2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Other possible causes of unintended acceleration, Driver error, Factors leading to pedal misapplication
On March 12, 2010, Autoline Detroit argued that searches for additional vehicle defects were likely fruitless, as driver error was the primary cause of the 0.009 per million rate of Toyota sudden acceleration incidents from 1999 to 2009, with "demographics and psychographics", namely elderly drivers and pedal misapplication as factors. Also noted was that drivers with Type II diabetes (adult onset), which is more common among the elderly, are subject to reduced  sensation in their lower extremities (peripheral neuropathy) with related impairment in positional knowledge of foot placement (proprioception).


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Other possible causes of unintended acceleration, Driver error, Factors leading to pedal misapplication
Wired wrote that since investigators have been "unable to find evidence supporting drivers’ claims their Toyotas suddenly raced out of control" operator error is the most likely explanation. However, victims and relatives of sudden acceleration cases are commonly unwilling to suspect involved loved ones, and blame the vehicle instead. Analysis of alleged Toyota acceleration reports in The Atlantic and other sources have found the highest distribution of involved drivers between 70 and 80 years old, with the average age skewing over 55; with elderly susceptibility to "neuronal misfiring" and pedal misapplication as a possible cause.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Other possible causes of unintended acceleration, Driver error, Factors leading to pedal misapplication
While many alleged cases lack exact details, over half of reported incidents occurred from a complete stop or low speed, providing a window for the pedal misapplication to occur. A prior GM study found that 60- and 70-year-olds were six times more likely to experience sudden acceleration than 20- to 30-year-olds. In The New York Times, Richard Schmidt concluded that a brake override system could prevent acceleration cases where a vehicle defect existed, but would not prevent sudden acceleration cases caused by pedal misapplication.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Other possible causes of unintended acceleration, Driver error, Previous findings of driver error
Car and Driver, Motor Trend, and Ward's Auto also compared the 2009-10 Toyota recalls to the Audi sudden acceleration cases of the 1980s, which led to a widely noted media frenzy and hundreds of sudden unintended acceleration claims for Audi cars. In that case, a 1986 segment on CBS News' 60 Minutes accused the Audi 5000 sedan of unintended acceleration defects, which was followed by numerous reports of tragic accidents and media expert commentary. At the time, Audi was reported to have the highest rate of acceleration complaints. However, the NHTSA later determined all complaints to be due to driver error.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Other possible causes of unintended acceleration, Driver error, Previous findings of driver error
The Detroit News documented previous sudden unintended acceleration cases dating back to August 1978 when the NHTSA opened an investigation into General Motors for sudden acceleration, concluding eight years later driver error was the likely culprit. By 1986, more than 2,000 injuries had been blamed on sudden acceleration with sudden acceleration complaints totaling over 10 percent of complaints filed to the NHTSA. In 1986 the NHTSA launched an investigation of the 1981-84 Toyota Cressida and an additional five other automakers. By 1989 the NHTSA determined driver error was "the most probable explanation" for the complaints.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Other possible causes of unintended acceleration, Driver error, NHTSA and NASA Investigation Verdict
In February 2011, the findings of a 10-month-long study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), aimed to identify the main cause of sudden acceleration in Toyota and Lexus models. The study was requested by the U.S. Congress and "enlisted NASA engineers with expertise in areas such as computer controlled electronic systems, electromagnetic interference and software integrity". The most common problem was drivers hitting the accelerator pedal when they thought they were hitting the brake, which the NHTSA called "pedal misapplication.”


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Other possible causes of unintended acceleration, Driver error, NHTSA and NASA Investigation Verdict
Of the 58 cases reported, 18 were dismissed out of hand. Of the remaining 40, 39 of them were found to have no cause; the remainder being an instance of “pedal entrapment.” One investigator says most of the cases involved “pedal misapplication” – that is, “the driver stepped on the gas rather than the brake or in addition to the brake.” The report concluded that the two mechanical safety defects that were originally identified by NHTSA are known causes of dangerous unintended acceleration.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
Consumers in the U.S. and Canada have filed numerous class action lawsuits blaming the sudden acceleration problem on the electronic throttle control system (ETC) and alleging Toyota's negligence. As of February 26, 2010, there were at least 72 lawsuits pending in U.S. federal courts against Toyota or its subsidiaries as a result of the 2009-10 recalls. Plaintiffs are seeking damages for personal injury or wrongful death resulting from accidents in the defective Toyota vehicles (in other words, product liability), loss of resale value, or a drop in the value of shares held by Toyota shareholders. Toyota has retained the law firm of Alston & Bird to defend most of these cases.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
On April 9, 2010, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered consolidation of all federal actions into the Central District of California before Judge James V. Selna for all pretrial motions and discovery. In doing so, the Panel noted that "these cases haveattracted an unusual amount of publicity to the Panel’s work." Although only 11 cases were directly before the JPML, it also noted that the parties had notified it of more than 100 potentially related cases, which can also be consolidated as so-called "tag-along" cases.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
As to why Judge Selna, the Panel explained, "Judge Selna’s 28 years of private law practice at the very highest levels and in some of the most complex cases leaves him well prepared for a case of this magnitude." Under federal multidistrict litigation law, any cases that are not dismissed or settled during the consolidated pretrial process will be remanded to their original district court for trial.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
The following week, Judge Selna set a May 13 initial scheduling conference at his courtroom in Santa Ana, California. He also appointed Cari Dawson, chairwoman of Alston & Bird's class action department, as lead counsel for defendants.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
On May 14, after reviewing submissions from dozens of plaintiffs' attorneys, Judge Selna issued an order establishing which attorneys would be granted the potentially lucrative positions of lead counsel for the plaintiffs. First, he named nine attorneys as lead counsel for the economic loss cases and nine attorneys as lead counsel for the personal injury and wrongful death cases. He then named nine of the attorneys from these two panels to form a core discovery committee.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
Three additional attorneys were named as liaisons to coordinate discovery with pending state court actions and other related federal litigation in progress outside of the MDL, like shareholder litigation. Finally, one additional attorney was named as a consultant on behalf of international Toyota consumers. Prominent attorneys appointed on the plaintiffs' side included Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro (on the personal injury and wrongful death committee) and Elizabeth Cabraser of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein (on the economic loss committee).


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
Selna also clarified the roles of defense counsel by appointing Cari Dawson and Lisa Gilford of Alston & Bird as lead counsel in the economic loss cases and Vince Galvin and Joel Smith of Bowman and Brooke as lead counsel in the personal injury and wrongful death cases. Gilford and Galvin were also appointed to serve as lead defense liaisons to other related cases in federal and state courts.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
On June 1, 2010, Judge Selna issued another order setting out a discovery schedule. He ordered both sides to make initial discovery disclosures by July 2, 2010, and set out a briefing schedule for motions with regard to the consolidated complaints, with oral arguments set for November 19, 2010.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
In a separate order on that same date, he also ordered that all motion-related documents filed by any attorney would now have to be co-signed by lead counsel for that attorney's side, and that lead counsel were to act as gatekeepers, so as to cut down on the number of documents being filed with the court. On July 1, 2010, Judge Selna appointed two retired Presiding Justices of the California Court of Appeal as special masters: John K. Trotter and Steven Stone.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
On June 10, 2011, after the parties had completed some discovery, Judge Selna issued an order setting trial dates of February 19, 2013 and May 21, 2013 for the first two "bellwether" trials, and designated a Utah wrongful death/personal injury case as the first one (of 300 in progress) to go to trial.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
Toyota has also been sued for not having a brake override system on older models. Attorney Robert Nelson, representing Jacquelyn Donoghue of Holder, Nebraska, the 67-year-old widow of a man killed in an accident in which her model year 2006 Prius allegedly suddenly accelerated into another vehicle, killing the man and seriously injuring her, alleged that Toyota's failure to include a brake override on their models played a "direct role" in the death of John Donoghue.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
Edgar Heiskell, an attorney involved with one of the lawsuits, contends that electromagnetic interference with the electronic throttle control system is to blame for acceleration cases. Heiskell contends that Toyota models as old as 2002 are also affected. According to him, "Toyota can't tell you that the '07 Camry they are recalling is any different from the '06 or the '03 that has the same throttle control in it." According to The Wall Street Journal's Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., "trial lawyers love the electronic gremlin theory because it's impossible to disprove in any individual case."


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation
On December 26, 2012, Toyota announced it would spend more than US$1 billion to settle a class action lawsuit involving unintended acceleration by retrofitting vehicles with safety devices and compensated owners for lost resale value. A confidential settlement was reached in a lawsuit against Toyota involving the injury of Jean Bookout and the death of Barbara Schwarz in November 2013.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation, Settlement with the U.S. government
On March 19, 2014 it was announced that Toyota and the U.S. Justice Department had reached an agreement whereby Toyota would pay a US$1.2 billion criminal penalty in exchange for deferred prosecution of wire fraud charges. The agreement also subjects the car company to further independent monitoring of its safety procedures. The penalty ended a four-year investigation in which the Justice Department concluded that Toyota had intentionally hid information about safety defects from the public and had made deceptive statements to protect its brand image. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. remarked "Other car companies should not repeat Toyota’s mistake. A recall may damage a company’s reputation, but deceiving your customers makes that damage far more lasting." The penalty is the largest ever waged against a car company.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation, Settlement with the U.S. government
In a statement, Toyota called the agreement difficult, but "a major step toward putting this unfortunate chapter behind us". The company said it has made fundamental change in its corporate structure and safety procedures since the investigation started. Brake-override systems are now standard on all Toyota vehicles.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Litigation, Settlement with the U.S. government
As of March 2014, several civil wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits are pending.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Other manufacturers
Toyota is not the only automobile manufacturer that has issued recalls for unintended acceleration problems. In December 2009, Consumer Reports analyzed 2008 model year NHTSA data for sudden acceleration among Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, GM, Honda, and Nissan, finding 52 complaints involving Toyota vehicles or 41% of complaints among these makes, and every other major car maker is affected. Consumer Reports noted that the media publicity around Toyota led to an increase in complaints for 2008 models.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Other manufacturers
In February 2010, National Public Radio obtained the full NHTSA database of 15,000 unintended acceleration complaints over the past decade, and determined that among all manufacturers, Volkswagen had the highest rate of unintended acceleration complaints in 2009 and 2008 (11.5 and 21.6 per 100,000 vehicles respectively), while Suzuki had the highest rate in 2007 and 2006 (27.4 and 24.9 per 100,000 vehicles respectively). Toyota had 7.5, 6.8, 15.2, and 9.7 complaints per 100,000 vehicles in those years. According to NPR's analysis of the NHTSA database, Jaguar, Volvo, and Honda also had high complaints depending on year.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Other manufacturers
In February 2010, Edmunds.com released its findings on a review of all NHTSA complaints from 2001 to the present day, conducted in light of the Toyota recall crisis. The review found that  despite the recall, during the previous decade Toyota ranked 17th among the 20 major car makes in number of complaints per vehicles sold, with a lower rate of customer complaints from its U.S. customers than the Detroit Big Three, along with Honda, Subaru, Hyundai, Nissan, Isuzu, Suzuki, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Volvo, Volkswagen, and BMW.


2009–2011 Toyota vehicle recalls, Other manufacturers
Edmunds.com also noted that any individual can file a NHTSA complaint without providing a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), which can lead to misleading statistics as "not all NHTSA complaints are created equal" and range from legitimate to nonsensical. On June 5, 2010, NHTSA shut down online access to its complaint database following revelations of redundant, unverifiable entries and improperly secured personal data.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran
On July 31, 2009, three Americans, Joshua Fattal, Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer were taken into custody by Iranian border guards for crossing into Iran while hiking near the Iranian border in Iraqi Kurdistan.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran
At the time of their detention by Iranian troops, the three Americans were on vacation from their jobs in the region in a relatively stable, autonomous region of Iraq known as Iraqi Kurdistan. On the recommendations of locals, they hiked to see a popular local Iraqi tourist destination near the Iraq-Iran border, the Ahmed Awa waterfall.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran
Following the hikers' capture on the Iraqi-Iranian border, a wide range of outside voices, including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, and the human rights group Amnesty International, had called for the hikers' unconditional release.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran
Iran subsequently claimed the three were spies but offered no evidence to support its contention.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran
Sarah Shourd was released 14 months later on "humanitarian grounds". Fattal and Bauer were convicted of "illegal entry" and "espionage" two years after their arrest and each sentenced to eight years in prison, but were released on September 21, 2011. Each of the detainees was released after payment of 5 billion rial (about US$465,000) bail was arranged by the Sultan of Oman.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Background
Joshua "Josh" Fattal, who grew up in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, graduated from UC Berkeley, worked as co-director of an environmental education center at Aprovecho in Oregon and travelled to Switzerland, India, China, and South Africa from January to May 2009 on a fellowship with the International Honors Program (IHP)'s "Health and Community" study abroad program. Fattal and Bauer were friends from their days at the University of California at Berkeley. Shortly after the release of the hikers, it was revealed that Jacob Fattal, the father of Joshua Fattal, is an Israeli expatriate living in the United States.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Background
To avoid revealing the fact that Josh's father is an Israeli citizen, and that half his family are Israelis, Josh's mother and brother, Alex Fattal, spearheaded the campaign for his release and his father avoided the media. Fattal had been to Israel on a few family visits. The last time Fattal was in Israel was 2007 for two weeks for his cousin's wedding.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Background
Shane Bauer, who grew up both in Onamia, Minnesota and San Leandro, California, is a freelance photojournalist and journalist who has reported for Democracy Now!, Mother Jones, The Nation, The Christian Science Monitor, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets, using his fluency in Arabic.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Background
Sarah Emily Shourd, who grew up in Los Angeles, worked in education and social justice in Damascus, Syria, where she provided educational opportunities to refugees from the war in Iraq and taught English. Shourd was Bauer's girlfriend at the time of the arrest, and the two became engaged to be married while imprisoned. They married on May 5, 2012, in Half Moon Bay, California, in a private ceremony with friends and family.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Arrest
On July 31, 2009, Fattal, Shourd, and Bauer were detained by Iranian border guards while hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan. Iran claims the three crossed into its territory. The three sometimes dispute and sometimes accept this claim.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Arrest
The three American detainees have stated they were simply hikers who did not realize that they were in Iran and that they actually have lengthy backgrounds as social justice activists. They had been living and active in the Middle East, and were on holiday in Iraqi Kurdistan, an autonomous region of Iraq free from the sectarian struggle that dominates much of Iraq.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Arrest
They had been advised of the suitability of the region for a holiday by friends who had been there and through Internet research; and were recommended the Ahmed Awa waterfall, a popular Kurdish tourist destination, by a number of local people whilst they were in Sulaymaniyah. After visiting the waterfall, they continued walking in Iraqi Kurdistan until they unknowingly walked along the unmarked Iraq-Iran borderline, at times stepping just feet into Iran.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Arrest
In June 2010, an article in The Nation indicated that two villagers said the hikers were accosted by Iranian authorities while they were on the Iraqi side of the border.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Arrest
Their companion, Shon Meckfessel, was not detained, as he stayed behind at the Hotel Miwan in Sulaymaniyah because of a cold. He had intended to join them the following day.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Detention
The exact circumstances of their detention are unknown, but is illustrated in the first person by each of the three in their book, A Sliver of Light, released March 18, 2014. They were held in Evin Prison, section 209. The three were in solitary confinement for the first four months. Bauer and Shourd could communicate during the first month, but Fattal was totally isolated. Shourd remained in solitary confinement after Fattal and Bauer were put in the same cell at which point the three spent time together each day for two 30-minute periods.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Detention
Beside a five-minute phone call in March, 2010, the three detainees were not allowed to communicate with their families until May, 2010. Swiss consular officials were able to visit them on September 29 and October 29, 2009 and confirmed they did not appear to have been physically mistreated (Switzerland represents U.S. interests in Iran because the United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Iran). Upon the release of Fattal and Bauer on September 25, 2011, Shourd stated, "Bauer was beaten and Fattal forced down a flight of stairs." In their memoir, Bauer states that he was not beaten but rather severely threatened.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Detention
The mothers of the three applied for visas in January 2010 to visit their sons and daughter. They went to Iran in May 2010, after the government granted the visas. The three were united with their mothers for two days in May 2010 while remaining in detention.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Detention
Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd, who were already in a relationship when they were detained, became engaged while incarcerated and married after their release.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Release of Sarah Shourd
On September 14, 2010, after more than a year in prison, Sarah Shourd was released on 5 billion rial (about US$465,000) bail, paid by the Sultan of Oman. Iran's judiciary also announced that the pre-trial detention of Fattal and Bauer would be extended for two more months, at that time. Shourd remained a defendant but was not required by Iran to return for trial along with Fattal and Bauer in 2011.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Release of Sarah Shourd
Iran officials stated she was released on humanitarian grounds due to her declining health. She suffered mental health deterioration due to her solitary confinement for such an extended period of time. Shourd's bail did not require that she remain in Iran, but her case would still go to trial along with Fattal and Bauer. Shourd's mother has said she had been denied treatment for serious health problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells. In May 2011, Shourd announced that she would not return to Iran for trial, citing acute ill-health. Her lump turned out to be non-cancerous, however it offered a way out of returning.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Trial
On July 31, 2011, Fattal and Bauer were tried by the Revolutionary Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran. On August 20, 2011, they were convicted of "illegal entry" and "espionage" and sentenced to a total of eight years in prison, each.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Trial
"According to an informed source with the judiciary, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the two detained American citizens, have been each sentenced to three years in prison for illegal entry to the Islamic Republic of Iran," the Iran's state television website reported. It also stated that the two have separately been "sentenced to five years in prison on charges of espionage for the American intelligence agency".


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Trial
Their Iranian attorney, Masoud Shafiee, thought "the sentence was not consistent with the charges." Illegal entry rarely has such a harsh punishment and spying can carry a death sentence in Iran.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Trial, Iranian judicial process
President Ahmadinejad stated his hope that the three would be able to prove their innocence of espionage, but stated they deserve at least some punishment for illegal entry into Iran.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Trial, Iranian judicial process
In September 2009, Ahmadinejad promised that he would ask the judiciary to treat the case with maximum lenience and expeditiously, but despite many public statements that a judicial proceeding was imminent there was no hearing or movement on their case for nearly eight months. On November 9, 2009, it was announced they would be charged for espionage by Iranian authorities. The detainees were consistently denied access to their lawyer and Swiss officials were stonewalled. On February 15, 2009 [2010?] Mohammad Javad Larijani, the secretary general of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, said it was "quite possible" the Americans had strayed into Iran by mistake.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Trial, Iranian judicial process
At the beginning of August 2010, the Iranian government reiterated its belief that the trio should stand trial for illegal entry, and announced it was considering other charges such as "intentionally acting against Iranian security". On July 31, 2011, the two had their final hearing of the trial. On August 20, 2011 the two hikers were sentenced to 3 years for illegal entry and 5 years for espionage, a total of 8 years.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Calls for release
Kenan Thompson, Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Ali, Noam Chomsky, Tom Morello, Alyssa Milano, Ashton Kutcher, Barack Obama, Big Sean, Yusuf Islam, Sean Penn, along with many other celebrities and governments, called for the release of the detainees on grounds of inhumane treatment and lack of evidence.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Release of Fattal and Bauer
A team of United States Department of State officials, including diplomat Philo Dibble, coordinated with Omani and Swiss diplomats to secure the release of Fattal and Bauer.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Release of Fattal and Bauer
On September 13, 2011 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told NBC News that Fattal and Bauer would be released "in a couple of days" in a "humanitarian gesture". Ahmadinejad was scheduled to speak at the United Nations General Assembly the next week. However the release was delayed as part of "what analysts called a power struggle between Ahmadinejad and the conservative establishment he has angered," and soon after the announcement, Iran’s judiciary contradicted the president and stated it had exclusive authority to order their release. (The judiciary answers to the country's supreme leader.) Fattal and Bauer were released on September 21 and taken by a diplomatic convoy to a plane that took them to Oman.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Release of Fattal and Bauer
Shafiei said the bail of 5 billion rial (about US$465,000) for each of the men was posted, and they would be released into the custody of either Swiss diplomats or an Omani delegation. Omani officials, who maintain good relations with both Iran and the U.S., reportedly played a key role in negotiations with Iran and may have paid the almost $1 million bail.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Release of Fattal and Bauer
The two men were released from prison and flown back to the United States via Oman on September 21, 2011, following a 10 billion rial (about US$930,000) bail-for-freedom deal posted by Oman.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Release of Fattal and Bauer
Once Fattal and Bauer were back on American soil, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Joshua Fattal's Iraqi-born Jewish father, Jacob, had emigrated to Israel as a child and later came to the United States, where he married Fattal's mother, Laura. In an effort not to draw attention to their ties with Israel after Josh's arrest, the family decided that rather than having his father involved in public efforts for Josh's release, the task would go to Josh's brother, Alex, a doctoral student at Harvard University, and to Josh's mother, Laura, who was born in the United States.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Aftermath
As early as 2009, according to WikiLeaks, Oman offered to arrange secret talks between the US and Iran, which hadn't had diplomatic relations for 30 years. But it was the detention of the American hikers by Iran that brought Oman into a mediating role between the two sides and helped win the release of the detainees. Ironically, efforts to win the release of the hikers turned out to be instrumental in making the clandestine diplomacy to reach an agreement on the nuclear program of Iran possible: after this successful mediation, Sultan Qaboos offered to facilitate a US–Iran rapprochement. In March, US and Iranian officials met in Oman, Secretary of State John Kerry followed up in May, and the talks took on a momentum of their own after Hassan Rouhani replaced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran’s June elections.


2009–2011 detention of American hikers by Iran, Aftermath
The memoir A Sliver of Light is about the event.


2009–2014 ICC World Cricket League
A series of ICC World Cricket League tournaments and the 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier were played between 2009 and 2014 which formed part of the Cricket World Cup qualification process for the 2015 Cricket World Cup. It was the second time the World Cricket League was used for World Cup qualification. Following the establishment of the various leagues during the preceding cycle, it was composed of eight divisions. In addition, a series of qualifying regional tournaments were played. The divisions were played in roughly consecutive order, with the lower divisions played first. The top two from each division gained promotion to the following, higher division, meaning that some teams played in more than one division during the tournament. The first tournament, in May 2009, was the 2009 ICC World Cricket League Division Seven in Guernsey.


2009–2014 ICC World Cricket League, Regional tournaments, 2009–10
1st . Zambia2nd. Ghana3rd. Swaziland4th. Sierra Leone5th. Mozambique6th. Malawi Zambia qualify for 2010 Global Division Eight


2009–2014 ICC World Cricket League, Regional tournaments, 2009–10
1st. Canada2nd. United States3rd. Bermuda 4th. Argentina5th. Cayman Islands6th. Bahamas Bahamas relegated to 2012 Americas Division Two


2009–2014 ICC World Cricket League, Regional tournaments, 2009–10
1st. Afghanistan2nd. Nepal3rd. Hong Kong4th. Malaysia5th. Oman6th. United Arab Emirates7th. Kuwait8th. Bhutan9th. Singapore10th. Bahrain* Singapore and  Bahrain relegated to 2012 ACC Trophy Challenge


2009–2014 ICC World Cricket League, Regional tournaments, 2009–10
1st. Jersey2nd. Ireland A3rd. Scotland A4th. Netherlands A5th. Denmark6th. Italy


2009–2014 ICC World Cricket League, Regional tournaments, 2009–10
1st. Malawi2nd. Sierra Leone3rd. Rwanda4th. Gambia5th. Lesotho Malawi and  Sierra Leone  promoted to 2010 Africa Division Two Morocco withdrew due to visa problems


2009–2014 ICC World Cricket League, Regional tournaments, 2009–10
1st . Bahamas2nd. Suriname3rd. Panama4th. Turks and Caicos Islands5th. Brazil Bahamas promoted to 2010 Americas Division One and qualify for 2010 Global Division Eight Brazil relegated to 2011 Americas Division Three


2009–2014 ICC World Cricket League, Regional tournaments, 2009–10
1st. Maldives2nd. Saudi Arabia3rd. Qatar4th. Thailand5th. Iran6th. China7th. Brunei8th. Myanmar Maldives and  Saudi Arabia qualify for 2012 ACC Trophy Elite


2009–2014 ICC World Cricket League, Regional tournaments, 2009–10
1st. Vanuatu2nd. Samoa3rd. Cook Islands4th. Tonga5th. Indonesia Vanuatu qualify for 2010 Global Division Eight


2009–2014 ICC World Cricket League, Regional tournaments, 2009–10
1st . Guernsey2nd. Germany3rd. France4th. Norway5th. Israel6th. Gibraltar Germany qualify for 2010 Global Division Eight


2009–2014 ICC World Cricket League, Regional tournaments, 2009–10
1st . Brazil2nd. Belize3rd. Chile4th. Peru Brazil promoted to 2010 Americas Division Two


2009–2014 ICC World Cricket League, Regional tournaments, 2009–10
1st. Israel2nd. Isle of Man3rd. Spain4th. Belgium5th. Portugal6th. Malta Israel beat  Croatia to qualify for 2010 Europe Division Two.


200s (decade)
The 200s decade ran from January 1, 200, to December 31, 209.


200s BC (decade)
This article concerns the 200 BC decade, that lasted from 209 BC to 200 BC'.


200th (2/1st Surrey) Brigade
The 2nd Surrey Brigade was a 2nd Line Territorial Force Brigade of the British Army in World War I. The brigade was formed as a duplicate of the Surrey Brigade in October 1914 as part of the 2nd Home Counties Division. As the name suggests, the brigade recruited in Surrey. In August 1915, in common with all Territorial Force brigades, it was numbered as 200th (2/1st Surrey) Brigade. Between September 1917 and the end of the year, the brigade was extensively reorganized and lost its territorial identity; henceforth it was known as 200th Brigade. It was demobilized in February 1918.


200th (2/1st Surrey) Brigade, History
In accordance with the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9) which brought the Territorial Force into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. 2nd Line units performed the home defence role, although in fact most of these were also posted abroad in due course.


200th (2/1st Surrey) Brigade, History
The Brigade served on home defence duties throughout the war, whilst recruiting, training and supplying drafts to overseas units and formations. It was twice warned to prepare to be transferred to Ireland, and in April 1917 for service on the Western Front, but in the event never left England. It was replaced in 67th (2nd Home Counties) Division by 214th Brigade on 12 February 1918 and the brigade was demobilized.


200th (Winnipeg) Battalion, CEF
The 200th Battalion, CEF was a unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the unit began recruiting during the winter of 1915/16 in that city. After sailing to England in May 1917, the battalion was absorbed into the 11th Reserve Battalion on May 14, 1917. The 200th Battalion, CEF had one Officer Commanding: Lieut-Col. A. L. Bonnycastle.


200th Airlift Squadron
The 200th Airlift Squadron (200 AS) is an inactive unit of the Colorado Air National Guard 140th Wing located at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 200th was last equipped with the C-21A Learjet.


200th Airlift Squadron, Overview
The 200th Airlift Squadron (AS) provided secure priority airlift from 1946 to 2018 for the highest level of military and civilian leaders throughout the world.


200th Airlift Squadron, History
Established with the assignment of the C-47 Skytrain to Buckley Field Base Operations section in 1946. The C-47 was the original "Flintstone Airlines". The C-54 Skymaster (Flintstone II) replaced the C-47 in 1966. Flintstone I and II provided airlift for state emergencies, unit deployments and general requirements of both the Colorado Army and Air National Guard. The C-131 Samaritan eventually replaced the C-54 and Buckley Base Operations controlled both the C-131 and Cessna O-2 Skymaster aircraft. In 1979 two Boeing T-43A Bobcats arrived at Buckley and replaced the C-131 and O-2s.


200th Airlift Squadron, History
The unit was renamed Operating Location AA (OL-AA) and T-43s served as flying classrooms in support of the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) 50th Airmanship Training Squadron Airmanship Program from 1979 through 1997. On 1 July 1983, while under the command of Lt. Col. Mel Walden, the unit separated from other base operations functions and was re-designated Operating Location BB (OL-BB).


200th Airlift Squadron, History
In October 1985 the unit received two CT-43As configured for passenger airlift, augmenting and expanding into a dual Operational Support Aircraft (OSA) supporting VIP missions. In addition to the USAFA Airmanship Program, the unit flew worldwide airlift missions supporting many dignitaries including the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, U.S. cabinet members, congressmen, ambassadors, and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Added two additional CT-43As in 1981. In January 1986, Lt. Col. Ron Germano took command and the unit was designated Detachment One, Headquarters Colorado Air National Guard (Det-1, COANG). Transferred CT-43s to other organizations in 1991.


200th Airlift Squadron, History
In June 1992 the unit was designated the 200th Airlift Squadron (AS) and in November 1997, it received the first of two C-21A aircraft; T-43As to Randolph AFB in 1997. Replaced with C-26B turboprops in 1996. Lt . Col. Scott Schofield took command on 6 March 1999 at Buckley Air National Guard Base, and the 200th AS moved to Peterson AFB in April 1999 near USAFA in Colorado Springs.


200th Airlift Squadron, History
After the 11 September 2001 attacks, the squadron transported emergency responders to New York and Washington D.C., and began a new mission as target aircraft for NORAD air defense exercises. The 200th AS also supported USNORTHCOM disaster relief missions after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.


200th Airlift Squadron, History
On 23 March 2006, an inter-fly agreement with the active-duty 311th Airlift Squadron was signed and the 375th Operations Group began Total Force Operations. With the inter-fly agreement, the two squadrons share jets, pilots, and deployments.


200th Airlift Squadron, History
In February 2010, the 200 AS participated in its first combat deployment, sending six crewmembers to the CENTCOM AOR in support of Operations IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM. Since then, several more 200 AS crewmembers have deployed and the unit continues to support and augment the active duty in-theater mission.


200th Airlift Squadron, History
After a long and decorated history, the 200th held a formal deactivation ceremony Oct. 14, 2018, presided over by Gov. John Hickenlooper on Buckley AFB, Aurora, Colorado. Prior to the official deactivation in June 2018, the 200th has won Joint Operational Support Airlift Center small unit award seven years in a row.


200th Airlift Squadron, History
The U.S. Air Force transferred one of the aircraft to Andrews AFB, with the other transferring to Scott AFB for the C-21 enterprise consolidation.


200th Division (National Revolutionary Army)
The 200th Division (simplified Chinese: 第200师; traditional Chinese: 第200師; pinyin: Dì 200 Shī) was the first mechanised division in the National Revolutionary Army. It was created in 1938 by General Du Yuming, who was also its first commander. Its first action was against the 14th Division in the Battle of Lanfeng.


200th Division (National Revolutionary Army), Original organization January 1938, Equipment
The Tank regiments had 70 T-26, 4 BT-5, 20 ( 92? ) CV-33 tanks, AMR 35 tanks. The armoured car regiment had around 50 BA armoured cars and 12 ( 18? ) Leichter Panzerspähwagen (Sd Kfz 221) armoured cars. Besides, it had more than 400 Ford trucks. The motorised infantry regiment used Soviet trucks and rifles, and the artillery regiment had 12 122 mm howitzers, also 45 mm anti-aircraft artillery and 75 mm field guns.


200th Division (National Revolutionary Army), Original organization January 1938, Equipment
Following the Divisions combats in May in the Battle of Lanfeng and in operations afterward until September 1938, the division's original subordinate mechanized units were placed under direct command of the 5th Army, and the division was reorganized as a motorised infantry division of about 9000 men due to the June 1938 reorganization of Divisions.


200th Division (National Revolutionary Army), Organization (October 1938)
It was next sent as reinforcement to the first Battle of Changsha but was never engaged. The armoured and artillery Regiments were placed under direct command of 5th Corps and the 200th Division became a motorized Infantry Division within the same Corps with the 1st Honor Division. The 200th Division participated with 5th Corps against the Japanese invasion of Guangxi, in the defense of Nanning, and in the devastating victory against the Japanese in the Battle of Kunlun Pass, wiping out an entire Japanese brigade. It suffered heavy losses after the battle at Kunlun Pass in an offensive against Batang, losing nearly two-thirds of its strength.


200th Division (National Revolutionary Army), Organization (October 1938)
Rebuilt and reorganized, the division participated in the Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road in early 1942 and in the Burma campaign. The 200th Division distinguished itself in fighting in the Battle of Toungoo and the Battle of Hopong - Taunggyi but suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Hsipaw-Mogok Highway near the end of the campaign as it was attempting to retreat to China. Its commanding officer, Dai Anlan, died of wounds suffered in that battle while being carried by the remnants of his force as it made its way back to China.


200th Infantry Division (German Empire)
The 200th Infantry Division (200. Infanterie-Division) was a formation of the Imperial German Army in World War I.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 200th Coast Artillery (AA) (200 CA) was a United States Army unit during the first half of World War II. Today descendant elements serve with the New Mexico Army National Guard as the 200th Infantry.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History
Most of this section is taken from  by Janice E. McKenney.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Cavalry and infantry
The 200th Infantry Regiment traces its origins to the organization, on 1 September 1880, of the 1st Regiment in the New Mexico Volunteer Militia in west-central New Mexico from previous independent companies. It was divided on 18 February 1882 into the 1st Regiment, with headquarters at Socorro; and the 2nd Regiment with headquarters at Albuquerque.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Cavalry and infantry
The 1st Regiment was expanded 25 April 1883 to form the 1st Regiment and the 2nd Cavalry Battalion (1st Regiment; hereafter, separate lineage). 2nd Cavalry was reorganized and redesignated 14 September 1883 as the 1st Regiment of Cavalry (less 3rd Battalion; see below). It was reorganized 10 November 1885 as the 1st Regiment of Cavalry. It was disbanded 29 December 1893 and two remaining troops attached to the 1st Regiment of Infantry. The unit was reorganized 12 September 1896 in the New Mexico Volunteer Militia as the 1st Battalion of Cavalry with headquarters at Santa Fe.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Cavalry and infantry
(New Mexico Volunteer Militia redesignated 17 March 1897 as the New Mexico National Guard.) The unit was redesignated in 1897 as the 1st Squadron of Cavalry. While remaining in state service the 1st Squadron of Cavalry additionally formed the 2nd Squadron, 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, also known as the "Rough Riders" (mustered into federal service 6–7 May 1898 at Santa Fe; mustered out of federal service 15 September 1898 at Montauk Point, New York). Troop A attached 5 February 1908 to the 1st Regiment of Infantry (see below); remainder of squadron concurrently disbanded.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Cavalry and infantry
The 2nd Regiment was expanded 25 April 1883 to form the 2nd Regiment and the 1st Cavalry Battalion. The 2nd Regiment was redesignated 10 November 1885 as the 1st Regiment of Infantry with headquarters at Santa Fe. Location of headquarters was changed 16 August 1886 to Albuquerque.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Cavalry and infantry
The 1st Cavalry Battalion was reorganized and redesignated 14 September 1883 as the 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment of Cavalry. The unit was expanded, reorganized and redesignated 10 November 1885 as the 2nd Regiment of Cavalry.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Cavalry and infantry
The 1st Regiment of Infantry and elements of the 2nd Regiment of Cavalry were consolidated 24 December 1890 and consolidated unit designated at the 1st Regiment of Infantry. 1st Regiment of Infantry was consolidated in 1909 with Troop A (see above) and consolidated unit designated as the 1st Regiment of Infantry. The unit was mustered into federal service 21 April 1917 and its elements reorganized and redesignated as elements of the 115th Train Headquarters and Military Police and the 143rd and 144th Machine Gun Battalions, elements of the 40th Division.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Cavalry and infantry
The Military Police section of the 115th Train Headquarters and Military Police was reorganized and redesignated 27 October 1918 as the 40th Military Police Company, an element of the 40th Division; 115th Train Headquarters and Military Police concurrently reorganized and redesignated as the 115th Train Headquarters, 40th Military Police Company demobilized 2 May 1919 at Camp Kearny, California; 115th Train Headquarters demobilized 25 April 1919 at Camp Kearny, California.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Cavalry and infantry
The 143rd and 144th Machine Gun Battalions demobilized 30 April 1919 at Camp Grant, Illinois.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Cavalry and infantry
The former 1st Regiment of Infantry was reconstituted 16 July 1919 in the New Mexico National Guard as a separate squadron of cavalry and organized with Troops A and B at Albuquerque and Carlsbad, respectively. It was expanded, reorganized and redesignated 3 December 1920 as the 1st Cavalry. It was redesignated 2 May 1922 as the 111th Cavalry. Headquarters federally recognized 4 May 1924 at Santa Fe. Assigned 5 November 1923 to the 23rd Cavalry Division. Relieved 15 March 1929 from assignment to the 23rd Cavalry Division.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, First creation of 200th Coast Artillery (AA) in North Carolina
The firsr entity designated the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft) existed from 1921 until 5 September 1927 in the North Carolina National Guard. The regiment was constituted in the National Guard in 1921 as the 200th Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft), Coast Artillery Corps. Battery G, its only active element, was organized on 5 August 1921 at Raeford, NC and assigned to the IV Corps.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, First creation of 200th Coast Artillery (AA) in North Carolina
Additional elements were allocated as follows, but never organized: Regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB) and Batteries B, C, D, E, F, I, K, and L allotted to the state of Louisiana; Battery A allotted to Alabama; Battery G allotted to North Carolina; and Battery M allotted to Florida. New Orleans, LA was designated as the headquarters location on organization, but the unit was never organized at that location. Regiment redesignated 200th Coast Artillery (Antiaircraft) on 27 September 1924.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, First creation of 200th Coast Artillery (AA) in North Carolina
On 1 December 1926 Battery G was redesignated as Battery F, 252nd Coast Artillery Battalion (Harbor Defense) in the North Carolina National Guard; the other elements were withdrawn from their allotted states and transferred to the deferred list. The regiment was withdrawn from the National Guard and demobilized on 5 September 1927. It had a separate lineage from the New Mexico National Guard unit.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, First creation of 200th Coast Artillery (AA) in North Carolina
At some later time the designation was transferred to the New Mexico National Guard.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
The 111th Cavalry, tracing its lineage back to the 1st Regiment, New Mexico Volunteer Militia (1880), was converted and redesignated on 26 April 1940 as the 207th Coast Artillery Regiment (Antiaircraft). Redesignated as the 200th Coast Artillery (AA) on 1 July 1940, with the 207th CA designation transferred to a New York National Guard unit.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
It was inducted into federal service 6 January 1941 at home stations in New Mexico. The 200th CA was equipped with 12 3-inch guns (an older model with a vertical range of 8,200 m), .50-caliber machine guns, and 60-inch (1.5 m) Sperry searchlights.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
The 200th doubled in size to 1800 while at Fort Bliss preparing for overseas deployment. In August 1941, the 200th was given notice that it had been selected for an overseas assignment of great importance. The Arkansas National Guard 206th CA and the 200th competed for position deployment to either the Philippines or the Aleutian Islands. The 200th, whose personnel virtually all spoke fluent Spanish, were chosen to go to the Philippines in the summer of 1941, and arrived there in September 1941.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
Upon arrival, this anti-aircraft unit was assigned to US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) and ordered to provide air defenses for Clark Field while based at Fort Stotsenburg, although they were not attached to the Philippine Coast Artillery Command, which was primarily a harbor defense command. At about 0300 hours on 8 December 1941, the 200th went on full alert when the night radio crew picked up commercial broadcasts telling of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
The 200th CA surrendered on 9 April 1942 to the Japanese 14th Army. Elements of the unit were forced by the Japanese to march into captivity in the Bataan Death March.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
The Headquarters, 200th Coast Artillery, was redesignated 31 May 1946 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 200th Antiaircraft Artillery Group. Headquarters, 200th Antiaircraft Artillery Group, organized and federally recognized 25 September 1947 at Roswell. It was reorganized and was redesignated 1 September 1959 as Headquarters, 200th Artillery Group. It was consolidated 15 December 1967 with the 200th Artillery and consolidated unit designated at the 200th Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental system.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
The 2nd Battalion, 200th Coast Artillery, was redesignated 31 May 1946 as the 697th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion. It was reorganized and federally recognized 2 November 1947 in southeastern New Mexico with headquarters at Roswell. Redesignated 1 October 1953 as the 697th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
The 716th, 717th, 726th and 697th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalions; Headquarters, 515th Antiaircraft Artillery Group; 502nd Field Artillery Battalion (organized and federally recognized 21 September 1956 in eastern New Mexico with headquarters at Clovis); 120th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion; and 804th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion consolidated 1 September 1959 and consolidated unit reorganized and redesignated as the 200th Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System, to consist of the 1st Automatic Weapons Battalion; the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Gun Battalions; and the 7th and 8th Detachments.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
The headquarters battery of the 2nd Battalion, reorganized from that of the 200th Antiaircraft Artillery Group, was at Las Cruces. Reorganized 1 April 1962 to consist of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Automatic Weapons Battalions and the 7th and 8th Detachments. Consolidated 15 December 1967 with Headquarters, 200th Artillery, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental system, to consist of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
The unit was redesignated 1 November 1972 as the 200th Air Defense Artillery. Reorganized 1 September 1975 to consist of the 1st Battalion, an element of the 49th Armored Division; the 2nd Battalion, an element of the 47th Infantry Division; the 3rd Battalion, an element of the 50th Armored Division; and the 4th Battalion, an element of the 40th Infantry Division. 1st Battalion headquarters was at Roswell, 2nd Battalion at Las Cruces, 3rd Battalion at Albuquerque, and 4th Battalion at Tucumcari.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
Equipped with the M42 Duster self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, the battalions served as divisional air defense artillery units of National Guard divisions but were under the administrative control of the 111th Air Defense Artillery Brigade headquarters. The 5th Battalion was activated on 1 July 1983, the first and only Roland-equipped United States Army unit, and reached initial operating capability in December 1985. The majority of its personnel volunteered for full-time service at McGregor Range, administered by Fort Bliss. As a result, the battalion was affiliated with the active 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and under the control of Central Command and Forces Command. During its five years of existence, the battalion made 101 Roland firings during exercises.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
The 4th Battalion replaced its now obsolete M42 Dusters with the Chaparral missile system and its Battery B at Springer became the headquarters and headquarters battery of the new 6th Battalion on 15 November 1986. Battery A of the 6th Battalion was at Raton with Detachment 1 at Clayton, Battery B at Taos, and Battery C at Espanola. Battery C was converted from a heavy equipment maintenance detachment.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
It was reorganized on 3 March 1987 to consist of the 1st Battalion, an element of the 49th Armored Division; the 2nd Battalion, an element of the 4th Infantry Division; the 3rd Battalion, an element of the 50th Armored Division; 4th Battalion, an element of the 40th Infantry Division; and the 5th and 7th Battalions. The 5th and 7th Battalions were equipped with the Roland and Hawk air defense missiles respectively.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
The 5th Battalion, with 300 out of 400 personnel full-time, was inactivated on 30 September 1988 due to budget cuts and the retirement of the Roland system; 143 of its full-time personnel transferred to the 7th Battalion at Rio Rancho. The regiment was withdrawn on 1 June 1989 from the Combat Arms Regimental System and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System with headquarters at Roswell.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
During annual training in 1989, 7th Battalion, 200th ADA, became the first Army reserve component unit to live-fire the Hawk air defense missile.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
On 1 October 1993, the Headquarters Battery of the 2nd Battalion at Las Cruces was expanded into a new 2nd Battalion, transitioning from the Chaparral to the Hawk. Hawk-trained personnel from the 7th Battalion were planned to transfer to the new unit if they desired to. HHB and Batteries A and B were located in Las Cruces, while Battery C was in Alamogordo. The battalion was converted into the 1st Battalion, 202nd Field Artillery on 15 December 1995. By 1996, 6th Battalion was assigned as the divisional air defense battalion for the 42nd Infantry Division and in the process of transitioning to the Avenger missile system.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
The 7th Battalion was announced as the second National Guard Patriot missile battalion in December 1997, but the equipment did not begin arriving until March 1998, piecemeal. As a result of the Patriot conversion, the 7th was redesignated as the 2nd that year. Due to the demanding nature of Patriot training, the 2nd Battalion struggled to fill its ranks: in mid-2003 it had only 202 soldiers out of an authorized strength of 547. By that point, three Patriot launchers out of fifteen authorized had been delivered to the unit, enough for two of five required batteries. The Avenger-equipped 4th Battalion was inactivated in 2003 and replaced by a military police unit. At the time, it had batteries in Rio Rancho, Raton, Tucumcari, and Clovis.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
Today the regiment has elements serving with the New Mexico Army National Guard. Colonel Bump transitioned the 3rd Battalion, 200th ADA, to infantry in 2005, and the battalion was redesignated the 1st Battalion, 200th Infantry. The 1st Battalion, headquartered at Roswell, was converted into the 717th Support Battalion in early 2006 due to the reduced need for air defense units during the War on terror. The 2nd Battalion was inactivated in the second half of 2005, its personnel spread among new support and infantry units.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, Antiaircraft artillery
On 4 September 2005, the 2nd Battalion, 200th Infantry was converted from the 1st Battalion, 202nd Field Artillery as a light infantry unit. The battalion included HHC and rifle and forward support companies at Las Cruces and a heavy weapons company at Alamogordo. The battalion was inactivated on 25 September 2008.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, 515th Coast Artillery (Antiaircraft)
On 19 December 1941 the 515th Coast Artillery (Antiaircraft) was activated at Fort Stotsenburg as a provisional AAA regiment by the expansion and redesignation of one battalion of the 200th CA. It was originally designated "Provisional 200th CA (AA) Regiment of Manila" on 8 December 1941, initially with 20 officers and 500 enlisted men manning AA weapons previously stored in the Manila area. The number "515th" was taken from an Organized Reserve regiment in Lincoln, Nebraska, organized in 1924, that probably had few personnel assigned.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), History, 515th Coast Artillery (Antiaircraft)
On 19 December 1941 the regiment was redesignated as the 515th and augmented with about 750 officers and enlisted men of the Philippine Commonwealth Army for training. Moved from Manila 25 December 1941 (the day before Manila was declared an open city) to defend the withdrawal routes to Bataan, where the unit defended the Cabcaben airfield and other key points until surrendering as part of the Philippine Provisional Coast Artillery Brigade on 9 April 1942.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), Distinctive unit insignia
A Gold color metal and enamel device 1+1⁄4 inches (3.2 cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Or an Avanyu Sable. Attached above the shield from a wreath Or and Sable, a coiled rattlesnake Brün. Attached below and to the sides of the shield a Gold scroll inscribed "PRO CIVITATE ET PATRIA" in Black letters.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), Distinctive unit insignia
The Avanyu device used by the Pueblo Indians is another form of the triskelion, a lucky talisman and symbolic of energy, motion, and victory. It is also emblematic of "the whirling sun" and "lightning in air" which allude to the firepower and air defense mission of the former unit. The motto translates to "For State and Country."


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), Distinctive unit insignia
The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 111th Cavalry Regiment on 19 June 1926. It was redesignated for the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment (AA) on 7 March 1941. It was redesignated for the 717th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion on 6 October 1952. The insignia was redesignated for the 200th Artillery Regiment on 7 June 1960. It was redesignated for the 200th Air Defense Artillery Regiment on 9 February 1973. It was redesignated for the 200th Infantry Regiment with the description and symbolism updated on 22 August 2006.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), Coat of arms, Blazon
Or an Avanyu Sable. (The Avanyu is a Pueblo Indian device not unlike the device of the Isle of Man conventionalized, which is blazoned three legs embowed conjoined at the thighs, the three arms of the Avanyu each ending in a triangular head bearing five points).


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), Coat of arms, Blazon
That for the regiments of the New Mexico Army National Guard: On a wreath of the colors Or and Sable, a coiled rattlesnake Proper. Motto:   PRO CIVITATE ET PATRIA (For State and Country).


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), Coat of arms, Symbolism
The Avanyu device used by the Pueblo Indians is another form of the triskelion, a lucky talisman and symbolic of energy, motion, and victory. It is also emblematic of "the whirling sun" and "lightning in air" which allude to the firepower and air defense mission of the former unit.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), Coat of arms, Symbolism
The crest is that of the New Mexico Army National Guard.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), Coat of arms, Background
The coat of arms was originally approved for the 111th Cavalry Regiment on 2 January 1924. It was amended to correct the motto on 18 June 1928. It was redesignated for the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment (AA) on 7 March 1941. It was redesignated for the 717th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion on 6 October 1952. The insignia was redesignated for the 200th Artillery Regiment on 7 June 1960. It was redesignated for the 200th Air Defense Artillery Regiment on 9 February 1973. It was redesignated for the 200th Infantry Regiment with the symbolism revised on 22 August 2006.


200th Infantry Regiment (United States), Campaign Participation Credit
This list includes campaigns of the 200th CA (AA), 515th CA (AA), 120th Engineer Combat Battalion (45th Infantry Division), 804th Tank Destroyer Battalion, and predecessors.


200th Military Police Command (United States)
The 200th Military Police Command is the senior law enforcement unit within the U.S. Army Reserve. The subordinate elements of the 200th MP Command are primarily military police units, but the command also includes criminal investigation detachments, chaplains, historians, and public affairs detachments. Units are dispersed across the continental United States with major subordinate units located in California, Michigan, New York, Tennessee, and Indiana. The formation of this command is a departure from the legacy structure of a strategic force in the Army Reserve with assigned chains of command based mostly on geography. The purpose of this command is to train, command, and deploy units primarily by their functional capabilities.


200th Military Police Command (United States), History
The 200th Military Police Command was constituted March 6, 2006 (from the former 220th MP Brigade) in the United States Army Reserve as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 200th Military Police Command. It was activated April 16, 2008 at Fort Meade, Maryland.


200th Military Police Command (United States), History
The 200th was formed as part of a transformation of the Army Reserve that reorganized units into strategically consolidated forces with similar functional capabilities. Nearly 97% of all Army Reserve military police assets are now commanded by the 200th.


200th Military Police Command (United States), History, Subordinate units
As of 2017, the following units are subordinate to the 200th Military Police Command:


200th Military Police Command (United States), History, Subordinate units
I/R: Internment/Resettlement, EPW/CI: Enemy Prisoner of War/Civilian Internee, CID: Criminal Investigation Division, CS: Combat Support


200th New York State Legislature
The 200th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 9, 2013, to December 31, 2014, during the third and fourth years of Andrew Cuomo's governorship, in Albany


200th New York State Legislature, Sessions
Governor Cuomo chose not to call any special elections for seats in the Legislature in 2014, so that for most of the year 11 seats in the Assembly and 2 seats in the Senate remained vacant.


200th New York State Legislature, State Senate, Senators
The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Phil Boyle, George Latimer and George A. Amedore Jr. changed from the Assembly to the Senate.


200th New York State Legislature, State Senate, Senators
Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."


200th New York State Legislature, State Assembly, Assembly members
The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature.


200th New York State Legislature, State Assembly, Assembly members
Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."


200th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment
The 200th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.


200th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, Service
The 200th Pennsylvania Infantry was organized at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on September 3, 1864 and mustered in under the command of Colonel Charles Worth Diven.


200th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, Service
The regiment was attached to Engineer Brigade, Army of the Potomac, to October 1864. Provisional Brigade, Army of the James, to November 1864. Provisional Brigade, IX Corps, Army of the Potomac, to December 1864. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, IX Corps, to May 1865.


200th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, Service
The 200th Pennsylvania Infantry mustered out of service on May 20, 1865. Recruits whose term of service had not expired were transferred to the 51st Pennsylvania Infantry.


200th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, Detailed service
Left Pennsylvania for Bermuda Hundred, Va., September 9. Duty near Dutch Gap, Va., with the Army of the James September 11 to November 28, 1864. Repulse of attack November 19. Transferred to the Army of the Potomac November 28. Siege of Petersburg December 1864 to April 1865. Dabney's Mills, Hatcher's Run, February 5-7, 1865. Fort Stedman March 25. Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9. Assault on and capture of Petersburg April 2. Occupation of Petersburg April 3. Pursuit of Lee April 3-9. Appomattox Court House April 9. Surrender of Lee and his army. Duty at Nottaway Court House until May. Ordered to City Point, then to Alexandria and duty there until May 30.


200th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, Casualties
The regiment lost a total of 54 men during service; 30 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 24 enlisted men died of disease.


200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade
The 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade is a military formation of the 14th Army Corps, part of the Northern Military District, based at Pechenga in Murmansk Oblast. The brigade was formed from the 131st Motor Rifle Division in 1997 and is one of the two Russian Arctic warfare brigades.


200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade
In 2014 brigade's units participated in the War in Donbas according to Bellingcat contributor.


200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, History
The 200th Brigade was formed from the former 131st Motor Rifle Division in 1997. It inherited the honorifics "Pechenga Order of Kutuzov" from the division.


200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, History
Transition to professional contract status was planned to finish at the end of 2006. At the beginning of April 2006 the brigade had about 700 professional personnel, practically all sergeant positions having been filled by kontraktniks (Russian: контрактник contracted professional soldiers). More than 180 military men and women have signed contracts for service in communications, medical, and rear services subunits. The brigade has about 10 professional soldiers from other Commonwealth of Independent States members. At the beginning of 2006, during a trip to the Leningrad Military District, the 200th Brigade was visited by the Minister of Defence, Sergei Ivanov. The brigade has association links with the Norwegian 6th Division (Norway) and the Swedish Norrbottens Regiment.


200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, History
It formed part of the 6th Army in the Western Military District. As of November 2011 it became the first of two new Arctic brigades of the Russian Ground Forces. The unit has had some disciplinary problems. In November 2012 it became part of the Coastal Troops of the Northern Fleet.


200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, History
In 2014, according to Bellingcat contributor, the brigade was involved in the War in Donbas. Brigade's units participated in the battle of Luhansk Airport and were spotted in the Khryashchevatoe village, a Luhansk suburb. In October 2014, Senior Lieutenant Yevgeny Trundayev, commander of the anti-tank platoon of the 1st Motorized Infantry Battalion, was killed in the clashes for 32nd checkpoint, a battle in Luhansk region. He was later awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.


200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, History
The brigade has formed part of the 14th Army Corps since the corps' formation in April 2017.


200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, Equipment
The 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade has the following equipment:


200th Street station
200th Street was a local station on the demolished IRT Third Avenue Line in the Bronx, New York City, near the New York Botanical Garden. The station was opened on October 4, 1920, and had three tracks and two side platforms. It was also one block south of the Botanical Garden New York Central Railroad station. The next stop to the north was 204th Street. The next stop to the south was Fordham Road–190th Street. The station was closed on April 29, 1973, along with the rest of the IRT Third Avenue Line.


200–208 Decatur Street
200, 202, 204, 206 and 208 Decatur Street are adjoining rowhouses in Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland. The houses were built in the 1840s or early 1850s. The houses are of a type that, while common elsewhere in Maryland, were not extensively built in Cumberland, in which individual and semi-detached houses were more common. The houses exhibit plain but consistent detailing of a neoclassical nature.


201
Year 201 (CCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fabianus and Arrius (or, less frequently, year 954 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 201 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.


201 (Northern) Field Hospital
201 (Northern) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve of the British Army.


201 (Northern) Field Hospital, History
The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of 1st (Northern) General Hospital, and 149 (Northumbrian) Field Ambulance, as the 201 (Northern) General Hospital. Throughout the Cold War, the hospital was under North East District; and upon transfer to war, would come under control of Commander Medical 1 (BR) Corps, to provide 800 beds in the 4th Garrison Area. During the reforms implemented after the Cold War, the hospital was re-designated as 201 (Northern) Field Hospital. As a consequence of Army 2020, the unit now falls under 2nd Medical Brigade, and is paired with 34 Field Hospital.


201 (South Park)
"201" is the sixth episode of the fourteenth season of South Park, and the 201st overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 21, 2010. The episode continued multiple storylines from the previous episode, "200", in which a group of angry celebrities demand South Park produce the prophet Muhammad. In "201", a superhero-like group of religious figures (The Super Best Friends) team up to save South Park from the celebrities and their monster Mecha-Streisand, while Eric Cartman learns the true identity of his father.


201 (South Park)
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. Like "200", it alludes to several past storylines and controversies from previous South Park episodes, especially Comedy Central's refusal to show images of Muhammad on the network following controversies in 2005 and 2007 when cartoons depicting Muhammad ran in European newspapers, resulting in riots and threats. Prior to the broadcast of "201", the radical Muslim organization Revolution Muslim posted a warning on their website that Parker and Stone risked being murdered for their depiction of Muhammad. Comedy Central modified Parker and Stone's version of the episode, obscuring all images and bleeping all references to Muhammad—to the effect of disruptively obscuring the entire two-minute moral conclusion of the story. Nevertheless, both "200" and "201" were nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 2010.


201 (South Park)
The censorship drew strong criticism of Comedy Central. Critics said that the network's action would encourage further threats from radical groups. "201" was not shown in repeats, has not been made available on the South Park website, and has not been shown in Sweden, Hungary, Australia or the Netherlands. In most places the episode "Sexual Healing" was shown instead of episode 201. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by 3.5 million viewers, making it the most watched cable television program of the night.


201 (South Park)
On January 31, 2014, the original, uncensored version of "201" was leaked when it was pulled from the South Park Studios servers and was posted online in its entirety without approval by Comedy Central.


201 (South Park), Plot
The episode opens and continues from 200 with Cartman, as his hand-puppet persona Mitch Conner, narrating a flashback to Connor's 1972 medical discharge from his Vietnam War tour of duty in a parody of a scene from the film Apocalypse Now as the song "Time of the Season" by the Zombies plays in the background. Back in the present, Mr. Garrison refuses to reveal the identity of Cartman's father, and instead sends Cartman to Dr. Mephisto. Meanwhile, the Ginger Separatist Movement and the townsfolk are negotiating the handover of Muhammad when Mecha-Streisand begins to attack South Park.


201 (South Park), Plot
Muhammad, who is visually obscured throughout the entire episode by a black box superimposed with the word "CENSORED", is taken by Stan, Kyle, and Kenny to Dr. Mephisto's lab. The Gingers arrive and take Muhammad and Cartman captive. The Super Best Friends are called to South Park to help; after their powers fail to subdue Mecha-Streisand, they pacify her by having Krishna adopt the form of Neil Diamond and providing her the opportunity to perform a duet with him.


201 (South Park), Plot
The Gingers contact the celebrities and offer to share Muhammad in exchange for access to the celebrities' "goo transfer machine", which transfers Muhammad's power to remain free from ridicule to a target individual. Tom Cruise is the first subjected to the process, gaining a "CENSORED" box identical to Muhammad's, but further transfers are interrupted when the Super Best Friends arrive to free their comrade Muhammad. Meanwhile, Cartman is taken to the Ginger lair to meet Scott Tenorman, the Head Ginger.


201 (South Park), Plot
Depicted as a melodramatic madman, Scott has decorated his lair to represent the Chili Con-Carnival in which Cartman gained his revenge on Scott by tricking him into eating his own parents. Scott tells Cartman that the inhabitants of South Park covered up the identity of Cartman's real father, who was formerly an offensive lineman for the Denver Broncos to protect the team from the scandalous affair between him and Liane. He reveals to Cartman that they shared the same father, Jack Tenorman, meaning that by his act of revenge against Scott, Cartman had killed his own father and fed him to his half-brother.


201 (South Park), Plot
The fight between the Super Best Friends, celebrities, and Gingers spills over into the Ginger lair, and Tenorman escapes in the confusion. During the fight, Seaman leaps upon Cruise's back, leading Stan to observe, "Tom Cruise has Seaman on his back." The "CENSORED" box over Cruise disappears, and all present continue to make jokes based on the fact that the words "Seaman" and "semen" sound the same.


201 (South Park), Plot
Cruise questions why they are able to do this, which leads to a monologue from Kyle, Jesus Christ, and Santa Claus explaining that the goo does not exist, and that threatening people with violence is the only true answer. In the censored version, this explanation is completely obscured by a continuous audio bleep.


201 (South Park), Plot
As the town begins to rebuild following the Mecha-Streisand attack ("for the 39th time", according to Mayor McDaniels), Stan, Kyle, and Kenny find Cartman crying – not because he learned that he murdered his father, but because he is "half-ginger". Mitch Conner reminds Cartman that he is "half-Bronco" as well and tells him that makes him "pretty cool" and departs. The boys find Cruise crying for a place in which he can live without fear of mockery. Stan, Kenny and Kyle promise to help Cruise get to such a place. The episode's closing shot is of Cruise's corpse lying on the Moon's surface alongside the corpse of the orca featured in "Free Willzyx".


201 (South Park), Production
Written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker, "201" was rated TV-MA-LV in the United States. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 21, 2010. The episode continued multiple storylines from the previous episode "200", the 200th entry of the series. Parker and fellow co-creator Matt Stone decided to celebrate their 200th episode by revisiting several subplots that had been featured throughout the show's 14 seasons.


201 (South Park), Production
Multiple celebrities have been lampooned throughout the series' history, inspiring Parker and Stone to have all the past celebrities join in a class action lawsuit against the town of South Park. The ginger kids—children with fair skin, freckles and red hair—have been featured in several past episodes, where they were ridiculed by Cartman, who views them with prejudice. Cartman uses a hand-puppet con-artist named Mitch Conner who originally appeared in the seventh season episode "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", in which Cartman pretends his hand is Jennifer Lopez and uses many Hispanic stereotypes in his portrayal of her. Cartman regards Connor as a separate entity and has conversations with him, while Stan and Kyle do not accept this idea at all.


201 (South Park), Production
"201" also included several characters and subplots that were not featured in "200", such as the return of Dr. Alphonse Mephisto and Kevin, characters that had not been featured on South Park for about 10 years. Other previously recurring characters made appearances in "201", including Mr. Hankey, Big Gay Al, Mr. Slave and Pip Pirrup. Scott Tenorman, and the references to Cartman's murder of Scott's parents, were from the fifth season episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die".


201 (South Park), Production
At the end of "201", the dead body of Tom Cruise lies alongside the corpse of a killer whale, a reference to the ninth season episode "Free Willzyx", in which the South Park boys help an orca escape a marine amusement park and flee to the moon, believing it to be a paradise. Pip Pirrup, who became a background character after his own eponymous episode and made only two speaking roles after before completely disappearing from the show in Season 11, makes a brief appearance and is killed off when Mecha-streisand steps on him.


201 (South Park), Production, Muhammad storyline
One of the most prominent storylines from "200", which continued into "201", was the characters' efforts to bring Muhammad into public view. This is based on two past controversies in 2005 (Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy) and 2007 (Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy), when European newspapers published cartoons of Muhammad, resulting in riots, global protests, and death threats toward the artists. As a result of those incidents, many publications and television studios have refused to broadcast images of Muhammad in any form, which was the inspiration behind Tom Cruise's efforts to harvest Muhammad's apparent immunity to satire and ridicule.


201 (South Park), Production, Muhammad storyline
Parker and Stone have previously voiced dissatisfaction that images of Muhammad had been censored on the show despite the fact that his image was shown during the 2001 episode "Super Best Friends", without any censorship, before the cartoon controversies began. "201" continues the theme from "200" that argues against fear and censorship, and calls for support of free speech, both of Muhammad's image and any subject considered taboo.


201 (South Park), Threats and censorship
In the week between the broadcasts of "200" and "201", the website for the New York-based radical Muslim organization Revolution Muslim posted an entry that included a warning to creators Parker and Stone that they risked violent retribution for their depictions of Muhammad. The entry stated that they "will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show." Van Gogh was a filmmaker who was murdered by a man named Mohammed Bouyeri in 2004 for making a short film on violence against women in some Islamic societies.


201 (South Park), Threats and censorship
The posting provided the addresses to Comedy Central in New York and the production company in Los Angeles. The author of the post, Zachary Adam Chesser, said it was meant to serve as a warning to Parker and Stone, not a threat, and that providing the addresses was meant to give people the opportunity to protest.


201 (South Park), Threats and censorship
The entry included audio clips of a sermon by al-Qaeda imam Anwar al-Awlaki calling for the assassination of anyone who has defamed Muhammad, saying, "Harming Allah and his messenger is a reason to encourage Muslims to kill whoever does that." Subsequently, the website for the organization was hacked, temporarily redirecting web traffic to images of Prophet Muhammad with a bomb on his head and an older Muslim man passionately kissing a young boy.


201 (South Park), Threats and censorship
Before "201" aired, the New York City Police Department increased security at the Comedy Central headquarters in direct response to the threats. Law enforcement officials said Revolution Muslim itself was "all talk" and had never engaged in any actual violence but they were concerned that the website post could inspire violence from others.


201 (South Park), Threats and censorship
During the original broadcast of "201" on April 21, 2010, all references to Muhammad's name were obscured by audio bleeps. Several other portions of dialogue were also censored, including almost the entirety of three consecutive monologues spoken by Kyle, Jesus and Santa Claus at the end regarding the moral of the episode. Muhammad's name appeared in the previous episode, "200", without any such censorship. Both episodes obscured all images of what was apparently Muhammad with a black "CENSORED" box. Immediately after the episode "201" aired, the series website South Park Studios posted a notice that said Comedy Central had inserted "numerous additional bleeps throughout the episode" after Parker and Stone submitted their final cut to the network. The network later confirmed they were responsible for the audio censorship.


201 (South Park), Threats and censorship
On April 22, 2010, South Park Studios released a brief statement:


201 (South Park), Threats and censorship
In the 14 years we've been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn't stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn't some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle's customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn't mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too. We'll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we'll see what happens to it.


201 (South Park), Threats and censorship
Some of these developments had been anticipated in the 2006 South Park episodes "Cartoon Wars Part I" and "Cartoon Wars Part II". These episodes showed South Park's reaction to a controversy regarding censorship of Muhammad depictions on two (fictional) episodes of Family Guy.


201 (South Park), Threats and censorship
In the United States "201" has never re-aired following its original debut as South Park would usually repeat during the week, and episodes from earlier in the season were shown instead. Although South Park Studios generally makes unexpurgated versions of their episodes immediately available to view, the notice indicated Parker and Stone did not have network approval to show their original version, and thus no version of "201" could be seen on the website.


201 (South Park), Threats and censorship
The Canadian Comedy Network aired "201" on April 25, 2010, though the episode was censored as the American broadcast was, breaking the channel's multi-year practice of airing South Park completely uncensored. Neither "200" nor "201" were shown in the version of Comedy Central in the Netherlands, and neither episode is available on the Dutch South Park Studios website. The Swedish affiliate of Comedy Central also refused to broadcast "200" and "201" in Sweden, claiming:


201 (South Park), Threats and censorship
Comedy Central has decided not to air these two episodes of South Park. It is a decision we've made with great reluctance. Comedy Central believes strongly in creative freedom of expression; when unique and deeply insightful creative talents like those behind South Park are able to express themselves freely, we all benefit. However, the safety of our employees is our unquestioned number one priority, and therefore we have decided to take these precautionary measures.


201 (South Park), Threats and censorship
"Super Best Friends" was also pulled from the South Park Studios site following the increased media attention from "201".


201 (South Park), Cultural references
During Mitch Conner's flashback of the Vietnam War at the beginning of the episode, "Time of the Season" by English rock group the Zombies plays in the background. The scenes between Cartman and Scott Tenorman closely mirror a scene from the 1988 graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke where the Joker tortures and taunts  Commissioner Gordon. Mecha-Streisand is defeated by her inability to resist performing duets with Neil Diamond, a pop singer-songwriter. During one scene, Mecha-Streisand crushes a building and someone screams, "The Casa Bonita is gone!" This is the name of a real-life restaurant that had been seen in the episode "Casa Bonita", and after which Parker and Stone's production facility was named.


201 (South Park), Reception, Ratings
In its original American broadcast on April 21, 2010, "201" was watched by 3.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, making it the most watched cable television show of the night. It outperformed the previous week's episode, "200", which was seen by 3.33 million viewers.


201 (South Park), Reception, Reviews
The A.V. Club writer Sean O'Neal said "201" was an improvement over "200", but nevertheless felt "201" was "less a cohesive episode than a grab bag of balls-out crazy scenes and cameos only loyal fans would really appreciate." However, he also said, "it's sure to become one of, if not the most talked-about episode of South Park ever." Even after Comedy Central announced they were responsible for the censorship in "201", he speculated as to whether it was possibly a publicity stunt by Parker and Stone to create controversy and increase viewership.


201 (South Park), Reception, Reviews
Ramsey Isler of IGN said the episode built on the events of "200" and delivered a strong payoff, particularly with the subplot about Cartman's father and the way it tied back to "Scott Tenorman Must Die". Isler said the bleeps added by Comedy Central provided some unintentional laughs and underscored the episode's underlying theme opposing censorship.


201 (South Park), Reception, Response to censorship
The real culprits here are not Muslims, but the cowards at Comedy Central. We no longer need a genuine terrorist threat to scare us into submission. We're quite capable of doing it to ourselves. Caving in has almost become a cultural reflex.


201 (South Park), Reception, Response to censorship
According to a Zogby International survey conducted after "201" aired, a majority of Americans opposed Comedy Central's censorship of the episode. 71% disagreed with the network's decision to censor "201", with only 19% agreeing with the decision. 47% of those who disagreed with the censorship said they disagreed strongly, with only 5% who agreed claiming they felt strongly. Some commentators suggested because Comedy Central responded to Revolution Muslim's warnings by censoring depictions of Muhammad, the Muslim extremists scored a significant public victory.


201 (South Park), Reception, Response to censorship
Michael Cavna of The Washington Post wrote, "To invoke the revivified phrase: The terrorists win." Toronto Sun columnist Mike Strobel pointed out Revolution Muslim is a relatively small group of "a half-dozen wannabe Osamas", but said because of Comedy Central's response, "The loonies and terrorists win one. No doubt, they'll try this stunt again." Likewise, Jean Marbella of The Baltimore Sun said, "It's not even that the terrorists have won, it's that wannabe terrorists have won."


201 (South Park), Reception, Response to censorship
Margaret Wente of The Globe and Mail said the censorship of "201" could be "the lowest point in the history of American TV", and that it represented a gravitation toward fear in a post-September 11 attacks world. Los Angeles Times columnist Patrick Goldstein said there were "no easy answers" and that he was not surprised Comedy Central took the threat seriously, but added, "in a democracy, artists and political satirists should be allowed to say what they believe, even if it offends some of its audience". Roger Catlin of the Hartford Courant suggested Comedy Central actually drew more attention to the Muhammad controversy, not less, by censoring the episode. UCLA School of Law Professor Eugene Volokh said Comedy Central's actions risk empowering other extremists:


201 (South Park), Reception, Response to censorship
The consequence of this position is that the thugs win and people have more incentive to be thugs. There are lots of people out there who would very much like to get certain kind of material removed, whether religious or political. The more they see others winning, the more they will be likely to do the same. Behavior that gets rewarded gets repeated.


201 (South Park), Reception, Response to censorship
Seventeen Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists protested the threats in a petition released April 27, 2010. Among the signatures were those of Garry Trudeau, Mark Fiore, Tony Auth, David Horsey and Paul Szep. The petition stated:


201 (South Park), Reception, Response to censorship
We, the undersigned, condemn the recent threats against the creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, by the extremist organization, Muslim Revolution. Freedom of expression is a universal right and we reject any group that seeks to silence people by violence or intimidation. In the United States we have a proud tradition of political satire and believe in the right to speak or draw freely without censorship.


201 (South Park), Reception, Response to censorship
During the April 22 broadcast of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, host Jon Stewart responded to the censorship of "201" with a ten-minute monologue about the death threats, expressing disgust toward Revolution Muslim, culminating with a song telling Revolution Muslim to "go fuck [themselves]". Stewart criticized Comedy Central's decision to alter the episode, while simultaneously acknowledging they likely did so to protect their employees from "possible harmful repercussions".


201 (South Park), Reception, Response to censorship
Bill Maher, host of the HBO talk show Real Time with Bill Maher, said the threats against "201" demonstrated the importance of the First Amendment and other American civil liberties, and said, "When South Park got threatened last week by Islamists incensed at their depiction of Muhammad, it served—or should serve—as a reminder that our culture isn't just different than one that makes death threats to cartoonists. It's better." He added jokingly, "If you don't get that, and you still want to kill someone over a stupid cartoon, please make it Garfield."


201 (South Park), Reception, Response to censorship
As a result of Revolution Muslim's statement, Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris suggested that many people draw and publish pictures of Muhammad on May 20, 2010, which she dubbed the "first annual Everybody Draw Mohammed Day". However, very few cartoonists actually joined her in criticizing Islam or depicting the prophet Muhammed; instead, much like Maher and Stewart, they merely praised her for her efforts and condemned the idea of censorship. Norris herself went into hiding, shortly thereafter, on the advice of the FBI.


201 (South Park), Reception, Response to censorship
Animated comedy series Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane voiced this ambivalence on the part of the creative community, saying "No one is a bigger critic of organized religion than I am", but nevertheless added, "It's tricky. You pick your battles. You have to judge how real the threat is against how funny the joke is. How much do I care about the joke?" And The Simpsons also addressed the apparent hypocrisy of those who claimed to stand with South Park in a chalkboard gag during the opening sequence of the April 25, 2010 episode "The Squirt and the Whale", with Bart Simpson writing "South Park—We'd Stand Beside You If We Weren't So Scared".


201 (South Park), Reception, Response to censorship
In a 2016 oral history of South Park in The Hollywood Reporter, Vernon Chatman, the voice of Towelie as well as a writer and producer on the show said that after Comedy Central censored the episode, series co-creator Trey Parker purchased a ticket to South Africa and showed it to the head of the network as a threat because Dave Chappelle had fled to Africa, though Parker never actually went.


201 (South Park), Reception, Sri Lanka ban
The depiction of Buddha snorting cocaine in "200" and "201" prompted the government of Sri Lanka to ban the entire series outright.


201 (South Park), Home release
The fourteenth season of South Park was released April 26, 2011 to DVD and Blu-ray, including the episode "201". When playing the episode, prior to the theme playing, a text card appears saying: "The following episode appears as it originally aired on April 21, 2010. After it aired Matt Stone and Trey Parker released the following statement" and then shows the original message that was released after the episode aired. Consequently, Muhammad, his name, and the speeches made by Kyle, Jesus, and Santa are still censored as in the broadcast version. Although the end speeches are still censored, the bleeps are accompanied with music on DVD, unlike the April 21, 2010 airing, which featured a raw audio bleep.


201 (South Park), Home release
In the episode's audio commentary, Parker only comments on the opening scene, noting that they did the episode as intended and sent it in. He and Stone comment that they are not supposed to talk about it. For the next several moments, a large audio beep obscures the commentary before Stone says "Yeah, that's pretty much it." During the commentary in both "201" and "200" Parker and Stone never mention Muhammad directly, referring to him only as "the prophet of the Muslim faith". Despite the package claiming otherwise, both "200" and "201" were omitted from the Region 4 release and have been completely omitted from the Region 2 (which contains the predominantly Islamic Middle East and North Africa) release as well.


201 (South Park), Online leak of uncensored version
On January 31, 2014, the original uncensored version of this episode was illegally leaked and distributed online without any approval of Comedy Central after a user on 4chan realized that the episode existed on the official website's web server and could be downloaded using rtmpdump.


201 (South Park), Online leak of uncensored version
Kyle: That's because there is no goo, Mr. Cruise. You see, I learned something today. Throughout this whole ordeal, we've all wanted to show things that we weren't allowed to show, but it wasn't because of some magic goo. It was because of the magical power of threatening people with violence. That's obviously the only true power. If there's anything we've all learned, it's that terrorizing people works.


201 (South Park), Online leak of uncensored version
Jesus: That's right. Don't you see, gingers, if you don't want to be made fun of anymore, all you need are guns and bombs to get people to stop.


201 (South Park), Online leak of uncensored version
Santa: That's right, friends. All you need to do is instill fear and be willing to hurt people and you can get whatever you want. The only true power is violence.


201 (number)
201 (two hundred [and] one) is the natural number following 200 and preceding 202.


201 (number), In mathematics
As the two factors of 201 are both Gaussian primes, 201 is a Blum integer.


201 BC
Year 201 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Paetus (or, less frequently, year 553 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 201 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.