title: Ayrton Senna

text: In 2007, Prince Albert of Monaco unveiled a plaque in honour of Senna in a ceremony that was attended by Vivane Senna. An exhibition also took place that showcased Senna's victories around Monaco, along with his helmets that were borrowed from Senna's family and a selection of McLaren cars raced by Senna that were brought over from Motegi.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: On 21 March 2010, on the day that would have marked Senna's 50th birthday, the football team Corinthians, which Senna supported, played a tape in memory of Senna which was also part of the theme played at the São Paulo Motor Show.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: On 25 July 2010, the BBC motoring show, "Top Gear" paid an emotional tribute to Senna with British Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton driving Senna's original MP4/4, with which he won the 1988 title. This was prior to the release of the BAFTA Award winning documentary named after him, "Senna", directed by Asif Kapadia. In this documentary broadcast only once by the BBC, Senna is named the number one driver ever, by fellow racing drivers. A StudioCanal, Working Title Films, and Midfield Films documentary production, "Senna" was released to critical acclaim.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: Since Senna's death, every Williams F1 car has incorporated a small Senna 'S' logo in its Formula 1 car to honour their former driver and in support of the IAS. A revised logo was featured in 2014 for the 20th anniversary of Senna's death.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: In July 2013, Honda released a video of an audio-visual tribute on the Suzuka circuit in the dark, titled "Sound of Honda – Ayrton Senna 1989". Using the telemetry and sound of the Honda-powered McLaren MP4/5 driven by the Brazilian driver, Honda recreated the then lap record lap of 1:38.041 minutes by positioning speakers and lights along the 5.8 km track and activating them in synchronization with the race car's position during that lap. In May of that year, Honda also reconfirmed its return to the sport as McLaren's engine supplier from 2015, with both companies again leveraging on Senna's legend as part of their advertising campaign since.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: On 25 October 2013, a holiday PlayStation 3 bundle with Gran Turismo 6 was announced which is dedicated to his memory, with some of the proceeds of this bundle going to help the IAS. This was not the first time that Senna was immortalized in a video game since, in 1992, Sega developed and published "Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II" for the Sega Mega Drive, Master System and Game Gear. Apart from featuring advice from Senna himself, the tracks included Senna's own farm circuit in Tatuí, São Paulo and it was based on the 1991 F1 World Championship (albeit with fictitious rival drivers and teams due to licensing restrictions). This was then followed by the Japan-exclusive "Ayrton Senna Personal Talk: Message for the Future" for the Sega Saturn, which was a multimedia compact disc containing interviews with Senna overlaid with still images.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: In March 2014, during the Brazilian Carnival celebrations, the samba group Unidos da Tijuca paid tribute to Senna in one of their parades in Rio de Janeiro. The group showcased his McLaren car along with other characters associated with speed, such as Sonic, The Flash, and Usain Bolt. The school won the coveted trophy for the best parade of 2014.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: In occasion of the 20th anniversary of Senna's death, on 29 April 2014, in partnership with the IAS, the Brazilian regional airline Azul Linhas Aereas paid tribute by baptizing its Embraer ERJ-195 (registration no. PR-AYU (cn 19000434)) with a new name and livery. The airplane, which was formerly called "Azultec", has been renamed "#sennasempre" ("Senna forever") and features the IAS logo on the rear side of the fuselage and the graphics of Senna's F1 helmet at the front, making it appear as though it is wearing the iconic helmet.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: Tributes were also made at the Imola circuit to mark the 20th anniversary of Senna's death. On 1 May 2014, thousands of fans from around the world gathered at the Tamburello corner, at the exact scene where Senna suffered his fatal crash 20 years earlier, to hold a minute's silence. Various current and former F1 drivers were in attendance, including: Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen; Ferrari Driver Academy member Jules Bianchi; Senna's close friend and McLaren teammate, Gerhard Berger; and the Italians Jarno Trulli, Ivan Capelli, Pierluigi Martini, Andrea de Cesaris, and Emanuele Pirro. Flowers and other cherishable items were also placed around the statue of Senna, situated directly adjacent to the Tamburello corner.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: In May and July 2014, the Republic of San Marino issued 70,008 commemorative EUR 2,50 stamps as well as 8,000 silver proof coins in Eur 5,00 denomination. In December 2014, a French company also produced 520 commemorative coins designed by a Brazilian artist. The American firm Rosland Capital collaborated with the Ayrton Senna Institute to produce a commemorative coin collection in 2017.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: In November 2014 British artist Ian Berry unveiled a portrait of Ayrton in São Paulo at the Institut Ayrton Senna to the press and the family of Ayrton Senna. The artist famed for his artwork using only jeans presented the piece, that also included the jeans of the Senna family to great acclaim. The piece traveled around the world for many fans to see and commemorated the 20th anniversary of his passing.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: In 2015, when Lewis Hamilton matched Ayrton's three titles, the Senna family gave him an edition of the Ian Berry portrait made out of the family's jeans, Viviane Senna presented it to him at the São Paulo GP.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: On 10 June 2017, after qualifying on pole for the Canadian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton was presented with a Senna helmet that had been worn by Senna during a race. It was given by Senna's family in recognition of Hamilton's 65th pole position, matching Senna's tally.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: McLaren unveiled the McLaren Senna, a 789 bhp track-focused sports car named after Senna, on 9 December 2017.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: On 1 October 2018 Nike and Corinthians in partnership with the Ayrton Senna Institute unveiled a never-before-seen collection inspired by the Lotus team's colour scheme honouring Ayrton Senna, including the team's new third kit. The collection #LuteAtéSerEterno [fight until you're eternal] is a tribute to the 30th anniversary of the driver's first world title, which he won at Suzuka, in Japan. A half-Austrian, half-Brazilian flag was presented on the top step of the podium by the race winner of the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix in honour of Ratzenberger and Senna.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: A DLC for Codemasters' "F1 2019" depicting Senna's rivalry with Alain Prost was released in June, complete with digitised depictions of the two drivers along with car liveries inspired by their helmet designs.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: On 19 September 2021, a bronze life-size statue of Ayrton Senna was unveiled in Walbrzych (Poland), standing in a street named after him.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: There is a sculpture of him in Barcelona by British artist Paul Oz. It was unveiled on 8 May 2019, to mark the 25th anniversary of Senna's death.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: In his karting days, Senna's helmet consisted of a plain white background with notable features absent. He experimented with several designs to satisfy him, such as a white, yellow, and green helmet, before settling on a design by Sid Mosca that included a yellow background with a green stripe surrounding the upper visor and a light metallic blue stripe surrounding the lower visor (both stripes are delineated in the other stripe's color) that was first seen in 1979; Mosca also painted helmets for Emerson Fittipaldi and Nelson Piquet.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: According to Mosca, the blue and green stripes symbolised movement and aggression, while the overall yellow colour symbolised youth; the three colors were also identifiable with the Flag of Brazil. The helmet never had significant changes, apart from sponsorship. One such change was that Senna occasionally altered the stripe from blue to black. The tone of yellow changed a number of times, while usually a rich sunburst yellow, in 1985 and 1986 in some races, he used a fluorescent neon yellow colour. In 1994, the helmet was a lighter, paler yellow to complement the blue and white of the Williams car. He used a number of helmet brands throughout his career. From 1977 to 1989, he used Bell (Star – '77 to '82, XFM-1 – '83 to '89), from 1990 to 1991 Honda's own Rheos brand, 1992 to 1993 he used Shoei (X-4) and for 1994 he returned to using Bell (M3 Kevlar). The helmet worn by Senna in the fatal race was returned to Bell in 2002 and was incinerated while family members watched.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: His nephew Bruno wore a modified version of his helmet design (a yellow helmet with a green and blue stripe) during his Formula One career, but the stripes are shaped after an S rather than being straight, under the chin area it has a green stripe, and it has a blue rounded rectangle in the top area. Bruno sported a modified helmet design for the final three races of the 2011 season to honour the 20th anniversary of Ayrton winning his last world championship.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: At the 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix, Rubens Barrichello incorporated part of Senna's helmet design into his own. For the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix, another variant of Senna's helmet was used by Lewis Hamilton and by Barrichello too. Hamilton used the design with permission from Senna's sister Viviane and the helmet was later sold in support of the IAS. At the 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix, Hamilton again varied his helmet design (this time, the rear only given FIA restrictions on design changes in force from 2015) accompanied with a Twitter announcement stating "Just for you, Brazil!! A tribute to the greatest".


title: Ayrton Senna

text: Outside of motor racing, Brazilian cyclist Murilo Fischer wore a helmet based on Senna's helmet colour scheme of yellow with green and blue stripes on stage 11 of the 2015 Giro d'Italia, which finished on the Imola circuit.


title: Ayrton Senna

text: For the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, Pierre Gasly wore a special helmet with Senna's colours and the "Senna Sempre" (Senna Forever) badging on top.


title: Academy Award for Best Actor

text: The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The award is traditionally presented by the previous year's Best Actress winner.


title: Academy Award for Best Actor

text: The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929 with Emil Jannings receiving the award for his roles in "The Last Command" (1928) and "The Way of All Flesh" (1927). Currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS; winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy.


title: Academy Award for Best Actor

text: In the first three years of the awards, actors were nominated as the best in their categories. At that time, all of their work during the qualifying period (as many as three films, in some cases) was listed after the award. During the third ceremony in 1930, only one of those films was cited in each winner's final award, even though each of the acting winners had two films following their names on the ballots. The following year, this system was replaced by the current system in which an actor is nominated for a specific performance in a single film. Starting with the ninth ceremony in 1937, the category was officially limited to five nominations per year.


title: Academy Award for Best Actor

text: Since its inception, the award has been given to 84 actors. Daniel Day-Lewis has won the award a record three times. Spencer Tracy and Laurence Olivier were nominated a record nine times. Peter O'Toole is the most nominated actor in this category without a single win. James Dean is the only actor posthumously nominated more than once. Peter Finch is the only posthumous winner, for "Network" (1976). Italian actor Roberto Benigni gave the first winning non-English performance in "Life Is Beautiful" (1997). At 29, Adrien Brody of "The Pianist" (2002) is the youngest winner, and Anthony Hopkins, 83, is the oldest, for playing Anthony in "The Father" (2020). As of the 94th Academy Awards, Will Smith is the most recent winner for "King Richard".


title: Academy Award for Best Actor

text: In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of film release in Los Angeles County; the ceremonies are always held the following year. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months, from August 1 to July 31. For the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1, 1932, to December 31, 1933. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31.


title: Denise Richards

text: Denise Richards (born February 17, 1971) is an American actress, television personality, and former fashion model. Her most recognized roles are Carmen Ibanez in "Starship Troopers" (1997), Kelly Van Ryan in "Wild Things" (1998) and Bond girl Christmas Jones in "The World Is Not Enough" (1999). She has also appeared in films "Drop Dead Gorgeous" (1999), "Valentine" (2001), "Undercover Brother" (2002), "Scary Movie 3" (2003), "Love Actually" (2003), and "Madea's Witness Protection" (2012).


title: Denise Richards

text: Her television roles include Paramount Network's sitcom "Blue Mountain State" (2010–2011), ABC Family's mystery-thriller series "Twisted" (2013–2014) and CBS' soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" (2019–present).


title: Denise Richards

text: Richards starred on the E! reality show "" (2008–2009) and Bravo's reality television series "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" (2019–2020). In 2011, Richards published a memoir, "The Real Girl Next Door", which became a "New York Times" Best Seller.


title: Denise Richards

text: Richards was born in Downers Grove, Illinois, to Joni (née Braden), a coffee shop owner, and Irv Richards, a telephone engineer, whose father's surname was Reichert. Her mother died of cancer in November 2007. She is of German and French descent. Richards has a younger sister, Michelle. She grew up in both Downers Grove and Mokena, Illinois. As a child, she was the "only girl on the baseball team".


title: Denise Richards

text: When Richards was 15 years old, her family moved to Oceanside, California. In 1989, she graduated from El Camino High School. She was voted best looking in her high school yearbook. Richards was raised Catholic. After her high school graduation, she began working as a model and traveled to cities such as Paris, New York, and Tokyo to do photo shoots and commercials.


title: Denise Richards

text: Richards began her career as a teenager in modeling and appeared in print ads for Bonne Bell cosmetics in 1991. She also appeared on the cover of "Teen" magazine, instructional video "Modeling: What It Takes" and later went on to appear in Max Factor's Premiere 2K advertising campaign.


title: Denise Richards

text: In the 1990s, Richards appeared in several films and television shows such as "Loaded Weapon 1" (1993), "Tammy and the T-Rex" (1994), "Lookin' Italian" (1994), and guest starring in episodes of "Saved by the Bell", "Married... with Children" and "Doogie Howser, M.D." In 1993, she portrayed Ben Affleck's character's girlfriend named Jodi Collins, in the short-lived drama series "Against the Grain." Richards made guest appearances in several television shows, including "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1992), "Seinfeld" (1993), "Lois and Clark" (1994), and a guest-arc in "Melrose Place" (1996).


title: Denise Richards

text: In 1995, Richards appeared in a made-for-TV movie "In the blink of an eye", alongside Veronica Hamel and Mimi Rogers.


title: Denise Richards

text: Her first starring role in a wide theatrical release was "Starship Troopers" in 1997 for which Richards was nominated for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female Newcomer. The film grossed a total of $121.2 million worldwide. In 2012, "Slant Magazine" ranked the film at number 20 on its list of the 100 Best Films of the 1990s. She followed this with a role in the erotic thriller film "Wild Things" (1998) alongside Kevin Bacon, Matt Dillon and Neve Campbell. "Variety" praised Richards's transition from good-girl-type roles to manipulative villainess and the review continued to include her as part of "an ensemble that appears to be enjoying the challenge of offbeat roles and unusual material. There's not a wrong note struck by the game group of players." In 2016, "Glamour" praised the film's female characters by describing Richards and Neve Campbell as "two of the most well-rounded, fascinating, and exciting characters to ever grace the screen."


title: Denise Richards

text: Richards was cast as the nuclear physicist Christmas Jones in the James Bond film "The World Is Not Enough" (1999). Though she considered her role "brainy", "athletic", and having depth of character, she was criticized as not credible in the role. Her outfit, which often comprised a low-cut tank top and tight shorts, elicited unfavorable comments. Richards stated that a lot of viewers "made fun of" the character's attire but that "These Bond girls are so outrageous and if I did really look like a scientist, the Bond fans would have been disappointed." Richards was nominated for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favourite Actress – Action, for the film. Later that year, Richards starred alongside Kirsten Dunst in the beauty pageant satire, "Drop Dead Gorgeous". The film has gained new fans with time and is regarded as a cult film. Richards, playing a spoiled princess, was praised for her performance by "Los Angeles Times" for being "as rightly nasty as she is pretty".


title: Denise Richards

text: In 2001, she guest-starred in "Friends" as Ross and Monica Geller's cousin, Cassie Geller in the episode "The One with Ross and Monica's Cousin". Later that year she appeared in four episodes of "Spin City" as Jennifer Duncan, a love interest of Charlie Sheen's character. She starred as Sheen's character's ex-girlfriend two years later in two episodes of "Two and a Half Men". Richards appeared in numerous films such as "Valentine" (2001), "Good Advice" (2001), "Undercover Brother" (2002), "The Third Wheel" (2002) and "You Stupid Man" (2002). She played Annie Logan in the horror comedy film "Scary Movie 3" (2003), which was a commercial success and grossed $220 million worldwide. The film's plot significantly parodies the films "The Ring", "Signs", "The Matrix Reloaded". Richards made a brief appearance in the British romantic comedy "Love Actually" (2003)"." In 2004, she appeared in two films, "Whore" and "Elvis Has Left the Building".


title: Denise Richards

text: In 2005, Richards had a lead role as publicist Jolene in the short-lived UPN soap opera "Sex, Love & Secrets". The series focused on rich young adults living in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, and their secrets involving sex and love. She starred in the ensemble drama film "Edmond" (2005) alongside William H. Macy and Mena Suvari. In 2008, she reunited with her "Wild Things" on-screen mother Theresa Russell in the drama film "Jolene" (2008)"." Her reality show "" debuted on E! on May 26, 2008. The series followed the daily lives of Richards, her daughters Sam and Lola, and her married younger sister Michelle and father Irv. "Entertainment Weekly" published a review and wrote that ""It's Complicated" is one of those "celebs, they're just like us!" shows in which we're expected to enjoy watching a famous pampered person doing things we don't want to do either." The series concluded after two seasons on July 26, 2009.


title: Denise Richards

text: Richards appeared on the 8th season of dance competition television series "Dancing with the Stars", paired with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. She was the second contestant eliminated on March 24, 2009. She landed the role of Autumn Bliss in the romantic comedy film "Deep in the Valley" (2009) alongside Kim Kardashian and Chris Pratt. In 2010, she joined Paramount Network's sitcom "Blue Mountain State" as Debra Simon"." The series is about a fictional university, Blue Mountain State, and its football team, the "Mountain Goats". It portrays certain aspects of American university life, including American football, sex, drinking, and partying. In February 2012, it was reported that "Blue Mountain State" would not be renewed for a fourth season. Over the years, due in large part to being streamable on Netflix, the series has developed a cult following. In July 2011, Richards published a memoir "The Real Girl Next Door", a New York Times Best Seller. Richards decided to write a book because she "wanted to do something inspirational for other people going through challenging times," she told "HuffPost" in 2011. In September 2011, Richards reportedly turned down $100,000 to appear as an ex-girlfriend at Charlie Sheen's funeral in "Two and a Half Men". A month later, she began filming a guest spot for an episode for the sixth season of NBC comedy series "30 Rock". Richards was part of TV Guide Network's show, "Hollywood Moms' Club", which aired in November 2011.


title: Denise Richards

text: Richards played Kate Needleman in the comedy film "Madea's Witness Protection" (2012), which grossed $67 million at the box office. "Madea's Witness Protection" was filmed in Atlanta in early 2012 and was released through 34th Street Films and Lionsgate. In 2012, Richards joined the cast of ABC Family's mystery-thriller television series "Twisted". In 2015, she appeared in two films, "Operation: Neighborhood Watch!" and "Christmas Trade". In 2016, she made a guest appearance as herself in The CW's "Jane the Virgin", in the episode "Chapter Fifty-One." She portrayed Kat Faust in the musical thriller film "American Satan" (2017), for which Richards was nominated for the Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Feature Film at the Northeast Film Festival. Later that year, Richards portrayed Temple Hampton in an episode of Bravo's comedy-drama series "Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce". She starred in the supernatural horror film "The Toybox" (2018) opposite Mischa Barton. The film is about a family who go on a summer road trip in a used RV and get stranded in the desert by a supernatural force that is slowly killing them off. She portrayed Karen in the faith-based film "The Prayer Box" (2018), released on October 20, 2018.


title: Denise Richards

text: In August 2018, Richards announced that she would be joining the Bravo reality series, "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills", for the show's ninth season, which premiered on February 12, 2019. "Vanity Fair" described her addition to the series by saying: "She might be one of the most famous people to join the "Housewives" franchise, someone who was a legitimate household name before becoming a reality star. Now, that doesn't always translate to on-screen gold, but it is a nice little coup for Bravo." "The New York Times" wrote that Richards "brought a refreshing and occasionally disarming dose of reality" to the series. On May 31, 2019, "The Daily Beast" wrote that "Richards's appearance on the show is the best kind of surprise, one that reveals that a celebrity is not who we may have assumed them to be. She's an extremely warm, loving parent, without a hint of narcissism or vapidity about her." Fox News called her "an instant fan favorite" when she joined the show in 2019.


title: Denise Richards

text: In 2019, she joined the cast of CBS' soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" as Shauna Fulton. "Shauna is a fun-loving, hard-working single mother from Las Vegas who aspires to live life to its absolute fullest," executive producer and headwriter Bradley Bell told "People" magazine. In July 2019, it was announced that Richards had joined the cast of Fox Broadcasting's comedy-drama television series "BH90210" in a guest role, playing a fictionalized version of herself. She portrayed overly-ambitious mother Candice in Lifetime television film "The Secret Lives of Cheerleaders", released on September 2, 2019. "I think the story's about this girl that's trying to fit in and makes some bad choices and then, knowing right from wrong, decided to make a better choice," Richards told "Parade". On November 4, 2019, Richards appeared as a guest model on the game show "The Price Is Right". Richards played Valerie in the Christmas film "My Adventures with Santa" (2019) opposite Patrick Muldoon. The film was released in limited theaters on November 15, 2019.


title: Denise Richards

text: Richards returned for "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills"' tenth season, which premiered on April 15, 2020. On September 10, 2020, her representative confirmed that Richards is leaving the series after two seasons. In late 2020, Richards traveled to Spain to begin filming adventure drama series "Glow & Darkness", portraying the role of Countess of Champagne. In 2020, she appeared in five films: "Money Plane, Switched, Reality Queen!, Alpha Code" and "Timecrafters: The Treasure of Pirate's Cove." The heist film "Money Plane" was released to video-on-demand services on July 10, 2020, by Quiver Distribution. In "Switched," released on September 4, 2020, Richards portrayed Victoria Sharp, the mother of a school bully. On August 28, 2021, she played Amanda in Lifetime's thriller film "Killer Cheer Mom". The film follows a high school junior named Riley, who moved to a new town with her dad and stepmom, Amanda (Richards).


title: Denise Richards

text: During her career, Richards has graced the covers of numerous magazines, including "Cosmopolitan" (Poland, Greece, US and Germany), "Redbook", "Details", "Esquire", "Self," "Shape", "GQ", "Bella" and "Empire." In December 2004, she posed for a nude pictorial in "Playboy" magazine, five months after giving birth. Richards posed semi-nude for the July 2006 issue of "Jane" magazine to raise money for the Clothes Off Our Back Foundation. She has appeared in television commercials for Pepsi, Head & Shoulders, Secret, J.C. Penney and Librero. Richards walked the runway at the "Max Factor Salutes Hollywood" fashion show on March 14, 2007, in Hollywood. In 2010, Richards walked the runway for Ali Landry and Annie Kate Pons' fashion line, Belle Parish's fashion show. In September 2019, she walked the runway for Kyle Richards' and Shahida Clayton's new clothing brand at New York Fashion Week.


title: Denise Richards

text: Richards launched her self-titled fragrance in spring 2012. In 2012, Richards appeared in an infomercial for abdominal muscle toner "The Flex Belt" alongside Adrianne Curry, Lisa Rinna and Janet Evans. In 2013, she became the brand ambassador for Oro Gold Cosmetics. In 2017, she appeared in furniture brand Urban Home's commercials and advertising campaigns. She has appeared in rock band Blues Traveler's music video for the song "Canadian Rose" and rapper Snoop Dogg's music video for "Undercova Funk".


title: Denise Richards

text: Richards's appearance has often been the subject of media attention. In 1999, she was ranked #9 in "Maxim"'s 50 Sexiest Women. In 2001, she was voted #2 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women, #5 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women and #19 in AskMen.com's 50 Most Beautiful Women. She was named one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by "Men's Health". In 2002, Richards was ranked at number 21 in "Stuff" magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World." In 2011, "Men's Health" ranked her at number 61 on their list of "100 Hottest Women of All Time." "Shape" magazine ranked her at number 7 on their list of "10 of Our Fave Bond Girls: Then and Now."


title: Denise Richards

text: Richards became engaged to actor Charlie Sheen on December 26, 2001, and married him on June 15, 2002, at the estate of "Spin City" creator Gary David Goldberg. They have two daughters together, Sam J. Sheen (born March 9, 2004) and Lola Rose Sheen (born June 1, 2005). In March 2005, while pregnant with their second daughter, Richards filed for divorce from Sheen. She sought a restraining order against Sheen, alleging death threats against her. On April 19, 2006, Richards filed formal legal papers seeking a divorce from Sheen under the laws of the state of California. The divorce was finalized on November 30, 2006; Sheen was ordered to stay 300 feet away from his ex-wife and their daughters, except during supervised visits. In May 2010, Sheen surrendered legal custody of Sam and Lola to Richards. They previously had joint legal custody of their daughters. According to a source, Richards wanted sole legal custody, given Sheen's "marital turmoil, sobriety issues, and criminal problems" and he did not put up a fight about it. Under their divorce agreement, she has primary physical custody and he has visitation rights.


title: Denise Richards

text: By mid-2012, Richards and Sheen were on good terms, often spending time together with their children. In 2012, Sheen made a cameo appearance in her movie "Madea's Witness Protection," while Richards appeared in Sheen's television series "Anger Management". In a move supported by Sheen, in May 2013, Richards was awarded temporary custody of the twin sons born in 2009 to Sheen and his wife Brooke Mueller, after the children were removed from Mueller's home by child protective services due to concerns over drug use.


title: Denise Richards

text: In June 2011, Richards adopted a third daughter, Eloise Joni Richards, as a single parent. Her middle name honors Richards’ deceased mother. Richards adopted her at birth, following a two-year adoption process. Eloise has a rare chromosomal disorder, Chromosome 8, Monosomy 8p, which affects her speech. Richards has worked on learning sign language to communicate with her daughter.


title: Denise Richards

text: In December 2017, Richards began dating Aaron Phypers. On September 8, 2018, Richards and Phypers were wed in Malibu, California. In May 2019, Richards announced that Phypers is adopting her youngest daughter, Eloise.


title: Denise Richards

text: Outside of work, Richards dedicates much of her time to philanthropy. She has supported numerous charities, including Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Feeding America, Much Love Animal Rescue, Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, Best Friends Animal Society and Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Richards has also appeared in the NOH8 Campaign and has spoken in support of gay marriage.


title: Denise Richards

text: Richards has worked with Best Friends Animal Society on several projects, including its Pup My Ride program, which transports small dogs from high-kill animal shelters to other parts of the US where there is a greater demand for small dogs. She promoted Best Friends Animal Society's Save Them All campaign in 2014. "I've been involved with Best Friends Animal Society since 2009 and I've seen firsthand the differences they've made and the countless lives they've saved," Richards said. She has regularly appeared on "Access Hollywood"'s monthly pet segment showcasing shelter dogs rescued by Best Friends and available for adoption. While assisting with relief efforts in New York following Hurricane Sandy, she worked together with North Shore Animal League, and adopted a puppy from a Long Island shelter.


title: Denise Richards

text: She has walked the runway for charity fashion shows, such as Susan G. Komen's 8th Annual Fashion For The Cure, Clothes Off Your Back Benefit and The Heart Truth's Red Dress Fall 2011 Collections. In January 2012, she launched her first collaboration with fashion subscription service ShoeDazzle to design the "Eloise" heel and raised over $15,000 for the Kidney Cancer Association. In December 2012, she designed two shoes for ShoeDazzle as part of their Celebrity Shoe Design Program for Charity. Profits from the shoe sales went to the Kidney Cancer Association. After Richards lost her mother to kidney cancer, she dedicated her time to raising awareness and helping the Kidney Cancer Association. In November 2015, Richards and her daughters spent Thanksgiving volunteering and serving food for homeless families.


title: Denise Richards

text: In June 2018, she joined The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation's summer theatrical PSA campaign to benefit Brave Beginnings, which funds vital neonatal equipment to U.S. hospitals. Richards filmed a public service announcement that was played at movie theaters nationwide.


title: Jonathan Banks

text: Jonathan Ray Banks (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Chillum Heights, Maryland, while attending Indiana University Bloomington Banks did theatre. In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles where he began playing supporting roles in films and television.This includes "Airplane!" (1980), "48 Hrs." (1982), and "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984). His breakthrough came with the role of detective Frank McPike in the television series "Wiseguy" (1987–1990).


title: Jonathan Banks

text: From thereon, Banks continued acting in films and television. In 2009 Banks received critical acclaim for his role as hitman and cleaner Mike Ehrmantraut in the television series "Breaking Bad" (2009–2012), its spin-off series "Better Call Saul" (2015–2022), and its sequel film, "" (2019). He has received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (1989, 2013, 2015-2017, 2019) for his work on all three series, making him the only actor with nominations as a main cast member for three shows in this category, two of which feature him as the same character.


title: Jonathan Banks

text: More recently he acted in films such as "Reign Over Me" (2007), "Mudbound" (2017), "The Commuter" (2018), "Incredibles 2" (2018), etc.


title: Jonathan Banks

text: On January 31, 1947, Jonathan Ray Banks was born in Washington, D.C. grew up in Chillum Heights, Maryland. His father was a civil servant father and his mother a professor at Indiana State University. Banks said his late mother was a secretary in various federal government offices including the CIA and that she was also a private secretary to several top Naval officers, including Admiral Chester Nimitz.


title: Jonathan Banks

text: Banks graduated from Northwood High School in Silver Spring, and attended Indiana University Bloomington, where he was a classmate of actor Kevin Kline. During that time, they participated in a production of "The Threepenny Opera" together. After graduating, he joined a touring company of "Hair" as a stage manager, and traveled to Australia and New Zealand.


title: Jonathan Banks

text: In 1974, Banks moved to Los Angeles, where he worked in theater before picking up bit parts. Also in 1974, Banks acted in the public service announcement (PSA) "Linda's Film on Menstruation."


title: Jonathan Banks

text: His early film appearances include "Who'll Stop the Rain" (1978),"" "The Cheap Detective" (1978), "Coming Home" (1978), and "The Rose" (1979).


title: Jonathan Banks

text: During the late 1970s and early 1980s, he appeared in television films such as "The Girl in the Empty Grave" (1977), "", "The Ordeal of Patty Hearst" (1979), "She's Dressed to Kill" (1979), "Rage" (1980), "Desperate Voyage" (1980).


title: Jonathan Banks

text: From 1980 to 1990, Banks acted in the films "Stir Crazy" (1980), "Airplane!" (1980), "48 Hrs." (1982), "Frances" (1982), "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984), "Gremlins" (1984), "Buckaroo Banzai" (1984), "Armed and Dangerous" (1986), "Cold Steel" (1987), and "Honeymoon Academy" (1990).


title: Jonathan Banks

text: His television-roles of the 1980s include the NBC series "the Gangster Chronicles" (1981), where he played Dutch Schultz, and the short-lived science fiction series "Otherworld" (1985), where he portrayed the main antagonist.


title: Jonathan Banks

text: Banks achieved a career breakthrough with the role of Frank McPike in the television series "Wiseguy", which he starred in from 1987 to 1990. His performance led to a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Although his character was primarily the hero's mentor and superior officer, stories occasionally featured McPike as hero.


title: Jonathan Banks

text: Banks' films in the 1990s include "Freejack" (1991), "Boiling Point" (1993), "" (1995), "Flipper" (1996), "Dark Breed" (1996), "Last Man Standing" (1996), "A Thousand Men and a Baby" (1997), "Melanie Darrow" (1997), "Harvey" (1999), "Millennium Man" (1999), "Foolish" (1999), "Let the Devil Wear Black" (1999), "Thrash" (1999)"," and "Outlaw Justice" (1999).


title: Jonathan Banks

text: In 1994, Banks had guest appearances in the television shows "Matlock", "", "Walker, Texas Ranger," and "Tales from the Crypt".


title: Jonathan Banks

text: His films in the 2000s include "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles" (2001), "Face to Face" (2001), "Downward Angel" (2001), "Dark Blue" (2003), "Jam" (2007), "Reign Over Me" (2007), and "Proud American" (2008).


title: Jonathan Banks

text: According to voice actor Nolan North, Banks was originally considered to play the role of Zoran Lazaravić in the 2009 video game "", but the role went to Graham McTavish.


title: Jonathan Banks

text: In 2009, Banks began starring as Mike Ehrmantraut in the second season of "Breaking Bad". He became a series regular for the third, fourth, and fifth seasons. For his performance, he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 2013 ceremony. In 2015, he reprised his role as Mike Ehrmantraut as a member of the main cast in the "Breaking Bad" spinoff "Better Call Saul." At the Emmy Awards, he was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at their 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019 ceremonies.


title: Jonathan Banks

text: His films in the 2010s include "Identity Thief" (2013), "Bullet" (2014), "Horrible Bosses 2" (2014), "Term Life" (2016), "The Commuter" (2018), and "Incredibles 2" (2018).


title: Jonathan Banks

text: In 2015, he voiced James Gordon in the video game "," and was a guest on the "MythBusters" episode "Supernatural Shooters".


title: Jonathan Banks

text: Banks portrayed the main antagonist in the 2017 film "Mudbound". With his costars, he was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.


title: Jonathan Banks

text: In 2020, Banks joined the cast of the Netflix animated series "F Is for Family" in its fourth season as Bill Murphy, father of the main character.


title: Jonathan Banks

text: Banks married his first wife, Marnie Fausch, in 1968. They had one daughter before divorcing in 1970. Banks married his second wife, Gennera Gonzalez Cebian, in 1990. They had fraternal twins, and Banks has a stepdaughter from this marriage.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: Mary-Kate Olsen (born June 13, 1986) is an American businesswoman, fashion designer, equestrian, and former actress. She began her acting career nine months after her birth, sharing the role of Michelle Tanner with her twin sister Ashley Olsen in the television sitcom "Full House" (1987–1995). They also starred in numerous films together.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In 1993, the production company Dualstar Entertainment Group was founded, which produced a long string of television films and direct-to-video releases featuring the girls; they starred in "Passport to Paris" (1999), "Our Lips Are Sealed" (2000), "Winning London" (2001), "Holiday in the Sun" (2001) and in the television series, "So Little Time" (2001–2002), for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming. They starred in "Getting There" (2002), "When in Rome" (2002), "The Challenge" (2003) and made cameos in "" (2003). The last film she starred in with her twin sister was "New York Minute" (2004). She continued with her acting career independently, appearing with a few guest-star roles in films and television shows, and with her last film being "Beastly" (2011).


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In March 2012, both Mary-Kate and Ashley officially indicated their interest to retire as actresses in order to focus on their careers in the fashion industry. She and her twin sister co-founded luxury fashion brand The Row, lifestyle brand Elizabeth and James, and more affordable fashion lines Olsenboye and StyleMint. They are members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: Mary-Kate Olsen was born on June 13, 1986, in Sherman Oaks, California. She is the daughter of Jarnette "Jarnie" (née Jones; b. 1954), a personal manager, and David "Dave" Olsen, a real estate developer and mortgage banker. Along with her twin Ashley, she has an older brother Trent, a younger sister and actress Elizabeth, and two half-siblings Taylor and Jake (from her father's second marriage). Olsen's parents divorced in 1996. The twins and their siblings have Norwegian ancestry while their mother is of French, German and Italian ancestry.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: Olsen attended the Campbell Hall School in Los Angeles. After graduating from Campbell Hall in 2004, Olsen and her twin sister went on to attend the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: Olsen began her acting career at the age of nine months old when she and her twin sister, Ashley Olsen, were hired to share the role of Michelle Tanner on the popular television sitcom "Full House" (1987–1995). She starred alongside her twin sister in the films, "To Grandmother's House We Go" (1992), "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble" (1993), "How the West Was Fun" (1994), "It Takes Two" (1995), "Billboard Dad" (1998) and in the television series, "Two of a Kind" (1998–1999). In 1997, the Olsen twins guest starred in an episode of "Sister, Sister", which starred twin actresses Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In 1993, following Mary-Kate and Ashley's success on "Full House", a limited liability company, Dualstar Entertainment Group was created to produce "Mary-Kate and Ashley"-branded products. It produced a successful long string of TV movies and direct-to-video releases featuring the girls. They starred in "Passport to Paris" (1999), "Switching Goals" (1999), "Our Lips Are Sealed" (2000), "Winning London" (2001), "Holiday in the Sun" (2001) and in the television series, "So Little Time" (2001–2002).


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: They became household names and popular figures in the preteen market during the late 1990s and early 2000s, with Mary-Kate's likeness seen in clothes, books, fragrances, magazines, movies, and posters, among others. There were fashion dolls of her made by Mattel from 2000 to 2005. They also starred in the films "Getting There" (2002), "When in Rome" (2002), "The Challenge" (2003) and made cameos in "" (2003). In 2004, the twins appeared in their final and light-hearted romantic comedy film, "New York Minute".


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: That same year upon their 18th birthday, both Mary-Kate and Ashley took control of Dualstar, becoming joint-CEOs and presidents of the company, which at the time had its merchandise being carried in over 3,000 stores in America and 5,300 stores worldwide.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: These ventures, combined with an array of licensing deals for their names and likenesses, made Olsen wealthy at a young age. In 2004, Olsen's and her twin sister’s wealth was estimated at $137 million each.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: Olsen's first solo acting appearance was in the movie "Factory Girl" (2006). Her one short scene was ultimately cut from theatrical release, but was included on the film's Unrated version on DVD and Blu-ray.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In 2007, she had a recurring role on television show, "Weeds", and the twins said that if they became involved in movies together again, it would be as producers.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In 2008, Olsen made a guest appearance on the ABC comedy "Samantha Who?" as a self-destructive girl that Samantha tries to help. That same year, she also appeared in the film "The Wackness". In 2011, Olsen appeared in the motion picture adaption of the Alex Flinn novel "Beastly", which was her final acting project.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In March 2012, both Mary-Kate and Ashley indicated their interest to retire as actresses in order to focus on their careers in fashion. They felt that their futures were in fashion, not in acting and discussed wanting to open a store as one of their future fashion-based endeavors.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In 2015, it was announced that John Stamos signed on with Netflix to produce and co-star in "Fuller House", a spin-off of "Full House" that would reunite the original cast members for a 13-episode series. However, in May of that year, Mary-Kate and Ashley originally announced that they will not reprise their role as Michelle Tanner. A month prior to the announcement, Nickelodeon acquired the rights to the twins' video library.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In 2007, Forbes ranked the twins jointly as the eleventh-richest women in entertainment, with an estimated combined net worth of $100 million.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: Following a high volume of public interest in their fashion choices, the Olsen twins began work in collaboration on a string of fashion lines available to the public. Starting as young girls, they started a clothing line in Wal-Mart stores across America for girls ages 4 to 14 as well as a beauty line called ""Mary-Kate and Ashley: Real fashion for real girls"".


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In 2004, they made news by signing a pledge to allow all the workers that sew their line of clothing in Bangladesh full maternity leave. The National Labor Committee, which organized the pledge, later praised the twins for their commitment to worker rights.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: As adults, the Olsen twins have devoted much of their attention to the world of fashion. They head a designer fashion label, "The Row," as well as "Elizabeth and James", "Olsenboye", and "StyleMint" retail collections. The idea for The Row started as a personal project in 2005 when her twin sister, Ashley Olsen, challenged herself to create a perfect T-shirt. She tested the design on a variety of women of all body shapes and ages in an attempt to find a "commonality in fit and attitude."


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In 2006, Mary-Kate and Ashley were tapped as the faces of the upscale fashion line Badgley Mischka. In 2008, they co-authored "Influence", a book featuring interviews with fashion designers that have inspired the twins' fashion lines.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In 2011, Mary-Kate and Ashley collaborated with TOMS Shoes to design footwear for kids without shoes in more than 20 countries worldwide. That same year, the sisters designed an Olsenboye Change Purse and donated the money to "Pennies From Heaven".


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: Mary-Kate's controversial fashion choices have often found her on both the best and worst dressed fashion lists, particularly for her decision to wear fur.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: She and Ashley are members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, CFDA a not-for-profit trade association of over 450 prominent American fashion and accessory designers. The twins are now the creative directors for Superga.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: Olsen began horseback riding in 1992 when she was six years old. During her time at Campbell Hall, she was a member of the school's equestrian team. After moving to New York in 2004 to attend NYU, Olsen temporarily quit riding, but she eventually started again, stating "I came back to the sport because I missed it every day that I wasn't riding. It was the hardest thing to leave and the hardest thing to come back to." In 2013, her horse Marvelous, ridden by James Anderson, won the 38th Hampton Classic Horse Show.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: Olsen is a competitive equestrian. She began riding in the Hampton Classic Horse Show in Bridgehampton, New York in 2013. On September 17, 2016, she competed at The American Gold Cup in North Salem, New York. In August–September 2017, she competed at the Hampton Classic Horse Show: on August 29, Olsen and her horse Dunotaire V finished in sixth place in the amateur owner jumper (1.20 meter) event; and on September 1, she and Dunotaire V finished in third place in the amateur owner jumper classic event. In September 2017, Olsen and her horse Feu d'Amour won The American Gold Cup. She also has horses named Prem' Dollar Boy and Hertog Van't Merdehof.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In 2018, Olsen and Dunotaire V ranked 7 out of 40 in a category at the Palm Beach Masters in Wellington, Florida. In May 2019, Olsen competed at the Longines Global Champions Tour in Madrid, Spain; she and her horse Naomi finished in sixth place in their event, while she and her horse Fatum were disqualified from their event due to an "error of course". On July 12, 2019, Olsen and Fatum won a 1.25m two-phase showjumping class at the Longines Global Champions Tour in Chantilly, France. In September 2021, she competed at the Longines Global Champions Tour in Rome, Italy: on September 16, she and her horse Iowa Van Het Polderhof finished in second place in the 2 Phases Special event; and on September 18, Olsen and Dunotaire V finished in third place in an Against the Clock No Jump Off event.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: Olsen has dated David Katzenberg (son of DreamWorks cofounder Jeffrey Katzenberg), photographer Maxwell Snow, and artist Nate Lowman.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In May 2012, Olsen began a relationship with Olivier Sarkozy, half-brother of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. In March 2014, photos were published showing Olsen wearing what appeared to be an engagement ring. Olsen and Sarkozy were married on November 27, 2015, at a private residence in New York City. On April 17, 2020, Olsen filed for divorce from Sarkozy. On May 13, she filed an emergency order to proceed despite delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The emergency order was denied a day later. On January 25, 2021, the divorce was finalized.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: In 2004, shortly after graduating from high school, Olsen announced she had entered treatment for anorexia nervosa. A Got Milk? advertisement featuring the twins was pulled following the announcement. On November 20, 2007, she was hospitalized for a reported kidney infection.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: Olsen was a close friend of late actor Heath Ledger. After discovering Ledger unconscious in his bed on January 22, 2008, his massage therapist called Olsen twice before contacting police. Olsen sent a private security guard to the scene.


title: Mary-Kate Olsen

text: Responding to a claim by an anonymous law enforcement official that she would not speak to federal investigators without a promise of legal immunity, Olsen's attorney Michael C. Miller said, "We have provided the government with relevant information including facts in the chronology of events surrounding Mr. Ledger's death and the fact that Ms. Olsen does not know the source of the drugs Mr. Ledger consumed".


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Michael Iver Peterson (born October 23, 1943) is an American novelist who was convicted in 2003 of murdering his second wife, Kathleen Peterson, on December 9, 2001. After eight years, Peterson was granted a new trial after the judge ruled a critical prosecution witness gave misleading testimony. In 2017, Peterson submitted an Alford plea to the reduced charge of manslaughter. He was sentenced to time already served and freed.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Peterson's case is the subject of the French documentary miniseries "The Staircase", which started filming soon after his arrest in 2001 and followed events until his eventual Alford plea in 2017. In 2019, he released his own account of his life since his wife's death in an independently published memoir, "Behind the Staircase". "The Staircase", a 2022 miniseries featuring Colin Firth and Toni Collette, also takes this murder case as its subject. Several other documentaries have been produced about Kathleen's death, including a sequel to the 2004 French documentary, podcasts, radio shows and other media.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Michael Iver Peterson was born near Nashville, Tennessee, the son of Eugene Iver Peterson and Eleanor Peterson (). He graduated from Duke University with a bachelor's degree in political science. While there, Peterson was president of Sigma Nu fraternity and was editor of "The Chronicle", the daily student newspaper, from 1964 to 1965. He attended classes at the law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: After graduating, Peterson took a civilian job with the United States Department of Defense, where he was assigned to research arguments supporting increased military involvement in Vietnam. That year he also married Patricia Sue, who taught at an elementary school on the Rhein-Main Air Base in Gräfenhausen, West Germany. They had two children, Clayton and Todd. In 1968, Peterson was commissioned in the United States Marine Corps and served in the Vietnam War. In 1971, he received an honorable discharge with the rank of captain after a car accident left him with a permanent disability.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Years later, during the 1999 Durham mayoral election, Peterson claimed he had been awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Valor, and two Purple Hearts. He had all the medals, but said he did not have the documentation for them. Peterson claimed he had received one Purple Heart after being hit by shrapnel when another soldier stepped on a land mine, and the other when he was shot. He later admitted his war injury was not the result of the shrapnel wound in Vietnam, but was the result of a car accident in Japan, where he was stationed after the war as a military police officer. The "News & Observer" said records did not contain any mention of the two Purple Hearts that Peterson said he had received.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Peterson and his first wife Patricia lived in Germany for some time. There they befriended Elizabeth and George Ratliff and their two children, Margaret and Martha. After George's death, the Peterson and Ratliff families became very close. When Elizabeth Ratliff died in 1985, Michael became the guardian of her two children. After Michael and Patricia divorced in 1987, Clayton and Todd lived with Patricia, and Margaret and Martha stayed with Michael, who then moved to Durham, North Carolina. Clayton and Todd later also joined their father. In 1989, Michael moved in with Kathleen Atwater, a successful Nortel business executive. They married in 1997, and Kathleen's daughter Caitlin became the fifth sibling in the blended family.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Peterson wrote three novels based "around his experiences during the Vietnamese conflict": "The Immortal Dragon", "A Time of War", and "A Bitter Peace". He co-wrote the biographical "Charlie Two Shoes and the Marines of Love Company" with journalist David Perlmutt, and co-wrote "Operation Broken Reed" with Arthur L. Boyd. Peterson also worked as a newspaper columnist for "The Herald-Sun", where his columns became known for their criticism of police and of Durham County District Attorney James Hardin Jr., who would later prosecute Peterson for the murder of his second wife, Kathleen.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: On December 9, 2001, Peterson called emergency services on 911, to report that he had just found Kathleen Peterson unconscious in their Forest Hills neighborhood home in Durham, North Carolina, and suspected she had fallen down "fifteen to twenty, I don't know" stairs. He later claimed that he had been outside by the pool and had come in at 2:40 am to find Kathleen at the foot of the stairs. Peterson said she must have fallen down the stairs after consuming alcohol and Valium.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Toxicology results showed that Kathleen's blood alcohol content was 0.07 percent (70 mg/100mL), her alcohol in urine was 0.11 and she had taken between 5 and 15 mg of Valium. The autopsy report concluded that the 48-year-old woman sustained a matrix of severe injuries, including a fracture of the superior cornu of the left thyroid cartilage and seven lacerations to the top and back of her head, consistent with blows from a blunt object, and had died from blood loss ninety minutes to two hours after sustaining the injuries. Kathleen's daughter, Caitlin, and Kathleen's sister, Candace Zamperini, both initially proclaimed Michael's innocence and publicly supported him alongside his children, but Zamperini reconsidered after learning of Michael's bisexuality, as did Caitlin after reading her mother's autopsy report. Both subsequently broke off from the rest of the family.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Although forensic expert Henry Lee, hired by Peterson's defense, testified that the blood-spatter evidence was consistent with an accidental fall down the stairs, police investigators concluded that the injuries were inconsistent with such an accident. As Peterson was the only person at the residence at the time of Kathleen's death, he was the prime suspect and was soon charged with her murder. He pleaded not guilty.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: The medical examiner, Deborah Radisch, concluded that Kathleen had died from lacerations of the scalp caused by a homicidal assault. According to Radisch, the total of seven lacerations to the top and back of Kathleen's head were the result of repeated blows with a light, yet rigid, weapon. The defense disputed this theory. According to their analysis, the lacerations were not consistent with blows of any sort, because there was a lack of underlying injury, such as skull fractures or bruising, swelling and hemorrhaging of the brain.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: The trial drew increasing media attention as details of Peterson's private life emerged. Hardin and his prosecution team (among them Mike Nifong) attacked Peterson's credibility, focusing on his alleged misreporting of his military service and what they described as a "gay life" he led and kept secret. The prosecution contended that the Petersons' marriage was far from happy, suggesting that Kathleen had discovered Michael's alleged secret "gay life" and wanted to end their marriage. It was the main motive that the prosecution offered at trial for Kathleen's alleged murder (the other being a $1.5 million life insurance policy). According to Assistant District Attorney Freda Black, Kathleen


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: would have been infuriated by learning that her husband, who she truly loved, was bi-sexual and having an extramarital relationship—not with another woman—but a man, which would have been humiliating and embarrassing to her. We believe that once she learned this information that an argument ensued and a homicide occurred.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: The defense argued that Kathleen accepted Michael's bisexuality and that the marriage was very happy, a position supported by Michael and Kathleen's children and other friends and associates.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: The prosecution said that Kathleen's murder was most likely committed with a custom-made fireplace poker called a blow poke. It had been a gift to the Petersons from Kathleen's sister but was missing from the house at the time of the investigation. Later in the trial the defense team produced the missing blow poke, which they said had been overlooked in the garage by police investigators. Forensic tests revealed that it had been untouched and unmoved for too long to have been used in the murder. A juror contacted after the trial noted that the jury had dismissed the idea of the blow poke as the murder weapon.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Elizabeth Ratliff, a friend of the Petersons who died in Germany in 1985, had also been found dead at the foot of her staircase with injuries to the head. Her death had been investigated by both the German police and U.S. military police. An autopsy at the time of her death concluded Ratliff died from an intra-cerebral haemorrhage secondary to the blood coagulation disorder Von Willebrand's disease, based on blood in her cerebrospinal fluid and reports that she had been suffering severe, persistent headaches in the weeks leading up to her death. The coroner determined that the hemorrhage resulted in immediate death followed by Ratliff falling down the stairs after collapsing. The Petersons had dinner with Ratliff and her daughters, and Peterson had stayed and helped Ratliff put the children to bed before going home. The children's nanny, Barbara, discovered the body when she arrived the next morning. Peterson was the last known person to see her alive.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Before Peterson's trial, the Durham court ordered the exhumation of Ratliff's embalmed body, buried in Texas, for a second autopsy in April 2003. Arrangements were made for the Durham medical examiner, who had initially performed Kathleen's autopsy, to perform this reevaluation, over the objections of defense counsel who argued that the autopsy should be performed by Texas medical examiners. The body was then transported from Texas to Durham. The Durham M.E. found sufficient evidence drawn from the results of the second autopsy, along with new witness statements describing the scene, to overturn the earlier findings and list Ratliff's cause of death as "homicide".


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: The prosecution declined to accuse Peterson of Ratliff's death, but introduced the death into the trial as an incident giving Peterson the idea of how to "fake" Kathleen's accident. Despite police reports that there was very little blood at the scene of Ratliff's death, the nanny, who was the first to discover Ratliff's body in 1985, took the stand at Peterson's trial and testified that there was a large amount of blood at the scene. Another witness testified to spending much of the day cleaning blood stains off the wall. Doubt as to the admissibility of the Ratliff evidence in court was one of the grounds for the subsequent appeal against his conviction, lodged by Peterson's lawyers in 2005.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: In October 2002, acting as administrator of Kathleen's estate, Caitlin filed a wrongful death claim against Peterson. In June 2006, he voluntarily filed for bankruptcy. Two weeks later, Caitlin filed an objection to the bankruptcy. On February 1, 2007, Caitlin and Peterson settled the wrongful death claim for $25 million, pending acceptance by the courts involved; finalization of the settlement by the court was announced on February 1, 2008.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: On October 10, 2003, after one of the longest trials in North Carolina history, a Durham County jury found Peterson guilty of the murder of Kathleen, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Denial of parole requires premeditation. Despite the jury accepting the murder as a "spur-of-the-moment" crime, they also found it was premeditated. As one juror explained it, premeditated meant not only planning hours or days ahead, but could also mean planning in the seconds before committing a spur-of-the-moment crime. Peterson was housed at the Nash Correctional Institution near Rocky Mount until he was released on December 16, 2011.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Peterson's appeal was filed by his defense counsel, with Thomas Maher now serving as his court-appointed attorney, and was argued before the North Carolina Court of Appeals on April 18, 2006. On September 19, the Court of Appeals rejected Peterson's arguments that he did not get a fair trial because of repeated judicial mistakes. The Appeals' ruling said the evidence was fairly admitted. The judges did find defects in a search warrant, but said they had no ill effect on the defense. Because the ruling was not unanimous, under North Carolina law, Peterson had the right to appeal to the North Carolina Supreme Court, which accepted the case. An oral argument was heard on September 10, 2007. On November 9, the Court announced that it affirmed the decision of the appeals. Absent a reconsideration of the ruling or the raising of a federal issue, Peterson had exhausted his appeals of the verdict.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: On November 12, 2008, attorneys J. Burkhardt Beale and Jason Anthony of Richmond, Virginia, who were now representing Peterson, filed a motion for a new trial in Durham County court on three grounds: that the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence about the blow poke, that the prosecution used an expert witness whose qualifications were disputed, and that one juror based his judgment on racial factors. On March 10, 2009, Peterson's motion was denied by the Durham County Superior Court.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: In late 2009, a new theory of Kathleen's death was raised: that she had been attacked by a barred owl outside, fallen after rushing inside, and been knocked unconscious after hitting her head on the first tread of the stairs. The owl theory was raised by Durham attorney T. Lawrence Pollard, a neighbor of the Petersons who was not involved in the case but had been following the public details. He approached the police suggesting an owl might have been responsible after reading the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) evidence list and finding a feather listed. Peterson's attorneys had determined that the SBI crime lab report listed a microscopic owl feather and a wooden sliver from a tree limb entangled in a clump of hair that had been pulled out by the roots found clutched in Kathleen's left hand. A re-examination of the hair in September 2008 had found two more microscopic owl feathers.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: According to Pollard, had a jury been presented with this evidence it would have "materially affected their deliberation and therefore would have materially affected their ultimate verdict". Prosecutors have ridiculed the claim, and Deborah Radisch, who conducted Kathleen's autopsy, says it was unlikely that an owl or any other bird could have made wounds as deep as those on her scalp. However, Radisch's opinion was challenged by other experts in three separate affidavits filed in 2010.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Despite interest in this theory among some outside advocates, no motion for a new trial was filed on this point in 2009. On March 2, 2017 (following his Alford plea), Peterson's attorney filed a motion to allow him to pay for a bird expert at the Smithsonian Institution to examine feather fragments found in Kathleen's hair to determine whether or not she had been attacked by an owl.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: In August 2010, following a series of newspaper articles critical of the SBI, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper led an investigation which resulted in the suspension of SBI analyst Duane Deaver, one of the principal witnesses against Peterson, after the report found his work among the worst done on scores of flawed criminal cases. Pollard subsequently filed affidavits to support a motion that Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson order the state Medical Examiner's Office to turn over all documentation related to Kathleen's autopsy to Peterson's attorneys. However, Judge Hudson barred Pollard from filing further motions on behalf of Peterson because he did not represent him. A new motion was filed in August 2010 by David Rudolf, one of Peterson's original attorneys, who acted "pro bono" in proceedings challenging the SBI testimony.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Deaver was fired from the SBI in January 2011, after an independent audit of the agency found he had falsely represented evidence in 34 cases, including withholding negative results in the case of Greg Taylor, a North Carolina man who spent seventeen years in prison on a murder conviction based on Deaver's testimony. A bloodstain-analysis team that Deaver had trained was suspended and disbanded. In the 2003 Peterson trial, Deaver testified that he had: been mentored by SBI bloodstain specialist David Spittle; worked 500 bloodstain cases; written 200 reports; and testified in 60 cases. During the retrial hearing, SBI Assistant Director Eric Hooks testified that Deaver had written only 47 reports. Spittle testified that he could not recall mentoring Deaver who, since completing a two-day training course in the 1980s, had testified in only four cases, the Peterson case being the third. The SBI cited the bloodstain analysis given in the fourth case as the reason for firing Deaver.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: On December 16, 2011, Peterson was released from the Durham County jail on $300,000 bail and placed under house arrest with a tracking anklet. His release on bond followed a judicial order for a new trial after Judge Hudson found that Deaver had given "materially misleading" and "deliberately false" testimony about bloodstain evidence, and had exaggerated his training, experience, and expertise. Former North Carolina Attorney General Rufus L. Edmisten said that any evidence gathered after Deaver arrived at the scene might be deemed inadmissible in a new trial. In July 2014, Peterson's bond restrictions were eased.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: In October 2014, the court appointed Mike Klinkosum to represent Peterson, replacing David Rudolf, who had been working "pro bono" on the case since Peterson's conviction was overturned. Rudolf had stated that he could no longer afford to represent Peterson without being paid. On November 14, 2016, Peterson's request for the second trial to be dismissed was refused, and a new trial was scheduled to begin on May 8, 2017. However, a news report on February 7, 2017, indicated that a resolution had been negotiated by Rudolf (once again representing Peterson) and the Durham County District Attorney.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: On February 24, 2017, Peterson entered an Alford plea (a guilty plea entered because sufficient evidence exists to convict him of the offense, but the defendant asserts innocence) to the voluntary manslaughter of Kathleen. The judge sentenced him to a maximum of 86 months in prison, with credit for time previously served. Because Peterson had already served more time than the sentence (98.5 months), he did not face additional prison time.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: The court case generated widespread interest, in part because of a televised documentary series variously named "Soupçons" (Suspicions), "Death on the Staircase", and "The Staircase", which detailed Peterson's legal and personal troubles. Eight 45-minute episodes of the documentary were assembled from more than 600 hours of footage. It was directed by French filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and released by Maha Productions in October 2004. The documentary offers an intimate depiction of defense preparations for the trial. It also examines the role and behavior of the press as it covered aspects of the case. The filmmakers started their project within weeks of Kathleen's death and Peterson's murder indictment; jury selection took place in May 2003 with the case itself going to trial in July 2003.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: Following the guilty verdict, de Lestrade interviewed the jurors to find out why they reached their verdict. By and large, the jurors were swayed by the amount of blood Kathleen lost and the number of lacerations, which indicated to them it could not have been an accident. Henry Lee, however, had testified at the trial that the amount of blood was irrelevant, as the blood spatter indicated most of it was spattered as she coughed as the blood ran down her face from the injuries. He also suggested some of the blood could have been diluted with urine. Lee had also duplicated blood spatter from coughing for the jury by drinking ketchup and spitting it out.


title: Michael Peterson trial

text: In November 2012, de Lestrade released a sequel, "The Staircase 2: The Last Chance", which premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. The film documents Peterson's family and his legal team's arguments in seeking a retrial, in which they succeed.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume, by a small margin, but is slightly less massive than Eris. Like other Kuiper belt objects, Pluto is made primarily of ice and rock and is much smaller than the inner planets. Compared to Earth's moon, Pluto has only one sixth its mass and one third its volume.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto has a moderately eccentric and inclined orbit, ranging from from the Sun. Light from the Sun takes 5.5 hours to reach Pluto at its average distance (). Pluto's eccentric orbit periodically brings it closer to the Sun than Neptune, but a stable orbital resonance prevents them from colliding.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto has five known moons: Charon, the largest, whose diameter is just over half that of Pluto; Styx; Nix; Kerberos; and Hydra. Pluto and Charon are sometimes considered a binary system because the barycenter of their orbits does not lie within either body, and they are tidally locked. The "New Horizons" mission was the first spacecraft to visit Pluto and its moons, making a flyby on July 14, 2015 and taking detailed measurements and observations.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto was discovered in 1930, the first object in the Kuiper belt. It was immediately hailed as the ninth planet, but its planetary status was questioned when it was found to be much smaller than expected. These doubts increased following the discovery of additional objects in the Kuiper belt starting in the 1990s, and particularly the more massive scattered disk object Eris in 2005. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) formally redefined the term "planet" to exclude dwarf planets such as Pluto. Many planetary astronomers, however, continue to consider Pluto and other dwarf planets to be planets.


title: Pluto

text: In the 1840s, Urbain Le Verrier used Newtonian mechanics to predict the position of the then-undiscovered planet Neptune after analyzing perturbations in the orbit of Uranus. Subsequent observations of Neptune in the late 19th century led astronomers to speculate that Uranus's orbit was being disturbed by another planet besides Neptune.


title: Pluto

text: In 1906, Percival Lowell—a wealthy Bostonian who had founded Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1894—started an extensive project in search of a possible ninth planet, which he termed "Planet X". By 1909, Lowell and William H. Pickering had suggested several possible celestial coordinates for such a planet. Lowell and his observatory conducted his search until his death in 1916, but to no avail. Unknown to Lowell, his surveys had captured two faint images of Pluto on March 19 and April 7, 1915, but they were not recognized for what they were. There are fourteen other known precovery observations, with the earliest made by the Yerkes Observatory on August 20, 1909.


title: Pluto

text: Percival's widow, Constance Lowell, entered into a ten-year legal battle with the Lowell Observatory over her husband's legacy, and the search for Planet X did not resume until 1929. Vesto Melvin Slipher, the observatory director, gave the job of locating Planet X to 23-year-old Clyde Tombaugh, who had just arrived at the observatory after Slipher had been impressed by a sample of his astronomical drawings.


title: Pluto

text: Tombaugh's task was to systematically image the night sky in pairs of photographs, then examine each pair and determine whether any objects had shifted position. Using a blink comparator, he rapidly shifted back and forth between views of each of the plates to create the illusion of movement of any objects that had changed position or appearance between photographs. On February 18, 1930, after nearly a year of searching, Tombaugh discovered a possible moving object on photographic plates taken on January 23 and 29. A lesser-quality photograph taken on January 21 helped confirm the movement. After the observatory obtained further confirmatory photographs, news of the discovery was telegraphed to the Harvard College Observatory on March 13, 1930.


title: Pluto

text: As one Plutonian year corresponds to 247.94 Earth years, Pluto will complete its first orbit since its discovery in 2178.


title: Pluto

text: The discovery made headlines around the globe. Lowell Observatory, which had the right to name the new object, received more than 1,000 suggestions from all over the world, ranging from Atlas to Zymal. Tombaugh urged Slipher to suggest a name for the new object quickly before someone else did. Constance Lowell proposed "Zeus", then "Percival" and finally "Constance". These suggestions were disregarded.


title: Pluto

text: The name Pluto, after the Greek/Roman god of the underworld, was proposed by Venetia Burney (1918–2009), an eleven-year-old schoolgirl in Oxford, England, who was interested in classical mythology. She suggested it in a conversation with her grandfather Falconer Madan, a former librarian at the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library, who passed the name to astronomy professor Herbert Hall Turner, who cabled it to colleagues in the United States.


title: Pluto

text: Each member of the Lowell Observatory was allowed to vote on a short-list of three potential names: Minerva (which was already the name for an asteroid), Cronus (which had lost reputation through being proposed by the unpopular astronomer Thomas Jefferson Jackson See), and Pluto. Pluto received a unanimous vote. The name was published on May 1, 1930. Upon the announcement, Madan gave Venetia £5 (equivalent to £ in , or US$ in ) as a reward.


title: Pluto

text: The final choice of name was helped in part by the fact that the first two letters of "Pluto" are the initials of Percival Lowell. Pluto's planetary symbol was then created as a monogram of the letters "PL" (in Unicode: ), though it is rarely used in astronomy today. For example, occurs in a table of the planets identified by their symbols in a 2004 article written before the 2006 IAU definition, but not in a graph of planets, dwarf planets and moons from 2016, where only the eight IAU planets are identified by their symbols.


title: Pluto

text: (Planetary symbols in general are uncommon in astronomy, and are discouraged by the IAU.) The ♇ monogram is also used in astrology, but the most-common astrological symbol for Pluto, at least in English-language sources, is an orb over Pluto's bident (). The bident symbol has seen some astronomical use as well since the IAU decision on dwarf planets, for example in a public-education poster on dwarf planets published by the NASA/JPL "Dawn" mission in 2015, in which each of the five dwarf planets announced by the IAU receives a symbol. There are in addition several other symbols for Pluto found in European astrological sources, including three accepted by Unicode: , ; , , used in Uranian astrology; and /, , found in various orientations, showing Pluto's orbit cutting across that of Neptune.


title: Pluto

text: The name 'Pluto' was soon embraced by wider culture. In 1930, Walt Disney was apparently inspired by it when he introduced for Mickey Mouse a canine companion named Pluto, although Disney animator Ben Sharpsteen could not confirm why the name was given. In 1941, Glenn T. Seaborg named the newly created element plutonium after Pluto, in keeping with the tradition of naming elements after newly discovered planets, following uranium, which was named after Uranus, and neptunium, which was named after Neptune.


title: Pluto

text: Most languages use the name "Pluto" in various transliterations. In Japanese, Houei Nojiri suggested the calque , and this was borrowed into Chinese and Korean. Some languages of India use the name Pluto, but others, such as Hindi, use the name of "Yama", the God of Death in Hinduism. Polynesian languages also tend to use the indigenous god of the underworld, as in Māori "Whiro".


title: Pluto

text: Vietnamese might be expected to follow Chinese, but does not because the Sino-Vietnamese word 冥 "minh" "dark" is homophonous with 明 "minh" "bright". Vietnamese instead uses Yama, which is also a Buddhist deity, in the form of "Sao Diêm Vương" 星閻王 "Yama's Star", derived from Chinese 閻王 "Yán Wáng / Yìhm Wòhng" "King Yama".


title: Pluto

text: Once Pluto was found, its faintness and lack of a viewable disc cast doubt on the idea that it was Lowell's Planet X. Estimates of Pluto's mass were revised downward throughout the 20th century.


title: Pluto

text: Astronomers initially calculated its mass based on its presumed effect on Neptune and Uranus. In 1931, Pluto was calculated to be roughly the mass of Earth, with further calculations in 1948 bringing the mass down to roughly that of Mars. In 1976, Dale Cruikshank, Carl Pilcher and David Morrison of the University of Hawaii calculated Pluto's albedo for the first time, finding that it matched that for methane ice; this meant Pluto had to be exceptionally luminous for its size and therefore could not be more than 1 percent the mass of Earth. (Pluto's albedo is times that of Earth.)


title: Pluto

text: In 1978, the discovery of Pluto's moon Charon allowed the measurement of Pluto's mass for the first time: roughly 0.2% that of Earth, and far too small to account for the discrepancies in the orbit of Uranus. Subsequent searches for an alternative Planet X, notably by Robert Sutton Harrington, failed. In 1992, Myles Standish used data from "Voyager 2"'s flyby of Neptune in 1989, which had revised the estimates of Neptune's mass downward by 0.5%—an amount comparable to the mass of Mars—to recalculate its gravitational effect on Uranus. With the new figures added in, the discrepancies, and with them the need for a Planet X, vanished. Today, the majority of scientists agree that Planet X, as Lowell defined it, does not exist. Lowell had made a prediction of Planet X's orbit and position in 1915 that was fairly close to Pluto's actual orbit and its position at that time; Ernest W. Brown concluded soon after Pluto's discovery that this was a coincidence.


title: Pluto

text: From 1992 onward, many bodies were discovered orbiting in the same volume as Pluto, showing that Pluto is part of a population of objects called the Kuiper belt. This made its official status as a planet controversial, with many questioning whether Pluto should be considered together with or separately from its surrounding population. Museum and planetarium directors occasionally created controversy by omitting Pluto from planetary models of the Solar System. In February 2000 the Hayden Planetarium in New York City displayed a Solar System model of only eight planets, which made headlines almost a year later.


title: Pluto

text: Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta lost their planet status after the discovery of many other asteroids. Similarly, objects increasingly closer in size to Pluto were discovered in the Kuiper belt region. On July 29, 2005, astronomers at Caltech announced the discovery of a new trans-Neptunian object, Eris, which was substantially more massive than Pluto and the most massive object discovered in the Solar System since Triton in 1846. Its discoverers and the press initially called it the tenth planet, although there was no official consensus at the time on whether to call it a planet. Others in the astronomical community considered the discovery the strongest argument for reclassifying Pluto as a minor planet.


title: Pluto

text: The debate came to a head in August 2006, with an IAU resolution that created an official definition for the term "planet". According to this resolution, there are three conditions for an object in the Solar System to be considered a planet:


title: Pluto

text: Pluto fails to meet the third condition. Its mass is substantially less than the combined mass of the other objects in its orbit: 0.07 times, in contrast to Earth, which is 1.7 million times the remaining mass in its orbit (excluding the moon). The IAU further decided that bodies that, like Pluto, meet criteria 1 and 2, but do not meet criterion 3 would be called dwarf planets. In September 2006, the IAU included Pluto, and Eris and its moon Dysnomia, in their Minor Planet Catalogue, giving them the official minor-planet designations "(134340) Pluto", "(136199) Eris", and "(136199) Eris I Dysnomia". Had Pluto been included upon its discovery in 1930, it would have likely been designated 1164, following 1163 Saga, which was discovered a month earlier.


title: Pluto

text: There has been some resistance within the astronomical community toward the reclassification. Alan Stern, principal investigator with NASA's "New Horizons" mission to Pluto, derided the IAU resolution, stating that "the definition stinks, for technical reasons". Stern contended that, by the terms of the new definition, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune, all of which share their orbits with asteroids, would be excluded. He argued that all big spherical moons, including the Moon, should likewise be considered planets. He also stated that because less than five percent of astronomers voted for it, the decision was not representative of the entire astronomical community. Marc W. Buie, then at the Lowell Observatory, petitioned against the definition. Others have supported the IAU. Mike Brown, the astronomer who discovered Eris, said "through this whole crazy, circus-like procedure, somehow the right answer was stumbled on. It's been a long time coming. Science is self-correcting eventually, even when strong emotions are involved."


title: Pluto

text: Public reception to the IAU decision was mixed. A resolution introduced in the California State Assembly facetiously called the IAU decision a "scientific heresy". The New Mexico House of Representatives passed a resolution in honor of Tombaugh, a longtime resident of that state, that declared that Pluto will always be considered a planet while in New Mexican skies and that March 13, 2007, was Pluto Planet Day. The Illinois Senate passed a similar resolution in 2009, on the basis that Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto, was born in Illinois. The resolution asserted that Pluto was "unfairly downgraded to a 'dwarf' planet" by the IAU." Some members of the public have also rejected the change, citing the disagreement within the scientific community on the issue, or for sentimental reasons, maintaining that they have always known Pluto as a planet and will continue to do so regardless of the IAU decision.


title: Pluto

text: In 2006, in its 17th annual words-of-the-year vote, the American Dialect Society voted "plutoed" as the word of the year. To "pluto" is to "demote or devalue someone or something".


title: Pluto

text: Researchers on both sides of the debate gathered in August 2008, at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for a conference that included back-to-back talks on the current IAU definition of a planet. Entitled "The Great Planet Debate", the conference published a post-conference press release indicating that scientists could not come to a consensus about the definition of planet. In June 2008, the IAU had announced in a press release that the term "plutoid" would henceforth be used to refer to Pluto and other planetary-mass objects that have an orbital semi-major axis greater than that of Neptune, though the term has not seen significant use.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto's orbital period is currently about 248 years. Its orbital characteristics are substantially different from those of the planets, which follow nearly circular orbits around the Sun close to a flat reference plane called the ecliptic. In contrast, Pluto's orbit is moderately inclined relative to the ecliptic (over 17°) and moderately eccentric (elliptical). This eccentricity means a small region of Pluto's orbit lies closer to the Sun than Neptune's. The Pluto–Charon barycenter came to perihelion on September 5, 1989, and was last closer to the Sun than Neptune between February 7, 1979, and February 11, 1999.


title: Pluto

text: Although the 3:2 resonance with Neptune (see below) is maintained, Pluto's inclination and eccentricity behave in a chaotic manner. Computer simulations can be used to predict its position for several million years (both forward and backward in time), but after intervals much longer than the Lyapunov time of 10–20 million years, calculations become unreliable: Pluto is sensitive to immeasurably small details of the Solar System, hard-to-predict factors that will gradually change Pluto's position in its orbit.


title: Pluto

text: The semi-major axis of Pluto's orbit varies between about 39.3 and 39.6 au with a period of about 19,951 years, corresponding to an orbital period varying between 246 and 249 years. The semi-major axis and period are presently getting longer.


title: Pluto

text: Despite Pluto's orbit appearing to cross that of Neptune when viewed from directly above, the two objects' orbits do not intersect. When Pluto is closest to the Sun, and close to Neptune's orbit as viewed from above, it is also the farthest above Neptune's path. Pluto's orbit passes about 8 AU above that of Neptune, preventing a collision.


title: Pluto

text: This alone is not enough to protect Pluto; perturbations from the planets (especially Neptune) could alter Pluto's orbit (such as its orbital precession) over millions of years so that a collision could be possible. However, Pluto is also protected by its 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune: for every two orbits that Pluto makes around the Sun, Neptune makes three. Each cycle lasts about 495 years. (There are many other objects in this same resonance, called plutinos.) This pattern is such that, in each 495-year cycle, the first time Pluto is near perihelion, Neptune is over 50° behind Pluto. By Pluto's second perihelion, Neptune will have completed a further one and a half of its own orbits, and so will be nearly 130° ahead of Pluto. Pluto and Neptune's minimum separation is over 17 AU, which is greater than Pluto's minimum separation from Uranus (11 AU). The minimum separation between Pluto and Neptune actually occurs near the time of Pluto's aphelion.


title: Pluto

text: The 2:3 resonance between the two bodies is highly stable and has been preserved over millions of years. This prevents their orbits from changing relative to one another, and so the two bodies can never pass near each other. Even if Pluto's orbit were not inclined, the two bodies could never collide. The long term stability of the mean-motion resonance is due to phase protection. When Pluto's period is slightly shorter than 3/2 of Neptune, its orbit relative to Neptune will drift, causing it to make closer approaches behind Neptune's orbit. The gravitational pull between the two then causes angular momentum to be transferred to Pluto, at Neptune's expense. This moves Pluto into a slightly larger orbit, where it travels slightly more slowly, according to Kepler's third law. After many such repetitions, Pluto is sufficiently slowed that Pluto's orbit relative to Neptune drifts in the opposite direction until the process is reversed. The whole process takes about 20,000 years to complete.


title: Pluto

text: Numerical studies have shown that over millions of years, the general nature of the alignment between the orbits of Pluto and Neptune does not change. There are several other resonances and interactions that enhance Pluto's stability. These arise principally from two additional mechanisms (besides the 2:3 mean-motion resonance).


title: Pluto

text: First, Pluto's argument of perihelion, the angle between the point where it crosses the ecliptic and the point where it is closest to the Sun, librates around 90°. This means that when Pluto is closest to the Sun, it is at its farthest above the plane of the Solar System, preventing encounters with Neptune. This is a consequence of the Kozai mechanism, which relates the eccentricity of an orbit to its inclination to a larger perturbing body—in this case, Neptune. Relative to Neptune, the amplitude of libration is 38°, and so the angular separation of Pluto's perihelion to the orbit of Neptune is always greater than 52° . The closest such angular separation occurs every 10,000 years.


title: Pluto

text: Second, the longitudes of ascending nodes of the two bodies—the points where they cross the ecliptic—are in near-resonance with the above libration. When the two longitudes are the same—that is, when one could draw a straight line through both nodes and the Sun—Pluto's perihelion lies exactly at 90°, and hence it comes closest to the Sun when it is highest above Neptune's orbit. This is known as the "1:1 superresonance". All the Jovian planets, particularly Jupiter, play a role in the creation of the superresonance.


title: Pluto

text: In 2012, it was hypothesized that 15810 Arawn could be a quasi-satellite of Pluto, a specific type of co-orbital configuration. According to the hypothesis, the object would be a quasi-satellite of Pluto for about 350,000 years out of every two-million-year period. Measurements made by the "New Horizons" spacecraft in 2015 made it possible to calculate the orbit of Arawn more accurately. These calculations confirm the overall dynamics described in the hypothesis. However, it is not agreed upon among astronomers whether Arawn should be classified as a quasi-satellite of Pluto based on this motion, since its orbit is primarily controlled by Neptune with only occasional smaller perturbations caused by Pluto.


title: Pluto

text: Pluto's rotation period, its day, is equal to 6.387 Earth days. Like Uranus, Pluto rotates on its "side" in its orbital plane, with an axial tilt of 120°, and so its seasonal variation is extreme; at its solstices, one-fourth of its surface is in continuous daylight, whereas another fourth is in continuous darkness. The reason for this unusual orientation has been debated. Research from the University of Arizona has suggested that it may be due to the way that a body's spin will always adjust to minimise energy. This could mean a body reorienting itself to put extraneous mass near the equator and regions lacking mass tend towards the poles. This is called "polar wander". According to a paper released from the University of Arizona, this could be caused by masses of frozen nitrogen building up in shadowed areas of the dwarf planet. These masses would cause the body to reorient itself, leading to its unusual axial tilt of 120°. The buildup of nitrogen is due to Pluto's vast distance from the Sun. At the equator, temperatures can drop to , causing nitrogen to freeze as water would freeze on Earth. The same effect seen on Pluto would be observed on Earth were the Antarctic ice sheet is several times larger.


title: Pluto

text: The plains on Pluto's surface are composed of more than 98 percent nitrogen ice, with traces of methane and carbon monoxide. Nitrogen and carbon monoxide are most abundant on the anti-Charon face of Pluto (around 180° longitude, where Tombaugh Regio's western lobe, Sputnik Planitia, is located), whereas methane is most abundant near 300° east. The mountains are made of water ice. Pluto's surface is quite varied, with large differences in both brightness and color. Pluto is one of the most contrastive bodies in the Solar System, with as much contrast as Saturn's moon Iapetus. The color varies from charcoal black, to dark orange and white. Pluto's color is more similar to that of Io with slightly more orange and significantly less red than Mars. Notable geographical features include Tombaugh Regio, or the "Heart" (a large bright area on the side opposite Charon), Cthulhu Macula, or the "Whale" (a large dark area on the trailing hemisphere), and the "Brass Knuckles" (a series of equatorial dark areas on the leading hemisphere).


title: Pluto

text: Sputnik Planitia, the western lobe of the "Heart", is a 1,000 km-wide basin of frozen nitrogen and carbon monoxide ices, divided into polygonal cells, which are interpreted as convection cells that carry floating blocks of water ice crust and sublimation pits towards their margins; there are obvious signs of glacial flows both into and out of the basin. It has no craters that were visible to "New Horizons", indicating that its surface is less than 10 million years old. Latest studies have shown that the surface has an age of years.


title: Pluto

text: The New Horizons science team summarized initial findings as "Pluto displays a surprisingly wide variety of geological landforms, including those resulting from glaciological and surface–atmosphere interactions as well as impact, tectonic, possible cryovolcanic, and mass-wasting processes."


title: Pluto

text: Pluto's density is . Because the decay of radioactive elements would eventually heat the ices enough for the rock to separate from them, scientists expect that Pluto's internal structure is differentiated, with the rocky material having settled into a dense core surrounded by a mantle of water ice. The pre–"New Horizons" estimate for the diameter of the core is , 70% of Pluto's diameter. Pluto has no magnetic field.


title: Pluto

text: It is possible that such heating continues today, creating a subsurface ocean of liquid water thick at the core–mantle boundary. In September 2016, scientists at Brown University simulated the impact thought to have formed Sputnik Planitia, and showed that it might have been the result of liquid water upwelling from below after the collision, implying the existence of a subsurface ocean at least 100 km deep. In June 2020, astronomers reported evidence that Pluto may have had a subsurface ocean, and consequently may have been habitable, when it was first formed. In March 2022, they concluded that peaks on Pluto are actually a merger of "ice volcanoes", suggesting a source of heat on the body at levels previously thought not possible.