title: Maxwell's equations

text: In a region with no charges () and no currents (), such as in a vacuum, Maxwell's equations reduce to:


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Already during Maxwell's lifetime, it was found that the known values for formula_19 and formula_20 give formula_21, then already known to be the speed of light in free space. This led him to propose that light and radio waves were propagating electromagnetic waves, since amply confirmed. In the old SI system of units, the values of formula_22 and formula_23 are defined constants, (which means that by definition formula_24) that define the ampere and the metre. In the new SI system, only "c" keeps its defined value, and the electron charge gets a defined value.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: In materials with relative permittivity, , and relative permeability, , the phase velocity of light becomes


title: Maxwell's equations

text: In addition, and are perpendicular to each other and to the direction of wave propagation, and are in phase with each other. A sinusoidal plane wave is one special solution of these equations. Maxwell's equations explain how these waves can physically propagate through space. The changing magnetic field creates a changing electric field through Faraday's law. In turn, that electric field creates a changing magnetic field through Maxwell's addition to Ampère's law. This perpetual cycle allows these waves, now known as electromagnetic radiation, to move through space at velocity .


title: Maxwell's equations

text: The above equations are the microscopic version of Maxwell's equations, expressing the electric and the magnetic fields in terms of the (possibly atomic-level) charges and currents present. This is sometimes called the "general" form, but the macroscopic version below is equally general, the difference being one of bookkeeping.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: The microscopic version is sometimes called "Maxwell's equations in a vacuum": this refers to the fact that the material medium is not built into the structure of the equations, but appears only in the charge and current terms. The microscopic version was introduced by Lorentz, who tried to use it to derive the macroscopic properties of bulk matter from its microscopic constituents.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: "Maxwell's macroscopic equations", also known as Maxwell's equations in matter, are more similar to those that Maxwell introduced himself.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: In the macroscopic equations, the influence of bound charge and bound current is incorporated into the displacement field and the magnetizing field , while the equations depend only on the free charges and free currents . This reflects a splitting of the total electric charge "Q" and current "I" (and their densities and J) into free and bound parts:


title: Maxwell's equations

text: The cost of this splitting is that the additional fields and need to be determined through phenomenological constituent equations relating these fields to the electric field and the magnetic field , together with the bound charge and current.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: See below for a detailed description of the differences between the microscopic equations, dealing with "total" charge and current including material contributions, useful in air/vacuum;


title: Maxwell's equations

text: and the macroscopic equations, dealing with "free" charge and current, practical to use within materials.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: When an electric field is applied to a dielectric material its molecules respond by forming microscopic electric dipoles – their atomic nuclei move a tiny distance in the direction of the field, while their electrons move a tiny distance in the opposite direction. This produces a "macroscopic" "bound charge" in the material even though all of the charges involved are bound to individual molecules. For example, if every molecule responds the same, similar to that shown in the figure, these tiny movements of charge combine to produce a layer of positive bound charge on one side of the material and a layer of negative charge on the other side. The bound charge is most conveniently described in terms of the polarization of the material, its dipole moment per unit volume. If is uniform, a macroscopic separation of charge is produced only at the surfaces where enters and leaves the material. For non-uniform , a charge is also produced in the bulk.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Somewhat similarly, in all materials the constituent atoms exhibit magnetic moments that are intrinsically linked to the angular momentum of the components of the atoms, most notably their electrons. The connection to angular momentum suggests the picture of an assembly of microscopic current loops. Outside the material, an assembly of such microscopic current loops is not different from a macroscopic current circulating around the material's surface, despite the fact that no individual charge is traveling a large distance. These "bound currents" can be described using the magnetization .


title: Maxwell's equations

text: The very complicated and granular bound charges and bound currents, therefore, can be represented on the macroscopic scale in terms of and , which average these charges and currents on a sufficiently large scale so as not to see the granularity of individual atoms, but also sufficiently small that they vary with location in the material. As such, "Maxwell's macroscopic equations" ignore many details on a fine scale that can be unimportant to understanding matters on a gross scale by calculating fields that are averaged over some suitable volume.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: where is the polarization field and is the magnetization field, which are defined in terms of microscopic bound charges and bound currents respectively. The macroscopic bound charge density and bound current density in terms of polarization and magnetization are then defined as


title: Maxwell's equations

text: and use the defining relations above to eliminate , and , the "macroscopic" Maxwell's equations reproduce the "microscopic" equations.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: In order to apply 'Maxwell's macroscopic equations', it is necessary to specify the relations between displacement field and the electric field , as well as the magnetizing field and the magnetic field . Equivalently, we have to specify the dependence of the polarization (hence the bound charge) and the magnetization (hence the bound current) on the applied electric and magnetic field. The equations specifying this response are called constitutive relations. For real-world materials, the constitutive relations are rarely simple, except approximately, and usually determined by experiment. See the main article on constitutive relations for a fuller description.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: where is the permittivity of free space and the permeability of free space. Since there is no bound charge, the total and the free charge and current are equal.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: An alternative viewpoint on the microscopic equations is that they are the macroscopic equations "together" with the statement that vacuum behaves like a perfect linear "material" without additional polarization and magnetization.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: where is the permittivity and the permeability of the material. For the displacement field the linear approximation is usually excellent because for all but the most extreme electric fields or temperatures obtainable in the laboratory (high power pulsed lasers) the interatomic electric fields of materials of the order of 10 V/m are much higher than the external field. For the magnetizing field formula_32, however, the linear approximation can break down in common materials like iron leading to phenomena like hysteresis. Even the linear case can have various complications, however.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Even more generally, in the case of non-linear materials (see for example nonlinear optics), and are not necessarily proportional to , similarly or is not necessarily proportional to . In general and depend on both and , on location and time, and possibly other physical quantities.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: In applications one also has to describe how the free currents and charge density behave in terms of and possibly coupled to other physical quantities like pressure, and the mass, number density, and velocity of charge-carrying particles. E.g., the original equations given by Maxwell (see History of Maxwell's equations) included Ohm's law in the form


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Following is a summary of some of the numerous other mathematical formalisms to write the microscopic Maxwell's equations, with the columns separating the two homogeneous Maxwell equations from the two inhomogeneous ones involving charge and current. Each formulation has versions directly in terms of the electric and magnetic fields, and indirectly in terms of the electrical potential and the vector potential . Potentials were introduced as a convenient way to solve the homogeneous equations, but it was thought that all observable physics was contained in the electric and magnetic fields (or relativistically, the Faraday tensor). The potentials play a central role in quantum mechanics, however, and act quantum mechanically with observable consequences even when the electric and magnetic fields vanish (Aharonov–Bohm effect).


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Each table describes one formalism. See the main article for details of each formulation. SI units are used throughout.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: The Maxwell equations can also be formulated on a spacetime-like Minkowski space where space and time are treated on equal footing. The direct spacetime formulations make manifest that the Maxwell equations are relativistically invariant. Because of this symmetry, the electric and magnetic fields are treated on equal footing and are recognised as components of the Faraday tensor. This reduces the four Maxwell equations to two, which simplifies the equations, although we can no longer use the familiar vector formulation. In fact the Maxwell equations in the space + time formulation are not Galileo invariant and have Lorentz invariance as a hidden symmetry. This was a major source of inspiration for the development of relativity theory. Indeed, even the formulation that treats space and time separately is not a non-relativistic approximation and describes the same physics by simply renaming variables. For this reason the relativistic invariant equations are usually called the Maxwell equations as well.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Other formalisms include the geometric algebra formulation and a matrix representation of Maxwell's equations. Historically, a quaternionic formulation was used.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Maxwell's equations are partial differential equations that relate the electric and magnetic fields to each other and to the electric charges and currents. Often, the charges and currents are themselves dependent on the electric and magnetic fields via the Lorentz force equation and the constitutive relations. These all form a set of coupled partial differential equations which are often very difficult to solve: the solutions encompass all the diverse phenomena of classical electromagnetism. Some general remarks follow.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: As for any differential equation, boundary conditions and initial conditions are necessary for a unique solution. For example, even with no charges and no currents anywhere in spacetime, there are the obvious solutions for which E and B are zero or constant, but there are also non-trivial solutions corresponding to electromagnetic waves. In some cases, Maxwell's equations are solved over the whole of space, and boundary conditions are given as asymptotic limits at infinity. In other cases, Maxwell's equations are solved in a finite region of space, with appropriate conditions on the boundary of that region, for example an artificial absorbing boundary representing the rest of the universe, or periodic boundary conditions, or walls that isolate a small region from the outside world (as with a waveguide or cavity resonator).


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Jefimenko's equations (or the closely related Liénard–Wiechert potentials) are the explicit solution to Maxwell's equations for the electric and magnetic fields created by any given distribution of charges and currents. It assumes specific initial conditions to obtain the so-called "retarded solution", where the only fields present are the ones created by the charges. However, Jefimenko's equations are unhelpful in situations when the charges and currents are themselves affected by the fields they create.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Numerical methods for differential equations can be used to compute approximate solutions of Maxwell's equations when exact solutions are impossible. These include the finite element method and finite-difference time-domain method. For more details, see Computational electromagnetics.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Maxwell's equations "seem" overdetermined, in that they involve six unknowns (the three components of and ) but eight equations (one for each of the two Gauss's laws, three vector components each for Faraday's and Ampere's laws). (The currents and charges are not unknowns, being freely specifiable subject to charge conservation.) This is related to a certain limited kind of redundancy in Maxwell's equations: It can be proven that any system satisfying Faraday's law and Ampere's law "automatically" also satisfies the two Gauss's laws, as long as the system's initial condition does, and assuming conservation of charge and the nonexistence of magnetic monopoles.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Although it is possible to simply ignore the two Gauss's laws in a numerical algorithm (apart from the initial conditions), the imperfect precision of the calculations can lead to ever-increasing violations of those laws. By introducing dummy variables characterizing these violations, the four equations become not overdetermined after all. The resulting formulation can lead to more accurate algorithms that take all four laws into account.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Both identities formula_38, which reduce eight equations to six independent ones, are the true reason of overdetermination.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Equivalently, the overdetermination can be viewed as implying conservation of electric and magnetic charge, as they are required in the derivation described above but implied by the two Gauss's laws.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: For linear algebraic equations, one can make 'nice' rules to rewrite the equations and unknowns. The equations can be linearly dependent. But in differential equations, and especially PDEs, one needs appropriate boundary conditions, which depend in not so obvious ways on the equations. Even more, if one rewrites them in terms of vector and scalar potential, then the equations are underdetermined because of gauge fixing.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Maxwell's equations and the Lorentz force law (along with the rest of classical electromagnetism) are extraordinarily successful at explaining and predicting a variety of phenomena. However they do not account for quantum effects and so their domain of applicability is limited. Maxwell's equations are thought of as the classical limit of quantum electrodynamics (QED).


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Some observed electromagnetic phenomena are incompatible with Maxwell's equations. These include photon–photon scattering and many other phenomena related to photons or virtual photons, "nonclassical light" and quantum entanglement of electromagnetic fields (see "Quantum optics"). E.g. quantum cryptography cannot be described by Maxwell theory, not even approximately. The approximate nature of Maxwell's equations becomes more and more apparent when going into the extremely strong field regime (see "Euler–Heisenberg Lagrangian") or to extremely small distances.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Finally, Maxwell's equations cannot explain any phenomenon involving individual photons interacting with quantum matter, such as the photoelectric effect, Planck's law, the Duane–Hunt law, and single-photon light detectors. However, many such phenomena may be approximated using a halfway theory of quantum matter coupled to a classical electromagnetic field, either as external field or with the expected value of the charge current and density on the right hand side of Maxwell's equations.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Popular variations on the Maxwell equations as a classical theory of electromagnetic fields are relatively scarce because the standard equations have stood the test of time remarkably well.


title: Maxwell's equations

text: Maxwell's equations posit that there is electric charge, but no magnetic charge (also called magnetic monopoles), in the universe. Indeed, magnetic charge has never been observed, despite extensive searches, and may not exist. If they did exist, both Gauss's law for magnetism and Faraday's law would need to be modified, and the resulting four equations would be fully symmetric under the interchange of electric and magnetic fields.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, that originated in the city's South Side in the early 1910s. It is part of the larger Italian-American Mafia.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: The Outfit rose to power in the 1920s under the control of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone and the period was marked by bloody gang wars for control of the distribution of illegal alcohol during Prohibition. Since then, the Outfit has been involved in a wide range of criminal activities, including loansharking, illegal gambling, prostitution, extortion, political corruption and murder. Capone was convicted of income tax evasion in 1931 and the Outfit was next run by Paul Ricca. He shared power with Tony Accardo from 1943 until his death in 1972; Accardo became the sole power in the Outfit upon Ricca's death and was one of the longest sitting bosses of all time upon his death in 1992.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Though it has never had a complete monopoly on organized crime in Chicago, the Outfit has long been the most powerful, violent and largest criminal organization in Chicago and the Midwest in general. Unlike other mafia factions such as the Five Families of New York City, the Outfit has been a unified faction since its conception. Its influence at its peak stretched as far as California, Florida and Nevada and it continues to operate throughout the Midwestern United States and Southern Florida, as well as Las Vegas and other parts of the Southwestern United States. Heightened law enforcement attention and general attrition have led to its gradual decline since the late 20th century, though it continues to be one of the major and most active organized crime groups in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Midwestern region.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: The early years of organized crime in Chicago, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were marked by the division of various street gangs controlling the South Side and North Side, as well as the Black Hand organizations of Little Italy. In later years, the Outfit consisted of various street crews controlling different territories around Chicago including Elmwood Park, Melrose Park, Chicago Heights, Rush Street, Grand Avenue and Chinatown.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Big Jim Colosimo centralized control in the early 20th century. Colosimo was born in Calabria, Italy, in 1878, immigrated to Chicago in 1895, where he established himself as a criminal. By 1909, with the help of bringing Johnny Torrio from New York to Chicago, he was successful enough that he was encroaching on the criminal activity of the Black Hand organization. Colosimo, also “cultivated deep political connections<nowiki>"</nowiki> after “serving as a precinct captain in the organization of First Ward Alderman Couglin and Kenna, and later [became] the bagman (collector of illegal profits and dispenser of bribes) in the vice-laden Levee District, which afforded him with blanket political protection”.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: In 1919, Capone also left New York for Chicago at the invitation of Torrio. Capone began in Chicago as a bouncer in a brothel, where he contracted syphilis. Timely use of Salvarsan probably could have cured the infection, but he apparently never sought treatment.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: When Prohibition went into effect in 1920, Torrio pushed for the gang to enter into bootlegging, but Colosimo stubbornly refused. In March 1920, Colosimo secured an uncontested divorce from his wife, and Torrio's cousin, Victoria Moresco. A month later, he and singer Dale Winter eloped to West Baden Springs, Indiana. Upon their return, he bought a home on the South Side. On May 11, 1920, Torrio called and told Colosimo that a shipment was about to arrive at his restaurant. Colosimo drove there to await it, but instead, he was ambushed and shot to death.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: With the start of Prohibition in the United States, new Outfit boss Torrio and his underboss Al Capone saw an opportunity for the Outfit in Chicago to make money and to further expand their criminal empire by racketeering small businesses. With Capone taking the role of an actual businessman and partner of the owner, the Outfit had a legitimate way to source their money, which prevented incrimination and unnecessary attention from law enforcement.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Torrio headed an essentially Italian organized crime group that was the biggest in the city, with Capone as his right-hand man. He was wary of being drawn into gang wars and tried to negotiate agreements over territory between rival crime groups. The smaller North Side Gang led by Dean O'Banion (also known as Dion O'Banion) was of mixed ethnicity, and it came under pressure from the Genna brothers who were allied with Torrio. O'Banion found that Torrio was unhelpful with the encroachment of the Gennas into the North Side, despite his pretensions to be a settler of disputes. The "Terrible" Genna brothers, as they were known, consisted of Peter, James, Angelo, Tony, Sam and Mike "The Devil" Genna. They were known for their ruthlessness and intemperate disposition. In a fateful step, Torrio either arranged for or acquiesced to the murder of O'Banion at his flower shop on November 10, 1924. This placed Hymie Weiss at the head of the gang, backed by Vincent Drucci and Bugs Moran. Weiss had been a close friend of O'Banion and the North Siders made it a priority to get revenge on his killers.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: At the end of 1924, the Torrio-Capone gang had between 300-400 members, while the North Side gang could count on around 200 soldiers.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: In January 1925, Capone was ambushed, leaving him shaken but unhurt. Twelve days later, on January 24, Torrio was returning from a shopping trip with his wife Anna, when he was shot several times. After recovering, he effectively resigned and handed control to Capone, age 26, who became the new boss of an organization that took in illegal breweries and a transportation network that reached to Canada, with political and law-enforcement protection. Torrio greatly influenced modern organized crime, he retired to New York and acted as an advisor to the New York Mafia in helping form the "Commission". In turn, Capone was able to use more violence to increase revenue. An establishment that refused to purchase liquor from him often got blown up and as many as 100 people were killed in such bombings during the 1920s. 1925-1926 were the most violent years of Chicago's "Beer Wars" in which 133 gangsters were murdered. Rivals saw Capone as responsible for the proliferation of brothels in the city.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Capone was widely assumed to have been responsible for ordering the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre in an attempt to eliminate Bugs Moran, head of the North Side Gang. On that fateful and cold February morning, 4 Capone henchmen (two dressed as Chicago policemen) entered the S.M.C Cartage Company garage located at 2122 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL to find 7 men, which included 5 of Moran's soldiers, an auto mechanic and a friend of the gangsters, awaiting a shipment of highjacked booze. All 7 men were lined up against the wall in a mock police raid and shot to death. Moran escaped his fate narrowly by accidentally arriving late to the meeting. Moran was the last survivor of the North Side gunmen; his succession had come about because his similarly aggressive predecessors Vincent Drucci and Hymie Weiss had been killed in the violence that followed the murder of original leader Dean O'Banion.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Capone was convicted on three counts of income tax evasion on October 17, 1931 and was sentenced a week later to 11 years in federal prison, fined $50,000 plus $7,692 for court costs, and was held liable for $215,000 plus interest due on his back taxes. Capone later died of heart failure as a result of apoplexy on January 25, 1947.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: In 1931, Nitti was also convicted of tax evasion and sent to prison; however, Nitti received an 18-month sentence. When Nitti was released on March 25, 1932, he took his place as the new boss of the Capone Gang. Some revisionist historians claim that Nitti was a mere "front boss" while Paul "The Waiter" Ricca was the actual boss of the Chicago Outfit.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Over the next decade, The Outfit moved into labor racketeering, gambling, and loan sharking. Geographically, this was the period when Outfit muscle extended to Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin, Kansas City, and especially to Hollywood and other California cities, where The Outfit's extortion of labor unions gave it leverage over the motion picture industry.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: In the early 1940s, a handful of top Outfit leaders went to prison because they were found to be extorting Hollywood by controlling the unions that compose Hollywood's movie industry, and manipulating and misusing the Teamsters Central States Pension fund.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: In 1943, the Outfit was caught red-handed shaking down the Hollywood movie industry. Ricca wanted Nitti to take the fall. However, Nitti had found that he was claustrophobic, years earlier while in jail for 18 months (for tax evasion), and he decided to end his life rather than face more imprisonment for extorting Hollywood. Ricca then became the boss in name as well as in fact, with enforcement chief Tony Accardo as underboss—the start of a partnership that lasted for almost 30 years. Around this time, the Outfit began bringing in members of the Forty-Two Gang, a notoriously violent youth gang. Among them were Sam "Momo" Giancana, Sam "Mad Sam" DeStefano, Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio, and Fiore "Fifi" Buccieri.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Ricca was sent to prison later in 1943 for his part in The Outfit plot to control Hollywood. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, along with a number of other mobsters. Through the "magic" of political connections, the whole group of Outfit mobsters was released after three years, largely due to the efforts of Outfit "fixer" Murray "The Camel" Humphreys. Ricca could not associate with mobsters as a condition of his parole. Accardo nominally took power as boss, but actually shared power with Ricca, who continued behind the scenes as a senior consultant—one of the few instances of shared power in organized crime.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Accardo joined Ricca in semi-retirement in 1957 due to some "heat" that he was getting from the IRS. From then on, Ricca and Accardo allowed several others to nominally serve as boss, such as Giancana, Alderisio, Joey Aiuppa, William "Willie Potatoes" Daddano, and Jackie "the Lackey" Cerone. Most of the front bosses originated from the Forty-Two Gang. However, no major business transactions took place without Ricca and Accardo's knowledge and approval, and certainly no "hits". By staying behind the scenes, Ricca and Accardo lasted far longer than Capone. Ricca died in 1972, leaving Accardo as the sole power behind the scenes.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: During the 1960 presidential election, many claim that the Mafia, and in particular, the Chicago Outfit, boosted candidate and president John F. Kennedy. The strategy for boosting votes for Kennedy essentially ran through the mafia-controlled unions, physically threatening those who did not vote for Kennedy. It was even said that Joseph Kennedy held a meeting with mob boss Sam Giancana before the election. Supposedly the Kennedys and the Mafia agreed that if John were elected president, he would lighten the pursuit of authorities on the mob group. However, after the election, President Kennedy turned on Giancana. Theories say this is what led to his and Robert Kennedy’s assassination. Further, many believe the Outfit was involved in a Central Intelligence Agency–Mafia collusion during Castro's overthrow of the Cuban government. In exchange for its help, the Outfit was to be given access to its former casinos if it helped overthrow Fidel Castro in Operation Mongoose or Operation Family Jewels. The Outfit failed in that endeavor and faced increasing indictments under the administration of President John F. Kennedy (JFK).


title: Chicago Outfit

text: The Outfit reached the height of its power in the early 1960s. Accardo used the Teamsters pension fund, with the aid of Meyer Lansky, Sidney Korshak, and Jimmy Hoffa, to engage in massive money laundering through the Outfit's casinos. The 1970s and 1980s were a hard time for the Outfit, as law enforcement continued to penetrate the organization, spurred by poll-watching politicians. Off-track betting reduced bookmaking profits, and illicit casinos withered under competition from legitimate casinos. Activities such as auto theft and professional sports betting did not replace the lost profits.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: The Outfit controlled casinos in Las Vegas and "skimmed" millions of dollars over the course of several decades. Most recently, top mob figures have been found guilty of crimes dating back to as early as the mid-1960s. It has been rumored that the $2 million skimmed from the casinos in the Court case of 1986 was used to build the Old Neighborhood Italian American Club, the founder of which was Angelo J. "The Hook" LaPietra.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Allen Dorfman, a key figure in the Outfit's money embezzlement operations, was investigated by the Department of Justice. In 1982, the FBI wire-tapped Dorfman's personal and company phone lines and was able to gather the evidence needed to convict Dorfman and several of his associates on attempts to bribe a state senator to get rid of the trucking industry rates. If Dorfman succeeded, the Outfit would have seen a huge gain of profit. This was known as Operation Pendorf and was a huge blow to the Chicago crime syndicate.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Operation GAMBAT (GAMBling ATtorney) proved to be a crippling blow to the Outfit's tight grip on the Chicago political machine. Pat Marcy, a made man in the Outfit, ran the city's First Ward, which represented most of downtown Chicago. Marcy and company controlled the circuit courts from the 1950s until the late 1980s with the help of Alderman Fred Roti and Democratic Committeeman John D'Arco Sr. Together, the First Ward fixed cases involving everything from minor traffic violations to murder.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Attorney and First Ward associate Robert Cooley was one of the lawyers who represented many mafiosi and associates in which cases were fixed. As a trusted man within the First Ward, Cooley was asked to "take out" a city police officer. Cooley was also an addicted gambler and in debt, so he approached the U.S. Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force, declaring that he wanted to "destroy Marcy and the First Ward".


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Cooley was soon in touch with the FBI and began cooperating as a federal informant. Through the years, he maintained close ties to Marcy and the big shots of the First Ward. He wore an electronic surveillance device, recording valuable conversations at the notorious "First Ward Table", located at "Counselor's Row" across the street from Chicago City Hall. The results in Operation Gambat (Gambling Attorney) were convictions of 24 corrupt judges, lawyers, and cops.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Accardo died in 1992. In a measure of how successfully he had managed to stay out of the limelight, he never spent a day in jail (or only spent one day, depending on the source) despite an arrest record dating to 1922. Chicago's transition from Accardo to the next generation of Outfit bosses has been more of an administrative change than a power struggle, distinct from the way that organized crime leadership transitions take place in New York City.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Higher law enforcement investigations and general attrition led to the Outfit's gradual decline since the late 20th century. The Old Neighborhood Italian American Club is considered to be the hangout of Old Timers as they live out their golden years. The club's founder was Angelo J. LaPietra "The Hook", who was the main Council at the time of his death in 1999.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: On April 25, 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice launched Operation Family Secrets, which indicted 14 Outfit members and associates under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), including Joseph Lombardo, Nicholas Calabrese, Frank Calabrese Sr. and James Marcello. U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel presided over the Family Secrets trial. The federal prosecutors were Mitchell A. Mars, T. Markus Funk, and John Scully. Nicholas Calabrese, facing a life sentence, became the first "made" member of the Chicago Outfit to become a witness for the federal government.Calabrese gave information on 14 murders he was personally involved with and knowledge of 22 killings during the past 30 years.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: As of 2007, the Outfit's size is estimated to be 28 official members (composing its core group) and more than 100 associates.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: From 1996 to 2018, the Chicago Outfit was believed to be led by John DiFronzo. As of 2021, the Chicago Outfit is believed to be led by Salvatore "Solly D" DeLaurentis.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: The street boss is a high-ranking member appointed to run the outfit's daily activities for the boss. The position was created to protect the boss from federal investigations.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: The Outfit is notable for having had other ethnic groups besides Italians as high-ranking associates since the family's earliest days. A prime example of this was Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik, who was the top "bagman" and "accountant" for decades until his death. He was a Polish Jew. Others were Murray Humphreys, who was of Welsh descent, and Ken Eto (aka Tokyo Joe), who was Japanese-American.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: Another well-known associate of the Outfit is Jewish New York City mobster Benjamin Siegel. Siegel was a childhood friend of Capone. Siegel's organization in Las Vegas and Los Angeles was an ally of the Outfit from 1933 to 1961 when the family boss, Mickey Cohen, was imprisoned and the family was decimated.


title: Chicago Outfit

text: The Chicago Outfit has a long history of portrayal in Hollywood as the subject of film and television.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has a slightly sweet scent and taste. At elevated temperatures, nitrous oxide is a powerful oxidiser similar to molecular oxygen.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide has significant medical uses, especially in surgery and dentistry, for its anaesthetic and pain-reducing effects. Its colloquial name, "laughing gas", coined by Humphry Davy, is due to the euphoric effects upon inhaling it, a property that has led to its recreational use as a dissociative anaesthetic. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is also used as an oxidiser in rocket propellants, and in motor racing to increase the power output of engines.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide's atmospheric concentration reached 333 parts per billion (ppb) in 2020, increasing at a rate of about 1 ppb annually. It is a major scavenger of stratospheric ozone, with an impact comparable to that of CFCs. Global accounting of sources and sinks over the decade ending 2016 indicates that about 40% of the average 17 TgN/yr (teragrams of nitrogen per year) of emissions originated from human activity, and shows that emissions growth chiefly came from expanding agriculture and industry sources within emerging economies. Being the third most important long-lived greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide also substantially contributes to global warming.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide is used as a propellant, and has a variety of applications from rocketry to making whipped cream. It is used as a recreational drug for its potential to induce a brief "high"; most recreational users are unaware of its neurotoxicity and potential to cause neurological damage.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide may be used as an oxidiser in a rocket motor. It has advantages over other oxidisers in that it is much less toxic, and because of its stability at room temperature it is also easier to store and relatively safe to carry on a flight. As a secondary benefit, it may be decomposed readily to form breathing air. Its high density and low storage pressure (when maintained at low temperature) enable it to be highly competitive with stored high-pressure gas systems.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: In a 1914 patent, American rocket pioneer Robert Goddard suggested nitrous oxide and gasoline as possible propellants for a liquid-fuelled rocket. Nitrous oxide has been the oxidiser of choice in several hybrid rocket designs (using solid fuel with a liquid or gaseous oxidiser). The combination of nitrous oxide with hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene fuel has been used by SpaceShipOne and others. It also is notably used in amateur and high power rocketry with various plastics as the fuel.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide also may be used in a monopropellant rocket. In the presence of a heated catalyst, will decompose exothermically into nitrogen and oxygen, at a temperature of approximately . Because of the large heat release, the catalytic action rapidly becomes secondary, as thermal autodecomposition becomes dominant. In a vacuum thruster, this may provide a monopropellant specific impulse ("I") of as much as 180 s. While noticeably less than the "I" available from hydrazine thrusters (monopropellant or bipropellant with dinitrogen tetroxide), the decreased toxicity makes nitrous oxide an option worth investigating.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide is said to deflagrate at approximately at a pressure of 309 psi (21 atmospheres). At 600 , for example, the required ignition energy is only 6 joules, whereas at 130 psi a 2,500-joule ignition energy input is insufficient.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: In vehicle racing, nitrous oxide (often referred to as just "nitrous") allows the engine to burn more fuel by providing more oxygen during combustion. The increase in oxygen allows for an increase in the injection of fuel, allowing the engine to produce more engine power. The gas is not flammable at a low pressure/temperature, but it delivers more oxygen than atmospheric air by breaking down at elevated temperatures, about 570 degrees F (~300C). Therefore, it often is mixed with another fuel that is easier to deflagrate. Nitrous oxide is a strong oxidising agent, roughly equivalent to hydrogen peroxide, and much stronger than oxygen gas.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide is stored as a compressed liquid; the evaporation and expansion of liquid nitrous oxide in the intake manifold causes a large drop in intake charge temperature, resulting in a denser charge, further allowing more air/fuel mixture to enter the cylinder. Sometimes nitrous oxide is injected into (or prior to) the intake manifold, whereas other systems directly inject, right before the cylinder (direct port injection) to increase power.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The technique was used during World War II by Luftwaffe aircraft with the GM-1 system to boost the power output of aircraft engines. Originally meant to provide the Luftwaffe standard aircraft with superior high-altitude performance, technological considerations limited its use to extremely high altitudes. Accordingly, it was only used by specialised planes such as high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, high-speed bombers and high-altitude interceptor aircraft. It sometimes could be found on Luftwaffe aircraft also fitted with another engine-boost system, MW 50, a form of water injection for aviation engines that used methanol for its boost capabilities.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: One of the major problems of using nitrous oxide in a reciprocating engine is that it can produce enough power to damage or destroy the engine. Very large power increases are possible, and if the mechanical structure of the engine is not properly reinforced, the engine may be severely damaged, or destroyed, during this kind of operation. It is very important with nitrous oxide augmentation of petrol engines to maintain proper operating temperatures and fuel levels to prevent "pre-ignition", or "detonation" (sometimes referred to as "knock"). Most problems that are associated with nitrous oxide do not come from mechanical failure due to the power increases. Since nitrous oxide allows a much denser charge into the cylinder, it dramatically increases cylinder pressures. The increased pressure and temperature can cause problems such as melting the piston or valves. It also may crack or warp the piston or head and cause pre-ignition due to uneven heating.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Automotive-grade liquid nitrous oxide differs slightly from medical-grade nitrous oxide. A small amount of sulfur dioxide () is added to prevent substance abuse.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The gas is approved for use as a food additive (E number: E942), specifically as an aerosol spray propellant. Its most common uses in this context are in aerosol whipped cream canisters and cooking sprays.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The gas is extremely soluble in fatty compounds. In aerosol whipped cream, it is dissolved in the fatty cream until it leaves the can, when it becomes gaseous and thus creates foam. Used in this way, it produces whipped cream which is four times the volume of the liquid, whereas whipping air into cream only produces twice the volume. If air were used as a propellant, oxygen would accelerate rancidification of the butterfat, but nitrous oxide inhibits such degradation. Carbon dioxide cannot be used for whipped cream because it is acidic in water, which would curdle the cream and give it a seltzer-like "sparkling" sensation.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The whipped cream produced with nitrous oxide is unstable, and will return to a more liquid state within half an hour to one hour. Thus, the method is not suitable for decorating food that will not be served immediately.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: During December 2016, some manufacturers reported a shortage of aerosol whipped creams in the United States due to an explosion at the Air Liquide nitrous oxide facility in Florida in late August. With a major facility offline, the disruption caused a shortage resulting in the company diverting the supply of nitrous oxide to medical clients rather than to food manufacturing. The shortage came during the Christmas and holiday season when canned whipped cream use is normally at its highest.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Similarly, cooking spray, which is made from various types of oils combined with lecithin (an emulsifier), may use nitrous oxide as a propellant. Other propellants used in cooking spray include food-grade alcohol and propane.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide has been used in dentistry and surgery, as an anaesthetic and analgesic, since 1844. In the early days, the gas was administered through simple inhalers consisting of a breathing bag made of rubber cloth. Today, the gas is administered in hospitals by means of an automated relative analgesia machine, with an anaesthetic vaporiser and a medical ventilator, that delivers a precisely dosed and breath-actuated flow of nitrous oxide mixed with oxygen in a 2:1 ratio.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide is a weak general anaesthetic, and so is generally not used alone in general anaesthesia, but used as a carrier gas (mixed with oxygen) for more powerful general anaesthetic drugs such as sevoflurane or desflurane. It has a minimum alveolar concentration of 105% and a blood/gas partition coefficient of 0.46. The use of nitrous oxide in anaesthesia, however, can increase the risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Dentists use a simpler machine which only delivers an / mixture for the patient to inhale while conscious. The patient is kept conscious throughout the procedure, and retains adequate mental faculties to respond to questions and instructions from the dentist.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Inhalation of nitrous oxide is used frequently to relieve pain associated with childbirth, trauma, oral surgery and acute coronary syndrome (includes heart attacks). Its use during labour has been shown to be a safe and effective aid for birthing women. Its use for acute coronary syndrome is of unknown benefit.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: In Britain and Canada, Entonox and Nitronox are used commonly by ambulance crews (including unregistered practitioners) as rapid and highly effective analgesic gas.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Fifty percent nitrous oxide can be considered for use by trained non-professional first aid responders in prehospital settings, given the relative ease and safety of administering 50% nitrous oxide as an analgesic. The rapid reversibility of its effect would also prevent it from precluding diagnosis.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Recreational inhalation of nitrous oxide, with the purpose of causing euphoria and/or slight hallucinations, began as a phenomenon for the British upper class in 1799, known as "laughing gas parties".


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Starting in the nineteenth century, widespread availability of the gas for medical and culinary purposes allowed the recreational use to expand greatly throughout the world. In the United Kingdom, as of 2014, nitrous oxide was estimated to be used by almost half a million young people at nightspots, festivals and parties.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Widespread recreational use of the drug throughout the UK was featured in the 2017 Vice documentary "Inside The Laughing Gas Black Market", in which journalist Matt Shea met with dealers of the drug who stole it from hospitals.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: A significant issue cited in London's press is the effect of nitrous oxide canister littering, which is highly visible and causes significant complaint from communities.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Recreational users often misperceive nitrous oxide as a route to a "safe high", and are unaware of its potential for causing neurological damage. In Australia, recreation use became a public health concern following a rise in reported cases of neurotoxicity and a rise in emergency room admissions, and in (the state of) South Australia legislation was passed in 2020 to restrict canister sales.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide is a significant occupational hazard for surgeons, dentists and nurses. Because nitrous oxide is minimally metabolised in humans (with a rate of 0.004%), it retains its potency when exhaled into the room by the patient, and can pose an intoxicating and prolonged exposure hazard to the clinic staff if the room is poorly ventilated. Where nitrous oxide is administered, a continuous-flow fresh-air ventilation system or scavenger system is used to prevent a waste-gas buildup.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends that workers' exposure to nitrous oxide should be controlled during the administration of anaesthetic gas in medical, dental and veterinary operators. It set a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 25 ppm (46 mg/m) to escaped anaesthetic.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Exposure to nitrous oxide causes short-term decreases in mental performance, audiovisual ability and manual dexterity. These effects coupled with the induced spatial and temporal disorientation could result in physical harm to the user from environmental hazards.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Like other NMDA receptor antagonists, it has been suggested that produces neurotoxicity in the form of Olney's lesions in rodents upon prolonged (several hour) exposure. New research has arisen suggesting that Olney's lesions do not occur in humans, however, and similar drugs such as ketamine are now believed not to be acutely neurotoxic. It has been argued that, because is rapidly expelled from the body under normal circumstances, it is less likely to be neurotoxic than other NMDAR antagonists. Indeed, in rodents, short-term exposure results in only mild injury that is rapidly reversible, and neuronal death occurs only after constant and sustained exposure. Nitrous oxide also may cause neurotoxicity after extended exposure because of hypoxia. This is especially true of non-medical formulations such as whipped-cream chargers (also known as "whippets" or "nangs"), which never contain oxygen, since oxygen makes cream rancid.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: In heavy (≥400 g or ≥200 L of gas in one session) or frequent (regular, e.g. daily or weekly) users reported to poison control centers, signs of peripheral neuropathy have been noted: the presence of ataxia (gait abnormalities) or paresthesia (perception of abnormal sensations, e.g. tingling, numbness, prickling, mostly in the extremities). These are considered an early sign of neurological damage and indicates chronic toxicity.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide at 75% by volume reduces ischemia-induced neuronal death induced by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery in rodents, and decreases NMDA-induced Ca influx in neuronal cell cultures, a critical event involved in excitotoxicity.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Occupational exposure to ambient nitrous oxide has been associated with DNA damage, due to interruptions in DNA synthesis. This correlation is dose-dependent and does not appear to extend to casual recreational use; however, further research is needed to confirm the duration and quantity of exposure needed to cause damage.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: If pure nitrous oxide is inhaled without oxygen mixed in, this can eventually lead to oxygen deprivation resulting in loss of blood pressure, fainting and even heart attacks. This can occur if the user inhales large quantities continuously, as with a strap-on mask connected to a gas canister. It can also happen if the user engages in excessive breath-holding or uses any other inhalation system that cuts off a supply of fresh air. A further risk is that symptoms of frostbite can occur on the lips, larynx and bronchi if the gas is inhaled directly from the gas container. Therefore, nitrous oxide is often inhaled from condoms or balloons.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Long-term exposure to nitrous oxide may cause vitamin B deficiency. This can cause serious neurotoxicity if the user has preexisting vitamin B deficiency. It inactivates the cobalamin form of vitamin B by oxidation. Symptoms of vitamin B deficiency, including sensory neuropathy, myelopathy and encephalopathy, may occur within days or weeks of exposure to nitrous oxide anaesthesia in people with subclinical vitamin B deficiency.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: People with normal vitamin B levels have stores to make the effects of nitrous oxide insignificant, unless exposure is repeated and prolonged (nitrous oxide abuse). Vitamin B levels should be checked in people with risk factors for vitamin B deficiency prior to using nitrous oxide anaesthesia.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Several experimental studies in rats indicate that chronic exposure of pregnant females to nitrous oxide may have adverse effects on the developing fetus.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: At room temperature () the saturated vapour pressure is 50.525 bar, rising up to 72.45 bar at —the critical temperature. The pressure curve is thus unusually sensitive to temperature.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: As with many strong oxidisers, contamination of parts with fuels have been implicated in rocketry accidents, where small quantities of nitrous/fuel mixtures explode due to "water hammer"-like effects (sometimes called "dieseling"—heating due to adiabatic compression of gases can reach decomposition temperatures). Some common building materials such as stainless steel and aluminium can act as fuels with strong oxidisers such as nitrous oxide, as can contaminants that may ignite due to adiabatic compression.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: There also have been incidents where nitrous oxide decomposition in plumbing has led to the explosion of large tanks.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The pharmacological mechanism of action of in medicine is not fully known. However, it has been shown to directly modulate a broad range of ligand-gated ion channels, and this likely plays a major role in many of its effects. It moderately blocks NMDAR and β-subunit-containing nACh channels, weakly inhibits AMPA, kainate, GABA and 5-HT receptors, and slightly potentiates GABA and glycine receptors. It also has been shown to activate two-pore-domain channels. While affects quite a few ion channels, its anaesthetic, hallucinogenic and euphoriant effects are likely caused predominantly, or fully, via inhibition of NMDA receptor-mediated currents. In addition to its effects on ion channels, may act to imitate nitric oxide (NO) in the central nervous system, and this may be related to its analgesic and anxiolytic properties. Nitrous oxide is 30 to 40 times more soluble than nitrogen.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The effects of inhaling sub-anaesthetic doses of nitrous oxide have been known to vary, based on several factors, including settings and individual differences; however, from his discussion, Jay (2008) suggests that it has been reliably known to induce the following states and sensations:


title: Nitrous oxide

text: A minority of users also will present with uncontrolled vocalisations and muscular spasms. These effects generally disappear minutes after removal of the nitrous oxide source.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: In behavioural tests of anxiety, a low dose of is an effective anxiolytic, and this anti-anxiety effect is associated with enhanced activity of GABA receptors, as it is partially reversed by benzodiazepine receptor antagonists. Mirroring this, animals that have developed tolerance to the anxiolytic effects of benzodiazepines are partially tolerant to . Indeed, in humans given 30% , benzodiazepine receptor antagonists reduced the subjective reports of feeling "high", but did not alter psychomotor performance, in human clinical studies.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The analgesic effects of are linked to the interaction between the endogenous opioid system and the descending noradrenergic system. When animals are given morphine chronically, they develop tolerance to its pain-killing effects, and this also renders the animals tolerant to the analgesic effects of . Administration of antibodies that bind and block the activity of some endogenous opioids (not β-endorphin) also block the antinociceptive effects of . Drugs that inhibit the breakdown of endogenous opioids also potentiate the antinociceptive effects of . Several experiments have shown that opioid receptor antagonists applied directly to the brain block the antinociceptive effects of , but these drugs have no effect when injected into the spinal cord.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Apart from an indirect action, nitrous oxide, like morphine also interacts directly with the endogenous opioid system by binding at opioid receptor binding sites.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Conversely, α-adrenoceptor antagonists block the pain-reducing effects of when given directly to the spinal cord, but not when applied directly to the brain. Indeed, α-adrenoceptor knockout mice or animals depleted in norepinephrine are nearly completely resistant to the antinociceptive effects of . Apparently -induced release of endogenous opioids causes disinhibition of brainstem noradrenergic neurons, which release norepinephrine into the spinal cord and inhibit pain signalling. Exactly how causes the release of endogenous opioid peptides remains uncertain.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide supports combustion by releasing the dipolar bonded oxygen radical, and can thus relight a glowing splint.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The above reaction is the route adopted by the commercial chemical industry to produce azide salts, which are used as detonators.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The gas was first synthesised in 1772 by English natural philosopher and chemist Joseph Priestley who called it "dephlogisticated nitrous air" (see phlogiston theory) or "inflammable nitrous air". Priestley published his discovery in the book "Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air (1775)", where he described how to produce the preparation of "nitrous air diminished", by heating iron filings dampened with nitric acid.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The first important use of nitrous oxide was made possible by Thomas Beddoes and James Watt, who worked together to publish the book "Considerations on the Medical Use and on the Production of Factitious Airs (1794)". This book was important for two reasons. First, James Watt had invented a novel machine to produce "factitious airs" (including nitrous oxide) and a novel "breathing apparatus" to inhale the gas. Second, the book also presented the new medical theories by Thomas Beddoes, that tuberculosis and other lung diseases could be treated by inhalation of "Factitious Airs".


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The machine to produce "Factitious Airs" had three parts: a furnace to burn the needed material, a vessel with water where the produced gas passed through in a spiral pipe (for impurities to be "washed off"), and finally the gas cylinder with a gasometer where the gas produced, "air", could be tapped into portable air bags (made of airtight oily silk). The breathing apparatus consisted of one of the portable air bags connected with a tube to a mouthpiece. With this new equipment being engineered and produced by 1794, the way was paved for clinical trials, which began in 1798 when Thomas Beddoes established the ""Pneumatic Institution for Relieving Diseases by Medical Airs"" in Hotwells (Bristol). In the basement of the building, a large-scale machine was producing the gases under the supervision of a young Humphry Davy, who was encouraged to experiment with new gases for patients to inhale. The first important work of Davy was examination of the nitrous oxide, and the publication of his results in the book: "Researches, Chemical and Philosophical (1800)". In that publication, Davy notes the analgesic effect of nitrous oxide at page 465 and its potential to be used for surgical operations at page 556. Davy coined the name "laughing gas" for nitrous oxide.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Despite Davy's discovery that inhalation of nitrous oxide could relieve a conscious person from pain, another 44 years elapsed before doctors attempted to use it for anaesthesia. The use of nitrous oxide as a recreational drug at "laughing gas parties", primarily arranged for the British upper class, became an immediate success beginning in 1799. While the effects of the gas generally make the user appear stuporous, dreamy and sedated, some people also "get the giggles" in a state of euphoria, and frequently erupt in laughter.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: One of the earliest commercial producers in the U.S. was George Poe, cousin of the poet Edgar Allan Poe, who also was the first to liquefy the gas.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The first time nitrous oxide was used as an anaesthetic drug in the treatment of a patient was when dentist Horace Wells, with assistance by Gardner Quincy Colton and John Mankey Riggs, demonstrated insensitivity to pain from a dental extraction on 11 December 1844. In the following weeks, Wells treated the first 12 to 15 patients with nitrous oxide in Hartford, Connecticut, and, according to his own record, only failed in two cases. In spite of these convincing results having been reported by Wells to the medical society in Boston in December 1844, this new method was not immediately adopted by other dentists. The reason for this was most likely that Wells, in January 1845 at his first public demonstration to the medical faculty in Boston, had been partly unsuccessful, leaving his colleagues doubtful regarding its efficacy and safety. The method did not come into general use until 1863, when Gardner Quincy Colton successfully started to use it in all his "Colton Dental Association" clinics, that he had just established in New Haven and New York City. Over the following three years, Colton and his associates successfully administered nitrous oxide to more than 25,000 patients. Today, nitrous oxide is used in dentistry as an anxiolytic, as an adjunct to local anaesthetic.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide was not found to be a strong enough anaesthetic for use in major surgery in hospital settings, however. Instead, diethyl ether, being a stronger and more potent anaesthetic, was demonstrated and accepted for use in October 1846, along with chloroform in 1847. When Joseph Thomas Clover invented the "gas-ether inhaler" in 1876, however, it became a common practice at hospitals to initiate all anaesthetic treatments with a mild flow of nitrous oxide, and then gradually increase the anaesthesia with the stronger ether or chloroform. Clover's gas-ether inhaler was designed to supply the patient with nitrous oxide and ether at the same time, with the exact mixture being controlled by the operator of the device. It remained in use by many hospitals until the 1930s. Although hospitals today use a more advanced anaesthetic machine, these machines still use the same principle launched with Clover's gas-ether inhaler, to initiate the anaesthesia with nitrous oxide, before the administration of a more powerful anaesthetic.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Colton's popularisation of nitrous oxide led to its adoption by a number of less than reputable quacksalvers, who touted it as a cure for consumption, scrofula, catarrh and other diseases of the blood, throat and lungs. Nitrous oxide treatment was administered and licensed as a patent medicine by the likes of C. L. Blood and Jerome Harris in Boston and Charles E. Barney of Chicago.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide is prepared on an industrial scale by careful heating of ammonium nitrate at about 250 °C, which decomposes into nitrous oxide and water vapour.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The addition of various phosphate salts favours formation of a purer gas at slightly lower temperatures. This reaction may be difficult to control, resulting in detonation.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The decomposition of ammonium nitrate is also a common laboratory method for preparing the gas. Equivalently, it can be obtained by heating a mixture of sodium nitrate and ammonium sulfate:


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Direct oxidation of ammonia with a manganese dioxide-bismuth oxide catalyst has been reported: cf. Ostwald process.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Hydroxylammonium chloride reacts with sodium nitrite to give nitrous oxide. If the nitrite is added to the hydroxylamine solution, the only remaining by-product is salt water. If the hydroxylamine solution is added to the nitrite solution (nitrite is in excess), however, then toxic higher oxides of nitrogen also are formed:


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide is a minor component of Earth's atmosphere and is an active part of the planetary nitrogen cycle. Based on analysis of air samples gathered from sites around the world, its concentration surpassed 330 ppb in 2017. The growth rate of about 1 ppb per year has also accelerated during recent decades. Nitrous oxide's atmospheric abundance has grown more than 20% from a base level of about 270 ppb in year 1750.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: In October 2020 scientists published a comprehensive quantification of global sources and sinks. They report that human-induced emissions increased by 30% over the past four decades and are the main cause of the increase in atmospheric concentration. The recent growth has exceeded some of the highest projected emission scenarios.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: As of 2010, it was estimated that about 29.5 million tonnes of (containing 18.8 million tonnes of nitrogen) were entering the atmosphere each year; of which 64% were natural, and 36% due to human activity.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Most of the emitted into the atmosphere, from natural and anthropogenic sources, is produced by microorganisms such as denitrifying bacteria and fungi in soils and oceans. Soils under natural vegetation are an important source of nitrous oxide, accounting for 60% of all naturally produced emissions. Other natural sources include the oceans (35%) and atmospheric chemical reactions (5%). Wetlands can also be emitters of nitrous oxide.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: A 2019 study showed that emissions from thawing permafrost are 12 times higher than previously assumed.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The main components of anthropogenic emissions are fertilised agricultural soils and livestock manure (42%), runoff and leaching of fertilisers (25%), biomass burning (10%), fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes (10%), biological degradation of other nitrogen-containing atmospheric emissions (9%) and human sewage (5%). Agriculture enhances nitrous oxide production through soil cultivation, the use of nitrogen fertilisers and animal waste handling. These activities stimulate naturally occurring bacteria to produce more nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide emissions from soil can be challenging to measure as they vary markedly over time and space, and the majority of a year's emissions may occur when conditions are favorable during "hot moments" and/or at favorable locations known as "hotspots".


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Among industrial emissions, the production of nitric acid and adipic acid are the largest sources of nitrous oxide emissions. The adipic acid emissions specifically arise from the degradation of the nitrolic acid intermediate derived from nitration of cyclohexanone.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Natural processes that generate nitrous oxide may be classified as nitrification and denitrification. Specifically, they include:


title: Nitrous oxide

text: These processes are affected by soil chemical and physical properties such as the availability of mineral nitrogen and organic matter, acidity and soil type, as well as climate-related factors such as soil temperature and water content.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: The emission of the gas to the atmosphere is limited greatly by its consumption inside the cells, by a process catalysed by the enzyme nitrous oxide reductase.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide has significant global warming potential as a greenhouse gas. On a per-molecule basis, considered over a 100-year period, nitrous oxide has 265 times the atmospheric heat-trapping ability of carbon dioxide (). However, because of its low concentration (less than 1/1,000 of that of ), its contribution to the greenhouse effect is less than one third that of carbon dioxide, and also less than water vapour and methane. On the other hand, since 38% or more of the entering the atmosphere is the result of human activity, control of nitrous oxide is considered part of efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: A 2008 study by Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen suggests that the amount of nitrous oxide release attributable to agricultural nitrate fertilisers has been seriously underestimated, most of which presumably, would come under soil and oceanic release in the Environmental Protection Agency data. Nitrous oxide is released into the atmosphere through agriculture, when farmers add nitrogen-based fertilizers onto the fields, and through the breakdown of animal manure. Approximately 79 percent of all nitrous oxide released in the United States came from nitrogen fertilization. Reduction of emissions can be a hot topic in the politics of climate change.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide is also released as a by-product of burning fossil fuel, though the amount released depends on which fuel was used. It is also emitted through the manufacture of nitric acid, which is used in the synthesis of nitrogen fertilizers. The production of adipic acid, a precursor to nylon and other synthetic clothing fibres, also releases nitrous oxide. The total amount of nitrous oxide released that is of human origins is about 40 percent.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: Nitrous oxide has also been implicated in thinning the ozone layer. A 2009 study suggested that emission was the single most important ozone-depleting emission and it was expected to remain the largest throughout the 21st century.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: In the United States, possession of nitrous oxide is legal under federal law and is not subject to DEA purview. It is, however, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration under the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act; prosecution is possible under its "misbranding" clauses, prohibiting the sale or distribution of nitrous oxide for the purpose of human consumption. Many states have laws regulating the possession, sale and distribution of nitrous oxide. Such laws usually ban distribution to minors or limit the amount of nitrous oxide that may be sold without special license. For example, in the state of California, possession for recreational use is prohibited and qualifies as a misdemeanor.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: In August 2015, the Council of the London Borough of Lambeth (UK) banned the use of the drug for recreational purposes, making offenders liable to an on-the-spot fine of up to £1,000.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: In New Zealand, the Ministry of Health has warned that nitrous oxide is a prescription medicine, and its sale or possession without a prescription is an offense under the Medicines Act. This statement would seemingly prohibit all non-medicinal uses of nitrous oxide, although it is implied that only recreational use will be targeted legally.


title: Nitrous oxide

text: In India, transfer of nitrous oxide from bulk cylinders to smaller, more transportable E-type, 1,590-litre-capacity tanks is legal when the intended use of the gas is for medical anaesthesia.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Justin Brooks Verlander ( ; born February 20, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros. From Manakin-Sabot, Virginia, Verlander attended Old Dominion University (ODU) and played college baseball for the Monarchs. He broke the Monarchs' and Colonial Athletic Association's career records for strikeouts. At the 2003 Pan American Games, Verlander helped lead the United States national team to a silver medal.


title: Justin Verlander

text: The Tigers selected Verlander with the second overall pick of the 2004 MLB draft. He made his major league debut with the Tigers in 2005 playing there for 12 years as the ace in their starting rotation, as a key figure in four consecutive American League (AL) Central division championships (2011–2014) and two AL pennants (in 2006 and 2012). He is among the career pitching leaders for the Tigers, including ranking second in strikeouts (2,373), seventh in wins (183), and eighth in innings pitched (2,511). The Tigers traded Verlander to the Astros before the 2017 trade deadline, and he went undefeated in his first five starts heading into the postseason. He was named ALCS MVP, and was co-winner of the Babe Ruth Award as the Astros won the 2017 World Series. In 2018, Verlander became the 114th pitcher in major league history to earn 200 career wins, also becoming the 20th-fastest to reach the milestone (427 starts). In 2019, Verlander became the sixth pitcher in MLB history to throw three career no-hitters and struck out his 3,000th batter, becoming the 18th pitcher in major league history to do so.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander is a nine-time MLB All-Star and has led the AL in strikeouts five times, in earned run average twice, and in wins three times. He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 2006, and in 2007 pitched the first no-hitter at Comerica Park versus the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2009, he led the AL in wins and strikeouts, both for the first time. Verlander produced his most successful season in 2011, including his second career no-hitter versus the Toronto Blue Jays. By season's end, Verlander won the Pitching Triple Crown, the AL Cy Young Award unanimously, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, and the "Sporting News" Player of the Year Award. In 2019, Verlander had his first career 300-strikeout season and won his second Cy Young award while leading the Astros to their second pennant in three seasons. He suffered an arm injury that required Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for 2020 and 2021. He returned in 2022 and proceeded to win 18 games with a sub 2.00 ERA on his way to leading the Astros to their second World championship. He was awarded the Cy Young in the off-season, making him the first Astro to win multiple Cy Young Awards. Verlander is one of only three pitchers in Major League history to win multiple World Series championships, win multiple Cy Young Awards, throw multiple no-hitters, and earn multiple All-Star selections; the others are Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax and Tim Lincecum. Verlander is the only player with multiple World Series championships, an MVP Award, a Rookie of the Year Award, and three Cy Young Awards.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander played little league at Tuckahoe Little League in Richmond, VA. Verlander's father Richard sent him to The Richmond Baseball Academy when he was young. He was able to throw an 84 mph (135 km/h) fastball shortly after joining the academy. His velocity plateaued at during his senior year at Goochland High School, during which he was sidetracked by strep throat.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander's velocity increased to during his first year at Old Dominion. Verlander, a , right-handed pitcher, played for the Old Dominion University baseball team for three years. On May 17, 2002, he struck out a then-school record 17 batters against James Madison. In 2003, he set a school single-season record by recording 139 strikeouts. In 2004, he broke his own record establishing a new Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) record with 151 strikeouts. Verlander completed his career as the all-time strikeout leader at Old Dominion University, the CAA, and the Commonwealth of Virginia (Division I) history with 427 in innings. During his three years, he averaged 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings and his career collegiate earned run average (ERA) was 2.57.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander pitched for the USA national baseball team in 2003 and helped the US win a silver medal in the Pan American Games. He was named CAA Rookie of the Year in 2002, and earned All-CAA honors in 2003 and 2004. Verlander was named the ODU Alumni Association's Male Athlete of the Year in 2004, and was the second overall pick in the 2004 Major League Baseball draft by the Detroit Tigers.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander's professional baseball career began when he was selected by the Detroit Tigers with the second overall pick in the 2004 MLB Draft. He signed a contract on October 25, 2004. Verlander made his professional debut in 2005. He played for two of Detroit's minor league affiliates: the Lakeland Flying Tigers (A+) and the Erie SeaWolves (AA), and also started two games for the Tigers in July. After posting a 9–2 record and a 1.67 ERA in 13 starts for Lakeland, Verlander joined the SeaWolves on June 20.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander made his MLB debut on July 4, 2005. He went 0–2 with a 7.15 ERA in his only two starts of the season.


title: Justin Verlander

text: He made the 2006 Tigers roster out of spring training. In his first full Major League season, Verlander went 17–9 with a 3.63 ERA, striking out 124 batters in 186 innings. On July 4, 2006, at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, California, Verlander, Joel Zumaya, and Fernando Rodney each threw multiple fastballs over . It was the first time in MLB history that three pitchers on the same team had done so during a game. He allowed one stolen base in 2006 and picked off seven baserunners. In 2006, he became the first rookie pitcher in the history of the game to win 10 games before the end of June and was named AL Rookie of the Year at the end of the season. During Game 1 of the 2006 World Series, Verlander was the Tigers starting pitcher against Anthony Reyes of the St. Louis Cardinals; it was the first instance in which two rookies faced off to start a World Series. The Tigers went on to lose the series to the Cardinals in five games.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander's success continued in 2007, as he accumulated 18 wins and posted a 3.66 ERA with 183 strikeouts in innings. On June 12, Verlander recorded a no-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers, striking out twelve and walking four while throwing a fastball .


title: Justin Verlander

text: In 2008, Verlander lost four consecutive games before winning his first one. He led MLB in losses with 17. Overall, he finished the 2008 season with an 11–17 win–loss record and a 4.84 ERA.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander became the first Major League starter in 24 years to load the bases with nobody out in the ninth inning or later and get out of it without allowing a run when he pulled off the feat on July 24, 2009. Then-Mariners hurler Mike Moore was the last to do it, on September 16, 1985.


title: Justin Verlander

text: He finished the 2009 season with a 19–9 record, an ERA of 3.45 and an MLB-leading 269 strikeouts, the most by a Tiger since Mickey Lolich's 308 in 1971, while his 10.1/9 IP strikeout rate led all American League starters. His 19 wins led the majors this season. Verlander finished third in the AL Cy Young Award voting behind winner Zack Greinke and runner-up Félix Hernández.


title: Justin Verlander

text: In the offseason, Verlander and the Tigers reached a deal for a five-year, $80 million contract extension. On July 3, Verlander earned his 10th win of the 2010 season. This marked the fourth time in five years he has had double digit wins before the All-Star break. On September 18, Verlander beat the Chicago White Sox throwing a complete game to earn his 17th win of the season. Verlander was the first pitcher to win 17 games in four of his first five seasons since Dwight Gooden. He finished the 2010 season with an 18–9 record and a 3.37 ERA, while fanning 219 batters in innings.


title: Justin Verlander

text: On April 22, 2011, Verlander recorded his 1,000th career strikeout in a 9–3 win over the White Sox, becoming the 15th Tiger to do so. On May 7, he recorded his second career no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays, throwing four strikeouts, walking one batter, and throwing at a maximum speed of on the radar gun. He carried a perfect game into the eighth inning before allowing a walk to J. P. Arencibia, who was the only Blue Jays batter to reach base in the game. Arencibia was erased on a double play, so Verlander faced the minimum 27 batters for the game. He became the second Tigers pitcher since Virgil Trucks, and the 30th pitcher in the history of baseball, to throw multiple no-hitters. On his next start, against the Kansas City Royals on May 13 Verlander took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before surrendering a triple. Altogether, he pitched consecutive no-hit innings which were spread over three starts.


title: Justin Verlander

text: On June 14, Verlander took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. He pitched innings until he gave up a base hit to Cleveland's Orlando Cabrera. Verlander ended up with a complete game shutout allowing two hits. In his next start on June 19, he threw another complete game allowing only a solo home run to Ty Wigginton. On June 25, he recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts against Arizona. Verlander was selected to his fourth AL All-Star team but he was unable to participate in the game due to the scheduling of his starts.


title: Justin Verlander

text: On July 31, Verlander took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels before surrendering a single to Maicer Izturis. He walked two and struck out nine. On August 11, Verlander won his 100th major league game against the Cleveland Indians. A victory on August 27 made Verlander the first Tiger since Bill Gullickson in 1991 to win 20 games, and the first Major League pitcher since Curt Schilling in 2002 to reach 20 wins before the end of August.


title: Justin Verlander

text: By the end of the season, Verlander had won the Triple Crown of pitching in the AL, leading the league in wins (24), strikeouts (250; tied for sixth most in Tigers history) and ERA (2.40). Los Angeles Dodgers left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw had clinched the National League (NL) Triple Crown earlier in the week, making it the first season since 1924 featuring a Triple Crown pitcher in both leagues. Verlander also led the AL in innings pitched (251) and win–loss percentage (.828; sixth-best in Tigers history), while posting a Major League best 0.92 WHIP. As of , Verlander remains the most recent pitcher to have pitched 250 innings in one season. Throughout the season, he never had an outing in which he threw fewer than six innings or 100 pitches. Through 2011, Verlander had the best career strikeouts/9 innings percentage in Tigers history (8.3), and the second-best career win–loss percentage (.652; also the fourth-best percentage of all active pitchers).


title: Justin Verlander

text: In 2011, Verlander received the AL Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award, Sporting News Player of the Year Award, a Players Choice Award for Player the Year and Most Outstanding American League pitcher, and a "USA Today" American League Cy Young. Verlander was named the cover athlete of "Major League Baseball 2K12".


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander won both the 2011 AL Cy Young Award and the AL MVP Award. He was the first pitcher to claim an AL MVP Award since Dennis Eckersley in 1992, the first starting pitcher to do so since Roger Clemens in 1986, and the fourth Tigers starter to do so in franchise history, joining Denny McLain (1968), Hal Newhouser (1944, 1945), and Willie Hernández (1984). Verlander unanimously won the 2011 AL Cy Young Award and also won the AL MVP in a much closer vote. Verlander edged out Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury, 280 points to 242 points while collecting 13 of 28 first-place votes. He became the second pitcher in baseball history after Don Newcombe to win the Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP awards in his career.


title: Justin Verlander

text: On May 18, 2012, Verlander took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates before giving up a one-out single in a 6–0 victory. It was his first career complete-game one-hitter, his 16th complete game overall, and sixth career shutout. Verlander, who struck out 12 in the game, was hitting the upper-90s and into the eighth inning.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander was named to the American League team roster and AL starting pitcher in the All-Star Game. Verlander was joined by teammates Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera, the former voted as a starter. At the All-Star break, Verlander had a 9–5 record and a 2.58 ERA in 18 games, and was leading the AL in innings pitched (), strikeouts (128) and complete games (five). In a forgettable All-Star game, he pitched one inning and gave up five runs. Verlander finished the 2012 regular season with a 17–8 record. He ranked first in the American League in innings pitched (), strikeouts (239) and complete games (six), while also ranking second in ERA (2.64).


title: Justin Verlander

text: In the 2012 ALDS against the Oakland Athletics, Verlander started Game 1 and won a 3–1 decision. In the deciding fifth game of the series, he pitched a complete-game shutout allowing four hits as the Tigers won 6–0 and advanced to the 2012 ALCS. Verlander, who struck out 11 in each of his ALDS starts became the first pitcher in MLB history to record more than 10 strikeouts in a winner-take-all postseason shutout. Verlander's 22 strikeouts in the series set a record for an ALDS.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander made his only appearance in the 2012 ALCS in Game 3 against the New York Yankees. He earned a 2–1 win, blanking the Yankees hitters on two hits through eight innings before surrendering a leadoff home run in the ninth inning to Eduardo Núñez. Having given up one run in the first inning of Game 1 in the ALDS, and one run in the ninth inning of Game 3 in the ALCS, Verlander recorded 24 consecutive scoreless postseason innings in between.


title: Justin Verlander

text: He pitched Game 1 of the 2012 World Series against the San Francisco Giants and gave up five earned runs in four innings pitched, including giving up two home runs to eventual World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval as the Tigers were swept in the Series.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander finished second to David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays in a close AL Cy Young Award race. Verlander collected 149 points (12 first-place votes) to Price's 153 points (13 first-place votes). Verlander won (tie with David Price) his second consecutive AL Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Prior to the 2013 season, Verlander and the Tigers reached an agreement on a seven-year, $180 million contract, with a $22 million vesting option for 2020 if he finishes in the top five in Cy Young Award voting in 2019. This contract made him the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander made his sixth-consecutive Opening Day start for the Tigers against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field in Minneapolis and won 4–2. In a May 11 game against the Cleveland Indians, Verlander recorded his 1,500th career strikeout.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander was selected as a reserve pitcher for the American League All-Star team by his manager, Jim Leyland who managed the 2013 AL team. It was Verlander's sixth All-Star selection, but due to him starting a game on July 14 for the Tigers, he was declared unavailable for the July 16 All-Star game. Entering the All-Star break, Verlander had a 10–6 record, 125 strikeouts and a 3.50 ERA.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander finished the 2013 regular season with a 13–12 record, a 3.46 ERA, and 217 strikeouts. His innings pitched were the lowest total since his 2008 season.


title: Justin Verlander

text: In Game 2 of the 2013 ALDS, Verlander struck out eleven Oakland Athletics hitters in seven shutout innings. Verlander did not get the win as the Tigers lost the game, 1–0, in the bottom of the ninth inning. In Game 5 of the same series, Verlander pitched eight shutout innings with ten strikeouts in a 3–0 victory and taking a no-hitter into the 7th inning. The win sent the Tigers to the American League Championship Series for the third consecutive year. Verlander defeated the Athletics in Game 5 of the ALDS for the second straight season and is one of four starting pitchers in Major League history to have multiple wins in elimination postseason games, joining Bob Gibson, Chris Carpenter, and Matt Cain.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander has thrown 30 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason against the Athletics, a major league record for a pitcher versus one team surpassing Christy Mathewson's 28 scoreless innings against the Philadelphia Athletics from 1905 to 1911. Verlander is the second pitcher in Major League history with ten or more strikeouts and no runs allowed in back-to-back postseason games, joining Sandy Koufax in Games 5 and 7 of the 1965 World Series.


title: Justin Verlander

text: In Game 3 of the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox, Verlander threw scoreless innings (running his 2013 postseason scoreless streak to innings) before surrendering a solo home run to Mike Napoli in the seventh. Despite giving up only that one run and striking out ten batters in eight innings, Verlander lost a 1–0 decision. It was Verlander's sixth career postseason game with ten or more strikeouts, more than any other pitcher in MLB postseason history.


title: Justin Verlander

text: The eventual World Series champ Red Sox eliminated the Tigers in six ALCS games. In the 2013 postseason, Verlander was 1–1 with a 0.39 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 23 postseason innings; two of his starts involved the Tigers scoring no runs of offense.


title: Justin Verlander

text: On January 9, 2014, Verlander underwent core muscle surgery. The Tigers projected that Verlander might miss Opening Day in the aftermath of his surgery but he eventually recovered just in time for when pitchers and catchers reported to training camp in February 2014. On March 16, Tiger manager Brad Ausmus announced that Verlander would make his seventh consecutive opening-day start on March 31. On April 12, Verlander got the first two hits of his major league career during a 6–2 road win over the San Diego Padres. This snapped a career 0-for-26 string.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander struggled in the first half of 2014. His strikeouts were down to 6.8 per nine innings pitched, as opposed to an average of 9.2 over the last five years. His ERA and WHIP in the season's first half were also elevated to 4.71 and 1.49 respectively. Verlander was not named to the AL All-Star team for the first time since 2008 snapping a streak of five straight appearances.


title: Justin Verlander

text: On August 11, in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Verlander allowed five runs, four earned, on four hits in only one inning. Verlander left the game with right shoulder soreness in the shortest outing of his career. His previous shortest outing was innings in 2008. Verlander would miss his next start, the first time that had occurred in his career.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Justin fared somewhat better in the second half of 2014. His season ERA and WHIP dropped to 4.54 and 1.398, respectively. He won his final three decisions to finish with a 15–12 record, and the Tigers won the game in 6 of his last 8 starts. His strikeout rate remained low, however finishing with 159 strikeouts and a 6.9 K/9 IP rate, both the lowest since his 2006 rookie season. He mentioned in 2018 that he had not fully recovered from the core surgery during the 2014 season, contributing to production inferior to his career norms.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander started the 2015 season on the disabled list due to a right triceps strain, ending his streak of seven consecutive Opening Day starts for the Tigers. This marked the first time Verlander had been placed on the DL in his major league career, following 298 career starts and 1,978 innings pitched. Verlander has thrown more pitches than any other pitcher since his rookie season in 2006, with 32,535 pitches in the regular season, and 1,688 pitches in the postseason.


title: Justin Verlander

text: On May 31, Verlander was sent to the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens for a rehab assignment. It was his first time ever pitching for the Mud Hens having gone straight from Double-A to the major leagues in 2005. He threw 79 pitches, 50 for strikes, allowing six hits and two walks in innings. He fared better in his second rehab start on June 6, lasting innings and throwing 93 pitches (69 for strikes). He gave up just one unearned run on four hits and no walks while striking out nine batters. Verlander made his season debut with the Tigers on June 13 against the Cleveland Indians. He pitched five innings, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out two. He left the game with a 3–2 lead, but got a no-decision as the Indians came back against the Tiger bullpen to win the game. In his next start on June 19, Verlander gave up Alex Rodriguez's 3,000th career hit, a home run.


title: Justin Verlander

text: On August 26, Verlander came within three outs of his third career no-hitter before allowing a double to Chris Iannetta, the first batter in the ninth inning. He finished the game with one hit, two walks, and nine strikeouts in a 5–0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. This was his seventh career complete game shutout, and second career complete game one-hitter. Verlander finished 2015 with a 5–8 record in 20 starts, but his other stats were a considerable improvement over the previous season. He had a 3.38 ERA and 1.088 WHIP. His walk rate dropped to 2.2 while his strikeout rate inched back up to 7.6.


title: Justin Verlander

text: On May 8, Verlander recorded his 1,981st strikeout in his Tiger career, surpassing Jack Morris for second place on the list of all-time Tiger strikeout leaders. He only trails Mickey Lolich who had 2,679 strikeouts as a Tiger. On May 18, Verlander fanned Eddie Rosario of the Twins for his 2,000th career strikeout, becoming just the second Tigers pitcher to reach the milestone following Lolich. Verlander went into the 2016 All-Star break with an 8–6 record, 4.07 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 120 strikeouts in innings (9.2 K/9).


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander was named the American League Pitcher of the Month for July. He was 4–0 with a 1.69 ERA in six July starts, holding opposing hitters to a .171 average, and striking out 48 batters in innings. Among qualifying starters in the AL (minimum 28.0 innings pitched), Verlander finished July first in strikeouts, tied for first in innings pitched, third in ERA, and tied for third in wins. Verlander allowed just 26 hits in his July innings, and had a 0.891 WHIP. On September 27, Verlander struck out 12 Cleveland Indians batters to give him a career-high eight games this season in which he totaled 10 or more strikeouts. Verlander was among the best starters in the majors after the 2016 All-Star Break. From July 15 on, Justin compiled an 8–3 record, 1.96 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, and 134 strikeouts in innings. In his three losses, the Tigers scored a total of two runs.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Verlander finished the 2016 season with a 16–9 record, while recording 254 strikeouts to lead the American League for the fourth time in his career. He also finished first in the AL with a 1.00 WHIP, and his 3.04 ERA ranked second. His strikeout rate of 10.0 per 9 IP was the second-best of his career, trailing only the 10.1/9 rate posted in 2009. His 4.46 strikeout-to-walk ratio was a career best and a Tiger record for a season, eclipsing the 4.44 mark set by Denny McLain in the 1968 season. Verlander joined Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens as the only three American League pitchers in history to strike out 250 or more batters in a season after turning 33 years old. Verlander's 26 quality starts were tied for the AL lead (with former Tiger Rick Porcello). He threw 3,668 pitches, more than any other major league pitcher.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Following the season, Verlander was named a Gold Glove Award finalist at pitcher, along with R. A. Dickey and Dallas Keuchel. Verlander's five Defensive Runs Saved tied him for fourth among AL pitchers, as did his 29 assists. His 6.61 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) led all AL pitchers. Verlander won his third Tiger of the Year award, as awarded by the Detroit Chapter of the BBWAA.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Following the season, Verlander was announced by the BBWAA as a finalist for the American League Cy Young Award, along with Corey Kluber and former teammate Rick Porcello. Verlander finished second in Cy Young voting, losing to Porcello by five points, 132–137 in what was the second-closest vote in history (to the 2012 AL Cy Young race Verlander lost). Verlander received 14 first-place votes, to Porcello's eight first-place votes, but Verlander was left off two ballots. It marked the third time in history and first in the AL that a pitcher won the Cy Young Award without receiving the most first-place votes.


title: Justin Verlander

text: In a win over the Chicago White Sox on April 4, 2017, Verlander tied a franchise record for the most strikeouts on Opening Day with ten, becoming the first Tigers player to do so since Mickey Lolich in 1970. In his 51st plate appearance in interleague play, Verlander recorded his first career run batted in (RBI) in an August 30 game against the Colorado Rockies which was also his last game as a Tiger.


title: Justin Verlander

text: Seconds before the waiver trade deadline on August 31, the Tigers sent Verlander to the Houston Astros for prospects Franklin Pérez, Jake Rogers, and Daz Cameron. Verlander won his Astros debut on September 5 against the Seattle Mariners, giving up one run and striking out seven over six innings. He started and won the AL West division-clinching game for the Astros on September 17, allowing one run and striking out ten Mariners batters over seven innings. He won all five of his regular season starts with Houston, posting a 1.06 ERA and 0.65 WHIP in those games. The Astros chose to skip Verlander's final scheduled start on Sunday, October 1 and have him start the first game of the ALDS. As a result, Verlander finished the 2017 regular season with a 15–8 record, 3.36 ERA, 1.175 WHIP, and 219 strikeouts in 206 innings. He threw 3,531 pitches, more than any other major league pitcher for the second consecutive year.