Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

Birmingham Six

2004-09-24T20:50:44Z

TwoOneTwo: removing links to names, they all redir to this article

The '''Birmingham Six''' were Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker. They were sentenced to life imprisonment in [[1975]] for two pub bombings in [[Birmingham]] on [[November 21]], [[1974]] that killed 21 people. Their convictions were overturned by the [[Court of Appeal]] on [[March 14]], [[1991]].

==Birmingham pub bombings==
The Birmingham bombings were attributed to the [[Provisional IRA]], although the group denied this two days later. The devices were placed in two central Birmingham pubs: the '''Mulberry Bush''' (later renamed, then redeveloped in [[2003]] as a tourist information office), at the foot of the [[Rotunda (Birmingham)|Rotunda]], and the '''Tavern in the Town''', a basement pub on New Street (later renamed, now a branch of [[Pizza Hut]]). The resulting explosions, at 20.25 and 20.27, collectively were the most injurious terrorist blasts in mainland Britain; 21 people were killed (ten at the Mulberry Bush and eleven at the Tavern in the Town) and 182 people were injured. A third device, outside a bank on Hagley Road, failed to detonate.

==Arrests and questioning==
The six men arrested were all Belfast-born but had lived in Birmingham since the 1960s. Five of the men, Hill, Hunter, McIlkenny, Power and Walker, had left the city on the early evening of the 21st from [[Birmingham New Street station|New Street Station]], some hours prior to the explosions, to travel to Belfast to attend the funeral of [[James McDade]], an IRA member who had accidentally killed himself while planting a bomb in [[Coventry]]. They were seen off from the station by Callaghan. When they reached [[Heysham]] they and others were subject to a [[Special Branch]] stop and search. The men did not tell the police of the true purpose of their visit to Belfast, a fact that was later held against them. While the search was in progress the police were informed of the Birmingham bombings. The men agreed to be taken to [[Morecambe]] police station for forensic tests.

On the morning of the [[November 22|22nd]], after the forensic tests and routine questioning, the men were transferred to the custody of [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]] police. All men were interrogated by Birmingham [[CID]] and claimed that they were beaten, threatened and forced to sign statements written by the police over three days of questioning. Callaghan was taken into custody on the evening of the 22nd.

==Charges against police and prison officers==
The men first appeared in court on the following Monday, the [[November 25|25th]], and were remanded in custody and taken to HMP Birmingham, Winson Green. At the prison the six men claimed they were subject to further ill-treatment. When they reappeared in court on the [[November 28|28th]] all the men showed visible bruising and other signs of violence. In June [[1975]] fourteen prison officers were charged with varying degrees of assault but were found not guilty. In [[1977]] the six men pressed charges against the West Midlands police; these charges were dismissed under ''[[estoppel|issue estoppel]]''.

==Trial==
On [[May 12]], 1975 the six men were charged with murder and conspiracy to cause explosions. Three other men, James Kelly, Michael Murray and Michael Sheehan, were charged with conspiracy and Kelly and Sheehan also faced charges of unlawful possession of explosives.

The trial began on [[June 9]], 1975 in [[Lancaster]]. After legal arguments the statements the men had made in November were deemed admissible as evidence. The accused repudiated the confessions at the trial. The other evidence against the men was largely circumstantial, through their association with IRA members. Although Hill and Power had tested positive for the [[Griess test]] for handling explosives the later sample tests were inconclusive. The jury found the six men guilty of murder and on [[August 15]], 1975 they were sentenced to life terms.

==Appeals==
In March [[1976]] their appeal was dismissed.

Their third appeal, in [[1991]], was successful. New evidence of police fabrication and suppression of evidence, the discrediting of both the confessions and the 1975 forensic evidence led to the Crown offering no case against the men. In [[2001]] the six men were awarded compensation ranging from £840,000 to £1.2 million.

==Consequences==
The collapse of the case and other miscarriages of justice caused the Home Secretary to set up a [[Royal Commission on Criminal Justice]] in [[1991]]. The commission reported in [[1993]] and led to the [[Criminal Appeal Act of 1995]] and the establishment of the [[Criminal Cases Review Commission]] in [[1997]].

[[nl:Zes van Birmingham]]

[[Category:Terrorist incidents]]
[[Category:Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Miscarriages of justice]]

Michael Swanwick

2004-09-08T14:07:31Z

TwoOneTwo:

'''Michael Swanwick''' (born [[November 18]], [[1950]]) is a [[science fiction]] author based in [[Philadelphia]] who began publishing in the early [[1980s]].

His published novels are: ''In the Drift'' (an [[Ace Special]], [[1985]]); ''Vacuum Flowers'' ([[1987]]); ''Stations of the Tide'' ([[1991]]); ''[[The Iron Dragon's Daughter]]'' ([[1993]]), a fantasy with elves in Armani suits and dragons as jet fighters; ''Jack Faust'' ([[1997]]), a retelling of the [[Faust]] legend with modern science and technology; and ''Bones of the Earth'' ([[2002]]), a [[time travel|time-travel]] story involving [[dinosaurs]].

His short fiction has been collected in ''Gravity's Angels'' (1991), ''Moon Dogs'' ([[2000]]) and ''Tales of Old Earth'' (2000), along with several smaller collections. A novella, ''Griffin's Egg'', was published in book form in 1991 and is also collected in ''Moon Dogs''. He has collaborated with other authors on several short works, including [[Gardner Dozois]] ("Ancestral Voices", "City of God", "Snow Job") and [[William Gibson (novelist)|William Gibson]] ("Dogfight"). Additionally, he has written two series of short fiction available online - one on the theme of the [[Periodic Table]], and one to complement the [[Los Caprichos]] engravings by [[Francisco Goya]].

''Stations of the Tide'' won the [[Nebula Award|Nebula]] for [[Nebula Award for Best Novel|best novel]], and several of his shorter works have won awards as well: the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for "The Edge of the World" in [[1989]], the World Fantasy Award for "Radio Waves" in [[1996]], and [[Hugo Award|Hugos]] for "The Very Pulse of the Machine" and "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur" in [[1999]] and 2000, respectively. His novelette "Slow Life" ([[2002]]) won the Hugo Award at Torcon 3 in [[August]] [[2003]].

Swanwick has written about the field as well. He published two long essays on the state of the science fiction ("The User's Guide to the Postmoderns", 1986) and fantasy ("In the Beginning...", 1994), the former of which was controversial for its categorization of new SF writers into "cyberpunk" and "literary humanist" camps. Both essays are included in ''Moon Dogs''. A book-length interview with Gardner Dozois, ''Being Gardner Dozois'', was published in [[2001]].

== External links ==
* [http://www.michaelswanwick.com/ Michael Swanwick Online] (official home page)
* [http://www.infinitematrix.net/stories/swanwick/sleep_of_reason.html The Sleep of Reason, a series of short fiction]
* [http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/periodictable.html The Periodic Series of Science Fiction] hosted by ''[[Sci_Fi_Channel_(United_States)|Sci Fi]]''
* [http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/intms.htm An interview by Nick Gevers] for ''[[Infinity Plus]]''
* [http://www.themodernword.com/features/interview_swanwick.html An interview by Ismo Santala] for ''[[The Modern Word]]''

[[Category:Science fiction writers|Swanwick, Michael]]
[[Category:American writers|Swanwick, Michael]]

Michael Swanwick

2004-09-08T14:06:18Z

TwoOneTwo:

'''Michael Swanwick''' (born [[November 18]], [[1950]]) is a [[science fiction]] author based in [[Philadelphia]] who began publishing in the early [[1980s]].

His published novels are: ''In the Drift'' (an [[Ace Special]], [[1985]]); ''Vacuum Flowers'' ([[1987]]); ''Stations of the Tide'' ([[1991]]); ''[[The Iron Dragon's Daughter]]'' ([[1993]]), a fantasy with elves in Armani suits and dragons as jet fighters; ''Jack Faust'' ([[1997]]), a retelling of the [[Faust]] legend with modern science and technology; and ''Bones of the Earth'' ([[2002]]), a [[time travel|time-travel]] story involving [[dinosaurs]].

His short fiction has been collected in ''Gravity's Angels'' (1991), ''Moon Dogs'' ([[2000]]) and ''Tales of Old Earth'' (2000), along with several smaller collections. A novella, ''Griffin's Egg'', was published in book form in 1991 and is also collected in ''Moon Dogs''. He has collaborated with other authors on several short works, including [[Gardner Dozois]] ("Ancestral Voices", "City of God", "Snow Job") and [[List of Canadian writers William Gibson]] ("Dogfight"). Additionally, he has written two series of short fiction available online - one on the theme of the [[Periodic Table]], and one to complement the [[Los Caprichos]] engravings by [[Francisco Goya]].

''Stations of the Tide'' won the [[Nebula Award|Nebula]] for [[Nebula Award for Best Novel|best novel]], and several of his shorter works have won awards as well: the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for "The Edge of the World" in [[1989]], the World Fantasy Award for "Radio Waves" in [[1996]], and [[Hugo Award|Hugos]] for "The Very Pulse of the Machine" and "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur" in [[1999]] and 2000, respectively. His novelette "Slow Life" ([[2002]]) won the Hugo Award at Torcon 3 in [[August]] [[2003]].

Swanwick has written about the field as well. He published two long essays on the state of the science fiction ("The User's Guide to the Postmoderns", 1986) and fantasy ("In the Beginning...", 1994), the former of which was controversial for its categorization of new SF writers into "cyberpunk" and "literary humanist" camps. Both essays are included in ''Moon Dogs''. A book-length interview with Gardner Dozois, ''Being Gardner Dozois'', was published in [[2001]].

== External links ==
* [http://www.michaelswanwick.com/ Michael Swanwick Online] (official home page)
* [http://www.infinitematrix.net/stories/swanwick/sleep_of_reason.html The Sleep of Reason, a series of short fiction]
* [http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/periodictable.html The Periodic Series of Science Fiction] hosted by ''[[Sci_Fi_Channel_(United_States)|Sci Fi]]''
* [http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/intms.htm An interview by Nick Gevers] for ''[[Infinity Plus]]''
* [http://www.themodernword.com/features/interview_swanwick.html An interview by Ismo Santala] for ''[[The Modern Word]]''

[[Category:Science fiction writers|Swanwick, Michael]]
[[Category:American writers|Swanwick, Michael]]

Irischer Hungerstreik von 1981

2004-07-15T22:17:47Z

TwoOneTwo:

The [[IRA]]/[[INLA]] '''Hunger Strike''' was the seminal event of Modern Northern Irish history. While a failure in its own terms, it radicalised [[Irish nationalist|Nationalist]] politics, was the midwife to [[Sinn Féin]] as a serious political movement, began the slow decline of the centre ground in [[Northern Ireland]], and formed the current [[Unionist_(Ireland)|Unionist]] party system.

The process which led up Hunger Strikes began in [[1976]]. As part of the policy of [[Ulsterisation]], the British government ended its previous policy of giving [[Special Category Status]] to paramilitary linked prisoners in [[Northern Ireland]] prisons. This was a serious threat to the authority which the paramilitary leaderships inside prison had been able to exercise over their own men. The policy was not introduced for existing prisoners, but rather phased in for those newly convicted.

The [[IRA]], soon joined by the [[INLA]], began the [[blanket protest]] in which prisoners would refused to wear prison uniform and either went naked or fashioned garments from prison blankets. In [[1978]], this escalated into the [[dirty protest]], where prisoners not granted political status refused to wash and smeared the walls of their cells with excrement. These protests aimed to re-establish their privileges by securing what were known as the [[Five Demands]], ''viz.'':

*1. The Right not to wear a prison uniform;
*2. The Right not to do prison work;
*3. The Right of free association with other prisoners;
*4. The Right to organize their own educational and recreational facilities;
*5. The Right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week.

In October [[1980]], Republican prisoners in [[Maze Prison|The Maze]] and [[Crumlin Road Prison]] began a hunger strike. In a war of nerve between the [[IRA]] leadership and the British government, the IRA blinked first and the strike was called off in December before any prisoners died.

However, the IRA had failed to secure any of their objectives, so on [[March 1]], [[1981]], under the new IRA Officer Commander in The Maze, [[Bobby Sands]], a second hunger strike, with Sands himself the first to refuse food. The political atmosphere outside the prisons became electric, both in [[Northern Ireland]] and the the [[Republic of Ireland|Republic]], with widespread rioting in [[Irish_nationalist|Nationalist]] areas.

Shortly after the beginning of the strike, the independent Irish republican MP for [[Fermanagh]] and South [[Tyrone]] died and precipitated a [[by-election]]. Sands was nominated as an anti-H-Block candidate, and won the seat on [[April 9]], [[1981]] with 30,492 votes to 29,046 for the [[Unionist (Ireland)|Unionist]] candidate [[Harry West]].

Three weeks later, Sands died from starvation in the prison hospital. The announcement of his death prompted several days of riots in nationalist areas of [[Northern Ireland]]. Over 75,000 people lined the route of his funeral.

Over the summer, nine other members who were involved in the hunger strike also died. Their names, paramiltary affiliation, hometown, dates of death, and length of hunger strike were as follows:

*[[Bobby Sands]], IRA, Belfast (Twinbrook), 5 May, 66 days
*Francis Hughes, IRA, Bellaghy, 12 May, 59 days
*Patsy O’Hara, INLA, Derry, 21 May, 61 days
*Raymond McCreesh, Camlough, IRA, 21 May, 61 days
*Joe McDonnell, IRA, Belfast (Lenadoon), 8 July, 61 days
*Martin Hurson, IRA, Cappagh, 13 July, 46 days
*Kevin Lynch, INLA, Dungiven, 1 Aug, 71 days
*Kieran Doherty, IRA, Belfast (Andersonstown), 2 Aug, 73 days
*Thomas McElwee, IRA, Bellaghy, 8 Aug, 62 days
*Michael Devine, INLA, Derry, 20 Aug, 60 days

In late Summer, the Hunger Strike began to break, thanks in large part due to the actions of the radical Catholic Priest, Fr. Dennis Faul, who intervened with hunger strikers families after they had lost consciousness to urge them to give consent to the prison authorities for their relatives to be fed by drift. On [[3 October]], [[1981]], the IRA called off the Hunger Strike.

The Hunger Strike resulted in a new surge of IRA activity, with the group obtaining many more members. It also prompted the Republican movement to move towards electoral politics, with [[Sinn Féin]] emerging as a serious political force in [[1982]] and indirectly paved the way for the [[Good Friday Agreement]] many years later.

==Reference==
*[[Hunger strike|Hunger Strikes (General)]]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/troubles/hungerstrikes/ Hunger Strikes] BBC History

Irischer Hungerstreik von 1981

2004-07-15T22:16:29Z

TwoOneTwo:

The [[IRA]]/[[INLA]] '''Hunger Strike''' was the seminal event of Modern Northern Irish history. While a failure in its own terms, it radicalised [[Irish nationalist|Nationalist]] politics, was the midwife to [[Sinn Féin]] as a serious political movement, began the slow decline of the centre ground in [[Northern Ireland]], and formed the current [[Unionist_(Ireland)|Unionist]] party system.

The process which led up Hunger Strikes began in [[1976]]. As part of the policy of [[Ulsterisation]], the British government ended its previous policy of giving [[Special Category Status]] to paramilitary linked prisoners in [[Northern Ireland]] prisons. This was a serious threat to the authority which the paramilitary leaderships inside prison had been able to exercise over their own men. The policy was not introduced for existing prisoners, but rather phased in for those newly convicted.

The [[IRA]], soon joined by the [[INLA]], began the [[blanket protest]] in which prisoners would refused to wear prison uniform and either went naked or fashioned garments from prison blankets. In [[1978]], this escalated into the [[dirty protest]], where prisoners not granted political status refused to wash and smeared the walls of their cells with excrement. These protests aimed to re-establish their special by securing what were known as the [[Five Demands]], ''viz.'':

*1. The Right not to wear a prison uniform;
*2. The Right not to do prison work;
*3. The Right of free association with other prisoners;
*4. The Right to organize their own educational and recreational facilities;
*5. The Right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week.

In October [[1980]], Republican prisoners in [[Maze Prison|The Maze]] and [[Crumlin Road Prison]] began a hunger strike. In a war of nerve between the [[IRA]] leadership and the British government, the IRA blinked first and the strike was called off in December before any prisoners died.

However, the IRA had failed to secure any of their objectives, so on [[March 1]], [[1981]], under the new IRA Officer Commander in The Maze, [[Bobby Sands]], a second hunger strike, with Sands himself the first to refuse food. The political atmosphere outside the prisons became electric, both in [[Northern Ireland]] and the the [[Republic of Ireland|Republic]], with widespread rioting in [[Irish_nationalist|Nationalist]] areas.

Shortly after the beginning of the strike, the independent Irish republican MP for [[Fermanagh]] and South [[Tyrone]] died and precipitated a [[by-election]]. Sands was nominated as an anti-H-Block candidate, and won the seat on [[April 9]], [[1981]] with 30,492 votes to 29,046 for the [[Unionist (Ireland)|Unionist]] candidate [[Harry West]].

Three weeks later, Sands died from starvation in the prison hospital. The announcement of his death prompted several days of riots in nationalist areas of [[Northern Ireland]]. Over 75,000 people lined the route of his funeral.

Over the summer, nine other members who were involved in the hunger strike also died. Their names, paramiltary affiliation, hometown, dates of death, and length of hunger strike were as follows:

*[[Bobby Sands]], IRA, Belfast (Twinbrook), 5 May, 66 days
*Francis Hughes, IRA, Bellaghy, 12 May, 59 days
*Patsy O’Hara, INLA, Derry, 21 May, 61 days
*Raymond McCreesh, Camlough, IRA, 21 May, 61 days
*Joe McDonnell, IRA, Belfast (Lenadoon), 8 July, 61 days
*Martin Hurson, IRA, Cappagh, 13 July, 46 days
*Kevin Lynch, INLA, Dungiven, 1 Aug, 71 days
*Kieran Doherty, IRA, Belfast (Andersonstown), 2 Aug, 73 days
*Thomas McElwee, IRA, Bellaghy, 8 Aug, 62 days
*Michael Devine, INLA, Derry, 20 Aug, 60 days

In late Summer, the Hunger Strike began to break, thanks in large part due to the actions of the radical Catholic Priest, Fr. Dennis Faul, who intervened with hunger strikers families after they had lost consciousness to urge them to give consent to the prison authorities for their relatives to be fed by drift. On [[3 October]], [[1981]], the IRA called off the Hunger Strike.

The Hunger Strike resulted in a new surge of IRA activity, with the group obtaining many more members. It also prompted the Republican movement to move towards electoral politics, with [[Sinn Féin]] emerging as a serious political force in [[1982]] and indirectly paved the way for the [[Good Friday Agreement]] many years later.

==Reference==
*[[Hunger strike|Hunger Strikes (General)]]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/troubles/hungerstrikes/ Hunger Strikes] BBC History

United States Chess Championship

2004-04-25T21:41:15Z

TwoOneTwo:

Winner list:

*[[2003]] [[Alexander Shabalov]]
*[[2002]] [[Larry Christiansen]]
*[[2000]] [[Joel Benjamin]] / [[Alexander Shabalov]] / [[Yasser Seirawan]]
*[[1999]] [[Boris Gulko]]
*[[1998]] [[Nick de Firmian]]
*[[1997]] [[Joel Benjamin]]
*[[1996]] [[Alex Yermolinsky]]
*[[1995]] [[Nick de Firmian]] / [[Patrick Wolff]] / [[Alexander Ivanov]]
*[[1994]] [[Boris Gulko]]
*[[1993]] [[Alexander Shabalov]] / [[Alex Yermolinsky]]
*[[1992]] [[Patrick Wolff]]
*[[1991]] [[Gata Kamsky]]
*[[1990]] [[Lev Alburt]]
*[[1989]] [[Roman Dzindzichashvili]] / [[Yasser Seirawan]] / [[Stuart Rachels]]
*[[1988]] [[Michael Wilder]]
*[[1987]] [[Nick de Firmian]] / [[Joel Benjamin]]
*[[1986]] [[Yasser Seirawan]]
*[[1985]] [[Lev Alburt]]
*[[1984]] [[Lev Alburt]]
*[[1983]] [[Walter Browne]] / [[Larry Christiansen]] / [[Roman Dzindzichashvili]]
*[[1981]] [[Walter Browne]] / [[Yasser Seirawan]]
*[[1980]] [[Walter Browne]] / [[Larry Evans]] / [[Larry Christiansen]]
*[[1978]] [[Lubomir Kavalek]]
*[[1977]] [[Walter Browne]]
*[[1975]] [[Walter Browne]]
*[[1974]] [[Walter Browne]]
*[[1973]] [[John Grefe]] / [[Lubomir Kavalek]]
*[[1972]] [[Robert Byrne]]
*[[1970]] [[Samuel Reshevsky]]
*[[1969]] [[Samuel Reshevsky]]
*[[1968]] [[Larry Evans]]
*[[1966]] [[Bobby Fischer]]
*[[1965]] [[Bobby Fischer]]
*[[1963]] [[Bobby Fischer]]
*[[1962]] [[Bobby Fischer]]
*[[1961]] [[Larry Evans]]
*[[1960]] [[Bobby Fischer]]
*[[1959]] [[Bobby Fischer]]
*[[1958]] [[Bobby Fischer]]
*[[1954]] [[Arthur Bisguier]]
*[[1951]] [[Larry Evans]]
*[[1948]] [[Herman Steiner]]
*[[1946]] [[Samuel Reshevsky]]
*[[1944]] [[Arnold Denker]]
*[[1942]] [[Samuel Reshevsky]]
*[[1940]] [[Samuel Reshevsky]]
*[[1938]] [[Samuel Reshevsky]]
*[[1936]] [[Samuel Reshevsky]]
*[[1909]] - [[1935]] [[Frank Marshall]]
*[[1906]] - [[1909]] [[Jackson Showalter]]
*[[1897]] - [[1906]] [[Harry Nelson Pillsbury]]
*[[1895]] - [[1897]] [[Jackson Showalter]]
*[[1894]] - [[1895]] [[Albert Hodges]]
*[[1894]] [[Jackson Showalter]]
*[[1891]] - [[1894]] [[Solomon Lipschutz]]
*[[1890]] - [[1891]] [[Jackson Showalter]]
*[[1871]] - [[1890]] [[George H. Mackenzie]]
*[[1857]] - [[1871]] [[Paul Morphy]] (Morphy retired from public chess competition in 1859)
*[[1845]] - [[1857]] [[Charles Stanley (Chess player)|Charles Stanley]]

Charles Bronson (Häftling)

2004-04-03T22:13:41Z

TwoOneTwo:

''This page concerns the criminal '''Charles Bronson'''. For the actor, see [[Charles Bronson]].''
----

'''Charles Bronson''' is the adopted name by [[deed poll]], after the actor [[Charles Bronson]], of '''Michael Peterson'''. A [[Wales|Welsh]]-born criminal, he has been in [[prison]] for most of his life since the age of nineteen.

Initially jailed in [[1974]] for robbery and inflicting wounds, his sentence has been repeatedly extended and he has spent only three months out of custody. He has served 22 years of his time in prison in [[solitary confinement]] for repeated attacks on prison staff and inmates, including a number of hostage situations and rooftop protests. His dangerous behaviour has meant that he has spent time in over 120 different prisons. In 2000 he received a discretionary life sentence for a hostage-taking incident. His appeal against this was denied in 2004.

While in prison he has developed an extreme fitness regime and regularly performs 2,500 press-ups a day. In [[2002]] he published a book ''Solitary Fitness'', detailing an individual training process with minimal resources and space.

In June 2001 he married Saira Ali Ahmed while at Woodhill prison. Influenced by his wife he converted to [[Islam]].

River Monnow

2003-12-24T17:23:34Z

TwoOneTwo:

The '''River Monnow''' flows through south-west [[Herefordshire]], [[England]].

For much of its short length it marks the border between England and [[Wales]]. The river rises near Craswall on [[Cefn Hill]]. It flows southwards, gaining the waters of its [[tributary|tributaries]] Escley Brook and Olchon Brook near Clodock and the waters of Afon Honddu, from the [[Black Mountains]], near Pandy. The river then flows briefly eastwards before again turning southwards. At [[Monmouth]] the river joins into the [[River Wye]] with the [[River Trothy]]. Its total length is around 26 miles (42 km).

At one time the river was noted for its substantial [[Brown Trout|brown trout]] population, with the length from [[Pontrilas]] to [[Skenfirth]] producing record catches. Numbers fell substantially during the [[20th century]] and especially after the [[1960s]].

==See also==
*[[Rivers of the United Kingdom]]

Ordnance Survey

2003-10-20T17:07:16Z

TwoOneTwo: +osgb39

The '''Ordnance Survey''' (OS) is now a civilian organisation and [[government]] agency in the [[United Kingdom]], and one of the World's largest producers of [[map]]s. In addition to a wide range of UK maps, the organisation is also working in over sixty countries world-wide.

==Origins==
The roots of the [[United Kingdom]] '''Ordnance Survey''' (OS) go back to [[1747]], when King [[George II of England]] commissioned a military survey of the [[Scottish highlands]] following the [[Jacobite]] revolt of [[1745]]. [[William Roy]] was the engineer responsible for this pioneering work. It was not until [[1790]] that the [[Board of Ordnance]] (the predecessor of the [[Ministry of Defence]]) began a national military survey starting with the south coast of [[England]] in anticipation of a [[France|French]] invasion.

==Mapping Britain==
By [[1791]], the Board had purchased the new [[Ramsden theodolite]], and work commenced on mapping southern Britain using a baseline that Roy himself had previously measured. In 1801 the first one-[[inch]] map was published: it was of the [[county]] of [[Kent]], with a second of [[Essex]] following shortly after.

During the next twenty years about a third of England and Wales was mapped at the one-inch scale. It was gruelling work: Major [[Thomas Colby]], later the longest serving Director General of the Ordnance Survey, walked 586 miles in 22 days on a reconnaissance in [[1819]].

In 1824, Colby and most of his staff moved to [[Ireland]], to work on a six inch to the mile valuation survey. Colby was not only involved in the design of specialist measuring equipment. He also established a systematic collection of place names, and reorganised the map-making process to produce clear, accurate plans. He believed in leading from the front, travelling with his men, helping to build camps, and as each survey session drew to a close arranging mountain-top parties with enormous [[plum pudding]]s.

After the first Irish maps began to come out in the mid-[[1830s]], the Tithe Commutation Act led to calls for similar six-inch surveys in England and [[Wales]]. After official prevarication, the development of the [[railway]]s added to pressure that resulted in the [[1841]] Ordnance Survey Act. This granted a right to enter property for the purpose of the survey.

Following a fire at its headquarters in the [[Tower of London]], the OS was in disarray for several years with arguments about which scales to use. Major-General Sir Henry James was now Director General, and he saw how photography could be used to make maps of various scales cheaply and easily. The twenty five inch to the mile survey was complete by [[1895]].

==World War I==
During the [[First World War]] the OS was more involved in preparing maps overseas, but after the war Colonel [[Charles Close]], the current Director General, developed a marketing strategy, using covers designed by [[Ellis Martin]] to increase sales in the leisure market. In [[1920]] [[O. G. S. Crawford]] was appointed Archeology Officer and played a prominent role in developing the use of aerial photography to deepen understanding of archaeology.

The Davidson Committee was established in [[1935]] to review the Ordnance Survey's future. The new Director General, Major-General [[Malcolm MacLeod]], started the retriangulation of Great Britain, an immense task which involved erecting concrete triangulation pillars on prominent hilltops throughout Britain.

The Davidson Committee's final report set the OS on course for the twentieth century. The National Grid reference system was launched, with the [[metre]] as its measurement. An experimental new 1:25,000 scale map was introduced. The one-inch maps remained for almost forty years before being superseded by the 1:50,000 scale series, as proposed by William Roy more than two centuries earlier.

In 1995 the Ordnance Survey digitised the last of about 230,000 maps, making Britain the first country in the world to complete a programme of large-scale electronic mapping.

The OS is now a civilian organisation.

==UK Map Range==
Ordnance Survey maps are available in most bookshops, generally in two scales:
* 1:50,000
** ''Landranger'' - These are designed as road maps. They have pink covers and 204 of them cover the whole of the UK.
* 1:25,000
** ''Explorer'' - Designed for walkers and cyclists. There are 351 of these maps at the time of writing, but the number is increasing. They have orange covers.
** ''Explorer OL'' - Also for walkers & cyclists. These 33 maps specifically cover tourist destinations. Identified by their yellow covers and often double-sided, they predate the explorer maps. Previously known as ''Outdoor Leisure'' maps.
** ''Pathfinder'' - Pathfinders were the predecessors to the Explorer and Explorer OL maps. These maps were smaller than the new ones and generally had no overlap between adjacent sheets, meaning that even a short walk may require three or four different maps and a long one may range over even more. For this reason they have recently been gradually phased out.

Also produced are the mapping index (free), showing which parts of the country are covered by which maps, and ''Travel'' maps.

==Cartography==

The original maps were made by building short (approx four foot high), square, concrete pillars on top of various high points and working out the exact position of these by [[triangulation]]. The details in between were then filled in with less precise methods. Modern Ordnance Survey maps are based on [[aerial photography|aerial photograph]]s, but large numbers of the pillars, or ''[[trig point]]s'' remain.

The OS still maintains a set of master geodetic reference points to tie the OS geographic datums to modern measurement systems including [[GPS]].

==Eastings and Northings==
The Ordnance Survey maps of Great Britain do not use latitude and longitude to indicate position but a special grid.

There is a difference between the grid used in the mapping of Ireland compared to mainland Britain and the Scottish islands. This sectional concentrates on the traditional mainland reference system, called '''OSGB36''' ™ (Ordnance Survey Great Britain 1936) used after the retriangulation of 1936-1953.

The maps are based on the projection called the [[George Biddell Airy|Airy]] 1830 ellipsoid, with an origin at 49 ° N, 2 ° W. The ellipsoid is a regional best fit for Britain, more modern mapping tend to use the GRS80 ellipsoid used by the [[GPS]]. Over the Airy projection of Britain a straight line grid, the National Grid, is placed with a new false origin (to eliminate negative numbers), creating a 400 km by 100 km grid. The distortion created between the OS grid and the projection is countered by a scale factor in the longitude to create two lines of longitude with zero distortion rather than one. The produced maps contain a small variation between true north and grid north.

The position of a point on an OS map is given in northings (east-west) and eastings (north-south) in metres from the origin. To prevent very large values metre values the gird is divided. At the highest level into 25 500 km by 500 km squares, each with a letter code from A to Z (omitting I) starting with A in the north-west corner to Z in the south-east corner. This is much larger than the islands mapped, only four grid squares actually contain land - S,T,N, and H. Each large square is subdivided again into 25 100 km by 100 km squares, using the same lettering system. The created grid produces the following squares containing land:

hp
ht hu
hw hx hy hz
na nb nc nd
nf ng nh nj nk
nl nm nn no
nr ns nt nu
nw nx ny nz
sc sd se ta
sh sj sk tf tg
sm sn so sp tl tm
sr ss st su tq tr
sv sw sx sy sz tv

Within each square a point can be indicated to varying resolutions numerically, usually from four digits (1 km square) down to ten digits (1 m square.)

As the above information indicates a geodetic transformation between OSGB36 and other terrestrial reference systems (like [[IERS International Terrestrial Reference System|ITRF2000]], [[European Terrestrial Reference System|ETRS89]], or [[World Geodetic System|WGS84]]) can be quite tedious, if attempted manually. The process is called a Helmert datum transformation, the transformation from ETRS89 to OSGB36 is called the National Grid Transformation OSTN02.

See also:
*[[Cartography]] (map making)
*[[Hydrography]]
**[[Hydrographic survey]]
**[[United Kingdom Hydrographic Office]]
*[[Sea level]]
*[[UK topics]]

== External Links ==
* http://www.ordnancesurvey.gov.uk/
* [http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/oldmap/index.asp 19th Century Ordnance survey maps of Lancashire]
* [http://www.gps.gov.uk/guidecontents.asp National GPS network information: A guide to coordinate systems in Great Britain]

Royal Irish Constabulary

2003-04-17T20:47:43Z

TwoOneTwo: redir [Royal Ulster Constabulary], RIC history there

#REDIRECT [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]]

Natriumthiopental

2002-03-06T07:28:06Z

TwoOneTwo: *

Also called sodium pentothal (TM of Abbott Laboratories), thiopental (or thiopentone) sodium.

5-ethyl-5-(1-methylbutyl)-2-thiobarbituric acid, C11H17O2N2NaS.

Short-acting [[barbiturate]] [[drug]] that induces brief general [[anesthesia]] (10-30 minutes) without [[analgesia]] by depression of [[CNS]] within 60 seconds of injection. Since analgesia is slight, thiopental is only used alone for brief procedures. It is more commonly used to induce hypnosis and anesthesia prior to the use of other anesthetic agents. It is also a a radioprotective agent and used in [[narcotherapy]]. Along with pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride it is used in some States of the [[US]] as part of the [[lethal injection]]. In the past it was claimed as a [[truth drug]].

Side effects include head ache, retrograde amnesia, emergence delirium, prolonged somnolence and nausea.

It was discovered in 1936 by Ernest H. Volwiler and Donalee L. Tabern, working for Abbott Laboratories.