title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: The Leafs continued to sell out every game through the Ballard era, even as the team's performance went into steep decline. The rink-side red seats were replaced with gold seats in 1974. In August 1979, to make room for private boxes, Ballard had his staff tear down the 48-year-old gondola from which Foster Hewitt regularly broadcast games across Canada and threw it into an incinerator. In an editorial, the "Toronto Star" called Ballard's actions the "barbaric destruction of one of Canada's great cultural monuments." Then in 1982, the centre-hung scoreboard that had been in use since 1966 was replaced by a new centre-hung scoreboard with a colour matrix message/animation screen on each side, which remained in use for the rest of the Maple Leafs' stay at the Gardens. Originally an American Sign and Indicator scoreboard, it was upgraded by Daktronics in the 1990s.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: Prior to the launch of the Ottawa Nationals of the World Hockey Association (WHA), the team had discussions with Ballard about locating the team in Toronto, but the talks did not get very far. The team was a flop at the box office, averaging about 3,000 fans a game, and in March 1973—just before the end of the season—the City of Ottawa demanded payment of $100,000 to guarantee the club dates at the Ottawa Civic Centre. The team decided to leave Ottawa and played their home playoff games at Maple Leaf Gardens, attracting crowds of 5,000 and 4,000 in two games before being eliminated by the New England Whalers. At the end of the season, the team moved to Toronto permanently, and was sold to John F. Bassett, son of former Leafs owner John Bassett. They were renamed the Toronto Toros in June 1973. Bassett wanted the team to play at a renovated CNE Coliseum, while Bill Ballard—Harold's son, who was running the Gardens while his father served a prison sentence—wanted the team at the Gardens and opposed the plan to upgrade the Coliseum. The Toros ended up at Varsity Arena for the 1973–74 season. The following season, the Toros moved to the Gardens after negotiating a lease with Bill. However, by the time the team played their first game at the Gardens, Harold had been released from prison and regained control of the company. Ballard was a virulent opponent of the WHA; he never forgave the upstart league for decimating the Leafs' roster in the early 1970s. He made the Toros' lease terms at the Gardens as onerous as possible. The Toros' lease called for them to pay $15,000 per game. However, much to Bassett's outrage, the arena was dim for their first game. It was then that Ballard demanded $3,500 for use of the lights. Ballard also denied the Toros access to the Leafs' locker room, forcing them to build their own at a cost of $55,000. He also removed the cushions from the home bench for Toros' games. Following two seasons of declining attendance and onerous lease terms at the Gardens, Bassett moved the club to Birmingham, Alabama, where they were renamed the Birmingham Bulls for the 1976–77 season.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: In 1997, allegations began to emerge that some employees of the Gardens had sexually abused young boys in the 1970s and 1980s. Martin Kruze was the first victim to come forward—contacting the new owners of Maple Leaf Gardens in 1993, and going public in February 1997. His story of abuses beginning in 1975 prompted dozens of other victims to come forward. In October 1997, Gordon Stuckless pleaded guilty to sexually abusing 24 boys dating back to 1969 and was sentenced to a jail term of two years less a day. Three days later, Kruze committed suicide. An appeals court later increased Stuckless' sentence to five years. He was paroled in 2001. In 1999, former usher John Paul Roby was convicted of sexually molesting 26 boys and one girl. He was subsequently declared a dangerous offender and could have been kept in prison for the rest of his life. Roby died in Kingston Penitentiary from an apparent heart attack in 2001. In 2002, former Gardens security guard Dennis Morin was found guilty of sexual assault, indecent assault and gross indecency for incidents involving teenage boys. Allegations—unproven in court—were also made against other Gardens employees, including Ballard. Several civil suits were settled out of court for undisclosed amounts. In January 2006, the Ontario government filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., seeking repayment of the medical costs to the province of treating the sex abuse victims. Stuckless later died on April 9, 2020, after suffering a brain hemorrhage a few nights before.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: Ballard died in April 1990. The executors of his will were Steve Stavro, Donald Crump and Don Giffin. In 1991, Stavro paid off a $20 million loan that had been made to Ballard in 1980 by Molson. In return, he was given an option to buy Gardens shares from Ballard's estate. Molson also agreed to sell its stake in Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. to Stavro. That deal closed in 1994, and shortly after, Stavro bought Ballard's shares from the estate for $34 a share or $75 million. The purchase was the subject of a securities commission review and a lawsuit from Ballard's son Bill Ballard, however the deal stood and Stavro and his partners in MLG Ventures became the new owner of the Maple Leafs and Maple Leaf Gardens.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: MLG Ventures took Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. private and the two corporations amalgamated. becoming Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. after its acquisition of the Toronto Raptors in 1998. Initially, the majority owner of MLSE, holding 51% of the company, was MLG Holdings, a corporation controlled by Stavro, with minority shareholders Larry Tannenbaum (25%) and Toronto-Dominion Bank (20%). The other 49% of MLSE was owned by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. In 2003 Stavro sold his shares and MLG Holdings was dissolved, leaving Teachers' as majority owners of MLSE.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: During the 1990s, MLSE considered a number of sites for a new, modern arena to replace Maple Leaf Gardens, including the southeast corner of Bay and Dundas Streets near the Toronto Eaton Centre (the current site of the Toronto Metropolitan University School of Business). By this time, Maple Leaf Gardens was considered too small and lacking in revenue-generating luxury boxes.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: The Leafs had no plans to occupy the Air Canada Centre, then under construction by the owners of the Toronto Raptors, and it appeared for a time as though the stalemate between the two sports franchises would result in two new arenas being constructed in Toronto – one for hockey, one for basketball. When MLSE acquired the Toronto Raptors, however, the Air Canada Centre, which was still under construction, was retrofitted to accommodate both hockey and basketball.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: The Raptors played their final game at the Gardens on February 9, 1999. A few days later, on February 13, 1999, the Toronto Maple Leafs ended a 67-year tradition when they played their last game at Maple Leaf Gardens, suffering a 6–2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Former Leaf Doug Gilmour scored a fluke goal in that game and notorious tough guy Bob Probert scored the final NHL goal in MLG history during the third period. During the emotional post-game ceremony, legendary Canadian singer Anne Murray performed "The Maple Leaf Forever", clad in a Leafs jersey along with numerous former Maple Leaf Players dating back to 1931 when the arena opened up, a banner was brought into the ice commemorating the 13 Stanley Cups the Maple Leafs won since the arena did not have championship banners hanging at the time.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: Nirvana played a show on their In Utero Tour on November 4, 1993. Oasis was the final musical artist to play at the venue on April 29, 2000.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: The Gardens was the home arena for the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League for the 1999 and 2000 seasons. The Rock won the Champion's Cup in both seasons, making them the building's last championship team. The 2000 NLL Championship game was ultimately the building's last professional event to be held at the MLG. They held training camp at the Gardens in 2001 and then moved to the ACC. Maple Leaf Gardens was then mostly dormant for a decade.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: MLSE refused to sell Maple Leaf Gardens to anyone who proposed to use it as an arena in competition with the Air Canada Centre. Among these turned down was Eugene Melnyk, owner of the Toronto St. Michael's Majors OHL hockey team and the Maple Leafs' rival team, the Ottawa Senators. Various redevelopment schemes were proposed, most notably an entertainment complex containing retail shops and cinemas (similar to the redevelopment of the Montreal Forum), but these plans were abandoned when it was discovered that the tiered arena seating was holding up the exterior walls of the building, acting as a form of interior flying buttress. If the bowl of seating were removed, therefore, the exterior walls would lose most of their support.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: Loblaw Companies, Canada's largest food retailer, purchased the Gardens in 2004 for $12 million under the condition that it not be used as a sports and entertainment facility, though MLSE eventually consented to allowing a small arena to be restored in the building. They were planning to convert the interior to accommodate a Real Canadian Superstore and parking. Immediately, there was criticism that the conversion of the building to retail uses diminished its heritage value, and that Maple Leaf Gardens should continue to serve as an arena in accordance with its rich history and traditions. Others, however, noted the structure had been deteriorating for a number of years where its ongoing use for minor league sports and events would not generate sufficient income to secure the building's preservation and restoration. Furthermore, the active re-use of the building would allow it to remain open to the public for years to come.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: Needing an authentic stand-in for New York's third Madison Square Garden during the Depression Era, the producers shot the boxing sequences of "Cinderella Man" (Russell Crowe and Renée Zellweger) at Maple Leaf Gardens in 2004. Maple Leaf Gardens was stripped of some of its outdoor signage for production of an episode of Canadian-produced "Flashpoint". The arena was named "The Godwin Coliseum" in the episode titled "Behind the Blue Line" that originally aired on November 20, 2009.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: On September 8, 2009, Matt Damon hosted a concert in support of the charity ONEXONE. It was the first concert at Maple Leaf Gardens in 8 years. The arena was used on May 8, 2009, for the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association's convention tradeshow. Also in 2009, the arena was used as the venue for the first season of "Battle of the Blades", a CBC-produced reality competition pairing former NHL hockey players with professional figure skaters in a pairs figure skating competition.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: In 2009, Loblaws announced it had entered into discussions with Toronto Metropolitan University, then known as Ryerson University, regarding the possible future joint use of the arena. On November 30, 2009, the federal government agreed to contribute $20 million as part of a $60 million project to renovate the arena into a Loblaws grocery store and a new athletic facility for TMU which included a fitness facility, studios, high-performance courts, and an NHL-sized ice hockey rink seating approximately 2,796 guests. The plans involved gutting the existing interior, and laying new floors for retail use at ground level, with the athletic centre located above. Construction began later that year.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: After many delays including finding a creek running through the basement and a time capsule behind the 1931 cornerstone on Carlton Street, the new store opened on November 30, 2011. It incorporated many elements of Maple Leaf Gardens including original seats, a red dot on the ground floor marking the original centre ice location, the recreation of an original mural by the checkouts and a giant maple leaf made out of old seats from the arena among numerous other things. The centre also includes underground parking, a Joe Fresh, an LCBO liquor store and a medical clinic. It is the chain's flagship location. The transformation would win a World Architecture News Retail and Leisure Interiors Award in the "Retail outlets over " category.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: On November 29, 2011, Toronto Metropolitan University announced that Peter Gilgan, Founder and chief executive officer, Mattamy Homes Ltd., contributed a donation of $15 million to the university. In honour of Gilgan, the new athletic complex was renamed Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens. The ice rink, which is located on the third level, was named Mattamy Home Ice.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: The athletic centre construction was completed in summer of 2012 and the ice rink became the new home for the Ryerson Rams hockey team. The first game took place on September 9, 2012, with the Rams taking a 5–4 victory over the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks. The arena is home to the Ryerson Rams' hockey, basketball and volleyball teams.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: During the Summer of 2012, the Canadian Lacrosse League announced the relocation of the Oshawa Machine to Toronto as the Toronto Shooting Stars. It was also announced that the team would play out of the Mattamy Athletic Centre bringing Lacrosse back to the Gardens after a 13-year absence. The team held their first game on January 13, 2013. The pre-game honoured former Toronto Rock and Tomahawk players. The team played one season at the arena before folding.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: During the 2012–13 NHL lockout the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) used the arena for a charity game. In addition, from January 25 to 27, 2013, the Ontario Liberals used the Gardens for their leadership convention. The arena hosted the 2013 Players' Championship, a Capital One Grand Slam of Curling event. The facility also hosted the 2014 OUA Figure Skating Championships, won by the Guelph Gryphons.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: On December 13–14, 2014, the arena was the host of two exhibition games between the Canada men's national junior ice hockey team and a team University All Stars of combined Ryerson Rams, University of Toronto Varsity Blues and York Lions players in preparation for Canada's participation in the 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: The arena, under the name Ryerson Athletic Centre, was one of the venues for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games, hosting the basketball tournament of the 2015 Pan American Games, wheelchair basketball of the 2015 Parapan American Games and various events (Indoor rowing, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby) for the 2017 Invictus Games.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: On February 13, 2018, the arena hosted an open practice for the Maple Leafs. This marked the first official Leafs event in the building since the last Leafs game played there in 1999 nineteen years to the day.


title: Maple Leaf Gardens

text: Since opening in 2012, Mattamy Athletic Centre has hosted the 2015 CIS Men's Basketball Championship, the 2017 U Sports Women's Volleyball Championship and the 2019 U Sports Women's Basketball Championship.


title: AWAL

text: AWAL (an initialism of Artists Without a Label) is a British music distribution company owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The company serves as an alternative to the traditional music label deal, offering deal structures to artists and independent labels without them giving up ownership or control. In 2021, Sony Music Entertainment purchased AWAL from Kobalt Music Group for $430m.


title: AWAL

text: AWAL's main service is digital music distribution, but also includes marketing, physical distribution, data analytics, radio, and synchronization licensing. AWAL's artists keep their music and creative rights, unlike the traditional record label. In November 2018, Billboard wrote an article titled, "Can Kobalt Disrupt the Label Game With AWAL?," outlining the company's approach and how it pays out as much as 80 percent of streaming revenue to its artists. In March 2017, AWAL introduced its music analytics app designed to collect and display data from an artist's presence on Spotify and Apple Music.


title: AWAL

text: AWAL was originally founded in 1997 by record producers Kevin Bacon and Jonathan Quarmby. In December 2011, AWAL was acquired by the Kobalt Music Group and operated as the company's digital music distribution arm.


title: AWAL

text: In January 2018, Lonny Olinick was named CEO of Kobalt's recording division. By March 2018, Kobalt announced it was investing $150 million into AWAL and that all of Kobalt's recording business will be combined under the AWAL brand. AWAL acquired In2une Music in June 2018, which provides multi-format radio promotion to independent labels and artists. AWAL announced a strategic partnership with independent label, Glassnote Records, in November 2018. Other notable announcements from the company include signing artists such as You Me At Six, Austin Burke, deadmau5, Little Simz, The Night Cafe, Kevin Garrett, Gabrielle Aplin, Gus Dapperton, and Ella Vos.


title: AWAL

text: AWAL has offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Berlin, Hong Kong, Miami, Nashville, Stockholm, and Sydney. In December 2018, AWAL announced it was opening an office in Toronto.


title: AWAL

text: On September 7, 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority, the United Kingdom's antitrust regulator, raised concerns that Sony's purchase of AWAL would reduce competition from other distributors. The CMA gave Sony and AWAL five days to address the CMA's concerns and offer legally binding remedies, or else the CMA would enter a Phase 2 investigation. The phase two investigation was launched on September 16, 2021.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: The Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) was fought between France and Spain, with the participation of a changing list of allies through the war. The first phase, beginning in May 1635 and ending with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, is considered a related conflict of the Thirty Years' War. The second phase continued until 1659 when France and Spain agreed to peace terms in the Treaty of the Pyrenees.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Major areas of conflict included northern Italy, the Spanish Netherlands, and the German Rhineland. In addition, France supported revolts against Spanish rule in Portugal (1640–1668), Catalonia (1640–1653) and Naples (1647), while from 1647 to 1653 Spain backed French rebels in the civil war known as the Fronde. Both also backed opposing sides in the 1639 to 1642 Piedmontese Civil War.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: France avoided direct participation in the Thirty Years' War until May 1635 when it declared war on Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, entering the conflict as an ally of the Dutch Republic and Sweden. After Westphalia in 1648, the war continued between Spain and France, with neither side able to achieve decisive victory. Despite minor French gains in Flanders and along the north-eastern end of the Pyrenees, by 1658 both sides were financially exhausted and made peace in November 1659.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: French territorial gains were relatively minor in extent but significantly strengthened its borders in the north and south, while Louis XIV of France married Maria Theresa of Spain, eldest daughter of Philip IV of Spain. Although Spain retained a vast global empire until the early 19th century, the Treaty of the Pyrenees has traditionally been seen as marking the end of its status as the dominant European state and the beginning of the rise of France during the 17th century.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: 17th century Europe was dominated by the struggle between the Bourbon kings of France, and their Habsburg rivals in Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. Until the mid 20th century, the Thirty Years' War was primarily seen as a German religious conflict; in 1938, historian CV Wedgwood argued that it formed part of a wider, ongoing European struggle, with the Habsburg-Bourbon conflict at its centre. Modern historians sometimes refer to the Franco-Spanish War as a 'declared war', the formal part of a much wider contest with many different locations and participants.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: During the 1620s, France was threatened internally by a series of Huguenot rebellions, and externally by Habsburg possessions on its borders in the Spanish Netherlands, Franche-Comté, Alsace, Roussillon and Lorraine. Prior to 1635, they sought to weaken both branches of the Habsburgs by financing their opponents, including the Dutch, clients in Northern Italy and the Grisons, the Ottomans, the Venetian Republic, Transylvania, and Sweden. After 1635, they intervened directly through anti-Habsburg alliances with the Dutch and Swedish, while supporting insurgents in Portugal, Catalonia and Naples


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: For their part, the Habsburgs backed the Huguenots and numerous conspiracies led by the feudal lords who resented their loss of power under Cardinal Richelieu and his successor, Cardinal Mazarin. The most significant included the 1632 Montmorency plot, the 1641 Princes des Paix rising, and Cinq-Mars in 1642. Spain also financed the 1648 to 1653 civil war known as the Fronde.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Wider co-operation between the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs was limited, since their objectives did not always align; Spain was a global maritime power, Austria primarily a European land power, focused on the Holy Roman Empire, which contained over 1,800 members, most extremely small. Although a Habsburg had been Holy Roman Emperor since 1440, their control over the Empire was weakened by the 1555 Peace of Augsburg, and this continued in the period leading up to 1620. Reversing this trend was a major Habsburg objective during the Thirty Years War, but they acknowledged failure in the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: France faced the same issue of diverging objectives with its allies. The war coincided with the period of economic supremacy known as the Dutch Golden Age, and by 1640, many Dutch statesmen viewed French ambitions in the Spanish Netherlands as a threat. Unlike France, Swedish war aims were restricted to Germany, and in 1641, they considered a separate peace with Ferdinand.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: From the late 16th century, Italy, especially the Kingdom of Naples, was the primary source of soldiers and money for the Spanish Army of Flanders. As a result, much of the fighting focused on the Spanish Road, an overland supply route connecting Spanish possessions in Italy with Flanders, but which also passed through areas considered vital to French security, like Alsace. The independent Duchy of Savoy and Spanish-held Duchy of Milan were not only strategically important to the Road, but also provided access to the vulnerable southern borders of France, and Habsburg territories in Austria. Richelieu aimed to end Spanish dominance in these areas, an objective largely achieved by the time he died in 1642.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Until the advent of railways in the 19th century, water was the primary means of bulk transportation, and campaigns focused on control of rivers and ports. Armies relied on foraging, while feeding the draught animals essential for transport and cavalry restricted campaigning in the winter. By the 1630s, the countryside had been devastated by years of constant warfare, which limited the size of armies and their ability to conduct operations. Sickness killed far more soldiers than combat; the French army that invaded Flanders in May 1635 was reduced by desertion and disease from 27,000 to under 17,000 by early July.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: The Thirty Years' War began in 1618 when the Protestant-dominated Bohemian Estates offered the Crown of Bohemia to Frederick of the Palatinate, rather than the conservative Catholic, Emperor Ferdinand II. Most of the Holy Roman Empire remained neutral, viewing it as an inheritance dispute, and the revolt was quickly suppressed. However, when Frederick refused to admit defeat, Imperial forces invaded the Palatinate and forced him into exile; removal of a hereditary prince changed the nature and extent of the war. Combined with a renewed Counter-Reformation, it presented a direct threat both to Protestant states within the Empire and external powers who held Imperial territories. They included the Dutch Prince of Orange, hereditary ruler of Nassau-Dillenburg, and Christian IV of Denmark, who was also Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. This presented Richelieu with additional opportunities to weaken his Habsburg opponents in Spain and the Empire, while avoiding direct conflict.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: As a result, Catholic France supported the Protestant Dutch Republic in its war with Spain, as well as funding first Danish, then Swedish intervention in the Empire. In 1630, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden invaded Pomerania; while done partly to support his Protestant co-religionists, he also sought control of the Baltic trade, which provided much of Sweden's income. Swedish intervention continued after his death at Lützen in 1632, but caused tensions with Saxony and Brandenburg-Prussia, whose lands were devastated by the plague and famine that accompanied the war. A significant Imperial-Spanish victory at Nördlingen in September 1634 forced the Swedes to abandon southern Germany, while most of their German allies used the opportunity to make peace with Ferdinand II at Prague in April 1635.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: The other major European conflict of the period was the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic, suspended in 1609 by the Twelve Years' Truce. The Spanish strongly objected to its commercial provisions and when Philip IV became king in 1621, he resumed the war. The cost proved extremely high, increased after 1628 by a proxy war with France over the Mantuan succession. While the Spanish Empire reached its maximum nominal extent under Philip's rule, its size and complexity made it increasingly difficult to govern, or enact essential reforms. Despite this, depth of resources consistently allowed them to recover from defeats that would have shattered other powers, while new regulations passed in 1631 and 1632 were key to improved Spanish military performance in the first part of the war.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: In 1628, the Dutch captured the Spanish treasure fleet, which they used to finance the capture of 's-Hertogenbosch the following year. The powerful Amsterdam mercantile lobby saw this as an opportunity to end the war; negotiations ended without result in 1633, but strengthened the peace party. The Peace of Prague led to rumours of a proposed Austro-Spanish offensive in the Netherlands, leading Louis XIII of France and Richelieu to decide on direct intervention. In early 1635, they signed an agreement with Bernard of Saxe-Weimar to provide 16,000 troops for a campaign in Alsace and the Rhineland, forming an anti-Spanish alliance with the Dutch, as well as signing the Treaty of Compiègne with Sweden.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: In May, a French army of 27,000 invaded the Spanish Netherlands and defeated a smaller Spanish force at Les Avins, then besieged Leuven on 24 June, where they were joined by Dutch reinforcements. Disease and lack of supplies quickly reduced the besieging army, which withdrew in the face of a relief force under Ottavio Piccolomini on 4 July. Led by Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria, the Spanish took the initiative and captured Limbourg, Gennep, Diest, Goch, then besieged Dutch garrisons in the Duchy of Cleves. The French retreated across the border while the Dutch under Frederick Henry marched urgently on the strategic position of Schenkenschans. Captured by the Spanish on 28 July, it was recovered only after a long and costly siege.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Following this failure, the States General of the Netherlands opposed further large scale land operations in favour of attacks on Spanish trade. In the campaign of 1636, Philip switched his focus to recovering territories in the Low Countries, while a Franco-Savoyard offensive in Lombardy was defeated at Tornavento in June. A Spanish incursion into northern France captured the key fortified town of Corbie in August but despite causing panic in Paris, lack of supplies forced them to retreat in September and the attack was not repeated.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: As agreed at Compiègne in 1635, the French replaced Swedish garrisons in Alsace; prior to his death in 1639, Bernard of Saxe-Weimar won a series of victories over the Imperials in the Rhineland, notably the capture of Breisach in December 1638. Severing the Spanish Road meant their armies in Flanders had to be resupplied by sea, making them vulnerable to attack by the Dutch navy, which destroyed a large Spanish fleet at the Battle of the Downs in 1639. Although most convoys managed to get through, it illustrated the difficulties Spain faced in sustaining its war effort in the Low Countries.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: With Spanish resources stretched to the limit in Europe, the Dutch used the opportunity to attack their possessions in the Americas, Africa and Asia, especially those belonging to the Portuguese Empire, then also ruled by Philip IV; Spanish inability to protect these interests caused increasing unrest in Portugal. Damage to the economy and tax increases imposed to pay for the war led to protests throughout Spanish territories, which in 1640 erupted into open revolts in Portugal and Catalonia. In 1641, the Catalan Courts recognised Louis XIII of France as Count of Barcelona, and ruler of the Principality of Catalonia. However, they soon found the new administration differed little from the old, turning the war into a three sided contest between the Franco-Catalan elite, the rural peasantry, and the Spanish.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Louis XIII died on 14 May 1643, and was succeeded by his five-year-old son, Louis XIV, whose mother, Anne of Austria, took control of the Regency Council that ruled in his name. Five days later, Condé, then known as the duc d'Enghien, defeated the Spanish Army of Flanders at Rocroi; while less decisive than often thought, the loss of this highly experienced unit ended Spanish dominance of the European battlefield. It gave Condé, a member of the royal family, and effective ruler of large parts of eastern France, leverage in his struggle with Anne, and Cardinal Mazarin.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Despite some successes in northern France and the Spanish Netherlands, including victory at Lens in August 1648, France was unable to knock Spain out of the war. In the Holy Roman Empire, Imperial victories at Tuttlingen and Mergentheim were offset by French success at Nördlingen and Zusmarshausen. In Italy, French-backed Savoyard offensives against the Spanish-ruled Duchy of Milan achieved little, due to lack of resources and the disruption caused by the 1639 to 1642 Piedmontese Civil War. Victory at Orbetello in June 1646, and the recapture of Naples in 1647 left Spain firmly in control of this region.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: The 1648 Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years War and recognised Dutch independence, ending the drain on Spanish resources. Under the October 1648 Treaty of Münster, France gained strategic locations in Alsace and Lorraine, as well as Pinerolo, which controlled access to Alpine passes in Northern Italy. However, the peace excluded Italy, Imperial territories in the Low Countries, and French-occupied Lorraine; although Emperor Ferdinand agreed to remain neutral, fighting continued.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: After declaring bankruptcy in 1647, in order to reduce expenditure Philip prioritised retaking Catalonia while remaining on the defensive elsewhere. In addition, many of his best troops had been lost at Rocroi and parts of Flanders overrun, including the key port of Dunkirk, a centre for Spanish privateer attacks on Dutch and French shipping. However, his position improved after the Peace of Westphalia ended the Dutch war, while political and economic turmoil in France led to civil war or "Fronde".


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Philip initially hoped simply to improve the terms on offer from France, but the Fronde allowed him to make substantial gains in the Netherlands, including retaking Ypres. Elsewhere, neither side was able to win a significant advantage; in 1650, Spanish success in crushing the Neapolitan Revolt was offset by the loss of Barcelona to French backed Catalan rebels. Mazarin forced Condé into exile in the Spanish Netherlands in 1651, where his immense prestige in territories adjacent to the Spanish possession of Franche-Comté made him a valuable ally for Philip.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Over the course of 1652, Spain recaptured both Dunkirk and Barcelona, and although limited combat continued in Roussillon, by 1653 the front had stabilised along the modern Pyrenees border. However, doing so forced Philip into bankruptcy again, while the end of the Fronde allowed Mazarin to resume attacks on Milan, possession of which would allow France to threaten Habsburg Austria. The attempt failed despite support from Savoy, Modena and Portugal. By now, the two antagonists were exhausted, with neither able to establish dominance; from 1654 to 1656, major French victories at Arras, Landrecies and Saint-Ghislain were offset by Spanish victories at Pavia and Valenciennes. Under pressure from the Pope, Mazarin offered peace terms but refused to accept Philip's insistence Condé be restored to his French titles and lands. Since Philip viewed this as a personal obligation, the war continued.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: France had previously relied on the Dutch to provide naval support against Spain, which ended after Westphalia; in 1657, Mazarin replaced this loss by negotiating an anti-Spanish alliance with the English Commonwealth. This expanded the scope of the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660), while France withdrew support for the exiled Charles II of England, whose supporters joined the Spanish as a result. After the Anglo-French capture of Dunkirk in June 1658, Philip requested a truce, which Mazarin refused, but once again success proved illusory. On 15 August, Spain won an important victory at Camprodon in Catalonia, Cromwell's death in September led to political chaos in England, while fighting in northern Italy ended when French allies Savoy and Modena agreed to a truce with Spanish commander Caracena.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: On 8 May 1659, France and Spain began negotiating terms; the death of Oliver Cromwell in September 1658 weakened England, which was allowed to observe but excluded from the talks. Although the Anglo-Spanish War was suspended after the 1660 restoration of Charles II, it did not formally end until the 1667 Treaty of Madrid.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Under the Treaty of the Pyrenees, signed on 5 November 1659, France gained Artois and Hainaut along its border with the Spanish Netherlands, as well as Roussillon. These were more significant than often assumed; in combination with the 1648 Treaty of Münster, France strengthened its borders in the east and south-west, while in 1662, Charles II sold Dunkirk to France. Acquisition of Roussillon established the Franco-Spanish border along the Pyrenees, but divided the historic Principality of Catalonia, an event still commemorated each year by French Catalan-speakers in Perpignan. In addition to these territorial loses, Spain was forced to recognize and confirm all of the French territorial gains at the Peace of Westphalia.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: France withdrew support from Afonso VI of Portugal, while Louis XIV renounced his claim to be Count of Barcelona, and king of Catalonia. Condé regained his possessions and titles, as did many of his followers, such as the Comte de Montal, but his political power was broken, and he did not hold military command again until 1667.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: An integral part of the peace negotiations was the marriage contract between Louis and Maria Theresa, which he used to justify the 1666 to 1667 War of Devolution, and formed the basis of French claims over the next 50 years. The marriage was more significant than intended, since it was agreed shortly after Philip's second wife, Mariana of Austria, gave birth to a second son, both of whom died young. Philip died in 1665, leaving his four-year-old son Charles as king, once described as "always on the verge of death, but repeatedly baffling Christendom by continuing to live."


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Traditional scholarship viewed the war as a French victory that marked the start of France's rise, replacing Spain as the predominant European power. More recent assessments argue this relies on hindsight, and that while France made crucial strategic gains around its borders, the outcome was far more balanced. One view is that the two parties effectively settled for a draw, and that had France not moderated its demands in 1659, Spain would have continued fighting.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: "The (1659 treaty) was a peace of equals. Spanish losses were not great, and France returned some territory and strongholds. With hindsight, historians have regarded the treaty as a symbol of the 'decline of Spain' and the 'ascendancy of France'; at that time, however, (it) appeared a far from decisive verdict on the international hierarchy".


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: "Spain maintained her supremacy in Europe until 1659, and was the greatest imperial power for years after that. Although (its) economic and military power suffered an abrupt decline in the half century after (1659), (it) was a major participant in the European coalitions against Louis XIV, and the peace congresses at Nijmegen in 1678, and Ryswick in 1697".


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: David Parrott, Professor of Early Modern History at New College, Oxford claims the Peaces of Westphalia and the Pyrenees both reflected mutual exhaustion and stalemate, not a "military diktat imposed by victorious powers". Elsewhere, he labels the Franco-Spanish War as "25 years of indecisive, over-ambitious and, on occasions, truly disastrous conflict".


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Taking on the Spanish Empire, then the largest military power in Europe, required French forces of unprecedented size and an associated expansion of the taxation and supply base needed to support them. To meet these needs, official estimates for the army expanded from 39,000 in 1630 to around 150,000 shortly before the declaration of war in May 1635. However, at this stage the French state was unable to support such large numbers; of the 27,000 men who took part in the invasion of the Spanish Netherlands in May of the same year, fewer than 15,000 remained a month later. Throughout the war, both sides struggled to support offensives outside their own boundaries; the Spanish invasion of Northern France in 1636 collapsed due to lack of supplies and was not repeated.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Including those supplied by Bernard of Saxe-Weimar and paid by France, between 1635 and 1642 official troop levels averaged 150,000 to 160,000, with a peak of 211,000 in 1639. These are based on official muster rolls and should be treated with caution, since officers were paid for numbers reported, rather than those actually present; in addition, during this period on average another 10% was absent due to sickness, although most generally recovered. Parrott estimates variances between "Reported" and "Actual" averaged up to 35% for the French and 50% for the Spanish. Historian John A. Lynn suggests an average of 60% "Reported" versus "Actual" "provides the most reasonable guide", a figure based on André Corvisier's 1964 work "L'armée française de la fin du XVIIe siècle au ministère de Choiseul".


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Throughout the war, logistics remained the major constraint on the number of troops, while strategy was often subordinated to the need to find adequate provisions, especially given the primitive infrastructure then available. It was not until the 1660s that Louvois created the support systems that allowed France to sustain an army of nearly 200,000 men for extended periods, and crucially ensure co-ordinated strategy between different fronts. The more experienced Spanish were better equipped in this respect while their resources made it easier to replace losses of men and material. These advantages could be offset by engaging them on multiple fronts while attacking their lines of communication, a tactic the French used throughout the war by supporting the Catalan, Neapolitan and Portuguese rebels along with allies in Northern Italy and the Rhineland. Loss of Dutch naval support after 1648 severely impacted their ability to challenge the Spanish at sea, until replaced with the English alliance in 1657.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: At its peak in 1632, the Spanish army contained around 300,000 regulars, exclusive of local militia and the empire increasingly relied on its Italian territories for recruits and money. Historian Davide Maffi calculates the Duchy of Milan provided an annual 6 million scudi for the war, as well as an average of 4,000 recruits per year. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, a "de facto" Spanish protectorate was required to supply 17,000 scudi a month, as well as provide ships for the fleet and soldiers for the Army of Flanders. In 1631 to 1636 alone, Naples provided 3.5 million scudi, significant naval resources and 53,500 recruits for the Spanish army, more than Castile from a population half the size.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: In addition to supporting its own army and navy, from 1630 to 1643 Naples supplied an average of 10,000 soldiers a year to the Spanish army, provided an annual subsidy of one million ducats to support other areas of the Spanish Empire, and paid a third of Milan's government expenditures. As a result, its public debt quintupled and by 1648 interest payments constituted 57% of the kingdom's revenue. In both Naples and Sicily, taxes tripled between 1618 and 1688; Philip sought to mitigate the impact by providing tax exemption for the elderly and poor and increasing consumption taxes on the wealthy, but this and other measures had the indirect effect of crushing the southern Italian economy.


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: Despite its power, the Spanish army was subject to constant supply shortages throughout the twenty five year conflict. By the end of it, both states were exhausted. When the commander of the Army of Extremadura requested 3,000 quintales (138 tons) of gunpowder for the 1659 campaign in Portugal, the central Junta of War for Spain revealed that total supplies for defense in the peninsula (including the navy, coastal garrisons, and militia in addition to the three major war fronts in Catalonia, Extremadura and Galicia) were only 1427 quintales (66 tons) due to so much powder having been spent in the fight against France. Shortages were particularly prominent among the militia and reserve forces. In 1632, 70% of the 44,000 men in Castile's militias were "unarmed" (as in, armed only with swords or similar weapons rather than firearms or pikes) due to a shortage of arquebuses. With the outbreak of war, this situation quickly improved so that by 1636 only 25% of militiamen in Castile were armed with hand weapons alone, with 25% carrying pikes and the remaining 50% arquebuses and muskets. By the end of the conflict, however, the situation had deteriorated once again, with more than 87 percent of the 465,000 militiamen listed in Castilian registers classed as "unarmed".


title: Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

text: In October 1647, discontent led to revolts in both Sicily and Naples; although quickly suppressed, it exposed the weakness of Spanish rule in Italy and the alienation of the local elites from Madrid. In 1650, the governor of Milan wrote that as well as widespread dissatisfaction in the south, the only one of the Italian states that could be relied on was the Duchy of Parma.


title: Commercial paper

text: Commercial paper, in the global financial market, is an unsecured promissory note with a fixed maturity of rarely more than 270 days. In layperson terms, it is like an "IOU" but can be bought and sold because its buyers and sellers have some degree of confidence that it can be successfully redeemed later for cash, based on their assessment of the creditworthiness of the issuing company.


title: Commercial paper

text: Commercial paper is a money-market security issued by large corporations to obtain funds to meet short-term debt obligations (for example, payroll) and is backed only by an issuing bank or company promise to pay the face amount on the maturity date specified on the note. Since it is not backed by collateral, only firms with excellent credit ratings from a recognized credit rating agency will be able to sell their commercial paper at a reasonable price. Commercial paper is usually sold at a discount from face value and generally carries lower interest repayment rates than bonds due to the shorter maturities of commercial paper. Typically, the longer the maturity on a note, the higher the interest rate the issuing institution pays. Interest rates fluctuate with market conditions but are typically lower than banks' rates.


title: Commercial paper

text: Commercial paper, though a short-term obligation, is typically issued as part of a continuous rolling program, which is either a number of years long (in Europe) or open-ended (in the United States).


title: Commercial paper

text: As defined in United States law, commercial paper matures before nine months (270 days), and is only used to fund operating expenses or current assets (e.g., inventories and receivables) and not used for financing fixed assets, such as land, buildings, or machinery. By meeting these qualifications it may be issued without U.S. federal government regulation, that is, it need not be registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Commercial paper is a type of negotiable instrument, where the legal rights and obligations of involved parties are governed by Articles Three and Four of the Uniform Commercial Code, a set of laws adopted by all 50 U.S. states, except for Louisiana.


title: Commercial paper

text: At the end of 2009, more than 1,700 companies in the United States issued commercial paper. As of October 31, 2008, the U.S. Federal Reserve reported seasonally adjusted figures for the end of 2007: there was $1.7807 trillion in total outstanding commercial paper; $801.3 billion was "asset backed" and $979.4 billion was not; $162.7 billion of the latter was issued by non-financial corporations, and $816.7 billion was issued by financial corporations.


title: Commercial paper

text: Outside of the United States the international Euro-Commercial Paper Market has over $500 billion in outstandings, made up of instruments denominated predominantly in euros, dollars and sterling.


title: Commercial paper

text: Commercial credit (trade credit), in the form of promissory notes issued by corporations, has existed since at least the 19th century. For instance, Marcus Goldman, founder of Goldman Sachs, got his start trading commercial paper in New York in 1869.


title: Commercial paper

text: Commercial paper – though a short-term obligation – is issued as part of a continuous significantly longer rolling program, which is either a number of years long (as in Europe), or open-ended (as in the U.S.). Because the continuous commercial paper program is much longer than the individual commercial paper in the program (which cannot be longer than 270 days), as commercial paper matures it is replaced with newly issued commercial paper for the remaining amount of the obligation. If the maturity is less than 270 days, the issuer does not have to file a registrations statement with the SEC, which would mean delay and increased cost.


title: Commercial paper

text: There are two methods of issuing credit. The issuer can market the securities directly to a buy and hold investor such as most money market funds. Alternatively, it can sell the paper to a dealer, who then sells the paper in the market. The dealer market for commercial paper involves large securities firms and subsidiaries of bank holding companies. Most of these firms also are dealers in US Treasury securities. Direct issuers of commercial paper usually are financial companies that have frequent and sizable borrowing needs and find it more economical to sell paper without the use of an intermediary. In the United States, direct issuers save a dealer fee of approximately 5 basis points, or 0.05% annualized, which translates to $50,000 on every $100 million outstanding. This saving compensates for the cost of maintaining a permanent sales staff to market the paper. Dealer fees tend to be lower outside the United States.


title: Commercial paper

text: Commercial paper is a lower-cost alternative to a line of credit with a bank. Once a business becomes established, and builds a high credit rating, it is often cheaper to draw on a commercial paper than on a bank line of credit. Nevertheless, many companies still maintain bank lines of credit as a "backup". Banks often charge fees for the amount of the line of the credit that "does not" have a balance, because under the capital regulatory regimes set out by the Basel Accords, banks must anticipate that such unused lines of credit will be drawn upon if a company gets into financial distress. They must therefore put aside equity capital to account for potential loan losses also on the currently unused part of lines of credit, and will usually charge a fee for the cost of this equity capital.<br>


title: Commercial paper

text: Like treasury bills, yields on commercial paper are quoted on a discount basis—the discount return to commercial paper holders is the annualized percentage difference between the price paid for the paper and the face value using a 360-day year. Specifically, where formula_1 is the discount yield, formula_2 is the face value, formula_3 is the price paid, and formula_4 is the term length of the paper in days:


title: Commercial paper

text: Defaults on high quality commercial paper are rare, and cause concern when they occur. Notable examples include:


title: Gambian pouched rat

text: The Gambian pouched rat ("Cricetomys gambianus"), also commonly known as the African giant pouched rat, is a species of nocturnal pouched rat of the giant pouched rat genus "Cricetomys", in the family Nesomyidae. It is among the largest muroids in the world, growing to about long, including the tail, which makes up half of its total length. It is widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from Senegal to Kenya and from Angola to Mozambique (although it is absent from much of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Emin's pouched rat is present) from sea level to .


title: Gambian pouched rat

text: The Gambian pouched rat is sometimes kept as a pet, but some have escaped from captivity and become an invasive species in Florida. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now ban the importation of this species because it is blamed for the 2003 outbreak of monkeypox.


title: Gambian pouched rat

text: The Gambian pouched rat has very poor eyesight, so it depends on its senses of smell and hearing. Its name comes from the large, hamster-like pouches in its cheeks. It is not a true rat, but is part of an African branch of muroid rodents. It typically weighs between . In its native Africa, the pouched rat lives in colonies of up to 20, usually in forests and thickets, but also commonly in termite mounds. It is omnivorous, feeding on vegetables, insects, crabs, snails, and other items, but apparently prefers palm fruits and palm kernels.


title: Gambian pouched rat

text: It has cheek pouches like a hamster, which allow it to gather up several kilograms of nuts per night for storage underground. It has been known to stuff its pouches so full of date palm nuts so as to be hardly able to squeeze through the entrance of its burrow. The burrow consists of a long passage with side alleys and several chambers, one for sleeping and the others for storage. The Gambian pouched rat reaches sexual maturity at 5–7 months of age. It has up to four litters every nine months, with up to six offspring in each litter. Males are territorial and tend to be aggressive when they encounter one another.


title: Gambian pouched rat

text: A Tanzanian social enterprise founded by two Belgians, APOPO ("Anti-Personnel Landmines Removal Product Development" in English), trains southern giant pouched rats (Cricetomys ansorgei, commonly confused with Cricetomys gambianus) to detect land mines and tuberculosis with their highly developed sense of smell. The trained pouched rats are called HeroRATS. The rats are far cheaper to train than mine-detecting dogs; a rat requires US$7,300 for nine months of training, whereas a dog costs about $25,000 for training, but lives about twice as long.


title: Gambian pouched rat

text: In 2020, a Hero Rat named Magawa (2013–2022) received a People's Dispensary for Sick Animals Gold Medal, the animal equivalent of the George Cross, becoming the first rat to receive the award since the charity began honouring animals in 2003. Before retiring in 2021, Magawa detected 71 landmines and 38 items of unexploded ordnance, clearing over 2,421,880 sq ft (225,000 m) of land in Cambodia, preventing many injuries and deaths, in his 5-year career. Magawa died from natural causes at the age of 8 in 2022.


title: Gambian pouched rat

text: The Gambian pouched rat is currently being used in experiments at Cornell University to investigate its usefulness in the detection of tuberculosis in human sputum samples. Reports that they are also being used in Mozambique and Tanzania to check tuberculosis test results have proven mildly incorrect: Genetic testing by Watkins shows APOPO's workers are "C. ansorgei".


title: Gambian pouched rat

text: Gambian pouched rats have become an invasive species on Grassy Key in the Florida Keys, after a private breeder allowed the animals to escape in the 1990s. Starting in 2007, Florida wildlife officials have tried to eradicate it from Grassy Key, but it was still present , and has been sighted nearby on Key Largo and in Marathon, Florida.


title: Gambian pouched rat

text: This outsized African rodent is also believed to be responsible for the 2003 Midwest monkeypox outbreak in the United States, after spreading it to prairie dogs that were purchased as pets. In 2003, the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an order preventing the importation of the rodents following the first reported outbreak of monkeypox. Around 20 individuals were affected.


title: Flecktarn

text: Flecktarn (; "mottled camouflage"; also known as Flecktarnmuster or Fleckentarn) is a family of 3-, 4-, 5- or 6-color disruptive camouflage patterns, the most common being the five-color pattern, consisting of dark green, light green, black, red brown and green brown or tan depending on the manufacturer. The original German 5-color pattern was designed for use in European temperate woodland terrain. A 3-color variation called Tropentarn (formerly Wüstentarn) is intended for arid and desert conditions; the German Bundeswehr wore it in Afghanistan.


title: Flecktarn

text: The original German 5-color flecktarn has been adopted, copied and modified by many countries for their own camouflage patterns.


title: Flecktarn

text: The German Army started experimenting with camouflage patterns before World War II, and some army units used "Splittermuster" ("splinter pattern") camouflage, first issued in 1931. Waffen-SS combat units used various patterns from 1935 onwards. Many SS camouflage patterns were designed by Prof. Johann Georg Otto Schick.


title: Flecktarn

text: In 1976, the "Bundeswehr" in Germany developed a number of prototype camouflage patterns, to be trialled as replacements for the solid olive-grey "moleskin" combat uniform. At least four distinct camouflage patterns were tested during "Bundeswehr Truppenversuch 76" ("Bundeswehr Troop Trial 76"). These were based on patterns in nature: one was called "Dots" or "Points"; another was called "Ragged Leaf" or "Saw Tooth Edge"; another was based on pine needles in winter.


title: Flecktarn

text: Designed by the German company Marquardt & Schulz, several patterns were developed and tested by the German military. The pattern named "Flecktarn B" was chosen as the final pattern for use. The word flecktarn is a composite formed from the German words "Fleck" (spot, blot(ch), mark or mottle) and "Tarnung" (camouflage). The Bundeswehr kept its green combat dress throughout the 1980s, however, while trials were conducted. "Flecktarn" was only widely introduced in 1990 in a newly reunited Germany.


title: Flecktarn

text: The Dutch government considered Flecktarn, but it was dropped due to financial and political reasons.


title: Flecktarn

text: In Germany, the "Flecktarn" camouflage pattern is used by all "Bundeswehr" service branches, the "Heer" (army), the "Luftwaffe" (air force), some "Marine" (navy) units and even the "Sanitätsdienst" (medical service). Its official name is "5 Farben-Tarndruck der Bundeswehr" (5-color camouflage print of the Bundeswehr). This temperate "Flecktarn" 5-color scheme consists of 15% light green, 20% light olive, 35% dark green, 20% brown and 10% black. The Dutch military tested the pattern and rejected it, allegedly because it was "too aggressive". Flecktarn was seen as controversial because of its resemblance to the Waffen-SS "peas" and "oak leaves" patterns, which also used dots in various colors.


title: Flecktarn

text: Manufacturing contractors for the Bundeswehr are bound by the requirements and specifications laid out by the "Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr" - BAAINBw (Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support of the German Armed Forces.) The specific document that contractors must comply with is the "Technische Lieferbedingungen" - TL (Technical Delivery Conditions.) Within the TL are material performance sheets for all products conforming to civilian, ISO, and military specifications, as applicable. The TL requirements for "flecktarn" have undergone changes over the years and the pattern is now in its fifth iteration. The most observable changes have been to the colors, most notably from about 2005 whereupon the color screens became more separated making the pattern overall brighter. Visually the green and grey screens of post-2005 "flecktarn" are lighter with greater separation and the brown screen has become more of a "rust" color, whereas the former green and grey screens were darker and closer in hue and the brown screen was more of a reddish-brown. In the modern colors the black screen now presents in sharp contrast to the rest of the colors.


title: Flecktarn

text: In 2016, tests were conducted by the Research Institute of materials and property of the Bundeswehr ("Wehrwissenschaftliche Institut für Werk- und Betriebsstoffe" – WIWeB) on a new pattern designated "Multitarn" as a potential replacement for "flecktarn". The pattern is a 6-color fleck pattern with similar colors to Crye Precision MultiCam which has seen widespread adoption by many international Special forces including the Bundeswehr Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK.)


title: Flecktarn

text: The pattern is intended as a multi-terrain pattern, initially for use only by German Special forces. The Bundeswehr initially expressed plans for adoption by multiple divisions of the Bundeswehr to compliment existing flecktarn patterns but as of 2022 this has not occurred. Unlike its previous flecktarn patterns the Bundeswehr has taken strict measures over it's property rights and distribution control to prevent unauthorized and illegal production of the pattern outside of the Bundeswehr's authorized contractors.


title: Flecktarn

text: Bundeswehr "flecktarn" was used by airbase security and anti-aircraft units of the Belgian Air Force from 1988 to 2000. The pattern was unchanged from the original but slightly larger than the eventual Bundeswehr production pattern. It is noteworthy here that the model developed in Germany was put into general use by the Belgian Air Force almost three years before it was introduced into the Bundeswehr. A modular kit and a two-piece rucksack in "flecktarn" pattern was used to complete the uniform of field trousers, blouse and parka.


title: Flecktarn

text: Denmark adopted two variations of German "flecktarn", the first designated M/84 camouflage which is a 3-colour variant consisting of two shades of green plus black. A desert version very similar to Bundeswehr 3-color Tropentarn was adopted for use in Afghanistan and Iraq. The pattern is almost unchanged from the German artwork but with a mid-green tint added.


title: Flecktarn

text: The Russian military uses a wide range of different camouflage patterns including several variations of flecktarn. One is called "Sever" ("north"), sometimes also referred as "Flectarn-D" ("D" for Denmark.) This pattern is a 3-color pattern which is almost identical to Danish M84 but the base screen is tan. The pattern was introduced in Russia in 2006, and gained popularity in the VDV (Airborne Forces) and is still in use.


title: Flecktarn

text: Another variant is called "Tochka-4" (Point-4) produced by the Russian company Modoks. The pattern is essentially Flectarn-D with a fourth color, brown, added.


title: Flecktarn

text: Another pattern resembling Bundeswehr 5-color "flecktarn" has been used by some Russian forces with the difference being that the brown screen is red. This variant is allegedly called "red flectar" and may possibly be a commercial product.


title: Flecktarn

text: In 2011 a Reconnaissance group of the 45th Separate Guards Order of Kutuzov Order of Alexander Nevsky Special Purpose Regiment of the Russian Airborne Forces was documented conducting training operations wearing a mix-and-match of kit (including Bundeswehr 5-color "flecktarn"), but most notably wearing a uniform in a never-before-seen digital 5-color flecktarn pattern. The pattern is not fully pixelated as is normally the case with digital patterns in that the shapes are slightly rounded. This same pattern was adopted by the Bulgarian military in 2018.


title: Flecktarn

text: Japan adopted a "flecktarn"-based pattern called Type II Camouflage, or "Jeitai" which has been in use with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force since 1985. This pattern is a 4-color version consisting of light green, brown and black on a beige background. A desert version is also in use.


title: Flecktarn

text: "Type 03 Plateau" camouflage is a 5-color flecktarn pattern that was formerly used in the early 2000s by the Chinese military in Tibet. It consists of a base color of sand with grey, light-brown, mid-brown, and black. Although the artwork is identical to the German original the Chinese version is only a portion of the complete pattern. Among collectors it is alternatively called "Tibetarn" or "Tibet flecktarn". The pattern was replaced by a 4-color digitalized version called "07 Arid Camouflage" ("07式荒漠迷彩作训服") in 2007.


title: Flecktarn

text: Some Russian Special forces have also used this same pattern. The Russian version is made locally by military contractor SPLAV.


title: Flecktarn

text: The "Samodzielny Pododdzial Antyterrorystyczny Policji" - SPAP (anti-terrorism unit of the Polish National Police) have used a 5-color flecktarn variant called "WZ AT 1 Plamaik", also known as "Metro" colloquially. The pattern is different in that it repeats itself regularly in the print at relatively short intervals. A woodland version referred to as "Gepard" has been used by the "Agencja Bezpieczenstwa Wewnetrznego" - ABW (Polish Internal Security Agency). A 5-color desert version was also developed.


title: Flecktarn

text: In June 2022, Indonesia's "Detasemen Khusus 88 Antiteror" - DENSUS 88 AT (Police Counter-Terrorism Force) were seen wearing a flecktarn-influenced 6-color camouflage uniform consisting of a tan base with three shades of green along with chocolate brown and near-black. The unit’s Owl’s Head logo is discretely incorporated in the pattern.


title: Flecktarn

text: A semi-digitized version of the original German 5-color pattern in post-2005 colors, designated "M-18", was adopted by the Bulgarian army in 2018 however the same pattern was first used by some Russian Special forces Airborne troops in the early 2010s.


title: Flecktarn

text: The Special Security Forces of Yemen adopted a 5-color digitalized pattern which could be said to resemble "flecktarn" but with darker colours similar to the pre-2005 colorway.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: On March 18, 1925, one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in recorded history generated at least twelve significant tornadoes and spanned a large portion of the midwestern and southern United States. In all, at least 751 people were killed and more than 2,298 were injured, making the outbreak the deadliest tornado outbreak, March 18 the deadliest tornado day, and 1925 the deadliest tornado year in U.S. history. The outbreak generated several destructive tornadoes in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana on the same day, as well as significant tornadoes in Alabama and Kansas. In addition to confirmed tornadoes, there were undoubtedly others with lesser impacts, the occurrences of which have been lost to history.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: The outbreak included the Tri-State tornado, the deadliest tornado in U.S. history and the second-deadliest registered in world history. The track left by the tornado, as it crossed from southeastern Missouri, through southern Illinois, and then into southwestern Indiana, is also the longest ever recorded. Modern meteorological re-analysis has suggested that the extremely long path length and lifespan reported in historical accounts are perhaps more plausibly attributed to multiple independent tornadoes belonging to a tornado family, rather than a single, continuous tornado. Although not officially rated by NOAA, the Tri-State Tornado is recognized by most experts (such as Tom Grazulis and Ted Fujita) as an F5 tornado, the maximum damage rating issued on the Fujita scale.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: During a six-year review study of the Tri-State tornado published in 2013, new surface and upper air data was obtained and meteorological reanalysis was utilized, adding significantly to knowledge of the synoptic and even mesoscale background of the event. The late winter to early spring of 1925 was warmer and drier than normal over much of the central United States. There apparently was persistent ridging in the western U.S. with a troughing pattern over the central U.S.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: The extratropical cyclone that set the synoptic stage for the outbreak was centered over northwestern Montana at 7:00 a.m. CST (13:00 UTC) on March 17. Meanwhile, a diffuse area of surface low pressure was centered near Denver, Colorado, in association with a lee trough. Occluded fronts extended from Hudson Bay southwestward into the northern Plains states and into the lee trough. The synoptic cyclone moved south-southeastward across the mountain states to eastern Colorado. A warm front stretched along the Gulf Coast, separating warm, moist air from cool, showery weather with areas of fog that extended from Texas to the Carolinas. A well-mixed early-season continental tropical (cT) air mass existed over West Texas and northern New Mexico. To the east of this hot, dry air, buoyant maritime tropical (mT) air was advecting from the Gulf of Mexico. Simultaneously, a mid- to upper-level shortwave trough likely approached the northwest coast of the U.S. and moved rapidly through the persistent ridge then digging southeastward across the Great Basin and central Rocky Mountains and emerging in the Plains over Colorado. This initiated a "Colorado low" cyclogenesis.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: At 7:00 a.m. CST on March 18, the surface low-pressure area, at approximately , moved to far northeastern Oklahoma while the warm front shot north into the circulation where the front then extended eastward. A maritime Polar (mP) cold front draped southwestward across eastern Texas with a dry line forming directly to the south of the low. The open shortwave, likely somewhat negatively tilted, was continuing to approach from the northwest and an apparent outflow boundary moved just to the south of the warm front over northeastern Arkansas and northwestern Tennessee. Several weak pressure troughs were traversing the cool sector over the north-central U.S.. Surface temperatures in the warm sector near the dry line and warm front ranged from , and the dew point was , with higher values farther south and increasing over time as the deepening low-pressure area continued to pull up air from the Gulf of Mexico. This resulted in unstable air and lower cloud bases, or low LCL heights, which is favorable to tornadogenesis. From southeastern Kansas to Kentucky and Indiana, early morning showers and thunderstorms north of the low and warm front cooled and stabilized that air, retarding northward advancement of the front, and led to a sharp contrast in temperature from north to south. Such baroclinic zones are also associated with tornadic storms. Ahead of the surface dry line, which are uncommon as far east as the Mississippi River, an apparent "dry punch" of air aloft served to further increase instability. Concurrently, a capping inversion likely suppressed storms throughout the warm sector, leaving the Tri-State supercell undisturbed by nearby convection.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: By 12:00 p.m. CST (18:00 UTC), the deepening surface low was centered over south-central Missouri, the shortwave axis was moving easterly and oriented over eastern Oklahoma, and the dry line was rapidly advancing eastward directly south of the low as the warm front, situated due east of the low, slowly shifted northward. Morning clouds cleared by midday across much of the Tri-State tornado's eventual path. A pronounced pressure trough extended northeast of the low and signaled its future track as a prefrontal trough formed southeast of the low ahead of the dry line. A bulge in the dry line may also have been forming slightly south of the low, and southerly to southeasterly surface winds were backing and increasing with time throughout the warm sector. The Tri-State supercell formed in a highly favorable area just ahead of the triple point where the cold front, warm front, and dry line met. The supercell initiated very near the surface low and moved east-northeastward, faster than the low, such that the storm gradually deviated east of the low's track. The supercell remained near this "sweet spot" for a prolonged period as it also traveled near the highly baroclinic warm front (likely just across the cool side of the boundary) for several hours.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: By 2:00 p.m. CST (20:00 UTC), the low was centered slightly south-southwest of St. Louis, Missouri, as the Tri-State supercell neared the Mississippi River. Other storms in the warm sector, removed from the Tri-State supercell, were initiating around 3:00 p.m. CST (21:00 UTC). Around 4:00 p.m. CST (22:00 UTC), the low's central pressure lowered to around , centered over south-central Illinois, as the supercell was moving into Indiana. This pressure is not particularly low compared to many other outbreak setups, but the pressure gradient was strong, which induced strong gradient winds and significant advection in the warm sector. A very strong low level jet was also in place just above the surface as winds veered with height, resulting in low-level curvature and long hodographs. Strong wind shear thus existed, with pronounced directional shear likely in the vicinity of the warm front, with winds at the 700 hPa height level west-southwesterly around and winds at the 500 hPa level about . Theoretical hodographs returned estimated storm relative environmental helicity (SREH) values of 340 m s in the vicinity of the Tri-State supercell track. Strong thunderstorms were now scattered throughout the warm sector and a line of severe thunderstorms was occurring near the dry line. The Tri-State supercell appeared to still be discrete and isolated, with a severe storm north of Cairo, Illinois, placed well to its south.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: By 6:00 p.m. CST (00:00 UTC), the shortwave axis was over eastern Missouri and was lifting northeast. At 7:00 p.m. CST (01:00 UTC), the low was placed near Indianapolis, Indiana, with numerous thunderstorms east and south of the low and a squall line moving into the southeastern U.S. Cold air advection behind the strong cold front fed into the cyclone as snow and sleet fell from eastern Iowa to central Michigan. At 7:00 a.m. CST on March 19, the low was deepening and lifting rapidly northeastward into Canada.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: These are estimated tornado ratings as tornado ratings in the United States are not official until 1950.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: The tornado was first sighted as a highly visible and relatively small condensation funnel in the rugged forested hills of Moore Township, Shannon County, Missouri, at about 12:40 p.m. CST. However, this was likely a separate member of the tornado family, and the main member likely began in Reynolds County, west-northwest of Ellington, around five minutes later. The first fatality occurred around 1:01 p.m. CST (19:01 UTC), when a farmer was caught off-guard north-northwest of Ellington.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: The tornado sped to the northeast, moving into Iron County and hitting the mining town of Annapolis. Within a matter of minutes, two people were killed and 90% of the town was leveled. The tornado then struck the mining town of Leadanna, where mining machinery and several structures were destroyed. It then crossed into the sparsely populated areas of Madison County south of Fredericktown, where near Cherokee Pass the tornado steadily began to grow larger.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: In Bollinger County, 32 children were injured when two schools were damaged. Multiple homes and farms were completely destroyed near Lixville, where a farmer and two children were killed, and a third child died from her injuries one week after the storm. Deep ground scouring was observed near the town of Sedgewickville as well. The tornado carried sheets of iron as far as away.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: Crossing into Perry County, the tornado reportedly developed a double funnel as it struck the town of Biehle, destroying many homes in and around the town and killing two people. At Brazeau, another farmer was gravely injured and died four days later. Numerous other homes and farms were completely leveled near Frohna as well, where one woman was killed and another died from her injuries ten days later. Altogether, at least 12 people (possibly more) died and another 200 were injured in Missouri.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: The tornado then crossed the Mississippi River into southern Illinois, debarking trees and deeply scouring the ground in rural areas before hitting the riverside town of Gorham at 2:30 p.m. CST (20:30 UTC), essentially obliterating the entire town. Almost every structure in Gorham was leveled or swept away, and railroad tracks were reportedly ripped from the ground. More than half the town's population was injured or killed; 30 were killed in the immediate storm and 170 were injured, six of whom later died.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: Continuing to the northeast at an average speed of (and up to ), the tornado cut a swath almost wide through the city of Murphysboro, a thriving coal shipping center and railroad town of 10,000. The tornado leveled all but the extreme southeastern side of town, where many densely populated working class neighborhoods saw some of the storm's most horrific work. Entire rows of homes were leveled and swept away in some areas. Many other structures were also damaged or destroyed throughout the town, including the M&O railroad shop, where 35 people were killed. Schools in the area were devastated as well, with 17 students killed at the Longfellow School and nine others killed at the Logan School. After the tornado passed, large fires ignited and swept through the rubble, burning many of the trapped survivors alive. In all, 188 people died in the immediate storm at Murphysboro, including at least 20 who were never identified. The official number of injured was a staggering 623, while some other sources claim it could have been higher. Of those injured, 46 more later died, bringing the storm's death toll at Murphysboro to 234, to date being the highest exacted by a tornado of any single city in the United States.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: The tornado then struck the farming town of De Soto, which on a scale paralleling Gorham was virtually obliterated. Fifty-six people were killed in the immediate storm, and another 105 were injured, five of whom later died, and many homes were swept away. Thirty-three of the deaths were students that were killed in the partial collapse of the De Soto School, the worst tornadic death toll at a single school in U.S. history. Also killed at De Soto was Jackson County Deputy Sheriff George Boland. While on patrol when the storm struck, the tornado lifted him from the ground and he disappeared into the funnel. His body was never found.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: After exiting De Soto, the tornado clipped the northwest corner of Williamson County, narrowly missing the town of Hurst and striking the small village of Bush. Several homes were leveled, and pieces of wood were speared into the town's water tower. Heavy railroad axles were reportedly lifted and scattered across the railyard. The tornado killed 10 people in Bush and the surrounding area, and injured another 37, four of whom later died.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: Further east, the tornado crossed into Franklin County, narrowly missing the towns of Royalton and Zeigler, devastating rural areas and killing 25 people—20 of whom perished immediately and another five in the days to come—before heading towards the large mining town of West Frankfort. The tornado struck the northwest side of town, where in a manner similar to what was seen at Murphysboro, a number of densely populated neighborhoods, businesses and mining operations fell victim to the tornado. At the Orient Mine, a large multi-ton coal tipple was blown over and rolled by the tornado. Extreme damage continued east of town, as a railroad trestle was torn from its supports, and of railroad track was ripped from the ground and blown away. The immediate storm claimed 81 lives at West Frankfort, while injuring a staggering 410, 21 of whom later died, bringing the death toll for the town to 102.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: Several small mining villages in the area were obliterated, resulting in numerous fatalities. At Caldwell, a mining village northeast of West Frankfort, 24 people died in the storm, later to be joined by two more of the injured. The heaviest loss to befall a single family was exacted on that of Caldwell storekeeper Isaac 'Ike' Karnes, which lost 11 members. Karnes' wife, a married daughter and her husband, a daughter-in-law and seven grandchildren, ages ranging from newborn to seven years, died in the tornado.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: Further to the northeast, the tornado then completely destroyed the small town of Parrish, killing 28 people and injuring 60, five of whom later died, bringing the death toll at Parrish to 33. The destruction of the town was so complete that many residents and businesses moved on, and the town was never rebuilt. The storm continued to devastate more rural areas in the eastern side of the county, claiming another six lives. In all, the storm claimed 192 lives in Franklin County: 159 in the immediate impact and another 33 among the injured in the following weeks.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: The tornado proceeded to devastate additional rural areas across Hamilton and White counties, between the two counties claiming 45 lives and injuring 140, 20 of whom later died. As the tornado charged across Hamilton County south of McLeansboro, the tornado reached its greatest width at . Dozens of farms and homes were swept away, 28 people were killed, and nine more of those injured later died. In White County the tornado passed just two miles north of Carmi, missing the towns of Enfield and Crossville by less than a mile each. Another 17 were killed and 11 of those injured later died.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: Crossing the Wabash River just north of New Harmony, the tornado then entered Indiana. Grazing the northernmost edge of Posey County, the tornado struck and completely demolished the town of Griffin, where not a single structure was left untouched by the storm, and many were completely swept away; 41 people were killed at Griffin and in the surrounding areas, another 202 were injured, with five later dying, bringing the death toll at Griffin to 46.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: After exiting Griffin, the tornado made a slight turn towards the northeast as it crossed into Gibson County, devastating rural areas and clipping the northwest corner of Owensville, resulting in nine fatalities. The tornado then roared into the large factory town of Princeton, destroying much of the southern side of the town, killing 38 people and injuring 152, six of whom later died. Large sections of neighborhoods in Princeton were leveled, and a Heinz factory was badly damaged. The tornado traveled more than to the northeast, crossing into Pike County before finally dissipating at about 4:30 p.m. CST, near Oatsville. In Indiana, at least 95 (and probably more) perished.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: Strong thunderstorms were reported in a broad area that also included parts of Oklahoma, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario. Numerous reports of hail and straight-line winds were reported, with up to hail recorded (by comparison, a softball is in diameter). What began in the early afternoon as discrete supercell thunderstorms eventually consolidated into a potent squall line. By all accounts it was a widespread outbreak with severe thunderstorms occurring as far east as Ohio, as far southwest as Louisiana, and as far southeast as Georgia.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: In the immediate aftermath, hospitals from St. Louis to Evansville were inundated with the injured and dying, as the storm injured more than 2,000 people, 105 of whom later died from their injuries. In Missouri, relief trains carried the most seriously injured north to St. Louis, while the remainder were sent to hospitals at Perryville and Cape Girardeau. At Gorham, where half the town's population was injured, the Missouri Pacific Railroad shuttled most of the injured north to East St. Louis, and the remainder south to Cairo.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: The town hospital in Murphysboro, where several hundred were injured, was ill-equipped to deal with the casualties, prompting hundreds to be shipped out to other towns by train once the lines were cleared. The most seriously injured were sent by train to Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. For most of the injured, dying and destitute from Murphysboro, the college town of Carbondale, some seven miles to the southeast, provided a safe haven. At De Soto however, chaos ensued as the affected were scattered in three different directions; six miles south to Carbondale, five miles east to Hurst, or for many, fourteen miles north to Du Quoin. For the tornado victims at Parrish, relief came from Thompsonville three miles to the southeast, where a team of railroad workers with the Illinois Central Railroad led by a heroic physician from Iowa, pulled a train directly into the demolished village. The train was loaded beyond capacity with the dead, injured and dying before proceeding to the northwest to the hospital at Benton.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: The storm claimed its final victim on January 3, 1926, when Gervais Burgess, a 46-year-old coal miner from West Frankfort, died from injuries sustained in the tornado.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: In addition to the dead and injured, thousands were left without shelter or food. Fires erupted, growing to conflagrations in some places, exacerbating the damage.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: In the end, a total of 695 were confirmed dead – 12 in Missouri, 95 in Indiana and 588 in Illinois. Three states, 14 counties, and more than 19 communities, four of which were effectively effaced (several of these and other rural areas never recovered), were in the path of the tornado, which had lasted a record duration of three and a half hours. Approximately 15,000 homes were destroyed by the Tri-State tornado. Total damage was estimated at $16.5 million in 1925 dollars; adjusted for increases in population/wealth and inflation, the toll is approximately $1.4 billion (1997 USD), surpassed only by two extremely destructive tornadoes, each of which was posthumously rated F4, both in the City of St. Louis, in 1896 and 1927.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: Nine schools across three states were destroyed, in which 69 students were killed. More schools were destroyed and more students killed (as well as the single school record of 33 deaths in De Soto, Illinois) than in any other tornadic event in U.S. history. Deaths occurred at many rural schools. Counting those returning home from schools and those that died in schools, the toll was 72 students. Approximately one-third of the tornado's victims were children. The rural death toll of 65 in Hamilton and White counties in southeastern Illinois is unprecedented. The tornado killed at least 20 farm owners in southeastern Illinois and southwestern Indiana, more than the combined total of the next four deadliest tornadoes in the history of the United States.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: While no photographs or film reels of the Tri-State tornado were taken or are known to exist, the tornado was frequently described by witnesses as an "amorphous rolling fog" or "boiling clouds on the ground", and fooled normally weather-wise farm owners (in addition to people in general) who did not sense the danger until the storm was upon them. The condensation funnel was also reportedly sometimes wrapped in copious dust and debris, which likely obscured it and made it less recognizable. The parent supercell apparently transitioned to a high-precipitation (HP) variety by the time it struck West Frankfort, meaning that the tornado was not readily visible as it approached, as it was often shrouded in heavy rain and hail. The very strong tornado – modern meteorologists estimate that its wind speeds topped in some locations – at times exhibited an unusual appearance due partially to its size (at one point in Missouri, it was a full mile wide) and the probable low cloud base of its parent thunderstorm.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: The tornado was often accompanied by extreme downburst winds throughout the entirety of its course; the accompanying downburst periodically increased the width of the damage path from the overall average of , varying from to wide at times.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: There has long been uncertainty as to whether the originally recognized reports of a path over 3.5 hours represent a single continuous tornado or multiple independently tracking tornadoes belonging to a tornado family. Because of the scarcity of verifiable meteorological data from the time of the event and the apparent absence of any record of a tornado having approached this path length and duration in the years since, doubts have been raised about the plausibility of the conclusion that a single tornado was responsible for them.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: Modern meteorological theory regarding tornado and supercell morphology and dynamics suggests that a single tornado lasting for such a duration is highly improbable. Several other historical accounts of very long track (VLT) tornadoes have subsequently been determined to be the product of tornado families (notably the Charleston-Mattoon, Illinois tornado family of May 1917 and the Woodward, Oklahoma tornado family of April 1947). In more recent years, some VLT tornadoes and supercells have indeed occurred, with 12 tornadoes exceeding path lengths from 1980–2012, and 60 since 1950. Yet the high-end estimates of the Tri-State tornado path length are still far longer than the nearest verified VLT tornado. Only 4 tornadoes have confirmed paths longer than without being tornado families. Two of them occurred during the 2011 Super Outbreak, one an EF5, and another an EF4, another occurred during an outbreak in April 2010, rated EF4, and a fourth occurred in December 2021, also rated EF4. On the other hand, meteorological analysis reveals no record of any analogous mesoscale circumstances in recent history, meaning that the weather conditions which led to the Tri-State tornado were apparently unique. No single factor accounts for the exceptional path length and duration, though the fast forward motion of the tornado, which averaged , may have translated to more distance covered.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: In 2001, tornado expert Tom Grazulis wrote that the first of the track was probably the result of two or more tornadoes, and that a segment of the overall path length was seemingly continuous. Exhaustive research published in 2013 found no definitive resolution, but did locate additional tornado sightings and damage west of the previously known beginning of the tornado and east of the previously known ending, extending the total path length by 16 miles to long. The scientists concluded it is likely that at least some of the track, both at the beginning and ending, was indeed caused by separate tornadoes. They also located a path (apparently created within a period of about 20 minutes) from a large tornado which was likely spawned from the same supercell and was about east-northeast of the aforementioned path ending. This brings the known length of the Tri-State tornado family to around over nearly 5.5 hours.


title: Tri-State tornado outbreak

text: The 2013 study concludes that it is likely that the segment from central Madison County, Missouri to Pike County, Indiana, was the result of one continuous tornado, and that the segment from central Bollinger County, Missouri to western Pike County, Indiana, was very likely the result of a single continuous tornado. Either of these two values still holds the record for the longest recorded tornado track. However, this segment of the path is considered most likely to be continuous solely because observations were sufficiently dense, whereas the portion from westernmost Reynolds County, Missouri, to westernmost Pike County, Indiana, contained several gaps in which eyewitnesses and reports of damage were lacking, owing primarily to sparse patterns of human settlement, but even this may well have been continuous because the alignment of reports showed a consistent heading, suggestive of a single tornado rather than a family.


title: Grebe

text: Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order Podicipediformes . Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in marine habitats during migration and winter. Some flightless species exist as well, most notably in stable lakes. The order contains a single family, the Podicipedidae, which includes 22 species in six extant genera. Although, superficially, they resemble other diving birds such as loons and coots, they are most closely related to flamingos, as supported by morphological, molecular and paleontological data. Many species are monogamous and are known for their courtship displays, with the pair performing synchronized dances across the water's surface. The birds build floating vegetative nests where they lay several eggs. About a third of the world's grebes are listed at various levels of conservation concerns—the biggest threats including habitat loss, the introduction of invasive predatory fish and human poaching. As such, three species have gone extinct.


title: Grebe

text: Grebes are small to medium-large in size, have lobed toes, and are excellent swimmers and divers. Although they can run for a short distance, they are prone to falling over, since they have their feet placed far back on the body. Grebes have narrow wings, and some species are reluctant to fly; indeed, two South American species are completely flightless. They respond to danger by diving rather than flying, and are in any case much less wary than ducks. Extant species range in size from the least grebe, at 120 g (4.3 oz) and 23.5 cm (9.3 in), to the great grebe, at 1.7 kg (3.8 lbs) and 71 cm (28 in). Bills vary from short and thick to long and pointed, depending on the diet, which ranges from fish to freshwater insects and crustaceans. The feet are always large, with broad lobes on the toes and small webs connecting the front three toes. The hind toe also has a small lobe. Recent experimental work has shown that these lobes work like the hydrofoil blades of a propeller. Curiously, the same mechanism apparently evolved independently in the extinct Cretaceous-age Hesperornithiformes, which are only distantly related birds.


title: Grebe

text: Grebes have unusual plumage. It is dense and waterproof, and on the underside the feathers are at right angles to the skin, sticking straight out to begin with and curling at the tip. By pressing their feathers against the body, grebes can adjust their buoyancy. Often, they swim low in the water with just the head and neck exposed. They swim by simultaneously spreading out the feet and bringing them inward, with the webbing expanded to produce the forward thrust in much the same way as frogs. In the nonbreeding season, grebes are plain-coloured in dark browns and whites. However, most have ornate and distinctive breeding plumages, often developing chestnut markings on the head area, and perform elaborate display rituals. The young, particularly those of the genus "Podiceps", are often striped and retain some of their juvenile plumage even after reaching full size. In the breeding season, they mate at freshwater lakes and ponds, but some species spend their nonbreeding season along seacoasts. When preening, grebes eat their own feathers and feed them to their young. The function of this behaviour is uncertain, but it is believed to assist with pellet formation and to reduce their vulnerability to gastric parasites.


title: Grebe

text: The grebes are a radically distinct group of birds as regards their anatomy. Accordingly, they were at first believed to be related to the loons, which are also foot-propelled diving birds, and both families were once classified together under the order Colymbiformes. However, as early as the 1930s, this was determined to be an example of convergent evolution by the strong selective forces encountered by unrelated birds sharing the same lifestyle at different times and in different habitat. Grebes and loons are now separately classified orders of Podicipediformes and Gaviiformes, respectively.


title: Grebe

text: The cladistics vs. phenetics debate of the century revived scientific interest in generalizing comparisons. As a consequence, the discredited grebe–loon link was discussed again. This even went as far as proposing monophyly for grebes, loons, and the toothed Hesperornithiformes. In retrospect, the scientific value of the debate lies more in providing examples that a cladistic "methodology" is not incompatible with an overall phenetical scientific "doctrine", and thus that simply because some study "uses cladistics", it does not guarantee superior results.


title: Grebe

text: Molecular studies such as DNA–DNA hybridization (Sibley & Ahlquist, 1990) and sequence analyses fail to resolve the relationships of grebes properly due to insufficient resolution in the former and long-branch attraction in the latter. Still – actually "because" of this – they do confirm that these birds form a fairly ancient evolutionary lineage (or possibly one that was subject to selective pressures even down to the molecular level), and they support the "non"relatedness of loons and grebes.


title: Grebe

text: The most comprehensive study of bird phylogenomics, published in 2014, found that grebes and flamingos are members of Columbea, a clade that also includes doves, sandgrouses, and mesites.


title: Grebe

text: Recent molecular studies have suggested a relation with flamingos while morphological evidence also strongly supports a relationship between flamingos and grebes. They hold at least eleven morphological traits in common, which are not found in other birds. Many of these characteristics have been previously identified in flamingos, but not in grebes. The fossil Palaelodids can be considered evolutionarily, and ecologically, intermediate between flamingos and grebes.


title: Grebe

text: For the grebe-flamingo clade, the taxon Mirandornithes ("miraculous birds" due to their extreme divergence and apomorphies) has been proposed. Alternatively, they could be placed in one order, with Phoenocopteriformes taking priority.