title: Rommel myth

text: Others like Stroud, Krause and Phillips opine that even Rommel's recklessness and disobedience during the invasion of France benefitted the German cause, while rescuing Hitler's mercurial objectives and inventing the actual application of "Blitzkrieg" ("lightning war"), and it was Hitler who downgraded strategic victory to operational victory. According to Alan J. Levine, contrary to the allegation that he was only a genius tactician without a good grasp of logistics, Rommel was a clearer thinker than most of his colleagues (shown by his judgements on developing situations) and although he was the most defeatist German general, there was a serious qualification to his pessimism and he was capable of displaying a surprising amount of energy in building the Normandy defense at the same time.


title: Rommel myth

text: MacGregor Knox, whose works draw largely on Italian sources, opines that rather than technical and expertise weaknesses, effectiveness in war ultimately depends on culture, the command style and ethos, which in turn breed technological imagination and force structure. He points out that the few Italian mobile units fighting together with the Afrika Korps benefitted from working under Rommel, who helped them cope with rapidly changing situations in a war without fixed fronts, despite interference from Ettore Bastico. Marvin Knorr expresses a sympathetic view of Rommel's attitude to the General Staff, saying that their attitudes towards officers of middle class like him made it understandable that he was wary about them, and worried that the officers they sent to him would report on him or try to take over. Despite this, he came to trust and depend on these staff officers, like Friedrich von Mellenthin and Siegfried Westphal, who in turn proved their talent and loyalty. Rick Atkinson acknowledges Rommel's "audacity, tactical brilliance, and personal style", also noting that he "had an uncanny ability to dominate the minds of his adversaries".


title: Rommel myth

text: Some authors like Stumpf and Lewin opine that while Creveld's statistics regarding the losses of supplies are not wrong and that the vast distances were a big problem, the failure of the seaborne supply lines was still a deciding factor because operationally effective supplies often failed to arrive at decisive moments of the campaigns. Douglas Austin points out that the overall port capacity at Tobruk and Benghazi was actually sufficient and that the recently published Enigma intercepts show that it was the bulk losses at sea (and not unloading or getting the supplies to forward areas) that had the greater impact on Rommel's decisions as well as those of other German commanders, like Kesselring. Levine dismisses poor port capacity and lack of transport vehicles as the Afrika Korps' crucial weaknesses, citing evidences gathered on British intelligence by Hinsley and Bennett. Others point out Rommel's dependence on captured resources as compensation for the unstable supply lines and unfulfilled promises (by 1942, 85% of his transport were captured vehicles). Butler opines that the myth of Rommel's bad logistical management is the result of rumours started by Halder. Lieb also opines that while his harshest critics (who mostly came from the General Staff) often said that Rommel was overrated or not suitable for higher commands, envy was a big factor here (Simon Ball also notes that this was the single group of people in the postwar West who had an interest in denigrating Rommel, who had never been one of them, while he opines that various elements in English and German post-war government and military circles had an interest in praising him as well).


title: Rommel myth

text: The extent of Rommel's involvement in the military's resistance against Hitler or 20 July plot is difficult to ascertain, as people most directly involved did not survive, and limited documentation of the conspirators' plans and preparations exists. Thus, Rommel's participation remains ambiguous, and the perception of it largely has its source in subsequent events (especially Rommel's forced suicide) and the post-war accounts by surviving participants.


title: Rommel myth

text: According to a post-war account by Karl Strölin, the "Oberbürgermeister" of Stuttgart at that time, he and two other conspirators, Alexander von Falkenhausen and Carl Heinrich von Stülpnagel, began efforts to bring Rommel into the anti-Hitler conspiracy in early 1944. On 15 April 1944, Rommel's new chief of staff, Hans Speidel, arrived in Normandy and reintroduced Rommel to Stülpnagel. Speidel had previously been connected to Carl Goerdeler, the civilian leader of the resistance, but not to the plotters led by Stauffenberg, and only came to the attention of Stauffenberg due to his appointment to Rommel's headquarters. The conspirators felt they needed the support of a field marshal on active duty, and gave instructions to Speidel to bring Rommel into their circle.


title: Rommel myth

text: Speidel met with former foreign minister Konstantin von Neurath and Strölin on 27 May in Germany, ostensibly at Rommel's request, although the latter was not present. Neurath and Strölin suggested opening immediate surrender negotiations with the West, and, according to Speidel, Rommel agreed to further discussions and preparations. However, around the same time the plotters in Berlin were not aware that Rommel had reportedly decided to take part in the conspiracy. On 16 May, they informed Allen Dulles, through whom they hoped to negotiate with the Western Allies, that Rommel could not be counted on for support.


title: Rommel myth

text: Rommel opposed assassinating Hitler. After the war, his widow maintained that Rommel believed an assassination attempt would spark a civil war. Historian Ian Beckett argues that "there is no credible evidence that Rommel had more than limited and superficial knowledge of the plot" and concludes that Rommel would not have acted to aid the plotters on 20 July, while Ralf Georg Reuth contends that "there was no indication of any active participation of Rommel in the conspiracy". Historian Richard J. Evans concluded that he knew of a plot, but was not involved.


title: Rommel myth

text: What is not debated are the results of the failed bomb plot of 20 July. Many conspirators were arrested, and the dragnet expanded to thousands. Consequently, it did not take long for Rommel to come under suspicion, beginning with evidence the SS obtained from Stülpnagel who mentioned Rommel in delirium after his suicide attempt. Rommel's name also came up in confessions by Stülpnagel's personal adviser, Caesar von Hofacker, and was included in Goerdeler's papers on a list of potential supporters. The author and cinematographer discovered a memo from Martin Bormann, the head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, dating from 28 September 1944 in which the Chief of the Party Chancellery, and Personal Secretary to Hitler, stated that "former General Stülpnagel, former Colonel Hofacker, Kluge's meanwhile executed nephew Lieutenant-Colonel Rathgens and other defendants still alive gave all testimony that Field-Marshal Rommel was indeed in the picture; Rommel agreed that he would be at the new government's disposal after a successful plot".


title: Rommel myth

text: According to eavesdropped conversations between German generals in British captivity, edited by the historian Sönke Neitzel, General Heinrich Eberbach, the former commander of the 5th Panzer Army, claimed on 14 September 1944 that Rommel had told him in Normandy, just a few days before the plot, that Hitler and his entourage would have to be killed, if there was any chance for Germany to bring the war to a satisfactory end. Summarising the most recent findings on Rommel's role in the 20 July plot, Peter Lieb concludes that:


title: Rommel myth

text: [Rommel] did not play any role in the operational preparations for the plot against Hitler and we do not know which post he was supposed to assume after a successful coup. Hence, the Field-Marshal was definitely not part of the most inner circle of the 20 July plotters. At the same time, however, he was more than just a mere sympathiser and paid for this with his life. He consequently deserves a firm place in the military resistance against Hitler to a greater extent than it has recently been acknowledged in academia and in public.


title: Rommel myth

text: Maurice Remy thinks that the emphasis should be on his plan for a separate peace with the West (his intention was not to continue Hitler's murderous war in the East, but to prevent disasters that might happen to Germany if the Soviet army arrived), which was devised with concrete details and carried out at great personal risk.


title: Rommel myth

text: Rommel was an ambitious man who took advantage of his proximity to Hitler and willingly accepted the propaganda campaigns designed for him by Goebbels. He sought to level the playing field for non-nobles, and also supported militarism and a strong German Empire, while treating people only according to their merits. He did not display hatred to people of noble descent, and in fact was a throwback to the medieval knight in his personal traits, appearing well-versed in the ancient customs of chivalry, which helped to attract admiration from the British who saw in him a romantic archetype. Rommel classed himself as a traditionalist regarding military ethics and a modernist regarding warfare techniques. Citino believes that under the modern veneer, Rommel's story (as well as his style of warfare, including the negative points) was actually the last manifestation of an older Prussian tradition which began with Georg von Derfflinger, in which the lowly outsider (he was not Prussian by birth) chose to serve the Prussian king, in whom alone he put his trust and in whose service he was willing to attract the ill will from all the other powerful people, as had Seydlitz and Ziethen. (Reuth also comments that Rommel tended to blame the people around Hitler for all the bad of the regime while seeing Hitler, the sender of criminal orders, as the source of all that was good). Certain authors remark that he also sought military glory and personal recognition, most of all from Hitler on whom, according to Watson, Rommel projected his idea of the German people's will.


title: Rommel myth

text: A number of contemporaries noted Rommel's vanity. In the memorandum regarding Rommel's betrayal, Martin Bormann remarked, "He had himself photographed from dawn to dusk ... He is so vain he does not wear glasses". (Rommel was near-sighted in one eye and far-sighted in the other.) Historian Samuel Mitchell however, noted that Martin Borman had held a grudge against the Field Marshall as far back as 1939. Some modern authors, such as Storbeck, are more sympathetic. He states that Rommel's perceived vanity developed as a reaction to the pressure aristocratic and high-bourgeois colleagues put on him. The psychologist Norman F. Dixon remarks that although Rommel showed towards Hitler an admiration that later faded, he did not display the urge to submit himself to higher authority or powerful father figures, considering that had he been such a person, he would not have been so outspoken or risked himself in the struggle against people like Himmler, Keitel or Jodl. Showalter comments that Rommel was a man who brought his work home, but not to the point of obsession with personal promotions, considering he had spent no effort in building a social circle (his wife was the person who determined their family's social agenda and the guest list, and the circle she chose was not wide nor prominent).


title: Rommel myth

text: Messenger points out that Rommel had many reasons to be grateful to Hitler, including his interference to arrange for him to receive command of an armoured division, his elevation to the status of a national hero, and continued interest and support from the dictator. Remy states that the attachment to Hitler went much deeper than any gratefulness could explain, and that Hitler had become Rommel's source of motivation. Some, like Randall Hansen, highlight the similarities in background and personality that facilitated the rapport between the two, while others, like Richard Overy, state that Rommel's main appeal to Hitler was that he was everything Hitler was not, while the political scientist Roland Detsch, in a review of Maurice Remy's book, comments that despite Remy's efforts, the strange relationship remains hard to understand. Wolfram Pyta remarks that Hitler did not compete with Rommel for the war leader image because the two complemented each other perfectly. They were similar in the sense that they were the only ones with a cultural presence and objects around whom German society's grand narrative was being built, thus Rommel was the only German general who would have been capable of challenging Hitler's rule, had he ever crossed the Rubicon from his "apolitical-to-the-core" military world and developed a serious, critical view of Hitler's political dealings. However, Rommel himself had fallen for Hitler's charisma almost until the end. Peter Lieb opines that the relationship between Rommel and Hitler is overrated - they liked each other but the relationship became worse and worse since the end of 1942 when Rommel began to see the consequences of Hitler's disastrous leadership as well as recognize the criminal character of the regime. According to Lieb, historians should focus more on Goebbels, whose propaganda built up Rommel. Italian generals considered Rommel apolitical, too: According to Scianna, when Badoglio took over Italy in 1943, the Allies became hopeful that a similar development would happen in Germany with Rommel as head of the new regime, but captured Italian generals rebuked this pipe-dream, telling them that Rommel, unlike other German generals, did not care about politics.


title: Rommel myth

text: Caddick-Adams writes that Rommel was a "complicated man of many contradictions", while Beckett notes that "Rommel's myth ... has proved remarkably resilient" and that more work is needed to put him in proper historical context. Zabecki concludes that "the blind hero worship ... only distorts the real lessons to be learned from [his] career and battles", and Watson notes that the legend has been a "distraction" that obscured the evolution of Rommel as a military commander and his changing attitudes towards the regime that he served.


title: Rommel myth

text: John Pimlott writes that Rommel was an impressive military commander who richly deserved his reputation as a leading exponent of mobile warfare, hampered by factors he could not control, although he usually accepted high risks and could become frustrated when forced on the defensive. On the other hand, Pimlott criticises Rommel for only disagreeing with Hitler for strategic reasons and, while accepting that Rommel did give chivalrous tone to his battles in Africa, he points out that this should not be used to ignore the responsibility Rommel must bear for promoting the Nazi cause with vigour. The same sentiment is held by Williamson Murray and Alan Millett who opine that Rommel, contrary to allegations that he was only a competent tactical commander, was the most outstanding battlefield commander of the war, who showed a realistic strategic view despite holding minimal control over strategy. They point out that, "like virtually the entire German officer corps", he was a convinced Nazi. While some, like Scianna, are more critical towards his strategical decisions but also dismiss negative myths such as Rommel's abandonment of his allies.


title: Rommel myth

text: Cornelia Hecht, the author of the 2008 exhibition named "Mythos Rommel" and a book of the same name, explains that despite extensive research, it is hard to see who Rommel really was under all the layers of the myth. She comments that she would not describe Rommel as a resistance fighter, although he did support the assassination attempt. Patrick Major describes Rommel as someone who went along with the regime as long as it served his needs, a "fellow traveler rather than a war criminal". Summing up Rommel's career in a 2012 interview with Reuters, the historian Sönke Neitzel states:


title: Rommel myth

text: On the one hand he didn't commit war crimes that we know of and ordered a retreat at El Alamein despite Hitler's order. But he took huge German casualties elsewhere and he was a servant of the regime. He was not exactly a shining liberal or Social Democrat. Mostly, he was interested in his career.


title: Rommel myth

text: Historian Reuth observes that the modern German image of Rommel (a result of the "Historikerstreit" in the 1980s and debates on war guilt during the 1990s), as represented most notably by Maurice Rémy, is that of both a National Socialist and a hero of the Resistance. Reuth argues that "Rommel was neither one nor the other. He had understood neither National Socialism, nor the resistance to it. Like millions of Germans he followed Hitler into disaster and whilst doing so he believed he was only doing his duty."


title: Rommel myth

text: Although the author David Irving and his works have now become controversial for his denial of the Holocaust, he is recognised as the historian who started the re-evaluation of Rommel. He was the first historian to gain access to a large number of Rommel's private letters, and his well-substantiated findings questioned Rommel's image as a "chivalrous resistance fighter". This biography, however, has been criticized by other authors Dowe and Hecht for manipulation and misrepresentation of primary sources, and even invention of verbatim quotations with the aim of portraying Hitler in a better light.


title: Rommel myth

text: Works such as the 2002 documentary "Mythos Rommel" by Remy, and the book of the same name, and the 2004 book "Rommel: Das Ende einer Legende" (published in English in 2005 as "Rommel: The End of a Legend") by German historian Ralf Georg Reuth, furthered the discussion on both Rommel and his myth. In the continued debate on Rommel and his legacy, Christopher Gabel criticises the documentary "Rommel's War" (made by historians and Jean-Christoph Caron) for using false analogy to prove that Rommel was a war criminal by association, without providing any evidence even of Rommel's knowledge about crimes in his areas of operation. According to Matthias Stickler, attacks on Rommel's integrity and attempts to link him to war crimes, which were started by the "journalist side" in the 1990s, have been largely repudiated by serious research despite having been repeatedly rehashed and refreshed by some authors and their epigones. Stickler gives recognition to both Remy and Reuth for offering possible explanations for Rommel's character evolution.


title: Rommel myth

text: Numerous English-speaking authors use the "Rommel Myth" ambiguously, like Bruce Allen Watson who states that "the masks he wore reflected the genuine plurality of the man", or Jill Edwards, who notes that, below all the layers historians have removed and added to, what remains seems enough to qualify Rommel as, if controversial, a great captain. Others who mention and depict the myth as a phenomenon that is either hard to ascertain or has a core that reflects reality include Pier Paolo Battistelli, Randall Hansen, Ian Baxter, T.L. McMahon, Brighton, Rosie Goldschmidt Waldeck, Charles F. Marshall, Majdalany, Latimer, and Showalter.


title: Rommel myth

text: A German author who uses the word "Mythos" in a critical manner is Ralph Giordano, who describes the phenomenon as one of the "Falsehoods of Tradition" in his book of the same name, which depicts how the image of Rommel has been a major basis for the warrior cult of the Bundeswehr. Sir David Hunt describes himself as being critical towards the Rommel mythology. While he has "the highest praise for his character", his impression of Rommel as a commander is a dashing cavalryman who gambled deep and lost in the end. Other authors who present popular narratives on Rommel as a misguided or deliberately falsified myth include James Sadkovich, who criticises both Rommel's supposed genius and his treatment of his Italian allies, and: James Robinson, Martin Kitchen, Alaric Searle, Robert Citino, Ralf Georg Reuth, Kenneth Macksey.


title: Cocaine Cowboys (2006 film)

text: Cocaine Cowboys is a 2006 documentary film directed by Billy Corben, and produced by Alfred Spellman and Billy Corben through their Miami-based media studio Rakontur. The film explores the rise of cocaine dealer Jon Roberts, described by prosecutors as "The Medellin Cartel's American representative". The film chronicles his role in the Miami drug war (the resulting crime epidemic that swept the American city of Miami, Florida, in the 1970s and 1980s). The producers of "Cocaine Cowboys" use interviews with law enforcers, journalists, lawyers, former drug smugglers, and gang members to provide a first-hand perspective of the Miami drug war.


title: Cocaine Cowboys (2006 film)

text: "Cocaine Cowboys" chronicles the development of the illegal drug trade in Miami during the 1970s and 1980s with interviews of both law enforcement and organized crime leaders, in addition to news footage from the era. The film reveals that in the 1960s and early 1970s, marijuana was the primary import drug into the region. During the 1970s, marijuana imports were replaced by the much more lucrative cocaine imports; as more cocaine was smuggled into the United States, the price dropped, allowing it to turn "blue collar" and become accessible to a wider market.


title: Cocaine Cowboys (2006 film)

text: Drug smugglers reveal several of the different methods used to smuggle the drug into Florida. The primary methods of transport were aircraft or boats. The drug smugglers also reveal the complexity of their smuggling methods. The logistics involved included the purchase and financing of legitimate businesses to provide cover for illegal operations, the use of sophisticated electronic homing devices, and other elaborate transportation schemes.


title: Cocaine Cowboys (2006 film)

text: The film also addresses the difficulty importers sometimes had storing all the money they made, as a result of which they set up a relationship with Noriega in Panama and also bought up entire neighborhoods of houses, putting money into infrastructure as well as investing in side projects such as race horses.


title: Cocaine Cowboys (2006 film)

text: The distribution networks were also highly elaborate, and many people were involved locally and nationally in the consumption of the imported cocaine. Importers reveal that condominiums were purchased near particular ocean waterways to provide a monitoring post for U.S. Coast Guard and local police patrol boats, and high-tech radio equipment was used to monitor the radio frequencies of federal, state, and local authorities in order to warn incoming boats and airplanes.


title: Cocaine Cowboys (2006 film)

text: The film reveals that much of the economic growth which took place in Miami during this period was a benefit of the drug trade. As members of the drug trade made immense amounts of money, this money flowed in large amounts into legitimate businesses. Consequently, drug money indirectly financed the construction of many of the modern high-rise buildings in southern Florida. Later, when law enforcement pressure drove many major players out of the picture, numerous high-end stores and businesses closed because of plummeting sales.


title: Cocaine Cowboys (2006 film)

text: Also documented in the film is the gangland violence associated with the trade. The interviewees in the film argue that Griselda Blanco, an infamous crime family matriarch, played a major role in the history of the drug trade in Miami and other cities across America. It was the lawless and corrupt atmosphere, primarily from Blanco's operations, that led to the gangsters being dubbed the "Cocaine Cowboys".


title: Cocaine Cowboys (2006 film)

text: The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2006, and distribution rights to the film in English speaking territories were licensed to Magnolia Pictures. The film opened in U.S. theaters with a limited release on October 27, 2006. Czech-American musician Jan Hammer of "Miami Vice" fame composed and performed the film's original score.


title: Cocaine Cowboys (2006 film)

text: A revised and extended version of the film, titled "Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded", was released on DVD in April 2014.


title: Jailbait

text: Jailbait is slang for a person who is younger than the legal age of consent for sexual activity and usually appears older, with the implication that a person above the age of consent might find them sexually attractive. The term "jailbait" is derived from the fact that engaging in sexual activity with someone who is under the age of consent is classified as statutory rape or by an equivalent term. The minor deemed sexually attractive is thus a temptation to an older person to pursue them for sexual relations at the risk of being sent to jail if caught.


title: Jailbait

text: As the legal age of consent varies by country and jurisdiction, the age at which a person can be considered "jailbait" varies. For example, in the United Kingdom, where the age of consent is 16, the term is used to refer to those younger than 16, whereas in some parts of the United States, where the age of consent is 18, the term would refer to those aged under 18. The frequent use of the term "jailbait" in popular culture has been linked to a greater understanding of age of consent laws among teenagers.


title: I Am the Night (TV series)

text: I Am the Night is a six-episode American limited television series created and written by Sam Sheridan, starring Chris Pine and India Eisley. The series premiered on TNT on January 28, 2019, with a sneak peek of the first episode airing on January 27, 2019.


title: I Am the Night (TV series)

text: The series is inspired by the memoir "", written by Fauna Hodel, documenting her unusual beginnings and the connection to her grandfather, George Hodel, a prime suspect in the infamous Black Dahlia murder mystery. A companion true-crime podcast, "" was released in February 2019.


title: I Am the Night (TV series)

text: Fauna Hodel, a young girl given up by her birth mother, sets out to uncover the secrets of her past and ends up following a sinister trail that swirls closer to a gynecologist involved in the legendary Black Dahlia slaying.


title: I Am the Night (TV series)

text: On July 27, 2017, the US cable network TNT announced Chris Pine would play the role of Jay Singletary in a six-episode television drama, "One Day She'll Darken", and serve as an executive producer alongside director Patty Jenkins and writer Sam Sheridan. The drama was inspired by the autobiography of Fauna Hodel titled "". In late 2017, it was reported that Carl Franklin would direct two episodes and also serve as executive producer. Victoria Mahoney will also direct two episodes. Director of photography Matthew Jensen joined the project in November 2017. The series was renamed "I Am the Night" and while originally announced to premiere on January 28, 2019, a sneak peek full airing of the pilot would be scheduled to follow 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards on the night before.


title: I Am the Night (TV series)

text: On October 13, 2017, TNT announced that India Eisley, Jefferson Mays, Yul Vazquez, Justin Cornwell, Dylan Smith, Theo Marshall, Jay Paulson, and Golden Brooks had joined the cast. Leland Orser, Connie Nielsen, Shoniqua Shandai, and Monique Green were also later cast.


title: I Am the Night (TV series)

text: The premiere was screened at the American Film Institute's AFI Fest on November 9, 2018, at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, California.


title: I Am the Night (TV series)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 73% based on 70 reviews, with an average rating of 6.34/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Chris Pine inhabits "I Am the Night" with the roguish gravitas befitting a noir — even if this entry into the pulp genre is more straightforward and languidly paced than some viewers would like." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: A Collection of Beatles Oldies (subtitled But Goldies!) is a compilation album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released in the United Kingdom in December 1966, it features hit singles and other songs issued by the group between 1963 and 1966. The compilation served as a stopgap release to satisfy EMI's demand for product during the Christmas period, since the Beatles had only begun recording "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", the follow-up to their "Revolver" album, late the previous month. It was the band's first official greatest hits collection, although the Beatles had no involvement in the album.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: The album's preparation and release coincided with rumours in the press that the group were on the verge of splitting up. This speculation was encouraged by the band members' high-profile individual activities since completing their final US tour, in late August 1966, and the announcement that, unlike in previous years, the Beatles would not be performing any concerts in Britain at the end of the year. The album cover is a painting combining contemporary psychedelic and op art themes and was commissioned by the band's manager, Brian Epstein. To adherents of the "Paul is dead" hoax, the artwork offered the first clues relating to the alleged demise of Paul McCartney and his replacement in the Beatles by a lookalike, a scenario that is said to have taken place in November 1966 and been facilitated by the group's retirement from live performance.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" offered the debut album release in Britain for many of the band's singles, although these songs had been available on compilation EPs since their initial release. It also provided the debut release in stereo for these recordings, since the Beatles favoured mono mixes for their singles until 1969. The compilation peaked at number 7 on the UK Albums Chart, where all the band's previous albums had held the top spot. It was also released in some other European countries and, in 1968, in Australia. The album was deleted from the Beatles' catalogue following the reissue of their albums on compact disc in 1987.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: The Beatles made the decision to retire from live performance in 1966, dissatisfied at playing to audiences of screaming fans, and following a series of controversies that had tarnished the band's image throughout the year. Those controversies included the unfavourable reaction to the butcher cover originally used for the band's American album "Yesterday and Today", death threats and political incidents during their visits to Japan and the Philippines, and condemnation from some religious groups in America in response to John Lennon's comment that the Beatles had become more popular than Christ. After completing their world tour on 29 August, the four band members took a break from group activities for three months. Due to the attention that their individual activities received, by early November, rumours in the press claimed that the band were breaking up. Alternatively, according to a report in "The Sunday Telegraph", the Beatles were to sever ties with their longtime manager, Brian Epstein, and instead be represented by Allen Klein. Fans of the band were disappointed by the announcement that, in a break from the tradition established in 1963, the Beatles were not playing any UK shows over the Christmas period. On 10 November, four days after 200 fans had demonstrated outside Epstein's home in central London, newspapers reported that there would be no further concert tours by the Beatles.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: Although Epstein voiced support for the Beatles' continuing evolution as artists, highlighting the advances they had made with their August 1966 album "Revolver", this period was one of doubt and anxiety for him. As a manager who thrived on organising the group's concert appearances, he began to worry that their enormous popularity might be coming to an end, or would diminish in the absence of new musical product. In the Beatles' absence, "The Monkees" – a television show starring four California-based musician-actors, brought together as a Beatles-like act – had first aired in September and soon won over the teenybopper audience that the band had sought to lose. In late October, Epstein informed EMI that, unlike in the previous three years, no new Beatles material would be ready in time for a Christmas release. As a result, the record company planned a compilation album, titled "A Collection of Beatles Oldies (But Goldies!)", for release in Britain and other territories overseen by EMI.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: According to their press officer, Tony Barrow, the Beatles were opposed to the release of the compilation. The band returned to work on 24 November, when they began the recording sessions for their album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Although an article in "Melody Maker" stated that the band would issue a new single in December, the only other scheduled release, aside from the new compilation, was the Beatles' annual fan-club Christmas record. Writing in 1977, author Nicholas Schaffner commented that it was surprising that EMI's US counterpart, Capitol Records, did not also issue the compilation album, given the company's policy of maximising the number of Beatles releases in North America.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" was the band's first official greatest-hits set and their eighth official album release in Britain. The album was hurriedly prepared, to satisfy EMI's concerns. A cover version of Larry Williams' "Bad Boy" was the sole new track for the UK market. It had already been released in the United States, on the Capitol album "Beatles VI" in June 1965. Thirteen of the fifteen other songs had been issued as singles, all of which had topped the national chart compiled by "Record Retailer" magazine (subsequently adopted as the UK Singles Chart). "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me", the Beatles' first two hit singles, were not included.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: The compilation provided the debut UK album release for the following singles tracks: "From Me to You", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "I Feel Fine", "Day Tripper", "We Can Work It Out" and "Paperback Writer". The two songs that had not been issued as UK singles (apart from "Bad Boy"), "Yesterday" and "Michelle", had each been number 1 hits in other European countries overseen by EMI. Aside from their appearances on albums or as standalone singles, most of the songs on "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" had also been available on the various compilation EPs issued by EMI since 1963, one of which was the December 1965 release "The Beatles' Million Sellers". EMI therefore pushed for the inclusion of "Bad Boy", to ensure that British fans had a reason to buy the new compilation album.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: Several tracks, including "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Day Tripper", "We Can Work It Out" and "Paperback Writer", were remixed in stereo for the album, since the majority of the Beatles' singles had only been mixed for mono release previously. The stereo mixing was overseen by George Martin, the Beatles' producer, with none of the band members present. The mixing sessions took place between 31 October and 10 November 1966 at EMI Studios (later Abbey Road Studios) in London.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: Martin was surprised at how time-consuming the remixing of "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" proved to be. In the case of "She Loves You", the 1963 two-track recording tape had since been reused, forcing EMI engineer Geoff Emerick to return to the mono master and create a "mock stereo" mix. This was achieved through removing the high frequencies from the left channel and the low frequencies from the right. They had also intended to remix "From Me to You", the Beatles' first song to top the "Record Retailer" chart, but this did not take place.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: The final day of the album's preparation was carried out without Martin and Emerick. Author Kenneth Womack writes of their absence, as of the Beatles' non-participation: "Clearly, "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" was the sole priority of EMI at this juncture." Two other EMI engineers, Peter Bown and Graham Kirkby, remixed "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out" that day. They then worked on "This Boy", the B-side of "I Want to Hold Your Hand", but this was due to a miscommunication with EMI's office in Manchester Square, where the song had been confused with "Bad Boy". The error was discovered later, by which point there was no time to remix "Bad Boy" and the original mix was used for the compilation.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: The album cover is a painting by artist David Christian, who captured the vibrant colours then popular in London's Carnaby Street fashion boutiques. In the description of music journalist Martin O'Gorman, the cover image partly reflects the popularity of retro boutiques such as I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet; it also includes a man with a mop-top haircut reclining on a chair and "clad in Day-Glo striped trousers and a garishly patterned tie". O'Gorman adds that, except for the moustaches that the four Beatles had recently grown, the artist had captured the band's new psychedelic image, which would be unveiled in the film clips for the two songs on their next single, "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane".<ref name="O'Gorman/MojoSpecial">O'Gorman, Martin. "Strange Fruit". In: .</ref> According to a report in the 3 December issue of "Billboard" magazine, the painting was a "colorful Op-Art" work that had been commissioned by Epstein.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: The back of the LP sleeve featured a photograph of the group taken by Robert Whitaker. The photo was taken in the Tokyo Hilton,<ref name="Hunt/Whitaker">Hunt, Chris. "Here, There & Everywhere". In: .</ref> where the band members were confined for much of their 1966 concert tour of Japan due to security concerns. Author Colin Larkin comments that, in comparison with their look as live performers, their "image as pin-up pop stars was also undergoing a metamorphosis" by late 1966. The Beatles are shown inspecting "objets d'art" that the Japanese promoter had arranged to have brought to the group's hotel suite, on 1 and 2 July,<ref name="Irvin/Strokes">Irvin, Jim. "Different Strokes". In: .</ref> to help fill the time before their shows at the Budokan Hall.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: The LP cover was one of several references to the Beatles that the English band Oasis incorporated into the artwork for their albums and singles from 1994 onwards, at a time when the Britpop movement drew heavily on the visual style of the Beatles' "Revolver" period. The image of the Beatles in the Tokyo hotel room served as inspiration for the photograph used on Oasis' debut album, "Definitely Maybe", taken by Michael Spencer Jones.<ref name="NME/Oasis"></ref>


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: From "Revolver" onwards, the Beatles' more dedicated fans began analysing the band's song lyrics for hidden meaning, and, in the description of American academic Camille Paglia, their album covers were also "feverishly scrutinized for clues and coded messages". The cover of "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" was viewed as the first example of the Beatles leaving clues relating to the "Paul is dead" hoax. This theory, which escalated in late 1969, contended that Paul McCartney had been decapitated in a car crash in November 1966 and replaced in the band by a lookalike – a subterfuge that was facilitated by their retirement from live performance and change of image for "Sgt. Pepper". Proponents of the theory noted that four figures were pictured around a car in the top left corner of the painting, and that another car appeared to be heading straight towards the head of the man reclining in the chair, who supposedly looked most like McCartney out of all the Beatles. In addition, if the first two letters of the word printed on the bass drum, "OLDIES", are each advanced alphabetically, the word becomes a message stating "PM [for Paul McCartney] dies".


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: The back-cover photo is also cited as evidence in the "Paul is dead" hoax, because of McCartney's atypical black attire, his distance from Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, and the appearance of smoke around him. This clue represents ectoplasm, suggesting, in the description of author Nicholas Kollerstrom, that McCartney's presence is merely an "apparition".


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: EMI's Parlophone label released "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" on 10 December 1966. With speculation continuing to surround the Beatles' future, Independent Television News (ITN) filmed its "Reporting '66" segment outside EMI Studios on 20 December; each of the band members was interviewed on arrival and assured ITN's reporter that they were not going to break up. Otherwise, the only television appearance that month by a member of the Beatles was when Lennon appeared in the "Not Only ... But Also" Christmas special. On "Record Retailer"s LPs chart (later the UK Albums Chart), where all of the group's previous albums had held the top position for a minimum of seven weeks, the compilation reached number 7. On the national chart published by "Melody Maker", it peaked at number 4.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: At this time, the Beatles came second in the World Vocal Group category in the "NME"s annual readers poll, finishing with 5221 votes to the Beach Boys' 5321 – marking the only year between 1963 and 1969 that the Beatles failed to win in that category. Reports in "Billboard" and "KRLA Beat" attributed this result partly to the lack of new music from the band, and the fact that they had not toured the UK in 1966. According to author Jonathan Gould, Epstein's concern was the Monkees, whose rise influenced his decision to cede to EMI's demands and release "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" as a single in February 1967.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: According to Official Charts Company researcher Sharon Mawer, EMI had been expecting to achieve the "biggest album" of the year with the first compilation of the Beatles' greatest hits, but "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" proved to be "one of the biggest miscalculations of the pop charts". She concluded that fans were unwilling to pay for an LP that, aside from "Bad Boy", repackaged recordings


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: they already owned and "The era of the successful Greatest Hits compilation was not yet with us."<ref name="Mawer/OCC"></ref> The album was released in Australia in 1968, after EMI's regional office had issued two greatest hits sets exclusive to the local market, in late 1966 and early 1967. There, the retrospectively compiled Kent Music Report recorded a chart peak for "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" of number 7. The album returned to the UK chart on several occasions in the early 1970s, including placing at number 32 in April 1970 and number 38 in July 1972.


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: Among contemporary reviews, "Tracks" commented that the album "ought to give some indication of how the Beatles have developed, but it proves mainly how much more variety there is in their albums than in their singles". "Record Mirror" reviewer criticised the omission of "Please Please Me" and considered "Bad Boy" "probably the worst on the album". The writer said that the album would only appeal to "the occasional Beatle buyers", but added, "doubtless there are enough of them to make this into a chart-topper."


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: Writing in the 1970s, "NME" critics Roy Carr and Tony Tyler said of the compilation: "Once again, it was Christmas – and the Beatles had "no new product" to give to EMI for their Santa sack! As a last resort, a predictable collection of oldies was hastily assembled and crammed into an inferior Carnaby-Street-style carrier-bag sleeve." They also commented on the record company's propensity, starting in 1963, for releasing the Beatles' hits and other previously issued songs on EPs – an approach they describe as an "Old Ukrainian saying: if it moves, sell it". Author Robert Rodriguez criticises EMI's commercial motivation, adding: "It must have been obvious to anyone paying attention that, given the low-rent design and their own oft-stated aversion to compilations, the Beatles had nothing to do with this project."


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: Writing for Rough Guides, Chris Ingham describes it as a "fair, if safe, mid-career compendium". In his review for AllMusic, Richard Ginell says that EMI did give fans value for their money, by offering sixteen songs instead of the usual quota of fourteen for a British LP release, one of which was the previously unissued track. Ginell writes that, in retrospect, the compilation stands as "a decent summing up of the Beatles' achievement just before the plunge into 'Strawberry Fields' and "Sgt. Pepper"".<ref name="Ginell/AM"></ref>


title: A Collection of Beatles Oldies

text: According to a December 1971 report in "Billboard" on the preference for UK-pressed LPs among Los Angeles record-buyers, "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" was one of the most popular imported titles, and recognised as good value for its generous number of songs relative to the US industry standard. For many years after its release, the 1966 compilation remained the only British album to contain the Beatles' version of "Bad Boy". Although briefly available on the Music for Pleasure budget label, it was superseded by subsequent compilations: the band's "1962–1966" greatest hits set, released in 1973, contained fifteen of the songs; the remaining track, "Bad Boy", was then included on the 1976 compilation "Rock 'n' Roll Music". "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" was deleted from the Beatles' catalogue following the reissue of their albums on compact disc in 1987.


title: Detroit Diesel Series 92

text: The Detroit Diesel Series 92 is a two-stroke cycle, V-block diesel engine, produced with versions ranging from six to 16 cylinders. Among these, the most popular were the 6V92 and 8V92, which were V6 and V8 configurations of the same engine respectively. The series was introduced in 1974 as a rebored version of its then-popular sister series, the Series 71. Both the Series 71 and Series 92 engines were popularly used in on-highway vehicle applications.


title: Detroit Diesel Series 92

text: The Series 92 engines were introduced in 1974. Compared to the Series 71 engines they were derived from, the Series 92 featured a larger bore of and an identical stroke of for a nominal displacement per cylinder of , from which the Series 92 derives its name.


title: Detroit Diesel Series 92

text: While the basic mechanics of the 92 series indicated superior performance and durability, early prototypes were challenged by breakdowns resulting from the torque inherent in the design. Carl Kamradt, the senior engineer in Detroit Diesel Allison's E5, or Experimental Department, was responsible for working through the practical applications of the engine, resulting in the 92 Series becoming the favored choice for applications requiring high torque and dependability. Upon Mr. Kamradt's retirement in 1984, the E-5 division was eliminated as the 92 Series ran its course.


title: Detroit Diesel Series 92

text: In the 1980s and early 1990s, the Series 92 was used as a major bus engine in North America. It was also available for several other applications: Trucks, buses, motor homes, construction, fire trucks/apparatus, industrial equipment, several military vehicles, aircraft and marine applications.


title: Detroit Diesel Series 92

text: The Series 92 left the market in the summer of 1995 and the four stroke Detroit Diesel engine Series 60 was introduced as a replacement.


title: Detroit Diesel Series 92

text: The model number indicates the basic configuration of the engine. The model designator consists of the number of cylinders (6, 8, 12, or 16), the block layout (V), engine series (92), and a lettered suffix which provides information about forced induction (T for turbocharged, A for aftercooled), so for instance, an 8V92TA designates a Series 92 V8 engine that is turbocharged and aftercooled.


title: Pori Moni

text: Shamsunnahar Smrity (born 24 October 1992), known by her stage name Pori Moni, is a Bangladeshi film actress. Her notable works includes "Aro Bhalobashbo Tomay", "Rokto", and "Swapnajaal". She was listed in Forbes Asia’s "100 Digital Stars" magazine in December 2020.


title: Pori Moni

text: Shamsunnahar Smrity was born on 24 October 1992, in the Satkhira District. After losing her parents in childhood, she grew up in her maternal grandparents' house in Pirojpur, where she earned her secondary and higher secondary school certificates.


title: Pori Moni

text: Moni's first film, "Rana Plaza", based on the Rana Plaza disaster, was denied certification by the Bangladesh Film Censor Board, who stated that it was a national disaster that people may misunderstand. Her second film "Bhalobasha Shimaheen" was released on 13 February 2015. She co-starred with Shakib Khan in "Aro Bhalobashbo Tomay" and "Dhumketu".


title: Pori Moni

text: Moni married her cousin Ismail Hossain in 2010 and divorced him in 2012. She then married footballer Ferdous Kabir Sourav in April 2012. In 2019, Moni was engaged to RJ Tamim Hasan, but later they broke up. In March 2020, she married film director Kamruzzaman Roni but this marriage did not last. In October 2021, she married actor-model Sariful Razz. Razz-Porimoni became parents of a boy, Shaheem Muhammad Rajya, on 10 August 2022.


title: Pori Moni

text: On 8 June 2021, Moni accused Nasir Uddin Mahmood, a businessman and politician of the Jatiya Party, of sexual assault on her at the Boat Club in Ashulia, Uttara. She asked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for justice on Facebook. On June 14, Mahmood and businessman Tuhin Siddique Omi were arrested by the Bangladesh Police, but Mahmood was later released on bail. A week later, Moni was accused of vandalism at the Gulshan All Community Club. The club's president, K.M. Alamgir Iqbal, accused her of vandalizing the club on June 7 night at a press conference.


title: Pori Moni

text: On 4 August 2021, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) raided Moni's house in Banani. She was arrested on alleged charges of possessing lysergic acid diethylamide, crystal methamphetamine, and 30 bottles of foreign liquor from the house. On 5 August, Dhaka court magistrate Mamunur Rashid granted a 4-day remand against Moni, film producer Nazrul Islam Raj, and two of their associates in connection with separate narcotics cases filed under the Narcotics Control Act 1990.


title: Pori Moni

text: On 31 August, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Kayes granted Moni bail and she was released the next morning after 27 days of detention.


title: Sarah Murdoch

text: Raised in Sydney, Australia, Murdoch studied in Western Sydney at Strathfield's The McDonald College of the Performing Arts, where she studied ballet. After being told by the ballet master, Alan Alexander Cross, that she was too tall and would never make it as a ballerina, she changed direction.


title: Sarah Murdoch

text: Her modelling career began at the age of 17, after being signed to Vivien's Management in Sydney. Soon after she moved to Paris and started working as a runway model for Karl Lagerfeld, Issey Miyake, Chanel, Emanuel Ungaro, Gianfranco Ferré, Givenchy, Alberta Ferretti, Kenzo, Valentino and Oscar de la Renta. She appeared in campaigns for Bonds, L'Oréal, Revlon, Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint Laurent, and Estée Lauder, as well as the 1999 and 2003 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues. Her magazine covers include "Vogue", "Elle", "Marie Claire", "Glamour", "GQ" and "Harper's Bazaar". She has appeared on magazine issue covers in Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.


title: Sarah Murdoch

text: Murdoch starred with fellow model Shalom Harlow in the romantic comedy "Head Over Heels". She also appeared in an episode of the sitcom, "Friends" (S07E07).


title: Sarah Murdoch

text: Murdoch filled in for Jessica Rowe on the Nine Network's popular morning news and interview show, "Today" while Rowe was taking four months maternity leave.


title: Sarah Murdoch

text: On 26 March 2007, it was reported in "The Sydney Morning Herald" that Murdoch would finish up her hosting duties on "Today" and stepped down on 30 March 2007. "Nine News" presenter Kellie Sloane replaced Murdoch until May 2007, when Lisa Wilkinson took over as the new co-host on "Today".


title: Sarah Murdoch

text: Murdoch returned as a guest host on the 4 October 2007, alongside Karl Stefanovic, to raise awareness of breast cancer as she is a patron of the National Breast Cancer Foundation.


title: Sarah Murdoch

text: Murdoch replaced Jodhi Meares as host of "Australia's Next Top Model" after Meares infamously blundered her way through the third season's live finale in 2007 and flat-out refused to appear in 2008's finale. In addition to hosting Top Model and an executive producer on the show, Murdoch also signed a deal with Foxtel to create documentaries with her production company, Room 329 Productions. She experienced media scrutiny during the 2010 "Australia's Next Top Model" Grand Final for announcing an incorrect winner. On 12 December 2011, Murdoch announced that she was leaving "Top Model" after three seasons.


title: Sarah Murdoch

text: Screened in November 2009, Murdoch and her production company Room 329 Productions, along with Foxtel, produced 4 episodes of "Pride of Australia" with Murdoch herself as host. The program tells inspiring stories of everyday Australians exhibiting acts of great courage, love and determination when faced with adversity. The stories were taken from thousands of people nominated to News Limited papers across Australia.


title: Sarah Murdoch

text: Murdoch hosted the Network Ten reality dance programme "Everybody Dance Now" in August 2012; however, due to poor ratings, the series was axed after just four episodes.


title: Sarah Murdoch

text: In 1999, the then-Sarah O'Hare married British-born Lachlan Murdoch, the eldest son of Australian-born American media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The couple reside in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, with their two sons, Kalan Alexander (born 2004), Aidan Patrick (born 2006) and their daughter, Aerin Elisabeth Murdoch (born 2010).


title: Sarah Murdoch

text: She is also ambassador of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and joined its board of directors in 2014. The institute was established in 1986 by her husband Lachlan's grandmother, Elisabeth Murdoch and is the largest child health research institute in Australia. Murdoch is patron of Australia's National Breast Cancer Foundation, and addressed the National Press Club of Australia about the activities of the foundation on 4 October 2006 and again on 24 December 2008. The addresses were televised Australia-wide by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Murdoch is a keen rugby league fan and supports the Manly Sea Eagles.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The Battle of Peking, or historically the Relief of Peking, was the battle fought on 14–15 August 1900 in Peking, in which the Eight-Nation Alliance relieved the siege of the Peking Legation Quarter during the Boxer Rebellion. From 20 June 1900, Boxers and Imperial Chinese Army troops had besieged foreign diplomats, citizens and soldiers within the legations of Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Spain and the United States.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The first attempt to relieve the legations by a force of over 2,000 sailors and marines commanded by British Admiral Edward Seymour was turned back by strong opposition on 26 June.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: On 4 August a second, much larger relief force, called the Eight-Nation Alliance, marched from Tientsien (Tianjin) toward Peking. The alliance force consisted of 22,000 troops from the following countries: United States - 2,000 (soldiers and marines with artillery); Japan - 10,000; Russia - 4,000 (infantry, Cossacks and artillery); Britain - 3,000 (mostly Indian infantry, cavalry and artillery); France - 800 (Indochinese brigade with artillery); Germany - 200; Austria - 100; Italy - 100. Other sources give a figure of 18,000 troops.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The Alliance forces defeated the Chinese army at the Battle of Beicang (Peitsang) on 5 August and the Battle of Yangcun (Yangtsun) on 6 August and reached Tongzhou (Tongchou), 14 miles from Peking, on 12 August. The relief force was much reduced by heat exhaustion and sunstroke and the men available for the assault on Peking probably did not greatly exceed 10,000.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The British, American and Japanese commanders wanted to push on and attack Peking on 13 August, but the Russian commander said he needed another day to prepare and 13 August was devoted to reconnaissance and rest.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The objective of the alliance forces was to fight their way into the city of Peking, make their way to the Legation Quarter and rescue the 900 foreigners besieged there by the Chinese army since 20 June.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: Peking had formidable defense works. The city was surrounded by walls 21 miles in length and broken by 16 gates. The wall around the Inner (Tartar) city was 40 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the top. The wall around the adjoining Outer (Chinese) city was 30 feet high. The population living within the walls was about one million people, although many had fled to escape the Boxers and the fighting between the Chinese army and the foreigners in the Legation Quarter.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: As the armies moved into position about five miles from the walls, on the night of 13 August, they could hear the sounds of heavy artillery and machine-gun fire from within the city. They feared they had arrived one day too late to rescue their countrymen.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The relief force did not know that 2,800 destitute Chinese Christians had taken refuge in the Legation Quarter with the foreigners, nor did it know that three miles distant from the Legations a second siege was in progress. The Peitang (Beitang) cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church had been surrounded by Boxers and the Chinese army since 15 June. Defending the cathedral were 28 foreign priests and nuns, 43 French and Italian soldiers and 3,400 Chinese Catholics. The people sheltering in the Peitang had suffered several hundred killed, mostly from starvation, disease and mines detonated beneath the perimeter walls. Sixty-six of the 900 foreigners in the Legation Quarter had been killed and 150 wounded during the siege. Casualties among the Chinese Christians were not recorded.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The assault on Peking had taken on the character of a race to see which national army achieved the glory of relieving the Legations.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The commanders of the four national armies agreed that each of them would assault a different gate. The Russians were assigned the most northerly gate, the Tung Chih (Dongzhi); the Japanese had the next gate south, the Chi Hua (Chaoyang); the Americans, the Tung Pein (Dongbien); and the British the most southern, the Sha Wo (Guangqui). The French apparently were left out of the planning.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The gate assigned to the Americans was nearest to the Legation Quarter and they seemed to have the best opportunity to reach the legations first. However, the Russians violated the plan, although it is uncertain whether it was intentional or not. An advance Russian force arrived at the Americans' assigned gate, the Dongbien, about 3:00 a.m. on 14 August. They killed 30 Chinese outside the gate and blasted a hole in the door with artillery. Once inside the gate, however, in the courtyard between the inner and outer doors, they were caught in a murderous crossfire that killed 26 Russian soldiers and wounded 102. The survivors were pinned down for the next several hours.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: When the Americans arrived at their assigned gate that morning they found the Russians already engaged there and they moved their troops about 200 yards south. Once there, Trumpeter Calvin P. Titus volunteered to climb the 30-foot-tall wall, which he did successfully. Other Americans followed him, and at 11:03 a.m. the American flag was raised on the wall of the Outer city. American troops exchanged fire with Chinese forces on the wall and then climbed down the other side and headed west toward the Legation Quarter in the shadow of the wall of the Inner city.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: Meanwhile, the Japanese had encountered stiff resistance at their assigned gate and were subjecting it to an artillery barrage. The British had an easier time of it, approaching and passing through their gate, the Shawo or Guangqui, with virtually no opposition. Both Americans and British were aware that the easiest entry into the Legation Quarter was through the so-called Water Gate, a drainage canal running beneath the wall of the Inner city. The British got there first. They waded through the muck of the canal and into the Legation Quarter and were greeted by a cheering throng of the besieged, all decked out in their "Sunday best". The Chinese ringing the Legation Quarter fired a few shots, wounding a Belgian woman, and then fled. It was 2:30 p.m on 14 August. The British had not suffered a single casualty all day, except for one man who died of sunstroke.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: About 4:30 p.m., the Americans arrived in the Legation Quarter. Their casualties for the day were one killed and nine wounded, plus one badly injured in a fall while climbing the wall. Among the wounded was Smedley Butler who would later become a general and the most famous Marine of his era. The Russian, Japanese and French forces entered Peking that evening as Chinese opposition melted away. The Siege of the Legations was over.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The next morning, 15 August, Chinese forces probably Dong Fuxiang's Gansu Muslim troops still occupied parts of the wall of the Inner City and the Imperial and Forbidden Cities. Occasional shots were directed toward the foreign troops. General Chaffee, the American commander, ordered his troops to clear the wall and occupy the Imperial City. With assistance from the Russians and French, American artillery blasted its way through a series of walls and gates into the Imperial City, halting the advance at the gates of the Forbidden City. American casualties for the day were seven killed and 29 wounded. One of those killed was Capt. Henry Joseph Reilly, 54 years old and born in Ireland, a renowned artilleryman.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The Dowager Empress, Cixi, the emperor and several members of the court fled Peking in the early morning of 15 August, only a few hours before the Americans knocked up against the wall of the Forbidden City. She, dressed as a peasant woman, and the Imperial party slipped out of the city in three wooden carts. Chinese authorities called her flight to Shanxi province a "tour of inspection". Remaining in Peking to deal with the foreigners, and holed up in the Forbidden City, were trusted aides to the Dowager, including Ronglu, commander of the army and her friend since childhood. At Zhengyang Gate the Muslim Kansu Braves engaged in a fierce battle against the Alliance forces. The commanding Muslim general in the Chinese army, General Ma Fulu, and four of his cousins were killed charging against the Alliance forces; meanwhile, a hundred Hui and Dongxiang Muslim troops from his home village died in the fighting at Zhengyang. The Battle at Zhengyang was fought against the British. After the battle was over, the Kansu Muslim troops, including General Ma Fuxiang, were among those guarding the Empress Dowager during her flight. The future Muslim General Ma Biao, who led Muslim cavalry to fight against the Japanese in the Second Sino-Japanese War, fought in the Boxer Rebellion under General Ma Haiyan as a private in the Battle of Peking against the foreigners. General Ma Haiyan died of exhaustion after the Imperial Court reached their destination, and his son Ma Qi took over his posts. Ma Fuxing also served under Ma Fulu to guard the Qing Imperial court during the fighting. The Muslim troops were described as ""the bravest of the brave, the most fanatical of fanatics : and that is why the defence of the Emperor's city had been entrusted to them.""


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The relief of the siege at the Peitang did not take place until 16 August. Japanese troops stumbled across the Cathedral that morning but, without a common language, they and the besieged were both confused. Shortly, however, French troops arrived and marched into the cathedral to the cheers of the survivors.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: On 17 August, the representatives of the foreign powers met and recommended that "as the advance of the foreign troops into the Imperial and Forbidden Cities had been obstinately resisted by the Chinese troops", the foreign armies should continue to fight until "the Chinese armed resistance within the City of Peking and the surrounding country was crushed". They also declared "that in the crushing of the armed resistance lies the best and only hope of the restoration of peace".


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: On 28 August, the foreign armies in Peking swelled in numbers by the arrival of soldiers from Germany, Italy and Austria and additional troops from France marched through the Forbidden City to demonstrate symbolically their complete control of Peking. Chinese authorities protested their entry. Foreigners and most Chinese were prohibited from setting foot in the Forbidden City. However, the Chinese gave way when the foreign armies promised not to occupy the Forbidden City but threatened to destroy it if their passage was disputed.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: Peking was a battered city after the siege. The Boxers had begun the destruction, destroying all Christian churches and homes and starting fires that burned throughout the city. The Chinese artillery aimed at the Legation Quarter and Peitang during the siege had destroyed nearby neighborhoods. Unburied bodies littered the deserted streets. The foreign armies divided Peking into districts. Each district was administered by one of the occupying armies.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The occupation of Peking became, in the words of an American journalist, "the biggest looting expedition since Pizarro". Each nation accused the others of being most responsible for the looting. American missionary Luella Miner claimed that "The conduct of the Russian soldiers is atrocious, the French are not much better, and the Japanese are looting and burning without mercy". Gaselee, noting the "unavoidable necessity" of looting, established a system whereby all loot was auctioned off at the British Legation every afternoon except Sunday, with the proceeds being distributed by a prize committee to the remaining British troops in the city. Chaffee banned American soldiers from looting, although U.S. troops frequently violated that order to engage in pillaging around the city, which led an Army chaplain to complain that "Our rule against looting is totally ineffectual".


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The civilians and missionaries who had been besieged were some of the most prolific looters, as they were familiar with Peking. Some of the looting was justified as being done so for humanitarian reasons, such as the case of Catholic Bishop Pierre Favier and American Congregationalist William Scott Ament who had hundreds of starving Chinese Christians to care for and needed food and clothing. However, looting for necessities quickly became superseded by looting for profit, widely publicized by journalists—many indulged in looting on their own while condemning it when done by others. Chinese citizens in Peking also indulged in looting and set up markets to sell the proceeds of their efforts.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: The Eight-Nation Alliance proceeded to dispatch punitive expeditions to the countryside to capture or kill suspected Boxers. During these expeditions, indiscriminate killings were frequently carried out by the soldiers. Chafee commented that "It is safe to say that where one real Boxer has been killed since the capture of Peking, fifty harmless coolies or laborers on the farms, including not a few women and children, have been slain". The majority of the punitive expeditions were conducted by the French and Germans.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: A peace agreement was concluded between the Eight-Nation Alliance and representatives of the Chinese government Li Hung-chang and Prince Ching on 7 September 1901. The treaty required China to pay an indemnity of $335 million (over $4 billion in current dollars) plus interest over a period of 39 years. Also required was the execution or exile of government supporters of the Boxers and the destruction of Chinese forts and other defenses in much of northern China. Ten days after the treaty was signed the foreign armies left Peking, although legation guards would remain there until World War II.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: With the treaty signed the Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Peking from her "tour of inspection" on 7 January 1902 and the rule of the Qing dynasty over China was restored, albeit much weakened by the defeat it had suffered in the Boxer Rebellion and by the indemnity and stipulations of the peace treaty. The Dowager died in 1908 and the dynasty imploded in 1911.


title: Battle of Peking (1900)

text: In the Second Sino-Japanese War, when the Japanese asked the Muslim General Ma Hongkui to defect and become head of a Muslim puppet state under the Japanese, Ma responded through Zhou Baihuang, the Ningxia Secretary of the Nationalist Party to remind the Japanese military chief of staff Itagaki Seishiro that many of his relatives fought and died in battle against Eight Nation Alliance forces during the Battle of Peking, including his uncle Ma Fulu, and that Japanese troops made up the majority of the Alliance forces so there would be no cooperation with the Japanese.


title: Kaikeyi

text: Kaikeyi (Sanskrit: कैकेयी, IAST: Kaikeyī) is the second consort of King Dasharatha, and a queen of Ayodhya in the Hindu epic Ramayana.


title: Kaikeyi

text: Out of Dasharatha's three wives, Kaikeyi exerts the most influence. Formerly the princess of Kekeya, she is described to have served as an able counsellor to her husband during times of war. She is the mother of Bharata. Initially loving and motherly towards her stepson, Prince Rama, Kaikeyi's mind is poisoned by Manthara, her maid. Under her influence, Rama is exiled to the forest for a period of fourteen years.


title: Kaikeyi

text: Kaikeyi is born to King Ashvapati of Kekeya shortly before her mother was exiled. She was raised with her only mother figure being her hunchbacked nursemaid, Manthara. She is raised with seven brothers, including her twin, Yudhājit.


title: Kaikeyi

text: In a battle between the devas and the asuras, Dasharatha rode to Devaloka, accompanied by Kaikeyi, to help Indra fight against the asuras. The devas were at a disadvantage due to the sorcery employed by Shambara and his army of asuras. Dasharatha, riding a chariot, faced the asuras in ten directions at the same time. In this battle, his chariot had to be turned to every direction in a swift manner. During the battle, the bolt of one of the wheels slipped out, and the wheel was about to disengage when Kaikeyi inserted her thumb in the hole of the bolt, and kept the chariot steady. When the king learnt of this presence of mind on Kaikeyi's part, he was pleased, and offered her two boons. The queen said that she would ask for those two boons in the future, as she wished for nothing right then and there.


title: Kaikeyi

text: Under the custom of primogeniture, Dasharatha, with the approval of the royal assembly, selected Rama to be his heir. Kaikeyi was delighted and as happy as she would have been had it been her own son during the coronation. However, Manthara, Kaikeyi's nurse, feared that Kaikeyi would lose her status as chief queen at court if Rama ascended the throne, as Kausalya would thus become queen mother. She decided to instigate trouble. She tried to fuel Kaikeyi's jealousy and envy of Kausalya by reminding her that her son's coronation would give Kausalya her former status as the most important of Dasharatha's queens and would cut Bharata out of the line of succession forever, but this had no effect on Kaikeyi at the time.


title: Kaikeyi

text: Manthara later convinced Kaikeyi to demand two boons granted to her years earlier by Dasharatha. King Dasharatha was obliged to fulfill them. Kaikeyi demanded that Bharata be crowned king, and Rama be sent to the forest for a period of fourteen years. Hearing this, Dasharatha fell into a swoon and passed the night in a pitiable condition in Kaikeyi's palace.


title: Kaikeyi

text: Grief-stricken, Dasharatha died of a broken heart six days after he exiled Rama from Ayodhya. Kaikeyi came to blame herself for this death. Furthermore, Bharata swore never to ascend the throne as it was his older brother's birthright. He further blamed her for his father's death and swore never to address her as "mother" again. Realising her mistake, Kaikeyi repented sending her beloved step son away for fourteen years.


title: Kaikeyi

text: After Rama's return, she apologised to him for her sins. Rama touched her feet and said there was no need to ask for forgiveness, as he did not feel bad about what happened. He insisted that Bharata forgive his mother. Further defending Kaikeyi, Rama also argued to Bharata that this is just what mothers did. Whether good or bad, he remarked, what mothers did was for the betterment of their children, not for themselves, so it is not proper to be angry with them.


title: Kaikeyi

text: Kaikeyi's personality and her relationships are quite revealing in Ayodhya Kanda of the Valmiki Ramayana. Kaikeyi maintained strong relations with her maternal family even after her wedding to King Dasharatha. Her brother Yudhajit visits her many times and takes a keen interest in the life of her son Bharata, often taking the latter and Shatrughna away to the Kaikeya kingdom during the summer.


title: Kaikeyi

text: Kaikeyi helped her husband Dasharatha in the Dandaka forest while he was at war. While Kaikeyi saved the king in the war, as per mythology, her left hand was strong as a diamond (a boon from a Saint) so the king accompanied her during wars.


title: Kaikeyi

text: Kaikeyi was the king's favorite queen. Kaikeyi's nature is described as being temperamental and unpredictable. While she was mostly gentle, it is evident that she disliked the king spending time with his other queens. King Dasharatha mentions that he did not treat his queen Kausalya with the love she deserved due to fear of Kaikeyi's tantrums and possessiveness.


title: Kaikeyi

text: Kaikeyi seemed almost naive when it came to understanding the rights of the four princes to Ayodhya's throne. She naively mentions to her maid Manthara that Bharata can rule Ayodhya after Ram, not understanding the law of primogeniture. It is Manthara who educates Kaikeyi of the manner of succession.


title: Kaikeyi

text: Kaikeyi's naive nature and gentleness were transformed into obstinacy and a hunger for power; all in the name of her son Bharata's welfare. Bharata contests her views vociferously and despises her for her act of banishing the rightful heir Rama to the forest for punishing him for no fault of his own. King Dasharatha tries to reason with her, arguing in terms of the stability of the kingdom, the people's will, and the court's decision to crown Rama; none of which seems reasonable to her. Finally, King Dasharatha renounces her, and yet he is unable to separate himself from her. He lingers on in his grief in her chambers in fear of the humiliation from everyone outside those chambers.


title: History of Paris

text: The oldest traces of human occupation in Paris, discovered in 2008 near the Rue Henri-Farman in the 15th arrondissement, are human bones and evidence of an encampment of hunter-gatherers dating from about 8000 BC, during the Mesolithic period.


title: History of Paris

text: Between 250 and 225 BC, the Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, settled on the banks of the Seine, built bridges and a fort, minted coins, and began to trade with other river settlements in Europe.


title: History of Paris

text: In 52 BC, a Roman army led by Titus Labienus defeated the Parisii and established a Gallo-Roman garrison town called Lutetia. The town was Christianised in the 3rd century AD, and after the collapse of the Roman Empire, it was occupied by Clovis I, the King of the Franks, who made it his capital in 508.


title: History of Paris

text: During the Middle Ages, Paris was the largest city in Europe, an important religious and commercial centre, and the birthplace of the Gothic style of architecture. The University of Paris on the Left Bank, organised in the mid-13th century, was one of the first in Europe. It suffered from the Bubonic Plague in the 14th century and the Hundred Years' War in the 15th century, with recurrence of the plague. Between 1418 and 1436, the city was occupied by the Burgundians and English soldiers. In the 16th century, Paris became the book-publishing capital of Europe, though it was shaken by the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants. In the 18th century, Paris was the centre of the intellectual ferment known as the Enlightenment, and the main stage of the French Revolution from 1789, which is remembered every year on the 14th of July with a military parade.


title: History of Paris

text: In the 19th century, Napoleon embellished the city with monuments to military glory. It became the European capital of fashion and the scene of two more revolutions (in 1830 and 1848). Under Napoleon III and his Prefect of the Seine, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, the centre of Paris was rebuilt between 1852 and 1870 with wide new avenues, squares and new parks, and the city was expanded to its present limits in 1860. In the latter part of the century, millions of tourists came to see the Paris International Expositions and the new Eiffel Tower.


title: History of Paris

text: In the 20th century, Paris suffered bombardment in World War I and German occupation from 1940 until 1944 in World War II. Between the two wars, Paris was the capital of modern art and a magnet for intellectuals, writers and artists from around the world. The population reached its historic high of 2.1 million in 1921, but declined for the rest of the century. New museums (The Centre Pompidou, Musée Marmottan Monet and Musée d'Orsay) were opened, and the Louvre given its glass pyramid.


title: History of Paris

text: In the 21st century, Paris added new museums and a new concert hall, but in 2005 it also experienced violent unrest in the housing projects in the surrounding "banlieues" (suburbs), inhabited largely by first and second generation immigrants from France's former colonies in the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015, the city and the nation were shocked by two deadly terrorist attacks carried out by Islamic extremists. The population of the city declined steadily from 1921 until 2004, due to a decrease in family size and an exodus of the middle class to the suburbs; but it is increasing slowly once again, as young people and immigrants move into the city.


title: History of Paris

text: In 2008, archaeologists of the "Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives" (INRAP) (administered by France's Ministry of Higher Education and Research) digging at n° 62 Rue Henri-Farman in the 15th arrondissement, not far from the Left Bank of the Seine, discovered the oldest human remains and traces of a hunter-gatherer settlement in Paris, dating to about 8000 BC, during the Mesolithic period.


title: History of Paris

text: Other more recent traces of temporary settlements had been found at Bercy in 1991, dating from around 4500–4200 BC. The excavations at Bercy found the fragments of three wooden canoes used by fishermen on the Seine, the oldest dating to 4800-4300 BC. They are now on display at the Carnavalet Museum. Excavations at the Rue Henri-Farman site found traces of settlements from the middle Neolithic period (4200-3500 BC); the early Bronze Age (3500-1500 BC); and the first Iron Age (800-500 BC). The archaeologists found ceramics, animal bone fragments, and pieces of polished axes. Hatchets made in eastern Europe were found at the Neolithic site in Bercy, showing that first Parisians were already trading with settlements in other parts of Europe.


title: History of Paris

text: Between 250 and 225 BC, during the Iron Age, the Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, settled on the banks of the Seine. At the beginning of the 2nd century BC, they built an oppidum, a walled fort, whose location is disputed. It may have been on the Île de la Cité, where bridges of an important trading route crossed the Seine. In his account of the Gallic wars, Julius Caesar recorded meeting with the leaders of the Parisii on an island in the Seine. Other historians cite an absence of traces of an early Gallic settlement on the island, and believe the oppidum was actually in Nanterre, in the Paris suburbs, where vestiges of a large settlement were discovered during construction of a highway in the 1980s.


title: History of Paris

text: The settlement was called "Lucotocia" (according to the ancient Greek geographer Strabo) or "Leucotecia" (according to Roman geographer Ptolemy), and may have taken its name from the Celtic word "lugo" or "luco", for a marsh or swamp. It had a strategic position on the main trade route, via the Seine and Rhône rivers, between Britain and to the Roman colony of Provence and the Mediterranean Sea. The location and the fees for crossing the bridge and passing along the river made the town prosperous, so much so that it was able to mint its own gold coins.


title: History of Paris

text: Julius Caesar and his Roman army campaigned in Gaul between 58 and 53 BC under the pretext of protecting the territory from Germanic invaders, but in reality to conquer it and annex it to the Roman Republic. In the summer of 53 BC, he visited the city and addressed the delegates of the Gallic tribes assembled before the temple to ask them to contribute soldiers and money to his campaign. Wary of the Romans, the Parisii listened politely to Caesar, offered to provide some cavalry, but formed a secret alliance with the other Gallic tribes, under the leadership of Vercingetorix, and launched an uprising against the Romans in January 52 BC.


title: History of Paris

text: Caesar responded quickly. He force-marched six legions north to Orléans, where the rebellion had begun, and then to Gergovia, the home of Vercingetorix. At the same time, he sent his deputy Titus Labienus with four legions to subdue the Parisii and their allies, the Senons. The Commander of the Parisii, Camulogene, burned the bridge that connected the "oppidum" to the left bank of the Seine, so the Romans were unable to approach the town. Then Labienus and the Romans went downstream, built their own pontoon bridge at Melun and approached Lutetia on the right bank. Camulogene responded by burning the bridge to the right bank and burning the town, before retreating to the left bank and making camp at what is now Saint-Germain-des-Prés.


title: History of Paris

text: Labienus deceived the Parisii with a ruse. In the middle of the night he sent part of his army, making as much noise as possible, upstream to Melun. He left his most inexperienced soldiers in their camp on the right bank. With his best soldiers, he quietly crossed the Seine to the left bank and laid a trap for the Parisii. Camulogene, believing that the Romans were retreating, divided his own forces, some to capture the Roman camp, which he thought was abandoned, and others to pursue the Roman army. Instead he ran directly into the best two Roman legions on the plain of Grenelle, near the site of the modern Eiffel Tower and the École Militaire. The Parisii fought bravely and desperately in what became known as the Battle of Lutetia. Camulogene was killed and his soldiers were cut down by the disciplined Romans. Despite the defeat, the Parisii continued to resist the Romans. They sent eight thousand men to fight with Vercingetorix in his last stand against the Romans at the Battle of Alesia.


title: History of Paris

text: The Romans built an entirely new city as a base for their soldiers and the Gallic auxiliaries intended to keep an eye on the rebellious province. The new city was called Lutetia (Lutèce) or "Lutetia Parisiorum" ("Lutèce of the Parisii"). The name probably came from the Latin word "luta", meaning mud or swamp Caesar had described the great marsh, or "marais", along the right bank of the Seine. The major part of the city was on the left bank of the Seine, which was higher and less prone to flood. It was laid out following the traditional Roman town design along a north–south axis (known in Latin as the "cardo maximus").


title: History of Paris

text: On the left bank, the main Roman street followed the route of the modern day Rue Saint-Jacques. It crossed the Seine and traversed the Île de la Cité on two wooden bridges: the "Petit Pont" and the "Grand Pont" (today's Pont Notre-Dame). The port of the city, where the boats docked, was located on the island where the parvis of Notre Dame is today. On the right bank, it followed the modern Rue Saint-Martin. On the left bank, the "cardo" was crossed by a less-important east–west "decumanus", today's Rue Cujas, Rue Soufflot and Rue des Écoles.


title: History of Paris

text: The city was centered on the forum atop the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève between the Boulevard Saint-Michel and the Rue Saint-Jacques, where the Rue Soufflot is now located. The main building of the forum was one hundred meters long and contained a temple, a basilica used for civic functions and a square portico which covered shops. Nearby, on the slope of the hill, was an enormous amphitheatre built in the 1st century AD, which could seat ten to fifteen thousand spectators, though the population of the city was only six to eight thousand.


title: History of Paris

text: Fresh drinking water was supplied to the city by an aqueduct sixteen kilometres long from the basin of Rungis and Wissous. The aqueduct also supplied water to the famous baths, or Thermes de Cluny, built near the forum at the end of the 2nd century or beginning of the 3rd century. Under Roman rule, the town was thoroughly Romanised and grew considerably.


title: History of Paris

text: Besides the Roman architecture and city design, the newcomers imported Roman cuisine: modern excavations have found amphorae of Italian wine and olive oil, shellfish, and a popular Roman sauce called garum. Despite its commercial importance, Lutetia was only a medium-sized Roman city, considerably smaller than Lugdunum (Lyon) or Agedincum (Sens), which was the capital of the Roman province of Lugdunensis Quarta, in which Lutetia was located.


title: History of Paris

text: Christianity was introduced into Paris in the middle of the 3rd century AD. According to tradition, it was brought by Saint Denis, the Bishop of the Parisii, who, along with two others, Rustique and Éleuthère, was arrested by the Roman prefect Fescennius. When he refused to renounce his faith, he was beheaded on Mount Mercury. According to the tradition, Saint Denis picked up his head and carried it to a secret Christian cemetery of Vicus Cattulliacus about six miles away. A different version of the legend says that a devout Christian woman, Catula, came at night to the site of the execution and took his remains to the cemetery. The hill where he was executed, Mount Mercury, later became the Mountain of Martyrs ("Mons Martyrum"), eventually Montmartre. A church was built on the site of the grave of St. Denis, which later became the Basilica of Saint-Denis. By the 4th century, the city had its first recognized bishop, Victorinus (346 AD). By 392 AD, it had a cathedral.


title: History of Paris

text: Late in the 3rd century AD, the invasion of Germanic tribes, beginning with the Alamans in 275 AD, caused many of the residents of the Left Bank to leave that part of the city and move to the safety of the Île de la Cité. Many of the monuments on the Left Bank were abandoned, and the stones used to build a wall around the Île de la Cité, the first city wall of Paris. A new basilica and baths were built on the island; their ruins were found beneath the square in front of the cathedral of Notre Dame. Beginning in 305 AD, the name Lutetia was replaced on milestones by Civitas Parisiorum, or "City of the Parisii". By the period of the Late Roman Empire (the 3rd-5th centuries AD), it was known simply as "Parisius" in Latin and "Paris" in French.


title: History of Paris

text: From 355 until 360, Paris was ruled by Julian, the nephew of Constantine the Great and the Caesar, or governor, of the western Roman provinces. When he was not campaigning with the army, he spent the winters of 357-358 and 358-359 in the city living in a palace on the site of the modern Palais de Justice, where he spent his time writing and establishing his reputation as a philosopher. In February 360, his soldiers proclaimed him Augustus, or Emperor, and for a brief time, Paris was the capital of the western Roman Empire, until he left in 363 and died fighting the Persians. Two other emperors spent winters in the city near the end of the Roman Empire while trying to halt the tide of Barbarian invasions: Valentinian I (365–367) and Gratian in 383 AD.


title: History of Paris

text: The gradual collapse of the Roman empire due to the increasing Germanic invasions of the 5th century, sent the city into a period of decline. In 451 AD, the city was threatened by the army of Attila the Hun, which had pillaged Treves, Metz and Reims. The Parisians were planning to abandon the city, but they were persuaded to resist by Saint Geneviève (422–502). Attila bypassed Paris and attacked Orléans. In 461, the city was threatened again by the Salian Franks led by Childeric I (436–481). The siege of the city lasted ten years. Once again, Geneviève organized the defense. She rescued the city by bringing wheat to the hungry city from Brie and Champagne on a flotilla of eleven barges. She became the patron saint of Paris shortly after her death.


title: History of Paris

text: The Franks, a Germanic-speaking tribe, moved into northern Gaul as Roman influence declined. Frankish leaders were influenced by Rome, some even fought with Rome to defeat Atilla the Hun. The Franks worshipped the German gods such as Thor. Frankish laws and customs became the basis of French law and customs (Frankish laws were known as salic, meaning 'salt' or 'sea', law).


title: History of Paris

text: Latin was no longer the language of everyday speech. The Franks became more politically influential and built up a large army. In 481, the son of Childeric, Clovis I, just sixteen years old, became the new ruler of the Franks. In 486, he defeated the last Roman armies, became the ruler of all of Gaul north of the river Loire and entered Paris. Before an important battle against the Burgundians, he took an oath to convert to Catholicism if he should win.


title: History of Paris

text: He won the battle, and was converted to Christianity by his wife Clotilde, and was baptised at Reims in 496. His conversion to Christianity was likely seen as a title only, to improve his political position. He did not reject the pagan gods and their myths and rituals. Clovis helped to drive the Visigoths out of Gaul. He was a king with no fixed capital and no central administration beyond his entourage. By deciding to be interred at Paris, Clovis gave the city symbolic weight. When his grandchildren divided royal power 50 years after his death in 511 , Paris was kept as a joint property and a fixed symbol of the dynasty.


title: History of Paris

text: Clovis I and his successors of the Merovingian dynasty built a host of religious edifices in Paris: a basilica on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, near the site of the ancient Roman Forum; the cathedral of Saint-Étienne, where Notre Dame now stands; and several important monasteries, including one in the fields of the Left Bank that later became the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. They also built the Basilica of Saint-Denis, which became the necropolis of the kings of France. None of the Merovingian buildings survived, but there are four marble Merovingian columns in the church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre. The kings of the Merovingian dynasty were buried in the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des Prés, however Dagobert I, the last king of the Merovingian dynasty, who died in 639, was the first Frankish king to be buried in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.


title: History of Paris

text: The kings of the Carolingian dynasty, who came to power in 751, moved the Frankish capital to Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) and paid little attention to Paris, though King Pepin the Short did build an impressive new sanctuary at Saint-Denis, which was consecrated in the presence of Charlemagne on 24 February 775.


title: History of Paris

text: In the 9th century, the city was repeatedly attacked by the Vikings, who sailed up the Seine on great fleets of Viking ships. They demanded a ransom and ravaged the fields. In 857, Björn Ironside almost destroyed the city. In 885–886, they laid a one-year siege to Paris and tried again in 887 and in 889, but were unable to conquer the city, as it was protected by the Seine and the walls of the Île de la Cité. The two bridges, vital to the city, were additionally protected by two massive stone fortresses, the Grand Châtelet on the Right Bank and the "Petit Châtelet" on the Left Bank, built on the initiative of Joscelin, the bishop of Paris. The Grand Châtelet gave its name to the modern Place du Châtelet on the same site.


title: History of Paris

text: In the fall of 978, Paris was besieged by the Emperor Otto II during the Franco-German war of 978–980. At the end of the 10th century, a new dynasty of kings, the Capetians, founded by Hugh Capet in 987, came to power. Though they spent little time in the city, they restored the royal palace on the Île de la Cité and built a church where the Sainte-Chapelle stands today. Prosperity returned gradually to the city and the Right Bank began to be populated. On the Left Bank, the Capetians founded an important monastery: the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its church was rebuilt in the 11th century. The monastery owed its fame to its scholarship and illuminated manuscripts.


title: History of Paris

text: At the beginning of the 12th century, the French kings of the Capetian dynasty controlled little more than Paris and the surrounding region, but they did their best to build up Paris as the political, economic, religious and cultural capital of France. The distinctive character of the city's districts continued to emerge at this time. The Île de la Cité was the site of the royal palace, and construction of the new Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris began in 1163.


title: History of Paris

text: The Left Bank (south of the Seine) was the site of the new University of Paris established by the Church and royal court to train scholars in theology, mathematics and law, and the two great monasteries of Paris: the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Abbey of Saint Geneviève. The Right Bank (north of the Seine) became the centre of commerce and finance, where the port, the central market, workshops and the houses of merchants were located. A league of merchants, the "Hanse parisienne", was established and quickly became a powerful force in the city's affairs.


title: History of Paris

text: At the beginning of the Middle Ages, the royal residence was on the Île de la Cité. Between 1190 and 1202, King Philip II built the massive fortress of the Louvre, which was designed to protect the Right Bank against an English attack from Normandy. The fortified castle was a great rectangle of 72 by 78 metres, with four towers, and surrounded by a moat. In the centre was a circular tower thirty meters high. The foundations can be seen today in the basement of the Louvre Museum.


title: History of Paris

text: Before he departed for the Third Crusade, Philip II began construction of new fortifications for the city. He built a stone wall on the Left Bank, with thirty round towers. On the Right Bank, the wall extended for 2.8 kilometers, with forty towers to protect the new neighbourhoods of the growing medieval city. Many pieces of the wall can still be seen today, particularly in the Le Marais district. His third great project, much appreciated by the Parisians, was to pave the foul-smelling mud streets with stone. Over the Seine, he also rebuilt two wooden bridges in stone, the Petit-Pont and Grand-Pont, and he began construction on the Right Bank of a covered market, Les Halles.


title: History of Paris

text: King Philip IV (r. 1285-1314) reconstructed the royal residence on the Île de la Cité, transforming it into a palace. Two of the great ceremonial halls still remain within the structure of the Palais de Justice. He also built a more sinister structure, the Gibbet of Montfaucon, near the modern Place du Colonel Fabien and the Parc des Buttes Chaumont, where the corpses of executed criminals were displayed. On 13 October 1307, he used his royal power to arrest the members of the Knights Templar, who, he felt, had grown too powerful, and on 18 March 1314, he had the Grand Master of the Order, Jacques de Molay, burned at the stake on the western point of the Île de la Cité.