title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: Ingrid Alexandra was baptised by Bishop Gunnar Stålsett in the chapel of the Royal Palace on 17 April 2004. Her grandfather the King, her aunt Princess Märtha Louise, the Crown Prince of Denmark, the Crown Princess of Sweden, the then Prince of Asturias, and her maternal grandmother Marit Tjessem were her godparents. The Crown Prince of Denmark and the Prince of Asturias were unable to attend the christening due to their respective weddings scheduled to occur within a month of the christening.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: On 31 August 2019, Ingrid Alexandra was confirmed in the Palace Chapel in Oslo with all her godparents present.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: Ingrid Alexandra started her first day of school on 19 August 2010 at Jansløkka elementary school, a local state school attended by her half-brother. Her parents chose the school because they wanted her to have as ordinary a childhood as possible. Newspaper reports said Princess Ingrid Alexandra would walk to school with her half-brother, and local citizens could expect to see her occasionally out in the community with her classmates on school outings. School officials hoped to make the school a place where the princess could make friends and enjoy some relief from public scrutiny.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: On 17 June 2014, the Norwegian Royal Family notified the public that from the start of the 2014–2015 school year, Princess Ingrid Alexandra would transfer to the private English-language Oslo International School, reportedly because her parents wanted her to be fluent in English. Her younger brother, Sverre Magnus, was to transfer to Oslo's Montessori school.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: Princess Ingrid Alexandra was transferred to Oslo's to complete her lower secondary education. In the fall of 2020 she began further schooling at in Oslo.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: On 19 June 2010, Princess Ingrid Alexandra served as a bridesmaid at the wedding of her godmother, the Crown Princess of Sweden. In December 2012, the Princess attended an interview with her father by a Norwegian television programme in aid of Environmental Agents, the children's environmental organization. Her mother was supposed to attend, but the Crown Prince attended instead as the Crown Princess was ill. She has taken part in traditional celebrations of the Constitution Day, as well as the traditional ski jumping tournament at Holmenkollen in Oslo.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: On 4 May 2015, Princess Ingrid Alexandra christened the Norwegian Rescue Company's new lifeboat, "Elias", in her first royal assignment. Accompanied by her grandfather the King, she was made godmother of the boat.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: On 19 May 2016, the "Princess Ingrid Alexandra Sculpture Park" opened in the Palace Park, as part of the celebration of the King and Queen's 25th anniversary. It features sculptures made for children and by children. The Princess takes active part herself in choosing the designs from among the contributions to the sculpture park from school children all over Norway. In 2018, she gave a guided tour of the park to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, on the occasion of their official visit to Norway.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: On 12 February 2016, the Princess and her grandfather participated in the opening ceremony of the II Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer: the King, as he previously did in 1994 Winter Olympics, declared the Games opened, while the Princess, like her father Crown Prince Haakon did 22 years before, lit the cauldron.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: On 17 November 2018, Princess Ingrid Alexandra christened the research vessel "Kronprins Haakon", which was named after her father. The vessel was christened at its home port of Tromsø. The princess spoke of her interest in the ocean and climate change, which motivated her in christening the ship. She stated that the ship will bring "new and crucial knowledge about the polar areas, about the oceans and about climate change."


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: The Princess won a gold medal in the Norwegian surfing championship for juniors in October 2020. She is known as an avid surfer, and she also trains at skiing and kickboxing.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: On 20 January 2022, the Princess visited the three branches of the Norwegian government; the Storting, the Supreme Court and the office of the prime minister. These visits were part of a series of activities Princess Ingrid Alexandra undertook ahead of her 18th birthday the next day. Her father, Crown Prince Haakon, did the same on his own 18th birthday in 1991. On the day of her birthday on 21 January, she attended a meeting of the Council of State alongside Crown Prince Haakon and King Harald. This was followed by a series of congratulatory deputations from Norwegian officials at the Royal Palace. The Princess received congratulations from representatives of the governmental branches as well as the Sámi Parliament, county governors, the diplomatic corps, the Norwegian Armed Forces and the Church of Norway. Cannon salutes were fired at noon to mark Ingrid Alexandra's birthday. On 16 June, the government held a dinner to mark her 18th birthday at the Oslo Public Library. On 17 June, a gala dinner was hosted by her grandparents, the King and Queen, at the Royal Palace. Guests from many European royal houses attended.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: The Constitution of Norway was altered in 1990 to introduce absolute primogeniture, ensuring that the crown would pass to the eldest child regardless of sex but keeping the Crown Prince ahead of his elder sister, Princess Märtha Louise; the change was to apply for the first time to their children. Princess Ingrid Alexandra has thus been second in the line of succession since birth, preceded only by her father. Because of the reform, her status was not affected by the subsequent birth of her brother, Prince Sverre Magnus, in 2005. The Princess is expected to become Norway's first female monarch since Queen Margaret, who reigned over Norway, Denmark and Sweden from the late 1380s until her death in 1412.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: Along with her parents and grandparents – but unlike her brother, maternal half-brother Marius, and other relatives – Princess Ingrid Alexandra is a member of the Norwegian Royal House. The family belongs to the House of Glücksburg.


title: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

text: Princess Ingrid Alexandra's monogram was designed by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, her grandfather's second cousin who is known for her artistic talents.


title: Lot in Islam

text: Lut (), known as Lot in the Old Testament, is a prophet of God in the Quran. According to Islamic tradition, Lut was born to Haran and spent his younger years in Ur, later migrating to Canaan with his uncle Abraham. He was sent to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as a prophet, and was commanded to preach to their inhabitants on monotheism and the sinfulness of homosexuality and their lustful and violent acts.


title: Lot in Islam

text: Though Lut was not born among the people he'd been sent to preach to, the people of Sodom are still regarded as his "brethren" in the Quran. Like the Biblical narrative, the Quran states that Lut's messages were ignored by the inhabitants of the cities, and Sodom and Gomorrah were subsequently destroyed. The destruction of the cities is traditionally presented as a warning against homosexuality in Islam as well as other things.


title: Lot in Islam

text: While the Quran does not elaborate upon Lut's later life, Islam holds that all prophets were examples of moral and spiritual 'righteousness'.


title: Lot in Islam

text: Muslims maintain that Abraham's father was Aazar (), which could be derived from the Syriac "Athar", who is known in the Hebrew Bible as Terah. Abraham had two children, Isaac and Ismael, who both later became prophets. Abraham's nephew is said to have been the prophet Lut, who was one of the other people who migrated with Abraham out of their community. Abraham himself is said to have been a descendant of Nuh through his son Shem.


title: Lot in Islam

text: Lut is referenced a relatively large number of times in the Quran. Many of these passages place the narrative of Lut in a line of successive prophets including Noah, Hud, Salih and Shuayb. Islamic scholars have stated that these particular prophets represent the early cycle of prophecy as described in the Quran. These narratives typically follow similar patterns: a prophet is sent to a community; the community pays no heed to his warnings instead threatens him with punishment; God asks the prophet to leave with his followers the community and its people are subsequently destroyed in a punishment. Elsewhere in the Quran, Lut is mentioned alongside Ismael, Elisha and Jonah as men whom God favored above the nations.


title: Lot in Islam

text: The Quran states that one day, a group of angels visited Abraham as guests in the guise of men in order to inform him of the fact that his wife Sarah was pregnant with Isaac. While there, they also told him that they had been sent by God to the "guilty people" of Lut to destroy them with "a shower of stones of clay". Lut and those who believed in him, were to be spared, but his wife was to die in the destruction, with the angels stating that "she is of those who lag behind". The Quran also draws upon Lot's wife as an "example for the unbelievers" as she was married to a righteous man but refused to believe in his message and was thus condemned to Hell.


title: Lot in Islam

text: The people of the twin cities transgressed against the bounds of God. According to the Quran, their sins included inhospitality and robbery they hated strangers and robbed travellers, apart from other abuses and rape. It was their sin of sexual misconduct as well which was seen as particularly egregious, with Lut strongly chiding them for approaching men with sexual desire instead of women. Lut told and tried to help them to abandon their sinful ways, but they ridiculed him and threatened to evict him from the cities. Lut prayed to God and begged to be saved from the consequences of their sinful acts.


title: Lot in Islam

text: Then three angels, disguised as handsome males, came to Lut as guests. He grieved the men, as he felt powerlessness to protect them from the people of the cities. The cities' residents becoming aware of the visitors demanded that Lot surrender his guests to them. Distressed and fearful that they would incur the wrath of God, suggested rather lawful marriage to his daughters as pious and purer alternatives to their unlawful wishes, and perhaps as a source of guidance. But they were unrelenting and replied "thou knowest we have no need of thy daughters: indeed thou knowest quite well what we desire!", referring to his male guests.


title: Lot in Islam

text: The exegetes Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi and Tabari do not read 'daughters' to mean Lot's literal daughters. They argue that since a prophet is like a father to his nation, Lot was directing the evildoers to turn away from their sins and engage in healthy and pious relationships with the daughters of the nation, i.e. women in general.


title: Lot in Islam

text: The angels then revealed their true identities to Lot and said to him, “We are (here) to deliver thee and thy following, except thy wife: she is of those who lag behind." They advised Lot to leave the cities during the night, telling him not to look back. Keeping his faith in God, Lot left the cities in the darkness of night, bringing with him his followers and believing family members. Finally, morning came, and the Decree of God passed whereupon the Quran reads, “We turned (the cities) upside down, and rained down on them brimstones hard as baked clay, spread, layer on layer,-“ And thus was sealed the fate of the twin cities, falling into destruction and despair and marking the end of the civilisations of Sodom and Gomorrah.


title: Lot in Islam

text: All major schools of Islamic jurisprudence state that homosexual sex is a sin, based in part on the story of Lot. Because the Quran states that Lot berated his people for sexually pursuing men, in addition to attempting to assault strangers, the incident is traditionally seen as demonstrating Islam's disapproval of both rape and homosexuality. Lot's struggle with the people of the twin cities is seen as either concerning homosexuality in general or specifically homosexual anal sex. These interpretations have sometimes widened to condemn homosexuality beyond the physical act, including psychological and social dispositions.


title: Lot in Islam

text: Many Muslims believe that Bani Na'im in Palestine houses the tomb of Lot in the center of the town. The tomb is located within a rectangular mosque with an inner court and minaret. The lintel of the mosque's northern gate is built from stones dating to the Byzantine era when a church had possibly stood at the site. Bani Na'im's association with Lot predates Islam, as the works of the Catholic scholar Jerome in the 4th century CE state that the tomb is located in a town named Capharbaricha, which is likely the former name of Bani Na'im.


title: Lot in Islam

text: Tradition holds that the tomb of his daughters is located on a nearby hill. To the southeast of Bani Na'im is a shrine dedicated to Lot, known as "Maqam an-Nabi Yaqin" ("Shrine of the Truthful Prophet"). Local legend claims Lot prayed at the site and that the imprints of his feet are still visible in a rock there. Similar alleged footprints of prophets and other holy men are found at Islamic shrines throughout the Middle East.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical (originally titled The SpongeBob Musical, later retitled as such for the national tour) is a stage musical, co-conceived and directed by Tina Landau with songs by various artists and a book by Kyle Jarrow. It is based on the Nickelodeon animated television series "SpongeBob SquarePants" and made its world premiere in June 2016 at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago. Following a month of previews, the musical opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre in December 2017.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: The musical opened to critical acclaim. With twelve Tony Award nominations, it tied with "Mean Girls" for the most-nominated production at the 72nd Tony Awards in 2018. The show closed at the Palace Theatre on September 16, 2018 due to theatre renovations. At the time of its closing, it had played 29 previews and 327 regular performances. A non-Equity North American tour opened on September 22, 2019 at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, New York. The tour closed in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On December 7, 2019, Nickelodeon aired a television special of the show featuring members from the original Broadway cast. The SpongeBob Musical is scheduled to resume touring in the UK in 2023.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: On January 16, 2014, The Flaming Lips' lead singer Wayne Coyne mentioned through Twitter that he was writing lyrics for a developing SpongeBob musical. Official plans for the show were first announced at Nickelodeon's upfront on February 25, 2015. The upfront presentation included a performance of the musical's opening number, "Bikini Bottom Day." On February 26, Nickelodeon's chief operating officer Sarah Kirshbaum Levy told the Associated Press that the show was "not definite."


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: In August 2015, Nickelodeon announced that the show would premiere in Chicago before a Broadway run in late 2016. Its director, book author, and several of the musicians involved were also announced. The full cast list was released in April 2016. Rehearsals for the show's debut in Chicago began on April 11 in New York. Throughout early 2016, Nickelodeon executives met with Broadway theater owners to arrange its Broadway premiere. Michael Reidel of "New York Post" stated that Broadway representatives were "impressed" after seeing a presentation of the show.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: In late May 2016, technical rehearsals for the show were conducted. Chris Jones of "Chicago Tribune" stated that Nickelodeon was concerned about "an incomplete SpongeBob costume [making] it into a photograph, spoiling a planned big reveal." In June 2016, Gordon Cox of "Variety" reported that the musical's budget was between $15 and $20 million. The show opened on June 7, 2016 at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago before opening on Broadway on December 4, 2017 at the Palace Theatre.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: Patchy the Pirate, SpongeBob's number one fan, sits on the stage after the audience has taken their seats. He reveals he has traveled from Encino, California, to record the musical on his phone and make a "pirate copy". Two security guards tell Patchy to leave, as the show is about to begin. Patchy objects but gets kicked out as Patchy claims he is a victim of pirate discrimination and sings a protest chant, "yo ho, we won't go". One of the guards apologizes, then tells the audience to enjoy the show. In the television special, this prologue is replaced by an animated segment about theatre etiquette.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: SpongeBob SquarePants awakens and welcomes the day with his pet sea snail, Gary ("Bikini Bottom Day"). He greets various friends in his hometown of Bikini Bottom—including his best friend Patrick, his neighbor Squidward, and his friend Sandy Cheeks—as he walks to the Krusty Krab restaurant. At work, his boss Mr. Krabs tells his daughter Pearl that she will manage the restaurant one day. With Pearl uninterested, SpongeBob hints at his desire to become the manager. Mr. Krabs laughs at the idea, telling SpongeBob he is "just a simple sponge" ("Bikini Bottom Day" (Reprise 1)). Then, a violent tremor suddenly rocks the entire town.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: A news report reveals that the tremor was caused by the nearby Mount Humongous, a volcano that will soon erupt, throwing the town into a panic ("No Control"). SpongeBob cheers up an upset Patrick by reiterating that they are best friends forever ("BFF"). With the town in a panic over the impending doom, married villains Plankton and Karen try to convince the citizens to enter an escape pod that ensures safety—a cover-up for their secret scheme to hypnotize the citizens in the pod into liking the chum that they serve at their restaurant, the Chum Bucket ("When the Going Gets Tough"). The townspeople, unknowingly, support this idea and decide to hold a last-minute music concert to raise enough money to build the pod. Squidward's idea of his one-man show is immediately shut down. Instead, Pearl suggests that the famous rock band, the Electric Skates, play at the concert. Everyone agrees and Squidward is named manager of the event. Despite Sandy's pleas that science could help them solve the problem, the townsfolk ignore her for being a land mammal.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: SpongeBob, however, is against the idea of leaving town and believes the citizens should save Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob thinks back on Mr. Krabs' words from earlier and wonders if he could save the town ("(Just a) Simple Sponge"). He goes to Patrick and Sandy for help. Mr. Krabs sees the upcoming disaster as a money-making opportunity, holding an "apocalypse sale". Pearl worries about her father's greed, believing that it overshadows his care for her ("Daddy Knows Best").


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: Meanwhile, SpongeBob convinces Patrick and Sandy to team up, climb the volcano, and stop it from erupting with a bubble device Sandy will build. The friends are determined to succeed ("Hero Is My Middle Name"). Before they start their plan, a group of cultist sardines appear. They found wisdom in Patrick's thoughts at the town meeting and decide to make him their new leader ("Super Sea Star Savior"). Patrick likes the idea and decides to back out of SpongeBob's plan so that he can bask in self-glory, angering SpongeBob. The two argue and end their "BFF" status. After Patrick leaves, Sandy reminds SpongeBob that things are bound to be okay. The entire company reveals their personal thoughts and feelings about the impending disaster ("Tomorrow Is").


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: Patchy again sneaks onstage, telling the audience that pirates are persecuted by others because of stereotypes ("Poor Pirates"), supported in song by a group of pirates he met during the show's first act after wandering into a dive bar in the nearby Hell's Kitchen. The theater's security again intervenes to chase Patchy away as he screams that he'll be back.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: SpongeBob wakes up and greets a new day—the day when the volcano is expected to erupt ("Bikini Bottom Day" (Reprise 2)). Bikini Bottom has fallen into anarchy and chaos: the mayor has employed a dictatorship over the people and an angry mob has started to hunt down Sandy, thinking her science is the cause for the volcano's impending eruption. Sandy hides from the mob and shows SpongeBob the ingenious bubble device, the Eruptor Interrupter. They plan to throw it inside the volcano and save the town.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: Back in Bikini Bottom, Plankton worries that Sandy and SpongeBob will successfully climb up the mountain and save the town, but Karen tells him that she found his misplaced avalanche maker, saying they can use it to create an avalanche to kill SpongeBob and Sandy. The Electric Skates finally arrive ("Bikini Bottom Boogie") and accept Squidward's request to join their opening act if Squidward buys every item on a long shopping list. Meanwhile, SpongeBob and Sandy make their way up the volcano with great difficulty and Sandy tries to increase their morale, encouraging them to never give up ("Chop to the Top"). SpongeBob cannot help but think of how he misses Patrick and wishes he were there to help them. In Bikini Bottom, Patrick finds life as a guru unexciting and misses SpongeBob as well, prompting him to leave his followers behind to help SpongeBob ("(I Guess) I Miss You").


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: Squidward obtains all but one of the items on the Electric Skates' list, so the band refuses his request and call him a "loser". In response, Squidward, who was called a loser in his childhood, snaps back at the band in anger. As the band quits and leaves, Squidward insists that he is not a loser and performs a song with a tap dance number and back-up chorus, but becomes depressed again when he realizes that it was all in his imagination ("I'm Not a Loser"). However, with the band gone, there is no concert or escape pod. Pearl suggests Mr. Krabs hand over his money to build the escape pod, but even he cannot meet the price and the town citizens panic and fight one another. Back on the mountain, Plankton and Karen use the avalanche maker to cause an avalanche, sending SpongeBob falling off the mountain. Patrick arrives and saves him with a jetpack Sandy invented, and the two reaffirm their friendship and follow Sandy to the summit of the mountain. When they reach the top, neither Sandy nor Patrick are able to reach the rim where they need to throw the device in. They turn to SpongeBob, who doubts his skills ("(Just a) Simple Sponge" (Reprise)). They remind him that he is the only one who can squeeze through tight areas and that his optimism has gotten them this far. His determination renewed, SpongeBob throws the Eruptor Interrupter in. The three soon discover the chaos Bikini Bottom is in and immediately parachute down to the town to stop the fighting from escalating further.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: SpongeBob tries to calm everyone down, insisting that, despite whatever happens, they have each other ("Best Day Ever"). When the time comes for the volcano to erupt, everyone braces for their potential deaths. However, time passes with no eruption and bubbles fall down from above, signalling that Sandy's invention worked. With Bikini Bottom safe, everyone apologizes for their behavior, as Plankton and Karen argue and accidentally reveal their secret plot. Mr. Krabs decides to have SpongeBob as manager of the Krusty Krab someday. Everyone then decides that they should celebrate by having a new concert led by Pearl and Squidward, much to his delight, as Sandy is now welcomed back by the citizens of Bikini Bottom. Patchy descends from above on a rope, having finally managed to sneak into the show. He makes the cast reluctantly agree to let him be a part of the finale as the townspeople welcome the brand new day ("Bikini Bottom Day" (Reprise 3)). During the curtain call, the cast performs one final song (""SpongeBob SquarePants" Theme Song").


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: The show's Tony-nominated orchestrations by Tom Kitt utilized an orchestra of 18 for the Broadway production, including Mike Dobson who served as the live sound effects artist.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: On June 28, 2016, Masterworks Broadway announced that the Chicago cast would record a cast album in early August, with Masterworks producing the album. On September 14, 2017, the full cast recording was made available on the NPR website. The cast recording was released in its physical form in stores as well as on streaming sites on September 22, 2017, two months prior to the show's Broadway premiere.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: All tracks are written and composed by various artists, as listed below (additional music, arrangements and orchestrations by Tom Kitt; additional lyrics by Jonathan Coulton).


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: "SpongeBob SquarePants" opened at the Oriental Theatre, Chicago on June 19, 2016. The musical began previews on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on November 6, 2017, and opened on December 4, 2017 with choreography by Christopher Gattelli, musical supervision by Tom Kitt, music direction by Julie McBride, scenic and costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Kevin Adams, projection design by Peter Nigrini, sound design by Walter Trarbach, and hair and wig design by Charles G. LaPointe. The musical closed on September 16, 2018, after 327 regular performances, without recouping its $18 million cost, its run being cut short due to the renovation of the Palace Theatre, with the theatre being raised to make way for retail space. "The New York Times" noted that the musical had been financially underperforming compared with other large-scale musicals, with it running strongest during school vacation periods and bringing in $1.5 million during Christmas week, with its lowest gross being $543,000 the last week of April.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: A non-Equity North American tour opened on September 22, 2019, in Schenectady, New York, at Proctors Theatre. It was later announced that the rest of the tour had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced theaters across the nation to close.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: On October 17, 2019, Nickelodeon announced it would air a television special of the show titled "The SpongeBob Musical: Live On Stage!", to be filmed in front of a live audience and feature members of the original Broadway cast such as Ethan Slater, Danny Skinner, and Gavin Lee. On November 19, 2019, it was announced that Tom Kenny would reprise his series role as Patchy the Pirate for the special and that it would air on December 7, 2019. The production was released on DVD on November 3, 2020, and includes both the full-length version aired in December 2019 and the sing-along version aired in January 2020.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: A German-language tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland started on October 1, 2022 in Berlin, hence becoming the first official public display of the show outside of North America. The show is co-produced by German Nickelodeon and Showslot, a German Musical production company. The Tour stops in several cities until closing on December 17, 2022. The production was translated to German entirely with no scenes cut. It also includes the preshow by Patchy the Pirate. However all the costumes and set were redesigned, with the center of the set design being a big pineapple that can be opened. Some set pieces of the original Broadway production were downscaled or cut to accommodate for the smaller stages of some venues.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: On October 24, 2022, it was announced that the musical would premiere in the UK with a tour starting at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton on April 5, 2023, and would include five weeks at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Venues currently announced include Birmingham, Dublin, Manchester, Belfast, Cardiff and Aberdeen, with the tour currently finishing on September 2, 2023, at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth. Cast is yet to be announced.


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: The original Chicago production received mostly positive reviews. Dean Richards of WGN-TV gave it an A+, writing that "the story is multi-layered for kids and adults. It all adds up to one of the most fun, well produced, and best acted shows Chicago has seen in a long time." Chris Jones of the "Chicago Tribune" praised the cast (particularly Slater, Skinner, Cooper, and Lee) and the production values. He wrote positively of the show's songs, writing that the musical's "biggest gamble—a score made up of singles by different songwriters and unified by orchestrator Tom Kitt—works quite beautifully." Nonetheless, he warned "the transition to Broadway now needs to involve a dialing back of excess and more attention to truth—Bikini Bottom truth, sure, but metaphoric human veracity." Similarly, Steve Oxman in "Variety" praised the entertainment, invention and "terrifically talented cast" but argued for a "slight shift in world view" to truly engage the broadest audience. In the "Chicago Sun-Times"' review, Hedy Weiss expressed praise for the set design's creativity and the coherency, but felt that it was almost too extravagant, writing that the "predictable" musical "exhausts itself long before it's over." Kendall Ashley of Nerdist described the set as "pretty darn impressive" and called the decision not to use extensive makeup on the actors "interesting." Barbara Vitello of the "Daily Herald" also commended the actors' costumes and performances, stating that the "imaginative costumes that add a punch of color to the glittering sea green and aquamarine backdrop are among the delights."


title: SpongeBob SquarePants (musical)

text: The Broadway production opened to similar reviews. Ben Brantley of "The New York Times", called it a "ginormous giggle of a show", and particularly praised Slater's performance as the titular character. Marilyn Stasio of "Variety" stated the show provided a good amount of "giddy, goofy fun" for all audiences. Peter Marks of "The Washington Post" explained that, although the show displays "impressive design and engineering" along with "exuberant neon-colored sets and costumes", its "lumbering," "drawn-out" plot makes the show a novelty recommendable to only true fans of the source material. Alexis Soloski of "The Guardian" agreed, calling the main plot "bottom-feeder low" and subplots "roundly ignorable", resulting in a show that "is as perfunctorily entertaining as it is insistently forgettable."


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: FC Dynamo Moscow ("FC Dynamo Moskva", ) is a Russian football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Football National League.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: Dynamo was the only club that had always played in the top tier of Soviet football (along with Dynamo Kyiv) and of Russian football from the end of the Soviet era until they were relegated in 2016. Despite this, they have never won the modern Russian Premier League title and have won Russian Cup only once, in the season of 1994–95.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: During the Soviet era, they were affiliated with the MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs – The Soviet Militia) and with the KGB and was a part of Dynamo sports society. Chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus NKVD, Lavrentiy Beria, was a patron of the club until his downfall.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: From 10 April 2009 the VTB Bank has been the owner of Dynamo after acquiring a 74% share in the club. Boris Rotenberg Sr. was chairman until he resigned on 17 July 2015. On 29 December 2016, Dynamo Sports Society agreed to buy VTB Bank shares back for 1 ruble. On 14 February 2019, Dynamo Sports Society agreed to sell the club back to VTB for 1 ruble. On 24 February 2022, the shares were transferred by VTB back to the Dynamo sports society.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: Dynamo's traditional colours are blue and white. Their crest consists of a blue letter "D," written in a traditional cursive style on a white background, with "Moscow" written below it, partially covering a football underneath. The club's motto is "Power in Motion," initially proposed by Maxim Gorky, the famous Russian author, who was once an active member of the Dynamo sports society.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: After the Russian Revolution, the club eventually found itself under the authority of the Interior Ministry and its head Felix Dzerzhinsky, chief of the Cheka, the Soviet Union's secret police. The club was renamed Dynamo Moscow in 1923 but was also referred to disparagingly as "garbage", a Russian criminal slang term for "police", by some of the supporters of other clubs.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: Dynamo won the first two Soviet Championships in 1936 and 1937, a Soviet Cup in 1937, and another pair of national titles in 1940 and 1945. They were also the first Soviet club to tour the West when they played a series of friendlies in the United Kingdom in 1945. Complete unknowns to the British, the Soviet players first drew 3–3 against Chelsea and then defeated Cardiff City 10–1. They defeated an Arsenal side reinforced with Stanley Matthews, Stan Mortensen and Joe Bacuzzi by a score of 4–3 in a match played in thick fog at White Hart Lane. They then drew 2–2 against Scottish side Rangers, meaning they completed the tour undefeated.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: They continued to be a strong side at home after World War II, and enjoyed their greatest success through the 1950s. Dynamo captured another five championships between 1949 and 1959, as well as their second Soviet Cup in 1953. Honours were harder to come by after that time. The club continued to enjoy some success in the Soviet Cup, but has not won a national championship since 1976. Even so, Dynamo's 11 national titles make them the country's third-most decorated side behind Dynamo Kyiv (13 titles) and Spartak Moscow (12 titles).


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: Dynamo's greatest achievement in Europe was in the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup, where they reached the Final at Camp Nou in Barcelona, losing 3–2 to Rangers. This was the first time a Russian side had reached a final in a European competition, a feat not repeated until CSKA Moscow won the UEFA Cup in 2005.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: At the end of the 2008 season, Dynamo finished third, qualifying for the 2009–10 Champions League preliminary round. On 29 July 2009, Dynamo recorded a 0–1 away win against Celtic at Celtic Park, which gave them a strong advantage going into the second leg. However, Celtic comfortably defeated Dynamo 0–2 in Moscow to progress, sending Dynamo into the Europa League play-off round where the club was eliminated by Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia after a 0–0 away draw in Sofia and a 1–2 home defeat in Moscow.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In 2012, after a poor start to the season in which they lost their first five league games, Dynamo replaced interim manager Dmitri Khokhlov with the Romanian Dan Petrescu, who managed to pull the club out of the relegation zone into a position in the upper-half of the league table. The team was close to qualifying for a place in European competition, but a failure to win in the last matchday left them in seventh, two points below the last Europa League qualifier position. Despite his efforts, Petrescu's contract was terminated on 8 April 2014 by mutual agreement after a heavy loss to league outsiders Anzhi Makhachkala 0–4. As Dynamo Director of Sports Guram Adzhoyev stated, "Last year Dan drew the team from the complicated situation, lifted it to the certain level, but recently we have seen no progress." Petrescu was replaced by Stanislav Cherchesov as manager. Under his management, Dynamo qualified for the group stage of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League in which they won every game before falling to Napoli in the Round of 16. Dynamo was only able to finish in fourth place in the 2014–15 season after a string of poor results in the latter stages.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In June 2015, Dynamo was excluded from 2015–16 Europa League competition for violating Financial Fair Play break-even requirements. As a result, VTB Bank proposed to transfer 74 percent of the shares of the club to the Dynamo sports society. Under the proposed plan, the society would own 100 percent of shares of Dynamo as it did in 2009, while the shares of the VTB Arena would still be held by the Bank. The move would allow the club to comply with the requirements of Financial Fair Play, and VTB Bank would continue to provide support to Dynamo to the extent consistent with Financial Fair Play regulations.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: Manager Stanislav Cherchesov was replaced by the returning Andrey Kobelev, and many foreign players, such as Mathieu Valbuena, Balázs Dzsudzsák and Kevin Kurányi, subsequently left Dynamo. Several young Dynamo prospects, such as Grigori Morozov, Aleksandr Tashayev and Anatoli Katrich, who won the Under-21 competition in the 2014–15 season, were introduced to the first-team squad.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: On 22 December 2015, Chairman of Dynamo's board of directors Vasili Titov announced that the shares had not been transferred to the Dynamo society; that FFP compliance rather than the share transfer was the top priority for the club; and that he expected the club to achieve compliance by April 2016.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: After the winter break of the 2015–16 season, Dynamo won only one game out of 12 played in 2016 and Kobelev was fired with 3 games left in the season. On the final day of the season, Dynamo lost 0–3 to FC Zenit Saint Petersburg at home, dropped to 15th place in the table and was relegated from the Premier League.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In October 2016, with Dynamo leading the second-tier Russian Football National League at the time, the newly appointed club president Yevgeni Muravyov claimed that club's debts stand at 13 billion rubles (approximately 188 million euros) and unless a new owner is found shortly or VTB re-commits to covering the club's debts, the club might declare bankruptcy. That would have most likely meant the loss of professional license and relegation to the fourth-level Russian Amateur Football League.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: On 29 December 2016, Dynamo Sports Society agreed to buy VTB Bank shares back for 1 ruble. On 13 January 2017, VTB Bank announced they will sponsor Dynamo Sports Society to the amount of 10.64 billion rubles for the period from 2017 to 2019 (approximately 167 million euros as of that date). HC Dynamo Moscow and other teams of the society were also to be financed under that deal. On 1 February 2017, former club president Boris Rotenberg said that the 75 million euro debt the football club owes to Rotenberg's companies has been restructured and "is not harming anybody". On 12 April 2017, with 7 games left to play in the 2016–17 season, Dynamo secured the return to the top level Russian Premier League for 2017–18. That is the FNL record for the earliest a team secured promotion.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: On 14 March 2018, Yevgeni Muravyov was dismissed as the club president due to unauthorized payment made as a "bonus" to a third company during the transfer of Konstantin Rausch from 1. FC Köln.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: The new stadium for the club, VTB Arena was completed in late 2018. Following that, the stadium majority owner and football club's major sponsor VTB Bank expressed interest in reacquiring the control over the club. On 14 February 2019, Dynamo Sports Society agreed to sell back the club shares to "Dynamo Management Company" (the company that owns the stadium and has VTB bank as the majority owner). The price was the same symbolic 1 ruble. On 26 April 2019, it was reported that the deal is close to be finalized formally, but the price for the stock increased to 10 billion rubles (approximately €138 million). This reported larger number includes accumulated debts and the cost of the club's training centre. (At the beginning of 2021, the club's chairman Yuri Solovyov said in an interview that Dynamo's debts were about 5.4 billion rubles. The then state of the club Soloviev called "shocking".) On 30 April 2019, VTB confirmed that the deal has been closed and formal price is 1 ruble, the debts outstanding from the football club to Dynamo society has been restructured to an 8-year term, and Yuri Belkin was appointed club's general director.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: The 2019–20 season, their first back at the home stadium, started poorly and head coach Dmitri Khokhlov resigned after 12 games played with Dynamo in second-to-last position in the table. Under his replacement, Kirill Novikov, results improved and at the end of the season Dynamo finished 6th. That allowed Dynamo to qualify for European competition (UEFA Europa League) for the first time in 6 seasons.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: However, at the end of September 2020, Novikov was dismissed after losing to Locomotive Tbilisi (UEFA qualification) and Khimki (RPL). Sandro Schwarz was appointed as the new coach on 14 October.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In the spring of 2021, the sports press started talking about the "revival" of the Moscow Dynamo. Since the appointment of Sandro Schwarz as coach, the team have won seven victories and four defeats in the Russian Premier League matches. The club's sporting director, Željko Buvač, has already described the start of the season as "great." The team finished the season in 7th place, despite gaining 50 points, which was the most points for Dynamo in the Premier League since the 2014–15 season.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: On 24 February 2022, as a consequence of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, VTB Bank was sanctioned by the United Kingdom. On the same day, VTB Bank transferred the shares of FC Dynamo back to the Dynamo Sports Society.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: After the invasion was launched, former Liverpool F.C. and Ukraine striker Andriy Voronin, who had been the team's assistant coach, left the club, writing that he could not work in a country that was bombing his homeland.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: The club remained in second place in the 2021–22 Russian Premier League and at competitive points distance from first-place defending champions FC Zenit Saint Petersburg for most of the season before some late Dynamo losses allowed Zenit to secure the title with three games left to play in the season. The club also qualified for the 2021–22 Russian Cup final, their first Russian Cup final appearance since 2012. On the last matchday of the league season on 21 May 2022, Dynamo lost 1–5 at home to PFC Sochi and dropped to 3rd place, letting Sochi overtake them. Still, that was the first Top-3 finish for Dynamo since 2008. On 29 May 2022, Dynamo lost the Russian Cup final to Spartak 1–2, with Daniil Fomin missing a penalty kick deep in added time. Manager Sandro Schwarz resigned from the club after the Cup final.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: Slaviša Jokanović was hired as a new manager on 17 June 2022. Several key starting line-up foreign players from the 2021–22 season left the club on loan or suspended their contracts before the season due to the continuing Russian war in Ukraine, including Sebastian Szymański, Nikola Moro, Fabián Balbuena, Ivan Ordets and Guillermo Varela. Dynamo took positions in the upper half of the league table, but below the top 3 during the summer/fall part of the 2022–23 season, not going on any long unbeaten or winless streaks. New Cameroonian signing Moumi Ngamaleu was the only Dynamo player selected for the 2022 FIFA World Cup squads (not counting Szymański and Varela who were loaned out before the season). Dynamo went into the winter break of the season in 4th place.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In December 2021, according to the strategy of the club, FC Dynamo Football launched Women's team, as well as Women's Youth team and Girl's section in Lev Yashin Academy. Sergey Lavrentiev, graduate of the club UEFA "A" licence holder and former "man at the wheel" of Russian National Women's team, Chertanovo and CSKA Moscow women's teams, was appointed head coach of the new-born first squad. Goalkeepers coach Vitaly Shadrin (alongside same duties at Russian National Women's team) and strength & conditioning coach Yulia Gordeeva have also joined the staff.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In 2021 the academy won both winter and summer championships in Moscow youth league, Club's League, being the only club to score more than 200 goals (2,85 per match) and conceding as well the fewest number of 47 goals. Soon after, Alexander Kuznetsov, academy's director since 2013 and since 2006 in the club, has overviewed the evolution of football education in the academy, precising that "we`ve stopped acquiring "running horses" in favour of footballers – creative, technically skilled and able to make right decisions on the pitch". Mr Kuznetsov has also mentioned the role in modern approach in the Academy of Juan Martinez Garcia, Spanish specialist, who had been working in the club for several years a decade ago. In March 2022, the academy and Higher School of Economics became official partners in education and research.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: The club has a football Academy named after Lev Yashin (official site), created on the basis of the Dynamo youth team. In recent years, the owners of the club have seriously taken up its development. VTB Group has created an endowment fund with a capital of 5 billion rubles to finance the training of young footballers. The board of trustees of the fund is headed by the former prime minister of Russia, member of the board of directors of Dynamo, Sergei Stepashin.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In 2020, the academy began to develop a network of branches. The first branch was created in Makhachkala (Dagestan) and then in more than 15 Russian cities and towns. In August and September 2021, the latest franchise football schools of the academy were opened in Barnaul, in Belgorod, in Vladivostok, in Voronezh and in stanitsa Novotitarovskaya in Krasnodar Krai. The next branch, based on local "Junior" school of sports, would be coming soon in Nizhnevartovsk.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In August 2021, the club started providing online workshops as a manual to launch Lev Yashin Academy franchises in any Russian city.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In September 2021, Alexander Ovechkin, worldwide hockey superstar and former HC Dynamo Moscow forward, was named official ambassador for the endowment fund of Lev Yashin Academy.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: Since September 2021, FC Dynamo Moscow has been launched marketing activities to promote the endowment fund of Lev Yashin Academy. Within the first promo offer, 30% of the cost of official new kit is transferred to support young Dynamo players sustainability, and each kit's buyer could get a number and a name on it for free.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: Since September 2021, each purchase in roubles, miles or bonus points by card of VTB Bank could be directly converted into a single donation for the endowment fund of Lev Yashin Academy.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In August 2021, FC Dynamo Moscow opened the official fanstore with sports and casualwear at VTB Arena as an integral part of club's renewed brand platform. In December 2021, premiere screening of "Legends of the Future", dedicated to Dynamo's stars Mikhail Yakushin, Konstantin Beskov and Alexei Khomich, was held at club's official fanstore.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In August 2021, "Dynamo Runners" club was launched to promote Dynamo's spirit on a larger scale. Running, fitness and healthy lifehacks in Moscow are scheduled for every new training of the club. Olympic champion Yuri Borzakovskiy has become one of the ambassadors of "Dynamo Runners" club together with top bloggers and other celebrities.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In October 2021, Dynamo & VTB Bank day was dedicated to 92th anniversary of Lev Yashin together with school students, invited to Dynamo's game against FC Khimki, won 4 to 1, and to the official club fanshop at VTB Arena. Communication with school students has been carried on in December 2021 within tours at VTB Arena for school students from Khimki.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: The last home matchday vs FC Zenit Saint Petersburg at VTB Arena was powered by the first Augmented reality (AR) show within a football game in Russia.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In February 2022, the club presented two books about Gavriil Kachalin and Igor Chislenko as a part of "Legends and Lives" serie. One year before, the club also published the book about Mikhail Yakushin.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In January 2022, according to Deportes y Finanzas, the club became the most popular Russian football team on YouTube in the year 2021.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: During the season 2021–22, the club upscaled its charity matchday activities with 100 roubles from each ticket and 20% of merchandise sales provided to numerous charity funds.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: Since its establishment in 1923, Dynamo's historical rival has been Spartak Moscow. Clashes between the clubs were seen by their fans and more generally as the most important games in the Soviet Union for more than three decades, attracting thousands of spectators. (Ironically, however, on New Year's Day in 1936, it was a combined Dynamo-Spartak team that traveled to Paris to face Racing Club de France, then one of Europe's top teams.) Dynamo clinched the first-ever Soviet League by beating Spartak 1–0 at Dynamo Stadium in front of 70,000 spectators. Spartak responded by winning the championship the following year.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: Dynamo's ground used to be the historic Dynamo Stadium in Petrovsky Park, which seated 36,540. In 2008, it was closed for demolition. From 2010 to 2016, Dynamo Moscow played their matches at the Arena Khimki, which they shared with their Moscow rivals, CSKA Moscow. They continued to play at Arena Khimki until 26 May 2019, when FC Dynamo Moscow officially "returned home,"


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In the 1st half of the 2021–22 season Dynamo recorded the best attendance at home among Moscow football clubs, according to official stats provided by Russian Premier League.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: Following Dynamo's relegation from the Russian Premier League (which holds its own competition for the Under-21 teams of the Premier League clubs) at the end of the 2015–16 season, the reserve squad FC Dynamo-2 Moscow received professional license and was registered to play in the third-tier Russian Professional Football League, beginning with the 2016–17 season. Following the main squad's promotion back to the RPL, they stopped playing professionally in the 2017–18 season, with players returning to the RPL U-21 tournament.


title: FC Dynamo Moscow

text: In the Dynamo organization, the position of "president" has not always been present; several times the head of the club was titled as "chief executive officer (CEO)," or general director.


title: Finch

text: The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usually resident and do not migrate. They have a worldwide distribution except for Australia and the polar regions. The family Fringillidae contains more than two hundred species divided into fifty genera. It includes species known as siskins, canaries, redpolls, serins, grosbeaks and euphonias.


title: Finch

text: Many birds in other families are also commonly called "finches". These groups include the estrildid finches (Estrildidae) of the Old World tropics and Australia; some members of the Old World bunting family (Emberizidae) and the New World sparrow family (Passerellidae); and the Darwin's finches of the Galapagos islands, now considered members of the tanager family (Thraupidae).


title: Finch

text: Finches and canaries were used in the UK, US and Canada in the coal mining industry to detect carbon monoxide from the eighteenth to twentieth century. This practice ceased in the UK in 1986.


title: Finch

text: The taxonomy of the finch family, in particular the cardueline finches, has a long and complicated history. The study of the relationship between the taxa has been confounded by the recurrence of similar morphologies due to the convergence of species occupying similar niches. In 1968 the American ornithologist Raymond Andrew Paynter, Jr. wrote:


title: Finch

text: Limits of the genera and relationships among the species are less understood – and subject to more controversy – in the carduelines than in any other species of passerines, with the possible exception of the estrildines [waxbills].


title: Finch

text: Beginning around 1990 a series of phylogenetic studies based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences resulted in substantial revisions in the taxonomy. Several groups of birds that had previously been assigned to other families were found to be related to the finches. The Neotropical "Euphonia" and the "Chlorophonia" were formerly placed in the tanager family Thraupidae due to their similar appearance but analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences revealed that both genera were more closely related to the finches. They are now placed in a separate subfamily Euphoniinae within the Fringillidae. The Hawaiian honeycreepers were at one time placed in their own family, Drepanididae but were found to be closely related to the "Carpodacus" rosefinches and are now placed within the Carduelinae subfamily. The three largest genera, "Carpodacus", "Carduelis" and "Serinus" were found to be polyphyletic. Each was split into monophyletic genera. The American rosefinches were moved from "Carpodacus" to "Haemorhous". "Carduelis" was split by moving the greenfinches to "Chloris" and a large clade into "Spinus" leaving just three species in the original genus. Thirty seven species were moved from "Serinus" to "Crithagra" leaving eight species in the original genus. Today the family Fringillidae is divided into three subfamilies, the Fringillinae containing a single genus with the chaffinches, the Carduelinae containing 183 species divided into 49 genera, and the Euphoniinae containing the "Euphonia" and the "Chlorophonia".


title: Finch

text: Although Przewalski's "rosefinch" ("Urocynchramus pylzowi") has ten primary flight feathers rather than the nine primaries of other finches, it was sometimes classified in the Carduelinae. It is now assigned to a distinct family, Urocynchramidae, monotypic as to genus and species, and with no particularly close relatives among the Passeroidea.


title: Finch

text: Fossil remains of true finches are rare, and those that are known can mostly be assigned to extant genera at least. Like the other Passeroidea families, the true finches seem to be of roughly Middle Miocene origin, around 20 to 10 million years ago (Ma). An unidentifable finch fossil from the Messinian age, around 12 to 7.3 million years ago (Ma) during the Late Miocene subepoch, has been found at Polgárdi in Hungary.


title: Finch

text: The scientific name Fringillidae comes from the Latin word "fringilla" for the common chaffinch ("Fringilla coelebs"), a member of the family which is common in Europe. The name was coined (as Fringilladæ) by the English zoologist William Elford Leach in a guide to the contents of the British Museum published in 1820. The study of this family is known as Fringillology.


title: Finch

text: The smallest "classical" true finches are the Andean siskin ("Spinus spinescens") at as little as 9.5 cm (3.8 in) and the lesser goldfinch ("Spinus psaltria") at as little as . The largest species is probably the collared grosbeak ("Mycerobas affinis") at up to and , although larger lengths, to in the pine grosbeak ("Pinicola enucleator"), and weights, to in the evening grosbeak ("Hesperiphona vespertina"), have been recorded in species which are slightly smaller on average. They typically have strong, stubby beaks, which in some species can be quite large; however, Hawaiian honeycreepers are famous for the wide range of bill shapes and sizes brought about by adaptive radiation. All true finches have 9 primary remiges and 12 rectrices. The basic plumage colour is brownish, sometimes greenish; many have considerable amounts of black, while white plumage is generally absent except as wing-bars or other signalling marks. Bright yellow and red carotenoid pigments are commonplace in this family, and thus blue structural colours are rather rare, as the yellow pigments turn the blue color into green. Many, but by no means all true finches have strong sexual dichromatism, the females typically lacking the bright carotenoid markings of males.


title: Finch

text: The finches have a near-global distribution, being found across the Americas, Eurasia and Africa, as well as some island groups such as the Hawaiian islands. They are absent from Australasia, Antarctica, the Southern Pacific and the islands of the Indian Ocean, although some European species have been widely introduced in Australia and New Zealand.


title: Finch

text: Finches are typically inhabitants of well-wooded areas, but some can be found on mountains or even in deserts.


title: Finch

text: The finches are primarily granivorous, but euphoniines include considerable amounts of arthropods and berries in their diet, and Hawaiian honeycreepers evolved to utilize a wide range of food sources, including nectar. The diet of Fringillidae nestlings includes a varying amount of small arthropods. True finches have a bouncing flight like most small passerines, alternating bouts of flapping with gliding on closed wings. Most sing well and several are commonly seen cagebirds; foremost among these is the domesticated canary ("Serinus canaria domestica"). The nests are basket-shaped and usually built in trees, more rarely in bushes, between rocks or on similar substrate.


title: Finch

text: The family Fringillidae contains 231 species divided into 50 genera and three subfamilies. The subfamily Carduelinae includes 18 extinct Hawaiian honeycreepers and the extinct Bonin grosbeak. See List of Fringillidae species for further details.


title: Labour Day

text: Labour Day ("Labor Day" in the United States) is an annual holiday to celebrate the achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.


title: Labour Day

text: For most countries, Labour Day is synonymous with, or linked with, International Workers' Day, which occurs on 1 May. For other countries, Labour Day is celebrated on a different date, often one with special significance for the labour movement in that country. Labour Day is a public holiday in many countries.


title: Labour Day

text: For most countries, "Labour Day" is synonymous with, or linked with, International Workers' Day, which occurs on 1 May. Some countries vary the actual date of their celebrations so that the holiday occurs on a Monday close to 1 May.


title: Labour Day

text: Labour Day in Australia is a public holiday on dates which vary between states and territories. It is the first Monday in October in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. In Victoria and Tasmania, it is the second Monday in March (though the latter calls it Eight Hours Day). In Western Australia, Labour Day is the first Monday in March. In Queensland and the Northern Territory, Labour Day occurs on the first Monday in May (though the latter calls it May Day). It is on the fourth Monday of March in the territory of Christmas Island.


title: Labour Day

text: The first march for an eight-hour day by the labour movement occurred in Melbourne on 21 April 1856. On this day stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne stopped work and marched from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day. Their direct action protest was a success, and they are noted as being among the first organized workers in the world to achieve an 8-hour day, with no loss of pay.


title: Labour Day

text: Bangladesh Garment Sramik Sanghati, an organization working for the welfare of garment workers, has requested that 24 April be declared Labour Safety Day in Bangladesh, in memory of the victims of the Rana Plaza building collapse.


title: Labour Day

text: Labour Day is a national holiday in the Bahamas, celebrated on the first Friday in June in order to create a long weekend for workers. The traditional date of Labour Day in the Bahamas, however, is 7 June, in commemoration of a significant workers' strike that began on that day in 1942. Labour Day is meant to honor and celebrate workers and the importance of their contributions to the nation and society. In the capital city, Nassau, thousands of people come to watch a parade through the streets, which begins at mid-morning. Bands in colourful uniforms, traditional African junkanoo performers, and members of various labour unions and political parties are all part of the procession, which ends up at the Southern Recreation Grounds, where government officials make speeches for the occasion. For many residents and visitors to the Bahamas, the afternoon of Labour Day is a time to relax at home or perhaps visit the beach.


title: Labour Day

text: Labour Day (French: "Fête du Travail") has been marked as a statutory public holiday in Canada on the first Monday in September since 1894. However, the origins of Labour Day in Canada can be traced back to numerous local demonstrations and celebrations in earlier decades. Such events assumed political significance in 1872, when a labour demonstration in Toronto in April 1872, in support of striking printers, led directly to the enactment of the Trade Union Act, a law that confirmed the legality of unions. Ten years later, on 22 July 1882, a huge labour celebration in Toronto attracted the attention of the American labour leader Peter J. McGuire, who organized a similar parade in New York City on 5 September that year. Unions associated with the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor in both Canada and the United States subsequently promoted parades and festivals on the first Monday in September. In Canada, local celebrations took place in Hamilton, Oshawa, Montreal, St Catharines, Halifax, Ottawa, Vancouver and London during these years. Montreal declared a civic holiday in 1889. In Nova Scotia, coal miners had been holding picnics and parades since 1880 to celebrate the anniversary of their union, the Provincial Workmen's Association, first organized in 1879. In addition, in 1889, the Royal Commission on the Relations of Labor and Capital in Canada recommended recognition of an official "labour day" by the federal government. In March and April 1894, unions lobbied Parliament to recognize Labour Day as a public holiday. Legislation was introduced in May by Prime Minister Sir John Thompson and received royal assent in July 1894.


title: Labour Day

text: 1 May is a statutory holiday in the People's Republic of China. It was a three-day holiday until 2008, but was only one day between 2008 and 2019, and was restored to three days after 2019. However, the actual time off is often longer than the time off in the regulations, and the extra time off is usually supplemented by another two weekends, but since the extra time is not under an official holiday, the extra days must be "made up" by working on the preceding or following weekend. For example, in 2013, 1 May fell on Wednesday. Most workplaces, including all government offices, took Monday 29 April, Tuesday 30 April, and Wednesday 1 May off. As the first two days were not statutory holidays they had to be "made up" by working the preceding weekend (27 and 28 April).


title: Labour Day

text: Before 1961, 24 May was celebrated in Jamaica as Empire Day in honour of the birthday of Queen Victoria and her emancipation of slaves in Jamaica. As its name suggests, the day was used to celebrate the British Empire, complete with flag-raising ceremonies and the singing of patriotic songs. In 1961, Jamaican Chief Minister Norman Washington Manley proposed the replacement of Empire Day with Labour Day, a celebration in commemoration of 23 May 1938, when Alexander Bustamante led a labour rebellion leading to Jamaican independence.


title: Labour Day

text: In 1972, Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley promoted Labour Day as a showcase for the importance of labour to the development of Jamaica, and a day of voluntary community participation to beneficial projects. Since then, Labour Day has been not only a public holiday but also a day of mass community involvement around the country.


title: Labour Day

text: In Japan, Labour Day is officially conflated with Thanksgiving on 23 November, as Labor Thanksgiving Day.


title: Labour Day

text: Labour Day in Kazakhstan is celebrated on the last Sunday in September. The holiday was officially established in late 2013. In 1995, the government of Kazakhstan replaced International Workers' Day with Kazakhstan People's Unity Day. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev also instituted a special medal that is awarded to veterans of labour on the occasion of the holiday. Labour Day it is widely celebrated across the country with official speeches, award ceremonies, cultural events, etc. It is a non-working holiday for most citizens of Kazakhstan because it always falls on a weekend.


title: Labour Day

text: In Macau, it is a public holiday and is officially known as Dia do Trabalhador (Portuguese for "Workers' Day").


title: Labour Day

text: In New Zealand, Labour Day () is a public holiday held on the fourth Monday in October. Its origins are traced back to the eight-hour working day movement that arose in the newly founded Wellington colony in 1840, primarily because of carpenter Samuel Parnell's refusal to work more than eight hours a day. That year, Parnell reportedly told a prospective employer: "There are twenty-four hours per day given us; eight of these should be for work, eight for sleep, and the remaining eight for recreation".


title: Labour Day

text: The first Labour Day in New Zealand was celebrated on October 28, 1890, which marked the first anniversary of the Maritime Council, an organization of transport and mining unions. Several thousand trade union members and supporters attended parades in the main city centres. Government employees were given the day off to attend, and many businesses closed for at least part of the day. Initially, the day was variously called Labour Day or Labour Demonstration Day.


title: Labour Day

text: In 1899, the government legislated that the day be a public holiday through the Labour Day Act of 1899. The day was set as the second Wednesday in October and first celebrated the following year, in 1900. In 1910 the holiday was moved to the fourth Monday in October.


title: Labour Day

text: 1 May is known as Labour Day in Taiwan, an official holiday, though not everybody gets a day off. Students and teachers do not have this day off.


title: Labour Day

text: In Trinidad and Tobago, Labour Day is celebrated every 19 June. This holiday was proposed in 1973 to be commemorated on the anniversary of the 1937 Butler labour riots.


title: Labour Day

text: In the United States, Labor Day is a federal holiday observed on the first Monday of September. It is customarily viewed as the end of the summer vacation season. Many schools open for the year on the day after Labor Day.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: Lafoga Jordan Mailata (; born March 31, 1997) is an Australian professional American football offensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) and Singer. He previously played rugby league for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs under-18s team and the South Sydney Rabbitohs on their under-20s team. He joined the NFL via the league's International Player Pathway Program and was selected in the 7th round, 233rd overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2018 NFL Draft.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: Jordan Mailata grew up playing rugby league for the Bankstown Bulls, and was selected for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' Under 18s team in 2015. The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are a professional rugby league side founded in 1934, and participate in the National Rugby League (NRL) in Australia. In 2014, Mailata fainted during a pre-season training session, one week before the Bulldog’s first scheduled game in the S.G. Ball Cup. The S.G. Ball Cup is an Under-18s rugby league football competition which is hosted in New South Wales. This required surgery to repair both the upper and lower chambers of his heart. He went on hiatus from rugby league for over a year. During this time, it was reported that Mailata had jumped from 147 kilograms to 166 kilograms. After coming back from surgery, Mailata and his two brothers Daniel and Moana played rugby league for Five Dock RSL Junior Rugby League in Five Dock, at the A-grade level in the Balmain competition. It was in this competition that Mailata attracted the attention of Ben Rogers, a recruitment agent for the South Sydney Rabbitohs.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: Mailata was then offered the opportunity to join the South Sydney Rabbitohs' U20s team in 2017. The South Sydney Rabbitohs offered Mailata a one-year contract worth $5,000 Australian dollars to play for the North Sydney Bears. The North Sydney Bears had a partnership with the South Sydney Rabbitohs in which they served as the Rabbitohs reserve grade team. This partnership was intact from 2007 until 2018, when the agreement ended. It has been stated that Mailata was only offered a reserve-grade contract due to fitness and conditioning concerns. The South Sydney coaching staff did not believe that Mailata would be able to physically keep up with the pace and nature of professional rugby league, due to the free-flowing play and limited stoppages in games. Mailata was given the advice from his agency to "play a sport that appreciates his size". Ultimately, Mailata declined the contract from the South Sydney Rabbitohs. There was no bad sentiment between Mailata and the Rabbitohs after the contract offer, as Mailata stated "They gave me a chance. Without them, I wouldn't be here".


title: Jordan Mailata

text: After seeing video clips of him playing rugby league, NFL executives invited Mailata to try out for their International Player Pathway Program. Mailata had never played American football and admitted that his knowledge of the game was minimal, and also stated that he would watch only one NFL game a year, the Super Bowl. When asked what position he wanted to play, he suggested offensive tackle, since he knew of that position from the movie "The Blind Side". In February 2018, he went to IMG Academy in Florida to train under the supervision and guidance of coach Aden Durde. During this training he was scouted by Jeff Stoutland, the offensive line coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. During the player introductions for NBC Sunday Night Football, Mailata will pay credit to Stoutland's mentorship by referencing he attended "Jeff Stoutland University", in lieu of having no collegiate football experience prior to entering the NFL.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: NFL scouts evaluated Mailata as a 5.5 prospect grade, which equates to a practice-squad player with a chance to make the bottom-end of the official NFL roster. Pre-draft scouting reports written about Mailata evaluated him as a "work in progress", and gave him the pro player comparison of Conor McDermott of the New York Jets.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: In March 2018, Mailata attended a combine at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice facility, at One Buc Place. The combine participants included 5 other international NFL prospects like Mailata, as well as a host of top-ranked college football prospects who did not receive an invite to the official NFL Combine. Several general managers of NFL teams were present, including Jason Licht of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Rick Spielman of the Minnesota Vikings.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: Mailata received doubts from scouts through the NFL drafting process and combine, as his weaknesses were listed as "will require an extensive period of development to learn technique", and "has never played a single down of American football". However, scouts did see positives in Mailata as they described him to have "very good physical traits" and "a tremendous size with a frame that carries weight well" due to his 6-foot-8 stature. IMG Academy strength and conditioning trainer Jay Butler stated that he had "never had anybody that looks like that" in reference to Mailata's sub-20% body fat percentage and physical attributes. Mailata was also extremely quick for his frame, as he recorded a 5.12 second time in the 40-yard dash at the combine, which was the 7th best time recorded for tackles at the NFL combine in February 2018. Mailata also managed to record a 4.67 second time for the short shuttle, which would have equated to a top-10 score amongst left tackles at the official NFL combine. Additionally, Mailata was able to achieve 22 reps at the combine bench press. In response to his own performance, Mailata felt optimistic as he hoped that coaches would get "a chance to see the progress I have made as I try to master the position."


title: Jordan Mailata

text: Mailata was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 233rd overall pick in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Mailata became the second player to be drafted with no American high school or college experience after German Moritz Böhringer, following the path of compatriot Jarryd Hayne, who also converted from rugby league. Mailata signed a four-year deal worth $2.5 million with a signing bonus of $89,392.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: Mailata said that the biggest mental hurdle when transitioning from rugby league to the NFL was the extensive playbook. He stated that when he first started training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles, he was handed a playbook and that it felt like "a different language." On 1 September 2018, Mailata made the initial 53-man roster for the Eagles. On 14 December 2018, Mailata was placed on injured reserve after sustaining a back injury categorised as a stress fracture, which ended his rookie season before appearing in any games.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: After missing the first two games of the 2019 season with a back injury, Mailata was placed on injured reserve again on 21 September 2019.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: Mailata was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the Eagles on 29 July 2020. He was activated from the list on 13 August 2020. On 13 September, Mailata made his NFL debut against the Washington Football Team, replacing injured rookie Jack Driscoll in the third quarter. Mailata made his first start for the Philadelphia Eagles in week 4 of the 2020 season against the San Francisco 49ers, due to an injury to Jason Peters. On 1 November 2020, against the Cowboys, Mailata sustained a concussion from a helmet-to-helmet hit from Jaylon Smith. On 2 January 2021, Mailata was deemed unable to play against the Washington Football Team due to the concussion, ending Mailata's season with 15 appearances and 10 starts for the Eagles. Mailata ended the 2020 season as a top-15 offensive tackle in the NFL from week 11, as graded by Pro Football Focus. Over the course of the 2020 season, Mailata led the Eagles in fewest sacks allowed amongst offensive linemen, allowing just 7. Mailata also led Eagles offensive linemen in pass pro snaps with 502, equating to a pass pro snaps per sack score of 71.7, which was third best on the Eagles behind Lane Johnson and Jack Driscoll.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: On August 31, 2021, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni named Mailata the starter at left tackle for the 2021 NFL season. On September 11, 2021, Mailata signed a four-year, $64 million contract including $40.85 million guaranteed.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: During his time with the Eagles, Mailata was noted for his singing ability. In 2022, Mailata competed in season 7 of "The Masked Singer" as "Thingamabob" of Team Cuddly. He was eliminated alongside Jorge Garcia as "Cyclops" of Team Bad. During the 2022 offseason, he recorded a Christmas album titled "A Philly Special Christmas" along with fellow teammates Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, and former Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: Jordan Mailata is the son of Samoan immigrants to Australia. Mailata was born in Bankstown, Sydney, an LGA which is characterised by its high concentration of Samoan immigrants. When Mailata was born, his sister gave him the middle name Jordan after the basketball superstar Michael Jordan. Playing rugby league was always a strong part of the Mailata family traditions, as Mailata’s three brothers Daniel, Moana and Millo all played Rugby League. Mailata has three brothers and one sister, as well as a niece named Eraia.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: Mailata has lived away from Sydney since 2018, and says that the things he misses the most about home are his friends and family, as well as simple Australian comfort foods such as meat pies and sausage rolls. In the same interview, Mailata revealed that his favourite movies are the "Star Wars" and the "Lord of the Rings" series, and that his favourite band is Bon Jovi.


title: Jordan Mailata

text: Mailata is sponsored by Australian clothing company Johnny Bigg, which specialises in clothes for people with larger frames.


title: Hans Landa

text: "Standartenführer" Hans Landa is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 2009 Quentin Tarantino film "Inglourious Basterds". He is portrayed by Austrian actor Christoph Waltz. For his performance, Waltz received widespread acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Best Actor Award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, among others.


title: Hans Landa

text: "Standartenführer" (SS Colonel) Hans Landa is an Austrian SS officer assigned to the Sicherheitsdienst. He is nicknamed "the Jew Hunter" for his uncanny ability to locate Jews hiding throughout Occupied France. Although he is not blond like Reinhard Heydrich he has the same rank as Joachim Peiper the LSSAH Nazi Officer. It is unknown how old Hans Landa is in the film . It is also unknown if he was born in 1904 around the same time as Reinhard Heydrich . It is presumed he was born in Vienna,Austria-Hungary in 1904 while Heydrich was born in Halle,Germany .


title: Hans Landa

text: Egotistical and ambitious, Landa takes a great deal of pride in his fearsome reputation, his nickname "The Jew Hunter" and using it to compare himself to his boss Reinhard Heydrich, whom he describes as disliking the nickname the people of Prague bestowed upon him (“The Hangman”). When the tide of the war turns against the Nazis, he scoffs at it, alluding that his job is to find and capture people and the fact that they are Jews is of no consequence to him.


title: Hans Landa

text: Landa is intelligent, opportunistic, arrogant, ruthless, and relentless, but can also be circumspect, polite, and even charming. He is an opportunist acting only out of pure self-interest. As such, by the end of the film, he unreservedly switches sides to assist the Basterds in assassinating Hitler and a Nazi Party elite inside a movie theater. In return for his role in the plot, Landa demands full immunity for his war crimes, a house on Nantucket Island, a colonel's military pension, public recognition as an agent working with the American Office of Strategic Services and to be awarded the Medal of Honor.


title: Hans Landa

text: In 2019, Quentin Tarantino appeared on the podcast "Happy Sad Confused", where he discussed Landa's fate after the events of the film. Tarantino facetiously stated that Landa is recognized as a hero in the US and history books for his involvement in ending WWII and helping kill Adolf Hitler, and that he subsequently settles on Nantucket Island, where he is roped in to solves a series of murders as an amateur master detective.


title: Hans Landa

text: Quentin Tarantino has said that Landa might be the greatest character he has ever written. He originally wanted Leonardo DiCaprio for the part. Tarantino then decided to have the character played by a German actor. The role ultimately went to the Austrian Waltz, who, according to Tarantino, "gave me my movie back", as he felt the movie could not be made without Landa as a character, but feared the part was "unplayable".


title: Hans Landa

text: When Waltz auditioned for the role, he had no prior correspondence with Tarantino or producer Lawrence Bender, and believed that the character of Hans Landa was being used during the audition process to cast other roles. Waltz stated that he was most impressed with the dialogue and the depth of the character.


title: Hans Landa

text: Waltz has described Landa's character as one who has an understanding of how the world works, stating that the swastika means nothing to him. He adds that he is not driven by ideology, and that if anyone were to call Landa a Nazi, he would clarify that he was not, stating that just because he wears a Nazi uniform does not mean that he believes in the Nazi ideology. In describing the ending between the Basterds and Landa, he describes him as "realistic to the point of being inhuman", adding that he understands that the world is not just one thing at a time, and even though these things may contradict each other, they do not necessarily have to.


title: Hans Landa

text: Waltz received widespread critical acclaim for his role as Landa, and won the Best Actor Award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival for his performance. Due to his role as Hans Landa, Waltz has received many offers from directors to play roles in their films, enough for him to describe the situation as "wild".


title: Hans Landa

text: Film editor Hunter Stephenson commented that international viewers, Americans more so, would be surprised by Waltz's talent in this role, adding that he tipped Waltz to be nominated an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Waltz was awarded several accolades for his performance, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Screen Actors Guild Award in the same category in January 2010. He also won the BAFTA and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the first actor to win an Oscar for a performance in a Quentin Tarantino film.


title: Hans Landa

text: Hunter Stephenson of "/Film" describes Landa's calabash as an unsubtle metaphor of masculinity, and describes his love of milk as being left over from an age of innocence and a primal link. Stephenson compared him to "Die Hard" villain Hans Gruber, played by Alan Rickman, due to his disdain for the inferior intellect of those around him.


title: Hans Landa

text: Waltz, in an interview, pointed out that the calabash was Tarantino's allusion to Sherlock Holmes, who smoked a similar pipe.


title: United States Navy ships

text: The names of commissioned ships of the United States Navy all start with USS, for United States Ship. Non-commissioned, primarily civilian-manned vessels of the U.S. Navy under the Military Sealift Command have names that begin with USNS, standing for United States Naval Ship. A letter-based hull classification symbol is used to designate a vessel's type. The names of ships are selected by the Secretary of the Navy. The names are those of states, cities, towns, important persons, important locations, famous battles, fish, and ideals. Usually, different types of ships have names originated from different types of sources.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Modern aircraft carriers and submarines use nuclear reactors for power. See United States naval reactors for information on classification schemes and the history of nuclear-powered vessels.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Modern cruisers, destroyers and frigates are called surface combatants and act mainly as escorts for aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, auxiliaries and civilian craft, but the largest ones have gained a land attack role through the use of cruise missiles and a population defense role through missile defense.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Aircraft carriers (CVN) have the ability to put most nations within striking distance of U.S. air power which makes them the cornerstone of US forward deployment and deterrence strategy. Multiple carriers are deployed around the world to provide military presence, respond quickly to crises, and participate in joint exercises with allied forces; this has led the Navy to refer to their "Nimitz"-class carriers as "4.5 acres of sovereign and mobile American territory". "In accordance with customary international law as reflected in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and as discussed in "The Commander's Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations" and The State Department Cable on the Status of Military Sealift Command Vessels, ships owned or operated by a State and used, for the time being, only on government non-commercial service are entitled to sovereign immunity. Whether in internal, territorial, or international waters, such ships are immune from arrest and search, and exempt from foreign taxation and any foreign regulation requiring flying the flag of that foreign state while in its ports or territorial sea." Former President Bill Clinton summed up the importance of the aircraft carrier by stating that "when word of crisis breaks out in Washington, it's no accident the first question that comes to everyone's lips is: where is the nearest carrier?" The power and operational flexibility of a carrier lie in the aircraft of its carrier air wing. Made up of both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, a carrier air wing is able to perform over 150 strike missions at once, hitting over 700 targets a day. Carrier air wings also protect friendly forces, conduct electronic warfare, assist in special operations, and carry out search and rescue missions. The carriers themselves, in addition to enabling airborne operations, serve as command platforms for large battle groups or multinational task forces. U.S. Navy aircraft carriers can also host aircraft from other nations' navies; the French Navy's Rafale has operated, during naval exercises, from U.S. Navy flight decks.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Amphibious assault ships, sub-types known as landing, helicopter dock or LHD and landing, helicopter assault or LHA. (also referred to as a commando carrier or an amphibious assault carrier), are a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers, but includes support for amphibious landing craft, with most designs including a well deck. Coming full circle, some amphibious assault ships now have a secondary role as aircraft carriers, supporting V/STOL fixed-wing aircraft.


title: United States Navy ships

text: The role of the amphibious assault ship is fundamentally different from a standard aircraft carrier: its aviation facilities have the primary role of hosting helicopters to support forces ashore rather than to support strike aircraft. However, some are capable of serving in the sea-control role, embarking aircraft like Harrier fighters for CAP and anti-submarine warfare helicopters or operating as a safe base for large numbers of STOVL fighters conducting air support for the Marine expeditionary unit once it has gone ashore. Most of these ships can also carry or support landing craft, such as air-cushioned landing craft (hovercraft) or LCUs.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Amphibious command ships (LCC) of the United States Navy are large, special purpose ships, originally designed to command large amphibious invasions. However, as amphibious invasions have become less likely, they are now used as general command ships, and serve as floating headquarters for two, forward deployed, numbered Fleet commands. Currently, they are assigned to the 6th and 7th fleets as flagships.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Amphibious transport docks, also known as landing platform dock or LPD, is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently operate this kind of ship. The ships are generally designed to transport troops into a war zone by sea, primarily using landing craft, although invariably they also have the capability to operate transport, utility and attack helicopters and multi-mission tilt-rotor aircraft.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Dock landing ships, also known as landing ship, dock or LSD, are amphibious warfare ships with well docks to transport and launch landing craft and amphibious vehicles. Some ships with well decks, such as the Soviet Ivan Rogov class, also have bow doors to enable them to deliver vehicles directly onto a beach (like a Landing Ship, Tank). Modern dock landing ships also operate helicopters.


title: United States Navy ships

text: A ship with a well deck (docking well) can transfer cargo to landing craft in rougher seas than a ship that has to use cranes or a stern ramp. The US Navy hull classification symbol for a ship with a well deck depends on its facilities for aircraft - a (modern) LSD has a helicopter deck, a LPD also has a hangar, and a LHD or LHA has a full-length flight deck.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Expeditionary mobile bases are semi-submersible, flexible, modular platforms providing that perform large-scale logistics movements such as the transfer of vehicles and equipment from sea to shore. These ships significantly reduce the dependency on foreign ports and provide support in the absence of port availability.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Cruisers and guided missile cruisers CG are a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundred years, and has had different meanings throughout this period. During the Age of Sail, the term "cruising" referred to certain kinds of missions – independent scouting, raiding or commerce protection – fulfilled by a frigate or sloop, which were the "cruising warships" of a fleet.


title: United States Navy ships

text: In the middle of the 19th century, "cruiser" came to be a classification for the ships intended for this kind of role, though cruisers came in a wide variety of sizes, from the small protected cruiser to armored cruisers that were as large (although not as powerful) as a battleship.


title: United States Navy ships

text: By the early 20th century, cruisers could be placed on a consistent scale of warship size, smaller than a battleship but larger than a destroyer. In 1922, the Washington Naval Treaty placed a formal limit on cruisers, which were defined as warships of up to 10,000 tons displacement carrying guns no larger than 8 inches in calibre. These limits shaped cruisers until the end of World War II. The very large battlecruisers of the World War I era were now classified, along with battleships, as capital ships.


title: United States Navy ships

text: In the later 20th century, the obsolescence of the battleship left the cruiser as the largest and most powerful surface combatant (excluding aircraft carriers). The role of the cruiser varied according to ship and navy, often including air defense, commerce raiding, and shore bombardment. The U.S. Navy in the Cold War period built guided-missile cruisers primarily designed to provide air defense, while the navy of the USSR built battlecruisers with heavy anti-ship missiles designed to sink NATO carrier task forces.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Destroyers DDG are fast maneuverable long-endurance warships intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller powerful short-range attackers. They were originally developed in the late 19th century as a defense against torpedo boats, and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBD) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats."


title: United States Navy ships

text: Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended ocean operations; typically a number of destroyers and a single destroyer tender operated together. After the war, the advent of the guided missile allowed destroyers to take on the surface combatant roles previously filled by battleships and cruisers. This resulted in larger and more powerful guided missile destroyers more capable of independent operation.


title: United States Navy ships

text: At the start of the 21st century, destroyers are the heaviest surface combatant ships in general use, with only two nations (United States and Russia) currently operating the heavier class cruisers, with no battleships or true battlecruisers remaining. Modern destroyers, also known as guided missile destroyers, are equivalent in tonnage but vastly superior in firepower to cruisers of the World War II era, capable of carrying nuclear tipped cruise missiles. Guided missile destroyers such as the "Arleigh Burke" class are actually larger and more heavily armed than most previous ships classified as guided missile cruisers, due to their massive size at long, displacement (9200 tons) and armament of over 90 missiles.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Guided-missile destroyers are destroyers designed to launch guided missiles. Many are also equipped to carry out anti-submarine, anti-air, and anti-surface operations. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG. Nations vary in their use of destroyer D designation their hull pennant numbering, either prefixing, or dropping it altogether. The U.S. Navy has adopted the classification DDG in the American hull classification system.


title: United States Navy ships

text: In addition to the guns that destroyers have, a guided-missile destroyer is usually equipped with two large missile magazines, usually in vertical-launch cells. Some guided-missile destroyers contain powerful radar systems, such as the United States’ Aegis Combat System, and may be adopted for use in an anti-missile or ballistic-missile defense role. This is especially true of navies that no longer operate cruisers, as other vessels must be adopted to fill in the gap.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Frigates FF or FFG (according to the modern classification of U.S. navy warships) are smaller ships than destroyers. They are designed primarily to protect other ships (such as merchant convoys), and perform some Anti-Submarine Warfare duties. They are cheaper but of more limited capability than destroyers. The last active class of frigates in the US Navy was the , decommissioned in September 2015, leaving the navy no active frigates.


title: United States Navy ships

text: On January 15, 2015 U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced that ships of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) classes built in the future would be re-classified as "frigates". This would apply only to the future variations of these ships. Current ships will retain the LCS classification unless and until they are upgraded to the standards of the newer ships.


title: United States Navy ships

text: On April 30, 2020, the US Navy awarded a contract to design and produce the next generation small surface combatant, the Guided Missile Frigate (FFG(X)). The contract for detail design and construction (DD&C) of up to 10 Guided Missile Frigates (consisting of one base ship and nine option ships) was awarded to Fincantieri Marinette Marine Corporation (MMC) of Marinette, Wisconsin. The FFG(X) will have multi-mission capability to conduct air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, electronic warfare, and information operations. Specifically FFG(X) will include an Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) radar, Baseline Ten (BL10) AEGIS Combat System, a Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS), communications systems, MK 57 Gun Weapon System (GWS) countermeasures and added capability in the EW/IO area with design flexibility for future growth.


title: United States Navy ships

text: Littoral combat ships LCS are a class of relatively small surface vessels intended for operations in the littoral zone (close to shore) by the United States Navy. It was "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals."


title: United States Navy ships

text: The and the are the first two LCS variants. Both are slightly smaller than the U.S. Navy's guided missile frigates and have been likened to corvettes. They have the capabilities of a small assault transport, including a flight deck and hangar for housing two SH-60 or MH-60 Seahawk helicopters, a stern ramp for operating small boats, and the cargo volume and payload to deliver a small assault force with fighting vehicles to a roll-on/roll-off port facility. Standard armaments include Mk 110 57 mm guns and RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles. They are also equipped with autonomous air, surface, and underwater vehicles. Possessing lower air defense and surface warfare capabilities than destroyers, the LCS concept emphasizes speed, flexible mission modules and a shallow draft.