football Statisticians' compendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers".[92] Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player.[37] In two other 2008 surveys, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report.[93][94] In 2009, Henry was voted the best Premier League player of the 2000s.[95] On 10 December 2011, Arsenal unveiled a bronze statue of Henry at the Emirates Stadium as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations. Henry married English model Nicole Merry, real name Claire, on 5 July 2003.[3] The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa.[107] Henry dedicated his first goal since Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United.[108] When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London.[3] However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007.[109] Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million.[110] As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement.[111] Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals;[112] and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.[111] Social causes UNICEF Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.[54] Stand Up Speak Up Having been subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004,[113][114] when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit" to José Antonio Reyes, Henry's team mate at Arsenal.[108] The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked.[115] Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident.[116] Subsequently, in 2007, Time featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on "The Time 100" list.[117] Other work Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 FIFA World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.[118] Endorsements In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth most commercially marketable footballer in the world,[119] as well as being the eighth richest Premier League player, with £21 million.[120] Renault Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term va-va-voom, meaning "life" or "passion". His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-girlfriend, later his wife (now divorced), Claire Merry. "Va-va-voom" was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.[121] Nike In 2004, Henry signed with sportswear giant Nike. In one of the advertisements, Henry pits his wits against football stars such as Claude Makélélé, Edgar Davids and Freddie Ljungberg in locations such as his bedroom and living room. The advertisement was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home.[122] Henry was also featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement along with 24 superstar football players including Ljungberg, Ronaldinho, and Francesco Totti. In tandem with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "beautiful game".[123] Reebok Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign.[124] As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about Henry directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega.[125] Puma In 2011 Henry switched to Puma boots,[126] first wearing the brand in the 2011 MLS All Star game against Manchester United, before announcing a multi-year partnership for Puma to be his performance and lifestyle footwear and apparel sponsor. His first official game with Puma was in the Emirates Cup against former club Arsenal. Gillette In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials.[20] For reasons of recognition, Derek Jeter appears in Henry's place in the advertisements broadcast in North America.[127] In reaction to the handball controversy following the France-Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.[128] Pepsi Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. ... ...... Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" (now Edison, New Jersey) by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large-scale teamwork to the process of invention, and because of that, he is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.[1] Edison is the fourth most prolific inventor in history, holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. He is credited with numerous inventions that contributed to mass communication and, in particular, telecommunications. These included a stock ticker, a mechanical vote recorder, a battery for an electric car, electrical power, recorded music and motion pictures. His advanced work in these fields was an outgrowth of his early career as a telegraph operator. Edison originated the concept and implementation of electric-power generation and distribution to homes, businesses, and factories – a crucial development in the modern industrialized world. His first power station was on Manhattan Island, New York. Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, and grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. (1804–96, born in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia, Canada) and Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810–1871, born in Chenango County, New York).[2][citation needed] His father had to escape from Canada because he took part in the unsuccessful Mackenzie Rebellion of 1837.[citation needed] Edison reported being of Dutch ancestry.[3] In school, the young Edison's mind often wandered, and his teacher, the Reverend Engle, was overheard calling him "addled". This ended Edison's three months of official schooling. Edison recalled later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint." His mother taught him at home.[4] Much of his education came from reading R.G. Parker's School of Natural Philosophy and The Cooper Union. Edison developed hearing problems at an early age. The cause of his deafness has been attributed to a bout of scarlet fever during childhood and recurring untreated middle-ear infections. Around the middle of his career, Edison attributed the hearing impairment to being struck on the ears by a train conductor when his chemical laboratory in a boxcar caught fire and he was thrown off the train in Smiths Creek, Michigan, along with his apparatus and chemicals. In his later years, he modified the story to say the injury occurred when the conductor, in helping him onto a moving train, lifted him by the ears.[5][6] Edison's family moved to Port Huron, Michigan after the railroad bypassed Milan in 1854 and business declined;[7] his life there was bittersweet. He sold candy and newspapers on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit, and he sold vegetables to supplement his income. He also studied qualitative analysis, and conducted chemical experiments on the train until an accident prohibited further work of the kind.[8] He obtained the exclusive right to sell newspapers on the road, and, with the aid of four assistants, he set in type and printed the Grand Trunk Herald, which he sold with his other papers.[8] This began Edison's long streak of entrepreneurial ventures, as he discovered his talents as a businessman. These talents eventually led him to found 14 companies, including General Electric, which is still one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.[9][10] Telegrapher Edison became a telegraph operator after he saved three-year-old Jimmie MacKenzie from being struck by a runaway train. Jimmie's father, station agent J.U. MacKenzie of Mount Clemens, Michigan, was so grateful that he trained Edison as a telegraph operator. Edison's first telegraphy job away from Port Huron was at Stratford Junction, Ontario, on the Grand Trunk Railway.[11] In 1866, at the age of 19, Edison moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where, as an employee of Western Union, he worked the Associated Press bureau news wire. Edison requested the night shift, which allowed him plenty of time to spend at his two favorite pastimes—reading and experimenting. Eventually, the latter pre-occupation cost him his job. One night in 1867, he was working with a lead–acid battery when he spilled sulfuric acid onto the floor. It ran between the floorboards and onto his boss's desk below. The next morning Edison was fired.[12] One of his mentors during those early years was a fellow telegrapher and inventor named Franklin Leonard Pope, who allowed the impoverished youth to live and work in the basement of his Elizabeth, New Jersey home. Some of Edison's earliest inventions were related to telegraphy, including a stock ticker. His first patent was for the electric vote recorder, (U.S. Patent 90,646),[13] which was granted on June 1, 1869.[14] Marriages and children On December 25, 1871, Edison married 16-year-old Mary Stilwell (1855-1884), whom he had met two months earlier; she was an employee at one of his shops. They had three children: Marion Estelle Edison (1873–1965), nicknamed "Dot"[15] Thomas Alva Edison, Jr. (1876–1935), nicknamed "Dash"[16] William Leslie Edison (1878–1937) Inventor, graduate of the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale, 1900.[17] Mary Edison died at age 29 on August 9, 1884, of unknown causes: possibly from a brain tumor[18] or a morphine overdose. Doctors frequently prescribed morphine to women in those years to treat a variety of causes, and researchers believe that some of her symptoms sounded as if they were associated with morphine poisoning.[19] Mina Edison in 1906 On February 24, 1886, at the age of thirty-nine, Edison married the 20-year-old Mina Miller (1866-1947) in Akron, Ohio.[20] She was the daughter of the inventor Lewis Miller, co-founder of the Chautauqua Institution and a benefactor of Methodist charities. They also had three children together: Madeleine Edison (1888–1979), who married John Eyre Sloane.[21][22] Charles Edison (1890–1969), who took over the company upon his father's death and who later was elected Governor of New Jersey.[23] He also took charge of his father's experimental laboratories in West Orange. Theodore Edison (1898–1992), (MIT Physics 1923), credited with more than 80 patents. Mina outlived Thomas Edison, dying on August 24, 1947.[24][25] Beginning his career Photograph of Edison with his phonograph (2nd model), taken in Mathew Brady's Washington, DC studio in April 1878. Mary Had a Little Lamb Thomas Edison reciting "Mary Had a Little Lamb" Problems listening to this file? See media help. Thomas Edison began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey, with the automatic repeater and his other improved telegraphic devices, but the invention that first gained him notice was the phonograph in 1877. This accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edison became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," New Jersey. His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil around a grooved cylinder, but had poor sound quality and the recordings could be played only a few times. In the 1880s, a redesigned model using wax-coated cardboard cylinders was produced by Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester Bell, and Charles Tainter. This was one reason that Thomas Edison continued work on his own "Perfected Phonograph." Menlo Park (1876–1881) Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory, removed to Greenfield Village at Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. (Note the organ against the back wall) Edison's major innovation was the first industrial research lab, which was built in Menlo Park, New Jersey. It was built with the funds from the sale of Edison's quadruplex telegraph. After his demonstration of the telegraph, Edison was not sure that his original plan to sell it for $4,000 to $5,000 was right, so he asked Western Union to make a bid. He was surprised to hear them offer $10,000,[citation needed] ($202,000 USD 2010) which he gratefully accepted. The quadruplex telegraph was Edison's first big financial success, and Menlo Park became the first institution set up with the specific purpose of producing constant technological innovation and improvement. Edison was legally attributed with most of the inventions produced there, though many employees carried out research and development under his direction. His staff was generally told to carry out his directions in conducting research, and he drove them hard to produce results. William Joseph Hammer, a consulting electrical engineer, began his duties as a laboratory assistant to Edison in December 1879. He assisted in experiments on the telephone, phonograph, electric railway, iron ore separator, electric lighting, and other developing inventions. However, Hammer worked primarily on the incandescent electric lamp and was put in charge of tests and records on that device. In 1880, he was appointed chief engineer of the Edison Lamp Works. In his first year, the plant under General Manager Francis Robbins Upton turned out 50,000 lamps. According to Edison, Hammer was "a pioneer of incandescent electric lighting". Thomas Edison's first successful light bulb model, used in public demonstration at Menlo Park, December 1879 Nearly all of Edison's patents were utility patents, which were protected for a 17-year period and included inventions or processes that are electrical, mechanical, or chemical in nature. About a dozen were design patents, which protect an ornamental design for up to a 14-year period. As in most patents, the inventions he described were improvements over prior art. The phonograph patent, in contrast, was unprecedented as describing the first device to record and reproduce sounds.[26] Edison did not invent the first electric light bulb, but instead invented the first commercially practical incandescent light.[27] Many earlier inventors had previously devised incandescent lamps, including Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans. Others who developed early and commercially impractical incandescent electric lamps included Humphry Davy, James Bowman Lindsay, Moses G. Farmer,[28] William E. Sawyer, Joseph Swan and Heinrich Göbel. Some of these early bulbs had such flaws as an extremely short life, high expense to produce, and high electric current drawn, making them difficult to apply on a large scale commercially.[29] In 1878, Edison applied the term filament to the element of glowing wire carrying the current, although the English inventor Joseph Swan had used the term prior to this. Swan developed an incandescent light with a long lasting filament at about the same time as Edison, as Swan's earlier bulbs lacked the high resistance needed to be an effective part of an electrical utility. Edison and his co-workers set about the task of creating longer-lasting bulbs. In Britain, Joseph Swan had been able to obtain a patent on the incandescent lamp; though Edison had already been making successful lamps for some time, his patent application was incompletely prepared and failed.[29] Unable to raise the required capital in Britain because of this, Edison was forced to enter into a joint venture with Swan (known as Ediswan). Swan acknowledged that Edison had anticipated him, saying "Edison is entitled to more than I ... he has seen further into this subject, vastly than I, and foreseen and provided for details that I did not comprehend until I saw his system".[30] By 1879, Edison had produced a new concept: a high resistance lamp in a very high vacuum, which would burn for hundreds of hours. While the earlier inventors had produced electric lighting in laboratory conditions, dating back to a demonstration of a glowing wire by Alessandro Volta in 1800, Edison concentrated on commercial application, and was able to sell the concept to homes and businesses by mass-producing relatively long-lasting light bulbs and creating a complete system for the generation and distribution of electricity. In just over a decade, Edison's Menlo Park laboratory had expanded to occupy two city blocks. Edison said he wanted the lab to have "a stock of almost every conceivable material". A newspaper article printed in 1887 reveals the seriousness of his claim, stating the lab contained "eight thousand kinds of chemicals, every kind of screw made, every size of needle, every kind of cord or wire, hair of humans, horses, hogs, cows, rabbits, goats, minx, camels ... silk in every texture, cocoons, various kinds of hoofs, shark's teeth, deer horns, tortoise shell ... cork, resin, varnish and oil, ostrich feathers, a peacock's tail, jet, amber, rubber, all ores ..." and the list goes on.[31] Over his desk, Edison displayed a placard with Sir Joshua Reynolds' famous quotation: "There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking."[32] This slogan was reputedly posted at several other locations throughout the facility. With Menlo Park, Edison had created the first industrial laboratory concerned with creating knowledge and then controlling its application. Carbon telephone transmitter In 1877–78, Edison invented and developed the carbon microphone used in all telephones along with the Bell receiver until the 1980s. After protracted patent litigation, in 1892 a federal court ruled that Edison and not Emile Berliner was the inventor of the carbon microphone. The carbon microphone was also used in radio broadcasting and public address work through the 1920s. Electric light Main article: History of the light bulb Edison in 1878 Building on the contributions of other developers over the previous three quarters of a century, Edison made improvements to the idea of incandescent light, and entered the public consciousness as "the inventor" of the lightbulb, and a prime mover in developing the necessary infrastructure for electric power. After many experiments with platinum and other metal filaments, Edison returned to a carbon filament. The first successful test was on October 22, 1879;[33] it lasted 13.5 hours.[34] Edison continued to improve this design and by November 4, 1879, filed for U.S. patent 223,898 (granted on January 27, 1880) for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires".[35] Although the patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament including "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways",[35] it was not until several months after the patent was granted that Edison and his team discovered a carbonized bamboo filament that could last over 1,200 hours. The idea of using this particular raw material originated from Edison's recalling his examination of a few threads from a bamboo fishing pole while relaxing on the shore of Battle Lake in the present-day state of Wyoming, where he and other members of a scientific team had traveled so that they could clearly observe a total eclipse of the sun on July 29, 1878, from the Continental Divide.[36] U.S. Patent#223898: Electric-Lamp. Issued January 27, 1880. In 1878, Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company in New York City with several financiers, including J. P. Morgan and the members of the Vanderbilt family. Edison made the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. It was during this time that he said: "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles."[37] Lewis Latimer joined the Edison Electric Light Company in 1884. Latimer had received a patent in January 1881 for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons", an improved method for the production of carbon filaments for lightbulbs. Latimer worked as an engineer, a draftsman and an expert witness in patent litigation on electric lights.[38] George Westinghouse's company bought Philip Diehl's competing induction lamp patent rights (1882) for $25,000, forcing the holders of the Edison patent to charge a more reasonable rate for the use of the Edison patent rights and lowering the price of the electric lamp.[39] On October 8, 1883, the US patent office ruled that Edison's patent was based on the work of William Sawyer and was therefore invalid. Litigation continued for nearly six years, until October 6, 1889, when a judge ruled that Edison's electric-light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid. To avoid a possible court battle with Joseph Swan, whose British patent had been awarded a year before Edison's, he and Swan formed a joint company called Ediswan to manufacture and market the invention in Britain. Mahen Theatre in Brno (in what is now the Czech Republic) was the first public building in the world to use Edison's electric lamps, with the installation supervised by Edison's assistant in the invention of the lamp, Francis Jehl.[40] In September 2010, a sculpture of three giant light bulbs was erected in Brno, in front of the theatre.[41] Electric power distribution Edison patented a system for electricity distribution in 1880, which was essential to capitalize on the invention of the electric lamp. On December 17, 1880, Edison founded the Edison Illuminating Company. The company established the first investor-owned electric utility in 1882 on Pearl Street Station, New York City. It was on September 4, 1882, that Edison switched on his Pearl Street generating station's electrical power distribution system, which provided 110 volts direct current (DC) to 59 customers in lower Manhattan.[42] Earlier in the year, in January 1882, he had switched on the first steam-generating power station at Holborn Viaduct in London. The DC supply system provided electricity supplies to street lamps and several private dwellings within a short distance of the station. On January 19, 1883, the first standardized incandescent electric lighting system employing overhead wires began service in Roselle, New Jersey. War of currents Main article: War of Currents Extravagant displays of electric lights quickly became a feature of public events, as in this picture from the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Edison's true success, like that of his friend Henry Ford, was in his ability to maximize profits through establishment of mass-production systems and intellectual property rights. George Westinghouse and Edison became adversaries because of Edison's promotion of direct current (DC) for electric power distribution instead of the more easily transmitted alternating current (AC) system invented by Nikola Tesla and promoted by Westinghouse. Unlike DC, AC could be stepped up to very high voltages with transformers, sent over thinner and cheaper wires, and stepped down again at the destination for distribution to users. In 1887, there were 121 Edison power stations in the United States delivering DC electricity to customers. When the limitations of DC were discussed by the public, Edison launched a propaganda campaign to convince people that AC was far too dangerous to use. The problem with DC was that the power plants could economically deliver DC electricity only to customers within about one and a half miles (about 2.4 km) from the generating station, so that it was suitable only for central business districts. When George Westinghouse suggested using high-voltage AC instead, as it could carry electricity hundreds of miles with marginal loss of power, Edison waged a "War of Currents" to prevent AC from being adopted. The war against AC led him to become involved in the development and promotion of the electric chair (using AC) as an attempt to portray AC to have greater lethal potential than DC. Edison went on to carry out a brief but intense campaign to ban the use of AC or to limit the allowable voltage for safety purposes. As part of this campaign, Edison's employees publicly electrocuted animals to demonstrate the dangers of AC;[43][44] alternating electric currents are slightly more dangerous in that frequencies near 60 Hz have a markedly greater potential for inducing fatal "cardiac fibrillation" than do direct currents.[45] On one of the more notable occasions, in 1903, Edison's workers electrocuted Topsy the elephant at Luna Park, near Coney Island, after she had killed several men and her owners wanted her put to death.[46] His company filmed the electrocution. AC replaced DC in most instances of generation and power distribution, enormously extending the range and improving the efficiency of power distribution. Though widespread use of DC ultimately lost favor for distribution, it exists today primarily in long-distance high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems. Low-voltage DC distribution continued to be used in high-density downtown areas for many years but was eventually replaced by AC low-voltage network distribution in many of them.[47] DC had the advantage that large battery banks could maintain continuous power through brief interruptions of the electric supply from generators and the transmission system. Utilities such as Commonwealth Edison in Chicago had rotary converters or motor-generator sets, which could change DC to AC and AC to various frequencies in the early to mid-20th century. Utilities supplied rectifiers to convert the low voltage AC to DC for such DC loads as elevators, fans and pumps. There were still 1,600 DC customers in downtown New York City as of 2005, and service was finally discontinued only on November 14, 2007.[47] Most subway systems are still powered by direct current. Fluoroscopy Edison is credited with designing and producing the first commercially available fluoroscope, a machine that uses X-rays to take radiographs. Until Edison discovered that calcium tungstate fluoroscopy screens produced brighter images than the barium platinocyanide screens originally used by Wilhelm Röntgen, the technology was capable of producing only very faint images. The fundamental design of Edison's fluoroscope is still in use today, although Edison himself abandoned the project after nearly losing his own eyesight and seriously injuring his assistant, Clarence Dally. Dally had made himself an enthusiastic human guinea pig for the fluoroscopy project and in the process been exposed to a poisonous dose of radiation. He later died of injuries related to the exposure. In 1903, a shaken Edison said "Don't talk to me about X-rays, I am afraid of them."[48] Work relations Photograph of Thomas Edison by Victor Daireaux, Paris, circa 1880s Frank J. Sprague, a competent mathematician and former naval officer, was recruited by Edward H. Johnson and joined the Edison organization in 1883. One of Sprague's contributions to the Edison Laboratory at Menlo Park was to expand Edison's mathematical methods. Despite the common belief that Edison did not use mathematics, analysis of his notebooks reveal that he was an astute user of mathematical analysis conducted by his assistants such as Francis Robbins Upton, for example, determining the critical parameters of his electric lighting system including lamp resistance by an analysis of Ohm's Law, Joule's Law and economics.[49] Another of Edison's assistants was Nikola Tesla. Tesla claimed that Edison had promised him $50,000 if he succeeded in making improvements to his DC generation plants. Several months later, when Tesla had finished the work and asked to be paid, he said that Edison replied, "When you become a full-fledged American you will appreciate an American joke."[50] Tesla immediately resigned. With Tesla's salary of $18 per week, the payment would have amounted to over 53 years' pay and the amount was equal to the initial capital of the company. Another account states that Tesla resigned when he was refused a raise to $25 per week.[51] Although Tesla accepted an Edison Medal later in life, this and other negative events concerning Edison remained with him. The day after Edison died, the New York Times contained extensive coverage of Edison's life, with the only negative opinion coming from Tesla who was quoted as saying: He had no hobby, cared for no sort of amusement of any kind and lived in utter disregard of the most elementary rules of hygiene. [...] His method was inefficient in the extreme, for an immense ground had to be covered to get anything at all unless blind chance intervened and, at first, I was almost a sorry witness of his doings, knowing that just a little theory and calculation would have saved him 90% of the labor. But he had a veritable contempt for book learning and mathematical knowledge, trusting himself entirely to his inventor's instinct and practical American sense.[52] —Nikola Tesla One of Edison's famous quotations about his attempts to make the light globe suggest that perhaps Tesla was right about Edison's methods of working: "If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward."[53] When Edison was a very old man and close to death, he said, in looking back, that the biggest mistake he had made was in not respecting Tesla or his work.[54] There were 28 men recognized as Edison Pioneers. Media inventions The key to Edison's fortunes was telegraphy. With knowledge gained from years of working as a telegraph operator, he learned the basics of electricity. This allowed him to make his early fortune with the stock ticker, the first electricity-based broadcast system. Edison patented the sound recording and reproducing phonograph in 1878. Edison was also granted a patent for the motion picture camera or "Kinetograph". He did the electromechanical design, while his employee W.K.L. Dickson, a photographer, worked on the photographic and optical development. Much of the credit for the invention belongs to Dickson.[33] In 1891, Thomas Edison built a Kinetoscope, or peep-hole viewer. This device was installed in penny arcades, where people could watch short, simple films. The kinetograph and kinetoscope were both first publicly exhibited May 20, 1891.[55] On August 9, 1892, Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph. In April 1896, Thomas Armat's Vitascope, manufactured by the Edison factory and marketed in Edison's name, was used to project motion pictures in public screenings in New York City. Later he exhibited motion pictures with voice soundtrack on cylinder recordings, mechanically synchronized with the film. Leonard Cushing Kinetograph 1894.ogv The June 1894 Leonard–Cushing bout. Each of the six one-minute rounds recorded by the Kinetoscope was made available to exhibitors for $22.50.[56] Customers who watched the final round saw Leonard score a knockdown. Officially the kinetoscope entered Europe when the rich American Businessman Irving T. Bush (1869–1948) bought from the Continental Commerce Company of Frank Z. Maguire and Joseph D. Baucus a dozen machines. Bush placed from October 17, 1894, the first kinetoscopes in London. At the same time the French company Kinétoscope Edison Michel et Alexis Werner bought these machines for the market in France. In the last three months of 1894, The Continental Commerce Company sold hundreds of kinetoscopes in Europe (i.e. the Netherlands and Italy). In Germany and in Austria-Hungary the kinetoscope was introduced by the Deutsche-österreichische-Edison-Kinetoscop Gesellschaft, founded by the Ludwig Stollwerck[57] of the Schokoladen-Süsswarenfabrik Stollwerck & Co of Cologne. The first kinetoscopes arrived in Belgium at the Fairs in early 1895. The Edison's Kinétoscope Français, a Belgian company, was founded in Brussels on January 15, 1895, with the rights to sell the kinetoscopes in Monaco, France and the French colonies. The main investors in this company were Belgian industrialists.[58] On May 14, 1895, the Edison's Kinétoscope Belge was founded in Brussels. The businessman Ladislas-Victor Lewitzki, living in London but active in Belgium and France, took the initiative in starting this business. He had contacts with Leon Gaumont and the American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. In 1898 he also became a shareholder of the Biograph and Mutoscope Company for France.[58] In 1901, he visited the Sudbury area in Ontario, Canada, as a mining prospector, and is credited with the original discovery of the Falconbridge ore body. His attempts to mine the ore body were not successful, however, and he abandoned his mining claim in 1903.[59] A street in Falconbridge, as well as the Edison Building, which served as the head office of Falconbridge Mines, are named for him. Other exhibitors similarly routinely copied and exhibited each others' films.[60] To better protect the copyrights on his films, Edison deposited prints of them on long strips of photographic paper with the U.S. copyright office. Many of these paper prints survived longer and in better condition than the actual films of that era.[61] Edison's favorite movie was The Birth of a Nation. He thought that talkies had "spoiled everything" for him. "There isn't any good acting on the screen. They concentrate on the voice now and have forgotten how to act. I can sense it more than you because I am deaf."[62] His favorite stars were Mary Pickford and Clara Bow.[63] In 1908, Edison started the Motion Picture Patents Company, which was a conglomerate of nine major film studios (commonly known as the Edison Trust). Thomas Edison was the first honorary fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, which was founded in 1929. West Orange and Fort Myers (1886–1931) Thomas A. Edison Industries Exhibit, Primary Battery section, 1915 Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone, respectively. Ft. Myers, Florida, February 11, 1929 Edison moved from Menlo Park after the death of Mary Stilwell and purchased a home known as "Glenmont" in 1886 as a wedding gift for Mina in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey. In 1885, Thomas Edison bought property in Fort Myers, Florida, and built what was later called Seminole Lodge as a winter retreat. Edison and his wife Mina spent many winters in Fort Myers where they recreated and Edison tried to find a domestic source of natural rubber. Henry Ford, the automobile magnate, later lived a few hundred feet away from Edison at his winter retreat in Fort Myers, Florida. Edison even contributed technology to the automobile. They were friends until Edison's death. In 1928, Edison joined the Fort Myers Civitan Club. He believed strongly in the organization, writing that "The Civitan Club is doing things—big things—for the community, state, and nation, and I certainly consider it an honor to be numbered in its ranks."[64] He was an active member in the club until his death, sometimes bringing Henry Ford to the club's meetings. The final years Edison was active in business right up to the end. Just months before his death in 1931, the Lackawanna Railroad implemented electric trains in suburban service from Hoboken to Gladstone, Montclair and Dover in New Jersey. Transmission was by means of an overhead catenary system, with the entire project under Edison's guidance. To the surprise of many, he was at the throttle of the very first MU (Multiple-Unit) train to depart Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken, driving the train all the way to Dover.[65] As another tribute to his lasting legacy, the same fleet of cars Edison deployed on the Lackawanna in 1931 served commuters until their retirement in 1984, when some of them were purchased by the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum in Lenox, Massachusetts. A special plaque commemorating the joint achievement of both the railway and Edison can be seen today in the waiting room of Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken, presently operated by New Jersey Transit.[65] Edison was said to have been influenced by a popular fad diet in his last few years; "the only liquid he consumed was a pint of milk every three hours".[33] He is reported to have believed this diet would restore his health. However, this tale is doubtful. In 1930, the year before Edison died, Mina said in an interview about him, "correct eating is one of his greatest hobbies." She also said that during one of his periodic "great scientific adventures", Edison would be up at 7:00, have breakfast at 8:00, and be rarely home for lunch or dinner, implying that he continued to have all three.[62] Edison became the owner of his Milan, Ohio, birthplace in 1906. On his last visit, in 1923, he was shocked to find his old home still lit by lamps and candles. Thomas Edison died of complications of diabetes on October 18, 1931, in his home, "Glenmont" in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey, which he had purchased in 1886 as a wedding gift for Mina. He is buried behind the home.[66][67] Edison's last breath is reportedly contained in a test tube at the Henry Ford Museum. Ford reportedly convinced Charles Edison to seal a test tube of air in the inventor's room shortly after his death, as a memento. A plaster death mask was also made.[68] Mina died in 1947. Views on politics, religion and metaphysics Historian Paul Israel has characterized Edison as a "freethinker".[33] Edison was heavily influenced by Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason.[33] Edison defended Paine's "scientific deism", saying, "He has been called an atheist, but atheist he was not. Paine believed in a supreme intelligence, as representing the idea which other men often express by the name of deity."[33] In an October 2, 1910, interview in the New York Times Magazine, Edison stated: Nature is what we know. We do not know the gods of religions. And nature is not kind, or merciful, or loving. If God made me — the fabled God of the three qualities of which I spoke: mercy, kindness, love — He also made the fish I catch and eat. And where do His mercy, kindness, and love for that fish come in? No; nature made us — nature did it all — not the gods of the religions.[69] Edison was called an atheist for those remarks, and although he did not allow himself to be drawn into the controversy publicly, he clarified himself in a private letter: "You have misunderstood the whole article, because you jumped to the conclusion that it denies the existence of God. There is no such denial, what you call God I call Nature, the Supreme intelligence that rules matter. All the article states is that it is doubtful in my opinion if our intelligence or soul or whatever one may call it lives hereafter as an entity or disperses back again from whence it came, scattered amongst the cells of which we are made."[33] Nonviolence was key to Edison's moral views, and when asked to serve as a naval consultant for World War I, he specified he would work only on defensive weapons and later noted, "I am proud of the fact that I never invented weapons to kill." Edison's philosophy of nonviolence extended to animals as well, about which he stated: "Nonviolence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."[70] However, he is also notorious for having electrocuted a number of dogs in 1888, both by direct and alternating current, in an attempt to argue that the former (which he had a vested business interest in promoting) was safer than the latter (favored by his rival George Westinghouse).[71] Edison's success in promoting direct current as less lethal also led to alternating current being used in the electric chair adopted by New York in 1889 as a supposedly humane execution method. Because Westinghouse was angered by the decision, he funded Eighth Amendment-based appeals for inmates set to die in the electric chair, ultimately resulting in Edison providing the generators which powered early electrocutions and testifying successfully on behalf of the state that electrocution was a painless method of execution.[72] Tributes Places and people named for Edison Several places have been named after Edison, most notably the town of Edison, New Jersey. Thomas Edison State College, a nationally known college for adult learners, is in Trenton, New Jersey. Two community colleges are named for him: Edison State College in Fort Myers, Florida, and Edison Community College in Piqua, Ohio.[73] There are numerous high schools named after Edison; see Edison High School. In 1883, the City Hotel in Sunbury, Pennsylvania was the first building to be lit with Edison's three-wire system. The hotel was renamed The Hotel Edison upon Edison's return to the City on 1922. [74] Edison was on hand to turn on the lights at the Hotel Edison in New York City when it opened in 1931. Three bridges around the United States have been named in his honor (see Edison Bridge). In space, his name is commemorated in asteroid 742 Edisona. The Russian composer Edison Denisov, whose father was a radio-physicist, was named after the inventor. Museums and memorials Statue of young Thomas Edison by the railroad tracks in Port Huron, Michigan. In West Orange, New Jersey, the 13.5 acre (5.5 ha) Glenmont estate is maintained and operated by the National Park Service as the Edison National Historic Site.[75] The Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum is in the town of Edison, New Jersey.[76] In Beaumont, Texas, there is an Edison Museum, though Edison never visited there.[citation needed] The Port Huron Museum, in Port Huron, Michigan, restored the original depot that Thomas Edison worked out of as a young newsbutcher. The depot has been named the Thomas Edison Depot Museum.[77] The town has many Edison historical landmarks, including the graves of Edison's parents, and a monument along the St. Clair River. Edison's influence can be seen throughout this city of 32,000. In Detroit, the Edison Memorial Fountain in Grand Circus Park was created to honor his achievements. The limestone fountain was dedicated October 21, 1929, the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of the lightbulb.[78] On the same night, The Edison Institute was dedicated in nearby Dearborn. In early 2010, Edison was proposed by the Ohio Historical Society as a finalist in a statewide vote for inclusion in Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol. Companies bearing Edison's name In 1915 Edison General Electric, merged with Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric Commonwealth Edison, now part of Exelon Consolidated Edison Edison International Southern California Edison Edison Mission Energy Edison Capital Detroit Edison, a unit of DTE Energy Edison Sault Electric Company, a unit of Wisconsin Energy Corporation FirstEnergy Metropolitan Edison Ohio Edison Toledo Edison Edison S.p.A., a unit of Italenergia Boston Edison, a unit of NSTAR, formerly known as the Edison Electric Illuminating Company WEEI radio station in Boston, established by the Edison Electric Illuminating Company (hence the call letters) Trade association the Edison Electric Institute, a lobbying and research group for investor-owned utilities in the United States Edison Ore-Milling Company Edison Portland Cement Company Awards named in honor of Edison The Edison Medal was created on February 11, 1904, by a group of Edison's friends and associates. Four years later the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), later IEEE, entered into an agreement with the group to present the medal as its highest award. The first medal was presented in 1909 to Elihu Thomson and, in a twist of fate, was awarded to Nikola Tesla in 1917. It is the oldest award in the area of electrical and electronics engineering, and is presented annually "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering or the electrical arts." In the Netherlands, the major music awards are named the Edison Award after him. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers concedes the Thomas A. Edison Patent Award to individual patents since 2000.[79] Honors and awards given to Edison The President of the Third French Republic, Jules Grévy, on the recommendation of his Minister of Foreign Affairs Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire and with the presentations of the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs Louis Cochery, designated Edison with the distinction of an 'Officer of the Legion of Honour' (Légion d'honneur) by decree on November 10, 1881;[80] He also named a Chevalier in 1879, and a Commander in 1889.[81] In 1887, Edison won the Matteucci Medal. In 1890, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Philadelphia City Council named Edison the recipient of the John Scott Medal in 1889.[81] In 1899, Edison was awarded the Edward Longstreth Medal of The Franklin Institute.[82] He was named an Honorable Consulting Engineer at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's fair in 1904.[81] In 1908, Edison received the American Association of Engineering Societies John Fritz Medal.[81] Edison was awarded Franklin Medal of The Franklin Institute in 1915 for discoveries contributing to the foundation of industries and the well-being of the human race. The United States Navy department awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal in 1920.[81] The American Institute of Electrical Engineers created the Edison Medal in 1923 and he was its first recipient.[81] In 1927, he was granted membership in the National Academy of Sciences.[81] On May 29, 1928, Edison received the Congressional Gold Medal.[81] In 1983, the United States Congress, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 140 (Public Law 97—198), designated February 11, Edison's birthday, as National Inventor's Day. Edison was ranked thirty-fifth on Michael H. Hart's 1978 book The 100, a list of the most influential figures in history. Life magazine (USA), in a special double issue in 1997, placed Edison first in the list of the "100 Most Important People in the Last 1000 Years", noting that the light bulb he promoted "lit up the world". In the 2005 television series The Greatest American, he was voted by viewers as the fifteenth-greatest. In 2008, Edison was inducted in the New Jersey Hall of Fame. In 2010, Edison was honored with a Technical Grammy Award. In 2011, Edison was inducted into the Entrepreneur Walk of Fame, and named a Great Floridian by the Florida Governor and Cabinet.[83] On November 6, 1915, The New York Times announced that both Edison and Tesla were to jointly receive the 1915 Nobel Prize but it did not occur.[84] The details of what happened are not known but Tesla who had once worked for Edison quit when he was promised a large bonus for solving a problem and then after being successful was told the promise was a joke.[85] Tesla once said that if Edison had to find a needle in a haystack he would take apart the haystack one straw at a time.[86] The Prize was awarded to Sir William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays". Other items named after Edison The United States Navy named the USS Edison (DD-439), a Gleaves class destroyer, in his honor in 1940. The ship was decommissioned a few months after the end of World War II. In 1962, the Navy commissioned USS Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610), a fleet ballistic missile nuclear-powered submarine. Decommissioned on December 1, 1983, Thomas A. Edison was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on April 30, 1986. She went through the Navy's Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington, beginning on October 1, 1996. When she finished the program on December 1, 1997, she ceased to exist as a complete ship and was listed as scrapped. In popular culture Main article: Thomas Edison in popular culture Thomas Edison has appeared in popular culture as a character in novels, films, comics and video games. His prolific inventing helped make him an icon and he has made appearances in popular culture during his lifetime down to the present day. His history with Nikola Tesla has also provided dramatic tension and is a theme returned to numerous times. On February 11, 2011, on Thomas Edison's 164th birthday, Google's homepage featured an animated Google Doodle commemorating his many inventions. When the cursor was hovered over the doodle, a series of mechanisms seemed to move, causing a lightbulb to glow. ... ...... Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (play /ˈtɒməs ˈkruːz ˈmeɪpɒθər/; born July 3, 1962), widely known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and has won three Golden Globe Awards for the same movies: Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Jerry Maguire (1996), Magnolia (1999). He started his career with the movie Endless Love. Cruise's first appearance in a major film was in 1981's Taps. His first leading role was in the film Risky Business,[1] released in August 1983. Cruise played the role of a heroic naval pilot in the popular and successful 1986 film Top Gun, and also secret agent Ethan Hunt in the series of Mission: Impossible action films. He has starred in many successful films, including: Rain Man (1988), Days of Thunder (1990), A Few Good Men (1992), Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004), and War of the Worlds (2005). Since 2005, Cruise and Paula Wagner have been in charge of the United Artists film studio,[2] with Cruise as producer and star and Wagner as the chief executive. Cruise is also known for his support of and adherence to the Church of Scientology.[3] Cruise was born in Syracuse, New York,[4] the son of Mary Lee (née Pfeiffer), a special education teacher, and Thomas Cruise Mapother III (died 1984),[5] an electrical engineer.[6] Cruise's surname originates from his great-grandfather, Thomas Cruise O'Mara, who was adopted by a Welsh immigrant and renamed "Thomas Cruise Mapother".[7][8][9] Cruise is of German, Irish, and English ancestry.[10] He grew up in near poverty, in a Catholic family dominated by his abusive father, whom Cruise has described as "a merchant of chaos".[11] He was beaten by his father, who Cruise has said was a bully and coward. He was the kind of person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you. It was a great lesson in my life—how he’d lull you in, make you feel safe and then, bang! For me, it was like, 'There's something wrong with this guy. Don't trust him. Be careful around him.'[11] Cruise's family spent part of his childhood in Canada, and Cruise attended Robert Hopkins Public School in Ottawa, Ontario, for grades three, four, and five. The Mapother family then moved to the suburb of Beacon Hill, so Cruise's father could take a position as a defense consultant with the Canadian Armed Forces.[12] There, Cruise completed grade six at Henry Munro Middle School, part of the Carleton Board of Education,[13] where he was active in athletics, playing floor hockey almost every night, showing himself to be a ruthless player, and eventually chipping his front tooth. In the game British bulldogs, he then lost his newly capped tooth and hurt his knee.[14] Henry Munro was also where Cruise became involved in drama, under the tutelage of George Steinburg.[15] The first play he participated in was called IT, in which Cruise won the co-lead with Michael de Waal, one playing "Evil", the other playing "Good". The play met much acclaim, and toured with five other classmates to various schools around the Ottawa area, even being filmed at the local Ottawa TV station.[16] Cruise was bullied regularly in the 15 different schools he attended in 12 years.[11] When Cruise was twelve, his mother left his father, taking Cruise and his sister Lee Anne with her.[11] He briefly attended a Franciscan seminary in Cincinnati (on a church scholarship) and aspired to become a Catholic priest.[17] In his senior year, he played football for the varsity team as a linebacker, but he was cut from the squad after getting caught drinking beer before a game.[18][19] Cruise first appeared in supporting roles the 1981 films Endless Love and Taps, the latter in which he played a crazed military school student. His first starring role was in the 1983 comedy Losin' It. That same year he appeared in All the Right Moves and Risky Business, which has been described as "A Generation-X classic, and a career-maker for Tom Cruise",[20] and which along with 1986's Top Gun, cemented his status as a Superstar. Cruise followed up Top Gun with The Color of Money, which came out the same year, and which paired him with Academy Award-winner Paul Newman. 1988 saw him star in Cocktail, which earned him a nomination for the Razzie Award for Worst Actor. Later that year he starred with Academy Award-winner Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, which won the Academy Award for Best Film and Cruise the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. Cruise finished the decade by portraying real-life paralyzed Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic in 1989's Born on the Fourth of July, which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actor, a nomination for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Cruise's first Best Actor Academy Award nomination. 1990s In 1994, Cruise starred along with Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas and Christian Slater in Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire, a gothic drama/horror film that was based on Anne Rice's best-selling novel. The film was well received, although Rice was initially quite outspoken in her criticism of Cruise having been cast in the film, as Julian Sands was her first choice. Upon seeing the film however, she paid $7,740 for a two-page ad in Daily Variety praising his performance and apologizing for her previous doubts about him.[21] In 1996, Cruise appeared as superspy Ethan Hunt in the reboot of Mission: Impossible, which he produced. In 1996, he took on the title role in Jerry Maguire, for which he earned a Golden Globe and his second nomination for an Academy Award. In 1999, Cruise costarred with wife Nicole Kidman in the erotic Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut, and played motivational speaker Frank T.J. Mackey in the ensemble film Magnolia, for which he received another Golden Globe and nomination for an Academy Award. In 2000, Cruise returned as Ethan Hunt in the second installment of the Mission Impossible films, releasing Mission: Impossible II. The film was directed by Hong Kong director John Woo and branded with his gun fu style, and it continued the series' blockbuster success at the box office, taking in almost $547M in worldwide figures, like its predecessor, being the third highest grossing film of the year. Cruise received an MTV Movie Award as Best Male Performance for this film.[22] His next five films were major critical and commercial successes.[23][24] The following year Cruise starred in the romantic thriller Vanilla Sky (2001) with Cameron Diaz and Penélope Cruz. In 2002, Cruise starred in the dystopian science fiction thriller, Minority Report which was directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick. In 2003, he starred in the Edward Zwick's historical drama The Last Samurai, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination as best actor.[22] In 2005, Cruise worked again with Steven Spielberg in War of the Worlds, which became the fourth highest grossing film of the year with US$591.4 million worldwide. Also in 2005, he won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie Star, and the MTV Generation Award.[22] Cruise was nominated for seven Saturn Awards between 2002 and 2009, winning once.[22] Nine of the ten films he starred in during the decade made over $100 million at the box office.[23] Cruise in 2006 In 2006, he reprised his role as Ethan Hunt in the third installment of the Mission Impossible film series, Mission: Impossible III. The film was more positively received by critics than its predecessor, and grossed nearly $400 million at the box office.[25] Cruise's 2007 film Lions for Lambs was a rare commercial disappointment. In 2008, Cruise appeared in the hit comedy Tropic Thunder with Ben Stiller and Jack Black. This performance earned Cruise a Golden Globe nomination. Cruise's role in the historical thriller Valkyrie released on December 25, 2008 to box office success.[26] As of 2009, Cruise's films have grossed over $6.5 billion worldwide.[27] In March 2010, Cruise completed filming the action-comedy Knight and Day, in which he re-teamed with former costar Cameron Diaz; the film was released on June 23, 2010.[28] On February 9, 2010, Cruise confirmed that he would star in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the fourth Mission:Impossible film, which was released in December 2011.[29] On May 6, 2011, Cruise was awarded a humanitarian award from the Simon Wiesenthal Centre and Museum of Tolerance for his work as a dedicated philanthropist.[30] In mid-2011, Cruise started shooting the movie Rock of Ages, in which he played the character Stacee Jaxx. The film was released in June 2012.[31] Cruise partnered with his former talent agent Paula Wagner to form Cruise/Wagner Productions in 1993,[2] and the company has since co-produced several of Cruise's films,[32] the first being Mission: Impossible in 1996 which was also Cruise's first project as a producer. Cruise is noted as having negotiated some of the most lucrative film deals in Hollywood, and was described in 2005 by Hollywood economist Edward Jay Epstein as "one of the most powerful – and richest – forces in Hollywood". Epstein argues that Cruise is one of the few producers (the others being George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer) who are regarded as able to guarantee the success of a billion-dollar film franchise. Epstein also contends that the public obsession with Cruise's tabloid controversies obscures full appreciation of Cruise's exceptional commercial prowess.[33] Cruise/Wagner Productions, Cruise's film production company, is said to be developing a screenplay based on Erik Larson's New York Times bestseller, The Devil in the White City about a real life serial killer, H. H. Holmes, at Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition. Kathryn Bigelow is attached to the project to produce and helm. Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way, is also developing a film about Holmes and the World's Fair, in which DiCaprio will star.[34] Breakup with Paramount On August 22, 2006, Paramount Pictures announced it was ending its 14-year relationship with Cruise. In the Wall Street Journal, chairman of Viacom (Paramount's parent company) Sumner Redstone cited the economic damage to Cruise's value as an actor and producer from his controversial public behavior and views.[35][36] Cruise/Wagner Productions responded that Paramount's announcement was a face-saving move after the production company had successfully sought alternative financing from private equity firms.[37] Industry analysts such as Edward Jay Epstein commented that the real reason for the split was most likely Paramount's discontent over Cruise/Wagner's exceptionally large share of DVD sales from the Mission: Impossible franchise.[38][39] Management of United Artists In November 2006, Cruise and Paula Wagner announced that they had taken over United Artists film studio.[2] Cruise acts as a producer and star in films for United Artists, while Wagner serves as UA's chief executive. Production began in 2007 of Valkyrie, a thriller based on the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler. The film was acquired in March 2007 by United Artists. On March 21, 2007 Cruise signed on to play Claus von Stauffenberg, the protagonist. This project marks the second production to be greenlighted since Cruise and Wagner took control of United Artists. The first was its inaugural film, Lions for Lambs, directed by Robert Redford and starring Redford, Meryl Streep and Cruise. Lambs was released on November 9, 2007,[40] opening to unimpressive box office revenue and critical reception. In August 2008, Wagner stepped down from her position at United Artists; she retains her stake in UA, which combined with Cruise's share amounts to 30 percent of the studio.[41] Cruise was next romantically linked with Penélope Cruz, his co-star in Vanilla Sky. That relationship ended in 2004.[48] In April 2005, Cruise began dating actress Katie Holmes. On April 27 that year, Cruise and Holmes, dubbed "TomKat" by the media, made their first public appearance together in Rome.[49] A month later, Cruise declared his love for Holmes on The Oprah Winfrey Show famously jumping up and down on Winfrey's couch during the show.[50] On October 6, 2005, Cruise and Holmes announced they were expecting a child,[51] and their daughter, Suri, was born in April 2006. On November 18, 2006, Holmes and Cruise were married at the 15th-century Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, Italy, in a Scientology ceremony attended by many Hollywood stars.[52][53] The actors' publicist said the couple had "officialized" their marriage in Los Angeles the day before the Italian ceremony.[54] David Miscavige served as Cruise's best man.[55] In 1990, 1991 and 1997, People magazine rated him among the 50 most beautiful people in the world. In 1995, Empire magazine ranked him among the 100 sexiest stars in film history. Two years later, it ranked him among the top 5 film stars of all time. In 2002 and 2003, he was rated by Premiere among the top 20 in its annual Power 100 list.[1] In 2006, Premiere ranked Cruise as Hollywood's most powerful actor,[56] as Cruise came in at number 13 on the magazine's 2006 Power List, being the highest ranked actor.[57] The same year, Forbes magazine ranked him as the world's most powerful celebrity.[58] In August 2006, "a USA Today/Gallup poll in which half of those surveyed registered an 'unfavorable' opinion of the actor" was cited as a reason in addition to "unacceptable behavior"[59] for Paramount's non-renewal of their production contract with Cruise. In addition, Marketing Evaluations reports that Cruise's Q score (which is a measure of the popularity of celebrities), had fallen 40 percent. It was also revealed that Cruise is the celebrity people would least like as their best friend. October 10, 2006 was declared "Tom Cruise Day" in Japan; the Japan Memorial Day Association said that he was awarded with a special day because he has made more trips to Japan than any other Hollywood star.[60] During Cruise's marriage to Nicole Kidman, the couple endured public speculation about their sex life and rumors that Cruise was gay. In 1998, he successfully sued the Daily Express, a British tabloid which alleged that his marriage to Kidman was a sham designed to cover up his homosexuality.[61] In May 2001 he filed a lawsuit against gay porn actor Chad Slater. Slater had allegedly told the celebrity magazine Actustar that he had had an affair with Cruise. Both Slater and Cruise denied this[clarification needed], and in August 2001, Slater was ordered to pay $10 million to Cruise in damages after Slater declared he could not afford to defend himself against the suit and would therefore default.[62] Cruise also sued Michael Davis, publisher of Bold Magazine, who alleged but never confirmed that he had video that would prove Cruise was gay. The suit was dropped in exchange for a public statement by Davis that the video was not of Cruise, and that Cruise was heterosexual.[63] After The Beast's publication of their 50 Most Loathsome People of 2004, which included Cruise, Cruise's lawyer Bertram Fields threatened to sue. Seeing the opportunity for nationwide exposure, The Beast actively encouraged the lawsuit. No lawsuit was ever filed and Cruise was included more prominently in the 2005 list.[64] In 2006, Cruise sued cybersquatter Jeff Burgar to obtain control of the TomCruise.com domain name. When owned by Burgar, the domain redirected to information about Cruise on Celebrity1000.com. The decision to turn TomCruise.com over to Cruise was handed down by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on July 5, 2006.[65] Cruise has made several expressions of his feelings for Holmes to the media, most notably the "couch incident" which took place on the popular The Oprah Winfrey Show of May 23, 2005. Cruise "jumped around the set, hopped onto a couch, fell to one knee and repeatedly professed his love for his new girlfriend".[66] The phrase "jumping the couch", fashioned after "jumping the shark", is used to describe someone "going off the deep end" in public in a manner extreme enough to tarnish his or her reputation.[67] It enjoyed a short-lived popularity, being chosen by the editors of the Historical Dictionary of American Slang as the "slang term of the year" in 2005[68] and by the nonprofit group Global Language Monitor as one of its top phrases for the year.[69] The "couch incident" was voted No.1 of 2005's "Most Surprising Television Moments" on a countdown on E![citation needed] and No.5 at BoxOfficeProphets.com.[70] and was the subject of numerous parodies, including the epilogue of Scary Movie 4, an episode of South Park, a short on Sesame Street,[71] and an episode of Family Guy. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Lesson learned: Tell, don't show".[72] In early May 2008, Cruise reappeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to celebrate 25 years in the film business. The feature was a two hour special, the first hour was Oprah spending the day with Cruise at his house in Telluride, Colorado on May 2. Cruise is an outspoken advocate for the Church of Scientology. He became involved with Scientology in 1990 through his first wife, Mimi Rogers.[73] He has said that Scientology, specifically the L. Ron Hubbard Study Tech, helped him overcome dyslexia.[74] In addition to promoting various programs that introduce people to Scientology, Cruise has campaigned for Scientology to be recognized as a religion in Europe. In 2005, the Paris city council revealed that Cruise had lobbied officials Nicolas Sarkozy and Jean-Claude Gaudin, described him as a spokesman and militant for Scientology, and barred any further dealings with him.[75][76] Cruise co-founded and raised donations for Downtown Medical to offer New York City 9/11 rescue workers detoxification therapy based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard. This drew criticism from the medical profession,[77] as well as firefighters.[78] For these activities and others, David Miscavige awarded Cruise Scientology's Freedom Medal of Valor in late 2004.[citation needed] In January 2004, Tom Cruise said: "I think psychiatry should be outlawed."[79] A controversy erupted in 2005 after he openly criticized actress Brooke Shields for using the drug Paxil (paroxetine), an anti-depressant to which Shields attributes her recovery from postpartum depression after the birth of her first daughter in 2003. Cruise asserted that there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance, and that psychiatry is a form of pseudoscience. Shields responded that Cruise "should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them".[80] This led to a heated argument between Matt Lauer and Cruise on NBC's Today on June 24, 2005.[81] Medical authorities view Cruise's comments as furthering the social stigma of mental illness.[82][83] Shields herself called Cruise's comments "a disservice to mothers everywhere".[84] In late August 2006, Cruise apologized in person to Shields for his comments.[85] Scientology is well known for its opposition to mainstream psychiatry. On January 15, 2008, a video produced by the Church of Scientology featuring an interview with Cruise was posted on YouTube, showing Cruise discussing what being a Scientologist means to him.[86][87] The Church of Scientology said the video had been "pirated and edited", and was taken from a three-hour video produced for members of Scientology.[87][88] YouTube removed the Cruise video from their site under threat of litigation.[89] Cruise's more open attitude to Scientology has been attributed to the March 2004 departure of his publicist of 14 years, Pat Kingsley. He replaced her with his sister, fellow Scientologist Lee Anne DeVette, who served in that role until November 2005.[90] DeVette was replaced with Paul Bloch from the publicity firm Rogers and Cowan.[91] Such restructuring is seen as a move to curtail publicity of his views on Scientology, as well as the hard-sell of his relationship with Katie Holmes backfiring with the public.[92][93] ... ...... Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks is known for his roles in Philadelphia and as the title character in Forrest Gump, roles which won him two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor. Hanks is also known for his Oscar nominated roles in Big, Saving Private Ryan and Cast Away. Hanks' other acting roles include Apollo 13 as Jim Lovell, The Green Mile as Paul Edgecomb, Toy Story as Woody and Charlie Wilson's War as Charlie Wilson. Early life Hanks was born in Concord, California. His father, Amos Mefford Hanks (born in Glenn County, California, on March 9, 1924 – died in Alameda, California, on January 31, 1992), was an itinerant cook.[1] His mother, Janet Marylyn (née Frager; born in Alameda County, California, on January 18, 1932), was a hospital worker. Hanks' mother is of Portuguese ancestry, while two of his paternal great-grandparents immigrated from Britain.[2][3] Hanks's parents divorced in 1960. The family's three oldest children, Sandra (now Sandra Hanks Benoiton, a writer)[citation needed], Larry (now Lawrence M. Hanks, PhD, an entomology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)[4] and Tom, went with their father, while the youngest, Jim, now an actor and film maker, remained with his mother in Red Bluff, California.[citation needed] In addition to having a family history of Catholicism and Mormonism, Hanks was a "Bible-toting evangelical teenager" for several years.[5] In school, Hanks was unpopular with students and teachers alike, later telling Rolling Stone magazine: "I was a geek, a spaz. I was horribly, painfully, terribly shy. At the same time, I was the guy who'd yell out funny captions during filmstrips. But I didn't get into trouble. I was always a real good kid and pretty responsible." In 1965, Amos Hanks married Frances Wong, a San Francisco native of Chinese descent. Frances had three children, two of whom lived with Tom during his high school years. Hanks acted in school plays, including South Pacific, while attending Skyline High School in Oakland, California. Hanks studied theater at Chabot College in Hayward, California, and after two years, transferred to California State University, Sacramento. Hanks told New York magazine in 1986: "Acting classes looked like the best place for a guy who liked to make a lot of noise and be rather flamboyant ...I spent a lot of time going to plays. I wouldn't take dates with me. I'd just drive to a theater, buy myself a ticket, sit in the seat and read the program, and then get into the play completely. I spent a lot of time like that, seeing Brecht, Tennessee Williams, Ibsen, and all that."[6] During his years studying theater, Hanks met Vincent Dowling, head of the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio.[1] At Dowling's suggestion, Hanks became an intern at the Festival. His internship stretched into a three-year experience that covered most aspects of theater production, including lighting, set design, and stage management, all of which caused Hanks to drop out of college. During the same time, Hanks won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his 1978 performance as Proteus in Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona, one of the few times he played a villain.[7] Career Early career In 1979, Hanks moved to New York City, where he made his film debut in the low-budget slasher film He Knows You're Alone (1980)[1] and got a part in the television movie Mazes and Monsters. Early in 1979, Hanks was cast in the lead role of Callimaco in the Riverside Shakespeare Company's production of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Mandrake, directed by Daniel Southern. This remains Hanks's only New York stage performance to date; as a high profile Off Off Broadway showcase, the production helped Tom land an agent, Joe Ohla with the J. Michael Bloom Agency. The next year, Hanks landed a lead role on the ABC television pilot of Bosom Buddies, playing the role of Kip Wilson. Hanks moved to Los Angeles, where he and Peter Scolari played a pair of young advertising men forced to dress as women so they could live in an inexpensive all-female hotel.[1] Hanks had previously partnered with Scolari in the 1970s game show Make Me Laugh. Bosom Buddies ran for two seasons, and, although the ratings were never strong, television critics gave the program high marks. "The first day I saw him on the set," co-producer Ian Praiser told Rolling Stone, "I thought, 'Too bad he won't be in television for long.' I knew he'd be a movie star in two years." But if Praiser knew it, he was not able to convince Hanks. "The television show had come out of nowhere," best friend Tom Lizzio told Rolling Stone. "Then out of nowhere it got canceled. He figured he'd be back to pulling ropes and hanging lights in a theater." Bosom Buddies and a guest appearance on a 1982 episode of Happy Days ("A Case of Revenge," where he played a disgruntled former classmate of The Fonz) prompted director Ron Howard to contact Hanks. Howard was working on Splash (1984), a romantic comedy fantasy about a mermaid who falls in love with a human. At first, Howard considered Hanks for the role of the main character's wisecracking brother, a role that eventually went to John Candy. Instead, Hanks got the lead role and a career boost from Splash, which went on to become a box office hit, grossing more than US$69 million. He also had a sizable hit with the sex comedy Bachelor Party, also in 1984. In 1983–84, Hanks made three guest appearances on Family Ties as Elyse Keaton's alcoholic brother, Ned Donnelly.[8][9] Period of successes and failures Hanks at Governor's Ball party after 61st Academy Awards, March 29, 1989 Hanks and Rita Wilson at the 1989 Oscars With Nothing in Common (1986) – about a young man alienated from his parents who must re-establish a relationship with his father, played by Jackie Gleason – Hanks began to establish the credentials of not only a comic actor but of someone who could carry a serious role. "It changed my desires about working in movies," Hanks told Rolling Stone. "Part of it was the nature of the material, what we were trying to say. But besides that, it focused on people's relationships. The story was about a guy and his father, unlike, say, The Money Pit, where the story is really about a guy and his house."[citation needed] After a few more flops and a moderate success with Dragnet, Hanks succeeded with the romantic comedy Big (1988), both at the box office and within the industry.[1] The film established Hanks as a major Hollywood talent. It was followed later that year by Punchline, in which he and Sally Field co-starred as struggling comedians. Hanks's character, Steven Gold, a failing medical student trying to break into stand-up, was somewhat edgy and complex. Hanks' portrayal of Gold offered a glimpse of the far more dramatic roles Hanks would master in films to come. Hanks then suffered a pile of box-office failures: The 'Burbs (1989), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), and The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990),[1] as a greedy Wall Street type who gets enmeshed in a hit-and-run accident. Only the 1989 movie Turner & Hooch brought success for Hanks during this time. In a 1993 issue of Disney Adventures, Hanks said, "I saw Turner & Hooch the other day in the SAC store and couldn't help but be reminiscent. I cried like a baby." He did admit to making a couple of "bum tickers," however, and blamed his "...deductive reasoning and decision making skills." Progression into dramatic roles Hanks climbed back to the top again with his portrayal of a washed-up baseball star turned manager in A League of Their Own (1992).[1] Hanks has admitted that his acting in earlier roles was not great and that he has improved. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Hanks noted his "modern era of moviemaking ... because enough self-discovery has gone on.... My work has become less pretentiously fake and over the top". This "modern era" began in 1993 for Hanks, first with Sleepless in Seattle and then with Philadelphia. The former was a blockbuster success about a widower who finds true love over the airwaves. Richard Schickel of TIME called his performance "charming," and most critics agreed that Hanks' portrayal ensured him a place among the premier romantic-comedy stars of his generation.[citation needed] In Philadelphia, he played a gay lawyer with AIDS who sues his firm for discrimination.[1] Hanks lost thirty-five pounds and thinned his hair in order to appear sickly for the role. In a review for People, Leah Rozen stated "Above all, credit for Philadelphia's success belongs to Hanks, who makes sure that he plays a character, not a saint. He is flat-out terrific, giving a deeply felt, carefully nuanced performance that deserves an Oscar." Hanks won the 1993 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Philadelphia.[1] During his acceptance speech he revealed that his high school drama teacher Rawley Farnsworth and former classmate John Gilkerson, two people with whom he was close, were gay.[10] A man is at the center of the image smiling into the camera. He is sitting on a blue crate and has his hands resting on his legs. Hanks on the film set of Forrest Gump in 1994 Hanks followed Philadelphia with the 1994 summer hit Forrest Gump. Of the film, Hanks has remarked: "When I read the script for Gump, I saw it as one of those kind of grand, hopeful movies that the audience can go to and feel ... some hope for their lot and their position in life... I got that from the movies a hundred million times when I was a kid. I still do." Hanks won his second Best Actor Academy Award for his role in Forrest Gump, becoming only the second actor to have accomplished the feat of winning consecutive Best Actor Oscars. (Spencer Tracy was the first, winning in 1937–38. Hanks and Tracy were the same age at the time they received their Academy Awards: 37 for the first and 38 for the second.) Hanks' next role—astronaut and commander Jim Lovell, in the 1995 film Apollo 13--reunited him with Ron Howard.[1] Critics generally applauded the film and the performances of the entire cast, which included actors Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, and Kathleen Quinlan. The movie also earned nine Academy Award nominations, winning two. The same year, Hanks starred in the animated blockbuster Toy Story as the voice of the toy Sheriff Woody. 1996–present: Directing, producing and acting Hanks turned to directing with his 1996 film That Thing You Do! about a 1960s pop group, also playing the role of a music producer. Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman went on to create Playtone, a record and film production company named for the record company in the film. Hanks executive produced, co-wrote, and co-directed the HBO docudrama From the Earth to the Moon. The twelve-part series chronicles the space program from its inception, through the familiar flights of Neil Armstrong and Jim Lovell, to the personal feelings surrounding the reality of moon landings. The Emmy Award-winning project was, at US$68 million, one of the most expensive ventures taken for television. Hanks's next project was no less expensive. For Saving Private Ryan he teamed up with Steven Spielberg to make a film about a search through war-torn France after D-Day to bring back a soldier. It earned the praise and respect of the film community, critics, and the general public. It was labeled one of the finest war films ever made and earned Spielberg his second Academy Award for direction, and Hanks another Best Actor nomination. Later in 1998, Hanks re-teamed with his Sleepless in Seattle co-star Meg Ryan for You've Got Mail, a remake of 1940's The Shop Around the Corner. In 1999, Hanks starred in an adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Green Mile. He also returned as the voice of Woody in Toy Story 2. The following year he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor and an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of a marooned FedEx systems analyst in Robert Zemeckis's Cast Away. In 2001, Hanks helped direct and produce the acclaimed HBO mini-series Band of Brothers. He also appeared in the September 11 television special America: A Tribute to Heroes and the documentary Rescued From the Closet. Next he teamed up with American Beauty director Sam Mendes for the adaptation of Max Allan Collins's and Richard Piers Rayner's graphic novel Road to Perdition, in which he played an anti-hero role as a hitman on the run with his son. That same year, Hanks collaborated with director Spielberg again, starring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the hit crime comedy Catch Me if You Can, based on the true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. The same year, Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson produced the hit movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. In August 2007, he along with co-producers Rita Wilson and Gary Goetzman, and writer and star Nia Vardalos, initiated a legal action against the production company Gold Circle Films for their share of profits from the movie.[11][12][13] At the age of 45, he became the youngest ever recipient of the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award on June 12, 2002. In 2004, he appeared in three films: The Coen brothers' The Ladykillers, another Spielberg film, The Terminal, and The Polar Express, a family film from Robert Zemeckis. In a USA Weekend interview, Hanks talked about how he chooses projects: "[Since] A League of Their Own, it can't be just another movie for me. It has to get me going somehow.... There has to be some all-encompassing desire or feeling about wanting to do that particular movie. I'd like to assume that I'm willing to go down any avenue in order to do it right". In August 2005, Hanks was voted in as vice president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[14] Hanks in 2008 Hanks next starred in the highly anticipated film The Da Vinci Code, based on the bestselling novel by Dan Brown. The film was released May 19, 2006 in the US and grossed over US$750 million worldwide. He followed the film with Ken Burns's 2007 documentary The War. For the documentary, Hanks did voice work, reading excerpts from World War II-era columns by Al McIntosh. In 2006, Hanks topped a 1,500-strong list of 'most trusted celebrities' compiled by Forbes magazine.[15] Hanks next appeared in a cameo role as himself in The Simpsons Movie, in which he appeared in an advertisement claiming that the US government has lost its credibility and is hence buying some of his. He also made an appearance in the credits, expressing a desire to be left alone when he is out in public. Later in 2006, Hanks produced the British film Starter for Ten, a comedy based on working class students attempting to win University Challenge.[16] In 2007, Hanks starred in Mike Nichols's film Charlie Wilson's War (written by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin) in which he plays Democratic Texas Congressman Charles Wilson. The film opened on December 21, 2007, and Hanks received a Golden Globe nomination. In 2008's The Great Buck Howard, Hanks played the on-screen father of a young man (Hanks' real-life son, Colin Hanks) who chooses to follow in the footsteps of a fading magician (John Malkovich). Tom Hanks's character was less than thrilled about his son's career decision. Hanks's next endeavor, released on May 15, 2009, was a film adaptation of Angels & Demons, based on the novel of the same name by Dan Brown. Its April 11, 2007, announcement revealed that Hanks would reprise his role as Robert Langdon, and that he would reportedly receive the highest salary ever for an actor.[17][18] The following day he made his 10th appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live, impersonating himself for the Celebrity Jeopardy sketch. Hanks in April 2009 Hanks is producer of the Spike Jonze film Where The Wild Things Are, based on the children's book by Maurice Sendak.[19] In 2010, Hanks reprised his role as Sheriff Woody in the third film in the Toy Story franchise, Toy Story 3, after he, Tim Allen, and John Ratzenberger were invited to a movie theater to see a complete story reel of the movie.[20] In 2011, he directed and starred opposite Julia Roberts in the title role in the romantic comedy Larry Crowne.[21] The movie has received generally bad reviews with only 35% of the 175 Rotten Tomatoes reviews giving it high ratings.[22] Also in 2011, he starred in the drama film Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Hanks is slated to play Walt Disney in the film Saving Mr. Banks co-starring Emma Thompson and directed by John Lee Hancock. Hanks will be the first actor to portray Disney in film. The film is scheduled to be released in 2014.[23] He has also been cast in a film based on the Maersk Alabama hijacking as Captain Richard Phillips. The film will be written by Billy Ray, and produced by the team behind The Social Network.[24] Hanks is ranked the highest all time box office star with over $3.639 billion total box office gross, an average of $107 million per film.[25] He has been involved with seventeen films that grossed over $100 million at the worldwide box office, the highest grossing of which was 2010's Toy Story 3.[26] Personal life Hanks was married to American actress Samantha Lewes[27] (née Susan Jane Dillingham) from 1978 to 1987. The couple had two children, son Colin Hanks (also an actor) and daughter Elizabeth Ann.[28][29] In 1988, Hanks married actress Rita Wilson. The two first met on the set of Hanks's television show Bosom Buddies but later developed a romantic interest while working on the film Volunteers. They have two sons: Chester, or "Chet" (who has a small part as a student in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and released a rap single in 2011),[30] and Truman. Hanks became a grandfather when his son Colin and daughter-in-law Samantha gave birth to granddaughter Olivia Jane Hanks on February 1, 2011.[31] Regarding his religious views, Hanks has said, "I must say that when I go to church – and I do go to church – I ponder the mystery. I meditate on the 'why?' of 'Why people are as they are' and 'Why bad things happen to good people,' and 'Why good things happen to bad people'... The mystery is what I think it is, almost, the grand unifying theory of mankind."[5] Politics Hanks has made donations to many Democratic politicians and has been open about his support for same-sex marriage, environmental causes and alternative fuels. Hanks made public his presidential candidate choice in the 2008 election when he uploaded a video to his MySpace account in which he announced his endorsement of Barack Obama.[32] A proponent of environmentalism, Hanks is an investor in electric vehicles and owns both a Toyota RAV4 EV and the first production AC Propulsion eBox. Hanks was a lessee of an EV1 before it was recalled, as chronicled in the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?[33][34] He is on the waiting list for an Aptera 2 Series.[35] Hanks was extremely outspoken about his opposition to Proposition 8, an amendment to the California constitution that defined marriage as a union only between a man and a woman. Hanks and others who were in opposition to the proposition raised over US$44 million in contrast to the supporters' $39 million,[36] but Proposition 8 passed with 52% of the vote.[37] While premiering a TV series in January 2009, Hanks called supporters of Proposition 8 "un-American" and criticized the LDS (Mormon) church members, who were major proponents of the bill, for their views on marriage and their role in supporting the bill.[38][39] About a week later, Hanks apologized for the remark, saying that nothing is more American than voting one's conscience.[40] Hanks narrated a video created by Obama for America, entitled The Road We've Traveled.[41] Other activities Hanks with Steven Spielberg (left) at the National World War II Memorial in March 2010 A supporter of NASA's manned space program, Hanks has said that he originally wanted to be an astronaut but "didn't have the math." Hanks is a member of the National Space Society, serving on the Board of Governors of the nonprofit educational space advocacy organization founded by Dr. Wernher Von Braun. He also produced the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon about the Apollo program to send astronauts to the moon. In addition, Hanks co-wrote and co-produced Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D, an IMAX film about the moon landings. Hanks also provided the voice over for the premiere of the show Passport to the Universe at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In 2006, the Space Foundation awarded Hanks the Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award.[42] The award is given annually to an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to public awareness of space programs. In June 2006 Hanks was inducted as an honorary member of the United States Army Rangers Hall of Fame for his accurate portrayal of a Captain in the movie Saving Private Ryan; Hanks, who was unable to attend the induction ceremony, was the first actor to receive such an honor.[43] In addition to his role in Saving Private Ryan, Hanks was cited for serving as the national spokesperson for the World War II Memorial Campaign, for being the honorary chairperson of the D-Day Museum Capital Campaign, and for his role in writing and helping to produce the Emmy Award-winning miniseries, Band of Brothers.[citation needed] Hanks is one of several celebrities who frequently participates in planned comedy bits on Conan O'Brien's talk shows, including Late Night, The Tonight Show, and Conan while a guest. On one visit, Hanks asked Conan to join his run for president on the "Bad Haircut Party" ticket, with confetti and balloons and a hand held sign with the slogan "You'd be stupid to vote for us". On another episode, O'Brien, noting that Hanks was missing Christmas on his promotional tour, brought the season to him, including a gift (the skeleton of Hooch), and a mass of snow burying them both. On yet another episode, Conan gave Hanks a painting he had commissioned reflecting two of his interests: Astronauts landing on the beach at Normandy. On March 10, 2008, Hanks was on hand at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to induct sixties band The Dave Clark Five.[44] Asteroid 12818 Tomhanks is named for him.[45]