where does northrop grumman rank in the fortune 500

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:Â NOC) is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by Northrop's 1994 purchase of Grumman. The company was named as the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world in 2015.[4] Northrop Grumman employs over 68,000 people worldwide.[5] It reported revenues of $23.526 billion in 2015.[6] Northrop Grumman ranks No. 124 on the 2015 Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations[7] and ranks in the top ten military-friendly employers.[8] It is headquartered in West Falls Church, Virginia.

Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman is made up of three business sectors: Aerospace Systems, Mission Systems, and Technology Services.[9]

Aerospace Systems, headquartered in Redondo Beach, California produces aircraft, spacecraft, high-energy laser systems and microelectronics for the US and other nations. This includes surveillance and reconnaissance, protected communications, intelligence, battle management, strike operations, electronic warfare, and missile defense to Earth observation, space science and space exploration.[10] The B-2 Spirit strategic bomber, the E-8C Joint STARS surveillance aircraft, the RQ-4 Global Hawk, and the T-38 Talon supersonic trainer are used by the US Air Force. The US Army uses Northrop Grumman's RQ-5 Hunter unmanned air vehicle, which has been in operational use since 1995. The U.S. Navy uses Northrop Grumman-built aerial vehicles such as the BQM-74 Chukar, RQ-4 Global Hawk based BAMS UAS, Grumman C-2 Greyhound, Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, and the EA-6B Prowler. Northrop Grumman provides major components and assemblies for different aircraft such as F/A-18 Hornet, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and the EA-18G Growler.[11]

Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, headquartered in Linthicum, Maryland creates military radar, sensors and related products, including C4I radar systems for air defense, Airspace Management radar systems such as AMASS, and battlefield surveillance systems like the Airborne Reconnaissance Low (ARL). Tactical aircraft sensors include the AN/APG-68 radar, the AN/APG-80 advanced agile beam fire control radar Advanced Electronically Scanned Array (AESA), and the scalable agile beam radar (SABR) AESA upgrade for the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the AN/APG-77 AESA radar for the F-22 Raptor, and the AN/APG-81 AESA radar for the F-35 Lightning II, and the AN/AAQ-37 electro-optical Distributed Aperture System (DAS) for the F-35, and the APQ-164 Passive Electronically Scanned Array (PESA) radar for the B-1 Lancer.[citation needed] Electronic Systems produces and maintains the AWACS aerial surveillance systems for the U.S., the United Kingdom, NATO, Japan, and others. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the development and integration of the Air Force's $2-billion Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program. Northrop Grumman also supports the U.S. ballistic missile program, integrates various command, control and intelligence systems and provides technical and management services to governmental and military customers, all with an emphasis on cyber security. Many other smaller products are made by Northrop Grumman, such as night vision goggles and secure communications equipment.[citation needed]

The Technology Services sector headquartered in McNair, Virginia (with a Herndon mailing address[12]), works on "the entire life cycle of civil and defense platforms and capabilities through a range of services".[13] Vinnell, a Northrop Grumman subsidiary, provides training and communications for the military. In 2003, it landed a $48 million contract to train the Iraqi Army.[14] In 2005 the company won a $2 billion contract with Virginia to overhaul most of the state's IT operations.[15] Later that year, The United Kingdom paid $1.2 billion in a contract with the company to provide maintenance of the country's defensive radar.[16]

Northrop Grumman performs various functions in the War on Drugs. The company sends planes to spray herbicides on suspected cocaine fields in Colombia and opium poppy fields in Afghanistan.[17][18]

Remotec, a subsidiary, is the foremost manufacturer of remote control vehicles for explosive ordnance disposal and hazardous material handling. A UK-based subsidiary, Park Air Systems, provides VHF and UHF ground-to-air communications systems for the civil and defense markets. Northrop Grumman has also worked closely with Antenna Associates, Inc., a manufacturer of Identification friend or foe (IFF)/Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) antennas located in Massachusetts.[19]

In August 2007, Northrop Grumman acquired Scaled Composites in which it had previously owned a 40% stake.[20]

In 2008, Northrop Grumman began working with DHS Systems LLC, manufacturer of the Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter (DRASH) in New York, as part of the U.S. Army's Standard Integrated Command Post System program.[21]

Originally formed in California in 1939 by Jack Northrop, the Northrop Corporation was reincorporated in Delaware in 1985.[22]

In 1994, Northrop Aircraft bought Grumman Aerospace, famous for building the Apollo Lunar Module to create Northrop Grumman (NG).[citation needed] In 1996, the new company acquired Westinghouse Electronic Systems, a major manufacturer of radar systems,[citation needed] and Xetron Corporation. In 1997, the defense computer contractor Logicon was added, which had acquired Geodynamics Corporation in March 1996 and Syscon Corporation in February 1995.[citation needed]

In 1998, a merger between Northrop Grumman and competitor Lockheed Martin was considered but abandoned after resistance from the Department of Defense and Department of Justice.[24] That same year, it acquired Inter-National Research Institute Inc. In 1999, the company acquired Teledyne Ryan, developer of surveillance systems and unmanned aircraft, California Microwave, Inc., and the Data Procurement Corporation. On March 19, 1999, Northrop Grumman announced to restate its fourth-quarter results downward to a net loss because of problems related to its dealings with start-up satellite launch company Kistler Aerospace Corp.[25][vague] In 1999, Northrop Grumman and SAIC created AMSEC LLC as a joint venture, which grew "from $100 million in revenue in 2000 to approximately $500 million in fiscal year 2007."[26]

In 2000, NG acquired Federal Data Corporation, Navia Aviation As, Comptek Research, Inc., and Sterling Software, Inc.[citation needed]

In 2001, the company acquired Litton Industries, a shipbuilder and defense electronics systems provider for the U.S. Navy. During the acquisition process, a new Delaware holding company, NNG, Inc., was formed, which merged with Northrop Grumman through a one-for-one common shares exchange in April 2001. Both Northrop Grumman and Litton became subsidiaries of the new holding company. The original Northrop Grumman Corporation then changed its name to "Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation"; the holding company, NNG, Inc., changed its name to "Northrop Grumman Corporation". Later that year, Newport News Shipbuilding was added.

On November 1, 2001, Northrop Grumman restated its third-quarter profit after stopping work on two ships for American Classic Voyages, which filed for bankruptcy protection.[27]

In 2002, Northrop Grumman acquired TRW Inc., which had acquired Braddock Dunn & McDonald (BDM) in 1997, and became the Space Technology sector based in Redondo Beach, CA, and the Mission Systems sector based in Reston, VA, with sole interest in their space systems and laser systems manufacturing. The Aeronautical division was sold to Goodrich, and the automotive divisions were spun off and retained the TRW name.

There have been 15 acquisitions from 1994 to 2003.[28]

Northrop Grumman partnered with EADS from the mid-2000s to offer the KC-30 Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft[29] in the U.S. Air Force's KC-X tanker competition.[30] In February 2008 the U.S. Air Force chose KC-30,[31] but in September 2008 the Defense Department stopped the tanker program and in March 2010, Northrop Grumman announced it was withdrawing from the competition.[32]

On January 1, 2006, Northrop Grumman opened its business sector called 'Technical Services'.[citation needed] Northrop Grumman and Boeing collaborated on a design concept for NASA's upcoming Orion spacecraft (previously the Crew Exploration Vehicle), but the contract went to rival Lockheed Martin on August 31, 2006.[citation needed]

In 2006, Northrop Grumman had intended to bid for the U.S. Air Force's Next-Generation Bomber. Though it has not built a large manned aircraft since wrapping up B-2 Spirit production in the 1990s, the company has "been working hard to turn that perception around, with the skills and capabilities that back it up.".[33] However, by 2009, the teams working on this were told to close up shop, as USAF focus turned to long range strike instead. Northrop Grumman was one of two teams competing for the Long Range Strike Bomber, and in October 2015 won the contract for the Long Range Strike Bomber.[34][35]

On July 20, 2007, Northrop Grumman became the sole owner of Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites.[36]

In 2007, Northrop Grumman created 'National Workforce Centers' as an alternative to Offshoring.[37] Locations are Auburn, Alabama; Corsicana, Texas; Fairmont, West Virginia; Helena, Montana; Johnstown, Pennsylvania; and Lebanon, Virginia. The Rapid City, South Dakota location closed in January 2012.[38]

In July 2008, three of four Northrop Grumman employees (Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell) were freed during Operation Jaque after five years of captivity following their aircraft crash in the Colombian jungle. The fourth employee Tom Janis had been killed by the FARC shortly after the crash in 2003.[39]

In January 2008, Northrop Grumman combined its Newport News and Ship Systems sectors into a new business unit named Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.[40] On March 31, 2011, this was spun off as Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc (NYSE:Â HII).[41]

In November 2010, NASA selected Northrop Grumman for consideration of potential contract awards for heavy lift launch vehicle system concepts, and propulsion technologies.[42]

From 2013, Northrop Grumman participates in the DARPA Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) program, and received $2.9 million for Phase 1[43] and $19 million for Phase 2.[44][45][46] The TERN program attempts to launch and recover a UAV from mid-size ships to provide long distance intelligence gathering.[47]

In July 2013, Northrop Grumman won a training-simulation contract potentially worth $490 million to support the U.S. Air Force's next-generation aerial warfare virtual-training network.[48]

As of 2014 Northrop Grumman is the primary contractor for the James Webb Space Telescope.[49]

In October 2015, the US Military announced it had awarded Northrop Grumman the contract for the successor to the B-1 and B-52, subsequently identified as the B-21. The initial value is $21.4 billion, and could eventually be worth up to $80 billion.[50]

In September 2017, Northrop announced its intention to acquire missile and rocket manufacture Orbital ATK Inc for $9.2 billion: $7.8 billion in cash plus $1.4 billion in net debt.[51]

From 1990-2003, before the merger with Grumman in 1994, Kent Kresa was the CEO of the company, who led the serial-acquisition strategy with a total of 15 additional acquisitions from 1994-2003, including Litton, Logicon, Westinghouse's defense electronics business, Ryan Aeronautical and Newport News Shipbuilding, and TRW. He retired in 2003 at age 65.

In 2003 Ronald Sugar, the former chief operating officer, took over as CEO.[52] Effective Oct. 1, 2003, Sugar also served as the company chairman of the board.[53]

In January 2010, Wes Bush succeeded as CEO and became company president.[54]

Since 2011, Northrop Grumman's headquarters are in West Falls Church, Virginia (previously Jefferson), unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia.[55][56][57]

Until 2010 headquartered in Century City, Los Angeles, California,[58][59] it announced plans on January 4, 2010 to move to the Washington Metropolitan Area by 2011,[60] to be closer to government customers.[61] CEO Wesley Bush stated that the company needed to be located close to Capitol Hill lawmakers and officials from intelligence and military communities.[62] Northrop Grumman considered sites in Washington, DC and in suburbs in Maryland and Virginia.[61] The Los Angeles Business Journal wrote "In a way, the announcement was not a surprise" due to the trend of aerospace companies moving to the DC area, the fact that the new CEO is from West Virginia and that CEOs often move corporate headquarters to places that they want the headquarters located. A Los Angeles area economic development consultant described the move announcement as a "structural failure at all levels for Los Angeles County."[62]

District of Columbia economic development officials were "pitching the city's urban hipness and proximity to Capitol Hill power brokers" to Northrop Grumman. Maryland promoted its highly educated workforce and its large number of federal facilities, while Virginia marketed itself as a state with relatively low taxes.[63]

In July 2010, the company announced its purchase of an existing building in Fairfax County and its move in the summer of 2011. It planned to consolidate its Century City headquarters and its existing Arlington County, Virginia offices into the new headquarters. It employed about 40,000 in the Washington DC metropolitan area, including DC and surrounding Maryland and Virginia.[55]

In November 2015, Gloria Flach was named COO. She is the former president of the company's electric services sector.[64]

Northrop Grumman was named Forbes's Company of the Year in 2002.[52] Forbes's announcement credited the company with "master[ing] the art of innovation."[65] Since then, it no longer appears on their list of America's 400 Best Big Companies.[66]

Since 2005 Northrop Grumman credits itself with sponsoring educational programs[67] and donating thousands of dollars to various charities.[68][69]

Many members of the U.S. government have attended company events and spoken highly of the company and its contributions, for example John McCain.[70] In December 2007, Northrop Grumman Corporation was awarded the prestigious Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership, the only Presidential award recognizing companies for outstanding achievement in employee and community relations.[71]

In 2000, Northrop Grumman was designated a Primary Responsible Party under federal Superfund laws at 13 hazardous waste sites and under state Superfund laws at eight sites.[25] The corporation has also been linked to 52 superfund toxic waste sites.[72] Based on 2008 data, Northrop Grumman was the 62nd-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States, per the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Northrop Grumman facilities released more than 23,798 pounds of toxic chemicals into the air in that year.[73]

In 2002, the Bethpage Community Park in Bethpage, New York, owned by the company until the 1960s, was closed due to soil contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).[74] The company dumped cadmium, arsenic, chromium-tainted sludge, solvents, paints and PCBs at the site between 1949 and 1962.[74] Additionally, two toxic chemical plumes centered under Bethpage Community Park and other surrounding land formerly owned by Grumman or Northrop Grumman have spread to under neighboring houses.[74] In November 2013, the Bethpage Water District filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Northrop Grumman in Federal Court for the Eastern District of New York for contaminating the groundwater in Bethpage.[75]

In 2003, the company was among 84 parties with which the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the state of New York reached an estimated US$15 million settlement for the rehabilitation of the Mattiace Petrochemical Company Superfund site in Glen Cove, Long Island.[76] In the same year, Northrop Grumman agreed to pay $33,214 after EPA inspectors found hazardous waste violations at the Capistrano test site.[77]

As a response to many of the previous claims, the company has stood up as an organization for social responsibility.[citation needed] In 2008, Northrop Grumman launched its Environmental Sustainability program and an EHS Leadership Council, to advance its commitment to environmental performance both internally and externally. The Greenhouse Gas Inventory Project was launched to accurately quantify company-wide greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce the carbon footprint of Northrop Grumman operations, in anticipation of upcoming regulations.[78]

In October 2010 the company was named one of Computerworld's Top 12 Green-IT Organizations for its large-scale data center migration effort.[79]

From 1990-2002, Northrop Grumman contributed $8.5 million to federal campaigns.[80] According to PAC summary data compiled by Source Watch, the company gave US$1,011,260 to federal candidates in 2005-2006 election cycle, compared to $10,612,837 given by all defense contractors in the same cycle.[81] This donation amount was only behind that of General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin in the defense industry. The majority of the contributions, 63%, went to Republicans.[82] Former Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems chief James G. Roche served as Secretary of the Air Force for two years under George W. Bush. Roche would eventually be nominated to head the Army, but would be forced to withdraw his nomination among accusations of mismanaging a contract with Boeing and of failing to properly handle the Air Force sexual assault scandals of 2003.[83] According to CorpWatch, "at least seven former officials, consultants, or shareholders of Northrop Grumman" have held posts "in the Bush administration...including Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Vice-Presidential Chief of Staff I. Lewis Libby, Pentagon Comptroller Dov S. Zakheim, and Sean O'Keefe, director of NASA." Wolfowitz and Libby have both since left the government amid scandals.[84]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Northrop was the target of several high-profile criminal and civil cases.[85]

In 1995, Robert Ferro, an employee for TRW Inc., a company Northrop Grumman acquired in 2002, discovered that satellite components manufactured for the U.S. Air Force (USAF) were faulty and likely to fail in operation. TRW suppressed Ferro's report of the problem and hid the information from the USAF, even after a satellite in space equipped with the faulty components experienced serious anomalies. Ferro later sued Northrop Grumman in federal court under the federal whistle-blower law.[86]

In 1999, the company was sued for knowingly giving the Navy defective aircraft. This suit sought $210 million in damages.[87] Ten years later, on April 2, 2009, Northrop Grumman agreed to pay $325 million to settle the suit.[88] Ferro was awarded $48.8 million of the settlement. Northrop Grumman stated, "it believed that TRW had 'acted properly under its contracts' and that the company had substantive defenses against the claims."[89] In 2001, federal investigators probed NG for fraud of more than $100 million, systematic overcharging for radar jammers and other high-tech devices used in the B-1 bomber, the F-15 fighter and the B-2 Stealth bomber.[90] In 2003, the company was sued for overcharging the U.S. government for space projects in the 1990s.[91] Northrop Grumman paid $111.2 million to settle out of court.[92]

From August 25 to September 2, 2010, Virginia's computer system operated by NG, under a $2.4 billion contract, experienced an outage which resulted in around 45,000 citizens not being able to renew their drivers licenses prior to their expiration. Computer systems for 26 of the state's 89 agencies were affected and Governor Bob McDonnell announced that some data may have been permanently lost.[93][94] In 2010 Northrop Grumman apologized for the outage, and agreed to fund an investigation.[95]

In 2012, controversy began over Northrup Grumman’s Integrated Air and Missile Battle Command System (IBCS), when it missed its first deadline. Since then, the system has had a number of controversial developments.[96] In 2016, a Director, Operational Test and Evaluation found a number of major faults with the system, concluding it was “neither mature nor stable."[97]

U.S. State Department investigators found that Litton Industries, a subsidiary acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2000, had provided portions of source code used by guidance and navigation system interfaces aboard Air Force One to a company in Russia in 1998. Northrop Grumman agreed to pay a $15 million fine for 110 violations, occurring between September 1998 and November 1998, of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).[98]

Additionally, documents filed by the State Department state that between 1994 and 2003, Northrop Grumman failed to notify the U.S. State Department about the computer guidance systems also being transferred to Angola, Indonesia, Israel, China, Ukraine and Yemen.[99]


when does will find out that his wife isnt pregnant

"Mattress", also known as "Once Upon a Mattress", is the twelfth episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on December 2, 2009. It was written by series creator Ryan Murphy and directed by Elodie Keene. In "Mattress", the glee club discovers that they are going to be omitted from the school yearbook. Club member Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) has the team cast in a local mattress commercial in an attempt to raise their social status. Glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) discovers that his wife Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig) has been faking her pregnancy.

Mattress (Glee)

The episode features cover versions of four songs, studio recordings of three of which were released as singles, available for digital download, and are also included on the album Glee: The Music, Volume 2. "Mattress" was watched by 8.15 million US viewers, Glee's series high at that point. It received mixed reviews from critics. The conclusion of the fake pregnancy storyline attracted praise, as did Gilsig and Morrison's acting, however Liz Pardue of Zap2it expressed dismay that so few songs were performed, while Raymund Flandez of the Wall Street Journal deemed "Jump" "the only memorable song of the episode".[1]

Cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) convinces Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) not to include a photograph of the glee club in the school yearbook, as in previous years, glee club photographs have been heavily defaced in the library copy of the yearbook by fellow students. Club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) personally buys a meager section of advertising space in the book so that a photograph featuring at least two members can be included. Fearing unpopularity, the club nominates Rachel (Lea Michele) to represent them in the photograph. Rachel convinces Finn (Cory Monteith) to appear alongside her, but after being teased by his peers, he drops out. When it transpires that the school photographer (John Ross Bowie) is soon to direct a commercial for his brother-in-law, a local mattress store owner, Rachel convinces him to cast the glee club in it, believing that local celebrity status will prevent the other students from mocking them.

Will is dismayed to learn that his close friend, guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays), has arranged to marry her fiancÃ©, football coach Ken Tanaka (Patrick Gallagher), on the same day the glee club will compete at sectionals. Will goes on to discover that his wife Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig) has been lying to him for months about her supposed pregnancy. She actually experienced a hysterical pregnancy and hid the truth from him for several months by wearing a pregnancy pad under her clothes, while planning to secretly adopt Quinn's (Dianna Agron) baby. Will walks out on her and spends the night at the school, sleeping on one of the mattresses given to the glee club in payment for their commercial.

Sue informs Will that the club receiving payment for the commercial revokes their amateur status, and thus their eligibility to compete at sectionals. Quinn, who has been trying to convince Sue to let her appear in the cheerleaders' photographs despite being removed from the team due to her pregnancy, reminds Sue that as their coach she has often given the cheerleaders perks which would also render them ineligible for competition. She demands that Sue sacrifice one of the cheerleaders' six pages in the yearbook to the glee club. Sue agrees, and accepts Quinn back onto the cheerleading team, but Quinn tells her she no longer wishes to be a cheerleader. Will announces that he will not be accompanying the club to sectionals, as he was the one who accepted payment, and as such they will only be allowed to compete without his involvement. The glee club then has their group photograph taken for the yearbook, but the copy in the library is subsequently defaced by hockey player Dave Karofsky (Max Adler) and football player Azimio (James Earl).

"Mattress" was written by series creator Ryan Murphy and directed by Elodie Keene. Recurring characters who appear in the episode are glee club members Brittany (Heather Morris), Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera), Mike Chang (Harry Shum, Jr.) and Matt Rutherford (Dijon Talton), Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba), football coach Ken Tanaka (Patrick Gallagher), local news anchors Rod Remington (Bill A. Jones) and Andrea Carmichael (Earlene Davis), hockey player Dave Karofsky (Max Adler) and football player Azimio (James Earl). John Ross Bowie guest-stars as school photographer Dennis, and Chuck Spitler plays his brother-in-law, mattress store owner Randy Cusperberg.[2]

The episode features cover versions of "Smile" by Lily Allen, "Jump" by Van Halen, "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin,[3] and "When You're Smiling" by Louis Armstrong.[4] Studio recordings of each of the songs except "When You're Smiling" were released as singles, available for digital download,[5] and are also included on the album Glee: The Music, Volume 2.[6] Jenna Ushkowitz deemed "Jump" one of her favorite songs on the album, explaining that it was fun to perform on mattresses and comparing it to "Proud Mary", performed in the episode "Wheels", which utilized wheelchairs as props.[7]

Jessalyn Gilsig on Terri and Will's relationship.[8]

Jessalyn Gilsig referred to the confrontation between Terri and Will in "Mattress" as "The Reckoning".[9] She described it as sad to shoot, as she and Morrison were so invested in the storyline,[9] and explained: "What I hope is conveyed is that you see the child inside Terri. You see the fear."[8] Gilsig commented that viewers had been wondering why Will was taking so long to discover Terri was not actually pregnant, explaining: "I think people have been asking 'How slow is this guy?!'. But [in "Mattress"] Will finally reflects that he is a fully evolved human being and puts two and two together."[9] She noted that while Will and Emma "are adorable together", she still believes in Terri and Will as a couple as: "I think that she really loves him. People do crazy things out of deep, deep insecurity. She's obviously flawed, but I think she has love in her heart."[9] While fan reaction to her character had previously resulted in a backlash Gilsig found "tough",[8] she hoped that "Mattress" would be the episode in which "anti-Terri fans joined Team Terri".[10]

"Mattress" was watched by 8.15 million US viewers, Glee's series high in the 2009–10 television season at the time of its original broadcast. It achieved a 3.6/10 rating/share in the 18-49 demographic, again the show's season high at the time, and a 4.3/12 rating/share with adults 18-34, both its series high and the highest rating in the demographic for the night of broadcast.[11] In Canada, it was the ninth most watched show for the week of broadcast, attaining 1.8 million viewers.[12] The episode received mixed reviews from critics. Entertainment Weekly's Dan Snierson wrote that "Mattress" "felt like a step forward after last week's all-over-the-place hair toss", and called the "poignant" ending "one of Glee's best".[4] In contrast, Mike Hale of the New York Times wrote that with "Mattress", Glee appeared to be "taking a break" ahead of the midseason finale episode "Sectionals".[13] Liz Pardue of Zap2it was relieved that "Mattress" brought the fake pregnancy storyline to an end. She noted, however, that she was still unsatisfied with the episode, as the conclusion to the storyline should have come sooner, and there were too few songs featured.[14]

Bobby Hankinson of the Houston Chronicle called the episode "pretty good" noting that he "wasn't crazy about any of the songs" but enjoyed the plot development, particularly the confrontation between Terri and Will.[15] Raymund Flandez of the Wall Street Journal was happy to see the "convoluted" fake pregnancy storyline end, and called the performance of "Jump" "lively" and the stunts "incredible", though he wrote that it was "the only memorable song of the episode".[1] Gerrick Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times noted that in previous reviews, he had "never been shy of [his] disdain for Mrs. Schuester", but that his hatred of Terri "vanished" once the lie was over, praising the confrontation between Will and Terri.[10] MTV's Aly Semigran praised both actors, especially "a devastated Matthew Morrison" for having "nailed just what a scary, sad, and life-altering moment" it was.[16] She deemed "Jump" both "delightful" and the "giddiest musical number on the show to date".[16]


where does the axillary artery supply blood to

In human anatomy, the axillary artery is a large blood vessel that conveys oxygenated blood to the lateral aspect of the thorax, the axilla (armpit) and the upper limb.  Its origin is at the lateral margin of the first rib, before which it is called the subclavian artery.

Axillary artery

After passing the lower margin of teres major it becomes the brachial artery.

The axillary artery is often referred to as having three parts, with these divisions based on its location relative to the Pectoralis minor muscle, which is superficial to the artery.

The axillary artery is accompanied by the axillary vein, which lies medial to the artery, along its length.

In the axilla, the axillary artery is surrounded by the brachial plexus. The second part of the axillary artery is the reference for the locational descriptions of the cords in the brachial plexus.  For example, the posterior cord of the brachial plexus is so named because it lies posterior to the second part of the artery.

The axillary artery has several smaller branches. The branches can be remembered, in order, when traveling from the heart, with the mnemonics "Screw The Lawyers Save A Patient", "Summertime: The Lakers Schedule Another Parade", "Sixties Teens Love Sex And Pot", or "She Tastes Like Sweet Apple Pie."[1]   The origin of these branches is highly variable (e.g. the posterior and anterior circumflex arteries often have a common trunk). An arterial branch is named for its course, not its origin.

Continues as the brachial artery past the inferior border of the teres major.

The axillary artery may be safely clamped without endangering the arm, but only in a location proximal to the origin of the subscapular artery (and distal to the thyrocervical trunk of the subclavian artery). The anastomotic network surrounding the scapula provides an alternate path for collateral circulation to the arm from arteries including the dorsal scapular artery and suprascapular artery.

The right axillary artery is often used as an arterial cannulation site in cardiac surgery, particularly for repair of aortic dissection and replacement of the ascending aorta and aortic arch.

The veins of the right axilla, viewed from in front.

The right brachial plexus (infraclavicular portion) in the axillary fossa; viewed from below and in front.

Suprascapular and axillary nerves of right side, seen from behind.

Brachial plexus and axillary artery


four aspects of being an australian that are tested in the australian citizenship test

In December 2006, it was announced that applicants for Australian citizenship who are over 18 and under 60 years old will need to pass an Australian citizenship test. The objective of the test is to prove an applicant's grasp of English language and understanding of Australiaâ€™s "values", history, traditional and national symbols. Citizenship applicants are required to study a booklet produced by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Australian citizenship test

The Australian citizenship test is a test applicants for Australian citizenship who also meet the basic requirements for citizenship are required to take. In order to be able to take the test, one must be a permanent resident of Australia and one must have applied for Australian citizenship.[1] It was introduced in 2007 to assess the applicants' adequate knowledge of Australia, the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship and basic knowledge of the English language. The format of the test was amended in 2009.

On 2 January 2008, it was announced that the test would be reviewed when statistics showed that over 20% of those sitting the test failed on their first attempts.[2] On 28 April 2008 the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, announced the appointment of an independent committee to conduct a review of the Australian citizenship test since its implementation on 1 October 2007.[3] This review was commissioned to examine the operation of the citizenship test after six months experience and whether there were ways to improve its operation and effectiveness as the pathway for residents to become Australian citizens. On 22 November 2008, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Evans, released the Citizenship Test Review Report Moving Forward … Improving Pathways to Citizenship and the Government’s response.[4] The report and the government's response are located online.[5]

On 19 October 2009, changes to the citizenship test came into effect. Under the new rules, a mark of 75% (15 out of 20 questions correct) is required to pass.[6] Previously, a mark of 60% plus answering three mandatory questions correctly was required. Applicants will need to pass the test before a decision is made on their citizenship application, i.e. the application must be lodged before the test takes place.[7]

The computer based test consists of 20 multiple choice questions drawn randomly from a pool of 200 confidential questions. The test is only available in English. Applicants have 45 minutes to complete the test. The material is drawn from the official guide "Our common bond" published by the Australian Government department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Scheduling a time to take the test can be done by the Department of Immigration & Citizenship (DIAC). Wait times vary widely, and applicants may need to wait a considerable amount of time. As of 17 February 2009, one would need to wait almost four months to secure an appointment in central Sydney and over three months in Parramatta. In less congested areas, wait times are considerably less, if any; in Adelaide, for instance, an applicant needs to make an appointment online or by paper application to Adelaide DIAC office anytime.[8]

Although the following are not necessarily correct answers, they are correct in the context of the test.


who does the voice over for x factor

Peter Dickson (born 23 June 1957), is a British voice-over artist.[1] He is best known as the voice of E4, and he is the brand voice of The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, The Price Is Right, Family Fortunes, All Star Mr & Mrs, Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow and Chris Moyles' Quiz Night.

Peter Dickson (announcer)

One of the most prominent voice artists in the world today, Dickson has been the voice of hundreds of award-winning television shows, radio programmes, promos, trailers, computer games and advertisements.

Dickson was educated at the Belfast Royal Academy in his home city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. He later graduated with a BA Hons degree in psychology from Queens University, while there he was a member of the University Air Squadron where he flew the Bulldog. He was a reporter and journalist at the BBC later moving to the presentation department at Radio Ulster. From there he moved on to BBC Radio 2 as a newsreader and announcer, also presenting overnight shows and his own comedy-based Friday show Peter Dickson's Nightcap.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Dickson worked alongside Steve Wright on his Radio 1 afternoon and morning shows. He created, wrote and voiced many household name characters for Wright's award-winning programmes. In 1990, he launched Melody Radio in London, where he presented the breakfast show for three years. He has contributed to two series of Quote Unquote for BBC Radio 4, and has read the morning story on BBC Radio 4.

Playwright Dennis Potter invited Dickson to play cameo parts in several of his TV Dramas. More television beckoned with Harry Enfield in his award-winning Tiger Aspect series Harry Enfield and Chums. Various on screen character roles followed in the first two series of Steve Wright People's Show for BBC One. Bruce Forsyth called Dickson to voice the famous "Come on Downs" and prize descriptions for seven series of ITV's Bruce's Price is Right and he was on board for Family Fortunes starring Les Dennis, and Patrick Kielty's Channel 4's Last Chance Lottery Live. He provided the commentaries for the world record attempts on Sky 1's Guinness World Records Smashed in 2009. He has also contributed to 11 series of the award-winning BBC One panel game They Think It's All Over presented by Nick Hancock, Catchphrase, TV's Naughtiest Blunders and Safe for ITV and the cult animation series Monkey Dust for BBC in which he famously played himself.

His other TV credits include Never Mind The Buzzcocks, roles in Holby City, Noel's House Party and Live & Kicking, The 10%'ers and The Unknown Soldier for Carlton TV. He has featured on Griff Rhys Jones' Crystal Balls, Tales from FEAR for Cartoon Network, Sing It Your Way with Denise Van Outen and Ian Wright, and ITV's Year of Promise with Carol Vorderman.

Dickson has written for the BBC Two comedy series The Fast Show and Play Your Cards Right for ITV.

Jerry Springer also made sure Dickson was "up front and full on", on his ITV Friday Night hit programme, and his subsequent Late Night With Jerry Springer for Five which ran for two series.

He was the voice of the BBC's Test the Nation live specials and has featured in Little Britain, The Paul O'Grady Show on ITV and the New Paul O'Grady Show on Channel 4. He provided the live commentary for Cirque de Celebrite and introduced An Audience with Joe Pasquale, and voiced a Westlife special on ITV.

In 2006, Dickson became the brand voice of youth channel E4.

In 2011 and in 2012 he was the host of MTV's three big end-of-year video chart shows.

Since 1998 Dickson has worked closely with the Discovery Channel, narrating over 250 documentaries, including the 25 part The FBI Files. He has completed over 150 other documentary series for BBC Television, National Geographic Channel, Wall to Wall TV, The History Channel, Outline Productions, Adrenaline TV, CafÃ© Productions, Discovery Health, Flat Earth Films. For British Movietone. He narrated the 13 part series World War 2: The Complete History,[2] and the 50 part Millennium Minute.

Beyond his earlier radio work, Dickson's voice is heard daily on many commercial radio stations across the UK. He has voiced many campaigns from Dominos, Moneysupermarket, British Gas, Downton Abbey, The Sun, Branston Pickle, to Walls, "Drink Drive" and "Euro Millions", Dairylea, Schweppes, KFC, Heinz and Wrigleys. He has voiced over 30,000 radio and TV campaigns. He was the brand voice for Irish radio stations I 102â€“104 and 4FM. He was the brand voice of The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio. He makes appearances on BBC Radio 1's breakfast and drive time shows.

He played various character roles in The Department, a comedy series on BBC Radio 4 starring and written by Chris Addison, John Oliver, and Andy Zaltzman.

In March 2009, Dickson released a UK single as 'Voiceover Man and The Credit Crunchers' called "What a Bunch of Bankers".

He is the brand voice for Domino's, Moneysupermarket, ScS, BT and British Gas.

He has acted on over 30 AAA Game titles and he is the host for the Kinect launch title "Kinect Sports" seasons 1 and 2.

He has been a promo voice on over 200 channels.

He also has played characters for LEGO'S Worldwide PC game hit "Knight's Creator Kingdom" and "Crazy Castle" and played the Emperor Zorean on Xenoblade Chronicles.

In 2010 he was the voice of the Help For Heroes concert at Twickenham.

Dickson's voice also appears on SatNav "Nav Voices"

He was the announcer and commentator for Beach Volleyball at Horseguards Parade at the London 2012 Olympics.

He is a supporter of the Royal Air Force, compÃ¨ring the Live Stage at the RAF Waddington International Airshow in 2013 and 2014 and at the RAF Cosford Airshow in 2015 and 2016. He is a supporter of several charities including the Royal Airforce Benevolent Fund, Stand Up to Cancer, Childline and is a UK ambassador for the national youth homeless charity Centrepoint.

Peter's voice has featured on award-winning campaigns including:


when did blinded by your grace come out

"Blinded by Your Grace, Pt. 2" was released as the album's fourth single on 27 October 2017.[3]

Gang Signs & Prayer

Gang Signs & Prayer is the debut studio album by English rapper Stormzy. It was released on 24 February 2017 independently through #Merky Records while being distributed by ADA of Warner Music Group.[4] It is Stormzy's first major commercial release, following the Dreamers Disease EP (2014). The album features guest appearances from fellow MCs Wretch 32, Ghetts and J Hus, along with singers Kehlani, Raleigh Ritchie and MNEK. It features production from Fraser T Smith and Sir Spyro, among others.

The album was supported by the lead single "Big for Your Boots". Gang Signs & Prayer received critical acclaim upon release, and entered the UK Albums Chart at number one with sales of 69,000, becoming the first grime album in history to reach number one. It holds the distinction of having every song from the album appear concurrently on the UK Singles Chart, including seven songs in the top 40.[5] In February 2018, Gang Signs & Prayer won British Album of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards.[6]

After garnering attention on the UK underground music scene via his Wicked Skengman series of freestyles over classic grime beats, Stormzy released his debut EP Dreamers Disease independently in July 2014.[7]

In March 2015, he released the single "Know Me From", which entered the UK Singles Chart at number 49. In September 2015, he released a final instalment to his "WickedSkengMan" freestyle series, "WickedSkengMan 4", onto iTunes, along with a studio version of his "Shut Up" freestyle over XTC's Functions on the Low instrumental.[8] The track debuted at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Stormzy's first top 40 hit.[9] The online video for "Shut Up" garnered millions of views and attention from the mainstream. As a result, Stormzy launched a Christmas number one campaign to get the song to number one,[10][11][12] ultimately peaking at number eight on the UK Singles Chart.

After a year's hiatus from social media to focus on the recording of the album, Stormzy returned in early February 2017 via a series of billboard campaigns across London displaying lyrical quotes and the hashtag #GSAP 24.02. The album title was announced to be Gang Signs & Prayer, set to be released on 24 February 2017, followed by the track listing the following day.[13][14][15]

Prior to the album's official announcement, the non-single track "Shut Up" was released in September 2015 and ultimately included as the penultimate track on Gang Signs & Prayer. The non-album single "Scary" was released in April 2016 prior to Stormzy's hiatus. On 1 February 2017, a billboard campaign was launched across numerous areas in London that foreshadowed the release of the album.

"Big for Your Boots" was released as the album's lead single on 3 February 2017. The track was produced by Fraser T Smith and Sir Spyro. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number eight, become tied with "Shut Up" as Stormzy's highest-charting single. The song reached a new peak of number six in its fourth week of charting after the release of Gang Signs & Prayer, surpassing "Shut Up" as Stormzy's highest-charting single.

"Cold" was released as the album's second single on 12 March, following the album being certified Gold in the United Kingdom.[1]

"Cigarettes & Cush" was released as the album's third single on 29 August 2017.[2]

Upon its release Gang Signs & Prayer received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 82, based on 18 reviews.[16] Giving it a perfect score, Jordan Bassett of NME stated that Stormzy "delivers a knockout debut thatâ€™s brash and pensive in equal measure."[23]

Alexis Petridis of The Guardian praised the musical diversity of the album: "More startling, however, is the confidence with which other tracks shift into unexpected musical territory. On paper, a rapper like Stormzy recording a lo-fi, electric piano-led, Stevie Wonderesque gospel track called '"Blinded By Your Grace, Pt 1" sounds like a textbook case of an artist overstretching himself; in reality, it’s fantastic, and oddly moving.", concluding that "It’s not a perfect debut – it’s slightly too long for one thing, and there are a couple of points where it sags – but it sounds like an album teeming with original, daring ideas. More importantly, it sounds like the work of an artist with the confidence and the talent to pull those ideas off."[19]

After receiving close competition with Rag'n'Bone Man's Human, Gang Signs & Prayer entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, with combined sales of 68,594 copies.[28][29] It set British streaming records for the most first-week streams for a number one album in chart history, with 13.9 million streams, surpassing the opening week stream count of Drake's Views. Gang Signs & Prayer became the first grime album to chart at number one, as well as joining the likes of Skepta and Giggs of charting in the top five independently. The album also charted at number one on the UK Independent Chart, UK R&B Chart and the Irish Albums Chart, number two on the Scottish Albums Chart. Outside of the UK, it entered the Official New Zealand Music Chart at number 14 and number 34 in Sweden.

In the album's first week of release, seven tracks from Gang Signs & Prayer were in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart – "Big for Your Boots", "Cold", "Bad Boys", "First Things First", "Mr Skeng", "Cigarettes & Cush" and "Shut Up". All sixteen tracks from the album appeared in the top 100 in a single week, making Stormzy only the fourth artist to achieve this after Justin Bieber (Purpose), Beyoncé (Lemonade) and The Weeknd (Starboy).[30]

Gang Signs & Prayer was certified Silver by the BPI in its first week of release.[31]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone


when did the first american steam-powered fire engine come into service

Until the mid-19th century, most fire engines were maneuvered by men, but the introduction of horse-drawn fire engines considerably improved the response time to incidents. The first self-propelled steam pumper fire engine was built in New York in 1841. Unfortunately for the manufacturers, some firefighters sabotaged the device and its use of the first engine was discontinued. However, the need and the utility of power equipment ensured the success of the steam pumper well into the twentieth century. Many cities and towns around the world bought the steam fire engines.

Fire engine

A fire engine (also known in some territories as a fire apparatus, fire truck, or fire appliance) is a vehicle designed primarily for firefighting operations. In addition, many fire departments/fire services often employ their vehicles for various other uses including emergency medical services and rescue purposes. The terms "fire engine" and "fire truck" are often used interchangeably.

The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters to an incident scene, providing water with which to fight a fire, and carrying other equipment needed by firefighters. A typical modern vehicle will carry tools for a wide range of firefighting and rescue tasks, with common equipment including ladders, a self-contained breathing apparatus, ventilating equipment, first aid kits, and hydraulic rescue tools.

Many fire vehicles are based on standard vehicle models (although some parts may be upgraded to cope with the demands of the vehicles' usage). They are normally fitted with audible and visual warnings, as well as communication equipment such as two-way radios and mobile computer technology.

The standard fire engine is an apparatus designed primarily for firefighting operations. The primary purpose of the engine is transporting firefighters to the scene, providing a limited supply of water with which to fight the fire, and carrying tools, equipment, and hoses needed by the firefighters. The tools carried on the fire engine will vary greatly based on many factors including the size of the department and what sort of terrain the department must handle. For example, departments located near large bodies of water or rivers are likely to have some sort of water rescue equipment. Standard tools found on nearly all fire engines include ladders, hydraulic rescue tools (often referred to as the jaws of life), floodlights, fire hose, fire extinguishers, self-contained breathing apparatus, and thermal imaging cameras.[1]

The exact layout of what is carried on an engine is decided by the needs of the department. For example, fire departments which cover metropolitan areas are more likely to assist with non-fire-related cases such as hazardous material removal/cleanup and technical rescues of people from traffic collisions or structural collapses, while rural departments may need to do things like access remote areas or extinguish forest fires.

Some fire engines have a fixed deluge gun, also known as a master stream, which directs a heavy stream of water to wherever the operator points it. An additional feature of engines are their preconnected hose lines, commonly referred to as preconnects.[2] The preconnects are attached to the engine's onboard water supply and allow firefighters to quickly mount an aggressive attack on the fire as soon as they arrive on scene.[2] When the onboard water supply runs out, the engine is connected to more permanent sources such as fire hydrants or water tenders and can also use natural sources such as rivers or reservoirs by drafting water.

A turntable ladder (TL) is perhaps the best-known form of special purpose aerial apparatus, and is used to gain access to fires occurring at height using a large telescopic ladder, where conventional ladders carried on conventional appliances might not reach. The name is derived from the fact that the large ladder is mounted on a turntable on the back of a truck chassis, allowing it to pivot around a stable base. To increase its length, the ladder is telescopic. Modern telescopic ladders are either hydraulic or pneumatic. These mechanical features allow the use of ladders which are longer, sturdier, and more stable. They may also have pre-attached hoses or other equipment.

A ladder can also be mounted behind the cab. This is sometimes called "mid-ship" and the arrangement allows a lower travel height for the truck, and also can be more stable in certain conditions.

The key functions of a turntable ladder are:

While the traditional characteristic of a fire appliance was a lack of water pumping or storage, many modern TLs have a water pumping function built in (and some have their own on-board supply reservoir), and may have a pre-piped waterway running the length of the ladder which directs a stream of water to the firefighters at the top. In some cases, there may also be a monitor at the top of the ladder for ease of use. Other appliances may simply have a track-way which will hold a manually-run hose reel securely, and prevent it from falling to the ground.

In the United States, some turntable ladders with additional functions such as an onboard pump, a water tank, fire hose, aerial ladder and multiple ground ladders, are known as quad or quint engines, indicating the number of functions they perform.[3]

The highest TL in the world is Magirus M68L. with range 68 meters.[4]

In the United States, a tiller truck, also known as a tractor-drawn aerial, tiller ladder, or hook-and-ladder truck, is a specialized turntable ladder mounted on a semi-trailer truck. Unlike a commercial semi, the trailer and tractor are permanently combined and special tools are required to separate them. It has two drivers, with separate steering wheels for front and rear wheels.[5]

One of the main features of the tiller-truck is its enhanced maneuverability.[6] The independent steering of the front and back wheels allow the tiller to make much sharper turns, which is particularly helpful on narrow streets and in apartment complexes with maze-like roads.[5] An additional feature of the tiller-truck is that its overall length, over 50 feet (15 m) for most models, allows for additional storage of tools and equipment.[6] The extreme length gives compartment capacities that range between 500 and 650 cubic feet (14 and 18 m3) in the trailer with an additional 40 and 60 cubic feet (1.1 and 1.7 m3) in the cab.[6]

Some departments elect to use tiller-quints (see quint below), which are tiller trucks that have the added feature of being fitted with an on-board water tank.[6] These are particularly useful for smaller departments that do not have enough personnel to staff both an engine company and a truck company.[6]

Some aerials have a platform, also known as a basket or bucket, mounted at the top of the ladder. These are commonly known as platform trucks. These platforms can provide a secure place from which a firefighter can operate. Many platforms also allow for rescues to be performed and are outfitted with tie down clips and rappelling arms.[7]

There are also platform trucks that do not have a ladder attached to the platform. These specialized elevated work platforms are capable of articulating which allows the arm to bend in one or more places. This is an advantage over the traditional platform ladder, which can only extend in a straight line and gives the articulating platform the ability to go "up and over" an obstacle (see picture).

A heavy rescue vehicle, sometimes referred to as a Rescue Company, Rescue Squad or Technical Rescue, is a type of specialty firefighting apparatus. They are primarily designed to carry specialized equipment for technical rescue situations such as vehicle extrications following traffic collisions, confined space rescues, rope rescues, swiftwater rescues, or building collapses.

In addition to fire and rescue departments, tram or railway companies may have their own dedicated heavy rescue squads.[8][9] For example, railway rescue squads may carry very specialized equipment, for railway accidents, like hydraulic jacks with capacity for lifting locomotives or even moving them horizontally, and equipment for tank car accidents.[10]

Wildland firefighting requires vehicles that can easily negotiate difficult terrain and high-gradient roads, be self-reliant, and have high clearances for wheels and suspension. These wildland fire engines are traditionally smaller than standard fire apparatus and are primarily used for vegetation fires or wildland fires. They may also respond to emergencies in rough terrain where other vehicles cannot respond. Most wildland engines feature four-wheel drive capability to improve hill climbing and rough terrain capability.[11] Some wildland apparatus can pump water while driving (compared to some traditional engines which must be stationary to pump water), allowing "running attacks" on vegetation fires to minimize the rate of spread.[12]

Fire departments that serve areas along the wildland–urban interface are faced with unique challenges that departments based in larger cities or strictly rural areas do not need to worry about.[13] Departments in these areas often elect to use a type of fire engine commonly referred to as a wildland-urban interface engine or simply interface engines.[14] While technically considered a wildland fire engine by many[who?], these maintain the traditional look and feel of a standard engine.[15]

Many fire departments operate a number of vehicles in specialized logistical functions. These can be stand-alone vehicles, or may be modular, such as with the use of a hook-lift system. Hooklifts are sometimes only employed for seldom-used equipment; they can load a variety of different equipment containers very rapidly and act as a special unit with lower investment costs. For example, the Helsinki Rescue Department has several hooklift trucks and more than 40 containers, including a water container, a hose container, and an oil destruction container. Containers may also carry a command post, salvage tools, foam barrels, hoses, special pumps for wildfires, and field hospitals.

The advancement of technology and potential for very large-scale incidents has led to many fire departments increasing their use of mobile command support units.

A fundamental advantage of such an appliance is to accommodate the many different types of communication equipment needed at major incidents. In addition to the wide range of radio frequencies used, a fire chief often needs to communicate via landlines and send and receive information via satellite links and CCTV to keep aware of and control the ongoing situation. The command unit can essentially be used as an on-site conference center for command personnel, mapping and planning firefighting operations and directing crews as they arrive.

A tanker truck, which can also be known as a water tender or water bowser, is a specialist fire appliance with the primary purpose of transporting large amounts of water to the fire area to make it available for extinguishing operations. These are especially useful in rural areas where fire hydrants are not readily available and natural water resources are insufficient or difficult to exploit.

Most tankers have an on-board pumping system. This pump is often not of sufficient power to fight fires (as it is designed to be attached to a fire engine), but is more often used to draw water into the tender from hydrants or other water sources. In some areas, the tenders are used to pump water during floods, and may be fitted with a heavier duty pump for this purpose. Many tankers are equipped with fast-drain valves on the sides and back of the truck. This allows firefighters to empty thousands of gallons of water into a portable water tank in just a few seconds.

Most water tenders are designed to carry loads of 1,000 US gallons (3,800 L; 830 imp gal) or more.

An airport crash tender, or "crash rig", is a specialized fire engine designed for use at aerodromes in aircraft accidents.[16] Some of the features that make the crash rigs unique are their ability to move on rough terrain outside the runway and airport area, large water capacity as well as a foam tank, a high-capacity pump, and water/foam monitors. Newer ARFF vehicles also incorporate twin agent nozzles/injection systems to inject a stream of Purple-K dry chemical into the AFFF (Aqueous Film Forming Fluroprotein) foam stream, which "flattens" the fire faster.[17] Some also have Halotron tanks with handlines for fires which must be extinguished with a dry chemical similar to the ones which can be found in a fire extinguisher. These features give the airport crash tenders a capability to reach an airplane rapidly, and rapidly extinguish large fires with jet fuel involved.

Other fire apparatus include:

In some communities a fire apparatus, often a paramedic engine, will be used to carry first responder firefighters, paramedics or EMTs to medical emergencies because of their faster response times due to forward staging in the city.[18][19] Fire departments may also have lifeguards in places such as Los Angeles County, California.

The design and construction of fire engines focuses greatly on the use of both active and passive warnings. Passive visual warnings involve the use of high contrast patterns to increase the noticeability of the vehicle. These types of warnings are often seen on older vehicles and those in developing countries.[20] More modern designs make use of retroreflectors to reflect light from other vehicles. Vehicles will also often have these reflectors arranged in a chevron pattern along with the words fire or rescue.[20] European countries commonly use a pattern known as battenburg markings.[citation needed] Along with the passive warnings, are active visual warnings which are usually in the form of flashing colored lights (also known as "beacons" or "lightbars"). These flash to attract the attention of other drivers as the fire truck approaches, or to provide warning to drivers approaching a parked fire truck in a dangerous position on the road. While the fire truck is headed towards the scene, the lights are always accompanied by loud audible warnings such as sirens and air horns.[20]

An early device used to squirt water onto a fire was known as a squirt or fire syringe. Hand squirts and hand pumps are noted before Ctesibius of Alexandria invented the first fire pump around the 2nd century B.C.,[21] and an example of a force-pump possibly used for a fire-engine is mentioned by Heron of Alexandria. The fire pump was reinvented in Europe during the 16th century, reportedly used in Augsburg in 1518 and Nuremberg in 1657. A book of 1655 inventions mentions a steam engine (called a fire engine) pump used to "raise a column of water 40 feet (12Â m)", but there was no mention of whether it was portable.

Colonial laws in America required each house to have a bucket of water on the front stoop during fires at night. These buckets were intended for use by the initial bucket brigade that would supply the water at fires. Philadelphia obtained a hand-pumped fire engine in 1719, years after Boston's 1654 model appeared there, made by Joseph Jencks, but before New York's two engines arrived from London.

By 1730, Richard Newsham, in London, had made successful fire engines; he invented the first ones used in New York City (in 1731) (this was six years before formation of the NYC volunteer fire department). The amount of manpower and skill necessary for firefighting prompted Benjamin Franklin to found an organized fire company in 1737. Thomas Lote built the first fire engine made in America in 1743. These earliest engines are called hand tubs because they are manually (hand) powered and the water was supplied by a bucket brigade dumping it into a tub (cistern) where the pump had a permanent intake pipe. An important advancement around 1822 was the invention of an engine which could draft water from a water source. This rendered the bucket brigade obsolete. In 1822, a Philadelphia-based manufacturing company called Sellers and Pennock made a model called "The Hydraulion". It is said to be the first suction engine.[22] Some models had the hard, suction hose fixed to the intake and curled up over the apparatus known as a squirrel tail engine.

The earliest engines were small and were either carried by four men, or mounted on skids and dragged to a fire. As the engines grew larger they became horse-drawn and later self-propelled by steam engines. John Ericsson is credited with building the first American steam-powered fire engine. John Braithwaite built the first steam fire-engine in Britain.

Motorized fire engines did not become commonplace until the early 20th century. By 1905, the idea of combining gas engine motor trucks into fire engines was attracting great attention; according to a Popular Mechanics article in that year,[23] such trucks were rapidly gaining popularity in England. That same year, the Knox Automobile Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, began selling what some[24] have described as the world's first modern fire engine. A year later, the city of Springfield, Illinois, had filled their fire department with Knox engines.

For many years firefighters sat on the sides of the fire engines, or even stood on the rear of the vehicles, exposed to the elements. This arrangement was uncomfortable and dangerous (some firefighters were thrown to their deaths when their fire engines made sharp turns on the road), and today nearly all fire engines have fully enclosed seating areas for their crews.

Early pumpers used cisterns as a source of water. Water was later put into wooden pipes under the streets and a "fire plug" was pulled out of the top of the pipe when a suction hose was to be inserted. Later systems incorporated pressurized fire hydrants, where the pressure was increased when a fire alarm was sounded. This was found to be harmful to the system and unreliable. Today's valved hydrant systems are kept under pressure at all times, although additional pressure may be added when needed. Pressurized hydrants eliminate much of the work in obtaining water for pumping through the engine and into the attack hoses. Many rural fire engines still rely upon cisterns or other sources for drafting water into the pumps.Steam pumper came in to use in the 1850s.

In the late 19th century, means of reaching tall structures were devised. At first, manually extendable ladders were used; as these grew in length (and weight), they were put onto two large wheels. When carried by fire engines these wheeled escape ladders had the wheels suspended behind the rear of the vehicle, making them a distinctive sight. Before long, turntable ladders — which were even longer, mechanically extendable, and installed directly onto fire trucks — made their appearances.

After the Second World War turntable ladders were supplemented by the aerial work platform (sometimes called "cherry picker"), a platform or bucket attached onto a mechanically bending arm (or "snorkel") installed onto a fire truck. While these could not reach the height of similar turntable ladders, the platforms could extend into previously unreachable "dead corners" of a burning building.


who is the actor that plays the grandfather on blue bloods

Leonard Joseph "Len" Cariou (born September 30, 1939) is a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and for playing the patriarch Henry Reagan, NYPD Police Commissioner (retired), in the multi-generational television series Blue Bloods on CBS.

Len Cariou

Born in St. Boniface, today a city ward of Winnipeg, later moving to East Kildonan, Manitoba, Cariou is the son of Molly Estelle (nÃ©e Moore) and George Marius Cariou, a salesman.[1] His father was Breton and his mother was of Irish descent.[2] Cariou attended Miles Macdonell Collegiate for grades 10 and 11 where he directed and starred in the school plays, and he later attended St Paul's College.[3]

Cariou made his first appearance in Damn Yankees at Rainbow Stage in Winnipeg in 1959, and was a founding member of the Manitoba Theatre Centre.[4] He was offered a scholarship at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal but, married with a young child and financial responsibilities, he was forced to decline the honor. Instead, he learned his craft by spending two years at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Stratford, Ontario, and returned in 1981 to lead the company as Prospero, Coriolanus, Brutus, and Petruchio.

Cariou also became a lead actor at the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre  in Minneapolis in the 1960s, where he played Orlando in As You Like It, Agamemnon in Tyrone Guthrie's compilation of The House of Atreus, Iago, Oberon, and the title roles in Henry V and King Lear. He was also an associate director.

In 1968, Cariou made his Broadway debut in The House of Atreus. Two years later, Cariou landed his first starring role opposite Lauren Bacall in Applause, a musical adaptation of the film All About Eve. It earned him a Tony Award nomination as Best Actor in a Musical and won him the Theatre World Award. In 1973 he garnered his second Tony nod for A Little Night Music; he repeated the role of Fredrik for the 1977 film version opposite Elizabeth Taylor. Six years later he won both the Tony and a Drama Desk Award for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in the Stephen Sondheim musical opposite Angela Lansbury. During these years, Cariou also appeared in a number of benefits, including A Christmas Carol for the Riverside Shakespeare Company in New York, playing Scrooge, with Helen Hayes, Raul Julia, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, directed by W. Stuart McDowell at the Symphony Space in 1985.[5] His next projects included the Alan Jay Lernerâ€“Charles Strouse musical Dance a Little Closer (1983), Arthur Miller's sole musical, Up from Paradise (1983), Teddy & Alice (1987), and Ziegfeld (1988). Cariou also appeared on Broadway in Night Watch, Cold Storage, The Speed of Darkness, Neil Simon's The Dinner Party (with Henry Winkler and John Ritter) and Proof (with Anne Heche and Neil Patrick Harris). He directed Don't Call Back on Broadway as well. His off-Broadway appearances include Master Class, Papa (Ernest Hemingway one man show) and Mountain (Justice William O. Douglas).  He appeared as Cap'n Andy in the Broadway national tour of Show Boat opposite Cloris Leachman.

Regionally, Cariou has starred in myriad productions at theatres throughout North America, including The Kennedy Centre, the Mark Taper Forum, Lincoln Centre, the Long Wharf Theatre and the Old Globe. He has played the title role of Macbeth for Toronto Arts Productions, and Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon for Canadian Stage in Toronto. He has appeared multiple times throughout his career at the Manitoba Theatre Centre. Cariou appeared at The Geffen Theatre as Joe Keller in a notable production of All My Sons, a role he reprised in 2009 at the Gate Theatre in Dublin, where it was the longest running, highest grossing run of a play in that theatre's history. He also appeared at The Geffen in Neil Simon's Rose and Walsh and Heroes with George Segal.

From 1985 to 1992, Cariou was seen on multiple episodes of the popular television mystery series, Murder, She Wrote opposite his good friend and former Sweeney Todd co-star Angela Lansbury. Cariou portrayed the recurring character of Michael Hagerty. Hagerty was an Irish international man of mystery who worked as a secret agent for British MI-6. He would get Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), the title character of the show, involved in mysteries involving international intrigue.

In 1993, Cariou was in the made-for-TV movie Miracle on Interstate 880. He played Buck Helm.

In 1995, Cariou became the first actor to portray Walt Disney in the Annette Funicello biography A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story based on her book of the same name.

In 1997 Cariou appeared in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Coda".  He appeared to Captain Kathryn Janeway as an alien disguised as her deceased father, Admiral Janeway.

In 2010, Cariou appeared as Madoff-like Ponzi scheme man Louis Tobin in FX's drama Damages, the main antagonist in season three. Cariou has appeared in episodes of The West Wing, Law & Order, The Practice, and The Outer Limits. He had a continuing role in 2006â€“2007 as power broker Judd Fitzgerald in the Showtime series Brotherhood.

He currently appears as Henry Reagan, the former NYC police commissioner and patriarch of the current commissioner's family, on Blue Bloods.

Cariou's film credits include One Man, Flags of Our Fathers, About Schmidt, Thirteen Days, The Four Seasons, the Harold Prince-directed screen adaptation of A Little Night Music with Elizabeth Taylor, and Secret Window in which he starred alongside Johnny Depp, who would later go on to play Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the Tim Burton-directed musical based on the Broadway show. He played the father in the 2007 film 1408, and the nominal lead role in The Onion Movie, based on the satirical newspaper. In 2018 he starred alongside with Bruce Willis in Death Wish as Dr. Paul Kersey's father-in-law.

Cariou narrated Major League Baseball's World Series films from 1992 to 1997. He has recorded a number of books, including several by Michael Connelly, for audiotape release. He also narrated the 1989 Academy Award-winning documentary The Johnstown Flood. In 2004, he was elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame. In 2009, Cariou portrayed Franklin D. Roosevelt in the HBO movie Into the Storm, earning an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.  He played an American naval officer in  2013’s den Orolige Mannen (the Troubled Man), adapted from one of Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander novels.

More recently, Cariou portrayed Cardinal Law in Spotlight, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2015. He also starred in the short play Happy Birthday, Mr. Abernathy by Lloyd Suh for a public radio show and podcast, Playing On Air.[6][7]

In 2004, Cariou was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.[8]

On June 23, 2012, Cariou was honored by having his name added to the Miles Macdonell Collegiate Alumni of Distinction, for his contribution to theater and arts. His introduction to the theater started with a starring role in the school production of The Pirates of Penzance. He holds the Order of Manitoba and has been invested with honorary degrees from the University of Windsor and the University of Winnipeg.