title: Stochastic differential equation

text: In supersymmetric theory of SDEs, stochastic dynamics is defined via stochastic evolution operator acting on the differential forms on the phase space of the model. In this exact formulation of stochastic dynamics, all SDEs possess topological supersymmetry which represents the preservation of the continuity of the phase space by continuous time flow. The spontaneous breakdown of this supersymmetry is the mathematical essence of the ubiquitous dynamical phenomenon known across disciplines as chaos, turbulence, self-organized criticality etc. and the Goldstone theorem explains the associated long-range dynamical behavior, i.e., the butterfly effect, 1/f and crackling noises, and scale-free statistics of earthquakes, neuroavalanches, solar flares etc.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: The red wall is a term used in British politics to describe constituencies in the Midlands and Northern England which historically supported the Labour Party.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: At the 2019 general election, many of these constituencies supported the Conservative Party, with the media describing the red wall as having "turned blue".


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: At the 2021 Hartlepool by-election, the Conservatives won for the first time in decades in another red wall seat. The 2021 Batley and Spen by-election was also for a red wall seat; Labour held the seat, albeit with a reduced majority.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: In the 2022 Wakefield by-election, Labour regained their first red wall seat; this was also their first gain in any by-election since 2012.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: Historically, the working class-dominated constituencies in the North Midlands and Northern England tended to favour the Labour Party. As early as the 1906 general election, two-thirds of Labour candidates elected came from Northern English constituencies. In 2014, political scientists Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin documented the erosion by the UK Independence Party (UKIP) of the Labour-supporting working-class vote in their book, "Revolt on the Right".


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: At the 2017 general election, the Conservatives lost seats overall, but did gain six Labour-held seats in the Midlands and North, which Labour had held for at least three decades: North East Derbyshire, Walsall North, Mansfield, Stoke-on-Trent South, Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland and Copeland (held from the 2017 Copeland by-election). In 2019, the Conservatives increased their majority in the seats previously gained.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: Former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has suggested prior support of many northern Labour voters for UKIP (which he had also led) and the Brexit Party made it easier for them to vote Conservative.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: At the 2019 general election, the Conservative Party had a net gain of 48 seats in England. The Labour Party, however, had a net loss of 47 seats in England, losing approximately 20% of its 2017 general election support in "red wall" seats. All of these seats voted to leave the EU by substantial margins, and Brexit appears to have played a role in these seats changing hands.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: Voters in seats such as Bolsover, and swing voters of the type thought to be typified by 'Workington man', cited Brexit and the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn as reasons why they chose not to vote Labour. The party lost so much support in the "red wall" in some seats, such as Sedgefield, Ashfield and Workington, that even without the Tory vote share increase, the Conservatives would still have gained those seats. Notable examples of "red wall" constituencies taken by the Conservatives include:


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: The "red wall" metaphor has been criticised as a generalisation. The writer Alex Niven called it "a convenient term of journalese that seemed to arise in the last days of the 2019 campaign to describe a large, disparate part of the country north of Oxford." Lewis Baston argued that the "red wall" is politically diverse, and includes bellwether seats which swung with the national trend, as well as former mining and industrial seats which show a more unusual shift. Rosie Lockwood, meanwhile, said, "For years the Westminster establishment has sought to define the north through soundbites. The most recent is 'the red wall'." In an article for "The Daily Telegraph", Royston Smith, MP for Southampton Itchen, made the case that his seat in post-industrial Southampton was one of the first red wall seats gained from the Labour Party when he became its Conservative MP at the 2015 United Kingdom general election.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: In July 2021, following Labour's narrow victory in the Batley and Spen by-election, David Edgerton, professor of Modern British History at King's College London, denounced the concept of the red wall, pointing out that "the belief that working-class people traditionally voted Labour has only been true (and barely so) for a mere 25 years of British history, and a long time ago." He went on to say:


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: "The phenomenon of a working-class red wall is an ideological concoction that benefits Labour's enemies. It makes little sociological or psephological sense today, and the fragment of the past it reflects is one of Tory working classes. Yet this group has come to define how Labour thinks of the working class. That the party views this Tory analysis as a bellwether of its fortunes speaks to its collapse as an independent, transformative political force. If it is ever to win significant support today among real English people, Labour needs to understand its own history, celebrate its successes and love itself, its members and its voters.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: Labour undoubtedly still needs the working-class vote. Winning this means creating a Labour party for workers and trade unionists in the present day, not those of a mythologised past. Doing better among those workers than Labour did in its heyday would also be necessary for electoral success. The party needs to relearn not only how to get votes, but how to keep them too, which it has failed to do for decades. To make all this possible it needs to present a real alternative with vigour and confidence, and to stop acting as if it believed that this uniquely dangerous Conservative government had the British past, present and future in its bones."


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: In January 2022, Anthony Wells, Director of Political Research at YouGov UK, wrote an article on his "Substack" titled "Stop obsessing about the Red Wall". In it, he criticised political commentators and politicians who use the term "based upon a perception of what the author's idea of a stereotypical working class Conservative voter would think, rather missing the point of James [Kanagasooriam]'s original hypothesis that voters in those areas were actually demographically "similar" to more Tory areas ... [T]hese were seats that for cultural reasons were less Conservative than you would have expected given their demographics. To some degree that has unwound in some areas. There is probably not an easy way for Labour to rebuild that reluctance to consider voting Tory in places where it has collapsed. It is also worth considering whether it has even fully played out... it may be there is further realignment to go."


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: Newcastle University geography professor Danny MacKinnon said that the weakening relationship between Labour and "red wall" voters can be traced back to the late 1990s, when New Labour aimed for middle-class support. He said that "Labour became more of a middle-class party. [Red wall areas] have older voters who have had lower living standards since 2010. There's the phrase 'left behind'. And there's a sense of cultural alienation from Labour and metropolitan cities."


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: David Jeffery, a lecturer in British Politics at the University of Liverpool, claimed that "the Conservative party's new supporters aren't really that different from their old ones". Using data from the British Election Study, he analysed the attitudes between voters within and without the "red wall" and found that "[t]he differences between Red Wall and non-Red Wall voters (and switchers) is marginal across all three topics, suggesting [that] 'going woke' isn't a unique threat to the party's new electoral coalition any more than it is to their voter base in general."


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: In May 2021, YouGov released the results of a large survey which "somewhat contradicts 'evidence' from vox-pops and commentary on the underlying reasons for voters moving away from Labour in these constituencies." According to Patrick English:


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: "Our survey shows that rather than being a bastion of social conservativism within Britain, these constituencies up and down the North and Midlands contain a great diversity of opinions, and indeed widespread support for a range of what we might consider progressive policies and views.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: Furthermore, where Red Wall voters do exhibit socially conservative attitudes, they are not significant stronger (or no more common) than the level of social conservativism which we see among the British public in general.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: In other words, the Red Wall is no more socially conservative than Britain as a whole, and characterisation of voters in these areas as predominantly “small c” conservatives concerned about social liberalisation or culture wars is not supported by polling evidence."


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: Responding to this survey, Jeremy Corbyn's former senior policy adviser, Andrew Fisher, insisted that the concept of the "mythologised" red wall was "part of a decades-long agenda aimed at undermining progressive causes."


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: In "Tribune" magazine, Jason Okundaye warned Labour not to forget about its "other heartlands", i.e. Black and South Asian voters in urban areas. He said that during the New Labour years, "Labour felt it could ignore the concerns of working-class voters because they were assumed to be pious followers of the Labour religion. Peter Mandelson's belief that they had 'nowhere else to go' became a creedal statement. What it failed to see was a class of increasing political atheists. It is not hard to imagine the same thing happening in future to ethnic minority communities."


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: The use of the term "tartan wall" has been used to refer to the formerly Labour-voting areas in the formerly industrial Central Belt in Scotland, which slowly progressed towards voting for the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the 2015 general election. This resulted in the borderline extinction of Scottish Labour MPs, as only Ian Murray (Edinburgh South) retained his seat whilst 40 other constituencies were won by the SNP.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: Though these seats did not fall to the Scottish Conservatives in the 2019 election and thus are not commonly included in the category of the "red wall", it has been argued that much of the same disillusionment felt in the parts of England and Wales that resulted in the loss of those seats in 2019 was also present in 2015 in Scotland. Perhaps a predictor for the now red wall seats in England, Labour's decline in Scotland has largely been seen as ongoing, as though they saw a small revival in the 2017 election, winning seven seats, this was seen as part the national trend towards Labour as well as lower turnout among SNP voters; in the 2019 election, the party lost six of its seats, again reducing it to one MP.


title: Red wall (British politics)

text: Journalist Nicholas Burgess Farrell has used the term "red wall" to describe the Red belt, historically left-supporting regions of Italy, such as Emilia-Romagna which are under comparable pressure by Matteo Salvini and his right-wing populist Lega Nord party.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: The 2020 Money in the Bank was the 11th annual Money in the Bank professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event aired on May 10, 2020. While the majority of the event aired live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, the show's eponymous ladder matches were pre-recorded on April 15 at WWE's Titan Towers global headquarters building in Stamford, Connecticut.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: The event was originally scheduled to take place at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, but the venue cancelled all shows that were to be held due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, WWE took advantage of the situation and moved the two titular ladder matches to their global headquarters building in Stamford with a new "Corporate Ladder" gimmick where the match's titular briefcases were suspended above a ring on the building's roof. The wrestlers began on the ground floor and fought their way to the roof. The eponymous matches were produced as cinematic matches.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Otis and Asuka won their respective Money in the Bank ladder matches, which were contested at the same time. In the penultimate match, Drew McIntyre defeated Seth Rollins to retain Raw's WWE Championship. Other prominent matches included Braun Strowman defeating Bray Wyatt to retain SmackDown's Universal Championship, and Bayley defeating Tamina to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: Money in the Bank is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE since 2010, generally held between May and July. The concept of the show comes from WWE's established Money in the Bank ladder match, in which multiple wrestlers use ladders to retrieve a briefcase hanging above the ring. The briefcase contains a contract that guarantees the winner a match for a world championship of their choosing at any time within the next year. The 2020 event featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands; male wrestlers competed for a contract to grant them a match for either Raw's WWE Championship or SmackDown's Universal Championship, while female wrestlers competed for a Raw Women's Championship or SmackDown Women's Championship match contract—though the day after the event, it was revealed that the women's match was actually for the Raw Women's Championship instead of a title match contract due to the unexpected circumstances that forced the then-Raw Women's Champion to go on hiatus. The 2020 show was the 11th event in the Money in the Bank chronology.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: As with WWE's other programming since March 13, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated changes to the PPV; Money in the Bank was originally announced to be held on May 10, 2020, at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. However, on March 30, one week before WrestleMania 36, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan issued a stay at home order. An advertisement promoting Money in the Bank for May 10 aired during WrestleMania 36 Part 2 on April 5, but with no reference to a city or venue. Subsequently, Royal Farms Arena cancelled all events due to the pandemic and began issuing refunds.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: WWE initially did not announce whether the event would still go on from a different location (such as the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida where most WWE shows for Raw and SmackDown had been held since March 13), but on the April 17 episode of "SmackDown", it was announced that the two Money in the Bank ladder matches would take place at WWE's global headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. A new "Corporate Ladder" gimmick was also added to the matches, in which the participants had to travel from the ground floor of the building to the roof in order to locate the briefcases, which were suspended above a ring on the roof. It was also announced that the men's and women's matches would take place at the same time. With the changes in format, the number of participants in each match was also reduced to six; since the 2018 event, both the men's and women's ladder matches featured eight wrestlers that were evenly divided between the Raw and SmackDown brands. While the ladder matches were pre-recorded on April 15 as cinematic matches, it was confirmed on the day of the event that all of the other matches would take place live from the WWE Performance Center with no fans in attendance.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: The show comprised eight matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, "Monday Night Raw" and "Friday Night SmackDown."


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: At Super ShowDown, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt lost the Universal Championship to Goldberg, who in turn lost the title to Braun Strowman during WrestleMania 36 Part 1. On the following episode of "SmackDown", Wyatt interrupted Strowman after his match and reminded Strowman that it was he who brought him to the WWE with his old Wyatt Family stable. He then stated he wanted his title back and Strowman accepted the challenge, which was scheduled for Money in the Bank, though against Wyatt's normal self instead of The Fiend.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: Qualifying matches for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match began on the April 13 episode of "Raw". Asuka, Shayna Baszler, and the returning Nia Jax qualified for the match by defeating Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, and Kairi Sane, respectively. Dana Brooke then qualified by defeating Naomi on the April 17 episode of "SmackDown". On the following week's "SmackDown", Lacey Evans defeated Sasha Banks to qualify for the match. Carmella won the final spot by defeating Mandy Rose on the May 1 episode of "SmackDown".


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: Qualifying matches for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match began on the April 17 episode of "SmackDown" where Daniel Bryan defeated Cesaro to qualify. On the following "Raw", Aleister Black, Apollo Crews, and Rey Mysterio qualified for the match by defeating Austin Theory, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), and Murphy, respectively. King Corbin then qualified by defeating Drew Gulak on the April 24 episode of "SmackDown". On the April 27 episode of "Raw", Crews injured his left knee during his United States Championship match against Andrade, pulling him from the ladder match. Otis was the next to qualify by defeating Dolph Ziggler on the May 1 episode of "SmackDown". On the May 4 episode of "Raw", AJ Styles—in his first appearance since being buried alive by The Undertaker at WrestleMania—won a Last Chance gauntlet match to take the final spot vacated by Crews.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: During WrestleMania 36 Part 2, Tamina was eliminated first in the fatal five-way elimination match for the SmackDown Women's Championship due to all of the other competitors piling on top of her for the pin; Bayley subsequently retained the title. On the following "SmackDown", Tamina pointed out the fact that Bayley nor any other competitor in that match actually beat her and challenged Bayley to a singles match for the championship. Bayley agreed if Tamina could defeat her friend Sasha Banks, which she did the following week to earn the title match at Money in the Bank.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: During WrestleMania 36 Part 1, Seth Rollins lost to Kevin Owens, while in the main event of Part 2, Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship. On the April 13 episode of "Raw", Rollins stated that by losing to Owens, he had been crucified and now had truly risen (buying into his "Monday Night Messiah" gimmick). He later attacked McIntyre following the latter's match and performed two Stomps on him. The following week, McIntyre challenged Rollins to a match at Money in the Bank with his title on the line, stating that as champion, he needed to face the best. Rollins responded, noting their similarities, such as both being former NXT Champions, as well as both defeating Lesnar to win a world championship at WrestleMania (which Rollins did twice, first at WrestleMania 31 for the WWE Championship—at that time called the WWE World Heavyweight Championship—and again at WrestleMania 35 for the Universal Championship). Rollins then accepted McIntyre's challenge.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: On the April 17 episode of "SmackDown", The New Day's Big E defeated Jey Uso (representing The Usos) and defending co-champion The Miz (representing himself and John Morrison) in a triple threat match to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship for The New Day. The following week, Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik) came out to challenge New Day but were interrupted by Miz and John Morrison, who also challenged The New Day. The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler, Jaxson Ryker, and Wesley Blake) then made their SmackDown debut, stating they would be taking over the brand's tag team division before attacking New Day. The following week, The Forgotten Sons (Cutler and Blake) defeated The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) in a non-title match where Miz and Morrison were on commentary. The New Day were then scheduled to defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Forgotten Sons, Miz and Morrison, and Lucha House Party in a fatal four-way tag team match at Money in the Bank.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: During the Money in the Bank Kickoff pre-show, Jeff Hardy faced Cesaro. In the end, Hardy performed a Swanton Bomb on Cesaro to win the match.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: The actual pay-per-view opened with The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) defending the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The Miz and John Morrison, Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik), and The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake) (accompanied by Jaxson Ryker). During the match, Ryker was ejected from ringside for interference. In the climax, Big E performed the Big Ending on Metalik to retain the title.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: Next, R-Truth was scheduled to face MVP. Truth began to insult MVP, who was offended. Bobby Lashley then interrupted and decided that he would be the one to face Truth and MVP agreed. In the end, Lashley performed a Spear on Truth to win the match.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: After that, Bayley (accompanied by Sasha Banks) defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Tamina. During the first half of the match, Bayley began to target Tamina's leg. After Bayley taunted Tamina by splashing water on her, Tamina performed a clothesline on Bayley and threw her onto the announce table. After Tamina performed a Samoan Drop on Bayley, Banks distracted Tamina. This allowed Bayley to recover and attack Tamina. As Tamina attempted a Samoan Drop, Bayley countered into a roll-up to retain the title. Following the match, as Tamina attempted a Samoan Drop for a third time on Bayley, Banks attacked Tamina and saved Bayley once again.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: In the next match, Braun Strowman defended the Universal Championship against Bray Wyatt. During the match, Strowman dominated Wyatt. As Strowman attempted to tackle Wyatt outside the ring, Wyatt avoided Strowman, who collided with the announce table. Huskus The Pig Boy puppet then appeared behind the barricade to cheer on Wyatt while he was dominating Strowman. Wyatt performed a Sister Abigail on Strowman for a near-fall. As Wyatt attempted another Sister Abigail, Strowman countered into a Chokeslam. Strowman then performed a Running Powerslam on Wyatt outside the ring. In the closing moments, Strowman wore his old "Black Sheep" mask, with which Wyatt had taunted him on episodes of "SmackDown" and was an integral part of Strowman's gimmick during his time in The Wyatt Family. Strowman started to play mind games on Wyatt, who was laughing hysterically and elated that Strowman presumably decided to rejoin Wyatt and the two embraced. However, Strowman shoved Wyatt back, removed the mask and then performed a Running Powerslam on Wyatt to retain the title. Following the match, as Wyatt sat in the corner realizing he had been outsmarted, imagery of The Fiend appeared on screen.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: In the penultimate match, Drew McIntyre defended the WWE Championship against Seth Rollins. Rollins performed a Stomp on McIntyre for a nearfall. In the end, as Rollins attempted another Stomp, McIntyre countered with a Glasgow Kiss. Rebounding off the ropes, Rollins performed a superkick, but as McIntyre also rebounded off the ropes, he performed a Claymore Kick on Rollins to retain the title. Following the match, McIntyre offered a handshake to Rollins, who reluctantly obliged.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: In the main event, both the men's and women's Money in the Bank ladder matches were contested simultaneously at WWE Global Headquarters. The women's match featured Asuka, Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, Lacey Evans, Carmella, and Dana Brooke, while the men's match featured AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio, Aleister Black, King Corbin, Daniel Bryan, and Otis. The women began in the lobby, where Asuka performed a splash off the mezzanine onto the other competitors before escaping in an elevator. The men, meanwhile, began in the gym, where Otis pinned Styles under a barbell. After leaving the gym, Mysterio ran past a restroom where he encountered Brother Love.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: Bryan, Black, Otis, and Corbin brawled into an elevator, spilling out onto another floor where they briefly encountered Evans, Baszler, and Carmella. Bryan performed Yes Kicks on Corbin with encouragement from Otis, after which, Bryan attacked Otis. A Doink The Clown impersonator then briefly appeared from behind a chair. Baszler, Brooke, Jax, and Carmella then fought into the Money in the Bank Conference Room. After knocking Jax out with a steel chair, Brooke unhooked a prop Money in the Bank briefcase hanging from the ceiling and celebrated, thinking she had won, but Stephanie McMahon appeared and reminded Brooke that the actual briefcase was still on the roof. Carmella then unhooked a large poster off the wall (depicting herself winning the first women's Money in the Bank ladder match) and smashed it over Brooke's head. After Carmella exited the room, Evans performed the Women's Right on Carmella. Searching for Mysterio, Styles encountered a large poster of The Undertaker and then stumbled upon an Undertaker-themed room. This caused him to have flashbacks of his WrestleMania 36 loss to The Undertaker. Black then attacked Styles and closed the door, locking him in the room.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: All of the participants except Styles and Asuka converged on a room where Paul Heyman was indulging in a buffet, and an inter-gender food fight ensued. During the melee, Baszler applied the Kirifuda Clutch on Mysterio, which was broken up when Jax and Otis charged and collided with Mysterio between them. Jax threw Carmella through the buffet table and teased a fight with Otis before the two went separate ways. Otis then encountered John Laurinaitis in the cafeteria and threw a pie in his face. Later, Styles and Bryan brawled into Vince McMahon's office, after which, Mr. McMahon ordered them to leave. Before leaving, however, Styles and Bryan positioned the chairs in their proper place, while Mr. McMahon sanitized his hands.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: Asuka was the first to reach the roof, followed by Jax and Evans. The three fought in and around the rooftop ring until Asuka gained the upper hand by dropping a ladder on Jax. Asuka then briefly fought with Evans on the ladder before throwing her on top of Jax. As Asuka ascended the ladder again, Corbin appeared on the roof and climbed the other side of the ladder; however, Asuka threw him off. Asuka then grabbed the women's briefcase to win the women's match. Otis was the next to reach the roof, followed by Black, Mysterio, Styles, and Bryan. Corbin dispatched Mysterio and Black by throwing them off the roof (on "Raw" the next night, Mysterio revealed that they were just thrown down to a lower area of the roof). Styles performed the Phenomenal Forearm on Otis and Styles and Corbin climbed the ladder. After a scuffle atop the ladder, Styles and Corbin unhooked the men's briefcase with both holding it. Elias, who Corbin had been feuding with since before WrestleMania, then appeared and attacked Corbin with a guitar, causing both Styles and Corbin to fumble the briefcase into the hands of Otis, who thus won the men's match.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: The following night on "Raw", Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch came out with the women's Money in the Bank briefcase and announced that she would be going on hiatus. A confused Asuka then came out. Lynch stated that by Asuka winning the women's Money in the Bank ladder match, she had actually won the Raw Women's Championship and opened the briefcase, revealing the title belt inside. Lynch then revealed that she was going on hiatus because she was pregnant. With this, Asuka became WWE's second Women's Grand Slam Champion and third Women's Triple Crown Champion.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: On the following "SmackDown", men's Money in the Bank winner Otis was a guest on MizTV where The Miz and John Morrison made fun of Otis and his relationship with Mandy Rose, and then challenged Otis to a tag team match. Due to the unavailability of Otis' Heavy Machinery tag team partner, Tucker, Otis had to find a different partner. Otis' mystery partner was revealed as Universal Champion Braun Strowman and the two defeated Miz and Morrison in the ensuing tag team match. Afterwards, Rose came out to congratulate Otis and then distracted Strowman for Otis to attempt to cash-in his contract. However, despite the temptation, Otis opted not to and saying he was joking. After entering into a feud with The Miz and John Morrison over the Money in the Bank contract in September, Otis was forced to defend the contract in a match against Miz, who had been drafted to Raw, at October's Hell in a Cell event, where Miz defeated Otis to win the Money in the Bank contract. Miz then successfully cashed in his contract on Raw's WWE Champion Drew McIntyre at Elimination Chamber on February 21, 2021, thus winning his second WWE Championship, last winning it in November 2010, which was also via a Money in the Bank cash-in.


title: Money in the Bank (2020)

text: Bray Wyatt made his return on the June 19 episode of "SmackDown" in a "Firefly Fun House" segment and stated that his rivalry with Braun Strowman was just getting started before appearing as his old cult leader persona of The Wyatt Family. Wyatt stated that since he created Strowman, it was his job to destroy him. The following week, Strowman responded by challenging Wyatt to a non-title match at a swamp called the Wyatt Swamp Fight which was scheduled for The Horror Show at Extreme Rules.


title: Cape (geography)

text: In geography, a cape is a headland or a promontory of large size extending into a body of water, usually the sea. A cape usually represents a marked change in trend of the coastline, often making them important landmarks in sea navigation. This also makes them prone to natural forms of erosion, mainly tidal actions, which results in them having a relatively short geological lifespan. Capes can be formed by glaciers, volcanoes, and changes in sea level. Erosion plays a large role in each of these methods of formation.


title: Brian McBride

text: Brian Robert McBride (born June 19, 1972) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward for Columbus Crew, Fulham and Chicago Fire. He is the fifth-highest all-time leading goalscorer for the United States national team.


title: Brian McBride

text: For much of his career, he played in United States with stints in both Germany and England. During his time at Fulham, McBride became a fan favorite, as well as team captain. He was eventually voted "Player of the Season" two times. After leaving the club, they renamed the sports bar at Craven Cottage "McBride's" in his honor.


title: Brian McBride

text: Born in Arlington Heights, Illinois, McBride played varsity soccer at Buffalo Grove High School, under coach John Erfort, where he led the Bison to the Illinois state championship in 1988, his junior year. During a playoff game against Fremd, McBride broke his nose in the first half, but came back into the game to score the game-winning goal. In his four years in high school, he scored 80 goals, 33 as a senior despite playing his senior season as a defender. In the regional final, during McBride's senior season, against Stevenson High School, he played goalkeeper. In the final, McBride stopped four of eight penalty kicks taken against him, and he scored the fifth, and winning, goal on a counterattack in extra time after the game ended tied at regulation. McBride was also named an All-American by Parade Magazine. Later, as a professional, he signed a contract with Nike with the condition that the boys' varsity soccer team receive new uniforms every two years.


title: Brian McBride

text: McBride had an illustrious career with Saint Louis University, from which he graduated in 1993. In his four seasons with the Billikens, he played (and started) in 89 games, and set career records for goals (72), assists (40) and total points (184). While at school, McBride was a 1992 second team and a 1993 first-team All-American. He also was named Most Valuable Player of the Great Midwest Conference three years straight, as well as being named to the All-Conference first-team during this stretch. He trained at the world-famous Magna Fitness Center. After being such a versatile player in his amateur career, McBride decided to become a striker at the professional level. Craig Burley warned McBride that he should expect to get clattered playing that position.


title: Brian McBride

text: McBride is one of 22 college players to be part of the 40-40 club, having both 40 goals and 40 assists in their college career.


title: Brian McBride

text: McBride briefly played for the minor league Milwaukee Rampage. In 18 games, he scored 17 goals and assisted another 18. That year also saw Tony Sanneh playing with the Rampage. Both Sanneh and McBride played professionally in Germany, in MLS and on the United States men's national team.


title: Brian McBride

text: They linked up for a historic goal at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In a game against Portugal, Sanneh, playing right back, played a cross into the box which McBride put into the top corner. After the game, McBride mentioned, "We joked about it in the locker room, it is a play we have done a thousand times [while teammates with the Milwaukee Rampage]. "I took a step in at the far post and lost my marker. He delivered a beautiful cross and I knocked it home."


title: Brian McBride

text: In 1994, McBride left the United States to ply his trade in Germany. At the time, VfL Wolfsburg played in the German Second Division and provided several aspiring American players an opportunity to play soccer in Europe. These included Chad Deering, Claudio Reyna and Mike Lapper, as well as McBride. McBride struggled to find playing time with the club and also had difficulty scoring. However, one of his two goals came in a 2–1 victory over Bayern Munich's reserve team in the DFB-Pokal quarterfinals – Wolfsburg went on to reach the final, although McBride did not feature. At the end of the season, McBride gained a release from Wolfsburg and when MLS was created, chose to return to play in the United States.


title: Brian McBride

text: McBride returned to America in 1996 for the inaugural season of Major League Soccer, for whom he was the first overall pick of the MLS Inaugural Draft. McBride played eight years with the Columbus Crew, scoring 62 goals (no longer tied for the club record with Jeff Cunningham) and 45 assists in 161 league games, before his move to England. In 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI.


title: Brian McBride

text: Whilst playing for Columbus, McBride had two loan spells in England. The first came in 2000 when McBride played for Preston North End, then managed by David Moyes. While McBride played well for the club, he sat out several games after having a blood clot surgically removed from his arm, which consisted of having a rib removed. The clot came as a result of a hard collision McBride had suffered during his first game with Preston. As McBride's loan spell came to an end, Preston attempted to purchase his contract from MLS for $1.8 million. MLS rejected it, considering McBride to be worth twice that amount.


title: Brian McBride

text: Two years later, Premier League club Everton were beginning to slide down the table. David Moyes, by then with Everton, remembered McBride's success with Preston and sought the forward's services. During McBride's three months with the club, he did not disappoint Moyes, scoring four goals in eight games, including his first game with the club, a 4–3 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. He made close friends during the short time with players such as Leon Osman (with whom he still plays soccer) and Richard Wright.


title: Brian McBride

text: Everton, unlike Preston, merely sought to extend McBride's loan period, but MLS rejected it, preferring a transfer over an extended loan for McBride.


title: Brian McBride

text: In January 2004, Premier League club Fulham bought McBride's rights from MLS for $1.5 million. He played 18 games during the last half of the 2003–04 season, scoring a total of five goals. His scoring pace remained steady through the next two seasons. In 2004–05, he played 31 league games and six cup games, scoring six league and three cup goals. In 2005–06, he played 38 league games and one cup game, scoring ten league goals and one cup goal. McBride's original contract with Fulham continued only through the 2005–06 season. However, on March 10, 2006, he signed a one-year extension which took him through the end of the 2006–07 season. On February 2, 2007, he signed yet another one-year extension, taking him through the 2007–2008 season. He has a reputation as a battler with a high work rate, a trait prized in English soccer.


title: Brian McBride

text: McBride was Fulham's top scorer for their 2006–07 Premier League campaign with twelve goals to his name. He was given Fulham's captaincy in August 2007.


title: Brian McBride

text: When scoring the opening goal in a home match against Middlesbrough on August 18, 2007, McBride dislocated his kneecap. He did not make his return to action until a friendly against Cardiff City in late January 2008, and resumed his Premier League duties as a substitute against Aston Villa on February 3, 2008. McBride scored his first goal since his injury against Everton at Craven Cottage on March 16, 2008, in a 1–0 victory for Fulham. The then-Fulham manager Chris Coleman commented it was such a shame that McBride had not been 'discovered' earlier in his career, and played more in England.


title: Brian McBride

text: After scoring twelve goals in 2006–07 season which helped Fulham retain their Premier League status, on May 14, 2007, McBride won the Club's Player of the Year award. He won it again in 2008, and became such a popular figure that the club renamed a bar inside Craven Cottage "McBride's" in June 2009.


title: Brian McBride

text: On May 28, 2008, McBride announced that he would be leaving Fulham to return to the United States to play in MLS.


title: Brian McBride

text: Following the end of his one-year contract extension, McBride decided to return to the United States to end his career in MLS. He expressed his desire to play for Chicago, his hometown. However, Toronto FC held the top spot in the allocation order, the process by which U.S. National Team players returning to MLS find teams in the league.


title: Brian McBride

text: On July 30, 2008, the top spot in the allocation order was traded to the Chicago Fire for Chad Barrett, a first round pick in the MLS SuperDraft and conditional future considerations. The Fire used the top spot to obtain McBride. He made his Fire debut on August 16, 2008, coming on as a second-half substitute against D.C. United.


title: Brian McBride

text: McBride scored his first goal against Houston Dynamo. McBride scored the first goal in the MLS Playoff Eastern Conference Championship against the Columbus Crew, his former club. However, Chicago lost that game 2–1 and was kept from being in the MLS Playoff final.


title: Brian McBride

text: McBride scored nine goals during the 2009 season, including two goals in the three SuperLiga games in which he played.


title: Brian McBride

text: On September 3, 2010, McBride announced that he would retire following the 2010 MLS season. McBride scored his 80th career goal (in MLS) during his final match before being substituted off to a standing ovation.


title: Brian McBride

text: In June 2012, he was one of several former professional players who agreed to join Wembley to play in their FA Cup campaign for the new season. McBride and fellow former internationals Ray Parlour, Martin Keown, Claudio Caniggia, Jaime Moreno, Danny Dichio and Graeme Le Saux, plus David Seaman (goalkeeping coach) and former England manager Terry Venables (technical advisor), came out of retirement to play for Wembley. They were knocked out in a replay by Uxbridge after initially setting up the tie by knocking Langford out in the previous round.


title: Brian McBride

text: McBride was a significant player for the United States national team, earning 96 caps and scoring 30 goals in his senior international career. He made his national team debut in 1993, though he was not a member of the squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He is the first-ever spokesperson for the Central Ohio Diabetes Association and donated $100 to the association for every goal and assist he tallied for the U.S. National Team.


title: Brian McBride

text: He was part of the U.S. team that played at the 1998, 2002, and 2006 FIFA World Cups. He scored at the 1998 and 2002 tournaments and in doing so, became the first American player to score at two World Cups. (Fellow Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey have since equaled this feat, the latter surpassing them with three.) He was the only American player that scored in the 1998 tournament, which was in a 2–1 defeat to Iran. Overall McBride is fourth behind Bert Patenaude, Dempsey and Donovan for the most World Cup goals for an American with three.


title: Brian McBride

text: On May 2, 2006, McBride was named to the U.S. roster for his third consecutive World Cup. At the 2006 World Cup, McBride was severely bloodied in a group stage match against Italy after being elbowed in the face by Daniele De Rossi. He needed three stitches. As punishment, De Rossi was banned for four matches and fined CHF 10,000. Following the end of the tournament, McBride announced his retirement from international duty on July 26, 2006.


title: Brian McBride

text: In 2008 McBride briefly came out of international retirement after being named as one of the three overage players on the U.S. team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and served as captain as the team finished in third place in the group stage for their group.


title: Lutsk

text: Lutsk (, ; ; ) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast (province) and the administrative center of the surrounding Lutsk Raion (district) within the oblast. Lutsk has a population of


title: Lutsk

text: Lutsk is an ancient Slavic town, mentioned in the Hypatian Chronicle as Luchesk in the records of 1085. The etymology of the name is unclear. There are three hypotheses: the name may have been derived from the Old Slavic word "luka" (an arc or bend in a river), or the name may have originated from "Luka" (the chieftain of the "Dulebs"), an ancient Slavic tribe living in this area. The name may also have been created after "Luchanii" (Luchans), an ancient branch of the tribe mentioned above. Its historical name in Ukrainian is "Луцьк".


title: Lutsk

text: According to the legend, Luchesk dates from the 7th century. The first known documentary reference dates were from the year 1085. The town served as the capital of the Principality of Halych-Volynia (founded in 1199) until the rise of Volodymyr. The town grew around a wooden stronghold built by a local branch of the Rurik Dynasty. At certain times the location functioned as the capital of the principality, but since there was no need for a fixed capital in medieval Europe, the town did not become an important centre of commerce or culture.


title: Lutsk

text: In 1240, Tatars seized and looted the nearby town but left the castle unharmed. In 1321, George, son of Lev, the last prospective heir of Halych-Volynia, died in a battle with the forces of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Lithuanian forces seized the castle. In 1349, the forces of King Casimir III of Poland captured the town, but Lithuania soon retook it.


title: Lutsk

text: The town began to prosper during the period of Lithuanian rule. Prince Lubart (died 1384), son of Gediminas, erected Lubart's Castle as part of his fortification programme. Vytautas the Great, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1392 to 1430, founded the town itself by importing colonists (mostly Jews, Tatars, and Karaims). In 1427 he transferred the Catholic bishopric from Volodymyr to Luchesk. Vytautas was the last monarch to use the title of "Duke of Volhynia" and to reside in Lubart's Castle.


title: Lutsk

text: The town grew rapidly, and by the end of the 15th century there were 19 Orthodox and two Catholic churches. It was the seat of two Christian bishops, one Catholic and one Orthodox. Because of that, the town was sometimes nicknamed "the "Volhynian Rome"." The cross symbol of Lutsk features on the highest Lithuanian Presidential award, the Order of Vytautas the Great.


title: Lutsk

text: In 1429 Lutsk was the meeting place selected for a conference of monarchs hosted by Jogaila and Sophia of Halshany to deal with the Tatar threat. Those invited to attend included Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor; Vasili II of Russia, the king of Denmark; Eric of Pomerania, the Grand Master of the Livonian Order; Zisse von Rutenberg, the Duke of Szczecin Kazimierz V; Dan II, the "Hospodar" of Wallachia; and Prince-electors of most of the countries of Germany.


title: Lutsk

text: In 1432, Volhynia became a fief of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and Lutsk became the seat of the governors, and later the Marshalls of the Land of Volhynia. That same year, the city was granted Magdeburg rights. In 1569, Volhynia was fully incorporated into the Polish kingdom and the town became the capital of the Volhynian Voivodeship and the Łuck powiat (Polish administrative unit). After the Union of Lublin, the local Orthodox bishop converted to Eastern Catholicism.


title: Lutsk

text: The town continued to prosper as an important economic centre of the region. By the mid-17th century, Łuck had approximately 50,000 inhabitants and was one of the largest towns in the area. During the Khmelnytskyi Uprising, the town was seized by the forces of Colonel Kolodko. Up to 4,000 people were slaughtered, approximately 35,000 fled, and the town was looted and partially burnt. It never fully recovered. In 1781, the city was struck by a fire which destroyed 440 houses, both cathedrals, and several other churches.


title: Lutsk

text: In 1795, as a result of the Partitions of Poland, the Russian Empire annexed Lutsk. The Voivodeship was liquidated and the town lost its significance as the capital of the province (which was moved to Zhytomyr). After the November Uprising (1830–1831), efforts increased to remove Polish influence. Russian became the dominant language in official circles. Though, the population continued to speak Ukrainian; the Polish population spoke Polish; and the Jewish population spoke Yiddish (only in private circles). The Greek Catholic churches were turned into Orthodox Christian ones, which led to the self-liquidation of the Uniates here. In 1845, another great fire struck the city, resulting in a further depopulation.


title: Lutsk

text: In 1850, three major forts were built around Lutsk, and the town became a small fortress called "Mikhailogorod". During the First World War, the town was seized by Austria-Hungary on August 29, 1915. The town sustained a small amount of damage. During more than a year of Austro-Hungarian occupation, Lutsk became an important military centre with the headquarters of the IV Army under Archduke Josef Ferdinand stationed there. A plague of epidemic typhus decimated the city's inhabitants.


title: Lutsk

text: On June 4, 1916, four Russian armies under general Aleksei Brusilov started what later became known as the Brusilov Offensive. After up to three days of heavy artillery barrage, the Battle of Lutsk began. On June 7, 1916, the Russian forces reconquered the city. After the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1917, the city was seized by Germany on February 7, 1918. On February 22, 1918, the town was transferred by the withdrawing German army to the forces loyal to Symon Petlura.


title: Lutsk

text: During the Polish-Bolshevik War, on May 16, 1919, Lutsk was taken over by the forces of Poland's Blue Army after a heavy battle with the Red Army. The city was devastated and largely depopulated. It witnessed the Soviet counter-offensive of 1920 and was taken on 12 July 1920. It was recaptured by Poland's 45th Rifles regiment and field artillery on September 15, 1920. According to American sociologist Alexander Gella "the Polish victory [over the Red Army] had gained twenty years of independence not only for Poland, but at least for an entire central part of Europe. Łuck was designated by the newly-reborn nation of Poland as the capital of the Wołyń Voivodeship.


title: Lutsk

text: The city was connected by railroad to Lviv (then Lwów) and Przemyśl. Several brand new factories were built both in Łuck and on its outskirts producing farming equipment, wood, and leather products among other consumer goods. New mills and breweries opened. An orphanage was built, and a big new bursary. The first high-school was soon inaugurated. In 1937, an airport was established in Łuck with an area of .


title: Lutsk

text: The 13th "Kresowy" Light Artillery Regiment was stationed in the city, together with a "Łuck" National Defense (Poland) Battalion. In 1938, construction of a large modern radio transmitter began in the city (see Polish Radio Łuck). As of January 1, 1939, Łuck had 39,000 inhabitants (approximately 17,500 Jews and 13,500 Poles). The powiat formed around the town had 316,970 inhabitants, including 59% Ukrainians, 19.5% Poles, 14% Jews and approximately 23,000 Czechs and Germans.


title: Lutsk

text: On Thursday, September 7, 1939 at app. 5 p.m., the Polish government, which had left Warsaw the day before, arrived at Łuck. German intelligence quickly found out about it, and the city was twice bombed by the Luftwaffe: on Sept. 11, and Sept. 14. After panzer units of the Wehrmacht had crossed the Bug river, on September 14, the government of Poland left Łuck and headed southwards, to Kosow Huculski, which at that time was located near the Polish–Romanian border.


title: Lutsk

text: As a result of the invasion of Poland from both sides and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Łuck, along with the rest of western Volyn, was annexed by the Soviet Union. Most of the factories (including the almost-finished radio station) were dismantled and sent east to Russia. Approximately 10,000 of the city's Polish inhabitants (chiefly ethnic Poles, but also Polish Jews) were deported in cattle trucks to Kazakhstan and 1,550 were arrested by the NKVD.


title: Lutsk

text: After the start of Operation Barbarossa the city was captured by the Wehrmacht on 25 June 1941. Thousands of Polish and Ukrainian prisoners were shot by the retreating NKVD responsible for political prisons. The inmates were offered amnesty and in the morning of ordered to exit the building en masse. They were gunned down by Soviet tanks. Some 4,000 captives including Poles, Jews and Ukrainians were massacred.


title: Lutsk

text: Upon Nazi occupation most of the Jewish inhabitants of the city were forced into a new Łuck Ghetto () and then murdered at the execution site on Górka Połonka hill not far from the city. In total, more than 25,000 Jews were executed there at point-blank range, men, women and children. The Łuck Ghetto was liquidated entirely through "the Holocaust by bullets". During the massacres of Poles in Volhynia approximately 10,000 Poles were murdered by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in the area. It was captured by the Red Army on 2 February 1944.


title: Lutsk

text: After the end of the war, the remaining Polish inhabitants of the city were expelled, mostly to the areas that is sometimes referred to as the Polish Regained Territories. The city became an industrial centre in the Ukrainian SSR. The major changes in the city's demographics had the final result that by the end of the war the city was almost entirely Ukrainian. During the Cold War, the city hosted the Lutsk air base.


title: Lutsk

text: As one of the largest cities in Western Ukraine, Lutsk became the seat of a General Consulate of Poland in 2003.


title: Lutsk

text: On 21 July 2020, a hostage crisis took place, involving a man armed with a firearm and explosives who stormed a bus and took 16 people hostage at about 9:25 a.m. Police said that they had identified the hostagetaker and that he had expressed a dissatisfaction with "Ukraine's system" on social media. Ukrainien President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that shots gas been heard and that the bus had been damaged. The incident led to police blocking off the city centre. The standoff was eventually resolved after several hours, with all of the hostages being freed and the hostagetaker being arrested.


title: Lutsk

text: On 11 March 2022, as part of the Russian invasion, the Russian army fired four missiles at Lutsk military airfield killing two Ukrainian servicemen and wounding six. On 28 March, Lutsk was struck by another Russian missile.


title: Lutsk

text: Lutsk is an important centre of industry. Factories producing cars, shoes, bearings, furniture, machines and electronics, as well as weaveries, steel mills and a chemical plant are located in the area.


title: Lutsk

text: The NKVD and Nazi massacres are mentioned in the Prix Goncourt awarded novel "The Kindly Ones" by Jonathan Littell.


title: Lutsk

text: Lutsk is a location taken over by post-apocalyptic slavers in the sci-fi/adventure novel "The Crisis Pendant" by Charlie Patterson.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Merlin is a two-part 1998 television miniseries that originally aired on NBC. It retells the legend of King Arthur from the perspective of the wizard Merlin.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Sam Neill starred in the title role in a story that covers not only the rise and fall of Camelot but also the phase in the legendary history of Britain that precedes it.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: The film deviates from more traditional versions of the legend, notably by including new characters such as Queen Mab and by keeping Merlin through the whole reign of King Arthur over Britain (whereas in older versions, Merlin left earlier in the king's reign).


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: The film was followed by a sequel in 2006, "Merlin's Apprentice", which was loosely connected with traditional Arthurian legend.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Merlin, an elderly man telling his life story, describes a Britain faced with invasions and tyrant kings increasingly cruel to the people. Fairy Queen Mab seeks to reclaim her power by drawing people back to worship the "Old Ways." To do so, she creates a wizard named Merlin, whom she intends to champion her crusade. Merlin's mother dies giving birth to him, and he is raised by his guardian, Ambrosia.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Years later, a teenage Merlin recounts to Ambrosia how he rescued a nobleman's daughter, Nimue, from drowning by magically growing a branch. Ambrosia tells him of his past, and he is sent to Mab to begin training with Frik, Mab's gnome servant; however, Merlin has little interest in helping Mab's crusade to restore the Old Ways, angering her. Merlin discovers from the Lady of the Lake, Mab's sister, that Mab let his birth mother die and that Ambrosia is ill. Mab reaches Ambrosia's home before Merlin, but when Ambrosia refuses to convince Merlin to return to Mab, Mab lashes out, mortally injuring Ambrosia. Merlin tries to attack Mab but can't defeat her; she coldly dismisses the deaths of his mother and Ambrosia as "casualties of war" and vows that Merlin will help her. Merlin makes a blood oath to use his powers only to defeat Mab.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Many years pass. The tyrant King Vortigern is angered that his new castle keeps collapsing. Mab convinces Vortigern his castle will only stand if Merlin's blood is mixed with the mortar. Vortigern orders Merlin killed but relents when Merlin tells Vortigern of his vision: a crimson dragon representing Uther Pendragon defeating the white dragon that represents Vortigern. Mab tells the king that he can vanquish Uther by sacrificing Nimue to a dragon in the hope that Merlin will break his vow not to use magic. Merlin uses magic to save Nimue, and she is sent to Avalon to recover from her burns. Merlin asks the Lady of the Lake for help, and she gives him the magical sword Excalibur.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Merlin warns Uther of Vortigern's intention to attack him under cover of winter. Uther heeds Merlin's warning, and Merlin uses Excalibur to defeat Vortigern during battle, giving Excalibur to Uther afterward.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Uther becomes obsessed with Igraine, the wife of Gorlois, Lord of Cornwall. Seeing his emerging madness, Merlin tricks Uther out of Excalibur and plunges it into the Rock of Ages, who promises to keep it until a good man can withdraw it. Uther's mind is plagued by madness and lust for Igraine, and Britain slides back into civil war. Merlin strikes a deal with Uther to let him bed Igraine in exchange for guardianship of the son born from the union and for Gorlois and his men to be spared. Merlin transforms Uther's appearance into that of Gorlois, fooling everyone in Tintagel Castle except for Igraine's young daughter, Morgan le Fay. After bedding Igraine, Uther has Gorlois and his men slaughtered, deliberately going back on his word to Merlin.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: While Igraine is in labor, at Mab's behest, Frik convinces Morgan to place a black stone beneath the baby's sheets in his crib. Igraine gives birth to Arthur. Mab then confronts Merlin, proclaiming Arthur to be damned, but Merlin vows to raise him in the ways of good and hopes Arthur will help bring about her demise.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Merlin tutors Arthur. Uther sinks further into madness and commits suicide, leaving the kingdom in turmoil. The noblemen in the kingdom try to take Excalibur from the Rock of Ages, but none can until Merlin presents Arthur, who is allowed to take the sword.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: After initial hostility, the nobles unite behind Arthur as their rightful king. Merlin leaves, thinking the kingdom is finally at peace. Mab, however, instructs Frik to seek out Morgan (Helena Bonham Carter) and poison her mind by making her beautiful and having her seduce Arthur. He is unaware of their half-sibling relationship, and Merlin races back to Camelot to confront Arthur. Morgan gives birth to Mordred, who, conceived through incest, is born evil. Mab helps raise Mordred to become Arthur's downfall. Arthur starts construction of his castle of Camelot and marries Guinevere.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Arthur decides to take his knights on a quest for the Holy Grail, he holds a tournament to crown a champion who will defend and complete Camelot in his absence. The Lady of the Lake vows to guide Merlin to a man worthy of being Camelot's guardian. Merlin meets a boy, Galahad, and his parents, Lancelot, a skilled rider and swordsman, and Elaine of Astolat. Merlin brings Lancelot to Camelot, where he wins the tournament.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: In Arthur's absence, Guinevere and Lancelot embark on a love affair. Mab makes sure Elaine sees his betrayal, and she is found dead at the shores of Camelot not long after. Lancelot flees Camelot in his guilt and shame. Arthur and his knights return, their quest for the Grail a failure.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Mordred introduces himself as Arthur's son and heir and reveals Guinevere's betrayal to all. Arthur is forced to condemn her to be burned at the stake for treason, but he relents and has Merlin save her before she is harmed, causing him to lose respect among the younger nobles. Lancelot rides back to Camelot to save Guinevere, and they ride away into exile.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Mordred raises an army among those dissatisfied with Arthur and Merlin. Meanwhile, Frik and Morgan have fallen in love. When Morgan refuses to allow Mab to use Mordred further, Mab kills her. Frik vows revenge on Mab but is left powerless when she takes away his magic.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Mab creates an idyllic wilderness home for Nimue and asks her to persuade Merlin to stay with her, hoping to stop him from intervening in the coming battle. Wanting to be with him, Nimue agrees and sends for Merlin.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: The armies of Mordred and Arthur begin the Battle of Camlann, where many on both sides are slain. Arthur defeats Mordred and kills him, but Mordred deals Arthur a fatal blow. Sensing his protégé is dying, Merlin leaves Nimue to go to Arthur, but Mab's creation seals itself behind him, parting Merlin from Nimue forever. On the battlefield, Mab cannot save Mordred, and Arthur lives long enough to tell Merlin to return Excalibur to where it was found. Merlin gives back the sword to the Lady of the Lake. She tells Merlin she is slowly dying as the Old Ways are forgotten. Merlin accuses her of lying to him about the guardian of Camelot, but she explains that it was Galahad who was the true guardian and could have averted all this, though she assures Merlin that Arthur's death is not his fault. Merlin encounters Frik among the survivors of Arthur's army, who warns him that although Mab is significantly weakened, she is still dangerous.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Merlin confronts Mab at Camelot, but the ensuing magical duel ends in a stalemate. Mab sneers that she is invulnerable to conventional means of destruction, but Merlin responds that she will be defeated when she is forgotten. Mab slowly fades into nothing as Merlin, Frik, and the entire court of Camelot turn their backs on her and walk away.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Merlin is again shown back in the present, finishing his story. Frik appears along with Merlin's aged magic horse, who Frik says will take him to Nimue. Frik explains that sometime after Mab disappeared, the spells she had cast lost their effectiveness, and Nimue was set free. Merlin finds the elderly Nimue at Ambrosia's old forest home. He manages one last act of magic to restore them both to youth so they can live out their lives together.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: The film was produced by Dyson Lovell and directed by Steve Barron. The story is by Edward Khmara, with the teleplay written by David Stevens and Peter Barnes. Illustrator Alan Lee served as the film's conceptual designer.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Despite heavy fantasy elements, the production is partly historically accurate, keeping with the probable origins of the Arthurian legend in Sub-Roman Britain. The costumes and props used in the film include Dark Age or Early Medieval Celtic and Roman-style weapons and armor (such as Iron Age swords, mail, scale, and leather). In contrast, other Arthurian films like "Excalibur", "Knights of the Round Table," and "First Knight" used High Medieval or Late Medieval-style weapons and armour (such as longswords and full suits of plate). However, some anachronisms are present, like the use of the terms "knight" and "Sir" and the presence of Roman "lorica segmentata" armour years after it was discontinued. During the conflict between Vortigern and Uther, Uther is said to be invading from Normandy, despite the film taking place long before the age of the Vikings and thus of the Norman colonization, which gave Normandy its name.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Nicholas Clay, who plays Guinevere's father, Lord Leo, and Robert Addie, who plays Sir Gilbert, both appeared in John Boorman's 1981 film "Excalibur" as (respectively) Lancelot and Mordred. Paul Curran, who played the adult King Arthur, played Kay alongside Jason Connery as Merlin in "", an unrelated television film released the same year.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: The original television broadcast in the United States achieved record audiences of an estimated 70 million, "ratings that could only be labeled magical," as "The New York Times" stated.


title: Merlin (miniseries)

text: Hallmark Entertainment filmed a subsequent miniseries in Vancouver, entitled "Merlin's Apprentice", with Neill and Richardson returning, although Richardson played a somewhat different role. The miniseries was broadcast in 2006 on Hallmark Channel.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The 1970 Formula One season was the 24th season of the FIA's Formula One motor racing. It featured the 21st World Championship of Drivers and the 13th International Cup for F1 Manufacturers. Thirteen races were held between 7 March and 25 October, with the Drivers' Championship won by Jochen Rindt and the Constructors' title by Lotus. Rindt died four races before the end of the season, but had earned enough World Championship points that no other driver managed to surpass his total by the end of the season. It is the only season to date in which the World Drivers' Championship title had been awarded posthumously. Jacky Ickx driving for Ferrari finished the season strongly, but his low 4th-place finish in the penultimate round ensured that Rindt's title lead would stand. In the end, all of Rindt's 45 points came from his five wins in the season.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The Belgian Grand Prix returned in 1970 after the 1969 race was cancelled after the drivers boycotted the Grand Prix because of the extreme dangers of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Major safety changes had been made to it for 1970.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The Spanish Grand Prix was moved from Montjuïc to Jarama, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone to Brands Hatch, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The German Grand Prix was originally to be held at the Nürburgring but the drivers refused to race at the 'Ring in the condition it was in' unless major safety changes were made to it. The Nurburgring track officials responded negatively to a list of changes requested by the drivers. The Hockenheimring would host the race in 1970 on its intended date.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The Austrian Grand Prix hosted its second Grand Prix in 1970, the race was held for the first time at the Österreichring on 16 August.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The Canadian Grand Prix was moved from Mosport Park to Circuit Mont-Tremblant, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: For the 1970 Formula One season, following an agreement with Simca, Tyrrell were asked by Matra to use their V12 rather than the Cosworth. Stewart tested the Matra V12 and found it inferior to the DFV. As a large part of the Tyrrell budget was provided by Ford, and another significant element came from French state-owned petroleum company Elf (which had an agreement with Renault that precluded supporting a Simca partner), Ken Tyrrell had little alternative (due to clashing sponsorship deals) but to buy the March 701 chassis as an interim solution while developing his own car in secret with the first Tyrrell bearing a substantial resemblance to the MS80.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The new wedge-shaped Lotus 72 had very innovative car design, featuring torsion bar suspension, hip-mounted radiators, inboard front brakes and an overhanging rear wing. The 72 originally had suspension problems, but when dive and squat were designed out of the suspension the car quickly showed its superiority. Lotus's new leader, the Austrian Jochen Rindt, dominated the championship until he was killed at Monza when he crashed into some poorly installed crash barriers right before the Parabolica corner. He took the 1970 title posthumously for Lotus. Jacky Ickx won the Austrian, Canadian and Mexican Grands Prix to come second in the Drivers' Championship, having re-joined Ferrari from Brabham. Had he won the United States Grand Prix instead of Brazilian newcomer Emerson Fittipaldi, Ickx would have been crowned champion.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The 1970 season was one of the most tragic in Formula One history. Before Rindt's death at Monza, New Zealander Bruce McLaren was killed testing a McLaren Can-Am car at the Goodwood Circuit in England, and Briton Piers Courage was killed at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, driving a Frank Williams-entered De Tomaso.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: After a Formula One career which began at the 1955 British Grand Prix, triple World Champion Jack Brabham retired at the end of the year.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The first round was the South Africa Grand Prix held at the Kyalami circuit between Johannesburg and Pretoria. Jack Brabham won the race in a Brabham BT33.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The Spanish Grand Prix took place on the Jarama circuit. The defending champion Jackie Stewart won in a March 701.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The Monaco Grand Prix ended in a close finish. At the last corner of the last lap, Jack Brabham skidded off the track, allowing Austrian Jochen Rindt in a Lotus 49 to pass and win the race.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: Formula One had recently lost one of its top drivers: Bruce McLaren had been killed testing a Can-Am car at the Goodwood circuit in southern England. But the F1 circus had returned to a wild and dangerous place: the notorious ultra-fast Spa-Francorchamps circuit had returned to the calendar for the 1970 season after some safety upgrades, including steel Armco barriers now lined around the circuit. A chicane had also been inserted at the incredibly fast Malmedy corner to reduce speeds onto the Masta straight. The field only consisted of 18 entrants; Spa often had a small number of entrants compared to other circuits because most racing drivers in Europe were frightened of the circuit and did not like racing there. Stewart took pole, followed by New Zealander Chris Amon and Rindt. Rindt took the lead going into Eau Rouge, and once the cars came back around towards La Source, Amon was leading. Then, Stewart took the lead, but then retired his March-Ford/Cosworth with engine problems. Amon took the lead, but Mexican Pedro Rodríguez in a BRM was making the most of his BRM engine's V12 power, and he and Amon battled until the 28th and last lap – and Rodriguez beat the perennially unlucky Amon to the checkered flag by a mere 1.1 seconds. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Beltoise took the final podium spot, followed by home favorite Jacky Ickx in a Ferrari. But this was the last time the old triangle-shaped Spa was to be used for Formula One – the circuit proved to be just too fast and dangerous, even with safety modifications. The Belgian Grand Prix was originally scheduled to be on the following year's calendar, but was taken off the calendar after the circuit was not up to FIA-newly mandated safety specs. The race would move to Nivelles and Zolder.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The Dutch Grand Prix of 1970 saw the revolutionary Lotus 72 stamp its authority on the Formula One scene. Although the car made its debut at Spa with John Miles, the car was still not properly finished. But for the Dutch event, it was – and Jochen Rindt dominated this weekend by taking pole and leading from start to finish on the fast, beachside Zandvoort circuit. But the race itself was marred by the fatal accident of Briton Piers Courage in a Frank Williams-entered DeTomaso-Ford/Cosworth. Courage crashed at the very fast Tunnel Oost corner, and one of the wheels hit him in the head and killed him instantly. After the car had crashed, it then caught fire, as was so common in those days.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: Formula One then went to the 5.1 mile Charade circuit, made up entirely of closed-off public roads located around an extinct volcano overlooking the small city of Clermont-Ferrand. Practice and qualifying were both eventful – in addition to Ferrari showing improved form by Jacky Ickx taking pole, the circuit was littered with rocks and Rindt – already made nauseous by the twisty and roller-coaster-type nature of the circuit – was hit in the face by a rock thrown from another car – in those days, drivers wore open-face helmets covered by a white rag to protect them from the gas fumes. Ickx took the lead from the start, but he retired with engine damage, and Frenchman Beltoise – driving an all-French Matra – was in the lead. However, due to the rocks on the track, Beltoise punctured a tire, and had to come in. This gave Rindt the lead, ahead of Chris Amon. Rindt won from Amon and Brabham.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The British Grand Prix alternated between the very fast, flat, smooth Silverstone circuit and the twisty, undulating and rough Brands Hatch, just outside London. For 1970, the British GP was at Brands Hatch, and it was an exciting race – Jack Brabham was leading at the start, but he ran out of fuel at the last bend – and Rindt overtook him and won his 3rd consecutive race. After the race, Rindt's Lotus was disqualified for not meeting the maximum rear wing height -after the car had been brought back to the Lotus garage, the team appealed, the car was reviewed again (having been out of "parc ferme" for a while) and this time it was declared within the regulations, returning the win to Rindt.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The German Grand Prix was held at the Hockenheimring for 1970. It had originally been scheduled to be run at the very long and notoriously dangerous Nurburgring Nordschleife, but the drivers refused to race at the 'Ring in the condition it was in – unless major safety changes were made to it. There was a driver's meeting at the Dorchester Hotel in London after the memorial services for Bruce McLaren and Piers Courage, and the drivers, already under considerable pressure and motivated by a normally quiet Jack Brabham – voted not to race there after the German GP organizers responded negatively to a list of changes requested by the drivers. The Hockenheimring was very fast, and it generated a great race – Jochen Rindt and Jacky Ickx battled all throughout the race and Rindt won yet again – and it was clear at this point who the two main title contenders were going to be.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The second Formula One Austrian Grand Prix was the first held at the fast and spectacular Österreichring – in 1964, it had been held at the unpopular Zeltweg Airfield. The year-old Styrian circuit played host to Ferrari dominance – their first victory since 1968. Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni easily finished 1–2; the Ferrari 312B had become a competitive package, although this was not done by Ickx, who did not like testing and often preferred to use his driving skill to deal with a car's shortcomings.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: Monza was an ultra-fast circuit with no chicanes of any kind, and the weekend was marred by the death of Jochen Rindt, who was killed on the straight going into the Parabolica on his wingless Lotus 72. Aerodynamic downforce was not yet properly understood, and the car was, according to his teammate John Miles, rather unstable and difficult to drive. Ultimately though, it was a brake system failure that caused Rindt to spin off and crash into a poorly installed Armco barrier: the car went under the barrier and rotated a few times in the sand trap. Rindt's belts were loose, and he was not wearing a crotch strap belt, a recent introduction. As a result, he slipped down in the car and the belt buckle caused fatal throat injuries. Ferrari driver Clay Regazzoni won his first Formula One race, and the overjoyed crowd ran onto the track and celebrated.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The F1 season concluded with a 3-part North American tour, which started in Canada at the spectacular Mont-Tremblant circuit in Quebec near the town of St. Jovite – the second and last time F1 would race there. The Lotus team did not show up, and although Jackie Stewart dominated practice in his new Tyrrell-Ford/Cosworth 001, he retired due to mechanical problems, and Ickx took victory in his Ferrari.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen saw the return of the Lotus team, and Brazilian newcomer Emerson Fittipaldi, who had become their lead driver after Rindt's death, was competitive throughout. He was challenged by Mexican Pedro Rodriguez, wanting to win again after his Spa triumph four months earlier. Rodriguez led but ran out of fuel, and although he stormed through the track, Fittipaldi was able to hold on to win his first Formula One championship race. This was the last F1 race at the original Watkins Glen permanent race track – the circuit was rebuilt for the following year. Rindt posthumously won the Drivers' Championship at this race – Ickx needed to win to stand a chance of overtaking Rindt's points total, but finished fourth after mechanical problems.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: The last race of the Formula One World Championship was the Mexican Grand Prix at the Magdalena Mixhuca Park in Mexico City. The event proved troublesome – some 200,000 people showed up to watch, and a number of them were actually sitting right next to the track asphalt, over the barriers. This delayed the race start for over an hour – after Rodriguez and Stewart pleaded with the crowd to move back, which they did – but not very far. The race finally got underway – and Ickx won again for Ferrari, as Stewart retired after hitting a stray dog. But the crowd's shenanigans caused by the disorganization of the event caused the Mexican Grand Prix to be cancelled for the following year, and it did not come back until 1986 to the same circuit.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six finishers at each race. The best six results from the first seven rounds and the best five results from the last six rounds were retained.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six finishers at each round, however only the best placed car from each manufacturer was eligible to score points. The best six results from the first seven rounds and the best five results from the last six rounds were retained.


title: 1970 Formula One season

text: Other Formula One races held in 1970, which did not count towards the World Championship. The International Trophy and Gold Cup were held concurrently with Formula 5000 cars.


title: Charles Sturridge

text: Charles B. G. Sturridge (born 24 June 1951) is an English director and screenwriter. He is the recipient of a BAFTA Children's Award and four BAFTA TV Awards. He has also been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards.


title: Charles Sturridge

text: Sturridge was born in London, England, to Alyson P. (née Burke, later Williams) and Jerome F. Sturridge. He was educated at Stonyhurst College and University College, Oxford.


title: Charles Sturridge

text: Sturridge began his career as an actor. He appeared in "Zigger Zagger" in 1967 with the National Youth Theatre, played Markland in Lindsay Anderson's film "if..." (1968) and portrayed the young Edward VII in "Edward the Seventh" (1975). After directing episodes of "Coronation Street", "Strangers", "World in Action", "Crown Court" and "The Spoils of War" by his late twenties, he gained international recognition for his work on the eleven-part television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited" which won over 17 awards including two Golden Globes and six British Academy awards. He scripted a film version of J. G. Farrell's "Troubles" made for London Weekend Television in 1988 and directed by Christopher Morahan.


title: Charles Sturridge

text: Since then the films Sturridge has directed have included "Runners", "A Handful of Dust", "Where Angels Fear to Tread", and "", based on the Cottingley Fairies story which won the BAFTA for Best Children's film 1998. He wrote and directed "Lassie" (2005), a remake of Eric Knight's children's story. He also directed the black-and-white segment "La Forza del Destino" in the anthology film "Aria" (1987). Other television work includes "Soft Targets" (1982), "A Foreign Field" (1985) and "Gulliver's Travels" (1996), which won six Emmys including Best Series and the Royal Television Society's Team award.


title: Charles Sturridge

text: In 2001, he wrote and directed "Longitude", based on Dava Sobell's best selling life of the clockmaker John Harrison which won the BANFF TV Festival Best Series award, two PAWS awards and five BAFTAs. In 2000, he formed Firstsight Films whose first production was an account of Sir Ernest Shackleton's "Endurance" expedition, which Sturridge wrote and directed. The serial "Shackleton" (2002), which starred Kenneth Branagh, was shot on location in the Arctic. It won the BAFTA for Best Series and Best Costume, and the "Radio Times" Audience award for Best Drama 2002, as well as being nominated for seven Primetime Emmys, winning for music and photography.


title: Charles Sturridge

text: Sturridge also contributed to "Beckett on Film", part of a collaborative effort to film all of Samuel Beckett's plays with Anthony Minghella, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and Neil Jordan and Patricia Rozema. Following Minghella's death in 2009, Sturridge became a director for his final project, the television series "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency".


title: Charles Sturridge

text: In 2010, he returned to Manchester and "Coronation Street" to direct the story of the making of its first episode "The Road to Coronation Street". This television film won both the RTS and BAFTA awards for Best Single Drama 2011 and a Gold Medal at the New York Film and TV Festival in Las Vegas. In 2011, Sturridge directed a seven-minute short film, "Astonish Me", written by Stephen Poliakoff to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the World Wildlife Fund. The film was shown in Odeon Cinemas in August 2011 and made available on the WWF website and YouTube.


title: Charles Sturridge

text: Sturridge's first professional theatre production was a musical version of Charles Dickens' "Hard Times" which he co-wrote and directed at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry; since then, occasional theatre work includes in 1985 "The Seagull" (also co-translator) with Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Richardson and Jonathan Pryce, and Samuel Beckett's "Endgame" (2006) with Kenneth Cranham and Peter Dinklage which opened at Dublin's Gate Theatre on the centenary of Beckett's 100th birthday, and later transferred to the Barbican. He also directed Handel's "Tolomeo" (1998) for Broomhill Opera.


title: Charles Sturridge

text: In 2007, Sturridge joined the board of the Directors and Producers Rights Society, which, in 2008, widened its responsibilities and changed its name to Directors UK. The DUK currently has over 4,000 members and represents the creative and economic rights of UK film and television directors, with Paul Greengrass as President and Sturridge as the elected Chair.


title: Charles Sturridge

text: Sturridge married actress Phoebe Nicholls on 6 July 1985; they have two sons, including actor Tom Sturridge, and a daughter, actress Matilda Sturridge.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium encased in a rectangular plastic carrier. It is read and written using a floppy disk drive (FDD). Floppy disks were an almost universal data format from the 1970s into the 1990s, used for primary data storage as well as for backup and data transfers between computers.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: In 1967, at an IBM facility in San Jose (CA), work began on a drive that led to the world's first floppy disk and disk drive. It was introduced into the market in an format in 1971. The more conveniently sized 5¼-inch disks were introduced in 1976, and became almost universal on dedicated word processing systems and personal computers. This format was more slowly replaced by the 3½-inch format, first introduced in 1982. There was a significant period where both were popular. A number of other variant sizes were introduced over time, with limited market success.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: Floppy disks remained a popular medium for nearly 40 years, but their use was declining by the mid- to late 1990s. The introduction of high speed computer networking and formats based on the new NAND flash technique (like USB flash drives and memory cards) led to the eventual disappearance of the floppy disk as a standard feature of microcomputers, with a notable point in this conversion being the introduction of the floppy-less iMac in 1998. After 2000, floppy disks were increasingly rare and used primarily with older hardware and especially with legacy industrial computer equipment.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: IBM's decision in the late 1960s to use semiconductor memory as the writeable control store for future systems and control units created a requirement for an inexpensive and reliable read only device and associated medium to store and ship the control store's microprogram and at system power on to load the microprogram into the control store. The objective was a read only device costing less than $200 and medium costing less than $5.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: IBM San Jose's Direct Access Storage Product Manager, Alan Shugart, assigned the job to David L. Noble, who tried to develop a new-style tape for the purpose, but without success. The project was reassigned to Donald L. Wartner, 23FD Disk Drive manager, and Herbert E. Thompson, 23FD Disk manager, along with design engineers Warren L. Dalziel, Jay Brent Nilson, and Ralph Flores; and that team developed the IBM 23FD Floppy Disk Drive System (code name Minnow). The disk is a read-only, flexible diskette called the "memory disk" and holding 80 kilobytes of data. Initially the disk was bare, but dirt became a serious problem so they enclosed it in a plastic envelope lined with fabric that would remove dust particles. The Floppy Disk Patent #3,668,658 was issued on June 6, 1972, with named inventors Ralph Flores and Herbert E. Thompson. The Floppy Disk Drive Patent #3,678,481 was issued July 18, 1972 with named inventors Warren L. Dalziel, Jay. B. Nilson, and Donald L. Wartner. IBM introduced the diskette commercially in 1971.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: The new device first shipped in 1971 as the 23FD, the control store load device of the 2835 Storage Control Unit. and then as a standard part of most System 370 processing units and other IBM products. Internally IBM used another device, code named "Mackerel", to write floppy disks for distribution to the field.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: Other suppliers recognized the opportunity for a read/write FDD in applications such as key entry and data logging. Shugart, by then at Memorex shipped the Memorex 650 in 1972, the first commercially available read-write floppy disk drive. The 650 had a data capacity of 175 kB, with 50 tracks and 8 sectors per track. The Memorex disk was hard sectored, that is, it contained 8 sector holes (plus one index hole) at the outer diameter (outside data track 00) to synchronize the beginning of each data sector and the beginning of a track. Most early 8" disks were hard sectored, meaning that they had a fixed number of disk sectors (usually 8, 16, or 32), marked by physical holes punched around the disk hub, and the drive required the correct media type for its controller.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: IBM was developing a read/write FDD but did not see a market opportunity for such a device so came close to cancelling the project. A chance encounter in San Jose between IBM's Jack Harker and Don Stephenson the site manager of IBM's General Systems Division, Rochester MN, who needed a product to compete with Mohawk's key to tape system led to the production of IBM's first read/write FDD, the 33FD code named "IGAR." The 33FD first shipped in May 1973 as a component of the 3740 Data Entry System, designed to directly replace IBM's punched card ("keypunch") data entry machines. The medium sold separately as "Diskette 1". The new system used a soft sector recording format that stored nearly 250 kB on a disk. Drives supporting this format were offered by a number of manufacturers and soon became common for moving smaller amounts of data. This disk format became known as the Single Sided Single Density or SSSD format. It was designed to hold the same amount of data as 3000 punch cards.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: In 1973, Shugart founded Shugart Associates which went on to become the dominant manufacturer of 8-inch floppy disk drives. Its SA800 became the industry standard for form factor and interface.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: In 1976, media supplier Information Terminals Corporation enhanced resilience further by adding a Teflon coating to the magnetic disk itself.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: When the first microcomputers were being developed in the 1970s, the 8-inch floppy found a place on them as one of the few "high speed, mass storage" devices that were even remotely affordable to the target market (individuals and small businesses). The first microcomputer operating system, CP/M, originally shipped on 8-inch disks. However, the drives were still expensive, typically costing more than the computer they were attached to in early days, so most machines of the era used cassette tape instead.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: In 1976, IBM introduced the 500 KB Double Sided Single Density (DSSD) format, and in 1977 IBM introduced the 1–1.2 MB Double Sided Double Density (DSDD) format.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: Other 8-inch floppy disk formats such as the Burroughs 1 MB unit failed to achieve any market presence.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: At the end of 1978 the typical floppy disk price per piece was $5 () to $8 (). Sales in 1978 for all types of drives and media were expected to reach $135 million for media and $875 million for drives.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: The 8" floppy disk drive interface standard as developed from the Shugart Associates drives involved a 50-pin interface and a spindle motor that ran directly from the A/C line and spun constantly. Other later models used a DC motor with corresponding changes to the interface to start and stop the motor.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: In a 1976 meeting, An Wang of Wang Laboratories informed Jim Adkisson and Don Massaro of Shugart Associates that the 8-inch format was simply too large and expensive for the desktop word processing machines he was developing at the time, and argued for a US$100 drive ().


title: History of the floppy disk

text: According to Massaro, Adkisson proposed a smaller size and began working with cardboard mockups before the Wang meeting. George Sollman suggests the size was the average of existing tape drives of the era. It is an urban legend that the physical size came about when they met with Wang at a bar in Boston; when he was asked what size would be appropriate, Wang pointed to a cocktail napkin—there was no such meeting.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: The 5¼ drive was considerably less expensive than 8-inch drives, and soon started appearing on CP/M machines.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: Shugart's initial 5.25" drive was the 35-track, single-sided SA-400, which was widely used in many early microcomputers, and which introduced the 34-pin interface that would become an industry standard. It could be used with either a hard or soft sectored controller, and storage capacity was listed as 90k (single density) or 113k (double density). The drive went on sale in late 1976 at a list price of $400, with a box of ten disks at $60. The new, smaller disk format was taken up quickly, and by 1978 ten different manufacturers were producing 5¼-inch drives. At one point, Shugart was producing 4,000 drives a day, but their ascendancy was short-lived; the company's fortunes declined in the early 1980s. Part of this was due to their failure to develop a reliable 80-track drive, increasing competition, and the loss of several lucrative contracts—Apple by 1982 had switched to using cheaper Alps drive mechanisms in their computers, and IBM chose Tandon as their sole supplier of disk drives for the PC. By 1977 Shugart had been purchased by Xerox, who closed the operations in 1985 and sold the brand to a third party.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: In 1978 I.T.C. (later called Verbatim), had approximately 35 percent of the estimated $135 million floppy disk market and sold 5¼-inch disks in large quantities for $1.50 each ().


title: History of the floppy disk

text: Apple purchased bare SA-400 drive mechanisms for their Disk II drive, which was then equipped with a custom Apple controller board and the faceplate stamped with the Apple logo. Steve Wozniak developed a recording scheme known as Group Coded Recording which allowed 140k of storage, well above the standard 90–113k, although the price of double density controllers fell not long after the Disk II's introduction. GCR recording used software means of detecting the track and sector being accessed, hence there was no need of hard sectored disks or even the index hole.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: Commodore also elected to use GCR recording (although a different variation not compatible with Apple's format) in their disk drive line. Tandy however used industry-standard FM on the TRS-80's disk drives, with stock Shugart SA-400s, and so had a mere 85k of storage.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: These early drives read only one side of the disk, leading to the popular budget approach of cutting a second write-enable slot and index hole into the carrier envelope and flipping it over (thus, the “flippy disk”) to use the other side for additional storage. This was considered risky by some as single sided disks were only certified by the manufacturer for single-sided use. The reasoning was that, when flipped, the disk would spin in the opposite direction inside its cover, so some of the dirt that had been collected by the fabric lining in the previous rotations would be picked up by the disk and dragged past the read/write head.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: Although hard sectored disks were used on some early 8" drives prior to the IBM 33FD (May 1973), they were never widely used in 5¼-inch form, although North Star clung to the format until they went bankrupt in 1984.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: Tandon introduced a double-sided drive in 1978, doubling the capacity, and this new “double sided double density” (DSDD) format increased capacity to 360 KB.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: By 1979, there were also 77-track 5¼-inch drives available, mostly used in CP/M and other professional computers, and also found in some of Commodore's disk drive line.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: By the early 1980s, falling prices of computer hardware and technological advances led to the near-universal adoption of soft sector, double density disk formats. In addition, more compact half-height disk drives began to appear, as well as double-sided drives, although the cost of them meant that single-sided remained the standard for most home computers, and 80-track drives known as "quad density".


title: History of the floppy disk

text: For most of the 1970s and 1980s, the floppy drive was the primary storage device for word processors and microcomputers. Since these machines had no hard drive, the OS was usually booted from one floppy disk, which was then removed and replaced by another one containing the application. Some machines using two disk drives (or one dual drive) allowed the user to leave the OS disk in place and simply change the application disks as needed, or to copy data from one floppy to another. In the early 1980s, “quad density” 96-track-per-inch drives appeared, increasing the capacity to 720 KB. RX50 was another proprietary format, used by Digital Equipment Corporation's Rainbow 100, DECmate II, and Professional 300 Series. It held 400 KB on a single side by using 96 tracks per inch and cramming 10 sectors per track.


title: History of the floppy disk

text: Floppy disks were supported on IBM's PC DOS and Microsoft's MS-DOS from their beginning on the original IBM PC. With version 1.0 of PC DOS (1981), only single-sided 160 KB floppies were supported. Version 1.1 the next year saw support expand to double-sided 320 KB disks. Finally, in 1983, DOS 2.0 supported 9 sectors per track rather than 8, providing 180 KB on a (formatted) single-sided disk and 360 KB on a double-sided.