title: South America

text: South America has also been witness to the growth of megapolitan areas. In Brazil four megaregions exist including the Expanded Metropolitan Complex of São Paulo with more than 32 million inhabitants. The others are the Greater Rio, Greater Belo Horizonte and Greater Porto Alegre. Colombia also has four megaregions which comprise 72% of its population, followed by Venezuela, Argentina and Peru which are also homes of megaregions.


title: South America

text: The top ten largest South American metropolitan areas by population as of 2015, based on national census numbers from each country:


title: South America

text: South America relies less on the export of both manufactured goods and natural resources than the world average; merchandise exports from the continent were 16% of GDP on an exchange rate basis, compared to 25% for the world as a whole. Brazil (the seventh largest economy in the world and the largest in South America) leads in terms of merchandise exports at $251 billion, followed by Venezuela at $93 billion, Chile at $86 billion, and Argentina at $84 billion.


title: South America

text: Since 1930, the continent has experienced remarkable growth and diversification in most economic sectors. Most agricultural and livestock products are destined for the domestic market and local consumption. However, the export of agricultural products is essential for the balance of trade in most countries.


title: South America

text: The main agrarian crops are export crops, such as soy and wheat. The production of staple foods such as vegetables, corn or beans is large, but focused on domestic consumption. Livestock raising for meat exports is important in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Colombia. In tropical regions the most important crops are coffee, cocoa and bananas, mainly in Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador. Traditionally, the countries producing sugar for export are Peru, Guyana and Suriname, and in Brazil, sugar cane is also used to make ethanol. On the coast of Peru, northeast and south of Brazil, cotton is grown. 50.5% of the South America's land surface is covered by forest, but timber industries are small and directed to domestic markets. In recent years, however, transnational companies have been settling in the Amazon to exploit noble timber destined for export. The Pacific coastal waters of South America are the most important for commercial fishing. The anchovy catch reaches thousands of tonnes, and tuna is also abundant (Peru is a major exporter). The capture of crustaceans is remarkable, particularly in northeastern Brazil and Chile.


title: South America

text: Only Brazil and Argentina are part of the G20 (industrial countries), while only Brazil is part of the G8+5 (the most powerful and influential nations in the world). In the tourism sector, a series of negotiations began in 2005 to promote tourism and increase air connections within the region. Punta del Este, Florianópolis and Mar del Plata are among the most important resorts in South America.


title: South America

text: The most industrialized countries in South America are Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela and Uruguay respectively. These countries alone account for more than 75 percent of the region's economy and add up to a GDP of more than US$3.0 trillion. Industries in South America began to take on the economies of the region from the 1930s when the Great Depression in the United States and other countries of the world boosted industrial production in the continent. From that period the region left the agricultural side behind and began to achieve high rates of economic growth that remained until the early 1990s when they slowed due to political instabilities, economic crises and neoliberal policies.


title: South America

text: Since the end of the economic crisis in Brazil and Argentina that occurred in the period from 1998 to 2002, which has led to economic recession, rising unemployment and falling population income, the industrial and service sectors have been recovering rapidly. Chile, Argentina and Brazil have recovered fastest, growing at an average of 5% per year. All of South America after this period has been recovering and showing good signs of economic stability, with controlled inflation and exchange rates, continuous growth, a decrease in social inequality and unemployment–factors that favor industry.


title: South America

text: The main industries are: electronics, textiles, food, automotive, metallurgy, aviation, naval, clothing, beverage, steel, tobacco, timber, chemical, among others. Exports reach almost US$400 billion annually, with Brazil accounting for half of this.


title: South America

text: The economic gap between the rich and poor in most South American nations is larger than on most other continents. The richest 10% receive over 40% of the nation's income in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Paraguay, while the poorest 20% receive 4% or less in Bolivia, Brazil, and Colombia. This wide gap can be seen in many large South American cities where makeshift shacks and slums lie in the vicinity of skyscrapers and upper-class luxury apartments; nearly one in nine South Americans live on less than $2 per day (on a purchasing power parity basis).


title: South America

text: The four countries with the strongest agriculture are Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia. Currently:


title: South America

text: Brazil is the world's largest exporter of chicken meat: 3.77 million tonnes in 2019. The country is the holder of the second largest herd of cattle in the world, 22.2% of the world herd. The country was the second largest producer of beef in 2019, responsible for 15.4% of global production. It was also the 3rd largest world producer of milk in 2018. This year, the country produced 35.1 billion liters. In 2019, Brazil was the 4th largest pork producer in the world, with almost 4 million tonnes.


title: South America

text: In 2018, Argentina was the 4th largest producer of beef in the world, with a production of 3 million tonnes (behind only USA, Brazil and China). Uruguay is also a major meat producer. In 2018, it produced 589 thousand tonnes of beef.


title: South America

text: In chicken meat production, Argentina ranks among the 15 largest producers in the world, and Peru and Colombia among the 20 biggest producers. In beef production, Colombia is one of the 20 largest producers in the world. In honey production, Argentina ranks among the 5 largest producers in the world, and Brazil among the 15 largest. In terms of production of cow's milk, Argentina ranks among the 20 largest producers in the world.


title: South America

text: The World Bank annually lists the top manufacturing countries by total manufacturing value. According to the 2019 list, Brazil has the thirteenth most valuable industry in the world (US$173.6 billion), Venezuela the thirtieth largest (US$58.2 billion, however, it depends on oil to obtain this value), Argentina the 31st largest (US$57.7 billion), Colombia the 46th largest (US$35.4 billion), Peru the 50th largest (US$28.7 billion) and Chile the 51st largest (US$28.3 billion).


title: South America

text: Brazil has the third-largest manufacturing sector in the Americas. Accounting for 28.5 percent of GDP, Brazil's industries range from automobiles, steel, and petrochemicals to computers, aircraft (Embraer), food, pharmaceutical, footwear, metallurgy and consumer durables. In the food industry, in 2019, Brazil was the second largest exporter of processed foods in the world. In 2016, the country was the 2nd largest producer of pulp in the world and the 8th producer of paper. In the footwear industry, in 2019, Brazil ranked 4th among world producers. In 2019, the country was the 8th producer of vehicles and the 9th producer of steel in the world. In 2018, the chemical industry of Brazil was the 8th in the world. In textile industry, Brazil, although it was among the 5 largest world producers in 2013, is very little integrated in world trade.


title: South America

text: Mining is one of the most important economic sectors in South America, especially for Chile, Peru and Bolivia, whose economies are highly dependent on this sector. The continent has large productions of gold (mainly in Peru, Brazil and Argentina); silver (mainly in Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina); copper (mainly in Chile, Peru and Brazil); iron ore (Brazil, Peru and Chile); zinc (Peru, Bolivia and Brazil); molybdenum (Chile and Peru); lithium (Chile, Argentina and Brazil); lead (Peru and Bolivia); bauxite (Brazil); tin (Peru, Bolivia and Brazil); manganese (Brazil); antimony (Bolivia and Ecuador); nickel (Brazil); niobium (Brazil); rhenium (Chile); iodine (Chile), among others.


title: South America

text: Brazil stands out in the extraction of iron ore (where it is the 2nd largest producer and exporter in the world - iron ore is usually one of the 3 export products that generate the greatest value in the country's trade balance), copper, gold, bauxite (one of the 5 largest producers in the world), manganese (one of the 5 largest producers in the world), tin (one of the largest producers in the world), niobium (concentrates 98% of reserves known to the world) and nickel. In terms of gemstones, Brazil is the world's largest producer of amethyst, topaz, agate and one of the main producers of tourmaline, emerald, aquamarine, garnet and opal.


title: South America

text: Chile contributes about a third of the world copper production. In addition to copper, Chile was, in 2019, the world's largest producer of iodine and rhenium, the second largest producer of lithium and molybdenum, the sixth largest producer of silver, the seventh largest producer of salt, the eighth largest producer of potash, the thirteenth producer of sulfur and the thirteenth producer of iron ore in the world.


title: South America

text: In 2019, Peru was the 2nd largest world producer of copper and silver, 8th largest world producer of gold, 3rd largest world producer of lead, 2nd largest world producer of zinc, 4th largest world producer of tin, 5th largest world producer of boron and 4th largest world producer of molybdenum.


title: South America

text: In 2019, Bolivia was the 8th largest world producer of silver; 4th largest world producer of boron; 5th largest world producer of antimony; 5th largest world producer of tin; 6th largest world producer of tungsten; 7th largest producer of zinc, and the 8th largest producer of lead.


title: South America

text: In 2019, Argentina was the 4th largest world producer of lithium, the 9th largest world producer of silver, the 17th largest world producer of gold and the 7th largest world producer of boron.


title: South America

text: Colombia is the world's largest producer of emeralds. In the production of gold, among 2006 and 2017, the country produced 15 tons per year until 2007, when its production increased significantly, breaking a record of 66.1 tons extracted in 2012. In 2017, it extracted 52.2 tons. The country is among the 25 largest gold producers in the world. In the production of silver, in 2017 the country extracted 15,5 tons.


title: South America

text: In the production of oil, Brazil was the 10th largest oil producer in the world in 2019, with 2.8 million barrels / day. Venezuela was the 21st largest, with 877 thousand barrels / day, Colombia in 22nd with 886 thousand barrels / day, Ecuador in 28th with 531 thousand barrels / day and Argentina 29th with 507 thousand barrels / day. As Venezuela and Ecuador consume little oil and export most of their production, they are part of OPEC. Venezuela had a big drop in production after 2015 (where it produced 2.5 million barrels / day), falling in 2016 to 2.2 million, in 2017 to 2 million, in 2018 to 1.4 million and in 2019 to 877 thousand, due to lack of investments.


title: South America

text: In the production of natural gas, in 2018, Argentina produced 1524 bcf (billion cubic feet), Venezuela 946, Brazil 877, Bolivia 617, Peru 451, Colombia 379.


title: South America

text: In the beginning of 2020, in the production of oil and natural gas, Brazil exceeded 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, for the first time. In January 2021, 3.168 million barrels of oil per day and 138.753 million cubic meters of natural gas were extracted.


title: South America

text: In the production of coal, the continent had 2 of the 30 largest world producers in 2018: Colombia (12th) and Brazil (27th).


title: South America

text: Historical relics, architectural and natural wonders, a diverse range of foods and culture, vibrant and colorful cities, and stunning landscapes attract millions of tourists every year to South America. Some of the most visited places in the region are Rio de Janeiro, Florianópolis, Iguazu Falls, São Paulo, Armação dos Búzios, Salvador, Bombinhas, Angra dos Reis, Balneário Camboriú, Paraty, Ipojuca, Natal, Cairu, Fortaleza and Itapema in Brazil; Buenos Aires, Bariloche, Salta, Jujuy, Perito Moreno Glacier, Valdes Peninsula, Guarani Jesuit Missions in the cities of Misiones and Corrientes, Ischigualasto Provincial Park, Ushuaia and Patagonia in Argentina;


title: South America

text: Isla Margarita, Angel Falls, Los Roques archipelago, Gran Sabana in Venezuela; Machu Picchu, Lima, Nazca Lines, Cuzco in Peru; Lake Titicaca, Salar de Uyuni, La Paz, Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos in Bolivia; Tayrona National Natural Park, Santa Marta, Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, Cartagena in Colombia, and the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. In 2016 Brazil hosted the 2016 Summer Olympics.


title: South America

text: South Americans are culturally influenced by their indigenous peoples, the historic connection with the Iberian Peninsula and Africa, and waves of immigrants from around the globe.


title: South America

text: South American nations have a rich variety of music. Some of the most famous genres include vallenato and cumbia from Colombia, pasillo from Colombia and Ecuador, samba, bossa nova and música sertaneja from Brazil, joropo from Venezuela and tango from Argentina and Uruguay. Also well known is the non-commercial folk genre Nueva Canción movement which was founded in Argentina and Chile and quickly spread to the rest of the Latin America. People on the Peruvian coast created the fine guitar and cajon duos or trios in the most mestizo (mixed) of South American rhythms such as the Marinera (from Lima), the Tondero (from Piura), the 19th-century popular Creole Valse or Peruvian Valse, the soulful Arequipan Yaravi, and the early-20th-century Paraguayan Guarania. In the late 20th century, Spanish rock emerged by young hipsters influenced by British pop and American rock. Brazil has a Portuguese-language pop rock industry as well a great variety of other music genres. In the central and western regions of Bolivia, Andean and folklore music like Diablada, Caporales and Morenada are the most representative of the country, which were originated by European, Aymara and Quechua influences.


title: South America

text: The literature of South America has attracted considerable critical and popular acclaim, especially with the Latin American Boom of the 1960s and 1970s, and the rise of authors such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Márquez in novels and Jorge Luis Borges and Pablo Neruda in other genres. The Brazilians Machado de Assis and João Guimarães Rosa are widely regarded as the greatest Brazilian writers.


title: South America

text: Because of South America's broad ethnic mix, South American cuisine has African, Mestizo, South Asian, East Asian, and European influences. Bahia, Brazil, is especially well known for its West African–influenced cuisine. Argentines, Chileans, Uruguayans, Brazilians, Bolivians, and Venezuelans regularly consume wine. People in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Chile, Bolivia and Southern Brazil drink mate, an herb which is brewed. The Paraguayan version, terere, differs from other forms of mate in that it is served cold. Pisco is a liquor distilled from grapes in Peru and Chile. Peruvian cuisine mixes elements from Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, African, Arab, Andean, and Amazonic food.


title: South America

text: The artist Oswaldo Guayasamín (1919–1999) from Ecuador, represented with his painting style the feeling of the peoples of Latin America highlighting social injustices in various parts of the world. The Colombian Fernando Botero (1932) is one of the greatest exponents of painting and sculpture that continues still active and has been able to develop a recognizable style of his own. For his part, the Venezuelan Carlos Cruz-Diez has contributed significantly to contemporary art, with the presence of works around the world.


title: South America

text: Currently several emerging South American artists are recognized by international art critics: Guillermo Lorca – Chilean painter, Teddy Cobeña – Ecuadorian sculptor and recipient of international sculpture award in France) and Argentine artist Adrián Villar Rojas – winner of the Zurich Museum Art Award among many others.


title: South America

text: A wide range of sports are played in the continent of South America, with football being the most popular overall, while baseball is the most popular in Venezuela.


title: South America

text: Other sports include basketball, cycling, polo, volleyball, futsal, motorsports, rugby (mostly in Argentina and Uruguay), handball, tennis, golf, field hockey, boxing, and cricket.


title: South America

text: South America hosted its first Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016, and has hosted the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2018.


title: South America

text: South America shares with Europe supremacy over the sport of football as all winners in FIFA World Cup history and all winning teams in the FIFA Club World Cup have come from these two continents. Brazil holds the record for most times winning the FIFA World Cup with five titles. Argentina and Uruguay have two titles each. So far five South American nations have hosted the tournament including the first edition in Uruguay (1930). Two were from Brazil (1950, 2014), Chile (1962), and Argentina (1978).


title: South America

text: South America is home to the longest-running international football tournament, the Copa América, which has been contested since 1916. Argentina and Uruguay have won the Copa América 15 times each, the most among all countries.


title: South America

text: Also, in South America, a multi-sport event, the South American Games, are held every four years. The first edition was held in La Paz in 1978 and the most recent took place in Santiago in 2014.


title: South America

text: South American Cricket Championship is an international one-day cricket tournament played since 1995 featuring national teams from South America and certain other invited sides including teams from North America, currently played annually but until 2013 was usually played every two seasons.


title: South America

text: Due to the diversity of topography and pluviometric precipitation conditions, the region's water resources vary enormously in different areas. In the Andes, navigation possibilities are limited, except for the Magdalena River, Lake Titicaca and the lakes of the southern regions of Chile and Argentina. Irrigation is an important factor for agriculture from northwestern Peru to Patagonia. Less than 10% of the known electrical potential of the Andes had been used until the mid-1960s.


title: South America

text: The Brazilian Highlands have a much higher hydroelectric potential than the Andean region and its possibilities of exploitation are greater due to the existence of several large rivers with high margins and the occurrence of great differences forming huge cataracts, such as those of Paulo Afonso, Iguaçu and others. The Amazon River system has about 13,000 km of waterways, but its possibilities for hydroelectric use are still unknown.


title: South America

text: Most of the continent's energy is generated through hydroelectric power plants, but there is also an important share of thermoelectric and wind energy. Brazil and Argentina are the only South American countries that generate nuclear power, each with two nuclear power plants. In 1991 these countries signed a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement.


title: South America

text: The Brazilian government has undertaken an ambitious program to reduce dependence on imported petroleum. Imports previously accounted for more than 70% of the country's oil needs but Brazil became self-sufficient in oil in 2006–2007. Brazil was the 10th largest oil producer in the world in 2019, with 2.8 million barrels / day. Production manages to supply the country's demand. In the beginning of 2020, in the production of oil and natural gas, the country exceeded 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, for the first time. In January this year, 3.168 million barrels of oil per day and 138.753 million cubic meters of natural gas were extracted.


title: South America

text: Brazil is one of the main world producers of hydroelectric power. In 2019, Brazil had 217 hydroelectric plants in operation, with an installed capacity of 98,581 MW, 60.16% of the country's energy generation. In the total generation of electricity, in 2019 Brazil reached 170,000 megawatts of installed capacity, more than 75% from renewable sources (the majority, hydroelectric).


title: South America

text: In 2013, the Southeast Region used about 50% of the load of the National Integrated System (SIN), being the main energy consuming region in the country. The region's installed electricity generation capacity totaled almost 42,500 MW, which represented about a third of Brazil's generation capacity. The hydroelectric generation represented 58% of the region's installed capacity, with the remaining 42% corresponding basically to the thermoelectric generation. São Paulo accounted for 40% of this capacity; Minas Gerais by about 25%; Rio de Janeiro by 13.3%; and Espírito Santo accounted for the rest. The South Region owns the Itaipu Dam, which was the largest hydroelectric plant in the world for several years, until the inauguration of Three Gorges Dam in China. It remains the second largest operating hydroelectric in the world. Brazil is the co-owner of the Itaipu Plant with Paraguay: the dam is located on the Paraná River, located on the border between countries. It has an installed generation capacity of 14 GW for 20 generating units of 700 MW each. North Region has large hydroelectric plants, such as Belo Monte Dam and Tucuruí Dam, which produce much of the national energy. Brazil's hydroelectric potential has not yet been fully exploited, so the country still has the capacity to build several renewable energy plants in its territory.


title: South America

text: Nuclear energy accounts for about 4% of Brazil's electricity. The nuclear power generation monopoly is owned by Eletronuclear (Eletrobrás Eletronuclear S/A), a wholly owned subsidiary of Eletrobrás. Nuclear energy is produced by two reactors at Angra. It is located at the Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto (CNAAA) on the Praia de Itaorna in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro. It consists of two pressurized water reactors, Angra I, with capacity of 657 MW, connected to the power grid in 1982, and Angra II, with capacity of 1,350 MW, connected in 2000. A third reactor, Angra III, with a projected output of 1,350 MW, is planned to be finished.


title: South America

text: In 2020, Brazil was the 2nd largest country in the world in the production of energy through biomass (energy production from solid biofuels and renewable waste), with 15,2 GW installed.


title: South America

text: After Brazil, Colombia is the country in South America that most stands out in energy production. In 2020, the country was the 20th largest petroleum producer in the world, and in 2015 it was the 19th largest exporter. In natural gas, the country was, in 2015, the 40th largest producer in the world. Colombia's biggest highlight is in coal, where the country was, in 2018, the world's 12th largest producer and the 5th largest exporter. In renewable energies, in 2020, the country ranked 45th in the world in terms of installed wind energy (0.5 GW), 76th in the world in terms of installed solar energy (0.1 GW) and 20th in the world in terms of installed hydroelectric power (12.6 GW). Venezuela, which was one of the world's largest oil producers (about 2.5 million barrels/day in 2015) and one of the largest exporters, due to its political problems, has had its production drastically reduced in recent years: in 2016, it dropped to 2.2 million, in 2017 to 2 million, in 2018 to 1.4 million and in 2019 to 877 thousand, reaching only 300,000 barrels/day at a given point. The country also stands out in hydroelectricity, where it was the 14th country in the world in terms of installed capacity in 2020 (16,5 GW). Argentina was, in 2017, the 18th largest producer in the world, and the largest producer in Latin America, of natural gas, in addition to being the 28th largest oil producer; although the country has the Vaca Muerta field, which holds close to 16 billion barrels of technically recoverable shale oil, and is the second largest shale natural gas deposit in the world, the country lacks the capacity to exploit the deposit: it is necessary capital, technology and knowledge that can only come from offshore energy companies, who view Argentina and its erratic economic policies with considerable suspicion, not wanting to invest in the country. In renewable energies, in 2020, the country ranked 27th in the world in terms of installed wind energy (2.6 GW), 42nd in the world in terms of installed solar energy (0.7 GW) and 21st in the world in terms of installed hydroelectric power (11.3 GW). The country has great future potential for the production of wind energy in the Patagonia region. Chile, although currently not a major energy producer, has great future potential for solar energy production in the Atacama Desert region. Paraguay stands out today in hydroelectric production thanks to the Itaipu Power Plant. Bolivia stand out in the production of natural gas, where it was the 31st largest in the world in 2015. Ecuador, because it consumes little energy, is part of OPEC and was the 27th largest oil producer in the world in 2020, being the 22nd largest exporter in 2014.


title: South America

text: Transport in South America is basically carried out using the road mode, the most developed in the region. There is also a considerable infrastructure of ports and airports. The railway and fluvial sector, although it has potential, is usually treated in a secondary way.


title: South America

text: Brazil has more than 1.7 million km of roads, of which 215,000 km are paved, and about 14,000 km are divided highways. The two most important highways in the country are BR-101 and BR-116. Argentina has more than 600,000 km of roads, of which about 70,000 km are paved, and about 2,500 km are divided highways. The three most important highways in the country are Route 9, Route 7 and Route 14. Colombia has about 210,000 km of roads, and about 2,300 km are divided highways. Chile has about 82,000 km of roads, 20,000 km of which are paved, and about 2,000 km are divided highways. The most important highway in the country is the Route 5 (Pan-American Highway) These 4 countries are the ones with the best road infrastructure and with the largest number of double-lane highways.


title: South America

text: Due to the Andes Mountains, Amazon River and Amazon Forest, there have always been difficulties in implementing transcontinental or bioceanic highways. Practically the only route that existed was the one that connected Brazil to Buenos Aires, in Argentina and later to Santiago, in Chile. However, in recent years, with the combined effort of countries, new routes have started to emerge, such as Brazil-Peru (Interoceanic Highway), and a new highway between Brazil, Paraguay, northern Argentina and northern Chile (Bioceanic Corridor).


title: South America

text: There are more than 2,000 airports in Brazil. The country has the second largest number of airports in the world, behind only the United States. São Paulo International Airport, located in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, is the largest and busiest in the country - the airport connects São Paulo to practically all major cities around the world. Brazil has 44 international airports, such as those in Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Florianópolis, Cuiabá, Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza, Belém and Manaus, among others. Argentina has important international airports such as Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Bariloche, Mendoza, Salta, Puerto Iguazú, Neuquén and Usuhaia, among others. Chile has important international airports such as Santiago, Antofagasta, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas and Iquique, among others. Colombia has important international airports such as Bogotá, Medellín, Cartagena, Cali and Barranquilla, among others. Other important airports are those in the capitals of Uruguay (Montevideo), Paraguay (Asunción), Peru (Lima), Bolivia (La Paz) and Ecuador (Quito). The 10 busiest airports in South America in 2017 were: São Paulo-Guarulhos (Brazil), Bogotá (Colombia), São Paulo-Congonhas (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Lima (Peru), Brasília (Brazil), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Buenos Aires-Aeroparque (Argentina), Buenos Aires-Ezeiza (Argentina), and Minas Gerais (Brazil).


title: South America

text: About ports, Brazil has some of the busiest ports in South America, such as Port of Santos, Port of Rio de Janeiro, Port of Paranaguá, Port of Itajaí, Port of Rio Grande, Port of São Francisco do Sul and Suape Port. Argentina has ports such as Port of Buenos Aires and Port of Rosario. Chile has important ports in Valparaíso, Caldera, Mejillones, Antofagasta, Iquique, Arica and Puerto Montt. Colombia has important ports such as Buenaventura, Cartagena Container Terminal and Puerto Bolivar. Peru has important ports in Callao, Ilo and Matarani. The 15 busiest ports in South America are: Port of Santos (Brazil), Port of Bahia de Cartagena (Colombia), Callao (Peru), Guayaquil (Ecuador), Buenos Aires (Argentina), San Antonio (Chile), Buenaventura (Colombia), Itajaí (Brazil), Valparaíso (Chile), Montevideo (Uruguay), Paranaguá (Brazil), Rio Grande (Brazil), São Francisco do Sul (Brazil), Manaus (Brazil) and Coronel (Chile).


title: South America

text: The Brazilian railway network has an extension of about 30,000 kilometers. It's basically used for transporting ores. The Argentine rail network, with 47,000 km of tracks, was one of the largest in the world and continues to be the most extensive in Latin America. It came to have about 100,000 km of rails, but the lifting of tracks and the emphasis placed on motor transport gradually reduced it. It has four different trails and international connections with Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil and Uruguay. Chile has almost 7,000 km of railways, with connections to Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. Colombia has only about 3,500 km of railways.


title: South America

text: Among the main Brazilian waterways, two stand out: Hidrovia Tietê-Paraná (which has a length of 2,400 km, 1,600 on the Paraná River and 800 km on the Tietê River, draining agricultural production from the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás and part of Rondônia, Tocantins and Minas Gerais) and Hidrovia do Solimões-Amazonas (it has two sections: Solimões, which extends from Tabatinga to Manaus, with approximately 1600 km, and Amazonas, which extends from Manaus to Belém, with 1650 km. Almost entirely passenger transport from the Amazon plain is done by this waterway, in addition to practically all cargo transportation that is directed to the major regional centers of Belém and Manaus). In Brazil, this transport is still underused: the most important waterway stretches, from an economic point of view, are found in the Southeast and South of the country. Its full use still depends on the construction of locks, major dredging works and, mainly, of ports that allow intermodal integration. In Argentina, the waterway network is made up of the La Plata, Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay rivers. The main river ports are Zárate and Campana. The port of Buenos Aires is historically the first in individual importance, but the area known as Up-River, which stretches along 67 km of the Santa Fé portion of the Paraná River, brings together 17 ports that concentrate 50% of the total exports of the country.


title: South America

text: Only two railroads are continental: the Transandina, which connects Buenos Aires, in Argentina to Valparaíso, in Chile, and the Brazil–Bolivia Railroad, which makes it the connection between the port of Santos in Brazil and the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in Bolivia. In addition, there is the Pan-American Highway, which crosses Argentina and the Andean countries from north to south, although some stretches are unfinished.


title: South America

text: Two areas of greater density occur in the railway sector: the platinum network, which develops around the Platine region, largely belonging to Argentina, with more than 45,000 km in length; And the Southeast Brazil network, which mainly serves the state of São Paulo, state of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. Brazil and Argentina also stand out in the road sector. In addition to the modern roads that extend through northern Argentina and south-east and south of Brazil, a vast road complex aims to link Brasília, the federal capital, to the South, Southeast, Northeast and Northern regions of Brazil.


title: South America

text: South America has one of the largest bays of navigable inland waterways in the world, represented mainly by the Amazon basin, the Platine basin, the São Francisco and the Orinoco basins, Brazil having about 54,000 km navigable, while Argentina has 6,500 km and Venezuela, 1,200 km.


title: South America

text: The two main merchant fleets also belong to Brazil and Argentina. The following are those of Chile, Venezuela, Peru and Colombia. The largest ports in commercial movement are those of Buenos Aires, Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Bahía Blanca, Rosario, Valparaíso, Recife, Salvador, Montevideo, Paranaguá, Rio Grande, Fortaleza, Belém and Maracaibo.


title: South America

text: In South America, commercial aviation has a magnificent expansion field, which has one of the largest traffic density lines in the world, Rio de Janeiro–São Paulo, and large airports, such as Congonhas, São Paulo–Guarulhos International and Viracopos (São Paulo), Rio de Janeiro International and Santos Dumont (Rio de Janeiro), El Dorado (Bogotá), Ezeiza (Buenos Aires), Tancredo Neves International Airport (Belo Horizonte), Curitiba International Airport (Curitiba), Brasilia, Caracas, Montevideo, Lima, Viru Viru International Airport (Santa Cruz de la Sierra), Recife, Salvador, Salgado Filho International Airport (Porto Alegre), Fortaleza, Manaus and Belém.


title: South America

text: The main public transport in major cities is the bus. Many cities also have a diverse system of metro and subway trains, the first of which was the Buenos Aires subte, opened 1913. The Santiago subway is the largest network in South America, with 103 km, while the São Paulo subway is the largest in transportation, with more than 4.6 million passengers per day and was voted the best in the Americas. Rio de Janeiro installed the first railroad of the continent in 1854. Today the city has a vast and diversified system of metropolitan trains, integrated with buses and subway. Recently it was also inaugurated in the city a Light Rail System called VLT, a small electrical trams at low speed, while São Paulo inaugurated its monorail, the first of South America. In Brazil, an express bus system called Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), which operates in several cities, has also been developed. Mi Teleférico, also known as Teleférico La Paz–El Alto (La Paz–El Alto Cable Car), is an aerial cable car urban transit system serving the La Paz–El Alto metropolitan area in Bolivia.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series "Chappelle's Show" (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of production during the third season. After a hiatus, Chappelle returned to performing stand-up comedy across the U.S. By 2006, Chappelle was called the "comic genius of America" by "Esquire" and, in 2013, "the best" by a "Billboard" writer. In 2017, "Rolling Stone" ranked him No. 9 in their "50 Best Stand Up Comics of All Time".


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle has appeared in several films, including "" (1993), "The Nutty Professor" (1996), "Con Air" (1997), "You've Got Mail" (1998), "Blue Streak" (1999), "Undercover Brother" (2002), "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" (2005), "Chi-Raq" (2015), and "A Star Is Born" (2018). His first lead role was in the 1998 comedy film "Half Baked", which he co-wrote. Chappelle also starred in the ABC comedy series "Buddies" (1996). In 2016, he signed a $20-million-per-release comedy-special deal with Netflix and released six stand-up specials under the deal.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: He has received numerous accolades, including six Emmy Awards and three Grammy Awards as well as the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Chappelle received his first Emmy in 2017 for his guest appearance on "Saturday Night Live". In 2018, he received a Grammy Award for his Netflix-produced comedy album "The Age of Spin & Deep in the Heart of Texas". "Equanimity", another Netflix special featuring Chappelle, was nominated in 2018 for three Emmys and received the award for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded). In 2019, Chappelle was selected to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which is presented by the Kennedy Center as America's highest comedy honor. In 2020, "Sticks & Stones" earned Chappelle his third consecutive Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: David Khari Webber Chappelle was born on August 24, 1973, in Washington, D.C. His father, William David Chappelle III, was a professor of vocal performance and the dean of students at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. His mother, Yvonne Seon (, formerly Chappelle), worked for Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, is a Unitarian Universalist minister, and worked as a professor and university administrator at several institutions including Wright State University and Prince George's Community College. Chappelle has a stepmother and a stepbrother.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, and attended Woodlin Elementary School. His parents were politically active, and family house visitors included Pete Seeger and Johnny Hartman. Hartman predicted Chappelle would be a comedian and, around this time, Chappelle's comic inspiration came from Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor. After his parents separated, Chappelle stayed in Washington with his mother while spending summers with his father in Ohio. In high school he worked as an usher in Ford's Theatre. He attended DC's Eastern High School for a short time before transferring to Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where he studied theater arts, graduating in 1991.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle was featured in a montage of random people telling a joke in the first episode of ABC's "America's Funniest People", airing on September 13, 1990. Chappelle moved to New York City to pursue a career as a comedian. He performed at Harlem's Apollo Theater in front of the "Amateur Night" audience, but he was booed off stage. Chappelle described the experience as the moment that gave him the courage to continue his show business aspirations. He quickly made a name for himself on the New York comedy circuit, even performing in the city's parks. In addition to weekend stand-up gigs, he honed his craft at Monday night "open mic" performances at places like the Boston Comedy Club on West 3rd Street, as late as the summer 1994. In 1992, he won critical and popular acclaim for his television appearance in Russell Simmons' "Def Comedy Jam" on HBO. It was his appearance on this show that allowed his popularity to truly begin rising, eventually allowing him to become a regular guest on late-night television shows such as "Politically Incorrect", "Late Show with David Letterman", "The Howard Stern Show", and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien". Whoopi Goldberg nicknamed him "The Kid". At 19, he made his film debut as "Ahchoo" in Mel Brooks' "". He also appeared on "Star Search" three times but lost to competing comedian Lester Barrie; Chappelle later joked about becoming more successful than Barrie. The same year, Chappelle was offered the role of Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue in "Forrest Gump". Concerned the character was demeaning and the movie would bomb, he turned down the part. He parodied the film in the 1997 short "Bowl of Pork", where a dim-witted black man is responsible for the Rodney King beating, the LA riots and O. J. Simpson's being accused of murder. Chappelle played another supporting role in an early Doug Liman film, "Getting In", in 1994. At age 19, he was the opening act for R&B soul singer Aretha Franklin.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle attracted the attention of television network executives and developed numerous pilots but none were picked up for development into a series. In 1995, he made a guest appearance on an episode of ABC's popular sitcom "Home Improvement". The storyline had Chappelle and real-life friend and comedian Jim Breuer ask Tim Taylor for advice on their girlfriends. The characters' single outing in the episode proved so popular that ABC decided to give them their own spin-off sitcom titled "Buddies". However, after taping a pilot episode, Breuer was fired and replaced with actor Christopher Gartin. "Buddies" premiered in March 1996 to disappointing ratings and the show was canceled after only five episodes out of 13 that had been produced.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: After the failure of "Buddies", Chappelle starred in another pilot. According to Chappelle, the network was uncomfortable with the African-American cast and wanted white actors added. Chappelle resisted and subsequently accused the network of racism. Shortly afterward Chappelle's father died and, after returning to Ohio, he considered leaving the entertainment business.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: He later appeared as a stand-up insult comic who targets patrons of a nightclub in the 1996 comedy "The Nutty Professor" starring Eddie Murphy, one of his major comedic influences. He had a minor role in 1997's "Con Air". At the beginning of 1998, he did a stand-up performance for HBO "Comedy Half-Hour". That same year, he appeared in "Pilots and Pens Lost", an episode of "The Larry Sanders Show"s sixth season, in which he and the executives of the show's unnamed television network satirize the treatment that scriptwriters and show creators were subjected to, as well as the executives' knee-jerk tendencies toward racial stereotypes.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: He and Neal Brennan co-wrote the 1998 cult stoner film "Half Baked", Chappelle's first starring role, about a group of marijuana-smoking friends trying to get their other friend out of jail. It made money at the box office and remains a classic "stoner" film, a genre that includes the "Cheech & Chong" films as well as more recent fare like Judd Apatow's "Pineapple Express". In December 1998, Chappelle appeared as Tom Hanks' character's friend and confidant in "You've Got Mail". In 1999, he appeared in the Martin Lawrence film "Blue Streak".


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In 2000, Chappelle recorded his first hour-long HBO special, "", in Washington, D.C. He also starred alongside Norm Macdonald in the 2000 comedy film "Screwed". He followed this with an appearance as "Conspiracy Brother" in the 2002 racial satire "Undercover Brother".


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In 2003, Chappelle debuted his own weekly sketch comedy show on Comedy Central called "Chappelle's Show". The show parodied many aspects of American culture, including racial stereotypes, politics and pop culture. Along with comedy sketches, the show also featured musical performances by mostly hip-hop and soul artists. He promoted the work of other black comedians as well, most notably Paul Mooney and Charlie Murphy.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Due to the show's popularity, Comedy Central's new parent company Viacom offered Chappelle a $55 million contract (giving Chappelle a share of DVD sales) to continue production of "Chappelle's Show" for two more years while allowing him to do side projects. Chappelle has said that sketches are not his favorite form of comedy, and that the show's format was similar to short films.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In June 2004, based on the popularity of the "Rick James" sketch, it was announced that Chappelle was in talks to portray James in a biopic from Paramount Pictures, also owned by Viacom. James' estate disagreed with the proposed comical tone of the film and put a halt to the talks.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: That same month, Chappelle recorded his second comedy special, this time airing on Showtime, "Dave Chappelle: For What It's Worth", at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium, where Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Robin Williams had performed.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In a June 2004 stand-up performance in Sacramento, California, Chappelle walked off the stage after berating his audience for constantly shouting "I'm Rick James, bitch!" which had become a catchphrase from his popular "Rick James" sketch. After a few minutes, Chappelle returned and resumed by saying, "The show is ruining my life." He stated that he disliked working "20 hours a day" and that the popularity of the show was making it difficult for him to continue his stand-up career, which was "the most important thing" to him. He told the audience:


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Season 3 was scheduled to begin airing on May 31, 2005, but earlier in May, Chappelle surprised fans and the entertainment industry when he abruptly left during production and took a trip to South Africa. Chappelle said that he was unhappy with the direction the show had taken, and expressed in an interview with "Time" magazine his need for reflection in the face of tremendous stress:


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Immediately following Chappelle's departure, tabloids speculated that Chappelle's exit was driven by drug addiction or a mental problem, rather than the ethical and professional concerns that Chappelle had articulated.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle's decision to quit the show meant walking away from his $50 million contract with Comedy Central and forming a rift with longtime collaborator Neal Brennan.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: The show still plays in syndication on several television networks, despite the relatively small number of episodes compared to most American syndicated television programs. Chappelle's abrupt departure from his show continues to be a focus of interviews and profiles of Chappelle and of Chappelle's own comedy. In "Bird Revelation", Chappelle draws an analogy between his departure and the book "Pimp", the memoir of Iceberg Slim.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle was the star and a producer of the Michel Gondry-directed documentary "Dave Chappelle's Block Party", which chronicles his hosting a free concert in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn on September 18, 2004. Several musical artists, including Kanye West, The Roots, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Dead Prez and Jill Scott, are featured in the movie both performing in the concert and in conversation off-stage; Chappelle brought Yellow Springs residents to Brooklyn at his own expense. Another highlight of the event was the temporary reunion of 1990s hip-hop group The Fugees.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle toured several cities in February and March 2006 to promote the film under the name "Block Party All-Stars Featuring Dave Chappelle". Universal Pictures' genre division, Rogue Pictures, released the film in the U.S. on March 3, 2006. It was a success, grossing a total of $11.7 million on a $3 million budget.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In June 2005, Chappelle performed impromptu stand-up shows in Los Angeles, then went on a tour that began in Newport, Kentucky, not far from his Ohio home. On May 11, 2006, he made a prearranged, but quietly marketed, surprise appearance at Towson University's annual Tigerfest celebration. He made another appearance on HBO's "Def Poetry", where he performed two poems, titled "Fuck Ashton Kutcher" and "How I Got the Lead on "Jeopardy!""


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired on February 3, 2006, Chappelle explained his reasons for quitting "Chappelle's Show". He also expressed his contempt for the entertainment industry's tone-deafness regarding black entertainers and audiences:


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle was interviewed for "Inside the Actors Studio" on December 18, 2005, at Pace University's Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts. The show premiered on February 12, 2006. Four days earlier, he had introduced the musical tribute to Sly Stone at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle said on "Inside the Actors Studio" that the death of his father seven years prior influenced his decision to go to South Africa. By throwing himself into his work, he had not taken a chance to mourn his father's death. He also said the rumors that he was in drug or psychiatric treatment only persuaded him to stay in South Africa. He said,


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle said that he felt some of his sketches were "socially irresponsible." He singled out the "pixie sketch" in which pixies appear to people and encourage them to reinforce stereotypes of their races. In the sketch, Chappelle is wearing blackface and is dressed as a character in a minstrel show. According to Chappelle, a white crew member laughed during its filming in a way that made him uncomfortable, saying "It was the first time I felt that someone was not laughing with me but laughing at me."


title: Dave Chappelle

text: During this time, Chappelle did not rule out returning to "Chappelle's Show" to "finish what we started," but promised that he would not return without changes to the production, such as a better working environment. He wanted to donate half of the DVD sales to charity. Chappelle expressed disdain at the possibility of his material from the unfinished third season being aired, saying that to do so would be "a bully move," and that he would not return to the show if Comedy Central were to air the unfinished material. On July 9, 2006, Comedy Central aired the first episode of "". After the DVD release, Chappelle was interviewed by Anderson Cooper on CNN and reiterated he would not return to "Chappelle's Show". An uncensored DVD release of the episodes was made available on July 25.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle has been known to make impromptu and unannounced appearances at comedy venues, and continues to do so following his post–"Chappelle's Show" return to stand-up comedy.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In April 2007, Chappelle set a stand-up endurance record at the Laugh Factory Sunset Strip comedy club, beating comedian Dane Cook's record of three hours and 50 minutes. In December of the same year, Chappelle broke his own record with a time of six hours and 12 minutes. Cook reclaimed the record in January 2008, with a time of seven hours. On November 19, 2009, Chappelle performed at the Laugh Factory again, where it was speculated that he would attempt to take back the record. However, according to the club owner, he was disqualified after he left the stage five hours into his routine.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle again appeared on "Inside the Actors Studio" and, in celebration of the show's 200th episode, he interviewed the show's usual host, James Lipton. The episode aired on November 11, 2008. He appeared again on "Inside the Actors Studio" in 2013, for its 250th episode.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In August 2013, Chappelle returned to full-time touring stand-up, as a headliner, when he was featured during the Oddball Comedy & Curiosity festival. Sponsored by Funny or Die, Chappelle co-headlined with comedy act Flight of the Conchords.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: During a stop in Hartford, Chappelle walked off the stage due to heckling from the crowd that lasted throughout his entire performance. The heckling was so raucous that it drowned out Chappelle's voice over the P.A. system and included chants of "White Power", a line used in a "Chappelle's Show" episode, that was viewed as wildly uncalled-for and out-of-context by other audience members who later wrote about the event. A few days later, Chappelle stopped in Chicago for a performance. The comedy website ComedyHype.com acquired and released audio of him on stage responding to the heckling. Chappelle referenced the Hartford incident, stating that "young, white, alcoholic[s]" should be blamed for the prior incident, that he hoped North Korea would bomb Hartford, that in the future he would not stop in Hartford for gas, and finally summarizing his feelings on the situation by saying, "Fuck Hartford!" However, in August 2014 Chappelle returned to Hartford for a surprise appearance at the 2014 Oddball Festival and received standing ovations during his set.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In June 2014, Chappelle made his first major New York City appearance in eleven years, performing ten nights at Radio City Music Hall. Chappelle promoted the dates by appearing on "The Today Show", "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and "Late Show with David Letterman".


title: Dave Chappelle

text: On November 12, 2016, Chappelle made his hosting debut on "Saturday Night Live" the weekend of Donald Trump winning the 2016 presidential election. The show also featured A Tribe Called Quest as the musical guest. In his opening monolog, Chappelle tackled Trump and the election head on. He ended his monolog by stating, "I'm wishing Donald Trump luck, and I'm going to give him a chance, and we, the historically disenfranchised, demand that he give us one too." His performance on "SNL" received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike. At the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his appearance. He donated the Emmy to his former high school while filming an episode of Jerry Seinfeld's Netflix series, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" (Season 10, Episode 2: "Nobody Says, 'I Wish I Had A Camera'").


title: Dave Chappelle

text: On November 21, 2016, Netflix announced that they would be releasing three new stand-up comedy specials from Chappelle in 2017, with Chappelle being paid $20 million per special. The first two specials were released on Netflix on March 21, 2017, and hail directly from Chappelle's personal comedy vault. "Deep in the Heart of Texas" was filmed at Austin City Limits Live in April 2015, and "The Age of Spin" was filmed at the Hollywood Palladium in March 2016. The specials marked the comedian's first concert specials released in 12 years, and proved to be an immediate success as Netflix announced a month later that they were the most viewed comedy specials in Netflix's history.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: The third special, "Equanimity", was filmed in September 2017 at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C., and then on November 20, 2017, Chappelle filmed a fourth special, "The Bird Revelation", at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. On December 22, 2017, Netflix announced the expansion of the deal to include "The Bird Revelation", which was released with "Equanimity" on December 31.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In January 2018 at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, Chappelle received a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for his first two 2017 specials "The Age of Spin & Deep in the Heart of Texas". In September 2018, Chappelle's "Equanimity" special received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded). In October 2018, Chappelle returned to the big screen as "Noodles", Jackson Maine's best friend and retired musician in Bradley Cooper's directorial debut, a remake of "A Star Is Born". The film was a massive critical and commercial success. He was nominated along with the cast for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture. In 2018, Chappelle and Jon Stewart joined forces for a duo comedy tour in the United States, and across the United Kingdom. He has also collaborated with Aziz Ansari for three stand-up shows in Austin, Texas at the Paramount Theater.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In February 2019, Chappelle was nominated for and won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for "" and "Bird Revelation".


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In 2019, Chappelle was chosen to receive the annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor presented by The Kennedy Center. President of the Kennedy Center Deborah Rutter stated "Dave is the embodiment of Mark Twain's observation that 'against the assault of humor, nothing can stand'... and for three decades, Dave has challenged us to see hot-button issues from his entirely original yet relatable experience." The set of people honoring Chappelle included Jon Stewart, Bradley Cooper, Morgan Freeman, Lorne Michaels, Tiffany Haddish, Aziz Ansari, Sarah Silverman, Neal Brennan, Q-Tip, Mos Def, John Legend, Frederic Yonnet, Erykah Badu, Common, "SNL" cast members Kenan Thompson, Michael Che and Colin Jost, as well as Eddie Murphy. The Prize was awarded at the Kennedy Center gala on October 27, 2019. The ceremony was broadcast on PBS January 7, 2020. The Mayor of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, declared the day of the award ceremony "Dave Chappelle Day" in Washington, D.C.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: On August 26, 2019, Chappelle's fifth Netflix special, "", was released. The special garnered controversy (receiving an average score of 5.70 from Rotten Tomatoes critics), and backlash for jokes about abuse allegations against singers Michael Jackson and R. Kelly, as well as for jokes about the LGBT community and cancel culture. However it received overwhelming praise from audiences (with a 99% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and in 2020, "Sticks & Stones" won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: On June 12, 2020, Netflix released "", a 27-minute and 20-second video of newly recorded stand-up by Chappelle on the YouTube channel "Netflix Is a Joke". The private event was held outdoors on June 6, 2020, in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where audience members observed social distancing rules and wore masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The title was chosen in reference to the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, murdering him. Chappelle touches on Floyd's murder and subsequent protests and takes aim at Don Lemon, Laura Ingraham and Candace Owens.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Expanding on the concept of the socially distanced comedy presentation, beginning with a pair of performances in late June 2020 and officially kicking off with a Fourth of July celebration, "Chappelle and friends" hosted what became known as "Chappelle Summer Camp", which brought live performances to a masked, socially distanced audience at Wirrig Pavilion, in Yellow Springs, Ohio. These shows featured regular performances from comedians Michelle Wolf, Mohammed Amer and Donnell Rawlings, as well as Chappelle's tour DJ, DJ Trauma and frequent special guests including Jon Stewart, Chris Rock, Louis CK, Sarah Silverman, David Letterman, Bill Burr, Michael Che, Brian Regan, Chris Tucker, Kevin Hart, Ali Wong, Trevor Noah, Tiffany Haddish, with musical guests John Mayer, Common, and many others. After several shows in July, some issues arose from neighbors' complaints of noise and disturbances, local zoning officials granted a special variance allowing the performances to continue through October 4, 2020. The Chappelle Summer Camp series of shows ended suddenly September 25, 2020, when Elaine Chappelle announced in a closed Facebook fan group that there had been a possible COVID-19 exposure in their inner circle, and all further performances were canceled.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: It was announced that Chappelle would return to host "Saturday Night Live" the weekend of the 2020 United States presidential election, his second time giving a post-presidential election monologue. Due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the vote count, the results were delayed and announced earlier that Saturday. In response to unfounded allegations that Joe Biden's presidency had been stolen from Donald Trump, Chappelle's offered jokes ranging from Trump's handling of the pandemic to his resulting legacy, and the political future of the United States, in his 16-minute opening monologue:


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Critics and audiences praised the monologue describing it as "scathing", "illuminating", and "powerful."


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In December 2020, Chappelle's company, "Iron Table Holdings" purchased a fire station near his Yellow Springs, Ohio home, with plans to convert it into a comedy club. He also retrofitted a mechanic's garage in the same village into a clubhouse, and dubbed it "The Shack", for podcasting.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: On October 5, 2021, Chappelle starred in his sixth and final Netflix special "The Closer". In "The Closer", Chappelle made jokes about gay and transgender people, particularly transgender women, that some called transphobic. Simultaneously, Chappelle argued that he was not anti-transgender, bringing up his opposition to North Carolina's anti-transgender bathroom laws and his friendship with late Daphne Dorman. The special was met with some backlash, including from students of Chappelle's alma mater Duke Ellington School. This included a portion where he identified himself as a "TERF." On October 20, Netflix employees organized a walkout demonstrating their support of the transgender community, claiming Chappelle's set is an example of the rhetoric that leads to transgender inequality and violence against transgender people. The protestors demanded that "The Closer" be taken off of Netflix. CEO Ted Sarandos acknowledged that "storytelling has real impact in the real world" but refused to take down the special, stating that he "does not believe it falls into hate speech." In November 2021, "Saturday Night Live" lampooned the controversy during its Weekend Update segment, stating, "A Washington D.C. art school is postponing renaming its theater, after alumni Dave Chappelle's Netflix controversy. Well, of course, because God forbid, you should name a building after someone problematic in Washington D.C." In summer of 2022, Chappelle announced that he would not give his name to the Duke Ellington School theater, instead insisting it should be named the Theater for Artistic Freedom and Expression.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: The upcoming documentary "" directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert will be released about Chappelle's concerts in Yellow Springs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in June 2021, followed by a series of roadshow events in the United States and Canada and a limited theatrical release on November 19, 2021.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In the early hours of May 4, 2022, Chappelle was performing at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California, as part of the Netflix is a Joke Fest, where he was tackled onstage by a member of the audience, who was swiftly subdued by security. The attacker was later found to have been armed with a replica handgun containing a knife blade. Chappelle's 4-night stint at the Hollywood Bowl ties him with Monty Python for the most headlined shows by a comedian at the venue.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In his interview with "Inside the Actors Studio" host James Lipton, he said that his biggest influences in comedy are Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Mort Sahl, Chris Rock, Paul Mooney, and Mel Blanc.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle has received many awards and nominations for his work in stand-up and television including three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album. He has also received five Primetime Emmy Awards and one Screen Actors Guild Award nomination along with the ensemble of "A Star Is Born".


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In 2017, Columbia, South Carolina Mayor Steven Benjamin declared February 3 "Dave Chappelle Day" when Chappelle spoke at the Chappelle Auditorium at Allen University, a building named after his great-grandfather, Bishop William David Chappelle, who worked at the university.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In 2019, Chappelle was awarded the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Those to honor Chappelle at the event included Jon Stewart, Bradley Cooper, Aziz Ansari, Sarah Silverman, Chris Tucker, Frederic Yonnet and Lorne Michaels. The award ceremony was turned into a television special and released on Netflix and received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) nomination.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: His work, as well as that of Margaret Cho, was also the subject of a book by Canadian dramaturg Elizabeth Ludwig, "American Stand-Up and Sketch Comedy", that was published at the end of 2010.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In 2004, he donated his time to Seeds of Peace International Camp, a camp located in Otisfield, Maine, which brings together young leaders from communities in conflict.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle supports his high school, Duke Ellington School of the Arts. He has financially contributed to the school over the years, visited and gave a commencement speech. During his acceptance speech at the 2017 Emmy Awards, Chappelle gave a shout-out to D.C. Public Schools. In November 2021, the school was set to rename their auditorium in Chappelle's honor. Following controversy in response to jokes made in "The Closer", the renaming ceremony was delayed until April 2022. Instead, Chappelle made an unannounced stop at the school to host a school assembly and Q&A session, asking only students who had an issue with Chappelle to come forward to ask questions. Following the assembly, the school decided to go forward with renaming the auditorium, respecting the wishes of school co-founder Peggy Cooper Cafritz.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: In December 2021, Chappelle told the Yellow Springs, Ohio, village council that he would cancel his planned business investments, including his restaurant and comedy club, if it approved a zoning change to allow a multifamily affordable housing project. The affordable housing had been negotiated between the village and the developer as a condition of approval for its plan to build 143 single-unit homes. On February 7, 2022, he again spoke up against the zoning change at the council meeting held to vote on the approval, calling the council "clowns" and reminding them that his business was worth $65 million a year. The council failed to approve the change, deadlocking at 2–2, with one recusal.


title: Dave Chappelle

text: Chappelle married Elaine Mendoza Erfe in 2001. The couple has two sons, Sulayman and Ibrahim, and one daughter, Sanaa. They live on a farm near Yellow Springs, Ohio. Chappelle also owned several houses in Xenia, Ohio. He told Yellow Springs' residents in September 2006:


title: Dave Chappelle

text: His great-grandfather Bishop William D. Chappelle, born into slavery in 1857, served as a president of Allen University and led a delegation of African Americans who met President Woodrow Wilson at the White House. His great-great-grandfather Robert J. Palmer was a member of the South Carolina Legislature, then majority black, during Reconstruction. His grand-uncle W. D. Chappelle Jr. was a physician and surgeon who opened the People's Infirmary around 1915, a small hospital and surgery practice in Columbia, South Carolina, during a time when segregation prevented many African Americans from having access to healthcare.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Thomas William Selleck (; born January 29, 1945) is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series "Magnum, P.I." (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, winning in 1985. Since 2010, Selleck has co-starred as New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan in the series "Blue Bloods." Beginning in 2005, he has portrayed troubled small-town police chief Jesse Stone in nine television films based on the Robert B. Parker novels.


title: Tom Selleck

text: In films, Selleck has played bachelor architect Peter Mitchell in "Three Men and a Baby" (1987) and its sequel "Three Men and a Little Lady" (1990). He has also appeared in more than 50 other film and television roles since "Magnum, P.I.", including the films "Quigley Down Under", "Mr. Baseball", and "Lassiter". He appeared in recurring television roles as Monica Geller's love interest Dr. Richard Burke on "Friends", as Lance White, the likeable and naive partner on "The Rockford Files", and as casino owner A.J. Cooper on "Las Vegas". He also had a lead role in the television western film "The Sacketts", based on two of Louis L'Amour's books.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck is a California Army National Guard veteran, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association (NRA), an endorser in advertisements for "National Review" magazine, and co-founder of the Character Counts! organization.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1945, to housewife Martha Selleck () and Robert Dean Selleck, who was an executive and real estate investor. He has an elder brother Robert (born 1944), a younger sister Martha (born 1954), and a younger brother Daniel (born 1956).


title: Tom Selleck

text: His father was of primarily English ancestry but had distant German ancestry as well, while his mother was of English descent...on her paternal side they were miners from Worsborough, Barnsley, Yorkshire and Martha Jagger's grandfather Thomas Jagger emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1881. Thomas Jagger's grandfather, also named Thomas, was killed in Worsborough mine in 1844 aged 36 and the Jagger family can be traced back at least another three generations in that area. It is estimated that near 30 men of the Jagger family were killed in mines in that era.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Through an entirely paternal line, Selleck is a direct descendant of English colonist David Selleck who moved to Massachusetts from Somerset, England, in 1633. Through this line, Selleck is of the 11th generation of his family born in North America.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck graduated from Grant High School in 1962 and enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College, living at home and saving money. Selleck, who stands tall, transferred to the University of Southern California during his junior year to play for the USC Trojans men's basketball team. He also was a pitcher for the USC baseball team. He is a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and a member of the Trojan Knights. While Selleck was majoring in Business Administration, a drama coach suggested he try acting and, in his senior year, he dropped out of the university. Selleck then studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, under Milton Katselas.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Upon receiving a draft notice during the Vietnam War, Selleck joined the California National Guard. He served in the 160th Infantry Regiment of the California Army National Guard from 1967 to 1973.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck's first television appearance was as a college senior on "The Dating Game" in 1965 and again in 1967. Soon after, he appeared in commercials for products such as Pepsi-Cola.


title: Tom Selleck

text: He began his career with bit parts in smaller movies, including "Myra Breckinridge" (invited on the set by Mae West), "Coma", and "The Seven Minutes". He appeared in a number of TV series, mini-series and TV movies. He was also the face of Salem cigarettes and Revlon's Chaz cologne. Selleck appeared in the commercial for Right Guard deodorant in 1971, with Farrah Fawcett in 1972 for the aperitif Dubonnet, and another in 1977 for the toothpaste Close-Up. He was also in a Safeguard deodorant soap commercial (1972). In 1972, he starred in the B-movie "Daughters of Satan". He had a recurring role in the 1970s as private investigator Lance White in "The Rockford Files".


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck is an avid outdoorsman, marksman and firearms collector. These interests led him to leading-man cowboy roles in Western films, starting with his role as cowboy and frontier marshal Orrin Sackett in the 1979 film "The Sacketts", opposite Sam Elliott, Jeff Osterhage, and Western legends Glenn Ford and Ben Johnson, and that same year, "Concrete Cowboys" with Jerry Reed. "The Shadow Riders" followed in 1982. Then Selleck shifted gears, portraying a cat burglar in 1930s London in "Lassiter" in 1984. "Quigley Down Under" is one of his best-known Western films, but it was for his 1997 role in "Last Stand at Saber River" that he won a "Western Heritage Award".


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck's big break came when he was cast in the lead role as Thomas Magnum in "Magnum, P.I." The producers would not release the actor for other projects, so Selleck had to pass on the role of Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", which meant that the role went to actor Harrison Ford instead. It turned out that the shooting of the pilot for "Magnum" was delayed for over six months by a writers' strike, which would have enabled him to complete "Raiders".


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck played the role of Thomas Magnum in 1980 after filming six other TV pilots that were never sold. Magnum was a former U.S. Navy Officer, a veteran of a Special Operations unit, "SEAL" in the Vietnam War, and later a member of the "Naval Intelligence Agency" (a fictional version of the Office of Naval Intelligence), who had resigned his commission with the Navy to become a private investigator living in Hawaii. The show continued until 1988, lasting eight seasons and 163 episodes, winning him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1984.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck was famous for his mustache, a Hawaiian-style aloha shirt, a Detroit Tigers baseball cap, and a Colt MKIV/Series 70 Government Model handgun (a commercial version of the U.S. Military M1911A1) which his character regularly carried. The actual prop from the show was a 9×19mm Parabellum, serial number 70L33101, used for its reliable functioning with readily available blanks, although the original gun was a traditional .45 ACP 1911. Magnum also used a Star Model B, another 9mm similar to the M1911A1, and a Detonics Pocket 9 during the series.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Magnum drove a Ferrari 308 GTS in the series. The model became so identified with the role that Ferrari fans now refer to the red-painted model as a "Magnum" Ferrari.


title: Tom Selleck

text: After the end of the show in 1988, it established itself as the top-rated one-hour show in the history of syndicated reruns (at least until 1998). Selleck confirmed that he was the most popular choice by fans to play the role of Magnum in the once-rumored "Magnum, P.I." movie.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck was offered the lead role of Mitch Buchannon in "Baywatch", but he turned down the role because he did not want to be seen as a sex symbol. The role eventually went to David Hasselhoff.


title: Tom Selleck

text: During the "Magnum" years, he also starred as an acrophobic police detective in "Runaway" and a stand-in father in "Three Men and a Baby", which was the biggest hit at the American box office in 1987. In 1989, he ended the decade by starring in the romantic comedy, "Her Alibi" and crime drama "An Innocent Man".


title: Tom Selleck

text: In 1990, he starred as an American 19th-century sharpshooter in the Australian Western "Quigley Down Under", a role and film that he considers one of his best. During the 1990s, he also starred in "Three Men and a Little Lady", "Folks!", "", "Mr. Baseball", "In & Out" and "The Love Letter". Selleck's role in "In & Out" is his first as a gay character (Peter Malloy).


title: Tom Selleck

text: In the mid-1990s Selleck played the role of Richard Burke, Monica's older boyfriend, beginning at the end of the second season of the TV series "Friends". Richard was a divorced ophthalmologist who was a friend of Monica's parents, and at first the relationship was hidden from her parents. The relationship eventually ended over Richard's reluctance to commit to having children, though Selleck did make a few more appearances in later episodes. His decision to star in a six-episode plot of "Friends" was seen as a digression from the movies back to TV shows and a mistake by his career advisers. Selleck recruited a new agent and accepted the part. This role earned him an Emmy Award nomination in 2000 for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.


title: Tom Selleck

text: He did the voice-over for the 1993 AT&T advertising campaigns titled "You Will." These advertisements had a futuristic feel, and posed the question of, "What if you had the technology to _____? Well, you will ... and the company that will bring it to you? AT&T."


title: Tom Selleck

text: In the mid-1990s Selleck hosted a special series on TLC called "The Practical Guide to the Universe", in which he talked about the stars, planets, galaxies, etc.


title: Tom Selleck

text: In February 1998, he accepted the lead role in a sitcom for CBS called "The Closer". This role was his big comeback on prime-time TV. In it he played Jack McLaren, a legendary publicist heading up a brand new marketing firm. His costars included Ed Asner, David Krumholtz, and Penelope Ann Miller. Despite the high pedigree, and the expectations for Selleck's first series since "Magnum, P.I.", low ratings caused the show to be canceled after ten episodes.


title: Tom Selleck

text: His last two cowboy roles to date were in the 2001 TNT movie "Crossfire Trail" (based on a Louis L'Amour novel of the same name), and the 2003 motion picture "Monte Walsh". In 2001, Selleck played the lead role of Murray in a Broadway revival of Herb Gardner's comedic play "A Thousand Clowns". The production toured for four months, playing in North Carolina, Chicago and Boston before opening on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre. Critics, though far from uniformly negative about Selleck's performance, generally compared it unfavorably to that of Jason Robards, who won awards in the 1960s for playing the character on the stage and in a movie version. The production closed as a result of the attacks on 9/11.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck played the role of General Dwight D. Eisenhower in A&E's 2004 made-for-TV movie "". The movie showed the planning, politics, and preparation for the 1944 Invasion of Normandy, and Selleck was critically lauded for playing a cool, calm Eisenhower.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Since 2005, Selleck has starred in the role of transplanted lawman Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on Robert B. Parker's novels. To date, the series comprises nine films, with the most recent released in October 2015. In addition to his portrayal of the films' protagonist, Selleck now acts as producer for the series. The fifth film, "Jesse Stone: Thin Ice", was not adapted from Parker's novels, but was instead an original story by Selleck.


title: Tom Selleck

text: He joined the cast of the NBC drama "Las Vegas" in the season-five premiere on September 28, 2007. He played A.J. Cooper, the new owner of the Montecito Casino. He replaced James Caan, who left the cast in the same episode. This was Selleck's first regular role in a drama show since he played Thomas Magnum in "Magnum, P.I." As of December 30, 2007, he began doing commercial voice-overs for Florida's Natural orange juice.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Since 2010, he has starred as Frank Reagan in the CBS American police procedural/drama series "Blue Bloods", filmed on location in New York City. Frank Reagan is the Police Commissioner, and the series follows the Reagan family of police officers with the New York City Police Department. The show premiered on September 24, 2010, and is in its twelfth season as of 2021–22.


title: Tom Selleck

text: In 2012, Selleck was featured in Coldwell Banker's television ad campaign focusing on homeownership. On August 1, 2016, American Advisors Group (AAG), the leading reverse-mortgage lender, announced the premiere of its new television commercial campaign naming Selleck as the company's new national spokesperson following the death of Fred Thompson, their previous spokesperson. The commercials began running across cable and national networks including ABC, NBC and CBS.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck appeared in a recurring role on the acclaimed ABC drama "Boston Legal" as Ivan Tiggs, the troubled ex-husband of Shirley Schmidt (Candice Bergen).


title: Tom Selleck

text: In 2021, Selleck made his album debut singing “Yessir, That’s My Baby” with Nicolas King (recorded live in 2001 during their run of “A Thousand Clowns”) on King's album “Act One” released by Club44 Records.


title: Tom Selleck

text: From 1971 to 1982, Selleck was married to model Jacqueline Ray. During that time, he adopted her son, Kevin Shepard (born 1966), former drummer for the American rock band, Tonic. On August 7, 1987, Selleck married Jillie Joan Mack (born 1957). They have one daughter, Hannah (born December 16, 1988).


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck and his family live near Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village, California, on a avocado ranch in Hidden Valley formerly owned by Dean Martin. In a 2012 interview with "People", Selleck talked about living and working on his ranch: "So I like to get outside and work on the ranch, from fixing roads to clearing brush. I hate going to the gym, so sweating outdoors sure beats sitting on a stationary bike staring at my navel. And I work cheaper than anyone I could hire to do it."


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck is an accomplished indoor and beach volleyball player, playing the outside hitter position for the Outrigger Canoe Club, Honolulu. (Son Kevin attended Selleck's alma mater, USC, and became a volleyball team All-American in 1990.) Outrigger Canoe Club teammate Dennis Berg, in the summer 2011 issue of "Volleyball USA" magazine, said of Selleck, "Tom was a great teammate, appreciative of being included with such a talented and experienced group, practicing and playing hard when his "Magnum" schedule permitted... He was very patient with all of us, and we relished the big crowds that replaced the usual sparse number of players' friends and spouses at the national tourney matches."


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck is an avid ice hockey fan and has been seen attending Los Angeles Kings games at Staples Center. He lists Anže Kopitar and Alexander Frolov as two of his favorite players. He was once a minority owner of the Detroit Tigers, his favorite baseball team since childhood. In preparation for his role in the film "Mr. Baseball", Selleck reached out to the Tigers to practice with them during the spring of 1991. He took batting practice for three weeks, even making an appearance in an exhibition game against Cincinnati, where Tiger manager Sparky Anderson had him play in the pinch hitter role. Selleck believes his training helped him considerably in his film role, having gained valuable experience from attending team meetings and developing an understanding of how competitive players function together.


title: Tom Selleck

text: One of Selleck's "Magnum" co-stars, Larry Manetti, in his 1996 memoir "Aloha Magnum", was lavish in his praise of Selleck. Manetti lauded Selleck for his extraordinary work ethic on a grueling show (shooting for hours in the midday Hawaiian sun), Selleck's work with Hawaiian charities, and his willingness to support the program's cast and crew members.


title: Tom Selleck

text: In February 2009, Selleck joined the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund as national spokesman for the new Education Center being built on the National Mall.


title: Tom Selleck

text: Upon James Garner's death in 2014, he said, "Jim was a mentor to me and a friend, and I will miss him." Two years after Garner's death, Selleck said, prior to filming his then 6th season of "Blue Bloods": "It's kind of like my mentor, who never wanted to hear he was my mentor (James Garner), I don't accept the mentor role. That they feel that way is, I think flattering although it adds a certain amount of pressure."


title: Tom Selleck

text: Selleck was sued by the Calleguas Municipal Water District for allegedly improperly transferring approximately 1.4 million gallons of water from the Calleguas Municipal Water District to the Hidden Valley Municipal Water District during the driest California drought since record-keeping began, which he used to water his avocado farm. He settled the suit by paying $21,685.55 to the Calleguas Municipal Water District, an amount which represented the district's private investigator fees in connection with the case. By settling, Selleck avoided a trial while simultaneously not admitting to any fault or wrongdoing.


title: Tom Selleck

text: He has been a member of the board of directors of the National Rifle Association and served as a spokesman for the organization. He resigned from the board on September 18, 2018, though he remained a member of the organization. After his close friend Charlton Heston stepped down from his role as an NRA spokesman in 2003, Selleck succeeded him. In 2002, Selleck donated the rifle he used in "Quigley Down Under" (a custom 13-pound [6 kg], single-shot, 1874 Sharps Rifle, with a 34-inch [86-cm] barrel), along with six other firearms from his other films, to the NRA. The firearms are part of the NRA's exhibit "Real Guns of Reel Heroes" at the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia.


title: Tom Selleck

text: To promote his film "The Love Letter", Selleck was invited to be on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" on May 19, 1999. During the appearance, O'Donnell questioned Selleck about his support of gun ownership and an ad in which he appeared supporting the NRA. At the end of the interview, Selleck stated, "It's your show, and you can talk about it after I leave." Selleck later confided to Shaun Robinson that he forgives O'Donnell, stating "I still like Rosie. I think she needs to take a deep breath and stop thinking everybody who disagrees with her is evil."


title: Tom Selleck

text: For a number of years, Selleck appeared in television advertising for "National Review". He also subscribes to "The New Republic". Selleck describes himself as "a registered independent with a lot of libertarian leanings."


title: Tom Selleck

text: In the 2016 presidential election, Selleck did not support either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, instead writing in former Dallas Police Department Chief David Brown, saying that he was deeply touched by the grace and leadership Brown showed through the 2016 Dallas police shooting.


title: Tom Selleck

text: On April 28, 2000, Selleck received an honorary doctorate degree from Pepperdine University. He was chosen because of his outstanding character and ethic. He is a board member of the non-profit Joseph and Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics and co-founder of the Character Counts Coalition. He received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1986. The star is situated at 6925 Hollywood Blvd. In 1989, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man from Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in . From his 32nd-floor suites in the Mandalay Bay hotel, he fired more than 1,000 bullets, killing 60 people and wounding at least 413. The ensuing panic brought the total number of injured to approximately 867. About an hour later, he was found dead in his room from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The motive for the mass shooting is officially undetermined.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: The incident is the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in United States history. It focused attention on firearms laws in the U.S., particularly with regard to bump stocks, which Paddock used to fire shots in rapid succession, at a rate similar to that of automatic firearms. Bump stocks were banned by the U.S. Justice Department in December 2018, but the constitutionality of the ban remains under review as of 2022.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard immediately south of the city of Las Vegas in Clark County, Nevada. The Strip is known for its concentration of casinos and resort hotels, including the 43-story Mandalay Bay southwest of its intersection with Mandalay Bay Road, in the unincorporated town of Paradise.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: Las Vegas Village, a lot used for outdoor performances, was located diagonally across the intersection to the northeast. From 2014 onward, the venue hosted the annual Route 91 Harvest country music festival. The 2017 festival ran from September 29 to October 1, with over 22,000 attendees on the final day.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: According to his girlfriend, Paddock repeatedly cased Las Vegas Village from different windows in their room when they stayed at the Mandalay Bay a month before the shooting. Paddock also may have considered attacking previous events. He had researched large-scale venues in cities such as Boston since at least May 2017, and had reserved a room overlooking the August 2017 Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, but did not use it. From September 17, Paddock stayed at The Ogden in Downtown Las Vegas, which overlooked the open-air Life is Beautiful festival that ran from September 22 to 24. Paddock's Internet search terms from mid-September included "swat weapons", "ballistics chart 308", "SWAT Las Vegas", and "do police use explosives".


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: Paddock arrived at Mandalay Bay on September 25, 2017, and booked into Room 32–135, a complimentary room on the 32nd floor. Four days later, he also checked into the directly connected Room 32–134. Both suites overlook the site of the concert at Las Vegas Village.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: During his stay at Mandalay Bay, Paddock spent much of his time gambling, usually at night. He interacted with employees more than ten times, including twice on the day of the shooting; an MGM Resorts International spokesperson said all the interactions were "normal in nature". Cell phone records show that he also made multiple visits to his home in Mesquite.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: With help from hotel bellmen, he brought five suitcases to his room on September 25, seven on the 26th, two on the 28th, on the 30th, and two on October 1. His arsenal of weapons, associated equipment and ammunition included fourteen AR-15 rifles (some of which were equipped with bump stocks and twelve of which had 100-round magazines), eight AR-10-type rifles, a bolt-action rifle, and a revolver. On September 30, he placed "do not disturb" signs on the doors of both rooms.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: The mass shooting occurred between 10:05 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. on October 1, 2017, which was the third and final night of the festival. When the shooting began, country music singer Jason Aldean was giving the closing performance.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: Shortly before 10:00p.m., hotel security guard Jesus Campos was sent to the 32nd floor to investigate an open-door alert. He attempted to open a door that provided immediate access to the floor, but found that it would not open. After Campos entered the floor, he discovered an L-shaped bracket screwed into the door and door frame, which was responsible for barring the door from opening. After reporting the discovery to his dispatch center, he heard what he thought was the sound of rapid drilling coming from Room 32-135 and went to investigate the matter. At approximately 10:05 p.m., he was hit in the right thigh by one of about 35 bullets that Paddock fired through the door of his suite. After Campos was hit, he took cover in the alcove between Rooms 32-122 and 32-124 and immediately informed the hotel by radio and cellphone that he had been shot, though he believed he had been shot with a BB or pellet gun. At the same time, maintenance worker Stephen Schuck was on the same floor to fix the door that Campos had reported as being barricaded. The already-wounded Campos encountered Schuck and told him to take cover. Schuck contacted hotel dispatchers over his radio, informed them of the ongoing shooting, and told them to call the police. Neither the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department nor MGM Resorts International, the Mandalay Bay's owner, have confirmed when information about the initial shooting was relayed to the police.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: After Paddock used a hammer to break two of the windows in both of his suites, he began shooting through them at 10:05p.m. He ultimately fired over 1,000 rifle rounds approximately into the festival audience. He initially started out with a few single gunshots before firing in bursts that usually ranged from 80 rounds to 100 rounds. Many people in the crowd initially mistook the gunfire for fireworks. During the shooting, a security fence hindered concertgoers from fleeing the concrete lot. The gunfire continued, with some momentary pauses, over the span of ten minutes and ended by 10:15p.m. During these pauses (during reload and while the assailant was confronting Campos), most concertgoers down below were able to flee the venue.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: In addition to shooting at the concertgoers, Paddock fired eight bullets at a large jet fuel tank at McCarran International Airport (since renamed Harry Reid International Airport) away. Two of those bullets struck the exterior of the tank, with one bullet penetrating the tank. The fuel did not explode because jet fuel is mostly kerosene, which is unlikely to ignite when struck by a bullet.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: During the shooting, police officers were initially confused whether the shots were coming from the Mandalay Bay, the nearby Luxor hotel, or the festival grounds. There were also multiple false reports of additional shooters at other hotels on the Strip. Officers eventually spotted multiple flashes of gunfire from the middle of the northern side of Mandalay Bay and responded to the hotel. At 10:12p.m., two officers on the 31st floor reported the sounds of gunfire on the floor above them. When officers arrived on the 32nd floor at 10:17p.m. and encountered Campos a minute later, he directed them to Paddock's room and helped others evacuate. Campos was then directed to seek medical attention for himself.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: Between 10:26 p.m. and 10:30p.m., eight additional officers arrived at the 32nd floor; some of those officers manually breached the door Paddock had screwed shut with the bracket. The gunfire had ceased, and the police moved systematically down the hallway, searching and clearing each room, using a master key that was provided by Campos. At 10:55p.m., the officers finished evacuating guests. At 11:20p.m., police breached Room 32–135 with explosives. Paddock was found dead on the floor from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Police then breached Room 32–134; while entering the hotel suite, an officer accidentally fired a three-round burst from his weapon, but the bullets did not hit anyone. At 11:27p.m., officers announced over the police radio that a suspect was down.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: McCarran International Airport, adjacent to the shooting site, was shut down for several hours. Approximately 300 people entered the airport grounds as they fled from the shooting. This prompted officials to shut down all four runways. More than 25 flights were rerouted to ensure that no aircraft would be hit by gunfire, while other flights were canceled before airfield operations resumed at 12:40a.m. on October 2.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: Much of Las Vegas Boulevard was closed while police SWAT teams combed the venue and neighboring businesses. At approximately 2:45p.m. PDT on October 2, a state of emergency was declared in Clark County. Early on October 2, Sheriff Lombardo identified the suspect as .


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: As of October 2020, there were 60 deaths, not including that of Paddock. The immediate dead comprised 58 victims—36 women and 22 men—all of whom died from gunshot wounds. The oldest was 67, and the youngest was 20. Thirty-four were from California; six from Nevada; four from Canada; two from Alaska and Utah; and one each from Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Thirty-one of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while twenty-seven died from their wounds at the hospital, with the last of those dying on October 3, two days later. Paddock's suicide was the only death at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: A 57-year-old woman from California, who had been paralyzed in the shooting, died more than two years later on November 15, 2019. On August 24, 2020, the San Bernardino County medical examiner officially attributed her death to the shooting, though the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) declined at the time to include her in the official death toll. The LVMPD also initially declined to include a 49-year-old Nevada woman who died from complications of a leg wound on May 26, 2020. The department revised its decision, however, and on October 1, 2020, included both women in the count.


title: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

text: The incident is the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in the United States, exceeding the death toll of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, in which 49 people were killed.