title: World Snooker Championship

text: Following a dispute between the Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) and the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC), members of the PBPA boycotted the 1952 championship. The BACC thought the championship should be primarily a matter of honour, and financial considerations should come second. As a consequence of the boycott there were only two entries, Lindrum and McConachy. McConachy had played in the recent News of the World Tournament but had performed badly, losing all eight of his matches. Although Lindrum did not play in the News of the World Tournament, he had been receiving more generous starts in recent handicap tournaments and had even withdrawn from the 1950 Sporting Record Masters' Snooker Tournament in 1950, complaining about his overly generous handicap. Lindrum won the championship, reaching a winning 73–37 position early on the tenth day.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Having boycotted the official championship, the PBPA established their own championship called the PBPA Snooker Championship which attracted ten entries. Fred Davis and Donaldson were given byes to the semi-final stage, and met again in the final, held at the Blackpool Tower Circus, as Davis won 38–35. A second such championship was played the following year, referred to as the 1953 World Professional Match-play Championship, with the same finalists. Played at Leicester Square Hall, it was tied at 33–33 at the start of the final session but Davis won 37–34. The pair met in the 1954 final, held in Manchester, their eighth successive final. It was the most one-sided of the eight finals, Davis taking a winning 36–15 lead early on the fifth day.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Fred Davis met John Pulman in the 1955 final at Blackpool Tower Circus, with Davis winning 38–35. Davis defeated Pulman again in the 1956 final, but did not enter the 1957 championship. Pulman defeated Jackie Rea in the final to win his first world title.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: With the approval of the BACC, the championship was revived on a challenge basis in 1964. The first contest was played in Burroughes Hall, London in April 1964 between Pulman and Davis, with Pulman retaining the championship after winning 19–16. Pulman won two further challenge matches played at Burroughes Hall, beating Rex Williams in October 1964, and Davis again in March 1965. In late 1965 Pulman and Rex Williams played a long series of short matches in South Africa. Pulman won twenty-five of the forty-seven matches to retain the title. Williams set a new championship record with a break of 142 in the twenty-fourth match. After this series of matches Pulman played the South African Fred Van Rensburg, winning 39 frames to 12. Davis and Pulman played again for the championship in April 1966. Pulman won four of the seven matches to retain the title. Australian Eddie Charlton challenged Pulman to a 73 frame match in Bolton, played in March 1968. Pulman led 19–17 at the half-way stage, and pulled ahead and won the match 37–28.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: For 1969, the championship reverted to being run as a knockout tournament. This is regarded as the beginning of the modern era for snooker. Eight professionals entered, four from the 1950s and four new professionals. The first match, played in late 1968, saw the end of John Pulman's reign as champion, beaten by one of the new professionals, John Spencer. Spencer led 24–18 after the final afternoon session and clinched the match by winning the first frame in the evening with a ninety-seven break. Spencer and another of the new professionals, Gary Owen, met in the final at the Victoria Halls in London. Spencer won the seventy-three frame final 37–24. Spencer lost to Ray Reardon at the semi-final stage of the 1970 Championship. Reardon went on to win the final against John Pulman to win his first title.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The next world championship was held in Australia in late 1970. For the only time there was a group stage with nine players, with the top four moving on to a knock-out stage. Ray Reardon and John Spencer met in one semi-final with Spencer winning easily. The other semi-final was between two Australians, Warren Simpson and Eddie Charlton. Simpson caused a major upset by beating Charlton. In the final in Sydney, Spencer led throughout and won the six-day final 37–29. 1972 saw the emergence of Alex Higgins. Winning his two qualifying matches, he beat John Pulman, Rex Williams and then Spencer in the final to win the title at his first attempt. At , Higgins was the youngest world champion. Previously only Joe Davis had won the title while under the age of 30, being when he won in 1927.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The 1973 Championship marked a change in format, with the tournament played over two weeks at a single venue rather than over an extended period. Sixteen played in the first round, the eight winners playing eight seeded players in the second round. In the semi-finals, defending champion Alex Higgins lost 9–23 to Eddie Charlton while Ray Reardon beat John Spencer 23–22. In the five-day final Charlton led 7–0 after the opening session but Reardon led 17–13 after two days. The match continued to be close but Reardon pulled ahead on the final day to win 38–32, for his second title. The 1974 Championship followed a similar format but with somewhat shorter matches and event reduced to ten days. Sixty-year-old Fred Davis beat Alex Higgins in the quarter-finals before losing to Ray Reardon. Reardon met Graham Miles in the three-day final. Reardon led 17–11 after two days and won comfortably 22–12.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The 1975 Championship was held in Australia. Twenty-seven players competed including eight from Australia, sixteen from the United Kingdom, two from Canada and one from South Africa. Ray Reardon beat John Spencer and Alex Higgins to reach the final where he met Eddie Charlton. The final was held near Melbourne but matches were held in many locations, the semi-finals having been held in Canberra and Brisbane. In the final, Reardon won ten of the twelve frames on the second day to lead 16–8 but Charlton won the first nine frames on the third day to lead. Reardon then led 23–21 before Charlton won eight frames in a row to lead 29–23, needing just two of the last nine frames to win. However Reardon then won seven frames in a row to lead again and, although Charlton levelled the match at 30–30, Reardon won the deciding frame.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The 1976 World Snooker Championship was held at two venues; half the draw was held in Middlesbrough and half in Manchester, which also hosted the final. Alex Higgins won three close matches to reach the final, where he met Ray Reardon. Reardon led 24–15 at the start of the last day and, winning three of the first four frames, took the title 27–16, his fourth successive title. There were a number of problems during the tournament including the standard of the tables. This was the first year the championship was sponsored under the cigarette brand Embassy.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 1977, the championship moved to its new home at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, where it has remained ever since. The 1977 championship featured sixteen competitors: eight seeded players and eight qualifiers. John Spencer beat defending champion Ray Reardon 13–6 in the quarter-finals, and met Canadian Cliff Thorburn in the final. The two players were closely matched throughout, the score being tied at 9–9 after the first day and 18–18 after the second. Spencer led 22–20 after the first session on the final day, and pulled ahead to win 25–21 in the final session of the match.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Defending champion John Spencer lost to Perrie Mans in the first round of the 1978 championship. The 1977 runner-up Cliff Thorburn was defeated 12–13 in his quarter-final match against Eddie Charlton, who won the last five frames. However, Charlton then lost to Ray Reardon in the semi-finals; he was ahead 12–9 after the first three sessions of the match, but Reardon won all seven frames of the fourth session to win 18–14. Mans met sixty-four-year-old Fred Davis in the other semi-final, defeating him 18–16. Reardon won the final 25–18 to claim his sixth world title. He became the oldest World Champion, aged . The first seven World Snooker Champions all won a championship when in their forties; the last of these was Reardon. It would be another forty years before a quadragenarian won the title again, as Mark Williams won the 2018 championship aged forty-three.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The 1979 championship was won by Terry Griffiths who had only turned professional seven months prior to the tournament, and needed to win two qualifying matches to reach the Crucible. Griffiths was trailing 16–17 against Eddie Charlton in the semi-final, before eventually winning the match 19–17 at 1.40 am. He then beat Dennis Taylor 24–16 in the final, winning the record first prize of £10,000. Canadian Bill Werbeniuk made a break of 142 in his quarter-final match against John Virgo, equalling the championship record set by Rex Williams in South Africa in 1965.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In the 1980 championship, the number of participants was extended to twenty-four players. Those seeded from nine to sixteen each met a qualifier in the first round, the winner meeting one of the top eight seeds in the second round. Several changes were made to accommodate the extra matches, including a reduction in the number of frames played in the final, to a maximum of thirty-five. Cliff Thorburn met Alex Higgins in the final. The match was level at 9–9 after the first day and again at 13–13 after the afternoon session on the second day. During the evening session, the score was tied once again at 16–16, before Thorburn made a 119 clearance in frame thirty-three and a break of fifty-one in frame thirty-four to win the championship.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Despite being the number thirteen seed, Steve Davis was the favourite for the 1981 championship. He won a close match 10–8 against Jimmy White in the first round and defeated three past world champions to meet fourteenth seed Doug Mountjoy in the final. Davis won the first six frames but was only leading 10–8 at the end of the first day. He led 14–12 at the start of the final evening session and won the next four frames to win the match 18–12. At 23 years old, Davis was the second-youngest champion. Mountjoy set a new championship record with a highest break of 145 during his semi-final match against Ray Reardon.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The 1982 championship was extended to thirty-two players with sixteen seeded players and sixteen qualifiers. There was a surprise in the first round when Tony Knowles beat defending champion Steve Davis 10–1. In the semi-finals Jimmy White was ahead 15–14, and led 59–0 in the thirtieth frame, but missed an easy red with the rest. His opponent Alex Higgins then made a sixty-nine clearance and won the deciding frame and the match 16–15. Higgins met Ray Reardon in the final. The score was 15–15 before Higgins won three frames in a row to win the championship, finishing with a clearance of 135, denying Reardon the chance to win a seventh world title.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Cliff Thorburn made the first maximum break of the World Championship in 1983 during his second-round match against Terry Griffiths. The importance of this achievement at the time is demonstrated by the fact that play was stopped on the other table. This was the break that gave the World Championship one of its most iconic words of commentary, "oh, good luck mate" on the final black, courtesy of Jack Karnehm. Thorburn beat Griffiths in a final-frame decider, a match that finished at 03:51, the latest-ever finish for a match at the Crucible. Thorburn then also won his quarter-final and semi-final matches in the deciding frame; exhausted, and deflated by the news that his wife had suffered a miscarriage, he faced a one-sided final against Steve Davis who won 18–6. The 1984 final was between Steve Davis and Jimmy White (in his first final). Davis led 12–4 after the first day but White won seven of the eight frames on the final afternoon. Davis led 16–12 at the evening interval and, despite a comeback from White, Davis won 18–16.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In the 1985 final, also known as the black ball final, Dennis Taylor beat Steve Davis 18–17 on the final ball of the final frame, in one of the most closely contested matches of all time. It finished at 00:19 and, with an audience of 18.5 million, it remains the most-watched programme in the history of BBC2, and holds the record for a post-midnight audience for any channel in the United Kingdom. Davis met sixteenth seed Joe Johnson in the 1986 final. Johnson led 13–11 at the start of the evening session and won five of the first six frames to win 18–12. Johnson had trailed 9–12 in his quarter-final against Terry Griffiths but won the last four frames to win 13–12. Johnson and Davis met again in the 1987 final although, on this occasion, Davis was the winner by a score of 18–14.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Steve Davis and Terry Griffiths met in the 1988 final. The score was 8–8 after the first day but Davis pulled ahead on the final day and won 18–11. Davis made his seventh successive final in 1989, meeting John Parrott. Davis led 13–3 after the first day and won the first five frames on the second day to win the match 18–3. Davis won £105,000 for his 1989 victory, a new record.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 1990, Steve Davis failed to reach the final for the first time since 1982, losing in the semi-finals 14–16 to Jimmy White. In the final Stephen Hendry beat White 18–12 becoming, at , the youngest ever world champion.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 1991, Hendry, the number one seed, lost in the quarter-finals to Steve James. The final was between John Parrott and Jimmy White, Parrott winning 18–11.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 1992, Jimmy White became the second player to make a maximum break in the world championship, during his 10–4 first round win over Tony Drago. Defending champion John Parrott beat Eddie Charlton 10–0, the first of only two whitewashes in the Crucible era (the second being by Shaun Murphy over Luo Honghao in 2019). Stephen Hendry met Jimmy White in the final. White led 14–8 but Hendry won ten frames in a row to win 18–14.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 1993, James Wattana, from Thailand, became the first Asian player to reach the semi-finals, where he lost to Jimmy White. The final was one-sided, with Stephen Hendry beating White 18–5. Total prize money reached £1,000,000 for the first time.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 1994, Jimmy White reached his sixth final, meeting Stephen Hendry for the fourth time in the final. Hendry led 5–1 but White won six frames in a row to lead 7–5. Thereafter the match was always close and eventually went to a final frame. White missed a black off the spot, after which Hendry made a break of fifty-eight to clinch the title. Fergal O'Brien made a century in his first frame at the Crucible, the only player ever to do so.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 1995, Hendry and White met in the semi-finals, where Hendry won again, making a maximum break during the match. In the other semi-final Nigel Bond beat unseeded Andy Hicks. The final was initially close until Hendry won nine frames in a row to take the score from 5–5 to 14–5. Hendry eventually won 18–9. Hendry made a record twelve century breaks during the tournament.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 1996, Peter Ebdon reached the final, beating Jimmy White, Steve Davis and Ronnie O'Sullivan on the way. He met Stephen Hendry in the final. Ebdon led 4–2 in the early stages but Hendry eventually won 18–12 to win his fifth successive title. There were forty-eight century breaks during the final stages, a new record.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 1997, in the first round of the championship, Ronnie O'Sullivan made the fastest maximum break in snooker history, taking just five minutes and twenty seconds: this time would be later revised as five minutes and eight seconds. The final was between Stephen Hendry and Irishman Ken Doherty. Doherty led 15–7 before Hendry won five frames in a row. Doherty then won the next three frames to win 18–12, ending Hendry's winning run of twenty-nine consecutive matches.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 1998, Stephen Hendry lost to Jimmy White in the first round of the championship. Doherty reached the final again meeting 22-year-old John Higgins. Higgins won 18–12, making five centuries in the final. In total there were fifty-nine centuries during the tournament of which Higgins made fourteen, both records.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 1999, Stephen Hendry won his seventh and final world title, the most in the modern era until being equalled by Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2022. In the final he beat Mark Williams 18–11. In the semi-final between Hendry and O'Sullivan each player made four century breaks, the eight centuries being a record for a world championship match.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The period from 2000 to 2013 was dominated by three players, all born in 1975 and who all turned professional in 1992. Ronnie O'Sullivan won five times in this period, John Higgins three times and Mark Williams twice. Higgins had also won in 1998; Williams would win again in 2018 and O'Sullivan went on to win in 2020 and 2022.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 2000 Stephen Hendry was beaten 10–7 in the first round by Crucible debutant Stuart Bingham. In his semi-final, Mark Williams trailed 11–15 to John Higgins but took six frames in a row to win 17–15. In the final, Williams met fellow Welshman Matthew Stevens. Stevens led 13–7 but Williams made another comeback to win 18–16, becoming the first left-handed champion.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Ronnie O'Sullivan won his first world championship in 2001, defeating John Higgins 18–14 in the final. O'Sullivan led 14–7 before Higgins won four frames in a row. O'Sullivan looked likely to win the title in the 31st frame as he led 17–13 and 69–6, however he missed a red in the middle pocket and Higgins won the frame with a break of 65. Higgins made a break of 45 in frame 32 but O'Sullivan made an 80 break to take the title.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Stephen Hendry beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 17–13 in the semi-final of the 2002 Championship, Hendry reaching his ninth final. Peter Ebdon beat Matthew Stevens 17–16 in the other semi-final. Stevens led 16–14 but Ebdon won the last three frames. The final went to the deciding frame where Ebdon made a break of 59 and clinched the title. There were a record sixty-eight centuries in the tournament, including a record sixteen by Stephen Hendry who made five centuries in the semi-final and a further four in the final.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Mark Williams won his second World title in 2003 by defeating Ken Doherty 18–16 in the final. Prize money peaked in 2003 with the winner receiving a record £270,000 and the thirty-two Crucible players getting at least £15,000. Ronnie O'Sullivan made the fifth maximum break in the World Championship, becoming the first player to score two 147s in the event.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Ronnie O'Sullivan won his second world title in 2004 by defeating Graeme Dott 18–8 in the final, despite Dott having led 5–0.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Shaun Murphy won the 2005 championship by defeating Matthew Stevens 18–16 in the final. Murphy was only the second qualifier to win the World Championship, after Terry Griffiths in 1979. Murphy won two qualifying matches and then five matches at the Crucible to take the title.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Graeme Dott beat Peter Ebdon 18–14 in the 2006 final. The match finished at 00:52 am, the latest finish of a World Snooker Championship final. This was the first Championship sponsored by a betting company after the banning of tobacco sponsorship. Dott won £200,000 for his victory with the thirty-two Crucible players getting at least £9,600, both significant reductions on the 2003 prize money. In the last round of the qualifying competition Robert Milkins had the first 147 break made during qualifying for the championship. Despite his maximum, Milkins lost to Mark Selby.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The 2007 Championship was won by John Higgins who beat qualifier Mark Selby 18–13 in the final. The match finished at 00:55 am, even later than the 2006 final and setting another record for the latest finish in the final. Shaun Murphy came back from 7–12 down to win his quarter-final match against Matthew Stevens, but lost in the deciding frame of his semi-final to Mark Selby.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The 2008 Championship was won by Ronnie O'Sullivan who beat Ali Carter 18–8 in the final. Both O'Sullivan and Carter had made maximum breaks earlier in the tournament, the first time there had been two 147 breaks in the same World Championship. It was O'Sullivan's third maximum in the Championship.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: John Higgins won his third world title in 2009, beating Shaun Murphy 18–9 in the final. Michaela Tabb refereed the final, becoming the first woman to do so in a World Championship final. There were a record eighty-three century breaks in the Championship, well ahead of the previous highest of sixty-eight. Stephen Hendry won his 1000th at the Crucible Theatre, the first player to do so. The championship included the second longest ever frame at the Crucible which lasted seventy-four minutes fifty-eight seconds between Stephen Maguire and Mark King.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The 2010 Championship was won by Neil Robertson who beat qualifier Graeme Dott 18–13 in the final, becoming the fourth non-U.K. winner of the title after Horace Lindrum, Cliff Thorburn and Ken Doherty.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: John Higgins won his fourth world title in 2011, beating Judd Trump 18–15 in the final. 21-year-old Trump became the youngest finalist since Stephen Hendry in 1990. Trump had beaten David Gilbert in the qualifying competition and then defeated defending champion Neil Robertson in the first round.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Ronnie O'Sullivan won his fourth world title in 2012, defeating Ali Carter 18–11 in the final. On the opening day Hendry made his third maximum break at the Crucible, equalling Ronnie O'Sullivan's record. He announced his retirement from professional snooker following his loss to Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals. Aged , Luca Brecel became the youngest player to compete at the Crucible.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan retained the title in 2013 despite having played only one competitive match all season. He defeated Barry Hawkins 18–12 in the final to win the title for the fifth time. He broke Hendry's record of 127 career Crucible centuries, finishing the tournament with 131. He also became the first player to make six century breaks in a Crucible final.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Between 1998 and 2020, seventeen of the twenty-three finals featured at least one class of '92 player.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Mark Selby won the world title in 2014 by beating defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 18–14 in the final having trailed 5–10. Selby won a record £300,000 for his victory; the prize exceeding the previous highest of £270,000 in 2003, although prize money for first-round losers remained at £12,000.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Selby lost 9–13 in the second round of the 2015 Championship to Crucible debutant Anthony McGill. Stuart Bingham won the title, defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 13–9 in the quarter-finals, Judd Trump 17–16 in the semi-finals, and Shaun Murphy 18–15 in the final to win the first world title of his twenty-year professional career. At the age of 38, Bingham became the oldest player to win the title since Ray Reardon in 1978 (although this achievement would subsequently be surpassed by 43-year-old Mark Williams in 2018, 44-year-old O'Sullivan in 2020, and 46-year-old O'Sullivan in 2022). The tournament set a new record for the most century breaks made at the Crucible, with eighty-six.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Defending champion Stuart Bingham lost 9–10 against Ali Carter in the first round of the 2016 Championship. Mark Selby defeated Ding Junhui 18–14 in the final to claim his second world title. Ding was the first Asian player to reach a World Championship final. There were eighty-six century breaks made during the Championship, equalling the record set in 2015. A new record of ten centuries in a professional match was set in the semi-final between Ding Junhui and Alan McManus, with Ding also setting a new record of seven centuries by one player in a World Championship match. Mark Selby and Marco Fu set a new record for the longest frame of snooker ever played at the Crucible, seventy minutes eleven seconds.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Prize money for the 2017 Championship was a record £1,750,000 with the winner receiving £375,000. Prize money for first-round losers was a record £16,000, exceeding the £15,000 players received in 2003. In a high-quality and tightly contested semi-final, defending champion Mark Selby beat Ding Junhui 17–15 in a repeat of the previous year's final. Selby met John Higgins, in a repeat of the 2007 final. Higgins was the second oldest Crucible finalist at ; only Ray Reardon had been older. Selby trailed 4–10 during the second session but then won twelve of the next fourteen


title: World Snooker Championship

text: frames to lead 16–12. Higgins won the next three frames but Selby took the title 18–15, becoming champion for the third time in four years, joining Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, and Ronnie O'Sullivan as the only men to have successfully defended the title since its move to the Crucible.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 2018, two "class of '92" players, Mark Williams and John Higgins, met in the final. Their rivalry dated back to the late 1990s, although only three of their meetings had been in the World Championships, all in semifinals, in 1999, 2000 (both won by Williams 17–15) and 2011 (won by Higgins 17–14). The match was closely contested, Williams coming out on top by 18–16 to win the World Championship for the first time since 2003, setting a new record for the longest gap between World Championship victories. He won £425,000.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Higgins reached the final again in 2019, only to be beaten 18–9 by Judd Trump, who won £500,000. Their final set records for the most century breaks in a professional match, with 11, beating the previous record of 10 set in the 2016 semifinal between Ding Junhui and Alan McManus. It also set a record for the most centuries in a Crucible final, bettering the previous record of eight, set in 2002 when Stephen Hendry played Peter Ebdon, and equalled in 2013 when O'Sullivan played Barry Hawkins. Trump set a new record for the most centuries by a player in a single match, achieving seven to better O'Sullivan's six centuries in the 2013 final. The tournament also recorded a record 100 century breaks.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The 2020 championship was postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, finishing on 16 August instead of the originally planned date of 4 May. Ronnie O'Sullivan made a record 28th consecutive appearance at the Crucible and won the championship for the sixth time, beating Kyren Wilson 18–8 in the final, and collecting prize money of £500,000. It was O'Sullivan's 37th ranking title, passing the record of 36 ranking titles won by Stephen Hendry. John Higgins made the first 147 break at the Crucible since 2012, earning him the £15,000 highest break prize plus an additional £40,000 bonus for achieving a maximum.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: At the 2021 event, O'Sullivan was knocked out in the second round by Anthony McGill in a final-frame decider. Judd Trump and Neil Robertson both fell in the quarter-finals. Selby met Murphy in the final, and won 18–15.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: At the 2022 event, O'Sullivan equalled Steve Davis's record of 30 Crucible appearances. The Class of '92 — O'Sullivan, Higgins, and Williams — all reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1999. O'Sullivan defeated Trump 18–13 in the final to win his seventh world title, equalling Hendry's modern-era record. Aged 46 years and 148 days, he became the oldest world champion in the tournament's history, surpassing Reardon, who was aged 45 years and 203 days when he won his last title in 1978. O'Sullivan also surpassed Hendry's record of 70 Crucible wins, setting a new record of 74. The second-round match between Selby and Yan Bingtao featured the longest frame ever played at the Crucible, at 85 minutes. Dott made a maximum break in the qualifying rounds, and Robertson made a maximum in his second-round match against Lisowski, becoming the eighth player to make a 147 at the Crucible. A new record of 109 century breaks was set at the Crucible stage, one more than the 108 made the previous year. Williams made 16 centuries during the event, equalling the record for the most centuries in a single championship set by Hendry in 2002.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The format of the televised stages of the World Championship has remained unchanged since 1982, with the exception of a change in the semi-final format that was introduced in 1997. It has a knock-out format with 32 players, contested over 17 days ending on the first Monday in May, which is May Day bank holiday in the United Kingdom. Of the 32 players, 16 reach the final stages automatically while the other 16 need to earn a place through a qualifying competition. The reigning world champion receives a direct entry and is the number one seed (the World Champion is usually seeded at least 2nd for all ranking tournaments, and The Masters, for the following season). The remaining direct entries are based on the latest world rankings, players being seeded based on these world rankings. Since the defending champion is normally ranked in the top 16, the top 16 ranked players generally receive a direct entry.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Before 1982, there were a number of different formats used for the championship. In 1980 and 1981, 24 players competed in the final stages at the Crucible; the top eight seeds had a bye in the first round while seeds 9 to 16 played in the first round against eight qualifiers. From 1977 to 1979, the first three years at the Crucible, only 16 players reached the final stages, eight seeds playing eight qualifiers in the first round.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The current length format of matches per round is as follows. The first round is played over best of 19 frames, played over two sessions. The second round and quarter-finals are the best of 25 frames played over three sessions; while the semi-finals and final are played over four sessions, the semi-finals being best of 33 frames and the final being best of 35 frames. For the first 12 days of the tournament, until the end of the quarter-final stage, two matches are played concurrently. For the last five days (the semi-finals and final) only one table is used.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: From 1980–1996, the semi-finals were played over best of 31 frames, before this was changed from 1997 onwards to best of 33 frames. The Championship has nearly always ended on the first Monday in May since the Championship first became a 17-day event in 1982, but there have been five exceptions. In 1982, the Championship ended on Sunday 16 May; while in 1985, 1990 and 1995, the Championship ended on the last Sunday in April. In all four of those years, the tournament started on a Friday rather than a Saturday. The fifth and most recent instance of the tournament starting on a Friday was the 2020 edition: due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Championship was played from Friday 31 July to Sunday 16 August.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Several changes to the qualifying system came into effect for the 2015 championship. All living world champions would be extended an opportunity to play in the qualifying rounds. The top 16 seeds would still qualify automatically for the first round at the Crucible, but all non-seeded players would have to start in the first of three qualifying rounds. Previously players seeded 17 to 32 only had to win one qualifying match to reach the final stages. The overall championship would increase from 128 to 144 players, with the additional places made available to former world champions and players from emerging countries.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In 2020, another significant change was made to the qualifying competition for the World Championship. Whereas in previous years, the qualifying rounds were played like a mini-tournament (with all seeded players playing an unseeded player in the very first round), with the 16 "winners" being the qualifiers to go to the main draw using traditional knockout format, the new system involved seeding the players based on their world ranking. Players seeded 1-32 (representing 17–54 in the world rankings) would join the qualifying later than those who were seeded lower, or unseeded. The lowest-ranked and those who were invited as amateurs played in Round 1, with the winner moving on to play in Round 2 against a seeded player from 55 to 91 in the world rankings. In addition to the format change, the 2020 qualifying round became the first qualifying tournament to be broadcast on television in the history of snooker. Previously, only the Judgement Day round was broadcast on World Snookers' social media platforms.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Since the 2020 tournament was held during the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Rounds 1—3 were played as a single session best-of-11 frames match, with only the "Judgement Day" final round played with the usual best-of-19 system. This change to the length of matches persisted into the 2021 and 2022 championships for the same reasons. From 2023, the match length of the qualifying rounds reverted to the previous incarnation of best-of-19’s, but the seeded format remains in place.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: From its foundation in 1927, the world snooker championship was dominated by Joe Davis, who won each of the first 15 tournaments before retiring undefeated in 1946. In 1952, a dispute between the BACC and the PBPA led to the formation of the World Professional Match-play Championship, whose winners are generally acknowledged as world champions. No championship was held between 1957 and 1964, when it was revived on a challenge basis until 1968.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: The 'modern' era is considered to have started in 1969, when the championship reverted to a knock-out tournament format from a challenge format. Since then, the best record is seven wins, by Stephen Hendry (1990–1999) and Ronnie O'Sullivan (2001–2022). Ray Reardon won six times in the 1970s, while Steve Davis won six times in the 1980s.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Except for two championships played in Australia, all championships from 1969 to 2005 were sponsored by tobacco companies. In 1969 and 1970 the championship was sponsored by John Player under the brand Player's No.6. The Gallaher Group sponsored under the brand Park Drive from 1972 to 1974, while from 1976 to 2005 Imperial Tobacco sponsored under the brand Embassy. Legislation in 2003 placed restrictions on tobacco advertising, including sponsorship of sporting events. Embassy received special dispensation to continue snooker sponsorship until 2005.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: From 2006 to 2022, all championships were sponsored by betting companies. In 2006, 888.com took over sponsorship of the event under a five-year deal, but it pulled out after just three years. Betfred.com was the sponsor from 2009 to 2012, followed by Betfair in 2013, Dafabet in 2014, and Betfred again from 2015 to 2022.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Before the world championship moved to the Crucible in 1977, TV coverage was very limited. In the 1950s, the BBC occasionally showed snooker on black and white television, including 30-minute programmes of the 1953 and 1955 finals, with commentary by Sidney Smith. Despite the launch of "Pot Black" in colour in 1969, there was little coverage of the World Championship. There was some coverage of the 1973, 1974 and 1976 world championships in Manchester on two Saturday afternoon "Grandstand" programmes during those three years. Commentary was by Ted Lowe.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: BBC TV coverage for the first Crucible championship in 1977 was increased but was limited to highlights of the semi-finals and some coverage of the final on "Grandstand" and a late night highlights programme. The commentator was Ted Lowe with the highlight programmes presented by Alan Weeks. The 1978 championship was the first to have daily BBC TV coverage with 14 nightly highlights programmes as well as Saturday afternoon coverage on "Grandstand". Ted Lowe commentated while the programmes were presented by David Vine and Alan Weeks. In 1979, TV coverage was extended to include an early-evening "Frame of the Day" as well as live coverage of parts of the final. David Vine was the presenter while the commentary team was extended to include Jack Karnehm and Clive Everton. In 1980, TV coverage included daily live coverage for the first time. Coverage of the final was interrupted to bring live coverage of the Iranian Embassy Siege.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: David Vine continued to be the main host for the BBC's TV coverage until 2000, with David Icke as prominent second host from 1984 to 1990, and Dougie Donnelly through the 1990s. For some years commentary was primarily by Ted Lowe, Clive Everton and Jack Karnehm although John Pulman, Vera Selby and others were used. In 1986 Jim Meadowcroft, John Spencer and John Virgo were used as summarisers. From 2001 to 2009 the BBC coverage was hosted by Hazel Irvine or Ray Stubbs. From 2010, Hazel Irvine took over with highlights presented by Rishi Persad. In February 2013, the BBC announced that Rishi Persad had been replaced by Jason Mohammad, who himself later stepped down from those duties after the conclusion of the 2019 Masters and was replaced by Seema Jaswal. Commentators have included Willie Thorne, Dennis Taylor, John Virgo, John Parrott, Steve Davis, Ken Doherty, Stephen Hendry, Terry Griffiths and Neal Foulds.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: In January 2013, it was announced that the BBC had renewed its contract to broadcast the Triple Crown tournaments up until the end of the 2016/2017 season, which has since been extended continually. The BBC now has the rights to the tournament until 2027, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the tournament being played at the Crucible Theatre and the 100th anniversary of the official inauguration of the tournament in 1927.


title: World Snooker Championship

text: Since 2003, Eurosport has provided coverage of the snooker season, with commentators including Philip Studd, David Hendon, Joe Johnson and Neal Foulds. For the World Championship, additional commentary from Phil Yates and Dominic Dale is provided. Alan McManus previously provided commentary for Eurosport before moving to the BBC, but now provides punditry services only to Eurosports' coverage of the event. In the past, Eurosport provided televised coverage of both tables via Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 but has since cut back by only showing the "main" match of the session on Eurosport 1, with the other table available via the Discovery+ and Eurosport Player streaming services. Eurosport currently has the right to show the tournament until 2026.


title: High courts of India

text: The high courts of India are the highest courts of appellate jurisdiction in each state and union territory of India. However, a high court exercises its original civil and criminal jurisdiction only if the subordinate courts are not authorized by law to try such matters for lack of pecuniary, territorial jurisdiction. High courts may also enjoy original jurisdiction in certain matters, if so designated specially by the constitution, a state or union law.


title: High courts of India

text: The work of most high courts primarily consists of appeals from lower courts and writ petitions in terms of Articles 226 and 227 of the constitution. Writ jurisdiction is also an original jurisdiction of a high court.


title: High courts of India

text: Each state is divided into judicial districts presided over by a district and sessions judge. He is known as district judge when he presides over a civil case, and session's judge when he presides over a criminal case. He is the highest judicial authority below a high court judge. Below him, there are courts of civil jurisdiction, known by different names in different states. Under Article 141 of the constitution, all courts in India – including high courts – are bounded by the judgements and orders of the Supreme Court of India by precedence.


title: High courts of India

text: Judges in a high court are appointed by the president of India in consultation with the chief justice of India and the governor of the state under Article 217 of the Constitution but through subsequent judicial interpretations, the primacy of the appointment process is on the hands of the Judicial Collegium. High courts are headed by a chief justice. The chief justices rank fourteenth (within their respective states) and seventeenth (outside their respective states) on the Indian order of precedence. The number of judges in a court is decided by dividing the average institution of main cases during the last five years by the national average, or the average rate of disposal of main cases per judge per year in that high court, whichever is higher.


title: High courts of India

text: The Calcutta High Court is the oldest high court in the country, established on 2 July 1862. High courts that handle numerous cases of a particular region have permanent benches established there. Benches are also present in states which come under the jurisdiction of a court outside its territorial limits. Smaller states with few cases may have circuit benches established. Circuit benches (known as circuit courts in some parts of the world) are temporary courts which hold proceedings for a few selected months in a year. Thus cases built up during this interim period are judged when the circuit court is in session. According to a study conducted by Bangalore-based N.G.O, Daksh, on 21 high courts in collaboration with the Ministry of Law and Justice in March 2015, it was found that average pendency of a case in high courts in India is 3 years.


title: High courts of India

text: The buildings of Bombay High Court (as part of the Victorian and art deco ensemble of Mumbai) and Punjab and Haryana High Court (as part of the architectural work of Le Corbusier) are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.


title: High courts of India

text: The Madras High Court in Chennai (est. 1862), Bombay High Court in Mumbai (est. 1862), Calcutta High Court in Kolkata (est. 1862), Allahabad High Court in Allahabad (est. 1866) and Bangalore High Court in Bangalore (est. 1884) are the five oldest high courts in India. The Andhra High Court and Telangana High Court are the newest high courts, established on 1 January 2019 according to Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.


title: High courts of India

text: The following are the 25 high courts in India, sorted by name, year established, act by which it was established, jurisdiction, principal seat (headquarters), permanent benches (subordinate to the principal seat), circuit benches (functional a few days in a month/year), the maximum number of judges sanctioned and the presiding chief justice of the high court:


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: "Spriggan" takes place in the last years of the Cold War where mysterious and unknown artifacts called out-of-place artifacts (OOPArt) are discovered in various parts of the world, leading to a secret war between various forces against the ARCAM Corporation, an organization that placed itself the guardians of the OOPArts in order to prevent them from being used as weapons.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: The manga was adapted into an anime film by Studio 4°C in 1998; Katsuhiro Otomo was involved in adapting. A PlayStation game called "Spriggan: Lunar Verse" was also based on the manga with some material created for the game. An original net animation (ONA) anime series adaptation by David Production was released in June 2022 on Netflix.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: Many years ago, an ancient civilization known for their advanced technology once ruled Earth, but were destroyed in the end by their misuse. So, they left messages for later generations in the form of indestructible message plates written in ancient Hebrew, informing them that if they could not find a good use for their creations, they should be destroyed.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: Various paramilitaries, national armies, and armed private forces began to secretly search for these "mysterious artifacts" in order to be used for their own good and against their enemies. The ARCAM Corporation and their military arm, the ARCAM Private Army, can stop these forces from destroying themselves with their elite secret agents known as Spriggans (or Strikers).


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: Written by Hiroshi Takashige and illustrated by Ryōji Minagawa, "Spriggan" was first serialized in Shogakukan "shōnen" manga magazine "Weekly Shōnen Sunday" from February 22 to December 6, 1989. The manga was then transferred to "Shōnen Sunday Zōkan" (renamed "Shōnen Sunday Super" in 1995), where it ran from August 15, 1992, to February 5, 1996. Eleven "tankōbon" volumes were released from June 18, 1991, to June 18, 1996, with eight-volume reprints from April 18, 2001, to June 18, 2002, and from June 15, 2006, to January 13, 2007. The reprints included the previously unpublished stories "First Mission" and "Gold Rush" in the first and last volumes, respectively. The original volumes were republished in a three-box set edition, which includes never before published illustrations. The first box set (including the first four volumes) was released on April 18, 2022. The third box set includes a 12th volume, which features the "First Mission" and "Gold Rush" stories, and was published on June 17, 2022.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: In North America, the series was first licensed by Viz Media, under the title "Striker", and serialized in "Manga Vizion". Three volumes were published from November 5, 1998, to May 6, 1999, before the company curtailed further translation. In February 2022, Seven Seas Entertainment announced they acquired the rights to publish the series in English, with its original title.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: In Europe, two volumes were published in France and in French-speaking countries and territories by Glénat under the name "Striker" in the Netherlands by Big Balloon, eleven volumes in Germany by Planet Manga, and three full volume in Spain and in Spanish-speaking territories and countries by Planeta DeAgostini in 1993 followed by a reprint from 1996 to 1997 with another reprint announced on July 15, 2021 via its Spanish Twitter account. Together with "Ranma ½", it was the first manga published in Portugal, by Texto Editora in 1995.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: In Asia, the manga was released in Hong Kong by Jade Dynasty, in Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo, in Singapore it was released by Chuang Yi in English, in South Korea by Daiwon C.I., in Taiwan by Tong Li Comics, and in Thailand by Siam Inter Comics.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: A film adaptation of the manga, using the Noah's Ark story, was produced by Studio 4°C and released by Toho. The movie was directed and story boarded by Hirotsugu Kawasaki, written by Kawasaki and Yasutaka Itō, and supervised by Katsuhiro Otomo. Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa had a hand in assisting the director through production. It made around 350 million yen during its debut in Japanese theaters.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: A Japanese release of the film on DVD was released by Bandai Visual under their Emotion label on April 25, 1999. ADV Films released the film in a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 12, 2001 and on DVD in all English-speaking countries outside Asia on April 23, 2002, with a special edition released on February 15, 2005, with the exception of Australia and New Zealand, where the film was distributed by Madman Entertainment.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: The film was distributed in Hong Kong and some other Asian countries under Neovision and released in Taiwan by Proware Multimedia International. In Europe, it was produced in German by Anime Connection of Germany, in Russian by MC Entertainment, in Dutch by Dybex, Italian by Dynit, in Polish by IDG and in Swedish by Sandrew Metronome.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: "Spriggan" was released in Japan on Blu-ray Disc format on November 11, 2007, with another release on July 25, 2008.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: On June 16, 1999, FromSoftware released a video game adaptation in Japan and Asia of "Spriggan" for the PlayStation named "Spriggan: Lunar Verse" with an initial street price of ¥6,090. It can be played by either one or two players. It was a 3D action-adventure game, and it anticipated design elements which were later popularized by action games such as the "Devil May Cry" series and modern "Ninja Gaiden" games.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: A soundtrack of the game, composed by Keiichiro Segawa, Tsukasa Saito, and Yuji Kanda, was released by Absord Music Japan and distributed by King Records on November 26, 1999. It has a total of 27 tracks.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: An original net animation (ONA) series adaptation was announced in March 2019. The series was animated by David Production, directed by Hiroshi Kobayashi, with Hiroshi Seko handling series' composition, Shūhei Handa designing the characters, and composing the music. Shōhei Miyake serves as the assistant director. Originally set for a release on Netflix in 2021, it was moved to a 2022 premiere on the streaming platform. The six-episode series' debuted on Netflix on June 18, 2022; it is part of a partnership with Netflix to have the anime streamed worldwide. The opening theme is "Seeking the Truth feat. YAHZARAH", while the ending theme is "Ancient Creations feat. Shing02", both by Taisei Iwasaki.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: The original soundtrack, composed by Iwasaki, was released by Milan Records on the same date of the series debut, on June 18, 2022. A guidebook for the ONA was released on July 20, 2022. The guidebook features interviews with the cast, staff and authors Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa, detailed information of the series and various artworks.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: Wilma Jandoc, reviewing the film adaptation in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, wrote that it primarily stands out through its portrayal of the United States, which plays an antagonistic role. Jandoc described the depiction of "the U.S. leadership" as "at once so mismatched and perfect that it's funny," approving of their portrayal as power-hungry but expressing disbelief at the concept of the U.S. government being deeply concerned about the environment. At the same time, Jandoc remarked that "any other country could have been put in its place—Russia, China, North Korea—and still it would have just been a nation's name, nothing more," feeling that an opportunity for more substantial criticism was missed.


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: On June 23, 2022, Netflix Japan reported that the "Spriggan" ONA ranked first on their "Today's Top 10 TV Shows".


title: Spriggan (manga)

text: Kenneth Seward Jr. of IGN said that the ONA "has the potential to be a great anime", praising the voice acting, action and premise, but commented that "its open-ended nature might not win over newcomers", and that its "[i]nconsistent animation also hinders what could’ve been one of the better Netflix-produced anime released this year."


title: Sreenivasan

text: Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such as "Odaruthammava Aalariyam" (1984), "Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam" (1986), "Gandhinagar 2nd Street" (1986), "Nadodikkattu" (1987), "Pattanapravesham" (1988), "Varavelpu" (1989), "Thalayanamanthram" (1990), "Sandesam" (1991), "Midhunam" (1993), "Mazhayethum Munpe" (1995), "Azhakiya Ravanan" (1996), " Oru Maravathoor Kanavu" (1998), "Udayananu Tharam" (2005), "Katha Parayumpol" (2007), and "Njan Prakashan" (2018) among which the latter is one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time. He has won two Kerala State Film Awards for Best Screenplay, for "Sandesam" and "Mazhayethum Munpe".


title: Sreenivasan

text: As a writer and actor he has frequently collaborated with directors such as Priyadarshan, Sathyan Anthikad and Kamal. As a filmmaker, he scripted and directed "Vadakkunokkiyanthram" (1989) and "Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala" (1998). While "Vadakkunokkiyanthram" (1989) won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Film, "Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala" (1998) won the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues and Best Popular Film Award at the 29th Kerala State Film Awards. He co-produced "Katha Parayumpol" (2007) and "Thattathin Marayathu" (2012) under the banner Lumiere Film Company, along with actor Mukesh.


title: Sreenivasan

text: Sreenivasan was born in Patyam, a village near Thalassery in Kannur, North Malabar region of Kerala. He has a sister and two brothers. His mother was a homemaker and his father a school teacher. Sreenivasan completed his formal education at Kuthuparamba Middle School and Government High School, Kadirur. He received a bachelor's degree in economics from PRNSS College, Mattanur. In 1977, Sreenivasan studied at the Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu, Chennai.


title: Sreenivasan

text: Sreenivasan debuted in the 1976 P. A. Backer movie "Manimuzhakkam". His first hero role was "Sanghaganam" (1979). At film school, he was enrolled by Aniyeri Prabhakaran, who later cast him in "Mela" (1980). In 1984, Sreenivasan wrote his first film, "Odaruthammava Aalariyam". He both wrote and acted in "Varavelpu", "Gandhinagar 2nd Street", " Nadodikkattu" and its two sequels, "Pattanapravesham," and "Akkare Akkare Akkare". As a director he filmed "Vadakkunokkiyanthram" and "Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala". His comedies include "Aram + Aram = Kinnaram", "Kinnaripuzhayoram", "Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu", Ponmuttayidunna Tharavu, Artham, Azhakiya Ravanan, Chithram etc.""


title: Sreenivasan

text: His younger son, Dhyan Sreenivasan, made his debut in "Thira", a thriller movie directed by his brother.


title: Window

text: A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material, a sash set in a frame in the opening; the sash and frame are also referred to as a window. Many glazed windows may be opened, to allow ventilation, or closed, to exclude inclement weather. Windows may have a latch or similar mechanism to lock the window shut or to hold it open by various amounts.


title: Window

text: In addition to this, many modern day windows may have a window screen or mesh, often made of aluminum or fibreglass, to keep bugs out when the window is opened.


title: Window

text: Types include the eyebrow window, fixed windows, hexagonal windows, single-hung, and double-hung sash windows, horizontal sliding sash windows, casement windows, awning windows, hopper windows, tilt, and slide windows (often door-sized), tilt and turn windows, transom windows, sidelight windows, jalousie or louvered windows, clerestory windows, lancet windows, skylights, roof windows, roof lanterns, bay windows, oriel windows, thermal, or Diocletian, windows, picture windows, Rose windows, emergency exit windows, stained glass windows, French windows, panel windows, double/triple-paned windows, and witch windows.


title: Window

text: The Romans were the first known to use glass for windows, a technology likely first produced in Roman Egypt, in Alexandria AD. Paper windows were economical and widely used in ancient China, Korea, and Japan. In England, glass became common in the windows of ordinary homes only in the early 17th century whereas windows made up of panes of flattened animal horn were used as early as the 14th century. In the 19th century American west, greased paper windows came to be used by itinerant groups. Modern-style floor-to-ceiling windows became possible only after the industrial plate glass making processes were fully perfected.


title: Window

text: The English language-word "window" originates from the Old Norse , from 'wind' and 'eye'. In Norwegian, Nynorsk, and Icelandic, the Old Norse form has survived to this day (in Icelandic only as a less used word for a type of small open "window", not strictly a synonym for , the Icelandic word for 'window'). In Swedish, the word remains as a term for a hole through the roof of a hut, and in the Danish language and Norwegian , the direct link to "eye" is lost, just as for "window". The Danish (but not the ) word is pronounced fairly similarly to "window".


title: Window

text: "Window" is first recorded in the early 13th century, and originally referred to an unglazed hole in a roof. "Window" replaced the Old English , which literally means 'eye-hole', and 'eye-door'. Many Germanic languages, however, adopted the Latin word to describe a window with glass, such as standard Swedish , or German . The use of "window" in English is probably because of the Scandinavian influence on the English language by means of loanwords during the Viking Age. In English, the word "fenester" was used as a parallel until the mid-18th century. "Fenestration" is still used to describe the arrangement of windows within a façade, as well as "defenestration", meaning 'to throw out of a window'.


title: Window

text: In the 13th century BC, the earliest windows were unglazed openings in a roof to admit light during the day. Later, windows were covered with animal hide, cloth, or wood. Shutters that could be opened and closed came next. Over time, windows were built that both protected the inhabitants from the elements and transmitted light, using multiple small pieces of translucent material, such as flattened pieces of translucent animal horn, thin slices of marble, such as fengite, or pieces of glass, set in frameworks of wood, iron or lead. In the Far East, paper was used to fill windows.


title: Window

text: The Romans were the first known to use glass for windows, a technology likely first produced in Roman Egypt. Namely, in Alexandria ca. 100 AD cast glass windows, albeit with poor optical properties, began to appear, but these were small thick productions, little more than blown glass jars (cylindrical shapes) flattened out into sheets with circular striation patterns throughout. It would be over a millennium before window glass became transparent enough to see through clearly, as we think of it now. In 1154, Al-Idrisi described glass windows as a feature of the palace belonging to the king of the Ghana Empire.


title: Window

text: Over the centuries techniques were developed to shear through one side of a blown glass cylinder and produce thinner rectangular window panes from the same amount of glass material. This gave rise to tall narrow windows, usually separated by a vertical support called a mullion. Mullioned glass windows were the windows of choice among European well-to-do, whereas paper windows were economical and widely used in ancient China, Korea, and Japan. In England, glass became common in the windows of ordinary homes only in the early 17th century whereas windows made up of panes of flattened animal horn were used as early as the 14th century.


title: Window

text: Modern-style floor-to-ceiling windows became possible only after the industrial plate glass making processes were perfected. Modern windows are usually filled with glass, although a few are transparent plastic.


title: Window

text: A cross-window is a rectangular window usually divided into four lights by a mullion and transom that form a Latin cross.


title: Window

text: The term eyebrow window is used in two ways: a curved top window in a wall or an eyebrow dormer; and a row of small windows usually under the front eaves such as the James-Lorah House in Pennsylvania.


title: Window

text: A fixed window is a window that cannot be opened, whose function is limited to allowing light to enter (unlike an unfixed window, which can open and close). Clerestory windows in church architecture are often fixed. Transom windows may be fixed or operable. This type of window is used in situations where light or vision alone is needed as no ventilation is possible in such windows without the use of trickle vents or overglass vents.


title: Window

text: A single-hung sash window is a window that has one sash that is movable (usually the bottom one) and the other fixed. This is the earlier form of sliding sash window and is also cheaper.


title: Window

text: A sash window is the traditional style of window in the United Kingdom, and many other places that were formerly colonized by the UK, with two parts (sashes) that overlap slightly and slide up and down inside the frame. The two parts are not necessarily the same size; where the upper sash is smaller (shorter) it is termed a cottage window. Currently, most new double-hung sash windows use spring balances to support the sashes, but traditionally, counterweights held in boxes on either side of the window were used. These were and are attached to the sashes using pulleys of either braided cord or, later, purpose-made chain. Three types of spring balances are called a tape or clock spring balance; channel or block-and-tackle balance, and a spiral or tube balance.


title: Window

text: Double-hung sash windows were traditionally often fitted with shutters. Sash windows can be fitted with simplex hinges that let the window be locked into hinges on one side, while the rope on the other side is detached—so the window can be opened for fire escape or cleaning.


title: Window

text: A foldup has two equal sashes similar to a standard double-hung but folds upward allowing air to pass through nearly the full-frame opening. The window is balanced using either springs or counterbalances, similar to a double-hung. The sashes can be either offset to simulate a double-hung, or in-line. The inline versions can be made to fold inward or outward. The inward swinging foldup windows can have fixed screens, while the outward swinging ones require movable screens. The windows are typically used for screen rooms, kitchen pass-throughs, or egress.


title: Window

text: A horizontal sliding sash window has two or more sashes that overlap slightly but slide horizontally within the frame. In the UK, these are sometimes called Yorkshire sash windows, presumably because of their traditional use in that county.


title: Window

text: A casement window is a window with a hinged sash that swings in or out like a door comprising either a side-hung, top-hung (also called "awning window"; see below), or occasionally bottom-hung sash or a combination of these types, sometimes with fixed panels on one or more sides of the sash. In the US, these are usually opened using a crank, but in parts of Europe, they tend to use projection friction stays and espagnolette locking. Formerly, plain hinges were used with a casement stay. Handing applies to casement windows to determine direction of swing; a casement window may be left-handed, right-handed, or double. The casement window is the dominant type now found in modern buildings in the UK and many other parts of Europe.


title: Window

text: An awning window is a casement window that is hung horizontally, hinged on top, so that it swings outward like an awning. In addition to being used independently, they can be stacked, several in one opening, or combined with fixed glass. They are particularly useful for ventilation.


title: Window

text: A hopper window is a bottom-pivoting casement window that opens by tilting vertically, typically to the inside, resembling a hopper chute.


title: Window

text: A pivot window is a window hung on one hinge on each of two opposite sides which allows the window to revolve when opened. The hinges may be mounted top and bottom (Vertically Pivoted) or at each jamb (Horizontally Pivoted). The window will usually open initially to a restricted position for ventilation and, once released, fully reverse and lock again for safe cleaning from inside. Modern pivot hinges incorporate a friction device to hold the window open against its weight and may have restriction and reversed locking built-in. In the UK, where this type of window is most common, they were extensively installed in high-rise social housing.


title: Window

text: A tilt and slide window is a window (more usually a door-sized window) where the sash tilts inwards at the top similar to a hopper window and then slides horizontally behind the fixed pane.


title: Window

text: A tilt and turn window can both tilt inwards at the top or open inwards from hinges at the side. This is the most common type of window in Germany, its country of origin. It is also widespread in many other European countries. In Europe, it is usual for these to be of the "turn first" type. i.e. when the handle is turned to 90 degrees the window opens in the side hung mode. With the handle turned to 180 degrees the window opens in bottom hung mode. Most usually in the UK the windows will be "tilt first" i.e. bottom hung at 90 degrees for ventilation and side hung at 180 degrees for cleaning the outer face of the glass from inside the building.


title: Window

text: A window above a door; in an exterior door the transom window is often fixed, in an interior door, it can open either by hinges at top or bottom, or rotate on hinges. It provided ventilation before forced air heating and cooling. A fan-shaped transom is known as a fanlight, especially in the British Isles.


title: Window

text: Also known as a louvered window, the jalousie window consists of parallel slats of glass or acrylic that open and close like a Venetian blind, usually using a crank or a lever. They are used extensively in tropical architecture. A jalousie door is a door with a jalousie window.


title: Window

text: A skylight is a window built into a roof structure. This type of window allows for natural daylight and moonlight.


title: Window

text: A sloped window used for daylighting, built into a roof structure. It is one of the few windows that could be used as an exit. Larger roof windows meet building codes for emergency evacuation.


title: Window

text: A roof lantern is a multi-paned glass structure, resembling a small building, built on a roof for day or moon light. Sometimes includes an additional clerestory. May also be called a cupola.


title: Window

text: A bay window is a multi-panel window, with at least three panels set at different angles to create a protrusion from the wall line.


title: Window

text: This form of bay window most often appears in Tudor-style houses and monasteries. It projects from the wall and does not extend to the ground. Originally a form of porch, they are often supported by brackets or corbels.


title: Window

text: Thermal, or Diocletian, windows are large semicircular windows (or niches) which are usually divided into three lights (window compartments) by two mullions. The central compartment is often wider than the two side lights on either side of it.


title: Window

text: A picture window is a large fixed window in a wall, typically without glazing bars, or glazed with only perfunctory glazing bars (muntins) near the edge of the window. Picture windows provide an unimpeded view, as if framing a picture.


title: Window

text: A multi-lite window is a window glazed with small panes of glass separated by wooden or lead "glazing bars", or "muntins", arranged in a decorative "glazing pattern" often dictated by the building's architectural style. Due to the historic unavailability of large panes of glass, the multi-lit (or "lattice window") was the most common window style until the beginning of the 20th century, and is still used in traditional architecture.


title: Window

text: An emergency exit window is a window big enough and low enough so that occupants can escape through the opening in an emergency, such as a fire. In many countries, exact specifications for emergency windows in bedrooms are given in many building codes. Specifications for such windows may also allow for the entrance of emergency rescuers. Vehicles, such as buses, aircraft, and trains frequently have emergency exit windows as well.


title: Window

text: A stained glass window is a window composed of pieces of colored glass, transparent, translucent or opaque, frequently portraying persons or scenes. Typically the glass in these windows is separated by lead glazing bars. Stained glass windows were popular in Victorian houses and some Wrightian houses, and are especially common in churches.


title: Window

text: A French door has two rows of upright rectangular glass panes (lights) extending its full length; and two of these doors on an exterior wall and without a mullion separating them, that open outward with opposing hinges to a terrace or porch, are referred to as a French window. Sometimes these are set in pairs or multiples thereof along the exterior wall of a very large room, but often, one French window is placed centrally in a typically sized room, perhaps among other fixed windows flanking the feature. French windows are known as "porte-fenêtre" in France and "portafinestra" in Italy, and frequently are used in modern houses.


title: Window

text: Double-paned windows have two parallel panes (slabs of glass) with a separation of typically about 1 cm; this space is permanently sealed and filled at the time of manufacture with dry air or other dry nonreactive gas. Such windows provide a marked improvement in thermal insulation (and usually in acoustic insulation as well) and are resistant to fogging and frosting caused by temperature differential. They are widely used for residential and commercial construction in intemperate climates. In the UK, double-paned and triple-paned are referred to as double-glazing and triple-glazing. Triple-paned windows are now a common type of glazing in central to northern Europe. Quadruple glazing is now being introduced in Scandinavia.


title: Window

text: A hexagonal window is a hexagon-shaped window, resembling a bee cell or crystal lattice of graphite. The window can be vertically or horizontally oriented, openable or dead. It can also be regular or elongately-shaped and can have a separator (mullion). Typically, the cellular window is used for an attic or as a decorative feature, but it can also be a major architectural element to provide the natural lighting inside buildings.


title: Window

text: A guillotine window is a window that opens vertically. The guillotine windows are opening from bottom to top or from top to bottom with more than one sliding frames. The remote control can be used to open and close guillotine windows.


title: Window

text: The European harmonised standard hEN 14351–1, which deals with doors and windows, defines 23 characteristics (divided into "essential" and "non "essential"). Two other, preliminary European Norms that are under development deal with internal pedestrian doors (prEN 14351–2), smoke and fire resisting doors, and openable windows (prEN 16034).


title: Window

text: Windows can be a significant source of heat transfer. Therefore, insulated glazing units consist of two or more panes to reduce the transfer of heat.


title: Window

text: These are the pieces of framing that separate a larger window into smaller panes. In older windows, large panes of glass were quite expensive, so muntins let smaller panes fill a larger space. In modern windows, light-colored muntins still provide a useful function by reflecting some of the light going through the window, making the window itself a source of diffuse light (instead of just the surfaces and objects illuminated within the room). By increasing the indirect illumination of surfaces near the window, muntins tend to brighten the area immediately around a window and reduce the contrast of shadows within the room.


title: Window

text: Composites (also known as Hybrid Windows) are start since early 1998 and combine materials like aluminium + pvc or wood to obtain aesthetics of one material with the functional benefits of another.


title: Window

text: A special class of PVC window frames, uPVC window frames, became widespread since the late 20th century, particularly in Europe: there were 83.5 million installed by 1998 with numbers still growing as of 2012.


title: Window

text: Low-emissivity coated panes reduce heat transfer by radiation, which, depending on which surface is coated, helps prevent heat loss (in cold climates) or heat gains (in warm climates).


title: Window

text: High thermal resistance can be obtained by evacuating or filling the insulated glazing units with gases such as argon or krypton, which reduces conductive heat transfer due to their low thermal conductivity. Performance of such units depends on good window seals and meticulous frame construction to prevent entry of air and loss of efficiency.


title: Window

text: Modern double-pane and triple-pane windows often include one or more low-e coatings to reduce the window's U-factor (its insulation value, specifically its rate of heat loss). In general, soft-coat low-e coatings tend to result in a lower solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) than hard-coat low-e coatings.


title: Window

text: Modern windows are usually glazed with one large sheet of glass per sash, while windows in the past were glazed with multiple panes separated by "glazing bars", or "muntins", due to the unavailability of large sheets of glass. Today, glazing bars tend to be decorative, separating windows into small panes of glass even though larger panes of glass are available, generally in a pattern dictated by the architectural style at use. Glazing bars are typically wooden, but occasionally lead glazing bars soldered in place are used for more intricate glazing patterns.


title: Window

text: Many windows have movable window coverings such as blinds or curtains to keep out light, provide additional insulation, or ensure privacy.


title: Window

text: Windows allow natural light to enter, but too much can have negative effects such as glare and heat gain. Additionally, while windows let the user see outside, there must be a way to maintain privacy on in the inside. Window coverings are practical accommodations for these issues.


title: Window

text: Historically, windows are designed with surfaces parallel to vertical building walls. Such a design allows considerable solar light and heat penetration due to the most commonly occurring incidence of sun angles. In passive solar building design, an extended eave is typically used to control the amount of solar light and heat entering the window(s).


title: Window

text: An alternative method is to calculate an optimum window mounting angle that accounts for summer sun load minimization, with consideration of actual latitude of the building. This process has been implemented, for example, in the Dakin Building in Brisbane, California—in which most of the fenestration is designed to reflect summer heat load and help prevent summer interior over-illumination and glare, by canting windows to nearly a 45 degree angle.


title: Window

text: Photovoltaic windows not only provide a clear view and illuminate rooms, but also convert sunlight to electricity for the building. In most cases, translucent photovoltaic cells are used.


title: Window

text: Passive solar windows allow light and solar energy into a building while minimizing air leakage and heat loss. Properly positioning these windows in relation to sun, wind, and landscape—while properly shading them to limit excess heat gain in summer and shoulder seasons, and providing thermal mass to absorb energy during the day and release it when temperatures cool at night—increases comfort and energy efficiency. Properly designed in climates with adequate solar gain, these can even be a building's primary heating system.


title: Window

text: A window covering is a shade or screen that provides multiple functions. Some coverings, such as drapes and blinds provide occupants with privacy. Some window coverings control solar heat gain and glare. There are external shading devices and internal shading devices. Low-e window film is a low-cost alternative to window replacement to transform existing poorly-insulating windows into energy-efficient windows. For high-rise buildings, smart glass can provide an alternative.


title: Great Turkish War

text: The Great Turkish War (), also called the Wars of the Holy League (), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Poland-Lithuania, Venice, Russia, and Habsburg Hungary. Intensive fighting began in 1683 and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. The war was a defeat for the Ottoman Empire, which for the first time lost large amounts of territory, in Hungary and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as part of the western Balkans. The war was significant also by being the first time that Russia was involved in an alliance with Western Europe.


title: Great Turkish War

text: The French did not join the Holy League, as France had agreed to reviving an informal Franco-Ottoman alliance in 1673, in exchange for Louis XIV being recognized as a protector of Catholics in the Ottoman regime.


title: Great Turkish War

text: Initially, Louis XIV took advantage of the start of the war to extend France's eastern borders in the War of the Reunions, taking Luxembourg and Strasbourg in the Truce of Ratisbon. However, as the Holy League made gains against the Ottoman Empire, capturing Belgrade by 1688, the French began to worry that their Habsburg rivals would grow too powerful and eventually turn on France. The Glorious Revolution was also a matter of concern for the French, as William III of Orange-Nassau was being invited by English nobles in the "Invitation to William" letter to take control of England as king. Therefore, the French besieged Philippsburg on 27 September 1688, breaking the truce and triggering the separate Nine Years' War, which relieved the Turks.


title: Great Turkish War

text: As a result, the advance made by the Holy League stalled, allowing the Ottomans to retake Belgrade in 1690. The war then fell into a stalemate, and peace was concluded in 1699 which began following the Battle of Zenta in 1697 when an Ottoman attempt to retake their lost possessions in Hungary was crushed by the Holy League.


title: Great Turkish War

text: The war largely overlapped with the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), which took up the vast majority of the Habsburgs' attention while it was active. In 1695, for instance, the Holy Roman Empire states had 280,000 troops in the field, with England, the Dutch Republic, and Spain contributing another 156,000 specifically to the conflict against France. Of those 280,000, only 74,000, or about one quarter, were positioned against the Turks; the rest were fighting France. Overall, from 1683 to 1699, the Imperial states had on average 88,100 men fighting the Turks, while from 1689 to 1697, they had on average 127,410 fighting the French.


title: Great Turkish War

text: Following Bohdan Khmelnytsky's rebellion, the Tsardom of Russia in 1654 acquired territories from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (currently parts of Eastern Ukraine), while some Cossacks stayed in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth. Their leader, Petro Doroshenko, sought the Ottoman Empire′s protection and in 1667 attacked Polish commander John Sobieski.


title: Great Turkish War

text: Sultan Mehmed IV, who knew that the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was weakened by internal conflicts, in August 1672 attacked Kamenets Podolski, a large city on the border of the Commonwealth. The small Polish force resisted the siege of Kamenets for two weeks but was then forced to surrender. The Polish army was too small to resist the Ottoman invasion and could score only some minor tactical victories. After three months, the Poles were forced to sign the Treaty of Buchach in which they agreed to cede Kamenets, Podolia and to pay a tribute to the Ottomans. When the news of the defeat and treaty terms reached Warsaw, the Sejm refused to pay the tribute and organized a large army under Sobieski; subsequently, the Poles won the Battle of Khotyn (1673). After the death of King Michael in 1673, Sobieski was elected king of Poland. He tried to defeat the Ottomans for four years, with no success. The war ended on 17 October 1676 with the Treaty of Żurawno in which the Turks retained control over only Kamianets-Podilskyi. This Turkish attack also led in 1676 to the beginning of the Russo-Turkish Wars.


title: Great Turkish War

text: After a few years of peace, the Ottoman Empire, encouraged by successes in the west of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, attacked the Habsburg monarchy. The Turks almost captured Vienna, but John III Sobieski led a Christian alliance that defeated them in the Battle of Vienna (1683), stalling the Ottoman Empire's hegemony in south-eastern Europe.


title: Great Turkish War

text: A new Holy League was initiated by Pope Innocent XI and encompassed the Holy Roman Empire (headed by Habsburg Austria), the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Venetian Republic in 1684, joined by Russia in 1686. The second Battle of Mohács (1687) was a crushing defeat for the Sultan. The Turks were more successful on the Polish front and were able to retain Podolia during their battles with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.


title: Great Turkish War

text: Russia's involvement marked the first time the country formally joined an alliance of European powers. This was the beginning of a series of Russo-Turkish Wars, the last of which was World War I. As a result of the Crimean campaigns and Azov campaigns, Russia captured the key Ottoman fortress of Azov.


title: Great Turkish War

text: Following the decisive Battle of Zenta in 1697 and lesser skirmishes (such as the Battle of Podhajce in 1698), the League won the war in 1699 and forced the Ottoman Empire to sign the Treaty of Karlowitz. The Ottomans ceded most of Hungary, Transylvania and Slavonia, as well as parts of Croatia, to the Habsburg monarchy while Podolia returned to Poland. Most of Dalmatia passed to Venice, along with the Morea (the Peloponnese peninsula), which the Ottomans reconquered in 1715 and regained in the Treaty of Passarowitz of 1718.


title: Great Turkish War

text: After allied Christian forces had captured Buda from the Ottoman Empire in 1686 during the Great Turkish War, Serbs from Pannonian Plain (present-day Hungary, Slavonia region in present-day Croatia, Bačka and Banat regions in present-day Serbia) joined the troops of the Habsburg monarchy as separate units known as Serbian Militia. Serbs, as volunteers, massively joined the Habsburg side. In the first half of 1688, the Habsburg army, together with units of Serbian Militia, captured Gyula, Lipova and Ineu from the Ottoman Empire. After the capture of Belgrade from the Ottomans in 1688, Serbs from the territories in the south of Sava and Danube rivers began to join Serbian Militia units.


title: Great Turkish War

text: Kosovo Albanian Roman Catholic Bishop and philosopher Pjetër Bogdani returned to the Balkans in March 1686 and spent the next years promoting resistance to the armies of the Ottoman Empire, in particular in his native Kosovo. He and his vicar Toma Raspasani played a leading role in the pro-Austrian movement in Kosovo during the Great Turkish War. He contributed a force of 6,000 Albanian soldiers to the Austrian army which had arrived in Pristina and accompanied it to capture Prizren. There, however, he and much of his army were met by another equally formidable adversary, the plague. Bogdani returned to Pristina but succumbed to the disease there in 6 December 1689. His nephew, Gjergj Bogdani, reported in 1698 that his uncle's remains were later exhumed by Turkish and Tatar soldiers and fed to the dogs in the middle of the square in Pristina.


title: Great Turkish War

text: Among the papers of Ludwig von Baden in Karlsruhe, there is a copy of an intercepted letter, in French, written by a secretary of the English embassy in Istanbul on 19 January 1690. It reported that the "Germans" in Kosovo had made contact with 20,000 Albanians who had turned their weapons against the Turks.


title: Great Turkish War

text: Venice had held several islands in the Aegean and the Ionian seas, together with strategically positioned forts along the coast of the Greek mainland since the carving up of the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade. However, with the rise of the Ottomans, during the 16th and early 17th centuries, they lost most of these, such as Cyprus and Euboea (Negropont) to the Turks. Between 1645 and 1669, the Venetians and the Ottomans fought a long and costly war over the last major Venetian possession in the Aegean, Crete. During this war, the Venetian commander, Francesco Morosini, came into contact with the rebellious Maniots, for a joint campaign in the Morea. In 1659, Morosini landed in the Morea, and together with the Maniots, he took Kalamata. However, he was soon after forced to return to Crete, and the Peloponnesian venture failed.


title: Great Turkish War

text: In 1683, a new war broke out between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottomans, with a large Ottoman army advancing towards Vienna. In response to this, a Holy League was formed. After the Ottoman army was defeated in the Battle of Vienna, the Venetians decided to use the opportunity of the weakening of Ottoman power and its distraction in the Danubian front so as to reconquer its lost territories in the Aegean and Dalmatia. On 25 April 1684, the Most Serene Republic declared war on the Ottomans.


title: Great Turkish War

text: Aware that she would have to rely on her own strength for success, Venice prepared for the war by securing financial and military aid in men and ships from the Knights of Malta, the Duchy of Savoy, the Papal States, and the Knights of St. Stephen. In addition, the Venetians enrolled large numbers of mercenaries from Italy and the German states, especially Saxony and Brunswick.


title: Great Turkish War

text: In mid-June, the Venetian fleet moved from the Adriatic towards the Ottoman-held Ionian Islands. The first target was the island of Lefkada (Santa Maura), which fell, after a brief siege of 16 days, on 6 August 1684. The Venetians, aided by Greek irregulars, then crossed into the mainland and started raiding the opposite shore of Acarnania. Most of the area was soon under Venetian control, and the fall of the forts of Preveza and Vonitsa in late September removed the last Ottoman bastions. These early successes were important for the Venetians not only for reasons of morale, but because they secured their communications with Venice, denied to the Ottomans the possibility of threatening the Ionian Islands or of ferrying troops via western Greece to the Peloponnese, and because these successes encouraged the Greeks to cooperate with them against the Ottomans.


title: Great Turkish War

text: Having secured his rear during the previous year, Morosini set his sights upon the Peloponnese, where the Greeks, especially the Maniots, had begun showing signs of revolt and communicated with Morosini, promising to rise up in his aid. Ismail Pasha, the new military commander of Morea, learned of this and invaded the Mani Peninsula with 10,000 men, reinforcing the three forts that the Ottomans already garrisoned, and compelled the Maniots to give up hostages to secure their loyalty. As a result, the Maniots remained uncommitted when, on 25 June 1685, the Venetian army, 8,100 men strong, landed outside the former Venetian fort of Koroni and laid siege to it. The castle surrendered after 49 days, on 11 August, and the garrison was massacred. After this success, Morosini embarked his troops towards the town of Kalamata, in order to encourage the Maniots to revolt. The Venetian army, reinforced by 3,300 Saxons and under the command of general , defeated a Turkish force of ca. 10,000 outside Kalamata on 14 September, and by the end of the month, all of Mani and much of Messenia were under Venetian control.


title: Great Turkish War

text: In October 1685, the Venetian army retreated to the Ionian Islands for winter quarters, where a plague broke out, something which would occur regularly in the next years, and take a great toll on the Venetian army, especially among the German contingents. In April 1686, the Venetians helped repulse an Ottoman attack that threatened to overrun Mani, and were reinforced from the Papal States and Tuscany. The Swedish marshal Otto Wilhelm Königsmarck was appointed head of the land forces, while Morosini retained command of the fleet. On 3 June Königsmarck took Pylos and proceeded to lay siege the fortress of Navarino. A relief force under Ismail Pasha was defeated on June 16, and the next day the fort surrendered. The garrison and the Muslim population were transported to Tripoli. Methoni (Modon) followed on 7 July, after an effective bombardment destroyed the fort's walls, and its inhabitants were also transferred to Tripoli. The Venetians then advanced towards Argos and Nafplion, which was then the most important town in the Peloponnese. The Venetian army, ca. 12,000 strong, landed around Nafplion between 30 July and August 4. Königsmarck immediately led an assault upon the hill of Palamidi, then unfortified, which overlooked the town. Despite the Venetians' success in capturing Palamidi, the arrival of a 7,000 strong Ottoman army under Ismail Pasha at Argos rendered their position difficult. The Venetians' initial assault against the relief army succeeded in taking Argos and forcing the pasha to retreat to Corinth, but for two weeks, from 16 August, Königsmarck's forces were forced to continuously repulse attacks from Ismail Pasha's forces, fight off the sorties of the besieged Ottoman garrison and cope with a new outbreak of plague. On 29 August 1686 Ismail Pasha attacked the Venetian camp, but was heavily defeated. With the defeat of the relief army, Nafplion was forced to surrender on September 3. News of this major victory were greeted in Venice with joy and celebration. Nafplion became the Venetians' major base, while Ismail Pasha withdrew to Achaea after strengthening the garrisons at Corinth, which controlled the passage to Central Greece.


title: Great Turkish War

text: Despite losses to the plague during the autumn and winter of 1686, Morosini's forces were replenished by the arrival of new German mercenary corps from Hannover in spring 1687. Thus strengthened, he was able to move against the last major Ottoman bastion in the Peloponnese, the town of Patras and the fort of Rion, which along with its twin at Antirrion controlled the entrance to the Corinthian Gulf (the "Little Dardanelles"). On 22 July 1687, Morosini, with a force of 14,000, landed outside Patras, where the new Ottoman commander, Mehmed Pasha, had established himself. Mehmed, with an army of roughly equal size, attacked the Venetian force immediately after it landed, but was defeated and forced to retreat. At this point panic spread among the Ottoman forces, and the Venetians were able, within a few days, to capture the citadel of Patras, and the forts of Rion, Antirrion, and Nafpaktos (Lepanto) without any opposition, as their garrisons abandoned them. This new success caused great joy in Venice, and honours were heaped on Morosini and his officers. Morosini received the victory title ""Peloponnesiacus"", and a bronze bust of his was displayed in the Great Hall, something never before done for a living citizen. The Venetians followed up this success with the reduction of the last Ottoman bastions in the Peloponnese, including Corinth, which was occupied on 7 August, and Mystra, which surrendered later in the month. The Peloponnese was under complete Venetian control, and only the fort of Monemvasia (Malvasia) in the southeast continued to resist, holding out until 1690.


title: Great Turkish War

text: After a few years of peace, the Ottoman Empire attacked the Habsburg monarchy again. The Turks almost captured the Empire's capital of Vienna, but king of Poland John III Sobieski led a Christian alliance that defeated them in the Battle of Vienna, which shook the Ottoman Empire's hegemony in south-eastern Europe.


title: Great Turkish War

text: A new Holy League was initiated by Pope Innocent XI and encompassed the Holy Roman Empire (headed by Habsburg Austria), joined by the Venetian Republic and Poland in 1684 and the Tsardom of Russia in 1686. The Ottomans suffered two decisive defeats against the Holy Roman Empire: the second Battle of Mohács in 1687 and the Battle of Zenta a decade later, in 1697.


title: Great Turkish War

text: On the smaller Polish front, after the battles of 1683 (Vienna and Parkany), Sobieski, after his proposal for the League to start a major coordinated offensive, undertook a rather unsuccessful offensive in Moldavia in 1686, with the Ottomans refusing a major engagement and harassing the army. For the next four years Poland would blockade the key fortress at Kamenets, and Ottoman Tatars would raid the borderlands. In 1691, Sobieski undertook another expedition to Moldavia, with slightly better results, but still with no decisive victories.


title: Great Turkish War

text: The last battle of the campaign was the Battle of Podhajce in 1698, where Polish hetman Feliks Kazimierz Potocki defeated the Ottoman incursion into the Commonwealth. The League won the war in 1699 and forced the Ottoman Empire to sign the Treaty of Karlowitz. The Ottomans thereby lost much of their European possessions, with Podolia (including Kamenets) returned to Poland.


title: Great Turkish War

text: During the war, the Russian army organized the Crimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689, which both ended in Russian defeats. Despite these setbacks, Russia launched the Azov campaigns in 1695 and 1696, and after raising the siege in 1695 successfully occupied Azov in 1696.


title: Great Turkish War

text: Capturing the city of Vienna had long been a strategic aspiration of the Ottoman Empire, because of its interlocking control over Danubian (Black Sea to Western Europe) southern Europe, and the overland (Eastern Mediterranean to Germany) trade routes. During the years preceding this second siege (the first had taken place in 1529), under the auspices of grand viziers from the influential Köprülü family, the Ottoman Empire undertook extensive logistical preparations, including the repair and establishment of roads and bridges leading into the Holy Roman Empire and its logistical centres, as well as the forwarding of ammunition, cannon and other resources from all over the Ottoman Empire to these centres and into the Balkans. Since 1679, the plague had been raging in Vienna.


title: Great Turkish War

text: The main Ottoman army finally laid siege to Vienna on 14 July 1683. On the same day, Kara Mustafa sent the traditional demand for surrender to the city. Ernst Rüdiger Graf von Starhemberg, leader of the remaining 15,000 troops and 8,700 volunteers with 370 cannon, refused to capitulate. Only days before, he had received news of the mass slaughter at Perchtoldsdorf, a town south of Vienna, where the citizens had handed over the keys of the city after having been given a similar choice. Siege operations started on 17 July.


title: Great Turkish War

text: On 6 September, the Poles under John III Sobieski crossed the Danube 30 km north-west of Vienna at Tulln to unite with the Imperial troops and the additional forces from Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, Franconia, and Swabia. Louis XIV of France declined to help his Habsburg rival, having just annexed Alsace. An alliance between Sobieski and the Emperor Leopold I resulted in the addition of the Polish hussars to the already existing allied army. The command of the forces of European allies was entrusted to the Polish king, who had under his command 70,000–80,000 soldiers facing a Turkish army of 150,000. Sobieski's courage and remarkable aptitude for command were already known in Europe.


title: Great Turkish War

text: During early September, the experienced 5,000 Ottoman sappers had repeatedly blown up large portions of the walls between the Burg bastion, the Löbel bastion and the Burg ravelin, creating gaps of about 12m in width. The Viennese tried to counter this by digging their own tunnels to intercept the depositing of large amounts of gunpowder in caverns. The Ottomans finally managed to occupy the Burg ravelin and the low wall in that area on 8 September. Anticipating a breach in the city walls, the remaining Viennese prepared to fight in the inner city.