title: Parasitoid wasp

text: Based on genetic and fossil analysis, parasitoidism has evolved only once in the Hymenoptera, during the Permian, leading to a single clade, the Apocrita. All parasitoid wasps are descended from this lineage, except for the Orussoidea which are parasitic but lack the wasp waist. The Apocrita emerged during the Jurassic. The Aculeata, which includes bees, ants, and parasitoid spider wasps, evolved from within the Apocrita; it contains many families of parasitoids, though not the Ichneumonoidea, Cynipoidea, and Chalcidoidea. The Hymenoptera, Apocrita, and Aculeata are all clades, but since each of these contains non-parasitic species, the parasitoid wasps, formerly known as the Parasitica, do not form a clade on their own. The common ancestor in which parasitoidism evolved lived approximately 247 million years ago and was previously believed to be an ectoparasitoid wood wasp that fed on wood-boring beetle larvae. Species similar in lifestyle and morphology to this ancestor still exist in the Ichneumonoidea. However, recent molecular and morphological analysis suggests this ancestor was endophagous, meaning it fed from within its host. A significant radiation of species in the Hymenoptera occurred shortly after the evolution of parasitoidy in the order and is thought to have been a result of it. The evolution of a wasp waist, a constriction in the abdomen of the Apocrita, contributed to rapid diversification as it increased maneuverability of the ovipositor, the organ off the rear segment of the abdomen used to lay eggs.


title: Parasitoid wasp

text: The phylogenetic tree gives a condensed overview of the positions of parasitoidal groups (boldface), amongst groups ("italics") like the Vespidae which have secondarily abandoned the parasitoid habit. The approximate numbers of species estimated to be in these groups, often much larger than the number so far described, is shown in parentheses, with estimates for the most populous also shown in boldface, like "(150,000)". Not all species in these groups are parasitoidal: for example, some Cynipoidea are phytophagous.


title: Parasitoid wasp

text: The parasitoid wasps are paraphyletic since the ants, bees, and non-parasitic wasps such as the Vespidae are not included, and there are many members of mainly parasitoidal families which are not themselves parasitic. Listed are Hymenopteran families where most members have a parasitoid lifestyle.


title: Parasitoid wasp

text: Parasitoid wasps are considered beneficial as they naturally control the population of many pest insects. They are widely used commercially (alongside other parasitoids such as tachinid flies) for biological pest control, for which the most important groups are the ichneumonid wasps, which prey mainly on caterpillars of butterflies and moths; braconid wasps, which attack caterpillars and a wide range of other insects including greenfly; chalcidoid wasps, which parasitise eggs and larvae of greenfly, whitefly, cabbage caterpillars, and scale insects.


title: Parasitoid wasp

text: One of the first parasitoid wasps to enter commercial use was "Encarsia formosa", an endoparasitic aphelinid. It has been used to control whitefly in greenhouses since the 1920s. Use of the insect fell almost to nothing, replaced by chemical pesticides by the 1940s. Since the 1970s, usage has revived, with renewed usage in Europe and Russia. In some countries, such as New Zealand, it is the primary biological control agent used to control greenhouse whiteflies, particularly on crops such as tomato, a particularly difficult plant for predators to establish on.


title: Parasitoid wasp

text: Commercially, there are two types of rearing systems: short-term seasonal daily output with high production of parasitoids per day, and long-term year-round low daily output with a range in production of 4–1000 million female parasitoids per week, to meet demand for suitable parasitoids for different crops.


title: Parasitoid wasp

text: Parasitoid wasps influenced the thinking of Charles Darwin. In an 1860 letter to the American naturalist Asa Gray, Darwin wrote: "I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created parasitic wasps with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars." The palaeontologist Donald Prothero notes that religiously-minded people of the Victorian era, including Darwin, were horrified by this instance of evident cruelty in nature, particularly noticeable in the Ichneumonidae.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on 14 November 2017, and by Feral Interactive for macOS on 2 August 2018. It is the sequel to 2013's "Lego Marvel Super Heroes" and the third installment of the "Lego Marvel" franchise.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: With the core gameplay following the same style of past "Lego" titles, the game features the ability to manipulate time and a four-player competitive Super Hero battle mode. "Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2"s storyline centers around superheroes from different eras and realities of the Marvel Universe as they fight against the time-travelling villain Kang the Conqueror in a battle across space and time.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: "Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2" is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective. The game features a similar gameplay to its predecessors and other Lego video games, alternating between various action-adventure sequences and puzzle-solving scenarios. The game also introduces a new four-player competitive Super Hero battle mode, allowing players to fight each other cooperatively in battle arenas.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: Much like the two previous Lego Marvel games, the players are able to take control of a roster of iconic characters from the Marvel Universe, each with their own unique abilities. For example, Star-Lord is capable of flight, Black Panther can activate claw switches, and Spider-Man can swing on his webs, crawl on walls and use his spider-sense to detect hidden objects. The game also features characters from different time periods and realities over the Marvel Universe, which includes Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Man Noir, King Arthur, Merlin, a cowboy version of Captain America, a Hulk, and many others. In addition, the game also features variations of sundry characters, like Iron Duck (who is merely Howard the Duck wearing the Iron Man's armor) and Carnom (a fusion of the Venom symbiote and the Carnage symbiote that is exclusive to the game while loosely based on Toxin).


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: While some characters are just based on the comic books, others have their visuals taken from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as the Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, and Ant-Man. Using the ability to manipulate time, the players can change the look and abilities of certain characters. For instance, they can take Baby Groot (from the "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2") and move time forward for him to become his adult version, and Spider-Man can go both ways with his Noir and 2099 counterparts.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: The game was also released during the infamous "Fox embargo", an unofficial block on characters that Marvel Studios did not own the cinematic rights to. These characters included: the Fantastic Four (alongside Silver Surfer and Galactus), the X-Men (and by extension, all mutants), Deadpool, Namor, and others. Despite this, many of these characters appeared in the first game. There was a reference to Deadpool when Gwenpool spoke to the designer on her phone when she was hosting the bonus missions.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: The ability to manipulate time is allowed to players directly from the new open world of Chronopolis, which is a myriad of 17 different Marvel locations (consisting of a variation of Ancient Egypt, an apocalyptic Asgard, Attilan, Hala, the Hydra Empire, K'un-L'un, Knowhere, Lemuria, Man-Thing's Swamp, Manhattan, an , a Marvel Noir version of New York City called Manhattan Noir, Nueva York, a variation of the Old West, Sakaar, Wakanda, and Xandar) linked through time and space and surrounding Kang the Conqueror's Citadel.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: On 6 October, ten DLC packs were announced for the game. Of these ten, there are six level packs and four character packs based on Marvel Cinematic Universe films, superhero teams, and time variant heroes:


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: The Guardians of the Galaxy help defend Xandar from an attack by Kang the Conqueror, who uses his time crystal to summon Eson the Searcher. After the Guardians defeat Eson, Kang's ship, the "Damocles", launches devices which cause a section of Xandar to disappear.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: Meanwhile at Avengers Mansion, Nick Fury presents the Avengers with several missions: Captain America, She-Hulk, and Thor fight the Presence in Siberia; Iron Man and Captain Marvel defeat Attuma at his underwater base; and Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, and White Tiger battle escaped Raft prisoners on the Brooklyn Bridge, including most of the Sinister Six. The Guardians of the Galaxy arrive just before Kang uses his devices to steal Manhattan with the heroes inside it and make it part of his battle arena called Chronopolis, consisting of various locales that he has stolen from across time and space with his citadel at the center.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: Captain America leads a team through a portal to Medieval England, where they help Sir Percy reclaim his castle from Enchantress and the Black Knight. Another team led by She-Hulk follows Klaw and the Hydra Four through a portal to Wakanda, where Black Panther joins them to fight Man-Ape in the vibranium mines. The heroes converge in a version of Manhattan ruled by Hydra, where they battle Klaw and vibranium robot soldiers created by Arnim Zola, and defeat Baron Zemo in a dogfight. Thor, Captain Marvel, and She-Hulk then travel to a swamp where they defeat Man-Thing. Kang reveals that Man-Thing was guarding the Nexus of All Realities, which kept the various realms of Chronopolis separated. Kang destroys the Nexus which drops the barriers between the locations and challenges the heroes to rise up and face him.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: Regrouping at Avengers Mansion, the heroes detect a faint signal from outside Chronopolis. Searching for a device to boost its strength, the Guardians travel to the Old West where they battle MODOK and the Circus of Crime. Retrieving the device, they learn that the signal is being sent from Knowhere by Cosmo the Spacedog. The heroes plan to retrieve the fragments of the Nexus in order to bring Knowhere into Chronopolis and use its energies to bring down the barrier surrounding Kang's citadel.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: In preparation, Doctor Strange leads a team to the Sanctum Sanctorum where they fight Baron Mordo and retrieve the Book of the Vishanti, while Thor leads a party to a apocalyptic version of Asgard to enlist the aid of Heimdall, facing Loki (who was posing as Odin) and Surtur in the process. The search for the five Nexus fragments again splits the heroes into teams Spider-Man's group visits the "Marvel Noir" version of Manhattan, where they help Iron Fist, Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Spider-Man Noir defeat the Kingpin. Iron Fist accompanies them to K'un-L'un, where they fight Steel Serpent to free Shou-Lao and retrieve a Nexus fragment. Proceeding to the Alchemax building in "Marvel 2099"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Nueva York, Spider-Gwen and Spider-Man 2099 help the group defeat the Green Goblin 2099 and "Carnom" (a fusion of Venom and Carnage) to obtain another fragment.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: Meanwhile, the Guardians defeat Ronan the Accuser, who has a Nexus fragment, in the Kree home world of Hala, but are brainwashed by the Supreme Intelligence. After stopping a coup by Maximus the Mad in Attilan, the Inhuman Royal Family rescue the Guardians, defeat the Supreme Intelligence and agree to join them in defeating Kang.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: At the same time, Captain America's group travels to the underwater city of Lemuria, but falls into a trap set by Attuma and are forced into Sakaar where Red King pits them against the "World Breakers" (consisting of Hulk, Red Hulk, Maestro, and Greenskyn Smashtroll). Joined by the Hulk and Stingray, they return to Lemuria, defeat Attuma and Torg, and retrieve a Nexus fragment. Moving on to Ancient Egypt, they enter a Sphinx and join Horus of the Heliopolitans in facing Loki and N'Kantu, the Living Mummy to obtain another fragment. As Kang observes the heroes' exploits and plots to destroy them, his wife Ravonna becomes increasingly disturbed by his actions.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: With the fragments gathered, the heroes assemble a device to bring Knowhere through a portal opened by Doctor Strange. Their first attempt nearly brings Ego the Living Planet through instead because of Kang's interference. Once Knowhere is in Chronopolis, they use an electromagnetic pulse to knock out the energy shield protecting Kang's citadel. As the heroes begin their assault, Kang summons the "Damocles". Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Star-Lord disable the ship, battling Korvac and escaping before it crashes. Captain America, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, and Star-Lord enter the citadel and face Kang, who grows to gigantic size, uses the time crystal to reverse the "Damocles"<nowiki>'</nowiki> destruction, and wields it as a sword. Captain America creates a giant solid hologram of himself and uses it to defeat Kang. Ravonna betrays Kang and uses the time crystal to turn him into a baby. The heroes celebrate their victory, and Ravonna promises to return the components of Chronopolis to their original places in time and space once the remaining villains are dealt with.


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: In a post-credits scene, everything is restored to normal. While visiting the Statue of Liberty, Iron Man, Captain America, and Captain Marvel are visited by Ravonna (now known as "Terminatrix"), an elderly Kang, the Supreme Intelligence, Cosmo, and Man-Thing, who ask for their help in fixing a "chronal fracture".


title: Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

text: Due to the game being affected by the 2016–17 video game voice actor strike at the time, the cast from the previous game as well from "Lego Marvel's Avengers" did not return to reprise their roles as they were affiliated with the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). While in favor of a new voice cast, Greg Miller voices Howard the Duck Peter Serafinowicz voices the game's antagonist Kang the Conqueror, and Sacha Dhawan reprised his role as Steel Serpent from the "Iron Fist" television series Archive recordings of Stan Lee from the previous game were used.


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: Royal Noble Consort Ui of the Changnyeong Seong clan (Hangul: 의빈 성씨, Hanja: 宜嬪 成氏; 6 August 1753 – 4 November 1786) was a beloved concubine of King Jeongjo of Joseon and the mother of Crown Prince Munhyo.


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: The future Royal Consort was born on August 6, 1753, during the 29th year of King Yeongjo's reign, into the Changnyeong Seong. She was the daughter of Seong Yun-u (성윤우, 成胤祐), and his second wife, Lady Im of the Buan Im clan (부안 임씨, 扶安 林氏).


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: Their family was quite poor, and at the time of Lady Seong's birth, her father worked as a steward for Hong Bong-han, the maternal grandfather of King Jeongjo. He later became a military officer, but resigned in 1761, due to embezzlement accusations.


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: Seong Yun-u's first wife was Lady Ma of the Jangheung Ma clan (장흥 마씨, 長興 馬氏). After her death, he married Lady Im, the daughter of Im Jong-ju (임종주, 林宗胄), a minor government official. She died in 1756, three years after giving birth to the future Seong Ui-bin. Seong Yun-u's third wife was Lady Ji of the Danyang Ji clan (단양 지씨, 丹陽 池氏).


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: Lady Seong had seven siblings: five brothers and two sisters. Her father died in 1769, at the age of 60.


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: In 1762, at the age of ten, she entered the royal palace as a "gungnyeo". Because of her father's relationship with the Pungsan Hong clan, Lady Seong became a personal maid of King Jeongjo's mother, Crown Princess Hye.


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: In 1773, she alongside Princess Cheongyeon and Princess Cheongseon, transcribed the classic novel "Gwakjangyangmunrok" (comprising 10 volumes, 10 books) to Korean.


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: Sometimes before 1782, she received Jeongjo's grace and was promoted to "Sangui", a court lady of the fifth senior rank. It is recorded that she was pregnant two times between 1780 and 1782, but both pregnancies ended in miscarriage.


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: On October 13, 1782, Lady Seong gave birth to her first child, Yi Sun (이순). That same day, she became a Royal Consort, after being elevated to the third senior rank of "So-yong." Almost three months later, in late December 1782, her son was given the title of "Prince Royal" (원자, 元子).


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: The following year, Seong So-yong was promoted to the first senior rank of "Bin" and Jeongjo personally chose the prefix "Ui" (宜; meaning "appropriate/fitting") for her.


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: On July 2, 1784, Yi Sun was invested as Crown Prince (왕세자, 王世子), but he died during an epidemic, on June 6, 1786.


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: Four months after the death of her son, Seong Ui-bin died of a disease during the last month of her fifth pregnancy. The unborn child died with her. King Jeongjo wrote her an epitaph, where he described his grief and declared his love for her. It was said that Lady Seong was the only woman he loved amongst his wives. Her mortuary was set up at Anhyeon Palace, which was uncommon.


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: Originally, she was buried about 100 steps from her son, Crown Prince Munhyo. The graves were called "Hyochangmyo" (효창묘, 孝昌墓), but during the 7th year of King Gojong's reign, the status of the tombs was raised to "Hyochangwon" (효창원, 孝昌園).


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: King Jeongjo planted 26.000 trees in the graveyard, which is known today as "Hyochang Park" and is situated in Yongsan District, Seoul.


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: In 1944, during the Japanese occupation, the tombs were relocated to the Seosamneung Cluster in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Crown Prince Munhyo was buried next to his uncle, Crown Prince Uiso, while Seong Ui-bin was buried 2 km away, in the concubines' cemetery. Her tomb is known as "Uibinmyo" (의빈묘, 宜嬪墓).


title: Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong

text: Lady Seong's memorial tablet was enshrined in "Uibingung" (의빈궁, 宜嬪宮), at the "Chilgung" (also known as "The Palace of Seven Royal Concubines"; Historical Site No. 149). In 1908, the 2nd year of Emperor Yunghui's reign, "Uibingung" was closed. However, the name was preserved and the annual rituals continued to be held.


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: Paul Blackthorne (born 5 March 1969) is an English actor. Although born in Shropshire, he spent his early childhood on UK military bases in Britain and Germany.


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: Blackthorne broke into acting via television commercials in England. His breakthrough commercial in the UK came in the Grim Reaper commercial for Virgin Atlantic, which was hugely successful. Numerous radio commercials followed.


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: Blackthorne's first film role was in the Academy award nominated Bollywood film "Lagaan", released in the year 2001. Since then, he has mostly appeared in American films and television shows. He had recurring roles in the American series "ER" and "24", both in 2004, and has been a regular cast member in the series "The Dresden Files" (2007), in which he played the title character of Harry Dresden, as well as "Lipstick Jungle" (2008–09) and "Arrow" (2012–2018).


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: Blackthorne's first film role was as Captain Andrew Russell in the Oscar-nominated Bollywood film "Lagaan". He spent six months learning Hindi for the role.


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: He also starred in the independent feature-length film "Four Corners of Suburbia", winner of both the Crossroads Film Festival in Best Narrative Feature (2006) and in the category of Best Composer at the Avignon Film Festival, Avignon, France (2006).


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: Additional indie film credits include Bret Easton Ellis's "This Is Not an Exit", and a starring role in the British film "The Truth Game". Blackthorne appeared as Jonas Exiler in "Special", with Michael Rapaport.


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: Blackthorne's directorial debut "This American Journey" was released in 2013. The road trip documentary film follows Blackthorne and Australian photographer Mister Basquali as they travel across America interviewing everyday Americans about how they feel about their country and their hopes for its future. The film was featured at the Hollywood, Carmel, Ojai and Big Bear Film Festivals. It was released through Cinema Libre Studios. Blackthorne would be joined the cast of "Dark Ascension", as "Willis".


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: In 2002, Blackthorne portrayed British doctor Matt Slingerland on "Presidio Med" and made notable appearances as Guy Morton in the British television series "Holby City", Liam MacGregor in "Peak Practice", Doctor Jeremy Lawson in NBC's "ER" and biological terrorist Stephen Saunders on "24". He also made appearances on "Medium" in two roles (one uncredited as Henry Stoller, Junior), "Deadwood", and an episode of "Monk" Season 5 Episode 10 "Mr. Monk and the Leper" as quirky dermatologist Aaron Polinski. He appeared as Shane Healy, a British musician and husband of Wendy Healy (played by Brooke Shields), in the NBC series "Lipstick Jungle" for two seasons. He played an IRA terrorist in the US series "Burn Notice" in 2009 in one episode. In 2010, he appeared in two episodes of "Leverage" as an arms dealer and in an episode of "" directed by Rob Zombie. Later that year he had a recurring role in "The Gates" as Christian Harper. Also on 7 December 2010, he appeared in the Christmas episode ("Secret Santa") of the SyFy series "Warehouse 13". He appeared in a two-part cliffhanger during the mid-season break of White Collar Season 2.


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: In the Sci Fi Channel's 2007 series, "The Dresden Files", Blackthorne portrayed the lead character, wizard / detective Harry Dresden.


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: He starred as Clark Quietly in the ABC original paranormal/adventure/horror television series "The River" about a group of people on a mission to find a missing TV explorer in the Amazon.


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: In 2012, Blackthorne joined the main cast of The CW superhero drama series "Arrow" as Detective Quentin Lance. He left the series at the end of the sixth season in May 2018, but returned in a guest role in the eighth and final season in the episode "Fadeout".


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: Paul Blackthorne is also an accomplished photographer. His exhibition, "Delhi to Manhattan", appeared at Tibet House US in New York City from April to June 2009, to benefit the Tibetan children of the city of Dharamsala.


title: Paul Blackthorne

text: In 2001, shortly after filming of "Lagaan" finished in India, the town where filming took place was levelled by an earthquake, including the apartment building in which the cast of "Lagaan" was staying. To assist the earthquake victims, Blackthorne exhibited his photography in a special show in London.


title: Egyptian Museum

text: The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display and the remainder in storerooms. Built in 1901 by the Italian construction company, Garozzo-Zaffarani, to a design by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon, the edifice is one of the largest museums in the region. As of March 2019, the museum was open to the public. In 2022, the museum is due to be superseded by the newer and larger Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza.


title: Egyptian Museum

text: The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities contains many important pieces of ancient Egyptian history. It houses the world's largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities. The Egyptian government established the museum built in 1835 near the Ezbekieh Garden and later moved to the Cairo Citadel. In 1855, Archduke Maximilian of Austria was given all of the artifacts by the Egyptian government; these are now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.


title: Egyptian Museum

text: A new museum was established at Boulaq in 1858 in a former warehouse, following the foundation of the new Antiquities Department under the direction of Auguste Mariette. The building lay on the bank of the Nile River, and in 1878 it suffered significant damage owing to the flooding of the Nile River. In 1891, the collections were moved to a former royal palace, in the Giza district of Cairo. They remained there until 1902 when they were moved again to the current museum in Tahrir Square, built by the Italian company of Giuseppe Garozzo and Francesco Zaffrani to a design by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon.


title: Egyptian Museum

text: During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the museum was broken into, and two mummies were destroyed. Several artifacts were also shown to have been damaged and around 50 objects were lost. Since then, 25 objects have been found. Those that were restored were put on display in September 2013 in an exhibition entitled Damaged and Restored. Among the displayed artifacts are two statues of King Tutankhamun made of cedar wood and covered with gold, a statue of King Akhenaten, ushabti statues that belonged to the Nubian kings, a mummy of a child, and a small polychrome glass vase.


title: Egyptian Museum

text: The Department of Antiquities (Service d'Antiquités Egyptien) operated a sale room (Salle de ventes) in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo from 1902 in room 56 on the ground floor, where original ancient Egyptian artworks and other original artefacts were sold. In addition, until the 1970s, dealers or collectors could bring antiquities to the Cairo Museum for inspection on Thursdays, and if museum officials had no objections, they could pack them in ready-made boxes, have them sealed and cleared for export. Many objects now held in private collections or public museums originated here. After years of debate about the strategy for selling the antiquities, the sale room was finally closed in November 1979.


title: Egyptian Museum

text: There are two main floors in the museum, the ground floor and the first floor. On the ground floor there is an extensive collection of large-scale works in stone including statues, reliefs and architectural elements. These are arranged chronologically in clockwise fashion, from the pre-dynastic to the Greco-Roman period. The first floor is dedicated to smaller works, including papyri, coins, textiles, and an enormous collection of wooden sarcophagi. The numerous pieces of papyrus are generally small fragments, owing to their decay over the past two millennia. Several languages are found on these pieces, including Greek, Latin, Arabic, and ancient Egyptian. The coins found on this floor are made of many different metals, including gold, silver, and bronze. The coins are not only Egyptian, but also Greek, Roman, and Islamic. This has helped historians research the history of Ancient Egyptian trade.


title: Egyptian Museum

text: Also on the ground floor are artifacts from the New Kingdom, the time period between 1550 and 1069 BC. These artifacts are generally larger than items created in earlier centuries. Those items include statues, tables, and coffins (sarcophagi). It contains 42 rooms; upon entering through the security check in the building, one looks toward the atrium and the rear of the building with many items on view from sarcophagi and boats to enormous statues.


title: Egyptian Museum

text: On the first floor there are artifacts from the final two dynasties of Egypt, including items from the tombs of the Pharaohs; Thutmosis III, Thutmosis IV, Amenophis II, Hatshepsut, and the courtier Maiherpri, as well as many artifacts from the Valley of the Kings, in particular the material from the intact tombs of Tutankhamun and Psusennes I. Two special rooms contain a number of mummies of kings and other royal family members of the New Kingdom. On April 3, 2021, twenty-two of these mummies were transferred to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat in a grand parade dubbed "The Pharaohs' Golden Parade".


title: Egyptian Museum

text: In the garden adjacent to the building of the museum, a memorial to famous egyptologists of the world is located. It features a monument to Auguste Mariette, surrounded by 24 busts of the following egyptologists: François Chabas, Johannes Dümichen, Conradus Leemans, Charles Wycliffe Goodwin, Emmanuel de Rougé, Samuel Birch, Edward Hincks, Luigi Vassalli, Émile Brugsch, Karl Richard Lepsius, Théodule Devéria, Vladimir Golenishchev, Ippolito Rosellini, Labib Habachi, , Selim Hassan, Ahmed Kamal, Zakaria Goneim, Jean-François Champollion, , Willem Pleyte, Gaston Maspero, Peter le Page Renouf and Kazimierz Michałowski.


title: Mechanical watch

text: A mechanical watch is a watch that uses a clockwork mechanism to measure the passage of time, as opposed to quartz watches which function using the vibration modes of a piezoelectric quartz tuning fork, or radio watches, which are quartz watches synchronized to an atomic clock via radio waves. A mechanical watch is driven by a mainspring which must be wound either periodically by hand or via a self-winding mechanism. Its force is transmitted through a series of gears to power the balance wheel, a weighted wheel which oscillates back and forth at a constant rate. A device called an escapement releases the watch's wheels to move forward a small amount with each swing of the balance wheel, moving the watch's hands forward at a constant rate. The escapement is what makes the 'ticking' sound which is heard in an operating mechanical watch. Mechanical watches evolved in Europe in the 17th century from spring powered clocks, which appeared in the 15th century.


title: Mechanical watch

text: Mechanical watches are typically not as accurate as quartz watches, and they require periodic cleaning and calibration by a skilled watchmaker. Since the 1970s, quartz watches have taken over most of the watch market, and mechanical watches are now mostly marketed as a luxury product, purchased for their aesthetic and luxury values, for appreciation of their fine craftsmanship, or as a status symbol.


title: Mechanical watch

text: The internal mechanism of a watch, excluding the face and hands, is called the movement. All mechanical watches have these five parts:


title: Mechanical watch

text: Additional functions on a watch besides the basic timekeeping ones are traditionally called "complications". Mechanical watches may have these complications:


title: Mechanical watch

text: The mechanical watch is a mature technology, and most ordinary watch movements have the same parts and work the same way.


title: Mechanical watch

text: The "mainspring" that powers the watch, a spiral ribbon of spring steel, is inside a cylindrical barrel, with the outer end of the mainspring attached to the barrel. The force of the mainspring turns the barrel. The barrel has gear teeth around the outside that turn the "center wheel" once per hour — this wheel has a shaft that goes through the dial. On the dial side the "cannon pinion" is attached with a friction fit (allowing it to slide when setting the hands) and the minute hand is attached to the cannon pinion. The cannon pinion drives a small 12-to-1 reduction gearing called the motion work that turns the hour wheel and hand once for every 12 revolutions of the minute hand.


title: Mechanical watch

text: For the same rate of oscillation, the duration of run, runtime or power reserve of a mechanical watch is mainly a question of what size of mainspring is used, which is, in turn, a question of how much power is needed and how much room is available. If the movement is dirty or worn, the power may not transfer from the mainspring efficiently to the escapement. Service can help restore a degraded runtime.


title: Mechanical watch

text: Most mechanical watch movements have a duration of run between 36 and 72 hours. Some mechanical watch movements are able to run for a week. The exact duration of run for a mechanical movement is calculated with the formula<br>


title: Mechanical watch

text: where formula_2 is the number of barrel teeth, formula_3 is the number of center pinion leaves, formula_4 is the number of revolutions of the barrel, and formula_5 is the number of revolutions of the center pinion — the run duration.


title: Mechanical watch

text: The center wheel drives the pinion of the third wheel, and the third wheel drives the pinion of the fourth wheel. In watches with the seconds hand in a subsidiary seconds dial, usually located above the 6 o'clock position, the fourth wheel is geared to rotate once per minute, and the second hand is attached directly to the arbour of this wheel.


title: Mechanical watch

text: The fourth wheel also drives the "escape wheel" of the lever escapement. The escape wheel teeth alternately catch on two fingers called "pallets" on the arms of the "pallet lever", which rocks back and forth. The other end of the lever has a fork which engages with an upright "impulse pin" on the "balance wheel" shaft. Each time the balance wheel swings through its center position, it unlocks the lever, which releases one tooth of the escape wheel, allowing the watch's wheels to advance by a fixed amount, moving the hands forward. As the escape wheel turns, its tooth pushes against the lever, which gives the balance wheel a brief push, keeping it swinging back and forth.


title: Mechanical watch

text: The balance wheel keeps time for the watch. It consists of a weighted wheel which rotates back and forth, which is returned toward its center position by a fine spiral spring, the balance spring or "hair spring". The wheel and spring together constitute a "harmonic oscillator". The mass of the balance wheel combines with the stiffness of the spring to precisely control the period of each swing or 'beat' of the wheel. A balance wheel's period of oscillation "T" in seconds, the time required for one complete cycle (two beats), is


title: Mechanical watch

text: where formula_7 is the wheel's moment of inertia in kilogram-meter and formula_8 is the stiffness (spring constant) of its balance spring in newton-meters per radian. Most watch balance wheels oscillate at 5, 6, 8, or 10 beats per second. This translates into 2.5, 3, 4, and 5 Hz respectively, or 18000, 21,600, 28,800, and 36,000 beats per hour (BPH). In most watches there is a "regulator" lever on the balance spring which is used to adjust the rate of the watch. It has two "curb pins" which embrace the last turn of the spring, holding the part behind the pins motionless, so the position of the curb pins determines the length of the spring. Moving the regulator lever slides the curb pins up or down the spring to control its effective length. Sliding the pins up the spring, shortening the spring's length, makes it stiffer, increasing formula_8 in the equation above, decreasing the wheel's period formula_10 so it swings back and forth faster, causing the watch to run faster.


title: Mechanical watch

text: A separate set of gears called the "keyless work" winds the mainspring when the "crown" is rotated, and when the crown is pulled out a short distance allow the hands to be turned to set the watch. The stem attached to the crown has a gear called the "clutch" or "castle wheel", with two rings of teeth that project axially from the ends. When the stem is pushed in, the outer teeth turn the "ratchet wheel" on top of the mainspring barrel, which turns the shaft that the inner end of the mainspring is attached to, winding the mainspring tighter around the shaft. A spring-loaded pawl or "click" presses against the ratchet teeth, preventing the mainspring from unwinding. When the stem is pulled out, the inner teeth of the castle wheel engage with a gear which turns the minute wheel. When the crown is turned, the friction coupling of the cannon pinion allows the hands to be rotated.


title: Mechanical watch

text: If the seconds hand is co-axial with the minute and hour hand, that is it is pivoted at the center of the dial, this arrangement is called "center seconds" or "sweep seconds", because the seconds hand sweeps around the minute track on the dial.


title: Mechanical watch

text: Initially center seconds hands were driven off the third wheel, sometimes via an intermediate wheel, with the gearing on the outside of the top plate. This method of driving the seconds hand is called indirect center seconds. Because the gearing was outside the plates, it added to the thickness of the movement, and because the rotation of the third wheel had to be geared up to turn the seconds hand once a minute, the seconds hand had a fluttering motion.


title: Mechanical watch

text: In 1948 Zenith introduced a watch with a redesigned gear train where the fourth wheel was at the center of the movement, and so could drive a center seconds hand directly. The minute wheel, which had previously been at the center of the movement, was moved off center and drove the minute hand indirectly. Any fluttering due to the indirect gearing is concealed by the relatively slow movement of the minute hand. This redesign brought all the train gearing between the plates and allowed a thinner movement.


title: Mechanical watch

text: Jewel bearings were invented and introduced in watches by Nicolas Fatio (or Facio) de Duillier and Pierre and Jacob Debaufre around 1702 to reduce friction. They did not become widely used until the mid-19th century. Until the 20th century they were ground from tiny pieces of natural gems. Watches often had garnet, quartz, or even glass jewels; only top quality watches used sapphire or ruby. In 1902, a process to grow artificial sapphire crystals was invented, making jewels much cheaper. Jewels in modern watches are all synthetic sapphire or (usually) ruby, made of corundum (AlO), one of the hardest substances known. The only difference between sapphire and ruby is that different impurities have been added to change the color; there is no difference in their properties as a bearing. The advantage of using jewels is that their ultrahard slick surface has a lower coefficient of friction with metal. The static coefficient of friction of steel-on-steel is 0.58, while that of sapphire-on-steel is 0.10-0.15.


title: Mechanical watch

text: Jewels serve two purposes in a watch. First, reduced friction can increase accuracy. Friction in the wheel train bearings and the escapement causes slight variations in the impulses applied to the balance wheel, causing variations in the rate of timekeeping. The low, predictable friction of jewel surfaces reduces these variations. Second, they can increase the life of the bearings. In unjeweled bearings, the pivots of the watch's wheels rotate in holes in the plates supporting the movement. The sideways force applied by the driving gear causes more pressure and friction on one side of the hole. In some of the wheels, the rotating shaft can wear away the hole until it is oval shaped, eventually causing the gear to jam, stopping the watch.


title: Mechanical watch

text: The number of jewels used in watch movements increased over the last 150 years as jeweling grew less expensive and watches grew more accurate. The only bearings that really need to be jeweled in a watch are the ones in the "going train" - the gear train that transmits force from the mainspring barrel to the balance wheel - since only they are constantly under force from the mainspring. The wheels that turn the hands (the motion work) and the calendar wheels are not under load, while the ones that wind the mainspring (the keyless work) are used very seldom, so they do not wear significantly. Friction has the greatest effect in the wheels that move the fastest, so they benefit most from jewelling. So the first mechanism to be jeweled in watches was the balance wheel pivots, followed by the escapement. As more jeweled bearings were added, they were applied to slower moving wheels, and jewelling progressed up the going train toward the barrel. A 17 jewel watch has every bearing from the balance wheel to the center wheel pivot bearings jeweled, so it was considered a 'fully jeweled' watch. In quality watches, to minimize positional error, capstones were added to the lever and escape wheel bearings, making 21 jewels. Even the mainspring barrel arbor was sometimes jeweled, making the total 23. When self-winding watches were introduced in the 1950s, several wheels in the automatic winding mechanism were jeweled, increasing the count to 25–27.


title: Mechanical watch

text: It is doubtful whether adding jewels in addition to the ones listed above is really useful in a watch. It does not increase accuracy, since the only wheels which have an effect on the balance wheel, those in the going train, are already jeweled. Marine chronometers, the most accurate portable timepieces, often have only 7 jewels. Nor does jeweling additional wheel bearings increase the useful life of the movement; as mentioned above most of the other wheels do not get enough wear to need them.


title: Mechanical watch

text: However, by the early 20th century watch movements had been standardized to the point that there was little difference between their mechanisms, besides quality of workmanship. So watch manufacturers made the number of jewels, one of the few metrics differentiating quality watches, a major advertising point, listing it prominently on the watch's face. Consumers, with little else to go on, learned to equate more jewels with more quality in a watch. Although initially this was a good measure of quality, it gave manufacturers an incentive to increase the jewel count.


title: Mechanical watch

text: Around the 1960s this 'jewel craze' reached new heights, and manufacturers made watches with 41, 53, 75, or even 100 jewels. Most of these additional jewels were totally nonfunctional; they never contacted moving parts, and were included just to increase the jewel count. For example, the Waltham 100 jewel watch consisted of an ordinary 17 jewel movement, with 83 tiny pieces of ruby mounted around the automatic winding rotor.


title: Mechanical watch

text: In 1974, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in collaboration with the Swiss watch industry standards organization Normes de l'Industrie Horlogère Suisse (NIHS) published a standard, ISO 1112, which prohibited manufacturers from including such nonfunctional jewels in the jewel counts in advertising and sales literature. This stopped the use of totally nonfunctional jewels. However, some experts say manufacturers have continued to inflate the jewel count of their watches by 'upjeweling'; adding functional jeweled bearings to wheels that do not really need them, exploiting loopholes in ISO 1112. Examples given include adding capstones to third and fourth wheel bearings, jeweling minute wheel bearings, and automatic winding ratchet pawls. Arguably none of these additions adds to the accuracy or longevity of the watch.


title: Mechanical watch

text: Some fine mechanical watches will have a "world time" feature, which is a "city bezel" as well as an "hour bezel" which will rotate according to the cities relative time zone.


title: Mechanical watch

text: There are usually 27 cities (corresponding to 24 major time zones) on the city bezel, starting with GMT/UTC:


title: Mechanical watch

text: Peter Henlein has often been described as the inventor of the first pocket watch, the "Nuremberg egg", in 1510, but this claim appears to be a 19th-century invention and does not appear in older sources.


title: Mechanical watch

text: Until the quartz revolution of the 1970s, all watches were mechanical. Early watches were terribly imprecise; a good one could vary as much as 15 minutes in a day. Modern precision (a few seconds per day) was not attained by any watch until 1760, when John Harrison created his marine chronometers. Industrialization of the movement manufacturing process by the Waltham Watch Company in 1854 made additional precision possible; the company won a gold medal at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition for their manufacturing quality.


title: Mechanical watch

text: Mechanical watches are powered by a mainspring. Modern mechanical watches require of the order of 1 microwatt of power on average. Because the mainspring provides an uneven source of power (its torque steadily decreases as the spring unwinds), watches from the early 16th century to the early 19th century featured a chain-driven fusee which served to regulate the torque output of the mainspring throughout its winding. Unfortunately, the fusees were very brittle, were very easy to break, and were the source of many problems, especially inaccuracy of timekeeping when the fusee chain became loose or lost its velocity after the lack of maintenance.


title: Mechanical watch

text: As new kinds of escapements were created which served to better isolate the watch from its time source, the balance spring, watches could be built without a fusee and still be accurate.


title: Mechanical watch

text: In the 18th century the original verge escapement, which required a fusee, was gradually replaced in better French watches with the cylinder escapement, and in British watches with the duplex escapement. Then in the 19th century both were superseded by the lever escapement which has been used almost exclusively ever since. A cheaper version of the lever, the pin lever escapement, patented in 1867 by Georges Frederic Roskopf was used in inexpensive watches until the 1970s.


title: Mechanical watch

text: As manual-wound mechanical watches became less popular and less favored in the 1970s, watch design and industrialists came out with the automatic watch. Whereas a mechanically-wound watch must be wound with the pendant or a levered setting, an automatic watch does not need to be wound by the pendant; simply rotating the watch winds the watch automatically. The interior of an automatic watch houses a swiveling metal or brass "plate" that swivels on its axis when the watch is shaken horizontally.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (Louis Philippe Joseph; 13 April 17476 November 1793), was a major French noble who supported the French Revolution.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Louis Philippe II was born at the Château de Saint-Cloud to Louis Philippe I, Duke of Chartres, and Louise Henriette de Bourbon. He was titled Duke of Montpensier at birth. When his grandfather Louis, Duke of Orléans, died in 1752, his father became the new Duke of Orléans and Louis Philippe II became Duke of Chartres. When his father died in 1785, he became Duke of Orléans and First Prince of the Blood. He was styled as Serene Highness ().


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: In 1792, during the Revolution, Louis Philippe changed his name to Philippe Égalité. He was a cousin of King Louis XVI and one of the wealthiest men in France. He actively supported the Revolution of 1789, and was a strong advocate for the elimination of the present absolute monarchy in favor of a constitutional monarchy. Louis Philippe voted for the death of Louis XVI; however, he was himself guillotined in 1793 during the Reign of Terror. His son, also named Louis Philippe, became King of the French after the July Revolution of 1830. After Louis Philippe II, the term Orléanist came to be attached to the movement in France that favored a constitutional monarchy.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans was the son of Louis Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Chartres, and Louise Henriette de Bourbon. Philippe was a member of the House of Orléans, a cadet branch of the French royal family. His mother came from the House of Bourbon-Condé.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Philippe was born at the Château de Saint-Cloud, one of the residences of the Duke of Orléans, five kilometers west of Paris. His older sister, born in 1745, died when she was six months old. His younger sister, Bathilde d'Orléans, was born in 1750.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Philippe's first title, given to him at birth, was that of the Duke of Montpensier. After his grandfather's death in 1752, Philippe inherited the title of Duke of Chartres. After his father's death in 1785, Philippe became the Duke of Orléans, head of the House of Orléans, one of the wealthiest noble families in France. At his father's death, Philippe became the "Premier Prince du Sang", First Prince of the Blood, which put him in line for the succession to the throne immediately after the "comte d'Artois", the youngest brother of Louis XVI.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: On 6 June 1769, Louis Philippe married Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon at the chapel of the Palace of Versailles. She was the daughter of his cousin, Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre, one of the richest men in France. Since it was certain that his wife would become the richest woman in France upon the death of her father, Louis Philippe was able to play a political role in court equal to that of his great-grandfather Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who had been the Regent of France during the minority of Louis XV. Louise Marie Adélaïde brought to the already wealthy House of Orléans a considerable dowry of six million livres, an annual income of 240,000 livres (later increased to 400,000 livres), as well as lands, titles, residences and furniture.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Unlike her husband, the Duchess of Orléans did not support the Revolution. She was a devout Catholic who supported keeping the monarchy in France, as well as following the orders of Pope Pius VI. This was the causes of one of the rifts of the couple, as their first son, the future "King of the French", followed his father's footsteps and joined the Jacobin faction.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: During the first few months of their marriage, the couple appeared devoted to each other, but the Duke went back to the life of "libertinage" he had led before his marriage. The Duke was a well-known womanizer and, like several of his ancestors, such as Louis XIV and Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, had several illegitimate children.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: During the summer of 1772, the Duke began his secret liaison with one of his wife's ladies-in-waiting, Stéphanie Félicité, comtesse de Genlis, the niece of Madame de Montesson, the morganatic wife of Philippe's father. Passionate at first, the liaison cooled within a few months and, by the spring of 1773, was reported to be "dead". After the romantic affair was over, Madame de Genlis remained in the service of Marie-Adélaïde at the Palais-Royal, a trusted friend to both the Duke and the Duchess. They both appreciated her intelligence and, in July 1779, she became the governess of the couple's twin daughters (born in 1777). One of his best known lovers was Grace Elliott.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: It was alleged that Lady Edward FitzGerald, born Stephanie Caroline Anne Syms, also known as "Pamela", was a natural daughter of the Duke and the Countess of Genlis. He recognized a son he had with Marguerite Françoise Bouvier de la Mothe de Cépoy, "comtesse de Buffon", Victor Leclerc de Buffon (6 September 179220 April 1812), known as the "chevalier de Saint-Paul" and "chevalier d'Orléans".


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: In 18th century France, it was very common for royal princes to receive high positions in the military. From a young age, Philippe d'Orléans displayed his interest in naval matters, and he received three years of training in the Navy.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: In 1776, he held the rank of Chef d'Escadre, and commanded one of the three divisions of the Escadre d'évolution, with his flag on the 64-gun "Solitaire".


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: When the Anglo-French War broke out in 1778, Orléans was Lieutenant général des Armées navales, in charge of an entire squadron. He commanded the Blue squadron that formed the rear of the French fleet under Orvilliers, with his flag on the 80-gun "Saint-Esprit". At the Battle of Ushant, on 27 July 1778, the French fleet fought in inverted order, putting the Blue squadron at the vanguard of the French line of battle. During the battle, Orléans' squadron failed to exploit a gap in the British line, allowing the rear of Keppel's fleet to escape.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Orléans returned to Paris claiming the battle had been a resounding victory, and received a hero's welcome. When it transpired that these claims were overstated that the battle had been more of a draw, Orléans' credibility suffered an unrecoverable blow. He withdrew from the Navy and asked the army if they could give him a position, but it was denied.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: In August 1787 the Duke of Orléans and his secretary Charles-Louis Ducrest, the brother of Madame de Genlis, came up with proposals to improve the financial situation of France. Philippe d'Orléans became a member of the Society of the Friends of the Constitution, and strongly adhered to the principles of Denis Diderot, Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was interested in creating a more moral and democratic form of government in France. As he grew more and more interested in Rousseau's ideas, he began to promote Enlightenment ideas, such as the separation of church and state and limited monarchy. He also advocated and voted against feudalism and slavery.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: In addition to being a Jacobin, Philippe was also the Grand Master of the Masonic "Grand Orient de France", the most powerful Masonic Obedience in worldwide Continental Freemasonry (which stands opposed to the "Regular" Freemasonry of the United Grand Lodge of England and the majority of lodges in the United States of America), from 1771 to 1793, even though he did not attend a meeting until 1777. He later distanced himself from Freemasonry in a letter dated January 1793, and the Grand Orient vacated his position on 13 December 1793 (however, Philippe had already been executed weeks before).


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Philippe was also a strong admirer of the British constitutional monarchy. He strongly advocated for France's adoption of a constitutional monarchy rather than the absolute monarchy that was present in France at the time.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: As the new Duke of Orléans, one of the many estates Philippe inherited from his father was the Palais-Royal, which became known as the Palais-Égalité in 1792, because he opened up its doors to all people of France, regardless of their estate (class). He employed Swiss guards to refuse entry only to "drunkards, women in excessively indecent dress, and those in tatters." He built shops and cafés where people could interact, and soon it became a hub for social life in Paris. As the Parisian police had no authority to enter the Duke's private property, it became a hub for illegal activity, such as trade in stolen goods, suspicious deals, and the spread of revolutionary ideas. In fact, it was a common place for Jacobins to meet and discuss their plans and ideas. Many members of the National Assembly claimed that the Palais-Royal was the "birthplace of the Revolution." Philippe's goal was to create a place where people could meet, which he argued was a crucial part of democracy and a "physical need for civil life."


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: During the months leading up to the outbreak of revolutionary violence in July 1789, Philippe d'Orléans undertook several personal actions having the effect of increasing his personal standing amongst the population at large. These included his endorsement of a pamphlet outlining the process to be followed in the setting up of local assemblies, the sale of artwork to provide funds for poor relief and an incident during the Reveillon riots where he scattered coins amongst a cheering crowd.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Philippe d'Orléans was elected to the Estates General by three districts: by the nobility of Paris, Villers-Cotterêts, and Crépy-en-Valois. As a noble in the Second Estate, he was the head of the liberal minority under the guidance of Adrien Duport. Although he was a member of the Second Estate, he felt a strong connection to the Third Estate, as they comprised the majority of the members in the Estates-General, yet were the most underrepresented. When the Third Estate decided to take the Tennis Court Oath and break away from the Estates-General to form the National Assembly, Philippe was one of the first to join them and was a very important figure in the unification of the nobility and the Third Estate. In fact, he led his minority group of 47 nobles to secede from their estate and join the National Assembly.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: One of the main accusations thrown at Philippe d'Orléans was the initiation of the Women's March on Versailles on 5 October 1789, which people believed was done in order to overthrow the King and gain popularity amongst the people. He was accused of funding the riots, as well as calling the rioters his "friends", who were chanting: "Long live our father, long live King d'Orléans!" The High Court of the Grand Châtelet also accused him of acting as an accomplice to Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, in an attempt to murder Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, during this period.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: The Marquis de Lafayette, who was a strong power in France at the time and a supposed "friend" of d'Orléans, suggested to him to go to the British Isles with the promise that he could potentially become the head of state of Brabant. However, the truth is that Lafayette viewed d'Orléans as a threat to his control of the French Revolution. His goal was simply to get Philippe out of the country.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: At first, it was difficult to convince d'Orléans to leave France during these troubling times, but after strong pressure and enticement from Lafayette, he ended up leaving. Throughout his weeks in exile, he wrote several memoirs mentioning his strong desire to return to France. When he did return, he never regained the same power and influence he enjoyed in the years before he left. Those who did not support him, as well as people overseas, labeled him as a coward for fleeing to England as a result of his accusations, calling it a period of "exile." However, he was able to keep his position in the National Assembly until it disbanded on September 30, 1791.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Due to the liberal ideology that separated Philippe d'Orléans from the rest of his royal family, he always felt uncomfortable with his name. He felt that the political connotations associated with his name did not match his democratic and Enlightenment philosophies, thus he requested that the Paris Commune (French Revolution) allow his name to be changed, which was granted. Shortly after the September Massacres in 1792, he changed his surname to "Égalité", ("equality" in English). As one of the three words in the motto of the French Revolution ("Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité"), he felt that this name better represented him as a symbol of the French people and what they were fighting for.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Égalité also attributed his new surname to the reputation of generosity that he had among the people of France, especially the poor. He was well known for distributing food and money to the poor, as well as providing shelter for homeless during the severe winter of 1788–1789.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Although a relative of King Louis XVI, Philippe d'Orléans never maintained a positive relationship with his cousin. Upon inheriting the title of Duke of Orléans, Philippe also became the "Premier Prince du Sang" – the most important personage of the kingdom after the king's immediate family. Therefore, he would be next in line to the throne should the main Bourbon line die out. For this reason, many supposed that Philippe's goal was to take his cousin's throne. Philippe and the King's wife, Marie Antoinette, also detested each other. Marie Antoinette hated him for what she viewed as treachery, hypocrisy and selfishness, and he, in turn, scorned her for her frivolous and spendthrift lifestyle. The King's reluctance to grant Philippe a position in the army after the indecisive result at the Battle of Ushant is said to be another reason for Philippe's discontent with the King.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: One of the most astounding events occurred when Philippe took a vote in favor of Louis XVI's execution. He had agreed among close friends that he would vote against his execution, but surrounded by the "Montagnards", a radical faction in the National Convention, he turned on his word, to the surprise of many. A majority (75 votes) was necessary to indict the King, and an overwhelming number of 394 votes were collected in favor of his death. The King was especially shocked by the news, stating:


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: On 1 April 1793, a decree was voted for within the Convention, including Égalité's vote, that condemned anyone with "strong presumptions of complicity with the enemies of Liberty." At the time, Égalité's son, Louis Philippe, who was a general in the French army, joined General Dumouriez in a plot to visit the Austrians, who were an enemy of France. Although there was no evidence that convicted Égalité himself of treason, the simple relationship that his son had with Dumouriez, a traitor in the eyes of the Convention, was enough to get him and Louis Charles, Count of Beaujolais arrested on 4 April 1793, and the other members of the Bourbon family still in France on the days after. He spent several months incarcerated at Fort Saint-Jean in Marseille until he was sent back to Paris. On 2 November 1793, he was imprisoned at the Conciergerie. Tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal on 6 November, he was sentenced to death, and guillotined the same day.


title: Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

text: Philippe d'Orléans has been portrayed in several films, such as the 1938 film, "Marie Antoinette", in which he was portrayed by Joseph Schildkraut, and the 2001 film "The Lady and the Duke" by Jean-Claude Dreyfus.


title: RPG Maker

text: RPG Maker, known in Japan as , is a series of programs for the development of role-playing video games (RPGs) with story-driven elements, created by the Japanese group ASCII, succeeded by Enterbrain. The Japanese name, "Tsukūru", is a pun mixing the Japanese word "tsukuru" (作る), means "make" or "create", with "tsūru" (ツール), the Japanese transcription of the English word "tool".


title: RPG Maker

text: The RPG Maker series was originally released primarily in Japan, but people started to translate and release the software illegally in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia, and North America with RPG Maker 2000 and RPG Maker 2003. Most of the later engines have been officially translated.


title: RPG Maker

text: RPG Maker is a program that allows users to create their own role-playing video games. Most versions include a tile set based map editor (tilesets are called "chipsets" in pre-XP versions), a simple scripting language for scripting events, and a battle editor. All versions include initial premade tilesets, characters, and events which can be used in creating new games. One feature of the PC versions of RPG Maker programs is that a user can create new tilesets and characters, and add any new graphics the user wants.


title: RPG Maker

text: Despite being geared towards creating role-playing video games, the engine also has the capability to create games of other genres, such as adventure games (see "Yume Nikki"), story-driven games or visual novels with minimal tweaking. Some video games made in RPG Maker engine (See "Super Columbine Massacre RPG!" and "Heartbeat)" garnered controversy by many audiences.


title: RPG Maker

text: According to Enterbrain, RPG Tsukūru Dante 98, released on December 17, 1992, was the first software of the RPG Maker series, although there were a few versions of RPG making software by ASCII preceding it, dating back to 1988. This, along with its follow-up RPG Tsukūru Dante 98 II, was made for NEC PC-9801, and games created with these programs can be played on a Windows computer with emulators called Dante for Windows and D2win, respectively. "RPG Maker" was a product that came from various programs that ASCII Corporation had included in "ASCII" along with other users' code submitted to it, which the company decided to expand and publish into the standalone game-making toolkit.


title: RPG Maker

text: RPG Maker 95 was the first Microsoft Windows-based RPG Maker software. Despite being an early version, RPG Maker 95 has both a higher screen resolution, and higher sprite and tile resolution than the several following versions.


title: RPG Maker

text: RPG Maker 2000, also referred to as RM2k, was the second release of RPG Maker for Microsoft Windows and is the most popular and used RPG Maker so far. While it is possible to do more with RM2k, it uses lower resolution sprites and tiles than RPG Maker 95. However, it does not have a noticeable limit of 'sprites'. Unlike RM95, which can only use one 'set', RM2k can use an unlimited number of sprite sheets with specific sizes for each type. The tilesets also have a similar non-limitation. However, because tiles must be entered into a database, there is a limit on tiles. This limit however is rarely a problem (normally 5000), and even when it is, an unofficial patch exists which can bump most limits much higher at the risk of potential game corruption. It doesn't support text output and can program only 2 buttons, Z and X. There is text in dialog boxes, by manner of overlaying sprites, or maps lain with text. But not plainly on the screen.


title: RPG Maker

text: RPG Maker 2003, also referred to as RM2k3, and sometimes RM2k/3, is largely an improvement of RM2k. RM2k games can be ported to RM2k3 (but not back to RM2k, the conversion is permanent), and most resources are interchangeable. The main difference is the introduction of a side-view battle system similar to that found in the "Final Fantasy" games on the Super NES and the Sony PlayStation. This was the first version made by Enterbrain, which had previously been a part of ASCII.


title: RPG Maker

text: RPG Maker XP (also referred to as RMXP) was released 16 September 2005. It is the first RPG Maker which can use Ruby, making it far more powerful than previous versions programming-wise. However, many normal, simplified features present in RM2k(3) have been removed. Most of these features, however, have been programmed with Ruby, and distributed online. RMXP runs at 1024x768 resolution (though games made in it run at 640x480), while offering four times the playable area of its predecessors. By default, games ran at 40 frames per second, though the game's scripts can be modified to set the framerate to any value. Additionally, it allows greater user control over sprite size (there is no specific image size regulation for sprite sheets) and other aspects of game design. This more open-ended arrangement, coupled with the inclusion of the Ruby Game Scripting System (), makes RPG Maker XP more versatile than older versions in the series, at the cost of a steeper learning curve. This was named after Windows XP which was active from 2001-2008.


title: RPG Maker

text: RPG Maker VX, also referred to as RMVX, its Japanese release date was Dec. 27 2007, and official release date in America was February 29, 2008. In this new maker, the interface is more user-friendly, allowing new users to create games with ease. The framerate was increased to 60 frames per second, providing much smoother animation in comparison to RMXP's often-choppy 40fps. The programming language Ruby is still implemented, and the game's default programming has been overhauled to allow more freedom to those scripting in new features. New editor and a new RTP are included, this time in a much simpler "blocky" style. The default battle system is comparable to that of the "Dragon Quest" series or its predecessor RM2k, with a frontal view of the battlefield and detailed text descriptions of each action taken. One notable disadvantage from the previous version, however, is the lack of support for multiple tilesets when mapping, leaving the player with only a finite number of unique tiles with which to depict all the game's environments. Multiple player-made workarounds exist, but this remains a sore point among many RMVX users.


title: RPG Maker

text: "RPG Maker VX Ace", also known as VXAce or simply "Ace", was released by Enterbrain in Japan on December 15, 2011. It was released in the United States on March 15, 2012 as a digital download. It was later made available through Steam, and is also now available as a physical CD. "RPG Maker VX Ace" is essentially an overhauled version of "RPG Maker VX", and removes the issue with multiple tilesets. Battle backgrounds were re-introduced, and are separated into top and bottom halves. Spells, skills, and items can all now have their own damage and recovery formulas, although a quick calculation method reminiscent of the older RPG Makers is available. The VX RTP was redesigned for "VX Ace", and a new soundtrack featuring higher quality techno-pop tracks was included. With "VX Ace" came a large quantity of DLC Resource Packages offered by Enterbrain, also available through Steam.


title: RPG Maker

text: Released by Degica on October 23, 2015, "RPG Maker MV" includes a large number of changes over previous versions, having multiplatform support, side-view battles, and high resolution features. It is the first engine in the series to use JavaScript instead of Ruby, with the addition of plugins. Completed games can be played on PC and mobile devices. "RPG Maker MV" also goes back to layered tilesets, a feature that was removed in "RPG Maker VX" and "VX Ace". However, unlike RPG Maker XP which allowed users to manually choose which layers to build on, RPG Maker MV automatically stacks tiles on top of other tiles. It also came out on consoles under the name "RPG Tsukūru MV Trinity". It was originally announced to only be on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch but was later announced to also be on Xbox One. This release was later cancelled. It was released on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in Japan on November 15, 2018, and is scheduled for release in North America on September 8, 2020, and Europe on September 11, 2020.


title: RPG Maker

text: "RPG Maker MZ" was announced in June 2020. "RPG Maker MZ" is the successor of "RPG Maker MV". The first trailer received mixed reviews, critics highlighting its similarity with "RPG Maker MV". "MZ" new updates include the Effekseer particle system, autosave function and "XP"-style autolayer mechanics, which many users have requested in the past. It released worldwide on August 20, 2020. Like "MV", it allows users to develop plugins using JavaScript. Since its release, "RPG Maker MZ" received mostly positive reviews from users, who praised the return of the layer mechanics from XP, and the augmented features; though similarities to previous engine, "RPG Maker MV," drew mixed response similar to the first trailer.


title: RPG Maker

text: Victor Reetz created the first console RPG Maker, "RPG Tsukūru Super Dante", which debuted in 1995 for the Super Famicom, as a port of "RPG Tsukūru Dante 98". "RPG Tsukūru Super Dante" was later broadcast via the Super Famicom's Satellaview accessory.


title: RPG Maker

text: In 2000, RPG Maker was released for the Sony PlayStation, however, only a limited number of copies were made for releases outside of Japan. The software allowed user-made characters, and monsters through Anime Maker which was separate from the RPG Maker, which required saving to an external memory card. However, there was a limit to how many user-made sprites and monsters could be used in RPG Maker. Also, in Anime Maker, the user could create larger sprites for a theater-type visual novel in which the player could animate and control characters, but these sprites were much larger and unusable in RPG Maker.


title: RPG Maker

text: The RPG Maker interface was somewhat user-friendly, and battles were front-view style only. Item, Monster, Skill/Magic, and Dungeons had a small limit cap, as did the effects of any given Item, Magic or Skill (9,999). Items were all inclusive; Weapons and Armors were created in the Items interface. The types of items were as follows: None (mainly used for Key Items), Weapon, Armor, Key (up to eight sub types), Magic (for binding Magic created in the Magic interface to an item), Healing, and Food (which raises stats and EXP, or experience points in which this particular software is the only one of the series to do so natively).


title: RPG Maker

text: Events were a separate save file from the System file, and are referred to as Scenario files. This is how the user could make multiple parts to one game, provided the user had enough memory cards and card space to create the files.


title: RPG Maker

text: A version for the Nintendo 3DS was released by NIS America on June 27, 2017. While it remains portable on a small screen, users can create games on-the-go and also download games to play as well. The game received some criticism, with NintendoWorldReport writing that "Ultimately, it’s hard for me to recommend RPG Maker Fes to anyone but the most hardcore of RPG fans that have always dreamed of creating their own game." Games completed can be uploaded to the RPG Maker Fes Player app for those to download and play on their own systems. It is the second RPG Maker to receive a limited edition (the previous one being RPG Tsukūru DS) which includes a CD soundtrack in a jewel case containing all the soundtracks in the game, and a full-color paperback artbook. It is the first RPG Maker on consoles/handhelds to receive a digital release.


title: RPG Maker

text: Historically, few early RPG Maker versions had official English releases. Each Windows version has, however, been subject to unlicensed distribution through the internet in some form or other. RPG Maker 95, as well as translation patches for the Super Famicom titles "RPG Maker Super Dante" and "RPG Maker 2", were translated and distributed by a group called KanjiHack. In 1999, KanjiHack closed upon receiving a cease-and-desist e-mail from ASCII's lawyers. RPG Maker 95 was re-released with a more complete translation under the name RPG Maker 95+ by a Russian programmer, under the alias of Don Miguel, who later translated and released RPG Maker 2000. Later versions, RPG Maker 2003, and RPG Maker XP, were similarly translated and distributed by a programmer under the alias of RPG Advocate.


title: RPG Maker

text: The first official English release of the PC series was of "RPG Maker XP" on September 16, 2005. The next two versions of the software, RPG Maker VX and "RPG Maker VX Ace" both received official English releases. Since 2010 English versions of "RPG Maker" have been published by Degica, who have also officially released English versions of the older titles "RPG Maker 2000" and "RPG Maker 2003".


title: RPG Maker

text: The first official English language of a console version was the PlayStation version in 2000, simply called RPG Maker, by Agetec. Agetec also localized "RPG Maker 2" and "RPG Maker 3".


title: RPG Maker

text: By August 2005, the series had sold more than two million copies worldwide. Later Steam releases are estimated to have sold nearly 1million units by April 2018, according to Steam Spy. Since its first release, the series has been used to create numerous titles, both free and commercial. According to "PC Gamer", it has become "the go-to tool for aspiring developers who want to make a game and sell it", due to being "the most accessible game engine around". In addition to games, the series has been used for other purposes, such as studies involving students learning mathematics through the creation of role-playing games, and programming.


title: RPG Maker

text: With the release of 2012 video game "Ib", it has been credited with helping popularize its engine's use in developing more story-driven and horror games than role-playing games.


title: RPG Maker

text: Some RPG Maker video games are adapted into multimedia franchises only produced in Japan including "Angels of Death", "Ao Oni" and "Corpse Party".


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: The Leshan Giant Buddha () is a tall stone statue, built between 713 and 803 (during the Tang dynasty). It is carved out of a cliff face of Cretaceous red bed sandstones that lies at the confluence of the Min River and Dadu River in the southern part of Sichuan province in China, near the city of Leshan. The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below its feet. It is the largest and tallest stone Buddha statue in the world and it is by far the tallest pre-modern statue in the world. It is over 4 km from the Wuyou Temple.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: The Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area, has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: The Leshan Giant Buddha is located at the Lingyun Mountain’s Qifeng Peak. Qifeng Peak is located at the junction of the Minjiang River, Qingyi River, and Dadu River.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: Other than the Leshan Giant Buddha, the Danxia Landform also contains abundant history and cultural connotations, such as cliff tombs and cliff dwelling. The Mahao Cliff Tombs at the Leshan Giant Buddha scenic area were built in the Han Dynasty, indicating ancient local residents’ living habits.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: Construction started in 723 AD, led by a Chinese Buddhist monk named Hai Tong. He believed that Maitreya Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that constantly plagued the shipping vessels traveling down the river. When funding for the project was threatened, he is said to have gouged out his own eyes to show his piety and sincerity. After his death, however, the construction was delayed due to insufficient funding. The statue was only completed from the shoulders up at the time. Several years later, Hai Tong’s disciples continued work on the statue with financial support from a local official named Zhangchou Jianxiong. Hai Tong’s disciples continued the construction until the Knees, when construction was halted because Zhangchou JianXiang was called back to serve at the royal court in Chang’an. About 70 years later, Jiedushi Wei Gao continued to support and funded the project and the construction was finally completed by Hai Tong's disciples in 803.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: By the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Leshan Giant Buddha had been damaged—the body was covered in moss, and the wooden pavilion had collapsed. During the reign of Song Renzong, the Giant Buddha was repaired once on a large scale and the wooden pavilion was rebuilt. Since then, the records of the destruction and reconstruction of the Buddha have been missing, and the original temple, Lingyun Temple, had been destroyed by war many times.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: Apparently, the massive construction resulted in so much stone being removed from the cliff face and deposited into the river below that the currents were indeed altered by the statue, making the water safe for passing ships.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: A sophisticated drainage system was incorporated into the Leshan Giant Buddha when it was built. It is still in working order. It includes drainage pipes carved into various places on the body, to carry away the water after the rains so as to reduce weathering.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: When the Giant Buddha was carved, a huge thirteen story wood structure (similar to the one at the Rongxian Giant Buddha) was built to shelter it from rain and sunshine. This structure was destroyed and sacked by the Mongols during the wars at the end of the Yuan dynasty. From then on, the stone statue was exposed to the elements.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: The Leshan Buddha has been affected by the pollution emanating from the unbridled development in the region. According to Xinhua news agency, the Leshan Giant Buddha and many Chinese natural and cultural heritage sites in the region have seen degradations from weathering, air pollution, and swarms of tourists. The government has promised restoration work.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: The entire art piece is built in stone, except for the ears that were designed in wood, covered with mud on the surface to make clay, and attached to the head.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: At tall, the statue depicts a seated Buddha with his hands resting on his knees. His shoulders are 28 metres wide and his smallest toenail is large enough to easily accommodate a seated person. There is a local saying: "The mountain is a Buddha and the Buddha is a mountain". This is partially because the mountain range in which the Leshan Giant Buddha is located is thought to be shaped like a slumbering Buddha when seen from the river, with the Leshan Giant Buddha as its heart.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: This 71-meters (233 ft) statue, carved in the Lingyun Mountain, is the biggest and tallest stone Buddha statue in the world (only the modern Great Buddha of Thailand, made of concrete, is taller). Leshan Giant Buddha’s hair is composed of 1,021 spiraled curls embedded in his head that measures 14.7 meters (48 ft) in height and 10 meters (33 ft) in width. His ears, capable of holding two people inside, are 7-meters (23 ft) long. He has 5.6-meter (18 ft) long eyebrows, 8.3 meters (27 ft) long fingers, 24 meters (79 ft) wide shoulders, and a 5.6-meter (18 ft) long nose. His mouth and each of his eyes have a width of 3.3 meters (11 ft). His instep that is around 8.5 meters (28 ft) in width can hold about a hundred people and his smallest toenail can fit one seated person. This statue is ten stories high, which can be compared to the size of the Statue of Liberty if Buddha stood upright. Buddha’s body is placed in a symmetrical posture and the proportions of his various body parts are proportioned in accordance with the Buddharupa requirements of a statue. It has a calm form, which conforms to the Tang Dynasty statues’ style.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: Behind the Buddha’s head and between his two ears, the Leshan Giant Buddha has a unique and advanced drainage system to preserve the statue from erosion. There are several hidden gutters and channels scattered in Buddha’s hair, collar, chest, and holes in the back of his ears and chest that have been carrying out the rainwater to keep the inner areas dry. This complex architectural system has been preventing the statue from eroding for the past 1,200 years.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Leshan Giant Buddha was designated as a cultural relic and put under protection by the Sichuan Provincial People’s Committee in 1956. In 1996, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee included the Leshan Giant Buddha in the World Cultural and Natural Heritage List. In 1998, the Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area Management Committee was formally established. The management committee’s scope of control reached 17.88 square kilometers. In 2008, the Mount Emei - Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area Management Committee was formally established, with the main task of developing tourism resources for Mount Emei and the Leshan Giant Buddha. On March 24, 2002, the first phase of the Leshan Giant Buddha repair project by the World Bank officially started. The project included completely renovating the Buddha from chest up to the head and then strengthening the rock wall. On June 23, 2002, the second phase of the Leshan Giant Buddha Maintenance Project started. During this phase, the rocks at the Buddha’s feet were repaired and the eroded part of the rock below water level was repaired.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: Being one of the six world cultural heritage sites in the Province of Sichuan, it receives a lot of tourist visits. From 2001 to 2003, it was ranked the second most popular attraction amongst the provincial heritage sites with 1.4 to 1.5 million visitors per year. In 2004, there was a breakthrough which led the numbers to drastically go up to 2.1 million visitors. From 2005 to 2007, it had around 2.3 to 2.8 million visitors per year, which was more than all the other sites.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: The most convenient way to get to the Giant Buddha from Leshan Town is through the local bus 13. Upon arrival, it is necessary to purchase a ticket at the price of CNY 90 per person (including Wuyou Temple & Mahao Cliff Tomb). The opening hours are 7:30am–6:30pm from April until October and 8:00am–5:30pm from October until March. The weekends and holidays are much busier compared to weekdays.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: Apart from the main attraction, there are dozens of pathways throughout the mountain that can be explored by foot.


title: Leshan Giant Buddha

text: People come from all over the world to worship Maitreya. To get a close-up view of him, there is a pedestrian pathway that allows visitors to appreciate the changing view of Buddha’s body through multiple perspectives. It is important to note that the plank pathways there are steep and narrow. To get a more panoramic view of him, there are sightseeing boats available at the price of CNY 70 per person. Since these boats have a capacity of 35 passengers, there may be a waiting line.


title: Eddie Cantor

text: Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, this "Apostle of Pep" was regarded almost as a family member by millions because his top-rated radio shows revealed intimate stories and amusing anecdotes about his wife Ida and five daughters. Some of his hits include "Makin' Whoopee", "Ida (Sweet as Apple Cider)", "If You Knew Susie", "Ma! He's Making Eyes at Me", “Mandy”, "My Baby Just Cares for Me”, "Margie", and "How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree)?" He also wrote a few songs, including "Merrily We Roll Along", the "Merrie Melodies" Warner Bros. cartoon theme.


title: Eddie Cantor

text: His eye-rolling song-and-dance routines eventually led to his nickname "Banjo Eyes". In 1933, artist Frederick J. Garner caricatured Cantor with large round eyes resembling the drum-like pot of a banjo. Cantor's eyes became his trademark, often exaggerated in illustrations, and leading to his appearance on Broadway in the musical "Banjo Eyes" (1941).


title: Eddie Cantor

text: His charity and humanitarian work was extensive, and he helped to develop March of Dimes; he is credited with coining its name. Cantor was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1956 for distinguished service to the film industry.


title: Eddie Cantor

text: Reports and accounts of Cantor's early life often conflict with one another. What is known is that he was born in New York City, the son of Mechel Iskowitz (also Michael), an amateur violinist, and his wife Meta Kantrowitz Iskowitz (also Maite), a young Jewish couple from Russia. It is generally accepted that he was born in 1892, though the day is subject to debate, with either January 31 or Rosh Hashanah, which was on September 10 or September 11, being reported. Although it was reported Cantor was an orphan, his mother dying in childbirth and his father of pneumonia, official records say otherwise; Meta died from complications of tuberculosis in July 1894 and the fate of Mechel is unclear, as no death certificate exists for him. There is also discrepancy as to his name; both his 1957 autobiography and "The New York Times" obituary for Cantor listed his birth name as Isidore Iskowitch but articles published after the 20th century list his birth name as Edward Israel Itzkowitz. His grandmother, Esther Kantrowitz (died January 29, 1917), took custody of him, and referred to him as Izzy and Itchik, both diminutives for Isidor, and his last name, due to a clerical error, was thought to be Kantrowitz and shortened to Kanter. No birth certificate existed for him, not unusual for someone born in New York in the 19th century.


title: Eddie Cantor

text: By his early teens, Cantor began winning talent contests at local theaters and started appearing on stage. One of his earliest paying jobs was doubling as a waiter and performer, singing for tips at Carey Walsh's Coney Island saloon, where a young Jimmy Durante accompanied him on piano. He made his first public appearance in Vaudeville in 1907 at New York's Clinton Music Hall. In 1912, he was the only performer over the age of 20 to appear in Gus Edwards's "Kid Kabaret", where he created his first blackface character "Jefferson". He later toured with Al Lee as the team Cantor and Lee. Critical praise from that show got the attention of Broadway's top producer Florenz Ziegfeld, who gave Cantor a spot in the Ziegfeld rooftop post-show, "Midnight Frolic" (1917).


title: Eddie Cantor

text: A year later, Cantor made his Broadway debut in the "Ziegfeld Follies of 1917". He continued in the "Follies" until 1927, a period considered the best years of the long-running revue. For several years, Cantor co-starred in an act with pioneer comedian Bert Williams, both appearing in blackface; Cantor played Williams's fresh-talking son. Other co-stars with Cantor during his time in the "Follies" included Will Rogers, Marilyn Miller, Fanny Brice, and W.C. Fields. He moved on to stardom in book musicals, starting with "Kid Boots" (1923) and "Whoopee!" (1928). On tour with "Banjo Eyes", he romanced the unknown Jacqueline Susann, who had a small part in the show and who became the best-selling author of "Valley of the Dolls".BANJO EYES' successful Broadway run was cut short when Cantor suffered a major heart attack---the first of several that would plague his later years.


title: Eddie Cantor

text: Cantor appeared on radio as early as February 3, 1922, as indicated by this news item from Connecticut's "Bridgeport Telegram":


title: Eddie Cantor

text: Cantor's appearance with Rudy Vallee on Vallee's "The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour" on February 5, 1931, led to a four-week tryout with "The Chase and Sanborn Hour". Replacing Maurice Chevalier, who was returning to Paris, Cantor joined "Chase and Sanborn" on September 13, 1931. This hour-long Sunday evening variety series teamed Cantor with announcer Jimmy Wallington and violinist Dave Rubinoff. The show established Cantor as a leading comedian, and his scriptwriter, David Freedman, as "the Captain of Comedy". Freedman's team included, among others, Samuel "Doc" Kurtzman, who also wrote for song-and-dance man, Al Jolson, and the comedian Jack Benny. Cantor soon became the world's highest-paid radio star. His shows began with a crowd chanting "We want Can-tor! We want Can-tor!", a phrase said to have originated in vaudeville, when the audience chanted to chase off an act on the bill before Cantor. Cantor's theme song was his own lyric to the Leo Robin/Richard Whiting song, "One Hour with You". His radio sidekicks included Bert Gordon, (comic Barney Gorodetsky, AKA The Mad Russian) and Harry Parke (better known as Parkyakarkus). Cantor also discovered and helped guide the career of singer Dinah Shore, first featuring her on his radio show in 1940, as well as other performers, including Deanna Durbin, Bobby Breen in 1936, and Eddie Fisher in 1949.


title: Eddie Cantor

text: Indicative of his effect on the mass audience, he agreed in November 1934 to introduce a new song by the songwriters J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie that other well-known artists had rejected as being "silly" and "childish". The song, "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", immediately had orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music the next day. It sold 400,000 copies by Christmas of that year.


title: Eddie Cantor

text: His NBC radio show "Time to Smile" was broadcast from 1940 to 1946, followed by his "Pabst Blue Ribbon Show" from 1946 through 1949. He also served as emcee of "Take It or Leave It" during 1949–1950, and hosted a weekly disc jockey program for Philip Morris during the 1952–1953 season. In addition to film and radio, Cantor recorded for Hit of the Week Records, then again for Columbia, for Banner and Decca and various small labels.


title: Eddie Cantor

text: His heavy political involvement began early in his career, including his participation in the strike to form Actors Equity in 1919, provoking the anger of father figure and producer, Florenz Ziegfeld. At the 1939 New York World's Fair, Cantor publicly denounced antisemitic radio personality Father Charles Coughlin and then was dropped by his radio sponsor Camel cigarettes. A year and a half later, Cantor was able to return to the air because of help from his friend Jack Benny.


title: Eddie Cantor

text: Cantor began making phonograph records in 1917, recording both comedy songs and routines and popular songs of the day, first for Victor, then for Aeoleon-Vocalion, Pathé, and Emerson. From 1921 through 1925, he had an exclusive contract with Columbia Records, returning to Victor for the remainder of the decade.


title: Eddie Cantor

text: Cantor was one of the era's most successful entertainers, but the 1929 stock market crash took away his multimillionaire status and left him deeply in debt. However, Cantor's relentless attention to his own earnings to avoid the poverty he knew growing up caused him to use his writing talent, quickly building a new bank account with his highly popular, bestselling books of humor and cartoons about his experience, "Caught Short! A Saga of Wailing Wall Street" in 1929 "A.C." (After Crash), and "Yoo-Hoo, Prosperity!"


title: Eddie Cantor

text: Cantor was also a composer, with his most famous song seldom attributed to him. In 1935, along with Charles Tobias (Ida's brother) and Murray Mencher, Cantor wrote "Merrily We Roll Along". It was adapted as the theme song for the "Merrie Melodies" series of animated cartoons, distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures between 1936 and 1964. Cantor himself was frequently caricatured in Warner cartoons of the period, (see Film and television: Animation).


title: Eddie Cantor

text: Cantor also made numerous film appearances. He had previously appeared in a number of short films, performing his "Follies" songs and comedy routines, and two silent features ("Special Delivery" and "Kid Boots") in the 1920s. He was offered the lead in "The Jazz Singer" after it was turned down by George Jessel. Cantor also turned the role down (so it went to Al Jolson), but he became a leading Hollywood star in 1930 with the film version of "Whoopee!," shot in two-color Technicolor. He continued making films over the next two decades until his last starring role in "If You Knew Susie" (1948). From 1950 to 1954, Cantor was a regular guest host on the television variety series "The Colgate Comedy Hour".


title: Eddie Cantor

text: On May 25, 1944, pioneer television station WPTZ (now KYW-TV) in Philadelphia presented a special, all-star telecast which was also seen in New York over WNBT (now WNBC) and featured cut-ins from their Rockefeller Center studios. Cantor, one of the first major stars to agree to appear on television, was to sing "We're Havin' a Baby, My Baby and Me". Arriving shortly before airtime at the New York studios, Cantor was reportedly told to cut the song because the NBC New York censors considered some of the lyrics too risqué. Cantor refused, claiming no time to prepare an alternative number. NBC relented, but the sound was cut and the picture blurred on certain lines in the song. This is considered the first instance of television censorship.


title: Eddie Cantor

text: In 1950, he became the first of several hosts alternating on the NBC television variety show "The Colgate Comedy Hour", in which he would introduce musical acts, stage and film stars and play comic characters such as "Maxie the Taxi". In the spring of 1952, Cantor landed in an unlikely controversy when a young Sammy Davis, Jr., appeared as a guest performer. Cantor embraced Davis and mopped Davis's brow with his handkerchief after his performance. When worried sponsors led NBC to threaten cancellation of the show, Cantor's response was to book Davis for two more weeks. Cantor suffered a heart attack following a September 1952 Colgate broadcast, and thereafter, curtailed his appearances until his final program in 1954. In 1955, he appeared in a filmed series for syndication and a year later, appeared in two dramatic roles ("George Has A Birthday", on NBC's "Matinee Theatre" broadcast in color, and "Size.man and Son" on CBS's "Playhouse 90"). He continued to appear as a guest on several shows, and was last seen on the NBC color broadcast of "The Future Lies Ahead" on January 22, 1960, which also featured Mort Sahl.