Early life and career.

He was born John Greenhalgh Hilton in Great Lever near Bolton, Lancashire, the son of George Hilton, a cotton yarn twister. His father was an amateur singer at the local Labour Club and Hylton learned piano to accompany him on the stage. Hylton later sang to the customers when his father bought a pub in nearby Little Lever, becoming known as the "Singing Mill-Boy". He also performed as a relief pianist for various bands.  His early career involved moving to London as a pianist in the 400 Club and playing with the Stroud Haxton Band. During the First World War he moved to be a musical director of the band of the 20th Hussars, and later in the Army Entertainment Division.  After the First World War, Hylton formed a double act with Tommy Handley to little success, also collaborating in a number of short-lived stage shows. He then played with the "Queens" Dance Orchestra, wrote arrangements of popular songs and recorded them for His Master's Voice and Zonophone under the label "Directed by Jack Hylton" (being credited in lieu of a pay raise), his records carrying the new style of jazz-derived American dance music.

1920s and 1930s.

After being dismissed by his own bandmates from the Queen's Hall in 1922, Hylton not only set up his own band, but also set up a number of other orchestras under the Jack Hylton Organisation. Even though he was not professionally trained for business, he brought his band to success even at a time when the Great Depression hit hard during the 1930s. His good reputation allowed him to make contacts with famous jazz artists of the time, and he was credited for bringing Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and others to Britain and Europe in the 1930s.  An ensemble consisting at times of more than 20 musicians, the Hylton orchestra quickly stood out from the rest. Unlike many other bandleaders who took up residences at nightclubs and ballrooms, Hylton often embarked on lengthy tours of England, which ultimately moulded the concept most Britons had of jazz. By the mid-1920s he was usually referred as the "British King of Jazz", a notion Hylton initially dismissed. As late as 1926, he thought of jazz as "a bunch of noises" popular at the end of the First World War, "when everything was topsy-turvy". Hylton first appeared on radio through station 2LO in 1924, and cut HMV's first electric record the following year.  The second half of the 1920s marked Hylton's highest point of prominence. After recovering from a near-fatal car accident – which took place on 20 January 1927, on the way to the HMV studios at Hayes, Middlesex – he made the first in a string of "continental tours" that lasted until 1930. The orchestra's line-up also included some of the most skilled musicians of the time. "Regular" players included saxophonists Billy Ternent (who was also the band's main arranger and co-leader), Edward Owen (E.O.) "Poggy" Pogson and Noel "Chappie" d'Amato, trumpeter/cornetist Jack Jackson, trombonist Lew Davis, violinists Hugo Rignold and Harry Berly, pianist/arranger Peter Yorke, and (from 1928) singer Sam Browne. The orchestra was often augmented with members of other Hylton-controlled bands, especially for 12-inch "concert arrangements". According to the "Daily Herald" of 7 June 1930, between four and five million records sold in 1929 (out of 50 million sold overall) were made by Hylton, although three million has been suggested as likely a more accurate figure.  By the time the Depression started biting in 1930, Hylton downsized his band and began performing in Europe less frequently; that same year, however, Maurice Chevalier recorded with Hylton, who also made the first record of "Body and Soul" and Pat O'Malley replaced Browne as vocalist. In 1930 they recorded "Amy, Wonderful Amy", a song about Amy Johnson. Hylton also became a director and major shareholder of the new Decca record label, switching from HMV in late 1931. The following year he was decorated by the French government, recorded with Paul Robeson, and made the first transatlantic entertainment broadcast with Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. In late 1933, Hylton left Decca after refusing to take a pay cut, not making records until 1935 when he rejoined HMV. He spent 1934 touring Europe again, and adopted "The Soldiers in the Park" (more commonly known as "Oh Listen to the Band") as his signature tune. In 1935 he appeared in his first feature film, the musical comedy "She Shall Have Music", which starred June Clyde and Claude Dampier.  That same year, Hylton finally was able to perform in the United States; he had repeatedly attempted this for almost a decade, but had been opposed by the musicians' unions (a 1929 tour was cancelled at the last minute). Standard Oil signed Hylton for a radio show on CBS, not only paying him and his star players, but also paying all expenses for those band members unable to play in the US. Whilst in Chicago, Hylton made a number of records with his radio band for Victor. Union pressure led him to return to the UK in 1936, although Pat O'Malley and Alec Templeton stayed in America, making a name for themselves.  Upon returning to Britain, he was criticised for adopting the then-popular swing rhythm, so he kept playing in his well-established style, including a series of new "concert recordings". After a new tour of Europe in 1937, which included a performance at the Scala in Nazi Germany, Hylton began appearing on radio more frequently, starring in Radio Luxembourg's "Rinso Radio Revue" until 1939, when he appeared in the BBC's "Band Waggon" as well as its 1940 film adaptation. Hylton and his band also made a number of appearances on BBC television in the 1930s, on one of which Ernie Wise made his television debut.

1940s and 1950s.

The Jack Hylton orchestra disbanded in 1940 as many of its members were called up for service, although Jack continued to conduct orchestras for radio in the years to come, leading the Glenn Miller Orchestra when it visited England in 1943. During the war, he took the London Philharmonic Orchestra around Britain, giving promenade concerts. This helped to keep the orchestra going when its normal programme had ceased and it was on the edge of bankruptcy.  At this point in his career he became an impresario, discovering new stars and managing radio, film and theatre productions, from ballets to circuses. His productions dominated the London theatres with such productions as "The Merry Widow", "Kiss Me, Kate", and "Kismet".  In 1950 he reunited with a number of his former employees, many of whom had become successful in their own right, for that year's Royal Command Performance, billed as "The Band that Jack Built". Despite their success, Hylton resisted calls for his return to band-leading. There were rumours in 1954 that he would stand for Parliament from Bolton, where he was a prominent member of the local Labour Party branch.  In November 1955, he was contracted as Advisor of Light Entertainment to Associated-Rediffusion (A-R), winner of the London weekday franchise in the recently established ITV network. He founded Jack Hylton Television Productions, Ltd. in that same month to produce a range of light entertainment programming exclusively for A-R. In spite of their popularity, however, the company's productions were of low quality, with performers even apologising in front of millions of viewers at times. This in turn helped establish ITV's reputation for coarseness, a stigma it would only shake off by the 1970s. Hylton refused to renew his ITV contract in 1959; the last shows made by the company were broadcast in 1960.

1960s.

In his final years Hylton was still producing stage shows, as well as taking a leading role in organising various Royal Command Performances, until his final stage production, "Camelot", in 1965.  In 1965 a televised tribute to Hylton, "The Stars Shine for Jack", was held in London on Sunday 30 May at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane with many artists including Arthur Askey, the Crazy Gang, Marlene Dietrich, Dickie Henderson and Shirley Bassey.

Personal life.

Hylton was married twice; firstly in 1913 in St Asaph, Flintshire, Wales, to bandleader Ennis Parkes (born Florence Parkinson). They separated in 1929, but remained relatively close until Parkes's death in 1957, despite the formation of a short-lived "Mrs. Jack Hylton Band" in the mid-1930s. During the 1930s he had a long affair with model Frederika Kogler ("Fifi"), with whom he had two daughters: Jackie (b. 1932) and Georgina (b. 1938). He also had a son, Jack (b. 1947) by a later affair with Pat Taylor, a singer and actress.  He secondly married in Geneva in 1963, to Australian model and beauty queen Beverley Prowse (1932–2000).

Death.

On 26 January 1965, complaining of chest and stomach pains, Hylton was admitted to the London Clinic. He died there three days later, from a heart attack, aged 72. Hylton's spending habits and generosity left his estate with £242,288. Hylton said to his son during his latter years, "I won't leave you much, but we'll have a good laugh spending it while I'm here!" However, this equates to £4.6m in 2018, when adjusted for inflation.  He is buried in the churchyard of St Catherine at Gosfield, Essex. His wife Beverley is buried beside him.

Legacy.

Specialist dance band radio stations, such as Radio Dismuke and Swing Street Radio, continue to play his records. Hylton also features regularly on the Manx Radio programme "Sweet & Swing", presented by Howard Caine.  His 1930 recording of "Happy Days Are Here Again" was used during the closing credits of episode four of Ken Burns's documentary series ""The Roosevelts"".  Hylton is portrayed by Ted Robbins in the 2011 television film "Eric and Ernie".

Jack Hylton (born John Greenhalgh Hilton; 2 July 1892 – 29 January 1965) was an English pianist, composer, band leader and impresario.

Le groupe de Jack Hylton ( à Bolton - ) fut célèbre dans toute l'Europe au moment de l'entre-deux guerres. La fantaisie des musiciens (bien que moins débridée que celle des Comedian harmonists allemands), le rythme des chansons (beaucoup de "fox-trots") et leur inventivité, ainsi que leurs très nombreuses tournées sur le continent, y furent pour beaucoup. La vaste production musicale du groupe, malgré ses remaniements incessants, aussi.


Life cycle.

Because of their oceanic habitat, studies of their life cycle have primarily been based on captive animals and their eggs have never been seen in the wild. Although nautilus have been kept at public aquariums since the 1950s, the chambered nautilus was first bred in captivity at the Waikiki Aquarium in 1995 (a couple of other nautilus species had been bred earlier) and captive breeding remains a rare event even today. Unlike most cephalopods, the nautilus lacks a larval stage. The eggs are laid in crevices or between corals by the female. The nautilus shell of the young develop inside their eggs and breach the top of the egg before the nautilus fully emerges. Depending on water temperature, the eggs hatch after between 9 and 15 months. In 2017, it was bred at Monterey Bay Aquarium, which managed — possibly for the first time ever — to film the young emerging from the egg. Like other nautilus but unlike most other cephalopods, chambered nautilus are relatively long-lived and only reach maturity when about 5 years old.

Diet.

As a carnivore, it feeds on both underwater carrion and detritus, as well as living shellfish and crab. Mainly scavengers, chambered nautiluses have been described as eating "anything that smells". This food is stored in a stomach-like organ known as a crop, which can store food for a great deal of time without it denaturing.

Subspecies.

Two subspecies of "N. pompilius" have been described: "N. p. pompilius" and "N. p. suluensis"  "N. p. pompilius" is by far the most common and widespread of all nautiluses. It is sometimes called the emperor nautilus due to its large size. The distribution of "N. p. pompilius" covers the Andaman Sea east to Fiji and southern Japan south to the Great Barrier Reef. Exceptionally large specimens with shell diameters up to have been recorded from Indonesia and northern Australia. This giant form was described as Nautilus repertus, but most scientists do not consider it a separate species.  "N. p. suluensis" is a much smaller animal, restricted to the Sulu Sea in the southwestern Philippines, after which it is named. The largest known specimen measured 160 mm in shell diameter.

Shell geometry.

The chambered nautilus is often used as an example of the golden spiral. While nautiluses show logarithmic spirals, their ratios range from about 1.24 to 1.43, with an average ratio of about 1.33 to 1. The golden spiral's ratio is 1.618. This is actually visible when the cut nautilus is inspected.

Shell function.

The shell of the chambered nautilus fulfills the function of buoyancy, which allows the nautilus to dive or ascend at will, by controlling the density and volume of the liquid within its shell chambers. This was found during research done in New Caledonia on nautiluses whose shell chamber fluid densities were tested at various depths, weeks apart. Generally speaking, chambered nautiluses inhabit a depth around 1000 feet, although further tests demonstrated that they can, and do, dive deeper. However, there are hazards associated with extreme depth for the nautilus: the shells of chambered nautiluses slowly fill with water at such depths, and they are only capable of withstanding depths up to 2000 feet before imploding due to pressure.  The chambered nautilus inhabits different segments of the shell as it grows, continuously growing new, larger "cells" into which it moves its internal organs as it grows in maturity. All of the smaller chambers, once uninhabited, are used in the method described above to regulate depth.

In literature and art.

Nautilus shells were popular items in the Renaissance cabinet of curiosities and were often mounted by goldsmiths on a thin stem to make extravagant nautilus shell cups, such as the Burghley Nef, mainly intended as decorations rather than for use. Small natural history collections were common in mid-19th-century Victorian homes, and chambered nautilus shells were popular decorations.  The chambered nautilus is the title and subject of a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes, in which he admires the "ship of pearl" and the "silent toil/That spread his lustrous coil/Still, as the spiral grew/He left the past year's dwelling for the new." He finds in the mysterious life and death of the nautilus strong inspiration for his own life and spiritual growth. He concludes:  <poem>Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!</poem>  A painting by Andrew Wyeth, entitled "Chambered Nautilus", shows a woman in a canopied bed; the composition and proportions of the bed and the window behind it mirror those of a chambered nautilus lying on a nearby table.  The popular Russian rock band Nautilus Pompilius () is named after the species.  American composer and commentator Deems Taylor wrote a cantata entitled The Chambered Nautilus in 1916.

The chambered nautilus, Nautilus pompilius, also called the pearly nautilus, is the best-known species of nautilus. The shell, when cut away, reveals a lining of lustrous nacre and displays a nearly perfect equiangular spiral, although it is not a golden spiral. The shell exhibits countershading, being light on the bottom and dark on top. This is to help avoid predators, because when seen from above, it blends in with the darkness of the sea, and when seen from below, it blends in with the light coming from above.

Le Nautilus pompilius est une espèce de nautile (céphalopode marin), de la famille des Nautilidae. Il s'agit de l'espèce de nautile la plus répandue actuellement.


Etymology.

The English word "hostage" derives from French "ostage", modern "otage", from Late Latin "obsidaticum" (Medieval Latin "ostaticum, ostagium"), the state of being an "obses" (plural "obsides"), "hostage", from Latin "obsideō" ("I haunt/frequent/blockade/besiege"), but an etymological connection was later supposed with Latin "hostis" ("stranger," later "enemy").

Historical practices.

This long history of political and military use indicates that political authorities or generals would legally agree to hand over one or usually several hostages in the custody of the other side, as guarantee of good faith in the observance of obligations. These obligations would be in the form of signing of a peace treaty, in the hands of the victor, or even exchange hostages as mutual assurance in cases such as an armistice. Major powers, such as Ancient Rome and the British who had colonial vassals, would especially receive many such political hostages, often offspring of the elite, even princes or princesses who were generally treated according to their rank and put to a subtle long-term use where they would be given an elitist education or possibly even a religious conversion. This would eventually influence them culturally and open the way for an amicable political line if they ascended to power after release. This caused the element "gīsl" = "hostage" in many old Germanic personal names, and thus in placenames derived from personal names, for example Isleworth in west London (UK) from Old English "Gīslheres wyrð" (= "enclosure belonging to [a man called] Gīslhere"). The practice of taking hostages is very ancient, and has been used constantly in negotiations with conquered nations, and in cases such as surrenders, armistices and the like, where the two belligerents depended for its proper carrying out on each other's good faith. The Romans were accustomed to take the sons of tributary princes and educate them at Rome, thus holding a security for the continued loyalty of the conquered nation and also instilling a possible future ruler with ideas of Roman civilization. The practice was also commonplace in the Imperial Chinese tributary system, especially between the Han and Tang dynasties.  The practice continued through the early Middle Ages. The Irish High King Niall of the Nine Hostages got his epithet "Noígiallach" because, by taking nine petty kings hostage, he had subjected nine other principalities to his power.  This practice was also adopted in the early period of the British occupation of India, and by France in her relations with the Arab tribes in North Africa. The position of a hostage was that of a prisoner of war, to be retained till the negotiations or treaty obligations were carried out, and liable to punishment (in ancient times), and even to death, in case of treachery or refusal to fulfil the promises made.  The practice of taking hostages as security for the carrying out of a treaty between civilized states is now obsolete. The last occasion was at the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), ending the War of the Austrian Succession, when two British peers, Henry Bowes Howard, 11th Earl of Suffolk, and Charles, 9th Baron Cathcart, were sent to France as hostages for the restitution of Cape Breton to France.  In France, after the revolution of Prairial (June 18, 1799), the so-called law of hostages was passed, to meet the royalist insurrection in La Vendée. Relatives of émigrés were taken from disturbed districts and imprisoned, and were liable to execution at any attempt to escape. Sequestration of their property and deportation from France followed on the murder of a republican, four to every such murder, with heavy fines on the whole body of hostages. The law only resulted in an increase in the insurrection. Napoleon in 1796 had used similar measures to deal with the insurrection in Lombardy.  In later times the practice of official war hostages may be said to be confined to either securing the payment of enforced contributions or requisitions in an occupied territory and the obedience to regulations the occupying army may think fit to issue; or as a precautionary measure, to prevent illegitimate acts of war or violence by persons not members of the recognized military forces of the enemy. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the Germans took as hostages the prominent people or officials from towns or districts when making requisitions and also when foraging, and it was a general practice for the mayor and adjoint of a town which failed to pay a fine imposed upon it to be seized as hostages and retained till the money was paid. Another case where hostages have been taken in modern warfare has been the subject of much discussion. In 1870 the Germans found it necessary to take special measures to put a stop to train-wrecking by "Francs-tireurs" - i.e. "parties in occupied territory not belonging to the recognized armed forces of the enemy", which was considered an illegitimate act of war. Prominent citizens were placed on the engine of the train so that it might be understood that in every accident caused by the hostility of the inhabitants their compatriots will be the first to suffer. The measure seems to have been effective. In 1900 during the Second Boer War, by a proclamation issued at Pretoria (June 19), Lord Roberts adopted the plan for a similar reason, but shortly afterwards (July 29) it was abandoned.  The Germans also, between the surrender of a town and its final occupation, took hostages as security against outbreaks of violence by the inhabitants.  Most writers on international law have regarded this method of preventing such acts of hostility as unjustifiable, on the ground that the persons taken as hostages are not the persons responsible for the act; that, as by the usage of war hostages are to be treated strictly as prisoners of war, such an exposure to danger is transgressing the rights of a belligerent; and as useless, for the mere temporary removal of important citizens till the end of a war cannot be a deterrent unless their mere removal deprives the combatants of persons necessary to the continuance of the acts aimed at. On the other hand, it has been urged that the acts, the prevention of which is aimed at, are not legitimate acts on the part of the armed forces of the enemy, but illegitimate acts by private persons, who, if caught, could be quite lawfully punished, and that a precautionary and preventive measure is more reasonable than reprisals. It may be noticed, however, that the hostages would suffer should the acts aimed at be performed by the authorized belligerent forces of the enemy.  Article 50 of the 1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare provides that: "No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, can be inflicted on the population on account of the acts of individuals for which it cannot be regarded as collectively responsible." The regulations, however do not allude to the practice of taking hostage.  In May 1871, at the close of the Paris Commune, took place the massacre of the so-called hostages. Strictly they were not hostages, for they had not been handed over or seized as security for the performance of any undertaking or as a preventive measure, but merely in retaliation for the death of their leaders E. V. Duval and Gustave Flourens. It was an act of maniacal despair, on the defeat at Mont Valrien on the 4 April and the entry of the army into Paris on the 21 May. Among the many victims who were shot in batches the most noticeable were Georges Darboy, archbishop of Paris, the Abbé Deguery, curé of the Madeleine, and the president of the Court of Cassation, Louis Bernard Bonjean.

Legal hostage-taking.

Taking hostages is today considered a crime or an act of terrorism; the use of the word in this sense of abductee became current only in the 1970s. The criminal activity is known as kidnapping. An acute situation where hostages are kept in a building or a vehicle that has been taken over by armed terrorists or common criminals is often called a hostage crisis.  Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions states that the taking of hostages during an internal conflict is a war crime and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever. In international conflicts, Articles 34 and 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention state that using civilians as hostages is a grave breach of the Convention. These conventions are supplemented by Article 75(2)(c) of Additional Protocol I in international conflicts and Article 4(2)(c) of Additional Protocol II in internal conflicts.  The International Convention against the Taking of Hostages—which prohibits hostage-taking and mandates the punishment of hostage-takers—was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979. The treaty came into force in 1983 and has been ratified by all but 24 of the member states of the United Nations.  Hostage-taking is still often politically motivated or intended to raise a ransom or to enforce an exchange against other hostages or even condemned convicts. However, in some countries hostage-taking for profit has become an "industry", ransom often being the only demand.

Hostage-taking in the United States.

Hostage Taking Act.

The United States makes hostage-taking a federal criminal offense pursuant to. Generally, the Act applies to conduct occurring within the territory of the United States. However, under Subsection B, an offender may be indicted under the Act even if the hostage-taking occurred outside the territory of the United States if the "offender or the person seized or detained is a national of the United States; the offender is found in the United States; or the governmental organization sought to be compelled is the Government of the United States." These provisions are consistent with the fundamental principles of international criminal law, specifically active nationality principle, universal principle, and the effects principle, respectively.

18 USC 1203: Hostage Taking Act.

Title 18 of the United States Code criminalizes hostage-taking under "18 USC 1203: Hostage Taking Act", which reads: The Hostage Taking Act is a subsection of the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages. It became enforceable in the United States January 6, 1985.

Other use.

In old Germanic peoples the word for "hostage" ("gīsl" and similar) sometimes occurred as part of a man's name: "Ēadgils", "Cynegils", "Gīslheard", "Gīslbeorht", etc.; sometimes when a man from one nation was hostage in another nation, his position as hostage was more or less voluntary: for example the position of Æscferð son of Ecglāf, who was a Northumbrian hostage in Wessex; he fought under Byrhtnōð against Vikings in the Battle of Maldon on 10 August 991 AD (ref. lines 265 etseq), and probably died in battle there.  See also Homeric Question, as Greek `Ομηρος means "Homer" and also "hostage".  Sometimes the word "hostage" is used metaphorically, for example: "The school did not buy the land because its headmaster missed the train to the meeting because of a road traffic accident; the whole matter thus proved to be "hostage" to one misbehaving carriage horse."

Dutch law.

In Dutch law the state can take people 'hostage' ("gijzeling" in Dutch) to force people to appear in court or (in civil cases) if the person refuses to pay his or her debts. In the latter case, the person in question is imprisoned one day for each €50 that are owed without cancellation of the debt.

A hostage is a person seized by a criminal abductor in order to compel another party such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or refrain from acting, in a certain way, often under threat of serious physical harm to the hostage(s) after expiration of an ultimatum. The 1911 edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica" defines a hostage as "a person who is handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war."

Un otage est une personne retenue prisonnière par un preneur d'otage, et dont la vie sauve et la libération dépendent d'une exigence à remplir par une tierce partie. Les armées en guerre ont souvent, par le passé, recouru à cette pratique en territoire ennemi pour assurer la sécurité de leurs troupes ou réprimer des actes hostiles. Ce fut notamment le cas durant les deux Guerres mondiales.


Career.

Early career.

In May 2001, Liu won at the East Asian Games in Osaka, Japan with a time of 13.42 seconds. In August 2001, he won at the Universiade in Beijing, China with a time of 13.33 seconds. He also won at the 2001 National Games of China that same year.  In 2002 Liu set an Asian record time at the Athletissima meeting, completing the event in 13.12 seconds. This also broke Renaldo Nehemiah's long standing and world junior record, which had stood for almost 25 years. The following year he secured bronze medals in the 60 metres hurdles at the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships and the 110 m hurdles at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics.

2004 Olympics.

In May 2004 at an IAAF Grand Prix race in Osaka, Japan, Liu managed to beat Allen Johnson with a personal best record time of 13.06 seconds. He improved even further at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Although he was not considered a favourite for the event, he won the Olympic final by some distance to take the gold medal in a world record-equalling time of 12.91 seconds, matching the feat of Colin Jackson. This was a new Olympic record and was almost three tenths of a second faster than the runner-up Terrence Trammell. The performance had Liu the sixth man to run under 13 seconds for the event and was China's first men's Olympic gold medal in a track and field event. On top of this, it defied the traditional thinking that Asian athletes could not compete in sprint events at the top level. He said that his gold medal "changes the opinion that Asian countries don't get good results in sprint races. I want to prove to all the world that Asians can run very fast."  Liu, a 21-year-old East China Normal University student at the time of victory in Athens, became the target of a bidding war among commercial sponsors. The Chinese Track and Field Association limited him to four such deals.  Liu finished the season with four of the year's ten fastest clockings. Reaching 17 finals in the 60-metre indoor and 110-metre outdoor hurdles, he lost just two, both to American Allen Johnson.

2005 and 2007 World Championships.

In August 2005, Liu won a silver medal at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland, finishing 13.08 seconds, 0.01 second after champion Ladji Doucouré from France. In November 2005, he won at East Asian Games in Macau, China with 13.21 seconds.  Off track, in May, Liu was awarded the Laureus World Sports Award for Newcomer of the Year for his breakthrough performance at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.  On July 11, 2006, Liu set a new world record in the 110 metre hurdles at the Super Grand Prix in Lausanne with a time of 12.88 seconds (+1.1 m/s tailwind). The record was ratified by the IAAF. In that same race, American Dominique Arnold had also beaten the previous record with a time of 12.90 seconds. In September, he won gold at IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany with 12.93 seconds.  On August 31, 2007 at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan, Liu won gold in the 110-metre hurdles with 12.95 seconds to become World Champion.  On May 23, Liu participated in a test event at the Beijing National Stadium. He pulled out of the Reebok Grand Prix in New York on May 31, citing hamstring problems. On June 8, he false-started at the Prefontaine Classic at Eugene, Oregon. Liu skipped the entire European circuit, preferring to train for the Olympics in China instead.

Beijing Olympics.

Leading up to the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Liu bore national expectations of a repeat victory on home soil. On August 18, Liu withdrew from the Olympic 110 metre hurdles. He walked off the track after a false start by another runner in his first-round heat, leaving the crowd at the Beijing National Stadium in stunned silence, confusion, and tears. According to Jeré Longman of "The New York Times", ""China's greatest hope had been dashed"".  According to China's track and field association, Liu suffered from a recurrence of chronic inflammation in his right Achilles tendon. Liu's coach, Sun Haiping addressed the media during a press conference and stated that the hurdler had been hampered by a tendon injury for six or seven years. He commented on the situation, saying "We worked hard every day, but the result was as you see and it is really hard to take." Sun, who was in tears for most of the press conference, stated that Liu would be unable to compete for the remainder of 2008. Liu made a public apology to the Chinese media the following day, saying he could "do nothing but pull out of the race" because of his foot injury. He believed that the injury would not prevent him from future competitions and vowed to "come back" for the next Olympics.  Liu's injury was significant and also ruled him out of the following year's major competition, the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. However, coach Sun Haiping was confident that he would return in time for the Chinese national championships and 2009 Asian Championships in Athletics in November.

2009–2011: Return from injury.

After a 13-month absence because of his injury, Liu finally returned to competition at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix. Liu recorded a time of 13.15, tied with Terrence Trammell, but finished 0.01 second behind and was awarded second place. However, Liu said he was happy with his performance. Nearing the end of the year, he competed at a number of major events on home turf. He won gold medals at the 2009 Asian Athletics Championships, the East Asian Games and the 11th Chinese National Games.  At the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha, admitting that his right foot has yet to fully recover, Liu was able to finish in the finals of the 60 m hurdles, but managed only seventh place. His sole appearance on the 2010 IAAF Diamond League circuit came at the Shanghai Grand Prix and he lost to national rival Shi Dongpeng for the first time. Following a six-month break, he marked his return to form at the 2010 Asian Games. A crowd of 70,000 gathered at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium to see him in the final and he easily won his third consecutive title at the competition, breaking the Games record with a run of 13.09 seconds – making him the third fastest athlete that season.  The Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in May 2011 saw Liu make a return to a world class level: he defeated David Oliver (the fastest hurdler in 2010) with a world-leading mark of 13.07 seconds to take his first win on the 2011 IAAF Diamond League. Liu showed he had accomplished a transition in his technique, as he reduced his number of starting steps before the first hurdle from eight to seven, using his left leg for hurdling.  On August 29, 2011, Liu Xiang competed in the men's 110-metre hurdles final in the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. Liu finished the race in third place, but he eventually won the silver medal, as the winner Dayron Robles was disqualified for entering Liu's lane and pulling him back.

2012 season.

In Liu's first competition of 2012, he was matched up against Dayron Robles at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix and this time he won cleanly with an Asian record time of 7.41 seconds for the 60 m hurdles. He was the favourite for the title at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships, but was beaten into second place by Aries Merritt and left with the silver medal. In the outdoor season he set a 110 m hurdles meet record at the Golden Grand Prix Kawasaki, then ran 12.97 seconds to win at his home nation 2012 IAAF Diamond League meet, the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix. This was his first run under 13 seconds since 2007, and he beat Americans David Oliver and Jason Richardson by some distance. He followed this with a run of 12.87 seconds to win at the Prefontaine Classic, matching the world record time albeit with wind-assistance of 2.4 m/s.  In the 110-metre hurdles at the London Olympics in 2012, Liu pulled his Achilles tendon while taking off and attempting to clear the first hurdle, instead crashing straight into it. Liu hopped the full 110 metre stretch, was helped by a few of his fellow competitors, and was put into a wheel chair and led away. He kissed the last hurdle before he left the track. Colin Jackson described it as a "very sad sight indeed" for the sport. Liu's loss echoed strongly in the Chinese press but also sparked a lot of controversies. Some voices expressed support while others wondered why Liu chose to participate in spite of his injury. Liu even earned a nickname "Liu PaoPao" because of pullbacks in two consecutive Olympic Games. As per reports Liu was to have surgery on his Achilles tendon in Britain.

Retirement.

On April 7, 2015, Liu announced his retirement in a statement posted to his Sina Weibo. He had not competed since the 2012 Olympic race. In his post, he wrote that he was retiring after two years of frustrating and ultimately futile rehabilitation: "Of course my heart is still willing, but my foot has again and again said no to me."

Personal life.

Liu is known for his low-profile appearance, but he has become one of the most popular athletes in China. Liu Xiang was on "Time" magazine Asian edition's cover of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games titled "Liu Xiang & 99 More Athletes to Watch."  Liu donated approximately 2,500,000 yuan (364,000 USD) to 2008 Sichuan earthquake relief efforts.  Liu married Ge Tian, a post-90s generation actress on September 7, 2014, after officially dating the actress for two years prior to their marriage.  Liu's athletic gear is sponsored by Nike.  Liu is also a spokesperson for Coca-Cola and Cadillac.

Liu Xiang (; born July 13, 1983) is a Chinese former 110 meter hurdler. Liu is an Olympic Gold medalist and World Champion. His 2004 Olympic gold medal was the first in a men's track and field event for China.

Liu Xiang (en chinois simplifié : 刘翔, en chinois traditionnel : 劉翔, en pinyin : Liú Xiáng, en wu : Lioe Jian/liɤ+13ʒiã13/), né le à Shanghai, est un athlète chinois, spécialiste du 110 mètres haies. Il est le précédent détenteur du record du monde de la discipline avec un temps de 12 s 88 établi à Lausanne, le. Ce record a été battu le par le cubain Dayron Robles.


Semi-proportional systems.

Most proportional representation systems do not yield precisely proportional outcomes due to the use of election thresholds, small electoral regions, or other implementation details that vary from one elected body to another. This article deals primarily with systems inherently designed to produce moderately proportional election results.  The choice to use a semi-proportional electoral system may be a deliberate attempt to find a balance between single-party rule and proportional representation. Semi-proportional systems can allow for fairer representation of those parties that have difficulty gaining individual seats while retaining the possibility of one party gaining an overall majority when there is a landslide victory.  Because there are many measures of proportionality, and because there is no objective threshold, opinions may differ on what constitutes a semi-proportional system as opposed to a majoritarian or a fully proportional system.

Non-partisan systems.

Election systems in which parties can only achieve proportionality by coordinating their voters are usually considered to be semi-proportional. They are not majoritarian, since in the perfect case the outcome will be proportional, but they are not proportional either, since such a perfect case requires a very high degree of coordination. Such systems include the single non-transferable vote and limited voting, the latter of which becomes less proportional the more votes each voter has. The cumulative voting also allows minority representation, concentrating votes over the number of candidates that every minor party thinks it can support.  This group of non-partisan systems is, at least "technically", non-partisan. Certainly, a group of candidates can coordinate their campaigns, and "politically" present themselves as party members, but there is no obligation for electors to respect those party links, and forms of panachage are usually possible.

Single transferable vote.

Some consider STV to be a semi-proportional system. The degree of proportionality across the country depends on the average size of constituencies. In the 2011 Irish general election, Fine Gael came nine seats (4.8%) short of an overall majority with just 36.1% of the first preference votes. However the result of the election was exceptional, and Fine Gael benefited from a high level of transfers from those who did not rank them first. Under STV a party can win an overall majority with significantly fewer than 50% of the votes, but only if the party also gains a high level of transfers from those who do not rank them first. As it lacks any arbitrary nationwide election threshold, even with the Irish 3 to 5 seat system the level of proportionality does not veer too far from countries with such thresholds.

Partisan systems.

Other forms of semi-proportional representation are based on, or at least use, party lists to work. Looking to the electoral systems effectively in use around the world, there are three general methods to reinforce the majority rule starting from basic PR mechanisms: parallel voting, majority bonuses, and extremely reduced constituency magnitude. An additional member system may reinforce majorities if the proportion of compensatory seats is too low.  A majority bonus system takes an otherwise proportional system based on multi-member constituencies, and introduces disproportionality by granting additional seats to the first party or alliance. Majority bonuses help produce landslide victories similar to those which occur in elections under plurality systems. The majority bonus system was first introduced by Benito Mussolini to win the election of 1924, then it was later used in Italy again, with additional democratic limits, and then again expanded in some neighboring countries like San Marino, Greece and France.  The simplest mechanism to reinforce major parties in PR system is a severely reduced constituency magnitude, so to reduce the possibility for minor national parties to gain seats. If the Spanish electoral system is still considered a form of proportional representation, the binomial voting system used in Chile effectively establishes by law a two-party rule over the country.  The last main group usually considered semi-proportional consists of parallel voting models. The system used for the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico since 1996 is considered a parallel voting system, modified by a list-seat ceiling (8%) for over-representation of parties. The "scorporo" system used for the Parliament of Italy from 1993 to 2005 and the electoral system for the National Assembly of Hungary since 1990 are also special cases.  As well, the additional member systems where the additional members are not sufficient to balance the disproportionality of the original system can produce less than proportional results, especially in the National Assembly for Wales where only 33.3% of members are compensatory. The electoral system commonly referred to in Britain as the "additional member system" is also used for the Scottish Parliament, and the London Assembly, with generally proportional results.

Semi-proportional representation characterizes multi-winner electoral systems which allow representation of minorities, but are not intended to reflect the strength of the competing political forces in close proportion to the votes they receive. Semi-proportional voting systems can be regarded as compromises between forms of proportional representation such as party-list PR, and plurality/majoritarian systems such as first-past-the-post voting. Examples of semi-proportional systems include the single non-transferable vote, limited voting, and parallel voting.

Les systèmes mixtes sont des systèmes électoraux dans lesquels on intègre (scrutin mixte à finalité proportionnelle) ou bien on adjoint (scrutin parallèle) un scrutin majoritaire à un scrutin proportionnel afin d'élire une assemblée législative. La motivation peut être d'aider à l'élection de partis plus populistes, ou bien d'obtenir les meilleures propriétés de chacun, comme la proportionnelle avec une moindre fragmentation, ou encore avec un maillage du territoire.


Early life.

May was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He started out playing the tuba in the high school band. "I sat in the rear of the stand. [...] I didn't realize it at the time, but I was intrigued with becoming an arranger and an orchestrator." At the age of seventeen May began playing with Gene Olsen's Polish-American Orchestra.  After playing for a few local bands, May heard Charlie Barnet's band on the radio in his hometown of Pittsburgh. In the summer of 1938, he approached the bandleader and asked if he could write arrangements for the band. From 1938–40, he wrote arrangements and played trumpet for Barnet's big band.  His arrangement of the Ray Noble composition "Cherokee" became a major hit of the swing music era. During the Barnet days, May revealed a significant flair for satire on a composition, "The Wrong Idea", composed with Barnet, ridiculing the bland "Mickey Mouse" style of safe big-band music, with specific aim at bandleader Sammy Kaye, known for his "swing and sway" trademark. May's caustic lyrics to the song called it "swing and sweat with Charlie Barnet". Bandleader Glenn Miller hired May away from Barnet in 1940. "May points out that he was not responsible for any of the [Glenn Miller] band's signature hits, but he did write the beautiful left-field introduction to [Bill] Finegan's [arrangement of] 'Serenade In Blue'".  Miller and May had a wary relationship. According to Will Friedwald, by 1942, May was ready to resign from the Miller band. Miller refused to record half of May's arrangements, and May objected to the regimented style of Miller's band. But since Miller was joining the military, he convinced May to stay on until the band broke up. May finally said around 1995, after a life of heavy drinking and going to rehabilitation for alcoholism, that working with Glenn Miller "helped me immensely. I learned a lot from Glenn. He was a good musician and an excellent arranger." He became a much-coveted arranger and studio orchestra leader after that band broke up, going on to work with Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Anita O'Day, and Bing Crosby.

With Capitol Records.

At Capitol, May wrote arrangements for many top artists. These included Frank Sinatra on the albums "Come Fly with Me" (1958), "Come Dance with Me!" (1959) and "Come Swing with Me!" (1961); Nat King Cole on the albums "Just One of Those Things" and "Let's Face the Music!", as well as numerous singles (all his work with Cole being packaged later on the 2-CD set "The Billy May Sessions"); Stan Freberg, with whom he was a longtime collaborator, featuring on many of the artist's comedy recordings; Peggy Lee on the album "Pretty Eyes"; Sue Raney on her second album "Songs for a Raney Day"; Vic Damone on the albums "The Lively Ones" and "Strange Enchantment"; Jeri Southern on the album "Jeri Southern Meets Cole Porter"; Keely Smith on the album "Politely" and on a duet single, "Nothing In Common"/"How Are Ya Fixed For Love?", with Sinatra; Bobby Darin on the album "Oh! Look at Me Now"; Nancy Wilson on the albums "Like In Love", "Something Wonderful", "Tender Loving Care", "Nancy - Naturally!" and various tracks from the albums "Just For Now" and "Lush Life"; Matt Monro on several tracks from the albums "Invitation to the Movies", "Invitation to Broadway", and "These Years"; Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney on the albums "That Travelin' Two-Beat" and "Fancy Meeting You Here"; and Sir George Shearing on the albums "Satin Affair" and "Burnished Brass", co-arranged with Shearing (May also conducted Shearing's album "Concerto for My Love", on which Shearing had sole credit for the arrangements). May's orchestra was featured on many Capitol Records children's projects, including cowboy star, Hopalong Cassidy. He worked closely with early 1950s satirist Stan Freberg, using his arranging skills to help Freberg create his spoofs of current hits by creating musical backing often stunningly close to the original hit single.  On Freberg's "Wun'erful, Wun'erful!" a lacerating spoof of bandleader Lawrence Welk, May hired some of the best jazz musicians in Hollywood for his recording sessions, and they relished the idea of mocking the financially successful Welk sound, which they considered musically awful. The result was a note-perfect recreation of Welk's sound as Freberg and a group of vocalists created parodies of Welk's "musical family". Freberg has recounted that Welk was less than amused by the results.  May also composed and conducted the music for Freberg's short-lived comedy radio series on CBS, which ran for fifteen episodes in 1957. His send-up of trashy horror-film music ("Gray Flannel Hat Full of Teenage Werewolves") is notable.  May won two Grammy Awards including Best Performance by an Orchestra in 1958 and for Best Arrangement in 1959. Much of May's work for Capitol has been reissued on the Ultra-Lounge series of CDs.

With other record labels.

The Crosby-Clooney collaboration was a sequel to their earlier album on RCA Records, "Fancy Meeting You Here", also arranged by May, whose other non-Capitol work included another Bing Crosby duet album, this time with Louis Armstrong, entitled "Bing & Satchmo"; a further duet album twinning Bobby Darin with Johnny Mercer ("Two of a Kind"); the sixth in Ella Fitzgerald's acclaimed series of "Song Books" for Verve Records, "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook"; similar dips into Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart with Anita O'Day ("Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter with Billy May" and "Anita O'Day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart"; both on Verve); Mel Tormé's Latin-flavoured album (""); Jane Russell's self-titled album on MGM Records in 1958; early albums by Jack Jones ("Shall We Dance?") and Petula Clark ("In Hollywood"); one solitary session with Sarah Vaughan for Roulette Records in 1960, to record the single "The Green Leaves of Summer" and three other tracks. May arranged and conducted "Once More with Feeling", a 1960 studio album by singer Billy Eckstine on Roulette.  May also arranged and recorded one album in Cleveland with Cosmic Records titled "Guess Who" for artist Jerry Lee (Jerry Principe) at the Golden Key Club and two more albums with Keely Smith, recorded nearly forty years apart – "CheroKeely Swings" from 1962 and "Keely Sings Sinatra", one of May's last pieces of work, from 2001.  After Sinatra left Capitol to start his own label, Reprise Records, May continued to provide arrangements for him, off and on, for nearly thirty more years, working on the albums "Sinatra Swings", "Francis A. & Edward K." (with Duke Ellington) and "", as well as the chart for one of Sinatra's last ever solo recordings, "Cry Me a River" (1988).  May arranged Sinatra's knockabout duet with Sammy Davis Jr., "Me and My Shadow", which was a hit single on both sides of the Atlantic in 1962, while he contributed to Sinatra's ambitious "Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre" project, providing a few arrangements for three of its four albums, "South Pacific", "Kiss Me, Kate" and "Guys and Dolls", May's charts being variously performed by Sinatra, Davis, Crosby, Dean Martin, Jo Stafford and Lou Monte and yielding a perennial Sinatra concert favourite, "Luck Be a Lady" from "Guys and Dolls".  In 1958, May arranged a Christmas album on Warner Bros. Records featuring the Jimmy Joyce Singers, titled "A Christmas to Remember". In 1983, May arranged the song "He Came Here For Me" for the Carpenters' "An Old-Fashioned Christmas" album on A&M Records.

Musical style.

May's charts often featured brisk tempos and intricate brass parts. One distinctive feature of his style is his frequent use of trumpet mute devices; another, a saxophone glissando, is widely known as his "slurping saxes". He wrote in slower tempos, sometimes using string arrangements. Good examples of this aspect of his work include his brass chart for "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" on the Cole album "Just One of Those Things", his string arrangement of "April in Paris" on Sinatra's "Come Fly With Me" album, and his arrangement of "I Can't Get Started" on Keely Smith's "Politely", which includes a nod to May in the lyrics ("Billy May arranged this for me").

Film and television.

May can be seen on trumpet with the Glenn Miller Orchestra in "Sun Valley Serenade" (1941), including a solo in "In the Mood", and "Orchestra Wives" (1942).  In 1957, May made his debut as film composer with Jane Russell's "The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown" and the soundtrack was released on Imperial Records. His film scores include the Rat Pack film "Sergeants 3" (1962), "Johnny Cool" (1963), "Tony Rome" (1967), "The Secret Life of an American Wife" (1968), "The Ballad of Andy Crocker" (1969), and "The Front Page" (1974).  His compositions for television include "Somewhere in the Night", the theme for "Naked City" (1960), and his jazzy arrangement of "Flight of the Bumblebee" for "The Green Hornet" (1966) with trumpet by Al Hirt. He composed the Batgirl theme for "Batman" (1966). He and Nelson Riddle wrote music for episodes of "Naked City" (1960), "Batman" (1966), "The Green Hornet" (1966), "Emergency!" (1972), and "CHiPs" (1977).  May also arranged and produced the song "River of No Return" for Tennessee Ernie Ford for the 1954 film of the same name starring Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum. Billy May and His Orchestra is also credited as playing themselves in the film "Nightmare" (1956), starring Edward G. Robinson, and May as music and vocal arranger of music by Herschel Burke Gilbert, who was the musical director.

Compositions.

May's compositions included "Long Tall Mama" and "Measure for Measure", recorded with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, "Boom Shot", written with Miller (May's wife Arletta originally received credit as co-author in his place) for the soundtrack of the 1942 movie "Orchestra Wives", "Harlem Chapel Bells", which was performed with Glenn Miller and his Orchestra on April 2, 1941 and broadcast on the Chesterfield "Moonlight Serenade" radio program, "Lean Baby", "Fat Man Boogie", "Ping Pong", "Jooms Jones", "Gabby Goose", "Lumby", "Daisy Mae" and "Friday Afternoon" with Hal McIntyre, "Miles Behind", "The Wrong Idea" with Charlie Barnet, "Wings Over Manhattan", "Filet of Soul", "Mayhem", "Gin and Tonic", and "Solving the Riddle".  But his biggest hit as a composer was the children's song "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat", which he recorded with Mel Blanc in 1950.  Another arrangement, "Be My Host", served as the winner's fanfare on "The Newlywed Game" and was played after host Bob Eubanks announced the winning couple.

Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for "The Green Hornet" (1966), "The Mod Squad" (1968), "Batman" (with "Batgirl" theme, 1967), and "Naked City" (1960). He collaborated on films such as "Pennies from Heaven" (1981), and orchestrated "Cocoon", and "", among others.

William E. "Billy" May était compositeur et trompettiste américain né le à Pittsburgh, Pennsylvanie et décédé le d'une crise cardiaque à San Juan Capistrano, Californie.


Organization.

CINCNORAD maintains the NORAD headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The NORAD and USNORTHCOM Command Center at Peterson AFB serves as a central collection and coordination facility for a worldwide system of sensors designed to provide the commander and the leadership of Canada and the U.S. with an accurate picture of any aerospace or maritime threat. NORAD has administratively divided the North American landmass into three regions:  Both the CONR and CANR regions are divided into eastern and western sectors.

Alaskan NORAD Region.

The Alaskan NORAD Region (ANR) maintains continuous capability to detect, validate and warn off any atmospheric threat in its area of operations from its Regional Operations Control Center (ROCC) at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Alaska.  ANR also maintains the readiness to conduct a continuum of aerospace control missions, which include daily air sovereignty in peacetime, contingency and deterrence in time of tension, and active air defense against manned and unmanned air-breathing atmospheric vehicles in times of crisis.  ANR is supported by both active duty and reserve units. Active duty forces are provided by 11 AF and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), and reserve forces provided by the Alaska Air National Guard. Both 11 AF and the CAF provide active duty personnel to the ROCC to maintain continuous surveillance of Alaskan airspace.

Canadian NORAD Region.

Canadian NORAD Region Headquarters is at CFB Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was established on 22 April 1983. It is responsible for providing surveillance and control of Canadian airspace. The Royal Canadian Air Force provides alert assets to NORAD. CANR is divided into two sectors, which are designated as the Canada East Sector and Canada West Sector. Both Sector Operations Control Centers (SOCCs) are co-located at CFB North Bay Ontario. The routine operation of the SOCCs includes reporting track data, sensor status and aircraft alert status to NORAD headquarters. In 1996 CANR was renamed 1 Canadian Air Division and moved to CFB Winnipeg.  Canadian air defense forces assigned to NORAD include 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta and 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron at CFB Bagotville, Quebec. All squadrons fly the McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft.  To monitor for drug trafficking, in cooperation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the United States drug law enforcement agencies, the Canadian NORAD Region monitors all air traffic approaching the coast of Canada. Any aircraft that has not filed a flight plan may be directed to land and be inspected by RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency.

Continental United States NORAD Region.

The Continental NORAD Region (CONR) is the component of NORAD that provides airspace surveillance and control and directs air sovereignty activities for the Contiguous United States (CONUS).  CONR is the NORAD designation of the United States Air Force First Air Force/AFNORTH. Its headquarters is located at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The First Air Force (1 AF) became responsible for the USAF air defense mission on 30 September 1990. AFNORTH is the United States Air Force component of United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM).  1 AF/CONR-AFNORTH comprises Air National Guard Fighter Wings assigned an air defense mission to 1 AF/CONR-AFNORTH on federal orders, made up primarily of citizen Airmen. The primary weapons systems are the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.  It plans, conducts, controls, coordinates and ensures air sovereignty and provides for the unilateral defense of the United States. It is organized with a combined First Air Force command post at Tyndall Air Force Base and two Sector Operations Control Centers (SOCC) at Rome, New York for the US East ROCC (Eastern Air Defense Sector) and McChord Field, Washington for the US West ROCC (Western Air Defense Sector) manned by active duty personnel to maintain continuous surveillance of CONUS airspace.  In its role as the CONUS NORAD Region, 1 AF/CONR-AFNORTH also performs counter-drug surveillance operations.

United States outside of NORAD: Hawaii, Guam, and the Pacific region.

The United States Pacific Command (PACOM) would make the determination that an inbound missile is a threat to the United States in the Pacific Region. Hawaii is the only state in the United States with a pre-programmed Wireless Emergency Alert that can be sent quickly to wireless devices if a ballistic missile is heading toward Hawaii. If the missile is fired from North Korea, the missile would take approximately 20 minutes to reach Hawaii. PACOM would take less than 5 minutes to make a determination that the missile could strike Hawaii and would then notify the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA). HI-EMA would issue the Civil Defense Warning (CDW) that an inbound missile could strike Hawaii and that people should Shelter-in-Place: "Get Inside, Stay Inside, and Stay Tuned". People in Hawaii would have 12 to 15 minutes before impact. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is not required to be notified for approval to cancel an alert. Signal carriers allow people to block alerts from state and law enforcement agencies, but not those issued by the President. FEMA can send alerts to targeted audiences but has not implemented this as of January 2018. Other states can take as long as 30 minutes to create, enter and distribute a missile alert. The nationwide system for Wireless Emergency Alerts to mobile devices was tested for the first time on 3 October 2018.

History.

The North American Air Defense Command was recommended by the Joint Canadian–U.S. Military Group in late 1956, approved by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff in February 1957, and announced on 1 August 1957. NORAD's command headquarters was established on 12 September 1957 at Ent Air Force Base's 1954 blockhouse. In 1958, Canada and the United States agreed that the NORAD commander would always be a United States officer, with a Canadian vice commander, and Canada "agreed the command's primary purpose would be...early warning and defense for SAC's retaliatory forces." In late 1958, Canada and the United States started the Continental Air Defense Integration North (CADIN) for the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment air defense network. The initial CADIN cost-sharing agreement between the two countries was signed off on 5 January 1959. Two December 1958 plans submitted by NORAD had "average yearly expenditure of around five and one half billions", including "cost of the accelerated Nike Zeus program" and three Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) sites. Canada's NORAD bunker at CFB North Bay with a SAGE AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Central computer was constructed from 1959 to 1963, and each of the USAF's eight smaller AN/FSQ-8 Combat Control Central systems provided NORAD with data and could command the entire United States air defense. The RCAF's 1950 "ground observer system, the Long Range Air Raid Warning System", was discontinued and on 31 January 1959, the United States Ground Observer Corps was deactivated. The Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker's planned mission was expanded in August 1960 to "a hardened center from which CINCNORAD would supervise and direct operations "against space attack" as well as air attack" The Secretary of Defense assigned on 7 October 1960, "operational command of all space surveillance to Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) and operational control to North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)".  The JCS placed the Ent Air Force Base Space Detection and Tracking System (496L System with Philco 2000 Model 212 computer) "under the operational control of CINCNORAD on December 1, 1960"; during Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker excavation, and the joint SAC-NORAD exercise "Sky Shield II"—and on 2 September 1962—"Sky Shield III" were conducted for mock penetration of NORAD sectors.  NORAD command center operations moved from Ent Air Force Base to the 1963 partially underground "Combined Operations Center" for Aerospace Defense Command and NORAD at the Chidlaw Building. President John F. Kennedy visited "NORAD headquarters" after the 5 June 1963 United States Air Force Academy graduation and on 30 October 1964, "NORAD began manning" the Combat Operations Center in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. By 1965, about 250,000 United States and Canadian personnel were involved in the operation of NORAD, On 1 January 1966, Air Force Systems Command turned the COC over to NORAD The NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex was accepted on 8 February 1966.

1968 reorganization.

United States Department of Defense realignments for the NORAD command organization began by 15 November 1968 (e.g., Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM)) and by 1972, there were eight NORAD "regional areas... for all air defense", and the NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex Improvements Program (427M System) became operational in 1979.

False alarms.

On at least three occasions, NORAD systems failed, such as on 9 November 1979, when a technician in NORAD loaded a test tape, but failed to switch the system status to "test", causing a stream of constant false warnings to spread to two "continuity of government" bunkers as well as command posts worldwide. On 3 June 1980, and again on 6 June 1980, a computer communications device failure caused warning messages to sporadically flash in U.S. Air Force command posts around the world that a nuclear attack was taking place. During these incidents, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) properly had their planes (loaded with nuclear bombs) in the air; Strategic Air Command (SAC) did not and received criticism, because they did not follow procedure, even though the SAC command knew these were almost certainly false alarms, as did PACAF. Both command posts had recently begun receiving and processing direct reports from the various radar, satellite, and other missile attack detection systems, and those direct reports simply did not match the erroneous data received from NORAD.

1980 reorganization.

Following the 1979 Joint US-Canada Air Defense Study, the command structure for aerospace defense was changed, e.g., "SAC assumed control of ballistic missile warning and space surveillance facilities" on 1 December 1979 from ADCOM. The Aerospace Defense Command major command ended 31 March 1980. and its organizations in Cheyenne Mountain became the "ADCOM" "specified" command under the same commander as NORAD, e.g., HQ NORAD/ADCOM J31 manned the Space Surveillance Center. By 1982, a NORAD Off-site Test Facility was located at Peterson AFB. The DEW Line was to be replaced with the North Warning System (NWS); the Over-the-Horizon Backscatter (OTH-B) radar was to be deployed; more advanced fighters were deployed, and E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft were planned for greater use. These recommendations were accepted by the governments in 1985. The United States Space Command was formed in September 1985 as an adjunct, but not a component of NORAD.  NORAD was renamed North American Aero"space" Defense Command in March 1981.

Post–Cold War.

In 1989 NORAD operations expanded to cover counter-drug operations, for example, tracking of small aircraft entering and operating within the United States and Canada. DEW line sites were replaced between 1986 and 1995 by the North Warning System. The Cheyenne Mountain site was also upgraded, but none of the proposed OTH-B radars are currently in operation.  After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the NORAD Air Warning Center's mission "expanded to include the interior airspace of North America."  The Cheyenne Mountain Realignment was announced on 28 July 2006, to consolidate NORAD's day-to-day operations at Peterson Air Force Base with Cheyenne Mountain in "warm standby" staffed with support personnel.

In popular culture.

Movies and television.

The NORAD command center located under Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado is a setting of the 1983 film "WarGames" and the television series "Jeremiah" and "Stargate SG-1". In the 1996 science fiction film "Independence Day", NORAD was destroyed by the alien invaders.

NORAD Tracks Santa.

As a publicity move on 24 December 1955, NORAD's predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), informed the press that CONAD was tracking Santa Claus's sleigh, adding that "CONAD, Army, Navy and Marine Air Forces will continue to track and guard Santa and his sleigh on his trip to and from the U.S. against possible attack from those who do not believe in Christmas", and a Christmas Eve tradition was born, known as the "NORAD Tracks Santa" program. Every year on Christmas Eve, "NORAD Tracks Santa" purports to track Santa Claus as he leaves the North Pole and delivers presents to children around the world. Today, NORAD relies on volunteers to make the program possible.

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Northern America. Headquarters for NORAD and the NORAD/United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) center are located at Peterson Air Force Base in El Paso County, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The nearby Cheyenne Mountain Complex has the Alternate Command Center. The NORAD commander and deputy commander (CINCNORAD) are, respectively, a United States four-star general or equivalent and a Canadian three-star general or equivalent.

Le Commandement de la défense aérospatiale de l'Amérique du Nord (, ou NORAD) est une organisation américano-canadienne dont la mission est la surveillance de l'espace aérien nord-américain, créée le et devenant effective le.