title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: "Hermes" initially operated Supermarine Scimitar, de Havilland Sea Vixen, and Fairey Gannet fixed-wing aircraft, together with Westland Whirlwind helicopters.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: The construction cost of "Hermes" was £18 million, with a further £1 million for electronic equipment and a further £10 million for aircraft in 1959.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: On 16 November 1962, "Hermes" was cruising off of the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales when one of her helicopters carrying two Members of Parliament, Lord Windlesham and the MP for Loughborough, John Cronin, back from the carrier, which they had been visiting, to RNAS Brawdy, crashed off St David's Head. While Cronin and the helicopter's two-man crew were saved by another helicopter from "Hermes", Lord Windlesham and an RAF officer being carried as a passenger were killed.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: John Hay, Civil Lord of the Admiralty, said in Parliament on 2 March 1964 that "Phantoms will be operated from "Hermes", "Eagle" and the new carrier when it is built. ... Our present information and advice is that the aircraft should be able to operate from "Hermes" after she has undergone her refit."


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: This seemed optimistic, as most sources believed "Victorious" was the smallest carrier then in commission that the modified RN F-4K versions of the Phantom could realistically have operated from. The British Rolls-Royce Spey engines replacing the US General Electric J79 were a political necessity given the cancellation of the supersonic British Hawker Siddeley P.1154 V/STOL aircraft project. The projected superior fuel efficiency using the Spey engines was overshadowed by larger engine size and inflexibility. From the smaller "Hermes" maximum weight at takeoff would be 25 tons rather than 28 tons when operating off "Eagle". Since this lower weight at launch from "Hermes" would be achieved by carrying less fuel, combat air patrol duration would be 25 to 50 percent less than from "Eagle"; from 2-2.5 hours to 1-1.5 hrs, and only partly compensated by refuelling when airborne. It was optimistically believed "Hermes" could replace its Vixens with Spey-powered Phantoms on a one-to-one basis, i.e. 11–12 with 7–8 Blackburn Buccaneer strike aircraft. While the Phantoms built for the RN were modified in ways similar to Vought F-8 Crusaders for the French Navy – improving deceleration on landing – the modifications were not entirely successful. "Hermes"s flight deck was too short, her arresting gear as well as her catapults were not powerful enough to recover or launch the F-4Ks, even though they were slightly lighter, more economical and higher performing than their US Navy counterparts. The Phantom trials held on "Hermes" in 1969–1970 proved this, though in the views of the then Minister of Defence, Denis Healey, the carrier could operate the most modern aircraft, but in too small numbers to be effective. While it is clear that McNamara's claims that the F-4 was not safe for use on the USN , or 31,000-ton carriers, was rightly rejected by John Hay in 1964. It is clear that "Hermes" was not a viable substitute for CVA02, but the programme was politically and financially impossible.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: A 1966 review indicated that "Hermes" was surplus to operational requirements and she was offered to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as a replacement for HMAS "Melbourne". In 1968, "Hermes" took part in a combined exercise with the RAN, during which the carrier was visited by senior RAN officers and Australian government officials, while RAN Douglas A-4G Skyhawks and Grumman S-2 Trackers practised landings on the larger carrier. The offer was turned down due to operating and manpower costs.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: "Hermes" served as one of four Royal Navy strike carriers mainly in the Indian Ocean and finally in the Mediterranean Sea until decommissioned in 1970. She could have seen action against the Egyptians when Egypt closed off the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping in May 1967 when the UK and US contemplated forming an international fleet to open the straits with force if necessary, but the UK backed down.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: When the decision was made in the mid-1960s to phase out fixed wing carrier operations "Hermes" was slated to become a "Commando Carrier" for Royal Marine operations (similar in concept to a US Navy LHA). Therefore, "Hermes" was docked down in number 10 Dock in Devonport Dockyard between 1971 and 1973, undergoing a conversion in which her arresting cables, steam catapults, and 3-D radar were removed. Landing craft and berthing for 800 troops were added and her airwing became approximately 20 Westland Sea King helicopters. By 1976, with the Soviet submarine threat becoming apparent and through NATO pressure, a further mild conversion was performed for "Hermes" to become an anti-submarine warfare carrier to patrol the North Atlantic. "Hermes" underwent one more conversion and new capabilities were added when she was refitted at Portsmouth from 1980 to June 1981, during which a 12° ski-jump and facilities for operating BAe Sea Harriers were incorporated.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: "Hermes" was due to be decommissioned in 1982 after the 1981 Defence Review (that would have made the Royal Navy considerably smaller) by the British government, but when the Falklands War broke out, she was made the flagship of the British forces, setting sail for the South Atlantic just three days after the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. She sailed for the Falklands with an airgroup of 12 Sea Harrier FRS1 attack aircraft of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, and 18 Sea King helicopters. A few weeks after sailing, more aircraft were flown or transported via other ships to replace some losses and augment the task force. "Hermes"s airgroup grew to 16 Sea Harriers, 10 Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR3s of the Royal Air Force, and 10 Sea Kings (after some of the helicopters were dispersed to other ships) as well as a troop of Special Air Service (SAS) and Royal Marines. As she was the RN's largest carrier, she was considered too valuable to risk in close to the Falklands, due to the possibility of Argentine air force attacks. Her Harriers therefore operated at the limit of their endurance radius but were very successful in keeping the enemy aircraft at bay.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: After her return home from the Falklands conflict "Hermes" entered into a much needed 4-month refit to her propulsion and electrical systems, as well as a thorough cleaning and repainting. When this was completed in November 1982, she embarked stores and performed work-ups exercises. She then took part in NATO exercises in the North Atlantic, and the Mediterranean Sea as a commando carrier. In the autumn of 1983 she took part in her last exercise, "Ocean Safari", where she reverted to a strike carrier role, embarking 12 Sea Harriers, 10 RAF Harrier GR.3s and 10 Sea Kings. After this exercise, she called into Devonport for a minor refit and thereafter into maintained reserve in Portsmouth.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: In 1983, when the proposed sale of the aircraft carrier to the Royal Australian Navy was cancelled following the Falklands War, an offer was made to sell "Hermes" and a squadron of Sea Harriers to Australia. However the new Hawke Government decided against purchasing a replacement for HMAS "Melbourne".


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: "Hermes" served with the Royal Navy until 12 April 1984. On this day she entered Portsmouth with a reduced crew, under her own steam, flying the White Ensign for the final time as a seagoing ship.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: In April 1986 "Hermes" was towed from Portsmouth Dockyard to Devonport Dockyard to be refitted, reactivated and sold to India, recommissioning and sailing as INS "Viraat" in 1987.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: The typical aircraft complement in the late 1960s consisted of 12 Sea Vixen FAW2s, 7 Buccaneer S2s, 4 Gannet AEW3s, 1 Gannet COD4, 5 Wessex HAS3s and 1 Wessex HAS1. Hermes was recommissioned as a commando carrier in 1973, as an ASW carrier in 1976 (carrying around 20 or so Sea King and Wessex helicopters), and then as a V/STOL carrier in 1981. "Hermes" initial complement of aircraft as a V/STOL carrier was five Harriers and 12 Sea King helicopters, though she had the capacity for up to a total of 37 aircraft.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: Following her decommissioning from the Indian Navy in 2017, a crowdfunding campaign was launched to preserve Hermes as a museum piece. The campaign aimed to raise £100,000, but was only able to raise £9,303 before being declared unsuccessful.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: On 1 November 2018 the Maharashtra cabinet approved the conversion of "Viraat" into India's first moored maritime museum and marine adventure centre. It would be located near Nivati, Sindhudurg district. On 1 July 2019 the Indian Minister of State for Defence informed the Indian Parliament that a decision to scrap Viraat had been taken due to the non-receipt of any financially self-sustaining proposal.


title: HMS Hermes (R12)

text: The ship is currently being scrapped in a ship breakers yard in Alang, India. As of December 2020, about five per cent of the ship was already gone. The distinctive take-off ramp used by the Harrier jump jets had been removed. On 10 February 2021, the Supreme Court of India ordered the dismantling be placed on hold, following a petition by a private firm to turn the ship into a museum.


title: African leopard

text: The African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been fragmented in the course of habitat conversion. Leopards have also been recorded in North Africa as well.


title: African leopard

text: "Felis pardus" was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of "Systema Naturae" in 1758. His description was based on descriptions by earlier naturalists such as Conrad Gessner. He assumed that the leopard occurred in India.


title: African leopard

text: In the 18th and 19th centuries, several naturalists described various leopard skins and skulls from Africa, including:


title: African leopard

text: Results of genetic analyses indicate that all African leopard populations are generally closely related and represent only one subspecies, namely "P. p. pardus". However, results of an analysis of molecular variance and the pairwise fixation index of African leopard museum specimens shows differences in the ND-5 locus spanning five major haplogroups, namely in Central–Southern Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa, coastal West–Central Africa, and Central–East Africa. In some cases, fixation indices showed higher diversity than for the Arabian leopard and "Panthera pardus tulliana" in Asia.


title: African leopard

text: The African leopard exhibits great variation in coat color, depending on location and habitat. Coat colour varies from pale yellow to deep gold or tawny, and sometimes black, and is patterned with black rosettes while the head, lower limbs and belly are spotted with solid black. Male leopards are larger, averaging with being the maximum weight attained by a male. Females weigh about on average.


title: African leopard

text: The African leopard is sexually dimorphic; males are larger and heavier than females. Between 1996 and 2000, 11 adult leopards were radio-collared on Namibian farmlands. Males weighed only, and females . The heaviest known leopard weighed about , and was recorded in South West Africa.


title: African leopard

text: According to Alfred Edward Pease, black leopards in North Africa were similar in size to lions. An Algerian leopard killed in 1913 was reported to have measured approximately , before being skinned.


title: African leopard

text: Leopards inhabiting the mountains of the Cape Provinces appear smaller and less heavy than leopards further north. Leopards in Somalia and Ethiopia are also said to be smaller.


title: African leopard

text: The skull of a West African leopard specimen measured in basal length, and in breadth, and weighed . To compare, that of an Indian leopard measured in basal length, and in breadth, and weighed .


title: African leopard

text: The African leopards inhabited a wide range of habitats within Africa, from mountainous forests to grasslands and savannahs, excluding only extremely sandy desert. It is most at risk in areas of semi-desert, where scarce resources often result in conflict with nomadic farmers and their livestock.


title: African leopard

text: It used to occur in most of sub-Saharan Africa, occupying both rainforest and arid desert habitats. It lived in all habitats with annual rainfall above , and can penetrate areas with less than this amount of rainfall along river courses. It ranges up to , has been sighted on high slopes of the Ruwenzori and Virunga volcanoes, and observed when drinking thermal water in the Virunga National Park.


title: African leopard

text: It appears to be successful at adapting to altered natural habitat and settled environments in the absence of intense persecution. It has often been recorded close to major cities. But already in the 1980s, it has become rare throughout much of West Africa. Now, it remains patchily distributed within historical limits. During surveys in 2013, it was recorded in Gbarpolu County and Bong County in the Upper Guinean forests of Liberia.


title: African leopard

text: Leopards are rare in North Africa. A relict population persists in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, in forest and mountain steppe in elevations of , where the climate is temperate to cold.


title: African leopard

text: In 2014, a leopard was killed in the Elba Protected Area in southeastern Egypt. This was the first sighting of a leopard in the country since the 1950s.


title: African leopard

text: In 2016, a leopard was recorded for the first time in a semi-arid area of Yechilay in northern Ethiopia.


title: African leopard

text: In Kruger National Park, male leopards and female leopards with cubs were more active at night than solitary females. The highest rates of daytime activity were recorded for leopards using thorn thickets during the wet season, when impala also used them. Leopards are generally most active between sunset and sunrise, and kill more prey at this time.


title: African leopard

text: The leopard has an exceptional ability to adapt to changes in prey availability, and has a very broad diet. It takes small prey where large ungulates are less common. The known prey of leopards ranges from dung beetles to adult elands, which can reach . In sub-Saharan Africa, at least 92 prey species have been documented in leopard scat, including rodents, birds, small and large antelopes, hyraxes, hares, and arthropods. Leopards generally focus their hunting activity on locally abundant medium-sized ungulates in the range, while opportunistically taking other prey. Average intervals between ungulate kills range from seven to 12–13 days.


title: African leopard

text: Leopards often hide large kills in trees, a behavior for which great strength is required. There have been several observations of leopards hauling carcasses of young giraffes, estimated to weigh up to , i.e. 2–3 times the weight of the leopard, up to into trees.


title: African leopard

text: In Serengeti National Park, leopards were radio-collared for the first time in the early 1970s. Their hunting at night was difficult to watch; the best time for observing them was after dawn. Of their 64 daytime hunts, only three were successful. In this woodland area, they preyed mostly on impalas, both adult and young, and caught some Thomson's gazelles in the dry season. Occasionally, they successfully hunted warthogs, dik-diks, reedbucks, duikers, steenboks, blue wildebeest and topi calves, jackals, Cape hares, guineafowl and starlings. They were less successful in hunting plains zebras, Coke's hartebeests, giraffes, mongooses, genets, hyraxes and small birds. Scavenging from the carcasses of large animals made up a small proportion of their food. In the tropical rainforests of Central Africa, their diet consists of duikers and primates. Some individual leopards have shown a strong preference for pangolins and porcupines.


title: African leopard

text: Analysis of leopard scat in Taï National Park revealed that primates are primary leopard prey during the day.


title: African leopard

text: In Gabon's Lope National Park, the most important prey species was found to be the red river hog ("Potamochoerus porcus"). African buffaloes ("Syncerus caffer") and cane rats ("Thryonomys swinderianus"), comprised 13% each of the consumed biomass.


title: African leopard

text: In the Central African Republic's Dzanga-Sangha Complex of Protected Areas, a leopard reportedly attacked and pursued a large western lowland gorilla, but did not catch it. Gorilla parts found in leopard scat indicates that the leopard either scavenged on gorilla remains or killed it. African leopards were observed preying on adult eastern gorillas in the Kisoro area near Uganda's borders with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


title: African leopard

text: Throughout Africa, the major threats to leopards are habitat conversion and intense persecution, especially in retribution for real and perceived livestock loss.


title: African leopard

text: The Upper Guinean forests in Liberia are considered a biodiversity hotspot, but have already been fragmented into two blocks. Large tracts are affected by commercial logging and mining activities, and are converted for agricultural use including large-scale oil palm plantations in concessions obtained by a foreign company.


title: African leopard

text: The impact of trophy hunting on populations is unclear, but may have impacts at the demographic and population level, especially when females are shot. In Tanzania, only males are allowed to be hunted, but females comprised 28.6% of 77 trophies shot between 1995 and 1998. Removing an excessively high number of males may produce a cascade of deleterious effects on the population. Although male leopards provide no parental care to cubs, the presence of the sire allows females to raise cubs with a reduced risk of infanticide by other males. There are few reliable observations of infanticide in leopards, but new males entering the population are likely to kill existing cubs.


title: African leopard

text: Analysis of leopard scats and camera trapping surveys in contiguous forest landscapes in the Congo Basin revealed a high dietary niche overlap and an exploitative competition between leopards and bushmeat hunters. With increasing proximity to settlements and concomitant human hunting pressure, leopards exploit smaller prey and occur at considerably reduced population densities. In the presence of intensive bushmeat hunting surrounding human settlements, leopards appear entirely absent.


title: African leopard

text: Transhumant pastoralists from the border area between Sudan and the Central African Republic take their livestock to the Chinko area. They are accompanied by armed merchants who engage in poaching large herbivores, sale of bushmeat and trading leopard skins in Am Dafok. Surveys in the area revealed that the leopard population decreased from 97 individuals in 2012 to 50 individuals in 2017. Rangers confiscated large amounts of poison in the camps of livestock herders, who admitted that they use it for poisoning predators.


title: African leopard

text: The leopard is listed in CITES Appendix I. Hunting is banned in Zambia and Botswana, and was suspended in South Africa for 2016.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: He was created by Takashi Nishiyama. Nishiyama's inspiration was the martial artist Mas Oyama. For his second appearance, Ryu's design changed from that of a young fighter to a skilled Karate practitioner. However, because of issues in the making of "Street Fighter II" he possessed a major weakness within the cast. For the next titles, Ryu's fighting style was modified, so he had different skills with Evil Ryu and Kage possessing more diverse moves. Multiple actors have voiced him both in Japanese and in English.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu has been the protagonist of the "Street Fighter" series since the first game and has appeared as a playable character in several crossover games involving the franchise, including the "Marvel vs. Capcom" series, "Project X Zone" and the "Super Smash Bros." series. He is also featured in manga and anime adaptations and the 1994 live-action film. Ryu has become one of gaming's most iconic fighting game characters, but his evil persona has been criticized for retaining most of his regular form's moves.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Takashi Nishiyama's inspiration for Ryu was Mas Oyama, a character who first appeared in the kung fu series "Karate Master" by Ikki Kajiwara. Nishiyama grew up watching "Ichidai"'s animated series, which was influenced by Oyama's life. Nishiyama was impressed by Oyama's martial arts skill and philosophies, and this inspired him to create the first "Street Fighter" game. Nishiyama wanted the game to have a story similar to a film, anime, or novel. Whereas Ryu was based on Oyama, his rival Sagat was also influenced by the protagonist's rivalry with a bald Muay Thai martial artist from the series.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu's name was based on Nishiyama's name because the "on'yomi" (Sino-Japanese pronunciation) of the character "Takashi" is "Ryū" (Mandarin: "Lóng", 隆). In addition, Ryu's energy attack was based on the wave motion gun from the titular spacecraft in the sci-fi anime series "Space Battleship Yamato", which Nishiyama watched during the seventies. His other two techniques from the first "Street Fighter" game, and were inspired by actual martial arts moves, which were exaggerated for the character. Because Ryu was the only playable character in the original "Street Fighter" game, his designer Manabu Takemura wanted him to be easy for players to relate to.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: In an interview with "Game On!", Capcom Research and Development head Noritaka Funamizu said that of the series' characters, Ryu was one of the most popular with American audiences, alongside Zangief and Guile. Ryu's Shoryuken was noted to be highly difficult to execute, something which the team wanted to fix. Although Ryu and Ken had the same moves, Yoshiki Okamoto said Ryu was the weaker of the two. This was because Capcom had wanted to add a weak point to their Shoryukens. They later decided not to do so, but a mistake resulted in Ryu become the weaker character. Ryu and Ken were mainly handled by Shoei, who had clear memories of designing the Hadoken and Shoryuken. Shoei Okano recalled they were originally going to be Y.S.'s characters in early stages of development. He noted, Ryu and Ken are the "so-called standard characters in the SFII world, and since they were coming from SFI, we could have the other characters be weirdos." As a result, the duo was redesigned to have a stoic feel.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Director Hideaki Itsuno remembers he was not allowed to work on Ryu because of his inexperience in making games. As a result, Itsuno worked on creating new characters for the series which could rival Ryu and Ken. In order to update Ryu's image while staying true to his character, Capcom created his alternative alterego Evil Ryu. However, it was not until "Street Fighter IV" that the staff decided to give him a more unique design though the designer was worried if he exaggerated too much with his look. In retrospective, Capcom felt the Evil Ryu was a success among players.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: In the three "Street Fighter III" games, the designers described the older Ryu as a more hardcore fighter. Despite being Japanese, Capcom described him as an American martial artist which led to the creation of Makoto whose design was based on an Eastern point of view.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: For "Street Fighter IV", Kyle Hebert was cast as Ryu in preparation for the return of his "Evil Ryu" persona. The localization director Taliesin Jaffe told Hebert "you booked this because of Evil Ryu. It's not gonna be this year, it's not gonna be next year, but eventually when we get to it, we're gonna remember that this was part of the plan all along." In further elaborating on this idea, Jaffe said:


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: The whole idea of Ryu in the first place is that he's a Lancelot character, and I was prepared for the corruption of that character from the very beginning. We knew we were gonna go there, and actually part of the first audition for Ryu was, I had a couple lines I wanted them to read specifically in that darker vein.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: The team wanted to avoid having Ryu sound like a traditional Japanese hero and generate a contrast between his and Ken's characters.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: While Ryu has retained his original white gi outfit in most games, Capcom tried using an alternate high school uniform for "Street Fighter V" where he was presented as a rebel. The concept for Ryu was "leader"—leader of a student group or a bunch of delinquents. Super deformed versions of this image were used by the company as April Fool's jokes. While originally conceived as a character for fighting game newcomers, Ryu has been balanced across the series with "" focusing on his defense. This balancing affected the character negatively to the point multiple expert players said that in "Street Fighter V" he was unsuitable for competitive fights. In 2019, Capcom patched the character, which garnered a positive response from fans. In previews of "Street Fighter V" Ryu was noted to have a more realistic look to the point of being compared to the "Tekken" characters. Capcom said this approach to "Street Fighter V"s artistic design, focused on two main points: making the art "easy to follow and understand" and creating a "personality with artistic accents".


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: As downloadable content, Capcom created an alter ego of Ryu in "Street Fighter V" named Kage who represents the "Satsui no Hado" Ryu rejected. In early stages of development, Kage had a noticeably different design. His entire body showed no skin as it was covered in purple. Designing the character did not take too much time according to Takayuki Nakayama. His "design was nailed down pretty quick, so there aren't many prototype images that can be shown." He was loosely based on Ryu's dark persona from "Street Fighter Alpha" game's Evil Ryu.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu wears a white gi, as a symbol of his Japanese heritage, with the Japanese symbols for the Fūrinkazan (風林火山 (Hepburn: "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain")) on his belt as well as a stylised version on his gloves. While many "Street Fighter" characters have been redesigned, Ryu's design has stayed largely the same.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: In "Street Fighter II", the character was included because of presence in the first game, symbolizing the concept of a Japanese martial artist. As the series progressed, his design was made more muscular to coincide with the concept, while his white gi, considered his most defining characteristic by the development team, let viewers know he was "a karate master at first sight". For the "Street Fighter Alpha" games, Ryu was redesigned as a younger character. Artist Naoto "Bengus" Kuroshima noted that the expectations that come with drawing him or Chun-Li were greater compared to newcomers like Sakura Kasugano. When picking the cast of "Street Fighter V", producer Yoshinori Ono said he wanted Ryu and the cast to differ from their previous characters although Ryu retained his original look in contrast to Ken. Ryu had multiple costumes in "V" including his "Alpha", one with a notable sex appeal. . In 2020, Ryu received a Kairi costume. For the "Championship Edition" of the game, new moves were added to make Ryu a more defensive fighter.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Comic book writer Len Strazewski wanted to tell a more dramatic storyline for Ryu based in a comic book narrative. Like storylines involving chaos, Strazewski wrote a comic in which Ryu was the center of attention as he sought revenge. As a result, to find a motivation for Ryu's character, he planned to kill his best friend Ken Masters. However, since the comic book was cancelled after its third issue, this plot was never fully explored. Mangaka Masahiro Nakahiro o wrote his own take on Ryu during his career, aiming for a more serious take on Ryu's personality in his works.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Actor Byron Mann said in the making of the live-action Ryu he had no knowledge of Ryu's identity or what "Street Fighter" was originally about. Director Steven E. de Souza wanted Mann to play Ryu, but Capcom was not keen because they had their own actor, Kenya Sawada, who had played the character in various promotions in Japan. Sawada would play a more serious Ryu in contrast to Mann's portrayal. Nevertheless, DeSouza was able to use Mann in the film as Sawada's English was not good. Ken Masters' actor, Damian Chapa, said the name is pronounced "Rye-you" as opposed to "Ree-you". Despite issues with this, DeSouza decided to use "Rye-you" believing it would be easier to pronounce for Western audiences, although Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia both addressed him as "Ree-you" in the film.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu's inclusion in "Street Fighter EX" was deemed natural by the studio, Arika, with producer Ichiro Mihara describing him as one of the three essential "Street Fighter" characters along with Chun-Li and Ken. Ansah talked about Ryu and Ken's story in "Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist" and said "a good analogy with Ryu is that he's not actually ever competing with anyone else; he's competing with himself. Whereas Ken is driven fiercely by competition."


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: For the game, "Tekken X Street Fighter", producer Katsuhiro Harada commented that while Ryu might be able to perform his classic moves like the Hadouken reassuring his fans, most of his normal moves would be changed to play more like a "Tekken" character and fit the cast.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Game designer Masahiro Sakurai said that for "Super Smash Bros.", Ryu was recreated to play his "Street Fighter II" persona while having new moves because the controller had more buttons. Nevertheless, he was given a technique from "Street Fighter III" and new techniques exclusive to "Smash". The Shoryuken was implemented in the character but as his strongest technique.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu debuted in the first "Street Fighter" as the primary playable character, with his best friend, rival, and sparring partner Ken Masters serving as the second player's character. Both compete to test their strength against the tournament's champion, Sagat. His next appearance was in 1991's "Street Fighter II". Set several years after Ryu defeated Sagat in the first tournament, Ryu participates in a second tournament. In his ending in the game, Ryu wins the tournament but does not stay for the ceremony, already seeking his next challenge. The "" version of the game added Evil Ryu as a hidden character although the narrative does not explore this take on Ryu.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryus backstory, along with those of other "Street Fighter" characters, would be explored in the subsequent "Street Fighter Alpha" prequel series. The first game, "Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams" (1995), features Ryu confronting Sagat as his last opponent in a rematch following their first game. "Street Fighter Alpha 2" (1996) depicts Ryu on a quest to confront Akuma, his masters brother and enemy. After their match, Akuma reveals that Ryu possesses the within him, the same power Akuma uses.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: In the "Street Fighter Alpha" series, there is an alternative selectable version of Ryu known as "Evil Ryu". Like Akuma, Ryu takes this form when succumbing to the evil intent and becomes more violent. It was not until the international versions of the game, "Street Fighter Alpha 2", that Evil Ryu was introduced as a playable secret character. Evil Ryu was originally introduced in a 1996 "Street Fighter Zero" manga series by Masahiko Nakahira and later adapted in the "Street Fighter" canon by Capcom. In "Street Fighter Alpha 3" (1998), a man named M. Bison seeks Ryu to use him as his next host body. The two clash and Ryu emerges victorious, causing Bison to retreat. If Evil Ryu is used, he clashes with Akuma to decide who is the strongest user of Dark Hadou.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu and Ken return in "Street Fighter III" (1997) and its updates. While Ryus motivation and rivalry with Ken would remain the same, he was also shown getting acquainted with several of the new characters featured in the game. Ryu appears in "Street Fighter IV", which takes place after "Street Fighter II" but before "Street Fighter III". Still conflicted by the Dark Hadou, Ryu fights a criminal organization while meeting his old rivals. A new appearance of Evil Ryu in a "Street Fighter" game was confirmed in "Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition" by a teaser trailer, and he was later confirmed as a secret boss and playable character in leaked video footage. Ryu later appears in "Street Fighter V", set between "IV" and "III", where he destroys Bison once and for all with help from Charlie Nash after purging himself of the "Satsui no Hado" within him using the . However, the evil energy manifested as its own entity, taking the form of an Oni version of Evil Ryu, referring to itself as Kage. Kage attempts to overpower Ryu but fails to shake his convictions and fades from existence.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu has appeared in spin-offs related to the main "Street Fighter" series such as the "Street Fighter EX" series produced by Arika. Byron Mann portrays the character in the separately produced and games based on the American film of the series, both titled "Street Fighter: The Movie", where he wears Ryu's characteristic white karate gi and red headband. The 1994 animated movie also inspired a movie where Ryu is featured.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu has also been featured in Capcom's inter-company crossovers such as the "Marvel vs. Capcom" series, the "SNK vs. Capcom" series, "Namco × Capcom", "", "Project X Zone" and "Project X Zone 2". Some games in the "SNK vs. Capcom" series also include Evil Ryu as an unlockable character. Ryu is also an unlockable character in the new free fire update In "", Ryu can change his moveset to the ones by Ken or Akuma while fighting. He appears in "Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo", a puzzle video game featuring super deformed characters, the sequel fighting game "Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix", and the mobile puzzle game "Street Fighter: Puzzle Spirits". Ryu is a playable fighter in the crossover fighting game "Street Fighter X Tekken", and is also seen in the "Tekken X Street Fighter" poster along with Jin Kazama.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: "" features Ryu as an unlockable costume swap for the game's protagonist Soki. Although his incarnation there is much slimmer, this change is merely cosmetic and does not affect gameplay. Ryu has a cameo in the shooting game "". He was also to appear in the now-cancelled game "Mega Man Universe". A Ryu-inspired costume for players to use in Sony's "LittleBigPlanet" was released in 2008 as downloadable content for the title. A special downloadable episode in "Asura's Wrath" allows players to fight both Ryu and Evil Ryu. Ryu also appears as a playable character via downloadable content in the Nintendo crossover fighting games "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U" along with a stage based on his arena from "Street Fighter II" known as Suzaku Castle. Ryu returns in the sequel "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate"—this time available in the initial release—along with every other returning fighter in the series' history. He appears as a party member for a limited time event in the smartphone RPG, "Granblue Fantasy", in a collaboration event titled "Ultra Granblue Fighter". Ryu is also a guest character in "", appearing both in his traditional form and in an original "Power Rangers" form called the "Ryu Ranger". This same version of Ryu, now dubbed the "Crimson Hawk Ranger", appears as a playable character in "" via downloadable content.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu is played by Byron Mann in the 1994 film version of "Street Fighter", where he serves as a supporting protagonist, as Guile is the main character. In this depiction, Ryu is given the surname "Hoshi" and is presented as an American of Japanese ethnicity. While still master martial artists, he and Ken are a pair of traveling con artists who steal money from rich crime lords through schemes such as selling modified toy guns. He and Ken eventually work with Guile to infiltrate M. Bison's headquarters with a homing device to lure Guile and his forces there. In the film's climax, Ryu fights and defeats Vega in battle. Unlike the video games, Ryu does not fight Bison nor scar Sagat in the film, though Ryu does at one point attempt to fight Bison alongside Ken, Chun-Li, E. Honda and Balrog. Ryu ultimately plays a vital role in Bison's downfall by luring Guile to Bison's base with a tracking device. Although Guile gives them their freedom after Bison is defeated, they stay to help with the cleanup in Shadaloo, preferring to leave once this is finished.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Despite not appearing at all in "", Ryu is mentioned at the end of the movie as a formidable Japanese fighter entering a tournament.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu appears as a main lead alongside Ken in "" portrayed by martial arts actor/stuntman Mike Moh. The film is set before the events of the games, and focuses on Ryu and Ken's training under Gouken, while flashbacks show Gouken's past with his brother Gouki/Akuma and their mentor, Goutetsu. Moh reprised his role as Ryu in the five-part mini series "".


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Peter Jang portrays Ryu in the official crossover between the Power Rangers and Street Fighter titled "Power Rangers: Legacy Wars—Street Fighter Showdown". In the short, Ryu morphs into the RyuRanger and Chun-Li teams with Tommy Oliver, Ninjor and Gia Moran to battle M. Bison and evil Power Rangers.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: In the 1994 film "", Ryu is the central character and focus of several other characters, namely Sagat, Guile and Bison. After Ryu defeats and scars Sagat in the film's opening, Bison commands a worldwide manhunt for him, determined to make him a brainwashed member of Shadaloo (here known as Shadowlaw). He cannot find Ryu because of his travelling the world and his ability to suppress his power, rendering Bison's monitor cyborgs unable to detect him. Throughout the film, Ryu comes into contact with several fighters, such as Fei-Long and E. Honda. Bison eventually captures and brainwashes Ken in Ryu's stead. This prompts Guile and Interpol to intercept Ryu before Bison can get to him, but Bison follows them and sets Ken on Ryu, who refuses to fight his controlled friend. Ken manages to break free of Bison's control and the pair ultimately work together to defeat Bison. He was voiced by Kōjirō Shimizu in the Japanese version and Skip Stellrecht in the English dub.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu also appears in the American TV series and is once again replaced by Guile as the protagonist since it is a continuation of the 1994 live-action film. Near the end of the series, however, the story shifts focus to Ryu and Ken, making them more prominent as they face several enemies such as the Mad Gear gang. In both the film and the series, Ryu's name is incorrectly pronounced "Raiyu", though in the movie Guile and Bison are the only ones who pronounce his name correctly.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: The premise of the 1995 Japanese TV series "Street Fighter II V" centers on a young Ryu and Ken, who travel the world with Chun-Li to improve their martial art skills by challenging other fighters. He was voiced by Kōji Tsujitani in the Japanese version and again by Skip Stellrecht in the English Animaze dub. In the ADV Films dub he was portrayed by Brett Weaver and later by Tommy Drake.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: The 1999 original video animation "" centers on Ryu's inner conflict with the Dark Hadou, as seen in the "Street Fighter Alpha" manga and games. Original elements such as the appearance of Ryu's supposed younger brother, Shun, and their conflict with Professor Sadler and Rosanov were added. Like Bison, Professor Sadler seeks the world's greatest martial artists, to absorb their abilities into his own body, particularly Ryu's Dark Hadou. After Shun is abducted by Sadler's monitor cyborg, Rosanov, Ryu is implored by Rose to search for him. Ryu tracks down and confronts Akuma, demanding to know if Shun is his son, but Akuma, after attempting but failing to goad Ryu into giving in to the Dark Hadou, denies it. Enlisting the help of numerous fighters, Ryu tracks Sadler to his base, where he learns that Shun was working for Sadler and posed as his brother to lure him out. Enraged, Ryu gives into the Dark Hadou and obliterates Rosanov. At the same time he mortally wounds Shun, powering Sadler up enough for him to enter the battlefield personally. Worn out, Ryu is initially pummeled by Sadler, until a vision of Rose inspires him to use his normal power to fight. With help from his allies, he defeats Sadler for good. Shun dies in Ryu's arms, apologizing for his actions; Ryu forgives him. The 2005 OVA "" features a similar storyline, but is unrelated to the previous "Alpha" anime.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: In 2008, Capcom released a new OVA where Crimson Viper is sent to capture Ryu on orders from Seth, who knows about Ryu's "Satsui no Hado" and wants it for himself. Ryu fights Seth and remains victorious.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu made cameo appearances in the 3D Disney computer-animated film "Wreck-It Ralph", with Kyle Hebert reprising his role. He first appears in a sparring match with Ken and decides to go to Tapper for a drink after the fight.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu also appears in many printed adaptations of the series. In the manga "Street Fighter II" by Masaomi Kanzaki, Ryu believes M. Bison murdered both Gouken and Ken and goes on a quest to avenge them. The manga "" by Masahiko Nakahira has Ryu as a central character from the storyline where the title character, Sakura Kasugano, wishes to meet him. Nakahira also wrote and illustrated ""Street Fighter III: Ryu Final"", which chronicles Ryu's ongoing quest for enlightenment during the "Street Fighter III" storyline that culminates into a decisive battle against Akuma.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Udon Entertainment's comic book adaptation of the "Street Fighter" plot places Ryu in the center of the plot's events. Ryu grows up training in the art of Ansatsuken all the while fighting off the urge of the "Satsui no Hadō". He trains to be a strong fighter without relying on the hatred and consumption it brings. After returning from the first Street Fighter tournament, Ryu discovers his master Gouken has been slain by his brother Akuma and sets out with Ken to avenge his death. Ryu's victory over Sagat in the first Street Fighter tournament attracts the attention of Bison as well as Chun-Li and Guile, who believe there is a criminal connection between the two at first. He also trains Sakura during the comic's second arc and later trains with other fighters (specifically Dhalsim and Gen) to give himself a better chance against Akuma. Ryu attends Bison's tournament and advances all the way to the final stage. However, before he is able to fight Bison, Akuma intervenes and soundly defeats Bison instead with ease. The plot then shifts to the battle between Akuma and Ryu as the concluding fight of the comic series. During the battle, Ryu is almost corrupted by the "Satsui no Hadō" to defeat Akuma at any cost but refuses the power, which allows Akuma the upper hand in battle. All seems lost, but at the very last moment, Gouken returns and he finishes the battle with Akuma. Ryu passes out before the fight can conclude and is rescued from the sinking island by Dhalsim. Following the battle, Ryu believes he no longer needs to rely on "Satsui no Hadō" if he wants victory.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: In the follow-up series, Ryu takes on Sakura as his official pupil after she graduates. After he is kidnapped by Urien and the Society, Sakura blames herself and Akuma manipulates her into succumbing to the "Satsui no Hadō" in an attempt to save him. Once he is freed, Ryu absorbs the Dark Hado from Sakura and transforms into Evil Ryu, leading him to battle Akuma in his Oni form. Gill arrives and uses his powers to defeat them and revert them to their base forms. In the "Street Fighter Unlimited" series, Ryu struggles to maintain the Dark Hado in him. He discovers his master Gouken is alive, who teaches him the final techniques of Ansatsuken to control his inner demons. When Ryu tells Gouken he wants to find a way to use the "Satsui no Hadō" against Akuma without fully succumbing to it, Gouken tells him to go to Brazil and seek out Oro. Oro agrees to teach Ryu how to balance his light and dark ki to achieve total balance. During their training, Ryu is invited to participate in Gill's fighting tournament. Oro tells him that if he defeats Gill, he will find a way to defeat Akuma. At the tournament, Gill gets Ryu to succumb to the "Satsui no Hadō" and transform into Evil Ryu before capturing him to use him to power Seth's Blece device to take over the Earth. As his allies struggle to defeat Gill, Ryu achieves total balance between his two natures and becomes Shin Ryu, who proves powerful enough to defeat Gill. He then has his rematch with Akuma and finally claims a victory against him. After defeating Akuma, Ryu returns to Brazil to resume his training with Oro to master his new powers.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu is consistently ranked as one of the most popular and memorable characters from the "Street Fighter" franchise and gaming overall among critics, taking the ninth place in a Capcom poll. "GameSpot" featured him in their article "All Time Greatest Game Hero", while CBR regarded him as a "video game icon" alongside Chun-Li thanks to their character development since their first appearances. He ranked number seventy-one in UGO Networks's "Top 100 Heroes of All Time" article. UGO also placed him at number two on their list of "Top 50 Street Fighter Characters" saying, "Whereas Ken is flashy, Ryu is contemplative, tortured and driven." IGN ranked him first in their "Top 25 Street Fighter Characters" article saying, "Ryu is a testament to the virtue of simplicity in character design. White gi, dark gloves, red headband for a little touch of color, and that is it. It's rare, when you think about it, to see too many fancy pieces go into the making of an icon." GameDaily listed him at number two in their "Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time" article saying, "He always seeks a bigger challenge, and that determination makes him one of our favorites." In a later character profile article on Ryu, they noted, "Ryu is a formidable fighter that gets the job done ... Bottom line, you can't go wrong with Street Fighter's most iconic character." The same site ranked him sixth along with Ken in the Top 25 Capcom Characters of All Time with editor Robert Workman saying "It was just impossible to choose between one of these world warriors." He has also been recognized as one of the best all-time gaming characters. He was voted one of the best fifty characters both in a "Famitsu" issue and in the "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition" in 2011. In the February 1992 issue of "Gamest" magazine in Japan, Ryu ranked third Best Character of 1991. In the 30 January 1997 issue Ryu ranked number thirteen in the Top 50 Characters of 1996. In a 2010 survey of 4,000 online matches for "Super Street Fighter IV", Ryu was the most popular character, with 16.6% of the usage. In 2011, "Empire" ranked him as the 27th greatest video game character, adding "he has remained the definitive beat-'em-up fighter and go-to-guy for the discerning player since the days of "SF2"." Jeremy Parish of "Polygon" ranked 73 fighters from "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" "from garbage to glorious", listing Ryu as 20th and stated that "Yes, he’s the main guy from Street Fighter, but at this point something like 20 different Street Fighters fight in a variant of Ryu's shotokan karate style, and nearly all of them have more interesting moves and stories than Ryu." Gavin Jasper of "Den of Geek" ranked Ryu as 39th of "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" characters, criticizing the character's addition to the roster and stated that "he feels a bit too stiff in Smash. Capcom fit him nicely in a Marvel battlefield, but in Smash, but Nintendo doesn’t quite accomplish the same." Ian Walker of "Kotaku" described Ryu as a Kevin Bacon of video games.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: "GamesRadar" writer Tyler Wilde published an article focusing on Ken's and Ryu's development across the franchise under the title "The evolution of Ken and Ryu". "The Guardian" recommended Ryu and Ken for beginners in "Street Fighter IV". Ryu was deemed better at fights from distances because of his projectiles moves. In "GameSpot"s "Great Loves" article Ryu was described as "one of the most independent men in the world of video games" as he is interested only in training to become a stronger fighter in contrast to other "Street Fighter" characters who have romantic interests. UGO listed Ryu's headband twenty-sixth on their list of "The Coolest Helmets and Headgear in Video Games". In GamesRadar's article "The 56 characters of Marvel vs Capcom 2", Ryu was described as "the heart and soul of the Street Fighter series" and "probably the most well known fighting game character in the world". "Den of Geek" argued the character is appealing because of his wish to engage strong enemies and his growth since the "Alpha" series, most notably in Masahiko Nakahira's manga centered on Ryu which shows the character's appeal. "GamesRadar" called him "the epitome of fighting game characters" because in his wanderings he seeks to face only strong enemies. "HobbyConsolas" also included Ryu on their "The 30 best heroes of the last 30 years."


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Evil Ryu was noted to be a trope of protagonist gaming characters who reveal an evil alter-ego. UGO Networks editor Paul Furfari said it made the "Street Fighter Alpha" series more entertaining because of the potential of his moves. The form shown in "Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition" was noted to share traits from both Ryu and Akuma. "GameSpot" said that since he uses modified versions from known techniques, he was one of the least interesting additions to the game. The stronger damage he can inflict has been commented on by "Game Informer", which mentioned he was even stronger than Seth, the "Street Fighter IV" boss. In a "GamesRadar" article by Michael Grimm, a fight between Evil Ryu and Devil Jin was described as one players wanted to see in "Street Fighter X Tekken" as the two are evil alter egos from two existing characters sharing similar designs and movesets with their original forms. Kage was criticized for being a recycled character based on Evil Ryu because of their similar looks and moves.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: Ryu's characterization in the "Street Fighter II" animated feature was a subject of praise. "Eurogamer" enjoyed his multiple journeys across the film such as his meeting with E. Honda and the exploration of his backstory. "Kotaku" liked his fight scenes because of how well they are choreographed, his presentation and his relationship with Ken. THEM Anime Reviews shared similar comments about how Ryu's past with Ken is explored and how he fights against multiple enemies even if the plot is an excuse for the fights. The young Ryu from the anime TV series "Street Fighter II V" was felt to be enjoyable because of the way he interacts with Sagat and how skilled the character becomes across the story despite his first beatdown by Guile. Though disappointed by Chun-Li's take in this series, THEM Anime Reviews enjoyed the handling of the trio of Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li during the TV series believing they provide an interesting damsel-in-distress quest. In another review, THEM Anime Reviews found that the trio had enough character development and stronger techniques while noting some issues within the plot. Den of Geek noted one of best takes of Ryu's characterization was in the manga "Final" where he stands out thanks to the narrative.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: One of Ryu's quotes from "Street Fighter II" is, "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance." The quote caused a controversy among gamers, who wondered whether there was actually a character named Sheng Long. Although the quote was actually a mistranslation, it was exploited as an April Fools' joke various times by gaming magazines. Nevertheless, the character was referred to in the video games based on live-action films as Ryu's teacher. Moreover, the fans' request to include Sheng Long, led to Gouken's inclusion in "Street Fighter IV". Ryu's original designer, Takashi Nishiyama, revealed that "Art of Fighting"s Ryo Sakazaki was created as an homage to the original Ryu. After the release of the game some members of the original "Street Fighter" video game development team at Capcom moved to SNK. This is further explored in the crossover games SNK developed with the Capcom franchises where Ryu often interacts with Ryo. While in charge of developing the character Kyo Kusanagi, Yuichiro Hiraki was contemplating making Kyo completely different from Ryu. He believed Ryu was a popular character and that Kyo's characterization and design need to be in distinct contrast to be appealing to reach Ryu's level of popularity level. He explored this idea further when developing "Street Fighter V" years later. Ryu also inspired the character of Akuma. The designers wanted Akuma to be based on his design rather than the other villain of "Street Fighter II", M. Bison.


title: Ryu (Street Fighter)

text: In 1993, Hong Kong artist Situ Jianqian used the names of Ryu, Ken and Chun-li in his comic "Supergod Z: Cyber Weapon". However, Jianqian received a warning from Capcom about the use of these names and removed them from the comic but kept the character designs of the cast which resembled these "Street Fighter" characters. While noting that Ryu was one of the most popular Japanese characters in gaming, Benjamin Wai-ming Ng from the University of Hong Kong said that in China, the cast was overshadowed by main characters from SNK's fighting series, "The King of Fighters". In 2019, a scientific work concluded that Ryu would have to move at almost through the air to perform a Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. Briana Lawrence of "The Mary Sue" said that she's leaning on Ryu’s screencap on "Street Fighter 6" trailer being more unintentional moment than Lady Dimitrescu.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: Francesco "Pecco" Bagnaia (born 14 January 1997) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer competing in MotoGP for the Ducati Lenovo Team. He is the current MotoGP World Champion and a previous Moto2 World Champion. He is the first rider from the VR46 academy to win a world title in the premier class.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: Born in Turin, Bagnaia was already successful early on in Minimoto, as he won the European MiniGP championship in 2009. Bagnaia made his pre-GP 125 Mediterranean championship debut with Monlau Competición team in 2010 and finished 2nd in the championship. In 2011 he took part in the Spanish Championships in the 125cc category, winning a race, and finishing third in the final standings. In the 2012 CEV Moto3 season he rode a Honda NSF250R and once again finished 3rd in the championship behind Álex Márquez and Luca Amato, with a race win and two 2nd places in seven races. Bagnaia was recruited to be a member of the VR46 riders academy, and is still part of the academy to this day.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: Bagnaia made his Grand prix debut in the 2013 Moto3 World Championship, with Team Italia FMI riding a Honda alongside his teammate Romano Fenati. The season was a disappointing year for Bagnaia as he did not manage to get a single point in the 17 races he participated in. His best race was a 16th-place finish at Sepang.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: In 2014, Bagnaia switched teams to join the newly formed Sky Racing Team by VR46, riding a KTM with Romano Fenati again. After failing to score points in his rookie season, Bagnaia made clear improvements, finishing in the top 10 five times during the first 7 races, with a 4th-place finish at Le Mans as his best result, where he also set the fastest lap of the race. Bagnaia missed the races at Assen and Sachsenring due to injury. After scoring 42 points in the first 7 races of the campaign Bagnaia slumped badly during the second part of the season, only finishing in the points twice of the last 9 races, clearly affected by his injury. He finished the season in 16th position with 50 points.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: In 2015, Bagnaia made another team and bike change, this time joining Aspar Team on a Mahindra, with new teammates being Juanfran Guevara and Jorge Martín. In the fifth race of the season in France, Bagnaia got his first podium at Le Mans, finishing the race in 3rd place behind Romano Fenati and Enea Bastianini. In the next race at Mugello Bagnaia finished 4th, missing the podium by 0.003 seconds. He was on his way to another podium finish at Silverstone but crashed with 2 laps remaining, fighting with Niccolò Antonelli for the 3rd place. Despite improving his championship position by two places, and gaining 26 more points than the previous year on a new bike for the third straight season, this time a Mahindra, it was still an up and down year for him. Bagnaia only finished in the top 10 during five races. He also missed points in seven races, unclassified in five of those. He finished the year 14th place in the championship standings, with 76 points.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: In 2016, Bagnaia started the season with a podium finish at Losail and another podium finish at Jerez, finishing 3rd on both occasions. At his home race in Italy Bagnaia secured another 3rd position, beating Niccolò Antonelli by 0.006 seconds. Followed by a crash at Barcelona, Bagnaia secured his first Grand Prix win at the historic Assen circuit, in what his 59th Moto3 race, and the first win for Mahindra history too. He had four podiums in the first eight races of the season, and found himself fighting for the title. After two average races and a crash at Brno, Bagnaia got his first pole position in the rain-affected Silverstone and finished second behind Brad Binder in a thrilling race. Bagnaia won his second race of the season at Sepang, winning the race comfortably with a big gap after Brad Binder, Joan Mir and Lorenzo Dalla Porta all crashed out in the same corner during the beginning of the race, which was filled with multiple crashes. He finished the season with 145 points to place 4th in the Moto3 Championship with a total of 2 wins and 6 podiums. Bagnaia would have had an opportunity to finish 2nd in the World Championship behind Brad Binder, but was taken out in both Phillip Island and Valencia by Gabriel Rodrigo. Rodrigo pushed out Fabio Di Giannantonio in Australia who went down and collected Bagnaia with him. In Valencia Rodrigo made a highside crash on the first lap approaching the last corner, Bagnaia was unable to avoid.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: After 4 seasons in the Moto3 category, Bagnaia moved up to Moto2 racing for Sky Racing Team VR46, where he last rode in 2014. For the 2017 Moto2 World Championship, he would have Stefano Manzi as his teammate. In just his fourth ever Moto2 race at Jerez Bagnaia finished 2nd. He finished 2nd in the next race as well at Le Mans after having qualified in 2nd place, missing pole position to Thomas Lüthi by just 0.026 seconds. Bagnaia took a third podium at Sachsenring, finishing 3rd behind Franco Morbidelli and Miguel Oliveira. At Misano Bagnaia originally finished the race 4th behind Dominique Aegerter, Thomas Lüthi and Hafizh Syahrin; however, Aegerter was later disqualified, promoting him to 3rd of his fourth podium of the season. He was crowned Moto2 Rookie of the year after the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, and finished his rookie season with 174 points to place 5th in the championship standings, scoring points in 16 of the 18 races.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: Bagnaia opened the season with a win in Qatar, having led the race from start to finish. Bagnaia took a second win in Austin after a hard fight with Álex Márquez winning the race with a gap of 2.4 seconds and also setting the fastest lap of the race. At Jerez Bagnaia finished 3rd behind Lorenzo Baldassarri and Miguel Oliveira holding his starting grid position. Bagnaia took his first pole position in Moto2 at Le Mans, and like the race in Qatar he led from start to finish. The win was also his 3rd podium at Le Mans since 2015. Bagnaia took a 4th win at Assen, starting the race from Pole Position and leading the entire race. After qualifying 3rd on the grid in Sachsenring, Bagnaia finished the race down in 12th place, having been forced outside of the track after Mattia Pasini, who fell down in front of him in the last corner on the second lap, and despite being down in 26th, he made up fourteen places in two laps, including overtaking Álex Márquez the final corner of the last lap. At Brno Bagnaia finished third and lost the championship lead to Oliveira, but quickly retook the championship lead at Austria, winning his 5th race of the season. Bagnaia won his sixth race of the season at Misano from pole position. He took a 5th straight podium at Buriram, winning the race with his teammate Luca Marini in second place. He took his 8th win of the season at Motegi after Fabio Quartararo, who initially won the race, was disqualified due to low tyre pressure. After finishing 3rd at Sepang he was crowned Moto2 World Champion with his 12th podium of the season, his teammate Luca Marini taking his first ever Moto2 win as well, his 5th podium of the campaign.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: Bagnaia finished every single Moto2 race he participated in, 36 in total. He scored points in 34 of them and was on a 30-race point scoring streak, starting from Barcelona in 2017. The streak ended when he retired from his first MotoGP race at Losail.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: After two seasons in the Moto2 category championship, Bagnaia was promoted up to take part in the 2019 MotoGP World Championship with Pramac Ducati. He was previously offered a ride in MotoGP in 2018 by Pramac after his stellar rookie season in 2017, where he took four podiums and finished 5th in the championship behind Franco Morbidelli, Thomas Lüthi, Miguel Oliveira and Álex Márquez, but Bagnaia decided to stay, with an opportunity to take the championship title. He replaced fellow Italian rider Danilo Petrucci, who went to the Factory Ducati Team, replacing three-time MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, who took the seat vacated at Repsol Honda Team by Dani Pedrosa after he decided to retire after 13 seasons in MotoGP, becoming an official test rider for KTM.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: After failing to score points in Qatar, where he retired from the race due to a damaged front wing, Bagnaia took his first two points in the MotoGP World Championship with a 14th place in Argentina, having started the race from 17th on the grid. Bagnaia finished 9th in Austin getting positions after Marc Márquez and Cal Crutchlow crashed out from the race in separate accidents, and both Maverick Vinales and Joan Mir were penalised with ride through penalties for jumping the start. Prior to the fourth race at Jerez Bagnaia had three straight podium finishes, starting from the 2016 Moto3 season. He qualified 10th on the grid but crashed out on the sixth lap, fighting with Pol Espargaro. At Le Mans where Bagnaia won the Moto2 race in 2018, he crashed out on the sixth lap after an incident with Maverick Vinales. In the next race at Mugello, his home Grand Prix, Bagnaia had a solid start to the weekend. He topped the second Free Practice time sheets on his way to qualify 8th on the grid. However, he crashed in the last corner on the 11th lap while in 7th place. It was the first time in Bagnaia's career that he had failed to finish three races in a row, all of them with crashes. In Austria, Bagnaia had his best race weekend since his time in Moto2, both in terms of his qualifying, advancing to Q2 and starting from 5th on the grid, and race pace, managing to cross the line in 7th place. At Phillip Island Bagnaia finished the race in 4th place, his best result of the season, missing the podium by just 0.055 seconds to his Ducati teammate Jack Miller. Bagnaia finished his rookie season in the premier class with 54 points, placing him 15th in the championship standings. He missed the final race at Valencia due to injury.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: For the 2020, Bagnaia received a GP20 bike, the same as his teammate, Jack Miller. However, in a season that was majorly affected with races constantly being postponed or cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the first race in MotoGP wasn't held until 19 July at Jerez, with the first scheduled race at Losail being cancelled for the premier class. Despite this, Bagnaia had a strong first weekend, qualifying 4th on the grid and ultimately finishing the race in 7th position. In the next race, held at Jerez, Bagnaia was even stronger than the previous race, qualifying on the front row of the grid in 3rd place. Unfortunately on lap 19, with 6 laps remaining, him well settled in to his 2nd place and on his way to a maiden podium, he had to retire with engine failure. Next race weekend at Brno Bagnaia crashed during FP1, breaking his leg, and he therefore missed the remainder of the weekend, and the two next races, being replaced by replaced by Michele Pirro. He returned for his home race at Misano, where he took his first podium of his MotoGP career, with a second-place finish behind Franco Morbidelli, fellow VR46 Academy member. He fell into a bit of a slump after his first podium however, only scoring 8 points in the last six races, eventually finishing the season down in 16th place, with 47 points to his name.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: For 2021, Bagnaia moved up to the factory Ducati team, along with former teammate Jack Miller. He started the season well, qualifying for pole position ahead of teammate Miller and the factory Yamaha riders Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Vinales, at the season opener in Losail. This marked his first career MotoGP pole position, and he would later finish the race in 3rd. In the second race in Qatar, Bagnaia finished in 6th place. At Portimao Bagnaia initially took Pole position during Qualifying; however, his lap time was disallowed due to Miguel Oliveira's crash and yellow flag, which meant Bagnaia started the race from 11th. During the race Bagnaia worked his way up to finish in 2nd place behind Fabio Quartararo after Jack Miller, Alex Rins and Johann Zarco all crashed out. He finished 2nd the following race weekend in Jerez too, making it three podiums from four races. The middle of the season saw him score regular points, before he had another 2nd place in Austria. Bagnaia took his maiden premier class win at Aragon, where he set the all time track record in qualifying, and led the entire race starting from pole, successfully defending seven overtakes by Marc Márquez during the final stages of the race. Bagnaia managed to repeat this achievement the following weekend in Rimini; he broke the lap record to take pole and led the entire race to take his second career victory in MotoGP. Bagnaia secured his third consecutive pole position in Austin, and finished the race in third, cutting the championship lead of Fabio Quartararo to 52 points, with three races remaining. In Misano, Bagnaia would continue his incredible hot streak, getting pole position, setting the fastest lap of the race, before he crashed out of the lead with 5 laps to go, securing the title for Fabio Quartararo. This would not deter Bagnaia however, securing a fifth consecutive pole position in Portimao, something which has only been done in the premier class after the 1000cc rule change by Marc Márquez in 2014 and Fabio Quartararo earlier this season. He won the race in Portimao, as well as the season closer in Valencia, finishing second in the championship, with 252 points, 26 points behind World Champion Fabio Quartararo.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: Going into the 2022 season, Bagnaia with a strong finish from the previous year, was picked as a Championship favourite for his second year with Ducati.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: He crashed out of 8th place taking the polesitter and fellow Ducati rider, Jorge Martin out at the opening race at Losail in Qatar. At the second round of the season, at a wet Mandalika circuit, Bagnaia took home a disappointing 15th place, collecting only one point in the opening two races of the season.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: Two fifth places at COTA and the Argentinian Grand Prix and an eight place in portimao were followed up until Jerez, a track where Bagnaia has had success earlier in his career. He dominated the weekend, taking a record-breaking pole position and then leading from start to finish, picking up the second grand slam of his career. At Le Mans, Bagnaia once again dominated initially, leading the majority of the race; however, he was eventually caught up by Enea Bastianini who won the race, and Bagnaia crashed out of with seven laps to go. The next race at Mugello Bagnaia had more of a mediocre start, Qualifying in 5th spot he eventually caught up and passed Marco Bezzecchi to the lead the remainder of the race for his 2nd win of the season.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: In Catalunya, Bagnaia was running 3rd and was one of the favourites to take the victory but was taken out alongside Alex Rins by Takaaki Nakagami heading into the first corner, the race was won by Fabio Quartararo. Looking to bounce back at Sachsenring, Bagnaia however slid out from 2nd place on Lap 3. He was now at a 91-point deficit to Quartararo, the championship leader, and stood in 6th place in championship at the exact halfway point of the season.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: After that race he turned his season around strongly. He went on to win the next 4 races in Netherlands, Great Britain, at Red Bull Ring and Misano. He made history as the first Ducati rider and only the 4th rider in the MotoGP era to do so. The others being multi worldchampions Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo. He had gained 61 points on Fabio Quartararo in 4 races collecting a maximum of 100 points.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: At Aragón Bagnaia aimed for a fifth win in a row but had to settle for second to Enea Bastianini with a margin of just 0.042 seconds, being overtaken on the final lap. In a race where Fabio Quartararo crashed-out after riding into the back of Marc Marquez on the opening lap, Bagnaia once more managed to decrease the gap by 20 points. Heading to Motegi with a 10-point deficit.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: At the Japanese Grand Prix, while running in 9th position just behind Quartararo, Bagnaia crashed out of the race on the final lap, allowing Quartararo, who finished the race in 8th place, to increase his lead in the championship over Bagnaia to 18 points with 4 races to go in the season.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: In the Thai Grand Prix at Buriram and the Australian Grand Prix at Philip Island, Bagnaia finished in 3rd place while Quartararo failed to score on both occasions, leaving Bagnaia 14 points ahead of him with 2 races to go. At the Malaysian Grand Prix, Bagnaia could win the championship if he outscored Quartararo by 11 points. He picked up the 7th victory of his season after a poor qualifying session but Quartararo finishing in 3rd meant that the title would go down to the final round. At the Valencian Grand Prix, Bagnaia would then go on to win his maiden premier class championship and made history as he completed the largest points overhaul(-91) for a Championship winner in premier class history. It was also the first for a Ducati rider in 15 years and the first for an Italian rider since Valentino Rossi in 2009.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: Bagnaia will continue with Ducati for 2023 and 2024 alongside a new teammate, Enea Bastianini who replaces Jack Miller.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: Bagnaia is known as "Pecco" because his slightly older sister Carola, when learning to talk, could not pronounce "Francesco", and the corruption stayed with him all of his life.


title: Francesco Bagnaia

text: On 5 July 2022, Bagnaia was involved in a DUI crash in the early morning on the Spanish island of Ibiza. It was reported that he failed a breathalyser test, with his blood alcohol content more than three times the legal limit for driving in Spain. Bagnaia stated he left a nighclub at around 3 am, and failed to negotiate a roundabout, with the car ending the journey with the front end off the road. He stated he was celebrating a race win at Assen, and was normally a very light drinker.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Sault Ste. Marie ( "") is the only city in, and county seat of, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population of 13,337 at the 2020 census, it is the second-most populated city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette. It is the central city of the Sault Ste. Marie, MI Micropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Chippewa County and had a population of 38,520 at the 2010 census.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Sault Ste. Marie is located within the traditional homelands of the Oc̣eṭi Ṡakowiƞ, Seven Fires council, of the Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda (Sioux). Around 1300, the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe or Chippewa) began to move in from the east coast, gradually pushing the Oc̣eṭi Ṡakowiƞ westward. Europeans arrived as early as 1668, which makes it Michigan's oldest settler city and among the oldest settler cities in the United States. Located at the northeastern edge of the Upper Peninsula, it is separated by the St. Marys River from the much-larger city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The two are connected by the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge, which represents the northern terminus of Interstate 75. This portion of the river also contains the Soo Locks, as well as a swinging railroad bridge. The city is also home to Lake Superior State University.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: For centuries, Oc̣eṭi Ṡakowiƞ (Dakota, Lakota, Nakoda), or Sioux, people lived in the area. When the Ojibwe (Anishinaabe, or Chippewa) moved in, they named the area "Baawitigong" ("at the cascading rapids"), after the rapids of St. Marys River. French colonists renamed the region Saulteaux ("rapids" in French). The Oc̣eṭi Ṡakowiƞ came to call the Anishinaabe "Ḣaḣaṭuƞwaƞ", or "Dwellers of the Falls."


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: In 1668, French missionaries Claude Dablon and Jacques Marquette founded a Jesuit mission at this site. Sault Ste. Marie developed as the fourth-oldest European city in the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains, and the oldest permanent European settlement in contemporary Michigan state. On June 4, 1671, Simon-François Daumont de Saint-Lusson, a colonial agent, was dispatched from Quebec to the distant tribes, proposing a congress of Indian nations at the Falls of St. Mary between Lake Huron and Lake Superior. Trader Nicolas Perrot helped attract the principal chiefs, and representatives of 14 Indigenous nations were invited for the elaborate ceremony. The French officials proclaimed France's appropriation of the immense territory surrounding Lake Superior in the name of King Louis XIV.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: In the 18th century, the settlement became an important center of the fur trade, when it was a post for the British-owned North West Company, based in Montreal. The fur trader John Johnston, a Scots-Irish immigrant from Belfast, was considered the first European settler in 1790. He married a high-ranking Ojibwe woman named Ozhaguscodaywayquay, the daughter of a prominent chief, Waubojeeg. She also became known as Susan Johnston. Their marriage was one of many alliances in the northern areas between high-ranking European traders and Ojibwe. The family was prominent among Native Americans, First Nations, and Europeans from both Canada and the United States. They had eight children who learned fluent Ojibwe, English and French. The Johnstons entertained a variety of trappers, explorers, traders, and government officials, especially during the years before the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: For more than 140 years, the settlement was a single community under French colonial, and later, British colonial rule. After the War of 1812, a US–UK Joint Boundary Commission finally fixed the border in 1817 between the Michigan Territory of the US and the British Province of Upper Canada to follow the river in this area. Whereas traders had formerly moved freely through the whole area, the United States forbade Canadian traders from operating in the United States, which reduced their trade and disrupted the area's economy. The American and Canadian communities of Sault Ste. Marie were each incorporated as independent municipalities toward the end of the 19th century.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: As a result of the fur trade, the settlement attracted Ojibwe and Ottawa, Métis, and ethnic Europeans of various nationalities. It was a two-tiered society, with fur traders (who had capital) and their families and upper-class Ojibwe in the upper echelon. In the aftermath of the War of 1812, however, the community's society changed markedly.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: The U.S. built Fort Brady near the settlement, introducing new troops and settlers, mostly Anglo-American. The UK and the US settled on a new northern boundary in 1817, dividing the US and Canada along St. Mary's River. The US prohibited British fur traders from operating in the United States. After completion of the Erie Canal in New York State in 1825 (expanded in 1832), the number of settlers migrating to Ohio and Michigan increased dramatically from New York and New England, bringing with them the Yankee culture of the Northern Tier. Their numbers overwhelmed the cosmopolitan culture of the earlier settlers. They practiced more discrimination against Native Americans and Métis.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: The falls proved a choke point for shipping between the Great Lakes. Early ships traveling to and from Lake Superior were portaged around the rapids in a lengthy process (much like moving a house) that could take weeks. Later, only the cargoes were unloaded, hauled around the rapids, and then loaded onto other ships waiting below the rapids. The first American lock, the State Lock, was built in 1855; it was instrumental in improving shipping. The lock has been expanded and improved over the years.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: In 1900, Northwestern Leather Company opened a tannery in Sault Ste. Marie. The tannery was founded to process leather for the upper parts of shoes, which was finer than that for soles. After the factory closed in 1958, the property was sold to Filborn Limestone, a subsidiary of Algoma Steel Corporation.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: In March 1938 during the Great Depression, Sophia Nolte Pullar bequeathed $70,000 for construction of the Pullar Community Building, which opened in 1939. This building held an indoor ice rink composed of artificial ice, then a revolutionary concept. The ice rink is still owned by the city.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: The city name was derived from the French term for the nearby rapids, which were called "Les Saults de Sainte Marie." "Sainte Marie" (Saint Mary) was the name of the river and "Saults" referred to the rapids.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Whereas the modern "saut" means simply "(a) jump", "sault" in the 17th century was also applied to cataracts, waterfalls and rapids. This resulted in such place names as Grand Falls/Grand-Sault, and Sault-au-Récollet on the Island of Montreal in Canada; and Sault-Saint-Remy and Sault-Brénaz in France. In contemporary French, the word for "rapids" is "rapides".


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: No hyphens are used in the English spelling, which is otherwise identical to the French, but the pronunciations differ. Anglophones say and Francophones say . In French, the name can be written . On both sides of the border, the towns and the general vicinity are called The Sault (usually pronounced ), or The Soo.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: The city is home to the northern terminus of I-75, which connects with the Mackinac Bridge at St. Ignace approximately to the south, and continues south to Miami. M-129 also has its northern terminus in the city. M-129 was at one time a part of the Dixie Highway system, which was intended to connect the northern industrial states with the southern agricultural states. Until 1984 the city was the eastern terminus of the western segment of US 2. County Highway H-63 (or Mackinac Trail) also has its northern terminus in the city and extends south to St. Ignace and follows a route very similar to I-75. The city is joined to its Canadian counterpart by the International Bridge, which connects Interstate 75 (I-75) in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Huron Street in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Commercial airline service is provided to the city by the Chippewa County International Airport in Kinross, about south of the city. Smaller general aviation aircraft also use the Sault Ste. Marie Municipal Airport about one southwest of downtown.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Sault Ste. Marie was the namesake of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway, now the Soo Line Railroad, the U.S. arm of the Canadian Pacific Railway. This railroad had a bridge parallel to the International Bridge crossing the St. Marys River. The Soo Line has since, through a series of acquisitions and mergers of portions of the system, been split between Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railway (CN). Canadian national operates the rail lines and the bridge in the Sault Ste. Marie area that were part of the Soo Line.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: The Sugar Island Ferry provides automobile and passenger access between Sault Ste. Marie and Sugar Island, formerly a center of maple sugaring. The short route that the ferry travels crosses the shipping channel. Despite the high volume of freighter traffic through the locks, freighters typically do not dock in the Sault. However, the city hosts tugs, a tourist passenger ferry service, and a Coast Guard station along the shoreline on the lower (east) side of the Soo Locks. The United States Postal Service operates a "Marine Post Office", situated within the locks, to service ships as they pass through.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Shipping traffic in the Great Lakes system bypasses the rapids in the St. Marys River via the American Soo Locks. Locally, it is often claimed to be the world's busiest canal in terms of tonnage passing through it. The largest ships are long by wide. These are domestic carriers (called "lakers"). Smaller recreational and tour boats use the Canadian Sault Ste. Marie Canal. The lakers, being too large to transit the Welland Canal that bypasses Niagara Falls, are therefore land-locked. Foreign ships (termed "salties") are smaller and can exit the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water. The city's downtown is on an island, formed by the Sault Ste. Marie Power Canal to the south and the St. Mary's River and Soo Locks to the north.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Under the Köppen climate classification, Sault Ste. Marie has a humid continental climate ("Dfb") with cold, snowy winters and warm summers. Sault Ste. Marie is one of the snowiest places in Michigan, receiving an average of of snow per winter season, with a record year when fell. of snow fell in one five-day snowstorm, including in 24 hours, in December 1995. During this time, the city proper experienced a far greater level of snowfall than the farmlands past the canal and riverfront due to lake-effect snow. This caused the 1437th MRBC National Guard local armory to be mobilized for disaster relief in order to remove hundreds of tons of snow which effectively blockaded people within their own homes. Precipitation measured as equivalent rainfall, Sault Ste. Marie receives an annual average of . Its immediate region is the cloudiest in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, having over 200 cloudy days a year.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Temperatures in Sault Ste. Marie have varied between a record low of and a record high of . Monthly average temperatures range from in January to in July. On average, only two out of every five years reaches , while there are 85.5 days annually where the high remains at or below freezing and 26.5 nights with a low of or colder.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Average monthly precipitation is lowest in February, and highest in September and October. This autumn maximum in precipitation, unusual for humid continental climates, owes to this area's Great Lakes location. From May through July (usually the year's wettest months in most of the upper Midwestern United States, away from large bodies of water), the lake waters surrounding Sault Ste. Marie are cooler than nearby land areas. This tends to stabilize the atmosphere, suppressing precipitation (especially showers and thunderstorms) somewhat, in May, June and July. In autumn, the lakes are releasing their stored heat from the summer, making them warmer than the surrounding land, and increasingly frequent and strong polar and Arctic air outbreaks pick up warmth and moisture during their over-water passage, resulting in clouds and instability showers. In Sault Ste. Marie, this phenomenon peaks in September and October, making these the wettest months of the year. Also noteworthy is that in Sault Ste. Marie, the year's third wettest month, on average, is November, and not any summer month.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: As of the census of 2020, the population was 13,337. The population density was . There were 6,234 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 68.9% White, 17.8% Native American, 1.0% Black or African American, 0.9% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 10.7% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 2.4% Hispanic or Latino of any race.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: As of the census of 2010, there were 14,144 people, 5,995 households, and 3,265 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 6,534 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 74.8% White, 0.7% African American, 17.7% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races, and 5.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.5% of the population.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: There were 5,995 households, of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.0% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 45.5% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.88.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: The median age in the city was 33.8 years. 21.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 17.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.8% were from 25 to 44; 23.8% were from 45 to 64; and 13.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.5% male and 51.5% female.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Note: After going through the Census 2000 Count Question Resolution Program, the population of the city in 2000 was revised to 14,324 because of the misallocation of some of a neighboring municipality's population to the city of Sault Ste. Marie.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: As of the census of 2000, there were 16,542 people, 5,742 households, and 3,301 families living in the city. The population density was 1,116.3 people per square mile (431.0/km). There were 6,237 housing units at an average density of 420.9 per square mile (162.5/km). The racial makeup of the city was 73.99% White, 6.51% African American, 13.72% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.47% from other races, and 4.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.86% of the population.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: There were 5,742 households, out of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.9% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.5% were non-families. 33.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.92.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: In the city, the population was spread out, with 19.4% under the age of 18, 18.1% from 18 to 24, 31.9% from 25 to 44, 18.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 122.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 128.3 males.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: The median income for a household in the city was $29,652, and for a family was $40,333. Males had a median income of $29,656 versus $21,889 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,460. About 12.7% of families and 17.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.6% of those under age 18 and 12.5% of those age 65 or over.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Tourism is a major industry in the area. The Soo Locks and nearby Kewadin Casino, Hotel and Convention Center—which is owned by the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians—are the major draws, as well as the forests, inland lakes, and Lake Superior shoreline. Sault Ste. Marie is also a gateway to Lake Superior's scenic north shore through its twin city Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The two cities are connected by the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge, a steel truss arch bridge with suspended deck passing over the St. Marys River.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Sault Ste. Marie is home to Lake Superior State University (LSSU), founded in 1946 as an extension campus of Michigan College of Mining and Technology (now Michigan Technological University); the campus was originally Fort Brady. LSSU is home to the LSSU Lakers (D1 Hockey (CCHA), D2 all other sports (GLIAC). LSSU has around 1500 students, making it Michigan's smallest public university.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: The Sault's primary public high school is Sault Area High School (SAHS). "Sault High" is one of the few high schools in the state with attached career center. The school's mascot is the Blue Devil. "Sault High" houses a variety of successful varsity sports teams, such as hockey, wrestling, baseball, and basketball. Altogether, the school provides 24 competitive sports teams for both boys and girls at all levels.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Sault Ste. Marie has two middle schools, one in the Sault Ste. Marie School System known as Sault Area Middle School. Before the 6th grade annex was added in the late 1980s, the school was referred to as Sault Area Junior High School. The Second Middle School is a part of Joseph K. Lumsden Bahweting School, a Native American-affiliated Public School Academy.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: There are two elementary schools in Sault Ste. Marie, Lincoln Elementary and Washington Elementary. There is also a Public School Academy, Joseph K. Lumsden Bahweting School, and the St. Mary's Catholic School. Jefferson Elementary, McKinley Elementary, Bruce Township Elementary, and Soo Township Elementary (converted into an Alternative High School) have closed because of declining enrollment in the school system.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: All stations listed here are rebroadcasters of television stations based in Traverse City and Cadillac.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: NBC and ABC are also served by WTOM channel 4 from Cheboygan, which repeats WPBN-TV and WGTU. The market can also receive select over the air channels from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, including Global Toronto on channel 12.1 at CIII-DT-12, and CTV Northern Ontario on analog channel 2 at CHBX. Channel 8.3 was previously the science fiction network Comet until being replaced by Charge!, which is also operated by the Sinclair Television Group.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: The area has no local PBS, The CW, or MyNetworkTV service over-the-air. The Spectrum cable system offers all three in their regional packages through Marquette's PBS affiliate WNMU-TV, Cadillac's CW affiliate WFQX-CW, and joint MyNetworkTV/Cozi TV affiliate WXII-LD out of Cedar. Mount Pleasant PBS affiliate WCMU-TV serves the Cadillac-Traverse City market via Cadillac satellite station WCMV, but its nearest over the air signal from WCML Alpena does not reach the Sault Ste. Marie area.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: None of these stations are seen on cable in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, as Shaw Cable chooses to largely air Detroit affiliates for over the air channels, while WUHF in Rochester, New York, WPIX in New York City, New York, and WSBK-TV in Boston, Massachusetts provide the closest Fox, CW, and MNTV affiliates carried by Shaw in the market.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Spectator sports in Sault Ste. Marie include Lake Superior State University Athletics and the Soo Eagles of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). The Lakers participate in NCAA Division I Ice Hockey and Division II Women's and Men's Basketball, Women's and Men's Golf, Women's Volleyball, Women's and Men's Track and Field, Women's and Men's Tennis and Women's and Men's Cross Country.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Nicknamed the Lakers, LSSU's hockey program is celebrating its 50th season of intercollegiate competition. The team plays its home contests at Taffy Abel Arena (4,000 seats) on LSSU's campus and is one of the most decorated in NCAA hockey history. The squad claimed two NAIA titles in the 1970s before a run of three NCAA division one championships (1988, 1992, 1994) and one finalist appearance (1993) in the late 1980s and early 90s. They compete in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: The rest of the athletic teams play in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). The basketball programs at LSSU have seen their share of success. The Men's program won overall GLIAC regular season titles in 2014–15, 2013–14, 1995-1996 (Tournament Champion) and also claimed the north division crown in 2008–09. LSSU's women's program won GLIAC gold from 2001 to 2002 through 2004–05. They also captured GLIAC tournament titles in 2002-03 and 2003–04. Both Men's and Women's squads play their home games in the Bud Cooper Gymnasium within the Norris Center.


title: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

text: Sault Ste. Marie is the home of the International 500 Snowmobile Race (commonly called the I-500), which takes place annually and draws participants and spectators from all over the U.S. and Canada. The race, which was inspired by the Indianapolis 500, originated in 1969 and has been growing ever since.


title: Macmillan Publishers

text: Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publishers. Founded in London in 1843 by Scottish brothers Daniel and Alexander MacMillan, the firm would soon establish itself as a leading publisher in Britain. It published two of the best-known works of Victorian era children’s literature, Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865) and Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" (1894).


title: Macmillan Publishers

text: Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Harold Macmillan, grandson of co-founder Daniel, was chairman of the company from 1964 until his death in December 1986. Since 1999, Macmillan has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group with offices in 41 countries worldwide and operations in more than thirty others.


title: Macmillan Publishers

text: Macmillan was founded in London in 1843 by Daniel and Alexander MacMillan, two brothers from the Isle of Arran, Scotland. Daniel was the business brain, while Alexander laid the literary foundations, publishing such notable authors as Charles Kingsley (1855), Thomas Hughes (1859), Francis Turner Palgrave (1861), Christina Rossetti (1862), Matthew Arnold (1865) and Lewis Carroll (1865), with the latter first meeting Alexander in London on 19 October 1863. Alfred, Lord Tennyson joined the list in 1884, Thomas Hardy in 1886 and Rudyard Kipling in 1890.


title: Macmillan Publishers

text: Other major writers published by Macmillan included W. B. Yeats, Rabindranath Tagore, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Seán O'Casey, John Maynard Keynes, Charles Morgan, Hugh Walpole, Margaret Mitchell, C. P. Snow, Rumer Godden and Ram Sharan Sharma.


title: Macmillan Publishers

text: Beyond literature, the company created such enduring titles as "Nature" (1869), the "Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians" (1877) and Sir Robert Harry Inglis Palgrave's "Dictionary of Political Economy" (1894–99).