title: Smallest organisms

text: The smallest RNA virus in terms of genome size is phage BZ13 strain T72 at 3,393 nucleotides length. Viruses using both DNA and RNA in their replication (retroviruses) range in size from 7,040 to 12,195 nucleotides. The smallest double-stranded DNA viruses are the hepadnaviruses such as hepatitis B, at 3.2 kb and ; parvoviruses have smaller capsids, at , but larger genomes, at 5 kb. It is important to consider other self-replicating genetic elements, such as satelliviruses, viroids and ribozymes.


title: Smallest organisms

text: Several species of Myxozoa (obligately parasitic cnidarians) never grow larger than . One of the smallest species ("Myxobolus shekel") is no more than when fully grown, making it the smallest known animal.


title: Smallest organisms

text: The smallest water snail (of all snails) is "Ammonicera minortalis" in North America, originally described from Cuba. It measures .


title: Smallest organisms

text: The smallest land snail is "Acmella nana". Discovered in Borneo, and described in November 2015, it measures . The previous record was that of "Angustopila dominikae" from China, which was reported in September 2015. This snail measures .


title: Smallest organisms

text: The smallest sea cucumber, and also the smallest echinoderm, is "Psammothuria ganapati", a synaptid that lives between sand grains on the coast of India. Its maximum length is .


title: Smallest organisms

text: The smallest vertebrates (and smallest amphibians) known are "Paedophryne amauensis" frogs from Papua New Guinea, which range in length from , and average . Other very small frogs include "Brachycephalus didactylus" from Brazil (reported as ), several species of "Eleutherodactylus" such as "E. iberia" (around ) and "E. limbatus" () and "Eleutherodactylus orientalis" () from Cuba, Gardiner's Frog "Sechellophryne gardineri" from the Seychelles (up to ), several species of "Stumpffia" such as "S. tridactyla" () and "S. pygmaea" (males ; females: ) and "Wakea madinika" (males: ; females: ) from Madagascar. "Paedophryne swiftorum" (body length ) is not included in the smallest vertebrates known with other nine species of frogs. The two species "Microhyla borneensis" (males: ; females: ) and "Arthroleptella rugosa" (males: ; females: ) were once the smallest known frogs from the Old World. In general these extremely small frogs occur in tropical forest and montane environments. There is relatively little data on size variation among individuals, growth from metamorphosis to adulthood or size variation among populations in these species. Additional studies and the discovery of further minute frog species are likely to change the rank order of this list.


title: Smallest organisms

text: The average snout-to-vent length (SVL) of several specimens of the salamander "Thorius arboreus" was .


title: Smallest organisms

text: The smallest turtle is the speckled padloper tortoise ("Homopus signatus") from South Africa. The males measure , while females measure up to almost .


title: Smallest organisms

text: Sizes of non-avian dinosaurs are commonly labelled with a level of uncertainty, as the available material often (or even usually) is incomplete. The smallest known extinct dinosaur is "Anchiornis", a genus of feathered dinosaur that lived in what is now China during the Late Jurassic Period 160 to 155 million years ago. Adult specimens range from long, and the weight has been estimated at up to . "Parvicursor" was initially seen as one of the smallest non-avian dinosaurs known from an adult specimen, at in length, and in weight. However, in 2022 its holotype was concluded to represent a juvenile individual. "Epidexipteryx" reached in length and in weight.


title: Smallest organisms

text: The smallest marsupial is the long-tailed planigale from Australia. It has a body length of (including tail) and weigh on average. The Pilbara ningaui is considered to be of similar size and weight.


title: Smallest organisms

text: The Etruscan shrew ("Suncus etruscus"), is the smallest mammal by mass, weighing about on average. The smallest mammal that ever lived, the shrew-like "Batodonoides vanhouteni", weighed .


title: Smallest organisms

text: The vulnerable Kitti's hog-nosed bat ("Craseonycteris thonglongyai"), also known as the bumblebee bat, from Thailand and Myanmar is the smallest mammal, at in length and in weight.


title: Smallest organisms

text: The smallest member of the order Carnivora is the least weasel ("Mustela nivalis"), with an average body length of . It weighs between with females being lighter.


title: Smallest organisms

text: The smallest known member of the rodent order is the Baluchistan pygmy jerboa, with an average body length of .


title: Smallest organisms

text: The smallest member of the primate order is Madame Berthe's mouse lemur ("Microcebus berthae"), found in Madagascar, with an average body length of .


title: Smallest organisms

text: The smallest cetacean, which is also (as of 2006) the most endangered, is the vaquita, a species of porpoise. Male vaquitas grow to an average of around ; the females are slightly longer, averaging about in length.


title: Smallest organisms

text: "Zamia pygmaea" is a cycad found in Cuba, and the smallest known gymnosperm. It grows to a height of .


title: Smallest organisms

text: Duckweeds of the genus "Wolffia" are the smallest angiosperms. Fully grown, they measure and reach a mass of just 150 µg.


title: Smallest organisms

text: The smallest known dicotyledon plant is the Himalayan dwarf mistletoe ("Arceuthobium minutissimum"). Shoots grow up to in height.


title: Smallest organisms

text: about one tenth the size of the smallest known bacteria. Nanobes, tiny filamental structures first found in some rocks and sediments, were first described in 1996 by Philippa Uwins of the University of Queensland, but it is unclear what they are, and if they are alive.


title: Oxygen cycle

text: Oxygen cycle refers to the movement of oxygen through the atmosphere (air), biosphere (plants and animals) and the lithosphere (the Earth’s crust). The oxygen cycle demonstrates how free oxygen is made available in each of these regions, as well as how it is used. The oxygen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle of oxygen atoms between different oxidation states in ions, oxides, and molecules through redox reactions within and between the spheres/reservoirs of the planet Earth. The word oxygen in the literature typically refers to the most common oxygen allotrope, elemental/diatomic oxygen (O), as it is a common product or reactant of many biogeochemical redox reactions within the cycle. Processes within the oxygen cycle are considered to be biological or geological and are evaluated as either a source (O production) or sink (O consumption).


title: Oxygen cycle

text: Oxygen is one of the most common elements on Earth and represents a large portion of each main reservoir. By far the largest reservoir of Earth's oxygen is within the silicate and oxide minerals of the crust and mantle (99.5% by weight). The Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere together hold less than 0.05% of the Earth's total mass of oxygen. Besides O, additional oxygen atoms are present in various forms spread throughout the surface reservoirs in the molecules of biomass, HO, CO, HNO, NO, NO, CO, HO, O, SO, HSO, MgO, CaO, AlO, SiO, and PO.


title: Oxygen cycle

text: The atmosphere is 20.9% oxygen by volume, which equates to a total of roughly 34 × 10 mol of oxygen. Other oxygen-containing molecules in the atmosphere include ozone (O), carbon dioxide (CO), water vapor (HO), and sulphur and nitrogen oxides (SO, NO, NO, etc.).


title: Oxygen cycle

text: The biosphere is 22% oxygen by volume, present mainly as a component of organic molecules (CHNO) and water.


title: Oxygen cycle

text: The hydrosphere is 33% oxygen by volume present mainly as a component of water molecules, with dissolved molecules including free oxygen and carbolic acids (HCO).


title: Oxygen cycle

text: The lithosphere is 46.6% oxygen by volume, present mainly as silica minerals (SiO) and other oxide minerals.


title: Oxygen cycle

text: While there are many abiotic sources and sinks for O, the presence of the profuse concentration of free oxygen in modern Earth's atmosphere and ocean is attributed to O production from the biological process of oxygenic photosynthesis in conjunction with a biological sink known as the biological pump and a geologic process of carbon burial involving plate tectonics. Biology is the main driver of O flux on modern Earth, and the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis by bacteria, which is discussed as part of the Great Oxygenation Event, is thought to be directly responsible for the conditions permitting the development and existence of all complex eukaryotic metabolism.


title: Oxygen cycle

text: The main source of atmospheric free oxygen is photosynthesis, which produces sugars and free oxygen from carbon dioxide and water:


title: Oxygen cycle

text: Photosynthesizing organisms include the plant life of the land areas, as well as the phytoplankton of the oceans. The tiny marine cyanobacterium "Prochlorococcus" was discovered in 1986 and accounts for up to half of the photosynthesis of the open oceans.


title: Oxygen cycle

text: An additional source of atmospheric free oxygen comes from photolysis, whereby high-energy ultraviolet radiation breaks down atmospheric water and nitrous oxide into component atoms. The free hydrogen and nitrogen atoms escape into space, leaving O in the atmosphere:


title: Oxygen cycle

text: The main way free oxygen is lost from the atmosphere is via respiration and decay, mechanisms in which animal life and bacteria consume oxygen and release carbon dioxide.


title: Oxygen cycle

text: These numbers are based primarily on estimates from (Walker, J. C. G.): More recent research indicates that ocean life (marine primary production) is actually responsible for more than half the total oxygen production on Earth.


title: Oxygen cycle

text: The presence of atmospheric oxygen has led to the formation of ozone (O) and the ozone layer within the stratosphere:


title: Twilight sleep

text: Twilight sleep (English translation of the German word ) is an amnesic state characterized by insensitivity to pain without loss of consciousness, induced by an injection of morphine and scopolamine, with the purpose of pain management during childbirth. The obstetric method originated in Germany and gained large popularity in New York City in the early 20th century.


title: Twilight sleep

text: In the Freiburg technique, considered the gold standard of twilight birth, patients were first given an intramuscular injection of of scopolamine and of morphine. Forty five minutes later, a second scopolamine injection of the same dosage was administered. A memory test was then given, and subsequent smaller doses of scopolamine were given based on the individual's performance on the memory tests. When performed properly, the drug combination caused a drowsy state and relieved the pain only partially, whilst creating amnesia such that the woman giving birth sometimes would not remember any pain, although these results were variable. Because of how variable the scopolamine dosages are between patients, and the need for accurate assessment of performance on the memory test, the twilight sleep method required skillful, well-trained practitioners for proper execution.


title: Twilight sleep

text: To effectively keep women in an amnesic state, sensory isolation was necessary. Women gave birth in a darkened room, and the birth attendants wore uniforms designed to minimize noise. Women were sometimes blind-folded, had their ears plugged with oil-soaked cotton, or were tied to padded beds with leather straps to "promote sleep." Sensory deprivation also prevented delirium, one of the adverse side effects of scopolamine.


title: Twilight sleep

text: Prior to the 20th century, childbirth predominantly happened in the home, without access to any medical interventions for pain management. Childbirth was a leading cause of death for women, largely due to the movement of childbirth from the home to hospitals in the early 20th century. Doctors (primarily, if not all men) were now managing the vast majority of childbirths as opposed to midwives or Doulas. Many women were fearful of the process of giving birth, creating a large desire for pain management. But despite the demands of female patients, little relief was offered before the mid-19th century. Chemical anesthesia during labor was first introduced in 1847, receiving support from women and reluctance from physicians. The legacy of the Bible in the Anglo-American medical community was clear. While pain relief was seen as a necessary part of surgery, many physicians viewed painful childbirth as a natural, divinely ordained punishment for Eve’s behavior in the Garden of Eden. Anesthesia's use was popularized in 1853 by Queen Victoria’s decision to use chloroform for pain relief during the birth of her eighth child.


title: Twilight sleep

text: In 1899, a Dr Schneiderlin recommended the use of hyoscine and morphine for surgical anesthesia, and it began to be used as such sporadically. The use of this combination to ease birth was first proposed by Austrian physician Richard von Steinbuchel in 1902, before being picked up and further developed by Carl Gauss and Bernhardt Kronig in Freiburg, Germany, beginning in 1903. The method came to be known as ("twilight sleep") or the "Freiburg method" when performed according to Gauss and Kronig's specific technique. Gauss and Kronig's research showed that the use of scopolamine during childbirth resulted in fewer complications and a faster recovery. The two presented their findings on the use of scopolamine during childbirth at the 1906 National Obstetrics Conference in Berlin, Germany. They recorded preferred dosages and adverse side effects of scopolamine, which included slowed pulse, bradypnea, delirium, dilated pupils, flushed skin, and thirst.


title: Twilight sleep

text: Its usage spread slowly, and different clinics experimented with different dosages and ingredients. By 1907, Gauss was performing the Freiburg method on all of his pregnant patients, and wealthy German women began to travel to Freiburg for childbirth to receive Kronig and Gauss's twilight sleep method. The Women's Clinic of the State University of Baden, where Gauss was a physician, had the city's lowest rates of maternal and neonatal mortality, further increasing the procedure's popularity. Eventually, wealthy pregnant women from the United States began traveling to Germany to receive twilight sleep during childbirth.


title: Twilight sleep

text: A June 1914 "McClure's Magazine" article titled, "Painless Childbirth" published by Marguerite Tracy and Constance Leupp about twilight sleep was instrumental in increasing awareness of the procedure in the United States. The article garnered a massive public response, prompting thousands of women to write the magazine asking for information about doctors able to perform the method. In the year after the publication of the "McClure" article, several books such as "Motherhood without Pain" were published that universally praised the procedure. Newspapers and magazines began pressuring American obstetricians to adopt the method of pain management in their own clinics. Twilight sleep gained a "faddish" popularity in New York City from 1914 to 1916.


title: Twilight sleep

text: In 1915, the "New York Times" published an article on twilight sleep and the work of Hanna Rion, or Mrs. Frank Ver Beck, who had recently written a book entitled "The Truth About Twilight Sleep". In that article, Rion said that the consensus of 69 medical reports she had looked at said that "scopolamin-morphin is without danger to the child".


title: Twilight sleep

text: Despite its popularity among patients, twilight sleep faced serious resistance from American doctors. Many physicians accused Gauss and Kronig of propagandizing women for financial gain. Because the treatment's greatest popularity overlapped with World War I, women who advocated for the German technique were also accused of being disloyal to the United States.


title: Twilight sleep

text: The use of twilight sleep began to decline in the United States after 1916 due to a number of factors. In the setting of New York City, it was extremely difficult to perform properly according to the Freiburg method. The dosages of morphine and scopolamine needed to be precise to avoid overdose, and NYC hospitals typically lacked the private, quiet birthing rooms like those used in Freiburg for sensory isolation. At its peak, there was such demand from women for twilight sleep that many physicians who were not adequately trained in the technique felt that the success of their obstetric practices depended on offering it. Thus, many untrained nurses and physicians were administering morphine and scopolamine at improper dosages, leading to a high rate of errors. Also contributing was the fact that twilight sleep did not actually cause a painless childbirth—the scopolamine produced amnesia, so the user did not remember the pain.


title: Twilight sleep

text: Twilight sleep spread in popularity in New York through a grassroots female-led campaign that was closely connected to the first-wave feminism movement. Many of those active in the campaign were also suffragists, and they used techniques learned in the suffrage movement to increase awareness of twilight sleep.


title: Twilight sleep

text: The procedure was initially heralded as the dawning of "a new era for woman and through her for the whole human race." Advocates of twilight birth, including Hanna Rion, saw the fight for pain management in childbirth as strongly connected to the fight for gender equality. They described childbirth as "unnatural" and "unnecessary" and believed that male physicians did not adequately recognize the difficulties of maternity. Twilight sleep was seen as liberating women from the danger and pain imposed on them by their own bodies.


title: Twilight sleep

text: Early feminists in Manhattan formed the National Twilight Sleep Association in 1914, which advocated for wider use. They organized pro-twilight sleep materials, lectures, and encouraged local New York physicians to offer the practice; articles appeared in the "New York Times", "The Ladies' Home Journal", and "Reader's Digest" praising twilight birth. A moving picture showing the procedure, one of the first medical movies, was also created and screened for interested women. Prominent NTSA member Mary Boyd's lectures about twilight sleep would draw crowds of nearly 300 women. She would end her lectures with the campaign's popular saying: “You women… will have to fight for it, for the mass of doctors are opposed to it.” Boyd and Tracy saw twilight sleep as a turning point in medicine, describing it as the “first time… that the whole body of patients have risen to dictate to the doctors.”


title: Twilight sleep

text: The campaign dwindled after one of its leaders, Frances X. Carmody, died of hemorrhage giving birth while using twilight sleep, though her husband and doctor asserted that her death was unrelated to the use of twilight sleep.


title: Twilight sleep

text: While twilight sleep began to wane in popularity after 1915, it permanently altered obstetric care and created irrevocable changes in the role of obstetricians in the United States. Obstetricians could no longer have a financially viable practice that did not include pain management during childbirth. The use of morphine and scopolamine in twilight birth also positioned drug intervention as the main measure used in pain management during labor. Because twilight birth was performed in a hospital setting, it greatly contributed to changing childbirth from a home event to a medicalized hospital procedure. The twilight birth fad accelerated the decrease in perceived importance of midwives and presented male physicians as those best qualified to assist in delivery, giving doctors more control over the birthing process. The twilight birth movement also illustrates the power of public demand and media coverage in shaping the popularity of certain obstetric techniques.


title: John V of Portugal

text: Dom John V (; 22 October 1689 – 31 July 1750), known as the Magnanimous ("o Magnânimo") and the Portuguese Sun King ("o Rei-Sol Português"), was King of Portugal from 9 December 1706 until his death in 1750. His reign saw the rise of Portugal and its monarchy to new levels of prosperity, wealth, and prestige among European courts.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John V's reign saw an enormous influx of gold into the coffers of the royal treasury, supplied largely by the royal fifth (a tax on precious metals) that was received from the Portuguese colonies of Brazil and Maranhão. John spent lavishly on ambitious architectural works, most notably Mafra Palace, and on commissions and additions for his sizable art and literary collections. Owing to his craving for international diplomatic recognition, John also spent large sums on the embassies he sent to the courts of Europe, the most famous being those he sent to Paris in 1715 and Rome in 1716.


title: John V of Portugal

text: Disregarding traditional Portuguese institutions of governance, John V ruled as an absolute monarch. In keeping with a traditional policy pursued by previous monarchs of the House of Braganza which stressed the importance of good relations with Europe, John's reign was marked by numerous interventions into the affairs of other European states, most notably as part of the War of the Spanish Succession. On the imperial front, John V pursued an expansionist policy, with significant territorial gains in Portuguese India and Portuguese America.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John V was a very pious man who devoted large parts of his day to prayer and religious study. He rewarded his long-awaited recognition as a lawful monarch by Pope Benedict XIV with a fervent devotion to the Catholic Church and some very large donations to the Holy See. The Pope granted John V the style "Most Faithful Majesty," which appealed to him greatly. However, John's relationship with the papacy varied at different periods in his reign; there were both close relations and conflicts at different times during the reigns of five different popes.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John was born on 22 October 1689 at Ribeira Palace in Lisbon as the second son of King Dom Peter II and Maria Sophia of Neuburg. He was baptized on 19 November at the Royal Palace Chapel and given the full name John Francis Anthony Joseph Benedict Bernard ("João Francisco António José Bento Bernardo"). The King and Queen had had a son the previous year, another Dom John, but the prince had died a few weeks after his birth. The court was thus overjoyed to have a new male heir to the kingdom. Upon his baptism, John was not given the traditional titles of the heir apparent to the Portuguese throne, Prince of Brazil and Duke of Braganza, but merely the default title Infante of Portugal. This was intended as a sign of respect for his elder brother's death.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John had a stimulating upbringing surrounded by some of the most brilliant minds of Europe at the time. It was agreed by the court that John's care as a child was to be strictly run by women only, a custom of the Portuguese court and the Portuguese nobility as a whole. John's governess was Maria de Lencastre, Marquise of Unhão. She was given the position more for her beauty and status than for her suitability as a childcare giver. The Marquise was later governess for John's younger brothers Francisco, António, and Manuel.


title: John V of Portugal

text: The policies that John's father had pursued made the Portuguese court wealthy, the national economy stable, and the imperial military strong. This made a richly varied and interesting childhood possible for John. As a child, he was under the tutelage and heavy influence of the Jesuit Fathers Francisco da Cruz, João Seco, and Luís Gonzaga. Father Luís Gonzaga was in charge of the education of all of King Peter's children; he taught them military education, politics, astronomy, nautical studies, mathematics, and history. As John grew up, he was mentored in political affairs by Luís da Cunha, a prominent Portuguese diplomat.


title: John V of Portugal

text: When John reached age seven, his father determined that his eldest sons were sufficiently educated in basic subjects and decided to take over supervision of their instruction himself, though his interest in mentoring them quickly faded. This was formalised when he and his brother Francisco were admitted into the Order of Christ on 7 April 1696. Later that year, the King finally decided to confer on John the titles of the heir apparent, namely Prince of Brazil and Duke of Braganza. On 1 December 1696, on the anniversary of the Portuguese Restoration War of 1640, a grand ceremony was held in which John was invested with his titles. The ceremony involved the placing of a large ermine and red velvet mantle on his shoulders, as well as the adornment of his person with various jewels and royal regalia.


title: John V of Portugal

text: Just over a month before John's tenth birthday in 1699, his mother Queen Dona Maria Sofia died at the age of 33. This caused John to retreat from court and become depressed for many months. His aunt Dona Catherine of Braganza, the former queen consort of England, Scotland, and Ireland, then took control of his education. She resided in the palace she had built, Bemposta Palace, and remained John's main tutor and female role model until her death in 1705.


title: John V of Portugal

text: In April 1700, John fell terribly ill; it was assumed that he was on his death bed. Fearing his imminent demise, he asked for his last rites and confessed his sins. To everyone's surprise, he rallied and soon returned to his normal activities, his complete recovery being considered a miracle by the court.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John was greatly saddened by the death of his sister Teresa Maria in February 1704. Her death caused John to avoid appearing at court for some months and to estrange himself from his father, who favoured John's younger brother Manuel. During this time, much gossip was spread and worries arose about whether John would ever recover from his depression. In May of that year, he eventually returned to the court and reconciled with the King, saying that his "saudade" for his sister would not get in the way of his performing his duty to the King.


title: John V of Portugal

text: In early December 1706, King Peter II moved himself to the Royal Quinta in Alcântara, as he was growing ill and needed space from the court. On the fifth of that month, the King caught a high fever, and the court doctors met to examine him fully. They determined his health was greatly deteriorating. The next day, Peter called all of his children to his bedside and told them of his coming demise. He appointed John as prince regent of the kingdom and asked that all of his children follow John's wishes. The King still favoured his youngest son, Manuel, and he gave Manuel a special gift that none of his other children received.


title: John V of Portugal

text: Peter II died in his sleep on 9 December 1706. Following his death, Ribeira Palace was redecorated as a reflection of the mourning. On the façade towards the Terreiro do Paço, large black banners were hung from the windows for this purpose. A month later, the time was declared to be appropriate for John to be acclaimed king. Preparations for John's acclamation had already been started and once allowed, the royal palace was redecorated; the black banners were replaced with red ones, and fruit wreaths were hung throughout all of the palace.


title: John V of Portugal

text: On the day of John's acclamation, 1 January 1707, his new throne was placed on the balcony of the "Torre do Rei" (Tower of the King) of Ribeira Palace. Specially-made tapestries illustrating the allegories of Justice and Prudence were hung high above the Terreiro do Paço to remind the public that these were the traits their king would have. Once John sat down on his throne, wreaths made of gold were laid around the throne and balcony. Wearing his Cross of the Order of Christ, and with the Portuguese Crown Jewels beside him, and not on him, as was the Portuguese royal custom, John was acclaimed "His Majesty, by the Grace of God, King of Portugal and the Algarves, before and beyond the sea in Africa, Lord of Guinea and of Conquest, Navigation, and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India, our Lord, John, the fifth of that name in the table of the Kings of Portugal."


title: John V of Portugal

text: John was now king of an empire that stretched four continents. He was also the head of state of a kingdom that was at war with Spain and France. His first regnal act was to renew Portugal's membership in the League of Augsburg and continue in the war alongside the England and the Habsburgs. Portugal quickly supplied more troops to aid her allies in the war. This new level of Portuguese involvement allowed John's general, António Luís de Sousa, Marquis of Minas, to capture Madrid on 28 June 1706. While Portugal put vast resources into the war, contrary to John's predecessors, who avoided conflicts in Europe, activity in the war soon lost the interest of the King, who had more pressing affairs to attend to.


title: John V of Portugal

text: During his life, Peter II had worked a long time to secure John a marriage with an Austrian archduchess in order to guarantee Portugal's alliance with the Habsburgs. John continued these negotiations and finally succeeded in negotiating a deal. On 27 June 1707, Fernão Teles da Silva, Count of Vilar Maior, signed a marriage contract with Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I that made official a match between John and the emperor's sister, the Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. The contract also set the archduchess's dowry at 100,000 crowns, a vast sum for the day.


title: John V of Portugal

text: The armada that Portugal sent to escort Maria Anna from the Low Countries to Lisbon arrived in the Tagus river estuary on 26 October 1708. The flagship, in which Maria Anna travelled, berthed at the docks of the private garden of Ribeira Palace, where John and a party of the kingdom's richest and most powerful nobles met the new queen for the first time. The marriage celebrations lasted until 27 December; they were sumptuous and very costly.


title: John V of Portugal

text: By late 1710, John and Maria Anna had not produced an heir to the throne. It had been two years since the couple had been married, and the court was starting to question the future of the House of Braganza. In early 1711, the King met with Franciscan Cardinal Nuno da Cunha e Ataíde, High Inquisitor of the Portuguese Inquisition, who told him that if he promised God to build a Franciscan convent in Mafra, God would deliver his long desired heir. Accordingly, John promised such a convent if Maria Anna became pregnant before the end of 1711. John's wish would come true later that year when Maria Anna gave birth to a daughter, Maria Barbara, on 4 December 1711.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John and Maria Anna had a successful marriage, but lived largely separate lives. Maria Anna devoted herself to preserving the decorum of the royal court and her own religious interests, while John concerned himself with whatever pleased him at the moment. John kept many mistresses throughout his royal career, including Filipa de Noronha, Paula de Odivelas, Luísa Inês Antónia Machado Monteiro, Madalena Máxima de Miranda, Inácia Rosa de Távora, and Luísa Clara de Portugal.


title: John V of Portugal

text: Maria Barbara's birth was followed by the birth of Pedro, Prince of Brazil, on 19 October 1712, which temporarily gave John a male heir. Prince Pedro's death on 29 October 1714 greatly saddened the King, but he took solace in the fact that his son Infante Joseph (now Prince of Brazil) had been born on June 6 earlier that same year. After Joseph, three more infants were born to John and Maria Anna: Carlos on 2 May 1716, Pedro on 5 July 1717, and Alexandre on 24 September 1723. Only two of their three youngest sons would survive to adulthood, Infante Carlos and Infante Pedro; only Pedro continued the Braganza line.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John's children were trained rigorously growing up. His plan was to have an intelligent son who could take his place as king, a strategically married daughter, and well-prepared statesmen sons, but he would achieve only part of his goal. From her birth, Infanta Maria Barbara's marriage had been closely arranged and monitored by John. When the engagement of Mariana Victoria of Spain to Louis XV of France was nullified, John proposed Maria Barbara as a possible bride for Louis XV, but in the end she was refused. John still managed to gain something from the dissolution of the engagement between Louis XV and Mariana Victoria: John's heir Prince José would be engaged to Mariana Victoria, and Maria Barbara would marry Mariana Victoria's older half-brother Prince Don Ferdinand (later King Don Ferdinand VI of Spain). Negotiations between Portugal and Spain began in 1725, and four years later John's eldest children would be matched with their spouses-to-be. The infantas Maria Barbara and Mariana Victoria were exchanged at a ceremony, called the Exchange of the Princesses ("Troca das Princesas"), held on the Caia River on 19 January 1729. Prince José married Mariana Victoria on 19 January 1729 in Elvas, and Infanta Maria Barbara married Prince Ferdinand on 20 January 1729 in Badajoz.


title: John V of Portugal

text: None of John's three other sons would marry in his lifetime. Infante Alexandre died at the age of five, and Infante Carlos died at the age of twenty without any marriage proposals or children. Only Infante Pedro would live long enough to marry, but John did not live long enough to see it. Pedro married his niece Maria Francisca, Princess of Brazil, on 6 June 1760; she was the daughter of his elder brother, King Dom Joseph I. When Joseph died in 1777, Maria Francisca became Queen Dona Maria I and Pedro became jure uxoris king as Dom Pedro III.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John fathered at least four children from various extramarital affairs. António of Braganza by Luísa Inês Antónia Machado Monteiro; Gaspar of Braganza, Archbishop of Braga, by Madalena Máxima de Miranda; José of Braganza, High Inquisitor of Portugal, by Paula de Odivelas; and Maria Rita of Braganza by Luísa Clara de Portugal. António, Gaspar, and José were all recognized as John's sons and were collectively known as the Children of Palhavã, after the Palace of Palhavã that belonged to Luís Carlos Inácio Xavier de Meneses, 1st Marquis of Louriçal, where they lived at John's expense. The Children of Palhavã received educations worthy of nobility and went on to become noteworthy members of the clergy. Maria Rita was never officially recognized as John's daughter, but he informally arranged for her life at the Convent of Santos and managed her expenses. Maria Rita's stepfather, Jorge de Meneses, attempted to stop John's actions for Maria Rita, but the King had de Meneses exiled to Spain and then to England.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John reigned as an absolute monarch. Notably, he never convened the Portuguese Cortes, the ancient parliament of the three estates in Portugal, and actively ignored meetings of the Council of State. However, John did not act by himself when making decisions; rather, he frequently consulted a close circle of well-informed advisers and held weekly intimate audiences with members of all three estates, which he preferred to larger institutions, such as the Cortes and the Council of State, which he viewed as incompetent and bloated. The Count of Povolide remarked on John's governance style, stating that "he established a predominance of personal consultation over institutional consultation."


title: John V of Portugal

text: The highest position in the King's government was that of Secretary of State of Portugal, the equivalent of a modern-day prime minister. This position was always filled by a favourite of John, the most notable one Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, whom the King consulted with on every matter, to such a degree that it often appeared that he was the King's only minister. When John became king, he inherited a powerful and large Council of State made up of numerous bishops, nobles, and bureaucrats, which was charged with being the utmost consultory body to the King, as it was during the reign of John's father. However, John's dislike of institutions and consultative bodies led him to cease convening the council formally, leading the prominent politician and diplomat Luís da Cunha to refer to the king as a despot and his government as absolutist. The historian A.R. Disney writes of John that he "was an absolutist by conviction and believed secular power and authority emanated by right solely from the king, to whom all other persons and jurisdictions were completely subordinate."


title: John V of Portugal

text: Although the Council of State was never convened, several of its members were nonetheless close advisers to the King. Alongside Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, Cardinal João da Mota e Silva and High-Inquisitor Nuno da Cunha e Ataíde were close advisers to the king, the former eventually substituting Mendonça Corte-Real as Secretary of State when he died in 1736. Though he disbanded most institutions, John notably maintained the Junta of the Three Estates, a governing junta created by John IV (John V's grandfather) which managed the finances and maintenance of military installations, troop raising, and taxation related to defense. Having engaged in multiple conflicts throughout his reign, both in Europe and his empire, John V understood the necessity of the junta and carefully picked its members, only selecting those deemed the most knowledgeable and competent. Similarly, he maintained the Council of the Treasury, which managed the finances of Portugal and its empire, including tax collection and budget accounting for the majority of Portugal's organizations (except the military), and exerted authority over the Casa da Índia, the Royal Mint, and the custom houses across Portuguese territory.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John pursued a generally dovish foreign policy which sought to maintain Portugal's neutrality. The main exception to this was Portuguese intervention in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–13); Portugal intervened reluctantly and due to British pressure.


title: John V of Portugal

text: When John ascended the throne, he found himself entangled in the War of the Spanish Succession, as King Peter II had signed the Methuen Treaty in 1703, which aligned Portugal to the Grand Alliance against the House of Bourbon and allowed Grand Alliance forces to launch their invasion of Spain from Portugal. Only months after assuming the throne, John saw his forces overwhelmingly defeated in at the Battle of Almansa, a defeat that jeopardized Portuguese forces in Spain and the outcome of the war. Portuguese forces continued to fight alongside the Grand Alliance until agreeing to an armistice with Spain and France on 8 November 1712. The war finally came to an end in 1713 with the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, whereby Portugal regained possession of territories conquered by the Bourbon coalition and acquired new territories in South America.


title: John V of Portugal

text: With the War of the Spanish Succession ended, John could re-establish relations with the courts of Europe. His first grand act of diplomacy was the dispatch of Luís Manuel da Câmara, 3rd Count of Ribeira Grande, as his ambassador to the court of Louis XIV of France, in early August 1715. The grandson of François, Prince of Soubise, and cousin of Hercule Mériadec, Prince of Guéméné, the Count of Ribeira Grande was personally chosen by John to foster amicable relations with the French court. No expense was spared on the Count's triumphal entry into Paris, which cost 100 Louis d'or and received such great applause from the people of Paris that Alexandre de Gusmão, the Count's secretary, stated that "the Count of Ribeira Grande has eternalized the grandness of our generous king." Although King Louis would die only weeks after the Portuguese embassy's arrival to France, the richness and extravagance of its entry to Paris was noted at the French court and across Europe and gained a new level of prestige for John and his kingdom.


title: John V of Portugal

text: As John concerned himself with the presentation of Portugal at the court of Europe from home through the planning and organization of important embassies, the King's brother Infante Manuel, Count of Ourém, was similarly raising the name of Portugal throughout Europe. Having left the country in 1715 without the King's permission (as was required for royalty and high nobility), Manuel traveled throughout Europe, staying with Portuguese ambassadors and nobles across the continent, causing quite a fanfare. The King was displeased that Manuel left without permission, but he forgave his brother, writing to Manuel "your age absolves your mistake". Now having the King's permission, Manuel entered the service of Prince Eugene of Savoy, serving alongside him at the successful Battle of Petrovaradin. Over the next 17 years, Infante Manuel moved from court to court as a celebrity and military hero and was even considered as a candidate as King of Poland by provision of the 1732 Treaty of the Three Black Eagles. Manuel's adventures throughout the continent inspired several literary works and gained him celebrity, raising Portugal's prestige in the eyes of Europe.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John's reign was characterized by a stressed importance of relations with Rome and the Papacy, though the state of relations with the Holy See largely depended on the pope at the time. John sought acknowledgement by the pope as a lawful and righteous monarch as a means of international recognition of his capabilities and authority. Relations with John's first pope, Clement XI, were largely successful, resulting from mutual beneficial agreements. In 1716, in response to a request by Pope Clement XI to John for aid in the fight against the Turks, the King sent an armada of Portuguese ships to assist Venice and Austria in their conflicts with the Turks that was led by his brother Infante Francisco, Duke of Beja, and Lopo Furtado de Mendonça, Count of Rio Grande. In the same year, John ordered a formal, triumphal entry for his ambassador in Rome, Rodrigo Anes de Sá Almeida e Meneses, 3rd Marquis of Fontes. Seeking to mimic the response received at the French court, 5,000 cruzados were spent on a luxurious entry for the Portuguese envoy. The ceremonial procession included a convoy of 300 carriages surrounding the "pièce de résistance" of the procession, the Oceans Coach, an ornate carriage made in Lisbon to demonstrate the wealth of the Portuguese empire to Rome. This impressed the papal court, and Pope Clement raised the dignity of the Archdiocese of Lisbon to the Patriarchate of Lisbon, making the Portuguese capital only one of two dioceses with this title in Europe, alongside Venice. John's good fortune with the papacy and Italy would continue to raise the next year, in 1717, when the aid of a Portuguese squadron of ships helped win the Battle of Matapan, in the ongoing Ottoman-Venetian War.


title: John V of Portugal

text: Clement XI's successor, Innocent XIII, had served as Apostolic Nuncio to Portugal from 1697 to 1710, at the court of John and his father King Peter II. However, Innocent XIII's time in Portugal is cited to have been the source of his dislike of the Society of Jesus, owing to the immense power that the Jesuits held at the Portuguese court and the concessions they held across the Portuguese Empire at the time. An ongoing issue of importance to the Portugal was the long-standing Chinese Rites controversy, which largely concerned the methods used in Asia by the Jesuits, which were largely under patronage of the Portuguese. Innocent's decision to prohibit the Jesuits from continuing their missions in China caused great upset at the Portuguese court. Though Innocent XIII's successor, Benedict XIII, was the only pope to descend from Portuguese royalty (descending from King Denis), relations were no warmer with Portugal than under his predecessor. Discontent with the Vatican's dismissal of his requests, John retaliated against Benedict XIII in 1728, closing the Papal Nunciature in Lisbon, recalling all Portuguese cardinals from Rome, and prohibiting official relations between Portuguese subjects and the Holy See. Benedict sought to resolve the issues through an amicable intermediary, King Don Philip V of Spain, though John refused.


title: John V of Portugal

text: An issue of significance to John concerned the rank and appointment of the Apostolic Nuncio in Portugal, which the King wished to be raised to the dignity of a crown-cardinal and demanded input in the selection process. Both Clement XI and Innocent XIII had denied John's requests and Benedict XIII had failed to mediate a resolution. Only during the fourth papacy of John's reign was the issue resolved, when Pope Clement XII acquiesced to the king's demands, in 1730, elevating the Portuguese nunciature to the dignity shared only with France, Austria, and Spain. John's last pope and Clement XII's successor, Benedict XIV, had a markedly better relation with the King, granting the King his desired recognition as a lawful Christian monarch. In 1748, the Pope awarded the title of "Most Faithful Majesty" to John and his successors.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John's reign saw the rise of the Americas as the bastion of Portuguese imperial power, as fortunes became less lucrative in Asia and Africa. Under John, the Portuguese Empire saw territorial gains in modern-day Brazil, India, Kenya, Uruguay, East Timor, Angola, and Mozambique, among others. John sought to exert strict control over the government, trade and communications of his overseas imperial possessions.


title: John V of Portugal

text: Portuguese America occupied the highest priority in John's administration of the Portuguese Empire. The American colonies of Brazil and Maranhão had become vital sources of wealth to the royal treasury, making the protection, expansion, and good governance of Portuguese America crucial to imperial policy in the Joanine era. Expansion of Portuguese territory in the Americas was also a concern, which was primarily achieved through military incursions into the interior of the continent by "Bandeirantes". Portugal also regained control of Uruguay following the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1714, and successfully defended it against an attempted Spanish reconquest in the Spanish–Portuguese War of 1735–37.


title: John V of Portugal

text: In the 1690s, during the final years of King Peter II's reign, precious resources were discovered in Brazil, namely vast gold and diamond deposits. However, exploitation of the resources primarily began in John's reign, with the establishment of mining companies, taxation systems, and a mercantilist supply chain, which ushered in a period known as the Brazilian Gold Rush. The royal fifth was instituted as a form of taxation on mining activities, requiring a fifth of all gold to go directly to the King's treasury. In an effort to consolidate royal authority while promoting efficient governance, John took control of the Captaincy of São Vicente (in 1709) and the Captaincy of Pernambuco (in 1716), establishing direct royal governance in the two most valuable provinces of Brazil. In 1721, John ordered the separation of the region of intense mining from the rest of the Captaincy of São Vicente, into the autonomous captaincy of "Minas Gerais" (General Mines), allowing for the colonial administration to collect taxation more effectively.


title: John V of Portugal

text: Asia had been the traditional base of the Portuguese Empire's wealth and power, but its declining returns became especially noticeable during John's reign as gold and diamonds from the Americas flowed to Lisbon. Portuguese India, historically the "crown jewel" of the empire, was economically constrained, especially under the restrictive rule of the Portuguese Inquisition in Goa, which prohibited commerce with non-Christian merchants. Concurrently, Portugal's most important ally in the Indian subcontinent was the Mughal Empire, which entered into a drastic decline following 1707, coinciding with the rise of the Maratha Empire, long-time enemies of the Portuguese. Portugal suffered territorial losses after the Battle of Vasai and the Maratha conquest of Baçaim, although the size of Portuguese India would triple from 1713 to 1788, in an era known as the "" (New Conquests). The declining importance of Portuguese India resulted in numerous administrative reorganizations during John's reign, including the independence of Portuguese Mozambique from rule by the Viceroy of Portuguese India, as well as the creation of a direct commercial route from Portugal to Portuguese Macau (present day China), which eliminated the stop at the Indian port of Goa.


title: John V of Portugal

text: The Portuguese colonization of Africa was less important to John's colonial priorities compared to the Americas and Asia. Minor contentions with Dutch corsairs blocking shipments to and from the Portuguese Gold Coast in the 1720s resulted in successful Portuguese victory over the Dutch in minor naval battles. Notable, tensions were also raised with Britain in 1722 when British forces established a fortification in Cabinda (in modern-day Angola), which had been claimed and evangelized by the Portuguese since the 15th century. A notable rare exception to the long-standing Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, John ordered galleons from the "Armada do Brasil" to dispatch to Cabinda to either take possession of the fort or destroy it and its men, resulting in a Portuguese victory in 1723. Portugal briefly reconquered Mombasa (modern-day Kenya) in 1728, only to lose control over it again in 1729, ending the last period of Portuguese rule in Mombasa.


title: John V of Portugal

text: John is often remembered as one of the greatest patrons of the arts in Portuguese history, having commissioned numerous construction projects and artistic studies. The King's most famous and important work was the Royal Palace-Convent of Mafra. By early 1711, John was worried for the future of the House of Braganza, since his marriage to Maria Anna of Austria had produced no issue. He met with Dom Nuno da Cunha e Ataíde, High-Inquisitor of Portugal, who assured the King that if he promised to build a convent for Franciscans in Mafra, in the Lisbon countryside, Maria Anna would bear him a child by the end of 1711. John agreed to do so. Construction started in 1717, with plans for a modest church convent for one hundred friars. However, in the following years, with a gratuitous flow of gold from slave labour in the American colonies of Brazil and Maranhão, the plans were altered to become a "magnum opus" of John's reign, accommodating three hundred friars and adjusted to become a hybrid convent-palace, including a royal library, a basilica, and a vast set of apartments for the royal family. Noting the vast size and scope of the project, Charles de Merveilleux, a Swiss nobleman living in Portugal in 1726, remarked that "King John has decided to build a second Escorial."


title: John V of Portugal

text: With the new plans for a palatial complex, the project at Mafra, entrusted to royal architect João Frederico Ludovice, became much more than a fulfillment of a religious promise, but rather a demonstration of monarchical power and wealth. By 1729, 15,470 workers from throughout Portugal and its colonies were contributing to the construction of the palace, alongside a total of 6,124 infantrymen and cavalrymen, making a total of 21,594 persons involved in the building process and site that year. While the majority of the palace was completed by 1730, John was so consumed in completing the project that he decreed it mandatory for all inhabitants of the villages of Mafra and Ericeira to work at the palace, requiring an excused permission not to participate, and only under extraordinary circumstances. In regard to the exuberant cost of the palatial complex, Merveilleux remarked that "three quarters of the royal treasury and nearly all of the gold brought on the fleets from Brazil were here, at Mafra, turned into stone."


title: John V of Portugal

text: Mafra stood as a monument to regal power, even though it would become only a pleasure palace and never a seat of authority. John commissioned numerous operas, comedies, and serenades to be celebrated at the palace with great pomp, and its enormous property became the favoured hunting grounds of the royal family for centuries to come. In 1732, the King also began to celebrate his birthday annually at Mafra. John housed one of the largest and most sumptuous libraries in Europe within the palace, with over 36,000 volumes dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries. Works at Mafra would continue until 1755, when the devastation wreaked by the Great Lisbon earthquake required as many workers as possible to rebuild the city.


title: Visa requirements for Albanian citizens

text: Visa requirements for Albanian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other nations placed on citizens of Albania.


title: Visa requirements for Albanian citizens

text: Visa requirements for Albanian citizens for visits to various territories, disputed areas, partially recognized countries and restricted zones:


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: Albert I (Albert Honoré Charles Grimaldi; 13 November 1848 – 26 June 1922) was Prince of Monaco from 10 September 1889 until his death. He devoted much of his life to oceanography, exploration and science. Alongside his expeditions, Albert I made reforms on political, economic and social levels, bestowing a constitution on the principality in 1911.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: Born on 13 November 1848 in Paris, France, the son of Prince Charles III (1818–1889), and Countess Antoinette de Mérode-Westerloo (1828–1864), a Belgian noblewoman, maternal aunt of Donna Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, Princess della Cisterna, Duchess consort of Aosta and Queen consort of Spain.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: As a young man, Prince Albert served in the Spanish Navy as a navigator. During the Franco-Prussian War, he joined the French Navy where he was awarded the Legion of Honor. In addition to his interest in oceanographic studies, Albert had a keen interest in the origins of man and in Paris, he founded the ""Institute for Human Paleontology"" that was responsible for a number of archeological digs. The "Grimaldi Man" found in the Baousse-Rousse cave was named in his honour. Albert's intellectual achievements gained him worldwide recognition and in 1909, the British Academy of Science made him a member.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: On 21 September 1869 at the Château de Marchais (which is still in the possession of the Grimaldi family today) in Champagne, Prince Albert was married to Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton (1850–1922), of Lanarkshire, Scotland, a daughter of the 11th Duke of Hamilton and his wife, Princess Marie of Baden. The couple met for the first time in August 1869 at a ball hosted by the Emperor and Empress of France; their marriage had been arranged by Albert's grandmother Caroline.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: Caroline had tried to make a match between Albert and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, the first cousin of Queen Victoria, and sought the help of Napoléon III (Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) and his wife, Empress Eugénie. The Emperor convinced Caroline that Queen Victoria would never allow a relative of hers to marry into a family who made a living out of gambling. He then suggested Mary, his third cousin and sister of his good friend, the 12th Duke of Hamilton, as a suitable alternative. Mary was a granddaughter of Charles, Grand Duke of Baden and related by blood to the French Imperial family through her maternal grandmother Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Emperor Napoléon I's adopted daughter and second cousin of Napoléon III's mother, Hortense de Beauharnais. The Hamiltons were well aware of the extent of Monaco's estate, which was no bigger than theirs, but were sufficiently impressed by its status as an independent principality. The couple married at Château de Marchais on 21 September, 1869.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: Within a year of their marriage, the couple's only child (Louis) was born, but Mary, from the hills of Scotland, disliked Monaco and everything Mediterranean. While Albert was away fighting in the Franco-Prussian war, she left Monaco permanently. The couple divorced and their marriage was annulled by the Church on 3 January, 1880, although a special provision was made by the Vatican to allow Louis to remain legitimate in the eyes of the Church. Civilly, the marriage was dissolved on 28 July, 1880, by the Order of Prince Charles III. That same year, the former Princess of Monaco remarried in Florence, Italy, to a Hungarian nobleman, Prince Tassilo Festetics von Tolna.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: On 10 September 1889, Albert ascended the throne of Monaco on the death of his father. That same year in Paris, on 30 October, he married the Dowager Duchess de Richelieu, née Marie Alice Heine (1858–1925). The American daughter of a New Orleans building contractor of German-Jewish descent, Alice Heine had married the Duc de Richelieu but had been widowed by age 21 and left with a young son, Armand. Her marriage to Prince Albert proved an equal blessing for him and the tiny principality of Monaco, since Alice brought a strong business acumen, well in advance of her youth. Having helped put her husband's principality on a sound financial footing, she would devote her energies to making Monaco one of Europe's great cultural centers, with an opera, theater, and a ballet under the direction of the famed Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: Despite the initial success of the marriage of Prince Albert and Princess Alice, in 1902, they separated legally, without issue, though did not divorce. According to Anne Edwards' book "The Grimaldis of Monaco", this was due to the Princess's friendship with the composer Isidore de Lara. By the same token, the courtesan Caroline Otero, La Belle Otero, who had served him as a high class prostitute between 1893 and 1897, recalled Albert fondly in her memoirs and claimed that he was not a virile man and suffered from erection difficulty. Princess Alice had La Belle Otero banned from the principality in 1897 for being seen with her husband.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: In March 1910, there were mass protests against his rule. The Monegasque demanded a constitution and a parliament to rein in the absolute monarch or else they would overthrow him and establish a republic. They were dissatisfied about French domination of the principality's politics and economy. There was severe unemployment, as the principality lacked factories and farmland, and the casinos did not allow citizens to work there. On 5 January, 1911, Prince Albert I granted Monaco a constitution, but the document had little real meaning in terms of reducing autocratic rule and was soon suspended by the Prince when World War I broke out. Also in 1911, Prince Albert created the Monte Carlo Rally, an automobile race designed to draw tourists to Monaco and the Casino.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: Despite his military service, or perhaps because of it, the Prince became a pacifist, establishing the International Institute of Peace in Monaco as a place to develop a peaceful settlement for conflict through arbitration. In the tension-filled times leading up to World War I, Prince Albert made numerous attempts to dissuade Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II from war.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: When war came, Prince Albert could not avoid becoming involved. In one incident, he even wrote personally to the Kaiser in an effort to ameliorate the consequences of Gen. Karl von Bülow's wrath. Without the Prince's intervention, the French villages of Sissonne and Marchais would have been destroyed. In the "Great War to End All Wars," Monaco declared its neutrality, but in fact, provided the Allied forces with hospitals, convalescent centers, and soldiers, including Prince Albert's only son, Louis.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: Prince Albert I of Monaco devoted much of his life to the study of the sea and oceans, and Monaco diplomats around the world forwarded scientific papers to him. At 22 years old, he embarked on a career in the then relatively new science of oceanography. Understanding the importance of the relationship between living creatures and their environment, he devised a number of techniques and instruments for measurement and exploration. Albert I was also the “instigator and promulgator” of the oceanographic science he contributed to create. He founded the Institut océanographique, Foundation Albert I, Prince of Monaco in 1906, a private foundation recognized of public utility. It has two buildings: The Oceanographic Institute of Paris, now renamed Ocean House, and what became the world-renowned Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. This includes an aquarium, a museum, and a library, with research facilities in Paris.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: He owned four, increasingly impressive research yachts, "Hirondelle", "Princesse Alice", "Princesse Alice II" and "Hirondelle II". Accompanied by some of the world's leading marine scientists, he travelled the length and breadth of the Mediterranean, making numerous oceanographic studies, maps and charts. In 1896, on an oceanographic survey of the Azores, he discovered the Princess Alice Bank.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: From an early age, Prince Albert I of Monaco evidenced a strong fascination for the polar regions. In the years 1898-1907 he made four scientific cruises to Svalbard on his yacht "Princesse Alice". His efforts are honored by the later naming of Albert I Land on Spitsbergen.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: The first cruise in the summer of 1898 was an oceanographical and zoological reconnaissance, aimed mainly at adding to the collections of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, for which the construction had just started.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: On the second expedition, in 1899, the focus was on the hydrography and topography of Raudfjorden, on the north-western tip of Spitsbergen, of which a map was published. His efforts are acknowledged by the later naming of Albert I Land, which comprises the part of Spitsbergen west of Raudfjorden.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: The third trip, in 1906, meteorology was added to the range of observations and surveys were pursued. The Prince also provided support for two other expeditions, that of the Scotsman, William Bruce, to Prins Karls Forland, and that of the Norwegian, Gunnar Isachsen, to northwestern Spitsbergen. His funding of the latter lead to regular Norwegian scientific expeditions on Svalbard, and in 1928 the foundation of the Norwegian Polar Institute.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: The Prince's fourth expedition in 1907, was aimed at completing the results from the previous summer. Prince Albert also lent his support, either financially, or through gifts or loans of oceanographic instruments, to numerous Arctic and Antarctic explorers. The same year, he provided funds and support for the foundation of the Friends of the French National Museum of Natural History Society. In 1909 he joined the Société de Géographie and the British Academy. In 1910 the Prince was the main founder of the Institute of Human Paleontology ("Institut de paléontologie humaine") in Paris, close to the "Jardin des plantes" which is the seat of the French National Museum of Natural History. Finally, he showed a keen interest in environmental protection, especially in Svalbard. This is demonstrated by his responses to a questionnaire that Hugo Conwentz, a German botanist sent him in 1912.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: In 1918, the US National Academy of Sciences awarded Prince Albert its Alexander Agassiz Medal for his achievements. The Explorers Club elected Albert I to its highest category of membership — Honorary Member — in 1921. He was also awarded the Cullum Geographical Medal of the American Geographical Society. Prince Rainier of Monaco and the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans established the Prince Albert I Medal in the physical and chemical sciences of the oceans in his honor.


title: Albert I, Prince of Monaco

text: Albert I constituted a collection of postage stamps that was later continued by Louis II and finally remain part of the postal museum Rainier III created in 1950.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: Neverwinter Nights 2 is a role-playing video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari Interactive. It is the sequel to BioWare's "Neverwinter Nights", based on the "Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy tabletop role-playing game. "Neverwinter Nights 2" utilizes an adaptation of the "Dungeons & Dragons" 3.5 edition rules. Players create player characters to represent themselves in the game, using the same character creation rules as found in the "Dungeons & Dragons" game. They may gain the assistance of additional party members, and they eventually acquire a keep that can be used as a base of operations. "Neverwinter Nights 2" is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting—in and around the city of Neverwinter. The story is mostly unrelated to "Neverwinter Nights" and follows the journey of an orphaned adventurer investigating a group of mysterious artifacts known as "silver shards" and their connection to an ancient, evil spirit known as the King of Shadows.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: "Neverwinter Nights 2" went into development in July 2004. This sequel was designed with the Aurora Engine, also used by its predecessor, and the game's toolset was included in the game's release for players to use in designing their own adventures. The game's design team drew upon older role-playing video games, and decided that the player character would have to earn the respect of others by the things the character does. The game was also designed to be playable with other players online in a cooperative fashion. The game was released in October and November 2006. Official multiplayer support for the game was suspended in December 2012. In response, the "Neverwinter Nights 2" community developed several initiatives by which players can continue to play the game online.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: Reviews of "Neverwinter Nights 2" were generally positive. Reviewers were pleased with the changes that had been made from the first game in the series, especially regarding the storyline and party management. The game won GameSpot's Best Story award for 2006. One of the most commonly raised complaints about the game was the presence of numerous technical glitches in its initial release. Two official expansions and one official adventure pack have been released for the game: "" in 2007, "" in 2008, and "" in 2009.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: "Neverwinter Nights 2" is played in the third person from a top-down perspective, where the player controls a hero and his or her attendant party. As a role-playing video game based on the "Dungeons & Dragons" 3.5 edition ruleset, players build a player character in accordance with the character creation rules of "Dungeons & Dragons", which includes selecting a race and class, then assigning skill points. There are sixteen races and twelve classes available, including the rogue and the wizard, as well as an additional seventeen unlockable classes. "Neverwinter Nights 2" makes use of the d20 system introduced in "Dungeons & Dragons", where a die roll or random number is used to determine the probability and effectiveness of every action, including attacks and saving throws. The player character can recruit companions during the campaign, and may form a party with up to three of them. Party members can be controlled directly by the player or given orders dictating how to behave in combat.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: The game is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. The party is able to explore various areas of Faerûn—including its cities, forests, and dungeons—while earning experience points and treasure by defeating monsters and completing quests. The entire party collaborates during combat, with characters' behavior determined by their class and abilities. Upon gaining specified amounts of experience, characters level up, allowing them to earn new abilities such as magic spells and feats. Some races, like the drow, are more powerful than others and require characters to accumulate more experience to earn levels. Characters can access Prestige classes, more specialized versions of base classes, by fulfilling certain requirements. The warpriest, for example, is available to divine spellcasters such as clerics after they have reached a set level of power. Items such as weapons, armor, potions, and scrolls can be used or equipped by characters, and some equipment changes will affect a character's appearance. As the game progresses, the player character acquires a keep that can be used as a base of operations. Initially, the keep is in a state of disrepair and must be refurbished using party funds. As the keep is improved, it can generate income and gain stronger defenses to repel sieges. Non-player characters such as equipment vendors can be recruited to work at the keep, and the player must manage the training of guards and the allocation of resources.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: Before the online component was disabled (see Development below), the campaign of "Neverwinter Nights 2" could be played with other players, but only from the beginning of the storyline. The rules could be modified for multiplayer games, such as deactivating friendly fire. A BioWare community account was required to play online, and players were able to search for game servers matching their style of play. Players could upload and play modules online created with the Electron toolset, which is included with the Windows version of the game.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: "Neverwinter Nights 2" takes place in and around the city of Neverwinter, in the Sword Coast region of Faerûn. The first part of the game is set in the small Sword Coast village of West Harbor, which was the site of a battle between an evil host led by an entity known as the "King of Shadows" and the warriors aligned with Neverwinter. The player character's fate is tied to this battle, during which his or her mother was killed. During the campaign, the player has the opportunity to recruit party members to aid in the cause, including the violent dwarf Khelgar and a vocal young tiefling Neeshka. Antagonists include the King of Shadows, a manipulative Luskan diplomat named Torio, and the warlock Ammon Jerro.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: "Neverwinter Nights 2" is composed of three distinct acts. The game's first act begins in the village of West Harbor, where the player's character was raised as an orphan by the elven ranger Daeghun. After a festival, the town is attacked by a group, led by a githyanki, in search of an unnamed object. Afterward, the character is sent by Daeghun to retrieve a mysterious silver shard from a nearby cave, which was left there years earlier after the defeat of the King of Shadows. The character then sets out for Neverwinter, meeting other adventurers along the way, several of whom are available for recruitment. In Neverwinter, Daeghun's half-brother Duncan offers a more comprehensive explanation of the situation. In Neverwinter, Duncan instructs the party to speak with Aldanon, a sage who reveals the shard's connection with a dead warlock and his descendant, a farmer named Shandra Jerro. However, the githyanki kidnap Shandra and the player character must rescue her. At the end of Act I, the party dispatches the githyanki, rescues Shandra, and learns of the origin of the shards.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: In act two, the party discovers that an evil wizard, Black Garius, is plotting to subsume the power of a powerful entity known as the King of Shadows. The party interrupts Garius during the scheme and Garius is apparently killed. As a reward, the protagonist earns a title of nobility and is awarded a stronghold, Crossroads Keep, by Neverwinter's political leader, Lord Nasher. After tracking down Ammon Jerro, the warlock who fought the King of Shadows and the grandfather of Shandra Jerro, the player character learns that the King of Shadows was once known as the Guardian, a powerful creation of the ancient fallen empire of Illefarn. The Guardian was corrupted after tapping into a dark magical energy called the Shadow Weave. Thereafter the Guardian destroyed Illefarn in a misguided attempt to protect it. Ammon is initially unwilling to help the player character, but after inadvertently slaying his descendant Shandra, he repents and joins the party.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: Act three introduces the Shadow Reavers, a sect of powerful undead mages that include a revived Garius, still intent on resurrecting the King of Shadows. The player must prepare Crossroad Keep for imminent battle by fortifying its troops and lands. After additional shards are retrieved by defeating Shadow Reavers, the shards are reformed into a powerful unique weapon for the player character, the Silver Sword of Gith. The sword, stolen by Ammon Jerro in the first battle against the King of Shadows, is the only weapon that can resist the enemy's power. The army of the Shadow Reavers lays siege to Crossroads Keep and is repelled by the occupants. After making their way through Garius' new stronghold, the party engages the mage in a second confrontation. After Garius is defeated, good members of the party begin the final fight against the King of Shadows. Evil and neutral characters (including the player character, if applicable) can decide to attack the King or fight alongside him. A cutscene afterwards details the battle's effect on the world, and ends on a cliffhanger which is continued in the expansion pack.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: "Neverwinter Nights 2" was unofficially announced on April 1, 2004, when an Atari employee listed the names of several games in development, including a "NWN2" in response to an inflammatory comment on Atari's forums. The company officially announced the game on August 4, 2004. Obsidian Entertainment handled development of the game and BioWare, the company that created the first "Neverwinter Nights", offered support and guidance to Obsidian. The two companies collaborated in a similar manner on "", an Obsidian–developed sequel to a BioWare game. BioWare joint CEO Ray Muzyka said ""Neverwinter Nights "remains one of the most important titles BioWare has ever created. We certainly plan to remain involved in the production and development of "Neverwinter Nights 2"". Obsidian employed several game designers from the defunct Black Isle Studios, which developed other "Dungeons & Dragons" role-playing video games such as "", the "Icewind Dale" series, and the "Baldur's Gate" series. Development of "Neverwinter Nights 2" began in July 2004, when Obsidian assigned several staff members to work on the project. Staff included Darren Monahan, the producer of several "Icewind Dale" and "" games; Marc Holmes, art director of the first "Neverwinter Nights"; and Chris Avellone, lead designer of "Planescape: Torment" and "Knights of the Old Republic II".


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: BioWare provided its Aurora Engine from "Neverwinter Nights" for the sequel. One of the decisions to use Aurora rather than build a new engine from scratch was the toolset—Obsidian wanted players to continue to be able to make content for the game, which may not have been possible with a new engine. BioWare made itself available to Obsidian with technical support on the engine, but Obsidian planned on completely overhauling Aurora, including its code. The designers wanted to improve the visuals of the first game with additions such as better lighting and textures, which required significant changes to the engine. The upgraded engine was referred to as Electron. Electron was designed to incorporate DirectX to make it compatible for a potential Xbox 360 release, but Obsidian eventually abandoned plans for a port to the system for financial reasons. The toolset that was used to create the game was also revamped, and included several additions like a customizable interface, a new dialogue format, and building assistants—similar to the wizards found in Microsoft Word and Excel. Like "Neverwinter Nights", the toolset was included in the game's release for players to use.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: Obsidian drew on older computer RPGs for inspiration on the storyline and gameplay, like "Fallout" and the "Ultima" series. Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart said "We've been thinking about a lot of older RPGs, and we have this feeling that something has been lost with recent RPGs." He compared "Neverwinter Nights 2" to "Baldur's Gate II", stating that he wanted to expand upon the city of Neverwinter as "Baldur's Gate II" had done with its setting, Athkatla. "We're looking at how to make Neverwinter a really intriguing place to be, and make it a place where you go and come back to and go and come back to and have it really be a center for the game," Urquhart said. The game's story, while still revolving around the city of Neverwinter, would be unrelated to "Neverwinter Nights". Instead of starting the game as a powerful, important character, players would begin "Neverwinter Nights 2" as nobodies. Obsidian wanted realism in the game and concrete consequences for the player's actions. The story would be centered on the player character, who would have to gradually earn the respect of Lord Nasher and the city of Neverwinter.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: Instead of the henchmen system used in "Neverwinter Nights", Obsidian overhauled the game's party format to mimic "Knights of the Old Republic II". Like the "Neverwinter Nights" expansion "", the player would be able to recruit more than one party member. Each character could be directly controlled, but party members would also be able to come to a player's aid even when not controlled, such as summoning a rogue to open a locked chest. Companions would have distinct personalities and their own agendas, but it would be possible for the player character to influence them. Characters can leave the party permanently under certain circumstances. Other changes from the first game include the addition of prestige classes and more exotic races, like planetouched and Elven subraces.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: In 2012, GameSpy, the company providing multiplayer support for the game, was purchased by Glu Mobile. After the purchase, Glu Mobile raised the fees being charged to publishers to provide online services for their games. The new owners then shut down a number of the online services for different games, including "Neverwinter Nights 2". GameSpy claimed that the developers had allowed their contracts to lapse, and, after providing free services for a time, were no longer willing to continue.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: "Neverwinter Nights 2" was ready for mass production on October 17, 2006, and was released on October 31 in the United States, on November 3 in Europe, and on November 16 in Australia. The Electron toolset was available early for consumers who pre-ordered the game through GameStop or Best Buy, as well as exclusive class-specific special items. Alongside the standard version, Atari also published a special edition. The United States and Australia "Limited Edition" contained several physical items like a cloth map depicting the Sword Coast, as well as in-game benefits like the "Blessed of Waukeen" feat that grants players a bonus to saving throws. The Europe special edition was split into two separate boxes, dubbed "Lawful Good Limited Edition" and "Chaotic Evil Limited Edition", a reference to the "Dungeons & Dragons" concept of moral alignment. Each box contained the collectibles available in the United States and Australia versions, as well as copies of the original "Neverwinter Nights" and its expansions, and a trial code for "".


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: Atari licensed Aspyr Media to develop a port of "Neverwinter Nights 2" for the Apple Macintosh; the game was announced shortly before the Windows release. The initial announcement gave a December 2007 release date, but the port was not shipped to retailers until February 2008. It included the full version of "Neverwinter Nights 2" with the exception of the editor toolkit. Atari announced in March 2008 that many of its PC games, including "Neverwinter Nights 2" and its first expansion, "Mask of the Betrayer", would be available online via Valve's digital distribution service Steam. A "Gold Edition" bundle was also published in May 2008 containing copies of "Neverwinter Nights 2" and "Mask of the Betrayer". A platinum edition containing the original game and both its expansion packs was released on the Steam platform on December 27, 2010. As of May 2013, "Neverwinter Nights 2" is no longer sold through Steam.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: A complete edition that contains the original game and the three expansion packs ("Mask of the Betrayer, Storm of Zehir, Mysteries of Westgate") was released on GOG.com on January 24, 2013.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: Reception of "Neverwinter Nights 2" was generally favorable. It placed number 6 on Amazon's video game pre-order list the week before its release, and was a best-seller for several weeks afterwards. It received GameSpot's "Best Story" award for 2006, beating out the reader's choice, "". It was also nominated for a Golden Joystick Award for Best PC Game of 2006. The editors of "Computer Games Magazine" presented "Neverwinter Nights 2" with their 2006 "Best Writing" award, and it was a runner-up for their list of the year's top 10 computer games.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: While some reviewers considered "Neverwinter Nights 2" superior to its predecessor, "Neverwinter Nights", the sequel received lower overall review ratings. Implementation of the "Dungeons & Dragons" 3.5 ruleset was praised as faithful to the pen-and-paper version, with GameDaily stating "The 3.5 edition ruleset is in full swing in Neverwinter Nights 2, where critical hits can devastate your entire party." The game's representation of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting was also well received. The storyline was widely considered one of the game's strong points and an improvement over "Neverwinter Nights". GameSpy stated that the single–player campaign was "worthy of its exhaustive pedigree", and "Game Informer"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s reviewer said "This title easily trumps the original NWN's campaign with a vastly superior story and characters". Another reviewer declared it "one of the best written games in history". Aaron R. Conklin of "The Wisconsin State Journal" said, "It'd be very easy to be turned off by the first mundane chapters of the game's sprawling plot. ... Stick with it: Once your party hits Neverwinter (and reaches level seven or so), the proceedings become significantly more interesting—especially in terms of character interaction and development. ... NWN2 is a masterpiece of storytelling and scope." Conklin and Matt Slagle of "Deseret News" were pleased with the ethical choices in the game, with both noting approvingly that diplomacy was a very valid option that could succeed in place of combat.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: Other reviewers were less convinced, with Australia's "PALGN" referring to the story as "rather predictable and clichéd". Jonathan Parkyn of "Personal Computer World" wrote, "Dialogue is NWN2's key component. ... but those who favour fisticuffs may find it tiresome after playing for several billion hours." Similarly, reception of "Neverwinter Nights 2's" graphics was mixed. Some reviewers referred to the visuals as "new age" and "beautiful", but others noticed inconsistencies in their rendering and performance, especially on lower-end PCs. The "Sydney Morning Herald" said "The detailed 3D engine allows for lush scenery, giving you a greater sense of exploration as you poke around the rustic villages and murky swamps". Several comments on the audio and voice acting were positive, though one reviewer expressed disappointment that some sound effects had apparently been recycled from "Neverwinter Nights". Conklin called the in-game camera "abysmal" and said the game had many graphical glitches. Slagle agreed, writing, "I had a lot of stuttering graphics and voiceovers that were out of synch with the characters' on-screen animations."


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: The most common criticism of the game was its numerous technical glitches. Adam Diamond of "Isthmus" was not happy with the pathfinding, writing, "I often found myself traveling solo through a dungeon, my companions spread out far behind me, leaving me vulnerable to attack. What's the point of having henchmen if they're not there to protect you?". Some reviews compared "Neverwinter Nights 2" to "", a previous Obsidian game that had received similar complaints. The bugs were described as disruptive to gameplay and "downright infuriating", and one reviewer encountered a "showstopper bug" in the initial retail version that prevented him from playing the game past a certain point. The bugs were said to negatively affect NPC AI, camera operation, and pathfinding. One review stated "The launch–to–load time is fairly long so be prepared to wonder if the game has crashed or is loading." Obsidian was quick to release fixes for several bugs, but later reviews still described the glitches as a serious problem. 1UP.com's review, written two weeks after the game's release, stated "But the sad truth is that NWN2 shipped in a pretty messy state, and even after a couple patches (as of this writing), the biggest problems remain."


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: The Mac version of "Neverwinter Nights 2" received mixed reception, and reviewers complained about its lack of the editor toolkit and its high system requirements.


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: "1UP.com" writer Matt Peckham caused controversy with his initial review of "Neverwinter Nights 2". A 1UP editor pulled the review from the site and officially retracted it from the print version of the January 2007 issue of "", explaining that "we felt that this particular review of "Neverwinter Nights 2" did a disservice to fans of the [role-playing game] genre." The subsequent review by Jeff Green gave the game a score of C+ and is one of the most negative reviews among major outlets. A modified version of Peckham's review was later published by the Sci Fi Channel, and another version of the review can be found at "Penny Arcade".


title: Neverwinter Nights 2

text: The "Neverwinter Nights 2" level editor and design toolset were widely praised, with the "Deseret News" referring to them as "insanely powerful and complex". "Neverwinter Nights 2" did not attract as active a modding community as "Neverwinter Nights", and "PC Gamer" attributed this to the complexity and steep learning curve of the Electron toolset compared to the Aurora toolset of "Neverwinter Nights". Notable "Neverwinter Nights 2" modding projects included remakes of "Baldur's Gate", "Icewind Dale", and "RuneScape".


title: Tata Cliq

text: Tata CLiQ (stylised as Tata CLiQ) is an Indian e-commerce company based in Mumbai, India. It is owned by Tata Unistore Limited, of Tata Group. Tata CLiQ operates in categories such as Fashion, Footwear and Accessories. Tata Group's E-commerce platform Tata CLiQ also launched a premium and luxury fashion and lifestyle destination, Tata CLiQ Luxury and It have house a wide range of apparel and accessories for men and women by luxury and bridge-to-luxury brands.


title: Tata Cliq

text: Tata CLiQ was launched on 27 May 2016. It tied up with Genesis Luxury Fashion on to sell international luxury brands, and partnered with Adobe, for digital shopping. It launched "Tata CLiQ Luxury", a luxury fashion and lifestyle venture, in December 2016. In mid-2022, Tata CLiQ exited its consumer electronics business, with the division being integrated with Croma, Tata’s flagship consumer electronics retail chain.


title: Tata Cliq

text: Tata CLiQ is the flagship digital commerce initiative of the Tata Group, the India-headquartered global conglomerate with over US$100 billion in annual revenue.


title: George's Marvellous Medicine

text: George's Marvellous Medicine (known as George's Marvelous Medicine in the US) is a book written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. First published by Jonathan Cape in 1981, the story features George Kranky, an eight-year-old boy who concocts his own miracle elixir to replace his tyrannical grandmother's regular prescription medicine.


title: George's Marvellous Medicine

text: Being a medical expert was one of what Dahl called his "dreams of glory": he had enormous respect for doctors and particularly those who pioneered new treatments. He dedicated the book to "doctors everywhere". An audio reading of it was released with the actor Richard E. Grant narrating. In 2003, the book was listed at number 134 on the BBC's "The Big Read" poll.


title: George's Marvellous Medicine

text: While eight-year-old George Kranky's parents are out grocery shopping, his elderly maternal grandmother bosses him around and bullies him. She intimidates George by saying that she likes to eat insects and he wonders briefly if she's a witch. To punish her for her regular abuse, George decides to make a magic medicine to replace her old one. He collects a variety of ingredients from around the family farm including deodorant and shampoo from the bathroom, floor polish from the laundry room, horseradish sauce and gin from the kitchen, animal medicines, engine oil and anti-freeze from the garage, and brown paint to mimic the colour of the original medicine.


title: George's Marvellous Medicine

text: After cooking the ingredients in the kitchen, George gives it as medicine to his grandmother, who grows as tall as the house, bursting through the roof. When his grandmother doesn't believe it was George who made her grow so tall, he proves it by feeding the medicine to one of his father's chickens, which grows ten times its original size. As they return home, George's parents can't believe their eyes when they see the fattest chicken ever and the grandmother. George's father grows very excited at the thought of rearing giant animals. He has George feed the medicine to the rest of the farm's animals, causing them to become giants as well. However, his grandmother begins complaining about being ignored and stuck in the roof, so Mr. Kranky hires a crane to remove her from the house. Her extreme height has her sleeping in the barn for the next few nights.


title: George's Marvellous Medicine

text: The following morning, Mr. Kranky is still excited about George's medicine and announces that he and George shall make gallons of it to sell to farmers around the world, which would make his family rich. George attempts to recreate it but is unable to remember all the ingredients. The second version makes a chicken's legs grow extremely long, and the third elongates a chicken's neck to bizarre proportions. The fourth has the opposite effect of the first and makes animals shrink. George's grandmother, now even more angry she's sleeping in the barn, storms over and starts complaining loudly that she's once again sick of being ignored. She sees the cup of medicine in George's hand and erroneously mistakes it for tea. Much to his and Mrs. Kranky's horror, and Mr. Kranky's delight, she drinks the entire cup and shrinks so much that she vanishes completely. At first, Mrs. Kranky is shocked, confused and distraught about the sudden, and very strange disappearance of her mother, but soon accepts that she was becoming a nuisance anyway. In the last page, George is left to think about the implications of his actions, feeling as though they had granted him access to the edge of a magic world.


title: George's Marvellous Medicine

text: Though it was a popular book for reading to children in primary school, great care was taken by teachers to warn children to not try and recreate the medicine at home due to the hazardous nature of some of its ingredients. There is a disclaimer warning before the story stating "Warning to Readers: Do not try to make George's Marvellous Medicine yourselves at home. It could be dangerous." In 2020, a team of British researchers performed a toxicological investigation into the potion and all 34 of its ingredients. They reported in the "BMJ" that if ingested, it would cause vomiting, kidney injury, convulsions and other severe health problems, including 'the most likely clinical outcome', death. 'The overall outcome for Grandma would be fatal catastrophic physiological collapse,' they wrote.


title: George's Marvellous Medicine

text: In the cookbook Roald Dahl's Completely Revolting Recipes, collaborated on by Felicity Dahl and chefs Josie Fison and Lori-Ann Newman, George's medicine was adapted into "George's Marvellous Medicine Chicken Soup", the ingredients of which included chicken, onions, mushrooms, leeks and tarragon.


title: George's Marvellous Medicine

text: Dahl was influenced by Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", with the "Drink Me" episode in "Alice" inspiring a scene in "George's Marvellous Medicine" where the tyrannical grandmother drinks a potion concocted by George and is blown up to the size of a farmhouse.


title: George's Marvellous Medicine

text: Rik Mayall read this story for the BBC's "Jackanory" children's programme in 1986, in a widely acclaimed performance.


title: Thamarai

text: Thamarai (born 10 November 1975) is a noted Tamil poet and lyricist. She is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. She made her debut in the Tamil film industry through the 1998 film Iniyavale, which was directed by Seeman and music composed by Deva.


title: Thamarai

text: Thamarai was born in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu on 10 November 1975. She graduated from Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, in production engineering and worked for six years in Coimbatore. With her passion for poetry, she decided to move to Chennai, where she worked as a freelance journalist in an organization named Bhagya and wrote essays, stories and poems. Through her literary works, she became popular and got noticed. Director Seeman assigned her as lyricist for the song "Thendral Enthan" for his Tamil film Iniyavale. Subsequently, she wrote lyrics for films such as "Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen" ("Malligai Poove") and "Thenali" ("Injirango Injirango"). Her work together with music director Harris Jayaraj in "Minnale" marked the turning point in her cine industry career, primarily noted for her song "Vaseegara" in the movie.


title: Thamarai

text: After "Minnale", the trio, composed of director Gautham Vasudev Menon and music director Harris Jayaraj, teamed up several times again ("Kaakha Kaakha", "Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu", "Pachaikili Muthucharam" and "Vaaranam Aayiram") and were a very successful collaboration in the film field, until the break-up between Menon and Jayaraj happened. Since then, she is teaming up with A. R. Rahman, who replaced Jayaraj. Gautham Vasudev Menon, Harris Jayaraj and Thamarai trio teamed up again in July 2014 for Ajith Kumar starrer "Yennai Arindhaal..." The film's album was released on 1 January 2015, and it was well received by critics. She wrote" Neeraambal Poovae" from the movie Nannbenda, where she again works for Harris Jayaraj. The song is sung by Arjun Menon.


title: Thamarai

text: Thamarai is married to Thozhar Thiyagu. They have a son. Thamarai is a vegan and an advocate of animal rights and veganism.


title: Andi Eigenmann

text: Andrea Nicole Guck Eigenmann (born 25 June 1990), professionally known as Andi Eigenmann (), is a Filipino actress, model, and social media influencer.


title: Andi Eigenmann

text: Eigenmann is the daughter of actors Mark Gil and Jaclyn Jose, and is a half-sister of actors Sid Lucero, Gabby Eigenmann and Max Eigenmann from Mark Gil's side. Her aunt from her mother's side is actress Veronica Jones. She has German-American ancestry from her mother, and Swiss and Spanish ancestry from her father.


title: Andi Eigenmann

text: She graduated elementary in 2004 and high school in 2008 at the basic education department of Miriam College in Katipunan, Quezon City. After finishing high school, she studied Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design and Merchandising at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila.


title: Andi Eigenmann

text: In 2007, Eigenmann started her showbiz career in a soap opera "Prinsesa ng Banyera" on ABS-CBN, where she played the role of Sandy. In 2008, she appeared in the reality show "". She was the second house player to enter the house and was evicted on day 53. In 2009, she was one of the 12 finalists of the "MYX VJ Search 2009". In 2010, she played the lead and title role in the fantasy drama series, "Agua Bendita", in which she played a dual role; Agua and Bendita, twin sisters.


title: Andi Eigenmann

text: Eigenmann went on to play various characters in eight episodes of the long-running musical anthology series, "Your Song". In addition, she appeared in two Regal Films in 2010: "Mamarazzi" and "Shake, Rattle and Roll XII". Eigenmann co-starred as Gabrielle "Gabby" Marcelo in the 2011 critically acclaimed family military drama series "Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin", together with Maja Salvador and Coco Martin.