title: Organ (music)

text: In the late 19th century and early 20th century, symphonic organs flourished in secular venues in the United States and the United Kingdom, designed to replace symphony orchestras by playing transcriptions of orchestral pieces. Symphonic and orchestral organs largely fell out of favor as the "orgelbewegung" (organ reform movement) took hold in the middle of the 20th century, and organ builders began to look to historical models for inspiration in constructing new instruments. Today, modern builders construct organs in a variety of styles for both secular and sacred applications.


title: Organ (music)

text: The theatre organ or cinema organ was designed to accompany silent movies. Like a symphonic organ, it is made to replace an orchestra. However, it includes many more gadgets, such as mechanical percussion accessories and other imitative sounds useful in creating movie sound accompaniments such as auto horns, doorbells, and bird whistles. It typically features the Tibia pipe family as its foundation stops and the regular use of a tremulant possessing a depth greater than that on a classical organ.


title: Organ (music)

text: Theatre organs tend not to take nearly as much space as standard organs, relying on extension (sometimes called unification) and higher wind pressures to produce a greater variety of tone and larger volume of sound from fewer pipes. Unification gives a smaller instrument the capability of a much larger one, and works well for monophonic styles of playing (chordal, or chords with solo voice). The sound is, however, thicker and more homogeneous than a classically designed organ.


title: Organ (music)

text: In the USA the American Theater Organ Society (ATOS) has been instrumental in programs to preserve examples of such instruments.


title: Organ (music)

text: A chamber organ is a small pipe organ, often with only one manual, and sometimes without separate pedal pipes that is placed in a small room, that this diminutive organ can fill with sound. It is often confined to chamber organ repertoire, as often the organs have too few voice capabilities to rival the grand pipe organs in the performance of the classics. The sound and touch are unique to the instrument, sounding nothing like a large organ with few stops drawn out, but rather much more intimate. They are usually tracker instruments, although the modern builders are often building electropneumatic chamber organs.


title: Organ (music)

text: Pre-Beethoven keyboard music may usually be as easily played on a chamber organ as on a piano or harpsichord, and a chamber organ is sometimes preferable to a harpsichord for continuo playing as it is more suitable for producing a sustained tone.


title: Organ (music)

text: The pump organ, reed organ or harmonium, was the other main type of organ before the development of the electronic organ. It generated its sounds using reeds similar to those of an accordion. Smaller, cheaper and more portable than the corresponding pipe instrument, these were widely used in smaller churches and in private homes, but their volume and tonal range was extremely limited. They were generally limited to one or two manuals; they seldom had a pedalboard.


title: Organ (music)

text: The chord organ was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1950. It provided chord buttons for the left hand, similar to an accordion. Other reed organ manufacturers have also produced chord organs, most notably Magnus from 1958 to the late 1970s.


title: Organ (music)

text: Since the 1930s, pipeless electric instruments have been available to produce similar sounds and perform similar roles to pipe organs. Many of these have been bought both by houses of worship and other potential pipe organ customers, and also by many musicians both professional and amateur for whom a pipe organ would not be a possibility. Far smaller and cheaper to buy than a corresponding pipe instrument, and in many cases portable, they have taken organ music into private homes and into dance bands and other new environments, and have almost completely replaced the reed organ.


title: Organ (music)

text: The Hammond organ was the first successful electric organ, released in the 1930s. It used mechanical, rotating tonewheels to produce the sound waveforms. Its system of drawbars allowed for setting volumes for specific sounds, and it provided vibrato-like effects. The drawbars allow the player to choose volume levels. By emphasizing certain harmonics from the overtone series, desired sounds (such as 'brass' or 'string') can be imitated. Generally, the older Hammond drawbar organs had only preamplifiers and were connected to an external, amplified speaker. The Leslie speaker, which rotates to create a distinctive tremolo, became the most popular.


title: Organ (music)

text: Though originally produced to replace organs in the church, the Hammond organ, especially the model B-3, became popular in jazz, particularly soul jazz, and in gospel music. Since these were the roots of rock and roll, the Hammond organ became a part of the rock and roll sound. It was widely used in rock and popular music during the 1960s and 1970s by bands like Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Procol Harum, Santana and Deep Purple. Its popularity resurged in pop music around 2000, in part due to the availability of clonewheel organs that were light enough for one person to carry.


title: Organ (music)

text: In contrast to Hammond's electro-mechanical design, Allen Organ Company introduced the first totally electronic organ in 1938, based on the stable oscillator designed and patented by the company's founder, Jerome Markowitz. Allen continued to advance analog tone generation through the 1960s with additional patents. In 1971, in collaboration with North American Rockwell, Allen introduced the world's first commercially available digital musical instrument. The first Allen Digital Organ is now in the Smithsonian Institution.


title: Organ (music)

text: Frequency divider organs used oscillators instead of mechanical parts to make sound. These were even cheaper and more portable than the Hammond. They featured an ability to bend pitches.


title: Organ (music)

text: In the 1940s until the 1970s, small organs were sold that simplified traditional organ stops. These instruments can be considered the predecessor to modern portable keyboards, as they included one-touch chords, rhythm and accompaniment devices, and other electronically assisted gadgets. Lowrey was the leading manufacturer of this type of organs in the smaller (spinet) instruments.


title: Organ (music)

text: In the 1960s and 1970s, a type of simple, portable electronic organ called the combo organ was popular, especially with pop, Ska (in the late 1970s and early 1980s) and rock bands, and was a signature sound in the rock music of the period, such as The Doors and Iron Butterfly. The most popular combo organs were manufactured by Farfisa and Vox.


title: Organ (music)

text: Conn-Selmer and Rodgers, dominant in the market for larger instruments, also made electronic organs that used separate oscillators for each note rather than frequency dividers, giving them a richer sound, closer to a pipe organ, due to the slight imperfections in tuning.


title: Organ (music)

text: Hybrids, starting in the early 20th century, incorporate a few ranks of pipes to produce some sounds, and use electronic circuits or digital samples for other sounds and to resolve borrowing collisions. Major manufacturers include Allen, Walker, Compton, Wicks, Marshall & Ogletree, Phoenix, Makin Organs, Wyvern Organs and Rodgers.


title: Organ (music)

text: The development of the integrated circuit enabled another revolution in electronic keyboard instruments.


title: Organ (music)

text: Digital organs sold since the 1970s utilize additive synthesis, then sampling technology (1980s) and physical modelling synthesis (1990s) are also utilized to produce the sound.


title: Organ (music)

text: Virtual pipe organs use MIDI to access samples of real pipe organs stored on a computer, as opposed to digital organs that use DSP and processor hardware inside a console to produce the sounds or deliver the sound samples. Touch screen monitors allows the user to control the virtual organ console; a traditional console and its physical stop and coupler controls is not required. In such a basic form, a virtual organ can be obtained at a much lower cost than other digital classical organs.


title: Organ (music)

text: The wind can also be created by using pressurized steam instead of air. The steam organ, or calliope, was invented in the United States in the 19th century. Calliopes usually have very loud and clean sound. Calliopes are used as outdoors instruments, and many have been built on wheeled platforms.


title: Organ (music)

text: The organ has had an important place in classical music, particularly since the 16th century. Spain's Antonio de Cabezón, the Netherlands' Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, and Italy's Girolamo Frescobaldi were three of the most important organist-composers before 1650. Influenced in part by Sweelinck and Frescobaldi, the North German school rose from the mid-17th century onwards to great prominence, with leading members of this school having included Buxtehude, Franz Tunder, Georg Böhm, Georg Philipp Telemann, and above all Johann Sebastian Bach, whose contributions to organ music continue to reign supreme.


title: Organ (music)

text: During this time, the French Classical school also flourished. François Couperin, Nicolas Lebègue, André Raison, and Nicolas de Grigny were French organist-composers of the period. Bach knew Grigny's organ output well, and admired it. In England, Handel was famous for his organ-playing no less than for his composing; several of his organ concertos, intended for his own use, are still frequently performed.


title: Organ (music)

text: After Bach's death in 1750, the organ's prominence gradually shrank, as the instrument itself increasingly lost ground to the piano. Nevertheless, Felix Mendelssohn, César Franck, and the less famous A.P.F. Boëly (all of whom were themselves expert organists) led, independently of one another, a resurgence of valuable organ writing during the 19th century. This resurgence, much of it informed by Bach's example, achieved particularly impressive things in France (even though Franck himself was of Belgian birth). Major names in French Romantic organ composition are Charles-Marie Widor, Louis Vierne, Alexandre Guilmant, Charles Tournemire, and Eugène Gigout. Of these, Vierne and Tournemire were Franck pupils.


title: Organ (music)

text: In Germany, Max Reger (late 19th century) owes much to the harmonic daring of Liszt (himself an organ composer) and of Wagner. Paul Hindemith produced three organ sonatas and several works combining organ with chamber groups. Sigfrid Karg-Elert specialized in smaller organ pieces, mostly chorale-preludes.


title: Organ (music)

text: Among French organist-composers, Marcel Dupré, Maurice Duruflé, Olivier Messiaen and Jean Langlais made significant contributions to the 20th-century organ repertoire. Organ was also used a lot for improvisation, with organists such as Charles Tournemire, Marcel Dupré, Pierre Cochereau, Pierre Pincemaille and Thierry Escaich.


title: Organ (music)

text: Some composers incorporated the instrument in symphonic works for its dramatic effect, notably Mahler, Holst, Elgar, Scriabin, Respighi, and Richard Strauss. Saint-Saëns's "Organ Symphony" employs the organ more as an equitable orchestral instrument than for purely dramatic effect. Poulenc wrote the sole organ concerto since Handel's to have achieved mainstream popularity.


title: Organ (music)

text: Because the organ has both manuals and pedals, organ music has come to be notated on three staves. The music played on the manuals is laid out like music for other keyboard instruments on the top two staves, and the music for the pedals is notated on the third stave or sometimes, to save space, added to the bottom of the second stave as was the early practice. To aid the eye in reading three staves at once, the bar lines are broken between the lowest two staves; the brace surrounds only the upper two staves. Because music racks are often built quite low to preserve sightlines over the console, organ music is usually published in oblong or landscape format.


title: Organ (music)

text: Electronic organs and electromechanical organs such as the Hammond organ have an established role in a number of popular-music genres, such as blues, jazz, gospel, and 1960s and 1970s rock music. Electronic and electromechanical organs were originally designed as lower-cost substitutes for pipe organs. Despite this intended role as a sacred music instrument, electronic and electromechanical organs' distinctive tone-often modified with electronic effects such as vibrato, rotating Leslie speakers, and overdrive-became an important part of the sound of popular music.


title: Organ (music)

text: The electric organ, especially the Hammond B-3, has occupied a significant role in jazz ever since Jimmy Smith made it popular in the 1950s. It can function as a replacement for both piano and bass in the standard jazz combo. The Hammond organ is the centrepiece of the organ trio, a small ensemble which typically includes an organist (playing melodies, chords and basslines), a drummer and a third instrumentalist (either jazz guitar or saxophone). In the 2000s, many performers use electronic or digital organs, called clonewheel organs, as they are much lighter and easier to transport than the heavy, bulky B-3.


title: Organ (music)

text: Performers of 20th century popular organ music include William Rowland who composed "Piano Rags"; George Wright (1920–1998) and Virgil Fox (1912–1980), who bridged both the classical and religious areas of music.


title: Organ (music)

text: Church-style pipe organs are sometimes used in rock music. Examples include Tangerine Dream, Rick Wakeman (with Yes and solo), Keith Emerson (with The Nice and Emerson, Lake and Palmer), George Duke (with Frank Zappa), Dennis DeYoung (with Styx), Arcade Fire, Muse, Roger Hodgson (formerly of Supertramp), Natalie Merchant (with 10,000 Maniacs), Billy Preston and Iron Butterfly.


title: Organ (music)

text: Artists using the Hammond organ include Bob Dylan, Counting Crows, Pink Floyd, Hootie & the Blowfish, Sheryl Crow, Vulfpeck, Sly Stone and Deep Purple.


title: Organ (music)

text: In the United States and Canada, organ music is commonly associated with several sports, most notably baseball, basketball, and ice hockey.


title: Organ (music)

text: The baseball organ has been referred to as "an accessory to the overall auditory experience of the ballpark." The first team to introduce an organ was the Chicago Cubs, who put an organ in Wrigley Field as an experiment in 1941 for two games. Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, hired baseball's first full-time organist, Gladys Goodding. Over the years, many ballparks caught on to the trend, and many organists became well-known and associated with their parks or signature tunes.


title: Cobalt blue

text: Cobalt blue is a blue pigment made by sintering cobalt(II) oxide with aluminum(III) oxide (alumina) at 1200 °C. Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAlO. Cobalt blue is lighter and less intense than the (iron-cyanide based) pigment Prussian blue. It is extremely stable and historically has been used as a coloring agent in ceramics (especially Chinese porcelain), jewelry, and paint. Transparent glasses are tinted with the silica-based cobalt pigment smalt.


title: Cobalt blue

text: Cobalt blue in impure forms had long been used in Chinese porcelain. The first recorded use of "cobalt blue" as a color name in English was in 1777. It was independently discovered as a pure alumina-based pigment by Louis Jacques Thénard in 1802. Commercial production began in France in 1807. The leading world manufacturer of cobalt blue in the nineteenth century was Benjamin Wegner's Norwegian company Blaafarveværket ("blue colour works" in Dano-Norwegian). Germany also was famous for production of it, especially the blue colour works ("Blaufarbenwerke") in the Ore Mountains of Saxony.


title: Cobalt blue

text: Cobalt blue is toxic when ingested or inhaled. Its use requires appropriate precautions to avoid internal contamination and to prevent cobalt poisoning.


title: Anthony Andrews

text: Anthony Colin Gerald Andrews (born 12 January 1948) is an English actor. He played Lord Sebastian Flyte in the ITV miniseries "Brideshead Revisited" (1981), for which he won Golden Globe and BAFTA television awards, and was nominated for an Emmy. His other lead roles include "Operation Daybreak" (1975), "Danger UXB" (1979), "Ivanhoe" (1982) and "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (1982), and he played UK Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in "The King's Speech" (2010).


title: Anthony Andrews

text: Andrews was born in London, the son of Geraldine Agnes (née Cooper), a dancer, and Stanley Thomas Andrews, an arranger and conductor for the BBC. He grew up in North Finchley, London. At the age of eight, he took dancing lessons, making his stage debut as the White Rabbit in a stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland". He attended the Royal Masonic School for Boys in Bushey, Hertfordshire.


title: Anthony Andrews

text: After a series of jobs that included catering, farming and journalism, he secured a position at the Chichester Theatre, where he worked as an assistant stage manager and later as a stand-in producer. In 1968, he auditioned for a production of Alan Bennett's new play, "Forty Years On", which featured John Gielgud as the headmaster of a British public school during the First World War period. Andrews was cast as Skinner, one of twenty schoolboys. In 1974 he played Lord Robert, Marquis of Stockbridge in the TV series "Upstairs, Downstairs". In 1975 he had a leading role in the Spanish film "Las adolescentes" (The Adolescents), opposite Koo Stark.


title: Anthony Andrews

text: In June 1979, he was cast in the role of Bodie in the ITV series "The Professionals". However, after three days of filming, the creator and producer Brian Clemens believed that the chemistry between Andrews and Martin Shaw (Doyle) did not work and that "the pair did not have the required undercurrent of menace to carry off the concept". Lewis Collins replaced Andrews in the part. Following that, in 1979, Andrews was the main star of the ITV television series "Danger UXB", in which he played a British bomb disposal officer in the London Blitz. The series first aired in the United Kingdom in 1979 on the ITV network.


title: Anthony Andrews

text: His subsequent work includes the leading role of Lord Sebastian Flyte in "Brideshead Revisited" (1981). In 1982, he won a Golden Globe and BAFTA TV Award for his performance and was nominated for an Emmy Award. In the United States, Andrews is best known for his portrayal of the titular character in the television film "Ivanhoe" as well as that of Sir Percy Blakeney in the film "The Scarlet Pimpernel" (both 1982).


title: Anthony Andrews

text: He played Professor Higgins in a stage version of "My Fair Lady" (2003), and Count Fosco in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Woman in White" (2005).


title: Anthony Andrews

text: He was the narrator for a 21st anniversary BBC Radio 2 special broadcast of Cameron Mackintosh's musical "Les Misérables", sung by the then West End cast at the Mermaid Theatre in London on Sunday 8 October 2006. Andrews appeared as Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in the film "The King's Speech" (2010), for which he won a SAG Award along with Helena Bonham Carter, Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, Guy Pearce, Geoffrey Rush and Timothy Spall.


title: Anthony Andrews

text: Andrews met actress Georgina Simpson of the Simpsons of Piccadilly department store family and they were married on 1 December 1971. They have three children.


title: Anthony Andrews

text: Andrews survived a case of water intoxication in 2003. The condition, also known as hyponatraemia ("low blood sodium"), occurs when sodium ions in the body are diluted so far that nerves are unable to function properly. The condition has symptoms similar to those of dehydration, such as headaches, nausea and cramps. While performing as Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady", Andrews consumed up to eight litres of water a day. He lost consciousness and spent three days in intensive care.


title: A.J. Applegate

text: AJ Applegate began working as a stripper when she was 19 years old. She later worked as a nude model, fetish model, and dance teacher.


title: A.J. Applegate

text: Applegate entered the adult film industry in 2012 at the age of 22 and initially used the stage name Kaylee Evans.


title: A.J. Applegate

text: Applegate told "AVN" she plans to work in the adult industry for as long as possible and achieve "maybe even MILF status". She also stated that she hopes to direct and have her own production company in the future.


title: A.J. Applegate

text: In 2021, Applegate confirmed and posted on her Instagram story that she is retired from the adult industry.


title: A.J. Applegate

text: Applegate has the Italian phrase "Ballo di Amore" (translation: "Dance of Love") tattooed on her right hip, three piercings on each ear, and a navel piercing.


title: A Touch of Frost

text: A Touch of Frost is a television detective series produced by Yorkshire Television (later ITV Studios) for ITV from 6 December 1992 until 5 April 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R. D. Wingfield. Writing credit for the three episodes in the first 1992 series went to Richard Harris.


title: A Touch of Frost

text: The series stars David Jason as Detective Inspector William Edward "Jack" Frost, an experienced and dedicated detective who frequently clashes with his superiors. In his cases, Frost is usually assisted by a variety of different detective sergeants or constables, with each bringing a different slant to the particular case. Comic relief is provided by Frost's interactions with the bureaucratically-minded Superintendent Norman "Horn-rimmed Harry" Mullett, played by Bruce Alexander.


title: A Touch of Frost

text: A number of young actors had their major debut as supporting cast in the show, including: Matt Bardock, Ben Daniels, Neil Stuke, Mark Letheren, Colin Buchanan, Jason Maza, Damian Lewis and Marc Warren.


title: A Touch of Frost

text: The series is set in the fictional southern England town of Denton. Denton may be in Berkshire, Oxfordshire or Wiltshire. There are many references to Reading, Oxford, and Swindon. In SE1E1 a character mentions going to Bishop's Stortford, implying it is a short journey away and thus in the Hertfordshire or Essex area. In SE2E3 a suspect talks about "Driving over to Chelmsford", implying reasonable proximity to Denton, again placing the action in the Herts/Essex area. Frost drives a blue Ford Sierra - D843 MPP. This is a Luton registration (ending 'PP'), a very common registration in Hertfordshire, consistent with Bishop's Stortford. In the earlier episodes, the M4 and A417 were often seen, and the map of Swindon was seen in the control room, although a map of Reading was used occasionally. Paperwork given to Frost and other characters refers to Denton station as being part of the Thames Valley Police. In SE2E4 Frost hurries to Denton station and Network SouthEast branding is visible on the station signs. This is broadly consistent with most of the putative locations listed, though not with the actual Yorkshire locations. In SE4E1 Frost and Toolan observe a train passing, consisting of a British Rail Class 141 Pacer in West Yorkshire Metro red and cream livery coupled with a British Rail Class 142 Pacer in BR Provincial Sector blue livery. Both units in those liveries are quite inconsistent with Network SouthEast but very much with the Yorkshire locations. In some episodes ambiguous references to 'County' are made. This is inconsistent with Denton being part of Thames Valley since this is not part of a County force. One reference implies 'County' has jurisdiction beyond that of Denton. Either 'County' is the HQ of the county force Denton belongs to, or Denton is a small city force, surrounded by a larger county force. A situation analogous to that of Oxford City Police and Oxfordshire Constabulary pre-1968.


title: A Touch of Frost

text: The programme was produced by ITV in Leeds, and most of the outdoor locations were shot in West Yorkshire. Several scenes were filmed in and around the city and district of Wakefield and neighbouring small towns of Pontefract and Castleford, West Yorkshire. Filming location names are sometimes used in lieu of a fictional address, one such example occurs in SE2E1 where Frost is made aware of, and later visits, an address of interest located at King George Gardens. The scene was filmed at King George Gardens, Chapel Allerton, Leeds. The Denton Police Station of early seasons was filmed in an industrial complex at the intersection of Burley Road and Westfield Road in Leeds; this has since been demolished. Seacroft Hospital in Leeds was used as the 'Denton' Hospital.


title: A Touch of Frost

text: The role of Frost was notable in changing the public perception of David Jason from a predominantly comic actor to a dramatic actor.


title: A Touch of Frost

text: At a press conference in London on 15 September 2008, David Jason announced that he would be quitting the role of DI Jack Frost. Jason's main reason for quitting the role was that Frost was by now the oldest detective on television and he felt that it was 'natural' to retire as Frost. At 68, a police detective would already have been retired for eight years. Sir David said: "You wouldn't want me to play Frost in a wheelchair, would you?... Frost is getting a little long in the tooth. I still enjoy doing it and it's a great part but I just think he's got to retire. It'll be a sad day."


title: A Touch of Frost

text: By discarding several minor sub-plots in "Frost at Christmas", the two major cases were able to be investigated in the one episode, being the pilot "Care and Protection". This novel, and the pilot, introduced the characters of Frost, Mullet, DI Allen (DCI in the series), DS George Martin (Toolan in the series), Sgt. Bill Wells, Sgt. Johnny Johnson, DS Arthur Hanlon (uniform sergeant in the series), DC Barnard, PC Jordan, PC Simms, WPC Hazel Page (Wallace in the series), PC Stringer, newspaper reporter Sandy Lane (Longford in the series), Dr McKenzie, pathologist Drysdale (Simpkins in the series), his assistant Miss Grey and Shirley, Frost's on/off love interest.


title: A Touch of Frost

text: Due to their length, many of the other books were split into multiple episodes. "A Touch of Frost" was split over three episodes. "Night Frost" was split over two (although the element of DS Gilmore's marriage break-up was used in the series 4 episode "The Things We Do for Love", which has no other reference to "Night Frost", for the series-only character of DS Nash). "Hard Frost" was the last and perhaps most closely referenced novel filmed, which was split across two almost unrelated episodes. Despite the show still being produced when the last two novels were written, they were never used as source material for episodes, possibly due to their more graphic subject matter.


title: A Touch of Frost

text: The aspect ratios of "A Touch of Frost" have been the subject of discussion. From series 1 through to 5, the series was originally shown and transferred to DVD in the 4:3 aspect ratio (which was still mostly the UK television norm in the 1990s). From series 6 onwards, the show was shown in a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio. The DVD releases reflected this change. However, from 2012, ITV3 HD have been broadcasting a growing number of episodes of the series in high definition, remastered from the original 16mm source. In these HD versions, even the opening series are shown in widescreen. Comparisons to the 4:3 version of the shows (still available on DVD) have shown that the frame has been "opened-up" to include previously unseen parts of the frame. This not only means that these episodes fit the widescreen ratio without cropping out important material, they are a new experience.


title: A Touch of Frost

text: In Australia, the series aired on ABC, UK.TV and 7Two. In Canada, the series aired on Knowledge, SCN and TVOntario. In New Zealand, the series aired on Prime, TV1 and UK.TV. In the United States, the series aired on A&E Network. In the Netherlands, the series aired on KRO, while in Italy on La7. Other countries that have aired the series include Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Japan, Norway and Sweden.


title: A Touch of Frost

text: In Ireland the series originally aired on RTÉ, but was later dropped by RTÉ in the early 2000s and was not acquired by TV3 Ireland (which was then part owned by ITV, until 2006), however with the introduction of UTV Ireland in 2015 the series made a return and has aired across all Virgin Media channels (formerly TV3) since UTV Ireland's takeover in 2017.


title: A Touch of Frost

text: Free @ Last TV, who produced the Sky1/Acorn TV series "Agatha Raisin", are developing a prequel series, based on the novel "First Frost", published in 2011 by Transworld Publishers Ltd.


title: Rob Bourdon

text: Robert Gregory Bourdon (born January 20, 1979) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founding member of the American rock band Linkin Park.


title: Rob Bourdon

text: Bourdon was born in Calabasas, California. He received classical piano lessons at a young age. He was inspired to play the drums after attending an Aerosmith concert, where he was personally introduced to drummer Joey Kramer. He also cites Tower of Power and Earth, Wind and Fire as his early influences. Bourdon attended Agoura High School in Agoura Hills where het met future bandmates Brad Delson and Mike Shinoda, in the high school's jazz band. Bourdon waited tables at a restaurant and worked as a party coordinator at a bowling alley prior to becoming a full-time musician. He attended Santa Monica College where he studied accounting.


title: Rob Bourdon

text: Bourdon and Brad Delson formed their own band, Relative Degree. The band played a sell-out concert at the Roxy Theather before breaking up.


title: Rob Bourdon

text: Bourdon later joined Delson and Mike Shinoda to form Linkin Park in 1996. The band enjoyed mainstream success with their debut album "Hybrid Theory" (2000), which would later go on to become 12× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Bourdon served as Linkin Park drummer for seven studio albums and many international tours. Beyond drums and percussion, he also handled the band's business operations with Delson and Dave Farrell. Bourdon injured his back during the production of the band's sixth studio album, "The Hunting Party", after playing for 10 hours a day for 7 consecutive days but later recovered. He remained with Linkin Park through 2017, when the band went on hiatus following the death of front man and vocalist Chester Bennington.


title: Rob Bourdon

text: Bourdon dated actress Vanessa Lee Evigan from 2001 to 2007. He dated model Irina Shayk from 2007 to 2009. Bourdon resides in Los Angeles. He is Jewish.


title: Mary Nighy

text: Nighy was born on 17 July 1984 in London. She is the daughter of actors Bill Nighy and Diana Quick. She was educated at the City of London School for Girls and Westminster School. Nighy graduated with First-Class Honours in English from University College London in 2006. She was a member of the National Youth Theatre.


title: Mary Nighy

text: Nighy is a director of Foster Films. She has directed short films including "Lulu" and "Player"; the latter was written by Sam Hodges and premiered at the 2008 Miami Short Film Festival. She directed Hodges' play "Lyre" at the HighTide Festival in spring 2007.


title: Mary Nighy

text: Her latest work, and debut feature as director, is "Alice, Darling", starring Anna Kendrick and Wunmi Mosaku.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Cleopatra Selene II (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Σελήνη; summer 40 BC – BC; the numeration is modern) was a Ptolemaic princess and Queen of Numidia (briefly in 25 BC) and Mauretania (25 BC – 5 BC). She was an important royal woman in the early Augustan age.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Cleopatra Selene was the only daughter of Greek Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman Triumvir Mark Antony. In the Donations of Antioch and of Alexandria, she was made ruler of Cyrenaica and Libya. After Antony and Cleopatra's defeat at Actium and their suicides in Egypt in 30 BC, Selene and her brothers were brought to Rome and placed in the household of Octavian's sister, Octavia the Younger, a former wife of her father.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Selene eventually married Juba II of Numidia and Mauretania. She had great influence in Mauretania's government decisions, especially regarding trade and construction projects. During their reign, the country became extremely wealthy. The couple had a son and successor, Ptolemy of Mauretania. Through their granddaughter Drusilla, the Ptolemaic line intermarried into Roman nobility for many generations.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Cleopatra Selene was born in approximately 40 BC in Egypt, as Pharaoh Cleopatra VII's only daughter. Her second name ("moon" in Ancient Greek) opposes the second name of her twin brother, Alexander Helios ("sun" in Ancient Greek). She was raised and highly educated in Alexandria in a manner appropriate for a princess. The twins were formally acknowledged by their father, Triumvir Mark Antony, during a political meeting with their mother in 37 BC. Their younger brother, Ptolemy Philadelphos, was born a year later. Their mother most likely planned for Selene to marry her older half-brother Caesarion, possibly the only biological son of Julius Caesar, after whom he was named.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Over the next two years, Antony bestowed a great deal of land on Cleopatra and their children under his triumviral authority. In 34 BC, during the Donations of Alexandria, huge crowds assembled to witness the couple sit on golden thrones on a silver platform with Caesarion, Cleopatra Selene, Alexander Helios, and Ptolemy Philadelphus sitting on smaller ones below them. Antony declared Cleopatra to be Queen of Kings, Caesarion to be the true son of Julius Caesar and King of Egypt, and proceeded to bestow kingdoms of their own upon Selene and her brothers. She was made ruler of Cyrenaica and Libya. Neither of the children were old enough to assume control of their lands, but it was clear that their parents intended they should do so in the future. This event, along with Antony's marriage to Cleopatra and divorce of Octavia Minor, older sister of Octavian (future Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus), marked a turning point that led to the Final War of the Roman Republic.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: In 31 BC. during a naval battle at Actium, Antony and Cleopatra were defeated by Octavian. By the time Octavian arrived in Egypt in the summer of 30 BC, the couple had sent the children away. Caesarion went to India, but en route he was betrayed by his tutor, intercepted by Roman forces and executed. Selene, Alexander, and Ptolemy Philadelphos went south to Thebes. Meanwhile, their parents committed suicide as Octavian and his army invaded Egypt. The deaths of their mother and Caesarion left Selene and Alexander nominally in charge of Egypt until the kingdom was officially annexed by the Roman Empire two weeks later.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Octavian captured Selene and her brothers, and took them to Rome. During his triumph, he paraded the twins dressed as the moon and the sun in heavy golden chains, behind an effigy of their mother clutching an asp to her arm. The chains were so heavy that the children were unable to walk in them, eliciting unexpected sympathy from many of the Roman onlookers.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Once Egypt had ceased to exist as an independent kingdom, there remained the question of what to do with Selene and her brothers. In the absence of any surviving relative, responsibility for the children passed to Augustus, who in turn gave the siblings to Octavia to be raised in her household on the Palatine Hill. They were members of an extended family that included their half-brother Iullus Antonius (their father's son with his late wife Fulvia), their half-sisters, both called Antonia (daughters of their father with Octavia), and Octavia's older children from a previous marriage, Marcus Claudius Marcellus and his two sisters called Marcella. Between 26 and 20 BC, Cleopatra Selene is the only known surviving member of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Her brothers are not recorded in any known historical account and are presumed to have died, possibly from either illness or assassination.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Octavia arranged for Cleopatra Selene to marry the intellectual King Juba II of Numidia, whose father had committed suicide in 46 BC. He was sent to be raised in Caesar's household; on Caesar's death in 44 BC custody passed to Octavian, the future Augustus. The marriage likely took place in 25 BC and was commemorated in an epigram that survives in its entirety:


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: A hoard of Selene's coins has been dated at 17 AD. It is traditionally believed that she was alive to mint them, but this would mean that her husband married Princess Glaphyra of Cappadocia during Selene's lifetime. Historians generally assume that Juba wouldn't have taken a second wife as a thoroughly Romanized king, arguing that if he married Glaphyra before 4 AD, then his first wife must have already been dead. However, even contemporary client kings with Roman citizenship took multiple wives. It is possible that Selene and Juba separated for a time, but that their rift was mended after Juba's divorce from Glaphyra.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: In 25 BC, Augustus decided to confer on Juba II and Selene the newly created client kingdom of Mauretania since Numidia was, after a brief period of status as the Roman client kingdom under king Juba II (30 - 25 BC) once again directly annexed to the Roman Empire as the part of the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis. The young rulers renamed their new capital "Caesarea" (modern Cherchell, Algeria), in honor of the Emperor.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Mauretania was a vast territory, but lacked organization. Cleopatra Selene is said to have exercised great influence on the policies which Juba promoted. She imported many important advisers, scholars, and artists from her mother's royal court in Alexandria to serve in Caesarea. Through the couple's influence, the Mauretanian kingdom flourished.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Cleopatra supported Mauretanian trade. The kingdom developed a significant export throughout the Mediterranean region, particularly with Spain and Italy. Their products included fish, grapes, pearls, figs, grain, wooden furniture and purple dye harvested from shellfish. Tingis (modern Tangier), a town at the Pillars of Hercules (modern Strait of Gibraltar), became a major trade centre. The value and quality of Mauretanian coins became recognised throughout the Roman Empire.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Cleopatra's promotion of architecture marks a transition between the Hellenistic style and Roman. The construction and sculptural projects at Caesarea and Volubilis display a mixture of Ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman architectural styles. These buildings included a lighthouse in the style of Pharos of Alexandria in the harbour, a royal palace situated in the seafront, and numerous temples dedicated to Roman and Egyptian deities. Her vigorous promotion of her mother's legacy stood in sharp contrast to the negative image being disseminated in contemporary Augustan poetry.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: The couple ruled Mauretania for almost two decades until Cleopatra's death at the age of 35. Controversy surrounds her exact date of death. The following epigram by Greek epigrammatist Crinagoras of Mytilene is considered to be her eulogy:


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: If this poem isn't simply literary license, Selene's death seems to have coincided with a lunar eclipse. If so, astronomical correlation then can be used to help pinpoint the date of her death: Lunar eclipses occurred in 9, 8, 5 and 1 BC and in AD 3, 7, 10, 11 and 14. The event in 5 BC most closely resembles the description given in the eulogy. However, the date of her death is not ascertainable with any certainty. Zahi Hawass, former Director of Egyptian Antiquities, believes Cleopatra died in 8 AD.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Selene was placed in the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania in modern Algeria, built by her and Juba east of Caesarea and still visible. Juba died in 23 AD and was buried in the same tomb. There is a fragmentary inscription dedicated to the couple as the "King and Queen of Mauretania". Their remains have not been found at the site, perhaps due to tomb raids, possibly shortly after the mausoleum's construction; or because the structure was meant to serve as a memorial and not as a place of burial.


title: Cleopatra Selene II

text: Cleopatra was survived by her husband and their son Ptolemy, who ruled Mauretania together until Juba's death in AD 23. Ptolemy then reigned until 40, when he was executed by Emperor Caligula, his mother's great nephew, who was probably jealous of Mauretania's wealth. Caligula's successor, Emperor Claudius, took advantage of Ptolemy's lack of heirs and assumed control of Mauretania, turning it into the Roman provinces of Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Tingitana. Thereafter, Cleopatra, Juba and Ptolemy were mostly forgotten.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina (, ) is a state in the South Region of Brazil. It is the 7th smallest state in total area and the 11th most populous. Additionally, it is the 9th largest settlement, with 295 municipalities. The state, with 3.4% of the Brazilian population, generates 3.8% of the national GDP.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina is bordered by Paraná to the north, Rio Grande do Sul to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Argentine province of Misiones to the west. The coastline is over 450 km, i.e., about half of Portugal's mainland coast. The seat of the state executive, legislative and judiciary powers is the capital Florianópolis. Joinville, however, is the most populous city in the state. Besides Espírito Santo, Santa Catarina is the only state whose capital is not the most populous city. South of the Tropic of Capricorn, situated in the planet's southern temperate zone, the state has a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa") in the east and west and an oceanic climate ("Cfb") in the center. Climatic conditions vary according to the relief of the region: in the west and mountainous plateau, snow and frost are relatively frequent, while on the coast the climate is warmer, capable of reaching high temperatures in summer.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The territory of Santa Catarina is one of the oldest states in Brazil, separated from São Paulo in 1738, its first governor being José da Silva Pais. The state was created to extend Portuguese domains to southern Brazil until they reached the Rio de la Plata region. It is also the oldest state of the South Region of Brazil, older than Rio Grande do Sul (1807) and Paraná (1853). The state of Santa Catarina was settled by European immigrants: the coast was colonized by the Azorean Portuguese in the 18th century; the Itajaí Valley "–" a portion of the southern region and northern Santa Catarina "–" was settled by the Germans in the mid 19th century. The south of the state was populated by the Italians in the last years of the 19th century. Children and grandchildren of Italian and German immigrants who moved from Rio Grande do Sul settled in western Santa Catarina in the mid-20th century.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The state's social indicators are among the best in Brazil. It has the highest rate of life expectancy in the country (just like the Federal District), the lowest infant mortality rate and is also the state with the lowest economic inequality and illiteracy in Brazil. Santa Catarina has the 6th highest GDP in the country, with a diverse and industrialized economy.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina is in a very strategic position in Mercosul, the South American Common Market. Its position in the map is situated between the parallel 25º57'41" and 29º23'55" of the Southern latitude and between the meridians 48º19'37" and 53º50'00" of Western longitude. Florianópolis, its capital, is from Brasilia, from São Paulo, from Rio de Janeiro and from Buenos Aires.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The Serra Geral mountains, a southern extension of the Serra do Mar, run north and south through the state parallel to the Atlantic coast, dividing the state into a narrow coastal plain and a larger plateau region to the west.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The Atlantic coast of Santa Catarina has many beaches, islands, bays, inlets, and lagoons. The humid tropical Serra do Mar coastal forests cover the narrow coastal zone, which is crossed by numerous short streams from the wooded slopes of the Serras.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The central part of the state is home to the Araucaria moist forests, dominated by emergent Brazilian pines "(Araucaria angustifolia)." The drainage of the plateau is westward to the Paraná River, the rivers being tributaries of the Iguaçu which forms its northern boundary, and of the Uruguay River which forms its southern boundary. The semi-deciduous Alto Paraná Atlantic forests occupy the westernmost valleys of the Iguaçu and Uruguay rivers.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The highest point of the state is the Morro da Boa Vista, at an altitude of 1,827 m, and the second-highest point is the Morro da Igreja, in the town of Urubici, at an altitude of 1,822 m.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina is one of the few Brazilian states with a negative deforestation index, meaning that forest coverage grows faster than it is chopped down, thanks to advances in agricultural technology that increase productivity while reducing the space needed.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: European settlement began with the Spanish settlement of Santa Catarina island in 1542. The Portuguese took control in 1675 and established the captaincy of Santa Catarina in 1738, bringing families from the Azores to populate the shore.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: In 1839, during the Ragamuffin War, there was an unsuccessful attempt for Santa Catarina to secede from the Empire of Brazil to form the independent Juliana Republic (allied with the Riograndense Republic to the south) which was thwarted in four months. Between the early 19th century and mid-20th century, a great number of European immigrants arrived in Santa Catarina; these immigrants were taken to populate the south of the nation by Imperial initiative. About 50% of these immigrants were from Germany and Austria. The rest came mainly from Italy, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Lithuania, France, Finland, Croatia, Serbia, Estonia, Slovenia and Latvia; these immigrants created an abundance of small, family-held farms, many of which continue to exist in the interior of the state.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Late in March 2004, the state was hit by the first hurricane ever recorded in the South Atlantic. Because there is no naming system for such an event in Brazil, Brazilian meteorologists called it Hurricane Catarina, after the state.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: According to the IBGE of 2008, there were 6,091,000 people residing in the state. The population density was .


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The last PNAD (National Research for Sample of Domiciles) census revealed the following numbers: 5,297,000 White people (86.96%), 608,000 Brown (Multiracial) people (9.98%), 160,000 Black people (2.63%), 15,000 Asian people (0.25%), 5,000 Amerindian people (0.09%).


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: People of Portuguese ancestry, mostly Azoreans, predominate on the coast. People of German descent predominate in the northeast region (Itajaí Valley) and in the north (Joinville region). There are many German communities in the west. People of Italian descent predominate in the south and many areas in the west. People of African, Amerindian, or Japanese origin are present in small communities in a few towns.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: According to a 2013 genetic study with 20 samples (for 6.7 million people), the population of Santa Catarina is made up of 79.7% European, 11.4% African and 8.9% Amerindian ancestry groups. A genetic study found out an isolated Azorean-Brazilian community from Santa Catarina to have between 80.6% to 93.5% European descent, along with 12.6% to 6.8% African and 4.1% to 2.4% Native American ancestries.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: One of the Brazilian states with the most obvious signs of 19th-century European immigration, Santa Catarina, where the vast majority of the population descends from European settlers, is also the state with the highest percentage of European phenotype citizens.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The state is also famous for having towns where most of the population belongs to a single main ancestry thanks to the settlement program with European colonists. Here are a few examples of such towns in the Southern region:


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Over 50% of Santa Catarina's population has German, Austrian and Luxembourgish ancestry (the local "Hunsrückisch" is known as "Katharinensisch", East Pomeranian is still spoken in the town of Pomerode and Southern Austro-Bavarian by the Tyrolean population in Treze Tílias. It was also the main destination for Danes in Brazil, being sparsely populated and with just its shore mainly inhabited by Azoreans in the 18th century (e.g. Laguna born Anita Garibaldi, wife and comrade-in-arms of Italian Unification revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi). It also received Italians, French, Swedes, Norwegians, Swiss, Lithuanians and Latvians, Estonians, Finns, Poles, Slovenians, Croatians, Belgians, American Confederates and Spaniards who populated its interior during the 19th century. The town of Brusque, founded by Austrian Baron von Schneeburg who brought in German families from the Grand Duchy of Baden to settle in the northeast of Santa Catarina, also received additional waves of Italians from the Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino Euroregion, Poles and Swedes. Brusque was also one of the destinations in the South and Southeast for American Confederate settlers in 1867, differing from São Paulo and Paraná colonies, who gave birth to new towns such as Americana in São Paulo. Neighboring towns such as Nova Trento founded in 1875, similarly received subjects from the Austro-Hungarian Empire because Italian-speaking Tyroleans known as "trentinos" and Germans from the Kingdom of Prussia, historic Swabia and Baden faced an immense crisis in the agricultural sector caused by the conflicts of the unification of Italy and Germany respectively, that weakened local trade. Istrian Italians under the Austrian Empire rule also fled Istria to settle in Brazil, and a few towns like Nova Veneza, founded in 1891, still have an over 90% Venetian population of which many still speak the Talian dialect. Most Venetians arrived after the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866, when Venice, along with the rest of the Veneto, became part of the newly created Kingdom of Italy.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The Portuguese started arriving in the 1750s, mainly from the Azores islands, and colonized the coast. In the late 18th century, half of Santa Catarina's population was Portuguese-born. These Portuguese established many important towns in the state, such as Florianópolis, the capital.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: German people started arriving in 1828, after Brazilian independence. They were peasants attracted by the opportunity to have their own land, as Germanic countries were overpopulated and many people had no land to work. German immigration was very low until the 1850s when waves started arriving in southern Brazil. To stimulate the German colonization of southern Brazil, the Brazilian government created many German colonies: these were ethnically Germanic areas where people from many parts of what are now Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland settled. Initially, these colonies were in rural areas, where immigrants were able to cultivate their own farms. Many of these German colonies developed into large cities, Joinville and Blumenau among them.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Germans were isolated in rural communities for decades. They did not have much contact with the other peoples of Brazil, and for generations, they were able to speak the German language and maintain German traditions in Brazil. This situation changed in 1942, during World War II, when Brazil declared war on Germany, and German immigrants and their descendants were required to learn Portuguese and to culturally integrate into their respective states.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: German influence in the state nevertheless remains very strong and visible. Many towns and cities retain notable aspects of German culture: in Pomerode, for example, a small town in which nine-tenths of the population is of German-Brazilian descent, most inhabitants still speak German fluently; Oktoberfest continues to be celebrated in Blumenau and in many other towns in the region. Architecture, too, shows German influence, as do popular customs and local cuisine.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Italian settlers started arriving in Santa Catarina in 1875 and immigrated in large numbers until the 1910s. They were peasants from Northern Italy and established themselves in ethnically Italian colonies close to the coast. In the beginning, Italian settlements failed, because many Italians died of tropical diseases or left the colonies in search of better conditions. However, in the Vale do Tubarão region (southern Santa Catarina), Italian immigrants found cooler weather and better lands, and the settlements prospered. Many of them worked in the coal industry and, unlike the German immigrants, they did not focus much on agriculture, except in places like Vale do Itajaí, where Northern Italians worked together with Germans.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: In some cities and villages, German or Talian are still the main spoken languages and enjoy co-official status.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: According to the 2010 population census, the population of Santa Catarina is made up of Roman Catholics (73.07%); Protestants or evangelicals (20.4%); spiritists (1.58%); Jehovah's Witnesses (0.74%); Mormons (0.11%) Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (0.17%); Buddhists (0.05%); new Eastern religious (0.04%), among which the Messianic constitute 0.03%; Islamic (0.01%); Orthodox Christians (0.07%); umbandistas (0.14%); Jewish (0.02%); spiritualists (0.03%); esoteric traditions (0.17%); indigenous (0.03%); candomblezeiros (0.09%) and Hindus (0.01%). Another 3.27% had no religion, including atheists (0.29%) and agnostics (0.6%); 0.29% followed other Christian religions; 0.21% had no determined faith; 0.04% did not know, 0.04% other Eastern religions and 0.03% did not declare.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Portuguese is the official national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools. English, Spanish, and sometimes German are part of the official high school curriculum.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The industrial sector is the largest contributor to the GDP at 52.5%, followed by the service sector at 33.9%. Agriculture represents 13.6% of GDP (2004). Santa Catarina exports include aviculture 26.1%, wood products 15.4%, compressors 8.5%, cotton 6.8%, and vehicles 5.8% (2002). Its share of the Brazilian economy stood at 4% in 2005.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina has one of the highest standards of living in Brazil and is a major industrial and agricultural center. The capital city, Florianópolis, has a diversified economy, being an important location for the technology industry and a major tourist destination. Commerce and services are also very strong in the capital. Cities in Florianópolis metro area, like São José, Palhoça, and Biguaçu are important and diverse industrial centers, as well as strong commercial areas. In the northeast of the state, electric-mechanical, textile and furniture industries are strong; in the west, cattle and poultry breeding predominate, while in the south it is ceramics and shellfish. The corridor between Joinville, Jaraguá do Sul and Blumenau is heavily industrialized – more than 50% of the state's industrial output is concentrated in this small, but highly developed area.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: In agriculture, the state stands out in the production of rice, apple and onion, in addition to significant production of soy, maize, banana, grape, garlic, barley, wheat and yerba mate.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: With only 1.12% of the national territory, Santa Catarina was the 8th largest producer of maize and the 11th largest producer of soybeans in Brazil, in the year 2017. When production per unit area is considered, the State becomes the national leader in corn, with an average of 8.1 thousand kilos per hectare, and second in soybeans, with 3.580 kilos per hectare. In 15 years, there has been a 118% growth in corn productivity and 58% in soybean. In 2019, corn production in the state reached 2.8 million tons (in 2018, Brazil was the 3rd largest producer in the world, with 82 million tons. However, the annual demand for corn in the state is 7 million tons – 97% is for animal consumption, especially for pigs and broilers (83.8%), as Santa Catarina has the largest pig population among Brazilian states and the second largest in poultry. The corn deficit is covered by interstate imports, mainly from Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Paraná and Goiás, and from countries like Argentina and Paraguay. In soy production, in 2019 the state harvested 2.3 million tons (Brazil produced 116 million tons this year, being the largest producer in the world).


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The state was the 2nd largest rice producer in the country in 2020, second only to the Rio Grande do Sul, harvesting around 1.1 million tons of the product. Total national production was 10.5 million tons this year.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The three Southern States of the country are responsible for 95% of the national apple production, and Santa Catarina tops, competing with the Rio Grande do Sul. The São Joaquim region is responsible for 35% of the apple planting.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina is also a national leader in the production of onions. In 2017, it produced 630 thousand tons, especially in the municipalities of Alfredo Wagner, Angelina and Rancho Queimado.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina was the third largest producer of garlic in Brazil in 2018, with a planted area of approximately two thousand hectares. The Curitibanos region is the largest producer in the state.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina is one of the few states in the country that cultivate barley. In the 2007–2011 period, the state had 2.5% of national production. The cultivation was concentrated in the microregions of Canoinhas (57.6%), Curitibanos (26.5%) and Xanxerê (11.5%). It's also one of the few states that cultivate wheat, due to its favourable climate. In 2019 the estimated production of the state was 150 thousand tons, still small compared to the 2.3 million tons produced by both Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná. Since the country has to import these 2 cereals in high volume every year, the State has been trying to stimulate the production of winter grain crops with incentive programs.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina produced close to 100 thousand tons of yerba mate in 2018, mainly in the cities of Chapecó and Canoinhas.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The state had an annual production of about 23 thousand tons of grapes in 2019, with 86% of the state production located in the municipalities of Caçador, Pinheiro Preto, Tangará and Videira. Most of the national production, however, is located in Rio Grande do Sul (664.2 thousand tons in 2018).


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina is the largest producer of pork in Brazil. The State is responsible for 28.38% of the country's slaughter and 40.28% of Brazilian pork exports. The number of pigs in Brazil was 41.1 million in 2017. Santa Catarina had 19.7% of the total.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The number of chickens in Brazil was 1.4 billion in 2017. Santa Catarina had 10.8% of the national total, the 4th largest in the country.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Brazil is the fifth largest milk producer in the world, having produced almost 34 billion liters in 2018, 4% of world production. Santa Catarina was responsible for 8.78% of the national production, almost 3 billion liters of milk. In the production of chicken eggs, Santa Catarina represented 4.58% of the national total, which was 3.6 billion dozens in 2018. The State alone was responsible for 165 million dozens.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: In cattle raising, Brazil had almost 215 million head in 2017. Santa Catarina had about 5 million head of cattle in 2018.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina was the 5th largest honey producer in the country in 2017, with 10.2% of the national total.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Fishing plays an important role in the state's economy. The production of oysters, scallops, and mussels in Brazil was 20.9 thousand tons in 2017. Santa Catarina was the main producer, responsible for 98.1%. Palhoça, Florianópolis and Bombinhas led the ranking of municipalities.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina is the largest coal producer in Brazil, mainly in Criciúma city and its surroundings. The production of crude mineral coal in Brazil was 13.6 million tons in 2007. Santa Catarina produced 8.7 Mt (million tons); the Rio Grande do Sul, 4.5 Mt; and Paraná, 0.4 Mt. Despite the extraction of mineral coal in Brazil, the country still needs to import about 50% of the coal consumed, as the coal produced in the country is of low quality, with a lower concentration of carbon. Brazil's coal reserves are 32 billion tons and are mainly in the Rio Grande do Sul (89.25% of the total), followed by Santa Catarina (10.41%). The Candiota Deposit (RS) alone has 38% of all national coal. As it is the coal of inferior quality, it is used only in the generation of thermoelectric energy and at the site of the deposit. The oil crisis in the 1970s led the Brazilian government to create the Energy Mobilization Plan, with intense efforts to discover new coal reserves. The Geological Survey of Brazil, through works carried out in the Rio Grande, do Sul and Santa Catarina greatly increased the reserves of coal previously known, between 1970 and 1986 (mainly between 1978 and 1983). In 2011, coal accounted for only 5.6% of the energy consumed in Brazil, but it is a strategic alternate source that can be activated when, for example, low water levels in dams reduce hydroelectric power generation. This happened in 2013, when several thermoelectric plants were shut down, to maintain the necessary supply, albeit at a higher cost.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina had an industrial GDP of R $63.2 billion in 2017, equivalent to 5.3% of the national industry. It employs 761,072 workers in the industry. The main sectors are Construction (17.9%), Food (15.9%), Clothing (7.4%), Industrial Public Utility Services, such as Electricity and Water (6.9%), and Textiles (6.0%). These 5 sectors constitute 54.1% of the state's industry.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The main industrial centers in Santa Catarina are Jaraguá do Sul, Joinville, Chapecó and Blumenau. The first is diversified, with factories of fabrics, food products, foundries, and the mechanical industry. Chapecó's economy is based on agribusiness. Blumenau concentrates on the textile industry (together with Gaspar and Brusque) and recently also on software. In the interior of the state, there are numerous small manufacturing centers, linked to both the use of wood in industry and the processing of agricultural and pastoral products.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: In Textile industry, Santa Catarina stands out. Brazil, despite being among the 5 largest producers in the world in 2013, and a large consumer of textile and clothing, do not participate proportionately in global trade. In 2015, Brazilian imports ranked 25th (US$5.5 billion), and in exports, it was only 40th in the world. At 0.3% market share in the global textile and clothing trade, Brazil is constrained by uncompetitive pricing compared to producers in China and India. The gross value of production, which includes consumption of intermediate goods and services, by the Brazilian textile industry, corresponds to almost R $40 billion in 2015, 1.6% of the gross value of Industrial Production in Brazil. The South has 32.65% of production, Among the main textile clusters in Brazil, the Vale do Itajaí (SC) stand out. In 2015, Santa Catarina was the 2nd largest textile and clothing employer in Brazil. It led in the manufacture of pillows and is the largest producer in Latin America and the second in the world in woven labels. It is the largest exporter in the country of toilet/kitchen clothes, cotton terry cloth fabrics, and cotton knit shirts. Some of the most famous companies in the region are Hering, Malwee, Karsten and Haco.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: In Food industry, Brazil was the 2nd largest exporter of processed foods in the world in 2019, with a value of U $34.1 billion in exports. The Brazilian food and beverage industry's revenue in 2019 was R $699.9 billion, 9.7% of the country's Gross Domestic Product. In 2015, the industrial food and beverage sector in Brazil comprised 34,800 companies (not counting bakeries), the vast majority of which were small. These companies employed more than 1,600,000 workers, making the food and beverage industry the largest employer in the manufacturing industry. There are around 570 large companies in Brazil, which constitute a major proportion of industry revenues. Companies such as Sadia and Perdigão (which later merged into BRF), Seara Alimentos (which today belongs to JBS), Aurora (all meat specialists), Gomes da Costa (fish and canned), Eisenbahn Brewery and Hemmer Alimentos (specialist in preserves such as cucumber, beet, heart of palm, among others) are based in Santa Catarina.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The wood and paper industry is concentrated in (Canoinhas, Três Barras and Mafra) in the north of Santa Catarina, due to raw material availability in the region. In the Serra industries (Rio Negrinho and São Bento do Sul), wood processing works are carried out, producing various derivatives and final products. The state stands out nationally in the production of wooden furniture. Most companies in this sector are based in these cities, together with Palhoça. The state's industry accounts for 7.5% of the national sector. The state is the second-largest furniture exporter in the country (2014). The Santa Catarina timber industry stands out with a 17.1% share in Brazil. It is among the largest in the country in the production of wooden doors and is a national leader in frames.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Responsible for handling R$6.5 billion in gross value of the Industrial Production of Santa Catarina, the paper and cellulose sector is one of the most important economic vocations in the mountainous part of the state. The sector is 8th in exports and 10th in job creation in Santa Catarina, with more than 20.2 thousand vacancies, according to data from 2015. The municipalities of Lages and Otacílio Costa together represent about 47% of the exports of the Pulp and Paper sector State role.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Brazil's ceramic tile factories are mainly based in the south of Santa Catarina (including the cities of Imbituba, Tubarão, Criciúma, Forquilhinha, Içara and Urussanga). The state of Santa Catarina also leads the country in the production of crockery and crystals.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The northeast of the state is notable for the production of moto-compressors, auto parts, refrigerators, engines and electrical components, industrial machines, tubes, and connections. Its compressor production makes it a leader in exports among Brazil's states. It is also an important producer of forestry equipment. In metallurgy, the state has the largest national manufacturer of stainless steel sinks, vats, and tanks, trophies, and medals, fixing elements (screws, nuts, etc.), jacketed tanks for fuels, industrial pressure vessels, and malleable iron connections. It is a world leader in engine blocks and iron heads, being Brazil's largest exporter of this product.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: In the leather-footwear sector (Footwear industry),the state has a production center in São João Batista.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: In the household appliances industry, sales of white goods (refrigerators, air conditioning, and others) were 12.9 million units in 2017. The sector had its peak in 2012, with 18.9 million units. The brands that sold the most were Brastemp, Electrolux, Consul and Philips. Consul is originally from Santa Catarina, having merged with Brastemp and is now a part of the multinational Whirlpool Corporation.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: In 2019, Santa Catarina had 62,871 km of highways, 9,321 km of which were paved, and of these, 556 km were duplicated highways.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The main highway is the BR-101, which is fully duplicated, passing along the coast, where most of the 25 cities in the state of Santa Catarina with the highest GDP are located. Other major highways in the state are BR-470 and BR-280, which are currently undergoing duplication works, BR-116, BR-282, BR-153 and BR-158.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Florianópolis is served by Hercílio Luz International Airport for both domestic and international flights. The traffic has grown significantly and in October 2019, a new airport was opened to serve 2.7 million passengers a year.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The architectural design of the new airport was chosen by a public competition held by Infraero in partnership with the Brazilian Architects Institute (IAB). Among the over 150 original entries, the proposal of São Paulo architect Mário Bizelli was chosen. The construction work will be tendered in 2005 and should be finished in two years.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The state has five specialized ports — Itajaí, São Francisco do Sul, Itapoá, Imbituba and Navegantes — the first two being of great importance. São Francisco do Sul is a major exporter of soy, wood and cellulose, and importer of steel material, such as steel bars and coils, in addition to fertilizers and urea. Itajaí exports a lot of chicken, wood and meat products and imports mechanical and electronic products, chemicals and miscellaneous textiles. Imbituba represents a coal terminal and Laguna, a fishing port. Itajaí had a cargo movement of 18.9 million tons in 2021, and São Francisco do Sul, 13.6 million, being among the 10 largest in the country.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Santa Catarina offers several destinations and events throughout the year: rural tourism, thermal resorts, ecological tourism, and adventure sports, historic monuments and sights, religious tourism, Beto Carrero World and Unipraias parks in Balneário Camboriú, and beach resorts of Florianópolis, Laguna, Porto Belo and Itajaí.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Some of these sights can only be seen in the off-season, like the snow on the Catarinense Mountain Range – one of the places in Brazil where it snows every year.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Between July and November, southern right whales visit the state's coast. The municipality of Timbó is a center for adventure sports like rafting and canyoning.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: The popular festivities take place in October. The Oktoberfest of Blumenau is Brazil's largest and the world's second largest (after Germany's Munich).


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Joinville is the host city in July to the widely acclaimed "Joinville Dance Festival", the annual "Festival of Flowers" in November which showcases orchids produced in the region, and several business events in its Convention Center.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Florianópolis, the city/island State Capital attracts a large number of tourists during the summer months who visit its 42 beaches.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: There are also many smaller resort towns, including the capital of the microlight aircraft tour flights Itapema, Piçarras, Barra Velha, and Penha, home to the famous amusement park Beto Carrero World.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: An interesting collaboration between humans and wildlife has developed in Laguna (birthplace of Anita Garibaldi, the wife and comrade-in-arms of Italian Unification revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi): a pod of bottlenose dolphins drive fish towards fishermen who stand at the beach in shallow waters. Then one dolphin rolls over, which the fishermen take as a sign to cast their nets. The dolphins feed on the escaping fish. The dolphins were not trained for this behavior; the collaboration has been reported since 1847. Southern right whales also can be seen in Laguna from the shore during the winter to spring seasons.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: It contains the Yucumã Falls (, ), a dramatic waterfall on the Uruguay River on the Argentinian border. Many tourists come to the park to see the falls, which are long and up to high.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: In the state of Santa Catarina, important athletes were born such as: Gustavo Kuerten, the greatest male tennis player in the country's history; Pedro Barros, one of the most important skaters in the country along with Bob Burnquist; Darlan Romani, world champion in shot put, Tiago Splitter, NBA champion, Fernando Scherer, Olympic medalist and world champion in swimming, and Ana Moser, Olympic medalist in volleyball.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Criciuma EC from Criciúma. Criciúma EC, also known as "Tigre" (Tiger), was champion in the Copa do Brasil (Brazilian Cup) in 1991, the most important championship won by a Santa Catarina team in a very long time. Criciúma is the only team from Santa Catarina that played Libertadores of America Cup, in 1992, when it was 5th. Criciúma also won the Brazilian 2002 second series and 2006 C series. Criciuma is currently playing Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the Brazilian national second division.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Figueirense FC black and white from Florianópolis. Its nicknames are "Figueira" (Fig tree) and "O Furacão do Estreito" (The Hurricane of Estreito). Its stadium is the Orlando Scarpelli, located in the Estreito neighborhood in the mainland part of the city. Figueirense is currently playing in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second division of Brazilian football.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Avaí FC, blue and white from Florianópolis. It is also known as "O Leão da Ilha" (The Lion of the Island). Its stadium is the Aderbal Ramos da Silva, popularly known as "Ressacada", located in the Carianos neighborhood, in the south part of the island. Avaí is currently playing in Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second division of Brazilian football.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Joinville Esporte Clube from Joinville. It is also known as "Tricolor" or "JEC". JEC won the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second division of Brazilian football, in 2014 and was promoted to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first division, but currently plays in Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, the third division, after two consecutive relegations.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Associação Chapecoense de Futebol from Chapecó. Chapecoense is playing in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first and major division of Brazilian football. The club is currently recovering from the loss of virtually all of its first team in a 2016 plane crash.


title: Santa Catarina (state)

text: Campeche Island is generally considered to have the best and most consistent waves in Brazil, and in April of each year hosts what is currently South America's only ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Championship Tour professional surfing competition. Brazil has played host to many ASP tour events over the past 30 years. Former contest sites include Rio de Janeiro, Barra de Tijuca, and Saquarema, but the past four years have seen the tour set up shop in Florianópolis. Previously held towards the end of the tour, the past few years have seen several ASP world champions crowned in Brazil. In 2004 it was Andy Irons, and in 2005 it was Kelly Slater (who had his 2006 ASP World Title already stitched up by Brazil).


title: Ventura County, California

text: Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Ventura County comprises the Oxnard–Thousand Oaks–Ventura, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the Greater Los Angeles area (Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA Combined Statistical Area). It is also considered the southernmost county along the California Central Coast.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Two of the Channel Islands are part of the county: Anacapa Island, which is the most visited island in Channel Islands National Park, and San Nicolas Island.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Ventura County was historically inhabited by the Chumash people, who also settled much of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties, with their presence dating back 10,000–12,000 years. The Chumash were hunter-gatherers, fishermen, and also traders with the Mojave, Yokuts, and Tongva Indians. The Chumash are also known for their rock paintings and for their great basketry. Chumash Indian Museum in Thousand Oaks has several reconstructed Chumash houses (‘apa) and there are several Chumash pictographs in the county, including the Burro Flats Painted Cave in Simi Valley. The plank canoe, called a "tomol" in Chumash, was important to their way of life. Canoe launching points on the mainland for trade with the Chumash of the Channel Islands were located at the mouth of the Ventura River, Mugu Lagoon and Point Hueneme. This has led to speculations among archeologists of whether the Chumash could have had a pre-historic contact with Polynesians. According to diachronic linguistics, certain words such as tomolo’o (canoe) could be related to Polynesian languages. The dialect of the Chumash language that was spoken in Ventura County was Ventureño.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Several place names in the county has originated from Chumash, including Ojai, which means moon, and Simi Valley, which originates from the word Shimiyi and refers to the stringy, thread-like clouds that typify the region. Others include Point Mugu from the word Muwu (meaning “beach”), Saticoy from the word Sa’aqtiko’y (meaning “sheltered for the wind”), and Sespe Creek from the word S’eqp’e (meaning “kneecap”).


title: Ventura County, California

text: In October 1542, the expedition led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo anchored in an inlet near Point Mugu; its members were the first Europeans to arrive in the area that would become Ventura County.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Active occupation of California by Spain began in 1769. Gaspar de Portolà led a military expedition by land from San Diego to Monterey, passing through Ventura County in August of that year. A priest with the expedition, Father Juan Crespí, kept a journal of the trip and noted that the area was ideal for a mission to be established and it was a "good site to which nothing is lacking". Also on this expedition was Father Junípero Serra, who later founded a mission on this site.


title: Ventura County, California

text: On March 31, 1782, the Mission San Buenaventura was founded by Father Serra. It is named after Saint Bonaventure, one of the early intellectual founders of the Franciscan order. The town that grew up around the mission was originally named San Buenaventura (and retains the name officially), it has been known as Ventura since 1891.


title: Ventura County, California

text: In the 1790s, the Spanish Governor of California began granting land concessions to Spanish Californians who were often retiring soldiers. These concessions were known as ranchos and consisted of thousands of acres of land that were used primarily as ranch land for livestock. In Ventura County, Rancho Simi was granted in 1795 and Rancho El Conejo in 1802. Fernando Tico was granted Ojai and part of Ventura by Gov. Alvarado.


title: Ventura County, California

text: In 1822, California was notified of Mexico's independence from Spain and the Governor of California, the Junta, the military in Monterey and the priests and neophytes at Mission San Buenaventura swore allegiance to Mexico on April 11, 1822. California land that had been vested in the King of Spain was now owned by the nation of Mexico.


title: Ventura County, California

text: By the 1830s, Mission San Buenaventura was in a decline with fewer neophytes joining the mission. The number of cattle owned by the mission dropped from first to fifteenth ranking in the California Missions. The missions were secularized by the Mexican government in 1834. The Mexican governors began granting land rights to Mexican Californians, often retiring soldiers. By 1846, there were 19 rancho grants in Ventura County. In 1836, Mission San Buenaventura was transferred from the Church to a secular administrator. The natives who had been working at the mission gradually left to work on the ranchos. By 1839, only 300 Indians were left at the Mission and it slipped into neglect.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Several outhouses dating back to the 1800s were discovered in July 2007, at a site that had been cleared to prepare for development. The area proved to be a treasure trove for archaeologists who braved the lingering smell in the dirt to uncover artifacts that showed heavy utilization by mission inhabitants, Indians, early settlers and Spanish and Mexican soldiers.


title: Ventura County, California

text: The Mexican–American War began in 1846 but its effect was not felt in Ventura County until 1847. In January of that year, Captain John C. Frémont led the California Battalion into San Buenaventura to find that the Europeans had fled, leaving only the Indians in the Mission. Fremont and the Battalion continued south to sign the Treaty of Cahuenga with General Andrés Pico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo formally transferred California to the United States in 1848.


title: Ventura County, California

text: By 1849, a constitution had been adopted for the California territory. The new Legislature met and divided the pending state into 27 counties. At the time, the area that would become Ventura County was the southern part of Santa Barbara County.


title: Ventura County, California

text: The 1860s brought many changes to the area. A drought caused many of the ranchos to experience financial difficulties and most were divided, sub-divided and sold. Large sections of land were bought by eastern capitalists based on favorable reports of petroleum deposits. A United States Post Office was opened at Mission San Buenaventura in 1861. On April 1, 1866, the town of San Buenaventura was incorporated, becoming the first officially recognized town in what would become Ventura County.


title: Ventura County, California

text: On January 1, 1873, Ventura County was officially split from Santa Barbara County, bringing a flurry of change. That same year, a courthouse and wharf were built in San Buenaventura. A bank was opened and the first public library was created. The school system grew, with the first high school opening in 1890.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Other towns were starting in the county. A plan for Hueneme (later Port Hueneme) was recorded in 1874, and Santa Paula's plan was recorded in 1875. The community of Nordhoff (later renamed Ojai) was started in 1874. Bardsdale, Fillmore, Piru, and Montalvo were established in 1887. 1892 saw Simi (later Simi Valley), Somis, Saticoy, and Moorpark. Oxnard was a latecomer, not being established until 1898.


title: Ventura County, California

text: The Southern Pacific Railroad laid tracks through San Buenaventura in 1887. For convenience in printing their timetables, Southern Pacific shortened San Buenaventura to Ventura. The Post Office soon followed suit. While the city remains officially known as San Buenaventura, it is more commonly referred to as Ventura. The rail line to Northern California originally went through Saugus, Fillmore and Santa Paula, providing a boom to those communities along the line. In 1905, Tunnel #26 was completed between Chatsworth and Corriganville near Simi Valley, shortening the rail route. At a length of , Tunnel #26 was the longest tunnel ever constructed in its day. This tunnel joined to the railroad spur coming the other direction from Montalvo through Camarillo, Moorpark and Simi Valley, making the contemporary main line used today. One stop along the way, at a 90-degree turn, was at a sugar beet processing factory. The factory bore the name of its absentee owners, the Oxnard Brothers. A small community of farm and factory workers grew near the train stop. That community, now bearing the name of the factory shortened to the one word train stop Oxnard, has become the largest city in Ventura County.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Oil has been known in Ventura County since before the arrival of the Europeans, as the native Chumash people used tar from natural seeps as a sealant and waterproofing for baskets and canoes. In the 1860s, several attempts were made to harvest the petroleum products under Ventura County but none were financially successful, and the oil speculators eventually changed from oil to land development. In 1913, oil exploration began in earnest, with Ralph Lloyd obtaining the financial support of veteran oil man Joseph B. Dabney. Their first well, named "Lloyd No. 1", was started on January 20, 1914. The well struck oil at but was destroyed when it went wild. Other wells met a similar fate, until 1916, when a deal was struck with the Shell Oil Company. 1916 was the year that the large South Mountain Oil Field was discovered; other deals followed with General Petroleum in 1917 and Associated Oil Company in 1920. At its peak, the largest oil field in the county, the Ventura Avenue oilfield, discovered in 1919 in the hills north of Ventura, was producing of oil a day, with annual production of over 1.5million barrels. More oil fields came online in the 1920s and 1930s, with the Rincon field, the second largest, in 1927, and the adjacent San Miguelito in 1931.


title: Ventura County, California

text: In the early hours of the morning of March 12–13, 1928, the St. Francis Dam collapsed, sending nearly of water rushing through the Santa Clarita Valley killing as many as 600 people, destroying 1,240 homes and flooding of land, devastating farm fields and orchards. This was the single largest disaster to strike Ventura County and the second largest, in terms of lives lost, in the state.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Ventura County can be separated into two major parts, East County and West County, which are divided by the Conejo Grade. East County consists of all cities east of the Conejo Grade. Geographically East County is the end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in which the Conejo Valley is located, and where there is a considerable increase in elevation. Communities which are considered to be in the East County are Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Lake Sherwood, Hidden Valley, Santa Rosa Valley, part of Westlake Village, Oak Park, Moorpark, and Simi Valley. A majority of these communities are in the Conejo Valley.


title: Ventura County, California

text: West County, which is everything west of the Conejo Grade, consists of communities such as Camarillo, Oxnard, Somis, Point Mugu, Port Hueneme, Ventura, Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore. West County consists of some of the first developed cities in the county. The largest beach communities are located in West County on the coastline of the Channel Islands Harbor.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Starting in the mid-20th century, there was a large growth in population in the East County, moving from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles and out into the Conejo and Simi Valleys. Part of the Conejo Valley is situated in Los Angeles County. This part consists of Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Agoura, and Westlake Village. The other half of the Conejo Valley, which belongs to Ventura County, consists of Lake Sherwood, Hidden Valley, Oak Park, Thousand Oaks, and Newbury Park, which was formerly an unincorporated area that is now the most westerly part of Thousand Oaks. Many working-class people migrated to this area during the 1960s and 1970s out of East and Central Los Angeles. As a result, there was a large growth in population into the Conejo Valley and into Ventura County through the U.S. Route 101 corridor. Making the U.S. 101 a full freeway in the 1960s, and the expansions that followed, helped make commuting to Los Angeles easier and opened the way for development westward. The communities that have seen the most substantial development are Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, and Newbury Park. The neighboring East County area of Simi Valley saw its already considerable population of nearly 60,000 inhabitants in 1970 grow to over 100,000 over the following two decades.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Development moved farther down the U.S. 101 corridor and sent population rising in West County cities as well. The largest population growth there has been in Camarillo, Oxnard, and Ventura. Development in the East County and along the US 101 corridor is rare today, because most of these cities, such as Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, are approaching build-out. Although the area still has plenty of open space and land, almost all of it is in greenbelts between the cities. Because of this, its private low-key location, its country feel, and its proximity to Los Angeles, the Conejo Valley area has become a very attractive place to live. Like most areas of Ventura County, it once had relatively inexpensive real estate, but prices have risen sharply. For example, real estate in Newbury Park has increased in price by more than 250% in the last 10 years.


title: Ventura County, California

text: The Thomas Fire was a massive wildfire that affected Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and one of multiple wildfires that ignited in Southern California in December 2017. It burned approximately , becoming the largest wildfire in modern California history, before it was fully contained on January 12, 2018.


title: Ventura County, California

text: The Thomas Fire destroyed at least 1,063 structures, while damaging 280 others; and the fire caused over $2.176 billion (2018 USD) in damages, including more than $204.5 million in suppression costs, becoming the seventh-most destructive wildfire in state history. The agriculture industry suffered at least $171 million in losses due to the Thomas Fire. Southern California Edison paid the county over $11 million in claims related to damages and costs since its equipment was likely associated with one ignition point of the fire near Santa Paula.


title: Ventura County, California

text: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (16.5%) is water.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Parts of the county are on the Oxnard Plain which includes the cities of Oxnard, Camarillo, Port Hueneme and much of Ventura. Other cities and communities lie in the intermountain valleys of the Transverse Range. The Santa Clara River Valley is the most prominent valley, while other valleys include Conejo Valley, Simi Valley, Santa Rosa Valley, Tierra Rejada Valley and Las Posas Valley. Other parts of the county are on small coastal mountains, such as the Santa Ynez Mountains, Simi Hills, Santa Monica Mountains and the Piru Mountains. Most of the population of Ventura County lives in the southern portion of the county. The major population centers are the Oxnard Plain and the Simi and Conejo Valleys. In local media, the county is usually split between the eastern portion, generally associated with the San Fernando Valley, and the western portion, often referred to as “Oxnard-Ventura". To the east is Los Angeles County.


title: Ventura County, California

text: Because the total amount of precipitation is small, conserving water and obtaining water from additional sources outside of Ventura County are vital concerns. The climate, though mostly mild and dry, varies because of the variations in topography through for instance differences in elevation and physical geography. The Santa Clara River is the principal waterway. Lake Casitas, an artificial reservoir, is the largest body of water.


title: Ventura County, California

text: The highest peaks in the county include Mount Pinos (8831', 2697 m), Frazier Mountain (8017', 2444 m), and Reyes Peak (7525', 2294 m) in the Transverse Ranges. The uplands are well-timbered with coniferous forests, and receive plentiful snow in the winter. Mount Pinos is sacred to the Chumash Indians. It is known to them as Iwihinmu, and was considered to be the center of the universe; being the highest peak in the vicinity, it has unimpeded views in three directions.


title: Ventura County, California

text: The USDA Economic Research Service rated Ventura County the most desirable county to live in the 48 contiguous states, using six metrics of climate ("mild, sunny winters, temperate summers, low humidity"), topographic variation, and access to water, "that reflect environmental qualities most people prefer."


title: Ventura County, California

text: There are outside of national forest land in Ventura County, which means that 53 percent of the county's total area is made up of national forest. Of the land outside of national forest land, approximately 59 percent is agricultural and 17.5 percent urban. North of Highway 126, the county is mountainous and mostly uninhabited, and contains some of the most unspoiled, rugged and inaccessible wilderness remaining in southern California. Most of this land is in the Los Padres National Forest, and includes the Chumash Wilderness in the northernmost portion, adjacent to Kern County, as well as the large Sespe Wilderness and portions of both the Dick Smith Wilderness and Matilija Wilderness (both of these protected areas straddle the line with Santa Barbara County). All of the wilderness areas are within the jurisdiction of Los Padres National Forest.


title: Ventura County, California

text: The coastal plain was formed by the deposition of sediments from the Santa Clara River and from the streams of the Calleguas-Conejo drainage system. It has a mean elevation of , but at points south of the Santa Clara River, the elevation is as much as , and at points north of the river, as much as . The coastal plain is generally known as the Oxnard Plain with the part that centers on Camarillo lying east of the Revelon Slough is called Pleasant Valley. Most of the arable land in the county is found on the coastal plain. Small coastal mountains rim Ventura County on its landward side. They range in elevation from along the coast south of the coastal plain, to about in the Santa Monica Mountains. The Santa Ynez Mountains, the Topatopa Mountains, and the Piru Mountains make up the northern boundary of the coastal plain, the Santa Susana Mountains are alongside the eastern boundary of the county, and the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains are along the southern border with Los Angeles County. South Mountain and Oak Ridge are low and long mountains that separate Santa Clara Valley from the Las Posas Valley and Simi Valley. The Camarillo Hills and the Las Posas Hills extend from Camarillo to Simi Valley and separate the Las Posas-Simi area from the Santa Rosa Valley and Tierra Rejada Valley.


title: Ventura County, California

text: The intermountain valley of the Santa Clara River is the most prominent valley in the county and trends east–southwest. The Santa Clara River drains an area of and flows from its headwaters in Los Angeles to where it empties into the Pacific. Its principal tributaries are Piru Creek, Santa Paula Creek, and Sespe Creek. The valley of the Ventura River is a narrow valley north of Ventura. Ojai Valley is connected to the Ventura River Valley by San Antonio Creek. The small Upper Ojai Valley, east of Ojai Valley and higher, drains to the Ventura River on the west and to Santa Paula Creek on the east. Ojai and Upper Ojai Valleys are surrounded by mountains and are rich agricultural areas. The Ventura River flows south and drains an area of . Over South Mountain and Oak Ridge, south of the Santa Clara River, are Las Posas Valley and Simi Valley. Las Posas Valley extends eastward from the Oxnard Plain almost to Simi Valley, which is in the east end of Ventura County. The city of Simi Valley is bounded on the east by the Santa Susana Mountains and on the south by the Simi Hills. To the south, over the Camarillo- and Las Posas Hills, are Santa Rosa- and Tierra Rejada Valleys, which extend from Camarillo eastward for . In the hills south of Santa Rosa Valley is the broad Conejo Valley. Santa Rosa Valley, Conejo Valley, Simi Valley, and Tierra Rejada Valley are drained by Calleguas Creek and its principal tributary, Conejo Creek. These creeks originate in the Santa Susana and Santa Monica Mountains.