who is the show the medium based on

Allison DuBois (born January 24, 1972) is an American author and purported medium. DuBois has stated that use of her psychic abilities has assisted U.S. law enforcement officials in solving crimes, forming the basis of the TV series Medium.

Allison DuBois

Her alleged powers as a medium were tested by Gary Schwartz of the University of Arizona. While Schwartz claims that his research supports DuBois's psychic abilities, skeptics have pointed out flaws in both DuBois's claims and Schwartz's research. Some of her claims regarding work done in high profile investigations, such as her description of the Baseline rapist, have been shown to be either incorrect or of little investigative value.[1]

DuBois was born in Phoenix, Arizona, where she attended both North High School in Phoenix and Corona del Sol High School in Tempe. Despite dropping out, she obtained her GED at the age of 16.[2] In college, she worked as an intern at the district attorney's office in Phoenix. She received her B.A. in political science with a minor in history from Arizona State University.[3]

DuBois refers to herself as a medium and profiler, rather than a psychic, because of the negative connotation she feels is associated with the term psychic. She claims that she became aware that she had the ability to communicate with departed souls when she was 6 years old.[4] DuBois claims she uses this ability to connect deceased loved ones to the living, and also to help law enforcement agencies solve crimes, such as the Texas Rangers and the Glendale, Arizona police department, and that she used these abilities as a jury consultant.[5] These law enforcement agencies have since either denied any such cooperation happened or stated the tips provided by DuBois were not helpful.[1]

According to the TV Guide, Allison DuBois spent four years participating in various tests at the University of Arizona to assist with their studies of mediums and psychic phenomena. Gary Schwartz, Director of The VERITAS Research Project, claims that DuBois has psychic abilities, arguing in the March 6, 2005 TV Guide, "Anyone who's looked closely at the evidence can't help but come to the conclusion that there is something very real going on here." At their first meeting, Schwartz says DuBois accurately described a friend of Schwartz's who had just died. Impressed, Schwartz conducted a series of interviews, including one in which DuBois stated she contacted the late husband of a woman in England, knowing only the woman's name. The woman, after reading a transcript of the session, affirmed that 80% of what DuBois said was accurate.[6] Schwartz published his research in a book titled The Truth About Medium. According to a statement by DuBois, she does not endorse the book or Schwartz.[7]

The television drama Medium, which aired from 2005 until 2011 on NBC and CBS[8] is based on Allison DuBois's book, Don't Kiss Them Good-Bye. The show was created by Glenn Gordon Caron, creator of Moonlighting and other television shows, who is also one of the writers for the series. It is produced by CBS Television Studios (having acquired the TV production arm of original producer Paramount Pictures) and Grammnet, the production company owned by Cheers and Frasier alumnus Kelsey Grammer. Patricia Arquette was cast to play the role of DuBois, at the suggestion of Caron's girlfriend. DuBois stated in the January 9, 2005 TV Guide that she initially thought Arquette was too liberal to play her, remarking, "I mean, I have a gun, I have put people on death row. I wanted to make sure that was something that didn't bother her. But she assured me that she believed some people may have that coming."

"Every episode is not a biography of my life, it is simply based on my life experiences. It is an accurate portrayal of my life and the people who share it with a little Hollywood magic thrown in," DuBois has said.[4] She does state in both her book and in the edition of January 3, 2005 of Sci Fi Weekly that the program closely resembles the truth of her own life.[5] Several details of Arquette's character match DuBois's life, such as the name of her husband on the show (Joe) and the fact that he is an aerospace engineer. Both the character and the real-life Dubois have three daughters, and the first case the character "consults" on in the show's pilot is with the Texas Rangers, the law enforcement agency with whom the real-life DuBois alleges she first worked.

Skeptics such as Paul Kurtz and Ray Hyman say that DuBois does not have psychic powers.[6] Skeptic James Randi says that people such as DuBois give the appearance of psychic powers through cold reading techniques. For example, DuBois, when doing her first reading of Schwartz, told him that his deceased friend was telling her, "I don't walk alone," which Schwartz understood to be a reference to his friend's confinement to a wheelchair, which DuBois could not have known about. Randi says that Schwartz leapt to an unsupportable conclusion, since the notion of "not walking alone" can mean any number of things, and "certainly does not describe being in a wheelchair." Randi also asserts that experiments that allegedly yield positive results of psychic powers, such as the ones done with DuBois, are not conducted using proper scientific controls.[9][10] In light of Schwartz's assertion that "some" of his experiments with DuBois were performed under such conditions, Randi questions why the rest of them were not, and points to a report demonstrating that a few of Schwartz's experiments were not performed according to standard scientific protocol.[9][11] Schwartz's point-by-point response to Randi's criticisms was published in 2005.[12]

In 2005, Randi offered to have DuBois tested for his One Million Dollar Challenge. According to Randi, DuBois declined his invitation to the challenge.[13] In 2011, the JREF again issued the million dollar challenge to James Van Praagh, Allison DuBois, Sylvia Browne, Carla Baron, John Edward, and others to prove their abilities in controlled experiments, commenting, "James Van Praagh and Allison DuBois have turned the huckster art of 'cold reading' into a multi-million-dollar industry, preying on families' deepest fears and regrets," he says in a statement announcing the challenge. "They should be embarrassed by the transparent performances."[14][15]

Former FBI profiler, behavioral science expert and MSNBC analyst Clint Van Zandt challenges statements about psychics helping law enforcement arguing, "If psychics were truly successful and if their results were not simply the consequence of trickery (at worse [sic]) or good interviewing skills (at best), then why don't law enforcement agencies have psychic detective squads, a real X-Files Unit, or other ways to integrate these paranormal investigative capabilities?"[16]

DuBois's parents, Mike Gomez and Tienna DuBois, divorced when she was a baby. Tienna remarried and divorced again when Allison was 12. In her first book, DuBois writes about seeing her stepdad in public with his new family.[1] DuBois is married to Joe Klupar and they have three daughters: Aurora, Fallon, and Sophia.[17] DuBois believes that her daughters share her psychic abilities.[18]

In 2010, DuBois made an appearance in The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills at a dinner party hosted by Camille Grammer. She had a major confrontation with Kyle Richards and insisted that Richards would "never be emotionally fulfilled" by her husband.

DuBois is the author of four books dealing with mediumship.


who wrote the song pass me not o gentle savior

"Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior" is a 19th-century American hymn written by Frances J. Crosby in 1868,[2] set to music by William H. Doane in 1870.[3]

Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour

Pass, me not O gentle Saviour,
Hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Saviour, Saviour,
Hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Let me at Thy throne of mercy,
Find a sweet relief.
Kneeling there in deep contrition,
Help my unbelief.

Saviour, Saviour,
Hear my humble cry.
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Trusting only in Thy merit,
Would I seek Thy face,
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by Thy grace.

Frances J. Crosby, 1868[1]

The hymn has been recorded by singers including Reggie Houston, Cyrus Chestnut, Bill Gaither, and Lyle Lovett. Bob Dylan performed this song live to open five concerts in his 2002 American tour.

In 1991 hip hop artist MC Hammer released a version of the hymn entitled "Do Not Pass Me By" on his fourth album, Too Legit to Quit. Gospel artist Tramaine Hawkins appeared on the song as a guest vocalist. A music video was produced for this single which charted as well.


when were sewing machines first used in the home

Clothing manufacturers were the first sewing machine customers, and used them to produce the first ready-to-wear clothing and shoes. In the 1860s consumers began purchasing them, and the machines—ranging in price from £6 to £15 in Britain depending on features—became very common in middle-class homes. Owners were much more likely to spend free time with their machines to make and mend clothing for their families than to visit friends, and women's magazines and household guides such as Mrs Beeton's offered dress patterns and instructions. A sewing machine could produce a man's shirt in about one hour, compared to 14 1/2 hours by hand.[18]

Sewing machine

A sewing machine is a machine used to stitch fabric and other materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. Since the invention of the first working sewing machine, generally considered to have been the work of Englishman Thomas Saint in 1790,[1] the sewing machine has greatly improved the efficiency and productivity of the clothing industry.

Home sewing machines are designed for one person to sew individual items while using a single stitch type. In a modern sewing machine the fabric easily glides in and out of the machine without the inconvenience of needles and thimbles and other such tools used in hand sewing, automating the process of stitching and saving time.

Industrial sewing machines, by contrast to domestic machines, are larger, faster, and more varied in their size, cost, appearance, and task.

Charles Fredrick Wiesenthal, a German-born engineer working in England was awarded the first British patent for a mechanical device to aid the art of sewing, in 1755. His invention consisted of a double pointed needle with an eye at one end.[2]

In 1790, the English inventor Thomas Saint invented the first sewing machine design, but he did not successfully advertise or market his invention.[3] His machine was meant to be used on leather and canvas material. It is likely that Saint had a working model but there is no evidence of one; he was a skilled cabinet maker and his device included many practically functional features: an overhanging arm, a feed mechanism (adequate for short lengths of leather), a vertical needle bar, and a looper.

His sewing machine used the chain stitch method, in which the machine uses a single thread to make simple stitches in the fabric. A stitching awl would pierce the material and a forked point rod would carry the thread through the hole where it would be hooked underneath and moved to the next stitching place, where the cycle would be repeated, locking the stitch.[4] Saint's machine was designed to aid the manufacture of various leather goods, including saddles and bridles, but it was also capable of working with canvas, and was used for sewing ship sails. Although his machine was very advanced for the era, the concept would need steady improvement over the coming decades before it could become a practical proposition. In 1874, a sewing machine manufacturer, William Newton Wilson, found Saint's drawings in the London Patent Office, made adjustments to the looper, and built a working machine, currently owned by the London Science Museum.

In 1804, a sewing machine was built by the Englishmen Thomas Stone and James Henderson, and a machine for embroidering was constructed by John Duncan in Scotland.[5] An Austrian tailor, Josef Madersperger, began developing his first sewing machine in 1807. He presented his first working machine in 1814. Having received financial support from his government, the Austrian tailor worked on the development of his machine until 1839 but he couldn’t create anything worthwhile. Perhaps the tailor didn’t have the technical wit, perhaps technical knowledge, and perhaps – simple luck. But the fact remains that state money was wasted. However, in 1839 he built a machine imitating the weaving process using the chain stitch.

The first practical and widely used sewing machine was invented by Barthélemy Thimonnier, a French tailor, in 1829. His machine sewed straight seams using chain stitch like Saint's model, and in 1830, he signed a contract with Auguste Ferrand, a mining engineer, who made the requisite drawings and submitted a patent application. The patent for his machine was issued on 17 July 1830, and in the same year, he opened (with partners) the first machine-based clothing manufacturing company in the world to create army uniforms for the French Army. However, the factory was burned down, reportedly by workers fearful of losing their livelihood following the issuing of the patent.[6]

A model of the machine is exhibited at the London Science Museum. The machine is made of wood and uses a barbed needle which passes downward through the cloth to grab the thread and pull it up to form a loop to be locked by the next loop. The first American lockstitch sewing machine was invented by Walter Hunt in 1832.[7] His machine used an eye-pointed needle (with the eye and the point on the same end) carrying the upper thread and a falling shuttle carrying the lower thread. The curved needle moved through the fabric horizontally, leaving the loop as it withdrew. The shuttle passed through the loop, interlocking the thread. The feed let the machine down, requiring the machine to be stopped frequently and reset up. Hunt eventually lost interest in his machine and sold individual machines without bothering to patent his invention, and only patenting it at a late date of 1854.  In 1842, John Greenough patented the first sewing machine in the United States. The British partners Newton and Archibold introduced the eye-pointed needle and the use of two pressing surfaces to keep the pieces of fabric in position, in 1841.[8]

The first machine to combine all the disparate elements of the previous half-century of innovation into the modern sewing machine was the device built by English inventor John Fisher in 1844,  thus a little earlier than the very similar machines  built by  Isaac Merritt Singer  in 1851, and  the lesser known Elias Howe, in 1845. However, due to the botched filing of Fisher's patent at the Patent Office, he did not receive due recognition for the modern sewing machine in the legal disputations of priority with Singer, and it was Singer who won the benefits of the patent.

Elias Howe's lockstitch machine, invented in 1845

Elliptic sewing machine with elliptic hook and stationary bobbin, American Institute Fair, 1862

Singer treadle machine

An 1880 machine from the Wheeler and Wilson Company

Elias Howe, born in Spencer, Massachusetts, created his sewing machine in 1845, using a similar method to Fisher's except that the fabric was held vertically. An important improvement on his machine was to have the needle running away from the point, starting from the eye.[9] After a lengthy stay in England trying to attract interest in his machine, he returned to America to find various people infringing his patent, among them Isaac Merritt Singer.[10] He eventually won a case for patent infringement in 1854 and was awarded the right to claim royalties from the manufacturers using ideas covered by his patent, including Singer.

Singer had seen a rotary sewing machine being repaired in a Boston shop. As an engineer, he thought it was clumsy and decided to design a better one. The machine he devised used a falling shuttle instead of a rotary one; the needle was mounted vertically and included a presser foot to hold the cloth in place. It had a fixed arm to hold the needle and included a basic tension system. This machine combined elements of Thimonnier, Hunt and Howe's machines. Singer was granted an American patent in 1851, and it was suggested[by whom?] he patent the foot pedal or treadle, used to power some of his machines; unfortunately, the foot pedal had been in use too long for a patent to be issued. When Howe learned of Singer's machine he took him to court, where Howe won and Singer was forced to pay a lump sum for all machines already produced. Singer then took out a license under Howe's patent and paid him $1.15 per machine before entering into a joint partnership with a lawyer named Edward Clark. They created the first hire-purchase arrangement to allow people to buy their machines through payments over time.

Meanwhile, Allen B. Wilson developed a shuttle that reciprocated in a short arc, which was an improvement over Singer and Howe's. However, John Bradshaw had patented a similar device and threatened to sue, so Wilson decided to try a new method. He went into partnership with Nathaniel Wheeler to produce a machine with a rotary hook instead of a shuttle. This was far quieter and smoother than other methods, with the result that the Wheeler & Wilson Company produced more machines in the 1850s and 1860s than any other manufacturer. Wilson also invented the four-motion feed mechanism that is still seen on every sewing machine today. This had a forward, down, back and up motion, which drew the cloth through in an even and smooth motion. Charles Miller patented the first machine to stitch buttonholes.[11] Throughout the 1850s more and more companies were being formed, each trying to sue the others for patent infringement.  This triggered a patent thicket known as the Sewing Machine War.[12][13]

In 1856, the Sewing Machine Combination was formed, consisting of Singer, Howe, Wheeler, Wilson, Grover and Baker. These four companies pooled their patents, with the result that all other manufacturers had to obtain a license and pay $15 per machine. This lasted until 1877 when the last patent expired.

James Edward Allen Gibbs (1829â€“1902), a farmer from Raphine in Rockbridge County, Virginia patented the first chain stitch single-thread sewing machine on June 2, 1857. In partnership with James Willcox, Gibbs became a principal partner in Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company. Willcox & Gibbs commercial sewing machines are still used in the 21st century.

William Jones started making sewing machines in 1859 and in 1860 formed a partnership with Thomas Chadwick. As Chadwick & Jones, they manufactured sewing machines at Ashton-under-Lyne, England until 1863. Their machines used designs from Howe and Wilson produced under licence.[14] Thomas Chadwick later joined Bradbury & Co. William Jones opened a factory in Guide Bridge, Manchester in 1869.[15] In 1893 a Jones advertising sheet claimed that this factory was the "Largest Factory in England Exclusively Making First Class Sewing Machines".[16] The firm was renamed as the Jones Sewing Machine Co. Ltd and was later acquired by Brother Industries of Japan, in 1968.[17]

In 1877 the world's first crochet machine was invented and patented by Joseph M. Merrow, then-president of what had started in the 1840s as a machine shop to develop specialized machinery for the knitting operations. This crochet machine was the first production overlock sewing machine. The Merrow Machine Company went on to become one of the largest American Manufacturers of overlock sewing machines and continues to be a global presence in the 21st century as the last American over-lock sewing machine manufacturer.

In 1885 Singer patented the Singer Vibrating Shuttle sewing machine, which used Allen B. Wilson's idea for a vibrating shuttle and was a better lockstitcher than the oscillating shuttles of the time. Millions of the machines, perhaps the world's first really practical sewing machine for domestic use, were produced until finally superseded by rotary shuttle machines in the 20th century. Sewing machines continued being made to roughly the same design, with more lavish decoration appearing until well into the 1900s.

The first electric machines were developed by Singer Sewing Co. and introduced in 1889.[19] By the end of the First World War, Singer was offering hand, treadle and electric machines for sale. At first, the electric machines were standard machines with a motor strapped on the side, but as more homes gained power, they became more popular and the motor was gradually introduced into the casing.

Sewing machines can make a great variety of plain or patterned stitches. Ignoring strictly decorative aspects, over three dozen distinct stitch formations are formally recognized by the ISO 4915:1991 standard, involving one to seven separate threads to form the stitch.[20]

Plain stitches fall into four general categories: chainstitch, lockstitch, overlock, and coverstitch.

Chainstitch was used by early sewing machines and has two major drawbacks:

A better stitch was found in the lockstitch. The chainstitch is still used today in clothing manufacture, though due to its major drawback it is generally paired with an overlock stitch along the same seam.

Lockstitch is the familiar stitch performed by most household sewing machines and most industrial "single needle" sewing machines from two threads, one passed through a needle and one coming from a bobbin or shuttle. Each thread stays on the same side of the material being sewn, interlacing with the other thread at each needle hole by means of a bobbin driver. As a result, a lockstitch can be formed anywhere on the material being sewn; it does not need to be near an edge.

Overlock, also known as "serging" or "serger stitch", can be formed with one to four threads, one or two needles, and one or two loopers. Overlock sewing machines are usually equipped with knives that trim or create the edge immediately in front of the stitch formation. Household and industrial overlock machines are commonly used for garment seams in knit or stretchy fabrics, for garment seams where the fabric is light enough that the seam does not need to be pressed open, and for protecting edges against raveling. Machines using two to four threads are most common, and frequently one machine can be configured for several varieties of overlock stitch. Overlock machines with five or more threads usually make both a chainstitch with one needle and one looper, and an overlock stitch with the remaining needles and loopers. This combination is known as a "safety stitch". A similar machine used for stretch fabrics is called a mock safety.

Coverstitch is formed by two or more needles and one or two loopers. Like lockstitch and chainstitch, coverstitch can be formed anywhere on the material being sewn. One looper manipulates a thread below the material being sewn, forming a bottom cover stitch against the needle threads. An additional looper above the material can form a top cover stitch simultaneously. The needle threads form parallel rows, while the looper threads cross back and forth all the needle rows. Coverstitch is so-called because the grid of crossing needle and looper threads covers raw seam edges, much as the overlock stitch does. It is widely used in garment construction, particularly for attaching trims and flat seaming where the raw edges can be finished in the same operation as forming the seam.

A zigzag stitch is a variant geometry of the lockstitch. It is a back-and-forth stitch used where a straight stitch will not suffice, such as in preventing raveling of a fabric, in stitching stretchable fabrics, and in temporarily joining two work pieces edge-to-edge.

When creating a zigzag stitch, the back-and-forth motion of the sewing machine's needle is controlled by a cam. As the cam rotates, a fingerlike follower, connected to the needle bar, rides along the cam and tracks its indentations. As the follower moves in and out, the needle bar is moved from side to side.[22] Very old sewing machines lack this hardware and so cannot natively produce a zigzag stitch, but there are often shank-driven attachments available which enable them to do so.

Besides the basic motion of needles, loopers and bobbins, the material being sewn must move so that each cycle of needle motion involves a different part of the material. This motion is known as feed, and sewing machines have almost as many ways of feeding material as they do of forming stitches. For general categories, there are: drop feed, needle feed, walking foot, puller, and manual. Often, multiple types of feed are used on the same machine. Besides these general categories, there are also uncommon feed mechanisms used in specific applications like edge joining fur, making seams on caps, and blindstitching.

The drop feed mechanism is used by almost all household machines and involves a mechanism below the sewing surface of the machine. When the needle is withdrawn from the material being sewn, a set of "feed dogs" is pushed up through slots in the machine surface, then dragged horizontally past the needle. The dogs are serrated to grip the material, and a "presser foot" is used to keep the material in contact with the dogs. At the end of their horizontal motion, the dogs are lowered again and returned to their original position while the needle makes its next pass through the material. While the needle is in the material, there is no feed action. Almost all household machines and the majority of industrial machines use drop feed.

Differential feed is a variation of drop feed with two independent sets of dogs, one before and one after the needle. By changing their relative motions, these sets of dogs can be used to stretch or compress the material in the vicinity of the needle. This is extremely useful when sewing stretchy material, and overlock machines (heavily used for such materials) frequently have differential feed.

A needle feed, used only in industrial machines, moves the material while the needle is in the material. In fact, the needle may be the primary feeding force. Some implementations of needle feed rock the axis of needle motion back and forth, while other implementations keep the axis vertical while moving it forward and back. In both cases, there is no feed action while the needle is out of the material. Needle feed is often used in conjunction with a modified drop feed, and is very common on industrial two needle machines. Household machines do not use needle feed as a general rule.

A walking foot replaces the stationary presser foot with one that moves along with whatever other feed mechanisms the machine already has. As the walking foot moves, it shifts the workpiece along with it. It is most useful for sewing heavy materials where needle feed is mechanically inadequate, for spongy or cushioned materials where lifting the foot out of contact with the material helps in the feeding action, and for sewing many layers together where a drop feed will cause the lower layers to shift out of position with the upper layers.

Some factory machines and a few household machines are set up with an auxiliary puller feed, which grips the material being sewn (usually from behind the needles) and pulls it with a force and reliability usually not possible with other types of feed. Puller feeds are seldom built directly into the basic sewing machine. Their action must be synchronized with the needle and feed action built into the machine to avoid damaging the machine. Pullers are also limited to straight seams, or very nearly so. Despite their additional cost and limitations, pulling feeds are very useful when making large heavy items like tents and vehicle covers.

A manual feed is used primarily in freehand embroidery, quilting, and shoe repair. With manual feed, the stitch length and direction is controlled entirely by the motion of the material being sewn. Frequently some form of hoop or stabilizing material is used with fabric to keep the material under proper tension and aid in moving it around. Most household machines can be set for manual feed by disengaging the drop feed dogs. Most industrial machines can not be used for manual feed without actually removing the feed dogs.

Sewing machines use special needles tailored to their needs and to the character of the material being sewn.

Industrial sewing machines are larger, faster, and more varied in their size, cost, appearance, and task. Industrial machines, unlike domestic machines, perform a single dedicated task and are capable of long hours of usage and as such have larger moving parts and comparatively much larger motors. Industrial machines are also more generic; a motor for almost any type of machine can work on any brand. Sewing feet and bobbins between brands are interchangeable. However, with domestic machines the motor, and to a lesser extent bobbins and sewing feet, are brand specific.

The motors on industrial machines, as with most of their components, lights, etc., are separate, usually mounted to the underside of the table. Domestic machines have their OEM motors mounted inside the machine. There are two different types of motor available for industrial machines: a servo motor (which uses less electricity and is silent when not in use), and the more traditional clutch motor (which is always spinning; even when not in use).[23]

Before sewing machines were invented women spent much of their time maintaining their family's clothing. Middle-class housewives, even with the aid of a hired seamstress, would devote several days of each month to this task. It took an experienced seamstress at least 14 hours to make a dress shirt for a man; a woman's dress took 10 hours;[24] and a pair of summer pants took nearly three hours.[25] Most individuals would have only two sets of clothing: a work outfit and a Sunday outfit.

Sewing machines reduced the time for making a dress shirt to an hour and 15 minutes; the time to make a dress to an hour;[24] and the time for a pair of summer pants to 38 minutes.[25] This reduced labor resulted in women having a diminished role in household management, and allowed more hours for their own leisure as well as the ability to seek more employment.[24]

Industrial use of sewing machines further reduced the burden placed upon housewives, moving clothing production from housewives and seamstresses to large-scale factories.[24] The movement to large-scale factories also resulted in a decrease in the amount of time clothing production took, which caused the prices for clothing to drop significantly. This is because manufacturers were able to decrease the number of workers needed to produce the same amount of clothing, resulting in reduced costs. Increased supply also lowered the cost.[25]

The initial effects of sewing machines on workers were both positive and negative, however in the long run the negative effects decreased. Many of the women who had previously been busy at home could now seek employment in factories, increasing the income for their family. This allowed for families to be able to afford more sets of clothing and items than they previously could.[25] For seamstresses, home sewing machines allowed them to produce clothing for the average person during periods when demand for fitted clothes was low, effectively increasing their earnings. When industrial sewing machines initially became popular many seamstresses working in factories, as well as those working at home, lost their jobs as it meant that fewer workers could produce the same output.[24] In the long run these now unemployed workers along with thousands of men and children would eventually be able to gain employment in jobs created as the clothing industry grew.[25]

The sewing machine's effects on the clothing industry resulted in major changes for other industries as well. Cotton production needed to increase in order to match the demand of the new clothing factories. As a result, cotton became planted in new areas where it hadn't previously been farmed. Other industries involved in the process benefited as well such as metal companies who provided for parts of the machines and shippers to move the increased amounts of goods.[26] In addition to being important for clothing production, sewing machines also became important in the manufacturing of furniture with upholstery, curtains and towels, toys, books, and many other products.[26]

New home 1917 sewing machine in cabinet


where do purple martins go in the winter time

Wintering in South America, purple martins migrate to North America in spring to breed. Spring migration is somewhat staggered, with arrivals in southern areas such as Florida and Texas in January, but showing up in the northern United States in April and in Canada as late as May. Males usually arrive at a site before females.[2]

Purple martin

The purple martin (Progne subis) is the largest North American swallow. These aerial acrobats have speed and agility in flight, and when approaching their housing, will dive from the sky at great speeds with their wings tucked.

Purple martins are a kind of swallow, of the genus Progne. Like other members of this genus, they are larger than most of the other swallows. The average length from bill to tail is 20 cm (7.9 in). Adults have a slightly forked tail. Adult males are entirely black with glossy steel blue sheen, the only swallow in North America with such coloration. Adult females are dark on top with some steel blue sheen, and lighter underparts. Subadult females look similar to adult females minus the steel blue sheen and browner on the back. Subadult males look very much like females, but solid black feathers emerge on their chest in a blotchy, random pattern as they molt to their adult plumage.[2]

This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Hirundo subis.[3] The current genus name refers to Procne (Πρόκνη), a mythological girl who was turned into a swallow to save her from her husband. She had killed their son to avenge the rape of her sister. The specific subis is Latin and refers to a type of bird that breaks eagles’ eggs; it may have been applied to this species because of its aggression towards birds of prey when it is nesting.[4]

The species of this genus are very closely related, and some view the purple martin, gray-breasted martin, snowy-bellied martin, and southern martin, as a superspecies.[5]

Purple martins' breeding range is throughout temperate North America.[6] Their breeding habitat is open areas across eastern North America, and also some locations on the west coast from British Columbia to Mexico.[7] Martins make their nests in cavities, either natural or artificial. In many places, humans put up real or artificial hollow gourds, or houses for martins, especially in the east, where purple martins are almost entirely dependent on such structures. As a result, this subspecies typically breeds in colonies located in proximity to people, even within cities and towns. This makes their distribution patchy, as they are usually absent from areas where no nest sites are provided. Western birds often make use of natural cavities such as old woodpecker holes in trees or saguaro cacti.[2][5]

The purple martin migrates to the Amazon basin in winter. Its winter range extends into Ecuador[8] but does not seem to ascend far up the Andean foothills.

The first record of this species in Europe was a single bird on Lewis, Scotland, on 5â€“6 September 2004, and the second was on the Azores on 6 September 2004.

Purple martins suffered a severe population crash in the 20th century widely linked to the release and spread of European starlings in North America. Starlings and house sparrows compete with martins for nest cavities. Where purple martins once gathered by the thousands, by the 1980s they had all but disappeared. [9]

The population of eastern purple martins (nominate form P. s. subis) is dependent on artificial martin houses of wood or aluminum and fake plastic gourds, supplied by individuals and organizations fond of the bird. This tradition was in place even before the population crash; Native Americans are said to have hollowed out gourds and erected them for this purpose. The situation requires ongoing maintenance, as European starlings and house sparrows compete with martins as cavity-nesters, and will fight with martins over nest sites. Starlings have even been known to kill purple martins, especially nestling young, and house sparrows have been known to evict purple martins from their nests. Thus, unmonitored purple martin houses are often overtaken by more aggressive, non-native species.[2] Purple martin proponents are motivated by the concern that the purple martin would likely vanish from eastern North America were it not for this assistance.[10]

Fall migration is also staggered, as birds head south when the breeding season is over. Some birds leave as early as July and others stay as late as October. Martins generally migrate over land, through Mexico and Central America. When not breeding, martins form large flocks and roost together in great numbers. This behavior begins just prior to the southern migration and continues on the wintering grounds.[2]

Males arrive in breeding sites before females, and establish their territory. A territory can consist of several potential nest sites. After forming a pair, both the male and female inspect available nest sites. This process is complicated by the fact that artificial nest sites could be houses with many rooms, clustered gourds, or single gourds. The nest is made inside the cavity of such artificial structures and retains a somewhat flat appearance. The nest is a structure of primarily three levels: the first level acts as a foundation and is usually made up of twigs, mud, small pebbles and in at least a few reported cases, small river mollusk shells were used; the second level of the nest is made up of grasses, finer smaller twigs; the third level of construction composing the nest, is a small compression usually lined with fresh green leaves where the eggs are laid. Three to six eggs are laid, and the female is the main incubator, with some help from the male. Purple martins are generally known to raise only a single brood. Fledging, when the young leave the nest, occurs at about one month, after which the parents continue to feed the fledgling young.[2]

Purple martins are aerial insectivores, meaning that they catch insects from the air. The birds are agile hunters and eat a variety of winged insects. Rarely, they will come to the ground to eat insects. They usually fly relatively high, so, contrary to popular opinion, mosquitoes do not form a large part of their diet.[2] Recent research, however, does indicate that the Purple Martin feeds on invasive fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) and that they may make up a significant portion of their diet.[11]

Purple martins are fairly noisy, chirping and making sounds that have been described as chortles, rattles, and croaks.[5] The various calls are said to be "throaty and rich" and can be rendered as tchew-wew, pew pew, choo, cher, zweet and zwrack. The males have a gurgling and guttural courtship song, a dawn song, and even a subsong used at the end of the breeding season.[5][12] Tapes of purple martin song are sold to attract martins to newly established birdhouses.


what arsenal player was in on the buses

As well as being a footballer, Bob McNab was a media personality in the 1970s, appearing on the panel for ITV's coverage of the 1970 FIFA World Cup,[6] and he had a cameo role in the 1973 On The Buses episode "The Football Match".[7] His daughter, Mercedes McNab is a notable actress.[8]

Bob McNab

Robert McNab (born 20 July 1943) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. McNab featured for clubs Huddersfield Town, Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers, San Antonio Thunder, Barnet, Vancouver Whitecaps and Tacoma Stars in his playing career. He also played for England's national football team.[1]

As a manager he was at the helm of teams Vancouver Whitecaps, Tacoma Stars, San Jose Grizzlies and Portsmouth.

Born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, McNab started out at local club, Huddersfield Town, where he made close to seventy appearances. In October 1966 he was signed by Bertie Mee for Arsenal for Â£50,000.[2][3]

He made his debut for the club in a defeat to Leeds United on 15 October 1968. McNab went on to become a regular and so play in the 1969 Football League Cup Final which Arsenal lost to Swindon Town.

As so with Arsenal he went on to lift the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Being a stalwart in the back line alongside Pat Rice and Frank McLintock, McNab played 62 matches in Arsenal's double-winning season, missing just two games. He thus featured throughout that campaign, going on to win a League and FA Cup Double in 1970–71 with the Gunners.[2][3]

With such he missed much of the 1971–72 season due to injury with Sammy Nelson deputising for him. McNab though was able to again play at Wembley in the 1972 FA Cup Final which Arsenal lost to Leeds United.[2]

McNab returned to full fitness in playing over 50 matches the following season. However, in 1973–74 he suffered another curtailing injury. With this being the case he again had to share the role of left back. With the younger Nelson being in favour, the 32-year-old McNab left the club on a free transfer in the summer of 1975. In total he played 365 matches for Arsenal, scoring six goals.[2]

After leaving Arsenal, he at first played for Wolverhampton Wanderers before linking up in the U.S. with the NASL's San Antonio Thunder. He then returned to England to join up with Barnet only to move back across the Atlantic to Canada. Whilst there he played for the NASL's Vancouver Whitecaps, where he brought his playing days to a close.[3]

McNab went on to coach the Whitecaps and thereafter the Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He left being at the helm of the Stars in December 1983 only to become the club's assistant manager. During the 1983â€“84 season, whilst in the aforesaid role he also played a solo game for the Stars. He was reappointed as the side's manager in March 1985.[4]

McNab later emigrated to Los Angeles, California, where he presently lives and works as a property developer. In 1999, he was part of a consortium led by Milan Mandaric that took over Portsmouth.[5] He was for an instance a caretaker manager of the side until the appointment of Tony Pulis within the following month.[3]

McNab made his debut for England on 6 November 1968 against Romania. He made a sum of four appearances for England. These caps came wherein home and away draws to Romania as well as a 3–1 win to Northern Ireland at Belfast and another 1–1 tie at Wembley to Belgium altogether.[3]

McNab was injured for the majority of the 1970â€“71 season and was thus doubtful for the FA Cup semi final played at the neutral venue of Villa Park against Stoke City. This scenario was referenced in the film Fever Pitch, where Paul Ashworth correctly predicts part of the game's lineup with the line, "McNab won't play. Bertie Mee wouldn't risk him."


where does the secretary bird get its name

Its common name is popularly thought to derive from the crest of long quill-like feathers, lending the bird the appearance of a secretary with quill pens tucked behind their ear, as was once common practice. A more recent hypothesis is that "secretary" is borrowed from a French corruption of the Arabic saqr-et-tair or "hunter-bird".[9]

Secretarybird

The secretarybird or secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is a very large, mostly terrestrial bird of prey. Endemic to Africa, it is usually found in the open grasslands and savannah of the sub-Saharan region. Although a member of the order Accipitriformes, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, hawks, vultures, and harriers, it is given its own family, Sagittariidae.

It appears on the coats of arms of Sudan and South Africa.

In 1779 English illustrator John Frederick Miller was the first European to describe the secretarybird,[3] and it was soon after assigned to its own genus Sagittarius by French naturalist Johann Hermann in his Tabula Affinitatum Animalium.[4] It was not until 1935 that the species was moved to its own family, distinct from all other birds of preyâ€”a classification confirmed by molecular systematics.[5] Recent cladistic analysis has shown Sagittariidae to be an older branch of the diurnal birds of prey than Accipitridae and Falconidae, but a younger divergence than Cathartidae.[6] Sometimes, the enigmatic bird Eremopezus is classified as an early relative of the secretarybird, though this is uncertain as the bird is only known from a few fragmentary body parts such as the legs. The earliest fossils associated with the family are two species from the genus Pelargopappus. The two species, from the Oligocene and Miocene respectively, were not discovered in Africa but France. The feet in these fossils are more like those of the Accipitridae; it is suggested that these characteristics are primitive features within the family. In spite of their age, it is not thought that the two species are ancestral to the secretary bird.[7]

Though strongly convergent with the modern secretarybird, the extinct raptor Apatosagittarius is thought to be an accipitrid.[8]

The generic name Sagittarius is Latin for "archer", perhaps likening the secretary bird's "quills" to a quiver of arrows, and the specific epithet serpentarius recalls the bird's skill as a hunter of reptiles.[10]

The secretary bird is instantly recognizable as a very large bird with an eagle-like body on crane-like legs which increases the bird’s height to as much as 1.3 m (4.3 ft) tall. This bird has an eagle-like head with a hooked bill, but has rounded wings.[11] Height can range from 90 to 137 cm (35 to 54 in). Total length from 112 to 152 cm (44 to 60 in) and the wingspan is 191–220 cm (75–87 in).[12][13][14] Body mass can range from 2.3 to 5 kg (5.1 to 11.0 lb) with 20 birds from southern Africa found to weigh an average of 4.02 kg (8.9 lb).[15] Other attempts to estimate the mean weight range for secretary birds correspondingly lie between 3.5 and 4.2 kg (7.7 and 9.3 lb).[16][17][18] The tarsus of the secretary bird averages 31 cm (12 in) and the tail is 57–85 cm (22–33 in), both factor into making them both taller and longer than any other species of raptor since these features are not as long in any other living raptor.[12] The neck is not especially long, and can only be lowered down to the inter-tarsal joint, so birds reaching down to the ground or drinking must stoop to do so.[9]

From a distance or in flight it resembles a crane more than a bird of prey. The tail has two elongated central feathers that extend beyond the feet during flight, as well as long flat plumage creating a posterior crest.[11] Secretary bird flight feathers and thighs are black, while most of the coverts are grey with some being white.[19] Sexes look similar to one another as the species exhibits very little sexual dimorphism, although the male has longer head plumes and tail feathers. Adults have a featherless red face as opposed to the yellow facial skin of the young.[11]

Secretary birds are endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa and are non-migratory, though they may follow food sources.[20] Their range extends from Mauritania to Somalia and south to the Cape of Good Hope.[11] These birds are also found at a variety of elevations, from the coastal plains to the highlands. Secretary birds prefer open grasslands and savannas rather than forests and dense shrubbery which may impede their cursorial existence.[21] While the birds roost on the local Acacia trees at night, they spend much of the day on the ground, returning to roosting sites just before dark.[22]

Unlike most birds of prey, the secretary bird is largely terrestrial, hunting its prey on foot. Adults hunt in pairs and sometimes as loose familial flocks, stalking through the habitat with long strides.[23] Prey may consist of insects, mammals ranging in size from mice to hares and mongoose, crabs, lizards, snakes, tortoises, small birds, bird eggs, and sometimes dead animals killed in grass or bush fires. Larger herbivores are not generally hunted, although there are some reports of secretary birds killing young gazelles[23] and cheetah cubs.[24] The importance of snakes in the diet has been exaggerated in the past, although they can be locally important and venomous species such as adders and cobras are regularly among the types of snake preyed upon.[25]Secretarybirds are kept as pest controllers by farmers to rid of snakes.[26]

Prey is often flushed out of tall grass by the birds stomping on the surrounding vegetation. It also waits near fires, eating anything it can that is trying to escape. They can either catch prey by chasing it and striking with the bill and swallowing (usually with small prey), or stamping on prey until it is rendered stunned or unconscious enough to swallow.[11] Larger or dangerous prey, such as venomous snakes, are instead stunned or killed by the bird jumping onto their backs, at which point they will try to snap their necks or backs. There are some reports that, when capturing snakes, the secretary birds will take flight with their prey and then drop them to their death, although this has not been verified. Even with larger prey, food is generally swallowed whole through the birds' considerable gape. Occasionally, like other raptors, they will tear apart prey with their feet before consuming it.[25]

Young are fed liquefied and regurgitated insects directly by the male or female parent and are eventually weaned to small mammals and reptile fragments regurgitated onto the nest itself. The above foodstuffs are originally stored in the crop of the adults.[11]

The secretarybird has a relatively short digestive tract in comparison to other large African birds such as the kori bustard.[27] As the foregut is specialized for digesting large amounts of meat in a short amount of time, there is little need for the physical breakdown of food within the digestive tract over extended time spans.[28] The crop of the secretarybird is dilated and the gizzard is nonmuscular in comparison to other birds.[29] The large intestine lacks a cecum as there is little need for fermentative digestion of plant material.[30]

In hunting and feeding on small animals and arthropods on the ground and in tall grass or scrub, secretarybirds occupy an ecological niche similar to that occupied by peafowl in South and Southeast Asia, roadrunners in North and Central America and seriemas in South America.[citation needed]

Secretarybirds associate in monogamous pairs. During courtship, they exhibit a nuptial display by soaring high with undulating flight patterns and calling with guttural croaking. Males and females can also perform a grounded display by chasing each other with their wings up and back, much like the way they chase prey. They usually mate on the ground, although some do so in Acacia trees. Secretarybirds will stay close to their mate even if their chick has already left.

Nests are built at a height of 5–7 m (16–23 ft) on Acacia trees. Both the male and female visit the nest site for almost half a year before egg laying takes place. The nest is around 2.5 m (eight feet) wide and 30 cm (one foot) deep, and is constructed as a relatively flat basin of sticks.

Secretary birds lay two to three oval, pale-green eggs over the course of two to three days, although the third egg is most often unfertilised.[citation needed] These eggs are incubated primarily by the female for 45 days until they hatch. The secretarybirds are facultatively fratricidal.[31] There are conflicting opinions on this phenomenon also called cainismâ€”"No evidence [exists] of sibling aggression, but youngest in brood of 3 almost always dies of starvation..."[32]

The downy young can feed autonomously after 40 days, although the parents still feed the young after that time. Both the parents feed the young. At 60 days, the young start to flap their wings, and by day 65â€“80 are able to fledge. Fledging is accomplished by jumping out of the nest or using a semi-controlled fall via fervent wing flapping to the ground. After this time, the young are quickly taught how to hunt through expeditions with their parents and are considered independent soon after.[11]

Secretarybirds specialize in stomping their prey until the prey is killed or immobilized.[28] This method of hunting is commonly applied to lizards or snakes.[19] An adult male trained to strike at a rubber snake on a force plate was found to hit with a force equal to 5 times its own body weight, with a contact period of only 10â€“15 ms. This short time of contact suggests that the secretarybird relies on superior visual targeting to determine the precise location of the prey's head. Although little is known about its visual field, it is assumed that it is large, frontal and binocular.[28]

As secretarybirds are anatomically similar (but apparently not closely related) to the extinct Phorusrhacidae, it has been hypothesized that these birds may have employed a similar hunting technique.[28]

Secretarybirds have unusually long legs (nearly twice as long as other ground birds of the same body mass), which is thought to be an adaptation for the birdâ€™s unique stomping/striking hunting method. However, these long limbs appear to also lower its running efficiency.[28]

The first successful rearing of a secretarybird in captivity occurred in 1986 at the Oklahoma City Zoo. Although secretarybirds build their nests in the trees in the wild, the captive birds at the Oklahoma City Zoo built theirs on the ground, which left their eggs open to depredation by local wild mammals. Therefore, zoo staff removed the eggs from the nest each time they were laid to be incubated and hatched at a safer location.[33] The species now successfully breeds in captivity around the world, including in the San Diego Zoo and the Toronto Zoo.[citation needed]

The secretary bird has traditionally been admired in Africa for its striking appearance and ability to deal with pests and snakes. Africans sometimes call it the Devil's Horse. As such it has often not been disturbed, although this is changing as traditional observances have declined.[9]

The secretary bird is the emblem of Sudan as well as a prominent feature on the coat of arms of South Africa.

In Sudan, it is featured in the middle white strip of the Presidential Flag; it is the main object on the Presidential Seal, and features heavily in Sudanese military insignia. The secretarybird on the Presidential Flag and Seal has its head turned to the right, with its distinctive crest clearly visible and its wings spread out with a white banner between its outstretched wings reading "Victory Is Ours".

The secretary bird has been a common motif for African countries on postage stamps: over 65 stamps from about 30 countries are known, including some from stamp-issuing entities such as Ajman, Manama, the Maldives and the United Nations where the bird does not exist.[34]

The young are preyed upon by crows, ravens, hornbills, large owls and kites as they are vulnerable in Acacia tree tops, with no known incidents of predation on adults.[11][25] As a population, the secretary bird is mainly threatened by loss of habitat and deforestation.[35] In 1968 the species became protected under the Africa Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.[11] Loss of grassland to bush encroachment driven by rising CO2 levels has also been implicated, as has a susceptibility to power line collisions.[36] Nevertheless, the species is still widespread across Africa, and has adapted well to arable land where prey animals such as rodents are more common than in traditional habitat. The species is well represented in protected areas as well. They are assessed as vulnerable by the IUCN due to a recent rapid decline across their entire range.[1]


where does the maglev train go in shanghai

The Shanghai Maglev Train or Shanghai Transrapid (Chinese: 上海磁浮示范运营线) is a magnetic levitation train, or maglev line that operates in Shanghai, China. The line was the third commercially operated magnetic levitation line to open in history. It is the fastest commercial high-speed electric train in the world.[1] The train line was designed to connect Shanghai Pudong International Airport and the outskirts of central Pudong where passengers could interchange to the Shanghai Metro to continue their trip to the city center. It cost $1.2 billion to build.[2] The line's balance of payments has been in huge deficit since its opening. From 2004 to 2006, Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co. Ltd, the company which runs the line, had more than 1 billion RMB in losses.[3] The line is not a part of the Shanghai Metro network, which operates its own service to Pudong Airport from central Shanghai and from Longyang Road Station.

Shanghai Maglev Train

The line runs from Longyang Road station in Pudong to Pudong International Airport; The Pudong International Airport station provides a transfer to Line 2, but the Longyang Road station provides access to Line 2, Line 7 and Line 16. At full speed, the journey takes 7 minutes and 20 seconds to complete the distance of 30 km (18.6 mi),[4] although some trains in the early morning and late afternoon take about 50 seconds longer. A train can reach 350 km/h (217 mph) in 2 minutes, with the maximum normal operation speed of 431 km/h (268 mph) reached thereafter.

Hans-Dieter Bott, vice president of Siemens that won the contract to build the rail link, stated that "Transrapid views the Shanghai line, where the ride will last just eight minutes, largely as a sales tool. This serves as a demonstration for China to show that this works and can be used for longer distances, such as Shanghai to Beijing".[5] However, the decision was eventually made to implement the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway with conventional high-speed technology. Plans for a shorter maglev extension from Longyang Road to Hangzhou, the Shanghai–Hangzhou Maglev Line, have been suspended.

Speculation that a line would be built from Shanghai to Beijing mounted in 2002. It would cover a distance of about 1,300 km (808 mi), at an estimated cost of £15.5bn.[6] The chief executive of ThyssenKrupp, Dr Ekkehard Schulz said he was certain that not only Germany, but many countries would follow the Chinese example. The German government along with a selection of German companies sought to win more projects for their maglev technology, and highlighted that a train between Shanghai and the Chinese capital, Beijing remained a possibility. However, no projects have been revealed as of 2014.[7]

Construction of the line began in March 1, 2001,[8] and public commercial service commenced on 1 January 2004. The top operational commercial speed of this train is 431 km/h (268 mph), making it the world's fastest train in regular commercial service since its opening in April 2004. During a non-commercial test run on 12 November 2003, piloted by Jonathan Texiera, a maglev train achieved a Chinese record speed of 501 km/h (311 mph).[9] The Shanghai Maglev has a length of 153 metres (502 ft), a width of 3.7 metres (12 ft), a height of 4.2 metres (14 ft) and a three-class, 574-passenger configuration.[10]

The train set was built by a joint venture of Siemens and ThyssenKrupp from Kassel, Germany and based on years of tests and improvements of their Transrapid maglev monorail. The Shanghai Maglev track (guideway) was built by local Chinese companies who, as a result of the alluvial soil conditions of the Pudong area, had to deviate from the original track design of one supporting column every 50 metres to one column every 25 metres, to ensure that the guideway meets the stability and precision criteria. Several thousand concrete piles were driven to depths up to 70 metres to attain stability for the support column foundations. A mile-long, climate controlled facility was built alongside the line's right of way to manufacture the guideways.

The electrification of the train was developed by Vahle, Inc.[11] Two commercial maglev systems predated the Shanghai system: the Birmingham Maglev in the United Kingdom and the Berlin M-Bahn. Both were low-speed operations and closed before the opening of the Shanghai Maglev Train.

The train was inaugurated in 2002 by the German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, and the Chinese premier, Zhu Rongji.[6]

The line is operated by Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co., Ltd and runs from 06:45 to 21:30, with services every 15 to 20 minutes. A one-way ticket costs ¥50 (US$8), or ¥40 ($6.40) for those passengers holding a receipt or proof of an airline ticket purchase. A round-trip return ticket costs ¥80 ($12.80) and VIP tickets cost double the standard fare.

Following the opening, overall maglev train ridership levels were at 20% of capacity.[12] The levels were attributed to limited operating hours, the short length of the line, high ticket prices and that it terminates at Longyang Road in Pudong â€“ another 20 min by subway from the city centre.[12]

Two additional one-way scheduled trains starts off at 10:15 pm and 10:40 pm from Pudong Airport to Longyang Road for about 8 minutes since October 2016.[14] Travel time was sped up considerably, as the 30 km (19 mi) journey takes 45 minutes by road.[6]

Shanghai Maglev operator in the train cabin

Shanghai Maglev VIP passenger interior

Shanghai Maglev standard passenger interior

A 2007 statement by Transrapid USA said with 4 million passengers in 2006 the system was able to cover its operating costs. The ratio of costs were given as: 64%-energy, 19%-maintenance & 17%-operations/support services; no amount was given. The high proportion of energy costs was attributed to the short trip time and high operating speed.[15] However, according to Chinese media's report, due to the huge costs of operating and the lack of the passenger flow, Shanghai Maglev Transportation Company would lose 500 million to 700 million RMB every year.[16]

The Shanghai Transrapid project took ¥10 billion (US$1.33bn) and two and a half years to complete. The line is 30.5 km (18.95 mi) track and has a further separate track leading to a maintenance facility.

In January 2006, the Shanghai–Hangzhou Maglev Line extension project was proposed by the Shanghai Urban Planning Administrative Bureau. The extension would continue the existing line towards Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, running via Shanghai South Railway Station and the Expo 2010 site, with a possible continuation towards Hangzhou. The extension would allow transferring between the two airports—located 55 km (34 mi) apart—in approximately 15 minutes.

The plan for the extension to Hangzhou was first approved by the central government in February 2006, with a planned date of completion in 2010. Work was suspended in 2008, owing to public protests over radiation fears[17] despite an environmental assessment by the Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences saying the line was safe and would not affect air and water quality, and noise pollution could be controlled.[18] According to China Daily, as reported on People's Daily Online 27 February 2009, the Shanghai municipal government was considering building the maglev line underground to allay the public's fear of electromagnetic pollution and the final decision on the maglev line had to be approved by the National Development and Reform commission.

Another approval was granted in March 2010, with construction to begin in late 2010.[19] The new link was to be 199.5 km (124 mi) long, 24 km (15 mi) longer than the original plan. The top speed is expected to be 450 km/h (280 mph) but limited to 200 km/h (124 mph) in built-up areas.

However, in October 2010 the non-maglev Shanghai–Hangzhou High-Speed Railway was opened, bringing travelling time between the two cities down to 45 minutes. Plans for a Maglev link have been suspended again.[20]

On 11 August 2006, a Maglev train compartment caught fire at 14:40, after having left Pudong International Airport in the direction of Pudong Longyang Road Station. There were no injuries aboard. Preliminary reports indicated that an electrical problem may have been the cause.

On 14 February 2016, the Shanghai Maglev line had an equipment failure which affected operation for more than 1 hour. Due to the use of single-line operation during this time, the train interval was extended.[21]

As part of the contract, Transrapid agreed to a limited technology transfer with China. The first Chinese-built four-car vehicle containing German core components and technology went into service in January 2011.[22]


what are animals called that are active at dawn and dusk

Crepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk).[1] This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of daylight or the hours of darkness, respectively. The term is not precise, however, as some crepuscular animals may also be active on a moonlit night or during an overcast day. The term matutinal is used for animals that are active only before sunrise, and vespertine for those active only after sunset.

Crepuscular animal

The time of day an animal is active depends on a number of factors. Predators need to link their activities to times of day at which their prey is available, and prey try to avoid the times when their principal predators are at large. The temperature at midday may be too high or at night too low.[2] Some creatures may adjust their activities depending on local competition. Therefore, for many varied reasons, crepuscular activity may best meet an animal's requirements by compromise.

The word crepuscular derives from the Latin crepusculum ("twilight").[3] Its sense accordingly differs from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, which respectively peak during hours of daylight and darkness. The distinction is not absolute however, because crepuscular animals may also be active on a bright moonlit night or on a dull day. Some animals casually described as nocturnal are in fact crepuscular.[2]

Special classes of crepuscular behaviour include matutinal (or "matinal") and vespertine, denoting species active only in the dawn or only in the dusk, respectively. Those that are active during both morning and evening twilight are said to have a bimodal activity pattern.

The various patterns of activity are thought to be mainly antipredator adaptations, though some could equally well be predatory adaptations. Many predators forage most intensively at night, whereas others are active at midday and see best in full sun. Thus, the crepuscular habit may both reduce predation pressure, thereby increasing the crepuscular populations, and in consequence offer better foraging opportunities to predators that increasingly focus their attention on crepuscular prey until a new balance is struck. Such shifting states of balance are often found in ecology.

Some predatory species adjust their habits in response to competition from other predators. For example, the subspecies of short-eared owl that lives on the Galápagos Islands is normally active during the day, but on islands like Santa Cruz that are home to the Galapagos hawk, the owl is crepuscular.[4][5]

Apart from the relevance to predation, crepuscular activity in hot regions also may be the most effective way of avoiding heat stress while capitalizing on available light.

Many familiar mammal species are crepuscular, including some bats,[2] hamsters, housecats, stray dogs[6], rabbits,[2] ferrets[7], guinea pigs and rats[8]. Other crepuscular mammals include jaguars, ocelots, bobcats, strepsirrhines, red pandas, bears,[9] deer,[2][10] moose, sitatunga, capybaras, chinchillas, the common mouse, skunks, Australian wombats, wallabies, quolls, possums[2] and marsupial gliders, tenrecs, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs.

Snakes and lizards, especially those in desert environments, may be crepuscular.[2]

Crepuscular birds include the common nighthawk, barn owl,[11] owlet-nightjar, chimney swift, American woodcock, spotted crake, and white-breasted waterhen.[12]

Many moths, beetles, flies, and other insects are crepuscular and vespertine.


what conference was louisville in before the acc

The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Conference from 2005 through 2013, the Cardinals captured 17 regular season Big East titles and 33 Big East Tournament titles totaling 50 Big East Championships across all sports. With their 2013 Sugar Bowl appearance against the Florida Gators, the Cardinals football team became the only football team in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to have appeared in and won two Bowl Championship Series bowls, having defeated Wake Forest 24–13 in the 2007 Orange Bowl and Florida 33–23 in the 2013 Sugar Bowl. On November 28, 2012, Louisville received and accepted an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference and became a participating member in all sports in 2014. [2]

Louisville Cardinals

Since 2000 Louisville is the only NCAA team to win a BCS bowl game; to appear in the NCAA Division I men's basketball Final Four, the College World Series, and the NCAA Division I women's basketball Final Four; and to finish as runner-up in the Men's soccer College Cup. It is one of only six schools that has appeared more than once in each of the following events—a BCS bowl game, the men's and women's basketball Final Fours, and the College World Series—and Louisville's span of seven school years (2006–07 to 2012–13) is the shortest among these schools.[3] Also, it is the first school ever to win a BCS bowl game, appear in the men's and women's basketball Final Fours, and appear in the College World Series in the same school year, doing so in 2012–13.[3]

Under the guidance of Director of Athletics Tom Jurich, the Cardinals have seen substantial athletic and institutional growth, spending more than $150Â million for sporting facility upgrades while maintaining strong fan support and Title IX compliance. U of L currently fields 13 women's teams and 10 men's teams. The total sales of U of L merchandise, tripling since 2001, now rank 32nd nationally.

U of L finished the 2015–16 year ranked 29th in the NACDA Learfield Sports Directors' Cup.[4] The 2015–16 season began with Louisville ranked 24th through the final fall standings.[5]

The 2006 Baseball Cardinals broke the Big East Conference Tournament record with a.409 batting average.[6]

In 2007, the Cardinals finished the season with a 47â€“24 record and ranked as high as 6th in some major polls while advancing to the College World Series for the first time in school history.

UofL's basketball tradition was established by Muhlenberg County native, Coach Bernard "Peck" Hickman. The Cards never had a losing season in Hickman's 23 years, prior to his arrival the team had only had 11 winning seasons. In 1956, Hickman's team won the NIT, then considered a national championship on a par with the NCAA tournament. After retiring, Hickman became the school's Athletics Director and hired then John Wooden assistant and future Hall of Famer Denny Crum, who led the team to two NCAA Division I basketball championships (1980 and 1986) and six Final Fours. The men's basketball team currently ranks fifth in all-time NCAA Tournament wins and has been in the top-five in average attendance each year since the 1982–83 season. Perennial rivals include the University of Kentucky, University of Cincinnati, and the University of Memphis.

The team was established in 1975.

The cheerleading squads have won multiple championships with the large co-ed squad winning 15 National Cheerleaders Association Collegiate National championships (1985–86, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998–99, 2003–05, 2007–09, 2011), the all-female squad winning nine championships (1998–99, 2001–05, 2009, 2011) and the small co-ed cheerleading squad winning seven championships (2005–11).[9][10] The University of Louisville Spirit Groups hold more national titles than any other sport offered at the university.

The Cardinal Bird Mascot also falls under the jurisdiction of the University of Louisville Spirit Groups. The "Bird" also competes with the cheerleaders in national competitions and makes regular appearances in the Louisville Metro Area.

Men's CC

Women's CC

The UofL women's field hockey team received the NFHCA Division I National Academic Team Award for their 3.65 GPA, which was the highest in the nation.[11] The team also won two MAC tourney titles in 2003 and 2004 and finished one game back in their first Big East season.

Under the guidance of head coaches John L. Smith (1998–2002) and Bobby Petrino (2003–2007), the Louisville football program went to nine consecutive bowl games, a streak that ended in the 2007 season. After a three year hiatus under Coach Kragthorpe from 2007-2009 Louisville has been to eight consecutive bowl games under Coaches Charlie Strong and Bobby Petrino.

Under Coach Smith, the Cardinals spent 11Â weeks in the AP Top 25, including a #17 final finish in 2000.

Under Coach Petrino, the Cardinals were ranked in all but three of the weekly AP polls since the beginning of the 2004 season. This includes a #6 final finish in both 2004 and 2006, as well as a #19 final finish in 2005.

In the 2004 season, the Cardinals went 11â€“1 and won the Conference USA Championship; their only loss was against third-ranked Miami, a game in which the Cardinals led by 17 in the third quarter before falling. The Cardinals went to the Liberty Bowl, where they defeated #10-ranked and previously-undefeated Boise State.

In 2005, the Cardinals finished 9â€“3 after falling to Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl and completed the season ranked #19 in the AP Poll and #20 in the Coaches' Poll.

In 2006, the Cardinals began the season ranked #13 in the AP poll and finished the season with a 12–1 record, their first Big East Conference title and completed the season with a 24–13 victory over the Atlantic Coast Conference champion Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl. The Cards finished the 2006 season ranked #6 in the AP Poll and #7 in the Coaches Poll, while being ranked #6 in the Bowl Championship Series Poll.

On January 9, 2007, Steve Kragthorpe was introduced as the new head coach of the Cardinals, within 48 hours after Bobby Petrino announced his departure to take the head coaching position with the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League. The Cardinals went 6–6 in Kragthorpe's first season and the second season 5–7. He was fired after his third season (2009) ended with a disappointing 4–8 record. Kragthorpe's replacement is Charlie Strong, formerly the defensive coordinator at Florida, and the second African American to head the Cardinals program.

None of the football program's recent success would have been possible without the vision and efforts of former Kentucky All-American and national champion coach (at the University of Miami) Howard Schnellenberger, who was the head coach from 1985 to 1994. His greatest achievement at U of L was a 34–7 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl (Alabama finished 7–5), which culminated in U of L's first national ranking (11th) and a 10–1–1 record.

The University of Louisville football program's home is Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

The UofL football program annually plays for the Governor's Cup (awarded to the winner of the Louisville-Kentucky football game) and The Keg of Nails (awarded to the winner of the annual Louisville-Cincinnati football game). Both trophies currently reside in Louisville.

The film "The Replacements" was rumored to be based on former Cardinal quarterback Ed Rubbert (played by Keanu Reeves), who led the Washington Redskins' 1987 strike team to a 3â€“0 record en route to the franchise's Super Bowl XXI championship.[citation needed]

UofL is one of two universities in the state of Kentucky to have a women's rowing team, the other being Murray State University.

Louisville Finishes Historic Season as NCAA Runner-Up

The top-ranked Louisville men's soccer team fell 1–0 to Akron in the 2010 NCAA national championship game in front of 9,672 in Santa Barbara, Calif. The Cardinals, who appeared in the College Cup for the first time in program history, finished the season with a 20–1–3 overall record. Prior to reaching the NCAA Tournament, Louisville won the BIG EAST Red Division regular-season title and captured the BIG EAST Tournament title.[13]

On February 21, 2013, U of L announced that it would build a new soccer-only stadium on campus. The new stadium, with a capacity of 5,300, is set to open for the 2014 season, and will be known as Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium, after the married couple who donated $5 million toward the $17.5 million project.[14]

Men'sÂ :

Volleyball has traditionally been one of UofL's most successful programs, led for 15 years by head coach Leonid Yelin, whose.772 career winning percentage ranked 9th among active coaches prior to his retirement after the 2010 season. He was replaced by former U of L player Anne Kordes, who had spent the previous seven seasons as head coach at Saint Louis. During the 2005 season, UofL was ranked as high as #6 en route to a 30–3 record, a regular season tie for the Big East title, and a second straight trip to the Sweet 16. In the most recent 2012 season, the team averaged 2,341 fans while playing mainly at the KFC Yum! Center. Their traditional home of Cardinal Arena, with 840 seats, has become too small for the team's current popularity, with fans turned away at several games. While U of L has sought state funding to expand Cardinal Arena to better meet fan demands and prevent unsafe "standing room only" crowds, it has more recently opted to move full-time into the KFC Yum! Center; of its 19 home matches in the 2012 season, 15 were scheduled for that facility. U of L also hosted both the 2005 Big East Volleyball tournament and the first two rounds of NCAA volleyball tournament at the Kentucky International Expo Center in Downtown Louisville, and will host the Women's Final Four in 2012 at the KFC Yum! Center.

In 2005, two Cardinals, seniors Lena Ustymenko and Jennifer Hoffman, were named second team All-American. Previously only one Big East volleyball player had been named an All-American.[15] Ustymenko was also named the 2005 Big East player of the year and Hoffman led the nation in hitting percentage in the Card's 6–2 offense.[15] The program has won 15 of its last 16 conference titles (with another in 1983) and has been to the NCAA tourney 17 times since 1982, with 47 players making their all-conference team. The team has a 157–19 all-time record at Cardinal Arena, and is 17–6 at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinal volleyball team has won conference championships 18 times, from C-USA to the Big East, American, and ACC.

Most recently, after the Cardinals joined the ACC in 2014, the Cardinals won the 2015 ACC title, the first ACC crown ever won by any Louisville team.[16] Senior setter Katie George, also notable as that year's Miss Kentucky USA,[17] was named ACC Player of the Year and Setter of the Year.[18] In addition, Kordes was named Coach of the Year, and libero Molly Sauer was named Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.[18]

The Cardinal volleyball team moved back into the newly expanded Cardinal Arena in 2017.[19]

Louisville has won three NCAA team national championships.[20]

***Vacated by the NCAA

The University of Louisville Rugby Club was re-founded in 2009, and was promoted to Division II of college rugby in 2011.[21] Louisville Rugby is led by head coach Eric Raney. Louisville Rugby has an active recruiting program, yielding recruits from Kentucky high school rugby all stars.[22] Louisville offers scholarships and grants, funded by the Louisville Rugby Old Boys' Association, to incoming rugby recruits.[23]

The University of Louisville has risen from 174th in the Director's Cup standings in 1999–2000 to 28th in 2006–2007. U of L finished the 2010–2011 year ranked 34th in the NACDA Learfield Sports Directors' Cup.[4]

The 2011â€“12 season began with Louisville ranked 11th through the final fall standings.[5]

Attendance ranks are based on average per home game.

In 2005, UofL was among only a handful of schools to average better than 97 percent attendance to capacity in volleyball, men's basketball, and football.[citation needed]

The broadcast team for Louisville men's basketball is Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano or Doug Ormay (color analyst). The broadcast team for Louisville football is Paul Rogers (play-by-play); Craig Swabek (color analyst) and Doug Ormay (sideline reporter).

U of L games are broadcast in Lexington KY on WWRW 105.5 FM and WKRD 790Â AM & 101.7- Louisville, KY (Flagship Station)

For Women's basketball, Women's Play by play is provided by Jim Kelch, with Adrienne Johnson as the color analyst. All Women's Basketball games are heard on WKRD 790Â AM or on FM 101.7 in Louisville.

SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Nelligan Sports Marketing, the University of Louisville and CSTV: College Sports Television announced an agreement on January 10, 2005, making SIRIUS the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the University of Louisville. SIRIUS will broadcast select play-by-play sports of Louisville's nationally ranked college basketball and football teams

The Louisville Cardinals rivalry with the Kentucky Wildcats is widely considered one of the most intense college rivalries in the United States.[33] It is also one of the few rivalries to be equally intense in basketball and football, and practically every other sport as well. The men's basketball game is called the Battle for the Bluegrass; the football game is officially called the Governor's Cup.

In the early years after the rivalry resumed whoever would win the football game would go on to lose the basketball game. In 2003 Louisville broke that tradition by winning both the football and basketball game. Since then, Kentucky has completed the double twice, in the 2009–2010 and the 2010–2011 seasons. Louisville won both the football and bastketball games again in 2012.

Unlike many in-state rivalries that have been played continuously for many decades, these two schools went through a long period from the 1930s to the 1980s of rarely facing each other. They did play frequently from the 1900s to 1920's. Since the renewal of the men's basketball rivalry in 1983–84 UK leads the modern rivalry 25–13 and the all-time series 34–16. Since the two teams resumed playing football in 1994, U of L leads the modern series 15–9 but the all-time series is tied 15–15.

Within the intrastate rivalry with the Kentucky Wildcats, the team that has won the football game has lost the following basketball game every year, except in 2003 and 2012 (when UofL won both) and 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 (when UK won both).

Known more for an intense basketball rivalry and tradition, U of L and UC have a football rivalry that has stretched over the span of four conferences from the Missouri Valley Conference, to the Metro Conference to Conference USA, and more recently in the Big East Conference, which in 2013 was renamed to the American Athletic Conference. It is believed to be the oldest rivalry for the Louisville football team and the second oldest for Cincinnati, only behind the annual game with the Miami RedHawks.

On the gridiron, the two teams compete for the Keg of Nails Trophy, though the series has been on hiatus since 2013. The Bearcats lead the series 30-22-1.

Since joining the ACC in 2014, the Cardinals have been part of a budding rivalry with Virginia. Both teams have found themselves at or near the top of the conference standings in many sports, including baseball, basketball, and soccer. Given that UL was designated as Maryland's replacement as UVA's crossover rival, the teams play annually in football (despite being in different divisions), twice a year in basketball, and once a year in baseball. On the basketball court, both teams have Elite 8 appearances since Louisville joined the ACC and both baseball programs have multiple College World Series appearances (with UVA claiming the title in 2015). The football teams have taken part in some great matchups since realignment as well, with 3 of the 4 games being decided by single digits.

Virginia leads the all-time men's basketball series 10-4 while Louisville leads the football series 4-2.

Louisville also has dormant Big East rivalries with University of Memphis Tigers and Marquette University, which have been on hiatus since 2014 and 2013, respectively.


who is the author of i am david

I am David is a 1963 novel by Anne Holm. It tells the story of a young boy who, with the help of a prison guard, escapes from a concentration camp in an unnamed Eastern European country (according to geographical clues, probably Bulgaria) and journeys to Denmark. Along the way he meets many people who teach him about life outside the camp.

I Am David

The book, originally written in Danish, has been translated into several languages, including Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and German (all 1963), Dutch (1964), English (1965), Afrikaans (1981), French (1986) and Konkani (1987). In the United States, the book was first called North to Freedom, but it is now also being published as I am David. It was made into a film in 2003.

12 -year-old David has lived in a concentration camp for as long as he can remember. While the people who run the camp are only referred to as them, later in the book it is stated that they came to power in 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution.

His only friend in the camp, Johannes, died some time before from a heart attack, as is revealed in a flashback in Chapter 1. One of the commandants has been keeping an eye on David, making sure he is fed properly and taking his vitamins. This guard sets up the escape, gives him some soap, and leaves a sack outside the camp fence with bread, a bottle of water, and a compass in it. David must go south to Salonika, find a boat to Italy, then travel north to a free country that has a king.

David finds a truck headed for Salonika, and without realizing it, climbs on board. He eats some of the food inside and when the truck stops, he jumps out. He finds a boat labeled "Italy" and sneaks in. After hiding for a few days and getting quite drunk (accidentally), he is found. Thankfully, the Italian sailor decides to help David escape by lowering him down the side of the ship with a lifebelt on. He floats to land and, after climbing for a little ways, promptly falls asleep.

After having abath, David finds a cave to spend the day in. Then he decides to go to the town nearby to learn about life outside of a prison camp. He is given, much to his surprise, a loaf of bread. He also finds a piece of newspaper that he uses to practice reading with. Later, after visiting the town every day for a while, David decides uses the excuse that he works for a circus to explain why he is a polyglot and why he is traveling. Then he overhears people talking about him. He flees the town and travels north. On his way, he helps people, and sometimes they give him money. Along his journey, David discovers the beauty of the world and slowly he changes his behavior and the way he interacts with people.

He saves a girl named Maria from a fire in a shed where she was trapped. David spends some time in Maria's family's house, where he sees a globe and learns about different countries. However, his knowledge of suffering and death, as well as his enemity with their eldest son and his deepening, overtly exclusive relationship with Maria worries the parents. David overhears them talking about him and, after writing them a letter, leaves the house to travel north again. Some time later he sees a personal advertisement in a newspaper placed by Maria's family, offering him a home and saying they understand his reticence.

David has also been praying to the "God of green pastures", and a priest explains that while some people say there are many gods, there really is only one.

When he meets Sophie, a middle-aged lady who lives in Switzerland and likes to paint as a hobby, she asks David if she might paint him; later she invites David to have lunch with her in her house, and while he is there, David sees a picture of a woman in Denmark. Sophie tells him that the woman's husband and her child, a boy named David, were killed, but that a guard who was attracted to the woman allowed her to escape. He realizes he needs to travel to Denmark and find that woman, who is his mother. He also realizes that the guard, who became the commandant, has saved him because he was in love with David's mother. However, because she did not love him back, and he felt a need for revenge, he did not tell her that David was still alive.

When winter hits, David is travelling through the mountains, and he is held prisoner by a farmer who uses him for work. It is a hard season, but he is grateful to shelter at night in the farmer's stable until the snow melts. The farmer's dog, King, keeps him company through the winter. David knows that as the snow melts, he must escape from the bolted stable, as the farmer will soon hand him to the police. He makes a hole in the stable, digs a tunnel, and is free again. King catches up with him. Later, the dog gives his life to distract some guards in East Germany so that David can sneak over the border. David travels on through Denmark to Copenhagen where he looks up his mother's address in a telephone book. Virtually at the end of his strength he knocks on the door and introduces himself to his mother whom he recognizes from the picture he saw of her in Switzerland. His mother instantly recognizes him as her son David.