Aeroflot Flight 217

An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62, similar to the crashed aircraft
Accident
Date	13 October 1972 (1972-10-13)
Summary	Undetermined (possible crew incapacitation, lightning strike, or mechanical failure)
Site	Near Sheremetyevo International Airport
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Ilyushin Il-62
Operator	Aeroflot
Registration	CCCP-86671
Flight origin	Orly Airport
Stopover	Shosseynaya Airport
Destination	Sheremetyevo International Airport
Passengers	164
Crew	10
Fatalities	174
Survivors	0

Aeroflot Flight 217 was a non-scheduled international passenger flight from Orly Airport in Paris to Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, with a stopover at Shosseynaya Airport (now Pulkovo Airport) in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). On 13 October 1972, the Ilyushin Il-62 airliner operating the flight crashed on approach to Sheremetyevo, with the loss of all 164 passengers and crew of 10. The fatalities include 118 Russians, 38 Chileans, 6 Algerians, one East German, and one Australian.^[1] At the time, it was the world's deadliest aviation disaster, until it was surpassed by the Kano air disaster in 1973.^[2] As of 2019, the accident remains the second-deadliest one involving an Il-62, after LOT Flight 5055, and the second-deadliest on Russian soil, after Aeroflot Flight 3352.^[3][4][5]

Crash

Shortly before the expected landing, the plane was flying at the altitude of 1200 m and received the ATC instructions to descend to 400 m. The crew confirmed and started to descend, but later there was no action to return to the horizontal flight. The plane passed the 400 m mark with 20 m/s vertical velocity, no expected report to ATC and engines still running at low thrust. It crashed shortly afterwards, with landing gear up, spoilers retracted and horizontal speed about 620 km/h.^[6]

Investigation

The cause of the crash could not be determined. Investigators did believe the most probable cause was the 'psycho-physiological incapacitation of the crew for reasons unknown'.^[7] Somewhere at the 500 – 600 m. elevation, 30 – 25 seconds before impact, the pilots either have been incapacitated or lost control of the plane.^[6]

See also

• Aeroflot accidents and incidents
• Aeroflot accidents and incidents in the 1970s

References

External links

• "Aeroflot accident at Moscow". Flight International. 102 (3319): 517. 19 October 1972.
• "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin 62 CCCP-86671 Moskva-Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO)". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
• "Picture of the plane - Photo de l'avion". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2015.

Coordinates: 56°4′50″N 37°24′36″E / 56.08056°N 37.41000°E / 56.08056; 37.41000

Coordinates: 48°7′53″N 11°32′57″E / 48.13139°N 11.54917°E / 48.13139; 11.54917

Oktoberfest
Observed by	Munich, Germany
Type	National
Celebrations	Parades, food, music
2018 date	22 September
2019 date	21 September
2020 date	19 September
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Oktoberfest celebrations

Oktoberfest (German pronunciation: [ɔkˈtoːbɐˌfɛst]) is the world's largest Volksfest (beer festival and travelling funfair). Held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, it is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid or late September to the first Sunday in October, with more than six million people from around the world attending the event every year. Locally, it is often called the Wiesn, after the colloquial name for the fairgrounds, Theresa's meadows (Theresienwiese). The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since the year 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations that are modeled after the original Munich event.

During the event, large quantities of Oktoberfest Beer are consumed: during the 16-day festival in 2013, for example, 7.7 million litres (66,000 US bbl; 1,700,000 imp gal) were served.^[1] Visitors also enjoy numerous attractions, such as amusement rides, sidestalls, and games. There is also a wide variety of traditional foods available.

The Munich Oktoberfest originally took place in the 16-day period leading up to the first Sunday in October. In 1994, this longstanding schedule was modified in response to German reunification. As such, if the first Sunday in October falls on the 1st or the 2nd, then the festival would run until 3 October (German Unity Day). Thus, the festival now runs for 17 days when the first Sunday is 2 October and 18 days when it is 1 October. In 2010, the festival lasted until the first Monday in October (4 October), to mark the event's bicentennial.

History

Horse race at the Oktoberfest in Munich, 1823

Portrait of a girl wearing a dirndl dress

Kronprinz Ludwig (1786–1868), later King Ludwig I (reign: 1825–1848), married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on 12 October 1810. The citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates to celebrate the royal event. The fields were named Theresienwiese ("Theresa's Meadow") in honour of the Crown Princess, and have kept that name ever since, although the locals have since abbreviated the name simply to the "Wiesn".^[2] Horse races, in the tradition of the 15th-century Scharlachrennen (Scarlet Race at Karlstor), were held on 18 October to honor the newlyweds. It is widely understood that Andreas Michael Dall'Armi, a Major in the National Guard, proposed the idea. However, the origins of the horse races, and Oktoberfest itself, may have stemmed from proposals offered by Franz Baumgartner, a coachman and Sergeant in the National Guard. The precise origins of the festival and horse races remain a matter of controversy, however, the decision to repeat the horse races, spectacle, and celebrations in 1811 launched what is now the annual Oktoberfest tradition.

The fairground, once outside the city, was chosen due to its natural suitability. The Sendlinger Hill (today Theresienhohe) was used as a grandstand for 40,000 race spectators. The festival grounds remained undeveloped except for the king's tent. The tastings of "Traiteurs" and other wine and beer took place above the visitors in the stands on the hill. Before the race started, a performance was held in homage of the bridegroom and of the royal family in the form of a train of 16 pairs of children dressed in Wittelsbach costumes, and costumes from the then nine Bavarian townships and other regions. This was followed by the punishing race with 30 horses on an 11,200-foot (3,400 meters) long racetrack, and concluded with the singing of a student choir. The first horse to cross the finish line belonged to Franz Baumgartner (one of the purported festival initiators). Horse racing champion and Minister of State Maximilian von Montgelas presented Baumgartner with his gold medal.^[3]

Transformation into a public festival

19th century

In 1811, a show was added to promote Bavarian agriculture. In 1813, the festival was canceled due to the involvement of Bavaria in the Napoleonic Wars, after which the Oktoberfest grew from year to year. The horse races were accompanied by tree climbing, bowling alleys, and swings and other attractions. In 1818, carnival booths appeared; the main prizes awarded were of silver, porcelain, and jewelry. The city fathers assumed responsibility for festival management in 1819, and it was decided that Oktoberfest become an annual event. In 1832, the date was moved some weeks later, as a Greek delegation came. It inspired them for the Zappas Olympics which became in 1896 the modern Olympic Games. Later, the Oktoberfest was lengthened and the date pushed forward because days are longer and warmer at the end of September. The horse race continued until 1960, and the agricultural show still exists today and is held every four years in the southern part of the festival grounds.

To honour the marriage of Prince Ludwig and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, a parade took place for the first time in 1810. Since 1850, the parade has become an annual event and an important component of the Oktoberfest. Eight thousand people—mostly from Bavaria—and dressed in traditional costumes walk from Maximilian Street through the centre of Munich to the Oktoberfest grounds. The march is led by the Münchner Kindl.

Bavaria statue above the Theresienwiese

Since 1850, the statue of Bavaria has watched over the Oktoberfest. This worldly Bavarian patron was first sketched by Leo von Klenze in a classic style and Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler romanticised and "Germanised" the draft.^{[citation needed]} The statue was constructed by Johann Baptist Stiglmaier and Ferdinand von Miller.

In 1853, the Bavarian Ruhmeshalle was completed. In 1854, the festival was cancelled after 3,000 residents of Munich including the queen consort died during a cholera epidemic. There was no Oktoberfest in 1866 because Bavaria was involved in the Austro-Prussian War. In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War again forced the cancellation of the festival. In 1873, the festival was cancelled due to yet another cholera epidemic. In 1880, electric light illuminated more than 400 booths and tents. In 1881, booths selling Bratwurst opened and the first beer was served in glass mugs in 1892.

At the end of the 19th century, a re-organization took place. Until then, there were games of skittles, large dance floors, and trees for climbing in the beer booths. Organizers wanted more room for guests and musicians which resulted in the booths becoming beer halls which are still used today.

In 1887, the parade of the Oktoberfest staff and breweries took place for the first time. This event showcases the splendidly decorated horse teams of the breweries and the bands that play in the festival tents. This event always takes place on the first Saturday of the Oktoberfest and serves as the official prelude to the Oktoberfest celebration.

20th century

At the 100th anniversary of Oktoberfest in 1910, an estimated 120,000 litres of beer were consumed. Three years later, the "Bräurosl" was founded, which at that time was the largest pavilion to have ever been built, accommodating approximately 12,000 people.

Due to World War I, Oktoberfest was temporarily suspended from 1914 to 1918. The two years after the war, in 1919 and 1920, Oktoberfest was replaced by the so-called "kleineres Herbstfest" (which can be translated as "smaller autumn celebration"), and in 1923 and 1924 the Oktoberfest was canceled due to hyper-inflation.

During National Socialism, Oktoberfest was used as part of Nazi propaganda.^{[citation needed]} In 1933, Jews were forbidden to work on the Wiesn. Two years later, Oktoberfest's 125th anniversary was celebrated with all the frills. The main event was a big parade.

The slogan "proud city – cheerful country" was meant to show the alleged overcoming of differences between social classes, and can be seen as an example of the regime's consolidation of power. In 1938, after Hitler had annexed Austria and won the Sudetenland via the Munich Agreement, Oktoberfest was renamed to "Großdeutsches Volksfest" (Greater German folk festival), and as a showing of strength, the Nazi regime transported people from Sudetenland to the Wiesn by the score.^[4]

During World War II, from 1939 to 1945, no Oktoberfest was celebrated. Following the war, from 1946 to 1948, Munich celebrated only the "Autumn Fest". The sale of proper Oktoberfest beer—2% stronger in gravity than normal beer—was not permitted; guests could only drink normal beer.

Since its foundation, there have been 24 years in which Oktoberfest was not celebrated.^[5]

Beginning in 1950, the festival has always been opened with the same traditional procedure: At noon, a 12-gun salute is followed by the tapping of the first keg of Oktoberfest beer by the Mayor of Munich with the proclamation "O'zapft is!" ("It's tapped!" in the Austro-Bavarian dialect). The Mayor then gives the first litre of beer to the Minister-President of the State of Bavaria. The first mayor to tap a keg was Thomas Wimmer.

Gamsbärte at the entry of the Oktoberfest restaurateurs, 2008

Before the festival officially starts, parades are held with the traditional marksmen's clubs, beer-tent waitresses, and landlords participating. Actually, there are two different parades which both end at the Theresienwiese. They start around 9:45 a.m. to 10.50 am.^[6]

During Oktoberfest, some locals wear Bavarian hats (Tirolerhüte), which contain a tuft of chamois hair (Gamsbart). Historically, in Bavaria chamois hair was highly valued and prized. The more tufts of chamois hair on one's hat, the wealthier one was considered to be. Due to modern technology, this tradition has declined with the appearance of chamois hair imitations on the market.^{[citation needed]}

For medical treatment of visitors, the Bavarian branch of the German Red Cross operates an aid facility and provides emergency medical care on the festival grounds, staffed with around 100 volunteer medics and doctors per day.^[7]

They serve together with special detachments of Munich police, the fire department and other municipal authorities in the service centre at the Behördenhof (authorities' court), a large building specially built for the Oktoberfest at the east side of the Theresienwiese, just behind the tents. There is also a station for lost & found children, a lost property office, a security point for women and other public services.^{[citation needed]}

Since the 1970s, local German gay organizations have organized "Gay Days" at Oktoberfest, which since the 21st century always begin in the Bräurosl tent on the first Sunday.^[8]

1980 Oktoberfest bomb blast

A pipe bomb was set off in a dustbin near the toilets at the main entrance on 26 September 1980 at 22:19. The bomb consisted of an empty fire extinguisher filled with 1.39 kilograms of TNT and mortar shells. Thirteen people were killed and over 225 were injured, 68 seriously.

This was the second-deadliest terrorist attack in the history of Germany after the Munich massacre. Governmental authorities initiated numerous official inquires, purporting that a right-wing extremist, Gundolf Köhler, from Donaueschingen, a social outcast who was killed in the explosion, was the perpetrator. However, this account is strongly disputed by various groups.^[9]

Oktoberfest today

Music entertainment at the Oktoberfest, 2015

To keep the Oktoberfest, and especially the beer tents, amicable for the elderly and families, the concept of the "quiet Oktoberfest" was developed in 2005. Until 6:00 pm, the orchestras in the tents only play quiet brass music, for example traditional folk music. Only after that may Schlager pop or electric music be played, which had led to excess violence in earlier years.^[10] The music played in the afternoon is limited to 85 decibels. With these rules, the organisers of the Oktoberfest were able to curb^{[dubious – discuss]} the tumultuous party mentality and preserve the traditional beer-tent atmosphere.

In 2005 Germany's last travelling enterprise amusement ride, the Mondlift, returned to the Oktoberfest.

Starting in 2008, a new Bavarian law was passed to ban smoking in all enclosed spaces open to the public. Because of problems enforcing the anti-smoking law in the big tents, an exception was granted to the Oktoberfest in 2008, although the sale of tobacco was not allowed. After heavy losses in the 2008 local elections, with the smoking ban being a big issue in political debates, the state's ruling party implemented general exemptions to beer tents and small pubs.

The change in regulations was aimed in particular to benefit the large tents of the Oktoberfest:^[11] So, smoking in the tents is still legal, but the tents usually have non-smoking areas.^[12] The sale of tobacco in the tents is now legal, but is widely boycotted by mutual agreement. However, in early 2010, a referendum held in Bavaria as a result of a popular initiative re-instituted the original, strict, smoking ban of 2008; thus, no beer will be sold to people caught smoking in the tents.^[13]

The blanket smoking ban did not take effect until 2011, but all tents instituted the smoking ban in 2010 to do a "dry run" to identify any unforeseeable issues.^[14]

Celebrating 200 years of Oktoberfest in 2010

The year 2010 marked the 200th anniversary of the Oktoberfest. For the anniversary, a horse race in historical costumes was held on opening day. A so-called historische Wiesn (historical Oktoberfest) took place, starting one day earlier than usual on the southern part of the festival grounds. A specially brewed beer (solely available at the tents of the historical Oktoberfest), horse races, and a museum tent gave visitors an impression of how the event felt two centuries ago.

In 2013, 6.4 million people visited Oktoberfest, and visitors were served 6.7 million litres of beer.^[15]

Oide Wiesn

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary in 2010 a so-called Historisches Oktoberfest (Historical Oktoberfest) was designed on the site of the Central Agricultural Festival at the south end of the Theresienwiese. It opened one day before the official Oktoberfest with the traditional keg tapping by the Lord Mayor.

Main entrance to the Historical Oktoberfest

The comprehensive five acres of fenced grounds presented historic rides, beer tents and other historical attractions such as a Steckerlfisch grilling, a chain swing and a cotton candy stand. Included in the price of admission, an animal tent and the racecourse could be visited next to the museum.

The animal tent included, among other things, a petting zoo, and was managed by the Hellabrunn Zoo and the Bavarian Farmers Association. The Munich Stadtmuseum took over the design of the museum tent. The Oktoberfest anniversary was accompanied by an artistic and cultural program, in which for example the Biermösl Blosn (local entertainers) performed.

The bands in the relatively small Herzkasperl Festzelt – offering 850 seats – had to do without electrical amplification.^[16]

The fest-tent name derives from a famous stage character of the actor Jörg Hube, who died in 2009.^[17]

The six main Munich breweries Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner and Spaten presented a special exclusively brewed dark beer, which was made after a historic recipe from the early 19th century.

Folk dancers performing at the Historisches Oktoberfest

The beer mugs in the beer tents did not have the company logo of the breweries, but rather the inscription "Munich beer". Unlike the usual Oktoberfest, the Historic Wiesn closed at 8 pm. Instead of the 300,000 guests estimated by the city council, well over half a million visitors came. The festival site had to be temporarily closed several times due to overcrowding.

According to the Munich City Council Decision on 16 October 2012, the entry fee for the Historical Oktoberfest, now called Oide Wiesn (bavarian for old fairground), in 2013 was to be three euros again. For the first time a re-entry was possible with the tickets. The historic rides in 2013 required a 1 Euro fee.

Other changes made at that Munich City Council meeting were that the musicians' tent increased the number of indoor seats from 1000 to 1,500. Outside tent seating increased from 800 to 1,000. They also supported the Showman Foundation with a contribution of €200,000, so it could run a museum tent, a velodrome, as well as a children's program.^[18] Also in 2013, the total festival area was enlarged and attractive entrances were added.

Lastly, according to a City Council decision, there will be an Oide Wiesn again in 2015 before the Central Agricultural Exhibition claims the location again on the Theresienwiese in 2016.

Highlights

Coachmen in costume

Entry of the restaurateurs and breweries

The Hacker-Pschorr Brewery horse team

The story of the entry of the Oktoberfest restaurateurs and breweries for the opening of the Oktoberfest began in 1887, when the then manager, Hans Steyrer, first marched from his meadow to the Tegernseer Landstraße with his staff, a brass band and a load of beer to the Theresienwiese.

In its current form, the parade has taken place since 1935, where all the breweries first took part. Since then, the parade is led by the Münchner Kindl, followed by the incumbent mayor of Munich in the Schottenhammel family carriage since 1950. This is followed by the decorated horse carriages and floats of the breweries and the carriages of the other restaurateurs and showmen. The music bands from the beer tents accompany the parade.^[19]

Beer barrel tapping

After the parade of the restaurateurs on carriages from downtown to the festival grounds, at exactly 12:00 clock the lord mayor opens the first beer barrel in the Schottenhammel tent. With the initial pass and the exclamation "O'zapft is!" ("It's tapped!") the Oktoberfest is declared as opened.

Twelve gunshots are then fired on the stairway of Ruhmeshalle. This is the signal for the other restaurateurs to start with the serving of beer.^[20] Traditionally, the Bavarian Minister-President is served the first litre of beer. Then in the other tents, the first barrels are tapped and beer is served to the visitors.

Every year, visitors eagerly await to see how many strokes the mayor needs to use before the first beer flows. Bets are even made. The best performance is still two strokes (Christian Ude, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013; Dieter Reiter, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019)^[21], and there was also 19 strokes required (Thomas Wimmer, 1950).

Costume and riflemen parade

In honor of the silver wedding anniversary of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Therese, a traditional costume parade took place in 1835 for the first time. In 1895, the Bavarian novelist Maximilian Schmidt organized another parade with 1,400 participants in 150 traditional costume groups.^[22]

Participants in the 2013 costume and riflemen parade

Since 1950, this parade is organized annually and has become one of the highlights of the Oktoberfest and one of the world's largest parades of its kind. On the first festival Sunday, 8000 participants march in the parade in their historic festival costumes from the Maximilianeum on a seven kilometer stretch to the festival grounds.

This parade is also led by the Münchner Kindl; followed by notables of the city council and the city administration and the state of Bavaria, usually the minister-president and his wife, traditional costume and rifle clubs, musical bands, marching bands, flag-wavers and about 40 carriages with decorated horses and carts. The clubs and groups come mostly out of Bavaria, but also from other German states, Austria, Switzerland, Northern Italy and other European countries.

Beers

A waitress with Hacker-Pschorr, one of the traditional beers allowed to be served at Oktoberfest. She wears a dirndl, a traditional women's dress of Bavaria.

Only beer conforming to the Reinheitsgebot, and brewed within the city limits of Munich, can be served at the Munich Oktoberfest.

Beers meeting these criteria are designated Oktoberfest Beer.^[23][24]

The breweries that can produce Oktoberfest beer under the aforementioned criteria are:^[25]

• Augustiner-Bräu
• Hacker-Pschorr-Bräu
• Löwenbräu
• Paulaner
• Spatenbräu
• Staatliches Hofbräu-München

Oktoberfest Beer is a registered trademark by the Club of Munich Brewers, which consists of the above six breweries.^[26]

Facts and data

Size

The Oktoberfest fairground (Theresienwiese) in Munich, aerial view

The Oktoberfest is known as the largest Volksfest (folk festival) in the World.^[27]

In 1999 there were six and a half million visitors^[28] to the 42 hectare Theresienwiese.

– 72% of the people are from Bavaria.^[29]

– 15% of visitors come from foreign countries like the surrounding EU countries and other non-European countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and East Asia.^[30]

Besides the Oktoberfest, there are other public festivals that take place at the same location. In April/May it's the Munich Frühlingsfest (spring festival) and Tollwood Festival in December with 650,000 visitors.

After the Oktoberfest the next largest public fairs in Germany are the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart with about 4.5 million visitors each year, the Cranger Kirmes in Herne (Wanne-Eickel) (the largest fair in Northrhine-Westphalia) with 4.4 million visitors, the Rheinkirmes in Düsseldorf (called largest fair on the Rhine), and the Freimarkt in Bremen (the biggest fair in northern Germany) with over 4 million visitors per year each.

Also noteworthy is on the one hand the Schützenfest Hannover, the world's largest marksmen's Fun Fair in Hannover with over 1 million visitors per year and on the other hand the Kiel Week, the world's biggest sailing event and Volksfest in Kiel, with about 3 million visitors.

Dates

In recent years, the Oktoberfest runs for 16 days with the last day being the first Sunday in October. However, if day 16 falls before 3 October (German Unity Day), then the festival will continue until the 3rd. (see table below)

* Bayerisches Zentral-Landwirtschaftsfest (Bavarian Central Agriculture Fair)

Security at the Oktoberfest

Police video surveillance

Technical accidents have rarely occurred throughout Oktoberfest history. The rides are extensively tested in advance, and the examination is performed by the cableways and temporary structures department of today's TÜV SÜD.

On 30 September 1996, there was a collision on the Euro Star roller coaster, which injured 30, and was caused by a worn safety brake that went unnoticed during inspection. The Munich prosecutor tried to accuse the engineer, from TÜV Munich, of negligent injury, but the proceedings did not come to a conclusion.^[31]

To reduce the number of thefts, fights, and sexual assault cases during Oktoberfest, the protection measures for visitors have improved in recent years. For example, in 2003 the action Sichere Wiesn für Mädchen und Frauen (Safe Oktoberfest for Girls and Women) was launched.

The authorities court

In 2004, a new service center was placed in the authorities court, in which the police, the Munich Fire Department, medical services, and a department of district administration is located. During the Oktoberfest, a police station specifically for the festival is installed, and can be reached with the emergency number 5003220.

Due to the numerous Italian visitors to the Oktoberfest, since 2005 officers from Bolzano, Italy are also present. For decades now, the Bavarian Red Cross has been responsible for the medical service at the Oktoberfest.

Additional medical services are located in the Fischer Vroni tent (Aicher Ambulance), and the Munich U-Bahn has commissioned additional backups in the rapid transit station Theresienwiese provided by the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe. In the authorities court, an ambulance and miniature hospital, complete with operating theater, are readily available. During the Oktoberfest, additional emergency vehicles are on the alert at the control centers, and extra staff is on hand in case they are needed.

In 2010, as a "measure to public safety", a dog and animal ban was put into place. 2012 brought the banning of glass bottles after the increase in the number of injuries and cuts.

The safety concepts of the event have been modified and adapted continuously over the past decades:

• After the bombing in 1980, the main entrance of the Oktoberfest was redesigned in 1981.
• In 2008, the Theresienwiese was closed off to the public during the construction of the Oktoberfest.
• In 2009, road blocks were raised, and access controls during the festival, due to the perceived threat of attacks by Islamists, were increased.
• 2010 brought the implementation of advances to the security plan, including three lockdown rings around the Theresienwiese as well as access control and flight bans over the festival grounds.^[32]
• In addition, 52 two-metre (6 ft 7 in) high concrete bollards were placed in the access roads and pedestrian entrances to prevent Vehicle-ramming attacks.
• In 2011, the security measures were once again increased, this time with 170 partially retractable bollards also designed to prevent forcible access to the festival grounds with a vehicle.^[33]
• The Bavariaring is closed off, to allow security forces adequate space to react. The police can quickly divert the crowds, if needed, through radio communication, as well as close down train stations.^[34]
• Following the 2016 Munich shooting, a retractable security fence was added to the security concept. Previously, 350 metres (1,150 ft) of the Oktoberfest were still unfenced.
• Up to 450 security guards will stand at the 13 official entrances and check all incoming guests. Also, backpacks and bags with a volume of more than 3 litres (0.66 imp gal; 0.79 US gal) are no longer allowed on the festival grounds.
• In addition, the front exit of the subway station Theresienwiese has been closed off.^[35]

Energy supply

Oktoberfest 2003 seen at night from the Ferris wheel

The Oktoberfest is powered via 43 kilometers of cable and 18 partially underground transformer stations. The Oktoberfest's power consumption totals approximately 2.7 million kilowatt hours, not including assembly and dismantling of the attractions. This amounts to about 13% of the daily electrical needs of the City of Munich. A large marquee requires an average of 400 kilowatts, and 300 kilowatts is required for bigger rides.

To supply the tents with natural gas, a four-kilometer long network of gas lines was built. The gas consumption amounts to 180,000 cubic meters for the kitchens of various catering establishments, and 20,000 cubic meters to heat the beer gardens. Most festival tents and rides use green electricity from Stadtwerke München to reduce pollution.

Because even a short power outage could lead to panic, all power supplies have redundancy and are fed separately. Even the lights of the individual marquees are supplied from two different substations. Despite all the precautions, on 25 September 2007, several hours of power failure occurred after a cable channel had been flooded due to heavy rains.

Since the power outage occurred in the morning, there were service shortages in the catering areas, but no panic resulted.^[36]

To ensure sufficient capacity of cellular networks, each year several mobile masts are set up in the lawn areas surrounding the festival.

Transportation

Theresienwiese, the closest U-Bahn station to the Oktoberfest

The Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft reports transporting almost four million visitors, to and from, the festival grounds each Oktoberfest. Especially at night, the U- and S-Bahn trains are full. The underground station, Theresienwiese, has trains arriving at rush hour in three-minute intervals. The station occasionally needs to be closed due to overcrowding after the closure of the beer tents. To ensure smooth operation and safety of passengers, the Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft and the Deutsche Bahn have increased their security personnel. People are also encouraged to use the nearby stations Goetheplatz, Schwanthalerhöhe and Hackerbrücke (the latter of the S-Bahn) or walk the short distance from the main railway station on foot.

There are significant negative effects pertaining to traffic. Since numerous festival goers make their way home by car despite having consumed alcohol, the Bavarian State Police carries out large-scale DUI controls. The city ring roads and highways around Munich are periodically blocked to allow only one lane of through traffic, which leads to massive traffic congestion.

Especially during the middle weekend of the festival, many Italians arrive with caravans (this weekend is therefore referred to by the residents of Munich as "the Italian's weekend").^[37]

In response, the government imposes camping bans in many parts of the city. At the same time, special parking outside the city is established, which can be reached by public transportation. Large parking areas are available, for example, close to the Allianz Arena. Nevertheless, the parking situation around the festival grounds is critical. As a consequence, the effort for controls and towing services is substantial.

2010, in coordination with the new security concept, taxi stands were relocated. They are now found outside of the security ring further away from the fairground.

Trash and toilets

Nearly 1,000 tons of trash result annually from the Oktoberfest. The mountains of trash are hauled away and the ways cleanly washed down each morning. The cleaning is paid for in part by the city of Munich and in part by the sponsors.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004 the queues outside the toilets became so long that the police had to regulate access. To keep traffic moving through the toilets, men headed for the toilets were directed first to the urinals (giant enclosed grates) if they only needed to urinate. Consequently, the number of toilets was increased by 20% in 2005. Approximately 1,800 toilets and urinals are available today.^{[citation needed]}

Many guests visit the quiet stalls to use their mobile phones. For this reason, there were plans in 2005 to install a Faraday cage around the toilets or to use Mobile phone jammers to prevent telephoning with those devices. Jamming devices are, however, illegal in Germany, and Faraday cages made of copper would have been too expensive, so these ambitious plans were dropped, and signs were placed instead, warning toilet users not to use cellular phones in the stalls.^{[citation needed]} More recently, amplifying live music in the toilets has led to them no longer representing a quiet retreat for telephoning.

Tents

There are currently fourteen large tents and twenty small tents at the Oktoberfest. The tents are wooden^[38] non-permanent structures which are constructed for and only used during the festival. The beer (or wine) served in each is in the accompanying table.^[39]

Large Tents

• Marstall – One of the larger tents, it's the first tent that many visitors see at the fest. Traditionally, in the evening, the Oktoberfest band "Münchner Zwietracht" plays all the Oktoberfest classics.^[40]
• Armbrustschützenzelt – Translates as the "Crossbowman's Tent", a competition that has been a part of the Oktoberfest since 1895.
• Hofbräu-Festzelt – The counterpart to the famous Hofbräuhaus, this tent is especially popular with Americans, Australians and New Zealanders.
• Hacker-Festzelt – One of the largest tents on the Wiesn, they have a rock band that plays during the evening break of the brass band. This tent is marketing itself as Himmel der Bayern (Heaven of the Bavarians).
• Schottenhamel – Reckoned to be the most important tent at the Oktoberfest, mainly because it is located at the beginning. On the first Saturday of the event, no beer is allowed to be served until the Mayor of Munich (currently Dieter Reiter) taps the first keg, at exactly high noon.^[41] Only then can the other tents begin to serve beer. The tent is very popular among younger people. A substantial part of the tent is guaranteed to traditional Studentenverbindungen (a particular form of student fraternities) and outfitted with their distinctive colors and coats of arms.
• Winzerer Fähndl – Literally translates as "Winzerers little flag" and refers to the name of an old crossbowmen's guild, itself referring to a miltitary unit for the Thirty Year's War: "Fähnlein" being an ancient 16th/17th century German word for the equivalent of a company/battalion of ca. 400 mercenary soldiers. was the famous bavarian captain of such a unit. This tent is noted for its huge tower, with a Maß of Paulaner beer sitting atop it.
• Schützen-Festhalle – This is a mid-sized tent. Situated under the Bavaria statue, the current tent was newly built in 2004.
• Käfer Wiesn-Schänke – The smallest of the large tents at the Oktoberfest, it is frequented by celebrities, and is known for its especially good – and expensive – food. In contrast to the other tents (which must close by 11 pm), it is open until 12:30 am, and it can be very difficult to gain admittance.
• Weinzelt – Translates as "wine tent". This tent offers a selection of more than 15 wines, as well as Weißbier.
• Löwenbräu-Festhalle – Above the entrance is a 4.50-meter (15 foot) high lion who occasionally drinks from his beer. This is overshadowed by yet another tower where an even larger drinking lion sits.
• Bräurosl (Hacker-Pschorr) – Translates as "brewers Rosemary". Named after the daughter of the original brewery owner (Pschorr), this tent has the usual brass band and yodeler. On the first Sunday of the festival, this tent hosts the hugely popular gay & lesbian party, Rosa Wiesn.
• Augustiner-Festhalle – Considered by many locals to be the best tent, due to the fact it sells the favourite local brew, Augustiner, from individually tapped wooden kegs rather than stainless steel vats used by the other tents.
• Ochsenbraterei – True to its name, this tent offers a great variety of dishes.
• Fischer-Vroni – Translates as "Fishers Veronika". Another of the smaller tents. Fisch is the German word for fish and this tent carries a huge selection on its menu. The main dish is Steckerlfisch, which is grilled outside of the tent.

Small Tents^[42]

• Able's Kalbs-Kuchl – Resembling a large Bavarian hut, the "calf kitchen" is traditional and inviting yet still has a lively party atmosphere which Oktoberfest fans crave.
• Ammer Hühner & Entenbraterei – In 1885, poultry dealer Joseph Ammer was allowed to construct his small booth at the Oktoberfest, creating the world's first chicken roastery. Duck is offered as well.
• Bodo's Cafezelt – Don't come to Bodo's looking for beer. Instead you'll find, exotic cocktails, Prosecco, champagne, coffee, donuts, ice cream, pastry, and strudel variations of all kinds.
• Café Kaiserschmarrn – Beautifully created by Rischart, the Café holds a daily commemoration of the occasion of the first Oktoberfest – the wedding of Ludwig I and Therese of Saxony.
• Café Mohrenkopf – Since 1950 Café Mohrenkopf has been baking cakes and pies fresh daily in the Oktoberfest tent.
• Feisingers Ka's und Weinstubn – Cheese and everything that complements it is the specialty of the house in this unique tent.
• Glöckle Wirt – A visual treat, decorated with oil paintings, antique instruments and cooking utensils, the Glöckle Wirt offers its visitors an authentic Oktoberfest experience in a warm, welcoming atmosphere.
• Heimer Hendl- und Entenbraterei – Very popular among the locals, Heimer's is a family-friendly tent where authentic Oktoberfest tradition is timeless.
• Heinz Wurst- Und Hühnerbraterei – Since 1906, the Heinz sausage and chicken grill has been a fixture on the Wiesn, specializing in authentic Oktoberfest tradition.
• Hochreiters Haxnbraterei – Quality is paramount in Hochreiter's tent, where their BBQ experts prepare mouth-watering pork knuckles in the only Haxenbraterei on the Oktoberfest.
• Münchner Knödelei – The dumpling is an icon of Bavarian cuisine, and "preserving and spreading the dumpling culture" is the motto of this smaller tent.
• Poschners Hühner- Und Entenbraterei – Poschner's famous roasted chicken and duck have been a tradition on the Wiesn for four generations.
• Schiebl's Kaffeehaferl – With seating for about 100, Schiebl's comfy coffeehouse tent is a friendly meeting place for the whole family. – Haferl is the bavarian term for a (coffee, tea...) mug or pot.
• Wiesn Guglhupf Café-Dreh-Bar – A Guglhupf is a German cake, like an English bundt cake, and this slowly moving carousel bar is easy to spot because it's shaped like one.
• Wildmoser Hühnerbraterei – Owned by the family Wildmoser since 1981, this small tent has been adopted and popularized by the Munich locals.
• Wildstuben – The newest tent at Oktoberfest, you'll appreciate the intricate details of the woodwork and the homey hunting-lodge ambiance.
• Wirtshaus im Schichtl – "The Schichtl is as essential as beer, radish and chicken." former mayor Christian Ude once wrote: "An Oktoberfest without Schichtl is inconceivable.".
• Zum Stiftl – famous for its traditional duck and roasted chicken dishes, cozy atmosphere, and daily entertainment.
• Zur Bratwurst – Debuting in 2007, the Hochreiter family has brought back the former Bratwurstglöckl in the spirit of good old Munich Oktoberfest.

Other information

Construction of the marquees

• Experienced waiters need an average of only one and a half seconds to fill a Maß.^[43]
• Letters, which are placed in the Oktoberfest mailboxes receive a special stamp from the post office.^[44]
• One attraction, which does not exist at other festivals, is the flea circus. It has been an attraction at the Wiesn since 1948 and a "team" of about 60 fleas provide for the entertainment especially for the children.^[45]
• After the attacks on 11 September 2001, in the same year, the traditional beer tapping was omitted, instead there was a contemplative celebration in Schottenhamel tent.^[46]
• Since 2009, the Theresienwiese is closed off during the construction and dismantling of the festival. The city of Munich wants to prevent any accident to visitors at the construction site that the city would be accountable for.^[47]
• In 2015, the festival officially served 7.3 million litres (62,000 US bbl) of beer; for perspective, that is enough to fill nearly three (2.9) Olympic-size swimming pools.^[48]
• One famous song in a beer tent is "Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit" which means translated "A toast to cheer and good times". The band leader plays this song several times to invite the guests to toast and drink.^[49]

Gallery

• 

  Oktoberfest rides and roller coasters

• 

  Olympia Looping at night

• 

  Gingerbread hearts from Oktoberfest

• 

  Chairoplane at the Oktoberfest, Paulskirche in the back

• 

  "Skater" during the night

See also

• Beer and Oktoberfest Museum
• Schunkeln (sway dance)

References

External links

• Oktoberfest website (in German)
• Oktoberfest Map
• Oktoberfest Traditions

Anita Hill
Hill in February 2018
Born	Anita Faye Hill (1956-07-30) July 30, 1956 (age 63)[1] Lone Tree, Oklahoma, U.S.
Residence	Massachusetts[2]
Nationality	American
Education	Attorney
Alma mater	Oklahoma State University (BS) Yale Law School (JD)
Occupation	Educator, Professor, Lawyer, Author, Activist
Years active	1983–present
Employer	Brandeis University
Known for	Civil and Women's rights activism
Board member of	Board of Trustees, Southern Vermont College
Awards	Fletcher Foundation Fellowship; Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment Award

Anita Faye Hill (born July 30, 1956) is an American lawyer and academic. She is a university professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University and a faculty member of the university's Heller School for Social Policy and Management.^[3] She became a national figure in 1991 when she accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, her supervisor at the United States Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, of sexual harassment.^[4]

Early life

Anita Hill was born to a family of farmers in Lone Tree, Oklahoma, the youngest of Albert and Erma Hill's 13 children.^[4][5] Her family came from Arkansas, where her maternal grandfather, Henry Eliot, and all of her great-grandparents had been born into slavery.^[6] Hill was raised in the Baptist faith.^[4]

After graduating from , Oklahoma, she enrolled at Oklahoma State University and received a bachelor's degree in psychology with honors in 1977.^[4][5] She went on to Yale Law School, obtaining her Juris Doctor degree with honors in 1980.^[4][7]

She was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1980 and began her law career as an associate with the Washington, D.C. firm of Wald, Harkrader & Ross. In 1981, she became an attorney-adviser to Clarence Thomas, who was then the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. When Thomas became chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1982, Hill went along to serve as his assistant, leaving the job in 1983.^[8]

Hill then became an assistant professor at the Evangelical Christian O. W. Coburn School of Law at Oral Roberts University where she taught from 1983 to 1986.^[9] In 1986, she joined the faculty at the University of Oklahoma College of Law where she taught commercial law and contracts.^[10][11]

Allegations of sexual harassment against Clarence Thomas

In 1991, President George H. W. Bush nominated Clarence Thomas, a federal Circuit Judge, to succeed retiring Associate Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Senate hearings on his confirmation were initially completed^[12] with Thomas's good character being presented as a primary qualification for the high court because he had only been a judge for slightly more than one year.^[13] There had been little organized opposition to Thomas' nomination, and his confirmation seemed assured^[13] until a report of a private interview of Hill by the FBI was leaked to the press.^[12][14] The hearings were then reopened, and Hill was called to publicly testify.^[12][14] Hill said on 11 October 1991 in televised hearings that Thomas had sexually harassed her while he was her supervisor at the Department of Education and the EEOC.^[15] When questioned on why she followed Thomas to the second job after he had already allegedly harassed her, she said working in a reputable position within the civil rights field had been her ambition. The position was appealing enough to inhibit her from going back into private practice with her previous firm. She said that she only realized later in her life that this ambitious venture was a poor judgment and also explained that "at that time, it appeared that the sexual overtures ... had ended."^[5][16]

According to Hill, Thomas asked her out socially many times during her two years of employment as his assistant,^[7] and, after she declined his requests, he used work situations to discuss sexual subjects.^[5][7] "He spoke about ... such matters as women having sex with animals and films showing group sex or rape scenes," she said, adding that on several occasions Thomas graphically described "his own sexual prowess" and the details of his anatomy.^[5] Hill also recounted an instance in which Thomas examined a can of Coke on his desk and asked, "Who has put pubic hair on my Coke?"^[5] During the hearing, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch implied that "Hill was working in tandem with 'slick lawyers' and interest groups bent on destroying Thomas' chances to join the court." Thomas said he had considered Hill a friend whom he had helped at every turn, so when accusations of harassment came from her they were particularly hurtful and he said, "I lost the belief that if I did my best, all would work out."

Four female witnesses reportedly waited in the wings to support Hill's credibility, but they were not called,^[14][17] due to what the Los Angeles Times described as a private, compromise deal between Republicans and the Senate Judiciary Committee Chair, Democrat Joe Biden.^[18]

Hill agreed to take a polygraph test. While senators and other authorities noted that polygraph results cannot be relied upon and are inadmissible in courts, Hill's results did support her statements.^[19] Thomas did not take a polygraph test. He made a vehement and complete denial, saying that he was being subjected to a "high-tech lynching for uppity blacks" by white liberals who were seeking to block a black conservative from taking a seat on the Supreme Court.^[20][21] After extensive debate, the United States Senate confirmed Thomas to the Supreme Court by a vote of 52–48, the narrowest margin since the 19th century.^[17][22]

Thomas' supporters questioned Hill's credibility, claiming she was delusional or had been spurned, leading her to seek revenge.^[14] They cited the time delay of ten years between the alleged behavior by Thomas and Hill's accusations, and noted that Hill had followed Thomas to a second job and later had personal contacts with Thomas, including giving him a ride to an airport—behavior which they said would be inexplicable if Hill's allegations were true.^{[7][10][14][23]} Hill countered that she had come forward because she felt an obligation to share information on the character and actions of a person who was being considered for the Supreme Court.^[14] She testified that after leaving the EEOC, she had had two "inconsequential" phone conversations with Thomas, and had seen him personally on two occasions, once to get a job reference and the second time when he made a public appearance in Oklahoma where she was teaching.^[5]

Doubts about the veracity of Hill's 1991 testimony persisted long after Thomas took his seat on the Court. They were furthered by American Spectator writer David Brock in his 1993 book The Real Anita Hill,^[17] though he later recanted the claims he had made, described in his book as "character assassination," and apologized to Hill.^[24][25] After interviewing a number of women who alleged that Thomas had frequently subjected them to sexually explicit remarks, Wall Street Journal reporters Jane Mayer and Jill Abramson wrote Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas, a book which concluded that Thomas had lied during his confirmation process.^[22][26] Richard Lacayo in his 1994 review of the book for Time magazine remarked, however, that "Their book doesn't quite nail that conclusion."^[17] In 2007, Kevin Merida, a coauthor of another book on Thomas, remarked that what happened between Thomas and Hill was "ultimately unknowable" by others, but that it was clear that "one of them lied, period."^[27][28] Writing in 2007, Neil Lewis of The New York Times remarked that, "To this day, each side in the epic he-said, she-said dispute has its unmovable believers."^[29]

In 2007, Thomas published his autobiography, My Grandfather's Son, in which he revisited the controversy, calling Hill his "most traitorous adversary" and saying that pro-choice liberals, who feared that he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade if he were seated on the Supreme Court, used the scandal against him.^[29] He described Hill as touchy and apt to overreact, and her work at the EEOC as mediocre.^[29][30] He acknowledged that three other former EEOC employees had backed Hill's story, but said they had all left the agency on bad terms.^[30] He also wrote that Hill "was a left-winger who'd never expressed any religious sentiments whatsoever ... and the only reason why she'd held a job in the Reagan administration was because I'd given it to her."^[31] Hill denied the accusations in an op-ed in The New York Times saying she would not "stand by silently and allow [Justice Thomas], in his anger, to reinvent me."^[2][32]

In October 2010, Thomas's wife Virginia, a conservative activist, left a voicemail at Hill's office asking that Hill apologize for her 1991 testimony. Hill initially believed the call was a hoax and referred the matter to the Brandeis University campus police who alerted the FBI.^[21][33] After being informed that the call was indeed from Virginia Thomas, Hill told the media that she did not believe the message was meant to be conciliatory and said, "I testified truthfully about my experience and I stand by that testimony."^[21] Virginia Thomas responded that the call had been intended as an "olive branch".^[21]

Effects

Shortly after the Thomas confirmation hearings, President George H. W. Bush dropped his opposition to a bill that gave harassment victims the right to seek federal damage awards, back pay, and reinstatement, and the law was passed by Congress.^[34][35] One year later, harassment complaints filed with the EEOC were up 50 percent and public opinion had shifted in Hill's favor.^[35] Private companies also started training programs to deter sexual harassment.^[34] When journalist Cinny Kennard asked Hill in 1991 if she would testify against Thomas all over again, Hill answered, "I'm not sure if I could have lived with myself if I had answered those questions any differently."^[36]

The manner in which the Senate Judiciary Committee challenged and dismissed Hill's accusations of sexual harassment angered female politicians and lawyers.^[37] According to D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Hill's treatment by the panel was a contributing factor to the large number of women elected to Congress in 1992. "Women clearly went to the polls with the notion in mind that you had to have more women in Congress," she said.^[2] In their anthology, All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, but Some of Us Are Brave, editors Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell-Scott, and Barbara Smith described black feminists mobilizing "a remarkable national response to the Anita Hill–Clarence Thomas controversy.^[38]

In 1992, a feminist group began a nationwide fundraising campaign and then obtained matching state funds to endow a professorship at the University of Oklahoma College of Law in honor of Hill.^[11][39] Conservative Oklahoma state legislators reacted by demanding Hill's resignation from the university, then introducing a bill to prohibit the university from accepting donations from out-of-state residents, and finally attempting to pass legislation to close down the law school.^[11] Elmer Zinn Million, a local activist, compared Hill to Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of President Kennedy.^[11][39] Certain officials at the university attempted to revoke Hill's tenure.^[40] After five years of pressure, Hill resigned.^[11] The University of Oklahoma Law School defunded the Anita F. Hill professorship in May 1999, without the position having ever been filled.^[41]

On 25 April 2019, the 2020 US presidential campaign team for Joe Biden disclosed that he had called Ms. Hill to express "his regret for what she endured" 28 years ago, when, as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he presided over the confirmation hearings in which she accused Clarence Thomas, President George Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court, of sexual harassment. Ms. Hill said the call from Mr. Biden left her feeling deeply unsatisfied.^[42][43]

Later career

Hill in 2014 speaking at Harvard Law School

Hill continued to teach at the University of Oklahoma, though she spent two years as a visiting professor in California. She resigned her post in October 1996 and finished her final semester of teaching there.^[44] In her final semester, she taught a law school seminar on civil rights. An endowed chair was created in her name, but was later defunded without ever having been filled.^[41]

Hill accepted a position as a visiting scholar at the Institute for the Study of Social Change at University of California, Berkeley in January 1997,^[45] but soon joined the faculty of Brandeis University—first at the Women's Studies Program, later moving to the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. In 2011, she also took a counsel position with the Civil Rights & Employment Practice group of the plaintiffs' law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll.^[9]

Over the years, Hill has provided commentary on gender and race issues on national television programs, including 60 Minutes, Face the Nation, and Meet the Press.^[4][9] She has been a speaker on the topic of commercial law as well as race and women's rights.^[9] She is also the author of articles that have been published in The New York Times and Newsweek^[4][9] and has contributed to many scholarly and legal publications in the areas of international commercial law, bankruptcy, and civil rights.^[9][46]

In 1995, Hill co-edited Race, Gender and Power in America: The Legacy of the Hill-Thomas Hearings with Emma Coleman Jordan.^[4][47] In 1997 Hill published her autobiography, Speaking Truth to Power,^[48] in which she chronicled her role in the Clarence Thomas confirmation controversy^[4][6] and wrote that creating a better society had been a motivating force in her life.^[49] She contributed the piece "The Nature of the Beast: Sexual Harassment" to the 2003 anthology Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium, edited by Robin Morgan.^[50] In 2011, Hill published her second book, Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home, which focuses on the sub-prime lending crisis that resulted in the foreclosure of many homes owned by African-Americans.^[14][51] She calls for a new understanding about the importance of a home and its place in the American Dream.^[6] On March 26, 2015, the Brandeis Board of Trustees unanimously voted to recognize Hill with a promotion to Private University Professor of Social Policy, Law, and Women's Studies.^[52]

On December 16, 2017, the Commission on Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace was formed, selecting Hill to lead its charge against sexual harassment in the entertainment industry. The new initiative was spearheaded by co-chair of the Nike Foundation Maria Eitel, venture capitalist Freada Kapor Klein, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and talent attorney Nina Shaw.^[53]

In September 2018, Hill wrote an op-ed in The New York Times regarding sexual assault allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford during the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination.^[54] On November 8, 2018, Anita Hill spoke at the USC Dornsife's event, "From Social Movement to Social Impact: Putting an End to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace".^[55][56]

In popular culture

• In 1991, the television sitcom Designing Women built its episode "The Strange Case of Clarence and Anita" around the hearings on the Clarence Thomas nomination.^[57] The following year, in the episode "The Odyssey", the characters imagined what would happen if new president Bill Clinton nominated Anita Hill to the Supreme Court to sit next to Clarence Thomas.
• Hill is mentioned in the 1992 Sonic Youth song "Youth Against Fascism."^[58]
• Her case also inspired the 1994 Law & Order episode "Virtue", about a young lawyer who feels pressured to sleep with her supervisor at her law firm.^[59]
• Anita Hill is mentioned in The X-Files episode Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man, which aired November 17, 1996.
• In 1999, Ernest Dickerson directed Strange Justice, a film based on the Anita Hill–Clarence Thomas controversy.
• Anita Hill is interviewed – unrelated to the Clarence Thomas case – about the film The Tin Drum in the documentary Banned in Oklahoma (2004), included in The Criterion Collection DVD of the film (2004).^[60]
• Hill was the subject of the 2013 documentary film Anita by director Freida Lee Mock, which chronicles her experience during the Clarence Thomas scandal.^[61][62]
• Hill was portrayed by actress Kerry Washington in the 2016 HBO film Confirmation.^[63]

Written works

External video

Booknotes interview with Hill on Speaking Truth to Power, November 23, 1997, C-SPAN (58:21)

On October 20, 1998, Anita Hill published the book Speaking Truth to Power. Throughout much of the book she gives details on her side of the sexual harassment controversy, and her professional relationship with Clarence Thomas. Aside from that, she also provides a glimpse of what her personal life was like all the way from her childhood days growing up in Oklahoma to her position as a law professor.^{[48][page needed]}

In 2011, Hill's second book, Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home was published.^[64] She discusses the relationship between the home and the American Dream. She also exposes the inequalities within gender and race and home ownership. She argues that inclusive democracy is more important than debates about legal rights. She uses her own history and history of other African American women such as Nannie Helen Burroughs, in order to strengthen her argument for reimagining equality altogether.

In 1994, she wrote a tribute to Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court Justice who preceded Clarence Thomas, titled A Tribute to Thurgood Marshall: A Man Who Broke with Tradition on Issues of Race and Gender.^[65] She notes Thurgood's contributions to the principles of equality as a judge and how his work has affected the lives of African Americans, specifically African American women.

Anita Hill became a proponent for women's rights and feminism. This can be seen through the chapter she wrote in the book Women and leadership: the state of play and strategies for change.^[66] She wrote about women judges and why, in her opinion, they play such a large role in balancing the judicial system. She argues that since women and men have different life experiences, ways of thinking, and histories, both are needed for a balanced court system. She writes that in order for the best law system to be created in the United States, all people need the ability to be represented.

Awards and recognition

Hill received the American Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession's "Women of Achievement" award in 1992.^[67] In 2005, Hill was selected as a Fletcher Foundation Fellow. In 2008 she was awarded the Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment Award^[68] by the Ford Hall Forum. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for Southern Vermont College in Bennington, Vermont.^[69] Her opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991 is listed as No. 69 in American Rhetoric's Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century (listed by rank).^[70][71] She was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 1993.^[72] On January 7, 2017, Hill was inducted as an honorary member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority at their National Executive Board Meeting in Dallas, Texas.^[73] The following year, Hill was awarded an honorary LLM degree by Wesleyan University.^[74] The Wing's Washington, D.C. location has a phone booth dedicated to Hill.^[75]

See also

• Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination
• Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination
  • Christine Blasey Ford

References

External links

• Faculty profile at Brandeis University
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Audio lecture: Anita Hill discusses Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home on October 4, 2011, on Forum Network.
• An Outline of the Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas Controversy at Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Outer Space Treaty
French: Traité de l'espace
Russian: Договор о космосе
Spanish: Tratado sobre el espacio ultraterrestre
Chinese: 外层空间条约

Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies
Parties   Signatories   Non-parties
Signed	27 January 1967
Location	London, Moscow and Washington, D.C.
Effective	10 October 1967
Condition	5 ratifications, including the depositary Governments
Parties	109[1][2][3][4]
Depositary	Governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America
Languages	English, French, Russian, Spanish and Chinese
Outer Space Treaty of 1967 at Wikisource

The Outer Space Treaty, formally the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, is a treaty that forms the basis of international space law. The treaty was opened for signature in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union on 27 January 1967, and entered into force on 10 October 1967. As of June 2019, 109 countries are parties to the treaty, while another 23 have signed the treaty but have not completed ratification.^[1] In addition, Taiwan, which is currently recognized by 14 UN member states, ratified the treaty prior to the United Nations General Assembly's vote to transfer China's seat to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1971.^[5]

Among the Outer Space Treaty's main points are that it prohibits the placing of nuclear weapons in space, it limits the use of the Moon and all other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes only, and establishes that space shall be free for exploration and use by all nations, but that no nation may claim sovereignty of outer space or any celestial body. The Outer Space Treaty does not ban military activities within space, military space forces, or the weaponization of space, with the exception of the placement of weapons of mass destruction in space.^[6][7]

Key points

The Outer Space Treaty represents the basic legal framework of international space law. Among its principles, it bars states party to the treaty from placing weapons of mass destruction in Earth orbit, installing them on the Moon or any other celestial body, or otherwise stationing them in outer space. It exclusively limits the use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes and expressly prohibits their use for testing weapons of any kind, conducting military maneuvers, or establishing military bases, installations, and fortifications (Article IV). However, the treaty does not prohibit the placement of conventional weapons in orbit and thus some highly destructive attack strategies such as kinetic bombardment are still potentially allowable.^[8] The treaty also states that the exploration of outer space shall be done to benefit all countries and that space shall be free for exploration and use by all the states.

The treaty explicitly forbids any government to claim a celestial resource such as the Moon or a planet.^[9] Article II of the treaty states that "outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means." However, the State that launches a space object retains jurisdiction and control over that object.^[10] The State is also liable for damages caused by its space object.^[11]

Responsibility for activities in space

Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty deals with international responsibility, stating that "the activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty" and that States Parties shall bear international responsibility for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental entities.

As a result of discussions arising from Project West Ford in 1963, a consultation clause was included in Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty: "A State Party to the Treaty which has reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by another State Party in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference with activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, may request consultation concerning the activity or experiment."^[12][13]

Follow-ups

• The Rescue Agreement of 1968.
• The Space Liability Convention of 1972.
• The Registration Convention of 1976.
• The Moon Treaty of 1979 was proposed after the Outer Space Treaty, but failed to be ratified by any major space-faring nation such as those capable of orbital spaceflight.^[14]

The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) oversees^{[citation needed]} these treaties and other questions of space jurisdiction.

Status

List of parties

The Outer Space Treaty was opened for signature in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union on 27 January 1967, and entered into force on 10 October 1967. As of June 2019, 109 countries are parties to the treaty, while another 23 have signed the treaty but have not completed ratification.^[1]

Multiple dates indicate the different days in which states submitted their signature or deposition, which varied by location. This location is noted by: (L) for London, (M) for Moscow, and (W) for Washington, DC. Also indicated is whether the state became a party by way of signing the treaty and subsequent ratification, by accession to the treaty after it had closed for signature, or by succession of states after separation from some other party to the treaty.

State[1][2][3][4]	Signed	Deposited	Method
Afghanistan	Jan 27, 1967 (W) Jan 30, 1967 (M)	Mar 17, 1988 (L, M) Mar 21, 1988 (W)	Ratification
Algeria		Jan 27, 1992 (W)	Accession
Antigua and Barbuda		Nov 16, 1988 (W) Dec 26, 1988 (M) Jan 26, 1989 (L)	Succession from  United Kingdom
Argentina	Jan 27, 1967 (W) Apr 18, 1967 (M)	Mar 26, 1969 (M, W)	Ratification
Armenia		Mar 28, 2018 (M)	Accession
Australia	Jan 27, 1967 (W)	Oct 10, 1967 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Austria	Feb 20, 1967 (L, M, W)	Feb 26, 1968 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Azerbaijan		Sep 9, 2015 (L)	Accession
Bahamas		Aug 11, 1976 (L) Aug 13, 1976 (W) Aug 30, 1976 (M)	Succession from  United Kingdom
Bangladesh		Jan 14, 1986 (L) Jan 17, 1986 (W) Jan 24, 1986 (M)	Accession
Barbados		Sep 12, 1968 (W)	Accession
Belarus	Feb 10, 1967 (M)	Oct 31, 1967 (M)	Ratification
Belgium	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M) Feb 2, 1967 (W)	Mar 30, 1973 (W) Mar 31, 1973 (L, M)	Ratification
Benin		Jun 19, 1986 (M) Jul 2, 1986 (L) Jul 7, 1986 (W)	Accession
Brazil	Jan 30, 1967 (M) Feb 2, 1967 (L, W)	Mar 5, 1969 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Bulgaria	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Mar 28, 1967 (M) Apr 11, 1967 (W) Apr 19, 1967 (L)	Ratification
Burkina Faso	Mar 3, 1967 (W)	Jun 18, 1968 (W)	Ratification
Canada	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Oct 10, 1967 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Chile	Jan 27, 1967 (W) Feb 3, 1967 (L) Feb 20, 1967 (M)	Oct 8, 1981 (W)	Ratification
China		Dec 30, 1983 (W) Jan 6, 1984 (M) Jan 12, 1984 (L)	Accession
Cuba		Jun 3, 1977 (M)	Accession
Cyprus	Jan 27, 1967 (W) Feb 15, 1967 (M) Feb 16, 1967 (L)	Jul 5, 1972 (L, W) Sep 20, 1972 (M)	Ratification
Czech Republic		Jan 1, 1993 (M, W) Sep 29, 1993 (L)	Succession from  Czechoslovakia
Denmark	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Oct 10, 1967 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Dominican Republic	Jan 27, 1967 (W)	Nov 21, 1968 (W)	Ratification
Ecuador	Jan 27, 1967 (W) May 16, 1967 (L) Jun 7, 1967 (M)	Mar 7, 1969 (W)	Ratification
Egypt	Jan 27, 1967 (M, W)	Oct 10, 1967 (W) Jan 23, 1968 (M)	Ratification
El Salvador	Jan 27, 1967 (W)	Jan 15, 1969 (W)	Ratification
Equatorial Guinea		Jan 16, 1989 (M)	Accession
Estonia		Apr 19, 2010 (M)	Accession
Fiji		Jul 18, 1972 (W) Aug 14, 1972 (L) Aug 29, 1972 (M)	Succession from  United Kingdom
Finland	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Jul 12, 1967 (L, M, W)	Ratification
France	Sep 25, 1967 (L, M, W)	Aug 5, 1970 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Germany	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Feb 10, 1971 (L, W)	Ratification
Greece	Jan 27, 1967 (W)	Jan 19, 1971 (L)	Ratification
Guinea-Bissau		Aug 20, 1976 (M)	Accession
Hungary	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Jun 26, 1967 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Iceland	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Feb 5, 1968 (L, M, W)	Ratification
India	Mar 3, 1967 (L, M, W)	Jan 18, 1982 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Indonesia	Jan 27, 1967 (W) Jan 30, 1967 (M) Feb 14, 1967 (L)	Jun 25, 2002 (L)	Ratification
Iraq	Feb 27, 1967 (L, W) Mar 9, 1967 (M)	Dec 4, 1968 (M) Sep 23, 1969 (L)	Ratification
Ireland	Jan 27, 1967 (L, W)	Jul 17, 1968 (W) Jul 19, 1968 (L)	Ratification
Israel	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Feb 18, 1977 (W) Mar 1, 1977 (L) Apr 4, 1977 (M)	Ratification
Italy	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	May 4, 1972 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Jamaica	Jun 29, 1967 (L, M, W)	Aug 6, 1970 (W) Aug 10, 1970 (L) Aug 21, 1970 (M)	Ratification
Japan	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Oct 10, 1967 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Kazakhstan		Jun 11, 1998 (M)	Accession
Kenya		Jan 19, 1984 (L)	Accession
North Korea		Mar 5, 2009 (M)	Accession
South Korea	Jan 27, 1967 (W)	Oct 13, 1967 (W)	Ratification
Kuwait		Jun 7, 1972 (W) Jun 20, 1972 (L) Jul 4, 1972 (M)	Accession
Laos	Jan 27, 1967 (W) Jan 30, 1967 (L) Feb 2, 1967 (M)	Nov 27, 1972 (M) Nov 29, 1972 (W) Jan 15, 1973 (L)	Ratification
Lebanon	Feb 23, 1967 (L, M, W)	Mar 31, 1969 (L, M) Jun 30, 1969 (W)	Ratification
Libya		Jul 3, 1968 (W)	Accession
Lithuania		Mar 25, 2013 (W)	Accession
Luxembourg	Jan 27, 1967 (M, W) Jan 31, 1967 (L)	Jan 17, 2006 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Madagascar		Aug 22, 1968 (W)	Accession
Mali		Jun 11, 1968 (M)	Accession
Malta		May 22, 2017 (L)	Accession
Mauritius		Apr 7, 1969 (W) Apr 21, 1969 (L) May 13, 1969 (M)	Succession from  United Kingdom
Mexico	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Jan 31, 1968 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Mongolia	Jan 27, 1967 (M)	Oct 10, 1967 (M)	Ratification
Morocco		Dec 21, 1967 (L, M) Dec 22, 1967 (W)	Accession
Myanmar	May 22, 1967 (L, M, W)	Mar 18, 1970 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Nepal	Feb 3, 1967 (M, W) Feb 6, 1967 (L)	Oct 10, 1967 (L) Oct 16, 1967 (M) Nov 22, 1967 (W)	Ratification
Netherlands	Feb 10, 1967 (L, M, W)	Oct 10, 1969 (L, M, W)	Ratification
New Zealand	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	May 31, 1968 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Nicaragua	Jan 27, 1967 (W) Feb 13, 1967 (L)	Jun 30, 2017 (W) Aug 10, 2017 (M) Aug 14, 2017 (L)	Ratification
Niger	Feb 1, 1967 (W)	Apr 17, 1967 (L) May 3, 1967 (W)	Ratification
Nigeria		Nov 14, 1967 (L)	Accession
Norway	Feb 3, 1967 (L, M, W)	Jul 1, 1969 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Pakistan	Sep 12, 1967 (L, M, W)	Apr 8, 1968 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Papua New Guinea		Oct 27, 1980 (L) Nov 13, 1980 (M) Mar 16, 1981 (W)	Succession from  Australia
Paraguay		Dec 22, 2016 (L)	Accession
Peru	Jun 30, 1967 (W)	Feb 28, 1979 (M) Mar 1, 1979 (L) Mar 21, 1979 (W)	Ratification
Poland	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Jan 30, 1968 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Portugal		May 29, 1996 (L)	Accession
Qatar		Mar 13, 2012 (W)	Accession
Romania	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Apr 9, 1968 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Russia	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Oct 10, 1967 (L, M, W)	Ratification as the  Soviet Union
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines		May 13, 1999 (L)	Succession from  United Kingdom
San Marino	Apr 21, 1967 (W) Apr 24, 1967 (L) Jun 6, 1967 (M)	Oct 29, 1968 (W) Nov 21, 1968 (M) Feb 3, 1969 (L)	Ratification
Saudi Arabia		Dec 17, 1976 (W)	Accession
Seychelles		Jan 5, 1978 (L)	Accession
Sierra Leone	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M) May 16, 1967 (W)	Jul 13, 1967 (M) Jul 14, 1967 (W) Oct 25, 1967 (L)	Ratification
Singapore		Sep 10, 1976 (L, M, W)	Accession
Slovakia		Jan 1, 1993 (M, W) May 17, 1993 (L)	Succession from  Czechoslovakia
Slovenia		Feb 8, 2019 (L)	Accession
South Africa	Mar 1, 1967 (W)	Sep 30, 1968 (W) Oct 8, 1968 (L) Nov 14, 1968 (M)	Ratification
Spain		Nov 27, 1968 (L) Dec 7, 1968 (W)	Accession
Sri Lanka	Mar 10, 1967 (L)	Nov 18, 1986 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Sweden	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Oct 11, 1967 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Switzerland	Jan 27, 1967 (L, W) Jan 30, 1967 (M)	Dec 18, 1969 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Syria		Nov 19, 1968 (M)	Accession
Thailand	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Sep 5, 1968 (L) Sep 9, 1968 (M) Sep 10, 1968 (W)	Ratification
Togo	Jan 27, 1967 (W)	Jun 26, 1989 (W)	Ratification
Tonga		Jun 22, 1971 (M) Jul 7, 1971 (L, W)	Succession from  United Kingdom
Tunisia	Jan 27, 1967 (L, W) Feb 15, 1967 (M)	Mar 28, 1968 (L) Apr 4, 1968 (M) Apr 17, 1968 (W)	Ratification
Turkey	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Mar 27, 1968 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Uganda		Apr 24, 1968 (W)	Accession
Ukraine	Feb 10, 1967 (M)	Oct 31, 1967 (M)	Ratification
United Arab Emirates		Oct 4, 2000 (W)	Accession
United Kingdom	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Oct 10, 1967 (L, M, W)	Ratification
United States	Jan 27, 1967 (L, M, W)	Oct 10, 1967 (L, M, W)	Ratification
Uruguay	Jan 27, 1967 (W) Jan 30, 1967 (M)	Aug 31, 1970 (W)	Ratification
Venezuela	Jan 27, 1967 (W)	Mar 3, 1970 (W)	Ratification
Vietnam		Jun 20, 1980 (M)	Accession
Yemen		Jun 1, 1979 (M)	Accession
Zambia		Aug 20, 1973 (W) Aug 21, 1973 (M) Aug 28, 1973 (L)	Accession

Partially recognized state abiding by treaty

The Republic of China (Taiwan), which is currently recognized by 14 UN member states, ratified the treaty prior to the United Nations General Assembly's vote to transfer China's seat to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1971. When the PRC subsequently ratified the treaty, they described the Republic of China's (ROC) ratification as "illegal". The ROC has committed itself to continue to adhere to the requirements of the treaty, and the United States has declared that it still considers the ROC to be "bound by its obligations".^[5]

State	Signed	Deposited	Method
Republic of China	27 Jan 1967	24 Jul 1970	Ratification

States that have signed but not ratified

Twenty-three states have signed but not ratified the treaty.

State	Signed
Bolivia	Jan 27, 1967 (W)
Botswana	Jan 27, 1967 (W)
Burundi	Jan 27, 1967 (W)
Cameroon	Jan 27, 1967 (W)
Central African Republic	Jan 27, 1967 (W)
Colombia	Jan 27, 1967 (W)
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Jan 27, 1967 (W) Apr 29, 1967 (M) May 4, 1967 (L)
Ethiopia	Jan 27, 1967 (L, W) Feb 10, 1967 (M)
Gambia	Jun 2, 1967 (L)
Ghana	Jan 27, 1967 (W) Feb 15, 1967 (M) Mar 3, 1967 (L)
Guyana	Feb 3, 1967 (W)
Haiti	Jan 27, 1967 (W)
Holy See	Apr 5, 1967 (L)
Honduras	Jan 27, 1967 (W)
Iran	Jan 27, 1967 (L)
Jordan	Feb 2, 1967 (W)
Lesotho	Jan 27, 1967 (W)
Malaysia	Feb 20, 1967 (W) Feb 21, 1967 (L) May 3, 1967 (M)
Panama	Jan 27, 1967 (W)
Philippines	Jan 27, 1967 (L, W) Apr 29, 1967 (M)
Rwanda	Jan 27, 1967 (W)
Somalia	Feb 2, 1967 (W)
Trinidad and Tobago	Jul 24, 1967 (L) Aug 17, 1967 (M) Sep 28, 1967 (W)

See also

• High-altitude nuclear explosion (HANE)
• Kármán line
• Lunar Flag Assembly
• Militarization of space
• Moon Treaty
• Apollo 1 – the first NASA astronaut spacecraft fatality (occurred on 27 January 1967, the day the Outer Space Treaty was signed)
• SPACE Act of 2015

References

Further reading

• Annette Froehlich, et al.: A Fresh View on the Outer Space Treaty. Springer, Vienna 2018, ISBN 978-3-319-70433-3.

External links

• International Institute of Space Law
• Full text of the "Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies" in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, or Spanish
• Status of International Agreements relating to Activities in Outer Space (list of state parties to treaty), UN Office for Outer Space Affairs
• "The Case for Withdrawing from the 1967 Outer Space Treaty"
• Still Relevant (and Important) After All These Years: The case for supporting the Outer Space Treaty
• Squadron Leader KK Nair's Space: The Frontiers of Modern Defence. Knowledge World Publishers, New Delhi, Chap. 5 "Examining Space Law...", pp. 84–104, available at Google Books.
• Introductory note by Vladimír Kopal, procedural history note and audiovisual material on the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies in the Historic Archives of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
• The Progressive Development of International Space Law by the United Nations—Lecture by Vladimír Kopal] in the Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
• The Law of Outer Space in the General Legal Field (Commonalities and Particularities)—Lecture by Vladlen Stepanovich Vereshchetin in the Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law

Goyang Geumjeong Cave massacre
Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
Location	South Korea
Date	9 October 1950 – 31 October 1950[1]
Target	Individuals and their family members for being suspected of being communists or communist sympathizers[2]
Attack type	Massacre
Deaths	150[2] or over 153[3][4]
Perpetrators	South Korean Police[2]

Goyang Geunjeong cave, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

The Goyang Geumjeong Cave massacre (Korean: 고양 금정굴 민간인 학살^[1][4] Hanja: 高陽衿井窟民間人虐殺^[1][4] Goyang Geunjeong Cave civilian massacre^[1][4]) was a massacre of over 153 unarmed civilians conducted between 9 October 1950 and 31 October 1950 by police in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do district of South Korea.^[1][4][5] After the victory of the Second Battle of Seoul, South Korean authorities arrested and summarily executed several individuals along with their families on suspicion of sympathizing with North Korea.^[4] The killings in Goyang coincided with the Namyangju Massacre in nearby Namyangju.^[6]

In 1995 the bodies of the 153 victims were excavated by their families.^[7] In June 2006 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission demanded that the South Korean government apologize and erect a monument for the victims.^[7] However, the government did not show any intention of following through on the TRCK recommendation.^[7] In 2007 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission again demanded that the government apologize, provide compensation, and erect a memorial for the victims; however, the government still refused.^[8][9][5] The Truth and Reconciliation Commission also clarified most of the victims, including 8 teenagers and 7 women, had no relation to rebels.^[5]

On November 28, 2011, the Seoul central court ordered the South Korean government to apologize, pay reparations and fund a memorial to the victims' families.^[1]

See also

• Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Korea)
• Bodo League massacre
• Jeju Uprising
• Mungyeong massacre
• Geochang massacre
• List of massacres in South Korea

References

External links

• Truth and Reconciliation Activities of the Past Three Years Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Republic of Korea

Solidarity

Full name	Independent Self-governing Trade Union "Solidarity"
Native name	Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy "Solidarność"
Founded	17 September 1980; 39 years ago (1980-09-17)[1]
Members	Almost 10 million at the end of the first year; over 400,000 in 2011[2] (680,000 in 2010)[3]
Affiliation	ITUC, ETUC, TUAC
Key people	Anna Walentynowicz, Lech Wałęsa
Office location	Gdańsk, Poland
Country	Poland
Website	Solidarnosc.org.pl (in English)

Eastern Bloc
Soviet Socialist Republics Armenia Azerbaijan Byelorussia Estonia Georgia Kazakhstan Kirghizia Latvia Lithuania Moldavia Russia Tajikistan Turkmenia Ukraine Uzbekistan
Allied states Afghanistan Albania Angola Benin Bulgaria China Congo Cuba Czechoslovakia East Germany Ethiopia Grenada Hungary Kampuchea Laos Mongolia Mozambique North Korea Poland Romania Somalia South Yemen Vietnam Yugoslavia
Related organizations Cominform Comecon Warsaw Pact World Federation of Trade Unions World Federation of Democratic Youth
Dissent and opposition Anti-Soviet partisans Albania Bulgaria Croatia Estonia Latvia Lithuania Poland Romania Serbia Ukraine Guerrilla war in the Baltic states Forest Brothers Operation Jungle Soviet occupation Protests and uprisings Plzeň 1953 East Germany 1953 Georgia 1956 Poznań 1956 Hungary 1956 Novocherkassk 1962 Czechoslovakia 1968 Invasion Red Square 1968 Charter 77 (Czechoslovakia) Solidarity (Poland) Jeltoqsan (Kazakhstan) Braşov rebellion (Romania) January Events (Lithuania) The Barricades (Latvia) April 9 tragedy (Georgia) Black January (Azerbaijan)
Cold War events Marshall Plan Czechoslovak coup Tito–Stalin split Berlin Blockade Korean War Secret Speech Sino-Soviet Split Berlin Wall Cuban Missile Crisis Vietnam War Cuban intervention in Angola Afghan War Moscow Olympics Gulf War
Decline Singing Revolution Polish Round Table Agreement Revolutions of 1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall January Events in Latvia Breakup of Yugoslavia Yugoslav Wars End of the Soviet Union Fall of communism in Albania Dissolution of Czechoslovakia

Solidarity (Polish: Solidarność, pronounced [sɔlʲiˈdarnɔɕtɕ] (listen); full name: Independent Self-governing Labour Union "Solidarity"—Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy "Solidarność" [ɲezaˈlɛʐnɨ samɔˈʐɔndnɨ ˈzvjɔ̃zɛk zavɔˈdɔvɨ sɔlʲiˈdarnɔɕtɕ]) is a Polish labour union that was founded on 17 September 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa.^[1] It was the first trade union in a Warsaw Pact country that was not controlled by a communist party. Its membership peaked at 10 million members at its September 1981 Congress,^[2][3] which constituted one third of the total working-age population of Poland.^[4]

In the 1980s, Solidarity was a broad anti-bureaucratic social movement, using the methods of civil resistance to advance the causes of workers' rights and social change.^[5] The government attempted to destroy the union by imposing martial law in Poland, which lasted from December 1981 to July 1983 and was followed by several years of political repression from 8 October 1982, but in the end it was forced to negotiate with Solidarity. In the union's clandestine years, Pope John Paul II and the United States provided significant financial support, estimated to be as much as US$50 million.^[6]

The round table talks between the government and the Solidarity-led opposition led to semi-free elections in 1989. By the end of August, a Solidarity-led coalition government was formed. In December 1990, Wałęsa was elected President of Poland. Since then, Solidarity has become a more traditional liberal trade union. Its membership had dropped to 680,000 by 2010^[3] and 400,000 by 2011.^[2]

History

In the 1970s Poland's government raised food prices while wages were stagnant. This and other stresses led to protests in 1976 and a subsequent government crackdown on dissent. The KOR, the ROPCIO and other groups began to form underground networks to monitor and oppose the government's behavior. Labour unions formed an important part of this network.^[7] In 1979, the Polish economy shrank for the first time since World War II, by 2 percent. Foreign debt reached around $18 billion by 1980.^[8]

Anna Walentynowicz was fired from the Gdańsk Shipyard on 7 August 1980, five months before she was due to retire, for participation in the illegal trade union. This management decision enraged the workers of the shipyard, who staged a strike action on 14 August defending Anna Walentynowicz and demanding her return. She and Alina Pienkowska transformed a strike over bread and butter issues into a solidarity strike in sympathy with strikes on other establishments.

Solidarity emerged on 31 August 1980 at the Gdańsk Shipyard when the communist government of Poland signed the agreement allowing for its existence. On 17 September 1980, over twenty Inter-factory Founding Committees of free trade unions merged at the congress into one national organization NSZZ Solidarity.^[4] It officially registered on 10 November 1980.^[9]

Lech Wałęsa and others formed a broad anti-Soviet social movement ranging from people associated with the Catholic Church^[10] to members of the anti-Soviet left. Solidarity advocated non-violence in its members' activities.^{[11][12][self-published source]} In September 1981, Solidarity's first national congress elected Wałęsa as a president^[9] and adopted a republican program, the "Self-governing Republic".^[13] The government attempted to destroy the union with the martial law of 1981 and several years of repression, but in the end it had to start negotiating with the union.

Roundtable Talks between the government and Solidarity-led opposition led to semi-free elections in 1989. By the end of August a Solidarity-led coalition government was formed, and in December Tadeusz Mazowiecki was elected Prime Minister. Since 1989, Solidarity has become a more traditional trade union, and had relatively little impact on the political scene of Poland in the early 1990s. A political arm founded in 1996 as Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS) won the parliamentary election in 1997, but lost the following 2001 election. Currently, as a political party Solidarity has little influence on modern Polish politics.

CIA covert support

In the year leading up to martial law, Reagan Administration policies supported the Solidarity movement, waging a public relations campaign to deter what the Carter administration had seen as "an imminent move by large Soviet military forces into Poland."^[14] Michael Reisman from Yale Law School named operations in Poland as one of the covert regime change actions of the CIA during the Cold War.^[15] Colonel Ryszard Kukliński, a senior officer on the Polish General Staff was secretly sending reports to CIA officer David Forden.^[16] The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) transferred around $2 million yearly in cash to Solidarity, for a total of $10 million over five years. There were no direct links between the CIA and Solidarnosc, and all money was channeled through third parties.^[17] CIA officers were barred from meeting Solidarity leaders, and the CIA's contacts with Solidarnosc activists were weaker than those of the AFL-CIO, which raised $300,000 from its members, which were used to provide material and cash directly to Solidarity, with no control of Solidarity's use of it. The U.S. Congress authorized the National Endowment for Democracy to promote democracy, and the NED allocated $10 million to Solidarity.^[18]

When the Polish government launched martial law in December 1981, however, Solidarity was not alerted. Potential explanations for this vary; some believe that the CIA was caught off guard, while others suggest that American policy-makers viewed an internal crackdown as preferable to an "inevitable Soviet intervention."^[19] CIA support for Solidarity included money, equipment and training, which was coordinated by Special Operations.^[20] Henry Hyde, U.S. House intelligence committee member, stated that the USA provided "supplies and technical assistance in terms of clandestine newspapers, broadcasting, propaganda, money, organizational help and advice".^[21] Initial funds for covert actions by CIA were $2 million, but soon after authorization were increased and by 1985 CIA successfully infiltrated Poland.^[22]

Catholic social teaching

30-years of Solidarity mural in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski (priest Jerzy Popiełuszko in foreground)

In Sollicitudo rei socialis, a major document of Catholic Social Teaching, Pope John Paul II identifies the concept of solidarity with the poor and marginalized as a constitutive element of the Gospel and human participation in the common good. The Roman Catholic Church, under the leadership of Pope John Paul II, was a very powerful supporter of the union and was greatly responsible for its success. Wałęsa, who himself publicly displayed Catholic piety, confirmed the Pope's influence, saying: "The Holy Father, through his meetings, demonstrated how numerous we were. He told us not to be afraid."^[23]

In addition, the priest Jerzy Popiełuszko, who regularly gave sermons to the striking workers, was eventually killed by the Communist regime for his association with Solidarity. Polish workers themselves were closely associated with the Church, which can be seen in the photographs taken during strikes in the 1980s. On the walls of several factories, portraits of the Virgin Mary or John Paul II were visible.

In 2017, Solidarity backed a proposal to instate blue laws that would prohibit Sunday shopping, a move supported by Polish bishops.^[24] A 2018 new Polish law banning almost all trade on Sundays has taken effect, with large supermarkets and most other retailers closed for the first time since liberal shopping laws were introduced in the 1990s. The Law and Justice party passed the legislation with the support of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.^{[25][26][27][28]}

Secular philosophical underpinnings

Although Leszek Kołakowski's works were officially banned in Poland, and he lived outside the country from the late 1960s, the philosopher's ideas nonetheless exerted an influence on the Solidarity movement. Underground copies of his books and essays shaped the opinions of the Polish intellectual opposition. His 1971 essay Theses on Hope and Hopelessness, which suggested that self-organized social groups could gradually expand the spheres of civil society in a totalitarian state, helped inspire the dissident movements of the 1970s that led to the creation of Solidarity and provided a philosophical underpinning for the movement.

Kołakowski later described Solidarity as "perhaps [the] closest to the working class revolution" that Karl Marx had predicted in the mid-1800s. Ironically, however, Solidarity featured many elements contrary to socialism as conceived by Marx: "[workers organized] against the exploiters, that is to say, the state. And this solitary example of a working class revolution (if even this may be counted) was directed against a socialist state, and carried out under the sign of the cross, with the blessing of the Pope."^[29]

Influence abroad

The logo of Solidarność painted on an overturned Soviet era T-55 in Prague in 1990

Students in Scotland collect signatures for a petition in support of Solidarity in 1981

Solidarity, ETUC Demonstration—Budapest 2011

The survival of Solidarity was an unprecedented event not only in Poland, a satellite state of the USSR ruled (in practice) by a one-party Communist regime, but the whole of the Eastern bloc. It meant a break in the hard-line stance of the communist Polish United Workers' Party, which had bloodily ended a 1970 protest with machine gun fire (killing over thirty and injuring over 1,000), and the broader Soviet communist regime in the Eastern Bloc, which had quelled both the 1956 Hungarian Uprising and the 1968 Prague Spring with Soviet-led invasions.

Solidarity's influence led to the intensification and spread of anti-communist ideals and movements throughout the countries of the Eastern Bloc, weakening their communist governments. As a result of the Round Table Agreement between the Polish government and the Solidarity-led opposition, elections were held in Poland on 4 June 1989, in which the opposition were allowed to field candidates against the Communist Party—the first free elections in any Soviet bloc country. A new upper chamber (the Senate) was created in the Polish parliament and all of its 100 seats were contestable in the election, as well as one third of the seats in the more important lower chamber (the Sejm). Solidarity won 99 of the 100 Senate seats and all 161 contestable seats in the Sejm—a victory that also triggered a chain reaction across the Soviet Union's satellite states, leading to almost entirely peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe^[10] known as the Revolutions of 1989 (Jesień Ludów or Wiosna Obywatelów), which ended in the overthrow of each Moscow-imposed regime, and ultimately to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Given the union's support from many western governments, relations with trade unions in capitalist countries could be complicated. For example, during the UK miners' strike of 1984–85, Wałęsa said that "The miners should fight, but with common sense—not with destruction" and said of Margaret Thatcher "With such a wise and brave woman, Britain will find a solution to the strike." However, David Jastrzębski, the president of Upper Silesia Solidarity, voiced his support of the striking miners: "Neither the British government's mounted police charges nor its truncheon blows, any more than the Polish junta's tanks or rifle fire, can break our common will to struggle for a better future for the working class."^[30] This was despite the fact that Arthur Scargill, president of the British National Union of Mineworkers had been highly critical of Solidarity, condemning it as an "anti-socialist organization which desires the overthrow of a socialist state".^[31]

In late 2008, several democratic opposition groups in the Russian Federation formed a Solidarity movement.^[32]

In the United States, the American Solidarity Party (formerly the Christian Democratic Party USA), a Christian democratic political party, attributes its namesake to Solidarity.^[33]

In a 2011 essay "The Jacobin Spirit" in the American magazine Jacobin, philosopher Slavoj Zizek called Solidarnosc' one of the "free spaces at a distance from state power" that used "defensive violence" to protect itself from state control. The notion of "defensive violence" runs in the vein of ideas postulated by Alain Badiou.^[34]

Organization

The union was officially founded on 17 September 1980,^[1] the union's supreme powers were vested in a legislative body, the Convention of Delegates (Zjazd Delegatów). The executive branch was the National Coordinating Commission (Krajowa Komisja Porozumiewawcza), later renamed the National Commission (Komisja Krajowa). The Union had a regional structure, comprising 38 regions (region) and two districts (okręg). At its highest, the Union had over 10 million members, which became the largest union membership in the world. During the communist era the 38 regional delegates were arrested and jailed when martial law came into effect on 13 December 1981 under General Wojciech Jaruzelski. After a one-year prison term the high-ranking members of the union were offered one way trips to any country accepting them (including Canada, the United States, and nations in the Middle East).

Solidarity was organized as an industrial union, or more specifically according to the One Big Union principle, along the lines of the Industrial Workers of the World and the Spanish Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (workers in every trade were organized by region, rather than by craft).^[35]

In 2010, Solidarity had more than 400,000 members.^[2] National Commission of Independent Self-Governing Trade Union is located in Gdańsk and is composed of Delegates from Regional General Congresses.

Regional structure

Solidarity is divided into 37 regions, and the territorial structure to a large degree reflects the shape of Polish voivodeships, established in 1975 and annulled in 1998 (see: Administrative division of People's Republic of Poland). The regions are:

• Gdańsk, based in Gdańsk,
• Warmia-Masuria, based in Olsztyn,
• Elbląg, based in Elbląg,
• Lower Silesia, based in Wrocław,
• Pila, based in Piła,
• Western Pomerania, based in Szczecin,
• Land of Łódź, based in Łódź,
• Częstochowa, based in Częstochowa,
• Land of Sandomierz, based in Stalowa Wola,
• Płock-Kutno, based in Płock,
• Lesser Poland, based in Kraków,
• Opole Silesia, based in Opole,
• Seashore, based in Koszalin,
• Słupsk, based in Słupsk,
• Zielona Góra, based in Zielona Góra,
• Podbeskidzie, based in Bielsko-Biała,
• Konin, based in Konin,
• Southern Greater Poland, based in Kalisz,
• Podlachia, based in Białystok,
• Piotrków, based in Piotrków Trybunalski,
• Cuiavia and Dobrzyń Land, based in Włocławek,
• Carpathia, based in Krosno,
• Land of Rzeszów, based in Rzeszów,
• Toruń, based in Toruń,
• Silesia-Zaglebie, based in Katowice,
• Land of Radom, based in Radom,
• Greater Poland, based in Poznań,
• Gorzów, based in Gorzów Wielkopolski,
• Holy Cross, based in Kielce,
• Middle-East, based in Lublin,
• Bydgoszcz, based in Bydgoszcz,
• Jelenia Góra, based in Jelenia Góra,
• Leszno, based in Leszno,
• Chełm, based in Chełm,
• Przemyśl-Jarosław, based in Przemyśl,
• Mazovia, based in Warsaw,
• Copper Basin, based in Legnica.

Network of key factories

The network of Solidarity branches of the key factories of Poland was created on 14 April 1981 in Gdańsk. It was made of representatives of seventeen factories; each stood for the most important factory of every voivodeship of the pre-1975 Poland (see: Administrative division of People's Republic of Poland). However, there were two exceptions. There was no representative of the Koszalin Voivodeship, and the Katowice Voivodeship was represented by two factories:

Chairmen

• Lech Wałęsa (1980–1991)
• Marian Krzaklewski (1991–2002)
• Janusz Śniadek (2002–2010)
• Piotr Duda (2010–present)

See also

• 1981 warning strike in Poland
• 1988 Polish strikes
• 31 August 1982 demonstrations in Poland
• Civil resistance
• Conference of Solidarity Support Organizations
• European Solidarity Centre
• Fighting Solidarity
• Jastrzebie-Zdroj 1980 strikes
• June 1976 protests
• Lublin 1980 strikes
• Polish 1970 protests
• 1989 Polish legislative election
• Hungarian Solidarity Movement
• Solidarnost
• Summer 1981 hunger demonstrations in Poland

References

Further reading

• Domber, Gregory G. (2016). Empowering Revolution: America, Poland, and the End of the Cold War. Dodd Mead. ISBN 978-1469629810.
• Eringer, Robert (1982). Strike for Freedom: The Story of Lech Wałęsa and Polish Solidarity. The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-396-08065-0.
• Goddeeris, Idesbald (2002). The Polish Revolution: Solidarity. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09568-6.
• Garton Ash, Timothy (2012). Solidarity with Solidarity: Western European Trade Unions and the Polish Crisis, 1980–1982. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0739150719.
• Kaminski, Marek M. (2004). Games Prisoners Play. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-11721-7.
• Kenney, Patrick (2003). A Carnival of Revolution : Central Europe 1989. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-11627-X.
• Kenney, Patrick (2006). The Burdens of Freedom. Zed Books Ltd. ISBN 1-84277-662-2.
• Kubik, Jan (1994). The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power: The rise of Solidarity and the fall of state socialism in Poland. The Pennsylvania State University. ISBN 0-271-01084-3.
• Ledger, Robert. "From Solidarity to 'Shock Therapy'. British Foreign Policy Towards Poland Under the Thatcher Government, 1980–1990." Contemporary British History 30#1 (2016): 99-118.
• Matynia, Elzbieta (2009). Performative Democracy. Paradigm. ISBN 1594516561.
• Osa, Maryjane (2003). Solidarity and Contention: Networks of Polish Opposition. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-3874-8.
• Ost, David (2005). The Defeat of Solidarity: Anger and Politics in Postcommunist Europe (ebook). Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-4318-0.
• Penn, Shana (2005). Solidarity's Secret : The Women Who Defeated Communism in Poland. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-11385-2.
• Perdue, William D. (1995). Paradox of Change: The Rise and Fall of Solidarity in the New Poland. Praeger/Greenwood. ISBN 0-275-95295-9.
• Pope John Paul II, Sollicitudo rei socialis, on Vatican website
• Staniszkis, Jadwiga (1984). Poland's Self-Limiting Revolution. Princeton University Press.
• Smolar, Aleksander, '"Self-limiting Revolution": Poland 1970–89', in Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton Ash (eds.), Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-955201-6.[2].
• Szporer, Michael (2014). Solidarity: The Great Workers Strike of 1980. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0739192801.
• Weigel, George (1992). The Final Revolution: The Resistance Church and the Collapse of Communism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516664-7.

External links

• Official website
• Presentation on The Solidarity Phenomenon
• FAES The Polish trade Union Solidarity and the European idea of freedom
• Solidarity 25th Anniversary Press Center
• Who is Anna Walentynowicz?, a documentary film about Solidarity
• Katherine Kenning collection of Joanna Wojciechowicz papers, MSS 8081 at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University. Contains materials about Wojciechowicz's participation in the Solidarity movement.
• International Conference 'From Solidarity to Freedom'
• Advice for East German propagandists on how to deal with the Solidarity movement
• The Birth of Solidarity on BBC
• Solidarity, Freedom and Economical Crisis in Poland, 1980–81
• Solidarność collection at the Libertarian Communist library
• Solidarność from Gdańsk to Military Repression by Colin Barker and Kara Weber (1982)
• Arch Puddington, How American Unions Helps Solidarity Win
• Motion for a resolution, the European Parliament on the 25th anniversary of Solidarity and its message for Europe
• Solidarity Lost, by Daniel Singer
• (in Polish) Solidarity Center Foundation – Fundacja Centrum Solidarności
• A Simple Way to Learn an Old Song A radio programme about the song "Mury", the anthem of Solidarność. In Russian with English transcript

Fox News
Launched	October 7, 1996; 23 years ago (1996-10-07)
Owned by	Fox Corporation
Picture format	720p HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed)
Slogan	Fair and balanced Most watched. Most trusted. Real news. Real honest opinion. We report. You decide.
Country	United States
Language	English
Broadcast area	United States
Headquarters	1211 Avenue of the Americas New York City, NY, U.S. 10036
Sister channel(s)	Fox Business Network Fox Broadcasting Company
Website	www.foxnews.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 360 (SD/HD)
Dish Network	Channel 205 (SD/HD)
Bell TV (Canada)	Channel 507
Shaw Direct (Canada)	Channel 154 Channel 503
Foxtel (Australia)	Channel 604
SKY TV (New Zealand)	Channel 088
Sky Italia	Channel 514
Digital+	Channel 77
StarHub	Channel 702
MEO (Portugal)	Channel 208
Cignal (Philippines)	Channel 131
OSN	Channel 411
beIN	Channel 147 (HD)
Oi TV (Brazil)	Channel 184
Movistar TV (Chile)	Channel 734
G Sat (Philippines)	Channel 50
Cable
Available on most US providers	Channel slots vary on each operator
Cablevisión (Argentina)	Channel 552 (Digital)
Macau Cable TV (Macau)	Channel 816
Cable TV Hong Kong (Hong Kong)	Channel 123
Movistar TV (Peru)	Channel 548
SkyCable (Philippines)	Channel 138
Izzi Telecom (Mexico)	Channel 180
Satellite radio
Sirius	Channel 114
XM	Channel 115
IPTV
Verizon FiOS	Channel 118 (SD) Channel 618 (HD)
Bell Fibe TV (Canada)	Channel 507
VMedia (Canada)	Channel 181
Optik TV	Channel 811 (HD; East) Channel 9811 (SD; West)
now TV (Hong Kong)	Channel 318
Streaming media
FoxNewsGo.com	Watch live (United States)
fuboTV	Live Stream
PlayStation Vue	Internet Protocol television

Fox News (officially Fox News Channel and abbreviated FNC) is an American conservative^[1][2] pay television news channel. It is owned by the Fox News Group, which itself was owned by News Corporation from 1996–2013, 21st Century Fox from 2013–2019, and Fox Corporation since 2019. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. Fox News is provided in 86 countries or overseas territories worldwide,^[3] with international broadcasts featuring Fox Extra segments during ad breaks.

The channel was created by Australian-American media mogul Rupert Murdoch to appeal to a conservative audience, hiring former Republican Party media consultant and CNBC executive Roger Ailes as its founding CEO.^[4][5] It launched on October 7, 1996, to 17 million cable subscribers.^[6] Fox News grew during the late 1990s and 2000s to become the dominant subscription news network in the U.S.^[7] As of February 2015, approximately 94,700,000 US households (81.4% of television subscribers) receive Fox News.^[8] Murdoch is the current executive chairman and Suzanne Scott is the CEO.^[9][10]

Fox News has been described as practicing biased reporting in favor of the Republican Party, the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations, and conservative causes while slandering the Democratic Party and spreading harmful propaganda intended to negatively affect its members' electoral performances.^{[11][12][13][14]} Critics have cited the channel as detrimental to the integrity of news overall.^[15][16] Fox News employees have said that news reporting operates independently of its opinion and commentary programming, and have denied bias in news reporting, while former employees have said that Fox ordered them to "slant the news in favor of conservatives".^[17] During Trump's presidency, observers have noted a pronounced tendency of Fox News to serve as a "mouthpiece" for the administration, providing "propaganda" and a "feedback loop" for Trump, with one presidential scholar stating, "it’s the closest we’ve come to having state TV."^{[18][19][20][21][22]}

History

Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch established Fox News in 1996.

In May 1985, Australian publisher Rupert Murdoch announced he and American industrialist and philanthropist Marvin Davis intended to develop "a network of independent stations as a fourth marketing force" to compete directly with CBS, NBC, and ABC through the purchase of six television stations owned by Metromedia.^[23] In July 1985, 20th Century Fox announced Murdoch had completed his purchase of 50% of Fox Filmed Entertainment, the parent company of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation.^[24] A year later, 20th Century Fox earned $5.6 million in its fiscal third period ended May 31, 1986, in contrast to a loss of $55.8 million in the third period of the previous year.^[25]

Subsequently, and prior to founding FNC, Murdoch had gained experience in the 24-hour news business when News Corporation's BSkyB subsidiary began Europe's first 24-hour news channel (Sky News) in the United Kingdom in 1989.^[26] With the success of his fourth network efforts in the United States,^[27] experience gained from Sky News and the turnaround of 20th Century Fox, Murdoch announced on January 31, 1996, that News Corp. would launch a 24-hour news channel on cable and satellite systems in the United States as part of a News Corp. "worldwide platform" for Fox programming: "The appetite for news – particularly news that explains to people how it affects them – is expanding enormously".^[28]

In February 1996, after former U.S. Republican Party political strategist and NBC executive^[29] Roger Ailes left cable television channel America's Talking (now MSNBC), Murdoch asked him to start Fox News Channel. Ailes demanded five months of 14-hour workdays and several weeks of rehearsal shows before its launch on October 7, 1996.^[30]

At its debut 17 million households were able to watch FNC;^[6] however, it was absent from the media markets of New York City and Los Angeles. Rolling news coverage during the day consisted of 20-minute single-topic shows such as Fox on Crime or Fox on Politics, surrounded by news headlines. Interviews featured facts at the bottom of the screen about the topic or the guest. The flagship newscast at the time was The Schneider Report, with Mike Schneider's fast-paced delivery of the news. During the evening, Fox featured opinion shows: The O'Reilly Report (later The O'Reilly Factor), The Crier Report (hosted by Catherine Crier) and Hannity & Colmes.

From the beginning, FNC has placed heavy emphasis on visual presentation. Graphics were designed to be colorful and gain attention; this helped the viewer to grasp the main points of what was being said, even if they could not hear the host (with on-screen text summarizing the position of the interviewer or speaker, and "bullet points" when a host was delivering commentary). Fox News also created the "Fox News Alert", which interrupted its regular programming when a breaking news story occurred.

Fox News Studios in 2009.

To accelerate its adoption by cable providers, Fox News paid systems up to $11 per subscriber to distribute the channel.^[31] This contrasted with the normal practice, in which cable operators paid stations carriage fees for programming. When Time Warner bought Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting System, a federal antitrust consent decree required Time Warner to carry a second all-news channel in addition to its own CNN on its cable systems. Time Warner selected MSNBC as the secondary news channel, not Fox News. Fox News claimed this violated an agreement (to carry Fox News). Citing its agreement to keep its U.S. headquarters and a large studio in New York City, News Corporation enlisted the help of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's administration to pressure Time Warner Cable (one of the city's two cable providers) to transmit Fox News on a city-owned channel.^[32] City officials threatened to take action affecting Time Warner's cable franchises in the city.^[33]

During the September 11, 2001 attacks, Fox News was the first news organization to run a news ticker on the bottom of the screen to keep up with the flow of information that day. The ticker has remained, informing viewers about additional news which reporters may not mention on-screen and repeating news mentioned during a broadcast; it has proven popular with viewers.^[34]

Outlets

FNC airport newsstand at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport

FNC's newsroom, November 15, 2007.

FNC maintains an archive of most of its programs. This archive also includes Movietone News series of newsreels from its now Disney-owned namesake movie studio, 20th Century Fox. Licensing for the Fox News archive is handled by ITN Source, the archiving division of ITN.^[35]

Television

FNC presents a variety of programming, with up to 15 hours of live broadcasting per day in addition to programming and content for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Most programs are broadcast from Fox News headquarters in New York City (at 1211 Avenue of the Americas), in its streetside studio on Sixth Avenue in the west wing of Rockefeller Center, sharing its headquarters with sister channel Fox Business Network. Fox News Channel has eight studios at its New York City headquarters that are used for its and Fox Business' programming: Studio B (used for Fox Business programming), Studio D (which has an area for studio audiences; and is used by The Greg Gutfeld Show, Fox and Friends First), Studio F (used for The Story with Martha MacCallum, The Five, and America's Election Headquarters, Fox and Friends, Outnumbered, Outnumbered Overtime, America's News HQ, Justice with Judge Jeanine) Studio G (which houses Fox Business shows), Studio H (Fox News Deck used for Shepard Smith Reporting and breaking news coverage), Studio J (used for America's Newsroom, Hannity and Justice with Judge Jeanine) Starting with 2018, Thursday Night Football will have its pregame show, Fox NFL Thursday originate from the Fox News studio.

The remaining programs (such as Tucker Carlson Tonight, Special Report with Bret Baier, The Ingraham Angle, Fox News @ Night, and editions of America's News HQ not broadcast from the New York City studios) are broadcast from Fox News's Washington, D.C. studios, located on Capitol Hill across from Union Station in a secured building shared by a number of other television networks (including NBC News and C-SPAN). Audio simulcasts of the channel are aired on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio.

In an October 11, 2009, in a New York Times article, Fox said its hard-news programming runs from "9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. on weekdays" and "[is] objective"; however, it makes no such claims for its other broadcasts, which primarily consist of editorial journalism and commentary.^[36]

Fox News Channel began broadcasting in the 720p resolution format on May 1, 2008.^[37] This format is available on all major cable and satellite providers.

The Fox News Group produces Fox News Sunday, which airs on Fox Broadcasting and re-airs on FNC. Fox News also produces occasional special event coverage that is broadcast on FBC.

Radio

With the growth of FNC, the company introduced a radio division, Fox News Radio, in 2003.^[38] Syndicated throughout the United States, the division provides short newscasts and talk radio programs featuring personalities from the television and radio divisions. In 2006, the company also introduced Fox News Talk, a satellite radio station featuring programs syndicated by (and featuring) Fox News personalities.

Online

Introduced in December 1995,^[39] the Fox News website features the latest coverage (including columns by FNC television, radio and online personalities). Video clips are also available on Foxnews.com and Foxbusiness.com. Fox News Latino is the version aimed at the Hispanic audience, although presented almost entirely in English, with a Spanish section.^[40]

In September 2008, FNC joined other channels in introducing a live streaming segment to its website: The Strategy Room, designed to appeal to older viewers. It airs weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and takes the form of an informal discussion, with running commentary on the news. Regular discussion programs include Business Hour, News With a View and God Talk.^[41] In March 2009, The Fox Nation was launched as a website intended to encourage readers to post, commenting on the news.^[42] Fox News Mobile is the portion of the FNC website dedicated to streaming news clips formatted for video-enabled mobile phones.^[43]

Ratings and reception

In 2003, Fox News saw a large ratings jump during the early stages of the US invasion of Iraq. At the height of the conflict, according to some reports, Fox News had as much as a 300% increase in viewership (averaging 3.3 million viewers daily).^[44] In 2004, Fox News' ratings for its broadcast of the Republican National Convention exceeded those of the three major broadcast networks. During President George W. Bush's address, Fox News attracted 7.3 million viewers nationally; NBC, ABC, and CBS had a viewership of 5.9 million, 5.1 million, and 5.0 million respectively.

Between late 2005 and early 2006, Fox News saw a brief decline in ratings. One was in the second quarter of 2006, when it lost viewers for every prime-time program compared with the previous quarter. The audience for the Special Report with Brit Hume, for example, dropped 19%. Several weeks later, in the wake of the 2006 North Korean missile test and the 2006 Lebanon War, Fox saw a surge in viewership and remained the #1-rated cable news channel.^[45] Fox produced eight of the top ten most-watched nightly cable news shows, with The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity & Colmes finishing first and second respectively.^[46]

FNC ranked #8 in viewership among all cable channels in 2006, and #6 in 2007.^[47] The channel ranked #1 during the week of Barack Obama's election (November 3–9) in 2008, and reached the top spot again in January 2010 (during the week of the special Senate election in Massachusetts).^[48] Comparing Fox to its 24-hour-news-channel competitors, in May 2010 the channel drew an average daily prime-time audience of 1.8 million viewers (versus 747,000 for MSNBC and 595,000 for CNN).^[49]

In September 2009, the Pew Research Center published a report on the public view of national news organizations. In the report, 72 percent of polled Republican Fox viewers rated the channel as "favorable", while 43 percent of polled Democratic viewers and 55 percent of all polled viewers shared that opinion. However, Fox was given the highest "unfavorable" rating of all national outlets studied (25 percent of all polled viewers). The report went on to say, "partisan differences in views of Fox News have increased substantially since 2007".^[50] A Public Policy Polling poll concluded in 2013 that perceptions of FNC had declined from 2010. 41% of polled voters said they trust it, down from 49% in 2010, while 46% said they distrust it, up from 37% in 2010. It was also called the "most trusted" network by 34% of those polled, more than had said the same of any other network.^[51]

Then-Fox anchor Megyn Kelly covering the 2012 Democratic National Convention