title: The Calm Before

text: As the fair at the Kingdom begins, Alpha leads an attack on one caravan from the Hilltop going to the Kingdom. Daryl and Michonne arrive with Judith, Henry, Lydia, and Connie, reuniting with Carol and Ezekiel. Michonne brings all the leaders from the communities to apologize for Alexandria forgoing its relationships, to ask Alexandria to give asylum to Lydia, and to establish a mutual protection pact knowing that Alpha will likely retaliate. To affirm the pact, Ezekiel has the communities sign Michonne's charter and then starts arranging for a small combined force to travel to the Hilltop to make sure it is secure from an attack from the Whisperers. As the fair continues, Alpha has snuck into the fair, posing as one of the Alexandria fairgoers from the caravan and gathers information.


title: The Calm Before

text: Earlier that day, Daryl's small force leaves for the Hilltop and meets up with the Highwaymen en route. The Highwaymen point them to a group of Hilltop residents that were killed by Alpha. The group decides to split up to look for any survivors. That night, Daryl, Michonne, Carol, and Yumiko are attacked by walkers, and take them out one by one until the Whisperers surround them. Beta emerges from the trees and tells them to drop their weapons, and says "you just had to give me the girl," telling him that deal is now off.


title: The Calm Before

text: That night, as most of the fairgoers gather for the film, Lydia is saving a seat for Henry when Alpha quietly sits next to her and gestures for her to stay quiet. Outside the theater, Alpha tries to convince Lydia to come with her, but Lydia rejects her. Alpha tells her she is not strong and no longer part of her group, and departs. Later, at the Whisperers' new camp, Alpha, now out of disguise, joins her people, and approaches Daryl and company, who are now tied to a tree. After announcing that her daughter is no longer a concern, Alpha takes out a shotgun and tells Daryl to come with her alone.


title: The Calm Before

text: At dawn, Alpha forces Daryl to the top of a cliff where a gargantuan horde of walkers and Whisperers walk beneath them. She tells him that his friends at the camp are fine and that she has marked off a line which is the extent of their lands, but the next time his people cross into her land she'll release the horde into theirs. Daryl asks if she killed Lydia, and Alpha tells him that she didn't kill her but doubts that Daryl can protect her. He tells her that she's wrong and leaves to reunite with his friends. Back in her camp, Alpha, in private, begins to cry over the loss of her daughter. However, a Whisperer accidentally witnesses this; Alpha killing the Whisperer by stabbing him in the neck, making sure no one ever sees her being weak.


title: The Calm Before

text: As Daryl's group works their way back to the Kingdom, they find a beaten and bloody Siddiq tied to a tree. Siddiq is untied and points them to a nearby hill. To their horror, they find a line of ten decapitated heads on pikes made up of Ozzy, Alek, D.J., Frankie, Tammy Rose, Rodney, Addy, Enid, Tara, and Henry, meant to signify Alpha's territory boundary. Later, in the Kingdom, Siddiq addresses the community to deliver the tragic news. He explains how they were taken by the Whisperers, and that Alpha left him alive to tell a story of the "evil" that happened and to drive the communities apart again. Instead, Siddiq tells a different story: before the end, the prisoners were found by Ozzy, Alek and D.J., who gave them the chance to fight back. The prisoners fought to the end, protecting each other like family even though some of them didn't even know each other, taking down several Whisperers. Though they failed in the end, they died heroes which is how Siddiq wants them to be remembered and honored. Sometime later, Daryl and Lydia return to the border. Lydia leaves the necklace Henry made for her on the ground by the pike that once held Henry's head. As the two walk away, snow flurries begin to fall.


title: The Calm Before

text: "The Calm Before" involves the deaths of several characters and mirrors an iconic scene from the comic book series that is a preamble to the Whisperer War arc. Whereas in the comic, characters like Ezekiel and Rosita are among those beheaded and placed on the pikes, the show had long-time characters Tara, Enid, and Henry fall victim. According to executive producer Greg Nicotero, they knew that this scene would happen where it did in the season, but not until about two to three episodes prior in the production schedule did they know who would be falling victim. Alanna Masterson, who played Tara, said she only got the call about this about two weeks before filming, while Katelyn Nacon, who played Enid, had been alerted by showrunner Angela Kang at the start of filming of the season that Enid might leave the show by this episode, but that wasn't confirmed until they began rehearsing.


title: The Calm Before

text: The writing crew had gone back and forth when writing the episode to figure out which victims felt most natural at this point based on their state in the show's universe. In the case of Henry, this was necessary to cement storylines for Ezekiel, Carol, and Daryl going forward, but for Tara and Enid, Greg Nicotero noted that Tara was finally becoming more comfortable as a leader, while Enid was showing a budding romance with Alden, so that both deaths were considered tragic. Because the identities of the victims were decided so late, production then had to rush to produce the head props for filming. Some of the heads were made from molds of the actors and given limited animatronics to make their mouths move. For Henry, Tara, and Enid, they used a combination of these animatronic heads alongside digital placements of the actors themselves acting out their dying roles.


title: The Calm Before

text: "The Calm Before" received critical acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has an approval rating of 91% with an average score of 8.6 out of 10, based on 22 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "'The Calm Before' exemplifies everything that "The Walking Dead" does best - bittersweetly affirming the bonds of a makeshift community and finding glimmers of humanity in a nihilistic landscape before dropping a horrifying twist that will leave viewers reeling long after."


title: The Calm Before

text: Erik Kain in his "Forbes" review noted the following about the brutal ending: "I'm pretty sure I've said more than once that Enid and Tara need to go, and now they have. I feel a tiny bit bad about it now. But only a tiny bit. The cast has become far too unwieldy, even with a bunch of character deaths." Writing for "Den of Geek!", Ron Hogan in his review said: "The Walking Dead rarely deals in taut emotions, preferring to manipulate with big pushes and pokes. The Calm Before has that in spades, but the creative team is able to dial it back, sprinkling moments of hopefulness in front of Alpha. Unlike Lydia, who was taken in by it, she's repulsed, and while it doesn't show on her face, it shows in her actions, and her talk with Daryl at shotgun-point. The very same incidents strike two related people totally differently, and in the denouement of the episode, the very things that lend sweetness and happiness end up causing the greatest in bittersweet pain."


title: The Calm Before

text: However, Jeff Stone writing for IndieWire gave the episode a B- saying: "The decapitation border is a big moment from the comics, which I have not read. Apparently, the victim line-up was quite different, but such changes are par for the course at this point. It’s interesting that the show feels compelled to stick with those big events, but is perfectly content to change the characters. Doesn’t matter whose heads are on those sticks, as long as there are some heads on sticks. The reveals of the victims, with oblivious people at the fair wondering about the whereabouts of each character, was particularly effective. Alden scanning the crowd for Enid as he performs his number with Luke was probably the most devastating."


title: The Calm Before

text: Alex McLevy writing for "The A.V. Club" praised the episode with a qualification of A- and in his review he said: "At best, “The Calm Before” could be a memorial for what this show has been as it heads toward a new future, a reminder of what it used to look like during its strongest seasons, before reshuffling the undead chessboard of its major players and changing up the nature of its structure and stories. “Warning Signs” showed this was possible, and the Whisperers are an ideal foil by which to engage in some ambitious new ways of dealing with these characters and communities as they enter a new era of existence. True, this show hasn't demonstrated anything like the kind of consistency that would point to such a maneuver; continuing its uneven mix of soap-opera melodrama and intriguing experiments in post-apocalyptic thrills is the likely progression. But as we close the book on season nine and look to the show's 10th(!) year, this was an excellent reminder of what got us all tuning in in the first place."


title: The Calm Before

text: "The Calm Before" received a total viewership of 4.152 million with a 1.5 rating in adults aged 18–49. It was the highest-rated cable program of the night, however, it decreased in viewership from the previous week to a new series low.


title: Tai languages

text: The Tai or Zhuang–Tai languages ( or , transliteration: or ) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including Standard Thai or Siamese, the national language of Thailand; Lao or Laotian, the national language of Laos; Myanmar's Shan language; and Zhuang, a major language in the Southwestern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, spoken by the Zhuang (壯) people, the largest minority ethnic group in China, with a population of 15.55 million, living mainly in Guangxi, the rest scattered across Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou and Hunan provinces.


title: Tai languages

text: Cognates with the name "Tai" ("Thai, Dai", etc.) are used by speakers of many Tai languages. The term "Tai" is now well-established as the generic name in English. In his book " The Tai-Kadai Languages" Anthony Diller claims that Lao scholars he has met are not pleased with Lao being regarded as a Tai language. For some, Thai should instead be considered a member of the Lao language family. One or more Ancient Chinese characters for 'Lao' may be cited in support of this alternative appellation. Some scholars including Benedict (1975), have used "Thai" to refer to a wider ("Tai") grouping and one sees designations like "proto-Thai" and "Austro-Thai" in earlier works. In the institutional context in Thailand, and occasionally elsewhere, sometimes "Tai" (and its corresponding Thai-script spelling, without a final -y symbol) is used to indicate varieties in the language family not spoken in Thailand or spoken there only as the result of recent immigration. In this usage "Thai" would not then be considered a "Tai" language. On the other hand, Gedney, Li and others have preferred to call the standard language of Thailand "Siamese" rather than "Thai", perhaps to reduce potential "Thai/Tai" confusion, especially among English speakers not comfortable with making a word initial unaspirated voiceless sound for "Tai", which in any event might sound artificial or arcane to outsiders.


title: Tai languages

text: According to Michel Ferlus, the ethnonyms Tai/Thai (or Tay/Thay) would have evolved from the etymon *k(ə)ri: 'human being' through the following chain: kəri: > kəli: > kədi:/kədaj (-l- > -d- shift in tense sesquisyllables and probable diphthongization of -i: > -aj). This in turn changed to di:/daj (presyllabic truncation and probable diphthongization -i: > -aj). And then to *daj (Proto-Southwestern Tai) > tʰaj (in Siamese and Lao) or > taj (in the other Southwestern and Central Tai languages by Li Fangkuei). Michel Ferlus' work is based on some simple rules of phonetic change observable in the Sinosphere and studied for the most part by William H. Baxter (1992).


title: Tai languages

text: Citing the fact that both the Zhuang and Thai peoples have the same exonym for the Vietnamese, "kɛɛu", Jerold A. Edmondson of the University of Texas at Arlington posited that the split between Zhuang (a Central Tai language) and the Southwestern Tai languages happened no earlier than the founding of Jiaozhi in Vietnam in 112 BCE but no later than the 5th-6th century AD. Based on layers of Chinese loanwords in Proto-Southwestern Tai and other historical evidence, Pittayawat Pittayaporn (2014) suggests that the dispersal of Southwestern Tai must have begun sometime between the 8th and 10th centuries AD.


title: Tai languages

text: The Tai languages descend from proto-Tai-Kadai, which has been hypothesized to originate in the Lower Yangtze valleys. Ancient Chinese texts refer to non-Sinitic languages spoken across this substantial region and their speakers as ""Yue"". Although those languages are extinct, traces of their existence could be found in unearthed inscriptional materials, ancient Chinese historical texts and non-Han substrata in various Southern Chinese dialects. Thai, as the most-spoken language in the Tai-Kadai language family, has been used extensively in historical-comparative linguistics to identify the origins of language(s) spoken in the ancient region of South China. One of the very few direct records of non-Sinitic speech in pre-Qin and Han times having been preserved so far is the ""Song of the Yue Boatman"" (Yueren Ge 越人歌), which was transcribed phonetically in Chinese characters in 528 BC, and found in the 善说 Shanshuo chapter of the Shuoyuan 说苑 or 'Garden of Persuasions'. In the early 1980's the Zhuang linguist Wei Qingwen using reconstructed Old Chinese for the characters discovered that the resulting vocabulary showed strong resemblance to modern Zhuang. Later, Zhengzhang Shangfang (1991) followed Wei's insight but used Thai orthography for comparison, since this orthography dates from the 13th century and preserves archaisms vis-à-vis the modern pronunciation.


title: Tai languages

text: Haudricourt emphasizes the specificity of Dioi (Zhuang) and proposes to make a two-way distinction between the following two sets. The original language names used in Haudricourt's (1956) are provided first; alternative names are given in parentheses.


title: Tai languages

text: Li's Northern group corresponds to Haudricourt's Dioi group, while his Central and Southwestern groups correspond to Haudricourt's Tai proper. The three last languages in Haudricourt's list of 'Tai proper' languages are Tho (Tày), Longzhou, and Nung, which Li classifies as 'Central Tai'.


title: Tai languages

text: This classification scheme has long been accepted as standard in comparative Tai linguistics. However, Central Tai does not appear to be a monophyletic group.


title: Tai languages

text: Gedney (1989) considers Central and Southwestern Tai to form a subgroup, of which Northern Tai is a sister. The top-level branching is in agreement with Haudricourt (1956).


title: Tai languages

text: Luo Yongxian (1997) classifies the Tai languages as follows, introducing a fourth branch called "Northwestern Tai" that includes Ahom, Shan, Dehong Dai, and Khamti. All branches are considered to be coordinate to each other.


title: Tai languages

text: Pittayawat Pittayaporn (2009) classifies the Tai languages based on clusters of shared innovations (which, individually, may be associated with more than one branch) (Pittayaporn 2009:298). In Pittayaporn's preliminary classification system of the Tai languages, Central Tai is considered to be paraphyletic and is split up into multiple branches, with the Zhuang varieties of Chongzuo in southwestern Guangxi (especially in the Zuo River valley at the border to Vietnam) having the most internal diversity. The Southwestern Tai and Northern Tai branches remain intact as in Li Fang-Kuei's 1977 classification system, and several of the Southern Zhuang languages allocated ISO codes are considered to be paraphyletic. The classification is as follows.


title: Tai languages

text: The following phonological shifts occurred in the Q (Southwestern), N (Northern), B (Ningming), and C (Chongzuo) subgroups (Pittayaporn 2009:300–301).


title: Tai languages

text: Jerold A. Edmondson's (2013) computational phylogenetic analysis of the Tai languages is shown below. Tay and Nung are both shown to be coherent branches under Central Tai. Northern Tai and Southwestern Tai are also shown to be coherent branches.


title: Tai languages

text: Proto-Southwestern Tai has also been reconstructed in 1977 by Li Fang-Kuei and by Nanna L. Jonsson in 1991.


title: Tai languages

text: Many Southwestern Tai languages are written using Brahmi-derived alphabets. Zhuang languages are traditionally written with Chinese characters called Sawndip, and now officially written with a romanized alphabet, though the traditional writing system is still in use to this day.


title: Hamantash

text: A hamantash (pl. hamantashen; also spelled "hamantasch", "hamantaschen"; "homentash", pl. "homentashn", 'Haman pockets') is an Ashkenazi Jewish triangular filled-pocket pastry, associated with the Jewish holiday of Purim. The name refers to Haman, the villain in the Purim story. In Hebrew, hamantashen are also known as (oznei Haman) meaning "Haman's ears". "Haman's ears" also refers to a Sephardic Purim pastry, "Orejas de Haman", thought to originate in Spain and Italy, that is made by frying twisted or rolled strips of dough.


title: Hamantash

text: Traditionally, the dough for hamantashen was made with yeast. With the invention of baking powder during the 1840s and its wide adoption during the first half of the twentieth century, baking powder supplanted yeast, and hamantashen dough became a cookie rather than pastry dough. To shape, a filling is placed in the center of a circle of dough, which is either folded in half and shaped into a triangle or the sides are brought to the center to form a triangle. The oldest and most traditional filling is mohn (poppy seed paste), with powidl or lekvar (prune jam), a close second. The cookie dough variety has spawned many different fillings, traditionally sweet (although savory varieties have become popular as well). Most popular are various jams, especially apricot and raspberry, but also date, raisins, apple, vanilla pastry cream with chocolate chips, cherry, fig, chocolate, dulce de leche, halva, caramel, or cheese. The dough varies from hard, like shortbread, to a soft yeast dough.


title: Hamantash

text: In Yiddish, the word "homentash" is singular, while "homentashn" is the plural form. However, "hamantashen" is the more common word form among English speakers, even when referring to a single pastry (for example, "I ate a poppy seed hamantashen").


title: Hamantash

text: "Hamantash" is also spelled "hamentasch", "homentash", "homentasch", "homentaschan", or even "(h)umentash". The name "hamantash" is commonly viewed as a reference to Haman, the villain of Purim, as described in the Book of Esther. The pastries are supposed to symbolize the defeated enemy of the Jewish people. The word "tash" means "pouch" or "pocket" in Yiddish, and thus may refer to "Haman's pockets", symbolizing the money that Haman offered to Ahasuerus in exchange for permission to destroy the Jews. In Hebrew, "tash" means "weaken", and the hamantash may celebrate the weakening of Haman and the hope that God will weaken all of the enemies of the Jews.


title: Hamantash

text: Another possible source of the name is a folk etymology: the Yiddish word מאָן־טאַשן ("montashn") for a traditional delicacy, literally meaning "poppyseed pouch", was transformed to "hamantashen", likely by association with Haman or inclusion of the Hebrew article (). In Israel, hamantashen are called "oznei Haman" (), Hebrew for "Haman's ears" in reference to their defeated enemy's ears, although "Haman's ears" also refers to a Sephardic Purim pastry that is twisted or rolled and fried.


title: Hamantash

text: The reason for the three-sided shape is uncertain. There is an old legend that Haman wore a three-cornered hat. Alternatively, the Midrash says that when Haman recognized the merit of the Three Patriarchs, his strength immediately weakened. "Naked Archaeologist" documentarian Simcha Jacobovici has shown the resemblance of hamantashen to dice from the ancient Babylonian Royal Game of Ur, thus suggesting that the pastries are meant to symbolize the pyramidal shape of the dice cast by Haman in determining the day of destruction for the Jews.


title: Hamantash

text: A simpler explanation is that the shape derives from traditional Jewish baking techniques in Central Europe for folding dough so as to form a pouch around a filling, also common for making dumplings. It has also been suggested that the shape is a representation of female reproductive organs, and that the poppy-seed filling is a fertility symbol.


title: Hamantash

text: Sweet hamantashen fillings range from the traditional such as mohn/poppy seed, powidl or lekvar/prune, apricot jam, and date (especially popular in Israel) to raisin, apple, cherry, fig, chocolate, dulce de leche, halva, caramel, and cheese.


title: Hamantash

text: The prune hamantash was invented in 1731 by David Brandeis of Jung-Bunzlau, Bohemia. The daughter of a Christian bookbinder purchased from Brandeis powidl (plum jam) which she claimed had made her family ill; as her father coincidentally died a few days after eating it. The burgomaster of the city ordered the closure of Brandeis' store and imprisoned him, his wife, and son for selling poisonous food to Christians. Investigations by municipal authorities and the court of appeal in Prague revealed that the bookbinder had died of consumption and the charges were dismissed.


title: Hamantash

text: Brandeis wrote a scroll which he called "Shir HaMa'alot l'David" ("A Song of Ascents to David"), to be read on 10 Adar, accompanied by a festive meal. He was freed from prison four days before Purim after the charges against him were proven to be false, and in celebration of his release, Jews from his city celebrated with povidl or plum hamantashen.


title: Hamantash

text: Savory hamantashen fillings have emerged in recent years, and their popularity has grown and are commonly prepared at home but can also be found in various Jewish bakeries and restaurants serving Jewish cuisine. Savory varieties may have fillings such as pizza, spinach and feta, lamb, potato, or cheese, and are often somewhat similar to other Jewish pastries such as the knish, bourekas, and sambusak.


title: Hamantash

text: Sweet hamantashen are typically made with a dough containing butter or, less-commonly a pareve dough containing oil. Depending on the ingredients used in the dough, the consistency of the finished baking powder hamantash can range from dry and crumbly like shortbread, to soft and cakey like a black and white cookie, to firm and crisp like a butter cookie. The dough is generally prepared with flour, eggs, sugar, butter (or margarine or cooking oil), and a flavoring such as vanilla (or sometimes cocoa, grated lemon rind, rose water, or orange blossom water may be used); sometimes milk is used in the dough, and usually a leavener such as baking powder or baking soda is added as well. The dough is then mixed gently so as to incorporate all the ingredients together without making the dough tough.


title: Hamantash

text: The dough is allowed to rest in the refrigerator and is then removed and rolled out to a thickness of between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch; rounds of dough are stamped out and are often brushed with an egg wash to encourage sealing prior to the addition of the filling or the finished hamentash is brushed with egg wash before baking to produce a shiny golden surface. The most popular filling is poppyseed, but apricot, prune, strawberry, raspberry, chocolate, peanut butter and jelly, and others are also common. The bottom and the top two corners of the dough are folded inward but do not fully enclose the filling, allowing it to remain visible. Sometimes hamantashen may be frozen for a short period of time after shaping in order to prevent leakage of the filling. Then they are baked in an oven at medium heat for a short time. Sometimes after baking hamantashen may be dusted with confectioner's sugar, dipped in melted chocolate, or topped with sprinkles.


title: Hamantash

text: Savory hamantashen are prepared in much the same way as sweet hamantashen, with the exception of the fillings; and they are generally made with a different dough, such one similar to a pie crust or puff pastry, or a modified sweet hamantashen dough containing less sugar.


title: Hamantash

text: Hamantashen are known as ""oznei haman"" in Israel, a term that also refers to the Sephardic pastry "Orejas de Haman", twisted or rolled strips of dough that are fried, and are the most popular cookie sold at bakeries across Israel in the weeks leading up to Purim each year, with both large chains and small independent bakeries offering many different varieties. As in the diaspora, poppyseed remains the most-popular filling, with chocolate in second, and date filling coming in third in popularity. Jam is not nearly as common a filling as in America.


title: Khinkali

text: Khinkali ( "khink’ali" , sometimes Romanized "hinkali" or "xinkali") is a very popular dumpling in Georgian cuisine. It is made of twisted knobs of dough, stuffed with meat and spices.


title: Khinkali

text: The fillings of khinkali vary with the area. The original recipe, the so-called "khevsuruli", consisted of only minced meat (lamb or beef and pork mixed), onions, chili pepper, salt, and cumin. However, the modern recipe used mostly especially in Georgian urban areas, the so-called "kalakuri", uses herbs like parsley and cilantro (also called coriander). Mushrooms, potatoes, or cheese may be used in place of meat.


title: Khinkali

text: Khinkali is eaten plain or with ground black pepper. The meat filling is uncooked when khinkali is assembled, so when it is cooked, the juices of the meat are trapped inside the dumpling. To make khinkali juicier, usually warm water or broth is added to the minced meat. Khinkali is typically consumed first by sucking the juices while taking the first bite, similar to xiaolongbao, in order to prevent the dumpling from bursting. The top, where the pleats meet, is tough, and is not supposed to be eaten, but discarded to the plate so that those eating can count how many they have consumed. In Georgia, this top is called the "kudi" (Georgian: კუდი, "tail") or "k'uch'i" (Georgian: კუჭი, "stomach").


title: Khinkali

text: There is a widespread etiquette in Georgia to use only one's bare hands while consuming these dumplings. The using of utensils, like a fork, is considered incorrect or childish. This is because juice is an important part of khinkali; using a fork will rupture the khinkali and the juice will be spilled.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: Cash Cab is an American game show that began airing in 2005, on the Discovery Channel, hosted by stand-up comedian Ben Bailey. The original run ended in 2012, but the series was revived in 2017. It moved to Bravo in 2019. It is part of the global "Cash Cab" franchise that originated in the United Kingdom.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: According to "Variety", Discovery Channel initially ordered 40 episodes from Lion Television and taping of the initial run was completed in November 2005 before the show premiered that December. Additional batches of 40 episodes were taped and aired in 2006 and 2007, 80 episodes were taped in 2007 and aired through spring and summer, 40 episodes were taped and aired in 2008 and 2009, and 40 episodes were taped for airing in 2010 and 2011.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: On August 8, 2007, Discovery Channel began airing a spin-off edition of the program, "Cash Cab: After Dark", in which contestants were picked up near or after sunset as well as overnight and the cash value of the questions was double that of the regular version of the show. The questions were usually more difficult than the daytime version. The spinoff was ended after just nine episodes.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: While the show was usually taped in New York City, some episodes of the sixth season were taped in Las Vegas. The seventh season premiered January 5, 2012. On April 18, 2012, it was announced that "Cash Cab" would end its run.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: On March 27, 2017, "Discovery" announced it was working on episodes that will feature "appearances from notables in comedy, film, and TV". On June 5, 2017, original host Ben Bailey confirmed he would return for a new season. Season 8 premiered on December 4, 2017. Season 9 premiered on July 27, 2018, with a special Shark Week episode to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Shark Week.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: On September 19, 2019, it was announced that the series would move to Bravo. Season 10 premiered on October 7, 2019.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: When the potential contestants enter the cab and state their destination, they are made aware that they are in the Cash Cab as ceiling lights and a fanfare plays inside, accompanied by the host's greeting. While the only rules given on-camera after the introduction and before asking "Do you want to play?" pertain to his or her driving and the "three strikes and you're out" rule, the contestants are also informed that once their traveling begins, the cab will not take detours of any kind unless directed by a police officer, stop sign, traffic light or other legal means of diverting traffic. Bailey offers them the chance to get out of the cab if they do not wish to play, and contestants who choose to play the game must stay in the cab until they reach their destination or get three strikes.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: For the first season, the first five questions were worth $25 each, the next five questions were worth $50 each, and any question thereafter was worth $100. For the second season, the first four questions were worth $25 each, the next four were worth $50 each, and the ninth and succeeding questions were worth $100. In "Cash Cab: After Dark" – and beginning with the regular episodes of Season 3 – all of the money values were doubled to $50, $100, and $200.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: Each wrong answer earns the contestant(s) a strike. On the third strike, they forfeit all their winnings and Bailey will immediately pull over and kick them out of the cab. Once players have exited the Cash Cab, a camera crew from the trailing production van is already on the street waiting to tape their departure.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: When a contestant has won at least $200 or $300 and the cab stops at a red traffic light, Bailey will announce a Red Light Challenge. He reads a question that has multiple correct answers, usually four to seven, and the passenger(s) have 30 seconds to give those answers; they do not always have to give all of the answers. Since there is no penalty for an incorrect answer, giving all the correct answers in the allotted time is worth $250 regardless of how many incorrect answers a contestant might also blurt out along the way. The contestant does not receive the extra money if the 30-second time limit runs out, it is also not counted as a strike, and the contestant does not lose any accumulated money. While only one Red Light Challenge is usually played per game, beginning in Season 4 there are multiple Red Light Challenges during certain games.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: Contestants have two forms of help known as "Shout-Outs" at their disposal during the game; each can be used only once, and neither may be used on a Red Light Challenge or a Video Bonus. In the Mobile Shout-Out, the contestant makes a phone call to someone they choose by means of a cell phone either provided by Bailey or one belonging to a contestant if they have one. The call can take up to a maximum of 15 seconds before the contestant has to give an answer, with the result being either additional money or a strike. The contestant may also elect to use a Street Shout-Out, in which Bailey immediately pulls the cab to a curb so that anyone on the sidewalk can be asked for help, without any official time limit. A second Street Shout-Out is included on a Double Ride. In the revived "Cash Cab", the Mobile Shout-Out was replaced by the Social Media Shout-Out, in which Ben activates Facebook Live so that those on the site may help the contestant.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: Should the passenger(s) reach their destination without striking out, Bailey offers a choice: the option of leaving the cab and keeping the prize money that they have won, or they can stay and try to double their money by risking it all on a Video Bonus question. Bailey plays a video clip and asks the contestant(s) a single question based on its content. If the question is answered correctly, the contestant(s) win double what they have earned so far, but if they are wrong, they lose all of their money "at the very last moment," as Bailey says, and "leave with nothing but a cab ride."


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: Unlike some other versions of the game, U.S. contestants who decline to attempt the Video Bonus are not shown the question they would have been asked.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: Beginning in Season 4, on rare occasions randomly selected passengers are able to win double the amount of money of a normal game. The first four questions are worth $100, the second four are worth $200 and the rest until the end of the game are worth $400. The "Red Light Challenge" is worth $500.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: The current record of $6,200 won on one ride is held by Sam Meyer (riding solo, on a Double Ride, taking and winning the Double-or-Nothing Video Bonus question) on the episode that aired May 18, 2009. This topped the old record held by contestants Sean Devney and Steve Irolla, two New York City tour guides who won $4,100 after answering the "Video Bonus" question correctly. They reached their final destination with two strikes (both on $200 questions).


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: One episode of the program was a special celebrity edition, featuring actor Thomas Haden Church of "Spider-Man 3", NHL players Jed Ortmeyer and Ryan Hollweg of the New York Rangers and journalist Harry Smith, formerly of CBS' "The Early Show". All played for a charity of their choice, and Discovery Channel matched the contestants' winnings. Another episode was a special in which the passengers were asked questions relating to the 2008 film "Frost/Nixon". In this episode, the host of "Cash Cab: Canada", Adam Growe, was driving the cab instead of Ben Bailey.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: On April 21, 2009, Discovery aired a charity episode of "Cash Cab" for its 250th episode featuring two rides by boat crew members from "Deadliest Catch". "Time Bandit" co-captain Andy Hillstrand and Josh Harris, son of "Cornelia Marie" captain Phil Harris, went against Sig Hansen (captain of the "Northwestern") and his two brothers. All cash values were doubled from the Season 3 payouts, the passengers received a second Street Shout-Out, and all money earned was donated by the passengers to the charities of their choice.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: In the "Cash Cab: Las Vegas" episodes, filmed in May 2010 and broadcast beginning in August of that year, celebrities played for charity and ordinary contestants played for themselves. Guests have included Mayor of Las Vegas Oscar Goodman, comedian David Brenner, the band Neon Trees, and magicians Penn & Teller. The prizes are sometimes doubled in a "Double Down Ride," as on the regular show.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: On December 4, 2017, Discovery aired a special Celebrity Edition, where as the unsuspecting passengers hailed the Cash Cab, they were joined by celebrities to help them, featuring "" actor Scott Bakula, comedian Gilbert Gottfried, and "Friends" actor Matthew Perry.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: During Season 6 of "Cash Cab", a new spin-off series, "Cash Cab: Chicago", hosted by comedian Beth Melewski and using the same rules as its New York counterpart, aired. The spin-off was cancelled after one season, but rerun episodes are aired along with "Cash Cab" episodes in syndication. Ben Bailey stated that the show was created during contract renewal negotiations.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: A support van tails the Cash Cab, containing producers and a camera crew for the various street shots. The staff provide logistical information and questions by way of a radio earpiece worn by the host. The Cash Cab is equipped with ten cameras: one on the host, three on the passengers, one pointing forward from the back window of the cab, and three (front, left, and right) in the advertising shell on the roof of the cab showing the passing streetscape. The rear of the cab behind the seats contains ten recording decks and other production equipment.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: The lighting and the music that go off when contestants enter the cab consist of a switchboard that is connected to an iPod and the car stereo. The Video Bonus monitor is a DVD player that is embedded to the back of the front passenger seat.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: Some contestants are randomly picked as they walk along the sidewalk, while others are selected in advance. Even so, those picked in advance are told that the cab is supposed to take them to the show on which they will appear. The cab turns out to be the show itself.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: Near the end of the game at the player's destination Bailey appears to present the cash won. In reality, this cash is a prop and used for on-air purposes only. The winnings, which must be taxed, are sent via check.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: As of March 2017, reruns previously aired on Cozi TV and on Game Show Network. The New York City version reruns air on the Quest network in the UK. On October 26, 2009, MGM Television announced that the reruns would begin airing on local stations in September 2010. Stations are allowed the option to air the series as a daily strip or as a weekend series. Game Show Network aired the series from March 13, 2017 to August 1, 2021, then returned on June 18, 2022.


title: Cash Cab (American game show)

text: Bailey has been nominated four times for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host, winning the award in 2010, 2011, and 2013. "Cash Cab" won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show in 2008, 2009, and 2010. In 2013, the show appeared in "TV Guide"'s list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an "escutcheon" (shield). That may be a geometric design (sometimes called an "ordinary") or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object, building, or other device. In French blazon, the ordinaries are called "pièces", and other charges are called "meubles" ("[the] mobile [ones]").


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: The term "charge" can also be used as a verb; for example, if an escutcheon depicts three lions, it is said to be "charged with three lions"; similarly, a crest or even a charge itself may be "charged", such as a pair of eagle wings "charged with trefoils" (as on the coat of arms of Brandenburg). It is important to distinguish between the ordinaries and divisions of the field, as that typically follow similar patterns, such as a shield "divided" "per chevron", as distinct from being "charged with" a chevron.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: While thousands of objects found in religion, nature, mythology, or technology have appeared in armory, there are several charges (such as the cross, the eagle, and the lion) which have contributed to the distinctive flavour of heraldic design. Only these and a few other notable charges (crowns, stars, keys, etc.) are discussed in this article, but a more exhaustive list will be found in the list of heraldic charges.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: In addition to being shown in the regular way, charges may be blazoned as "umbrated" (shadowed), "detailed", (rather incorrectly) "outlined", highly unusually "shaded" and rather irregularly "in silhouette" or, more ambiguously, confusingly, and unhelpfully, "futuristic", "stylized" or "simplified". There are also several units in the United States Air Force with charges blazoned as "mythical", or beasts as "chimerical", but those conceptions are meaningless and irrelevant to the conception of heraldry, and it does not affect the appearance of those charges.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Some heraldic writers distinguish, albeit arbitrarily, between "honourable ordinaries" and "sub-ordinaries". While some authors hold that only nine charges are "honourable" ordinaries, exactly which ones fit into this category is a subject of constant disagreement. The remainder are often termed "sub-ordinaries", and narrower or smaller versions of the ordinaries are called "diminutives". While the term "ordinaries" is generally recognised, so much dispute may be found among sources regarding which are "honourable" and which are relegated to the category of "sub-ordinaries" that indeed one of the leading authors in the field, Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (1871–1928), wrote at length on what he calls the "utter absurdity of the necessity for any [such] classification at all", stating that the ordinaries and sub-ordinaries are, in his mind, "no more than first charges". Apparently ceding the point for the moment, Fox-Davies lists the generally agreed-upon "honourable ordinaries" as the bend, fess, pale, pile, chevron, cross, saltire, and chief. Woodcock sheds some light on the matter, stating that earlier writers such as Leigh, Holme and Guillim proposed that "honourable ordinaries" should occupy one-third of the field, while later writers such as Edmondson favoured one-fifth, "on the grounds that a bend, pale, or chevron occupying one-third of the field makes the coat look clumsy and disagreeable". Woodcock goes so far as to enumerate the ordinaries thus: "The first Honourable Ordinary is the cross", the second is the chief, the third is the pale, the fourth is the bend, the fifth is the fess, the sixth is the inescutcheon, the seventh is the chevron, the eighth is the saltire, and the ninth is the bar, while stating that "some writers" prefer the bordure as the ninth ordinary. Volborth, having decidedly less to say on the matter, agrees that the classifications are arbitrary and the subject of disagreement, and lists the "definite" ordinaries as the chief, pale, bend, fess, chevron, cross and saltire. Boutell lists the chief, pale, bend, bend sinister, fess, bar, cross, saltire and chevron as the "honourable ordinaries". Thus, the chief, bend, pale, fess, chevron, cross and saltire appear to be the undisputed ordinaries, while authors disagree over the status of the pile, bar, inescutcheon, bordure and others.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Several different figures are recognised as "honourable ordinaries", each normally occupying about one-fifth to one-third of the field. As discussed above, much disagreement exists among authors regarding which ordinary charges are "honourable", so only those generally agreed to be "honourable ordinaries" will be discussed here, while the remainder of ordinary charges will be discussed in the following section.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Most of the ordinaries have corresponding "diminutives", narrower versions, most often mentioned when two or more appear in parallel: "bendlets, pallets, bars" (multiples of the "fess"), and "chevronels".


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: In addition to those mentioned in the above section, other ordinaries exist. Some of these are variously called "honourable ordinaries" by different authors, while others of these are often called "sub-ordinaries".


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: So-called "mobile charges" are not tied to the size and shape of the shield, and so may be placed in any part of the field, although whenever a charge appears alone, it is placed with sufficient position and size to occupy the entire field. Common mobile charges include human figures, human parts, animals, animal parts, legendary creatures (or "monsters"), plants and floral designs, inanimate objects, and other devices. The heraldic animals need not exactly resemble the actual creatures.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: A number of geometric charges are sometimes listed among the subordinaries (see above), but as their form is not related to the shape of the shield – indeed they may appear independent of the shield ("i.e." in crests and badges) – they are more usefully considered here. These include the escutcheon or inescutcheon, lozenge, fusil, mascle, rustre, billet, roundel, fountain, and annulet.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Several other simple charges occur with comparable frequency. These include the mullet or star, crescent and cross.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: One of the most frequently found charges in heraldry, if not "the" most, is the "cross", which has developed into, some say, 400 varieties. When the cross does not reach the edges of the field, it becomes a mobile charge. The plain "Greek cross" (with equal limbs) and "Latin cross" (with the lower limb extended) are sometimes seen, but more often the tip of each limb is developed into some ornamental shape. The most commonly found crosses in heraldry include the "cross botonny", the "cross flory", the "cross moline", the "cross potent", the "cross patée" or "formée", the "cross patonce" and the "cross crosslet".


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: In English heraldry the crescent, mullet, martlet, annulet, fleur-de-lis and rose may be added to a shield to distinguish cadet branches of a family from the senior line. It does not follow, however, that a shield containing such a charge necessarily belongs to a cadet branch. All of these charges occur frequently in basic ("undifferenced") coats of arms.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Humans, deities, angels and demons occur more often as crests and supporters than on the shield. (Though in many heraldic traditions the depiction of deities is considered taboo, exceptions to this also occur.) When humans do appear on the shield, they almost always appear "affronté" (facing forward), rather than toward the left like beasts. Such as the arms of the Dalziel family of Scotland, which depicted a naked man his arms expanded on a black background. The largest group of human charges consists of saints, often as the patron of a town. Knights, bishops, monks and nuns, kings and queens also occur frequently. There are rare occurrences of a "child" (without further description, this is usually understood to be a very young boy, and young girls are extremely rare in heraldry), both the head and entire body. A famous example is the child swallowed by a dragon (the biscione) in the arms of Visconti dukes of Milan.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Greco-Roman mythological figures typically appear in an allegorical or canting role. Angels very frequently appear, but angelic beings of higher rank, such as cherubim and seraphim, are extremely rare. An archangel appears in the arms of Arkhangelsk. The Devil or a demon is occasionally seen, being defeated by the archangel Saint Michael. Though the taboo is not invariably respected, British heraldry in particular, and to a greater or lesser extent the heraldry of other countries, frowns on depictions of God or Christ, though an exception may be in the not-uncommon Continental depictions of Madonna and Child, including the Black Madonna in the arms of Marija Bistrica, Croatia.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Moors—or more frequently their heads, often crowned—appear with some frequency in medieval European heraldry. They are also sometimes called "moore", "blackmoor" or "negro". Moors appear in European heraldry from at least as early as the 13th century, and some have been attested as early as the 11th century in Italy, where they have persisted in the local heraldry and vexillology well into modern times in Corsica and Sardinia. Armigers bearing moors or moors' heads may have adopted them for any of several reasons, to include symbolizing military victories in the Crusades, as a pun on the bearer's name in the canting arms of Morese, Negri, Saraceni, etc., or in the case of Frederick II, possibly to demonstrate the reach of his empire. Even the arms of Pope Benedict XVI feature a moor's head, crowned and collared red. Nevertheless, the use of moors (and particularly their heads) as a heraldic symbol has been deprecated in modern North America, where racial stereotypes have been influenced by a history of Trans-Atlantic slave trade and racial segregation, and applicants to the College of Arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism are urged to use them delicately to avoid creating offensive images.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Parts of human bodies occur more often than the whole, particularly heads (occasionally of exotic nationality), hearts (always stylized), hands, torso and armored limbs. A famous heraldic hand is the Red Hand of Ulster, alluding to an incident in the legendary Milesian invasion. Hands also appear in the coat of arms of Antwerp. Ribs occur in Iberian armory, canting for the Portuguese family "da Costa". According to Woodward & Burnett, the Counts Colleoni of Milan bear arms blazoned: "Per pale argent and gules, three hearts reversed counterchanged;" but in less delicate times these were read as canting arms showing three pairs of testicles ("coglioni" = "testicles" in Italian). The community of Cölbe in Hesse has a coat of arms with a similar charge.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Animals, especially lions and eagles, feature prominently as heraldic charges. Some differences may be observed between an animal's natural form and the conventional attitudes (positions) into which heraldic animals are contorted; additionally, various parts of an animal (claws, horns, tongue, etc.) may be differently coloured, each with its own terminology. Most animals are broadly classified, according to their natural form, into beasts, birds, sea creatures and others, and the attitudes that apply to them may be grouped accordingly. Beasts, particularly lions, most often appear in the "rampant" position; while birds, particularly the eagle, most often appear "displayed". While the lion, regarded as the king of beasts, is by far the most frequently occurring beast in heraldry, the eagle, equally regarded as the king of birds, is overwhelmingly the most frequently occurring bird, and the rivalry between these two is often noted to parallel with the political rivalry between the powers they came to represent in medieval Europe. Neubecker notes that "in the heroic poem by Heinrich von Veldeke based on the story of Aeneas, the bearer of the arms of a lion is set against the bearer of the arms of an eagle. If one takes the latter to be the historical and geographical forerunner of the Holy Roman emperor, then the bearer of the lion represents the unruly feudal lords, to whom the emperor had to make more and more concessions, particularly to the powerful duke of Bavaria and Saxony, Henry the Lion of the House of Welf."


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: The beast most often portrayed in heraldry is the lion. When posed "passant guardant" (walking and facing the viewer), he is called a "léopard" in French blazon. Other beasts frequently seen include the wolf, bear, boar, horse, bull or ox, and stag or hart. The "tiger" (unless blazoned as a "Bengal tiger") is a fanciful beast with a wolflike body, a mane and a pointed snout. Dogs of various types, and occasionally of specific breeds, occur more often as crests or supporters than as charges. According to Neubecker, heraldry in the Middle Ages generally distinguished only between pointers, hounds and whippets, when any distinction was made. The unicorn resembles a horse with a single horn, but its hooves are usually cloven like those of a deer. The griffin combines the head (but with ears), chest, wings and forelegs of the eagle with the hindquarters and legs of a lion. The "male griffin" lacks wings and his body is scattered with spikes.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: The bird most frequently found in armory is, by far, the eagle. Eagles in heraldry are predominantly presented with one or two heads, though triple-headed eagles are not unknown, and one eagle appearing in the Codex Manesse curiously has its wing bones fashioned into additional heads. Eagles and their wings also feature prominently as crests. Eagles most frequently appear full-bodied, with one head, in numerous positions including "displayed", "statant", "passant" and "rising". The "demi-eagle", which is shown only from the waist up, occurs less frequently. Double-headed eagles almost always appear "displayed". As a result of being the dominant charge on the imperial Byzantine, Holy Roman, Austrian and Russian coats of arms, the double eagle gained enduring renown throughout the Western world. Among the present day nations with an eagle charge on their coat of arms are: Albania, Austria, Germany, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Serbia. Additionally, the "Double-Headed Eagle of Lagash" is used as an emblem by the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. There are many meanings attached to this symbol, and it was introduced in France in the early 1760s as the emblem of the Knight Kadosh degree.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: The martlet, a stylized swift or swallow without feet (sometimes incorrectly, at least in the Anglophone heraldries these days, said to have no beak), is a mark of cadency in English heraldry, but also appears as a simple charge in undifferenced arms. Its attitude is usually statant (and is never blazoned as such); but it can also be found volant. The pelican is notable as frequently occurring in a peculiar attitude described as "in her piety" ("i.e." wings raised, piercing her own breast to feed her chicks in the nest, which is how it is actually often blazoned, 'in its piety' being a fairly modern conceit). This symbol carries a particular religious meaning (as a symbol of Christ sacrificing Himself), and became so popular in heraldry that pelicans rarely exist in heraldry in any other position. Distinction is however observed, between a pelican "vulning herself" (alone, piercing her breast) and "in her piety" (surrounded by and feeding her chicks). The swan is also often seen, and the peacock in heraldry is described as being "in its pride". The domestic cock (or rooster) is sometimes called "dunghill cock" to distinguish it from the "game cock" which has a cut comb and exaggerated spurs, and the "moor cock", which is the farmyard cock with a game bird's tail. Other birds occur less frequently.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: The category of sea creatures may be seen to include various fish, a highly stylized "dolphin", and various fanciful creatures, sea monsters, which are shown as half-fish and half-beast, as well as mermaids and the like. The "sea lion" and "sea horse", for example, do not appear as natural sea lions and seahorses, but rather as half-lion half-fish and half-horse half-fish, respectively. Fish of various species often appear in canting arms, e.g.: pike, also called luce, for Pike or Lucy; dolphin (a conventional kind of fish rather than the natural mammal) for the Dauphin de Viennois. The "escallop" (scallop shell) became popular as a token of pilgrimage to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela. The "sea-lion" and "sea-horse", like the mermaid, combine the foreparts of a mammal with the tail of a fish, and a dorsal fin in place of the mane. (When the natural seahorse is meant, it is blazoned as a "hippocampus".) The "sea-dog" and "sea-wolf" are quadrupeds but with scales, webbed feet, and often a flat tail resembling that of the beaver.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Reptiles and invertebrates occurring in heraldry include serpents, lizards, salamanders and others, but the most frequently occurring of these are various forms of dragons. The "dragon", thus termed, is a large monstrous reptile with, often, a forked or barbed tongue, membraned wings like a bat's, and four legs. The "wyvern" and "lindworm" are dragons with only two legs. The salamander is typically shown as a simple lizard surrounded by flames. Also notably occurring (undoubtedly owing much of its fame to Napoleon, though it also appears in much earlier heraldry) is the bee.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Animals' heads are also very frequent charges, as are the paw or leg ("gamb") of the lion, the wing (often paired) of the eagle, and the antlers ("attire") of the stag. Sometimes only the top half of a beast is shown; for example, the "demi-lion" is among the most common forms occurring in heraldic crests.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Heads may appear "cabossed" (also "caboshed" or "caboched"): with the head cleanly separated from the neck so that only the face shows; "couped": with the neck cleanly separated from the body so that the whole head and neck are present; or "erased": with the neck showing a ragged edge as if forcibly torn from the body. While cabossed heads are shown facing forward ("affronté"), heads that are "couped" or "erased" face dexter unless otherwise specified for differencing. Heads of horned beasts are often shown cabossed to display the horns, but instances can be found in any of these circumstances. A lion's head cabossed is called simply a "face", and a fox's head cabossed, a "mask".


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: The "attitude", or position, of the creature's body is usually explicitly stated in English blazon. When such description is omitted, a lion can be assumed to be "rampant", a leopard or herbivore "passant".


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: By default, the charge faces dexter (left as seen by the viewer); this would be forward on a shield worn on the left arm. In German armory, animate charges in the dexter half of a composite display are usually turned to face the center.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Certain features of an animal are often of a contrasting tincture. The charge is then said to be "armed" (claws and horns and tusks), "langued" (tongue), "vilené" or "pizzled" (penis), "attired" (antlers or very occasionally horns), "unguled" (hooves), "crined" (horse's mane or human hair) of a specified tincture.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Many attitudes have developed from the herald's imagination and ever-increasing need for differentiation, but only the principal attitudes found in heraldry need be discussed here. These, in the case of beasts, include the erect positions, the seated positions, and the prone positions. In the case of birds, these include the "displayed" positions, the flying positions, and the resting positions. Additionally, birds are frequently described by the position of their wings. A few other attitudes warrant discussion, including those particular to fish, serpents, griffins and dragons.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: The principal attitude of beasts is "rampant" ("i.e." standing on one hind leg with forepaws raised as if to climb or mount - sometimes including an erect member). Beasts also frequently appear walking, "passant" or, in the case of stags and the occasional unicorn, "trippant", and may appear "statant" (standing), "salient" or "springing" (leaping), "sejant" (seated), "couchant" or "lodged" (lying prone with head raised), or occasionally "dormant" (sleeping). The principal attitude of birds, namely the eagle, is "displayed" ("i.e." facing the viewer with the head turned toward dexter and wings raised and upturned to show the full underside of both wings). Birds also appear "rising" or "rousant" ("i.e." wings raised and head upturned as if about to take flight), "volant" (flying), "statant" (standing, with wings raised), "close" (at rest with wings folded), and waterfowl may appear "naiant" (swimming), while cranes may appear "vigilant" (standing on one leg). Fish often appear "naiant" (swimming horizontally) or "hauriant" (upwards) or "urinant" (downwards), but may also appear "addorsed" (two fish hauriant, back to back). Serpents may appear "glissant" (gliding in a wavy form) or "nowed" (as a figure-eight knot). Griffins and quadrupedal dragons constantly appear "segreant" ("i.e." rampant with wings addorsed and elevated) and, together with lions, may appear "combatant" ("i.e." two of them turned to face each other in the rampant position).


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Plants are extremely common in heraldry and figure among the earliest charges. The turnip, for instance, makes an early appearance, as does wheat. Trees also appear in heraldry; the most frequent tree by far is the oak (drawn with large leaves and acorns), followed by the pine. Apples and bunches of grapes occur very frequently, other fruits less so. When the fruit is mentioned, as to indicate a different tincture, the tree is said to be "fructed" of the tincture. If a tree is "eradicated" it is shown as if it has been ripped up from the ground, the roots being exposed. "Erased" is rarely used for a similar treatment. In Portuguese heraldry, but rarely in other countries, trees are sometimes found decorticated.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: The most famous heraldic flower (particularly in French heraldry) is the "fleur-de-lis", which is often stated to be a stylised lily, though despite the name there is considerable debate on this. The "natural" lily, somewhat stylised, also occurs, as (together with the fleur-de-lis) in the arms of Eton College. The rose is perhaps even more widely seen in English heraldry than the fleur-de-lis. Its heraldic form is derived from the "wild" type with only five petals, and it is often "barbed" (the hull of the bud, its points showing between the petals) and "seeded" in contrasting tinctures. The thistle frequently appears as a symbol of Scotland.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: The trefoil, quatrefoil and cinquefoil are abstract forms resembling flowers or leaves. The trefoil is always shown "slipped" (i.e. with a stem), unless blazoned otherwise. The cinquefoil is sometimes blazoned "fraise" (strawberry flower), most notably when canting for Fraser. The trillium flower occurs occasionally in a Canadian context, and the protea flower constantly appears in South Africa, since it is the national flower symbol.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Wheat constantly occurs in the form of "garbs" or sheaves and in fields (e.g. in the arms of the province of Alberta, Canada), though less often as ears, which are shown unwhiskered (though some varieties of wheat are naturally whiskered). Ears of rye are depicted exactly as wheat, except the ears droop down and are often whiskered, e.g. in the arms of the former Ruislip-Northwood Urban District. Barley, cannabis, maize, and oats also occur. The "garb" in the arms of Gustav Vasa (and in the Coat of Arms of Sweden) is not a wheatsheaf, although it was pictured in that way from the 16th to 19th century; rather, this "vasa" is a bundle but of unknown sort.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Very few inanimate objects in heraldry carry a special significance distinct from that of the object itself, but among such objects are the "escarbuncle", the "fasces", and the "key". The escarbuncle developed from the radiating iron bands used to strengthen a round shield, eventually becoming a heraldic charge. The fasces (not to be confused with the French term for a "bar" or "fess") is emblematic of the Roman magisterial office and has often been granted to mayors. Keys (taking a form similar to a "skeleton key") are emblematic of Saint Peter and, by extension, the papacy, and thus frequently appear in ecclesiastical heraldry. Because St. Peter is the patron saint of fishermen, keys also notably appear in the arms of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: The sun is a disc with twelve or more wavy rays, or alternating wavy and straight rays, often represented ""in his splendour"" ("i.e." with a face). The moon "in her plenitude" (full) sometimes appears, distinguished from a "roundel argent" by having a face; but crescents occur much more frequently. "Estoiles" are stars with six wavy rays, while "stars" (when they occur under that name) have straight rays usually numbering five in British and North American heraldry and six in continental European heraldry. Clouds often occur, though more frequently for people or animals to stand on or issue from than as isolated charges. The raindrop as such is unknown, though drops of fluid ("goutte") is known. These occasionally appear as a charge, but more frequently constitute a field semé (known as "goutté"). The snowflake occurs in modern heraldry, sometimes blazoned as a "snow crystal" or "ice crystal".


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: The oldest geological charge is the "mount", typically a green hilltop rising from the lower edge of the field, providing a place for a beast, building or tree to stand. This feature is exceedingly common in Hungarian arms. Natural mountains and boulders are not unknown, though ranges of mountains are differently shown. An example is the arms of Edinburgh, portraying Edinburgh Castle atop Castle Rock. Volcanos are shown, almost without exception, as erupting, and the eruption is generally quite stylised. In the 18th century, "landscapes" began to appear in armory, often depicting the sites of battles. For example, Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson received a chief of augmentation containing a landscape alluding to the Battle of the Nile.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: By far the most frequent building in heraldry is the "tower", a tapering cylinder of masonry topped with battlements, usually having a door and a few windows. The canting arms of the Kingdom of Castile are "Gules, a tower triple-turreted Or" ("i.e." three small towers standing atop a larger one). A castle is generally shown as two towers joined by a wall, the doorway often shown secured by a portcullis. The portcullis was used as a canting badge by the House of Tudor ("two-doors"), and has since come to represent the British Parliament. The modern chess-rook would be indistinguishable from a tower; the heraldic chess rook, based on the medieval form of the piece, instead of battlements, has two outward-splayed "horns". Civic and ecclesiastical armory sometimes shows a church or a whole town, and cities, towns and Scots burghs often bear a mural crown (a crown in the form of a wall with battlements or turrets) in place of a crown over the shield. Ships of various types often appear; the most frequent being the ancient galley often called, from the Gaelic, a lymphad. Also frequent are anchors and oars.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: The "maunch" is a 12th-century lady's sleeve style. Its use in heraldry arose from the custom of the knights who attended tournaments wearing their ladies sleeves, as "gages d'amour" (tokens of love). This fashion of sleeve would later evolve into Tippet-style stoles. In French blazon this charge is sometimes informally referred to as "manche mal taillée" (a sleeve badly cut).


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Spurs also occur, sometimes "winged", but more frequently occurring is the "spur-rowel" or "spur-revel", which is said to more often termed a "mullet of five points pierced" by English heralds.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Crowns and coronets of various kinds are constantly seen. The ecclesiastical hat and bishop's mitre are nearly ubiquitous in ecclesiastical heraldry. The sword is sometimes a symbol of authority, as in the royal arms of the Netherlands, but may also allude to Saint Paul, as the patron of a town (e.g. London) or dedicatee of a church. Sometimes it is shown with a key, owing to the fact that Saints Peter and Paul are paired together. Other weapons occur more often in modern than in earlier heraldry. The mace also appears as a weapon, the war mace, in addition to its appearance as a symbol of authority, plain mace. The "globus cruciger", also variously called an "orb", a "royal orb", or a "mound" (from French "monde", Latin "mundus", the world) is a ball or globe surmounted by a cross, which is part of the regalia of an emperor or king, and is the emblem of sovereign authority and majesty.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Books constantly occur, most frequently in the arms of colleges and universities, though the Gospel and Bible are sometimes distinguished. Books if open may be inscribed with words. Words and phrases are otherwise rare, except in Spanish and Portuguese armory. Letters of the various alphabets are also relatively rare. Arms of merchants in Poland and eastern Germany are often based on house marks, abstract symbols resembling runes, though they are almost never blazoned as runes, but as combinations of other heraldic charges. Musical instruments commonly seen are the harp (as in the coat of arms of Ireland), bell and trumpet. The drum, almost without exception, is of the field drum type. Since musical notation is a comparatively recent invention, it is not found in early heraldry, though it does appear in 20th century heraldry.


title: Charge (heraldry)

text: Japanese mon are sometimes used as heraldic charges. They are blazoned in traditional heraldic style rather than in the Japanese style.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: Appian Way Productions is a Los Angeles based film and television production company founded in 2001 by actor and producer Leonardo DiCaprio. Jennifer Davisson serves as President of Production. Since its launch, Appian Way has released a diverse slate of films, including Alejandro Iñárritu's three-time Academy Award and Golden Globe winner "The Revenant", Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated "The Wolf of Wall Street" and Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe winning "The Aviator", along with "Shutter Island", Scott Cooper’s "Out of the Furnace", George Clooney’s Golden Globe nominated "The Ides of March", the psychological thriller "Orphan" and the film adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s critically acclaimed novel "Live by Night" with Ben Affleck, among others. The television adaptation of "The Right Stuff" based on the acclaimed Tom Wolfe book for National Geographic which premiered on Disney+ in October 2020.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: In recent years, the company has put forth strong efforts to gain headway in the documentary world, especially as it pertains to progressive environmental change. Appian Way recently worked in partnership with the History Channel on Frontiersman, and National Geographic to produce "Before the Flood", a documentary film that sheds light on that aforementioned change. It also worked with Netflix on the Academy Award nominated "Virunga", directed by Orlando von Einsiedel, and Kip Anderson's "Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret". Appian is in partnership with Netflix on several additional documentaries, including critically acclaimed "The Ivory Game", "How to Change the World" and "Catching the Sun". Recently released projects include; "Sea of Shadows" with National Geographic, which won the Audience Award at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival", Ice on Fire" with HBO, along with "And We Go Green" which premiered at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: The company's first film was "The Assassination of Richard Nixon" (2004), which was screened at the 57th Cannes Film Festival. In the company's second film, the 2004 biopic "The Aviator", DiCaprio starred as Howard Hughes. The film was a critical and commercial success, and earned several Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Its following productions were released three years later—the comedy drama "Gardener of Eden" (2007) and the documentary "The 11th Hour" (2007). DiCaprio secured a three-season television series "Greensburg" (2008–2010) for the company.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: Appian Way produced three profitable films from 2009 to 2010, the mob drama "Public Enemies" (2009), the psychological horror "Orphan" (2009) and the psychological thriller "Shutter Island" (2010). Three films were released by Appian Way in 2011, none of which were particularly successful. The company had three releases in 2013, including the biopic "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), which was a critical and commercial success. Banned in several countries for its controversial scenes, the film was downloaded illegally over 30 million times via BitTorrent sites. "The Revenant" (2015) followed, a highly successful western thriller about the life of the frontiersman Hugh Glass.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: Appian Way Productions was founded by Leonardo DiCaprio in 2001. It takes its name from the Italian road of the same name. Its first film was "The Assassination of Richard Nixon" (2004), starring Sean Penn as Samuel Byck, who attempted to assassinate US president Richard Nixon in 1974. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. The company's next film was the 2004 biopic "The Aviator", produced in association with Forward Pass, Intermedia, and Initial Entertainment Group. Based on the 1993 non-fiction book "Howard Hughes: The Secret Life" by Charles Higham, the film depicted the life of Howard Hughes (DiCaprio), an aviation pioneer who became a successful film producer between the late 1920s and late 1940s while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive–compulsive disorder. Writing for "The Daily Telegraph", Sukhdev Sandhu described the film as "a gorgeous tribute to the Golden Age of Hollywood" even though it "tips the balance of spectacle versus substance in favour of the former". He praised Martin Scorsese's direction, DiCaprio and the supporting cast. The film proved to be a commercial success, with a worldwide gross of $213.7 million against a budget of $110 million. It earned a total of eleven nominations at the 77th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Scorsese) and Best Actor (DiCaprio), and won five of them, including a Best Supporting Actress award for Cate Blanchett.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: Kevin Connolly, a close friend of DiCaprio, directed Appian Way's next film—the comedy drama "Gardener of Eden" (2007), which, according to "The Hollywood Reporter"'s Frank Scheck, "lack[ed] the necessary dramatic urgency or black humor to connect with audiences". A few months later, Appian Way released "The 11th Hour", a documentary about global warming. The film, featuring 50 experts who suggested solutions to various environmental problems, won the Earthwatch Environmental Film Award through the National Geographic Channel in March 2008. DiCaprio wrote a three-season television series "Greensburg" (2008–10) which was produced by the company.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: Appian Way later produced another biopic, "Public Enemies" (2009), a Michael Mann-directed mob drama starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Following the final years of the notorious bank robber John Dillinger (Depp) as he is pursued by FBI agent Melvin Purvis during Great Depression, the film was an adaptation of Bryan Burrough's non-fiction book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34". A commercial success, it also received generally positive reviews, though critics found historical inaccuracies in the film. The company, along with Dark Castle Entertainment, released the 2009 psychological horror film "Orphan", which told the story of a couple who, after the death of their unborn child, adopt a mysterious 9-year-old girl. The film was considered by the adoption community to promote negative stereotypes about orphans. Although the film received mixed reviews, it was a commercial success.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: Scorsese reunited with the company to make the film "Shutter Island" (2010), a psychological thriller based on the 2003 novel of same name by Dennis Lehane. DiCaprio played U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who investigates a psychiatric facility located on an island but eventually comes to question his own sanity. A commercial success, the film received generally positive reviews; Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" praised the film's direction and performances but criticized its "silly twist ending", calling it "supremely exasperating".


title: Appian Way Productions

text: "Red Riding Hood", directed by Catherine Hardwicke, was Appian Way's first release in 2011. The film, set in a village haunted by werewolves, follows a young girl who falls in love with an orphan woodcutter, much to her family's displeasure. Earlier in production, the film was titled "The Girl with the Red Riding Hood". Although it was poorly received by critics—Mary Pols of "Time" named it one of the Top 10 Worst Movies of 2011—it had moderate box-office returns. The company's second release in 2011 was "Detachment", a Tony Kaye-directed drama about the high school education system. George Clooney directed and co-produced the company's final film of the year "The Ides of March", which is based on Beau Willimon's play "Farragut North". Starring Ryan Gosling, Clooney and Philip Seymour Hoffman, this political drama takes place during a presidential primary, when an ambitious press secretary (Gosling) becomes embroiled in a political scandal. The film received positive reviews; one from "The Guardian" praised the direction and the performances of the cast.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: Three films were produced by Appian Way in 2013; the first was "Runner Runner", an ensemble crime thriller, which "The Guardian" Xan Brooks described as "a lazy, trashy film that barely goes through the motions". The thriller "Out of the Furnace", the company's second release, was also negatively received by critics and was a box office bomb. Scorsese directed the company's final film in 2013—"The Wolf of Wall Street", a biopic on the life of Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio), a New York stockbroker who runs a firm that engages in securities fraud and money laundering on Wall Street in the 1990s. The screenplay was adapted by Terence Winter from Belfort's memoir of the same name. The film was banned in Kenya, Malaysia and Nepal for its controversial depiction of events, explicit sexual content, profanity, and hard drug use. Nonetheless, it was a commercial success, becoming the 17th-highest-grossing film of 2013. According to copyright infringement tracking site Excipio, the film was the most widely infringed of 2014, as it was downloaded illegally over 30 million times via BitTorrent sites. It was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, although it failed to win in any category.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: In 2015, DiCaprio produced and co-starred with Tom Hardy and Domhnall Gleeson in "The Revenant", directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. This biographical western thriller is based on in part on Michael Punke's 2002 novel of the same name, which itself was inspired by the frontiersman Hugh Glass's survival after being mauled by a grizzly bear in 1823. Co-produced with Regency Enterprises, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Anonymous Content and M Productions, the film was well received with particular praise for the performances, direction and cinematography. "Bleak as hell but considerably more beautiful, this nightmarish plunge into a frigid, forbidding American outback is a movie of pitiless violence, grueling intensity and continually breathtaking imagery", according to Justin Change of "Variety". Built on a budget of $135 million, the film earned $533 million worldwide. "The Revenant" received 12 nominations at the 88th Academy Awards, and won three, including Best Director and Best Actor.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: In May 2016, Appian Way Productions signed a three-year, first-look production deal with Paramount Pictures. In December 2016, the company released "Live by Night", based on the 2012 novel of same name by Dennis Lehane. Directed by, written by and starring Ben Affleck, this Prohibition-era gangster drama received largely unenthusiastic reviews and failed to recoup its $65 million production budget. Also that year, the company produced four documentaries, "Davi's Way", "The Last Shaman", "The Ivory Game" and "Before the Flood", the last of which won the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Documentary.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: In 2017, Appian Way produced "Under the Bed", a television film thriller about a young woman trying to get over a breakup, while befriending a stalker on social media. In association with Blumhouse Productions and GK Films, the company will produce "Delirium", a supernatural horror film scheduled for a 2017 release.


title: Appian Way Productions

text: More recently, the studio signed first-look deals with Apple for documentaries and television and with Sony Pictures Entertainment for feature films.


title: Chamundeshwari Temple

text: The Chamundeshwari Temple is a Hindu temple located on the top of Chamundi Hills about 13 km from the palace city of Mysuru in the state of Karnataka in India. The temple was named after Chamundeshwari or, the fierce form of Shakti, a tutelary deity held in reverence for centuries by the Maharaja of Mysuru.


title: Chamundeshwari Temple

text: Chamundeshwari is called by the people of Karnataka as Naada Devi (ನಾಡ ದೇವಿ), which means state Goddess. It is situated at the elevation of around 3300 ft from the mean sea level.


title: Chamundeshwari Temple

text: It is believed that Goddess Durga slayed the demon king Mahishasura on the top of this hill which was ruled by him. The place was later known as Mahishooru (Place of Mahisha). The British changed it to Mysore and later Kannadized into Mysuru.


title: Chamundeshwari Temple

text: The Chamundeshwari Temple is considered as a Shakti Peetha and one among the 18 Shakti Peethas. It is known as "Krouncha Pitha" as the region was known in Puranic times as Krouncha Puri.


title: Chamundeshwari Temple

text: The original shrine is thought to have been built in the 12th century by the Rulers of the Hoysala Dynasty while its tower was probably built by the Rulers of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 17th century. In 1659, a staircase of one thousand steps was built leading up to the 3000-foot summit of the hill.


title: Chamundeshwari Temple

text: At the temple are several images of Nandi (the bull mount of Shiva). There is a huge granite Nandi on the 700th step on the hill in front of a small Shiva temple a short distance away. Believed to be sculpted in the 2nd century CE, this Nandi is over 15 feet high and 24 feet long with exquisite bells around its neck.


title: Chamundeshwari Temple

text: The temple is famous for the celebrations of festivals like Ashada Shukravara (ಆಶಾಡಾ ಶುಕ್ರವಾರ), Navaratri and Ammanavara Vardhanthi (ಅಮ್ಮನವರ ವರ್ಧಂತಿ). In the month of Ashadha, Fridays are considered particularly auspicious. Lakhs of devotees throng the temple during this occasion. Another festival celebrated during this month is Chamundi Jayanti. This day is celebrated on the anniversary of the consecration of the Utsava Moorti of the goddess by the Maharaja of Mysore. On this occasion, the goddess's idol is taken around the temple in a golden palanquin.


title: Chamundeshwari Temple

text: The most important festival that is celebrated here is Navaratri. Mysuru Dasara is celebrated as the state festival of Karnataka, called Nada habba (ನಾಡಾ ಹಬ್ಬಾ) in Kannada. During Navaratri, the idol is decorated in 9 different ways to depict the nine different aspects of the goddess known as Navadurgas. On the 7th day of Navaratri that is dedicated to the goddess Kalaratri, valuable jewels donated by Maharajas are brought from the District Treasury of Mysuru and are given to the temple to decorate the idol.


title: Chamundeshwari Temple

text: Another temple is situated at the foothill which is in Utthanahalli called as Jwalamalini Sri Tripura Sundari Temple. This goddess is considered the sister of Chamundeshwari who helped her at the battlefield to slay the demon Raktabīja.


title: Sean O'Pry

text: O'Pry reports having Irish and unspecified Native American heritage. He has an elder brother and a younger sister. He attended North Cobb High School. He played track and field, basketball, baseball, and football in high school.


title: Sean O'Pry

text: Since then, O'Pry has been featured in numerous advertising campaigns and editorials for Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Gianfranco Ferré, H&M, Massimo Dutti, Zara, Armani Jeans, Marc Jacobs, Emporio Armani, Lacoste, DSquared², American Eagle, Bottega Veneta, DKNY, Fendi, "GQ", "Dazed & Confused", "V", "Details", Barneys, Uniqlo, Bloomingdale's, Belstaff, D2, "Arena", Diesel, Gap, JOOP! and Numéro Homme.


title: Sean O'Pry

text: His runway credentials include opening Versace, Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy and Salvatore Ferragamo, closing Moschino, Trussardi and Zegna, and both for Balmain. Other designers he has walked for include Roberto Cavalli, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Michael Kors, and Hermès. In November 2011, O'Pry was selected as the star of Viktor & Rolf's Spicebomb fragrance campaign.


title: Sean O'Pry

text: O'Pry appeared in Madonna's music video "Girl Gone Wild". He also appeared in Taylor Swift's music video for her song "Blank Space", as her love interest.


title: Sean O'Pry

text: In 2008, O'Pry was named the world's eighth most successful male model by "Forbes" magazine. Only one year later, he had moved up to the #1 position on their list. As of September 2013, Models.com named O'Pry as the most successful male model in the world on their 'Top 50' list. As of 2014, he had held that position for two years.


title: Sean O'Pry

text: In 2015, O'Pry was included on Models.com's new 'Supers Men', 'Sexiest Men', and the 'Money Guys' lists.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The Petlyakov Pe-2 () was a Soviet twin-engine dive bomber used during World War II. One of the outstanding tactical attack aircraft of the war, it also proved successful as a heavy fighter, as a night fighter (Pe-3 variant) and as a reconnaissance aircraft. The Pe-2 was, numerically, the most important Soviet bomber of World War II, at their peak comprising 75% of the Soviet twin-engine bomber force. The Soviets manufactured Pe-2s in greater numbers (11,430 built) during the war than any other twin-engine combat aircraft except for the German Junkers Ju 88 and the British Vickers Wellington. Several communist air forces flew the type after the war, when it became known by the NATO reporting name Buck.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: In 1937, Vladimir Petlyakov was the leader of the Heavy Aircraft Brigade at the Tupolev OKB responsible for the development of the ANT-42 four-engined long-range bomber (which would eventually enter service as the TB-7/Pe-8). However, that same year saw the start of Stalin's Great Purge, and none were spared suspicion; Andrei Tupolev, the head of the OKB, was coerced into signing a "confession" in October 1937 that he had formed an anti-Soviet group that included Petlyakov, and both men along with many others were arrested.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: Too valuable to be simply executed, unlike many others arrested during the Great Purge, Petlyakov and other weapons designers were instead sent to "sharashkas", special prisons run by the NKVD where such valuable prisoners could continue their work under close scrutiny. In 1938, Petlyakov was tasked with leading the first Special Technical Department (STO — "SpetsTekhOd'yel") for aviation that also included other future well-known designers such as Vladimir Myasishchev, a colleague of Petlyakov's at the Tupolev OKB.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: Because the Russian word for "100" ("сотка" — "sotka") sounds somewhat like the pronunciation of "STO", the STO was later renamed KB-100, and there Petlyakov proposed the development of a twin-engine interceptor against high-altitude long-range bombers, particularly those being developed in Germany such as the Junkers Ju 86P and Henschel Hs 130. His proposal was accepted in March 1938, with the requirement that the first prototype be ready for its first flight before the end of 1939. The project was initially given the name Samolyot 100 (lit. "Aircraft 100") and later called VI-100 ("Vysotnyi Istrebitel" — "High-Altitude Fighter").


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The VI-100 project was an ambitious one for its time, with advanced features such as a pressurised cabin, all-metal construction, turbo-superchargers, and many electrically actuated systems. In addition, the performance requirements were also quite demanding: it was to be capable of reaching 630 km/h at an altitude of 10,000 m, a ceiling of 12,500 m, and a range of 1,400 km. The aircraft would also need a reinforced structure in order to withstand the Mach stresses of making diving attacks from high altitude against enemy bomber formations. In order to assist with the challenging development of the "100", other OKBs such as those of Yakovlev, Mikoyan & Gurevich, and Sukhoi were also enlisted. The first full-scale VI-100 mock-up was completed in May 1939, and the first flight of the prototype occurred on 22 December 1939.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The VI-100 was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane powered by two Klimov M-105R engines, licence-built Hispano-Suiza 12Y engines that were the most advanced then available in the Soviet Union, driving VISh-42 three-blade variable-pitch propellers, enhanced by two TK-3 turbo-superchargers fitted in the engine nacelles. Its primary armament were two 20 mm ShVAK cannon and two 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, with another ShKAS machine gun in a fixed mounting in the tailcone for self-defence. The first prototype VI-100 was also designed to carry KS-76 (48 modified 76 mm artillery shells with timed fuses) or KS-100 (96 AO-25 bomblets) cassettes in the fuselage for dropping on enemy bomber formations. The second prototype was instead fitted with external bomb racks for 1,000 kg of bombs and internal bomb bays for 600 kg of bombs instead of the cassettes of the first prototype.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The first VI-100 prototype was demonstrated publicly during the 1940 May Day parade, flown by Maj. Stefanovsky, as Petlyakov and his team watched on from the roofs of their "sharashka". During testing in 1940, the second prototype VI-100 suffered a cockpit fire due to an improperly tightened nut in the fuel supply and crashed into a kindergarten, killing a group of young children and a teacher. Despite the loss of the second prototype and several defects being found in the first prototype, the VI-100 was judged satisfactory and suitable for further development. Its performance was superior to other Soviet high altitude fighters such as the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-200 (the future MiG-3), and compared favourably with contemporary aircraft such as the Potez 630, Messerschmitt Bf 110 C, and Bristol Beaufighter Mk. I. However, events were to lead to substantial changes in the direction of the VI-100 project.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The value of tactical dive bombing had been proven by the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers of the "Luftwaffe" during the Blitzkrieg campaigns of 1939 and 1940, and the need for such an aircraft in the VVS-RKKA (Workers & Peasants' Red Army Air Force) suddenly became very apparent. Furthermore, following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact, Soviet experts were able to visit German aircraft factories, where they discovered that Germany had no large-scale development of high-altitude long-range bombers underway. Existing aircraft were also judged to be within the capabilities of single-engined fighters like the I-200.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: As a result, in May 1940, it was decided that a dive-bomber using the good aerodynamics of the VI-100 would be designed and put into production. The new aircraft, now designated the PB-100 ("Pikiruyushchiy Bombardirovshchik" — "Dive-Bomber"), was required to achieve a maximum speed of 535 km/h at an altitude of 4800–4900 m, a range of 1,600 km at an altitude of 5,000 m, and a ceiling of 8000 m. Petlyakov and his team were instructed to redesign the two-seat high altitude fighter into a three-seat dive-bomber within 45 days. In order to meet this deadline, Petlyakov's team were assisted by some 300 specialists from other OKBs.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The fuselage of the VI-100 had to be redesigned for the dive-bombing role. Initially, the PB-100 featured three pressurised cabins for the three-man crew, but the VVS judged that pressurisation was an inessential luxury for the dive-bombing role, and this was dropped. Furthermore, the high altitude performance provided by the turbo-superchargers was also unnecessary, and these too were dropped. Extensive glazing was added to the lower portion of the nose to give the pilot maximum visibility during a dive-bombing attack. A bomb bay for a single 100 kg bomb was added in each engine nacelle, while the engines remained the same. The wing was modified, with dive brakes added. The cockpit was redesigned, bringing the navigator and pilot together, and given extensive glazing, while a defensive machine gun was added in the ventral position, operated by a gunner.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The redesign was completed in time, and the PB-100 was ordered into production without the construction of a prototype (only static tests were conducted for new components such as the fuselage), with the first two series production PB-100s completed by Zavod 39 in the late autumn of 1940. The trials of the lead machine (No. 390101) began on 15 December 1940. In accordance with the new rules also adopted in December 1940, the aircraft was also redesignated Pe-2 2M-105.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The Pe-2 inherited the basic low-wing twin-engine monoplane configuration of the VI-100. It had an all-metal stressed-skin structure, with cloth only used to cover the ailerons and control surfaces. The tail had twin fins and rudders with a pronounced 8-degree dihedral on the tailplane; this had been added to the PB-100 to correct the poor lateral stability found on the VI-100 during testing.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The wing design of the Pe-2 was also inherited from the VI-100, but this had been optimised for high altitude performance at the cost of lower lift at low altitude, resulting in suboptimal manoeuvreability and take-off and landing characteristics. For example, while the Pe-2's flying characteristics were generally good once it was airborne, it took a good amount of force to pull the elevators up to rotate the plane for takeoff. Russian night bombing missions often flew with female pilots, and some of the women were not strong enough to get the airplane airborne by themselves. When such a situation occurred, the procedure was to have the navigator get behind the pilot's seat and wrap her arms around the control wheel and help the pilot pull the wheel back. Once the aircraft was airborne, the navigator returned to her duties and the pilot continued to fly the plane without assistance. In addition, the Pe-2 had a reputation for hard landings, as well as for its notorious "bounce" on landing due to the inadequate shock absorbers in the landing gear. This could be fatal if the pilot was not prepared for it. As designed, the wings were also fitted with "Venetian blind"-type slatted dive brakes for the dive-bombing role.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: Pe-2s were equipped with an inert gas fire-suppression system for the self-sealing fuel tanks, which progressively filled the fuel tanks with nitrogen in order to reduce the risk of ignition when hit by enemy fire.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The Pe-2 had an internal capacity for six 100 kg bombs, for a total of 600 kg; this was no better than that of the older Tupolev SB bomber. The internal capacity consisted of a fuselage bomb bay capable of carrying four 100 kg bombs or an additional fuel tank, with two small internal bomb bays in the rear of the engine nacelles for a single 100 kg bomb each. This was supplemented by four external underwing racks. These were capable of carrying four 100 kg or 250 kg bombs, or two 500 kg bombs in overload configuration, giving a maximum bombload of 1,000 kg. Only the bombs in the external racks could be used in a dive-bombing attack; the internally carried bombs had no dive release gear and could not be dropped in a steep dive.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The offensive armament originally consisted of two 7.62 mm ShKAS fixed forward-firing machine guns in the nose. The right ShKAS was replaced by the more powerful 12.7 mm UBK heavy machine gun from Series 13 production aircraft onwards. From Series 32 onwards, provisions were made for underwing guide rails for up to ten RS-132 or RS-82 unguided rockets.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The defensive armament originally consisted of a single ShKAS machine gun in a dorsal TSS mounting, later MV-3 turret, manned by the navigator in the cockpit behind the pilot, and a ventral 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun in a mounting in the fuselage behind the bomb bay aimed by a periscope. This defensive armament was found to be totally inadequate: from Series 13 onwards, the ventral ShKAS was replaced by one 12.7 mm UBT in an MV-2 mounting, while the dorsal ShKAS was also replaced by a UBT in various different mountings, some modified in the field and others from the factory:


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The replacement of the ShKAS defensive guns with the UBT was reported to increase the life expectancy of a Pe-2 from 20 sorties to 54.


title: Petlyakov Pe-2

text: The Pe-2 was first publicly demonstrated in the May Day Parade of 1941. Testing of the Pe-2 was completed and it was accepted for service in June 1941, shortly before the German invasion of the Soviet Union. During the early stages of the invasion, Pe-2 crews, who were poorly trained and unfamiliar with their new aircraft, were often sent on near-suicidal low-level bombing missions against advancing German forces, where they were highly vulnerable to light anti-aircraft guns and German fighters, or bombed from altitude with minimal accuracy and effectiveness against moving troops.