title: Las Vegas Sands

text: In June 2021, the Company was sued in a Macau court by Asian American Entertainment Corporation, who alleged entitlement to $70 million in Las Vegas Sands' profits in Macau as the company began operating there in 2002.


title: Las Vegas Sands

text: Prior to the November 2022 elections, Las Vegas Sands conducted a petition drive in Florida, spending $49.5 million to amend the State's Constitution to expand casino gambling. The state of Florida is investigating evidence of potentially fraudulent signatures collected during this event.


title: Carter Burwell

text: Carter Benedict Burwell (born November 18, 1954) is an American film composer. He has consistently collaborated with the Coen brothers, having scored most of their films. Burwell has also scored three of Todd Haynes's films, three of Spike Jonze's films, and all the films of Martin McDonagh. He has received Academy Awards nominations for Best Original Score for Haynes's "Carol" (2015) and McDonagh's "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" (2017).


title: Carter Burwell

text: Burwell was born in New York City, the son of Natalie (née Benedict), a math teacher, and Charles Burwell, who founded Thaibok Fabrics, Ltd. He graduated from King School in Stamford, Connecticut with George Hofecker and other notables and Harvard College, where he was a cartoonist for "The Harvard Lampoon".


title: Carter Burwell

text: As a film composer, Burwell has had a long-working relationship with the Coen brothers, providing music for every film they have made (except for "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "Inside Llewyn Davis", which had folk music soundtracks produced by T-Bone Burnett). Among his best known film scores are "Miller's Crossing" (1990), "And the Band Played On" (1993), "Conspiracy Theory" (1997), "Hamlet" (2000), "The Spanish Prisoner" (1997), "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" (2007), "In Bruges" (2008), "Twilight" (2008), "Where the Wild Things Are" (2009), "The Blind Side" (2009), and "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" (2011) and "" (2012). Burwell wrote and recorded the original score for the film "The Bourne Identity", but his version was replaced by director Doug Liman for one by John Powell.


title: Carter Burwell

text: Ultimately the ethos of the punk rock movement gave Burwell the impetus to start performing. He performed in New York with several bands, notably The Same, Thick Pigeon, and Radiante. Burwell played in Thick Pigeon with Stanton Miranda; the group released two albums, "Too Crazy Cowboys" (Factory) and tracks on "Miranda Dali" (Crepuscule), originally released as a Miranda solo project but later reissued as a Thick Pigeon release. On Burwell's soundtrack for "Psycho III", Miranda was a featured singer.


title: Carter Burwell

text: By 1986 he had composed the music for a dance piece, RAB, which premiered at the Avignon Festival. At the same time, he was touring worldwide with The Harmonic Choir, David Hykes' experimental vocal group, which specialized in overtone singing.


title: Carter Burwell

text: Burwell used the country music genre as the basis for his score for the Coens' "Raising Arizona" in 1987. From 1982 to 1987 he worked at the New York Institute of Technology.


title: Carter Burwell

text: His work has alternated between live performance, dance and theater commissions, and film scoring. His chamber opera, "The Celestial Alphabet Event," was presented in New York in 1991, and other theater pieces include "Mother" (1994) and "Lucia's Chapters" (2007), both with the experimental theater group Mabou Mines.


title: Carter Burwell

text: In April 2005 Burwell composed and conducted music performed by The Parabola Ensemble for the plays "Sawbones," written and directed by the Coen brothers, "Hope Leaves the Theater," written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, and "Anomalisa," written and directed by Kaufman as Francis Fregoli. This was a segment of the sound-only production "Theater of the New Ear", which debuted at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York, with support from Sirius Satellite Radio. It was also performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London, England, in May 2005, and at Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California, in September 2005, as part of the UCLA Live Festival.


title: Carter Burwell

text: In 2009, Burwell was the recipient of the ASCAP Henry Mancini Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. In 2010, he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for "Where the Wild Things Are".


title: Carter Burwell

text: In 2015, he received the Distinguished Film Composer award from the Middleburg Film Festival, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for Best Music Score for "Anomalisa" and "Carol". He was nominated for the Annie Award for Music in an Animated Feature Production for "Anomalisa" and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for "Carol". In 2016, he received the Satellite Award for Best Original Score and the Best Score award by the International Cinephile Society for "Carol". Burwell was awarded Film Composer of the Year by the World Soundtrack Awards, and the score for "Carol" received the Public Choice Award for the Best Score of the Year.


title: Carter Burwell

text: Burwell received his first Academy Award for Best Original Score nomination for "Carol", and his second for "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri".


title: Spice World (film)

text: Spice World is a 1997 British musical comedy film directed by Bob Spiers and written by Kim Fuller. The film stars pop girl group the Spice Girls, who all play themselves. The film—made in a similar vein to The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" (1964)—depicts a series of fictional events leading up to a major concert at London's Royal Albert Hall, liberally interspersed with dream sequences and flashbacks as well as surreal moments and humorous asides, along with having an antagonist in the form of an overzealous newspaper editor who starts a smear campaign against the group in an attempt to destroy their reputation for his own benefit.


title: Spice World (film)

text: This is the second feature-length film directed by Spiers, following "That Darn Cat" (1997). The film features Richard E. Grant, Claire Rushbrook, Naoko Mori, Meat Loaf, Barry Humphries, and Alan Cumming in supporting roles, with cameo appearances by a number of British celebrities. Filming took place in London for six of the eight filming weeks and also inside Twickenham Studios, as well as at over 40 famous British landmarks. Shooting featured several fourteen-hour shooting sessions and a constant, heavy media presence due to the Spice Girls' then-large popularity.


title: Spice World (film)

text: The film premiered in the United Kingdom on 15 December 1997, ahead of its wide theatrical release on the British holiday Boxing Day (26 December). In North America, it was released on 23 January 1998 by Columbia Pictures. In the United States, "Spice World" became a box office success and broke the record for the highest-ever weekend debut for Super Bowl weekend with box office sales of $10.5 million. The film grossed over $100 million at the worldwide box office. Despite being a box office success, the film received primarily negative reviews.


title: Spice World (film)

text: To celebrate its 20th Anniversary in 2017, "Spice World" was given a limited release across the United Kingdom showing at Odeon Cinemas. "Spice World" is the highest-grossing film of all time by a musical group.


title: Spice World (film)

text: The film begins when the Spice Girls perform their song "Too Much" on "Top of the Pops". However, they later become dissatisfied with the burdens of fame and fortune. Meanwhile, sinister newspaper owner Kevin McMaxford is trying to ruin the girls' reputation for his ratings. McMaxford dispatches photographer Damien to take pictures and tape recordings of the girls. Less threatening but more annoying is Piers Cuthbertson-Smyth, who, along with his camera crew, stalks the girls, hoping to use them as subjects for his next project. At the same time, the girls' manager, Clifford, is fending off two over-eager Hollywood writers, Martin Barnfield and Graydon, who relentlessly pitch absurd plot ideas for the girls' feature film.


title: Spice World (film)

text: Amid this, the girls must prepare for their live concert at the Royal Albert Hall in three days, which will be the biggest performance of their music career. At the heart of it, the constant rehearsals, travelling, publicity appearances and other burdens of celebrity affect the girls on a personal level, preventing them from spending much time with their best friend, Nicola, who is due to give birth soon. Throughout the busy schedule, the girls try to ask Clifford for time off to spend with Nicola and relax, but Clifford refuses after talking with the head of the girls' record label, the cryptic and eccentric "Chief". The stress and overwork compound, which culminate in the girls' huge argument with Clifford. The girls suddenly storm out on the evening before their gig at the Albert Hall.


title: Spice World (film)

text: The girls separately think back on their humble beginnings and their struggle to the top. They reunite by chance outside the abandoned café where they practised during their adolescent years, they reconcile, and decide to take Nicola out dancing. However, Nicola's contractions start at the nightclub and she is rushed to the hospital, where she gives birth to a healthy baby girl. When Emma notices that the delivery "doctor" has a camera, the girls realize that he is Damien, who flees with the girls in hot pursuit, only to hit his head after accidentally colliding with an empty stretcher. When Damien sees the girls standing over him, he tells them that they have made him realise he's "been living a meaningless lie", and he goes after McMaxford, who is subsequently fired in a "Jacuzzi scandal". After noticing the girls' bus driver, Dennis, is missing, Victoria decides to take the wheel. It becomes a race against time as Victoria drives recklessly through the streets of London to the Albert Hall. While approaching Tower Bridge, the bridge starts being raised to let a boat through the River Thames. Victoria drives up the bridge and over the gap. The bus lands safely on the other side, but when Emma opens a trapdoor in the floor, she discovers a bomb, and the girls scream before Emma slams the trapdoor shut again.


title: Spice World (film)

text: The girls finally arrive at the Albert Hall for their performance. However, the girls have one more obstacle to overcome: a London policeman charges them with "dangerous driving, criminal damage, flying a bus without a licence, and frightening the pigeons". Emma is pushed forward and explains to the policeman that she and the other girls were late for their performance at the Albert Hall. Emma smiles at the policeman, and he lets the girls off for their performance. The girls open their Albert Hall concert with their song "Spice Up Your Life", which is broadcast live on global television. The supporting cast later talk about the girls' film during its closing credits. Melanie C breaks the fourth wall and tells the other girls that the outgoing audience is watching them. The girls talk to the audience, commenting on "those two in the back row snogging" and on one's dress, and discuss about their film, just minutes before the bomb in their bus explodes.


title: Spice World (film)

text: As the popularity of the Spice Girls grew, The Walt Disney Company approached the band about making a film. The band turned down Disney's offer as they did not like the "Disney-fied" script, which was about "a young single mother of one of the girls, fighting hardship to form the band." Kim Fuller, brother of the band's manager Simon Fuller, decided to write the screenplay for a Spice Girls movie himself.


title: Spice World (film)

text: According to Fuller, the script had to be revised many times to accommodate the growing number of celebrities hoping to take part in the film. Director Bob Spiers had been working in America on the Disney film "That Darn Cat" at the peak of the Girls' popularity. He was unaware of the group when first offered the job until his friend Jennifer Saunders advised that he take it. He arrived at a meeting with them in a New York hotel, unaware of what they looked like.


title: Spice World (film)

text: Frank Bruno was originally cast as the tour bus driver, but withdrew after a security guard prevented his son Franklin having an on-set photo taken with the girls. Mentions of Princess Diana and scenes featuring the designer Gianni Versace had to be edited out in post-production following their deaths shortly before the release of the film.


title: Spice World (film)

text: "Their company rang me up and asked if I would be in it", remarked Elvis Costello of his cameo. "I wouldn't have thought I was the kind of face you would get to do a cornflakes advert. Maybe twenty years ago. I was surprised."


title: Spice World (film)

text: Glam rock musician Gary Glitter filmed a four-minute cameo appearance as himself, but shortly before release, he was arrested on child pornography offences. The Spice Girls and the production team agreed that his cameo should be deleted from the final print, although the band's performance of Glitter's "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" was retained. Glitter's scene has since been leaked online.


title: Spice World (film)

text: "Spice World" began filming in June and wrapped in August 1997. The film was to be set to the songs from the Girls' second studio album, but no songs had been written when filming began. The band thus had to do all the songwriting and recording at the same time as they were filming "Spice World".


title: Spice World (film)

text: An official motion picture soundtrack has not been released, since their second studio album, "Spiceworld", was released at the time, heavily promoted and serving as the film's soundtrack. The only song from "Spiceworld" not to appear in the film is "Move Over". The songs appearing in the film are in order of appearance.


title: Spice World (film)

text: "Too Much", the main single, debuted atop the UK Singles Chart, becoming the Spice Girls' second consecutive Christmas number-one single. It made the group the first act to reach number one with their first six singles, and the first to debut atop the chart five times in a row. The single spent two weeks at number one, and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 9 January 1998.


title: Spice World (film)

text: In the United Kingdom, "Spice World" was granted a PG certificate by the British Board of Film Classification for "mild bad language, mild sex references". In the United States, it received a PG rating from the Motion Picture Association of America for "some vulgarity, brief nudity and language".


title: Spice World (film)

text: The film was released on VHS in May 1998 in many regions including the UK, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Japan and Australia. In June 1998, it came out on VHS in the US and Canada. Despite concerns that the high-profile departure of Halliwell from the Spice Girls would affect sales, global demand for the VHS was high. In the UK, the film was number one on the video charts for six consecutive weeks, was certified 11× Platinum, and became the ninth best-selling video of 1998. In the US, the film peaked at number one on the video charts for five consecutive weeks and was the fifth best-selling video of 1998.


title: Spice World (film)

text: "Spice World: The 10th Anniversary Edition" was released on DVD on 19 November 2007 in the United Kingdom and Australia and on 27 November 2007 in the United States.


title: Spice World (film)

text: In 2017, the film was screened at various cinemas in the UK, Ireland and Australia to mark its 20th anniversary.


title: Spice World (film)

text: "Spice World" was a number-one box office success in the United Kingdom, grossing £2.3 million during its opening weekend on Boxing Day 1997. It was the highest opening gross for a British production in the UK, surpassing the record set earlier in the year by "Bean" (excluding previews for "Bean") and also set a record opening week gross for a British film in the U.K. with a gross of £4.8 million. The film was also successful in the United States, breaking the record at that time for the highest-ever weekend debut for Super Bowl weekend (25 January 1998), with box office sales of $10,527,222. The film took in total $100 million at the box office worldwide.


title: Spice World (film)

text: The film received generally negative reviews from critics. Film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave "Spice World" a rating of 36% based on reviews from 67 critics, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 10 and a critic consensus that reads ""Spice World"s lack of cohesive plot will likely lose most viewers, but for fans of the titular girl group there's more than enough fun to be had in their wacky -- albeit superficial -- whirlwind of an adventure." On Metacritic, the film has a 32 out of 100 rating, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". AllMovie gave it two out of five stars.


title: Spice World (film)

text: Noted American film critic Roger Ebert gave one-half of a star and listed "Spice World" as one of his most hated films, saying: "The Spice Girls are easier to tell apart than the Mutant Ninja Turtles, but that is small consolation: What can you say about five women whose principal distinguishing characteristic is that they have different names? They occupy "Spice World" as if they were watching it: They're so detached they can't even successfully lip-synch their own songs." And when he reviewed the film on his and Gene Siskel's film critique programme "Siskel & Ebert", only three weeks into 1998, he declared that he had already seen the worst film of that year, and called it "an entertainment-free dead zone". Ebert included the film on the "Worst of 1998" special, but he chose "Armageddon" as the worst film of 1998.


title: Spice World (film)

text: Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" stated that the film "is pleasant and painless enough to amuse ardent fans, who figure in the film quite often." She also noted that while it got a PG rating in the United States, "nothing about it should disturb its target audience of media-wise, fun-loving 8-year-old girls." Writing for "Sight and Sound", in a positive review, Mark Sinker placed it alongside The Monkees' 1968 cult film "Head". He went on to say that it "sends up the amiable idiocy of pop packaging - and the slow witted mass-media response to it" and it was "tirelessly generous in its energy".


title: Spice World (film)

text: Derek Elley, resident film critic for "Variety", gave a mixed review, calling the film "bright and breezy" and "as timely but evanescent as the Cool Britannia culture it celebrates". He stated that the film would "delight the Fab Five's pre-pubescent fans" but that it would "be forgotten within six months".


title: Spice World (film)

text: Several critics have reevaluated the film more positively in the years after its initial release. Re-watching "Spice World" in 2019, Alice Vincent of "The Daily Telegraph" was "pleasantly surprised" that the jokes had not aged badly and found the sets and costuming had a "now-retro charm". Vincent stated: "It's an irreverent, lighthearted romp that captured the brash, patriotic positivity of a London swept up in Cool Britannia." Writing for "The New York Times" in 2019, Eleanor Stanford found the film to be "much smarter and more self-aware than I once gave it credit for," particularly enjoying how the Spice Girls poked fun at themselves. Stanford concluded: "The Spice Girls were absolutely working the (very sexist) system, and making a lot of money off it, but they were doing it slyly, with a wink and a grin. They were, I think, misunderstood at the time, and I wonder if an irreverent, breezy group like theirs could even exist today."


title: Spice World (film)

text: The film has been listed in Golden Raspberry Awards founder John Wilson's book "The Official Razzie Movie Guide" as one of "The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made". Along with the nominations and wins racked up at the 1998 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, "Spice World" was listed in their upcoming "100 Years, 100 Stinkers" list, in which people voted for the 100 worst movies of the 20th century. The film was ranked at #5.


title: Spice World (film)

text: "Spice World" has arguably achieved cult status. The film, while being negatively reviewed during its original release, is remembered fondly by many who were part of its target audience of younger pop fans at the time of its release. Some commentators consider the film to be a "cult classic", describing it as brilliant, even a masterpiece of the parody genre, that mocks both celebrity culture and cinematic clichés, while giving many winks to popular culture of the time.


title: Spice World (film)

text: On 18 July 2014, the Spice Bus used in the film was put on permanent display at Island Harbour Marina, on the Isle of Wight, England.


title: Spice World (film)

text: In 2010, Bunton revealed that there were plans for a sequel following the first film's release, stating: "We would've liked to do another film, but after "Spice World", there was an album, then a tour and then Geri left, so it didn't happen."


title: Spice World (film)

text: Speaking in January 2019, following the announcement of the Spice Girls reunion tour, Simon Fuller confirmed plans to make an animated sequel to "Spice World." On 13 June 2019, it was reported that Paramount Animation president Mireille Soria had greenlit the project, with all five members of the band returning. The project will be produced by Simon Fuller, with Karen McCullah and Kiki Smith writing the screenplay, and will feature both previous and original songs. The film would feature the band as superheroes. A director has not yet been announced.


title: Royal Lodge

text: The Royal Lodge is a Grade II listed house in Windsor Great Park in Berkshire, England, half a mile north of Cumberland Lodge and south of Windsor Castle. Part of the Crown Estate, it was the Windsor residence of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1952 until she died there in 2002, at the age of 101. Since 2004, it has been the official country residence of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and his family.


title: Royal Lodge

text: The Lodge dates originally from the mid-seventeenth century, there being a house on the site by 1662. By 1750, the small Queen Anne style brick house was being used in conjunction with the adjacent dairy. By this time, it was known variously as the Lower Lodge, to distinguish it from Cumberland Lodge, then known as the Great Lodge, or the Dairy Lodge.


title: Royal Lodge

text: From the mid-eighteenth century, it was home to the military topographer and artist Thomas Sandby (brother of the better known Paul), as Deputy Ranger of the Great Park. The house was then known as the Deputy Ranger's House.


title: Royal Lodge

text: It was enlarged by 1792 and was the home of Joseph Frost, the Park Bailiff, and then of the General Superintendent of Farms, after Sandby's death.


title: Royal Lodge

text: George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV), planned to rebuild Cumberland Lodge, after he had become prince regent. He used the Lower Lodge as temporary accommodation in 1812. Alterations and additions were undertaken by John Nash for the Prince of Wales.


title: Royal Lodge

text: The chapels of the Royal and Cumberland Lodges proved too small for the royal households in the early 19th century, and the Royal Chapel of All Saints was built in 1825 by Jeffry Wyatville. The chapel is less than a hundred yards from Royal Lodge.


title: Royal Lodge

text: It was now a large and elaborate cottage in the contemporary style of the cottage orné, with thatched roofs, verandas, and a conservatory. It became known as the Prince Regent's Cottage after the prince moved into it in 1815. The renovation of Cumberland Lodge was abandoned.


title: Royal Lodge

text: Additions were made after 1820. In 1823, Jeffry Wyatt (later Sir Jeffry Wyatville) succeeded Nash as architect, and the house (known now as the "King's Cottage") became known as the Royal Lodge in the late 1820s.


title: Royal Lodge

text: After 1830, King William IV ordered the demolition of all of the house, except the conservatory. It became a residence again in 1840, and was used as accommodation for various officers of the Royal Household until 1843, and from 1873 to 1931.


title: Royal Lodge

text: The grounds extend to 98 acres (40 hectares), partly under its own head gardener, but mostly the responsibility of the Crown Estates Commissioners. While the house has grown piecemeal since the 1840s, and remains relatively small and informal, the grounds have a unifying plan. This was the result of work undertaken by the Duke and Duchess of York in the 1930s, with the assistance of Sir Eric Savill, of the Windsor Estate.


title: Royal Lodge

text: In 1931, King George V granted Royal Lodge to the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) as a country retreat. Wings were added on each flank in the 1930s. There are two lodges at the entrance, and groups of three cottages each side of the lodges. The main building has some 30 rooms, including 7 bedrooms, and a saloon (). The original conservatory survives. The grounds contain the miniature cottage Y Bwthyn Bach, a gift to Princess Elizabeth as a child from the people of Wales in 1932.


title: Royal Lodge

text: King George and Queen Elizabeth and their daughters Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret were depicted in the Royal Lodge in Herbert James Gunn's 1950 painting "Conversation Piece at the Royal Lodge, Windsor".


title: Royal Lodge

text: After the death of George VI in 1952, the Queen Mother continued to use the house as one of her country retreats as a grace and favour residence, until her death. The Queen Mother died at the Royal Lodge in March 2002, with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, by her side.


title: Royal Lodge

text: In August 2003, the Duke of York was granted a lease agreement by the Crown Estate for 75 years. The property leased included the Royal Lodge, a Gardener's Cottage, the Chapel Lodge, six Lodge Cottages, and police security accommodation in addition to 40 hectares of land.


title: Royal Lodge

text: The lease agreement required Prince Andrew to carry out, at his own expense, refurbishments estimated at £7.5 million at September 2002 prices, excluding VAT (this sum was exceeded). It also provided for a premium payment of £1 million.


title: Royal Lodge

text: The National Audit Office (NAO) report into the lease agreement states that the Crown Estate's independent advisors had advised that the refurbishment work would cost at least £5 million and that the prince should be given the option to buy out the notional annual rental payment (set at £260,000) for £2.5 million.


title: Royal Lodge

text: Once the prince committed to spending £7.5 million on refurbishment, it was decided that no rental would be required as he would be treated as having effectively bought out the notional annual rental payment because he exceeded the minimum £5 million required for refurbishment. As a result, only the £1 million premium was paid to the Crown Estate.


title: Royal Lodge

text: There is no provision for any further rent review over the life of the 75-year lease agreement (unlike the rent reviews provided in the case of Bagshot Park, residence of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, also leased from the Crown Estate).


title: Royal Lodge

text: The lease agreement provides that the prince may not benefit financially from any increase in the value of the property as the freehold belongs to the Crown Estate. The leasehold may be assigned only to his widow or his two daughters, Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York (or a trust established solely for their benefit). This may be a significant benefit given the increase in the value of the property and the notional annual rental payment which it would command over the course of the 75-year lease.


title: Royal Lodge

text: The NAO report does not specify whether sub-leasing by the prince or his daughters is allowed under the rental agreement. If the prince terminates the lease, the property would revert to the Crown Estate. He would be entitled to compensation for the refurbishment costs incurred up to a maximum of just under £7 million, which is reduced annually over the first 25 years, after which no compensation is payable.


title: Royal Lodge

text: The NAO report states that having already taken advice from one independent advisor on the transaction, the Crown Estate appointed a second firm of independent advisors to assess the details of the lease deal, given its importance. The second independent advisor concluded that the deal was appropriate having regard to the need to maintain management control over Royal Lodge and because of the security implications (particularly concerning the Royal Family's access to the Royal Chapel).


title: Royal Lodge

text: In the circumstances, the Crown Estate considered that the requirement to obtain value for money was satisfied, taking into account the non-financial considerations relating to the lease of the property. The alternative use, to lease it on the commercial market, was therefore not possible.


title: Royal Lodge

text: Following the renovations, Prince Andrew with his two daughters moved into the house in 2004, having vacated Sunninghill Park. In 2008, his former wife Sarah, Duchess of York officially moved into Royal Lodge, again sharing a house with the Duke of York. It has been reported that the open market value of the property would be at least £30 million, as of January 2022.


title: Royal Lodge

text: After the Duke of York stepped down from public duties in November 2019, the flagpole on the roof of the Royal Lodge was removed. The flagpole was previously used to fly the personal Royal Standard of the Duke of York when in residence.


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: All Hope Is Gone is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot, released on August 26, 2008 by Roadrunner Records. The album was published in two versions: the standard album in a CD case and a special edition packaged in a six-fold digipak containing three bonus tracks, a 40 page booklet, and a bonus DVD with a documentary of the album's recording. Preparation for the album began in 2007, while recording started in February 2008 in the band's home state of Iowa. Before the album's launch, Slipknot released a series of promotional images and audio samples from the album through various websites. "All Hope Is Gone" was considered the band's most eclectic-sounding album at the time of release, incorporating elements from their previous three. The album shows Slipknot completely abandoning the nu metal genre, moving to a groove metal style. Songs such as the opening track "Gematria (The Killing Name)" and the title track espouse the band's more brutal, death metal-influenced edge, reminiscent of songs such as "(sic)" from their debut self-titled album; slow burning, "trippy" elements such as "Gehenna", recalling "Skin Ticket" from their second album "Iowa"; and more tragic, sentimental tracks such as "Dead Memories" and "Snuff".


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: Lyrically, "All Hope Is Gone" centers on themes such as anger, disaffection, obsession, and the music industry. The album name also features a more prominent focus on politics than their previous albums. Slipknot promoted "All Hope Is Gone" on a world tour and at the Mayhem Festival. Generally well received by critics, the album reached the top position on nine record charts worldwide, including the "Billboard" 200—the first Slipknot album to do so. It was certified platinum by the RIAA on August 10, 2010 for shipments in excess of 1,000,000 albums in the United States. With a runtime of 57 minutes and 57 seconds, it is Slipknot's second-shortest studio album behind 2022's "The End, So Far". It is also the band's final studio album to feature their full original lineup with two longtime members: bassist and founding member Paul Gray, who was found dead in an Iowa hotel on May 24, 2010, almost two years after the album's release, and drummer Joey Jordison, who was fired from the group in December 2013.


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: Preparation for "All Hope Is Gone" began in 2007. Drummer Joey Jordison explained, "I've told them to demo whatever they can so we've got as much material to choose from as possible." In February 2008, Slipknot entered the Sound Farm Studio in Jamaica, Iowa with producer Dave Fortman. "All Hope Is Gone" is the band's first album written and recorded in their home state of Iowa. Bassist Paul Gray explained that the band decided to record in Iowa because there were too many distractions in Los Angeles, where production of their previous albums had taken place. The band also stated that being close to home was good for their mindset; vocalist Corey Taylor drove home every night to see his son. Unlike Slipknot's previous releases, the album's writing process involved all nine band members, who wrote over 30 songs. Jordison commented, "I have to say that the band is at its peak; everyone—I mean everyone—is now completely involved in the writing process, and it's a beautiful thing." Taylor felt the writing process had some problems, but also noted that the creation of every Slipknot album has had conflict and that the band has come to embrace it after realizing that the conflict helps to bring out their creativity. Taylor and guitarist Jim Root paired up with Sid Wilson, performing on keyboards, and percussionist Shawn Crahan to work on "oblique, arty pieces". Taylor also experimented with tracking in an old well, stating, "There was this natural reverb to it that was just intense." According to Crahan none of the experimental tracks made it onto the album. However, one of them, "Til We Die", appears as a bonus track on the album's special edition along with "Child of Burning Time" and the similarly experimental Bloodstone mix of "Vermilion Pt. 2". The track "Sulfur" was the first combined effort of Jordison and Root, who wrote the song in one evening.


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: Many of the band members have expressed their dissatisfaction with "All Hope Is Gone" and consider it to be their least favorite Slipknot album. Feeling discontent over the record's production process, Root said, "it felt a little bit rushed. And it felt like we were trying to do things just to appease a schedule, which I didn't really like." Root was particularly disappointed with the record's producer, Dave Fortman, and said, "Dave Fortman really helped me appreciate Rick Rubin as a producer. [Fortman] wasn't able to get nine people together on the same page and, to me, that's the most important thing in making a Slipknot record." Conversely, Jordison said, "It's finally the record that I've wanted Slipknot to sound like." He went on to compliment Fortman's ear for tone, and considered "All Hope Is Gone" to be the band's best album. "All Hope Is Gone" was mixed by Colin Richardson in Miloco's The Engine Room studio in the United Kingdom.


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: Rumors that Slipknot would be recording and touring "All Hope Is Gone" without their trademark masks circulated after band members appeared unmasked during performances with various side-projects. However, Shawn Crahan dismissed these rumors in an interview on "The Sauce". Bassist Paul Gray elaborated that the band would return with a new image; "It'll still be Slipknot," he stated, "but we're gonna upgrade, step things up a little." Beginning April 1, 2008, Slipknot's website displayed ten teasers to promote "All Hope Is Gone". The first nine displayed the band in their purgatory masks, however, the final teaser featured a darkened photograph of the band with their new masks. Slipknot premiered their new masks on July 1, 2008 on Spinner.com; eight million people visited the website to view the masks on the first day.


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: On June 15, 2008, a 30-second sample and cover art from the album's title track, "All Hope Is Gone", were made available on Amazon.com. The song began airplay the same day and on June 20, 2008, Roadrunner Records offered the track as a free download on their website. "All Hope Is Gone" was later released as a digital single. The second single from the album, "Psychosocial", began airplay on June 26, 2008 and was released as a digital single on July 7, 2008. Following the album's launch, "Dead Memories" was released as a digital single on December 1, 2008, along with an accompanying music video. The music video for "Sulfur", the album's fourth single, premiered on April 18, 2009, and the single was released on June 15, 2009. From August 17 through 19, 2008, "Kerrang!" magazine held six listening events across the United Kingdom which included a preview of the documentary supplied with the album's special edition, and free merchandise. On April 17, 2009, Roadrunner Records announced that the album would be released on vinyl on April 19, 2009, coinciding with Record Store Day.


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: The album's cover art and track listing were released on July 8, 2008. Slipknot began its All Hope Is Gone World Tour the following day—the tour was their first since 2005. The band initially toured with the Mayhem Festival across the United States, through August 16, 2008. Afterward, Slipknot was scheduled to appear at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in England, the Two Days a Week Festival in Austria, and the Area4 Festival in Germany. However, the European tour dates were canceled due to Jordison breaking his ankle. Slipknot performed at the Rock on the Range Festival on May 16 and 17, 2009 then headlined the Download Festival in England during the summer, the first time they had headlined the festival.


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: Musically, the album sees the band moving away from nu metal and towards groove metal, with elements of death metal and thrash metal. Magazine "Yell!" wrote that "All Hope is Gone" "expands on" Slipknot's "thrash metal guitar work and vocal melodies." Prior to the album's release, Slipknot's members displayed interest in making "All Hope Is Gone" their heaviest album, which Joey Jordison affirmed saying, "It's going to be heavier than "", but just as weird and as experimental." Corey Taylor reiterated this, describing "All Hope Is Gone" as a "very dark" combination of the band's two previous studio albums, "Iowa" and "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)". In "All Hope Is Gone", Slipknot expands on their use of traditional song structures, acoustics, and solos that they introduced on their previous album "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)". The song "Snuff" is led by acoustic guitars and has been dubbed as Slipknot's "attempt at a power ballad", though it remains "dark and ominous". In an interview with Artistdirect, Shawn Crahan stated, "Everyone can feel the pain that's in there. It's not forced upon you. You have it in there innately." Slipknot also retained a metal edge harking back to their earlier work. Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic wrote that "Gematria (The Killing Name)" goes from "a cluster of cacophony" to "an onslaught of densely dark intricate riffs". Crahan compared it to the song "(sic)" from their debut album, explaining, "The technique and the style are very reminiscent of the old, brutal shit that we've done." Jim Kaz of IGN stated that the "swaggering, cock-rock groove and an anthemic chorus" of "Psychosocial" gives Slipknot the potential to reach out to new fans "without sacrificing a lick of intensity". Crahan stated he "loves" his parts of "Psychosocial", in which the band incorporates snare drums in the style of "Before I Forget". He also cited "This Cold Black" as one of his favorite songs, saying that it has a "driving tempo and a lot of attitude". The track "Gehenna" incorporates elements of Slipknot's slower, more cerebral edge similar to "Prosthetics" and "Purity" from their debut album, and "Skin Ticket" from "Iowa". Crahan called it a "trippy song", explaining, "It's just somewhere we go."


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: Corey Taylor explained that the phrase "All Hope Is Gone" is aimed at the fans' expectations of the band, further elaborating, "Just when you thought you had us figured out, give up all hope because you're never, ever going to." Throughout the album, Taylor incorporates a focus on politics in his lyrics, compared to Slipknot's previous albums. The opening track, ".execute.", features Taylor's response to former United States Vice President Spiro Agnew's speech targeted at Vietnam War protesters. During an interview with "Kerrang!", Taylor discussed the song's lyrical content, explaining, "There are a lot of people who are disguising politics as religion and dictating taste and turning it into policy. And that hurts me." Reviewing for IGN, Jim Kaz said that lyrically, "Gematria (The Killing Name)" gives the listener a "heaping dose of Corey Taylor's caustic bravado". On the track "Wherein Lies Continue", Taylor offers a "dressing down of the world as we know it", explaining, "It kinda goes up against any civilization that takes themselves way too seriously and where the 'leaders' are so pretentious that they think they are deemed to speak for the people." He also proclaimed, "It wouldn't be a Slipknot album if I didn't rag on the recording industry." On "Butcher's Hook", Taylor specifically targets "all those little emo boys", commenting, "People give us shit for wearing outfits, but all of those guys look exactly the same."


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: "All Hope Is Gone" was Slipknot's first album to debut at number one on the "Billboard" 200 album chart, outselling "LAX" from The Game by 1,134 units. Initially, "Billboard" published an article stating that The Game had secured the top spot with a margin of 13 units, in what was described as the "closest race for number one since SoundScan began tracking data in 1991". After a recount 12 hours later, the article was rewritten and Slipknot was awarded the number one spot, having sold 239,516 units. "All Hope Is Gone" debuted at number two in the United Kingdom, topped only by The Verve's album "Forth". In Canada, the album sold over 20,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart. The album also debuted at number one on eight other charts worldwide. "Psychosocial", the album's second single, brought Slipknot their first MTV Video Music Awards nomination for Best Rock Video, as well as their seventh Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 51st Grammy Awards. In December 2008, "Total Guitar" ranked "All Hope Is Gone" as one of the "50 Best Guitar Albums of the Year". In 2009, it was rated 16th in UK magazine "Kerrang!"s "The 50 Best Albums of the 21st Century" reader poll.


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: "All Hope Is Gone" has been certified Platinum in the United States of America and Canada by the RIAA and the CRIA respectively. As of January 2012, the album has sold over one million copies in the U.S. It has been certified Gold in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Germany hence being a commercial success. As of 2014, the album has sold 1,106,000 copies in the U.S. alone.


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: "All Hope Is Gone" was generally well received by critics. Several music critics anticipated the album immediately after the release of "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)". In its review of "Vol. 3", AllMusic stated, "There's a sense that whatever Slipknot do next might be their ultimate broadcast to the faithful." Copies of "All Hope Is Gone" intended for reviewers were pressed under the false name "Rusty Cage" to reduce the risk of the album leaking onto the Internet. Stephen Erlewine wrote in his review for AllMusic that the early "cluster of cacophony" of "Gematria" is "so effective [...] that when things do get a little softer a little later on, the album threatens to collapse like a soufflé" and opined that "one more power ballad like Snuff would be enough to derail the album." He gave the album a rating of four out of five stars. Regarding the album's creation process, Darren Sadler of "Rock Sound" wrote, "Slipknot raised their collective middle fingers, and created an album that stands out head and shoulders above everything else that will be released this year." He compared the album's sound to those of other bands such as Stone Sour, Morbid Angel, and Meshuggah, and he gave the album a score of 9 out of 10. Ryan Ogle of Blabbermouth.net gave "All Hope Is Gone" 7.5 out of 10 stars. Ogle stated that the fans' views of the "diversity" of the album would be Slipknot's "saving grace, or their misfortune", concluding, "While it may not be as jaw-dropping or revolutionary as some might have hoped, it's by no means a bad release." Reviewing for "Blender", writer Darren Ratner observed a different theme in the lyrics when compared to previous Slipknot albums, noting that the band is able to "make ugliness sound just a little bit pretty". Marc Weingarten of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the album a B+ rating, calling "All Hope Is Gone" "a metal assault-and-battery on the hypocrisies of the modern world". Jim Kaz of IGN stated that the band's attempt to move from nu-metal to "more classic metal elements" was "the best career move they could've made". Kaz gave "All Hope Is Gone" a score of 8.1 out of 10, writing, "[It] effectively [builds] upon the band's collective strengths." "Q" noted that the band no longer resembled "a threat to Western civilisation" but claimed that the album delivered one shock; "how listenable they've become", including "Snuff" in the top 50 downloads for August 2008.


title: All Hope Is Gone

text: "Rolling Stone" reviewer Chris Steffen praised the percussive edge on "All Hope Is Gone" noting, "The band's multiple percussionists generate a din that's more suffocating than ever [on the track] 'Gematria'." He proposed "Snuff" as the "most melodic" song on the album, comparing it to "Circle" from "Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)". Steffen also wrote that " 'Psychosocial' is capped off with a time-signature shattering guitar/drum breakdown that will leave the best air-instrumentalists stumped". The album was praised by "Total Guitar"s writer Nick Cracknell, who declared the effort "Slipknot's heaviest and most aggressive work to date". He compared "Dead Memories" to the works of Alice in Chains, while praising "Gehenna" for being the band's "most experimental work in their history". Cracknell went on to state "Wherein Lies Continue" contains a "huge chugging verse riff" which evolves into an "incredible soaring chorus". Dan Martin of "The Guardian" compared "Dead Memories" to Metallica's song "Enter Sandman" and called "Gematria (The Killing Name)" a work of "astonishingly dense thrash", giving the album four out of five stars.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or ) is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . While in the West it is known as "tea ceremony", it is seldom ceremonial in practice. Most often tea is served to family, friends, and associates; religious and ceremonial connotations are overstated in western spaces. While in the West it is known as a form of tea ceremony, in Japan the art and philosophy of tea can be more accurately described as "Teaism" as opposed to focusing on the ceremonial aspect.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Zen Buddhism was a primary influence in the development of the culture of Japanese tea. Much less commonly, Japanese tea practice uses leaf tea, primarily , a practice known as .


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Tea gatherings are classified as either an informal tea gathering () or a formal tea gathering (). A is a relatively simple course of hospitality that includes confections, thin tea, and perhaps a light meal. A is a much more formal gathering, usually including a full-course meal followed by confections, thick tea, and thin tea. A may last up to four hours.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The first documented evidence of tea in Japan dates to the 9th century. It is found in an entry in the having to do with the Buddhist monk , who had brought some tea back to Japan on his return from China. The entry states that Eichū personally prepared and served (tea beverage made by steeping tea leaves in hot water) to Emperor Saga, who was on an excursion in Karasaki (in present Shiga Prefecture) in 815. By imperial order in 816, tea plantations began to be cultivated in the Kinki region of Japan. However, the interest in tea in Japan faded after this.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: In China, tea had already been known, according to legend, for more than a thousand years. The form of tea popular in China in Eichū's time was – tea compressed into a nugget in the same manner as tea. This then would be ground in a mortar, and the resulting ground tea mixed together with various other herbs and flavourings. The custom of drinking tea, first for medicinal, and then largely for pleasurable reasons, was already widespread throughout China. In the early 9th century, Chinese author Lu Yu wrote "The Classic of Tea", a treatise on tea focusing on its cultivation and preparation. Lu Yu's life had been heavily influenced by Buddhism, particularly the Zen–Chán Buddhist school. His ideas would have a strong influence in the development of the Japanese tea.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Around the end of the 12th century, the style of tea preparation called , in which powdered was placed into a bowl, hot water added, and the tea and hot water whipped together, was introduced to Japan by Buddhist monk Eisai on his return from China. He also took tea seeds back with him, which eventually produced tea that was considered to be the most superb quality in all of Japan. This powdered green tea was first used in religious rituals in Buddhist monasteries. By the 13th century, when the Kamakura shogunate ruled the nation and tea and the luxuries associated with it became a kind of status symbol among the warrior class, there arose parties wherein contestants could win extravagant prizes for guessing the best quality tea – that was grown in Kyoto, deriving from the seeds that Eisai brought from China.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The next major period in Japanese history was the Muromachi period, pointing to the rise of , centered around the cultural world of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and his villa in the northern hills of Kyoto (Kinkaku-ji), and later during this period, the rise of Higashiyama culture, centered around the elegant cultural world of Ashikaga Yoshimasa and his retirement villa in the eastern hills of Kyoto (Ginkaku-ji). This period, approximately 1336 to 1573, saw the budding of what is generally regarded as Japanese traditional culture as it is known today.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The use of Japanese tea developed as a "transformative practice" and began to evolve its own aesthetic, in particular that of principles. represents the inner, or spiritual, experiences of human lives. Its original meaning indicated quiet or sober refinement, or subdued taste "characterized by humility, restraint, simplicity, naturalism, profundity, imperfection, and asymmetry" and "emphasizes simple, unadorned objects and architectural space, and celebrates the mellow beauty that time and care impart to materials." , on the other hand, represents the outer, or material side of life. Originally, it meant "worn", "weathered", or "decayed". Particularly among the nobility, understanding emptiness was considered the most effective means to spiritual awakening, while embracing imperfection was honoured as a reminder to cherish one's unpolished and unfinished nature – considered to be the first step to , or enlightenment.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Murata Jukō is known in history as an early developer of tea as a spiritual practice. He studied Zen under the monk Ikkyū, who revitalized Zen in the 15th century, and this is considered to have influenced his concept of .


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: By the 16th century, tea drinking had spread to all levels of society in Japan. Sen no Rikyū and his work "Southern Record", perhaps the best-known – and still revered – historical figure in tea, followed his master Takeno Jōō's concept of , a philosophy that each meeting should be treasured, for it can never be reproduced. His teachings perfected many newly developed forms in architecture and gardens, art, and the full development of the "way of tea". The principles he set forward – , , , and – are still central to tea.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Sen no Rikyū was the leading teamaster of the regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who greatly supported him in codifying and spreading the way of tea, also as a means of solidifying his own political power. Hideyoshi's tastes were influenced by his teamaster, but nevertheless he also had his own ideas to cement his power such as constructing the Golden Tea Room and hosting the Grand Kitano Tea Ceremony in 1587. The symbiotic relationship between politics and tea was at its height. However, it was increasingly at odds with the rustic and simple aesthetics continuously advertised by his tea master, which the regent increasingly saw as a threat to cementing his own power and position, and their once close relationship began to suffer. In 1590, one of the leading disciples of Rikyu, Yamanoue Sōji, was brutally executed on orders of the regent. One year later the regent ordered his teamaster to commit ritual suicide. The way of tea was never so closely intertwined with politics before or after. After the death of Rikyū, essentially three schools descended from him to continue the tradition. The way of tea continued to spread throughout the country and later developed not only from the court and samurai class, but also towards the townspeople. Many schools of Japanese tea ceremony have evolved through the long history of and are active today.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Japanese tea ceremonies are typically conducted in specially constructed spaces or rooms designed for the purpose of tea ceremony. While a purpose-built -floored room is considered the ideal venue, any place where the necessary implements for the making and serving of the tea can be set out and where the host can make the tea in the presence of the seated guest(s) can be used as a venue for tea. For instance, a tea gathering can be held picnic-style in the outdoors, known as .


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: A purpose-built room designed for the style of tea is called a , and is ideally 4.5- wide and long in floor area. A purpose-built typically has a low ceiling, a hearth built into the floor, an alcove for hanging scrolls and placing other decorative objects, and separate entrances for host and guests. It also has an attached preparation area known as a .


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: A 4.5-mat room is considered standard, but smaller and larger rooms are also used. Building materials and decorations are deliberately simple and rustic in style tea rooms. can also refer to free-standing buildings for tea. Known in English as tea houses, such structures may contain several tea rooms of different sizes and styles, dressing and waiting rooms, and other amenities, and be surrounded by a tea garden called a .


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Seasonality and the changing of the seasons are considered important for enjoyment of tea and tea ceremony. Traditionally, the year is divided by tea practitioners into two main seasons: the season, constituting the colder months (traditionally November to April), and the season, constituting the warmer months (traditionally May to October).


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: For each season, there are variations in the performed and utensils and other equipment used. Ideally, the configuration of the in a 4.5 mat room changes with the season as well.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: There are two main ways of preparing for tea consumption: and , with the best quality tea leaves used in preparing thick tea. Historically, the tea leaves used as packing material for the leaves in the would be served as thin tea. Japanese historical documents about tea that differentiate between and first appear in the Tenmon era (1532–1555). The first documented appearance of the term is in 1575.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: As the terms imply, is a thick blend of matcha and hot water that requires about three times as much tea to the equivalent amount of water than . To prepare , and hot water are whipped using the , while is kneaded with the whisk to smoothly blend the large amount of powdered tea with the water.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Thin tea is served to each guest in an individual bowl, while one bowl of thick tea is shared among several guests. This style of sharing a bowl of first appeared in historical documents in 1586, and is a method considered to have been invented by Sen no Rikyū.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The most important part of a is the preparation and drinking of , which is followed by . A may involve only the preparation and serving of thin tea (and accompanying confections), representing the more relaxed, finishing portion of a .


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The equipment for tea ceremony is called . A wide range of are available and different styles and motifs are used for different events and in different seasons, with most being constructed from carefully crafted bamboo. All the tools for tea are handled with exquisite care, being scrupulously cleaned before and after each use and before storing, with some handled only with gloved hands. Some items, such as the tea storage jar (known as ), are so revered, that historically, they were given proper names like people, and were admired and documented by multiple diarists.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Procedures vary from school to school, and with the time of year, time of day, venue, and other considerations. The noon tea gathering of one host and a maximum of five guests is considered the most formal . The following is a general description of a noon held in the cool weather season at a purpose-built tea house.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The guests arrive a little before the appointed time and enter an interior waiting room, where they store unneeded items such as coats, and put on fresh socks. Ideally, the waiting room has a floor and an alcove (), in which is displayed a hanging scroll which may allude to the season, the theme of the , or some other appropriate theme.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The guests are served a cup of the hot water, tea, roasted barley tea, or . When all the guests have arrived and finished their preparations, they proceed to the outdoor waiting bench in the , where they remain until summoned by the host.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Following a silent bow between host and guests, the guests proceed in order to a (stone basin) where they ritually purify themselves by washing their hands and rinsing their mouths with water, and then continue along the to the tea house. They remove their footwear and enter the tea room through a small "crawling-in" door (), and proceed to view the items placed in the and any tea equipment placed ready in the room, and are then seated -style on the in order of prestige.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: When the last guest has taken their place, they close the door with an audible sound to alert the host, who enters the tea room and welcomes each guest, and then answers questions posed by the first guest about the scroll and other items.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The begins in the cool months with the laying of the charcoal fire which is used to heat the water. Following this, guests are served a meal in several courses accompanied by and followed by a small sweet () eaten from special paper called , which each guest carries, often in a decorative wallet or tucked into the breast of the kimono. After the meal, there is a break called a during which the guests return to the waiting shelter until summoned again by the host, who uses the break to sweep the tea room, take down the scroll and replace it with a flower arrangement, open the tea room's shutters, and make preparations for serving the tea.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Having been summoned back to the tea room by the sound of a bell or gong rung in prescribed ways, the guests again purify themselves and examine the items placed in the tea room. The host then enters, ritually cleanses each utensil – including the tea bowl, whisk, and tea scoop – in the presence of the guests in a precise order and using prescribed motions, and places them in an exact arrangement according to the particular procedure being performed. When the preparation of the utensils is complete, the host prepares thick tea.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Bows are exchanged between the host and the guest receiving the tea. The guest then bows to the second guest, and raises the bowl in a gesture of respect to the host. The guest rotates the bowl to avoid drinking from its front, takes a sip, and compliments the host on the tea. After taking a few sips, the guest wipes clean the rim of the bowl and passes it to the second guest. The procedure is repeated until all guests have taken tea from the same bowl; each guest then has an opportunity to admire the bowl before it is returned to the host, who then cleanses the equipment and leaves the tea room.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The host then rekindles the fire and adds more charcoal. This signifies a change from the more formal portion of the gathering to the more casual portion, and the host will return to the tea room to bring in a and more confections, usually , to accompany the thin tea, and possibly cushions for the guests' comfort.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The host will then proceed with the preparation of an individual bowl of thin tea to be served to each guest. While in earlier portions of the gathering conversation is limited to a few formal comments exchanged between the first guest and the host, in the portion, after a similar ritual exchange, the guests may engage in casual conversation.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: After all the guests have taken tea, the host cleans the utensils in preparation for putting them away. The guest of honour will request that the host allow the guests to examine some of the utensils, and each guest in turn examines each item, including the tea caddy and the tea scoop. (This examination is done to show respect and admiration for the host.) The items are treated with extreme care and reverence as they may be priceless, irreplaceable, handmade antiques, and guests often use a special brocaded cloth to handle them.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The host then collects the utensils, and the guests leave the tea house. The host bows from the door, and the gathering is over. A tea gathering can last up to four hours, depending on the type of occasion performed, the number of guests, and the types of meal and tea served.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Every action in – how a kettle is used, how a teacup is examined, how tea is scooped into a cup – is performed in a very specific way, and may be thought of as a procedure or technique. The procedures performed in are known collectively as . The act of performing these procedures during a is called "doing ".


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: There are many styles of , depending upon the school, occasion, season, setting, equipment, and countless other possible factors. The following is a short, general list of common types of .


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: , , or is a simple procedure for making (thin tea). The tea bowl, tea whisk, tea scoop, and tea caddy are placed on a tray, and the hot water is prepared in a kettle called a , which is heated on a brazier. This is usually the first learned, and is the easiest to perform, requiring neither much specialized equipment nor a lot of time to complete. It may easily be done sitting at a table, or outdoors, using a thermos pot in place of the and portable hearth.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: In the style, the tea is prepared with the host kneeling at a special table, and the guests are also kneeling at tables. It is possible, therefore, for -style to be conducted nearly anywhere, even outdoors. The name refers to the host's practice of performing the first and last bows while standing. In there is usually an assistant who sits near the host and moves the host's seat out of the way as needed for standing or sitting. The assistant also serves the tea and sweets to the guests. This procedure originated in the Urasenke school, initially for serving non-Japanese guests who, it was thought, would be more comfortable sitting on chairs.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The Japanese traditional floor mats, , are used in various ways in tea offerings. Their placement, for example, determines how a person walks through the tea room , and the different seating positions.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The use of flooring has influenced the development of tea. For instance, when walking on it is customary to shuffle, to avoid causing disturbance. Shuffling forces one to slow down, to maintain erect posture, and to walk quietly, and helps one to maintain balance as the combination of and makes for a slippery surface; it is also a function of wearing kimono, which restricts stride length. One must avoid walking on the joins between mats, one practical reason being that that would tend to damage the . Therefore, tea students are taught to step over such joins when walking in the tea room.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: The placement of in tea rooms differs slightly from the normal placement in regular Japanese-style rooms, and may also vary by season (where it is possible to rearrange the mats). In a 4.5 mat room, the mats are placed in a circular pattern around a centre mat. Purpose-built tea rooms have a sunken hearth in the floor which is used in winter. A special is used which has a cut-out section providing access to the hearth. In summer, the hearth is covered either with a small square of extra , or, more commonly, the hearth is replaced with a full mat, totally hiding the hearth.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: It is customary to avoid stepping on this centre mat whenever possible, as well as to avoid placing the hands palm-down on it, as it functions as a kind of table: tea utensils are placed on it for viewing, and prepared bowls of tea are placed on it for serving to the guests. To avoid stepping on it people may walk around it on the other mats, or shuffle on the hands and knees.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Except when walking, when moving about on the tatami one places one's closed fists on the mats and uses them to pull oneself forward or push backwards while maintaining a position.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: There are dozens of real and imaginary lines that crisscross any tearoom. These are used to determine the exact placement of utensils and myriad other details; when performed by skilled practitioners, the placement of utensils will vary minutely from gathering to gathering. The are used as one guide for placement, and the joins serve as a demarcation indicating where people should sit.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Calligraphy, mainly in the form of hanging scrolls, plays a central role in tea. Scrolls, often written by famous calligraphers or Buddhist monks, are hung in the (scroll alcove) of the tea room. They are selected for their appropriateness for the occasion, including the season and the theme of the particular get-together. Calligraphic scrolls may feature well-known sayings, particularly those associated with Buddhism, poems, descriptions of famous places, or words or phrases associated with tea. Historian and author Haga Kōshirō points out that it is clear from the teachings of Sen no Rikyū recorded in the that the suitability of any particular scroll for a tea gathering depends not only on the subject of the writing itself but also on the virtue of the writer. Further, Haga points out that Rikyū preferred to hang ("ink traces"), the calligraphy of Zen Buddhist priests, in the tea room. A typical example of a hanging scroll in a tea room might have the kanji , expressing the four key principles of the Way of Tea. Some contain only a single character; in summer, would be appropriate. Hanging scrolls that feature a painting instead of calligraphy, or a combination of both, are also used. Scrolls are sometimes placed in the waiting room as well.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: (literally "tea flower") is the simple style of flower arrangement used in tea rooms. has its roots in , an older style of Japanese flower arranging, which itself has roots in Shinto and Buddhism.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: It evolved from the "free-form" style of called , which was used by early tea masters. is said, depending upon the source, to have been either developed or championed by Sen no Rikyū. He is said to have taught that should give the viewer the same impression that those flowers naturally would give if they were still growing outdoors, in nature.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Unnatural or out-of-season materials are never used, as well as props and other devices. The containers in which are arranged are referred to generically as . arrangements typically comprise few items, and little or no filler material. In the summer, when many flowering grasses are in season in Japan, however, it is seasonally appropriate to arrange a number of such flowering grasses in an airy basket-type container. Unlike (which often uses shallow, wide dishes), tall, narrow are frequently used in . The containers for the flowers used in tea rooms are typically made from natural materials such as bamboo, as well as metal or ceramic, but rarely glass as (another flower arrangement) uses short, glass vases.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: or is a meal served in the context of a formal tea function. In , only fresh seasonal ingredients are used, prepared in ways that aim to enhance their flavour. Great care is taken in selecting ingredients and types of food, and the finished dishes are carefully presented on serving ware that is chosen to enhance the appearance and seasonal theme of the meal. Dishes are intricately arranged and garnished, often with real edible leaves and flowers that are to help enhance the flavour of the food. Serving ware and garnishes are as much a part of the experience as the food; some might argue that the aesthetic experience of seeing the food is even more important than the physical experience of eating it.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Courses are served in small servings in individual dishes. Each diner has a small lacquered tray to themselves; very important people may be provided their own low, lacquered table or several small tables.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Many of the movements and components of tea ceremonies evolved from the wearing of kimono. For example, certain movements are designed to keep dangling sleeves out of the way or prevent them from becoming dirty. Other motions allow for the straightening of the kimono and the .


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Some aspects of tea ceremony – such as the use of silk cloths – cannot be performed without wearing a kimono and , or a belt substitute, as the cloth is folded and tucked into the within the ceremony. Other items, such as , smaller cloths known as , and fans, require kimono collars, sleeves and the worn with them in order to be used throughout the ceremony; otherwise, a substitute for storing these items on the person must be found.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: For this reason, most tea ceremonies are conducted in kimono, and though students may practice wearing Western clothes, students of tea ceremony will need to wear kimono at some point. On formal occasions, the host of the tea ceremony will always wear kimono, and for guests, formal kimono or Western formal wear must be worn. No matter the style of clothing, the attire worn at a tea gathering is usually subdued and conservative, so as not to be distracting.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: For women, the type of kimono worn is usually an – a solid-colour, unpatterned kimono, worn with a in an appropriate fabric; slub-weave silks, patterns and generally bright-coloured are not worn. kimono may also be worn, as their patterns are small enough as to be unobtrusive.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Men may wear kimono only, or (for more formal occasions) a combination of kimono and (a long, divided or undivided skirt worn over the kimono). Those who have earned the right may wear a kimono with a or jacket instead of .


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Women wear various styles of kimono depending on the season and the event; women generally do not wear for tea occasions, and do not gain the right to wear a .


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Lined kimono are worn by both men and women in the winter months, and unlined kimono are worn in the summer. For formal occasions, (kimono with three to five family crests on the sleeves and back) are worn. Both men and women wear white (divided-toe socks).


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: In Japan, those who wish to study tea ceremony typically join a "circle", a generic term for a group that meets regularly to participate in a given activity. There are also tea clubs at many junior and high schools, colleges and universities.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Classes may be held at community centres, dedicated tea schools, or at private homes. Tea schools often teach a wide variety of pupils who may study at different times; for example, the school may have a group for women, a group for older students, and a group for younger students. Students normally pay a monthly fee which covers tuition and the use of the school's (or teacher's) bowls and other equipment, the tea itself, and the sweets that students serve and eat at every class. Students must be equipped with their own , fan, paper, and , as well as their own wallet in which to place these items. Though some groups and practitioners of tea ceremony may wear Western clothing, for most occasions of tea ceremony – particularly if the teacher is highly ranked within the tradition – wearing kimono is mostly considered essential, in particular for women. In some cases, advanced students may be given permission to wear the school's mark in place of the usual family crests on formal kimono. This permission usually accompanies the granting of a , or "tea name", to the student.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: New students typically begin by observing more advanced students as they practice. New students may be taught mostly by more advanced students; the most advanced students are taught exclusively by the teacher. The first things new students learn are how to correctly open and close sliding doors, how to walk on tatami, how to enter and exit the tea room, how to bow and to whom and when to do so, how to wash, store and care for the various equipment, how to fold the , how to ritually clean tea equipment, and how to wash and fold . As they master these essential steps, students are also taught how to behave as a guest at tea ceremonies: the correct words to say, how to handle bowls, how to drink tea and eat sweets, how to use paper and sweet-picks, and myriad other details.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: As they master the basics, students will be instructed on how to prepare the powdered tea for use, how to fill the tea caddy, and finally, how to measure the tea and water and whisk it to the proper consistency. Once these basic steps have been mastered, students begin to practice the simplest , typically beginning with . Only when the first offering has been mastered will students move on. Study is through observation and hands on practice; students do not often take notes, and many teachers discourage the practice of note-taking.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: As they master each offering, some schools and teachers present students with certificates at a formal ceremony. According to the school, this certificate may warrant that the student has mastered a given , or may give the student permission to begin studying a given . Acquiring such certificates is often very costly; the student typically must not only pay for the preparation of the certificate itself and for participating in the gathering during which it is bestowed, but is also expected to thank the teacher by presenting him or her with a gift of money. The cost of acquiring certificates increases as the student's level increases.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Typically, each class ends with the whole group being given brief instruction by the main teacher, usually concerning the contents of the (the scroll alcove, which typically features a hanging scroll (usually with calligraphy), a flower arrangement, and occasionally other objects as well) and the sweets that have been served that day. Related topics include incense and kimono, or comments on seasonal variations in equipment or offerings.


title: Japanese tea ceremony

text: Like the formal traditions of , there are formal traditions of , distinguished as , typically involving the high-grade class of . This offering, more Chinese in style, was introduced to Japan in the 17th century by Ingen, the founder of the Ōbaku school of Zen Buddhism, also more Chinese in style than earlier schools. In the 18th century, it was popularized by the Ōbaku monk Baisao, who sold tea in Kyoto, and later came to be regarded as the first master. It remains associated with the Ōbaku school, and the head temple of Manpuku-ji hosts regular tea conventions.


title: Demographic history of the United States

text: 16102020 population data. The census numbers dont include Native Americans during 1610 and then again after 1860.


text: Nearly all non-Native American commercial activity was run in small privately owned businesses with good credit both at home and in England being essential since they were often cash poor. Most settlements were nearly independent of trade with Britain as most grew or made nearly everything they needed—the average cost of imports for most households was only about 5-15 English pounds per year. Most settlements were created by complete family groups with several generations often present. Probably close to 80% of the families owned the land they lived and farmed on. They nearly all used English Common Law as their basic code of law and, except for the French, Dutch and Germans spoke some dialect of English. They established their own popularly elected governments and courts and were mostly self-governing, self-supporting, and self-replicating.


text: Nearly all colonies and, later, states in the United States were settled by migration from another colony or state, as foreign immigration usually only played a minor role after first initial settlements were established.


text: The New England colonists included some educated men as well as many skilled farmers, tradesmen and craftsmen. They were mostly farmers and settled in small villages for common religious activity. Shipbuilding, commerce, and fisheries were important in coastal towns. New England's healthy climate (the cold winters killed mosquitoes and other disease-bearing insects), and abundant food supply resulted in the lowest death rate and highest birth rate of any place in the world (marriage was expected and birth control was not, and a much higher than average number of children and mothers survived).


text: The eastern and northern frontier around the initial New England settlements was mainly settled by the Yankee descendants of the original New Englanders. Emigration to the New England colonies after 1640 and the start of the English Civil War decreased to less than 1% (about equal to the death rate) in nearly all years before 1845. The rapid growth of the New England colonies (total population ≈700,000 by 1790) was almost entirely due to the high birth rate (>3%) and low death rate (<1%) per year.


text: The middle colonies' settlements were scattered west of New York City, New York (est. 1626 by Dutch, taken over by the English in 1664) and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (est. 1682). The Dutch-started colony of New York had an eclectic collection of residents from many different nations and prospered as a major trading and commercial center after about 1700. Pennsylvania was dominated by the Quakers for decades after they emigrated there, mainly from the North Midlands of England, from about 1680 to 1725. The main commercial center of Philadelphia was run mostly by prosperous Quakers, supplemented by many small farming and trading communities with strong German contingents located in the Delaware River valley.


text: Many more settlers arrived in the middle colonies starting in about 1680, when Pennsylvania was founded, and many Protestant sects were encouraged to settle there for freedom of religion and good, cheap land. These settlers were of about 60% German and 33% English extraction. By 1780 about 27% of New York's population were descendants of Dutch settlers (55,000 of 204,000). New Jersey was home to the remaining Dutch and they constituted 14% of the population of 140,000. The rest were mostly English with a mixture of other Europeans and about 6% Blacks. New Jersey and Delaware had a majority of British with 20% German-descended colonists, about a 6% black population, and a small contingent of Swedish descendants of New Sweden. Nearly all were at least third-generation natives.


text: The main feature of the economy in Virginia, Maryland and South Carolina was large plantations growing staples for export, especially tobacco and rice. Outside the plantations, land was farmed by independent farmers who rented from the proprietors, or (most often) owned it outright. They emphasized subsistence farming to grow food for their large families. Many of the Irish immigrants specialized in making rye whiskey, which they sold to obtain cash. In Maryland, by 1700 there were about 25,000 people and by 1750 that had grown more than 5 times to 130,000. By 1755, about 40% of Maryland's population was black.


text: From 1717 to 1775 the western frontier was populated primarily by Presbyterian settlers who migrated from Scotland and Ireland. Frontier settlers initially landed in Philadelphia or Baltimore before migrating to the western frontier for the cheaper land.


text: All the colonies grew mostly by natural growth, with foreign born populations rarely exceeding 10%. The last significant colonies to be settled mainly by immigrants were Pennsylvania in the early 18th century and Georgia and the Borderlands in the late 18th century, as internal migration (not immigration) continued to provide nearly all the settlers for each new colony or state. This pattern would continue throughout U.S. history. The extent of colonial settlements by 1800 is shown by this map from the University of Texas map collection.


text: According to one source the following were the countries of origin for new arrivals coming to the United States before 1790. The regions marked * were part of Great Britain. The ancestry of the 3.9 million population in 1790 has been estimated from various sources by sampling last names in the 1790 census and assigning them a country of origin. The Irish in the 1790 census were mostly Scots Irish. The French were mostly Huguenots. The total U.S. Catholic population in 1790 is estimated at 40,000 or 1.6%, perhaps a low count due to prejudice. The Native American Indian population inside territorial U.S. 1790 boundaries was less than 100,000.


text: During the 17th century, approximately 350-400,000 English people migrated to Colonial America. However only half stayed permanently. They were 90% of whites in 1700. From 1700 to 1775 between 400-500,000 Europeans immigrated, 90% of whom were Scots, Scots-Irish, Irish, Germans and Huguenots. Only 45,000 English immigrated in the period 1701 to 1775, a figure that has been questioned as too low. Elsewhere the number given is 51,000 (80,000 in total less 29,000 Welsh). The figure of 45,000 has been questioned as a "mystery". These numbers do not include the 50,000-120,000 convicts transported, 33,000 of whom were English. Even the very high birth rate may not account for all of the nine-fold increase from 230,000 to 2.1 million. Another estimate with very similar results to the ICPS study (except for the French and Swedish totals) gives the number of Americans of English ancestry as 1.9 million in 1790 or 47.9% of the total of 3.930 million (3.5% Welsh, 8.5% Scotch Irish, 4.3% Scots, Irish (South) 4.7%, German 7.3%, Dutch 2.7%, French 1.7%, Swedish 0.2% and Black, 19.3%. The southern Irish were overwhelmingly Protestant.


text: The 1790 population reflected the approximate 50,000 "Loyalists" who had emigrated to Canada during and at the end of the American Revolution, 7-10,000 of whom went to the United Kingdom and 6,000 to the Caribbean. Thirty thousand Americans emigrated to Ontario. Canada in the 1790s, often referred to as "Late Loyalists." They were mostly not political refugees but went for generous land grants and taxes 75 percent lower than in the United States.


text: By 1790 the ancestry question was starting to become irrelevant to many, as intermarriage from different ethnic groups was becoming common, causing people to form a common American identity. The total white population in 1790 was about 80% of British ancestry, and would go on to roughly double by natural increase every 25 years. From about 1675 onward, the native-born population of what would become the United States would never again drop below 85% of the total.


text: In the early years of the United States, immigration average about 6,000 people per year, including French refugees from the slave revolt in Haiti. The French Revolution, starting in 1789, and the Napoleonic Wars from 1792 to 1814 severely limited immigration from Europe. The War of 1812 (1812–1814) with Britain again prevented any significant immigration. By 1808 Congress had banned the transport of slaves, slowing that human traffic to a trickle.


text: After 1820 immigration gradually increased. For the first time federal records, including ship passenger lists, were kept for immigration. Total immigration for the year 1820 was 8,385, gradually building to 23,322 by 1830, with 143,000 total immigrating during the decade. From 1831 to 1840 immigration increased greatly, to 599,000 total, as 207,000 Irish, even before the famine of 1845-49, started to emigrate in large numbers as Britain eased travel restrictions. 152,000 Germans, 76,000 British, and 46,000 French formed the next largest immigrant groups in that decade.


text: From 1841 to 1850 immigration exploded to 1,713,000 total immigrants and at least 781,000 Irish who fled their homeland to escape poverty or death during the famine of 1845-1849. In attempting to divert some of this traffic to help settle Canada, the British offered bargain fares of 15 shillings for transit to Canada, instead of the normal 5 pounds (100 shillings). Thousands of poor Irish took advantage of this offer and headed to Canada on what came to be called the "coffin ships" because of their high death rates. Once in Canada, many Irish walked across the border or caught an intercoastal freighter to the nearest major city in the United States - usually Boston or New York. Bad potato crops and failed revolutions struck the heart of Europe in 1848, contributing to the decade's total of 435,000 Germans, 267,000 British and 77,000 French immigrants to America. Bad times in Europe drove people out; land, relatives, freedom, opportunity, and jobs in America lured them in.


text: The number of immigrants from 1830 on are from immigration records. The census of 1850 was the first in which place of birth was asked. It is probably a reasonable estimate that the foreign born population in the U.S. reached its minimum in about 1815 at something like 100,000, or 1.4% of the population. By 1815 most of the immigrants that arrived before the American Revolution had died, and there had been almost no new immigration.


text: Nearly all population growth up to 1830 was by internal increase; about 98.5% of the population was native-born. By 1850, this had shifted to about 90% native-born. The first significant Catholic immigration started in the mid-1840s.


text: In 1965, U.S. immigration law changes reduced the emphasis on national origin. Prior policy favored European immigrants. The 1965 law directed that those with relatives in the U.S. or employer sponsorship now had priority. By the 1970s, most immigrants to the U.S. came from Latin America or Asia, rather than Europe. Since 2000, over three quarters of all immigrants to the U.S. have come from Asia and Latin America.


text: In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, concluding the Mexican War, extended U.S. citizenship to approximately 60,000 Mexican residents of the New Mexico Territory and 10,000 living in California. However, much like Texas, the Mexican government had encouraged immigration and settlement of these regions from groups in the United States and Europe. Approximately half of this population is estimated to have been of American origin. In 1849, the California Gold Rush spurred significant immigration from Mexico, South America, China, Australia, Europe and caused a mass internal migration within the U.S., resulting in California gaining statehood in 1850, with a population of about 90,000.


text: "Rural flight" is the departure of excess populations (usually young men and women) from farm areas. In some cases whole families left, as in the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Much of rural America has seen steady population decline since 1920.


text: The Great Migration was the movement of millions of African Americans out of the rural Southern United States from 1914 to 1960. Most moved to large industrial cities, as well as to many smaller industrial cities. African-Americans moved as individuals or small groups. There was no government assistance. They migrated because of a variety of push and pull factors:


text: The proportion of Americans who move across state lines fell by 50% from 1990 to 2018. Regional disparities in local economies have also grown during this time, meaning that more people remain in economically depressed areas. By 2011, migration levels were at the lowest level since World War II, and were in the longest period of continuous decline in the twentieth century.


text: In the years after WWII, the United States, as well as a number of other industrialized countries, experienced an unexpected sudden birth rate jump. During WWII birthrates had been low, as millions of men had been away fighting in WWII and this had deterred women from starting families: women also had to take the place of men in the workplace, while simultaneously fulfilling their household duties. The millions of men coming back to the US after WWII, and the couples eager to start families, led to a sharp rise in the US birth rate, and a surge in new housing construction in the suburbs and outlying areas of the cities. Since the men who came back got jobs in the workplace again, married women stayed home to take care of the house and children and let their husbands be the breadwinner of the household.


text: During the baby boom years, between 1946 and 1964, the birth rate doubled for third children and tripled for fourth children.


text: The number of children aged 0–4 increased to 16,410,000 in 1950 from 11,000,000 in 1940, it continued into the 1960s where it peaked at 20,000,000 children under the age of 5.


text: The number of children under 19 rose to 69 million in 1960 from 51 million in 1950, a 35.3% increase, while the proportion of the population rose to 38.8% up from 33.8% in 1950.


text: The total fertility rate of the United States jumped from 2.49 in 1945 to 2.94 in 1946, a rise of 0.45 children therefore beginning the baby boom. It continued to rise throughout the 1940s to reach 3.10 in 1950 with a peak of 3.77 in 1957. Declining slowly thereafter to 3.65 in 1960 and finally a steep from decline after 1964, therefore ending the baby boom.


text: According to statistics, the United States currently has the highest marriage rate in the developed world, as of 2008, with a marriage rate of 7.1 per 1,000 people or 2,162,000 marriages. The average age for first marriage for men is 27.4 and 25.6 years for women. The United States also has one of the highest proportions of people who do marry by age 40; approximately 85% Americans are married at 40, compared to only 60% in Sweden.


text: During the 1930s, the number of marriages and the marriage rate dropped steeply due to the Great Depression, but rebounded almost immediately after the Depression ended. Marriage rates increased and remained at high levels in the late 1930 to the mid-1940s. The number of marriages shot up to reach over 2 million in 1946, with a marriage rate of 16.4 per 1,000 people as WWII had ended. The average age at first marriage for both men and women began to fall after WWII, dropping 22.8 for men and 20.3 for women in 1950 and dropping even more to 22.5 and 20.1 years in 1956. In 1959, the United States Census Bureau estimated that 47% of all brides marrying for their first time were teenagers aged 19 and under. In 1955, 51.2% of women were married by their 20th birthday and 88% by their 25th birthday; 40.3% of men and 28.5% of women aged 20–24 in 1955 had never married, down from 77.8% for men and 57.4% for women in 1940.


text: As of 2002, 4.3% of men and 18.1% of women aged 20 are married, increasing to 37% of men and 52% of women by age 25, and then 61% of men and 76% of women by age 30.


text: The U.S. population in 1900 was 76 million. In 1950, it rose to 152 million; by 2000 it had reached 282 million. By 2050, it is expected to reach 422-458 million, depending on immigration.


text: Richard Easterlin, an economist who has researched economic growth in the United States, explains the growth pattern of the American population in the 20th century through fertility rate fluctuations and the decreasing mortality rate. Easterlin has attempted to explain the cause of the Baby Boom and Baby Bust through the "relative income" theory. The "relative income" theory suggests that couples choose to have children based on a couple's ratio of potential earning power and the desire to obtain material objects. This ratio depends on the economic stability of the country in which they live and how people are raised to value material objects. The "relative income" theory explains the Baby Boom by suggesting that the late 1940s and 1950s brought low desires to have material objects, as a result of the Great Depression and WWII, as well as huge job opportunities, because of it being a post-war period. These two factors gave rise to a high relative income, which encouraged high fertility. Following this period, the next generation had a greater desire for material objects; however, an economic slowdown in the United States made jobs harder to acquire. This resulted in lower fertility rates, causing the Baby Bust.


text: Between 1880 and 1900, the urban population of the United States rose from 28% to 40%, and reached 50% by 1920, in part due to 9,000,000 European immigrants. After 1890 the US rural population began to plummet, as farmers were displaced by mechanization and forced to migrate to urban factory jobs. After World War II, the US experienced a shift away from the cities and into suburbs mostly due to the cost of land, the availability of low-cost government home loans, fair housing policies, and the construction of highways. Many of the original manufacturing cities lost as much as half their populations between 1950 and 1980. There was a shift in the population from the dense city centers filled with apartments, row homes, and tenements; to less dense suburban neighborhoods outside the cities which were filled with single-family homes.


title: SIG Sauer P220

text: The SIG Sauer P220 is a semi-automatic pistol. Designed in 1975 by the SIG Arms AG division of Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (now SIG Holding AG), and produced by J. P. Sauer & Sohn, in Eckernförde; it is currently manufactured by both SIG Sauer companies: SIG Sauer GMBH, of Eckernförde, Germany; and SIG Sauer, Inc., of New Hampshire, United States.


title: SIG Sauer P220

text: Not to be confused with SIG P210 series, which licensed the Petter-Browning system from SACM of France in 1938, the SIG Sauer P220 was developed for release in 1975 for the Swiss Army as a replacement for the SIG P210, which had been developed during World War II; in service it is known as "Pistole 75" (P75). For the commercial production and distribution of the P220, SIG partnered with J.P. Sauer & Sohn of Germany, thus, the P220 and all subsequent pistols from SIG and J.P. Sauer & Sohn are properly known as SIG Sauer pistols.


title: SIG Sauer P220

text: In 1975, Switzerland became the first nation to officially adopt the P220 as the "Pistole 75" (P75) chambered in 9 mm Parabellum. Other nations to adopt it for military use include Japan (general issue) and Denmark (which has the earlier P210 in general issue) only to special forces. It was followed by the SIG Sauer P226, incorporating a double stack magazine.


title: SIG Sauer P220

text: Upon completion of their military service, all Swiss soldiers can obtain ownership of their ordnance weapon for a nominal fee; in particular commissioned officers and soldiers of the medical forces of the Swiss armed forces can obtain ownership of their P220 service pistols by paying an administrative fee of thirty Swiss francs.


title: SIG Sauer P220

text: In the United States this handgun was originally sold in a modified form as the Browning BDA from 1977 to 1980.


title: SIG Sauer P220

text: The P220 was developed in 1975 by SIG and produced and distributed by J.P. Sauer & Sohn. A new locking system which is known as the SIG Sauer system was introduced as well as a number of other innovations. This nomenclature is found on the Browning BDA version of the P220 sold from 1975.