title: Ford Modular engine

text: In 2005, Ford Racing Performance Parts introduced a V8 crate engine for use in motor racing and home-made performance cars, officially called M-6007-T50EA, but more widely known as "Cammer". Since then, other higher performance variations of the Cammer have been introduced for KONI Sports Car Challenge and GT4 European Cup. All versions of the Cammer are DOHC 4-valve per cylinder designs with a bore and stroke of . The Cammer achieves its larger bore by resleeving the 4.6 L aluminum block.


title: Ford Modular engine

text: The T50 Cammer crate engine, the least expensive and most street oriented version, uses derivatives of the cylinder heads, variable runner-length magnesium intake manifold, and camshafts first used in the 2000 FR500 Mustang concept car. These parts are unique to the T50 Cammer crate engine and are not found in any other production Modular applications. The T50 has an 11.0:1 compression ratio and exceeds with the proper exhaust manifolds.


title: Ford Modular engine

text: The Cammer that has seen success in Grand Am Cup powering the Mustang FR500C is officially called M-6007-R50 and features a unique dual plenum, fixed runner-length magnesium intake manifold, Ford GT aluminum cylinder heads, unique camshafts of undisclosed specifications, and an 11.0:1 compression ratio. The R50 Cammer produces over without restrictor plates. Upon introduction the R50 Cammer-powered Mustang FR500C proved to be dominant in Grand-Am Cup, having achieved five victories and podium appearances in nearly every race in the GS class during the 2005 season, giving David Empringham the championship title with the Multimatic Motorsports team, and Ford the manufacturer's title.


title: Ford Modular engine

text: Robert Yates publicly expressed interest in using a similar 5.0 L 4-valve DOHC Modular V8 to compete in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Roush-Yates supplies a naturally aspirated 5.0 L Cammer for use in the Mustang FR500GT3 and Matech-Ford GT3 which participate in the FIA GT3 European Championship, and a naturally aspirated 5.3 L Cammer for use in the 2010 Matech-Ford GT1 that competes in FIA GT1 World Championship. The Cammer's extra displacement is achieved via a stroke.


title: Ford Modular engine

text: On February 28, 2005, the Koenigsegg CCR used a modified, Rotrex supercharged Ford Modular 4-valve DOHC 4.6L V8, which produced 806 hp (601 kW), to achieve a top speed of 241 mph (388 km/h). The bore was achieved using Darton M.I.D. Sleeves. This certified top speed was recorded on February 28, 2005, in Nardo, Italy, and broke the McLaren F1's world record for fastest production car. The accomplishment was recognized by Guinness World Records in 2005, who gave the Koenigsegg CCR the official title of "World's Fastest Production Car." The Koenigsegg record was broken several months later by the Bugatti Veyron. This engine is the basis for Koenigsegg's twin-supercharged flexible fuel V8 seen in the CCX.


title: Ford Modular engine

text: On March 11, 2018, the team at Modular Motorsports Racing (MMR) used a modified Coyote engine, which produced over , and set the world record for the fastest Ford Modular & Coyote engine ever in the , with 3.83 seconds at . This beat the previous mile record, and made MMR’s record the first within the 3.8 seconds zone, and first to break the 200 mph mark in the 1/8 mile. The elapsed time and mph record were recorded at Bradenton Motorsports Park located in Bradenton, Florida, during an event sanctioned by the National Muscle Car Association (NMCA). The accomplishment was recognized by sanctioning bodies, such as the National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) and the National Mustang Racers Association (NMRA), granting it the official title of the "Fastest Mile Modular / Coyote-Powered Vehicle in the World." On March 10, 2019, MMR announced that they had topped their previously-held record from 2018. The team’s new records were 3.817 seconds at 204.17 mph (328.58 km/h). The record was accomplished with MMR’s GenX 351 cubic inch Coyote-based engine platform, that featured a "new billet manifold" and other various engine updates.


title: Ford Modular engine

text: On November 23, 2019, Modular Motorsports Racing (MMR) with driver Mark Luton set the world record for the "world’s fastest Ford-powered vehicle in the quarter-mile," with a 5.67 second pass at . The record was accomplished with a Coyote-based engine which featured factory Ford cylinder head castings, valves, lifters, and followers sitting atop a billet reproduction of the factory architecture Coyote cylinder block. The specifics of the engine are described by Luton as being a "351 cubic-inch billet MMR block that has a Bryant crankshaft, BME rods, and MMR pistons that are manufactured by Manley," in addition to "cylinder heads [that] are a factory cast head from Ford… that work with the twin 94mm turbos from Garrett." The elapsed time and mph records were recorded at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, during a qualifying race hosted by Street Car Super Nationals (SCSN).


title: Ford Modular engine

text: Starting in 1996, Ford began installing a DuPont Zytel nylon-composite intake manifold onto the 2-valve SOHC engines. Plaintiffs in class action lawsuits alleged that the coolant crossover passage of these intake manifolds may crack, resulting in coolant leakage. A US class-action suit was filed on behalf of owners, resulting in a settlement announced on December 17, 2005.


title: Ford Modular engine

text: Starting with the 2002 model year, and implemented halfway through the 2001 lineup, Ford began using a revised DuPont Zytel nylon-composite intake manifold with an aluminum front coolant crossover that corrected the issue. Replacement intakes were also made available for 1996–2001 engines. To be eligible for reimbursement, owners needed to contact a Ford, Lincoln or Mercury dealer within 90 days of December 16, 2005. Further, Ford offered an extended warranty for this part, for seven years from the start date (which means the initial vehicle sale date) without a mileage limitation.


title: Ford Modular engine

text: 2-valve 4.6 L, 5.4 L, and 6.8 L engines found in many 1997–2008 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles may have aluminum cylinder heads with threads for spark plugs that are stripped, missing, or otherwise insufficiently bored out. Ford acknowledges this issue in Technical Service Bulletin 07-21-2 as well as earlier TSBs. Ford's TSB does not state that this issue is caused by owner neglect. Ford's only authorized repair procedure for out-of-warranty vehicles is to use the LOCK-N-STITCH aluminum insert and tool kit. For vehicles under the New Vehicle Limited Warranty, Ford will only cover the replacement of the entire cylinder head; however, the Ford recommended spark plug service interval extends beyond the duration of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty.


title: Ford Modular engine

text: 3-valve 5.4 L and 6.8 L engines built before 10/9/07 and 3-valve 4.6 Ls built before 11/30/07 found in many 2004–2008 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles have an issue with difficult-to-remove spark plugs, which can cause part of the spark plug to become seized in the cylinder head. The source of the problem is a unique plug design that uses a 2-piece shell, which often separates, leaving the lower portion of the spark plug stuck deep in the engine's cylinder head. The 2-piece OE spark plug design is intrinsically flawed, thus making it susceptible to this problem. Ford acknowledges this issue in TSB 08-7-6 as well as earlier TSBs. Ford's TSB does not state that this issue is caused by owner neglect. The TSB provides a special procedure for spark plug removal on these engines. For situations in which the spark plug has partially broken off in the cylinder head, Ford distributes multiple special tools for removing the seized portion of the plug. Their TSB explains the multiple procedures required for handling the different cases/situations that occur when parts of plugs are seized in these engines. This repair is covered for vehicles under warranty; however, the Ford recommended spark plug service interval extends beyond the duration of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty.


title: FL Studio

text: FL Studio (previously known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line.


title: FL Studio

text: FL Studio features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. The program is available in four different editions for Microsoft Windows and macOS.


title: FL Studio

text: Image-Line offers lifetime free updates to the program after one-time purchases, which means customers receive all future updates of the software for free after their purchase. Image-Line also develops FL Studio Mobile for Android, iOS, macOS and Universal Windows Platform devices.


title: FL Studio

text: FL Studio can also be used as either a virtual studio technology (VST) or Audio Unit (AU) instrument in other audio workstation programs and also functions as a ReWire client. Image-Line also offers its own VST and AU instruments and audio applications. FL Studio has been used by numerous highly visible hip hop and EDM producers, including Porter Robinson, Alan Walker, Madeon, Soulja Boy, Southside, Martin Garrix, Avicii, Imanbek and Deadmau5.


title: FL Studio

text: The first version of Fruity Loops (1.0.0) was developed by Didier Dambrin and was partially released on December 18, 1997. Its official launch was in early 1998, when it was still a four-channel MIDI drum machine. Dambrin became Chief Software Architect for the program, and it quickly underwent a series of large upgrades that made it into a popular and complex digital audio workstation.


title: FL Studio

text: FruityLoops was renamed to "FL Studio" in mid 2003, after the threat of a lawsuit from Kellogg's and to improve the software's marketability. Software piracy was a major issue in the company's early days, and it took nearly 5 years for the company to earn money from users purchasing legitimate licenses.


title: FL Studio

text: FL Studio comes in several editions with different levels of functionality. The free trial version includes all of the program's features, all plugins, and allows users to render project audio to WAV, MIDI, MP3, and OGG. Projects saved while in demo mode, however, can only be opened once FL Studio and its plugins have been registered. Also, instrument presets cannot be saved and the audio output of some instruments will cut out momentarily every few minutes until the program and its plugins have been registered.


title: FL Studio

text: The Fruity Edition allows users to access the playlist, piano roll, and event automation features, which allow for complex and lengthy arranging and sequencing. There is also VST/ReWire support so that FL Studio can be an instrument in other hosts such as Cubase, Sonic Solutions, and Logic. As of version 20.8.3, this edition includes 82 instruments and effects; it does not support audio recording and the use of audio clips.


title: FL Studio

text: The Producer Edition includes all of the features of the Fruity Edition, as well as full audio recording for internal and external audio and post-production tools. It allows for hand-drawing point and curve based splines (referred to as "automation clips"). Plugins include Edison, Slicex (loop slicer and re-arranger), Sytrus, Maximus, Vocodex and Synthmaker. It also allows for waveform viewing of audio clips and the ability to add cue points.


title: FL Studio

text: This edition includes the Producer Edition as well as a series of plugins such as the Fruity Video Player, DirectWave Sampler, Harmless, NewTone, Pitcher, Gross Beat and the Hardcore Guitar Effects Suite.


title: FL Studio

text: The All Plugins Edition includes the Signature Bundle along with extra plugins, particularly synthesizers.


title: FL Studio

text: On June 21, 2011, Image-Line released FL Studio Mobile for iOS and in April 2013 for Android. Both support the ability to create multi-track projects on mobile devices including iPod Touches, iPhones, iPads, Android 2.3.3 and higher smartphones and tablets.


title: FL Studio

text: On September 2, 2013, a new standalone app for Windows 8 was released. It is a Groovebox-style application optimised for touch-based music creation.


title: FL Studio

text: FL Studio 20 works on Windows 7/8/10 (32-bit or 64-bit versions) or on macOS 10.13. FL Studio requires a 2 GHz AMD or Intel Pentium 3 CPU with full SSE1 support. It requires 2 GB of free disk space and 4 GB of RAM is recommended. The website states that "the more powerful your CPU, the more instruments and FX you can run."


title: FL Studio

text: FL Studio processes audio using an internal 32-bit floating point engine. It supports sampling rates up to 192 kHz using either WDM- or ASIO-enabled drivers.


title: FL Studio

text: The mixer interface allows for any number of channel configurations. This allows mixing in 2.1, 5.1, or 7.1 surround sound, as long as the output hardware interface has an equivalent number of outputs. The mixer also supports audio-in, enabling FL Studio to record multitrack audio.


title: FL Studio

text: FL Studio supports audio time stretching and pitch scaling, beat slicing, chopping, and editing of audio, and as of version 12.9 it can record up to 125 simultaneous audio tracks. Other key features include a digital piano roll. Audio can be imported or exported as WAV, MP3, OGG, FLAC, MIDI, ZIP, or the native project format with an .FLP filename extension.


title: FL Studio

text: The trial allows users to save projects, but does not allow re-opening them. Tracks may be exported to any of the available file formats.


title: FL Studio

text: FL Studio comes with a variety of plugins and generators (software synthesizers) written in the program's own native plugin architecture. FL Studio also has support for third-party VST and DirectX plugins. The API has a built in wrapper for full VST, VST2, VST3, DX, and ReWire compatibility.


title: FL Studio

text: Although FL Studio's own plugins are set to be available only in their native format in the future, some of them also function independently as standalone programs and can be purchased in VST format for use with other DAWs.


title: FL Studio

text: FL Studio is bundled with a variety of sound processing effects, including common audio effects such as chorus, compression, distortion, delay, flanger, phaser, reverb, gate, equalization, vocoding, maximization, and limiting.


title: FL Studio

text: FL Studio's install contains the entirety of native software synthesizers, internally labeled as "generators". Depending on the edition of the program, some will be locked in trial mode until the synth itself or a software upgrade is purchased.


title: FL Studio

text: Harmor is Image-Line's flagship synthesizer. Initially released in late 2011 as a successor to Harmless, it was envisioned as a way to work with additive synthesis through an interface typical of subtractive synthesizers. It also includes many functions previously found within individual FL Studio utilities. such as the ability to produce sounds from pictures fed into the synth (known as "image resynthesis").


title: FL Studio

text: Sytrus is an FM synthesizer with an internal effects module and additional wavetable capabilities. Its architecture can let it interface directly with patches from Yamaha DX7 units, allowing it to import original SYSEX data.


title: FL Studio

text: As with other DAW developers, Image-Line has collaborated with hardware manufacturers in two different occasions, resulting in the release of products branded and compatible with FL Studio.


title: FL Studio

text: The first was the Akai "FIRE", a MIDI controller with touch and pressure-sensitive buttons modelled after the software's channel rack pattern editor. Released in 2018, it can be used as a pattern editor, keyboard, drumpad, multi-colour peak visualizer and performance controller. A distinctive feature of the Akai FIRE is that up to 4 units can be connected to a single instance of FL Studio, chained together or with a different mode set for each. It is sold in two variants, one coming without extra software (aimed at existing FL Studio users), and one bundled with an exclusive version of the "Fruity" edition called the "Fruity Fire Edition".


title: FL Studio

text: The latter of these involvements is currently the Novation "FL Key" line of controllers. It consists of two redesigned MIDI Keyboards – dubbed the "FL Key Mini" and the "FL Key 37", the latter being larger in keybed and size – originally from Novation's own Launchkey line, modified to have a grey case and an FL Studio-themed RGB lighting palette.


title: FL Studio

text: Despite some initial traction regarding the Akai "FIRE"'s unusual velocity implementation, both units have went on to receive broadly positive reception from the professional press.


title: FL Studio

text: FL Studio has been praised for its simplicity, power, and ease of use. Jamie Lendino of "PCMag" wrote that "While [FL Studio is] still clearly geared for electronic music production 'in the box,' as opposed to recording live musicians playing acoustic instruments, you can record or create just about any kind of audio project with it." Criticisms include a difficult audio recording system.


title: New Democratic Party

text: The New Democratic Party (NDP; , NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic, the party occupies the left, to centre-left on the political spectrum, sitting to the left of the Liberal Party. The party was founded in 1961 by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).


title: New Democratic Party

text: The federal and provincial (or territorial) level NDPs are more integrated than other political parties in Canada, and have shared membership (except for the New Democratic Party of Quebec). The NDP has never won the largest share of seats at the federal level and thus has never formed government. From 2011 to 2015, it formed the Official Opposition, but apart from that, it has been the third or fourth-largest party in the House of Commons. However, the party has held considerable influence during periods of Liberal minority governments. Sub-national branches of the NDP have formed the government in six provinces (Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia) and the territory of Yukon.


title: New Democratic Party

text: The NDP supports a mixed economy, broader welfare, LGBT rights, international peace, environmental stewardship, and expanding Canada's universal healthcare system to include dental care, mental health care, eye and hearing care, infertility procedures, and prescription drugs.


title: New Democratic Party

text: Since 2017, the NDP has been led by Jagmeet Singh, who is the first visible minority to lead a major federal party in Canada on a permanent basis. Following the 2021 Canadian federal election, it is the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons, with 25 seats.


title: New Democratic Party

text: In 1956, after the birth of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) by a merger of two previous labour congresses, negotiations began between the CLC and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) to bring about an alliance between organized labour and the political left in Canada. In 1958 a joint CCF-CLC committee, the National Committee for the New Party (NCNP), was formed to create a new social democratic political party, with ten members from each group. The NCNP spent the next three years laying down the foundations of the New Party, the party's interim name pending a national convention. During this process, a large number of New Party Clubs were established to allow like-minded Canadians to join in its founding, and six representatives from New Party Clubs were added to the National Committee. In 1961, at the end of a five-day long founding convention which established its principles, policies and structures, the New Democratic Party was born, and Tommy Douglas, the long-time CCF Premier of Saskatchewan, was elected as its first leader.


title: New Democratic Party

text: At the 1971 leadership convention, an activist group called the Waffle tried to take control of the party but was defeated by David Lewis with the help of the union members. The following year, most of The Waffle split from the NDP and formed their own party. The NDP itself supported the minority government formed by the Pierre Trudeau–led Liberals from 1972 to 1974, although the two parties never entered into a coalition. Together, they succeeded in passing several socially progressive initiatives into law such as pension indexing and the creation of the crown corporation Petro-Canada.


title: New Democratic Party

text: In 1974, the NDP worked with the Progressive Conservatives to pass a motion of non-confidence, forcing an election. However, it backfired as Trudeau's Liberals regained a majority government, mostly at the expense of the NDP, which lost half its seats. Lewis lost his own riding and resigned as leader the following year.


title: New Democratic Party

text: Under Ed Broadbent (1975–1989) the NDP attempted to find a more populist image to contrast with the governing parties, focusing on more pocketbook issues than on ideological fervour. The party played a critical role during Joe Clark's minority government of 1979–1980, moving the non-confidence motion on John Crosbie's 1979 budget that brought down the Progressive Conservative government and forced the 1980 election that brought the Liberal Party back to power.


title: New Democratic Party

text: In the 1984 election, which saw the Progressive Conservatives under Brian Mulroney win the most seats in Canadian history, the NDP won 30 seats, while the governing Liberals fell to 40 seats.


title: New Democratic Party

text: The NDP set a then-record of 43 members of parliament (MPs) elected to the house in the election of 1988. The Liberals, however, had reaped most of the benefits of opposing the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement to emerge as the dominant alternative to the ruling PC government. In 1989, Broadbent stepped down after 14 years as federal leader of the NDP.


title: New Democratic Party

text: At the party's leadership convention in 1989, former BC Premier Dave Barrett and Yukon MP Audrey McLaughlin were the main contenders for the leadership. During the campaign, Barrett argued that the party should be concerned with western alienation, rather than focusing its attention on Quebec. The Quebec wing of the NDP strongly opposed Barrett's candidacy, with Phil Edmonston, the party's main spokesman in Quebec, threatening to resign from the party if Barrett won. McLaughlin ran on a more traditional approach, and became the first woman to lead a major federal political party in Canada.


title: New Democratic Party

text: Although enjoying strong support among organized labour and rural voters in the Prairies, McLaughlin tried to expand their support into Quebec without much success. Under McLaughlin, the party did manage to win an election in Quebec for the first time when Edmonston won a 1990 by-election.


title: New Democratic Party

text: McLaughlin and the NDP were routed in the 1993 election, where the party won only nine seats, three seats short of official party status in the House of Commons. This was, and remains, the NDP's lowest seat total in any election since the party's founding in 1961; the election also resulted in the lowest-ever total number of votes received by the NDP in a federal election. The loss was blamed on the unpopularity of NDP provincial governments under Bob Rae in Ontario and Mike Harcourt in British Columbia and the loss of a significant portion of the Western vote to the Reform Party, which promised a more decentralized and democratic federation along with right-wing economic reforms.


title: New Democratic Party

text: McLaughlin resigned in 1995 and was succeeded by Alexa McDonough, the former leader of the Nova Scotia NDP. In contrast to traditional Canadian practice, where an MP for a safe seat stands down to allow a newly elected leader a chance to enter Parliament via a by-election, McDonough opted to wait until the next election to enter Parliament.


title: New Democratic Party

text: The party recovered somewhat in the 1997 election, electing 21 members. The NDP made a breakthrough in Atlantic Canada, a region where they had been practically nonexistent at the federal level. Before 1997, they had won only three seats in the Atlantic in their entire history. However, in 1997 they won eight seats in that region. The party was able to harness the discontent of voters in the Atlantic, who were upset over cuts to employment insurance and other social programs implemented by Jean Chrétien's Liberal majority government.


title: New Democratic Party

text: In the November 2000 election, the NDP campaigned primarily on the issue of Medicare but lost significant support. The governing Liberals ran an effective campaign on their economic record and managed to recapture some of the Atlantic ridings lost to the NDP in the 1997 election. The initial high electoral prospects of the Canadian Alliance under new leader Stockwell Day also hurt the NDP as many supporters strategically voted Liberal to keep the Alliance from winning. The NDP finished with 13 MPs—just barely over the threshold for official party status.


title: New Democratic Party

text: McDonough announced her resignation as party leader for family reasons in June 2002 (effective upon her successor's election).


title: New Democratic Party

text: A Toronto city councillor and recent President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Jack Layton was elected at the party's leadership election in Toronto on January 25, 2003.


title: New Democratic Party

text: The 2004 election produced mixed results for the NDP. It increased its total vote by more than a million votes; however, despite Layton's optimistic predictions of reaching 40 seats, the NDP only gained five seats in the election, for a total of 19. The party was disappointed to see its two Saskatchewan incumbents defeated in close races by the new Conservative Party (created by merger of the Alliance and PC parties), perhaps because of the unpopularity of the NDP provincial government.


title: New Democratic Party

text: The Liberals were re-elected, though this time as a minority government. Combined, the Liberals and NDP had 154 seats – one short of the total needed for the balance of power. As has been the case with Liberal minorities in the past, the NDP were in a position to make gains on the party's priorities, such as fighting health care privatization, fulfilling Canada's obligation to the Kyoto Protocol, and electoral reform. The party used Prime Minister Paul Martin's politically precarious position caused by the sponsorship scandal to force investment in multiple federal programs, agreeing not to help topple the government provided that some major concessions in the federal budget were ceded to.


title: New Democratic Party

text: On November 9, 2005, after the findings of the Gomery Inquiry were released, Layton notified the Liberal government that continued NDP support would require a ban on private healthcare. When the Liberals refused, Layton announced that he would introduce a motion on November 24 that would ask Martin to call a federal election in February to allow for several pieces of legislation to be passed. The Liberals turned down this offer. On November 28, 2005, Conservative leader Stephen Harper's motion of no confidence was seconded by Layton and it was passed by all three opposition parties, forcing an election.


title: New Democratic Party

text: During the election the NDP won 29 seats, a significant increase of 10 seats from the 19 won in 2004. It was the fourth-best performance in party history, approaching the level of popular support enjoyed in the 1980s. The NDP kept all of the 18 seats it held at the dissolution of Parliament. While the party gained no seats in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, or the Prairie provinces, it gained five seats in British Columbia, five more in Ontario and the Western Arctic riding of the Northwest Territories.


title: New Democratic Party

text: The Conservatives won a minority government in the 2006 election, and initially the NDP was the only party that would not be able to pass legislation with the Conservatives. However, following a series of floor crossings, the NDP also came to hold the balance of power. The NDP voted against the government in all four confidence votes in the 39th parliament, the only party to do so. However, it worked with the Conservatives on other issues, including in passing the Federal Accountability Act and pushing for changes to the Clean Air Act.


title: New Democratic Party

text: Following that election the NDP caucus rose to 30 members with the victory of NDP candidate Thomas Mulcair in a by-election in Outremont. This marked the second time ever (and first time in seventeen years) that the NDP won a riding in Quebec. The party won 37 seats in the 2008 federal election, the best performance since the 1988 total of 43. This included a breakthrough in the riding of Edmonton-Strathcona, only the second time the NDP had managed to win a seat in Alberta in the party's history.


title: New Democratic Party

text: In the 2011 federal election the NDP won a record 103 seats, becoming the Official Opposition for the first time in the party's history. The party had a historic breakthrough in Quebec, where they won 59 out of 75 seats, dominating Montreal and sweeping Quebec City and the Outaouais. This meant that a majority of the party's MPs now came from a province where they had only ever had two candidates elected in the party's history. The NDP's success in Quebec was mirrored by the collapse of the Bloc Québécois, which lost all but four of its 47 seats, and the collapse of the Liberal Party nationally, which was cut down to just 34 seats, its worst-ever result. This also marked the first time in history where the Liberal Party was neither the government nor the Official Opposition, as the NDP had taken over the latter role. The NDP was now the second largest party in the House of Commons opposing a Conservative majority government.


title: New Democratic Party

text: In July 2011, Layton announced that he was suffering from a new cancer and would take a leave of absence, projected to last until the resumption of Parliament in September. He would retain his position of NDP Leader and Leader of the Opposition. The party confirmed his suggestion of Hull—Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel to carry out the functions of party leader in his absence. Layton died from his cancer on August 22, 2011.


title: New Democratic Party

text: In his final letter, Layton called for a leadership election to be held in early 2012 to choose his successor, which was held on March 24, 2012, and elected new leader Tom Mulcair.


title: New Democratic Party

text: Despite early campaign polls which showed the NDP in first place, the party lost 59 seats in the 2015 election and fell back to third place in Parliament. By winning 44 seats, Mulcair was able to secure the second best showing in the party's history, winning one more seat than Ed Broadbent managed in the 1988 election, but with a smaller share of the popular vote. NDP seat gains in Saskatchewan and British Columbia were offset by numerical losses in almost every other region, while in Alberta and Manitoba the party maintained its existing seat counts. The party was locked out of the Atlantic Region and the Territories, and lost over half of its seats in Ontario including all of its seats in Toronto. In Quebec, the NDP lost seats to all three of the other major parties, namely the Liberals, Conservatives, and Bloc Québécois, though it managed to place second in both vote share (25.4%) and seats (16) behind the Liberals in the province. The election resulted in a Liberal majority government.


title: New Democratic Party

text: Mulcair's leadership faced criticism following the election, culminating in him losing a leadership review vote held at the NDP's policy convention in Edmonton, Alberta on April 10, 2016. This marked the first time in Canadian federal politics that a leader was defeated in a confidence vote. Consequently, his successor was to be chosen at a leadership election to be held no later than October 2017, with Mulcair agreeing to remain as leader until then.


title: New Democratic Party

text: On October 1, 2017, Jagmeet Singh, the first person of a visible minority group to lead a major Canadian federal political party on a permanent basis, won the leadership vote to head the NDP on the first ballot.


title: New Democratic Party

text: In the 2019 federal election, the NDP won only 24 seats in its worst result since 2004, shedding 15 seats. Alexandre Boulerice was the only NDP incumbent to retain his seat in Quebec, while the party lost all of its Saskatchewan ridings to the Conservatives. The party remained shut out of Toronto and lost two of its MPs in the rest of Ontario, while making small or no gains in the popular vote in Manitoba, Newfoundland, Alberta and Nunavut. In British Columbia, the NDP lost three seats but were largely able to hold on to their support in the province.


title: New Democratic Party

text: Following the election, the NDP held the balance of power as the Liberals won a minority government, although it fell back to fourth place behind the resurgent Bloc Québécois. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the NDP used its leverage to lobby the Liberals to be more generous in their financial aid to Canadians, including by extending of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program, which was a key demand in order to provide confidence to the government in the autumn of 2020.


title: New Democratic Party

text: In the snap 2021 federal election, the NDP made minor gains in both vote share and seat count, winning in 25 ridings. The party won a second seat in Alberta for the first time by electing Blake Desjarlais in Edmonton Griesbach and picked up two more seats in British Columbia. These gains were offset by losses to the Liberals in St. John's East and Hamilton Mountain, both constituencies where the incumbent NDP candidate did not stand for re-election. Overall, the election resulted in no change to the balance of power in the House of Commons. In March 2022, the NDP agreed to a confidence and supply deal with Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party.


title: New Democratic Party

text: The NDP evolved in 1961 from a merger of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). The CCF grew from populist, agrarian and socialist roots into a modern social democratic party. Although the CCF was part of the Christian left and the Social Gospel movement, the NDP is secular and pluralistic. It has broadened to include concerns of the New Left, and advocates issues such as LGBT rights, international peace, and environmental stewardship. The NDP also supports a mixed economy and broader welfare.


title: New Democratic Party

text: The NDP's constitution states that both social democracy and democratic socialism are influences on the party. Specific inclusion of the party's history as the continuation of the more radical Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and specific identification of the "democratic socialist" tradition as a continuing influence on the party are part of the language of the preamble to the party's constitution:


title: New Democratic Party

text: The NDP states that it is committed to public health care. The party states that it fights for "a national, universal, public pharmacare program to make sure that all Canadians can access the prescription medicine they need with their health card, not their credit card – saving money and improving health outcomes for everyone". The party also states its support for expanding services covered under the national health care system to include dental care, mental health care, eye and hearing care, infertility procedures, and prescription drugs. Regarding dentistry, the NDP notes that "one in three Canadians has no dental insurance and over six million people don't visit the dentist every year because they can't afford to. Too many people are forced to go without the care they need until the pain is so severe that they are forced to seek relief in hospital emergency rooms".


title: New Democratic Party

text: Since its formation, the party has had a presence in the House of Commons. It was the third largest political party from 1965 to 1993, when the party dropped to fourth and lost official party status. The NDP's peak period of policy influence in those periods was during the minority Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson (1963–68) and Pierre Trudeau (1972–74). The NDP regained official status in 1997, and played a similar role in the Liberal and Conservative minority governments of 2004–2006 and 2006–2011, respectively. Following the 2011 election, the party became the second-largest party and formed the Official Opposition in the 41st Canadian Parliament.


title: New Democratic Party

text: Provincial New Democratic parties, which are organizationally sections of the federal party, have governed in six of the ten provinces and a territory. The NDP governs the province of British Columbia, forms the Official Opposition in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, and have sitting members in every provincial legislature except those of Quebec, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. The NDP has previously formed the government in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and the Yukon Territory. The NDP has previously had at least one sitting member in every provincial legislature except that of Quebec.


title: New Democratic Party

text: While members of the party are active in municipal politics, the party does not organize at that level. For example, though former Toronto mayor David Miller was an NDP member during his successful 2003 and 2006 mayoral campaigns, his campaigns were not affiliated with the NDP.


title: New Democratic Party

text: Unlike most other Canadian federal parties, the NDP is integrated with its provincial and territorial parties. Holding membership of a provincial or territorial section of the NDP includes automatic membership in the federal party, and this precludes a person from being a member of different parties at the federal and provincial levels. Membership lists are maintained by the provinces and territories.


title: New Democratic Party

text: There have been three exceptions: Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Quebec. In Nunavut and in the Northwest Territories, whose territorial legislatures have non-partisan consensus governments, the federal NDP is promoted by its riding associations, since each territory is composed of only one federal riding.


title: New Democratic Party

text: In Quebec, the historical New Democratic Party of Quebec was integrated with the federal party from 1963 until 1989, when the two agreed to sever their structural ties after the Quebec party adopted a sovereigntist platform. From then on, the federal NDP was represented in Quebec only by their Quebec Section, whose activities in the province were limited to the federal level. However, following the party's breakthrough in the province in the 2011 federal election, the NDP announced their plans to recreate a provincial party in Quebec in time for the following Quebec general election. The modern New Democratic Party of Quebec party was registered with the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec on January 30, 2014, but it failed to nominate any candidates in the 2014 election. The new NPDQ is not affiliated to the federal NDP due to more recent provincial laws in Quebec which disallow provincial parties from affiliating with federal parties.


title: New Democratic Party

text: The most successful provincial section of the party has been the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party, which first came to power in 1944 as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation under Tommy Douglas and has won eleven of the province's elections since then. In Canada, Douglas is often cited as the "Father of Medicare" since, as Saskatchewan Premier, he introduced Canada's first publicly funded, universal healthcare system to the province. Despite the historic success of the Saskatchewan branch of the party, the NDP was shut out of Saskatchewan for the 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2011 federal elections, before winning three seats there in the 2015 federal election. The NDP would once again be shut out of Saskatchewan as part of the Conservatives sweep of the province in the 2019 election.


title: New Democratic Party

text: The New Democratic Party has also formed government in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Yukon.


title: New Democratic Party

text: The party president is the administrative chairperson of the party, chairing party conventions, councils and executive meetings.


title: The Faculty

text: The Faculty is a 1998 American science fiction horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Shawn Hatosy, Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Usher Raymond, Robert Patrick, Bebe Neuwirth, Piper Laurie, Famke Janssen, Salma Hayek, and Jon Stewart.


title: The Faculty

text: The film was theatrically released on December 25, 1998, by Miramax Films through Dimension Films. It grossed $63.2 million and has developed a cult following since its release, with some critics noting it as underrated in Rodriguez's catalog.


title: The Faculty

text: One evening at Herrington High School in Ohio, teachers and Principal Drake leave after discussing the school's budget. When Drake returns to retrieve her keys, she is attacked by the school's football coach, Joe Willis. Drama teacher Mrs. Olson emotionlessly stabs Drake with scissors as she flees the school.


title: The Faculty

text: The following morning, the students arrive, including Casey Connor, the dedicated but perpetually harassed photographer for the school newspaper. Casey is the unappreciated assistant to spiteful Delilah Profitt, the paper's editor-in-chief and head cheerleader. Delilah's mistreated boyfriend Stan Rosado is contemplating quitting the football team to pursue academics. Zeke Tyler is an intelligent yet rebellious student repeating his senior year. Zeke sells, among other illegal items, a powdery ecstasy-like drug he manufactures and distributes. He is confronted by teacher Elizabeth Burke, who expresses concern for him over his illegal activities. Naive transfer student Marybeth Louise Hutchinson befriends self-styled outcast Stokely Mitchell, who has deliberately spread rumors that she is a lesbian though she has a crush on Stan. Marybeth develops a crush on Zeke which is reciprocated.


title: The Faculty

text: Casey finds a strange creature on the football field and takes it to science teacher Mr. Furlong, who believes it is a new species of cephalopod-specific parasite called a mesozoan. Delilah and Casey hide in the teachers' lounge to find a story. They witness Coach Willis and Ms. Olson forcing one of the parasites into the ear of the school nurse. They also find the body of another teacher, Mrs. Brummel. Casey and Delilah flee, and Casey calls the police, but his claims are dismissed.


title: The Faculty

text: The next day, Casey tells Delilah, Stan, and Stokely he believes the teachers are being controlled by aliens. After Zeke and Marybeth tease them about their theory, Mr. Furlong attempts to infect them. Zeke injects his homemade drugs into Furlong's eye, killing him. Zeke takes the five to his house, where he experiments on a specimen retrieved by Casey. He discovers it needs water to survive and can be killed by his drugs. Zeke makes everyone take his drug to prove they are uninfected. Delilah is revealed as infected and she destroys Zeke's lab and most of his drug supply before escaping.


title: The Faculty

text: Acting on Stokely's speculation that killing the alien queen will revert everyone to normal, the group returns to the school, where their football team is playing and infecting opposing players. Believing Principal Drake to be the queen, they isolate her in the gym and fatally shoot her. Stan confronts the coach and team to see if the plan worked, but becomes infected himself. Zeke and Casey retrieve more of Zeke's drugs from his car. Casey leads infected students away from Zeke, who encounters Miss Burke in the parking lot and incapacitates her.


title: The Faculty

text: At the gym, Marybeth reveals herself to be the alien queen; earlier on, she faked taking the drug. Casey and Stokely flee to the swimming pool, where Stokely is injured and becomes infected. Zeke and Casey hide in the locker room, where Marybeth reverts to her human disguise. She explains she is taking over Earth because her planet is dying. Marybeth transforms back into her true form and hurls Zeke across the room into the lockers, knocking him out. Casey seizes the drug and traps the queen behind retracting bleachers. He stabs the drug into the queen's eye. Casey returns to the locker room and finds Stokely and Zeke alive.


title: The Faculty

text: One month later, everyone returned to normal. Stan and Stokely, who has shed her Goth girl image, are now dating. Zeke has taken Stan's place on the football team, while Miss Burke affectionately watches him practice. Delilah, no longer vindictive, is now dating Casey, who is considered a local hero as various news media reveal the attempted alien invasion is now public knowledge, even as the FBI denies it.


title: The Faculty

text: In 1990, David Wechter and Bruce Kimmel wrote their first draft of the script and sent it out, but there were no buyers. It wasn't until after the success of "Scream" that Miramax bought the script and rushed it into production. Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein brought in Kevin Williamson to do rewrites, keeping the basic story, but rewriting the dialogue and adding new characters to make it more "hip". Originally, Williamson was set to direct the film, but he chose not to so he could direct his self-penned script "Teaching Mrs. Tingle". The Weinsteins brought in Robert Rodriguez to direct the film instead.


title: The Faculty

text: "The Faculty" takes place in the fictional town of Herrington, Ohio, but was shot in Austin, San Marcos, Dallas, and Lockhart, Texas. In a retrospective interview, Clea Duvall said the making of the film "was so much fun. It was mostly night shoots, so it was like we were in this alternate universe. Working all night long and making this fun sci-fi horror movie. I loved it."


title: The Faculty

text: The score is composed by Marco Beltrami, who had previously scored the teen-slasher-horror film, "Scream", as well as "Mimic". Both Beltrami's score and songs by various artists used in the film were released as albums. The "music from the motion picture" album features songs by various indie and alternative rock groups.


title: The Faculty

text: Several scenes involving an additional character named Venus, played by Kidada Jones, were shown in TV previews for the film, as well as in Tommy Hilfiger promotional commercials for the movie, but her scenes were cut from the final film. She is visible in a scene in the theatrical version, standing next to Gabe (Usher) in Mr. Furlong's (Jon Stewart) science class when they are looking at the "new species" in the aquarium.


title: The Faculty

text: "The Faculty" was released in several countries on Blu-ray, including Canada on October 6, 2009, by Alliance; in Australia on September 1, 2011, by Reel; in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2011, by Lionsgate, in Germany on October 6, 2011, by Studio Canal; in France on January 10, 2012, by Studio Canal; and in the United States on July 31, 2012, by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment. Lionsgate re-issued the Blu-ray version in the United States on October 7, 2014 after Echo Bridge lost the rights to the Miramax films. Home media for "The Faculty" do not include traditional extras provided for other Robert Rodriguez films, such as a "10 Minute Film School" feature, audio commentary, and making-of featurettes.


title: The Faculty

text: "The Faculty" was viewed on 2,365 screens on its opening weekend, debuting at No. 5 in the US and making $11,633,495. Its eventual US gross was $40.3 million. Its debut below commercial expectations has been partly credited to the studio’s decision to release the movie on Christmas Day, a time when audiences are likelier to watch traditional dramas or feel-good fare. In retrospect, Jordana Brewster said:


title: The Faculty

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, "The Faculty" holds an approval rating of 55% based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 5.60/10. The site's critics consensus called the film a "Rip-off of other sci-fi thrillers." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.


title: The Faculty

text: Positive reviews at the time praised Kevin Williamson’s self-aware script and trademark meta humor that included references to iconic science-fiction films. In a review for "Variety", Dennis Harvey wrote, ""The Faculty" works hard at mixing a canny cocktail of cineastic in-jokes, affectionate teenploitation and high-octane suspense that’s as enjoyable as it is impossible to take seriously." Harvey added that Williamson and Robert Rodriguez combine to "make a complete lack of socially redeeming value seem so much fun that "'The Faculty"' might well become a pulp classic". Charles Taylor of "Salon" called the film "subversive" and said "its honest, good-natured junkiness… feels like a relief". He appreciated the film's homages to genre movies including "Carrie", "Blue Velvet", and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" while also citing the character of Stokely as the standout amongst the teen archetypes.


title: The Faculty

text: Michael Sauter of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a grade of B− and expressed a wish that the film had used the faculty characters more. In contrast, Tom Sinclair, also of "EW", gave the film a C+ and said Williamson has become "too invested in the earnestness of teen angst to portray it in the scathing parodistic terms a hip horror movie demands". "The New York Times" gave a mostly negative review but praised the cast. "The Austin Chronicle" awarded the film 3.5 stars and said, "While it may suffer a bit from excess character clutter (nearly 10 major characters throughout), it's nonetheless a slam-bang, sci-fi actioner, relentlessly paced and edited, with a pounding soundtrack and some ingenious aliens courtesy of Bernie Wrightson and KNB Effects."


title: The Faculty

text: In subsequent years, various critics have written about "The Faculty" impact. Aliya Whiteley wrote, "It's all about examining the tropes of science fiction with a smart, funny angle. Half of the fun in this film is in identifying where you first came across a certain character's name or saw a particular special effect. For instance, there's a brilliant moment with a head on legs that I defy you to watch and not think of a certain John Carpenter film." Whiteley concluded, ""The Faculty" is very definitely a big mess of a movie. But if you love all things sci-fi, it's a good mess." Keith Phipps described the film as "a Kevin Williamson-scripted high-school variation on "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers"." Haleigh Foutch considered it one of the most iconic 1990s teen horror films: "Yet another win from 90s teen screenwriter in chief Kevin Williamson, "The Faculty" fused Williamson's knack for snappy teen drama with Robert Rodriguez's subversive camp to fantastic results. It's smart without ever taking itself too seriously and campy without ever losing its cool, drawing proudly from the tradition of classic alien invasion movies and casting them in the 90s teen tradition."


title: The Faculty

text: The film has been praised for its portrayal of teenage alienation, especially within the high school environment and its system of cliques and social roles. In particular, the alien invasion through parasitized bodies has been recognized as functioning as a metaphor for those concepts, reflecting the fear of losing one's nascent individuality to a crowd. The alien queen encapsulates this by offering the heroes a world without alienation or differences, in which "everything that is both wonderful and awful about being a teenager is done away in favor of blind allegiance".


title: The Faculty

text: Experts also noted in "The Faculty" a reinvention of the fear of female sexuality often found in the horror genre. The character of Marybeth, the alien queen, is "a complex imbrication of woman, alien and power" that acts beyond the role of femme fatale. She masquerades as a virginal, unassuming girl clad in floral dresses, but at the final battle she reveals her true sexual threat, becoming nude by her alien transformation and turning confident and flirtatious. Her role as a threatening, castrating agent is underlined by the sharp teeth of her species, which evoke a vagina dentata, and their association to water, the archaic, womb-like female element. As the monstrous mother of her race, she tries to seduce the heroes by offering them a symbolic return to the womb. As Sharon Packer and Jody Pennington put it:


title: The Faculty

text: The image on the screen is dual: we see the beautiful, young, naked Marybeth strolling around looking for Casey, and the shadow of the monstrous form in the walls. Marybeth delivers a speech which ties the elements of the movie together. It is about the "world" she came from and its promises of "paradise" for lost and lonely humans, trapped in high-school "hell".


title: The Faculty

text: The character of Miss Burke precedes Marybeth in the same line, revealing her hidden sexuality only after being infected and turned into a monster. The scene of her detached, tentacled head in particular echoes the Freudian Medusa head. The monstrous feminine is therefore used in the film to reflect the teenage characters entering adult world, where they are forced to "come to terms with female sexuality and overcome their fear of its 'monstrous' aspects in order to become fully functioning adults". Casey, the male character closest to his softer, feminine side, is the final hero of the film.


title: The Faculty

text: The film was nominated for a total of eight awards, including an ALMA Award for director Robert Rodriguez, 2 Saturn Awards, 2 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards and 3 Teen Choice Awards, but did not win any.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर) also known as Vardhaman, was the 24th "tirthankara" (supreme preacher) of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd "tirthankara" Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6th century BCE into a royal Kshatriya Jain family in ancient India. His mother's name was Trishala and his father's name was Siddhartha. They were lay devotees of Parshvanatha. Mahavira abandoned all worldly possessions at the age of about 30 and left home in pursuit of spiritual awakening, becoming an ascetic. Mahavira practiced intense meditation and severe austerities for twelve and a half years, after which he attained "Kevala Jnana" (omniscience). He preached for 30 years and attained Moksha (liberation) in the 6th century BCE, although the year varies by sect.


title: Mahavira

text: Historically, Mahavira, who revived and preached Jainism in ancient India, was an older contemporary of Gautama Buddha.


title: Mahavira

text: Jains celebrate "Mahavir Janma Kalyanak" every year on the 13th day of the Indian Calendar month of Chaitra.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira taught that observance of the vows of "ahimsa" (non-violence), "satya" (truth), "asteya" (non-stealing), "brahmacharya" (chastity), and "aparigraha" (non-attachment) are necessary for spiritual liberation. He taught the principles of "Anekantavada" (many-sided reality): "syadvada" and "nayavada". Mahavira's teachings were compiled by Indrabhuti Gautama (his chief disciple) as the Jain Agamas. The texts, transmitted orally by Jain monks, are believed to have been largely lost by about the 1st century CE (when the remaining were first written down in the Svetambara tradition). The surviving versions of the Agamas taught by Mahavira are some of Svetambara Jainism's foundation texts, but their authenticity is disputed in Digambara Jainism.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira is usually depicted in a sitting or standing meditative posture, with the symbol of a lion beneath him. His earliest iconography is from archaeological sites in the North Indian city of Mathura, and is dated from between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE. His birth is celebrated as Mahavir Janma Kalyanak and his "nirvana" (salvation) and also his first "shishya" (spiritual enlightenment) of Shri Gautama Swami is observed by Jains as Diwali.


title: Mahavira

text: Surviving early Jain and Buddhist literature uses several names (or epithets) for Mahavira, including "Nayaputta", "Muni", "Samana", "Niggantha", "Brahman", and "Bhagavan". In early Buddhist "suttas", he is referred to as "Araha" ("worthy") and "Veyavi" (derived from "Vedas", but meaning "wise". He is known as "Sramana" in the "Kalpa Sūtra", "devoid of love and hate".


title: Mahavira

text: According to later Jain texts, Mahavira's childhood name was "Vardhamāna" ("the one who grows") because of the kingdom's prosperity at the time of his birth. According to the "Kalpasutras", he was called Mahavira ("the great hero") by the gods in the "Kalpa Sūtra" because he remained steadfast in the midst of dangers, fears, hardships and calamities. He is also known as a "tirthankara".


title: Mahavira

text: It is universally accepted by scholars of Jainism that Mahavira lived in ancient India. According to the Digambara "Uttarapurana" text, Mahavira was born in Kundalpur in the Kingdom of the Videhas; the Śvētāmbara "Kalpa Sūtra" uses the name "Kundagrama", said to be located in present-day Bihar, India. Although it is thought to be the town of Basu Kund, about north of Patna (the capital of Bihar), his birthplace remains a subject of dispute. Mahavira renounced his material wealth and left home when he was twenty-eight, by some accounts (thirty by others), lived an ascetic life for twelve and a half years in which he did not even sit for a time, attained Kevalgyana and then preached Jainism for thirty years. Where he preached has been a subject of disagreement between the two major traditions of Jainism: Śvētāmbara and Digambara traditions.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira was born in 540BCE and died in 443BCE. The Barli Inscription in Prakrit language which was inscribed in 443 BCE (year 84 of the Vira Nirvana Samvat), contains the line "Viraya Bhagavate chaturasiti vase", which can be interpreted as "dedicated to Lord Vira in his 84th year", 84 years after the Nirvana of the Mahavira. However, paleographic analysis dates the inscription to the 2nd-1st century BCE. According to Buddhist and Jain texts they are believed to have been contemporaries which is supported by much ancient Buddhist literature. The "Vira Nirvana Samvat" era began in 527BCE (with Mahavira's nirvana) and is a firmly-established part of Jain tradition.


title: Mahavira

text: The 12th-century Jain scholar Hemachandracharya placed Mahavira in the 5thcentury BCE. According to Jain, the traditional date of 527BCE is accurate; the Buddha was younger than Mahavira and "might have attained nirvana a few years later". The place of his nirvana, Pavapuri in present-day Bihar, is a pilgrimage site for Jains.


title: Mahavira

text: According to Jain cosmology, 24 "Tirthankaras" have appeared on earth; Mahavira is the last "tirthankara" of "Avasarpiṇī" (the present time cycle). A "tirthankara" (ford-maker, saviour or spiritual teacher) signifies the founding of a "tirtha", a passage across the sea of birth-and-death cycles.


title: Mahavira

text: Tirthankara Mahavira was born into a royal Kshatriya family of King Siddhartha of the Ikshvaku Dynasty and Queen Trishala of the Licchavi republic. The Ikshvaku Dynasty was founded by the First tirthankara Rishabhanatha.


title: Mahavira

text: According to Jains, Mahavira was born in 599BCE. His birthday falls on the thirteenth day of the rising moon in the month of Chaitra in the "Vira Nirvana Samvat" calendar era. It falls in March or April of the Gregorian calendar, and is celebrated by Jains as Mahavir Janma Kalyanak.


title: Mahavira

text: Kshatriyakund (the place of Mahavira's birth) is traditionally believed to be near Vaishali, an ancient town on the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Its location in present-day Bihar is unclear, partly because of migrations from ancient Bihar for economic and political reasons. According to the "Universal History" in Jain texts, Mahavira underwent many rebirths (total 27 births) before his 6th-century birth. They included a denizen of hell, a lion, and a god ("deva") in a heavenly realm just before his last birth as the 24th "tirthankara". Svetambara texts state that his embryo first formed in a Brahman woman before it was transferred by Hari-Naigamesin (the divine commander of Indra's army) to the womb of Trishala, Siddhartha's wife. The embryo-transfer legend is not believed by adherents of the Digambara tradition.


title: Mahavira

text: Jain texts state that after Mahavira was born, the god Indra came from the heavens along with 56 "digkumaries", anointed him, and performed his "abhisheka" (consecration) on Mount Meru. These events, illustrated in a number of Jain temples, play a part in modern Jain temple rituals. Although the "Kalpa Sūtra" accounts of Mahavira's birth legends are recited by Svetambara Jains during the annual "Paryushana" festival, the same festival is observed by the Digambaras without the recitation.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira grew up as a prince. According to the second chapter of the Śvētāmbara Acharanga Sutra, his parents were lay devotees of Parshvanatha. Jain traditions differ about whether Mahavira married. The Digambara tradition believes that his parents wanted him to marry Yashoda, but he refused to marry. The Śvētāmbara tradition believes that he was married to Yashoda at a young age and had one daughter, Priyadarshana, also called Anojja.


title: Mahavira

text: Jain texts portray Mahavira as tall; his height was given as four cubits (6 feet) in the "Aupapatika Sutra". According to Jain texts, he was the shortest of the twenty-four "tirthankaras"; earlier "arihants" were believed to have been taller, with Neminatha or Aristanemi —the 22nd "tirthankara", who lived for 1,000 years—said to have been sixty-five cubits (98feet) in height.


title: Mahavira

text: At age thirty, Mahavira abandoned royal life and left his home and family to live an ascetic life in the pursuit of spiritual awakening. He undertook severe fasts and bodily mortifications, meditated under the Ashoka tree, and discarded his clothes. The "Acharanga Sutra" has a graphic description of his hardships and self-mortification. According to the "Kalpa Sūtra", Mahavira spent the first forty-two monsoons of his life in Astikagrama, Champapuri, Prstichampa, Vaishali, Vanijagrama, Nalanda, Mithila, Bhadrika, Alabhika, Panitabhumi, Shravasti, and Pawapuri. He is said to have lived in Rajagriha during the rainy season of the forty-first year of his ascetic life, which is traditionally dated to 491BCE.


title: Mahavira

text: According to traditional accounts, Mahavira achieved Kevala Jnana (omniscience, or infinite knowledge) under a Sāla tree on the bank of the River Rijubalika near Jrimbhikagrama at age 43 after twelve years of rigorous penance. The details of the event are described in the Jain "Uttar-purāņa" and "Harivamśa-purāņa" texts. The "Acharanga Sutra" describes Mahavira as all-seeing. The "Sutrakritanga" expands it to all-knowing, and describes his other qualities. Jains believe that Mahavira had a most auspicious body ("paramaudārika śarīra") and was free from eighteen imperfections when he attained omniscience. According to the Śvētāmbara, he traveled throughout India to teach his philosophy for thirty years after attaining omniscience. However, the Digambara believe that he remained in his Samavasarana and delivered sermons to his followers.


title: Mahavira

text: Jain texts document eleven Brahmins as Mahavira's first disciples, traditionally known as the eleven "Ganadharas". Indrabhuti Gautama is believed to have been their leader, and the others included Agnibhuti, Vayubhuti, Akampita, Arya Vyakta, Sudharman, Manditaputra, Mauryaputra, Acalabhraataa, Metraya, and Prabhasa. The "Ganadharas" are believed to have remembered and to have verbally transmitted Mahavira's teachings after his death. His teachings became known as "Gani-Pidaga", or the Jain "Agamas". According to "Kalpa Sutra", Mahavira had 14,000 "sadhus" (male ascetic devotees), 36,000 "sadhvis" (female ascetics), 159,000 "sravakas" (male lay followers), and 318,000 "sravikas" (female lay followers). Jain tradition mentions Srenika and Kunika of Haryanka dynasty (popularly known as Bimbisara and Ajatashatru) and Chetaka of Videha as his royal followers. Mahavira initiated his mendicants with the "mahavratas" (Five Vows). He delivered fifty-five "pravachana" (recitations) and a set of lectures ("Uttaraadhyayana-sutra"). Chandana is believed to be the leader of female monastic order.


title: Mahavira

text: According to Jain texts, Mahavira's nirvana (death) occurred in the town of Pawapuri in present-day Bihar. His life as a spiritual light and the night of his nirvana are commemorated by Jains as Diwali at the same time that Hindus celebrate it. His chief disciple, Gautama, is said to have attained omniscience the night that Mahavira achieved nirvana from Pawapuri.


title: Mahavira

text: Accounts of Mahavira's nirvana vary among Jain texts, with some describing a simple nirvana and others recounting grandiose celebrations attended by gods and kings. According to the Jinasena's "Mahapurana", heavenly beings arrived to perform his funeral rites. The "Pravachanasara" of Digambara tradition says that only the nails and hair of "tirthankaras" are left behind; the rest of the body dissolves in the air like camphor. In some texts Mahavira is described, at age 72, as delivering his final preaching over a six-day period to a large group of people. The crowd falls asleep, awakening to find that he has disappeared (leaving only his nails and hair, which his followers cremate).


title: Mahavira

text: The Jain Śvētāmbara tradition believes that Mahavira's nirvana occurred in 527 BCE, and the Digambara tradition holds that date of 468 BCE. In both traditions, his jiva (soul) is believed to abide in "Siddhashila" (the home of liberated souls). Mahavira's Jal Mandir stands at the place where he is said to have attained nirvana ("moksha"). Artworks in Jain temples and texts depict his final liberation and cremation, sometimes shown symbolically as a small pyre of sandalwood and a piece of burning camphor.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira's previous births are recounted in Jain texts such as the "Mahapurana" and "Tri-shashti-shalaka-purusha-charitra". Although a soul undergoes countless reincarnations in the transmigratory cycle of "saṃsāra", the birth of a "tirthankara" is reckoned from the time he determines the causes of karma and pursues ratnatraya. Jain texts describe Mahavira's 26 births before his incarnation as a "tirthankara". According to the texts, he was born as Marichi (the son of Bharata Chakravartin) in a previous life.


title: Mahavira

text: Yativṛṣabha's "Tiloya-paṇṇatti" recounts nearly all the events of Mahavira's life in a form convenient for memorisation. Jinasena's "Mahapurana" (which includes the "Ādi purāṇa" and "Uttara-purāṇa") was completed by his disciple, Gunabhadra, in the 8thcentury. In the "Uttara-purāṇa", Mahavira's life is described in three "parvans", or sections, (74–76) and 1,818 verses.


title: Mahavira

text: "Vardhamacharitra" is a Sanskrit kāvya poem, written by Asaga in 853, which narrates the life of Mahavira.


title: Mahavira

text: The "Kalpa Sūtra" is a collection of biographies of "tirthankaras", notably Parshvanatha and Mahavira. "Samavayanga Sutra" is a collection of Mahavira's teachings, and the "Acharanga Sutra" recounts his asceticism.


title: Mahavira

text: Colonial-era Indologists considered Jainism (and Mahavira's followers) a sect of Buddhism because of superficial similarities in iconography and meditative and ascetic practices. As scholarship progressed, differences between the teachings of Mahavira and the Buddha were found so divergent that the religions were acknowledged as separate. Mahavira, says Moriz Winternitz, taught a "very elaborate belief in the soul" (unlike the Buddhists, who denied such elaboration). His ascetic teachings have a higher order of magnitude than those of Buddhism or Hinduism, and his emphasis on ahimsa (non-violence) is greater than that in other Indian religions.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira's teachings were compiled by Gautama Swami, his "Ganadhara" (chief disciple). The canonical scriptures are in twelve parts. Mahavira's teachings were gradually lost after about 300BCE, according to Jain tradition, when a severe famine in the Magadha kingdom dispersed the Jain monks. Attempts were made by later monks to gather, recite the canon, and re-establish it. These efforts identified differences in recitations of Mahavira's teachings, and an attempt was made in the 5thcentury CE to reconcile the differences. The reconciliation efforts failed, with Svetambara and Digambara Jain traditions holding their own incomplete, somewhat-different versions of Mahavira's teachings. In the early centuries of the common era, Jain texts containing Mahavira's teachings were written in palm-leaf manuscripts. According to the Digambaras, "Āchārya" Bhutabali was the last ascetic with partial knowledge of the original canon. Later, some learned "achāryas" restored, compiled, and wrote down the teachings of Mahavira which were the subjects of the "Agamas". "Āchārya" Dharasena, in the 1stcentury CE, guided the "Āchāryas" Pushpadant and Bhutabali as they wrote down the teachings. The two "Āchāryas" wrote "Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama", among the oldest-known Digambara texts, on palm leaves.


title: Mahavira

text: The Jain Agamas enumerate five vratas (vows) which ascetics and householders must observe. These ethical principles were preached by Mahavira:


title: Mahavira

text: The goal of these principles is to achieve spiritual peace, a better rebirth, or (ultimately) liberation. According to Chakravarthi, these teachings help improve a person's quality of life. However, Dundas writes that Mahavira's emphasis on non-violence and restraint has been interpreted by some Jain scholars to "not be driven by merit from giving or compassion to other creatures, nor a duty to rescue all creatures" but by "continual self discipline": a cleansing of the soul which leads to spiritual development and release.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira is best remembered in the Indian traditions for his teaching that "ahimsa" is the supreme moral virtue. He taught that "ahimsa" covers all living beings, and injuring any being in any form creates bad karma (which affects one's rebirth, future well-being, and suffering). According to Mahatma Gandhi, Mahavira was the greatest authority on "ahimsa".


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira taught that the soul exists, a premise shared with Hinduism but not Buddhism. There is no soul (or self) in Buddhism, and its teachings are based on the concept of anatta (non-self). Mahavira taught that the soul is dravya (substantial), eternal, and yet temporary.


title: Mahavira

text: To Mahavira, the metaphysical nature of the universe consists of "dravya", "jiva", and "ajiva" (inanimate objects). The "jiva" is bound to "saṃsāra" (transmigration) because of karma (the effects of one's actions). Karma, in Jainism, includes actions and intent; it colors the soul ("lesya"), affecting how, where, and as what a soul is reborn after death.


title: Mahavira

text: According to Mahavira, there is no creator deity and existence has neither beginning nor end. Gods and demons exist in Jainism, however, whose "jivas" a part of the same cycle of birth and death. The goal of spiritual practice is to liberate the "jiva" from its karmic accumulation and enter the realm of the siddhas, souls who are liberated from rebirth. Enlightenment, to Mahavira, is the consequence of self-cultivation and self-restraint.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira taught the doctrine of "anekantavada" (many-sided reality). Although the word does not appear in the earliest Jain literature or the Agamas, the doctrine is illustrated in Mahavira's answers to questions posed by his followers. Truth and reality are complex, and have a number of aspects. Reality can be experienced, but it is impossible to express it fully with language alone; human attempts to communicate are "nayas" ("partial expression[s] of the truth"). Language itself is not truth, but a means of expressing it. From truth, according to Mahavira, language returns—not the other way around. One can experience the "truth" of a taste, but cannot fully express that taste through language. Any attempt to express the experience is "syāt": valid "in some respect", but still a "perhaps, just one perspective, incomplete". Spiritual truths are also complex, with multiple aspects, and language cannot express their plurality; however, they can be experienced through effort and appropriate karma.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira's "anekantavada" doctrine is also summarized in Buddhist texts such as the "Samaññaphala Sutta" (in which he is called Nigantha Nātaputta), and is a key difference between the teachings of Mahavira and those of the Buddha. The Buddha taught the Middle Way, rejecting the extremes of "it is" or "it is not"; Mahavira accepted both "it is" and "it is not", with reconciliation and the qualification of "perhaps".


title: Mahavira

text: The Jain Agamas suggest that Mahavira's approach to answering metaphysical, philosophical questions was a "qualified yes" ("syāt"). A version of this doctrine is also found in the Ajivika school of ancient Indian philosophy.


title: Mahavira

text: According to Dundas, the "anekantavada" doctrine has been interpreted by many Jains as "promot[ing] a universal religious tolerance ... plurality ... [and a] ... benign attitude to other [ethical, religious] positions"; however, this misreads Jain historical texts and Mahavira's teachings. Mahavira's "many pointedness, multiple perspective" teachings are a doctrine about the nature of reality and human existence, not about tolerating religious positions such as sacrificing animals (or killing them for food) or violence against nonbelievers (or any other living being) as "perhaps right". The five vows for Jain monks and nuns are strict requirements, with no "perhaps". Mahavira's Jainism co-existed with Buddhism and Hinduism beyond the renunciant Jain communities, but each religion was "highly critical of the knowledge systems and ideologies of their rivals".


title: Mahavira

text: A historically contentious view in Jainism is partially attributed to Mahavira and his ascetic life; he did not wear clothing, as a sign of renunciation (the fifth vow, "aparigraha"). It was disputed whether a female mendicant ("sadhvi") could achieve the spiritual liberation of a male mendicant ("sadhu") through asceticism.


title: Mahavira

text: The digambar sect (the sky-clad, naked mendicant order) believed that a woman is unable to fully practice asceticism and cannot achieve spiritual liberation because of her gender; she can, at best, live an ethical life so she is reborn as a man. According to this view, women are seen as a threat to a monk's chastity.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira had preached about men and women equality. The Svetambaras have interpreted Mahavira's teaching as encouraging both sexes to pursue a mendicant, ascetic life with the possibility of "moksha" ("kaivalya", spiritual liberation).


title: Mahavira

text: Rebirth and realms of existence are fundamental teachings of Mahavira. According to the Acaranga Sutra, Mahavira believed that life existed in myriad forms which included animals, plants, insects, bodies of water, fire, and wind. He taught that a monk should avoid touching or disturbing any of them (including plants) and never swim, light (or extinguish) a fire, or wave their arms in the air; such actions might injure other beings living in those states of matter.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira preached that the nature of existence is cyclic, and the soul is reborn after death in one of the "trilok"the heavenly, hellish, or earthly realms of existence and suffering. Humans are reborn, depending on one's karma (actions) as a human, animal, element, microbe, or other form, on earth or in a heavenly (or hellish) realm. Nothing is permanent; everyone (including gods, demons and earthly beings) dies and is reborn, based on their actions in their previous life. "Jinas" who have reached Kevala Jnana (omniscience) are not reborn; they enter the "siddhaloka", the "realm of the perfected ones".


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira is erroneously called the founder of Jainism, but Jains believe that the 23 previous "tirthankaras" also espoused it. Mahavira is placed in Parshvanatha's lineage as his spiritual successor and ultimate leader of shraman sangha.


title: Mahavira

text: Parshvanatha was born 273 years before Mahavira. Parshvanatha, a tirthankara whom modern Western historians consider a historical figure, lived in about the 8th century BCE. Jain texts suggest that Mahavira's parents were lay devotees of Parshvanatha. When Mahavira revived the Jain community in the 6th century BCE, "ahimsa" was already an established, strictly observed rule. The followers of Parshvanatha vowed to observe "ahimsa"; this obligation was part of their "caujjama dhamma" (Fourfold Restraint).


title: Mahavira

text: According to Dundas, Jains believe that the lineage of Parshvanatha influenced Mahavira. Parshvanatha, as the one who "removes obstacles and has the capacity to save", is a popular icon; his image is the focus of Jain temple devotion. Of the 24 "tirthankaras", Jain iconography has celebrated Mahavira and Parshvanatha the most; sculptures discovered at the Mathura archaeological site have been dated to the 1stcentury BCE. According to Moriz Winternitz, Mahavira may be considered a reformer of an existing Jain sect known as "Niganthas" (fetter-less) which was mentioned in early Buddhist texts. The Barli Inscription dating back to 443 BCE contains the line "Viraya Bhagavate chaturasiti vase", which can be interpreted as "dedicated to Lord Vira in his 84th year".


title: Mahavira

text: Two major annual Jain festivals associated with Mahavira are Mahavir Janma Kalyanak and Diwali. During Mahavir Janma Kalyanak, Jains celebrate Mahavira's birth as the 24th and last "tirthankara" of "avasarpiṇī" (the current time cycle). During Mahavir JanmaKalyanak, the five auspicious events of Mahavira's life are re-enacted. Diwali commemorates the anniversary of Mahavira's "nirvana", and is celebrated at the same time as the Hindu festival. Diwali marks the New Year for Jains.


title: Mahavira

text: Samantabhadra's "Svayambhustotra" praises the twenty-four "tirthankaras", and its eight shlokas (songs) adore Mahavira. One such "shloka" reads: Samantabhadra's "Yuktyanusasana" is a 64-verse poem which also praises Mahavira.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira is usually depicted in a sitting (or standing) meditative pose, with a lion symbol beneath him; each "tīrthankara" has a distinct emblem, which allows worshippers to distinguish similar idols. Mahavira's lion emblem is usually carved below his legs. Like all "tirthankaras", he is depicted with a "Shrivatsa in Shetamber tradition". The yoga pose is very common in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. Each tradition has had a distinctive auspicious chest mark that allows devotees to identify a meditating statue to symbolic icon for their theology. There are several "srivasta" found in ancient and medieval Jain art works, and these are not found on Buddhist or Hindu art works. and downcast eyes in digamber tradition while in Shetamber tradition it is wide open.


title: Mahavira

text: Mahavira's earliest iconography is from archaeological sites in the north Indian city of Mathura, dated from the 1stcentury BCE to the 2ndcentury CE. The "srivatsa" mark on his chest and his "dhyana-mudra" posture appears in Kushana Empire-era artwork. Differences in Mahavira's depiction between the Digambara and Svetambara traditions appear in the late 5thcentury CE. According to John Cort, the earliest archaeological evidence of Jina iconography with inscriptions precedes its datable texts by over 250 years.


title: Mahavira

text: Many images of Mahavira have been dated to the 12th century and earlier; an ancient sculpture was found in a cave in Sundarajapuram, Theni district, Tamil Nadu. K. Ajithadoss, a Jain scholar in Chennai, dated it to the 9th century.


title: Mahavira

text: Jivantasvami represents Mahavira as a princely state. The Jina is represented as standing in the kayotsarga pose wearing crown and ornaments.


title: Mahavira

text: Along with Rishabhanath, Parshvanath, Neminath, and Shantinath; Mahavira is one of the five "tirthankaras" that attract the most devotional worship among the Jains. Various Jain temple complexes across India feature him, and these are important pilgrimage sites in Jainism. Pawapuri, for example, is a hilly part of southern Bihar, which is believed to have been a place where 23 out of 24 "tirthankaras" preached, along with Rishabha. According to John Cort, the Mahavira temple in Osian, Jodhpur, Rajasthan is the oldest surviving Jain temple in western India; it was built in the late 8thcentury. Important Mahavira temple complexes include Jal Mandir in Pawapuri, Trilokyanatha Temple, Meguti Jain Temple, Kumbharia Mahavira Temple, Sankighatta, Muchhal Mahavir Temple, Bhandavapur Jain Tirth, Dimapur Jain Temple, and Jain temple, Kundalpur


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a segment of the Arctic Ocean, and a segment of the Antarctic Plateau. Byrd said that his expeditions had been the first to reach both the North Pole and the South Pole by air. His belief to have reached the North Pole is disputed. He is also known for discovering Mount Sidley, the largest dormant volcano in Antarctica.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: Byrd was born in Winchester, Virginia, the son of Esther Bolling (Flood) and Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr. He was a descendant of one of the First Families of Virginia. His ancestors include planter John Rolfe and his wife Pocahontas, William Byrd II of Westover Plantation, who established Richmond, as well as William Byrd I and Robert "King" Carter, a colonial governor. He was also descended from George Yeardley, Francis Wyatt and Samuel Argall. He was the brother of Virginia Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, a dominant figure in the Virginia Democratic Party from the 1920s until the 1960s; their father served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates for a time.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: On January 20, 1915, Richard married Marie Donaldson Ames (d. 1974). He would later name a region of Antarctic land he discovered "Marie Byrd Land" after her, and a mountain range, the Ames Range, after her father. They had four children – Richard Evelyn Byrd III, Evelyn Bolling Byrd Clarke, Katharine Agnes Byrd Breyer, and Helen Byrd Stabler. By late 1924, the Byrd family moved into a large brownstone house at 9 Brimmer Street in Boston's fashionable Beacon Hill neighborhood that had been purchased by Marie's father, a wealthy industrialist.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: Byrd was friends with Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, whose admiration of his polar exploits helped to gain Byrd sponsorship and financing for his various polar expeditions from the Ford Motor Company.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: Byrd attended the Virginia Military Institute for two years and transferred to the University of Virginia, before financial circumstances inspired his starting over and taking an appointment to the United States Naval Academy, where he was appointed as a midshipman on May 28, 1908. While at the Naval Academy, he suffered two injuries to his right ankle (one was by playing football and the other was while dismounting gymnastic rings during a competition). Although he was allowed to remain at the academy, his injuries eventually led to his forced retirement from the Navy in 1916.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: On June 8, 1912, Byrd graduated from the Naval Academy and was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy. On July 14, 1912, he was assigned to the battleship USS "Wyoming". During service in the Caribbean Sea, Byrd received his first letter of commendation, and later a Silver Lifesaving Medal, for twice plunging fully clothed to the rescue of a sailor who had fallen overboard. In April 1914, he transferred to the armored cruiser USS "Washington" and served in Mexican waters in June following the American intervention in April.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: His next assignment was to the gunboat USS "Dolphin", which also served as the yacht of the Secretary of the Navy. This assignment brought Byrd into contact with high-ranking officials and dignitaries, including then Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant (junior grade) on June 8, 1915. During Byrd's assignment to "Dolphin", she was commanded by future Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, who served as chief of staff to President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. Byrd's last assignment before forced retirement was to the presidential yacht USS "Mayflower".


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: On March 15, 1916, Byrd, much to his frustration, was medically retired on three-quarters pay for an ankle injury he suffered on board "Mayflower". Shortly thereafter, on December 14, 1916, he was assigned as the inspector and instructor for the Rhode Island Naval Militia in Providence, Rhode Island. While serving in this position, he was commended by Brigadier General Charles W. Abbot, the adjutant general of Rhode Island, for making great strides in improving the efficiency of the militia, and on April 25, 1928, was promoted to captain by act of the Rhode Island General Assembly in recognition of his flight to the North Pole in 1926.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: Shortly after the entry of the United States into the First World War in April 1917, Byrd oversaw the mobilization of the Rhode Island Naval Militia. He was then recalled to active duty and was assigned to the Office of Naval Operations and served in a desk job as secretary and organizer of the Navy Department Commission on Training Camps. In the autumn of 1917, he was sent to naval aviation school at Pensacola, Florida. He qualified as a naval aviator (number 608) in June 1918. He then commanded naval air forces at Naval Air Station Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada, from July 1918 until the armistice in November. In that assignment, he was promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant and the temporary rank of lieutenant commander.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: For his services during the war, he received a letter of commendation from Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, which was after World War II converted to a Navy Commendation Medal.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: After the war, Byrd volunteered to be a crew member in the U.S. Navy's 1919 aerial transatlantic crossing. This mission was historic, as it was the first time the Atlantic Ocean was crossed by an aircraft. It was decided that only men who had not served overseas would be allowed on the mission. Unfortunately for Byrd, his tour of duty in Newfoundland was considered overseas service. Byrd was, however, able to make a valuable contribution, as his expertise in aerial navigation resulted in his appointment to plan the flight path of the mission. Of the three flying boats (NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4) that started from Newfoundland, only Lieutenant Commander Albert Read's NC-4 completed the trip on May 18, 1919, achieving the first transatlantic flight.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: In 1921, Byrd volunteered to attempt a solo nonstop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, prefiguring Charles Lindbergh's historic flight by six years. Byrd's ambition was dashed by then acting Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., who felt the risks outweighed the potential rewards. Byrd was then assigned to the ill-fated dirigible "ZR-2" (formerly known by the British designation of "R-38"). As fate would have it, Byrd missed his train to take him to the airship on August 24, 1921. The airship broke apart in midair, killing 44 of 49 crew members on board. Byrd lost several friends in the accident, and was involved in the subsequent recovery operations and investigation. The accident affected him deeply and inspired him to make safety a top priority in all of his future expeditions.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: Due to reductions in the Navy after the First World War, Byrd reverted to the rank of lieutenant at the end of 1921. During the summer of 1923, then-Lieutenant Byrd and a group of volunteer Navy veterans of the First World War helped found the Naval Reserve Air Station (NRAS) at Squantum Point near Boston, using an unused First World War seaplane hangar which had remained more-or-less intact after the Victory Destroyer Plant shipyard was built on the site. NRAS Squantum was commissioned on August 15, 1923, and is considered to have been the first air base in the Naval Reserve program.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: Byrd commanded the aviation unit of the arctic expedition to North Greenland led by Donald B. MacMillan from June to October 1925. During this expedition, Byrd made the acquaintance of Navy Chief Aviation Pilot Floyd Bennett and Norwegian pilot Bernt Balchen. Bennett served as his pilot in his flight to the North Pole the next year. Balchen, whose knowledge of Arctic flight operations proved invaluable, was the primary pilot on Byrd's flight to the South Pole in 1929.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: On May 9, 1926, Byrd and Navy Chief Aviation Pilot Floyd Bennett attempted a flight over the North Pole in a Fokker F.VIIa/3m tri-motor monoplane named "Josephine Ford" after the daughter of Ford Motor Company president Edsel Ford, who helped finance the expedition. The flight left from Spitsbergen (Svalbard) and returned to its takeoff airfield, lasting 15 hours and 57 minutes, including 13 minutes spent circling at their Farthest North. Byrd and Bennett said they reached the North Pole, a distance of 1,535 miles (1,335 nautical miles).


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: When he returned to the United States from the Arctic, Byrd became a national hero. Congress passed a special act on December 21, 1926, promoting him to the rank of commander and awarding both Floyd Bennett and him the Medal of Honor. Bennett was promoted to the warrant officer rank of machinist. Byrd and Bennett were presented with Tiffany Cross versions of the Medal of Honor on March 5, 1927, at the White House by President Calvin Coolidge.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: Since 1926, doubts have been raised, defenses made, and heated controversy arose over whether or not Byrd actually reached the North Pole. In 1958, Norwegian-American aviator and explorer Bernt Balchen cast doubt on Byrd's statement on the basis of his knowledge of the airplane's speed. Balchen said that Bennett had confessed to him months after the flight that Byrd and he had not reached the pole. Bennett died on April 25, 1928, during a flight to rescue downed aviators in Greenland. Bennett, though, had started a memoir, given numerous interviews, and wrote an article for an aviation magazine about the flight before his death that all confirmed Byrd's version of the flight.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: The 1996 release of Byrd's diary of the May 9, 1926, flight revealed erased (but still legible) sextant sights that sharply differ from Byrd's later June 22 typewritten official report to the National Geographic Society. Byrd took a sextant reading of the Sun at 7:07:10 GCT. His erased diary record shows the apparent (observed) solar altitude to have been 19°25'30", while his later official typescript reports the same 7:07:10 apparent solar altitude to have been 18°18'18". On the basis of this and other data in the diary, Dennis Rawlins concluded that Byrd steered accurately, and flew about 80% of the distance to the pole before turning back because of an engine oil leak, but later falsified his official report to support his statement of reaching the pole.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: Accepting that the conflicting data in the typed report's flight times indeed require both northward and southward ground speeds greater than the flight's 85-mph airspeed, a Byrd defender posits a westerly-moving anticyclone that tailwind-boosted Byrd's ground speed on both outward and inward legs, allowing the distance said to be covered in the time stated (the theory is based on rejecting handwritten sextant data in favor of typewritten alleged dead-reckoning data). This suggestion has been challenged by Dennis Rawlins, who adds that the sextant data in the long-unavailable original official typewritten report are all expressed to 1 second, a precision not possible on Navy sextants of 1926 and not the precision of the sextant data in Byrd's diary for 1925 or the 1926 flight, which was normal (half or quarter of a minute of arc).


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: If Byrd and Bennett did not reach the North Pole, then the first flight over the pole occurred a few days later, on May 12, 1926, with the flight of the airship "Norge" that flew from Spitsbergen (Svalbard) to Alaska nonstop with a crew including Roald Amundsen, Umberto Nobile, Oscar Wisting, and Lincoln Ellsworth.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: In 1927, Byrd announced he had the backing of the American Trans-Oceanic Company, which had been established in 1914 by department-store magnate Rodman Wanamaker for the purpose of building aircraft to complete nonstop flights across the Atlantic Ocean. Byrd was one of several aviators who attempted to win the Orteig Prize in 1927 for making the first nonstop flight between the United States and France.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: Once again, Byrd named Floyd Bennett as his chief pilot, with Norwegian Bernt Balchen, Bert Acosta, and Lieutenant George Noville as other crewmembers. During a practice takeoff with Anthony Fokker at the controls and Bennett in the co-pilot seat, the Fokker Trimotor airplane, "America", crashed, severely injuring Bennett and slightly injuring Byrd. As the plane was being repaired, Charles Lindbergh won the prize by completing his historic flight on May 21, 1927. (Coincidentally, in 1925, then Army Air Service Reserve Corps Lieutenant Charles Lindbergh had applied to serve as a pilot on Byrd's North Pole expedition, but apparently, his bid came too late.)


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: Byrd continued with his quest to cross the Atlantic nonstop, naming Balchen to replace Bennett, who had not yet fully recovered from his injuries, as chief pilot. Byrd, Balchen, Acosta, and Noville flew from Roosevelt Field, East Garden City, New York, in the "America" on June 29, 1927. On board was mail from the US Postal Service to demonstrate the practicality of aircraft. Arriving over France the next day, they were prevented from landing in Paris by cloud cover; they returned to the coast of Normandy and crash-landed near the beach at Ver-sur-Mer (known as Gold Beach during the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944) without fatalities on July 1, 1927. In France, Byrd and his crew were received as heroes and Byrd was invested as an Officer of the French Legion of Honor by Prime Minister Raymond Poincare on July 6.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: After their return to the United States, an elaborate dinner in their honor was held in New York City on July 19. Byrd and Noville were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Secretary of the Navy Curtis D. Wilbur at the dinner. Acosta and Balchen did not receive the Distinguished Flying Cross because, at that time, it could only be awarded to members of the armed services and not to civilians.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: Byrd wrote an article for the August 1927 edition of "Popular Science Monthly" in which he accurately predicted that while specially modified aircraft with one to three crewmen would fly the Atlantic nonstop, another 20 years were needed before it would be realized on a commercial scale.


title: Richard E. Byrd

text: In 1928, Byrd began his first expedition to the Antarctic involving two ships and three airplanes: Byrd's flagship was the "City of New York" (a Norwegian sealing ship previously named "Samson" that had come into fame as a ship some said was in the vicinity of the "Titanic" when the latter was sinking) and the "Eleanor Bolling" (named after Byrd's mother); a Ford Trimotor airplane called the "Floyd Bennett" (named after the recently deceased pilot of Byrd's previous expeditions) flown by Dean Smith; a Fairchild FC-2W2, NX8006, built 1928, named "Stars And Stripes" (now displayed at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center); and a Fokker Super Universal monoplane called the "Virginia" (Byrd's birth state). A base camp named "Little America" was constructed on the Ross Ice Shelf, and scientific expeditions by snowshoe, dog sled, snowmobile, and airplane began. To increase the interest of youth in arctic exploration, a 19-year-old American Boy Scout, Paul Allman Siple, was chosen to accompany the expedition. Siple went on to earn an doctorate and was probably the only person, other than Byrd himself, to participate in all five of Byrd's Antarctic expeditions.