document_title: Justice League (Smallville)

question_text: when does clark meet the flash in smallville

text: Justice League (Smallville)

text: Roles in Smallville[edit]

text: Individual storylines[edit]

text: Although the Justice League first appeared in season six's "Justice", each member had their own introduction and recurring storylines in the series prior to the formation of the team. The first member to appear on Smallville, other than Clark Kent (Tom Welling), was Bart Allen (Kyle Gallner), who was introduced in the season four episode "Run". In the episode, Bart is the first person Clark discovers to have a superhuman ability—being able to run at supersonic speeds—that was not created from exposure to kryptonite. When Clark and Bart first meet, Bart is a pickpocket who saves Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) from being hit by a truck. Eventually, Clark convinces Bart to give up his life of crime.[1] Arthur Curry (Alan Ritchson), who has the ability to swim at superhuman speeds and create energy blasts through the water, is next to appear in the season five episode "Aqua". Arthur arrives in Smallville to stop an underwater weapon developed by Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), which is killing the surrounding ocean life. Arthur and Clark initially clash on Arthur's tactics; Arthur tries to blow up Lex's lab, while Clark insists that they should simply talk to Lex face-to-face and ask him to stop. Eventually, Arthur and Clark locate and destroy the weapon outright.[2] Season five also introduced Victor Stone (Lee Thompson Young) in the episode "Cyborg". Here, it is revealed that Victor was mortally wounded in a car accident that also took the lives of his family, but Lex's company, LuthorCorp, took Victor's body to a research lab where they experimented on him—ultimately replacing his bone skeleton with a metal one. Clark attempts to provide Victor with a safe haven after Victor escapes from Lex's facility. Clark manages to convince Lex to stop hunting Victor, who eventually leaves Smallville with his girlfriend.[3]

text: Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley), a billionaire who left Star City to live in Metropolis, arrives in the season six episode "Sneeze" to investigate Lex Luthor.[4] In the episode "Arrow", Oliver begins masquerading around Metropolis as a costumed vigilante, named "Green Arrow" by Lois Lane (Erica Durance), who robs from the rich—only taking objects he knows were already stolen by those wealthy individuals—and gives to the poor. Oliver also begins a romantic relationship with Lois.[5] Eventually, Oliver's vigilante life takes priority, and he and Lois break up when Oliver is forced to leave town to investigate more of Lex's machinations.[6] In season eight's premiere, Oliver moves back to Metropolis, and begins searching for Lex, who has been missing since the season seven finale.[7] Oliver believes he has tracked Lex's whereabouts in the episode "Bride", but he does not find Lex when he arrives; instead, Oliver reveals that he plans to kill Lex when he does find him because of the threat he perceives Lex poses to both Clark and the rest of the world.[8] In the episode "Requiem", Oliver takes controlling interest in LuthorCorp after Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman), Lex's handpicked successor for LuthorCorp, sells him the company. As a result, Lex attempts to kill him. Oliver tracks Lex down and blows-up the medical caravan that Lex was supposedly traveling in.[9]

text: John Jones (Phil Morris) is also introduced in season six, where he appears in "Labyrinth", guiding Clark out of a fictitious reality that was created by Dr. Hudson, a Phantom Zone criminal attempting to take over Clark's body.[10] It is revealed in the season's finale that he has been working with Lionel Luthor (John Glover), and was once an emissary of Clark's biological father, Jor-El. John explains that he has been watching over Clark since his arrival on Earth, instructed by Jor-El only to interfere if Clark's life was in true danger.[11] In the season seven premiere, John lends assistance to Clark in defeating the last of the Phantom Zone criminals, which turned itself into Clark's doppelganger.[12] In the season eight premiere, John sacrifices his own abilities to save Clark's life.[7] In season eight's "Prey", John informs Clark that he has taken a job as a Metropolis police detective so that he can be around if Clark needs assistance.[13] In season nine's "Absolute Justice", John has his Martian powers restored by Dr. Fate (Brent Stait) and then helps Clark and other members of the Justice Society of America defeat a mutual enemy.[14]

text: Justice League storylines[edit]

text: The Justice League made its first official team appearance in the season six episode "Justice". Here, Clark discovers that Oliver has also met Bart, Arthur, and Victor, and that he has organized them into a team of superheroes focused on stopping those who believe that they are above the law. Oliver reveals that Lex has been conducting experiments on people who developed special abilities thanks to exposure to kryptonite. Clark and Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) work alongside the team to dismantle Lex's local experimental facility, known as Level 33.1, and after destroying the building, Oliver and his team leave Smallville to seek out Lex's other facilities around the world. Oliver asks Clark to become a full fledged member of the team, but Clark turns Oliver down explaining that he is not ready to do that.[6] In the season seven episode "Siren", Lex puts a bounty on Oliver and his team, convincing the vigilante Dinah Lance (Alaina Huffman), who goes by the name "Black Canary" and has the ability to emit an ultrasonic sound wave with a single scream, that these individuals are terrorists. In the end, Clark proves to Dinah that Lex lied to her, so she decides to join Oliver's team.[15] In the season eight premiere, the Justice League set out to find Clark, who has disappeared following the destruction of his Fortress of Solitude in the previous season's finale. Clark is eventually found, but the true identities of the League's members are compromised, so the team decides to disband until it is safe again for them to work together.[7] In the season eight episode "Hex", Oliver reforms his team and gives Chloe the role of "Watchtower".[16] In that season's finale, it is revealed that the League has been tracking the genetically engineered Kryptonian known as Doomsday. Oliver tries to convince Clark to kill the creature, but Clark refuses and instead informs Dinah and Bart that Oliver murdered Lex, while simultaneously kicking Oliver off of the team. Using subterfuge, Dinah and Bart betray Clark, revealing that they were in agreement with Oliver's plan all along, and capture Doomsday to force Clark into a fight. Their plan backfires, and Doomsday injures all of them during his escape. In the end, Clark defeats the creature by burying him a mile underground, and Oliver and his team apologize for not following Clark's plan from the start. The League leaves Metropolis afterward, feeling responsible for the death of Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore), who was killed after Doomsday escaped. In response, Chloe turns a Metropolis clock tower, which is also the tallest building in the city, into the Watchtower base with the hope that the team will one day return home.[7] The team eventually reforms off screen, and assists Clark in hunting down other Kryptonians who are attempting to take over the Earth.[17] Starting with the ninth episode of the final season, "Patriot", the Justice League are alerted to the arrival of Darkseid, and for the rest of the season they attempt to stop him before he destroys Earth.[18] Subsequent episodes "Dominion" and "Prophecy" also imply that Michael Carter (Booster Gold) and Kara have joined the team.[19][20]

text: Portrayals[edit]

text: The producers wanted to use either Wally West or Barry Allen as the Flash alter ego for the show, but DC Comics would only approve the use of Bart Allen. In DC Comics, Bart typically goes by the codename of "Impulse", but did have a short series in 2006 where he took over the role of Flash.[21] Kyle Gallner learned through his agent about a superhero role being called for on Smallville, and when he learned that it was going to be Impulse, he convinced himself that he was going to win the role. Gallner went in for two auditions, but was so disappointed with his performance during the second audition that he believed he had failed to get the role. His fear was unfounded when the producers offered him the part.[22]

text: After being cast as Arthur Curry, a character who had previously never been officially portrayed in any live-action form, Alan Ritchson did some research on his character when he discovered that Aquaman had a "serious...fan base". Ritchson wanted to live up to the expectations he felt fans of the character would have.[23] Like Gallner, Ritchson did not expect to be a part of the show again. After season five, there was an attempt to launch an Aquaman television series, which ultimately was never picked up. Ritchson relished the opportunity to return when he was called in to appear in the episode that would feature the first official appearance of the Justice League.[24]

text: Until season five's "Cyborg", the DC Comics superheroes who had paid Clark a visit on the show were all members of the Justice League of America, but Gough and Miller felt that Victor Stone shared a "relatable dilemma" with Clark—the fact that both Victor and Clark's abilities get in the way of their romantic relationships with the women they love—and was someone the developers felt was just an interesting character. Victor normally goes by the alias "Cyborg" and is a member of the Teen Titans in the comics. Casting Lee Thompson Young was something the producers had always wanted to do, even before they had decided to bring in Cyborg.[25] The actor revealed that his first contact with the Cyborg character came not from the comics, but from the Teen Titans animated television series. According to Young, he was fortunate that this version of Victor Stone was Smallville's spin on the character, and as such, the majority of the character's background was in the script. While preparing, Young expressed his pleasure in the fact that the producers decided to keep Victor's robotic parts internal, as opposed to the comic version, where half of Cyborg's visible body is covered in metal.[26]

text: According to Gough, Justin Hartley was the producers' first choice to play the role of Oliver Queen, and his alter ego Green Arrow. Oliver was designed to provide an alternative view for what it means to be a hero. At the same time, the producers wanted a character that could impact the lives of both Clark and Lois.[27] The actor is also the first to portray Oliver Queen/Green Arrow in any live-action media.[28] Hartley believed that it was the season six episode "Reunion" that really helped him to understand his character. In the episode, it is revealed that Oliver was "a jerk to Lex" when the two were at school together, and after another kid falls into a coma because of Oliver and Lex's actions, Oliver decides to start a new path for himself. According to Hartley, this allowed the actor to "justify why someone would put their life in danger every night and have such strong feelings about going out and being this social advocate".[29] Hartley was a recurring guest in the sixth and seventh seasons, but became a series regular in season eight.[30]

text: Alaina Huffman auditioned for Smallville without being aware of which role was being cast, and was offered the part of Dinah Lance/Black Canary. When the producers informed her of how major this character is to the DC mythology, Huffman used various comic books and online sources to learn more about her character.[31] Approached by the producers, Phil Morris auditioned twice for the role of John Jones/Martian Manhunter, and then waited three weeks before receiving confirmation of the role.[32] Morris relished the new design of the character, stepping away from the cape and tights, and going with a more contemporary look. He classified John Jones as Jor-El's "tool, security force, his guardian, and his protector". The actor has stated that he would like his character to lead the future Justice League on the show, as he sees John Jones as a natural leader.[33]

text: Character development[edit]

text: Characteristics[edit]

text: When Steven S. DeKnight was writing the episode "Run" for the first official appearance of Bart Allen, he knew he had to give the character certain characteristics that embodied his comic book counterpart. DeKnight knew Bart had faster than Clark, because in the comic, that is one advantage Flash has over Superman. DeKnight also featured Bart as a "smart-ass", after being inspired by the sarcastic Flash that appears in the animated television series, Justice League. DeKnight's belief is that Bart enjoys his powers, and would not exhibit the more "somber or serious" characteristics of other character.[21] As Gallner pointed out, Bart accepts who he is, and what he can do, and he even abuses his gifts somewhat. The difference between him and Clark is that Bart is not afraid to show the world what he can do. Gallner also suggested that in his character's initial appearance, Bart is living in a "confused" state, because he has developed these extraordinary powers, his parents do not accept him, and he ends up turning to thievery just to take care of himself.[22]

text:
"He accepts [his powers]. He uses them. He may even abuse them a little bit. But he's not ashamed of who he is. He's not scared of being who he is, and he kind of lets the world know that he's there."

— Kyle Gallner on Bart's personality[22]

text: Ritchson described Arthur Curry as someone who will "do anything to save what he loves". The actor goes on to say that Arthur is "passionate about nature, about the earth, and about the seas", and is not afraid to use his abilities to save those things that are dear to him. When comparing his character to Clark, Ritchson stated that Arthur is more confident in his abilities, and already knows what he can do and what his path is in life. Another big difference the actor pointed out is that unlike Clark, Arthur is willing to sacrifice people and things if it means preserving the greater good.[23] When he first appears, one of Victor Stone's key characteristics is that both he and Clark can relate to the fact that they feel their abilities inhibit them from having a true relationship with the women they love. The writers tried to create parallels between the characters to emphasize this more, like Victor's fear of telling his girlfriend the truth about what LuthorCorp did to his body, and Clark's fear of Lana Lang discovering he is an alien.[25] Writer Tracy Bellomo characterized Oliver as a guy that does not take himself very seriously, and enjoys making fun of people that try to take him that way. Bellomo believed that this is one of the reasons that Oliver is attracted to Lois, with the other being that Lois provides a challenge for him. Oliver's relationship with Clark is designed to "broaden Clark's rather limited horizons", and to teach Clark that a world exists beyond Smallville.[27]

text: Costumes[edit]

text: In the episode "Wither", Oliver and Lois attend a costumed ball, where Oliver dresses up as Robin Hood. The designers decided to model Oliver's costume after the comic book character Green Arrow.[34] Costume designer Caroline Cranstoun designed Oliver's official Green Arrow costume in conjunction with illustrator Andy Poon. To hide his face, Green Arrow typically wears a mask over his eyes, but Cranstoun and Keith Christensen, of Ocean Drive Leather, opted to use a hood and a pair of dark sunglasses to hide Oliver's face. Cranstoun revealed that Miles Millar was the one who came up with the hood idea. The costume is also made entirely out of leather, as the creative team wanted to keep away from using tights. Hartley was very impressed with the costume, but confessed that it was uncomfortable to wear because it had layers of leather, and he had to wear boots with four inch lifts.[35]

text: After creating Oliver's Green Arrow costume, Cranstoun had the task of crafting updated costume looks for Bart, Arthur, and Victor for the "Justice" episode. Cranstoun explained that even though Victor does not have any metal on his physical body like his comic book counterpart, she wanted to include a metallic look to his costume. The designer tried to give Victor a more "futuristic" feel, along with "a bit of Transformer-y" essence, by including angular pieces on his vest and coloring them silver, black, and purple. For Bart, the costume designers tried to take what was used in his season four appearance and move that to the next level. In season four, Bart wore a red hoodie with yellow cargo pants, which were used to reflect his teenage identity. With his Justice League appearance, they tried to give the character an appearance that seemed faster. His yellow cargo pants were replaced with red jeans, and his red hoodie was updated to incorporate more of a lightning bolt logo throughout the piece.[24]

text: Arthur's costume was the easiest to create, as the color scheme mirrored his comic book counterpart, and was constructed to give a "wetsuit look". The costume was also designed to be more form-fitting, to complement Ritchson's physique. Victor and Arthur's tops were also hoodie variations.[24] When designing Dinah Lance's Black Canary costume, certain aspects of the comic book character were kept, while others changed entirely. For instance, the character retains her classic fishnet stockings, but the external, black mask the character wears is swapped for a painted mask.[36] Cranstoun researched the various versions of Black Canary's costume, looking through the 1940s and 50s, to try to come up with the right version for the show. Cranstoun explained that she primarily came across two versions. One version reminded the designer of a Playboy Bunny, with a "curvy, corseted, strapless thing that was not at all action-friendly". The other was more reminiscent of Lara Croft and Tank Girl, which is the route Cranstoun took. What Cranstoun created was a "zipped, sleeveless body suit with a boot that was really flat and practical". The designer also kept the yellow accents the comic version had, as well as the long gloves. The filming crew did test shots with various masks for the character, including a leather mask reminiscent of the comic book character's look, before going with the painted variation.[31]

text: Hartley is quick to point out that before "Justice", the series did not focus on "the costumes and the capes, the flying and the superhero stuff", because they have their "no flights, no tights" rule in effect. That changed with "Justice", and Hartley suggested that the actors really had to commit themselves to their roles while wearing the costumes, "otherwise you look like a standup comedian who doesn't like his jokes very much". Young stated that he was one of the luckiest out of the group, because he only had to wear a silver vest and regular pants, unlike Ritchson, who had to put on a "onesie Speedo". Ritchson felt you could get distracted by what you were wearing, but it was best to try to take your mind off of the subject. Hartley, Ritchson, and Young stated that they felt sorry for Gallner for having to wear a costume that they believed "sucked". The group described Gallner's costume as something his mom might have made with "some cotton fabric and a Magic Marker".[37]

text: Creating superpowers[edit]

text: In order to illustrate the special abilities of the Justice League members, special effects company Entity FX had to come in and digitally create the powers for each character. Senior Producer at Entity FX, Trent Smith, explained that they wanted to give Bart's super speed a "more current" look, so they employed 3D techniques in conjunction with the 2D graphics from season four to create a "hybrid" image for the screen. Smith explained that the 3D technology allowed the team to "[choose] a path for [Bart] that he may not be able to achieve in the 2D composite world". Entity FX used Autodesk Maya and Adobe After Effects to create the 3D stream that follows Bart when he is running at super speed.[38]

text: For Victor, Entity FX tried to create digital imagery of the character's inner workings to give the audience the chance to see how his robotic side operates. For instance, Entity FX visually walked the audience through the process of how Victor's CPU downloads the schematics and diagrams to Lex's Level 33.1 facility, as well as disarming the security. Creating abilities for Arthur posed their own challenges, as there were not a lot of opportunities to put the character in the water when he was in the Mid-West. Using the technology they had when Arthur first came to Smallville, as well as the effects used in the unaired pilot for Aquaman, Entity FX was able to digitally create both Arthur and the water he swims in for the character's arrival shot at Level 33.1. When creating Arthur's super swimming speed, the team attempted to give the imagery a look similar to that of a torpedo gliding through the water. The team battled back and forth on how to illustrate Arthur's movements, deciding between having the character leave a trail of bubbles like a torpedo, or "maneuvering around the water and...actually traveling with the bubbles".[38]

text: Reception[edit]

text: When judging individual appearances, DVD Verdict's Jennifer Malkowski felt that Alan Ritchson's performance as Arthur Curry in "Aqua" was rather "wooden",[39] while Filip Vuckevic, of IGN, felt that the introductions for Victor Stone and Arthur Curry were simply wasted, as the characters are not "given anything to do" in the episodes.[40] Commenting on the introduction of Oliver Queen's Green Arrow persona in the season six episode "Arrow", IGN's Chris Carabott felt that the series took its time developing a character that fit the style of the show. Carabott acknowledged that Green Arrow's costume, though not exactly like in the comics, respects the spirit of the character in its design; the gadgets he uses make it feel like the producers are taking a page out of the Justice League Unlimited book, which makes for "quality entertainment".[41]

text: Carabott felt that Phil Morris did well as John Jones/Martian Manhunter but lacked a proper introduction, stating:"Phil Morris does a respectable job of portraying John Jones in the few scenes we see him in. He lacks the screen presence of someone like Carl Lumbly, who voiced the character on Justice League, but Morris holds his own and delivers the lines in that strong, straight forward tone that is signature Manhunter."[42] Alan Blair, editor of Airlock Alpha, felt that Smallville's approach to Black Canary succeeded where the television series Birds of Prey failed. First, Smallville dropped the idea of "meta-humans", which Blair believed is what doomed Birds of Prey, managed to make Black Canary look more like her comic book counterpart, and also give her Canary Cry "some level of credibility".[43] Carabott acknowledged that Smallville created a "fairly good depiction" of Black Canary, but disagreed with certain aesthetical choices. First, Carabott did not appreciate the removal of Black Canary's long, blonde hair, or the addition of make-up around the eyes that gave the character the look of "Pris from Blade Runner". Carabott stated that Huffman's acting came off as "a little over-the-top at times", but overall he felt that she was the right choice for Smallville.[44]

text: Carabott also had his own feelings about the first official "Justice League" appearance in season six's "Justice". The writer suggested that the first live-action appearance of the League since the failed pilot back in the 1990s deserved more than just a single episode. Carabott stated that at least two or three episodes would have been needed to properly tell the narrative of their introduction.[45] Instead, he felt like the character introductions were rushed, even though they had all appeared on the series prior to season six.[46] "Justice" would go on to earn the highest ratings of any episode in season six, with 5.26 million viewers.[47]

text: Merchandise[edit]

text: Following the end of the sixth season, DC Direct announced at the San Diego Comic-Con that they would be releasing new action figures, this time modeled after Smallville's Justice League as they appeared in the season six episode "Justice". The toys featured detailed likenesses of Welling, Hartley, Ritchson, Gallner, and Young.[48]

text: Other media appearances[edit]

text: Spin-offs[edit]

text: At various points throughout the series, the studio discussed developing individual shows for Bart, Oliver, Arthur, and the entire Justice League. The topic of a television series based on the Flash came underway a year before the character made his first appearance on Smallville. According to writer Steven S. DeKnight, there was creative differences over how a Flash television series should be handled, given the previous attempt at translating the character to the small screen in 1990. DeKnight explained that the studio wanted to create a Flash who was a "time-traveling college student from Gotham City". As a result, the series never materialized, and the character was ultimately brought to Smallville.[21]

text: Following the appearance of Arthur Curry, which became one of the highest rated episodes of that season, Smallville developers Al Gough and Miles Millar began work on an Aquaman pilot for The WB Television Network, with Justin Hartley as Arthur Curry.[49] As work progressed on season five's "Aqua", the character was recognized to have potential for his own series.[49] The season five episode was never meant to be a backdoor pilot for an Aquaman television spin-off,[50] so Alan Ritchson was never considered for the role.[49] Gough stated in a November 2005 interview that the series would have put a different spin on the Aquaman mythology.[49] Although Gough did not look at the new series as a true spin-off, he did suggest an interest in doing a crossover with Smallville.[51] Aquaman is currently the only series to go into production, though it was ultimately not picked up by The CW network, which had formed from a merger between The WB and UPN during the production of the pilot.[52][53][54]

text: During the sixth season, there was talk about creating a new series based on the Green Arrow/Oliver Queen character. Hartley refused to talk about the possibility of a spin-off during the filming of the sixth season out of respect for his role on Smallville. The actor felt he should respect what Smallville had accomplished in five seasons, and not "steal the spotlight" by thinking he was better than he was just because there was "talk" of a spin-off after only two appearances on the show. According to Hartley, "talking" was as far as the spin-off ever got.[55] According to Gough, the Green Arrow spin-off would have introduced the idea of Oliver acting in more of a "Professor X" role, where he takes in people with superpowers who have no place to go and trains them. The series would have used characters that would be more easily cleared by the film division at Warner Bros.[24] As DeKnight clarified, the series would have featured the introduction of new characters—some from the Teen Titans and others from the DC Comics Universe—as well as going into more depth for the background story of its primary characters, like Bart, Victor, and Arthur. As with the other potential series, this one never came to fruition.[21]

text: Mobile phone/online tie-ins[edit]

text: Although the team's prominent appearances are on the television series, there have been additional media appearances based around marketing tie-ins. In early 2007, Oliver Queen received a personal treatment with a promotional tie-in with Sprint, titled Smallville Legends: The Oliver Queen Chronicles. The series looked at the origins of Oliver's alternate identity.[56] On April 19, 2007, a tie-in with Toyota promoting their new Yaris featured an online comic strip as interstitial programs during new episodes of Smallville—titled Smallville Legends: Justice & Doom.[57] The interactive comic was based on the episode "Justice", and picks up after the events of that episode, following Oliver, Bart, Victor and Arthur, as they seek to destroy all of LuthorCorp's secret experimental labs.[58] The team eventually uncovers a prototype soldier LuthorCorp is working on, that combines the superpowers of various kryptonite enhanced individuals and places them into a single soldier.[59] The online comic then directly ties-into the television series when Oliver and his team, off-screen, contact Clark in the episode Prototype, and tell him how to defeat one of these soldiers.[60] The online series allowed viewers to investigate alongside the fictional team in an effort to win prizes. Stephan Nilson wrote all five episodes, while working with a team of artists for the illustrations. The plot for each comic episode would be given to Nilson at the same time the production crew for Smallville was filming their current television episode. Artist Steve Scott would draw comic book panels, which would be sent to a group called Motherland. That group would review the drawings and tell Scott which images to draw on a separate overlay. This allowed for multiple objects to be moved in and out of the same frame.[58] Before and after the first appearance of the League on Smallville, there were talks among studio heads about spinning off individual characters, or the entire team, into their own television shows, but nothing came to fruition. Smallville is the first series—television or film—to feature live-action portrayals of Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Cyborg.

text: Comic books[edit]

text: In 2012, the Smallville series was continued through the comic book medium with Smallville: Season 11. Written by Bryan Q. Miller, who also wrote for the television series, the first issues features Chloe Sullivan referencing that each team member has established an info hub on their own territory, with communication systems linked to the Watchtower.[61] In the second issue, Lex Luthor discovers that Queen Industries is building a facility on the far side of Earth's moon as a base for the Justice League, and its construction is under John Jones' supervision. Despite having died after her encounter with Lex Luthor, the League's liaison is Tess Mercer, whose consciousness is revealed to be bonded to her half-brother's mind.[62][63] Luthor sees this as an opportunity to learn the heroes' secrets before removing Tess from his mind, and creates measures to prevent them from finding out his situations with Tess.[64] Despite his efforts, Tess still manage to send her message to the League of her predicaments with Lex, and they extract her consciousness from him and uploaded it to the Watchtower computer system as a temporary home for her mind.[65]

text: In issue five, the Justice League begins to investigate the warning given by a parallel universe version of Chloe Sullivan about a "Crisis". It is also implied that Oliver Queen has known Bruce Wayne, who is secretly the vigilante Batman of Gotham City, since childhood, due to Wayne's father Thomas Wayne was invited to join the secret society, Veritas, by Lionel Luthor. Although Batman is aware that Queen is Green Arrow before he publicly reveals his secrets, Queen is oblivious of Wayne's. Batman, along with his partner, Nightwing (Barbara Gordon), arrive to Metropolis in search of his parents' killer Joe Chill, who works as a contact for Intergang.[66]

text: Bart Allen returns in the ninth issue, donning a new costume and explores the source of his powers: the Speed Force, as well as encountering the Black Flash from it while battling a bunch of super-intelligent gorillas in Paris. Bart once again challenges Clark to a race, this time with the latter in flight.[67] In the eleventh issue, it reveals that Bart got his powers after the JSA member Jay Garrick refuses to run, forcing the Speed Force's sentience to create a new speedster to take his place.[68] In a story arc chronologically parallel to Clark and Bart's, while Batman and Nightwing chase members of the criminal gang in Gotham, the Mutants, the latter is attacked by a White Martian and left injured. John Jones appears and offers his assistance to Bruce on investigating the attack. Jones also adapts the superhero identity "Martian Manhunter". In addition, the new Watchtower outpost on the Moon is shown being built, and that S.T.A.R. Labs is helping Queen Industries in its construction, as well as using Emil Hamilton's Hazardous Environmental Drones as crew. It also reveals that Batman has joined the Justice League.[69]

text: The comic book series was concluded with Smallville: Continuity, a four part miniseries. In the final issue, the team is officially named the "Justice League" and is given a roster of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado (Tess Mercer).[70]


document_title: British Hong Kong

question_text: why was hong kong important to the british empire

root

text: British Hong Kong

text: History[edit]

text: Colonial establishment[edit]

text: In 1836, the Manchu Qing government undertook a major policy review of the opium trade. Lin Zexu volunteered to take on the task of suppressing opium. In March 1839, he became Special Imperial Commissioner in Canton, where he ordered the foreign traders to surrender their opium stock. He confined the British to the Canton Factories and cut off their supplies. Chief Superintendent of Trade, Charles Elliot, complied with Lin's demands to secure a safe exit for the British, with the costs involved to be resolved between the two governments. When Elliot promised that the British government would pay for their opium stock, the merchants surrendered their 20,283 chests of opium, which were destroyed in public.[1]

tag: p

text: In September 1839, the British Cabinet decided that the Chinese should be made to pay for the destruction of British property, either by threat or use of force. An expeditionary force was placed under Elliot and his cousin, Rear Admiral George Elliot, as joint plenipotentiaries in 1840. Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston stressed to the Chinese government that the British government did not question China's right to prohibit opium, but it objected to the way this was handled.[1] He viewed the sudden strict enforcement as laying a trap for the foreign traders, and the confinement of the British with supplies cut off was tantamount to starving them into submission or death. He instructed the Elliot cousins to occupy one of the Chusan islands, to present a letter from himself to a Chinese official for the Emperor, then to proceed to the Gulf of Bohai for a treaty, and if the Chinese resisted, blockade the key ports of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers.[2] Palmerston demanded a territorial base in Chusan for trade so that British merchants "may not be subject to the arbitrary caprice either of the Government of Peking, or its local Authorities at the Sea-Ports of the Empire".[3]

text: In 1841, Elliot negotiated with Lin's successor, Qishan, in the Convention of Chuenpi during the First Opium War. On 20 January, Elliot announced "the conclusion of preliminary arrangements", which included the cession of Hong Kong Island and its harbour to the British Crown.[4] On 26 January, the Union Jack was raised on Hong Kong and Commodore James Bremer, commander-in-chief of British forces in China, took formal possession of the island at Possession Point.[5] Elliot chose Hong Kong instead of Chusan because he believed a settlement further east would cause an "indefinite protraction of hostilities", whereas Hong Kong's harbour was a valuable base for the British trading community in Canton.[6] On 29 August 1842, the cession was formally ratified in the Treaty of Nanking, which ceded Hong Kong "in perpetuity" to Britain.

text: Growth and expansion[edit]

text: The treaty failed to satisfy British expectations of a major expansion of trade and profit, which led to increasing pressure for a revision of the terms.[7] In October 1856, Chinese authorities in Canton detained the Arrow, a Chinese-owned ship registered in Hong Kong to enjoy protection of the British flag. The Consul in Canton, Harry Parkes, claimed the hauling down of the flag and arrest of the crew were "an insult of very grave character". Parkes and Sir John Bowring, the 4th Governor of Hong Kong, seized the incident to pursue a forward policy. In March 1857, Palmerston appointed Lord Elgin as Plenipotentiary with the aim of securing a new and satisfactory treaty. A French expeditionary force joined the British to avenge the execution of a French missionary in 1856.[8] In 1860, the capture of the Taku Forts and occupation of Beijing led to the Treaty of Tientsin and Convention of Peking. In the Treaty of Tientsin, the Chinese accepted British demands to open more ports, navigate the Yangtze River, legalise the opium trade and have diplomatic representation in Beijing. During the conflict, the British occupied the Kowloon Peninsula, where the flat land was valuable training and resting ground. The area in what is now south of Boundary Street and Stonecutters Island was ceded in the Convention of Peking.[9]

text: In 1898, the British sought to extend Hong Kong for defence. After negotiations began in April 1898, with the British Minister in Beijing, Sir Claude MacDonald, representing Britain, and diplomat Li Hongzhang leading the Chinese, the Second Convention of Peking was signed on 9 June. Since the foreign powers had agreed by the late 19th century that it was no longer permissible to acquire outright sovereignty over any parcel of Chinese territory, and in keeping with the other territorial cessions China made to Russia, Germany and France that same year, the extension of Hong Kong took the form of a 99-year lease. The lease consisted of the rest of Kowloon south of the Shenzhen River and 230 islands, which became known as the New Territories. The British formally took possession on 16 April 1899.[10]

text: Japanese occupation[edit]

text: In 1941, during the Second World War, the British reached an agreement with the Chinese government under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek that if Japan attacked Hong Kong, the Chinese National Army would attack the Japanese from the rear to relieve pressure on the British garrison. On 8 December, the Battle of Hong Kong began when Japanese air bombers effectively destroyed British air power in one attack.[11] Two days later, the Japanese breached the Gin Drinkers Line in the New Territories. The British commander, Major-General Christopher Maltby, concluded that the island could not be defended for long unless he withdrew his brigade from the mainland. On 18 December, the Japanese crossed Victoria Harbour.[12] By 25 December, organised defence was reduced into pockets of resistance. Maltby recommended a surrender to Governor Sir Mark Young, who accepted his advice to reduce further losses. A day after the invasion, Generalissimo Chiang ordered three corps under General Yu Hanmou to march towards Hong Kong. The plan was to launch a New Year's Day attack on the Japanese in the Canton region, but before the Chinese infantry could attack, the Japanese had broken Hong Kong's defences. The British casualties were 2,232 killed or missing and 2,300 wounded. The Japanese reported 1,996 killed and 6,000 wounded.[13]

text: The Japanese soldiers committed atrocities, including rape, on many locals.[14] The population fell in half, from 1.6 million in 1941 to 750,000 at war's end because of fleeing refugees; they returned in 1945.[15]

text: The Japanese imprisoned the ruling British colonial élite and sought to win over the local merchant gentry by appointments to advisory councils and neighbourhood watch groups. The policy worked well for Japan and produced extensive collaboration from both the élite and the middle class, with far less terror than in other Chinese cities. Hong Kong was transformed into a Japanese colony, with Japanese businesses replacing the British. However, the Japanese Empire had severe logistical difficulties and by 1943 the food supply for Hong Kong was problematic. The overlords became more brutal and corrupt, and the Chinese gentry became disenchanted. With the surrender of Japan, the transition back to British rule was smooth, for on the mainland the Nationalist and Communist forces were preparing for a civil war and ignored Hong Kong. In the long run the occupation strengthened the pre-war social and economic order among the Chinese business community by eliminating some conflicts of interests and reducing the prestige and power of the British.[16]

text: Restoration of British rule[edit]

text: On 14 August 1945, when Japan announced its unconditional surrender, the British formed a naval task group to sail towards Hong Kong.[17] On 1 September, Rear Admiral Cecil Harcourt proclaimed a military administration with himself as its head. He formally accepted the Japanese surrender on 16 September in Government House.[18] Sir Mark Young, upon his return as Governor in early May 1946, pursued political reform known as the "Young Plan", believing that, to counter the Chinese government's determination to recover Hong Kong, it was necessary to give local inhabitants a greater stake in the territory by widening the political franchise to include them.[19]

text: Handover to China[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: The Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed by both the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Premier of the People's Republic of China on 19 December 1984 in Beijing. The Declaration entered into force with the exchange of instruments of ratification on 27 May 1985 and was registered by the People's Republic of China and United Kingdom governments at the United Nations on 12 June 1985. In the Joint Declaration, the People's Republic of China Government stated that it had decided to resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong (including Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories) with effect from 1 July 1997 and the United Kingdom Government declared that it would relinquish Hong Kong to the PRC with effect from 1 July 1997. In the document, the People's Republic of China Government also declared its basic policies regarding Hong Kong.

text: In accordance with the One Country, Two Systems principle agreed between the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China, the socialist system of People's Republic of China would not be practised in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and Hong Kong's previous capitalist system and its way of life would remain unchanged for a period of 50 years. The Joint Declaration provides that these basic policies shall be stipulated in the Hong Kong Basic Law. The ceremony of the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration took place at 18:00, 19 December 1984 at the Western Main Chamber of the Great Hall of the People. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office at first proposed a list of 60–80 Hong Kong people to attend the ceremony. The number was finally extended to 101. The list included Hong Kong government officials, members of the Legislative and Executive Councils, chairmen of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and Standard Chartered Bank, Hong Kong celebrities such as Li Ka-shing, Pao Yue-kong and Fok Ying-tung, and also Martin Lee Chu-ming and Szeto Wah.

text: The handover ceremony was held at the new wing of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on the night of 30 June 1997. The principal British guest was Charles, Prince of Wales who read a farewell speech on behalf of the Queen. The newly appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, the British Foreign Minister, Robin Cook, the departing Hong Kong governor, Chris Patten, Chief of the Defence Staff, Charles Guthrie, Chief of the Defence Staff of the United Kingdom also attended.

text: Representing China were the President of the People's Republic of China, Jiang Zemin, Premier of the People's Republic of China, Li Peng, and Tung Chee-hwa, the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. This event was broadcast on television and radio stations across the world.

text: Government[edit]

text: In January 1841, when Elliot declared Hong Kong's cession to Britain, he proclaimed that the government shall devolve upon the office of Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China. He issued a proclamation with Commodore Bremer to the inhabitants on 1 February, declaring that they "are hereby promised protection, in her majesty's gracious name, against all enemies whatever; and they are further secured in the free exercise of their religious rites, ceremonies, and social customs; and in the enjoyment of their lawful private property and interests."[4] Elliot declared that Chinese natives would be governed under Chinese laws (excluding torture), and that British subjects and foreigners would fall under British law.[4] However, London decided that English law should prevail.[20]

text: The Letters Patent of 5 April 1843 defined the constitutional structure of Hong Kong as a Crown colony and the Royal Instructions detailed how the territory should be governed and organised. The Letters Patent prescribed a Governor as head of government, and both the Executive Council and Legislative Council being advisors to the Governor.[21] The administrative civil service of the colony was led by a Colonial Secretary (later Chief Secretary), who was deputy to the Governor.

text: For almost all of its history under British rule, executive power in Hong Kong was concentrated in the hands of the colony governor, a position appointed by the British crown without any democratic input from Hong Kong citizens. The introduction of elected representatives determined by local elections, even limited to the role of "advisory councils", did not begin until after the 1984 agreements by the British to hand Hong Kong over to China.

text: Cadets[edit]

text: In 1861, Governor Sir Hercules Robinson introduced the Hong Kong Cadetship, which recruited young graduates from Britain to learn Cantonese and written Chinese for two years, before deploying them on a fast track to the Civil Service. Cadet officers gradually formed the backbone of the civil administration. After the Second World War, ethnic Chinese were allowed into the service, followed by women. Cadets were renamed Administrative Officers in the 1950s, and they remained the elite of the Civil Service during British rule.[22]

text: Economy[edit]

text: The stability, security, and predictability of British law and government enabled Hong Kong to flourish as a centre for international trade.[23] In the colony's first decade, the revenue from the opium trade was a key source of government funds. The importance of opium reduced over time, but the colonial government was dependent on its revenues until the Japanese occupation in 1941.[23] Although the largest businesses in the early colony were operated by British, American, and other expatriates, Chinese workers provided the bulk of the manpower to build a new port city.[24]

text: By the late 1980s, many ethnic Chinese people had become major business figures in Hong Kong. Amongst these billionaires was Sir Ka-shing Li, who had become one of the colony's wealthiest people by this time.

text: Opposition, internal dissent and the Cultural Revolution[edit]

text: There was considerable opposition from Chinese nationalists to the British rule due to its implications for Hong Kong self-determination, particularly in the political arena. Early dissent such as the Canton–Hong Kong strike were anti-British and anti-imperialist in nature. Later, shortly after the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic in May 1966, local left-wing activists looked for opportunities to instigate an anti-British struggle.[25] The 1966 riots and the 1967 Leftist riots, essentially spillovers from the Cultural Revolution, were large scale demonstrations against British colonial rule that was fuelled by tensions surrounding labour disputes and dissatisfaction towards the government.[26] During this period, groups such as the Anti-British Struggle Committee were established for the purpose of targeting the British Colonial government. While primarily organised by pro-Communist members and sympathizers from the mainland, the anti-British movement also garnered local support.


document_title: Chymotrypsin

question_text: where does cleavage of the peptide bond by chymotrypsin occur

text: Chymotrypsin

text: Activation[edit]

text: Chymotrypsin is synthesized in the pancreas by protein biosynthesis as a precursor called chymotrypsinogen that is enzymatically inactive. Trypsin activates chymotrypsinogen by cleaving peptidic bonds in positions Arg15 - Ile16 and produces π-Chymotrypsin. In turn, aminic group (-NH3+) of the Ile16 residue interacts with the side chain of Glu194, producing the "oxyanion hole" and the hydrophobic "S1 pocket". Moreover, Chymotrypsin induces its own activation by cleaving in positions 14-15, 146-147 and 148-149, producing α-Chymotrypsin (which is more active and stable than π-Chymotrypsin).[citation needed] The resulting molecule is a three-polypeptide molecule interconnected via disulfide bonds.

text: Mechanism of action and kinetics[edit]

text: In vivo, chymotrypsin is a proteolytic enzyme (Serine protease) acting in the digestive systems of many organisms. It facilitates the cleavage of peptide bonds by a hydrolysis reaction, which despite being thermodynamically favorable occurs extremely slowly in the absence of a catalyst. The main substrates of chymotrypsin are peptide bonds in which the amino acid N-terminal to the bond is a tryptophan, tyrosine, phenylalanine, or leucine. Like many proteases, chymotrypsin will also hydrolyse amide bonds in vitro, a virtue that enabled the use of substrate analogs such as N-acetyl-L-phenylalanine p-nitrophenyl amide for enzyme assays.

text: Chymotrypsin cleaves peptide bonds by attacking the unreactive carbonyl group with a powerful nucleophile, the serine 195 residue located in the active site of the enzyme, which briefly becomes covalently bonded to the substrate, forming an enzyme-substrate intermediate. Along with histidine 57 and aspartic acid 102, this serine residue constitutes the catalytic triad of the active site.

text: These findings rely on inhibition assays and the study of the kinetics of cleavage of the aforementioned substrate, exploiting the fact that the enzyme-substrate intermediate p-nitrophenolate has a yellow colour, enabling us to measure its concentration by measuring light absorbance at 410 nm.

text: It was found that the reaction of chymotrypsin with its substrate takes place in two stages, an initial “burst” phase at the beginning of the reaction and a steady-state phase following Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The mode of action of chymotrypsin explains this as hydrolysis takes place in two steps. First acylation of the substrate to form an acyl-enzyme intermediate and then deacylation in order to return the enzyme to its original state. This occurs via the concerted action of the three amino acid residues in the catalytic triad.[5] Aspartate hydrogen bonds to the N-δ hydrogen of histidine, increasing the pKa of its ε nitrogen and thus making it able to deprotonate serine. It is this deprotonation that allows the serine side chain to act as a nucleophile and bind to the electron-deficient carbonyl carbon of the protein main chain. Ionization of the carbonyl oxygen is stabilized by formation of two hydrogen bonds to adjacent main chain N-hydrogens. This occurs in the oxyanion hole. This forms a tetrahedral adduct and breakage of the peptide bond. An acyl-enzyme intermediate, bound to the serine, is formed, and the newly formed amino terminus of the cleaved protein can dissociate. In the second reaction step, a water molecule is activated by the basic histidine, and acts as a nucleophile. The oxygen of water attacks the carbonyl carbon of the serine-bound acyl group, resulting in formation of a second tetrahedral adduct, regeneration of the serine -OH group, and release of a proton, as well as the protein fragment with the newly formed carboxyl terminus [5]

text: Isozymes[edit]

text:
Chymotrypsinogen B1

Identifiers

Symbol
CTRB1

Entrez
1504

HUGO
2521

OMIM
118890

RefSeq
NM_001906

UniProt
P17538

Other data

EC number
3.4.21.1

Locus
Chr. 16 q23.1

Chymotrypsinogen B2

Identifiers

Symbol
CTRB2

Entrez
440387

HUGO
2522

RefSeq
NM_001025200

UniProt
Q6GPI1

Other data

EC number
3.4.21.1

Locus
Chr. 16 q22.3

Chymotrypsin C (caldecrin)

Identifiers

Symbol
CTRC

Entrez
11330

HUGO
2523

OMIM
601405

RefSeq
NM_007272

UniProt
Q99895

Other data

EC number
3.4.21.2

Locus
Chr. 1 p36.21


document_title: Great Pyramid of Giza

question_text: how long did it take to build the great pyramid of egypt

text: Great Pyramid of Giza

text: History and description

text: Egyptologists believe the pyramid was built as a tomb for the Fourth Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu (often Hellenized as "Cheops") and was constructed over a 20-year period. Khufu's vizier, Hemiunu (also called Hemon) is believed by some to be the architect of the Great Pyramid.[2] It is thought that, at construction, the Great Pyramid was originally 280 Egyptian Royal cubits tall (146.5 metres (480.6 ft)), but with erosion and absence of its pyramidion, its present height is 138.8 metres (455.4 ft). Each base side was 440 cubits, 230.4 metres (755.9 ft) long. The mass of the pyramid is estimated at 5.9 million tonnes. The volume, including an internal hillock, is roughly 2,500,000 cubic metres (88,000,000 cu ft).[3]

text: Based on these estimates, building the pyramid in 20 years would involve installing approximately 800 tonnes of stone every day. Additionally, since it consists of an estimated 2.3 million blocks, completing the building in 20 years would involve moving an average of more than 12 of the blocks into place each hour, day and night. The first precision measurements of the pyramid were made by Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie in 1880–82 and published as The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh.[4] Almost all reports are based on his measurements. Many of the casing-stones and inner chamber blocks of the Great Pyramid fit together with extremely high precision. Based on measurements taken on the north-eastern casing stones, the mean opening of the joints is only 0.5 millimetre wide (1/50 of an inch).[5]

text: The pyramid remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years,[6] unsurpassed until the 160-metre-tall (520 ft) spire of Lincoln Cathedral was completed c. 1300. The accuracy of the pyramid's workmanship is such that the four sides of the base have an average error of only 58 millimetres in length.[7] The base is horizontal and flat to within ±15 mm (0.6 in).[8] The sides of the square base are closely aligned to the four cardinal compass points (within four minutes of arc)[9] based on true north, not magnetic north,[10] and the finished base was squared to a mean corner error of only 12 seconds of arc.[11]

text: The completed design dimensions, as suggested by Petrie's survey and subsequent studies, are estimated to have originally been 280 Egyptian Royal cubits high by 440 cubits long at each of the four sides of its base. The ratio of the perimeter to height of 1760/280 Egyptian Royal cubits equates to 2π to an accuracy of better than 0.05% (corresponding to the well-known approximation of π as 22/7). Some Egyptologists consider this to have been the result of deliberate design proportion. Verner wrote, "We can conclude that although the ancient Egyptians could not precisely define the value of π, in practice they used it".[12] Petrie, author of Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh concluded: "but these relations of areas and of circular ratio are so systematic that we should grant that they were in the builder's design".[13] Others have argued that the Ancient Egyptians had no concept of pi and would not have thought to encode it in their monuments. They believe that the observed pyramid slope may be based on a simple seked slope choice alone, with no regard to the overall size and proportions of the finished building.[14] In 2013, rolls of papyrus called the Diary of Merer were discovered written by some of those who delivered limestone and other construction materials from Tora to Giza.[15]

text: Materials

text: The Great Pyramid consists of an estimated 2.3 million blocks which most believe to have been transported from nearby quarries. The Tura limestone used for the casing was quarried across the river. The largest granite stones in the pyramid, found in the "King's" chamber, weigh 25 to 80 tonnes and were transported from Aswan, more than 800 km (500 mi) away. Traditionally,[clarification needed] ancient Egyptians cut stone blocks by hammering into them wooden wedges, which were then soaked with water. As the water was absorbed, the wedges expanded, causing the rock to crack. Once they were cut, they were carried by boat either up or down the Nile River to the pyramid.[16] It is estimated that 5.5 million tonnes of limestone, 8,000 tonnes of granite (imported from Aswan), and 500,000 tonnes of mortar were used in the construction of the Great Pyramid.[17]

text: Casing stones

text: At completion, the Great Pyramid was surfaced by white "casing stones" – slant-faced, but flat-topped, blocks of highly polished white limestone. These were carefully cut to what is approximately a face slope with a seked of 5½ palms to give the required dimensions. Visibly, all that remains is the underlying stepped core structure seen today. In AD 1303, a massive earthquake loosened many of the outer casing stones, which were then carted away by Bahri Sultan An-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din al-Hasan in 1356 to build mosques and fortresses in nearby Cairo. Many more casing stones were removed from the great pyramids by Muhammad Ali Pasha in the early 19th century to build the upper portion of his Alabaster Mosque in Cairo, not far from Giza. These limestone casings can still be seen as parts of these structures. Later explorers reported massive piles of rubble at the base of the pyramids left over from the continuing collapse of the casing stones, which were subsequently cleared away during continuing excavations of the site.

text: Nevertheless, a few of the casing stones from the lowest course can be seen to this day in situ around the base of the Great Pyramid, and display the same workmanship and precision that has been reported for centuries. Petrie also found a different orientation in the core and in the casing measuring 193 centimetres ± 25 centimetres. He suggested a redetermination of north was made after the construction of the core, but a mistake was made, and the casing was built with a different orientation.[4] Petrie related the precision of the casing stones as to being "equal to opticians' work of the present day, but on a scale of acres" and "to place such stones in exact contact would be careful work; but to do so with cement in the joints seems almost impossible".[19] It has been suggested it was the mortar (Petrie's "cement") that made this seemingly impossible task possible, providing a level bed, which enabled the masons to set the stones exactly.[20][21]

text: Construction theories

text: Many alternative, often contradictory, theories have been proposed regarding the pyramid's construction techniques.[22] Many disagree on whether the blocks were dragged, lifted, or even rolled into place. The Greeks believed that slave labour was used, but modern discoveries made at nearby workers' camps associated with construction at Giza suggest that it was built instead by tens of thousands of skilled workers. Verner posited that the labour was organized into a hierarchy, consisting of two gangs of 100,000 men, divided into five zaa or phyle of 20,000 men each, which may have been further divided according to the skills of the workers.[23]

text: One mystery of the pyramid's construction is its planning. John Romer suggests that they used the same method that had been used for earlier and later constructions, laying out parts of the plan on the ground at a 1-to-1 scale. He writes that "such a working diagram would also serve to generate the architecture of the pyramid with precision unmatched by any other means".[24] He also argues for a 14-year time-span for its construction.[25] A modern construction management study, in association with Mark Lehner and other Egyptologists, estimated that the total project required an average workforce of about 14,500 people and a peak workforce of roughly 40,000. Without the use of pulleys, wheels, or iron tools, they used critical path analysis methods, which suggest that the Great Pyramid was completed from start to finish in approximately 10 years.[26]

text: Interior

text: The original entrance to the Great Pyramid is on the north, 17 metres (56 ft) vertically above ground level and 7.29 metres (23.9 ft) east of the centre line of the pyramid. From this original entrance, there is a Descending Passage 0.96 metres (3.1 ft) high and 1.04 metres (3.4 ft) wide, which goes down at an angle of 26° 31'23" through the masonry of the pyramid and then into the bedrock beneath it. After 105.23 metres (345.2 ft), the passage becomes level and continues for an additional 8.84 metres (29.0 ft) to the lower Chamber, which appears not to have been finished. There is a continuation of the horizontal passage in the south wall of the lower chamber; there is also a pit dug in the floor of the chamber. Some Egyptologists suggest that this Lower Chamber was intended to be the original burial chamber, but Pharaoh Khufu later changed his mind and wanted it to be higher up in the pyramid.[27]

text: 28.2 metres (93 ft) from the entrance is a square hole in the roof of the Descending Passage. Originally concealed with a slab of stone, this is the beginning of the Ascending Passage. The Ascending Passage is 39.3 metres (129 ft) long, as wide and high as the Descending Passage and slopes up at almost precisely the same angle to reach the Grand Gallery. The lower end of the Ascending Passage is closed by three huge blocks of granite, each about 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long. One must use the Robbers' Tunnel (see below) to access the Ascending Passage. At the start of the Grand Gallery on the right-hand side there is a hole cut in the wall. This is the start of a vertical shaft which follows an irregular path through the masonry of the pyramid to join the Descending Passage. Also at the start of the Grand Gallery there is the Horizontal Passage leading to the "Queen's Chamber". The passage is 1.1m (3'8") high for most of its length, but near the chamber there is a step in the floor, after which the passage is 1.73 metres (5.7 ft) high.

text: Queen's Chamber

text: The "Queen's Chamber"[1] is exactly halfway between the north and south faces of the pyramid and measures 5.75 metres (18.9 ft) north to south, 5.23 metres (17.2 ft) east to west, and has a pointed roof with an apex 6.23 metres (20.4 ft) above the floor. At the eastern end of the chamber there is a niche 4.67 metres (15.3 ft) high. The original depth of the niche was 1.04 metres (3.4 ft), but has since been deepened by treasure hunters.[28]

text: In the north and south walls of the Queen's Chamber there are shafts, which, unlike those in the King's Chamber that immediately slope upwards (see below), are horizontal for around 2 m (6.6 ft) before sloping upwards. The horizontal distance was cut in 1872 by a British engineer, Waynman Dixon, who believed a shaft similar to those in the King's Chamber must also exist. He was proved right, but because the shafts are not connected to the outer faces of the pyramid or the Queen's Chamber, their purpose is unknown. At the end of one of his shafts, Dixon discovered a ball of black diorite (a type of rock) and a bronze implement of unknown purpose. Both objects are currently in the British Museum.[29]

text: The shafts in the Queen's Chamber were explored in 1993 by the German engineer Rudolf Gantenbrink using a crawler robot he designed, Upuaut 2. After a climb of 65 m (213 ft),[30] he discovered that one of the shafts was blocked by limestone "doors" with two eroded copper "handles". Some years later the National Geographic Society created a similar robot which, in September 2002, drilled a small hole in the southern door, only to find another door behind it.[31] The northern passage, which was difficult to navigate because of twists and turns, was also found to be blocked by a door.[32]

text: Research continued in 2011 with the Djedi Project. Realizing the problem was that the National Geographic Society's camera was only able to see straight ahead of it, they instead used a fibre-optic "micro snake camera" that could see around corners. With this they were able to penetrate the first door of the southern shaft through the hole drilled in 2002, and view all the sides of the small chamber behind it. They discovered hieroglyphs written in red paint. They were also able to scrutinize the inside of the two copper "handles" embedded in the door, and they now believe them to be for decorative purposes. They also found the reverse side of the "door" to be finished and polished, which suggests that it was not put there just to block the shaft from debris, but rather for a more specific reason.[33]

text: Grand Gallery

text: The Grand Gallery continues the slope of the Ascending Passage, but is 8.6 metres (28 ft) high and 46.68 metres (153.1 ft) long. At the base it is 2.06 metres (6.8 ft) wide, but after 2.29 metres (7.5 ft) the blocks of stone in the walls are corbelled inwards by 7.6 centimetres (3.0 in) on each side. There are seven of these steps, so, at the top, the Grand Gallery is only 1.04 metres (3.4 ft) wide. It is roofed by slabs of stone laid at a slightly steeper angle than the floor of the gallery, so that each stone fits into a slot cut in the top of the gallery like the teeth of a ratchet. The purpose was to have each block supported by the wall of the Gallery, rather than resting on the block beneath it, in order to prevent cumulative pressure.[34]

text: At the upper end of the Gallery on the right-hand side there is a hole near the roof that opens into a short tunnel by which access can be gained to the lowest of the Relieving Chambers. The other Relieving Chambers were discovered in 1837–1838 by Colonel Howard Vyse and J. S. Perring, who dug tunnels upwards using blasting powder.

text: The floor of the Grand Gallery consists of a shelf or step on either side, 51 centimetres (20 in) wide, leaving a lower ramp 1.04 metres (3.4 ft) wide between them. In the shelves there are 54 slots, 27 on each side matched by vertical and horizontal slots in the walls of the Gallery. These form a cross shape that rises out of the slot in the shelf. The purpose of these slots is not known, but the central gutter in the floor of the Gallery, which is the same width as the Ascending Passage, has led to speculation that the blocking stones were stored in the Grand Gallery and the slots held wooden beams to restrain them from sliding down the passage.[35] This, in turn, has led to the proposal that originally many more than 3 blocking stones were intended, to completely fill the Ascending Passage.[citation needed]

text: At the top of the Grand Gallery, there is a step giving onto a horizontal passage some metres long and approximately 1.02 metres (3.3 ft) in height and width, in which can be detected four slots, three of which were probably intended to hold granite portcullises. Fragments of granite found by Petrie in the Descending Passage may have come from these now-vanished doors.

text: In 2017, scientists from the Scan Pyramids Project discovered a large cavity above the Grand Gallery, using muon radiography that can detect cosmic rays. Its length is at least 30 metres (98 ft) and its cross-section is similar to that of the Grand Gallery. It was detected using three different technologies: nuclear emulsion films, scintillator hodoscopes, and gas detectors.[36][37] The purpose of the cavity is not known and it is not accessible but according to Zahi Hawass it may have been a gap used in the construction of the Grand Gallery.[38] The Japanese research team disputes this, however, saying that the huge void is completely different from the construction spaces previously identified.[39]

text: King's Chamber

text: The "King's Chamber"[1] is 20 Egyptian Royal cubits or 10.47 metres (34.4 ft) from east to west and 10 cubits or 5.234 metres (17.17 ft) north to south. It has a flat roof 11 cubits and 5 digits or 5.852 metres (19 feet 2 inch) above the floor. 0.91 m (3.0 ft) above the floor there are two narrow shafts in the north and south walls (one is now filled by an extractor fan in an attempt to circulate air inside the pyramid). The purpose of these shafts is not clear: they appear to be aligned towards stars or areas of the northern and southern skies, yet one of them follows a dog-leg course through the masonry, indicating no intention to directly sight stars through them. They were long believed by Egyptologists to be "air shafts" for ventilation, but this idea has now been widely abandoned in favour of the shafts serving a ritualistic purpose associated with the ascension of the king’s spirit to the heavens.[40]

text: The King's Chamber is entirely faced with granite. Above the roof, which is formed of nine slabs of stone weighing in total about 400 tons, are five compartments known as Relieving Chambers. The first four, like the King's Chamber, have flat roofs formed by the floor of the chamber above, but the final chamber has a pointed roof. Vyse suspected the presence of upper chambers when he found that he could push a long reed through a crack in the ceiling of the first chamber. From lower to upper, the chambers are known as "Davison's Chamber", "Wellington's Chamber", "Nelson's Chamber", "Lady Arbuthnot's Chamber", and "Campbell's Chamber". It is believed that the compartments were intended to safeguard the King's Chamber from the possibility of a roof collapsing under the weight of stone above the Chamber. As the chambers were not intended to be seen, they were not finished in any way and a few of the stones still retain masons' marks painted on them. One of the stones in Campbell's Chamber bears a mark, apparently the name of a work gang.[41][42]

text: The only object in the King's Chamber is a rectangular granite sarcophagus, one corner of which is broken. The sarcophagus is slightly larger than the Ascending Passage, which indicates that it must have been placed in the Chamber before the roof was put in place. Unlike the fine masonry of the walls of the Chamber, the sarcophagus is roughly finished, with saw-marks visible in several places. This is in contrast with the finely finished and decorated sarcophagi found in other pyramids of the same period. Petrie suggested that such a sarcophagus was intended but was lost in the river on the way north from Aswan and a hurriedly made replacement was used instead.

text: Modern entrance

text: Today tourists enter the Great Pyramid via the Robbers' Tunnel, a tunnel purportedly created around AD 820 by Caliph al-Ma'mun's workmen using a battering ram.[43][44] The tunnel is cut straight through the masonry of the pyramid for approximately 27 metres (89 ft), then turns sharply left to encounter the blocking stones in the Ascending Passage. It is believed that their efforts dislodged the stone fitted in the ceiling of the Descending Passage to hide the entrance to the Ascending Passage and it was the noise of that stone falling and then sliding down the Descending Passage, which alerted them to the need to turn left. Unable to remove these stones, however, the workmen tunnelled up beside them through the softer limestone of the Pyramid until they reached the Ascending Passage. It is possible to enter the Descending Passage from this point, but access is usually forbidden.[45]

text: Pyramid complex

text: The Great Pyramid is surrounded by a complex of several buildings including small pyramids. The Pyramid Temple, which stood on the east side of the pyramid and measured 52.2 metres (171 ft) north to south and 40 metres (130 ft) east to west, has almost entirely disappeared apart from the black basalt paving. There are only a few remnants of the causeway which linked the pyramid with the valley and the Valley Temple. The Valley Temple is buried beneath the village of Nazlet el-Samman; basalt paving and limestone walls have been found but the site has not been excavated.[46][47] The basalt blocks show "clear evidence" of having been cut with some kind of saw with an estimated cutting blade of 15 feet (4.6 m) in length, capable of cutting at a rate of 1.5 inches (38 mm) per minute. John Romer suggests that this "super saw" may have had copper teeth and weighed up to 300 pounds (140 kg). He theorizes that such a saw could have been attached to a wooden trestle and possibly used in conjunction with vegetable oil, cutting sand, emery or pounded quartz to cut the blocks, which would have required the labour of at least a dozen men to operate it.[48]

text: On the south side are the subsidiary pyramids, popularly known as the Queens' Pyramids. Three remain standing to nearly full height but the fourth was so ruined that its existence was not suspected until the recent discovery of the first course of stones and the remains of the capstone. Hidden beneath the paving around the pyramid was the tomb of Queen Hetepheres I, sister-wife of Sneferu and mother of Khufu. Discovered by accident by the Reisner expedition, the burial was intact, though the carefully sealed coffin proved to be empty.

text: The Giza pyramid complex, which includes among other structures the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, is surrounded by a cyclopean stone wall, the Wall of the Crow. Mark Lehner has discovered a worker's town outside of the wall, otherwise known as "The Lost City", dated by pottery styles, seal impressions, and stratigraphy to have been constructed and occupied sometime during the reigns of Khafre (2520–2494 BC) and Menkaure (2490–2472 BC).[49][50] Recent discoveries by Mark Lehner and his team at the town and nearby, including what appears to have been a thriving port, suggest the town and associated living quarters consisting of barracks called "galleries" may not have been for the pyramid workers after all, but rather for the soldiers and sailors who utilized the port. In light of this new discovery, as to where then the pyramid workers may have lived, Lehner now suggests the alternative possibility they may have camped on the ramps he believes were used to construct the pyramids or possibly at nearby quarries.[51]

text: In the early 1970s, the Australian archaeologist Karl Kromer excavated a mound in the South Field of the plateau. This mound contained artefacts including mudbrick seals of Khufu, which he identified with an artisans' settlement.[52] Mudbrick buildings just south of Khufu's Valley Temple contained mud sealings of Khufu and have been suggested to be a settlement serving the cult of Khufu after his death.[53] A worker's cemetery used at least between Khufu's reign and the end of the Fifth Dynasty was discovered south of the Wall of the Crow by Zahi Hawass in 1990.[54]

text: Boats

text: There are three boat-shaped pits around the pyramid, of a size and shape to have held complete boats, though so shallow that any superstructure, if there ever was one, must have been removed or disassembled. In May 1954, the Egyptian archaeologist Kamal el-Mallakh discovered a fourth pit, a long, narrow rectangle, still covered with slabs of stone weighing up to 15 tons. Inside were 1,224 pieces of wood, the longest 23 metres (75 ft) long, the shortest 10 centimetres (0.33 ft). These were entrusted to a boat builder, Haj Ahmed Yusuf, who worked out how the pieces fit together. The entire process, including conservation and straightening of the warped wood, took fourteen years.

text: The result is a cedar-wood boat 43.6 metres (143 ft) long, its timbers held together by ropes, which is currently housed in a special boat-shaped, air-conditioned museum beside the pyramid. During construction of this museum, which stands above the boat pit, a second sealed boat pit was discovered. It was deliberately left unopened until 2011 when excavation began on the boat.[55]

text: Looting

text: Although succeeding pyramids were smaller, pyramid-building continued until the end of the Middle Kingdom. However, as authors Brier and Hobbs claim, "all the pyramids were robbed" by the New Kingdom, when the construction of royal tombs in a desert valley, now known as the Valley of the Kings, began.[56][57] Joyce Tyldesley states that the Great Pyramid itself "is known to have been opened and emptied by the Middle Kingdom", before the Arab caliph Abdullah al-Mamun entered the pyramid around AD 820.[43]

text: I. E. S. Edwards discusses Strabo's mention that the pyramid "a little way up one side has a stone that may be taken out, which being raised up there is a sloping passage to the foundations". Edwards suggested that the pyramid was entered by robbers after the end of the Old Kingdom and sealed and then reopened more than once until Strabo's door was added. He adds: "If this highly speculative surmise be correct, it is also necessary to assume either that the existence of the door was forgotten or that the entrance was again blocked with facing stones", in order to explain why al-Ma'mun could not find the entrance.[58]

text: He also discusses a story told by Herodotus. Herodotus visited Egypt in the 5th century BC and recounts a story that he was told concerning vaults under the pyramid built on an island where the body of Cheops lies. Edwards notes that the pyramid had "almost certainly been opened and its contents plundered long before the time of Herodotus" and that it might have been closed again during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt when other monuments were restored. He suggests that the story told to Herodotus could have been the result of almost two centuries of telling and retelling by Pyramid guides.[59]


document_title: NBC Sports Northwest

question_text: what channel is nbc sports northwest on directv

text: NBC Sports Northwest

text: History[edit]

text: After the Trail Blazers dismantled their pay-per-view network BlazerVision in 2001, the team reached a broadcast deal with FSN Northwest, where the team's game telecasts aired until the 2006–07 season. Fox Sports Networks did not renew its contract with the Blazers at the conclusion of the 2006–07 season; as a result, Comcast formed a new regional sports network, Comcast SportsNet Northwest, to assume the broadcast rights to the team.[3] The network launched on November 1, 2007, coinciding with the start of the 2007–08 Trail Blazers regular season.

text: With Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011, Comcast SportsNet was also integrated into the new NBC Sports Group unit, culminating with the addition of the peacock logo and an updated graphics package to mirror that of its parent network. The updated graphics were implemented on CSN's live game coverage and all studio shows; SportsNet Central was an exception to this initially, but would ultimately implement a new on-air look of its own and on April 14, 2014, in conjunction with that change, the program switched to the updated graphics package introduced three years earlier.

text: Comcast SportsNet Northwest became CSN Northwest in 2016.[4] On October 2, 2017, CSN Northwest was renamed as NBC Sports Northwest, as part of a larger rebranding of the Comcast SportsNet networks under the NBC Sports brand.[5]

text: Programming[edit]

text: Portland Trail Blazers[edit]

text: NBC Sports Northwest holds the exclusive regional television rights to the Portland Trail Blazers, carrying the majority of the NBA franchise's regular season, pre-season and early-round playoff games; the network also produces expanded pre-game and post-game analysis (under the Rip City Live and Talking Ball banners), and carries select NBA Summer League games and season team previews.[6] During the network's inaugural season in 2007–08, Comcast SportsNet Northwest carried at least 55 Trail Blazers regular season games. Combined with the Trail Blazers' over-the-air coverage, 81 of the team's regular season games that year were shown on television, the largest number of telecasts in the team's history. The new network aired 28 of the team's 36 home game telecasts in high definition.[3] All Trail Blazers telecasts are produced in-house by the team, and some were previously syndicated to over-the-air stations in the team's designated market region.[7]

text: On July 6, 2016, the team extended its contract through the 2020–2021 season and made NBC Sports Northwest the exclusive broadcaster of all regional Trail Blazers games beginning in the 2017–18 season.[7]

text: Since the 2008–09 season, due to the Seattle SuperSonics' relocation to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 2008 to become the Oklahoma City Thunder, Trail Blazers games are also available in the Seattle region.

text: University of Oregon Ducks[edit]

text: The Oregon Sports Network (OSN) – a sports syndication service operated by the University of Oregon to broadcast Oregon Ducks events – was seeking to expand its coverage and availability, and negotiated a contract with Comcast SportsNet Northwest around the time of its launch to air many of the university's football and basketball games that were not scheduled to broadcast on a national network or on FSN. In 2008, Comcast SportsNet Northwest became the primary broadcaster of OSN-produced telecasts, with the games being simulcast on Fox affiliate KLSR-TV (channel 34) in Eugene. Comcast SportsNet Northwest did not carry any Ducks football games during the 2012 season. In 2015, it ran the weekly Talking Ducks program.[6]

text: Other sports events[edit]

text: NBC Sports Northwest also provides coverage of a variety of other regional sports events. The network broadcasts NHL games involving the Vancouver Canucks, carrying 25 games per season that are simulcast from Sportsnet Pacific. Through its relationships with other Comcast-owned channels, NBC Sports Northwest also broadcasts 35 regular-season games from various other NHL teams. In 2011, Comcast SportsNet Northwest announced that it would provide a reduced schedule of NHL coverage focusing solely on the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks; the network announced later that year that it would no longer carry any Sharks telecasts. Additionally, the network also carries select home games from the Portland Winterhawks Western Hockey League franchise.[6]

text: In April 2009, Comcast SportsNet Northwest began carrying select regular season games from the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League. The telecasts audio simulcasts of play-by-play commentary called by Rainiers radio announcer Mike Curto. On March 12, 2014, the network announced that it would carry all but one home game from the Portland Thunder during the Arena Football League team's inaugural season.[8]

text: Other programming[edit]

text: The network produces SportsNet Central, a daily morning news program providing game highlights and sports headlines. The network will provide fans with multimedia sports content online and through video on demand.[9] Along with the network's Trail Blazers game coverage, the network also airs a number of other NBA-related specials focused on the NBA Draft, NBA All-Star Game and the NBA Playoffs.

text: NBC Sports Northwest also airs video simulcasts of three weekday sports radio programs: it carries the Chuck Powell Show KJR (950 AM) talk program from Seattle live each weekday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and The FAN from KFXX (1080 AM) in Portland from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.[6]

text: Availability[edit]

text: As of September 2013[update], Comcast SportsNet Northwest is available on Comcast (in Oregon and Washington), Ashland TV, Beaver Creek Telcom, BendBroadband,[10] Canby Telcom,[11] Charter Communications (in Oregon and Washington), Country Cablevision, Frontier Communications (in Oregon and Washington), MINET (in Monmouth, Oregon),[12] Monroe Telephone, Reliance Connects, Scio Cablevision, Verizon FiOS (in the Portland and Seattle markets) and Wave Broadband.[13][14]

text: Carriage controversies[edit]

text: As of August 2013, the network is not available on satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network, which both maintain that Comcast has negotiated in bad faith during carriage discussions engaged between the parties. Particularly, Comcast demands the network be carried on more widely subscribed basic programming tiers,[15] while contradictorily arguing that sports networks not owned by the company be carried only on a dedicated sports tier.[16] The Trail Blazers are said to be frustrated and disappointed with Comcast's conduct over their contract with CSN Northwest in this regard.[17]

text: The Consumer Protection Committee of the Oregon House of Representatives held a hearing on February 24, 2010 to attempt to arbitrate a carriage deal between the network, DirecTV, Dish Network and Charter Communications. No representatives for DirecTV, Dish Network or the Trail Blazers attended the hearing.[18] On June 21, the Trail Blazers asked the Federal Communications Commission to require Comcast to make the team's games available to competing multichannel video programming distributors such as DirecTV and Dish Network.[19]

text: Oregon-based cable provider Canby Telcom objected to a non-negotiable subscribe fee increase that would have increased the network's annual subscriber rate to over $32 in 2012; as a result, Canby announced plans to stop carrying Comcast SportsNet Northwest.[20] Keith Galitz, president of Canby Telcom, stated "That's just too steep an increase for us, and it's not in line with inflation or normal escalation of prices in the industry."[20] Canby Telcom has accused Comcast of raising rates way beyond the rate of inflation and industry-wide increases.[20] Clear Creek Television, which carried the Trail Blazers for 15 years, was rebuffed in its attempts to negotiate the above-market rate Comcast was pushing for.[20]

text: Comcast sent some of its senior staff members to Oregon after a member of the Sports Fan Coalition testified before the Oregon State Legislature on the provider's denial of access to the network on DirecTV, Dish and other cable providers. Brian Frederick, executive director of the advocacy group, stated that "Comcast clearly sees the public perception of its treatment of sports fans as a potential Achilles heel in efforts to acquire NBCU".[21] In a November 7, 2010 article in The Oregonian, Blazers chief executive officer Larry Miller continued to express frustration about the lack of availability for the team's CSN-televised games.[22]

text: Related services[edit]

text: NBC Sports Northwest HD[edit]

text: NBC Sports Northwest HD is a 1080i high-definition simulcast feed of NBC Sports Northwest. CSN Northwest broadcast 28 Portland Trail Blazers home games in HD in the 2007–08 season;[3] that number of high-definition game telecasts shown on the network increased to 32 for the 2008–09 season. Former Blazers broadcaster Mike Barrett announced during the network's game telecast against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 13, 2009, that CSN Northwest would broadcast all Trail Blazers games in HD from then onward.

text: NBC Sports Northwest HD is available on Comcast throughout Oregon and southwestern Washington; Comcast did not carry the high-definition feed in most of the remainder of Washington State (specifically its systems in the Seattle-Tacoma and Spokane markets) until early 2013, when it began to be carried on Channel 617. CSN Northwest HD is only available on Comcast's digital preferred package in western and eastern Washington.


document_title: List of largest companies by revenue

question_text: which is the world's largest company in terms of revenue

question_tokens: which is the world 's largest company in terms of revenue

text: List of largest companies by revenue

text: List of largest companies by revenue

text: State-owned enterprise[nb 1]

text:
Rank
Name
Industry
Revenue (USD millions)
Revenue growth
Employees
Country
Headquarters
CEO
Ref

1
Walmart
General merchandisers
$485,873
 6999800000000000000♠ 0.8%
2,300,000

Bentonville, Arkansas
Doug McMillon
[9]

2
State Grid
Utilities
$315,199
 2999560000000099999♠ 4.4%
926,067

Beijing
Shu Yinbiao
[2]

3
Sinopec Group
Petroleum refining
$267,518
 2999090000000000000♠ 9.1%
713,288

Beijing
Wang Yupu
[3]

4
China National Petroleum
Petroleum refining
$262,573
 2998877000000000000♠ 12.3%
1,512,048

Beijing
Wang Yilin
[4]

5
Toyota
Motor vehicles and parts
$254,694
 7000770000000000000♠ 7.7%
364,445

Toyota, Aichi
Akio Toyoda
[10]

6
Volkswagen Group
Automotive
$240,264
 7000150000000000000♠ 1.5%
626,715

Wolfsburg
Matthias Müller
[11]

7
Royal Dutch Shell
Petroleum refining
$240,033
 2998882000000000000♠ 11.8%
89,000

The Hague
Ben van Beurden
[12]

8
Berkshire Hathaway
Conglomerate
$223,604
 7000610000000000000♠ 6.1%
367,700

Omaha, Nebraska
Warren Buffett
[13]

9
Apple
Computers, consumer electronics, and entertainment
$215,639
 2999230000000099999♠ 7.7%
116,000

Cupertino, California
Tim Cook
[14]

10
Exxon Mobil
Petroleum refining
$205,004
 2998833000000000000♠ 16.7%
72,700

Irving, Texas
Darren Woods
[15]

11
McKesson
Healthcare
$198,533
 7000310000000000000♠ 3.1%
64,500

San Francisco
John Hammergren
[16]

12
BP
Petroleum refining
$186,606
 2998826009999900000♠ 17.4%
74,500

London
Bob Dudley
[17]

13
United Health
Healthcare
$184,840
 7001177000000000000♠ 17.7%
230,000

Minnetonka, Minnesota
Stephen Hemsley
[18]

14
CVS Health
Healthcare
$177,526
 7001158000000000000♠ 15.8%
204,000

Woonsocket, Rhode Island
Larry Merlo
[19]

15
Samsung Electronics
Electronics and electrical equipment
$173,957
 2999800000000000000♠ 2.0%
325,000

Suwon
Oh-Hyun Kwon
[20]

16
Glencore
Mining and crude oil production
$173,883
 7000200000000000000♠ 2.0%
93,123

Baar
Ivan Glasenberg
[21]

17
Daimler
Automotive
$169,483
 7000220000000000000♠ 2.2%
282,488

Stuttgart
Dieter Zetsche
[22]

18
General Motors
Automotive
$166,380
 7000920000000099999♠ 9.2%
225,000

Detroit
Mary Barra
[23]

19
AT&T
Telecommunications
$163,786
 7001116000000000000♠ 11.6%
268,540

Dallas
Randall L. Stephenson
[24]

20
Exor
Diversified financials
$154,894
 7000150000000000000♠ 1.5%
302,562

Turin
John Elkann
[25]

21
Ford Motor Company
Automotive
$151,800
 7000150000000000000♠ 1.5%
201,000

Dearborn, Michigan
James Hackett
[26]

22
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China
Financial services
$147,675
 7001117000000000000♠ 11.7%
461,749

Beijing
Yi Huiman
[5]

23
AmerisourceBergen
Pharmaceuticals
$146,850
 7000800000000000000♠ 8.0%
18,500

Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania
Steven H. Collis
[27]

24
China Construction Engineering
Construction
$144,505
 7000310000000000000♠ 3.1%
263,915

Beijing
Guan Qing
[6]

25
AXA
Financial services
$143,722
 7001112000000000000♠ 11.2%
97,707

Paris
Thomas Buberl
[28]

26
Amazon
Internet
$135,987
 7001271000000000000♠ 27.1%
341,400

Seattle
Jeff Bezos
[29]

27
Foxconn
Electronics
$135,129
 2999570000000000000♠ 4.3%
724,772

New Taipei
Terry Gou
[30]

28
China Construction Bank
Financial services
$135,093
 2999130000000000000♠ 8.7%
362,482

Beijing
Wang Zuji
[7]

29
Honda
Automotive
$129,198
 7000620000000000000♠ 6.2%
211,915

Tokyo
Takahiro Hachigo
[31]

30
Total
Oil and gas
$127,925
 2998892000000000000♠ 10.8%
102,168

Courbevoie
Patrick Pouyanné
[32]

31
General Electric
Conglomerate
$126,661
 2999019999999999999♠ 9.8%
295,000

Boston
John Flannery
[33]

32
Verizon
Telecommunications
$125,980
 2999570000000000000♠ 4.3%
160,900

New York City
Lowell McAdam
[34]

33
Japan Post
Conglomerate
$122,990
 7000360000000000000♠ 3.6%
248,384

Tokyo
Masatsugu Nagato
[8]

34
Allianz
Financial services
$122,196
 3000400000000000000♠ 0.6%
140,253

Munich
Oliver Bäte
[35]

35
Cardinal Health
Pharmaceuticals
$121,546
 7001185000000000000♠ 18.5%
37,300

Dublin, Ohio
George S. Barrett
[36]