title: Pasoori

text: The production design of the music video by Hashim Ali received praise for its striking visual appeal, intricate layout, bohemian esthetics, and vibrant color palette. Ali described the set as "a communal space where artists can celebrate humanity "through not just ethnicity, but also variety in emotion, style and spirituality." Video director Kamal Khan was lauded for "celebrating communal spirit by showing different emotions, styles, and spirituality" and for sending "a message of inclusion" through each character in the video. Sethi, who conceived the idea for the video, stated: "It's a chimera: where one is many and many is one. It's like an acid trip. I really wanted to gesture at this mystical strain of South Asian artwork and philosophy, because that part of our ancestral culture can engage in a fruitful dialogue with contemporary discourse."


title: Pasoori

text: In its review of the song, "The New Yorker" stated: "The song is stealthily subversive: a traditional raga — the classical Indian framework for musical improvisation — has been laid over an infectious beat that sounds South Asian, Middle Eastern, and, improbably, reggaetón, all at once." Describing the song as a "global hit," "The Guardian" stated: "the song has been heralded for transcending boundaries, particularly between India and Pakistan, continuing a long tradition of culture uniting the two countries where politics always failed." Writing for "The National", Mariam Nihal contended that "the track embraces unity in diversity as it features Pakistani dancer and activist Sheema Kermani performing bits of a Bharatnatyam, an Indian dance. The Turkish baglama (string instrument) features in the video while Shae Gill, who's from the Christian community, is joined by Sethi, a Muslim, as they sing in Punjabi, a language spoken in both India and Pakistan."


title: Pasoori

text: A cover of the song was performed by Dutch singer Emma Heesters which went viral on social media. A TikTok video of Indian and Pakistani cricket fans singing and dancing to the song outside Melbourne Cricket Ground ahead of the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup game between India and Pakistan went viral in October 2022.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The is a compact car manufactured by Toyota as a variant of the Toyota Corolla. Exclusively sold in the Japanese domestic market, the Sprinter was aimed to be sportier than its Corolla sibling, with the Sprinter being sold at the "Toyota Auto Store" (renamed to "" in 1980 and "Netz Store" in 1998) while the Corolla was sold at the eponymous "Toyota Corolla Store", which focused on economical cars compared to the more upmarket Vista store.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The Sprinter is notable for being used as the base vehicle for two joint projects between Toyota and General Motors in the United States and Australia, known under GM as the S-car. From 1984 to 2002, variants of the Sprinter were manufactured by NUMMI in Fremont, California, known as the Chevrolet Nova (1984–1988), Geo Prizm (1988–1997), and Chevrolet Prizm (1997–2002). The Holden Nova was manufactured by United Australian Automobile Industries from 1989 to 1996.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: Each generation of the Corolla had a corresponding Sprinter sibling, until the introduction of the E120-series Corolla in 2000. The Sprinter was directly replaced by the Toyota Allex, while the Corolla-derived Pontiac Vibe was imported from the United States to the Japanese domestic market badged as the Toyota Voltz. Both were sold at the "Netz Store", which succeeded the "Toyota Auto Store/Toyota Vista Store" dealer network.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The first generation Sprinter was introduced in March 1968 as a fastback version of the first generation Corolla, and sold at Japanese dealership sales channel called "Toyota Auto Store". This was the only version to include the word "Corolla" in its name. Like the rest of the Corolla range, the 1077 cc K engine was upgraded to the 1166 cc 3K engine in September 1969. The Corolla was sold at a different dealership in Japan called "Toyota Corolla Store".


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: In May 1970, the Sprinter was released as a variation of the second generation Corolla coupé. Toyota had promised its "Toyota Corolla Store" dealers in Japan that they would receive exclusive rights to sell the Corolla. In order to sell through the "Toyota Auto Store" dealer network, the Sprinter was no longer called a Corolla, even though the differences were mostly cosmetic.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: In Japan, the 3K engine was supplemented by a 1407 cc T engine in September 1970. Some markets received the 1588 cc 2T engine in March 1972. With the twincam 2T-G engine the vehicle was known as the Sprinter Trueno. A special model called the "Sprinter Trueno J" had all the Trueno's equipment but used the single-cam, twin carburetor 2T-B engine.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: 1974 brought the third generation Sprinter based on the third generation Corolla coupe, 2 door sedan, 4 door sedan and liftback. Once again, the differences between the Corolla and Sprinter were mostly cosmetic. Sedans received a more formal upright grill, while the coupe and liftback received a sleeker, aerodynamic looking frontal treatment.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The Corolla's were given E30-38 codes while the Sprinter's were given corresponding E41-47 codes. When the Corolla range received a minor update in March 1977 to become the E50-55 series, the Sprinter received a corresponding update to become the E60 series. In 1978, the Sprinter saw a competitor introduced by Nissan called the Pulsar.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The 1979 fourth generation Sprinter was based on the fourth generation Corolla coupe, 2 door sedan, 4-door sedan and liftback. As before, the differences were cosmetic—the Corollas had a simpler treatment of the grill, head lights and tail lights while the Sprinter used a slightly more complex, sculpted treatment. In August 1981, along with the 1.5 and 1.6-liter engines being changed to the new A engines, the Sprinter received a facelift with a wedge-shaped nose.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The fifth generation Sprinter was based on the 1983 fifth generation Corolla range. Like the Corolla, the model line was split into FWD and RWD models. This was the last generation of Sprinters to have RWD, so it remains a favourite of sports car enthusiasts—particularly in drifting. Fame was brought to this model by its appearance in the "Initial D" Japanese animation.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The four door sedan and the five door liftback were sold in North America under the resurrected name of Chevrolet Nova, the first of several Toyotas built by General Motors known as their S-platform under license at NUMMI.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The AE82 Sprinter sedan had slightly different head lamps compared to the AE82 Corolla, windows in the inclined c-pillars, different tail lamps the boot was placed a little higher and front aero grills were like the AE86 Levin. It had an overall similarity with the AE86 Levin coupe. The RWD Sprinter came with pop-up head lamps (the Corolla had fixed head lamps) and the front bumper was raised a little to accommodate them. The US Corolla GTS shared the head lamps with the Japanese market AE86 Sprinter but with small differences such as lower lift height and US globe fittings. The Sprinter sold in Australia was actually identical to a Japanese market Corolla in all of its specifications (e.g. no pop-up head lamps, Japanese market tail lamps).


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The sixth generation Sprinter was shared with the sixth generation Corolla range, introduced in May 1987. They were offered as FWD & full-time 4WD. In this generation, the RWD configuration was discontinued, and all cars were FWD. The Sprinter was offered as a sedan, coupe, 5-door liftback called Sprinter Cielo, and station wagon named Sprinter Carib.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The sedan and liftback had the same front ends but different rear ends. The JDM market Sprinter Trueno coupe had retractable head lamps, and is now offered in FWD rather than RWD. It was the basis for the American Corolla coupe. In the United States, the Sprinter sedan and liftback with slightly different front end were sold as Geo Prizm.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The E90 models started production in 1988 and ended in mid-1991; like previous models it got mid-life facelifts called (ZENKI) 1st face and (KOUKI) 2nd face. The GT versions, as usual, were given a front lip and a spoiler at the back.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The seventh generation Sprinter was shared with the seventh generation Corolla range introduced in June 1991. This platform continued to be produced in North America as the Geo Prizm sedan, as the liftback body style was discontinued in the North American market.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: For this generation only, Toyota introduced a 4-door hardtop sedan (with frameless door windows) called the Sprinter Marino.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The new 20-valve 4A-GE (""Silver Top"") engines were ahead of its time when they were offered during this generation, coming with features like VVT, individual throttle bodies (ITB's), a compression ratio of 10.8:1 and a five-valve-per-cylinder head design. This helped the cars equipped with it to accelerate from 0–100 km/h in approximately 6 seconds and reach a top speed of over 200 km/h.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: A five-valve-per-cylinder engine was unusual for the time, however Mitsubishi was the first to offer a five-valve-per-cylinder engine in the Minica Dangan ZZ-4 kei car in 1989.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The eighth generation Sprinter was shared with the eighth generation Corolla range from May 1995. This is the last time Toyota used the Sprinter badge. After this, Toyota used the Allex badge. The E110 Sprinter was only marketed in the Japanese market. Its exterior was similar to the E110 Corolla but there were small differences like the Sprinter badges in the front grill, alternative rear lights, and the addition of a rear quarter window in the C-pillars. This body style continued in North America, with some minor changes, as the Chevrolet Prizm, when the Geo brand was discontinued.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: In Japan, the Sprinter Carib was based on the 5-door 1.6 L (1,587 cc) station wagon. This version came standard with electric windows, air bags for both driver and front passenger and automatic transmission; several engine options were available. Externally it could be distinguished from the Corolla by its black, rather than body-coloured upper bumper and side moldings and door handles. In front, new headlights and air intake moldings and radiator intake openings were used, often with a "Carib" nameplate. The Carib was also fitted with a spoiler, with an integrated brake light, above the rear window on the back hatch, and some were fitted with roof rails. A "Carib" decal was used on the right, rear window in place of "Corolla". Some versions of the Carib were four-wheel drive. Hiroshi Okamoto designed the front exterior design.


title: Toyota Sprinter

text: The Sprinter name was reused as a sportier specification of the ninth generation Corolla in South Africa in 2006. The next two generations of the Corolla Sprinter, based on the tenth and eleventh generations of the Corolla, were released in 2010 and 2014.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: It was founded in 1990 as the direct successor to the League of Communists of Serbia, with Slobodan Milošević serving as the party president from its foundation until 1991, and again from 1992 until 2001. In 2003, Dačić was elected as the party president and has been serving as the president since then. The SPS was the ruling party of Serbia from its establishment until the 2000 parliamentary election.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: SPS is a centre-left, social-democratic, and populist party. Throughout the 1990s, the party embraced nationalist rhetoric and themes, and has been labelled as a nationalist party, although the SPS has never identified itself as such. Until 2004, the SPS was also supportive of communism, left-wing policies, and Yugoslavism, and was considered to be anti-Western. Its image has since changed to become more supportive of Serbia's accession to the European Union, which has been described as "Euro-pragmatic".


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: The party was founded in 1990 as a merger between the League of Communists of Serbia, led by Slobodan Milošević, and the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Serbia, led by Radmila Anđelković. Its membership from its foundation in 1990 to 1997 involved many elements of the social strata of Serbia, including state administrators and business management elites of state-owned enterprises, employees in the state-owned sector, less privileged groups farmers, and dependants (the unemployed and pensioners). From 1998 to 2000, its membership included "apparatchiks" at administrative and judicial levels, the "nouveau riche", whose business success was founded solely from their affiliation with the government, and top army and police officials and a large majority of the police force. Following its foundation, the SPS demanded strict loyalty to its leader, Milošević, by top party officials and any sign of independence from such loyalty led to expulsion from the party. Anyone who went against policy as defined by the party leadership could face sanctions or expulsion.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: During the Milošević era, the SPS has been accused by opposition of using an authoritarian style of rule and allowing a criminal economy to exist in Serbia including personal profiteering by the Milošević family from illegal business transactions in the arms trade, cigarettes and oil, although this illegal business was caused by the UN sanctions, and none of accusations for personal profiteering were ever proven at the court. Opposition media to the SPS or Milošević's administration were harassed by threats; media members involved were fired or arrested; independent media faced high fines mostly by Ministry of information led by the Serbian Radical Party's Aleksandar Vučić; state-sponsored paramilitaries seized radio equipment of opposition supporters; and in April 1999, the owner and distributor of the most popular daily newspaper in Serbia was killed, and although it was never proven on court that murder had any connections to SPS, opposition media and parties claimed so, but couldn't prove it even after they came to power. The SPS maintained the Communist era policy of maintaining connection with official trade unions; however, independent trade unions faced hostility and their activists were brutalized by police while in custody. As time went on, the party became increasing isolationist and anti-Western. In the 1990 Serbian general election they won the support of 2,320,587 voters (around 44.6% of the popular vote), but due to the single-member constituencies electoral system, they won 194 out of 250 (77.6%) seats, giving them 33% boost in the popular vote.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: From 1992, it governed in coalition with other parties, initially with the Serbian Radical Party, and from 1993 with the New Democracy Party. They also contested elections in coalition with Yugoslav Left, a party led by Milošević's wife Mirjana Marković. With the ousting of Milošević in 2000, the party became a part of the opposition. In the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election, the party won 7.6% of the popular vote and 22 out of 250 seats in the National Assembly of Serbia. Ivica Dačić, its candidate in the 2004 Serbian presidential election, placed fifth with 3.6% of the vote. In 2007 Serbian parliamentary election, the party won 16 seats with 227,580 or 5.64% of votes. It formed a sole parliamentary group, with Dačić as president and Žarko Obradović as vice-president. It won 14 seats outright, while a single seat was given to its new partner, the Movement of Veterans of Serbia and non-partisan Borka Vučić, who became the transitional speaker, also received a seat. In the 2008 Serbian parliamentary election, the SPS and the Party of United Pensioners of Serbia (PUPS) have strengthened their links by forming a coalition, on which United Serbia and the Movement of Veterans of Serbia were present. The coalition won 23 seats with 313,896 or 7.58 percent of votes. The SPS and its coalition partners entered post-election coalition with For a European Serbia.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: In 2010, the SPS introduced a new program, declaring themselves to be democratic leftists, opposing populism, racialism, and privatization, advocating socialism of the 21st century, including elements of liberalism and social justice. Since 2021, it is a senior coalition member with the Serbian Progressive Party in the Serbian government. In 2018, the SPS introduced another program, declaring itself to be in favor of privatization, while simultaneously advocating for democratic socialism and pro-Europeanism, including Serbia's entry into the European Union.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: The SPS was formed as a coalition of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) and the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Serbia, and Slobodan Milošević was elected its president. As the successor of the SKS, the party became the most dominant in Serbia; Milošević as president of the SPS was able to wield considerable power and influence in the government and the public and private sectors. Milošević came to power promising the strengthening of Serb influence in Yugoslavia by reducing the autonomy of the provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina within Serbia, and had demanded a one-member-one vote system for the SKS, which would have given a numerical majority to the Serbs. This course was a factor in the splintering of the SKS, and caused the Serbian Communist elite to take part in the party creation.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: The political programme of the SPS has stated its intention to develop "Serbia as a socialist republic, founded on law and social justice." The party made economic reforms outside of Marxist ideology such as recognizing all forms of property and intended a progression to a market economy while at the same time advocating some regulation for the purposes of "solidarity, equality, and social security". In power, the party enacted policies that were negative to workers rights, such as ending the Communists' worker participation programs. Beginning in its political programme of 1992, the SPS has supported a mixed economy, stating that "the Socialist Party of Serbia advocates a modern, mixed economy representing a synthesis of those elements of liberal and socialist models that have so far proved to be successful in the history of modern society and in our own development." The SPS advocated the transition from a planned economy to a mixed economy, with both public and private sectors. Despite this, many accused Slobodan Milošević of creating a kleptocracy, transferring ownership of much of the industrial sector to his political allies and financiers. The party endorsed the principle of full equality of all the Yugoslav peoples and ethnic minorities. Under Milošević, SPS promoted populistic rhetoric regarding nationalistic issues.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: From 1990 to 1993, the party endorsed supporting the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia who wished to remain in Yugoslavia. As Croatia and Bosnia declared independence, the involvement by the SPS as a ruling party in Belgrade had become more devoted to helping the external Serbs run their own independent entities. The SPS was in coalition with the nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) at the time. Milošević responded to press questions of whether the Serbian government approved the Bosnian Serbs, by claiming that the Serbian government did not directly support the Srpska government or Serb military forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina in their war but claimed that Serbs had the right to self-determination. In the 1995 BBC documentary "The Death of Yugoslavia", fellow SPS member and government official Borisav Jović denied this and said Milošević endorsed the transfer of Bosnian Serb federal army forces to the Bosnian Serb Army in 1992 to help achieve Serb independence from the Alija Izetbegović government of Bosnia and Herzegovina.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: Upon the Republic of Macedonia seceding in 1991, the Milošević government declared Macedonians an "artificial nation" and Serbia allied with Greece against the Republic of Macedonia, even suggesting a partition of the Republic of Macedonia between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Greece. Subsequent interviews with government officials involved in these affairs revealed that Milošević planned to arrest the Republic of Macedonia's political leadership and replace it with politicians loyal to Serbia. Milošević demanded the self-determination of Serbs in the Republic of Macedonia. In 1998, five years after a split between the SPS and the Radicals, the party returned to its more successful coalition with the Serbian Radical Party as Kosovo-Albanian separatism was on the rise.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: Four members of SPS, Slobodan Milošević, Milan Milutinović, Nikola Šainović, and Vlajko Stojiljković, were charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) with crimes against humanity including murder, forcible population transfer, deportation, and "persecution on political, racial or religious grounds" in connection to the wars in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. Stojiljković committed suicide and Milošević died in ICTY custody before sentencing. The ICTY said in other judgments that there was insufficient evidence that Milošević had supported plans to expel non-Serbs from war-affected territories. The ICTY sentenced Šainović to 22 years in prison, following a conviction for crimes against humanity and war crimes, including deportations and forcible transfers, murders, and other persecutions of Kosovo Albanians. Milutinović was found not guilty on all charges on 26 February 2009.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia reported that in reaction to the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, the SPS leader Ivica Dačić said he would call for a ban on all NGOs and political parties in Serbia which would recognise Kosovo independence. During the 2000s, it supported principles of democratic socialism, although according to their website they still claim themselves to be democratic-socialists. Wolfram Nordsieck has described the party as socialist.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: As the direct successor to the Serbian Communists, party membership has never been exclusive to Serbs; the SPS has contained non-Serb figures such as Rrahman Morina (ethnic Albanian), and ethnic Hungarians Verona Ádám Bokros and Mihalj Kertes. In addition, the party engaged in discussions with Croatian and Bosnian leaders, particularly during the early stages of the Yugoslav wars. The SPS, unlike the right-wing nationalist Serbian Radical Party, also joined other parties in negotiations with ethnic Kosovo-Albanian politicians to resolve outstanding disputes and stop the Kosovo War. The SPS was unwilling to grant secession of any territory from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), which formed in 1992. In contrast to right-wing nationalist sentiment and contrary to the wishes of the early nationalist enthusiasts of the SPS, the party did not pursue a policy in which it would absorb Montenegro as the Kingdom of Serbia had done to the Kingdom of Montenegro in 1918. The plan was for Montenegro to continue to function alongside Serbia with all local affairs governed internally. In addition, at the anti-bureaucratic revolutions, conducted whilst the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was active, the demonstrations in Kosovo and Vojvodina, as well as Montenegro, stopped short of calling for their respective entities to be abolished, they instead concentrated on ousting the authorities to replace them with pro-SPS loyalists. Right-wing Serbian nationalists in turn conceive no such Serbian state in which internal entities be granted self-rule.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: Despite bitterness towards the Republic of Macedonia, whose locals rejected Serbian ethnicity, the governing SPS recognised the country in 1996. Four years before this milestone, JNA troops and remnants of Belgrade's central government had peacefully and voluntarily left Macedonia. These policies adopted by the SPS created an uneasy relationship with the Radicals, a characteristic which culminated between 1993 and 1998 when the two parties had split and SRS leader Vojislav Šešelj even found himself imprisoned for a time. In this crucial period, the SPS broke away from the coalition with the Radicals and officially opposed the Bosnian Serb government of Radovan Karadžić by passing economic sanctions against it, as Karadžić was opposing peace initiatives and the party criticised the discriminatory nationalism of Karadžić's administration. In 1995, Slobodan Milošević signed the Dayton Agreement on behalf of the Bosnian Serbs to end the Bosnian war and this infuriated the SRS and Serbian nationalists - relations between Milošević and Radovan Karadžić and other Bosnian Serb politicians had already soured by this point. For having signed the Dayton Agreement, Šešelj branded Milošević the "worst traitor in Serbian history". Meanwhile, the very union itself between the Radicals and the SPS was the subject of controversy among Serbian nationalists. World War II Chetnik commander Momčilo Đujić, who granted the title of Vojvoda (Duke) to Šešelj in 1989, went as far as to revoke the Radical leader's honorary status for his association with Milošević.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: The former United States ambassador to Yugoslavia, Warren Zimmermann, argued that Milošević was not a genuine nationalist but "an opportunist".


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: Milošević was incarcerated at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia from 2001 to 2006.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: Critics have accused the SPS of involvement with organised crime, blackmail, political assassinations (most notably that of former Serbian president Ivan Stambolić), supporting paramilitary formations during the Yugoslav Wars, and profiteering from illicit drug and oil trade. The party received worth of oil vouchers in the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: Until the final dissolution of a federal Yugoslav state in 2006, the party held close ties with the Yugoslav Left, a coalition of left-wing and communist factions led by Milošević's wife. The SPS has held close ties with the various political parties led by Momir Bulatović who had been installed as President of Montenegro with Milosević's aide, the SPS supported the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro until Bulatović's ousting in 1998, Socialist People's Party of Montenegro under Bulatović from 1998 until his ousting in 2000, and the last one to be led by Bulatović is the People's Socialist Party of Montenegro. The SPS holds ties with a branch party in the Republic of Srpska in Bosnia & Herzegovina, the Socialist Party of Republika Srpska which was founded in 1993. After the Dayton Accord, a major rift occurred between this party and the Serbian Democratic Party of Radovan Karadžić. In the short-lived enclave Serb state of the Republic of Serbian Krajina in Croatia, the SPS supported the Serbian Party of Socialists, particularly the presidential election bid in 1993 of Milan Martić for the Republic of Serbian Krajina.


title: Socialist Party of Serbia

text: The SPS wants to join the Socialist International. In May 2008, Ivica Dačić travelled to Athens to meet the Socialist International president George Andreas Papandreou. During this meeting, Papandreou said that the Socialist International was ready to initiate the process for the SPS's membership. There is still some opposition within the Socialist International to inviting the SPS, notably from the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Jelko Kacin said that the Democratic Party president Boris Tadic lied about not blocking the SPS from joining the Socialist International. As of 2012, the SPS continues to seek closer ties with Europe's social-democratic and socialist parties, and has hinted that it might consider apologising for its role in the 1990s wars.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: Bruce McCandless II (born Byron Willis McCandless; June 8, 1937 – December 21, 2017) was a United States Navy officer and aviator, electrical engineer, and NASA astronaut. In 1984, during the first of his two Space Shuttle missions, he completed the first untethered spacewalk by using the Manned Maneuvering Unit.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: Byron Willis McCandless was born on June 8, 1937, in Boston, Massachusetts. A third-generation U.S. Navy officer, McCandless was the son of Bruce McCandless and grandson of Willis W. Bradley, both Medal of Honor recipients. His mother changed his name on June 6, 1938, to Bruce McCandless II. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson Senior High School, Long Beach, California, in 1954.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: In 1958, he received a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy, graduating second, behind future National Security Advisor John Poindexter, in a class of 899 that also included John McCain. During his professional career, he also received an M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1965 and an M.B.A. from the University of Houston–Clear Lake in 1987.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: Following his commissioning, McCandless received flight training from the Naval Air Training Command at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, and Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: In March 1960, he was designated a United States Naval Aviator and proceeded to Naval Air Station Key West for weapons system and carrier landing training in the Douglas F4D-1 Skyray.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: Between December 1960 and February 1964, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 102 (VF-102), flying the Skyray and the McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II. He saw duty aboard and , including the latter's participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: For three months in early 1964, he was an instrument flight instructor in Attack Squadron 43 (VA-43) at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia, and then reported to the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps unit at Stanford University for graduate studies in electrical engineering.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: During Naval service he gained flying proficiency in the Lockheed T-33B Shooting Star, Northrop T-38A Talon, McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II, Douglas F4D Skyray, Grumman F11F Tiger, Grumman F9F Cougar, Lockheed T-1 Seastar, and Beechcraft T-34B Mentor, and the Bell 47G helicopter.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: At the age of 28, McCandless was selected as the youngest member of NASA Astronaut Group 5 (jokingly labeled the "Original Nineteen" by John W. Young) in April 1966. According to space historian Matthew Hersch, McCandless and Group 5 colleague Don L. Lind were "effectively treated ... as scientist-astronauts" (akin to those selected in the fourth and sixth groups) by NASA due to their substantial scientific experience, an implicit reflection of their lack of the test pilot experience highly valued by Deke Slayton and other NASA managers at the time; this would ultimately delay their progression in the flight rotation.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: He served as mission control capsule communicator (CAPCOM) on Apollo 11 during the launch and during the first lunar moonwalk (EVA) by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin before joining the astronaut support crew for the Apollo 14 mission, on which he doubled as a CAPCOM. Thereafter, McCandless was reassigned to the Skylab program, where he received his first crew assignment as backup pilot for the space station's first crewed mission alongside backup commander Rusty Schweickart and backup science pilot Story Musgrave. Following this assignment, he again served as a CAPCOM on Skylab 3 and Skylab 4. Notably, McCandless was a co-investigator on the M-509 astronaut maneuvering unit experiment that was flown on Skylab; this eventually led to his collaboration on the development of the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) used during Space Shuttle EVAs. Although he was classified as a Shuttle pilot until 1983, McCandless ultimately chose to work on the MMU as a mission specialist due to the prestige of the program (which ensured a flight assignment) and his lack of test pilot experience.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: He was responsible for crew inputs to the development of hardware and procedures for the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), Hubble Space Telescope, the Solar Maximum Repair Mission, and the International Space Station program.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: McCandless logged over 312 hours in space, including four hours of MMU flight time. He flew as a mission specialist on STS-41-B and STS-31.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: "Challenger" launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on February 3, 1984. The flight deployed two communications satellites, and flight-tested rendezvous sensors and computer programs for the first time.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: This mission marked the first checkout of the MMU and Manipulator Foot Restraint (MFR). McCandless made the first untethered free flight on each of the two MMUs carried on board, thereby becoming the first person to make an untethered spacewalk. He described the experience,


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: I was grossly over-trained. I was just anxious to get out there and fly. I felt very comfortable ... It got so cold my teeth were chattering and I was shivering, but that was a very minor thing. ... I'd been told of the quiet vacuum you experience in space, but with three radio links saying, 'How's your oxygen holding out?', 'Stay away from the engines!' and 'When's my turn?', it wasn't that peaceful ... It was a wonderful feeling, a mix of personal elation and professional pride: it had taken many years to get to that point.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: McCandless's first EVA lasted 6 hours and 17 minutes. The second EVA (in which Stewart used the MMU), lasted 5 hours and 55 minutes.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: On February 11, 1984, after eight days in orbit, "Challenger" made the first landing on the runway at Kennedy Space Center.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: On this five-day "Discovery" flight, launched on April 24, 1990, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the crew deployed the Hubble Space Telescope from their record-setting altitude of .


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: During the deployment of Hubble, one of the observatory's solar arrays stopped as it unfurled. While ground controllers searched for a way to command HST to unreel the solar array, Mission Specialists McCandless and Kathryn D. Sullivan began preparing for a contingency spacewalk in the event that the array could not be deployed through ground control. The array eventually came free and unfurled through ground control, while McCandless and Sullivan were pre-breathing inside the partially depressurized airlock.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: He was a fellow of the American Astronautical Society and former president of the Houston Audubon Society.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: He was awarded a patent for the design of a tool tethering system that was used during Space Shuttle spacewalks.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: McCandless was married to Bernice Doyle McCandless (1937–2014) for 53 years, and the couple had two children: Bruce III (born August 15, 1961) and Tracy (born July 13, 1963). His recreational interests included electronics, photography, scuba diving, and flying. He also enjoyed cross-country skiing.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: In an August 2005 "Smithsonian" magazine article about the MMU photo, McCandless is quoted as saying that the subject's anonymity is its best feature. "I have the sun visor down, so you can't see my face, and that means it could be anybody in there. It's sort of a representation not of Bruce McCandless, but mankind."


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: On September 30, 2010, McCandless launched a lawsuit against British singer Dido for unauthorized use of a photo of his 1984 space flight for the album art of her 2008 album "Safe Trip Home", which showed McCandless “free flying” about 320 feet away from the Space Shuttle "Challenger". The lawsuit, which also named Sony Corp.'s Sony Music Entertainment and Getty Images as defendants, did not allege copyright infringement but infringement of his persona. The action was settled amicably on January 14, 2011.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: McCandless died on December 21, 2017, at age 80. He was survived by his second wife, Ellen Shields McCandless, two children and two grandchildren.


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: McCandless' son, author Bruce McCandless III, wrote about the journey leading to the first untethered space walk in the 2021 book "Wonders All Around: The Incredible True Story of Astronaut Bruce McCandless II and the First Untethered Flight in Space."


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: John McCain, who graduated from the United States Naval Academy with McCandless in the Class of 1958, stated after McCandless' death:


title: Bruce McCandless II

text: The iconic photo of Bruce soaring effortlessly in space has inspired generations of Americans to believe that there is no limit to the human potential.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: In condensed matter physics, Bloch's theorem states that solutions to the Schrödinger equation in a periodic potential take the form of a plane wave modulated by a periodic function. The theorem is named after the physicist Felix Bloch, who discovered the theorem in 1929. Mathematically, they are written


title: Bloch's theorem

text: where formula_1 is position, formula_2 is the wave function, formula_3 is a periodic function with the same periodicity as the crystal, the wave vector formula_4 is the crystal momentum vector, formula_5 is Euler's number, and formula_6 is the imaginary unit.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: Functions of this form are known as Bloch functions or Bloch states, and serve as a suitable basis for the wave functions or states of electrons in crystalline solids.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: Named after Swiss physicist Felix Bloch, the description of electrons in terms of Bloch functions, termed Bloch electrons (or less often "Bloch Waves"), underlies the concept of electronic band structures.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: These eigenstates are written with subscripts as formula_7, where formula_8 is a discrete index, called the band index, which is present because there are many different wave functions with the same formula_4 (each has a different periodic component formula_3). Within a band (i.e., for fixed formula_8), formula_7 varies continuously with formula_4, as does its energy. Also, formula_7 is unique only up to a constant reciprocal lattice vector formula_15, or, formula_16. Therefore, the wave vector formula_4 can be restricted to the first Brillouin zone of the reciprocal lattice without loss of generality.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: The most common example of Bloch's theorem is describing electrons in a crystal, especially in characterizing the crystal's electronic properties, such as electronic band structure. However, a Bloch-wave description applies more generally to any wave-like phenomenon in a periodic medium. For example, a periodic dielectric structure in electromagnetism leads to photonic crystals, and a periodic acoustic medium leads to phononic crystals. It is generally treated in the various forms of the dynamical theory of diffraction.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: where "u" is periodic with the same periodicity as the crystal lattice. The actual quantum state of the electron is entirely determined by formula_2, not k or "u" directly. This is important because k and "u" are "not" unique. Specifically, if formula_2 can be written as above using k, it can "also" be written using (k + K), where K is any reciprocal lattice vector (see figure at right). Therefore, wave vectors that differ by a reciprocal lattice vector are equivalent, in the sense that they characterize the same set of Bloch states.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: The first Brillouin zone is a restricted set of values of k with the property that no two of them are equivalent, yet every possible k is equivalent to one (and only one) vector in the first Brillouin zone. Therefore, if we restrict k to the first Brillouin zone, then every Bloch state has a unique k. Therefore, the first Brillouin zone is often used to depict all of the Bloch states without redundancy, for example in a band structure, and it is used for the same reason in many calculations.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: When k is multiplied by the reduced Planck's constant, it equals the electron's crystal momentum. Related to this, the group velocity of an electron can be calculated based on how the energy of a Bloch state varies with k; for more details see crystal momentum.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: For a detailed example in which the consequences of Bloch's theorem are worked out in a specific situation, see the article Particle in a one-dimensional lattice (periodic potential).


title: Bloch's theorem

text: The defining property of a crystal is translational symmetry, which means that if the crystal is shifted an appropriate amount, it winds up with all its atoms in the same places. (A finite-size crystal cannot have perfect translational symmetry, but it is a useful approximation.)


title: Bloch's theorem

text: A three-dimensional crystal has three "primitive lattice vectors" a, a, a. If the crystal is shifted by any of these three vectors, or a combination of them of the form


title: Bloch's theorem

text: Another helpful ingredient in the proof is the "reciprocal lattice vectors". These are three vectors b, b, b (with units of inverse length), with the property that a · b = 2π, but a · b = 0 when "i" ≠ "j". (For the formula for b, see reciprocal lattice vector.)


title: Bloch's theorem

text: Let formula_23 denote a translation operator that shifts every wave function by the amount (as above, "n" are integers). The following fact is helpful for the proof of Bloch's theorem:


title: Bloch's theorem

text: As above, let formula_23 denote a "translation operator" that shifts every wave function by the amount , where "n" are integers. Because the crystal has translational symmetry, this operator commutes with the Hamiltonian operator. Moreover, every such translation operator commutes with every other. Therefore, there is a simultaneous eigenbasis of the Hamiltonian operator and every possible formula_27 operator. This basis is what we are looking for. The wave functions in this basis are energy eigenstates (because they are eigenstates of the Hamiltonian), and they are also Bloch states (because they are eigenstates of the translation operators; see Lemma above).


title: Bloch's theorem

text: The commutativity of the formula_48 operators gives three commuting cyclic subgroups (given they can be generated by only one element) which are infinite, 1-dimensional and abelian. All irreducible representations of Abelian groups are one dimensional.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: Given they are one dimensional the matrix representation and the character are the same. The character is the representation over the complex numbers of the group or also the trace of the representation which in this case is a one dimensional matrix.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: All these subgroups, given they are cyclic, they have characters which are appropriate roots of unity. In fact they have one generator formula_49 which shall obey to formula_50, and therefore the character formula_51. Note that this is straightforward in the finite cyclic group case but in the countable infinite case of the infinite cyclic group (i.e. the translation group here) there is a limit for formula_52 where the character remains finite.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: where L is a macroscopic periodicity in the direction formula_55 that can also be seen as a multiple of formula_56 where formula_57


title: Bloch's theorem

text: The wave vector formula_66 identify the irreducible representation in the same manner as formula_67, and formula_68 is a macroscopic periodic length of the crystal in direction formula_69. In this context, the wave vector serves as a quantum number for the translation operator.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: Apart from the group theory technicalities this proof is interesting because it becomes clear how to generalize the Bloch theorem for groups that are not only translations.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: This is typically done for Space groups which are a combination of a translation and a point group and it is used for computing the band structure, spectrum and specific heats of crystals given a specific crystal group symmetry like FCC or BCC and eventually an extra basis.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: In this proof it is also possible to notice how is key that the extra point group is driven by a symmetry in the effective potential but it shall commute with the Hamiltonian.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: In the generalized version of the Bloch theorem, the Fourier transform, i.e. the wave function expansion, gets generalized from a discrete Fourier transform which is applicable only for cyclic groups and therefore translations into a character expansion of the wave function where the characters are given from the specific finite point group.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: Also here is possible to see how the characters (as the invariants of the irreducible representations) can be treated as the fundamental building blocks instead of the irreducible representations themselves.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: formula_75 is a parameter of the Hamiltonian and therefore we arrive at a "continuous family" of eigenvalues formula_76 dependent on the continuous parameter formula_75 and thus at the basic concept of an electronic band structure.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: a standard momentum formula_83 and a crystal momentum formula_84. More precisely the crystal momentum is not a momentum but it stands for the momentum in the same way as the electromagnetic momentum in the minimal coupling, and as part of a canonical transformation of the momentum.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: d\mathbf{r}\, \psi^{*}_{n\mathbf{k}} (-i \nabla)\psi_{n\mathbf{k}} = \frac {\hbar}{m}\langle\hat{\mathbf{p}}\rangle = \hbar \langle\hat{\mathbf{v}}\rangle</math>


title: Bloch's theorem

text: given they are the coefficients of the following expansion in q where q is considered small with respect to k


title: Bloch's theorem

text: effective mass tensor formula_101 and we can use it to write a semi-classical equation for a charge carrier in a band


title: Bloch's theorem

text: where formula_55 is an acceleration. This equation is analogous to the De Broglie wave type of approximation


title: Bloch's theorem

text: As an intuitive interpretation, both of the previous two equations resemble formally and are in a semi-classical analogy with the newton equation in an external Lorentz force.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: The concept of the Bloch state was developed by Felix Bloch in 1928 to describe the conduction of electrons in crystalline solids. The same underlying mathematics, however, was also discovered independently several times: by George William Hill (1877), Gaston Floquet (1883), and Alexander Lyapunov (1892). As a result, a variety of nomenclatures are common: applied to ordinary differential equations, it is called Floquet theory (or occasionally the "Lyapunov–Floquet theorem"). The general form of a one-dimensional periodic potential equation is Hill's equation:


title: Bloch's theorem

text: where "f"("t") is a periodic potential. Specific periodic one-dimensional equations include the Kronig–Penney model and Mathieu's equation.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: Mathematically Bloch's theorem is interpreted in terms of unitary characters of a lattice group, and is applied to spectral geometry.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: Based on Bloch's theorem, the conventional theory of electronic states in crystals could not correctly explain genuine crystals' boundary and size effects. However, about half a century ago, the mathematical theory of periodic differential equations had some significant progress.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: Based on those new mathematical understandings, a recent new theory of electronic states in low dimensional systems


title: Bloch's theorem

text: aims to understand such effects. The new theory found that the size and boundary effects of electronic states in each specific dimension in the low-dimensional system are separated in some simple but essential cases.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: That is, the energies and properties of some electronic states (including but not limited to the surface states) depend only on the system boundary in that dimension. In contrast, the numbers, energies, and properties


title: Bloch's theorem

text: of other electronic states (they are stationary Bloch states, usually many times more) depend only on the system size in that dimension,


title: Bloch's theorem

text: There is a significant difference between the band structures of Bloch waves in one-dimensional and multi-dimensional space. The Schrödinger differential equation for a one-dimensional periodic potential


title: Bloch's theorem

text: is an ordinary differential equation that cannot have more than two linearly independent solutions; this leads to each permitted band and each band gap existing alternatively as the energy increases.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: limits that a boundary-dependent state is either in a band gap or at a band edge. On the other hand, the Schrödinger differential equation for a multi-dimensional periodic potential is a partial differential equation


title: Bloch's theorem

text: with no limitation to the number of independent solutions. As a result, the permitted bands in a multi-dimensional crystal are often overlapped. The number of band gaps in a multi-dimensional crystal is always finite. Furthermore, there are no band gaps if the potential is minimal. Correspondingly, a theorem in the theory of partial periodic differential equations


title: Bloch's theorem

text: limits that the energy of a boundary-dependent state in a multi-dimensional crystal must be higher or equal to the upper band edge of the relevant permitted band without giving an upper limit. Therefore, a boundary-dependent state decaying in a specific direction can have energy in the range of a permitted band of the bulk. Theoretically, such cases are rather general in multi-dimensional crystals.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: The very existence of the boundary-dependent states or sub-bands leads to the properties of electronic states in a simple low-dimensional system being substantially different from the properties of electronic states based on Bloch's theorem as in conventional solid-state physics. And also significantly different from what is widely believed in the solid-state physics community regarding the properties of electronic states in a low-dimensional system or finite crystal, such as ideas based on effective mass concepts. Since "the energy of each boundary-dependent state is always higher than the energies of its relevant Bloch stationary states"


title: Bloch's theorem

text: the energy gap between occupied and vacant states in an ideal low-dimensional system of a cubic semiconductor is smaller than the band gap of the bulk semiconductor. An essential difference between a bulk metal and a bulk semiconductor would not be so clear when the size of the crystal becomes small enough, so the effects of the boundary-dependent electronic states become more significant. A low-dimensional system of a cubic semiconductor crystal could even have the electrical conductivity properties of metal.


title: Bloch's theorem

text: As a one-electron and non-spin theory, this new theory is more general than the conventional theory of electronic states in crystals based on Bloch's theorem and the well-known "Particle in a box" model in quantum mechanics:


title: Bloch's theorem

text: The new theory contains the physics cores that the each of the two classical theories has separately: That is, the


title: Ninth grade

text: Ninth grade, freshman year, or grade 9 is the ninth year of school education in some school systems. Ninth grade is often the first school year of high school in the United States, or the last year of middle/junior high school. In some countries, Grade 9 is the second year of high school. Students are usually 14–15 years old. In the United States, it is often called the freshman year.


title: Ninth grade

text: In Argentina, this is "Second Year" 3 years or (depending on the province) "Third Year". Students are aged 13–14 during the first part of the year and 14-15 during the second part of the year.


title: Ninth grade

text: This is because, in Argentina, there's kindergarten, high school primary school, and secondary school. In some provinces of the country primary is from "1st grade" to "7th grade" and secondary school from "1st year" to "5th year". In other provinces, primary school is from "1st grade" to "6th grade", and secondary school from "1st year" to "6th year" or "7th grade", if the school has it. All technical schools have "7th grade". So basically there are between 12 and 13 (most schools), years of school in the Argentinian Educative System, without counting kindergarten, which can be from 3-6 or 2–5 years old.


title: Ninth grade

text: In Belgium, the 9th grade is called "derde middelbaar" in the Dutch-speaking north and "3e secondaire" in the French-speaking south. In some bureaus of the country, the 9th grade can be removed from one's educator curriculum to put the student in an appropriate class study level.


title: Ninth grade

text: The minimum age to enter in the ninth grade is 14 years old. All students must be 14 years old before the cut-off date.


title: Ninth grade

text: In much of Canada, Grade 9 is the first year of high school (though in some areas they still use the old system of junior and senior high, where grade 9 is the last year of junior high). Some schools combine junior and senior years into one school. In Quebec, Grade 9 is the middle year of its five-year high school program, unlike in the rest of Canada.


title: Ninth grade

text: In Denmark, ninth grade is around the same thing as in Sweden. Afterwards, one can choose to go through tenth grade, but it is not required. The students are 15–16 years old. Ninth grade is the year of first final exams and the last year of "folkeskolen" (the first 10 years of education. Starts from 0th grade to 9th grade). After they can choose the 10th grade, or go to a brand new school of higher education for two (HF, 2-year STX)or three years (STX, HHX, HTX).


title: Ninth grade

text: The first year of higher education is called 1.g (16–17 years old), the second year is 2.g (17-18) and the third year is 3.g (18-19). The age depends on when one started 0th grade and if one took 10th grade. When a student finishes 3.g, they get a white hat (studenterhue), with either a blue or a red ribbon around it. The colour of the ribbon depends on the school (HF = light blue, HTX = dark purple, HHX = blue; STX = red). An education at STX involves all the lessons one can have in Denmark, while HHX and HTX are typically the lessons one chooses.


title: Ninth grade

text: After those two or three years, a student can go to a university/college to get even higher education (usually at the years of 19/20 until they finish). In STX, a student learns Danish, French/Spanish/German/Italian (at least one these), English, math, physics, chemistry, biology, health, Latin, nature geography, GLU (general language understanding), art/drama/media course/music (at least one of these as artistic lessons), history, psychology/philosophy, classical studies, and social studies. In HHX, HTX a student chooses some of these lessons. A student can have the lessons on an A-level (means every three years), B-level (two of the years), C-level (one of the years). In STX a student must have Danish and history at an A-level, and English at either A or B. The rest can be made up by choice, and it can be changed.


title: Ninth grade

text: The levels of the lessons also depend on the subject line one chose. There are the linguistic lines, the social study lines, the math lines, the chemistry lines, the physics lines, the biotech lines, the music lines and sports lines. Health lessons are either on a C or B-level, but no matter what one chose they have it every year.


title: Ninth grade

text: The grades are following (starting with the worst, ending with the best): -3: unacceptable. 00: failed. 02: acceptable. 4: low average. 7: high average. 10: over the average. 12: much over the average.


title: Ninth grade

text: In Finland, ninth grade is the last year of compulsory schooling. The students are usually 14 – 16 years old. Afterwards, they can choose to go through tenth grade but it is not required. The meaning of tenth grade is to allow improving grades.


title: Ninth grade

text: In France, the equivalent grade is the "troisième" or "3" and it is the final middle school year before high school.


title: Ninth grade

text: Students prepare to take the "Diplôme National du Brevet" (DNB) examination - it's the first diploma given to French students, and attests of basic levels in major high school disciplines (French, Mathematics, History and Geography and sciences. They also have an oral on a subject they have to choose. And the grades of all the year of 3 also counts for the results). This diploma is not necessary to proceed on to high school.


title: Ninth grade

text: In Greece, ninth grade is called third year of gymnasium school or middle school or lower secondary school (Triti Gymnasiou - Τρίτη Γυμνασίου)


title: Ninth grade

text: In Hong Kong, 9th grade is called Form 3/ Secondary 3. Students finishing Form 3 are needed to select their electives for them to study in Grade 10 (Form 4), Grade 11 (Form 5)and Grade 12 (Form 6). Some special schools made their students choose their electives after 8th grade (form 2)


title: Ninth grade

text: After the National Education Policy 2020 9th grade in India is the freshman year of high school. In the 9th grade students get to choose 5 subjects of their choice. Mathematics, English, Science and Social Science are compulsory. There are various options for the second language like Sanskrit & Hindi.


title: Ninth grade

text: 9th grade is also important as it is the preparatory year for the 10th standard Board exams that will serve as the 1st exam out of 2 in order to pass out of high school.


title: Ninth grade

text: In Ireland, it is the Third Year or Tríú Bhliain of Secondary School (for 14- and 15-year-olds) this is known as 3rd year. This year is the year students take the Junior Certificate or Teastas Sóisearach.


title: Ninth grade

text: In Italy, it is the first year of the upper secondary school (which translates into "Scuola secondaria di secondo grado", informally called "Scuola Superiore"). In Italy ninth grade is called "prima superiore". Usually, students are between 14 and 15 years old.


title: Ninth grade

text: In Malaysia, the equivalent of 9th grade is Form 3 (Tingkatan 3). Students are 15 years old, and it is their third year of secondary school. In Form 3, all students are required to sit for a mandatory exam throughout all government schools called PT3 (Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3, or Form 3 Assessment). Upon receiving their results, students will be allowed to choose a stream (the subjects of their focus for the next year) of their choice, depending on their results, which will then allow them to proceed to Form 4 in the following year.


title: Ninth grade

text: In New Zealand, Year 10 (formerly Form 4) is the equivalent of ninth grade, with students aged 14 or 15 during the year. It is the second year of secondary school and the tenth year of compulsory education. Students in Year 10 typically study English, mathematics, science, social science, and health and physical education, with students electing subjects out of the arts, technology, and learning a language.


title: Ninth grade

text: In Norway, 9th grade is the middle grade of middle school, ""ungdomskolen". Students are 14–15 years old."


title: Ninth grade

text: In Pakistan, 9th grade has a great importance as it is the base of higher education and is part of High School. At this level students are allowed to choose subjects of their will. These subjects are:


title: Ninth grade

text: In the Philippines, Grade 9 or Junior Year () is the third year of Junior High School and High School curriculum. Topics mainly discussed are the following subjects like, for the major subjects are Geometry (Math in Grade 9), Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Earth Science (Science in Grade 9), Filipino subject with Noli Me Tangere, Anglo-American Literature (English) and Philippine Economical Study (Political Studies in Grade 9). Values Education, MAPEH (Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health), Computer and TLE (Technology and Livelihood Education) are some of the minor subjects. Students are usually 14–15 or 13-14 years old.


title: Ninth grade

text: It was formerly named as "3rd Year" or "Year III" () until it changed to "Grade 9" on June 2, 2014 upon the start of School Year 2014-2015 due to the implementation of the K-12 curriculum.


title: Ninth grade

text: In Portugal, the ninth grade ("nono ano", "9º ano") is the last year of the three-year "3º Ciclo do Ensino Básico" that also includes the seventh grade and the eighth grade. It is followed by the tenth grade, the first year of the three-year "Ensino Secundário". At the end of the ninth grade, students must take national final exams ("Provas finais nacionais").


title: Ninth grade

text: In Singapore, 9th grade is called Secondary 3, and it is the third year of one's secondary education. Students are usually 15 years old.


title: Ninth grade

text: Ninth Grade in Spanish is called 3º de ESO (Tercero de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria), as it is the third year of the compulsory secondary education. Students are usually 14–15 years old. A secondary school in Spain has a four-year duration. Students in Spain generally start secondary school at the age of 12 and finish at the age of 16. The school year starts in September and lasts until the next year in June.


title: Ninth grade

text: In Sweden, ninth grade is the last year of högstadiet (Middle school). The students are usually between 15 and 16 years old. That makes ninth grade an important grade for almost every student.


title: Ninth grade

text: In English and Welsh schools, 9th grade is equivalent to Year 10 (called Year 11 in Northern Ireland), and is for those aged 14 to 15.


title: Ninth grade

text: Some 93 per cent of school children in England and Wales attend state-funded comprehensive, secondary, or grammar schools, which most enter at the age of 11, taking GCSE exams at the end of the academic year (September 1 – August 31) in which their 16th birthday falls. Compulsory education continues beyond 16, when state-funded students can choose to remain at school in the "Sixth Form" or attend a sixth form college or further education college to take AS levels and A-levels or follow vocational courses or apprenticeships.


title: Ninth grade

text: In independent secondary schools, most children enter at the age of 13 and leave after A-levels, aged 18. In these schools, Year 10 is typically the second year of education.


title: Ninth grade

text: In Scotland, this is the third year (or S3) of a state-funded secondary school. Most children are aged 14–15. In S3 students will pick subjects to study for " National 4/5 exams" in S4, which are the qualifications they will need for college and or university. In independent schools the position is as for England and Wales.


title: Ninth grade

text: In the United States, ninth grade is usually the first year in high school. In this system, ninth graders are also often referred to as "freshmen". It can also be the last year of junior high school. The typical age for U.S. 9th grade students is 14 to 15 years.


title: Ninth grade

text: In the math curriculum, ninth graders are usually taught algebra, but advanced math includes geometry or algebra II. Advanced courses are usually available to ninth graders who are prepared for a more rigorous curriculum, depending on the school district. Some districts across the country allow their 10th graders to take trigonometry or AP Statistics, or even calculus if the district provides, but most often, the highest level available to be taken as a 10th grader is pre-calculus.


title: Ninth grade

text: In the English curriculum, most schools still have the same levels of basic courses, advanced courses, and honors courses. The basic level for a 9th grader is often listed as English I (may also be called English 9). This course will often teach the fundamentals of higher-level literature and how to analyze and respond to such literature. The advanced course is often English II (may also be called English 10) depending on the school district and is usually a genre studies type of English class, but it may instead be focused on one type of literature, such as American literature or British literature.


title: Ninth grade

text: In the social studies curriculum, there is a variety of different courses that may be offered. Most often, though, the course is either a geography class, a government class, or a world history class.


title: Ninth grade

text: Most high school students are required to have one carnegie unit of computer science, one unit of physical education, and one unit of health education to graduate.


title: Ninth grade

text: Students are usually offered foreign language this year. This is often the first introduction of a foreign language to the students. The average cutoff date is generally variable, but on average being somewhere between August 31st and September 30th.


title: Steven Michael Quezada

text: Steven Michael Quezada (); born February 15, 1963) is an American actor and politician. He played Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Steven Gomez in the AMC series "Breaking Bad" from 2008 to 2013 and 2 episodes of its spin-off, "Better Call Saul" in 2020.


title: Steven Michael Quezada

text: Quezada was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He graduated from West Mesa High School in 1981. After graduating from high school, Quezada attended Eastern New Mexico University where he studied theatre arts, but did not earn a degree.


title: Steven Michael Quezada

text: Quezada played Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Agent Steven Gomez in "Breaking Bad" from 2008 to 2013. He has appeared in films such as "First Snow" (2006), "Beerfest" (2006), and "Kites" (2010). He hosted the talk show "The After After Party" in Albuquerque from 2010 to 2012. Quezada portrays a priest presiding over a roadside funeral in country singer Eric Church's music video for the single "Give Me Back My Hometown" (2014).


title: Steven Michael Quezada

text: On February 4, 2013, he was elected to the Albuquerque school board; He ran unopposed for the District 2 seat on the city's west side. In 2016, Quezada ran for and won the Democratic nomination for New Mexico's Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners for District 2. In a three-way race, Quezada won with 36 percent of the vote. He defeated Republican Patricia Paiz in the general election and was sworn in for a four-year term. He was re-elected in 2020 with no general election opposition.


title: FC Vaduz

text: Fussball Club Vaduz ("Football Club Vaduz") is a professional football club from Vaduz, Liechtenstein that plays in the Swiss Challenge League. The club plays at the national Rheinpark Stadion, which has a capacity of 5,873 when all seated but has additional standing places in the North and South ends of the ground, giving a total stadium capacity of 7,838. They currently play in the Swiss Challenge League following relegation from the Swiss Super League after the 2020–21 season. Vaduz is unique in that it represents its own national association in the UEFA Europa Conference League when winning the domestic cup, whilst playing in another country's league. This is due to Liechtenstein not organising its own league.


title: FC Vaduz

text: Vaduz have historically had many players from Liechtenstein, many of whom have played for the Liechtenstein national team, but nearly all these players have moved abroad, and now the majority of the first team squad are foreign players from different areas of the world.


title: FC Vaduz

text: On 25 August 2022, after beating Rapid Wien away in Austria, Vaduz made history by qualifying for the group stage of the Europa Conference League, becoming the first ever club from Liechtenstein to reach the group stages of a UEFA club competition.


title: FC Vaduz

text: Fussball Club Vaduz was founded on 14 February 1932 in Vaduz, and the club's first chairman was Johann Walser. FC Vaduz is the only professional football club in Liechtenstein. In its first training match, which Vaduz played in Balzers on 24 April of that year, the newly born team emerged as 2–1 winners. The club played in Vorarlberger Football Association in Austria for the 1932–33 season. In 1933, Vaduz began playing in Switzerland. Over the years Vaduz struggled through various tiers of Swiss football and won its first Liechtensteiner Cup in 1949. Vaduz enjoyed a lengthy stay in the Swiss 1. Liga from 1960 to 1973, which is the third tier of the Swiss football league system.


title: FC Vaduz

text: Vaduz has been required to pay a fee to the Swiss Football Association in order to participate as a foreign club, around £150,000 a year. There have been calls for this agreement to be revoked, but discussions have meant that a permanent arrangement has now taken place for a Liechtenstein representative to be allowed to participate in the Challenge League or Super League in future.


title: FC Vaduz

text: From the 2001–02 season, Vaduz played in the Swiss Challenge League (formerly called Nationalliga B), the second tier of the Swiss league system. Since then, Vaduz have been one of the best teams in the Challenge League and gave serious challenges towards promotion to the Super League, especially in 2004 and 2005, playing two-leg play-offs in both cases. In the 2007–08 season, Vaduz secured promotion to the Swiss Super League on 12 May 2008 by winning the Challenge League on the final day of the season, giving Liechtenstein a representative at the highest level of Swiss football for the first time. Vaduz, however, were relegated back to the Challenge League after one season in the top flight. Vaduz finally returned to top level after five years in the Challenge League.


title: FC Vaduz

text: In May 2010, the two Liechtenstein teams FC Vaduz and USV Eschen/Mauren decided on a better cooperation, especially on the exchange and the development possibilities of the players of both teams. In principle, the agreement should replace the missing substructure at FC Vaduz and promote cooperation in the sense of Liechtenstein football. FC Vaduz is the first address for professional footballers.


title: FC Vaduz

text: In 1992, Vaduz qualified for European football for the first time, entering the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup as Liechtenstein Cup winners, but lost 12–1 on aggregate to Chornomorets Odesa of Ukraine in the qualifying round. In 1996, Vaduz qualified for the first round proper with their first European victory, winning 5–3 on penalties against Universitate Riga of Latvia, after a 2–2 aggregate scoreline, although Vaduz lost their first round tie to Paris Saint-Germain of France 7–0 on aggregate.


title: FC Vaduz

text: After the Cup Winners' Cup was abolished, Vaduz have annually entered the UEFA Cup (now the UEFA Europa League) as a result of winning the Liechtenstein Cup every year since 1998, except 2012.


title: FC Vaduz

text: However, Vaduz did come within one second of reaching the first round proper of the UEFA Cup in 2002. With the aggregate scores level, and with opponents Livingston scheduled to go through on away goals, Vaduz won a late corner. The ball was sent into the box, and Marius Zarn hit a goal-bound shot. However, the referee blew the whistle for full-time just before the ball crossed over the line, and Livingston progressed through in controversial circumstances.


title: FC Vaduz

text: For the 2005–06 season, Mats Gren was a coach. In the first round of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup qualifying, FC Vaduz defeated Moldovan opponent FC Dacia Chişinău. In the second round they met the Istanbul club Beşiktaş J.K., against which they have been eliminated.


title: FC Vaduz

text: FC Vaduz started their European campaign in 2009–10 by beating Scottish side Falkirk in the second qualifying round of the Europa League. However, they lost 3–0 on aggregate to Czech side Slovan Liberec in the third qualifying round.


title: FC Vaduz

text: In the 2014–15 Swiss Super League season, Vaduz survived for the first time in their history in the Swiss Super League. They finished in 9th place with 31 points won. They also won their 43rd Liechtenstein cup, becoming world record holders of a domestic cup in the process.


title: FC Vaduz

text: In season 2015–16 FC Vaduz started their European campaign in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League by beating S.P. La Fiorita from San Marino in the first qualifying round of the Europa League. In the second round, Vaduz progressed against Nõmme Kalju FC to progress into the third qualifying round of the Europa League where they were drawn against fellow Swiss Super League club FC Thun. FC Thun won 2–2 on the away goals rule.


title: FC Vaduz

text: Vaduz won their domestic cup for the forty-fourth time and were eighth in the Swiss Super League. They won a team record thirty-six points. Vaduz player Armando Sadiku represented Albania at Euro 2016.


title: FC Vaduz

text: The team appeared for the first time in a popular sports video game, "FIFA 17". This was the first time in history that a team from Liechtenstein appeared in the sports video game series.


title: FC Vaduz

text: After three years in the elite Swiss competition, the only and most awarded Liechtenstein team relegated. It was not a good season 2016–17, where they even changed the coach Giorgio Contini after almost 5 years at the helm, and in his place came the German coach Roland Vrabec, but Vaduz has not succeeded to survive in Swiss Super League.


title: FC Vaduz

text: On 5 September 2018, they terminated the agreement with Roland Vrabec. On September 17, they presented a new coach Mario Frick. He is the first coach from Liechtenstein in history.


title: FC Vaduz

text: In season 2019–20 FC Vaduz started their European campaign in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League by beating Breiðablik from Iceland in the first qualifying round of the Europa League. In the second round, Vaduz caused a shock by knocking out Hungarian side MOL Fehérvár. In the third qualifying round of the Europa League they played against Eintracht Frankfurt. The Bundesliga team easily won both matches. However, those matches were historic for the club. In the first match in Vaduz there were 5,908 spectators present, while the city as a whole has a population of only 5,521.


title: FC Vaduz

text: On 25 August 2022, after an away victory against Rapid Wien, Vaduz secured qualification for the group stages of the Europa Conference League, becoming the first ever team from Liechtenstein to reach the group stages of a European club competition. They were subsequently drawn into Group E where they played against Dutch side AZ, Cypriot champions Apollon Limassol and Ukrainian side Dnipro-1. After a solid start to the group, with a goalless draw at home to Apollon, Vaduz would only go on and collect one more point, away against Dnipro-1, thus finishing bottom of the group with two points from their six games.


title: FC Vaduz

text: Vaduz is one of several expatriate European football clubs, playing in the Swiss Football League, AS Monaco playing in France, San Marino Calcio playing in Italy and some other minor clubs doing likewise in different leagues. The difference between Vaduz and the aforementioned clubs is that its status in Switzerland is a "guest club", and as such it does not participate in the Swiss Cup and cannot represent Switzerland internationally, which makes Champions League qualification from league football impossible under current rules other than by winning the Europa League or the Champions League itself. Since Vaduz has never finished higher than 8th in the Super League and therefore could not be argued to have qualified, such a situation has not occurred.


title: FC Vaduz

text: The Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz is the national stadium of Liechtenstein. It plays host to the home matches of the Liechtenstein national football team, and is also the home of Liechtenstein's top football club, FC Vaduz. It lies on the banks of the River Rhine, just metres from the border with Switzerland. The stadium has a fully seated capacity of 5,873, plus additional standing places, giving it a total capacity of 7,584. The building of the stadium cost roughly 19 million CHF.


title: FC Vaduz

text: The stadium was officially opened on 31 July 1998 with a match between FC Vaduz, the Liechtenstein Cup holders at the time, and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, the then Bundesliga champions. Kaiserslautern won the match 8–0. Liverpool F.C. played here against Olympiacos F.C. in a friendly in 2005. Rheinpark Stadion hosted the likes of FC Chornomorets Odesa and Paris Saint-Germain F.C. in this tournament but failed to progress past the qualification rounds.


title: FC Vaduz

text: The construction of the stadium became necessary because the FIFA World governing body FIFA and the European association UEFA threatened not to allow more European and international matches in Liechtenstein if the country did not provide a modern venue in accordance with international standards. In Liechtenstein, no own championship is played, but a cup competition is organized. Its series winner FC Vaduz is therefore represented in the Europa League almost every year. The national team has not been represented in any major competition such as the World or European Championship, but in the qualifications to do so.


title: FC Vaduz

text: Rheinpark Stadion sits less than 1 km west of Vaduz city centre on the eastern bank of the Rhein River. Vaduz holds the distinction of being one of the few capitals in the world to lack its own airport and railway station.


title: FC Vaduz

text: There are a limited number of free parking spaces located at Rheinpark Stadion on matchdays which are allocated on a first-come first-served basis.


title: FC Vaduz

text: The player of the year in Liechtenstein has been announced as the season 1980/81 to 2007/08 as of the end of the season. The open for all election was organized by media house Vaduz. Since 2009, the Liechtenstein Football Association draws the title holder of its own. To this end, the LFV-Award has been launched, annually awarded a title in which professional bodies and public in three categories. The categories are Footballer of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.


title: FC Vaduz

text: To celebrate the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)'s 50th anniversary in 2004, each of its member associations was asked by UEFA to choose one of its own players as the single most outstanding player of the past 50 years (1954–2003).


title: FC Vaduz

text: In the 2007–08 season, for the first time in their history, FC Vaduz earned promotion to Swiss Super League. Two times before was relegated in Barrage in the season 2003–04 against Neuchâtel Xamax and 2004–05 against FC Schaffhausen. In the 2015–16 season they finished on the 8th place in front of FC Lugano and FC Zürich who is that season relegated in Swiss Challenge League. After two seasons FC Vaduz was relegated in Swiss Challenge League. In the 2019–20 season Vaduz finished in second place and played in the barrage against FC Thun and Vaduz promoted in Super League fifth time in history.


title: FC Vaduz

text: FC Vaduz U23 is the reserve team of FC Vaduz. They currently play in the 2. Liga (sixth tier of the Swiss football league system). In the season 2014–15 they played semi-finals in Liechtenstein Cup against FC Triesenberg and they lost 1–0 after extra time.


title: FC Vaduz

text: A few former players are considered by the fans to be especially memorable because of their long and outstanding contributions towards the club, to some degree even decades after the end of their careers. Therefore, they have a very special status with the fans. The following are a few examples:


title: FC Vaduz

text: On 12 March 2012 the new club FC Vaduz Rugby was founded. The rugby union club is involved in the grassroots of the FC Vaduz. Rugby union in Liechtenstein is a minor but growing sport. Liechtenstein has no national governing body of its own, but comes under the Swiss Rugby Federation.


title: Anna Gordy Gaye

text: Anna Ruby Gaye (née Gordy; January 28, 1922 – January 31, 2014) was an American businesswoman, composer and songwriter. An elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy, she became a record executive in the mid-to-late 1950s distributing records released on Checker and Gone Records before forming the Anna label with Billy Davis and her sister Gwen Gordy Fuqua. Gordy later became known as a songwriter for several hits including the Originals' "Baby, I'm for Real", and at least two songs on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" album. The first wife of Gaye, their turbulent marriage later served as inspiration for Gaye's 15th studio album, "Here, My Dear".


title: Anna Gordy Gaye

text: Born Anna Ruby Gordy on December 12, 1921, in Oconee, Georgia, she was the third-eldest child of Berry Gordy Sr. (Berry Gordy II) and Bertha Ida (née Fuller) Gordy's eight children. Into her first year, Gordy's family relocated to Detroit. Following graduation from high school in 1940, Gordy relocated to California, which is where Gordy's younger brother Berry moved after he dropped out of high school to form a boxing career. Returning to Detroit in the mid-1950s, she and younger sister Gwen became operators of the photo concession at Detroit's Flame Show Bar.


title: Anna Gordy Gaye

text: By the late 1950s, members of the Gordy clan were getting involved with the music business. In 1956, Anna began her career distributing records for Checker Records. In about 1957, she distributed a few recordings for Gone Records. In 1958, Anna and Gordy's younger sister Gwen founded the label Anna Records with musician Billy Davis, a year before Berry launched Tamla Records. Anna distributed Tamla's first national hit, Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)". Artists such as David Ruffin and Joe Tex also recorded for the label, and Marvin Gaye became a session musician with the company. After the label was absorbed as a subsidiary of Motown in 1961, Gordy joined Motown as a songwriter. Some of her early compositions were recorded by Gaye and Mary Wells. In 1965, Gordy co-wrote Stevie Wonder's "What Christmas Means to Me".


title: Anna Gordy Gaye

text: Gordy later co-composed the Originals' hits "Baby, I'm for Real" and "The Bells" with Marvin Gaye. Gordy's name was included as a co-songwriter on two songs on Gaye's 1971 album, "What's Going On", including "Flyin' High (In the Friendly Sky)" and "God Is Love". In 1973, Gordy's name was included in the credits to the song "Just to Keep You Satisfied", which was originally recorded in 1969 by the Monitors, and recorded by the Originals two years later. Gaye's version was overdubbed from the Originals recording and reversed the song's romantic lyrics for a more solemn view of the end of a marriage. Gordy left Motown at the end of the 1970s and retired from the music industry.


title: Anna Gordy Gaye

text: Gordy met Marvin Gaye in 1959 when he was 20 years old and singing with Harvey and the New Moonglows. Gaye soon began working at Anna Records and soon developed an attraction to Gordy. They eventually began dating in 1960. After a three-year courtship, they married in June 1963.


title: Anna Gordy Gaye

text: Inspired by their romance, Marvin penned hit singles about Anna including "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" and "Pride & Joy." Of "Pride and Joy", Gaye said, "When I composed 'Pride and Joy', I was head over heels in love with Anna. I just wrote what I felt about her, and what she did for me. She was my pride and joy."


title: Anna Gordy Gaye

text: The marriage between Marvin and Anna was reportedly turbulent, including two public spats. In order to bring some stability to their home life, Anna and Marvin adopted a boy born on November 17, 1966, who was named Marvin Pentz Gaye III, after his adoptive father. The boy was said to have been naturally conceived by Anna and Marvin in Motown's public relations stories of the couple, but Marvin confirmed his adoption in David Ritz's biography, "". In later years, the identity of the mother was revealed to be Denise Gordy, Anna's niece.


title: Anna Gordy Gaye

text: In 1971, the couple moved to Hollywood. Two years later, they filed for legal separation. Gaye settled in with a young woman named Janis Hunter, with whom he had two children. In November 1975, Gordy filed for divorce. After nearly two years, the case was settled in Gordy's favor after Gaye agreed to remit a portion of his royalties from his next album to her. The resulting album, "Here, My Dear", gave audiences a view of the marriage from Marvin's point of view. After its release in December 1978, Gordy threatened to sue Marvin for $5 million for the invasion of privacy. Nothing came of her threat.


title: Anna Gordy Gaye

text: In the 1980s, Marvin and Anna reconciled as friends, and Anna accompanied Marvin to industry events following the release of his comeback album "Midnight Love", in 1982. Anna attended the Grammy Awards in 1983, at which Marvin was awarded two trophies. Marvin's death in 1984 devastated Anna; later she and Marvin's three children scattered most of his ashes near the Pacific Ocean, while she kept a portion. When Marvin was honored with induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Anna and Marvin Gaye III accepted on his behalf.


title: Anna Gordy Gaye

text: Gordy never remarried. Her last public appearance was in June 2008. She attended a Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Heart Foundation event at which her brother Berry was honored.


title: Anna Gordy Gaye

text: Gordy died on January 31, 2014, three days after her 92nd birthday. She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park – Hollywood Hills, Courts of Remembrance, Sanctuary of Enduring Protection.


title: The People of Freedom

text: The People of Freedom (, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL, launched by Silvio Berlusconi on 18 November 2007, was initially a federation of political parties, notably including Forza Italia and National Alliance, which participated as a joint election list in the 2008 general election. The federation was later transformed into a party during a party congress on 27–29 March 2009. The party's leading members included Angelino Alfano (national secretary), Renato Schifani, Renato Brunetta, Roberto Formigoni, Maurizio Sacconi, Maurizio Gasparri, Mariastella Gelmini, Antonio Martino, Giancarlo Galan, Maurizio Lupi, Gaetano Quagliariello, Daniela Santanchè, Sandro Bondi, and Raffaele Fitto.


title: The People of Freedom

text: The PdL formed Italy's government from 2008 to 2011 in coalition with Lega Nord. After having supported Mario Monti's technocratic government in 2011–2012, the party was part of Enrico Letta's government with the Democratic Party, Civic Choice and the Union of the Centre. Alfano functioned as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. In June 2013, Berlusconi announced Forza Italia's revival and the PdL's transformation into a centre-right coalition. On 16 November 2013, the PdL's national council voted to dissolve the party and start a new Forza Italia party; the assembly was deserted by a group of dissidents, led by Alfano, who had launched the New Centre-Right the day before.


title: The People of Freedom

text: In the run-up to the 2006 general election there was talk among the House of Freedoms coalition's member parties on merging into a "united party of moderates and reformers". Forza Italia (FI), National Alliance (AN) and the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC) all seemed interested in the project. Soon after the election, however, UDC leader Pier Ferdinando Casini, who had been a reluctant coalition partner, started to distance from its historical allies. Another party of the coalition, Lega Nord (LN), showed no interest in the idea, because of its character as a regionalist party.


title: The People of Freedom

text: On 2 December 2006, during a big rally of the centre-right in Rome against Romano Prodi's government, Silvio Berlusconi proposed the foundation of a "freedom party", stressing that centre-right voters were all part of a single "people of freedom". On 21 August 2007 Michela Brambilla, president of the Clubs of Freedom (a grassroot group), registered the name and the symbol of the "Freedom Party" ("Partito della Libertà") on Berlusconi's behalf, but none of Berlusconi's allies seemed interested in joining such a party and some leading FI dignitaries looked disappointed.


title: The People of Freedom

text: On 18 November 2007, Berlusconi claimed that his supporters had collected over 7 million signatures on an appeal demanding the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, to call a fresh general election. Shortly afterwards, from the running board of a car in a crowded Piazza San Babila in Milan, he announced that FI would soon merge or transform into a new "party of the Italian people". The new course was thus called the "running board revolution" ("rivoluzione del predellino") and this expression soon became very popular both among Berlusconi's supporters and his adversaries.


title: The People of Freedom

text: At the beginning, the fate of FI remained unclear. Later, it was explained that the new party's core would consist of FI, the Clubs of Freedom and other grassroots groups, and that some minor parties of the House of Freedoms would join too. AN leader Gianfranco Fini made very critical statements in the days after Berlusconi's announcement, declaring the end of his support for Berlusconi as candidate for Prime Minister and that his party would not join the new party. Also UDC leader Casini criticized the idea from the start and seemed interested in an alternative coalition with Fini.


title: The People of Freedom

text: On 24 January 2008, the Prodi II Cabinet fell as a result of the political crisis, paving the way for a new general election.


title: The People of Freedom

text: The day after Berlusconi hinted that FI would probably contest its last election, and postponed the foundation of the new party until after the election. In an atmosphere of reconciliation with Fini, Berlusconi also stated that the new party could involve the participation of other parties. On 8 February, Berlusconi and Fini agreed to form a joint list under the banner of The People of Freedom (PdL), in alliance with LN.


title: The People of Freedom

text: In addition to Forza Italia and the National Alliance, several minor parties and groups chose to join the PdL: the Clubs of Freedom of Michela Vittoria Brambilla, the Clubs of Good Government of Marcello Dell'Utri, the Liberal Populars (a splinter group from the UDC) of Carlo Giovanardi, the Christian Democracy for the Autonomies of Gianfranco Rotondi, the Pensioners' Party of Carlo Fatuzzo, Liberal Reformers of Benedetto Della Vedova, the Italian Republican Party of Francesco Nucara, the New Italian Socialist Party of Stefano Caldoro, the Liberal Democrats (a splinter group from The Daisy) of Daniela Melchiorre, Decide! of Daniele Capezzone, Italians in the World of Sergio De Gregorio, Social Action of Alessandra Mussolini, the Libertarian Right (a splinter group from The Right) of Luciano Buonocore and the Reformist Socialists of Donato Robilotta.


title: The People of Freedom

text: In the 2008 general election, the PdL won 37.4% of the vote, getting elected 276 deputies and 146 senators and becoming the Italian largest party. The PdL was also the first party since Christian Democracy in the 1979 general election to get more than 35% of the popular vote.


title: The People of Freedom

text: On 27–29 March 2009, the new party held its first congress in Rome and was officially founded. Berlusconi was elected president, while Sandro Bondi, Ignazio La Russa and Denis Verdini were appointed national coordinators, Maurizio Lupi organizational secretary and Daniele Capezzone spokesperson.


title: The People of Freedom

text: In the 2009 European Parliament election, the party won 35.2% of the national vote, returning 29 MEPs.


title: The People of Freedom

text: In the big round of regional elections of 2010, the PdL retained Lombardy with Roberto Formigoni (in coalition with LN), gained Lazio with Renata Polverini (a former leader of the General Labour Union), Campania with Stefano Caldoro (a leading Socialist) and Calabria with Giuseppe Scopelliti (a former AN member). The PdL was also instrumental in the centre-right victories in Veneto and Piedmont, where two Presidents of LN, Luca Zaia and Roberto Cota respectively, were elected.


title: The People of Freedom

text: Between 2009 and 2010 Gianfranco Fini, former leader of the conservative AN and President of the Chamber of Deputies, became a vocal critic of the leadership of Berlusconi. Fini departed from party's majority line on stem cell research, end of life issues, advance health care directive and immigration, but, most of all, he was a proponent of a more structured party organisation. His criticism was aimed at the leadership style of Berlusconi, who tended to rely on his personal charisma to lead the party from the centre and supported a lighter form of party, which in his mind was to be a movement-party active only at election times (as the original FI and, on some respects, parties in the United States).


title: The People of Freedom

text: Although some "Finiani", such as Italo Bocchino, Carmelo Briguglio and Fabio Granata, shared Fini's views on moral issues and immigration, many others, including Andrea Ronchi and Adolfo Urso, were traditionalist. In fact most "Finiani" were Southern conservatives who opposed Berlusconi's firm alliance with LN, federal reform and Giulio Tremonti's economic policy. Fini made inroads among the liberal and centrist ranks of the former FI, but he lost the support of most leading members of the former AN, notably including Ignazio La Russa, Maurizio Gasparri and Altero Matteoli, who became close allies of Berlusconi. Others, including Gianni Alemanno and Alfredo Mantovano, found common ground with the party's Christian democrats.


title: The People of Freedom

text: On 15 April 2010 Bocchino launched an association named Generation Italy in order to better represent Fini's views within the party. Five days later 52 MPs (39 deputies and 13 senators) signed a document in support of Fini and his theses, while other 74 MPs former members of AN, including La Russa, Gasparri, Matteoli and Giorgia Meloni, plus Alemanno, mayor of Rome, signed an alternative document in which they reasserted their loyalty to the party and Berlusconi. On 22 April 2010 the national council of the PdL convened in Rome for the first time in a year. The conflict between Fini and Berlusconi was covered live on television. At the end of the day a resolution proposed by Berlusconi's loyalists was put before the assembly and approved almost unanimously.


title: The People of Freedom

text: Following then, clashes between Fini and Berlusconi became even more frequent and reached their height in late July, when Fini questioned the morality of some party bigwigs under investigation. On 29 July 2010 the executive committee released a document (voted by 33 members out of 37) in which Fini was described as "incompatible" with the political line of the PdL and unable to perform his job of President of the Chamber of Deputies in a neutral way. Berlusconi asked Fini to step down and the executive proposed the suspension from party membership of Bocchino, Briguglio and Granata, who had harshly criticized Berlusconi and accused some party members of criminal offences. As response, Fini and his followers formed their own groups in both chambers under the name of Future and Freedom (FLI).


title: The People of Freedom

text: It was soon clear that FLI would leave the PdL and become an independent party. On 7 November, during a convention in Bastia Umbra, Fini asked Berlusconi to step down as Prime Minister and proposed a new government including the Union of the Centre (UdC). A few days later, the four FLI members in the government resigned. On 14 December FLI voted against Berlusconi in a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies, a vote won by Berlusconi by 314 to 311.


title: The People of Freedom

text: In May 2011 the party suffered a big blow in local elections. Particularly painful was the loss of Milan, Berlusconi's hometown and party stronghold, where the outgoing PdL mayor Letizia Moratti was defeated by Giuliano Pisapia, a left-wing independent close to Nichi Vendola's Left Ecology Freedom party.


title: The People of Freedom

text: In response to this and to crescent fibrillation within party ranks (especially among "Scajoliani" and ex-AN members), Angelino Alfano, then minister of Justice, was chosen as national secretary in charge of re-organising and renewing the party. The appointment of 40-year-old Alfano, a former Christian Democrat who had later been leader of FI in Sicily, was unanimously approved by the party executive. However, economy minister Giulio Tremonti expressed his concerns that the nominee would "make us lose votes in the North". On 1 July the national council modified the party's constitution and Alfano was elected secretary with little opposition.