title: Comanche

text: Both girls and boys were welcomed into the band, but boys were favored. If the baby was a boy, one of the midwives informed the father or grandfather, "It's your close friend". Families might paint a flap on the tipi to tell the rest of the tribe that they had been strengthened with another warrior. Sometimes a man named his child, but mostly the father asked a medicine man (or another man of distinction) to do so. He did this in the hope of his child living a long and productive life. During the public naming ceremony, the medicine man lit his pipe and offered smoke to the heavens, earth, and each of the four directions. He prayed that the child would remain happy and healthy. He then lifted the child to symbolize its growing up and announced the child's name four times. He held the child a little higher each time he said the name. It was believed that the child's name foretold its future; even a weak or sick child could grow up to be a great warrior, hunter, and raider if given a name suggesting courage and strength. Boys were often named after their grandfather, uncle, or other relative. Girls were usually named after one of their father's relatives, but the name was selected by the mother. As children grew up they also acquired nicknames at different points in their lives, to express some aspect of their lives.


title: Comanche

text: The Comanche looked on their children as their most precious gift. Children were rarely punished. Sometimes, though, an older sister or other relative was called upon to discipline a child, or the parents arranged for a boogey man to scare the child. Occasionally, old people donned sheets and frightened disobedient boys and girls. Children were also told about Big Maneater Owl ("Pia Mupitsi"), who lived in a cave on the south side of the Wichita Mountains and ate bad children at night.


title: Comanche

text: Children learned from example, by observing and listening to their parents and others in the band. As soon as she was old enough to walk, a girl followed her mother about the camp and played at the daily tasks of cooking and making clothing. She was also very close to her mother's sisters, who were called not aunt but "pia", meaning mother. She was given a little deerskin doll, which she took with her everywhere. She learned to make all the clothing for the doll.


title: Comanche

text: A boy identified not only with his father but with his father's family, as well as with the bravest warriors in the band. He learned to ride a horse before he could walk. By the time he was four or five, he was expected to be able to skillfully handle a horse. When he was five or six, he was given a small bow and arrows. Often, a boy was taught to ride and shoot by his grandfather, since his father and other warriors were on raids and hunts. His grandfather also taught him about his own boyhood and the history and legends of the Comanche.


title: Comanche

text: As the boy grew older, he joined the other boys to hunt birds. He eventually ranged farther from camp looking for better game to kill. Encouraged to be skillful hunters, boys learned the signs of the prairie as they learned to patiently and quietly stalk game. They became more self-reliant, yet, by playing together as a group, also formed the bonds and cooperative spirit that they would need when they hunted and raided.


title: Comanche

text: Boys were highly respected because they would become warriors and might die young in battle. As he approached manhood, a boy went on his first buffalo hunt. If he made a kill, his father honored him with a feast. Only after he had proven himself on a buffalo hunt was a young man allowed to go to war.


title: Comanche

text: When he was ready to become a warrior, at about age 15 or 16, a young man first "made his medicine" by going on a vision quest (a rite of passage). Following this quest, his father gave him a good horse to ride into battle and another mount for the trail. If he had proved himself as a warrior, a Give Away Dance might be held in his honor. As drummers faced east, the honored boy and other young men danced. His parents, along with his other relatives and the people in the band, threw presents at his feet – especially blankets and horses symbolized by sticks. Anyone might snatch one of the gifts for themselves, although those with many possessions refrained; they did not want to appear greedy. People often gave away all their belongings during these dances, providing for others in the band, but leaving themselves with nothing.


title: Comanche

text: Girls learned to gather berries, nuts, and roots. They carried water and collected wood, and at about 12 years old learned to cook meals, make tipis, sew clothing, prepare hides, and perform other tasks essential to becoming a wife and mother. They were then considered ready to be married.


title: Comanche

text: During the 19th century, the traditional Comanche burial custom was to wrap the deceased's body in a blanket and place it on a horse, behind a rider, who would then ride in search of an appropriate burial place, such as a secure cave. After entombment, the rider covered the body with stones and returned to camp, where the mourners burned all the deceased's possessions. The primary mourner slashed his arms to express his grief. The Quahada band followed this custom longer than other bands and buried their relatives in the Wichita Mountains. Christian missionaries persuaded Comanche people to bury their dead in coffins in graveyards, which is the practice today.


title: Comanche

text: When they lived with the Shoshone, the Comanche mainly used dog-drawn travois for transportation. Later, they acquired horses from other tribes, such as the Pueblo, and from the Spaniards. Because horses are faster, easier to control and stronger, this helped with hunting, warfare and moving camp. Larger dwellings were made due to the ability to pull and carry more belongings. Being herbivores, horses were also easier to feed than dogs, since meat was a valuable resource. The horse was of the utmost value to the Comanche. A Comanche man's wealth was measured by the size of his horse herd. Horses were prime targets to steal during raids; often raids were conducted specifically to capture horses. Often horse herds numbering in the hundreds were stolen by Comanche during raids against other Indian nations, Spanish, Mexicans, and later from the ranches of Texans. Horses were used for warfare with the Comanche being considered to be among the finest light cavalry and mounted warriors in history.


title: Comanche

text: The Comanche covered their tipis with buffalo hides sewn together. To prepare the hides, women spread them on the ground, scraped off the fat and flesh with blades of bone or antler, and dried them in the sun. Then the women scraped off the thick hair and soaked the hides in water. After several days, they vigorously rubbed them in a mixture of fat, brains and liver to soften them. They softened them further by rinsing and working back and forth over a rawhide thong. Finally, they were smoked over a fire, which gave them a tan color. To finish the tipi covering, women laid the tanned hides side by side and stitched them together. As many as 22 hides could be used, but 14 was the average. The sown cover was tied to a pole and raised, wrapped around the cone-shaped frame, and pinned with pencil-sized wooden skewers. Two wing-shaped flaps at the top of the tipi were turned back to make an opening, which could be adjusted to keep out moisture and held pockets of insulating air. With a fire pit in the center of the earthen floor, the tipis stayed warm in winter. In summer, the bottom edges of the tipis could be rolled up to let in a breeze. Cooking was done outside during hot weather. Tipis were very practical homes for nomads. Working together, women could quickly set them up or take them down. An entire Comanche band could be packed and chasing a buffalo herd within about 20 minutes. The women did most food processing and preparation.


title: Comanche

text: The Comanche were initially hunter-gatherers. When they lived in the Rocky Mountains, during their migration to the Great Plains, both men and women shared responsibility for gathering and providing food. When the Comanche reached the plains, hunting predominated. Hunting was considered a male activity and was a principal source of prestige. For meat, the Comanche hunted buffalo, elk, black bear, pronghorn, and deer. When game was scarce, the men hunted wild mustangs, and sometimes ate their own ponies. In later years the Comanche raided Texas ranches and stole longhorn cattle. They did not eat fish or fowl, unless starving.


title: Comanche

text: Women prepared and cooked bison meat and other game. Women also gathered wild fruits, seeds, nuts, berries, roots and tubers, including plums, grapes, juniper berries, persimmons, mulberries, acorns, pecans, wild onions, radishes, and tuna, the fruit of the prickly pear cactus. The Comanche also acquired maize, dried pumpkin, and tobacco through trade and raids. They roasted meat over a fire or boiled it. To boil fresh or dried meat and vegetables, women dug a pit in the ground, which they lined with animal skins or buffalo stomach and filled with water to make a kind of cooking pot. They placed heated stones in the water until it boiled and had cooked their stew. After Spanish contact, Comanche traded for copper pots and iron kettles, which made cooking easier.


title: Comanche

text: Women used berries and nuts, as well as honey and tallow, to flavor buffalo meat. They stored the tallow in intestine casings or rawhide pouches called "oyóotû¿". They especially liked to make a sweet mush of buffalo marrow mixed with crushed mesquite beans.


title: Comanche

text: The Comanches sometimes ate raw meat, especially raw liver flavored with gall. They also drank the milk from the slashed udders of buffalo, deer, and elk. Among their delicacies was the curdled milk from the stomachs of suckling buffalo calves. They also enjoyed buffalo tripe, or stomachs.


title: Comanche

text: Comanche generally ate a light meal breakfast and a large dinner. They ate during the day when they were hungry or when it was convenient. Like other Plains Indians, the Comanche were very hospitable. They prepared meals whenever a visitor arrived in camp, which led to outsiders' belief that the Comanches ate at all hours of the day or night. Many families offered thanks as they sat down to eat their meals.


title: Comanche

text: Comanche children ate pemmican, but this was primarily a tasty, high-energy food reserved for war parties. Carried in a parfleche pouch, pemmican was eaten only when the men did not have time to hunt. Similarly, in camp, people ate pemmican only when other food was scarce. Traders ate pemmican sliced and dipped in honey, which they called Indian bread.


title: Comanche

text: Comanche clothing was simple and easy to wear. Men wore a leather belt with a breechcloth — a long piece of buckskin brought up between the legs and looped over and under the belt at the front and back, and loose-fitting deerskin leggings. Moccasins had soles made from thick, tough buffalo hide with soft deerskin uppers. Men wore nothing on the upper body, except in winter when they wore heavy robes of buffalo hide (or occasionally, bear, wolf, or coyote skins) with knee-length buffalo-hide boots. Young boys usually went naked except in cold weather. By age 8 or 9, they wore adult clothing. In the 19th century, men had replaced the buckskin breechcloths by woven cloth, and wore loose-fitting buckskin shirts. Women wore long deerskin dresses with a flared skirt and wide, long sleeves, with buckskin fringes on the sleeves and hem. Beads and pieces of metal were attached in geometric patterns. Women wore buckskin moccasins with buffalo soles. Women decorated their shirts, leggings and moccasins with fringes of deer-skin, animal fur, and human hair. They also decorated their shirts and leggings with patterns and shapes of beads and scraps of material. In winter they, too, wore warm buffalo robes and tall, fur-lined buffalo-hide boots. Unlike boys, girls old enough to walk were dressed in breechcloths. By age 12 or 13, they wore women's clothing.


title: Comanche

text: Comanche people took pride in their hair, which was worn long. They arranged it with porcupine quill brushes, greased it and parted it in the center from the forehead to the back of the neck. They painted the scalp along the parting with yellow, red, or white clay (or other colors). They wore their hair in two long braids tied with leather thongs or colored cloth, and sometimes wrapped with beaver fur. They also braided a strand of hair from the top of their head. This slender braid, called a scalp lock, was decorated with colored scraps of cloth and beads, and a single feather. Comanche men rarely wore anything on their heads. Only after they moved onto a reservation late in the 19th century did men begin to wear the typical Plains headdress. In severe cold, they might wear a brimless, woolly buffalo hide hat. At war, some warriors wore a headdress of buffalo scalp. Warriors cut away most of the hide and flesh from a buffalo head, leaving only a portion of the woolly head and the horns. This type of hat was worn only by the Comanche. Women did not let their hair grow as long as the men did. Young women might wear their hair long and braided, but women parted their hair in the middle and kept it short. Like the men, they painted their scalp along the parting with bright paint.


title: Comanche

text: Comanche men usually had pierced ears with hanging earrings made of pieces of shell or loops of brass or silver wire. A female relative would pierce the outer edge of the ear with six or eight holes. The men also tattooed his face, arms, and chest with geometric designs, and painted his face and body. Traditionally they used paints made of berry juice and the colored clays of the Comancheria. Later, traders supplied them with vermilion (red pigment) and bright grease paints. Men wore bands of leather and strips of metal on their arms. Except for black, which was the color for war, there was no standard color or pattern for face and body painting: it was a matter of individual preference. For example, one man might paint one side of his face white and the other side red; another might paint one side of his body green and the other side with green and black stripes. One Comanche might always paint himself in a particular way, while another might change the colors and designs when so inclined. Some designs had special meaning to the individual, and special colors and designs might have been revealed in a dream. Women might also tattoo their face or arms. They were fond of painting their bodies and were free to do so as they pleased. It was popular for women to paint the insides of their ears a bright red and paint great orange and red circles on their cheeks. They usually painted red and yellow around their lips.


title: Comanche

text: Because of their frequent traveling, Comanche had to make sure that their household goods and other possessions were unbreakable. They did not use pottery that could easily be broken on long journeys. Weaving, wood carving, and metal working were unknown. Instead, they depended on buffalo for most of their tools, household goods, and weapons. They made nearly 200 different utilitarian items from the horns, hide, and bones.


title: Comanche

text: Removing the lining of the inner stomach, women made the paunch into a water bag. The lining was stretched over four sticks and filled with water to make a pot for cooking soups and stews. With wood scarce on the plains, women relied on buffalo chips (dried dung) as fuel for cooking and heat.


title: Comanche

text: Stiff rawhide was fashioned into saddles, stirrups and cinches, knife cases, buckets, and moccasin soles. Rawhide was also made into rattles and drums. Strips of rawhide were twisted into sturdy ropes. Scraped to resemble white parchment, rawhide skins were folded to make parfleches in which food, clothing, and other personal belongings were kept. Women also tanned hides to make soft and supple buckskin, which was used for tipi covers, warm robes, blankets, cloths, and moccasins. They used buckskin for bedding, cradles, dolls, bags, pouches, quivers, and gun cases.


title: Comanche

text: Sinew was used for bowstrings and sewing thread. Hooves were turned into glue and rattles. Horns were shaped into cups, spoons, and ladles, while the tail made a whip, fly-swatter, or a tipi decoration. Men made tools, scrapers, needles, pipes and children's toys from the bones. But men concentrated on making bows and arrows, lances, and shields. The thick neck skin of an old bull was ideal for war shields that deflected arrows as well as bullets. Since they spent most of each day on horseback, they also fashioned leather into saddles, stirrups, and other equipment for their mounts. Buffalo hair was used to fill saddle pads and was used in rope and halters.


title: Comanche

text: The language spoken by the Comanche people, "Comanche" ("Numu tekwapu"), is a Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan language group. It is closely related to the language of the Shoshone, from which the Comanche diverged around 1700. The two languages remain closely related, but a few low-level sound changes inhibit mutual intelligibility. The earliest records of Comanche from 1786 clearly show a dialect of Shoshone, but by the beginning of the 20th century, these sound changes had modified the way Comanche sounded in subtle, but profound, ways. Although efforts are now being made to ensure survival of the language, most of its speakers are elderly, and less than 1% of the Comanches can speak it.


title: Comanche

text: In the late 19th century, many Comanche children were placed in boarding schools with children from different tribes. The children were taught English and discouraged from speaking their native language. Anecdotally, enforcement of speaking English was severe.


title: Comanche

text: Quanah Parker learned and spoke English and was adamant that his own children do the same. The second generation then grew up speaking English, because it was believed that it was better for them not to know Comanche.


title: Comanche

text: Comanches were among the Native Americans who were first utilized as Code Talkers by the U.S. Army during World War I.


title: Comanche

text: During World War II, a group of 17 young men, referred to as "The Comanche Code Talkers", were trained and used by the U.S. Army to send messages conveying sensitive information that could not be deciphered by the Germans.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: Klinefelter syndrome (KS), also known as 47,XXY, is an aneuploid genetic condition where a male has an additional copy of the X chromosome. The primary features are infertility and small, poorly functioning testicles. Usually, symptoms are subtle and subjects do not realize they are affected. Sometimes, symptoms are more evident and may include weaker muscles, greater height, poor motor coordination, less body hair, breast growth, and less interest in sex. Often, these symptoms are noticed only at puberty. Intelligence is usually normal, but reading difficulties and problems with speech are more common.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: Klinefelter syndrome occurs randomly. The extra X chromosome comes from the father and mother nearly equally. An older mother may have a slightly increased risk of a child with KS. The syndrome is defined by the presence of at least one extra X chromosome in addition to a Y chromosome yielding a total of 47 or more chromosomes rather than the usual 46. KS is diagnosed by the genetic test known as a karyotype.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: While no cure is known, a number of treatments may help. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, counselling, and adjustments of teaching methods may be useful. Testosterone replacement may be used in those who have significantly lower levels. Enlarged breasts may be removed by surgery. About half of affected males have a chance of fathering children with the help of assisted reproductive technology, but this is expensive and not risk free. XXY males have a ~15-fold higher risk of developing breast cancer than typical, but still lower than that of females. People with the condition have a nearly normal life expectancy.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: Klinefelter syndrome is one of the most common chromosomal disorders, occurring in one to two per 1,000 live male births. It is named after American endocrinologist Harry Klinefelter, who identified the condition in the 1940s. In 1956, the extra X chromosome was identified as the cause. Mice can also have the XXY syndrome, making them a useful research model.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: The primary features are infertility and small, poorly functioning testicles. Often, symptoms may be subtle and many people do not realize they are affected. Sometimes, symptoms are more prominent and may include weaker muscles, greater height, poor coordination, less body hair, breast growth, and low libido. Often, these symptoms are noticed only at puberty.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: As babies and children, XXY males may have weaker muscles and reduced strength. As they grow older, they tend to become taller than average. They may have less muscle control and coordination than other boys of their age.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: During puberty, the physical traits of the syndrome become more evident; because these boys do not produce as much testosterone as other boys, they have a less muscular body, less facial and body hair, and broader hips. As teens, XXY males may develop breast tissue and also have weaker bones, and a lower energy level than other males.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: By adulthood, XXY males look similar to males without the condition, although they are often taller. In adults, possible characteristics vary widely and include little to no sign of affectedness, a lanky, youthful build and facial appearance, or a rounded body type with some degree of gynecomastia (increased breast tissue). Gynecomastia is present in about a third of affected individuals, a slightly higher percentage than in the XY population. About 10% of XXY males have gynecomastia noticeable enough that they may choose to have cosmetic surgery.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: Affected males are often infertile, or have reduced fertility. Advanced reproductive assistance is sometimes possible. An estimated 50% of males with Klinefelter syndrome can produce sperm.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: The term "hypogonadism" in XXY symptoms is often misinterpreted to mean "small testicles", when it instead means decreased testicular hormone/endocrine function. Because of (primary) hypogonadism, individuals often have a low serum testosterone level, but high serum follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone levels, hypergonadotropic hypogonadism. Despite this misunderstanding of the term, however, XXY men may also have microorchidism (i.e., small testicles).


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: The testicles of affected males are usually less than 2 cm in length (and always shorter than 3.5 cm), 1 cm in width, and 4 ml in volume.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: XXY males are more likely than other men to have certain health problems, such as autoimmune disorders, breast cancer, venous thromboembolic disease, and osteoporosis. In contrast to these potentially increased risks, rare X-linked recessive conditions are thought to occur less frequently in XXY males than in XY males, since these conditions are transmitted by genes on the X chromosome, and people with two X chromosomes are typically only carriers rather than affected by these X-linked recessive conditions.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: Some degree of language learning or reading impairment may be present, and neuropsychological testing often reveals deficits in executive functions, although these deficits can often be overcome through early intervention. Also, delays in motor development may occur, which can be addressed through occupational and physical therapies. XXY males may sit up, crawl, and walk later than other infants; they may also struggle in school, both academically and with sports. It is estimated that 10% of those with Klinefelter syndrome are autistic.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: Additional abnormalities may include impaired attention, reduced organizational and planning abilities, deficiencies in judgment (often presented as a tendency to interpret non-threatening stimuli as threatening), and dysfunctional decision processing.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: Compared to individuals with a normal number of chromosomes, males affected by Klinefelter's syndrome may display behavioral abnormalities. These are phenotypically displayed as higher level of anxiety and depression, and mood dysregulation. These neurocognitive abnormalities are most likely due to the presence of the extra X chromosome, as indicated by studies carried out on animal models carrying an extra X chromosome.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: Klinefelter syndrome is not an inherited condition. Maternal age is the only known risk factor. Women at 40 years have a four times higher risk for a child with Klinefelter syndrome than women aged 24 years.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: The extra chromosome is retained because of a nondisjunction event during paternal meiosis I, maternal meiosis I, or maternal meiosis II (gametogenesis). The relevant nondisjunction in meiosis I occurs when homologous chromosomes, in this case the X and Y or two X sex chromosomes, fail to separate, producing a sperm with an X and a Y chromosome or an egg with two X chromosomes. Fertilizing a normal (X) egg with this sperm produces an XXY offspring (Klinefelter). Fertilizing a double X egg with a normal sperm also produces an XXY offspring (Klinefelter).


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: Another mechanism for retaining the extra chromosome is through a nondisjunction event during meiosis II in the egg. Nondisjunction occurs when sister chromatids on the sex chromosome, in this case an X and an X, fail to separate. An XX egg is produced, which when fertilized with a Y sperm, yields an XXY offspring. This XXY chromosome arrangement is one of the most common genetic variations from the XY karyotype, occurring in about one in 500 live male births. See also Triple X syndrome.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: In mammals with more than one X chromosome, the genes on all but one X chromosome are not expressed; this is known as X inactivation. This happens in XXY males, as well as normal XX females. However, in XXY males, a few genes located in the pseudoautosomal regions of their X chromosomes have corresponding genes on their Y chromosome and are capable of being expressed.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: The condition 48,XXYY or 48,XXXY occurs in one in 18,000–50,000 male births. The incidence of 49,XXXXY is one in 85,000 to 100,000 male births. These variations are extremely rare. Additional chromosomal material can contribute to cardiac, neurological, orthopedic, and other anomalies.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: About 15–20% of males with KS may have a mosaic 47,XXY/46,XY constitutional karyotype and varying degrees of spermatogenic failure. Often, symptoms are milder in mosaic cases, with regular male secondary sex characteristics and testicular volume even falling within typical adult ranges. Another possible mosaicism is 47,XXY/46,XX with clinical features suggestive of KS and male phenotype, but this is very rare. Thus far, only about 10 cases of 47,XXY/46,XX have been described in literature.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: Analogous XXY syndromes are known to occur in cats—specifically, the presence of calico or tortoiseshell markings in male cats is an indicator of the relevant abnormal karyotype. As such, male cats with calico or tortoiseshell markings are a model organism for KS, because a color gene involved in cat tabby coloration is on the X chromosome.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: Women typically have two X chromosomes, with half of their X chromosomes switching off early in embryonic development. The same happens with people with Klinefelter's, including in both cases a small proportion of individuals with a skewed ratio between the two Xs.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: The standard diagnostic method is the analysis of the chromosomes' karyotype on lymphocytes. A small blood sample is sufficient as test material. In the past, the observation of the Barr body was common practice, as well. To investigate the presence of a possible mosaicism, analysis of the karyotype using cells from the oral mucosa is performed. Physical characteristics of a Klinefelter syndrome can be tall stature, low body hair, and occasionally an enlargement of the breast. Usually, a small testicle volume of 1–5 ml per testicle (standard values: 12–30 ml) occurs. During puberty and adulthood, low testosterone levels with increased levels of the pituitary hormones FSH and LH in the blood can indicate the presence of Klinefelter syndrome. A spermiogram can also be part of the further investigation. Often. an azoospermia is present, or rarely an oligospermia. Furthermore, Klinefelter syndrome can be diagnosed as a coincidental prenatal finding in the context of invasive prenatal diagnosis (amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling). About 10% of KS cases are found by prenatal diagnosis.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: The symptoms of KS are often variable, so a karyotype analysis should be ordered when small testes, infertility, gynecomastia, long arms/legs, developmental delay, speech/language deficits, learning disabilities/academic issues, and/or behavioral issues are present in an individual.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: As the genetic variation is irreversible, no causal therapy is available. From the onset of puberty, the existing testosterone deficiency can be compensated by appropriate hormone-replacement therapy. Testosterone preparations are available in the form of syringes, patches, or gel. If gynecomastia is present, the surgical removal of the breast may be considered for both the psychological reasons and to reduce the risk of breast cancer.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: The use of behavioral therapy can mitigate any language disorders, difficulties at school, and socialization. An approach by occupational therapy is useful in children, especially those who have dyspraxia.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: Methods of reproductive medicine, such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with previously conducted testicular sperm extraction (TESE), have led to men with Klinefelter syndrome producing biological offspring. By 2010, over 100 successful pregnancies have been reported using IVF technology with surgically removed sperm material from males with KS.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: The lifespan of individuals with Klinefelter syndrome appears to be reduced by around 2.1 years compared to the general male population. These results are still questioned data, are not absolute, and need further testing.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: This syndrome, evenly distributed in all ethnic groups, has a prevalence of approximately four subjects per every 10,000 (0.04%) males in the general population. However, it is estimated that only 25% of the individuals with Klinefelter syndrome are diagnosed throughout their lives. The rate of Klinefelter syndrome among infertile males is 3.1%. The syndrome is also the main cause of male hypogonadism.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: The syndrome was named after American endocrinologist Harry Klinefelter, who in 1942 worked with Fuller Albright and E. C. Reifenstein at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and first described it in the same year. The account given by Klinefelter came to be known as Klinefelter syndrome as his name appeared first on the published paper, and seminiferous tubule dysgenesis was no longer used. Considering the names of all three researchers, it is sometimes also called Klinefelter–Reifenstein–Albright syndrome. In 1956, Klinefelter syndrome was found to result from an extra chromosome. Plunkett and Barr found the sex chromatin body in cell nuclei of the body. This was further clarified as XXY in 1959 by Patricia Jacobs and John Anderson Strong. The first published report of a man with a 47,XXY karyotype was by Patricia Jacobs and John Strong at Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1959. This karyotype was found in a 24-year-old man who had signs of KS. Jacobs described her discovery of this first reported human or mammalian chromosome aneuploidy in her 1981 William Allan Memorial Award address.


title: Klinefelter syndrome

text: In August 2022, a team of scientists published a study of a skeleton found at Torre Velha, Municipality of Bragança in north-eastern Portugal. The male was buried in a cut grave around 1,000CE, and found from DNA tests to be the earliest known person with this syndrome.


title: Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations

text: The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states. Most of them were British colonies or dependencies of those colonies.


text: No one government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others, as is the case in a political union. Rather, the Commonwealth is an international organization in which countries with diverse social, political, and economic backgrounds are regarded as equal in status, and cooperate within a framework of common values and goals, as outlined in the Singapore Declaration issued in 1971. Such common values and goals include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, civil liberties, equality before the law, free trade, multilateralism, and world peace, which are promoted through multilateral projects and meetings, such as the Commonwealth Games, held once every four years.


text: The symbol of this free association is King Charles III, who serves as the Head of the Commonwealth. This position, however, does not imbue him with any political or executive power over any Commonwealth member states; the position is purely symbolic, and it is the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is the chief executive of the Commonwealth.


text: The Commonwealth was first officially formed in 1926 when the Balfour Declaration of the Imperial Conference recognised the full sovereignty of dominions. Known as the "British Commonwealth", the original and therefore earliest members were the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Irish Free State, and Newfoundland. It was re-stated by the 1930 conference and incorporated in the Statute of Westminster the following year (although Australia and New Zealand did not adopt the statute until 1942 and 1947 respectively). In 1949, the London Declaration marked the birth of the modern Commonwealth and the adoption of its present name. The members have a combined population of 2.4 billion, almost a third of the Earth's population, of whom 1.21 billion live in India, and 95% live in Asia and Africa combined. The most recent members to join were the Francophone African nations of Gabon and Togo on 29 June 2022, who along with Rwanda and Mozambique are unique in not having a historic constitutional relationship with the United Kingdom or other Commonwealth state.


text: Currently, fifteen of the member states are Commonwealth realms, with the Head of the Commonwealth as their heads of state, five others are monarchies with their own individual monarchs (Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia and Tonga), and the rest are republics. The Republic of Ireland (as of 1949 according to the Commonwealth; 1936 according to the Irish government) and Zimbabwe (2003) are former members of the Commonwealth.


text: All dates below are provided by the Commonwealth of Nations Secretariat members list, and population figures are as of 1 February 2020.


text: A. Unless otherwise noted, independence was gained from the United Kingdom on the date (shown in column 2) of joining the Commonwealth.


text: C. Though Pakistan celebrates 14 August 1947 as its independence day, independence was officially granted at midnight, 15 August 1947. Therefore, its date of joining the Commonwealth would be 15 August 1947.


text: E. Constitutional monarchy that operates under a Westminster system. The monarch is not the same individual as the British monarch, hence making it not a Commonwealth realm.


text: F. In geology, the Maltese Islands is located on the African Plate. The island group lies approx. 200 km south of the boundary between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. In political geography, Malta is considered a European country.


text: Other states which have expressed an interest in joining the Commonwealth over the years or states which may be eligible to join the Commonwealth include: Bahrain, Cambodia, Egypt, Libya, Nepal, and Yemen.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving Delhi, the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR). The airport, spread over an area of , is situated in Palam, Delhi, southwest of the New Delhi Railway Station and from New Delhi city centre. Named after Indira Gandhi (1917–1984), the former Prime Minister of India, it is the busiest airport of India in terms of passenger traffic since 2009. It is also the busiest airport in the country in terms of cargo traffic, overtaking Mumbai during late 2015. As of now, it is one of the world's busiest airports by passenger traffic. It is the second busiest airport in the world by seating capacity, having a seating capacity of 3,611,181 seats, and the busiest airport in Asia by passenger traffic handling nearly 37.14 million passengers in 2021.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: The airport was operated by the Indian Air Force before its management was transferred to the Airports Authority of India. In May 2006, the management of the airport was passed over to Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a consortium led by the GMR Group. In September 2008, the airport inaugurated a runway. With the commencement of operations at Terminal 3 in 2010, it became India's and South Asia's largest aviation hub. The Terminal 3 building has a capacity to handle 34 million passengers annually and was the world's 8th largest passenger terminal upon completion. The airport uses an advanced system called Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) to help keep takeoffs and landings timely and predictable.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: In 2010, IGIA was conferred the fourth best airport award in the world in the 15–25 million category, and "Most Improved Airport" in the Indo-Pacific Region by Airports Council International. The airport was rated as the "Best Airport in the world" in the 25–40 million passengers category in 2015, by Airports Council International. Delhi Airport was awarded "The Best Airport in Central Asia" and "Best Airport Staff in Central Asia" at the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2015. IGI also stood first in the new rankings for 2015 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards conducted by Airports Council International. The airport, along with Mumbai Airport was adjudged as the "World's Best Airport" at the Airport Service Quality Awards 2017, in the highest category of airports handling more than 40 million passengers annually. In the financial year of 2020, the airport handled 67.3 million passengers.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: The other airport serving NCR is the Hindon Airport, which is much smaller in size and primarily handles regional flights out of the city under the UDAN Scheme. The former airport, which used to be the primary airport of NCR, Safdarjung Airport is now used mainly by VVIP helicopters and small charter helicopters due to its short runway. To stimulate the increasing traffic, a second airport, Noida International Airport is being constructed to offset the load of Indira Gandhi International Airport. The airport was awarded the "best airport" in Asia-Pacific in 2020 (over 40 million passengers per annum) by the Airports Council International.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Safdarjung Airport was built in 1930 and was the main airport for Delhi until 1962. Due to increasing passenger traffic at Safdarjung, civilian operations were moved to Palam Airport (later renamed to IGIA) in 1962. Palam Airport had been built during World War II and after the British departed from India, it served as an Air Force Station for the Indian Air Force.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Palam Airport had a peak capacity of around 1,300 passengers per hour. In 1979–80, a total of 3 million domestic and international passengers flew into and out of Palam Airport. Owing to an increase in air traffic in the 70s and the 80's, an additional terminal with nearly four times the area of the old Palam terminal was constructed. With the inauguration of this new international terminal, Terminal 2, on 2 May 1986, the airport was renamed as Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: The old domestic airport (Palam) is known as Terminal 1 and was divided into separate buildings – 1A, 1B, and 1C. Blocks 1A and 1B were used to handle international operations while domestic operations took place in Block 1C. Today, Block 1A became a dedicated terminal for domestic Air India, which is now demolished. Block 1B was used as a departures terminal by all other domestic airlines, which is also demolished. Block 1C was turned into a domestic arrivals terminal, and the newly constructed domestic departures block 1D is now used by all domestic low-cost airlines (IndiGo, and SpiceJet). There is also a separate technical area for VIP passengers. The domestic arrivals terminal 1C was demolished and rebuilt into a brand new domestic arrivals terminal. For the expansion work, GoAir and select flights of IndiGo were moved to Terminal 2 as well as select flights of SpiceJet and IndiGo to Terminal 3.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: The Delhi Airport gained a nonstop flight to North America in October 2001, when an Airbus A340 belonging to Canada 3000 touched down from Toronto. Even though the 11 September attacks had precipitated a global decline in air travel, Canada 3000 proceeded with launching the route, hoping it would help improve the airline's financial position. The opening of Russian airspace after the Cold War allowed pilots to fly over the Arctic, thereby reducing the flight duration. Nevertheless, Canada 3000 collapsed just one month after the service began.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Significant growth in the Indian aviation industry led to a major increase in passenger traffic. The capacity of Terminal 1 was estimated to be 7.15 million passengers per annum (mppa). The actual throughput for 2005/06 was an estimated 10.4 million passengers. Including the closed down international terminal (Terminal 2), the airport had a total capacity of 12.5 million passengers per year, whereas the total passenger traffic in 2006/07 was 16.5 million passengers per year. In 2008, the total passenger count at the airport reached 23.97 million. To ease the traffic congestion on the existing terminals, a much larger Terminal 3 was constructed and inaugurated on 3 July 2010. The new terminal's construction took 37 months for completion and this terminal increased airport's total passenger capacity by 34 million. Apart from the three budget domestic airlines handled by Terminals 1 and 2, all other airlines operate their flights from Terminal 3. On 1 June 2022, Delhi International Airport becomes India's first to run entirely on Hydro Power and solar energy. On 16 December 2022, IGI Airport has installed 5 new x-ray machines at the security-check area, taking the total to 18 ATRS/x-ray machines.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: On 31 January 2006, the aviation minister Praful Patel announced that the empowered Group of Ministers have agreed to sell the management-rights of Delhi Airport to the DIAL consortium and the Mumbai Airport to the GVK Group. On 2 May 2006, the management of Delhi and Mumbai airports were handed over to the private consortia. Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) is a consortium of the GMR Group (54%), Fraport (10%) and Malaysia Airports (10%), and the Airports Authority of India retains a 26% stake.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Nine years later, in May 2015, Malaysia Airports chose to exit from DIAL venture and sold its entire 10% stake to majority shareholder GMR Infra for $79 million. Following this GMR Group's stake at DIAL increased to 64%. Earlier, GMR indicated that it was interested in buying out the 10% stake of Fraport.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Delhi Airport has three near-parallel runways: runway 11R/29L, with CAT IIIB instrument landing system (ILS) on both sides, runway 10/28, , and runway 09/27, . The 09/27 runway of the Delhi Airport was the airport's first-ever runway, the British constructed the 2,816 metre-long and 60 metre-wide runway in the pre-independence era and used it during World War II. In addition to Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow and Jaipur Airport in Jaipur, Delhi Airport is the only airport in India to have been equipped with the CAT III-B ILS, as of 2017. In the winter of 2005, there were a record number of disruptions at Delhi Airport due to fog/smog. Since then some domestic airlines have trained their pilots to operate under CAT-II conditions of a minimum visibility. On 31 March 2006, IGI became the first Indian airport to operate two runways simultaneously following a test run involving a SpiceJet plane landing on runway 28 and a Jet Airways plane taking off from runway 27 at the same time.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: The initially proposed mode involving simultaneous takeoffs in westerly flow to increase handling traffic capacity caused several near misses over the west side of the airport where the centrelines of runways 10/28 and 9/27 intersect. The runway use was changed to segregate dependent mode on 25 December 2007, which was a few days after the deciding near miss involving an Airbus A330-200 of Qatar Airways and an IndiGo A320 aircraft. The new method involved the use of runway 28 for all departures and runway 27 for all arrivals. This more streamlined model was adopted during day hours (– 2300 0600 – 2300 IST) until 24 September 2008.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: On 21 August 2008, the airport inaugurated its third runway, 11R/29L, costing 10 billion and long. The runway has one of the world's longest paved threshold displacements of . This, in turn decreases the available landing length on runway 29L to . The purpose of this large threshold displacement is to reduce noise generated by landing aircraft over nearby localities. The runway increases the airport's capacity to handle up to 100 flights from the previous 45–60 flights per hour. The new runway was opened for commercial operations on 25 September 2008 and gradually began full round-the-clock operations by the end of October the same year.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Since 2012, all three runways are operated simultaneously to handle traffic during day hours. Only runways 11R/29L and 10/28 are operated during night (2300–0600 IST) hours with single runway landing restriction during westerly traffic flow that is rotated late night (0300 IST) and reversed weekly to distribute and mitigate night time landing noise over nearby residential areas.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: To cater for the demand of increasing air traffic, the master plan for the construction of a fourth parallel runway next to the existing runway 11R/29L has been cleared. It is expected to be completed by early 2023.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: IGI Airport serves as a major hub or a focus destination for several Indian carriers including Air India, Air India Regional, IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, and Vistara. Approximately 80 airlines serve this airport. At present, there are three actively scheduled passenger terminals, as well as a cargo terminal.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Recently, Delhi Airport operator DIAL has introduced an e-boarding facility for passengers at all the three terminals of the airport, by which all boarding gates will have contactless e-boarding gates with boarding card scanners, which will allow passengers to flash their physical or e-boarding cards to verify flight details in order to proceed for security checks.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Terminal 3 is an integrated terminal used for both international and domestic flights. The Indian carriers operating international flights are Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, and Vistara.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: As far as domestic operations are concerned, Terminal 3 is used by Air India, AirAsia India, Vistara, and select flights of SpiceJet and IndiGo.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Terminal 1 is currently used by the low cost domestic carriers, such as SpiceJet and IndiGo. In 2022, Terminal 1D was fully expanded with an arrivals hall, with the goal of enhancing its annual passenger handling capacity from the previous 18 million to 30 million. The domestic arrivals Terminal 1C was shut down, leaving 1D as the only operating terminal.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Terminal 1A was built in the late 1980s to cater to Indian Airlines (now absorbed into Air India). It had to be refurbished after a fire gutted the interiors and DIAL significantly upgraded the terminal. It was used by Air India for its Airbus operations until it shifted to the new Terminal 3 on 11 November 2010. This terminal is now closed and is expected to be torn down on the completion of newer terminals.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Terminal 1B was also built in the late 1980s and was used only for domestic departures. Upon the opening of the new domestic departures Terminal 1D in 2009, Terminal 1B got closed and is also expected to be torn down on the completion of newer terminals.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Terminal 1C was also built in the late 1980s and was used only for domestic arrivals. The terminal has been upgraded with a newly expanded greeting area and a larger luggage reclaim area with eight belts. Terminal 1C was shut down, torn, and rebuilt into a brand new domestic arrivals hall on 24 February 2022.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Terminal 1D is the newly built domestic departures terminal with a total floor space of and has a capacity to handle 15 million passengers per year. Terminal 1D commenced operations on 19 April 2009. It has 72 Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) enabled check-in counters, 16 self check-in counters, and 16 security channels.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Terminal 2 was opened on 1 May 1986, at a cost of 95 crores and was used for international flights until July 2010 when operations shifted to Terminal 3. After this, the terminal remained operational for only three months per year catering to Hajj flights. In 2017, after revamping Terminal 2 at a cost of 100 crores, DIAL shifted all operations of GoAir and select operations of IndiGo to that terminal in order to continue expansion work of Terminal 1.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Designed by HOK working in consultation with Mott MacDonald, the new Terminal 3 is a two-tier building spread over an area of 124 acres, with the lower floor being the arrivals area, and the upper floor being a departures area. This terminal has 168 check-in counters, 78 aerobridges at 48 contact stands, 54 parking bays, 95 immigration counters, 18 X-ray screening areas, shorter waiting times, duty-free shops, and other features. This new terminal was timed to be completed for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which was held in Delhi and is connected to Delhi by an eight-lane Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and the Delhi Metro. The terminal was officially inaugurated on 3 July 2010. All international airlines shifted their operations to the new terminal in late July 2010 and all full service domestic carriers in November 2010. The arrival area is equipped with 14 baggage carousels. Terminal 3 has India's first automated parking management and guidance system in a multi level car park, which comprises seven levels and a capacity of 4,300 cars. Terminal 3 forms the first phase of the airport expansion which tentatively includes the construction of additional passenger & cargo terminals (Terminal 4, 5, and 6).


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Domestic full-service airlines operate from Terminal 3 including Air India, the national carrier. The Tata & Singapore Airlines airline joint-venture Vistara also operates from Terminal 3. AirAsia India, although a low cost airline, also operates its domestic flights from this terminal. Some flights of SpiceJet and IndiGo were also shifted to Terminal 3 for the expansion of Terminal 1.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: India's first general aviation terminal was commissioned in this airport in September 2020. The terminal caters to support the movement and processing of passengers flying through chartered flights or private jets from the airport.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: The air cargo complex is located at a distance of from Terminal 3. It consists of separate brownfield and greenfield cargo terminals. The cargo operations at the brownfield terminal are managed by Celebi Delhi Cargo Management India Pvt. Ltd., which is a joint venture between Delhi International Airport Private Ltd (DIAL) and the Turkish company Celebi Ground Handling (CGH). CGH was awarded the contract to develop, modernise, and finance the existing cargo terminal and to operate the terminal for a period of twenty-five years by DIAL in November 2009. It started its operations in June 2010. In addition to the existing terminal, a new greenfield terminal is being developed in phases by Delhi Cargo Service Centre (DCSC), also a joint venture between DIAL and Cargo Service Center (CSC). The greenfield cargo terminal project consists of two terminals built over a plot of 48,000 square metres and 28,500 square metres, respectively. Phase 1A of the project has been completed and is fully operational. Once the entire project is completed, these two new terminals will have an annual handling capacity of 1.25 million tonnes. The cargo operations of the airport received "e-Asia 2007" award in 2007 for "Implementation of e-Commerce / Electronic Data Interchange in Air Cargo Sector".


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: The nearest railway station is the Palam railway station, located and from Terminals 1 and 3 respectively. Several passenger trains run regularly between these stations. Shahabad Mohammadpur railway station is equally close.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Terminals 2 and 3 of the airport are served by the IGI Airport metro station on Airport Express (Orange Line) of Delhi Metro. The line runs from Dwarka Sector 21 to the New Delhi metro station with trains running every 10 minutes. Terminal 1 is served by the Terminal 1-IGI Airport metro station on the Magenta Line.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: The airport is connected by the 8-lane Delhi–Gurgaon Expressway, the busiest inter-city route in India. Air conditioned low-floor buses operated by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) regularly run between the airport and the city. Metered taxis are also available from Terminals 1 and 3 to all areas of Delhi.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: The newer domestic arrivals and departures terminals 1C and 1D, respectively, will be connected and expanded into a singular domestic terminal which will be known as simply, Terminal 1.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: Terminals 4, 5, and 6 will be built at a later stage, which will be triggered by growth in traffic. Once completed, all international flights will move to these three new terminals. Terminal 3 will then be solely used for handling domestic air traffic. A new cargo handling building is also planned. According to Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), these new terminals will increase the airport's annual passenger volume capacity to 100 million.


title: Indira Gandhi International Airport

text: DIAL submitted a plan in 2016 to the then aviation secretary R N Choubey regarding the expansion of the airport with a new fourth runway and Terminal 4 in a phased manner. The Master Plan of Airport in 2016 was then reviewed and updated by DIAL in consultation with the Airports Authority of India. The terminal construction will start after the fourth runway is completed and Terminal 1 is expanded.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: Flowers for Algernon is a short story by American author Daniel Keyes, later expanded by him into a novel and subsequently adapted for film and other media. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction", won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960. The novel was published in 1966 and was joint winner of that year's Nebula Award for Best Novel (with "Babel-17").


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: Algernon is a laboratory mouse who has undergone surgery to increase his intelligence. The story is told by a series of progress reports written by Charlie Gordon, the first human subject for the surgery, and it touches on ethical and moral themes such as the treatment of the mentally disabled.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: Although the book has often been challenged for removal from libraries in the United States and Canada, sometimes successfully, it is frequently taught in schools around the world and has been adapted many times for television, theater, radio and as the Academy Award-winning film "Charly".


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: The ideas for "Flowers for Algernon" developed over 14 years and were inspired by events in Keyes's life, starting in 1945 with Keyes's conflict with his parents, who were pushing him through a pre-medical education despite his desire to pursue a writing career. Keyes felt that his education was driving a wedge between himself and his parents, and this led him to wonder what would happen if it were possible to increase a person's intelligence.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: A pivotal moment occurred in 1957 while Keyes was teaching English to students with special needs, and one of them asked if it would be possible for the student to be put into an ordinary class (mainstreamed) if he worked hard and became smart. Keyes also witnessed the dramatic change in another learning-disabled student who regressed after he was removed from regular lessons. Keyes said that "When he came back to school, he had lost it all. He could not read. He reverted to what he had been. It was a heart-breaker."


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: Characters in the book were based on people in Keyes's life. The character of Algernon was inspired by a university dissection class, and the name was inspired by the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne. Nemur and Strauss, the scientists who develop the intelligence-enhancing surgery in the story, were based on professors Keyes met while studying psychoanalysis in graduate school.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: In 1958, Keyes was approached by "Galaxy Science Fiction" magazine to write a story, at which point the elements of "Flowers for Algernon" fell into place. When the story was submitted to "Galaxy", however, editor Horace Gold suggested changing the ending so that Charlie retained his intelligence, married Alice Kinnian, and lived happily ever after. Keyes refused to make the change and sold the story to "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction" instead.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: Keyes worked on the expanded novel between 1962 and 1965 and first tried to sell it to Doubleday, but they also wanted to change the ending. Again, Keyes refused and gave Doubleday back their advance. Five publishers rejected the story over the course of a year until it was published by Harcourt in 1966.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: The short story "Flowers for Algernon" was first published as the lead story in the April 1959 issue of "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction". It was later reprinted in "The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, 9th series" (1960), the "Fifth Annual of the Year's Best Science Fiction" (1960), "Best Articles and Stories" (1961), "Literary Cavalcade" (1961), "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964" (1970), and "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction: A 30-Year Retrospective" (1980).


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: The expanded novel was first published in 1966 by Harcourt Brace with the Bantam paperback following in 1968. the novel had not been out of print since its publication. By 2004, it had been translated into 27 languages, published in 30 countries and sold more than 5 million copies.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: The short story and the novel share many similar plot points, but the novel expands significantly on Charlie's developing emotional state as well as his intelligence, his memories of childhood, and the relationship with his family. Both are presented as a series of journal entries ("progress reports") written by the protagonist, Charlie Gordon. The style, grammar, spelling, and punctuation of these reports reflect changes in his mental and emotional growth.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: Charlie is a man with an IQ of 68 who works a menial job as a janitor at a plastics factory. He is selected to undergo an experimental surgical technique to increase his intelligence. The technique had already been tested on a number of animals; the great success was with Algernon, a laboratory mouse. The surgery on Charlie is also a success, and his IQ triples.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: He realizes his co-workers at the factory, whom he thought were his friends, only liked having him around so they could tease him. His new intelligence frightens his co-workers, and they start a petition to have him fired. As Charlie's intelligence peaks, Algernon's suddenly declines—he loses his increased intelligence and mental age, and dies afterward, buried in the back yard of Charlie's home. Charlie realizes his intelligence increase is also temporary. He begins researching to find the flaw in the experiment, which he calls the "Algernon–Gordon Effect". When he finishes his work, his intelligence regresses to its original state. Charlie is aware of, and pained by, what is happening to him as he loses his knowledge and his ability to read and write. He resumes his old job as a janitor at the factory and tries to go back to how things used to be, but he cannot stand the pity from his co-workers, his landlady, and Ms. Kinnian. Charlie states he plans to "go away" from New York. His last wish is for someone to put flowers on Algernon's grave.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: Charlie Gordon, 32 years old, demonstrates an IQ of 68. His uncle has arranged for him to hold a menial job at a bakery so that he will not have to live at the Warren State Home and Training School, a state institution. Desiring to improve himself, Charlie attends reading and writing classes, taught by Miss Alice Kinnian, at the Beekman College Center for Retarded Adults. Two researchers at Beekman, Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss, are looking for a human test subject on whom to try a new surgical technique intended to increase intelligence. They have already performed the surgery on a mouse named Algernon, resulting in a dramatic improvement in his mental performance. Based on Alice's recommendation and his motivation to improve, Nemur and Strauss choose Charlie over smarter pupils to undergo the procedure.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: The operation is successful, and within the next three months Charlie's IQ reaches 185. At the same time, he begins recalling his childhood and remembers that his mother Rose physically abused him and wasted money on fake treatments for his disability, while his younger sister Norma resented him. As Charlie's intelligence, education, and understanding of the world increase, his relationships with people deteriorate. His co-workers at the bakery, who used to amuse themselves at his expense, now fear and resent his increased intelligence and persuade his boss to fire him. Alice enters a relationship with Charlie but breaks up with him after she realizes she can no longer relate to him and claims his intelligence has changed his personality. Later, Charlie loses trust in Strauss and, particularly, Nemur, believing that they considered him a laboratory subject and not human before the operation. While at a scientific convention in Chicago, Charlie feels humiliated when he is treated like an experiment and, in retaliation, flees with Algernon.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: After moving to Manhattan with Algernon, Charlie becomes involved in a relationship with Fay Lillman, his neighbor, to sate his loneliness. After an incident with a disabled busboy, Charlie becomes inspired to continue and improve Nemur and Strauss's experiment and applies for a grant. However, he notices Algernon is beginning to behave erratically. Throughout his research, he discovers a flaw behind Nemur and Strauss's procedure indicating that he will lose his intelligence and, possibly, regress back to a primitive state. While still holding onto his intelligence, Charlie publishes his findings as the "Algernon–Gordon effect", as Algernon dies.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: As Charlie begins to regress to his former mental state, he finds closure with his family. Rose, who still lives in the family's old home in Brooklyn, has developed dementia and recognizes him only briefly; his father Matt, who broke off contact with the family years earlier, does not recognize him at all. He is only able to reconnect with Norma, who is now caring for Rose in their newly depressed neighborhood, but declines to stay with them. Charlie begins dating Alice again, but his frustration with losing intelligence eventually causes him to end his relationships with her and Dr. Strauss. Unable to bear the thought of being dependent and pitied by his friends and co-workers, he decides to live at the Warren State Home and Training School, where no one knows about the operation. In a final postscript to his writings, he requests that someone put flowers on Algernon's grave in the backyard of Charlie's former residence.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: Both the novel and the short story are written in an epistolary style collecting together Charlie's personal "progress reports" from a few days before the operation until his final regression. Initially, the reports are filled with spelling errors and awkwardly constructed sentences. Following the operation, however, the reports begin to show marked improvements in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and diction, indicating a rise in his intelligence. Charlie's regression is conveyed by the loss of these skills.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: Important themes in "Flowers for Algernon" include the treatment of the mentally disabled, the impact on happiness of the conflict between intellect and emotion, and how events in the past can influence a person later in life. "Algernon" is an example of a story that incorporates the science-fiction theme of uplift.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: Algis Budrys of "Galaxy Science Fiction" praised "Flowers for Algernon"s realistic depiction of people as "rounded characters". Stating in August 1966 that Keyes had published little fiction and whether he would publish more was unknown, he concluded "If this is a beginning, then what a beginning it is, and if it is the high point in a very short career, then what a career". In February 1967 Budrys named the book the best novel of the year.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: The original short story won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960. The expanded novel was joint winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966, tied with "Babel-17" by Samuel R. Delany, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1967, losing out to "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert A. Heinlein.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: In the late 1960s, the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) decided to give Nebula Awards retroactively and voted for their favourite science fiction stories of the era ending December 31, 1964 (before the Nebula Award was conceived). The short story version of "Flowers for Algernon" was voted third out of 132 nominees and was published in "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964" in 1970. Keyes was elected the SFWA Author Emeritus in 2000 for making a significant contribution to science fiction and fantasy, primarily as a result of "Flowers for Algernon".


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: "Flowers for Algernon" is on the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–1999 at number 43. The reasons for the challenges vary, but usually center on those parts of the novel in which Charlie struggles to understand and express his sexual desires. Many of the challenges have proved unsuccessful, but the book has occasionally been removed from school libraries, including some in Pennsylvania and Texas.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: In January 1970, the school board of Cranbrook, British Columbia, as well as Calgary, Alberta, removed the "Flowers for Algernon" novel from the local age 14–15 curriculum and the school library, after a parent complained that it was "filthy and immoral". The president of the British Columbia Teachers' Federation criticised the action. "Flowers for Algernon" was part of the British Columbia Department of Education list of approved books for grade nine and was recommended by the British Columbia Secondary Association of Teachers of English. A month later, the board reconsidered and returned the book to the library; they did not, however, lift its ban from the curriculum.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: "Flowers for Algernon" has been the inspiration for works that include the album "A Curious Feeling" by Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks. It also inspired the 2006 modern dance work "Holeulone" by Karine Pontiès, which won the Prix de la Critique de la Communauté française de Belgique for best dance piece. A 2001 episode of the TV series "The Simpsons" titled "HOMR" has a plot similar to the novel. A 2013 episode of the TV series "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" titled "Flowers for Charlie" is heavily based on the novel.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: The name Algernon inspired the author Iain Cameron Williams to create his poetic work "The Empirical Observations of Algernon" after Williams's father had nicknamed him Algernon as a teenager (taken from "Flowers for Algernon") due to his son's highly inquisitive nature.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: As a novel, "Flowers for Algernon" was ahead of its time and explores themes that remain relevant to this day. Critic Mike Ryder describes is as "a complex and deeply moving novel that actively engages with biopolitical concepts and amorphous subjectivities, blending the human, the animal and the machine", linking the novel with the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Giorgio Agamben.


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: "Flowers for Algernon" has been adapted many times for different media including stage, screen, and radio. These adaptations include:


title: Flowers for Algernon

text: Further stage and radio adaptations have been produced in France (1982), Ireland (1983), Australia (1984), Poland (1985), Japan (1987, 1990), and Czechoslovakia (1988).


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: Jason Mantzoukas (, ; born December 18, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer and podcaster. He is best known for his recurring role as Rafi in the FX comedy series "The League", and as one of the three co-hosts of the podcast "How Did This Get Made?" alongside Paul Scheer and June Diane Raphael.


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: After beginning his career as an improv comedian, he has played several comedic roles in film and television. He appeared in the films "The Dictator", "The Long Dumb Road", "Sleeping with Other People", "They Came Together", "Conception", and "". He has had recurring roles on three TV series created by Michael Schur: "Parks and Recreation" (as Dennis Feinstein), "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (as Adrian Pimento), and "The Good Place" (as Derek Hofstetler). He voices the characters Jay Bilzerian in the Netflix animated series "Big Mouth", Alex Dorpenberger in the HBO Max animated series "Close Enough", Rex Splode in the Amazon Prime animated action series "Invincible", and Jankom Pog in the Paramount+ animated series "".


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: Mantzoukas was born in Nahant, Massachusetts, and is the eldest child of Cynthia (née Mourousas) and William Mantzoukas, second-generation Greek-Americans. He has one younger sister, Melissa. He has described himself as "100 percent Greek."


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: Mantzoukas began taking drum lessons at age 10 and studied under Steve Barrett for over 8 years. In interviews, he has cited Stewart Copeland, Stephen Perkins from Jane's Addiction, and Jimmy Chamberlin from The Smashing Pumpkins as his biggest influences as a young musician. He participated in jazz and marching bands in high school, as well as playing in a cover band called Slygoul. He continued with jazz drumming in college and also played for a bebop group.


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: Mantzoukas attended Swampscott High School, graduating in 1991. While attending, he was named captain of Swampscott's boys' soccer and track teams and was also president of the marching band. He then attended Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, where he majored in religion. He attempted to defend a "terribly written" honors thesis on religious iconography (which he admits to starting a week prior to his defense date) but was not given credit to graduate with honors.


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: After graduating college in 1995, Mantzoukas was granted a Watson Fellowship and traveled throughout North Africa and the Middle East studying religious and transcendental music for nearly two years. He has admitted to having a "horrible [grant proposal] but was charming in the room; so [he earned the grant]." At the time he left for Morocco for the Watson Fellowship, he had already had six auditions and callbacks for the Blue Man Group, but he ultimately decided to travel before the audition process was complete. He lived in Morocco for about 7½ months while studying and recording Gnawa music. While abroad, he also traveled to Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Jordan, and Syria. During his time abroad, he was arrested numerous times, once in Morocco for having an expired tourist visa and again in Turkey to prevent him from traveling through an active war zone.


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: Mantzoukas first began writing comedy sketches during his junior and senior years of high school for variety shows. He began performing short-form improvisational comedy (improv) as a part of the Otter Nonsense Players at Middlebury College and quickly became "obsessed" with improv as it used the same skill set as performing jazz. While performing with the Otters, Mantzoukas met and began learning and practicing long-form improv with fellow performers, Jessica St. Clair, Dan O'Brien, and Rodney Rothman.


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: Soon after moving to New York City in 1998, he began performing comedy regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCB) and was taught by Amy Poehler. He was a member of the improv team "Mother," one of the UCB's earliest house teams. During his time at UCB, Mantzoukas worked in the computer graphics department at J.P. Morgan for over three years to "make ends meet."


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: Mantzoukas and comedian Ed Herbstman performed as the comedy duo, "The Mantzoukas Brothers," for a number of years and were named the "Best Improv Duo" by "Time Out New York" magazine in 2006. Mantzoukas continued to write and perform as a duo with Jessica St. Clair appearing in the sketch show, "We Used to Go Out" and long-form improv show, "First Date." Together, he and St. Clair pitched a pilot to HBO (which was ultimately not picked up) and also earned a deal with Comedy Central. The two were often compared to the likes of Nichols and May and continue to collaborate and perform on the podcast, "Womp It Up!". Mantzoukas would later go on to teach advanced improv classes at UCB.


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: Mantzoukas has appeared in movies such as "Baby Mama", "I Hate Valentine's Day", "The Dictator", and "," and starred in "The Long Dumb Road". Mantzoukas has a main role in the Paramount+ comedy series No Activity, and has had recurring roles on "The League" as Rafi, "Enlightened", "Kroll Show," "Parks and Recreation, Comedy Bang! Bang!," "Transparent", "Brooklyn Nine-Nine, I'm Sorry, and" "The Good Place".


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: Mantzoukas has done extensive voice acting work, including main roles on the animated series "Big Mouth", "Close Enough", "HouseBroken", and "". In 2018, he replaced T.J. Miller as the voice of Mr. Mucus for the Mucinex commercials.


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: He was recently cast as Dionysus/Mr. D in the Disney+ adaptation of the famous book series "Percy Jackson and the Olympians".


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: In 2008, NBC ordered a pilot for a comedy series written by Mantzoukas called "Off Duty". The pilot was filmed in New York starring Bradley Whitford and Romany Malco but the series was not picked up. In interviews in 2014, Mantzoukas announced that he was working on a "loosely autobiographical" television show for Showtime about life after ending a long-term relationship.


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: Mantzoukas earned credit for writing the screenplay draft of the buddy cop comedy "Ride Along", starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. He originally was asked to write for Andy Samberg as one of the leads, but the rights to the film were ultimately purchased by Universal Studios who later cast Hart in the role originally intended for Samberg. He has also served as a consulting writer and producer on "Childrens Hospital" and "Portlandia".


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: He currently co-hosts the podcast "How Did This Get Made?" with Paul Scheer and June Diane Raphael. Mantzoukas also regularly makes appearances on "Comedy Bang! Bang!," "Womp It Up!, and Reply All".


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: Mantzoukas was born with an egg allergy and experiences anaphylaxis if ingested. He has cited this allergy as the cause of his hypochondriac tendencies.


title: Jason Mantzoukas

text: In addition to hosting "How Did This Get Made?", Mantzoukas also has been a guest on a number of podcasts.


title: York

text: York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a minster, castle, and city walls. It is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of the wider City of York district.


title: York

text: The city was founded under the name of Eboracum in 71 AD. It then became the capital of the Roman province of Britannia Inferior, and later of the kingdoms of Deira, Northumbria, and Jórvík. In the Middle Ages, it became the northern England ecclesiastical province's centre, and grew as a wool-trading centre. In the 19th century, it became a major railway network hub and confectionery manufacturing centre. During the Second World War, part of the Baedeker Blitz bombed the city; it was less affected by the war than other northern cities, with several historic buildings being gutted and restored up to the 1960s.


title: York

text: The city is one of 15 in England to have a lord mayor, and one of two to have "The Right Honourable" title affixed, the other being London's. Historic governance of the city was as a county corporate, not included in the county's riding system. The city has since been covered by a municipal borough, county borough, then a non-metropolitan district. Surrounding villages and rural areas, including Haxby, are included in the current district; this district's local council is responsible for providing all local services and facilities throughout this area. The city had a population of 153,717 in the 2011 census; the wider district had a population of , making it the most populous in England. According to 2021 census data, York has population of 202,800 that is a 2.4% increase compared to 2011 census.


title: York

text: The name "York" () is derived from the Brittonic name (Latinised as or ), a combination of eburos "yew tree" (compare Old Irish , Irish , , and , and Scottish Gaelic ; compare also Welsh and Breton , both meaning "alder buckthorn") and a suffix of appurtenance *-āko(n), meaning "belonging to,” or “place of" (compare Welsh ). Put together, these old words meant "place of the yew trees". (In Welsh, ; in Old Irish, ; in Irish Gaelic, ; and in Scottish Gaelic, ). The city is called in Irish and in Scottish Gaelic—names derived from the Latin word . A proposed alternative meaning is "the settlement of (a man named) ," a Celtic personal name spelled variously in different documents as , and : when combined with the Celtic possessive suffix , the word could be used to denote the property of a man with this name.


title: York

text: The name became the Anglian in the 7th century: a compound of , from the old name, and , meaning “village,” probably by conflation of the element with a Germanic root ('boar'); by the 7th century, the Old English for 'boar' had become . When the Danish army conquered the city in 866, it was renamed .


title: York

text: The Old French and Norman name of the city following the Norman Conquest was recorded as (modern Norman ) in works such as Wace's "Roman de Rou". , meanwhile, gradually reduced to "York" in the centuries after the Conquest, moving from the Middle English in the 14th century through in the 16th century to "Yarke" in the 17th century. The form "York" was first recorded in the 13th century. Many company and place names, such as the Ebor race meeting, refer to the Latinised Brittonic, Roman name.


title: York

text: The 12th‑century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his fictional account of the prehistoric kings of Britain, , suggests the name derives from that of a pre-Roman city founded by the legendary king Ebraucus.


title: York

text: Archaeological evidence suggests that Mesolithic people settled in the region of York between 8000 and 7000 BC, although it is not known whether their settlements were permanent or temporary. By the time of the Roman conquest of Britain, the area was occupied by a tribe known to the Romans as the Brigantes. The Brigantian tribal area initially became a Roman client state, but later its leaders became more hostile and the Roman Ninth Legion was sent north of the Humber into Brigantian territory.


title: York

text: The city was founded in 71 AD, when the Ninth Legion conquered the Brigantes and constructed a wooden military fortress on flat ground above the River Ouse close to its confluence with the River Foss. The fortress, whose walls were rebuilt in stone by the VI legion based there subsequent to the IX legion, covered an area of and was inhabited by 6,000 legionary soldiers. The site of the "principia" (HQ) of the fortress lies under the foundations of York Minster, and excavations in the undercroft have revealed part of the Roman structure and columns.


title: York

text: The Emperors Hadrian, Septimius Severus, and Constantius I all held court in York during their various campaigns. During his stay 207–211 AD, the Emperor Severus proclaimed York capital of the province of Britannia Inferior, and it is likely that it was he who granted York the privileges of a 'colonia' or city. Constantius I died in 306 AD during his stay in York, and his son Constantine the Great was proclaimed Emperor by the troops based in the fortress. In 314 AD a bishop from York attended the Council at Arles to represent Christians from the province.


title: York

text: While the Roman "colonia" and fortress were on high ground, by 400 AD the town was victim to occasional flooding from the Rivers Ouse and Foss, and the population reduced. York declined in the post-Roman era, and was taken and settled by the Angles in the 5th century.


title: York

text: Reclamation of parts of the town was initiated in the 7th century under King Edwin of Northumbria, and York became his chief city. The first wooden minster church was built in York for the baptism of Edwin in 627, according to the Venerable Bede. Edwin ordered the small wooden church be rebuilt in stone; however, he was killed in 633, and the task of completing the stone minster fell to his successor Oswald. In the following century, Alcuin of York came to the cathedral school of York. He had a long career as a teacher and scholar, first at the school at York now known as St Peter's School, founded in 627 AD, and later as Charlemagne's leading advisor on ecclesiastical and educational affairs.


title: York

text: In 866, Northumbria was in the midst of internecine struggles when the Vikings raided and captured York. As a thriving Anglo-Saxon metropolis and prosperous economic hub, York was a clear target for the Vikings. Led by Ivar the Boneless and Halfdan, Scandinavian forces attacked the town on All Saints' Day. Launching the assault on a holy day proved an effective tactical move – most of York's leaders were in the cathedral, leaving the town vulnerable to attack and unprepared for battle.


title: York

text: After it was conquered, the city was renamed from the Saxon Eoforwic to Jorvik. It became the capital of Viking territory in Britain, and at its peak boasted more than 10,000 inhabitants. This was a population second only to London within Great Britain. Jorvik proved an important economic and trade centre for the Vikings. Norse coinage was created at the Jorvik mint, while archaeologists have found evidence of a variety of craft workshops around the town's central Coppergate area. These demonstrate that textile production, metalwork, carving, glasswork and jewellery-making were all practised in Jorvik. Materials from as far afield as the Persian Gulf have also been discovered, suggesting that the town was part of an international trading network. Under Viking rule the city became a major river port, part of the extensive Viking trading routes throughout northern Europe.


title: York

text: The last ruler of an independent Jórvík, Eric Bloodaxe, was driven from the city in 954 AD by King Eadred in his successful attempt to complete the unification of England.


title: York

text: In 1068, two years after the Norman conquest of England, the people of York rebelled. Initially they succeeded, but upon the arrival of William the Conqueror the rebellion was put down. William at once built a wooden fortress on a motte. In 1069, after another rebellion, the king built another timbered castle across the River Ouse. These were destroyed in 1069 and rebuilt by William about the time of his ravaging Northumbria in what is called the "Harrying of the North" where he destroyed everything from York to Durham. The remains of the rebuilt castles, now in stone, are visible on either side of the River Ouse.


title: York

text: The first stone minster church was badly damaged by fire in the uprising, and the Normans built a minster on a new site. Around the year 1080, Archbishop Thomas started building the cathedral that in time became the current Minster.


title: York

text: In the 12th century York started to prosper. In 1190, York Castle was the site of an infamous massacre of its Jewish inhabitants, in which at least 150 were murdered, although some authorities put the figure as high as 500.


title: York

text: The city, through its location on the River Ouse and its proximity to the Great North Road, became a major trading centre. King John granted the city's first charter in 1212, confirming trading rights in England and Europe. During the later Middle Ages, York merchants imported wine from France, cloth, wax, canvas, and oats from the Low Countries, timber and furs from the Baltic and exported grain to Gascony and grain and wool to the Low Countries.


title: York

text: York became a major cloth manufacturing and trading centre. Edward I further stimulated the city's economy by using the city as a base for his war in Scotland. The city was the location of significant unrest during the so-called Peasants' Revolt in 1381. The city acquired an increasing degree of autonomy from central government including the privileges granted by a charter of Richard II in 1396.


title: York

text: The city underwent a period of economic decline during Tudor times. Under King Henry VIII, the Dissolution of the Monasteries saw the end of York's many monastic houses, including several orders of friars, the hospitals of St Nicholas and of St Leonard, the largest such institution in the north of England. This led to the Pilgrimage of Grace, an uprising of northern Catholics in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire opposed to religious reform. Henry VIII restored his authority by establishing the Council of the North in York in the dissolved St Mary's Abbey. The city became a trading and service centre during this period.


title: York

text: Anne of Denmark came to York with her children Prince Henry and Princess Elizabeth on 11 June 1603. The Mayor gave her a tour and offered her spiced wine, but she preferred beer. Guy Fawkes, who was born and educated in York, was a member of a group of Roman Catholic restorationists that planned the Gunpowder Plot. Its aim was to displace Protestant rule by blowing up the Houses of Parliament while King James I, the entire Protestant, and even most of the Catholic aristocracy and nobility were inside.


title: York

text: In 1644, during the Civil War, the Parliamentarians besieged York, and many medieval houses outside the city walls were lost. The barbican at Walmgate Bar was undermined and explosives laid, but the plot was discovered. On the arrival of Prince Rupert, with an army of 15,000 men, the siege was lifted. The Parliamentarians retreated some from York with Rupert in pursuit, before turning on his army and soundly defeating it at the Battle of Marston Moor. Of Rupert's 15,000 troops, 4,000 were killed and 1,500 captured. The siege was renewed and the city surrendered to Sir Thomas Fairfax on 15 July.


title: York

text: Following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, and the removal of the garrison from York in 1688, the city was dominated by the gentry and merchants, although the clergy were still important. Competition from Leeds and Hull, together with silting of the River Ouse, resulted in York losing its pre-eminent position as a trading centre, but its role as the social and cultural centre for wealthy northerners was rising. York's many elegant townhouses, such as the Lord Mayor's Mansion House and Fairfax House date from this period, as do the Assembly Rooms, the Theatre Royal, and the racecourse.


title: York

text: The railway promoter George Hudson was responsible for bringing the railway to York in 1839. Although Hudson's career as a railway entrepreneur ended in disgrace and bankruptcy, his promotion of York over Leeds, and of his own railway company (the York and North Midland Railway), helped establish York as a major railway centre by the late 19th century.


title: York

text: The introduction of the railways established engineering in the city. At the turn of the 20th century, the railway accommodated the headquarters and works of the North Eastern Railway, which employed more than 5,500 people. The railway was instrumental in the expansion of Rowntree's Cocoa Works. It was founded in 1862 by Henry Isaac Rowntree, who was joined in 1869 by his brother the philanthropist Joseph. Another chocolate manufacturer, Terry's of York, was a major employer. By 1900, the railways and confectionery had become the city's two major industries.


title: York

text: York was a centre of early photography, as described by Hugh Murray in his 1986 book "Photographs and Photographers of York: The Early Years, 1844–79". Photographers who had studios in York included William Hayes, William Pumphrey, and Augustus Mahalski who operated on Davygate and Low Petergate in the 19th century, having come to England as a refugee after serving as a Polish lancer in the Austro-Hungarian war.


title: York

text: In 1942, the city was bombed during the Second World War (part of the Baedeker Blitz) by the German Luftwaffe and 92 people were killed and hundreds injured. Buildings damaged in the raid included the Railway Station, Rowntree's Factory, Poppleton Road Primary School, St Martin-le-Grand Church, the Bar Convent and the Guildhall which was left in total disrepair until 1960.


title: York

text: With the emergence of tourism, the historic core of York became one of the city's major assets, and in 1968 it was designated a conservation area. The existing tourist attractions were supplemented by the establishment of the National Railway Museum in York in 1975, the Jorvik Viking Centre in 1984 and the York Dungeon in 1986. The opening of the University of York in 1963 added to the prosperity of the city. In March 2012, York's Chocolate Story opened.


title: York

text: York was voted European Tourism City of the Year by European Cities Marketing in June 2007, beating 130 other European cities to gain first place, surpassing Gothenburg in Sweden (second) and Valencia in Spain (third). York was also voted safest place to visit in the 2010 "Condé Nast Traveller" Readers' Choice Awards. In 2018, "The Sunday Times" deemed York to be its overall 'Best Place to Live' in Britain, highlighting the city's "perfect mix of heritage and hi-tech" and as a "mini-metropolis with cool cafes, destination restaurants, innovative companies – plus the fastest internet in Britain". The result was confirmed in a YouGov survey, reported in August 2018, with 92% of respondents saying that they liked the city, more than any of 56 other British cities.


title: York

text: The City of York is governed by the City of York Council. It is a unitary authority that operates on a leader and cabinet style of governance, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. The city council consists of 47 councillors representing 21 wards, with one, two or three per ward serving four-year terms. Its headquarters are at the Guildhall and West Offices in the city centre.


title: York

text: York is divided into 21 administrative wards: Acomb, Bishopthorpe, Clifton, Copmanthorpe, Dringhouses and Woodthorpe, Fishergate, Fulford and Heslington, Guildhall, Haxby and Wigginton, Heworth, Heworth Without, Holgate, Hull Road, Huntington and New Earswick, Micklegate, Osbaldwick and Derwent, Rawcliffe and Clifton Without, Rural West York, Strensall, Westfield, and Wheldrake.


title: York

text: The members of the cabinet, led by the Council Leader, makes decisions on their portfolio areas individually. Following the Local Government Act 2000, the Council Leader commands the confidence of the city council; the leader of the largest political group and head of the City of York Council. The Leader of the council and the cabinet (consisting of all the executive councillors) are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the city council. The current Council Leader, Liberal Democrats' Cllr Keith Aspden, was appointed on 22 May 2019, following the 2019 City of York Council election.


title: York

text: York's first citizen and civic head is the Lord Mayor, who is the chairman of the City of York Council. The appointment is made by the city council each year in May, at the same time appointing the Sheriff, the city's other civic head. The offices of Lord Mayor and Sheriff are purely ceremonial. The Lord Mayor carries out civic and ceremonial duties in addition to chairing full council meetings. The incumbent Lord Mayor since 26 May 2022 is Councillor David Carr, and the Sheriff is Suzie Mercer.


title: York

text: York Youth Council consists of several young people who negotiate with the councillors to get better facilities for York's young people, and who also elect York's Member of Youth Parliament.


title: York

text: As a result of the 2019 City of York Council election the Conservative Party was reduced to two seats. The Liberal Democrats had 21 councillors. The Labour Party had 17 councillors and the Green Party had four with three Independents. Due to no overall control, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party agreed to form a coalition on 14 May 2019.


title: York

text: York is the traditional county town of Yorkshire, and therefore did not form part of any of its three historic ridings, or divisions. Its Mayor has had the status of Lord Mayor since 1370. York is an ancient borough, and was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 to form a municipal borough. It gained the status of a county borough in 1889, under the Local Government Act 1888, and existed so until 1974, when, under the Local Government Act 1972, it became a non-metropolitan district in the county of North Yorkshire, whilst retaining its Lord Mayor, its Sheriff and Aldermen. As a result of 1990s UK local government reform, York regained unitary status and saw a substantial alteration in its borders, taking in parts of Selby and Harrogate districts, and about half the population of the Ryedale district. The new boundary was imposed after central government rejected the former city council's own proposal.


title: York

text: From 1997 to 2010, the central part of the district was covered by the City of York constituency, while the remainder was split between the constituencies of Ryedale, Selby, and Vale of York. These constituencies were represented by Hugh Bayley, John Greenway, John Grogan, and Anne McIntosh respectively.