title: Battles of Saratoga

text: British General Sir Henry Clinton moved up from New York City and attempted to divert American attention by capturing Forts Clinton and Montgomery in the Hudson River highlands on October 6, and Kingston on October 13, but his efforts were too late to help Burgoyne. Burgoyne attacked Bemis Heights again on October 7 after it became apparent that he would not receive relieving aid in time. This battle culminated in heavy fighting marked by Arnold's spirited rallying of the American troops. Burgoyne's forces were thrown back to the positions that they held before the September 19 battle, and the Americans captured a portion of the entrenched British defenses.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: The American Revolutionary War was approaching the two-year point, and the British changed their plans. They decided to split the Thirteen Colonies and isolate New England from what they believed to be the more Loyalist middle and southern colonies. The British command devised a plan to divide the colonies with a three-way pincer movement in 1777. The western pincer under the command of Barry St. Leger was to progress from Ontario through western New York, following the Mohawk River, and the southern pincer was to progress up the Hudson River valley from New York City. The northern pincer was to proceed southward from Montreal, and the three forces were to meet in the vicinity of Albany, New York, severing New England from the other colonies.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: British General John Burgoyne moved south from the province of Quebec in June 1777 to gain control of the upper Hudson River valley. His campaign had become bogged down in difficulties following a victory at Fort Ticonderoga. Elements of the army had reached the upper Hudson as early as the end of July, but logistical and supply difficulties delayed the main army at Fort Edward. One attempt to alleviate these difficulties failed when nearly 1,000 men were killed or captured at the August 16 Battle of Bennington. Furthermore, news reached Burgoyne on August 28 that St. Leger's expedition down the Mohawk River valley had turned back after the failed Siege of Fort Stanwix.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: General William Howe had taken his army from New York City by sea on a campaign to capture Philadelphia instead of moving north to meet Burgoyne. Most of Burgoyne's Indian support had fled following the loss at Bennington, and his situation was becoming difficult. He needed to reach defensible winter quarters, requiring either retreat back to Ticonderoga or advance to Albany, and he decided to advance. He then deliberately cut communications to the north so that he would not need to maintain a chain of heavily fortified outposts between his position and Ticonderoga, and he decided to cross the Hudson River while he was in a relatively strong position. He ordered Baron Riedesel, who commanded the rear of the army, to abandon outposts from Skenesboro south, and then had the army cross the Hudson just north of Saratoga between September 13 and 15.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: The Continental Army had been in a slow retreat since Burgoyne's capture of Ticonderoga early in July, under the command of Major General Philip Schuyler, and was encamped south of Stillwater, New York. On August 19, Major General Horatio Gates assumed command from Schuyler, whose political fortunes had fallen over the loss of Ticonderoga and the ensuing retreat. Gates and Schuyler were from very different backgrounds and did not get along with each other; they had previously argued over command issues in the army's Northern Department. The army was growing in size because of increased militia turnout following calls by state governors, the success at Bennington, and widespread outrage over the slaying of Jane McCrea, the fiancée of a Loyalist in Burgoyne's army by Indians under Burgoyne's command.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: General George Washington's strategic decisions also improved the situation for Gates' army. Washington was most concerned about the movements of General Howe. He was aware that Burgoyne was also moving, and he took some risks in July. He sent aid north in the form of Major General Benedict Arnold, his most aggressive field commander, and Major General Benjamin Lincoln, a Massachusetts man noted for his influence with the New England militia. He ordered 750 men from Israel Putnam's forces defending the New York highlands to join Gates' army in August, before he was certain that Howe had indeed sailed south. He also sent some of the best forces from his own army: Colonel Daniel Morgan and the newly formed Provisional Rifle Corps, which comprised about 500 specially selected riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, chosen for their sharpshooting ability. This unit came to be known as Morgan's Riflemen.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: On September 7, Gates ordered his army to march north. A site was selected for its defensive potential that was known as Bemis Heights, just north of Stillwater and about south of Saratoga; the army spent about a week constructing defensive works designed by Polish engineer Tadeusz Kościuszko. The heights had a clear view of the area and commanded the only road to Albany, where it passed through a defile between the heights and the Hudson River. To the west of the heights lay more heavily forested bluffs that would present a significant challenge to any heavily equipped army.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Moving very cautiously, since the departure of his Native American support had deprived him of reliable reports on the American position, Burgoyne advanced to the south after crossing the Hudson. On September 18 the vanguard of his army had finally reached a position just north of Saratoga, about from the American defensive line, and skirmishes occurred between American scouting parties and the leading elements of his army.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: The American camp had become a bed of festering intrigue ever since Arnold's return from Fort Stanwix. While he and Gates had previously been on reasonably good terms in spite of their prickly egos, Arnold managed to turn Gates against him by taking on officers friendly to Schuyler as staff, dragging him into the ongoing feud between the two. These conditions had not yet reached a boil on September 19, but the day's events contributed to the situation. Gates had assigned the left wing of the defenses to Arnold, and assumed command himself of the right, which was nominally assigned to General Lincoln, whom Gates had detached in August with some troops to harass the British positions behind Burgoyne's army.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Both Burgoyne and Arnold understood the importance of the American left, and the need to control the heights there. After the morning fog lifted around 10 am, Burgoyne ordered the army to advance in three columns. Baron Riedesel led the left column, consisting of the German troops and the 47th Foot, on the river road, bringing the main artillery and guarding supplies and the boats on the river. General James Inglis Hamilton commanded the center column, consisting of the 9th, 20th, 21st, and 62nd regiments, which would attack the heights, and General Simon Fraser led the right wing with the 24th Regiment and the light infantry and grenadier companies, to turn the American left flank by negotiating the heavily wooded high ground north and west of Bemis Heights.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Arnold also realized such a flanking maneuver was likely, and petitioned Gates for permission to move his forces from the heights to meet potential movements, where the American skill at woodlands combat would be at an advantage. Gates, whose preferred strategy was to sit and wait for the expected frontal assault, grudgingly permitted a reconnaissance in force consisting of Daniel Morgan's men and Henry Dearborn's light infantry. When Morgan's men reached an open field northwest of Bemis Heights belonging to Loyalist John Freeman, they spotted British advance troops in the field. Fraser's column was slightly delayed and had not yet reached the field, while Hamilton's column had also made its way across a ravine and was approaching the field from the east through dense forest and difficult terrain. Riedesel's force, while it was on the road, was delayed by obstacles thrown down by the Americans. The sound of gunfire to the west prompted Riedesel to send some of his artillery down a track in that direction. The troops Morgan's men saw were an advance company from Hamilton's column.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Morgan placed marksmen at strategic positions, who then picked off virtually every officer in the advance company. Morgan and his men then charged, unaware that they were headed directly for Burgoyne's main army. While they succeeded in driving back the advance company, Fraser's leading edge arrived just in time to attack Morgan's left, scattering his men back into the woods. James Wilkinson, who had ridden forward to observe the fire, returned to the American camp for reinforcements. As the British company fell back toward the main column, the leading edge of that column opened fire, killing a number of their own men.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: There was then a lull in the fighting around 1:00 pm as Hamilton's men began to form up on the north side of the field, and American reinforcements began to arrive from the south. Learning that Morgan was in trouble, Gates ordered out two more regiments (1st and 3rd New Hampshire) to support him, with additional regiments (2nd New York, 4th New York, the 1st Canadian, and Connecticut militia) from the brigade of Enoch Poor to follow. Burgoyne arrayed Hamilton's men with the 21st on the right, the 20th on the left, and the 62nd in the center, with the 9th held in reserve.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: The battle then went through phases alternating between intense fighting and breaks in the action. Morgan's men had regrouped in the woods, and picked off officers and artillerymen. They were so effective at reducing the latter that the Americans several times gained brief control of British field pieces, only to lose them in the next British charge. At one point it was believed that Burgoyne himself had been taken down by a sharpshooter; it was instead one of Burgoyne's aides, riding a richly dressed horse, who was the victim. The center of the British line was very nearly broken at one point, and only the intervention of General Phillips, leading the 20th, made it possible for the 62nd to reform. In the memoir of Roger Lamb, a British soldier present at the battle, he wrote


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: The final stroke of the battle belonged to the British. Around 3 pm, Riedesel sent a messenger to Burgoyne for instructions. He returned two hours later with orders to guard the baggage train, but also to send as many men as he could spare toward the American right flank. In a calculated risk, Riedesel left 500 men to guard the vital supply train and marched off toward the action with the rest of his column. Two of his companies advanced on the double and opened vicious fire on the American right, and Fraser's force threatened to turn the American left flank. In response to the latter threat, Arnold requested more forces, and Gates allowed him to dispatch Ebenezer Learned's brigade (2nd, 8th and 9th Massachusetts). (If Arnold had been on the field, these forces might have instead faced the larger danger posed by Riedesel's force.) Fortunately for the American right, darkness set in, bringing an end to the battle. The Americans retreated back to their defenses, leaving the British on the field.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Burgoyne had gained the field of battle, but suffered nearly 600 casualties. Most of these were to Hamilton's center column, where the 62nd was reduced to the size of a single company, and three quarters of the artillerymen were killed or wounded. American losses were nearly 300 killed and seriously wounded.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: It has been widely recounted in histories of this battle that General Arnold was on the field, directing some of the action. However, John Luzader, a former park historian at the Saratoga National Historical Park, carefully documents the evolution of this story and believes it is without foundation in contemporary materials, and that Arnold remained at Gates' headquarters, receiving news and dispatching orders through messengers. Arnold biographer James Kirby Martin, however, disagrees with Luzader, arguing that Arnold played a more active role at Freeman's Farm by directing patriot troops into position and possibly leading some charges before being ordered back to headquarters by Gates.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Burgoyne's council discussed whether to attack the next day, and a decision was reached to delay further action at least one day, to September 21. The army moved to consolidate the position closer to the American line while some men collected their dead. The attack on the 21st was called off when Burgoyne received a letter dated September 12 from Henry Clinton, who was commanding the British garrison in New York City. Clinton suggested that he could "make a push at [Fort] Montgomery in about ten days." (Fort Montgomery was an American post on the Hudson River, in the New York Highlands south of West Point). If Clinton left New York on September 22, "about ten days" after he wrote the letter, he still could not hope to arrive in the vicinity of Saratoga before the end of the month. Burgoyne, running low on men and food, was still in a very difficult position, but he decided to wait in the hope that Clinton would arrive to save his army. Burgoyne wrote to Clinton on September 23, requesting some sort of assistance or diversion to draw Gates' army away. Clinton sailed from New York on October 3, and captured Forts Montgomery and Clinton on October 6. The furthest north any of his troops reached was Clermont, where they raided the estate of the prominent Patriot Livingston family on October 16.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Unknown to either side at Saratoga, General Lincoln and Colonel John Brown had staged an attack against the British position at Fort Ticonderoga. Lincoln had collected 2,000 men at Bennington by early September. Brown and a detachment of 500 men captured poorly defended positions between Ticonderoga and Lake George, and then spent several days ineffectually bombarding the fort. These men, and some of the prisoners they freed along the way, were back in the American camp by September 29.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: In the American camp, the mutual resentment between Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold finally exploded into open hostility. Gates quickly reported the action of September 19 to the Congress and Governor George Clinton of New York, but he failed to mention Arnold at all. The field commanders and men universally credited Arnold for their success. Almost all the troops involved were from Arnold's command and Arnold was the one directing the battle while Gates sat in his tent. Arnold protested, and the dispute escalated into a shouting match that ended with Gates relieving Arnold of his command and giving it to Benjamin Lincoln. Arnold asked for a transfer to Washington's command, which Gates granted, but instead of leaving he remained in his tent. There is no documentary evidence for a commonly recounted anecdote that a petition signed by line officers convinced Arnold to stay in camp.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: During this period there were almost daily clashes between pickets and patrols of the two armies. Morgan's sharpshooters, familiar with the strategy and tactics of woodland warfare, constantly harassed British patrols on the western flank.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: As September passed into October it became clear that Clinton was not coming to help Burgoyne, who put the army on short rations on October 3. The next day, Burgoyne called a war council in which several options were discussed, but no conclusive decisions were made. When the council resumed the next day, Riedesel proposed retreat, in which he was supported by Fraser. Burgoyne refused to consider it, insisting that retreat would be disgraceful. They finally agreed to conduct an assault on the American left flank with two thousand men, more than one-third of the army, on October 7. The army he was attacking, however, had grown in the interval. In addition to the return of Lincoln's detachment, militiamen and supplies continued to pour into the American camp, including critical increases in ammunition, which had been severely depleted in the first battle. The army Burgoyne faced on October 7 was more than 12,000 men strong and was led by a man who knew how much trouble Burgoyne was in. Gates had received consistent intelligence from the stream of deserters leaving the British lines and had also intercepted Clinton's response to Burgoyne's plea for help.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: While Burgoyne's troop strength was nominally higher, he likely had only about 5,000 effective, battle-ready troops on October 7, as losses from the earlier battles in the campaign and desertions following the September 19 battle had reduced his forces. General Riedesel advised that the army retreat. Burgoyne decided to reconnoiter the American left flank to see if an attack was possible. As an escort, the generals took Fraser's Advanced Corps, with light troops and the 24th Foot on the right and the combined British grenadiers on the left, and a force drawn from all the German regiments in the army in the center. There were eight British cannon under Major Williams and two Hesse-Hanau cannon under Captain Pausch. Leaving their camp between 10 and 11 am, they advanced about three-quarters of a mile (1 km) to Barber's wheat field on a rise above Mill Brook, where they stopped to observe the American position. While the field afforded some room for artillery to work, the flanks were dangerously close to the surrounding woods.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Gates, following the removal of Arnold from the field command, assumed command of the American left and gave the right to General Lincoln. When American scouts brought news of Burgoyne's movement to Gates, he ordered Morgan's riflemen out to the far left, with Poor's men (1st, 2nd, and 3rd New Hampshire) on the left; the 2nd and 4th New York Regiments on the right, and Learned's 1st New York, 1st Canadian, 2nd, 8th and 9th Massachusetts Regiments, plus militia companies, in the center. A force of 1,200 New York militia under Brigadier General Abraham Ten Broeck was held in reserve behind Learned's line. In all, more than 8,000 Americans took the field that day, including about 1,400 men from Lincolns command that were deployed when the action became particularly fierce.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: The opening fire came between 2 and 2:30 pm from the British grenadiers. Poor's men held their fire, and the terrain made the British shooting largely ineffective. When Major Acland led the British grenadiers in a bayonet charge, the Americans finally began shooting at close range. Acland fell, shot in both legs, and many of the grenadiers also went down. Their column was a total rout, and Poor's men advanced to take Acland and Williams prisoner and capture their artillery. On the American left, things were also not going well for the British. Morgan's men swept aside the Canadians and Native Americans to engage Fraser's regulars. Although slightly outnumbered, Morgan managed to break up several British attempts to move west. While General Fraser was mortally wounded in this phase of the battle, a frequently told story claiming it to be the work of Timothy Murphy, one of Morgan's men, appears to be a 19th-century fabrication. The fall of Fraser and the arrival of Ten Broeck's large militia brigade (which roughly equaled the entire British reconnaissance force in size), broke the British will, and they began a disorganized retreat toward their entrenchments. Burgoyne was also very nearly killed by one of Morgan's marksmen; three shots hit his horse, hat, and waistcoat.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: The first phase of the battle lasted about one hour and cost Burgoyne nearly 400 men, including the capture of most of the grenadiers' command, and six of the ten field pieces brought to the action.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: At this point, the Americans were joined by an unexpected participant. General Arnold, who was "betraying great agitation and wrath" in the American camp, and may have been drinking, rode out to join the action. Gates immediately sent Major Armstrong after him with orders to return; Armstrong did not catch up with Arnold until the action was effectively over. (A letter, written by a witness to proceedings in the camp, suggests that Arnold did in fact have authorization from Gates to engage in this action.)


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: The defenses on the right side of the British camp were anchored by two redoubts. The outermost one was defended by about 300 men under the command of the Hessian Heinrich von Breymann, while the other was under the command of Lord Balcarres. A small contingent of Canadians occupied the ground between these two fortifications. Most of the retreating force headed for Balcarres' position, as Breymann's was slightly north and further away from the early action.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Arnold led the American chase, and then led Poor's men in an attack on the Balcarres redoubt. Balcarres had set up his defenses well, and the redoubt was held, in action so fierce that Burgoyne afterwards wrote, "A more determined perseverance than they showed … is not in any officer's experience". Seeing that the advance was checked, and that Learned was preparing to attack the Breymann redoubt, Arnold moved toward that action, recklessly riding between the lines and remarkably emerging unhurt. He led the charge of Learned's men through the gap between the redoubts, which exposed the rear of Breymann's position, where Morgan's men had circled around from the far side. In furious battle, the redoubt was taken and Breymann was killed. Arnold's horse was hit in one of the final volleys, and Arnold's leg was broken by both shot and the falling horse. Major Armstrong finally caught up with Arnold to officially order him back to headquarters; he was carried back in a litter. Arnold wished that he was shot in the heart, knowing that if he died in the battle, he would have kept the fame as a heroic martyr.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: The capture of Breymann's redoubt exposed the British camp, but darkness was setting in. An attempt by some Germans to retake the redoubt ended in capture as darkness fell and an unreliable guide led them to the American line.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Burgoyne had lost 1,000 men in the two battles, leaving him outnumbered by roughly 3 to 1. American losses came to about 500 killed and wounded. Burgoyne had also lost several of his most effective leaders, his attempts to capture the American position had failed, and his forward line was now breached. After the second battle, Burgoyne lit fires at his remaining forward positions and withdrew under the cover of darkness. He withdrew his men 10–15 miles north, near present-day Schuylerville, New York. By the morning of October 8, he was back in the fortified positions he had held on September 16.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: On October 13, with his army surrounded, Burgoyne held a council of war to propose terms of surrender. Riedesel suggested that they be paroled and allowed to march back to Canada without their weapons. Burgoyne felt that Gates would not even consider such terms, asking instead to be conveyed to Boston, where they would sail back to Europe. After several days of negotiations, the two sides signed the capitulation.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: On October 17, Burgoyne surrendered his army to Gates. The British and German troops were accorded the traditional honors of war as they marched out to surrender. The troops formed the Convention Army, named after the convention that granted them safe passage back to Europe. However, the Continental Congress revoked the convention, and the Convention Army was kept in captivity until the end of the war.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Burgoyne's failed campaign marked a major turning point in the war. General Burgoyne returned to England and was never given another commanding position in the British Army. The British learned that the Americans would fight bravely and effectively. One British officer said:


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: In recognition of his contribution to the battles at Saratoga, General Arnold had his seniority restored (he had lost it after being passed over for promotion earlier in 1777). However, Arnold's leg wound kept him in bed five months. Later, while still unfit for field service but serving as military governor of Philadelphia, Arnold entered into treasonous correspondence with the British. He received command of the fort at West Point and plotted to hand it over to the British, only to flee into the British lines when the capture of his contact John Andre led to the exposure of the plot. Arnold went on to serve under William Phillips, the commander of Burgoyne's right wing, in a 1781 expedition into Virginia.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Although he left the direction of the battle to subordinates, General Gates received a great deal of credit as the commanding general for the greatest American victory of the war to date. He may have conspired with others to replace George Washington as the commander-in-chief. Instead, he received the command of the main American army in the South. He led it to a disastrous defeat at the 1780 Battle of Camden, where he was at the forefront of a panicked retreat. Gates never commanded troops in the field thereafter.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: In response to Burgoyne's surrender, Congress declared December 18, 1777, as a national day "for solemn Thanksgiving and praise"; it was the nation's first official observance of a holiday with that name.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Once news of Burgoyne's surrender reached France, King Louis XVI decided to enter into negotiations with the Americans that resulted in a formal Franco-American alliance and French entry into the war. This moved the conflict onto a global stage. As a consequence, Britain was forced to divert resources used to fight the war in North America to theaters in the West Indies and Europe, and rely on what turned out to be the chimera of Loyalist support in its North American operations. Being defeated by the British in the French and Indian War more than a decade earlier, France found an opportunity to undercut British power and ultimately of revenge by aiding the colonists throughout the Revolutionary War. Prior to the Battle of Saratoga, France did not fully aid the colonists. However, after the Battles of Saratoga were conclusively won by the colonists, France realized that the Americans had the hope of winning the war, and began fully aiding the colonists by sending soldiers, donations, loans, military arms, and supplies.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: The battlefield and the site of Burgoyne's surrender have been preserved, and are now administered by the National Park Service as the Saratoga National Historical Park, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The park preserves a number of the buildings in the area and contains a variety of monuments.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: The Saratoga Monument obelisk has four niches, three of which hold statues of American commanders: Gates and Schuyler and of Colonel Daniel Morgan. The fourth niche, where Arnold's statue would go, is empty. A more dramatic memorial to Arnold's heroism, that does not name him, is the Boot Monument. Donated by Civil War General John Watts de Peyster, it shows a boot with spurs and the stars of a major general. It stands at the spot where Arnold was shot on October 7 charging Breymann's redoubt and is dedicated to "the most brilliant soldier of the Continental Army".


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: Six Army National Guard units (101st Eng Bn, 102nd Inf, 125th QM Co, 181st Inf, 182nd Inf and 192nd MP Bn) are derived from American units that participated in the Battle of Saratoga. There are now only thirty units in the U.S. Army with lineages that go back to the colonial era.


title: Battles of Saratoga

text: There are a number of ships named after the battles including USS "Saratoga" (1842), USS "Saratoga" (CV-3), and USS "Saratoga" (CV-60)


title: Shillong

text: Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a population of 143,229 according to the 2011 census. It is said that the rolling hills around the town reminded the British of Scotland. Hence, they would also refer to it as the "Scotland of the East".


title: Shillong

text: Shillong has steadily grown in size since it was made the civil station of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills in 1864 by the British. In 1874, on the formation of Assam as the Chief Commissioner's Province, it was chosen as the headquarters of the new administration because of its convenient location between the Brahmaputra and Surma valleys and more so because the climate of Shillong was much cooler than tropical India. Shillong remained the capital of undivided Assam until the creation of the new state of Meghalaya on 21 January 1972, when Shillong became the capital of Meghalaya, and Assam moved its capital to Dispur in Guwahati.


title: Shillong

text: Shillong was capital for composite Assam during the British regime and later till a separate State of Meghalaya was formed. David Scott, the British civil servant of the East India Company, was the Agent of the Governor-General North East Frontier. During the First Anglo-Burmese War the British authorities felt the need for a road to connect Sylhet and Assam. The route was to traverse across the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. David Scott overcame the difficulties his administration faced from the opposition of the Khasi Syiems – their chiefs and people. Impressed by the favourable cool climate of Khasi Hills, they negotiated with the Syiem of Sohra in 1829 for a sanatorium for the British. Thus began the consolidation of British interests in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills.


title: Shillong

text: A serious uprising by the Khasis against foreign occupation of their land followed. It began early in 1829 and continued till January 1833. Eventually, the Khasi confederate chiefs were no match against the military might of the British. David Scott negotiated for the surrender of the leader of the Khasi resistance, Tirot Sing, who was then taken to Dacca (present-day Dhaka) for detention. After the resistance of the Khasis a political agent was posted in the hills, with its headquarters at Sohra, also known by the name Cherrapunjee. But the climatic condition and facilities of Sohra did not make the British happy. They then moved out to Shillong. "Ïewduh" is the biggest market in Shillong. The name "Shillong" was later adopted, as the location of the new town was below the Shillong Peak. Shillong is named after the god of the Khasis, "U Blei Shyllong".


title: Shillong

text: In 1874, a separate Chief Commissionership was formed with Shillong as the seat of administration. The new administration included Sylhet, now a part of Bangladesh. Also included in the Chief Commissionership were the Naga Hills (present-day Nagaland), Lushai Hills (present-day Mizoram) as well as Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills. Shillong was the capital of composite Assam till 1969 when the autonomous state of Meghalaya was formed. In January 1972 Meghalaya was made a full-fledged state.


title: Shillong

text: The Shillong Municipal Board has a long history dating back to 1878, when a proclamation was issued constituting Shillong and its suburbs, including the villages of Mawkhar and Laban, into a station under the Bengal Municipal Act of 1876. Inclusion of the villages of Mawkhar (S.E. Mawkhar, Jaiaw and part of Jhalupara and Mawprem) and Laban (Lumparing, Madan laban, Kench's Trace and Rilbong) within the Municipality of Shillong was agreed to by Haiñ Manik Syiem of Mylliem under the agreement of 15 November 1878. But, there is no trace of Shillong in the British era maps dating back to 1878, up to 1900.


title: Shillong

text: Shillong was also the subject of the great earthquake that occurred on 12 June 1897. The earthquake had an estimated moment magnitude of 8.1. Twenty-seven lives from Shillong town alone were lost and a major part of the town was destroyed.


title: Shillong

text: Shillong is at . It lies on the Shillong Plateau, the only major uplifted structure in the northern Indian shield. The city lies in the centre of the plateau and is surrounded by hills, three of which are revered in Khasi tradition: Lum Sohpetbneng, Lum Diengiei, and Lum Shyllong.


title: Shillong

text: Shillong is just from Guwahati, which can be accessed by road along NH 40, a journey of about 2 hours 30 minutes through lush green hills and the Umiam lake in between.


title: Shillong

text: Shillong has been selected as the 100th city to receive funding under the centre's flagship "Smart Cities Mission" Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation AMRUT. In January 2016, 20 cities were announced under the Smart Cities Mission, followed by 13 cities in May 2016, 27 cities in September 2016, 30 cities in June 2017, and 9 cities in January this year. The total proposed investment in the finally selected 100 cities under the Smart Cities Mission would be 2,050,180 million. Under the scheme, each city will get 5000 million from the centre for implementing various projects.


title: Shillong

text: Weather conditions in Shillong are typically pleasant, pollution-free. In the summer the temperature varies from . In the winter the temperature varies from .


title: Shillong

text: Under Köppen's climate classification the city features a subtropical highland climate (Cwb). Its summers are cool and very rainy, while its winters are cool yet dry. Shillong is subject to vagaries of the monsoon. The monsoons arrive in June and it rains almost until the end of October.


title: Shillong

text: Although well connected by road, Shillong has neither rail connections nor a proper air connection. Umroi Airport located from the city centre has only limited flights.


title: Shillong

text: Shillong is well connected by roads with all major northeastern states. Three major National Highways pass through:


title: Shillong

text: Private bus operators, as well as state transport buses from other states, come to and from Shillong daily. Taxi services are also available to destination like Guwahati, Agartala, Kohima, Dimapur, Aizawl and other North Eastern towns and cities.


title: Shillong

text: The Shillong Bypass "(pictured)" is a two lane road which stretches across connecting Umiam (NH-40) to Jorabat (NH-44) which then leads to other northeastern Indian states of Mizoram and Tripura. The project was estimated to have cost around and was completed in a span of two years (2011–2013).


title: Shillong

text: Shillong is served by the Shillong Airport, which is located about 30km away at Umroi. The airport has daily flights to and from Kolkata. Presently Indigo is operating regular services from the airport.


title: Shillong

text: Teteliya-Byrnihat line, long, from Guwahati's suburb Tetelia to Byrnihat near Shillong in Meghalaya is likely to be completed by March 2026. From Byrnihat it will be extended further to Shillong in future.


title: Shillong

text: As of the 2011 Census of India, Shillong had a total population of 143,229, of which 70,135 were males and 73,094 were females. As per 2011 language census report, 67,154 of the city's population speak Khasi as their native language, 28,984 speak Bengali, 15,559 speak Hindi, 14,085 speak Nepali, 4,069 speak Assamese, 2,632 speak Punjabi, 3,580 speak Garo, 1,088 speak Urdu and 6,115 speak other languages. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 14,317. The total number of literates in Shillong was 119,642, which constituted 83.5% of the population with male literacy of 84.8% and female literacy of 82.3%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Shillong was 92.8%, of which male literacy rate was 94.8% and female literacy rate was 90.9%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 1,551 and 73,307, respectively. Shillong had 31025 households in 2011. Before creation of Meghalaya


title: Shillong

text: state in 1972, Non-tribals were majority in Shillong metropolitan area. As per the 1971 Census, non-tribals constituted 58.53% of the population of Shillong back then.


title: Shillong

text: According to 2011 census, Christianity is the dominant religion in the city, practised by 46.49% of the population, followed by Hinduism at 41.95%, Islam 4.89%, and to a lesser degree, that is, 2.01% includes Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism. An ancient indigenous religion of the Khasi and Jaintia tribes is still followed by 4.5% of the population. The Shillong metropolitan region, which includes the towns of Laitumkhrah, Lawsohtun, Madanrting, Mawlai, Mawpat, Nongkseh, Nongmynsong, Nongthymmai, Pynthorumkhrah, Shillong Cantonment, Umlyngka and Umpling,


title: Shillong

text: had a population of 354,759, 12% of which being under six years of age. The literacy rate in the metro region was 91%.


title: Shillong

text: Shillong is one of the capital cities in Northeast India to produce three football clubs that participate in the I-League, namely, Rangdajied United FC, Royal Wahingdoh FC and Shillong Lajong FC. All three have their home stadium at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Royal Wahingdoh FC was adjudged 2nd runners-up in the 2014–15 season of I-League.


title: Shillong

text: The Shillong Golf Course is one of the oldest golf course in the country and is surrounded by pine and rhododendron trees.


title: Shillong

text: Among people of the Khasi tribe of Meghalaya, archery has been both a sport, a form of defence for several centuries and gambling (teer). While modern customs have replaced many of traditional aspects of the culture here, a pervasive fascination for archery remains. Shillong teer is an authorized game that is subject to regulations established by the Meghalaya Amusement and Betting Tax Act. The Khasi Hills Archery Sports Association is in charge of managing this lottery event.


title: Shillong

text: Binningstar Lyngkhoi from Shillong is a national marathon runner and represented India in the last 2010 Commonwealth Games. He is the fastest marathoner in India with a timing of 2:18 hours.


title: Shillong

text: Local media in Shillong is strong. There are a number of theatres, newspapers, magazines, local radio and television stations. Shillong is also often called as "India's Rock Capital" due to its inhabitants' great passion for music, hosting concerts featuring a number of western artists.


title: Shillong

text: Cinemas in Shillong include Bijou Cinema Hall, Gold Cinema and Anjalee Cinema Hall (also called Galleria Anjalee Cinema).


title: Shillong

text: Newspapers are published for Shillong both in Khasi and English. Prominent English dailies published here include "Shillong Times", "Meghalaya Guardian", "Highland Post", "Meghalaya Times" and "The Sentinel". Khasi dailies like "U Mawphor", "U Nongsaiñ Hima" "Peitngor", "Kynjat Shai"among others are published here. Weekly newspaper are "Salonsar" and "Dongmusa". There are magazines like "Iing Khristan" (100 years of publication), "Pateng Mynta" in Khasi and "Youth Today" and "Eastern Panorama" in English.


title: Shillong

text: The radio industry has expanded with a number of private and government-owned FM channels being introduced. State-owned Doordarshan transmits terrestrial television channels. Apart from these few weekly news channels like Peitngor Cable News (PCN), Ri Khasi Channel, Batesi and T7 are broadcast weekly on the local cable networks.


title: Shillong

text: Fixed telephone lines are available. Internet services are available both wired and wireless broadband. It is also well covered in mobile networks with all major cellular providers like Airtel, Vodafone Idea, BSNL and Jio are available here.


title: Shillong

text: HQ Eastern Air Command (HQ, EAC) was shifted to Shillong on 10 Jun 63 from Kolkata and housed in the old buildings located at Nonglyer village at Upper Shillong, some 10 km from (Lower) Shillong, but at a greater altitude of around 6,000 feet AMSL. Initially a British military base, it was taken over by No. 58 Gorkha Regiment of the Indian Army post Independence in 1947. The Regiment was redeployed after the Sino-Indian War of 1962, making way for the IAF to step in. Only helicopters can operate from HQ, EAC, using a 12.7 hectare (31.3 acre) helipad.


title: Shillong

text: EAC controls air operations in the eastern sector which include West Bengal, Assam, Mizoram and the other eastern states bordering Bangladesh, Burma, and Tibet. EAC comprises permanent airbases at Chabua, Gauhati, Bagdogra, Barrackpore, Hashimara, Jorhat, Kalaikunda and Tezpur with forward airbases at Agartala, Culcutta, Panagarh and Shillong.


title: Shillong

text: Historic neighbourhoods of Shillong include Mawkhar, Jaiaw, Riatsamthiah, Umsohsun, Wahingdoh, Khyndailad (Police Bazar), Mawlai, Laitumkhrah, Laban, Malki, Nongthymmai and Polo.


title: Liberty ship

text: Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass-produced on an unprecedented scale, the Liberty ship came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output.


title: Liberty ship

text: The class was developed to meet British orders for transports to replace ships that had been lost. Eighteen American shipyards built 2,710 Liberty ships between 1941 and 1945 (an average of three ships every two days), easily the largest number of ships ever produced to a single design.


title: Liberty ship

text: Their production mirrored (albeit on a much larger scale) the manufacture of "Hog Islander" and similar standardized ship types during World War I. The immensity of the effort, the number of ships built, the role of female workers in their construction, and the survival of some far longer than their original five-year design life combine to make them the subject of much continued interest.


title: Liberty ship

text: In 1936, the American Merchant Marine Act was passed to subsidize the annual construction of 50 commercial merchant vessels which could be used in wartime by the United States Navy as naval auxiliaries, crewed by U.S. Merchant Mariners. The number was doubled in 1939 and again in 1940 to 200 ships a year. Ship types included two tankers and three types of merchant vessel, all to be powered by steam turbines. Limited industrial capacity, especially for reduction gears, meant that relatively few of these ships were built.


title: Liberty ship

text: In 1940 the British government ordered 60 Ocean-class freighters from American yards to replace war losses and boost the merchant fleet. These were simple but fairly large (for the time) with a single compound steam engine of obsolete but reliable design. Britain specified coal-fired plants, because it then had extensive coal mines and no significant domestic oil production.


title: Liberty ship

text: The design was modified by the United States Maritime Commission, in part to increase conformity to American construction practices, but more importantly to make it even quicker and cheaper to build. The US version was designated 'EC2-S-C1': 'EC' for Emergency Cargo, '2' for a ship between long (Load Waterline Length), 'S' for steam engines, and 'C1' for design C1. The new design replaced much riveting, which accounted for one-third of the labor costs, with welding, and had oil-fired boilers. It was adopted as a Merchant Marine Act design, and production awarded to a conglomerate of West Coast engineering and construction companies headed by Henry J. Kaiser known as the Six Companies. Liberty ships were designed to carry of cargo, usually one type per ship, but, during wartime, generally carried loads far exceeding this.


title: Liberty ship

text: On 27 March 1941, the number of lend-lease ships was increased to 200 by the Defense Aid Supplemental Appropriations Act and increased again in April to 306, of which 117 would be Liberty ships.


title: Liberty ship

text: The basic EC2-S-C1 cargo design was modified during construction into three major variants with the same basic dimensions and slight variance in tonnage. One variant, with basically the same features but different type numbers, had four rather than five holds served by large hatches and kingpost with large capacity booms. Those four hold ships were designated for transport of tanks and boxed aircraft.


title: Liberty ship

text: In the detailed Federal Register publication of the post war prices of Maritime Commission types the Liberty variants are noted as:


title: Liberty ship

text: In preparation for the Normandy landings and afterward to support the rapid expansion of logistical transport ashore a modification was made to make standard Liberty vessels more suitable for mass transport of vehicles and in records are seen as "MT" for Motor Transport vessels. As MTs four holds were loaded with vehicles while the fifth was modified to house the drivers and assistants.


title: Liberty ship

text: By 1941, the steam turbine was the preferred marine steam engine because of its greater efficiency compared to earlier reciprocating compound steam engines. Steam turbine engines required very precise manufacturing techniques and balancing and a complicated reduction gear, however, and the companies capable of manufacturing them already were committed to the large construction program for warships. Therefore, a 140-ton vertical triple expansion steam engine of obsolete design was selected to power Liberty ships because it was cheaper and easier to build in the numbers required for the Liberty ship program and because more companies could manufacture it. Eighteen different companies eventually built the engine. It had the additional advantage of ruggedness and simplicity. Parts manufactured by one company were interchangeable with those made by another, and the openness of its design made most of its moving parts easy to see, access, and oil. The engine— long and tall—was designed to operate at 76 rpm and propel a Liberty ship at about .


title: Liberty ship

text: The ships were constructed of sections that were welded together. This is similar to the technique used by Palmer's at Jarrow, northeast England, but substituted welding for riveting. Riveted ships took several months to construct. The work force was newly trained—no one had previously built welded ships. As America entered the war, the shipbuilding yards employed women, to replace men who were enlisting in the armed forces.


title: Liberty ship

text: <gallery mode="packed" heights="200" caption="The construction of a Liberty ship at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards, Baltimore, Maryland, in March/April 1943">


title: Liberty ship

text: File:Liberty ship construction 07 bulkheads.jpg|Day 6 : Bulkheads and girders below the second deck are in place


title: Liberty ship

text: File:Liberty ship construction 09 lower decks.jpg|Day 10 : Lower deck being completed and the upper deck amidship erected


title: Liberty ship

text: File:Liberty ship construction 10 upper decks.jpg|Day 14 : Upper deck erected and mast houses and the after-deck house in place


title: Liberty ship

text: The ships initially had a poor public image due to their appearance. In a speech announcing the emergency shipbuilding program President Franklin D. Roosevelt had referred to the ship as "a dreadful looking object", and "Time" magazine called it an "Ugly Duckling". 27 September 1941, was dubbed Liberty Fleet Day to try to assuage public opinion, as the first 14 "Emergency" vessels were launched that day. The first of these was , launched by President Roosevelt. In remarks at the launch ceremony, FDR cited Patrick Henry's 1775 speech that finished "Give me liberty or give me death". Roosevelt said that this new class of ships would bring liberty to Europe, which gave rise to the name Liberty ship.


title: Liberty ship

text: The first ships required about 230 days to build ("Patrick Henry" took 244 days), but the median production time per ship dropped to 39 days by 1943. The record was set by , which was launched 4 days and 15 hours after the keel was laid, although this publicity stunt was not repeated: in fact much fitting-out and other work remained to be done after the "Peary" was launched. The ships were made assembly-line style, from prefabricated sections. In 1943, three Liberty ships were completed daily. They were usually named after famous Americans, starting with the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. 17 of the Liberty Ships were named in honor of outstanding African-Americans. The first, in honor of Booker T. Washington, was christened by Marian Anderson in 1942, and the , recognizing the only woman on the list, was christened on 3 June 1944.


title: Liberty ship

text: Any group which raised war bonds worth $2 million could propose a name. Most bore the names of deceased people. The only living namesake was Francis J. O'Gara, the purser of , who was thought to have been killed in a submarine attack, but, in fact, survived the war in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Not named after people were: , named for the USO club in New York; and , named after the United Service Organizations (USO).


title: Liberty ship

text: Another notable Liberty ship was , which sank the German commerce raider in a ship-to-ship gun battle in 1942 and became the first American ship to sink a German surface combatant.


title: Liberty ship

text: The wreck of lies off the coast of Kent with of explosives still on board, enough to match a very small yield nuclear weapon should they ever go off. detonated with the energy of in July 1944 as it was being loaded, killing 320 sailors and civilians in what was called the Port Chicago disaster. Another Liberty ship that exploded was the rechristened , which caused the Texas City Disaster on 16 April 1947, killing at least 581 people.


title: Liberty ship

text: Six Liberty ships were converted at Point Clear, Alabama, by the United States Army Air Force, into floating aircraft repair depots, operated by the Army Transport Service, starting in April 1944. The secret project, dubbed "Project Ivory Soap", provided mobile depot support for B-29 Superfortress bombers and P-51 Mustang fighters based on Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa beginning in December 1944. The six ARU(F)s (Aircraft Repair Unit, Floating), however, were also fitted with landing platforms to accommodate four Sikorsky R-4 helicopters, where they provided medical evacuation of combat casualties in both the Philippine Islands and Okinawa.


title: Liberty ship

text: The last new-build Liberty ship constructed was , launched on 26 September 1945 and delivered on 30 October 1945. She was named after the chief engineer of a United States Army freighter who had stayed below decks to shut down his engines after a 13 April 1945 explosion, an act that won him a posthumous Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal. In 1950, a "new" liberty ship was constructed by Industriale Maritime SpA, Genoa, Italy by using the bow section of and the stern section of , both of which had been wrecked. The new ship was named , and served until scrapped in 1962.


title: Liberty ship

text: Several designs of mass-produced petroleum tankers were also produced, the most numerous being the T2 tanker series, with about 490 built between 1942 and the end of 1945.


title: Liberty ship

text: Early Liberty ships suffered hull and deck cracks, and a few were lost due to such structural defects. During World War II there were nearly 1,500 instances of significant brittle fractures. Twelve ships, including three of the 2,710 Liberty ships built, broke in half without warning, including , which sank on 24 November 1943 with the loss of 10 lives. Suspicion fell on the shipyards, which had often used inexperienced workers and new welding techniques to produce large numbers of ships in great haste.


title: Liberty ship

text: The Ministry of War Transport borrowed the British-built for testing purposes. Constance Tipper of Cambridge University demonstrated that the fractures did not start in the welds, but were due to the embrittlement of the steel used; however, the same steel used in riveted construction did not have this problem. She discovered that at a certain temperature, the steel the ships were made from changed from being ductile to brittle. This allowed cracks to form and propagate. This temperature is known as the critical ductile-brittle transition temperature. Ships in the North Atlantic were exposed to temperatures that could fall below this critical point. The predominantly welded hull construction, effectively a continuous sheet of steel, allowed small cracks to propagate unimpeded, unlike in a hull made of separate plates riveted together. One common type of crack nucleated at the square corner of a hatch which coincided with a welded seam, both the corner and the weld acting as stress concentrators. Furthermore, the ships were frequently grossly overloaded, increasing stress, and some of the problems occurred during or after severe storms that would further have increased stress. Minor revisions to the hatches and various reinforcements were applied to the Liberty ships to arrest the cracking problem. The successor Victory ships used the same steel, also welded rather than riveted, but spacing between frames was widened from to , making the ships less stiff and more able to flex.


title: Liberty ship

text: In September 1943 strategic plans and shortage of more suitable hulls required that Liberty ships be pressed into emergency use as troop transports with about 225 eventually converted for this purpose. The first general conversions were hastily undertaken by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) so that the ships could join convoys on the way to North Africa for Operation Torch. Even earlier the Southwest Pacific Area command's U.S. Army Services of Supply had converted at least one, , in Australia into an assault troop carrier with landing craft (LCIs and LCVs) and troops with the ship being reconverted for cargo after the Navy was given exclusive responsibility for amphibious assault operations. Others in the Southwest Pacific were turned into makeshift troop transports for New Guinea operations by installing field kitchens on deck, latrines aft between #4 and #5 hatches flushed by hoses attached to fire hydrants and about 900 troops sleeping on deck or in 'tween deck spaces. While most of the Liberty ships converted were intended to carry no more than 550 troops, thirty-three were converted to transport 1,600 on shorter voyages from mainland U.S. ports to Alaska, Hawaii and the Caribbean.


title: Liberty ship

text: The issue of hull cracks caused concern with the United States Coast Guard, which recommended that Liberty ships be withdrawn from troop carrying in February 1944 although military commitments required their continued use. The more direct problem was the general unsuitability of the ships as troop transports, particularly with the hasty conversions in 1943, that generated considerable complaints regarding poor mess, food and water storage, sanitation, heating / ventilation and a lack of medical facilities. After the Allied victory in North Africa, about 250 Liberty ships were engaged in transporting prisoners of war to the United States. By November 1943 the Army's Chief of Transportation, Maj. Gen. Charles P. Gross, and WSA, whose agents operated the ships, reached agreement on improvements, but operational requirements forced an increase of the maximum number of troops transported in a Liberty from 350 to 500. The increase in production of more suitable vessels did allow for returning the hastily converted Liberty ships to cargo-only operations by May 1944. Despite complaints, reservations, Navy requesting its personnel not travel aboard Liberty troopers and even Senate comment, the military necessities required use of the ships. The number of troops was increased to 550 on 200 Liberty ships for redeployment to the Pacific. The need for the troopship conversions persisted into the immediate postwar period in order to return troops from overseas as quickly as possible.


title: Liberty ship

text: On 27 September 1942 the was the first (and only) US merchant ship to sink a German surface combatant during the war. Ordered to stop, "Stephen Hopkins" refused to surrender, so the heavily armed German commerce raider and her tender with one machine gun opened fire. Although greatly outgunned, the crew of "Stephen Hopkins" fought back, replacing the Armed Guard crew of the ship's single gun with volunteers as they fell. The fight was short, and both ships were wrecks.


title: Liberty ship

text: On 10 March 1943 became the only ship to survive an attack by the . The following year from 22 to 30 January 1944, "Lawton B. Evans" was involved in the Battle of Anzio in Italy. It was under repeated bombardment from shore batteries and aircraft for eight days. It endured a prolonged barrage of shelling, machine-gun fire and bombs. The ship shot down five German planes.


title: Liberty ship

text: More than 2,400 Liberty ships survived the war. Of these, 835 made up the postwar cargo fleet. Greek entrepreneurs bought 526 ships and Italians bought 98. Shipping magnates including John Fredriksen, John Theodoracopoulos, Aristotle Onassis, Stavros Niarchos, Stavros George Livanos, the Goulandris brothers, and the Andreadis, Tsavliris, Achille Lauro, Grimaldi and Bottiglieri families were known to have started their fleets by buying Liberty ships. Andrea Corrado, the dominant Italian shipping magnate at the time, and leader of the Italian shipping delegation, rebuilt his fleet under the programme. Weyerhaeuser operated a fleet of six Liberty Ships (which were later extensively refurbished and modernized) carrying lumber, newsprint, and general cargo for years after the end of the war.


title: Liberty ship

text: Some Liberty ships were lost after the war to naval mines that were inadequately cleared. "Pierre Gibault" was scrapped after hitting a mine in a previously cleared area off the Greek island of Kythira in June 1945, and the same month saw "Colin P. Kelly Jnr" take mortal damage from a mine hit off the Belgian port of Ostend. In August 1945, "William J. Palmer" was carrying horses from New York to Trieste when she rolled over and sank 15 minutes after hitting a mine a few miles from destination. All crew members, and six horses were saved. "Nathaniel Bacon" ran into a minefield off Civitavecchia, Italy in December 1945, caught fire, was beached, and broke in two; the larger section was welded onto another Liberty half hull to make a new ship 30 feet longer, named "Boccadasse".


title: Liberty ship

text: As late as December 1947, "Robert Dale Owen", renamed "Kalliopi" and sailing under the Greek flag, broke in three and sank in the northern Adriatic Sea after hitting a mine. Other Liberty ships lost to mines after the end of the war include "John Woolman", "Calvin Coolidge", "Cyrus Adler", and "Lord Delaware".


title: Liberty ship

text: On April 16, 1947, a Liberty ship owned by the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique called the "Grandcamp" (originally built as the SS Benjamin R. Curtis) docked in Texas City, Texas to load a cargo of 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer. A fire broke out on board which eventually caused the entire ammonium nitrate cargo to explode. The massive explosion levelled Texas City and caused fires which detonated more ammonium nitrate in a nearby ship and warehouse. It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in US history. This incident is known as the Texas City disaster today.


title: Liberty ship

text: On December 21, 1952, the SS "Quartette", a Liberty Ship of 7,198 gross register tons, struck the eastern reef of the Pearl and Hermes atoll at a speed of . The ship was driven further onto the reef by rough waves and winds, which collapsed the forward bow and damaged two forward holds. The crew was evacuated by the SS "Frontenac Victory" the following day. The salvage tug "Ono" arrived on December 25 to attempt to tow the ship clear, but persistent stormy weather forced a delay of the rescue attempt. On January 3, before another rescue attempt could be made, the ship's anchors tore loose and the "Quartette" was blown onto the reef, and deemed a total loss. Several weeks later, it snapped in half at the keel and the two pieces sank. The wreck site now serves as an artificial reef which provides a habitat for many fish species.


title: Liberty ship

text: In 1953, the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), began storing surplus grain in Liberty ships located in the Hudson River, James River, Olympia, and Astoria National Defense Reserve Fleet's. In 1955, 22 ships in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet were withdrawn to be loaded with grain and were then transferred to the Olympia Fleet. In 1956, four ships were withdrawn from the Wilmington Fleet and transferred, loaded with grain, to the Hudson River Fleet.


title: Liberty ship

text: Between 1955 and 1959, 16 former Liberty ships were repurchased by the United States Navy and converted to the s for the Atlantic and Pacific Barrier.


title: Liberty ship

text: In the 1960s, three Liberty ships and two Victory ships were reactivated and converted to technical research ships with the hull classification symbol AGTR (auxiliary, technical research) and used to gather electronic intelligence and for radar picket duties by the United States Navy. The Liberty ships SS "Samuel R. Aitken" became , SS "Robert W. Hart" became , SS "J. Howland Gardner" became with the Victory ships being which became and becoming . All of these ships were decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 1969 and 1970.


title: Liberty ship

text: USS "Liberty" was a "Belmont"-class technical research ship (electronic spy ship) that was attacked by Israel Defense Forces during the 1967 Six-Day War. She was built and served in World War II as SS "Simmons Victory", as a Victory cargo ship.


title: Liberty ship

text: From 1946 to 1963, the Pacific Ready Reserve Fleet – Columbia River Group, retained as many as 500 ships.


title: Liberty ship

text: In 1946, Liberty ships were mothballed in the Hudson River Reserve Fleet near Tarrytown, New York. At its peak in 1965, 189 hulls were stored there. The last two were sold for scrap to Spain in 1971 and the reserve permanently shut down.


title: Liberty ship

text: Only two operational Liberty ships, and , remain. "John W. Brown" has had a long career as a school ship and many internal modifications, while "Jeremiah O'Brien" remains largely in her original condition. Both are museum ships that still put out to sea regularly. In 1994, "Jeremiah O'Brien" steamed from San Francisco to England and France for the 50th anniversary of D-Day, the only large ship from the original Operation Overlord fleet to participate in the anniversary. In 2008, , a ship converted in 1944 into a pipe transport to support Operation Pluto, was transferred to Greece and converted to a floating museum dedicated to the history of the Greek merchant marine; although missing major components were restored this ship is no longer operational.


title: Liberty ship

text: Liberty ships continue to serve in a "less than whole" function many decades after their launching. In Portland, Oregon, the hulls of "Richard Henry Dana" and "Jane Addams" serve as the basis of floating docks. survives as the "Star of Kodiak", a landlocked cannery, in Kodiak Harbor at .


title: Liberty ship

text: Fifty-eight Liberty ships were lengthened by starting in 1958, giving them additional carrying capacity at a small additional cost. The bridges of most of these were also enclosed in the mid-1960s in accordance with a design by naval architect Ion Livas.


title: Liberty ship

text: In the 1950s, the Maritime Administration instituted the Liberty Ship Conversion and Engine Improvement Program, which had a goal to increase the speed of Liberty ships to , making them competitive with more modern designs, as well as gaining experience with alternate propulsion systems. Four ships were converted in the $11 million program. SS "Benjamin Chew" had its existing condensers modified and a new superheater and geared turbine installed to give the ship 6,000 shp, up from 2,500. SS "Thomas Nelson" had its bow lengthened, diesel engines installed in place of the original steam engine, and movable cranes outfitted in place of the original cargo handling gear. The GTS (Gas Turbine Ship) "John Sergeant" had its bow extended, and its steam engine replaced with a General Electric gas turbine of 6,600 shp, connected to a reversible pitch propeller via reduction gearing. "John Sergeant" was considered overall to be a success, but problems with the reversible pitch propeller ended its trial after three years. GTS "William Patterson" had its bow extended and its steam engine replaced with 6 General Electric GE-14 free-piston gas generators, connected to two reversible turbines and capable of 6,000 shp total. "William Patterson" was considered to be a failure as reliability was poor and the scalability of the design was poor. All four vessels were fueled with Bunker C fuel oil, though "John Sergeant" required a quality of fuel available at limited ports and also required further treatment to reduce contaminants. Three were scrapped in 1971 or 1972 and the diesel-equipped "Thomas Nelson" was scrapped in 1981.


title: Liberty ship

text: In 2011, the United States Postal Service issued a postage stamp featuring the Liberty ship as part of a set on the U.S. Merchant Marine.


title: Liberty ship

text: Liberty ships were built at eighteen shipyards located along the U.S. Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts:


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, business and institutional banking, funds management, superannuation, insurance, investment and broking services. The Commonwealth Bank is the largest Australian listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange as of August 2015 with brands including Bankwest, Colonial First State Investments, ASB Bank (New Zealand), Commonwealth Securities (CommSec) and Commonwealth Insurance (CommInsure).


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Its former constituent parts were the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia, and the Commonwealth Development Bank.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Founded in 1911 by the Australian Government and fully privatised in 1996, the Commonwealth Bank is one of the "big four" Australian banks, with the National Australia Bank (NAB), ANZ and Westpac. The bank was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange on 12 Sep 1991.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The former global headquarters of Commonwealth Bank were the Commonwealth Trading Bank Building on the corner of Pitt Street and Martin Place, Sydney, which was refurbished from 2012 for retail and commercial uses, and (from 1984 to 2012) the State Savings Bank Building on Martin Place, which was sold in 2012 to Macquarie Bank. The headquarters were moved to Tower 1, 201 Sussex Street and two new nine-storey buildings which were built at the site of the former Sega World Sydney, in Darling Harbour on the western side of Sydney's city centre.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 2018, findings from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry have indicated a negative culture within the Bank, amid allegations of fraud, deception, and money laundering, among various other crimes.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The Commonwealth Bank of Australia was established by the "Commonwealth Bank Act 1911", introduced by the Andrew Fisher Labor Government, which favoured bank nationalisation, with effect on 22 December 1911. In a rare move for the time, the bank was to have both savings and general bank business. The bank was also the first bank in Australia to receive a federal government guarantee. The bank's earliest and most strenuous proponent was the flamboyant American-Australian Labor politician, King O'Malley, and its first Governor was Sir Denison Miller.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The bank opened its first branch in Melbourne on 15 July 1912. In an agreement with Australia Post that exists to this day, the bank also traded through post office agencies. In 1912, it took over the State Savings Bank of Tasmania, and by 1913 it had branches in all six states.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 1916, the bank moved its head office to Sydney. It also followed the Australian army into New Guinea, where it opened a branch in Rabaul and agencies elsewhere.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 1920, the bank began acquiring central bank powers when it took over the responsibility for the issue of Australian bank notes from the Department of the Treasury. Also in 1920, the Commonwealth Bank took over the Queensland Government Savings Bank.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 1924, the federal government of Stanley Bruce sought to place further checks and limits on the powers of the governor of the bank, and passed the "Commonwealth Bank Act, 1924", which created a seven-member Board of Directors comprising the Governor, the Secretary of the Treasury, and six directors "actively engaged in agriculture, commerce, finance or industry", and a Chairman of the Board elected annual from its members. The first six board members was appointed on 10 October 1924: Sir John Garvan, Sir Robert Gibson, Sir Samuel Hordern, Robert McComas, Richard Samuel Drummond, and John McKenzie Lees. Garvan was appointed as the first chairman on 13 October 1924.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 1931, the bank board came into conflict with the Labor government of James Scullin. The bank's chairman Sir Robert Gibson refused to expand credit in response to the Great Depression, as had been proposed by Treasurer Edward Theodore unless the government cut pensions, which Scullin refused to do. The conflict surrounding this issue led to the fall of the government, and to demands from Labor for reform of the bank and more direct government control over monetary policy.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Also in 1931, it took over the savings bank business of the Government Savings Bank of New South Wales (est. 1871), the current account and fixed deposit business of the NSW Rural Bank Department, and the State Savings Bank of Western Australia (est. 1863).


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 1942, the Commonwealth Banking Corporation (CBC) suspended its operations in Papua New Guinea as the Imperial Japanese Army captured many of the towns in which it operated, and bombed Port Moresby. The bank resumed operations later, possibly in 1944.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The bank had many branches across Papua New Guinea including Port Moresby, Boroko, Rabaul, Lae, Wau, Bulolo, Goroka, Kavieng, Madang, Mount Hagen, Kundiawa, Popondetta, and Wewak. On Bougainville, there was Kieta, Panguna, Arawa and early on a part-time sub-branch at Loloho. It maintained those facilities to support trade, local business, government, and small savers.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The Commonwealth Bank received almost all central bank powers in emergency legislation passed during World War II and at the end of the war, it used this power to begin a dramatic expansion of the economy. This was also the aim of the federal government at the time, which attempted to compel the Australian states to conduct their banking with the Commonwealth under the "Banking Act 1945" (Cth), but the High Court in "Melbourne Corporation v Commonwealth" (1947) 74 CLR 31, blocked this move.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In August 1945, the federal government of Ben Chifley passed the "Commonwealth Bank Act, 1945", which repealed the 1925 act and abolished the Board of Directors, returning full executive control of the bank to the Governor.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The government also dramatically expanded immigration programs. In response, the bank established a Migrant Information Service (later known as the Australian Financial & Migrant Information Service, or AFMIS). The bank expanded during this period, and in just five years it opened hundreds of branches throughout Australia and in 1951 it established a branch in the Solomon Islands.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 1958 and 1959, there was a controversy concerning the dual functions of the organization, operating as the central bank on the one hand and a commercial bank on the other. As a result, the government separated the two roles, creating the Reserve Bank of Australia to exercise the central bank function, and leaving the Commonwealth Banking Corporation to operate purely as a commercial bank. Those commercial functions were exercised by the organization's constituent sections: the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia, and the newly-formed Commonwealth Development Bank.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: A new Commonwealth Development Bank was established in 1960 and during the 1970s the bank diversified its business into areas like insurance and travel. It established a finance company, CBFC in 1974. The bank also became more heavily involved in foreign currency trading and international banking in general.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The bank actively supported the introduction of decimal currency in the years leading up to 1966 and, like most banks, it gradually converted its paper records onto a new computer-based system. The bank created the first credit card in Australia in 1974 when it established Bankcard. In later years the bank began offering MasterCard (1984) and Visa (1993) cards as well.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 1974, as Papua New Guinea approached independence, the bank formally handed over its PNG operations to the newly created and government-owned Papua New Guinea Banking Corporation (PNGBC). The bank retained a restricted branch in Port Moresby that it finally closed in 1982.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 1981 the bank transferred its operations in the Solomon Islands to the National Bank of Solomon Islands, which operated as a joint venture (51% Commonwealth Bank, 49% Government of the Solomon Islands).


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Between 1991 and 1996 the Australian Government under the Keating regime fully privatised the Commonwealth Bank. The first share offer in 1991 was valued at $1,292 million, the second in 1993 for $1,700 million and the third was sold for $5,000 million in 1996. It is a public company, but one of the few such companies in Australia whose official name does not end in 'Limited'.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 1994 Commonwealth sold its shares in National Bank of Solomon Islands to Bank of Hawaii. In 1994, Commonwealth took a 50% share in PT Bank International Indonesia.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: On 10 March 2000, the Commonwealth Bank and Colonial Limited announced their intention to merge, with seven Commonwealth Bank shares being offered for twenty Colonial Shares. The merger received final approval from the Supreme Court of Victoria on 31 May 2000 and was completed on 13 June 2000. This brought into the fold Colonial’s stake in Colonial National Bank, the former National Bank of Fiji. The bank also acquired the remaining 25% of ASB Bank.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Banking opportunities in Asia saw the Bank in 2000 acquire full ownership of PT Bank International Indonesia and rename it (PT Bank Commonwealth). This bank now has over 16 branches and has opened several FX shops to cater to Commonwealth Bank clients who are tourists in Bali.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 2005, the bank established strategic co-operation agreements with two Chinese banks, Jinan City Commercial Bank and Hangzhou City Commercial Bank; it took an 11% stake in Jinan Commercial, and a 19.9% stake in Hangzhuo Commercial. Commonwealth also established a representative office in Bangalore, India.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: At the beginning of 2008, Commonwealth Bank opened a branch in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Then in October, Commonwealth announced that it had purchased Bankwest and St Andrew's Insurances from their parent company HBOS plc for A$2.1 billion. The acquisition was scheduled to be completed in early 2009, subject to regulatory approval. Lastly, on 24 December, Commonwealth announced that it had, in joint partnership with Aussie Home Loans, purchased Wizard Home Loans. As part of the deal, the Commonwealth Bank will acquire Wizard mortgages up to the value of A$4 billion. The Commonwealth Bank currently owns an 80% stake in Aussie. Commonwealth Bank held about 30 percent of the loan business of financial advisory company Storm Financial when it collapsed in January 2009.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The bank transferred their ATM service desk from HP Enterprise Services in Adelaide to ITS (Armaguard) in Sydney from March 2012. The bank will change from NCR and Diebold ATMs to Wincor Nixdorf ATMs over the coming years.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The bank is the only financial services organisation to appear in the Dream Employers' top 20 list of preferred employers for 2010 and 2011.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: During the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry it was discovered that the Commonwealth Bank had charged dead people for financial advice services. On 9 May 2018, Commonwealth Bank settled an interest rate rigging case brought by ASIC for $25 million. In the settlement, the bank admitted it engaged in "unconscionable conduct" and manipulated the bank bill swap rate five times between February and June 2012.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Commonwealth Bank is one of the major Australian banks known to be financing and profiting from activities destructive to the Great Barrier Reef, something the bank has been facing increased public scrutiny over since a 2013 report by Market Forces; the "Sydney Morning Herald" had this to say:


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 2014, CBA and the big four Australian banks faced increased pressure to end their support for reef-threatening mining projects, as surveys have shown that "the big four banks would be risking customers shifting up to $236 billion in household deposits if they were to finance a project like the Abbot Point expansion".


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In late 2014, it "was revealed [CBA] was advising Indian coal miner Adani on its proposed development in Queensland's Galilee basin", while by 2015, it has been reported that "all the major American and European banks have refused funds to the project, citing environmental damage".


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In May 2015, a report by Market Forces showed that CBA is the single biggest lender to fossil fuel projects within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area during the six-year period from 2008 to 2014. Almost immediately following, protests were held at over fifty CBA branches in Australia and around the world. Billboards, hoardings and branch signs were revised to read "Coal Bank" and company slogans changed to highlight its investment in fossil fuels.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Later in May, a report by MSCI showed that while other banks are reducing their funding for fossil fuel projects, Australia's largest banks are ramping up this same funding; "The Guardian" reported:


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In October 2008, former CBA financial planner Jeff Morris alleged to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and subsequently a Senate Inquiry, the extent of the misconduct of CBA's financial planning arm, Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited (CFPL), but it was not until 16 months later that ASIC would launch an investigation. "There was forgery and dishonest concealment of material facts," the Senate Inquiry found in its report. They concluded a Royal Commission or Judicial Inquiry as it was deemed ASIC lacked the investigative powers required to uncover the full extent of the allegations. A week following the Senate Inquiry, CEO Ian Narev publicly apologised while announcing a compensation scheme. Former CEO Ralph Norris also conceded that he was aware of problems within CFPL acknowledging the presence of rogue financial planners but rejected the assertion of a conspiracy to cover it up. CBA has been criticised in the Senate for appointing Dr. Brendan French, who was the General Manager of Group Customer Relations before, as the head of the Open Advice Review program. The CBA defended Dr. Brendan French successfully in a defamation lawsuit in 2015; the decision was a single judge decision and was not appealed after the defence was withdrawn. Criticism has also been leveled at the fact that Dr. Brendan French was formerly a member of the board of directors of the Financial Ombudsman Service and is now working in CBA with respect to customer complaints.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In 2016, it was revealed that some CBA staff were implicated in an alleged $76m Ponzi scheme fraud. The alleged architects of the scam were professional poker player Bill Jordanou and accountant Robert Zaia.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: It was reported alleged systemic issues about the insurance division of CBA. A claimant who suffered a heart attack and nearly died had his claim declined based on an outdated medical definition in his insurance policy. The company admitted this decision was a bad judgement. The insurer also "refused to pay total permanent disability (TPD) and terminal illness claims on the chance that a dying person facing organ failure may have their life saved by a transplant, and that a person can claim their life insurance if they are declared terminally ill by two doctors and deemed likely to die within 12 months." In March 2016, ASIC announced it would be investigating CBA about the allegations. After the serious allegations were aired in an episode of "Four Corners" two parliamentary inquiries were conducted. One into the life insurance sector, and another into protection of whistleblowers. The inquiries found that no staff involved in the wrongdoings were fired. The only person who suffered a consequence was the whistleblower who had tried to do the right thing. There were also calls for a Royal Commission into the insurance industry. The Financial Services Royal Commission was eventually called and found widespread issues. The Commonwealth Bank was called the gold medallist for ripping off customers by the counsel assisting the royal commissioner.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: In August 2017, the financial intelligence agency Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) launched civil proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia, alleging that CBA had breached money laundering and terrorism financing laws on 53,700 occasions. The breaches related to the bank's use of intelligent deposit machines (IDMs) between November 2012 and September 2015—the bank claimed that a programming error allowed depositors to instantly credit cash deposits to their accounts, whilst failing to report amounts over $10,000 to AUSTRAC, and not enforcing any limits to the number of transactions.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: ASIC commenced legal proceedings in the Federal Court on 30 January 2018 alleging manipulation of the bank bill swap rate (BBSW). The BBSW rate is the rate of interest that banks charge to lend money to each other, and is a key interest rate used as the benchmark for interest rates on a number of products, most notably business loans, currency derivatives and floating rate bonds. It is alleged that the manipulations took place on three specific occasions in 2012.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The change from Basel I to Basel II capitalisation requirements, due to take effect on 1 January 2009, required BankWest to increase its Tier 1 capital (share capital) by an additional A$17 billion. BankWest's owner HBOS lent this money to Bankwest, but required the money be repaid to meet HBOS's own capital requirements.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: HBOS, therefore, agreed to sell BankWest to Commonwealth Bank (CBA) in October 2008. The sale completed on for A$2.1 billion on 19 December 2008, and required Commonwealth Bank to repay the capital HBOS had loaned Bankwest.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: One of the provisions of the sale agreement was an ability for CBA to claim a price adjustment a loan was later found to have been impaired at the time of purchase but had not been identified to Commonwealth Bank by HBOS as impaired during the acquisition.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Commonwealth Bank declared 1,958 out of 26,000 BankWest commercial loans impaired (in default of the loan terms), with a total face value of $17.9 billion. As they were deemed to be in breach of their loan conditions, the bank was able to charge increased interest rates, or require early repayment.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Commonwealth Bank lost A$2 billion on defaulted loans that were not repaid (2.1% of the loan book, in comparison to an average of 0.4% across the Big Four Australian banks). Of the defaulted loans, the calling-in of 117 resulted in the borrowing company going into receivership.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Borrowers complained that they had complied with the monetary conditions of the loans: they had kept up interest payments and repayments, and disputed whether it was reasonable to apply penalty interest and require early repayment for non-monetary issues (for example, not having invested the funds for the purpose borrowed, or no longer having adequate security to back the loan).


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The Australian Parliament requested that the Parliament's Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services conduct an inquiry into the matter, which reported on 4 May 2016.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The committee concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that impairment of loans was related to an attempt to 'claw back' any of the BankWest purchase price. However, it did find that "in a minority of cases" there was abuse of the asymmetry of power between the bank and the borrower. The committee recommended that there be improvements in the consistency of lenders' valuation of property used as security for loans.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Dollarmites is the Commonwealth Bank's school banking program. In a 2020 Report, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission recommended against these programs.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The Victorian Government and later the Queensland Government planned to stop allowing these programs in their state schools. Consumer group Choice continued to lobby for more State governments to also ban the banking program from public schools.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Finally in 2021, after the New South Wales Government banned it too, the Commonwealth Bank announced the end of the program.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Premium Business Services was formally split into two departments in 2009, Institutional Banking & Markets (IB&M) and Business & Private Banking (B&PB). IB&M includes areas of the bank that provides services to Institutional Clients and Global Markets. B&PB includes areas of the bank that provides services to Business customers and private banking customers.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Wealth Management brings together the Groups funds management platform, master funds, superannuation, insurance and financial advice business support. Colonial First State, Colonial First State Global Asset Management and CommInsure all form part of Wealth Management. CBA has been granted a MySuper authority, enabling it to continue to receive default superannuation contribution from 1 January 2014.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The following individuals have been appointed to serve as chief executive of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, or precursor titles:


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The Commonwealth Bank is Australia's largest retail bank and offers customers a range of products and services, including loans, credit cards, transaction and savings accounts. It has the largest branch and ATM network. It also offers services to people planning to move to Australia.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: The Commonwealth Bank offers online banking services through NetBank. NetBank allows customers to transfer funds, manage accounts, access assets and liabilities and also manage savings and saving goals. NetBank is also offered with a mobile app available for iOS and Android.


title: Commonwealth Bank

text: Beem It is an instant payment free-to-download mobile application owned by Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac later sold to Eftpos Australia. It offers an instant payment transfer service between registered users of the app regardless of which bank they are with. The app's main features include options to pay, transfer, request and split money.


title: Talib Kweli

text: Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with solo success including collaborations with producers and rappers Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Pharrell Williams. His most recent album, "Gotham", was released in 2020. In 2011, Kweli founded his own record label, Javotti Media.


title: Talib Kweli

text: Born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Kweli grew up in a household in Brooklyn's Park Slope. His mother, Brenda Greene, is an English professor at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, and his father is an administrator at Adelphi University. His younger brother, Jamal Greene, is a professor of constitutional law at Columbia Law School and a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School, and former clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court.


title: Talib Kweli

text: As a youth, Kweli was drawn to Afrocentric rappers, such as De La Soul and other members of the Native Tongues Posse whom he had met in high school. Kweli was a student at Cheshire Academy, a boarding school in Connecticut. He was previously a student at Brooklyn Technical High School. He later studied experimental theater at New York University.


title: Talib Kweli

text: Kweli made his debut in 1997, with featured five appearances on "Doom", an album by Cincinnati, Ohio group Mood. In Cincinnati, Kweli met Hi-Tek and the two collaborated on a few underground recordings as Reflection Eternal, including "Fortified Live" (1997), and "B-Boy Document 99/Chaos" (1999, featuring The High & Mighty).


title: Talib Kweli

text: Shortly afterwards, upon returning to New York, he reconnected with Mos Def and formed Black Star. Kweli brought along Hi-Tek to produce 1998's "Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star". The album, released amidst a late '90s renaissance of conscious, Afrocentric hip hop, was hailed by critics and achieved modest mainstream success. Kweli and Hi-Tek continued their Reflection Eternal partnership on the 2000 album "Train of Thought". The album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios.


title: Talib Kweli

text: An EP, "Hip Hop for Respect", was organized by Mos Def and Kweli to speak out against police brutality, specifically, the case of Amadou Diallo. The project released one EP for Rawkus Entertainment. On February 4, 1999, Amadou Diallo was shot 41 times by four police officers while reaching into his pocket for his wallet. Diallo was unarmed. The project aimed to assemble 41 emcees to represent the 41 shots fired. Rappers featured on the EP include Owen Brown, Evil Dee, Kool G. Rap, Rah Digga, Sporty Thievz, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Common, Pharoahe Monch, Posdnuos, Donte and Main Flow of Mood, Nine, Tiye Phoenix, Breezly Brewn' of the Juggaknots, Punchline, Imani Uzuri, El-P and Mr. Len of Company Flow, Jah-Born of Medina Green, John Forté, Mr. Khaliyl, Fre, J-Live, Rubix, Invincible, Wordsworth, A.L., Kofi Taha, Tame One, Jane Doe, Grafh, Shyheim, Channel Live, Wise Intelligent, Cappadonna, Crunch Lo, Rock, Nonchalant, Ras Kass, Dead Prez and Parrish Smith. Producers included Mr. Khaliyl, Organized Noize, and 88-Keys.


title: Talib Kweli

text: In 2001, Kweli and Mos Def, contributed to the "Red Hot + Indigo" compilation album created by the Red Hot Organization. The compilation was a tribute to Duke Ellington, that raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease. Black Star collaborated with fellow artists John Patton and Ron Carter to record "Money Jungle". In 2002, Kweli contributed to the critically acclaimed "Red Hot + Riot", a compilation CD created by the Red Hot Organization in tribute to the music and work of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. He collaborated with fellow hip hop artists Dead Prez, Jorge Ben, and Bilal to remake the Fela Kuti song "Shuffering and Shmiling", for the album.


title: Talib Kweli

text: In 2002, Kweli released his first solo album, "Quality" which featured production from a variety of producers, including DJ Quik and Kanye West. The album was met with widespread critical acclaim and received some mainstream attention thanks to the West-produced single "Get By" which peaked at No. 77 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Quality" peaked at No. 21 on the US Billboard 200 and at No. 6 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.


title: Talib Kweli

text: In February 2004, Kweli featured on Kanye West's "Get 'Em High" off of West's debut album "The College Dropout".


title: Talib Kweli

text: Kweli made a total of three appearances on Dave Chappelle's "Chappelle's Show". He was the second musical guest on the show, which aired on January 29, 2003. For his second appearance, Kweli partnered with Yasiin Bey, as Black Star, for the finale of the show's first season on April 9, 2003. His third and final appearance on the show aired one year later on April 7, 2004.


title: Talib Kweli

text: In the summer of 2004, Kweli, along with Bob Moore's Amazing Mongrels, supported the Beastie Boys on their "Challah at Your Boy World Tour". That same summer, appeared on a Dilated Peoples song called "Live on Stage". A live remix was later featured on the video game "NBA Street Vol. 2".


title: Talib Kweli

text: In the summer of 2004, Kweli also performed at "Dave Chappelle's Block Party," both as a solo act and as one half of Black Star, and he was later featured in the film and soundtrack.


title: Talib Kweli

text: In November 2004, he released his second solo album and final Rawkus release, "The Beautiful Struggle", which debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200. Kweli responded to Jay-Z's 2003 song "Moment of Clarity" in which Jay-Z rapped: "If skills sold, truth be told/I'd probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli", in his own track, "Ghetto Show" featuring Common and Anthony Hamilton by stating "If lyrics sold then truth be told/I'd probably be just as rich and famous as Jay-Z." The album featured much more commercial production, including efforts from The Neptunes, Kanye West and Just Blaze.


title: Talib Kweli

text: In 2005, Kweli had appeared in an episode of "Trippin", a 2005 MTV environmental documentary television series hosted by Cameron Diaz, also featuring Justin Timberlake, and Jimmy Fallon. On the show, said celebrities visit various ecological locales around the world, in particular underprivileged areas of the world. The four of them traveled to Tanzania to visit one of the world's largest and most thriving ecosystems left on the planet, the Serengeti Plain. There, they had gone into the depths of the Serengeti Plain with a few local zoologists at the time.


title: Talib Kweli

text: In 2005, Kweli released a mixtape-CD with his newly formed Blacksmith Records called "", a title which is considered a response to the criticism of "The Beautiful Struggle". Some people regard "Right About Now" as an album because of its availability through commercial sites and its release of two singles. "Right About Now" also lacks the DJ overlays often accompanied by mixtapes which makes the CD feel more like an album. The album sold 16,000 copies in its first week of release, debuting at No. 113 on the Billboard 200. Sparking some controversy, on "Right About Now" Kweli sampled Ben Kweller's "In Other Words" for his own song "Ms. Hill". In part seven of Kweller's video podcast series "One Minute Pop Song", Kweller said he found Kweli's use of the song "a little fucked up" due to the fact that it was sampled without permission. In a similar incident, Kweli reacted with outrage on Twitter when a verse from "Fly Away" was sampled in Peter Andre's track of the same name. Kweli stated, "I protect the integrity of my music like a grizzly protects cubs. Woe to those who actively stand in the way of that." Kweli has not publicly addressed his unauthorized use of Kweller's "In Other Words".


title: Talib Kweli

text: In 2006, Kweli signed a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records for Blacksmith Records. Warner Brothers launched an online community via "Second Life" for Kweli. In January, Kweli was featured in a commercial for the NCAA's Big Ten Conference, rapping about the league's basketball teams. In February 2006, Kweli provided the voice of the protagonist in the graffiti-themed video game "". In October 2006, Kweli performed on MTV's "Wild 'N Out", hosted by Nick Cannon.


title: Talib Kweli

text: On December 31, 2006, Kweli released nine songs he recorded with underground producer Madlib for free download in conjunction with the web site for Stones Throw Records, the label to which Madlib is signed. The album was entitled " Liberation", of which Kweli states in an interview with "XXL Magazine" that releasing the album was liberating to him.