document_title: Urinary bladder

question_text: where is urinary bladder located in human body

text: Urinary bladder

text: Structure[edit]

text: In humans the bladder is a hollow muscular organ situated at the base of the pelvis. Urine collects in the bladder, fed from the two ureters that connect the bladder with the kidneys. Urine leaves the bladder via the urethra, a single muscular tube which ends in an opening – the urinary meatus, where it exits the body.

text: Anatomists divide the bladder into:.[3]

text:
a broad fundus
a body
an apex
a neck

text: The apex (prev.vertex) is directed forward toward the upper part of the pubic symphysis, and from there the median umbilical ligament continues upward on the back of the anterior abdominal wall to the umbilicus. The peritoneum is carried by it from the apex on to the abdominal wall to form the middle umbilical fold.

text: The neck of the bladder is the area at the base of the trigone that surrounds the internal urethral orifice that leads to the urethra.[3] In males the neck of the urinary bladder is adjacent to the prostate gland.

text: The three openings, two ureteric orifices, and the internal urethral orifice mark the triangular area called the trigone of the bladder. These openings have mucosal flaps in front of them that act as valves in preventing the backflow of urine into the ureters,[4] known as vesicoureteral reflux. Between the two ureteric openings is a raised area of tissue called the interureteric crest.[3] This makes the upper boundary of the trigone. The trigone is a smooth-muscle area that forms the floor of the bladder above the urethra.[5] It is an area of smooth tissue for the easy flow of urine into and from this part of the bladder - in contrast to the irregular surface formed by the rugae.

text: In men, the prostate gland lies outside the opening for the urethra. The middle lobe of the prostate causes an elevation in the mucous membrane behind the internal urethral orifice called the uvula of urinary bladder. The uvula can enlarge when the prostate becomes enlarged.

text: The bladder is situated below the peritoneal cavity near the pelvic floor and behind the pubic symphysis. In men, it lies in front of the rectum, separated by the recto-vesical pouch, and is supported by fibres of the levator ani and of the prostate gland. In women, it lies in front of the uterus, separated by the vesico-uterine pouch, and is supported by the elevator ani and the upper part of the vagina. The wall of the urinary bladder is normally 3–5 mm thick.[6] When well distended, the wall is normally less than 3 mm.[6]

text: The inner walls have a series of ridges, thick mucosal folds known as rugae that allow for the expansion of the bladder.

text: The Latin phrase for "urinary bladder" is vesica urinaria, and the term vesical or prefix vesico - appear in connection with associated structures such as vesical veins. The modern Latin word for "bladder" - cystis - appears in associated terms such as cystitis (inflammation of the bladder).

text: Microanatomy[edit]

text: The outside of the bladder is protected by a serous membrane.[7] The bladder wall itself is smooth muscle.[7] The inner side of the bladder is lined with a mucosal membrane consisting of a surface glycocalyx that protects the cells beneath it from urine, the urothelium (a form of transitional epithelium), a basement membrane, and the lamina propria.[7][8] The mucosal lining also offers a urothelial barrier against the passing of infections.[9]

text:
Vertical section of bladder wall.

Layers of the urinary bladder wall and cross section of the detrusor muscle.

Anatomy of the male bladder, showing transitional epithelium and part of the wall in a histological cut-out.

text: Detrusor muscle[edit]

text: The detrusor muscle is a layer of the urinary bladder wall made of smooth muscle fibers arranged in spiral, longitudinal, and circular bundles. Stretch receptors in the bladder signal the parasympathetic nervous system to stimulate the muscarinic receptors in the detrusor to contract the muscle when the bladder is extended.[10] This encourages the bladder to expel urine through the urethra. The main receptor activated is the M3 receptor, although M2 receptors are also involved and whilst outnumbering the M3 receptors they are not so responsive.[11] The main relaxant pathway is via the adenylyl cyclase cAMP pathway, activated by β2 adrenergic receptors.[12] The detrusor muscle is unusually able to change its length. It can also contract for a long time whilst voiding, and it stays relaxed whilst the bladder is filling.[12]

text: Blood- and lymph-supply[edit]

text: The bladder is supplied by the vesical arteries and drained by the vesical veins.[13] The superior vesical artery supplies blood to the upper part of the bladder. The lower part of the bladder is supplied by the inferior vesical artery in males and by the vaginal artery in females, both of which are branches of the internal iliac arteries.[13] In females, the uterine arteries provides additional blood supply.[13] Venous drainage begins in a network of small vessels on the lateral and posterior surfaces of the bladder, which coalesce and pass backwards along the lateral ligaments of the bladder into the internal iliac veins.[13]

text: The lymph drained from the bladder begins in a series of networks throughout the mucosal, muscular and serosal layers. These then form three sets of vessels: one set near the trigone draining the bottom of the bladder; one set draining the top of the bladder; and another set draining the outer undersurface of the bladder. The majority of these vessels drain into the external iliac lymph nodes.[13]

text: Nerve supply[edit]

text: The bladder receives motor innervation from both sympathetic fibers, most of which arise from the superior and inferior hypogastric plexuses and nerves, and from parasympathetic fibers, which come from the pelvic splanchnic nerves.[14]

text: Sensation from the bladder is transmitted to the central nervous system (CNS) via general visceral afferent fibers (GVA). GVA fibers on the superior surface follow the course of the sympathetic efferent nerves back to the CNS, while GVA fibers on the inferior portion of the bladder follow the course of the parasympathetic efferents.[14]

text: For the urine to exit the bladder, both the autonomically controlled internal sphincter (in the male) and the voluntarily controlled external sphincter must be opened. Problems with these muscles can lead to incontinence.[15]

text: Development[edit]

text: The human urinary bladder derives from the urogenital sinus, and it is initially continuous with the allantois. The upper and lower parts of the bladder develop separately and join together around the middle part of development.[5] At this time the ureters move from the mesonephric ducts to the trigone.[5] In males, the base of the bladder lies between the rectum and the pubic symphysis. It is superior to the prostate, and separated from the rectum by the recto-vesical pouch. In females, the bladder sits inferior to the uterus and anterior to the vagina; thus its maximum capacity is lower than in males. It is separated from the uterus by the vesico-uterine pouch. In infants and young children the urinary bladder is in the abdomen even when empty.[16]

text: Function[edit]

text: Urine, excreted by the kidneys, collects in the bladder before disposal by urination (micturition). The urinary bladder usually holds 300-350 ml of urine. As urine accumulates, the rugae flatten and the wall of the bladder thins as it stretches, allowing the bladder to store larger amounts of urine without a significant rise in internal pressure.[17] Urination is controlled by the pontine micturition center in the brainstem.[18]

text: Clinical significance[edit]

text: Inflammation and infection[edit]

text: Bacteriuria is the presence of bacteria in the urine which can indicate a urinary tract infection such as cystitis.

text: Interstitial cystitis

text: Incontinence and retention[edit]

text: Frequent urination can be due to excessive urine production, small bladder capacity, irritability or incomplete emptying. Males with an enlarged prostate urinate more frequently. One definition of an overactive bladder is when a person urinates more than eight times per day.[19] An overactive bladder can often cause urinary incontinence. Though both urinary frequency and volumes have been shown to have a circadian rhythm, meaning day and night cycles,[20] it is not entirely clear how these are disturbed in the overactive bladder. Urodynamic testing can help to explain the symptoms. An underactive bladder is the condition where there is a difficulty in passing urine and is the main symptom of a neurogenic bladder. Frequent urination at night may indicate the presence of bladder stones.

text: Disorders of or related to the bladder include:

text:
Bladder exstrophy
Bladder sphincter dyssynergia, a condition in which the sufferer cannot coordinate relaxation of the urethra sphincter with the contraction of the bladder muscles
Paruresis
Trigonitis
Urinary retention

text: Disorders of bladder function may be dealt with surgically, by re-directing the flow of urine or by replacement with an artificial urinary bladder. The volume of the bladder may be increased by bladder augmentation. An obstruction of the bladder neck may be severe enough to warrant surgery.

text: Cancer[edit]

text: Bladder cancer – the most common type is transitional cell carcinoma.[21]

text: Investigation[edit]

text: Other animals[edit]

text: Reptiles[edit]

text: In all reptiles the urinogenital ducts and the anus both empty into an organ called a cloaca. In some reptiles, a midventral wall in the cloaca may open into a urinary bladder, but not all. It is present in all turtles and tortoises as well as most lizards, but is lacking in the monitor lizard, the legless lizards. It is absent in the snakes, alligators, and crocodiles.[22]:p. 474

text: Many turtles, tortoises, and lizards have proportionally very large bladders. Charles Darwin noted that the Galapagos tortoise had a bladder which could store up to 20% of its body weight.[23] Such adaptations are the result of environments such as remote islands and deserts where water is very scarce.[24]:143 Other desert-dwelling reptiles have large bladders that can store a long-term reservoir of water for up to several months and aid in osmoregulation.[25]

text: Turtles have two or more accessory urinary bladders, located lateral to the neck of the urinary bladder and dorsal to the pubis, occupying a significant portion of their body cavity.[26] Their bladder is also usually bilobed with a left and right section. The right section is located under the liver, which prevents large stones from remaining in that side while the left section is more likely to have calculi.[27]

text: Amphibians[edit]

text: Most aquatic and semi-aquatic amphibians have a membranous skin which allows them to absorb water directly through it. Some semi-aquatic animals also have similarly permeable bladder membrane.[28] As as result, they tend to have high rates of urine production to offset this high water intake, and have urine which is low in dissolved salts. The urinary bladder assists such animals to retain salts. Some aquatic amphibian such as Xenopus do not reabsorb water, to prevent excessive water influx.[29] For land-dwelling amphibians, dehydration results in reduced urine output.[30]:p. 184

text: The amphibian bladder is usually highly distensible and among some land-dwelling species of frogs and salamanders may account for between 20% and 50% of their total body weight.[30]:p. 184

text: Fish[edit]

text: Although the gills of most teleost fish assist with the elimination of ammonia from the body and although fish virtually by definition live in an environment surrounded by water, most still have a distinct bladder for storing waste fluid. The urinary bladder of teleosts is permeable to water, though this is less true for freshwater dwelling species than saltwater ones.[23]:p. 219 Most fish also have an organ called a swim-bladder which is unrelated to the urinary bladder except in its membranous nature. The loaches, pilchards, and herrings are among the few types of fish in which a urinary bladder is poorly developed. It is largest in those fish which lack an air bladder, and is situated in front of the oviducts and behind the rectum.[31]

text: Mammals[edit]

text: All mammals have a urinary bladder. This structure begins as an embryonic cloaca. In the vast majority, this eventually becomes differentiated into a dorsal part connected to the intestine and a ventral part which becomes associated with the urinogenital passage and urinary bladder. The only mammals in which this does not take place are the platypus and the spiny anteater both of which retain the cloaca into adulthood.[22]

text: The mammalian bladder is an organ that regularly stores a hyperosmotic concentration of urine. It therefore is relatively impermeable and has multiple epithelial layers. The urinary bladder of the cetaceans (whales and dolphins) is proportionally smaller than that of land-dwelling mammals.[32]

text: Birds[edit]

text: In the whole class of Aves there is no urinary bladder per se. Although all birds have kidneys, the ureters open directly into a cloaca which serves as a reservoir for urine, fecal matter, and eggs.[33]

text: Additional images[edit]

text: Urinary bladder (black butterfly-like shape) and hyperplastic prostate (BPH) visualized by medical ultrasound.


document_title: Rib vault

question_text: architectural elements forming rib vaults eg wells cathedral

root

text: Rib vault

text: This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: The intersection of two to three barrel vaults produces a rib vault or ribbed vault when they are edged with an armature of piped masonry often carved in decorative patterns; compare groin vault, an older form of vault construction. While the mechanics of the weight of a groin vault and its transmission outwards to the supporting pillars remained as it had been, the new use of rib vaults demonstrates the skill of the masons and the grandeur of the new ideas circulating at the introduction of Gothic architecture in the end of the eleventh century. This technique was new in the late eleventh century, for example in the roofs of the choir side-aisles at Durham Cathedral. Romanesque ancestors of the Gothic rib vault can be found in early Gothic constructions at Cefalù, Caen, Durham, and elsewhere.[1]

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text: Some ribbed vaults even have six sections in each bay (for example, the sexpartite vault, formed by the intersection of three half "barrels").

text: Effect of rib vaulting[edit]

text: These advances in vaulting allowed for the addition of windows higher up in the building's walls, in the clerestory and the triforium.

text: Early Gothic buildings commonly display ribbed vaulting made of stone for the support of the weight of a wooden ceiling. Stone ceilings are stronger; for example, the chapter house at Southwell Minster has stone vaulting and no central pillar.

text: Examples of cathedrals in England that incorporate early Gothic style features can be found in Salisbury, Lincoln, Southwell in Nottinghamshire, Wells, Bristol, Norwich and Worcester. Gothic style was widely used by cathedral builders and two continental examples are the cathedral at Reims (northern France) and the Sint Niklaaskerk in Ghent (Belgium).

text: Where intersecting barrel vaults were not of the same diameter, Romanesque construction practice resulted in the twisting of the groins; their construction must at all times have been somewhat difficult, but where barrel vaulting was carried round over the choir aisle and was intersected by semicones instead of cylinders, as in St. Bartholomew's Smithfield, groining systems became more complicated; this would seem to have led to a change of system, and to the introduction of a new feature, which completely revolutionized the construction of the vault. Hitherto the intersecting features were geometrical surfaces, of which the diagonal groins were the intersections, elliptical in form, generally weak in construction and often twisting.

text: The medieval builder reversed the process, and set up the diagonal ribs first, which were utilized as permanent centres, and on these he carried his vault or web, which henceforward took its shape from the ribs. Instead of the elliptical curve which was given by the intersection of two semicircular barrel vaults, or cylinders, he employed the semicircular arch for the diagonal ribs; this, however, raised the centre of the square bay vaulted above the level of the transverse arches and of the wall ribs, and thus gave the appearance of a dome to the vault, such as may be seen in the nave of Sant' Ambrogio, Milan. To meet this, at first the transverse and wall ribs were stilted, or the upper part of their arches was raised, as in the Abbaye-aux-Hommes at Caen, and the Abbey of Lessay, in Normandy.

text: The problem was ultimately solved by the introduction of the pointed arch for the transverse and wall ribs - the pointed arch had long been known and employed, on account of its much greater strength and of the lessened thrust it exerted on the walls. When employed for the ribs of a vault, however narrow the span might be, by adopting a pointed arch, its summit could be made to range in height with the diagonal rib. Moreover, when utilized for the ribs of the annular vault, as in the aisle round the apsidal termination of the choir, it was not necessary that the half ribs on the outer side should be in the same plane as those of the inner side; for when the opposite ribs met in the centre of the annular vault, the thrust was equally transmitted from one to the other, and being already a broken arch the change of its direction was not noticeable.

text: The first introduction of the pointed-arch rib took place at Durham Cathedral and pre-dated the vaulting of compartments of varying shapes seen at the Abbey of St. Denis. Whilst the pointed rib-arch is often seen as an identifier for Gothic architecture, Durham is a Romanesque cathedral whose masons experimented with the possibility of rib-arches before it was widely adopted by western church architecture. It was in the church at Vezelay (1140) that it was extended to the square bay of the porch. Before entering into the question of the web or stone shell of the vault carried on the ribs, the earlier development of the great vaults which were thrown over the naves of a cathedral, or church, before the introduction of the pointed arch rib, shall here be noted. As has been pointed out, the aisles had already in the early Christian churches been covered over with groined vaults, the only advance made in the later developments being the introduction of transverse ribs' dividing the bays into square compartments; but when in the 12th century the first attempts were made to vault over the naves, another difficulty presented itself, because the latter were twice the width of the aisles, so that it became necessary to include two bays of the aisles to form one square bay in the nave. This was an immense space to vault over, and moreover, it followed that every alternate pier served no purpose, so far as the support of the nave vault was concerned, and this would seem to have suggested an alternative, viz. to provide a supplementary rib across the church and between the transverse ribs.

text: This resulted in what is known as a sexpartite, or six-celled vault, of which one of the earliest examples is found in the Abbaye-aux-Hommes (S. Etienne) at Caen. This church, built by William the Conqueror, was originally constructed to carry a timber roof only, but nearly a century later the upper part of the nave walls were partly rebuilt, in order that it might be covered with a vault. The immense size, however, of the square vault over the nave necessitated some additional support, so that an intermediate rib was thrown across the church, dividing the square compartment into six cells, and called the sexpartite vault; this was adopted in the cathedrals of Sens (1170), Laon (1195), Noyon (1190), Paris (1223–35), and Bourges (1250).

text: The intermediate rib, however, had the disadvantage of partially obscuring one side of the clerestory windows, and it threw unequal weights on the alternate piers, so that in the cathedral of Soissons (1205) a quadripartite (fig. 8) or four-celled vault was introduced, the width of each bay being half the span of the nave, and corresponding therefore with the aisle piers. To this there are some exceptions, in Sant' Ambrogio, Milan, and San Michele, Pavia (the original vault), and in the cathedrals of Spires, Mainz and Worms, where the quadripartite vaults are nearly square, the intermediate piers of the aisles being of much smaller dimensions. In England sexpartite vaults exist at Canterbury (1175) (set out by William of Sens), Rochester (1200), Lincoln (1215), Durham (east transept), and St. Faith's chapel, Westminster Abbey.

text: In the earlier stage of rib vaulting, the arched ribs consisted of independent or separate voussoirs down to the springing; the difficulty, however, of working the ribs separately led to two other important changes: (I) the lower part of the transverse diagonal and wall ribs were all worked out of one stone; and (2) the lower horizontal, constituting what is known as the tas-de-charge or solid springer. Fig. 9 is a diagram made by Professor Willis taken from the south transept of Westminster Abbey. The horizontal courses rise to N. or about half the height of the vault, but the ribs are freed from one another from the point M. The tas-de-charge, or solid springer, had two advantages: (1) it enabled the stone courses to run straight through the wall, so as to bond the whole together much better; and (2) it lessened the span of the vault, which then required a centering of smaller dimensions. As soon as the ribs were completed, the web or stone shell of the vault was laid on them.

text: In some English work, as may be seen in fig. 9, each course of stone was of uniform height from one side to the other; but, as the diagonal rib was longer than either the transverse or wall rib, the courses dipped towards the former, and at the apex of the vault were cut to fit one another. At an early period, in consequence of the great span of the vault and the very slight rise or curvature of the web, it was thought better to simplify the construction of the web by introducing intermediate ribs between the wall rib and the diagonal rib and between the diagonal and the transverse ribs; and in order to meet the thrust of these intermediate ribs a ridge rib was required, and the prolongation of this rib to the wall rib hid the junction of the web at the summit, which was not always very sightly, and constituted the ridge rib. In France, on the other hand, the web courses were always laid horizontally, and they are therefore of unequal height, increasing towards the diagonal rib. Each course also was given a slight rise in the centre, so as to increase its strength; this enabled the French masons to dispense with the intermediate rib, which was not introduced by them until the 15th century, and then more as a decorative than a constructive feature, as the domical form given to the French web rendered unnecessary the ridge rib, which, with some few exceptions, exists only in England.

text: In both English and French vaulting centering was rarely required for the building of the web, a template (Fr. cerce) being employed to support the stones of each ring until it was complete. In Italy, Germany and Spain the French method of building the web was adopted, with horizontal courses and a domical form. Sometimes, in the case of comparatively narrow compartments, and more especially in clerestories, the wall rib was stilted, and this caused a peculiar twisting of the web, as may be seen in fig. 9, where the springing of the wall rib is at K: to these twisted surfaces the term ploughshare vaulting is given.

text: One of the earliest examples of the introduction of the intermediate rib is found in the nave of Lincoln Cathedral, and there the ridge rib is not carried to the wall rib. It was soon found, however, that the construction of the web was much facilitated by additional ribs, and consequently there was a tendency to increase their number, so that in the nave of Exeter Cathedral three intermediate ribs were provided between the wall rib and the diagonal rib. In order to mask the junction of the various ribs, their intersections were ornamented with richly carved bosses, and this practice increased on the introduction of another short rib, known as the lierne, a term in France given to the ridge rib. English Lierne vaulting uses short ribs that cross between the main ones; these were employed chiefly as decorative features, for example in stellar vaults, one of the best examples of which is in the vault of the oriel window of Crosby Hall, London. The tendency to increase the number of ribs led to singular results in some cases, as in the choir of Gloucester Cathedral where the ordinary diagonal ribs become mere ornamental mouldings on the surface of an intersected pointed barrel vault, and again in the cloisters, where the introduction of the fan vault, forming a concave-sided conoid, returned to the principles of the Roman geometrical vault. This is further shown in the construction of these fan vaults, for although in the earliest examples each of the ribs above the tas-de-charge was an independent feature, eventually it was found easier to carve them and the web out of the solid stone, so that the rib and web were purely decorative and had no constructional or independent functions.

text: There is more information on the rib vault at the main article for vaulting.

text: Notes[edit]

text: Jump up ^ Gardner's Art Through the Ages, (2006), Ch. 13. Gothic Art: "Architectural Basics" p. 352.

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text: This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "article name needed". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

text: Arches and vaults

tag: ul

text: Articles lacking in-text citations from January 2017All articles lacking in-text citationsWikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with no article parameterWikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica


question_text: who sang gonna sit right down and write myself a letter

question_tokens: who sang gon na sit right down and write myself a letter

text: "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" is a 1935 popular song with music by Fred E. Ahlert and lyrics by Joe Young.[1] It has been recorded many times, and has become a standard of the Great American Songbook. It was popularized by Fats Waller, who recorded it in 1935 at the height of his fame.[2]

text: It is one of several songs from the Harlem Renaissance featured in the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin'.

text: American Public Media's business-news program, Marketplace, uses a portion of Fats Waller's version to open its weekly letters-from-listeners segment.

text: Recordings[edit]

text:
The song had a major revival in 1957 in a Coral recording (on April 3) by Billy Williams with orchestra directed by Dick Jacobs.[3] It reached #3 on the Billboard magazine charts.[4] A reported million-seller,[5] it was awarded a Gold record.[6]
The song was recorded by Frank Sinatra for his 1954 album Swing Easy, by Bing Crosby for his 1957 LP Bing with a Beat and again by Sinatra in 1962 for his collaborative album with Count Basie, Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First.
Among other versions are recordings by The Boswell Sisters, Connee Boswell, Nat "King" Cole, Scatman Crothers, Gregory Isaacs, Barry Manilow, Dean Martin, Anne Murray, Willie Nelson, Linda Scott, Shakin' Stevens and Sarah Vaughan.
Charlie Gracie (mostly known for his 1957 #1 hit "Butterfly" on Cameo Record label #105—45rpm) recorded "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" (Cadillac Record label #141—45 rpm). The flip side of the record was a song written by Gracie, "Boogie Woogie Blues". Gracie's version was released in 1953.[7]
Bill Haley & His Comets recorded a rock and roll version of the song in 1957.[8]
Fabian recorded his version of the song in 1960 on Chancellor Records.[9]
In 1973 Cleo Laine included the song as her opening song on the album I Am a Song[10] and sang on stage during her subsequent tour.
New Jersey entertainer Uncle Floyd (aka Floyd Vivino) has covered this song in his live performances as well as recording it.[11]
Madeleine Peyroux also covered this song on her debut album Dreamland (1996).
Tony Danza released a version in 2002. In 2012 Paul McCartney covered it on his album of standards, Kisses on the Bottom and chose one of its lines as the title.


document_title: Buckingham Palace

question_text: how many rooms is there in buckingham palace

text: Buckingham Palace

text: History[edit]

text: Site[edit]

text: In the Middle Ages, the site of the future palace formed part of the Manor of Ebury (also called Eia). The marshy ground was watered by the river Tyburn, which still flows below the courtyard and south wing of the palace.[5] Where the river was fordable (at Cow Ford), the village of Eye Cross grew. Ownership of the site changed hands many times; owners included Edward the Confessor and his queen consort Edith of Wessex in late Saxon times, and, after the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror. William gave the site to Geoffrey de Mandeville, who bequeathed it to the monks of Westminster Abbey.[b]

text: In 1531, King Henry VIII acquired the Hospital of St James (later St James's Palace)[6] from Eton College, and in 1536 he took the Manor of Ebury from Westminster Abbey.[7] These transfers brought the site of Buckingham Palace back into royal hands for the first time since William the Conqueror had given it away almost 500 years earlier.[8]

text: Various owners leased it from royal landlords and the freehold was the subject of frenzied speculation during the 17th century. By then, the old village of Eye Cross had long since fallen into decay, and the area was mostly wasteland.[9] Needing money, James I sold off part of the Crown freehold but retained part of the site on which he established a 4-acre (16,000 m2) mulberry garden for the production of silk. (This is at the northwest corner of today's palace.)[10] Clement Walker in Anarchia Anglicana (1649) refers to "new-erected sodoms and spintries at the Mulberry Garden at S. James's"; this suggests it may have been a place of debauchery. Eventually, in the late 17th century, the freehold was inherited from the property tycoon Sir Hugh Audley by the great heiress Mary Davies.[c]

text: First houses on the site[edit]

text: Goring House[edit]

text: Possibly the first house erected within the site was that of a Sir William Blake, around 1624.[11] The next owner was Lord Goring, who from 1633 extended Blake's house and developed much of today's garden, then known as Goring Great Garden.[12][13] He did not, however, obtain the freehold interest in the mulberry garden. Unbeknown to Goring, in 1640 the document "failed to pass the Great Seal before King Charles I fled London, which it needed to do for legal execution".[14] It was this critical omission that helped the British royal family regain the freehold under King George III.[15]

text: Arlington House[edit]

text: The improvident Goring defaulted on his rents;[16] Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington obtained the mansion and was occupying it, now known as Goring House, when it burned down in 1674.[13] Arlington House rose on the site—the location of the southern wing of today's palace—the next year.[13] In 1698, John Sheffield, later the first Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, acquired the lease.[17]

text: Buckingham House[edit]

text: The house which forms the architectural core of the palace was built for the first Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1703 to the design of William Winde. The style chosen was of a large, three-floored central block with two smaller flanking service wings.[18] Buckingham House was eventually sold by Buckingham's natural son, Sir Charles Sheffield, in 1761[4] to George III for £21,000.[19][d] Sheffield's leasehold on the mulberry garden site, the freehold of which was still owned by the royal family, was due to expire in 1774.[20]

text: From Queen's House to palace[edit]

text: Under the new crown ownership, the building was originally intended as a private retreat for King George III's wife, Queen Charlotte, and was accordingly known as The Queen's House. Remodelling of the structure began in 1762.[21] In 1775, an Act of Parliament settled the property on Queen Charlotte, in exchange for her rights to Somerset House,[22][e] and 14 of their 15 children were born there. Some furnishings were transferred from Carlton House, and others had been bought in France after the French Revolution[23] of 1789. While St James's Palace remained the official and ceremonial royal residence,[22] the name "Buckingham-palace" began from at least 1791.[24]

text: After his accession to the throne in 1820, King George IV continued the renovation with the idea in mind of a small, comfortable home. While the work was in progress, in 1826, the King decided to modify the house into a palace with the help of his architect John Nash.[25] The external façade was designed keeping in mind the French neo-classical influence preferred by George IV. The cost of the renovations grew dramatically, and by 1829 the extravagance of Nash's designs resulted in his removal as architect. On the death of George IV in 1830, his younger brother King William IV hired Edward Blore to finish the work.[26][27] After the destruction of the Palace of Westminster by fire in 1834, William considered converting the palace into the new Houses of Parliament.[28]

text: Home of the monarch[edit]

text: Buckingham Palace finally became the principal royal residence in 1837, on the accession of Queen Victoria,[29] who was the first monarch to reside there; her predecessor William IV had died before its completion.[30] While the state rooms were a riot of gilt and colour, the necessities of the new palace were somewhat less luxurious. For one thing, it was reported the chimneys smoked so much that the fires had to be allowed to die down, and consequently the court shivered in icy magnificence.[31] Ventilation was so bad that the interior smelled, and when it was decided to install gas lamps, there was a serious worry about the build-up of gas on the lower floors. It was also said that staff were lax and lazy and the palace was dirty.[31] Following the Queen's marriage in 1840, her husband, Prince Albert, concerned himself with a reorganisation of the household offices and staff, and with the design faults of the palace.[32] The problems were all rectified by the close of 1840. However, the builders were to return within the decade.

text: By 1847, the couple had found the palace too small for court life and their growing family,[33] and consequently the new wing, designed by Edward Blore, was built by Thomas Cubitt,[34] enclosing the central quadrangle. The large East Front, facing The Mall, is today the "public face" of Buckingham Palace, and contains the balcony from which the royal family acknowledge the crowds on momentous occasions and after the annual Trooping the Colour.[35] The ballroom wing and a further suite of state rooms were also built in this period, designed by Nash's student Sir James Pennethorne.[36]

text: Before Prince Albert's death, the palace was frequently the scene of musical entertainments,[37] and the greatest contemporary musicians entertained at Buckingham Palace. The composer Felix Mendelssohn is known to have played there on three occasions.[38] Johann Strauss II and his orchestra played there when in England.[39] Strauss's "Alice Polka" was first performed at the palace in 1849 in honour of the queen's daughter, Princess Alice.[40] Under Victoria, Buckingham Palace was frequently the scene of lavish costume balls, in addition to the usual royal ceremonies, investitures and presentations.[41]

text: Widowed in 1861, the grief-stricken Queen withdrew from public life and left Buckingham Palace to live at Windsor Castle, Balmoral Castle and Osborne House. For many years the palace was seldom used, even neglected. In 1864, a note was found pinned to the fence of Buckingham Palace, saying: "These commanding premises to be let or sold, in consequence of the late occupant's declining business."[42] Eventually, public opinion persuaded the Queen to return to London, though even then she preferred to live elsewhere whenever possible. Court functions were still held at Windsor Castle, presided over by the sombre Queen habitually dressed in mourning black, while Buckingham Palace remained shuttered for most of the year.[43]

text: Interior[edit]

text: The palace measures 108 metres (354 ft) by 120 metres (390 ft), is 24 metres (79 ft) high and contains over 77,000 m2 (830,000 sq ft) of floorspace.[44] The floor area is smaller than the Royal Palace of Madrid, the Papal Palace and Quirinal Palace in Rome, the Louvre in Paris, the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, and the Forbidden City.[45] There are 775 rooms, including 19 state rooms, 52 principal bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices, and 78 bathrooms. The palace also has its own post office, cinema, swimming pool, doctor's surgery, and jeweller's workshop.[44][46]

text: The principal rooms are contained on the piano nobile behind the west-facing garden façade at the rear of the palace. The centre of this ornate suite of state rooms is the Music Room, its large bow the dominant feature of the façade. Flanking the Music Room are the Blue and the White Drawing Rooms. At the centre of the suite, serving as a corridor to link the state rooms, is the Picture Gallery, which is top-lit and 55 yards (50 m) long.[47] The Gallery is hung with numerous works including some by Rembrandt, van Dyck, Rubens and Vermeer;[48] other rooms leading from the Picture Gallery are the Throne Room and the Green Drawing Room. The Green Drawing Room serves as a huge anteroom to the Throne Room, and is part of the ceremonial route to the throne from the Guard Room at the top of the Grand Staircase.[47] The Guard Room contains white marble statues of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, in Roman costume, set in a tribune lined with tapestries. These very formal rooms are used only for ceremonial and official entertaining, but are open to the public every summer.[49]

text: Directly underneath the State Apartments is a suite of slightly less grand rooms known as the semi-state apartments. Opening from the Marble Hall, these rooms are used for less formal entertaining, such as luncheon parties and private audiences. Some of the rooms are named and decorated for particular visitors, such as the 1844 Room, decorated in that year for the State visit of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, and, on the other side of the Bow Room, the 1855 Room, in honour of the visit of Emperor Napoleon III of France.[52] At the centre of this suite is the Bow Room, through which thousands of guests pass annually to the Queen's Garden Parties in the Gardens.[53] The Queen and Prince Philip use a smaller suite of rooms in the north wing.[54]

text: Between 1847 and 1850, when Blore was building the new east wing, the Brighton Pavilion was once again plundered of its fittings. As a result, many of the rooms in the new wing have a distinctly oriental atmosphere. The red and blue Chinese Luncheon Room is made up from parts of the Brighton Banqueting and Music Rooms with a large oriental chimney piece sculpted by Richard Westmacott.[50] The Yellow Drawing Room has wallpaper supplied in 1817 for the Brighton Saloon, and a chimney piece which is a European vision of how the Chinese chimney piece may appear. It has nodding mandarins in niches and fearsome winged dragons, designed by Robert Jones.[55]

text: At the centre of this wing is the famous balcony with the Centre Room behind its glass doors. This is a Chinese-style saloon enhanced by Queen Mary, who, working with the designer Sir Charles Allom, created a more "binding"[56] Chinese theme in the late 1920s, although the lacquer doors were brought from Brighton in 1873. Running the length of the piano nobile of the east wing is the great gallery, modestly known as the Principal Corridor, which runs the length of the eastern side of the quadrangle.[57] It has mirrored doors, and mirrored cross walls reflecting porcelain pagodas and other oriental furniture from Brighton. The Chinese Luncheon Room and Yellow Drawing Room are situated at each end of this gallery, with the Centre Room obviously placed in the centre.[58]

text: The original early 19th-century interior designs, many of which still survive, included widespread use of brightly coloured scagliola and blue and pink lapis, on the advice of Sir Charles Long. King Edward VII oversaw a partial redecoration in a Belle époque cream and gold colour scheme.[59]

text: When paying a state visit to Britain, foreign heads of state are usually entertained by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. They are allocated a large suite of rooms known as the Belgian Suite, situated at the foot of the Minister's Staircase, on the ground floor of the north-facing Garden Wing. The rooms of the suite are linked by narrow corridors, one of them is given extra height and perspective by saucer domes designed by Nash in the style of Soane.[60] A second corridor in the suite has Gothic-influenced cross-over vaulting.[60] The Belgian Rooms themselves were decorated in their present style and named after Prince Albert's uncle Léopold I, first King of the Belgians. In 1936, the suite briefly became the private apartments of the palace when they were occupied by King Edward VIII.[44]

text: Court ceremonies[edit]

text: Investitures[edit]

text: Investitures, which include the conferring of knighthoods by dubbing with a sword, and other awards take place in the palace's Ballroom, built in 1854. At 36.6 m (120 ft) long, 18 m (59 ft) wide and 13.5 m (44 ft) high,[44] it is the largest room in the palace. It has replaced the throne room in importance and use. During investitures, the Queen stands on the throne dais beneath a giant, domed velvet canopy, known as a shamiana or a baldachin, that was used at the Delhi Durbar in 1911.[61] A military band plays in the musicians' gallery as award recipients approach the Queen and receive their honours, watched by their families and friends.[62]

text: State banquets[edit]

text:
External video

 Transforming the Ballroom for a State Banquet (timelapse)

text: State banquets also take place in the Ballroom; these formal dinners are held on the first evening of a state visit by a foreign head of state.[62] On these occasions, for up to 170 guests in formal "white tie and decorations", including tiaras, the dining table is laid with the Grand Service, a collection of silver-gilt plate made in 1811 for the Prince of Wales, later George IV.[63] The largest and most formal reception at Buckingham Palace takes place every November when the Queen entertains members of the diplomatic corps.[64] On this grand occasion, all the state rooms are in use, as the royal family proceed through them,[65] beginning at the great north doors of the Picture Gallery. As Nash had envisaged, all the large, double-mirrored doors stand open, reflecting the numerous crystal chandeliers and sconces, creating a deliberate optical illusion of space and light.[66]

text: Other ceremonies and functions[edit]

text: Smaller ceremonies such as the reception of new ambassadors take place in the "1844 Room". Here too, the Queen holds small lunch parties, and often meetings of the Privy Council. Larger lunch parties often take place in the curved and domed Music Room, or the State Dining Room.[67] Since the bombing of the palace chapel in World War II, royal christenings have sometimes taken place in the Music Room. The Queen's first three children were all baptised there.[68] On all formal occasions, the ceremonies are attended by the Yeomen of the Guard in their historic uniforms, and other officers of the court such as the Lord Chamberlain.[69]

text: Former ceremonial at the Palace[edit]

text: Court dress[edit]

text: Formerly, men not wearing military uniform wore knee breeches of an 18th-century design. Women's evening dress included trains and tiaras or feathers in their hair (or both). The dress code governing formal court uniform and dress has progressively relaxed. After World War I, when Queen Mary wished to follow fashion by raising her skirts a few inches from the ground, she requested a lady-in-waiting to shorten her own skirt first to gauge the king's reaction. King George V was horrified, so the queen kept her hemline unfashionably low.[70] Following their accession in 1936, King George VI and his consort, Queen Elizabeth, allowed the hemline of daytime skirts to rise. Today, there is no official dress code.[44] Most men invited to Buckingham Palace in the daytime choose to wear service uniform or lounge suits;[44] a minority wear morning coats, and in the evening, depending on the formality of the occasion, black tie or white tie.[71]

text: "Coming Out" – Court presentation of débutantes[edit]

text: Débutantes were aristocratic young ladies making their first entrée into society through presentation to the monarch at court. These occasions, known as "coming out", took place at the palace from the reign of Edward VII. Wearing full court dress, with three ostrich feathers in their hair, débutantes entered, curtsied, and performed a backwards walk and a further curtsey, while manoeuvring a dress train of prescribed length. The ceremony, known as an evening court, corresponded to the "court drawing rooms" of Victoria's reign.[72] After World War II, the ceremony was replaced by less formal afternoon receptions, usually omitting curtsies and court dress.[73] In 1958, the Queen abolished the presentation parties for débutantes,[74] replacing them with Garden Parties,[f] for up to 8,000 invitees in the Garden. They are the largest functions of the year.[76]

text: Security breaches[edit]

text: The boy Jones was an intruder who gained entry to the palace on three occasions between 1838 and 1841.[77][78] At least 12 people have managed to gain unauthorised entry into the palace or its grounds since 1914,[79] including Michael Fagan, who broke into the palace twice in 1982 and entered the Queen's bedroom on the second occasion. At the time, news media reported that he had a long conversation with the Queen while she waited for security officers to arrive, but in a 2012 interview with The Independent, Fagan said the Queen ran out of the room and no conversation took place.[80] It was only in 2007 that trespassing on the palace grounds became a specific criminal offence.[81][g]

text: Garden, Royal Mews and The Mall[edit]

text: At the rear of the palace is the large and park-like garden, which together with its lake is the largest private garden in London.[84] There, the Queen hosts her annual garden parties each summer, and also holds large functions to celebrate royal milestones, such as jubilees. It covers 40 acres (16 ha), and includes a helicopter landing area, a lake, and a tennis court.[44]

text: Adjacent to the palace is the Royal Mews, also designed by Nash, where the royal carriages, including the Gold State Coach, are housed. This rococo gilt coach, designed by Sir William Chambers in 1760, has painted panels by G. B. Cipriani. It was first used for the State Opening of Parliament by George III in 1762 and has been used by the monarch for every coronation since George IV. It was last used for the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.[85] Also housed in the mews are the coach horses used at royal ceremonial processions.[86]

text: The Mall, a ceremonial approach route to the palace, was designed by Sir Aston Webb and completed in 1911 as part of a grand memorial to Queen Victoria. It extends from Admiralty Arch, across St James's Park to the Victoria Memorial. This route is used by the cavalcades and motorcades of visiting heads of state, and by the royal family on state occasions such as the annual Trooping the Colour.[87]

text: Modern history[edit]

text: In 1901 the accession of Edward VII saw new life breathed into the palace. The new King and his wife Queen Alexandra had always been at the forefront of London high society, and their friends, known as "the Marlborough House Set", were considered to be the most eminent and fashionable of the age. Buckingham Palace—the Ballroom, Grand Entrance, Marble Hall, Grand Staircase, vestibules and galleries redecorated in the Belle époque cream and gold colour scheme they retain today—once again became a setting for entertaining on a majestic scale but leaving some to feel King Edward's heavy redecorations were at odds with Nash's original work.[88]

text: The last major building work took place during the reign of King George V when, in 1913, Sir Aston Webb redesigned Blore's 1850 East Front to resemble in part Giacomo Leoni's Lyme Park in Cheshire. This new, refaced principal façade (of Portland stone) was designed to be the backdrop to the Victoria Memorial, a large memorial statue of Queen Victoria, placed outside the main gates.[89] George V, who had succeeded Edward VII in 1910, had a more serious personality than his father; greater emphasis was now placed on official entertaining and royal duties than on lavish parties.[90] He arranged a series of command performances featuring jazz musicians such as the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (1919) – the first jazz performance for a head of state, Sidney Bechet, and Louis Armstrong (1932), which earned the palace a nomination in 2009 for a (Kind of) Blue Plaque by the Brecon Jazz Festival as one of the venues making the greatest contribution to jazz music in the United Kingdom.[91][92] George V's wife Queen Mary was a connoisseur of the arts, and took a keen interest in the Royal Collection of furniture and art, both restoring and adding to it. Queen Mary also had many new fixtures and fittings installed, such as the pair of marble Empire-style chimneypieces by Benjamin Vulliamy, dating from 1810, which the Queen had installed in the ground floor Bow Room, the huge low room at the centre of the garden façade. Queen Mary was also responsible for the decoration of the Blue Drawing Room.[93] This room, 69 feet (21 metres) long, previously known as the South Drawing Room, has a ceiling designed specially by Nash, coffered with huge gilt console brackets.[94]

text: During World War I, the palace, then the home of King George V and Queen Mary, escaped unscathed. Its more valuable contents were evacuated to Windsor but the royal family remained in situ. The King imposed rationing at the palace, much to the dismay of his guests and household.[95] To the King's later regret, David Lloyd George persuaded him to go further by ostentatiously locking the wine cellars and refraining from alcohol, to set a good example to the supposedly inebriated working class. The workers continued to imbibe and the King was left unhappy at his enforced abstinence.[96] In 1938, the north-west pavilion, designed by Nash as a conservatory, was converted into a swimming pool.[97]

text: During World War II, the palace was bombed nine times,[98] the most serious and publicised of which resulted in the destruction of the palace chapel in 1940. Coverage of this event was played in cinemas all over the UK to show the common suffering of rich and poor. One bomb fell in the palace quadrangle while King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were in residence, and many windows were blown in and the chapel destroyed.[99] War-time coverage of such incidents was severely restricted, however. The King and Queen were filmed inspecting their bombed home, the smiling Queen, as always, immaculately dressed in a hat and matching coat seemingly unbothered by the damage around her. It was at this time the Queen famously declared: "I'm glad we have been bombed. Now I can look the East End in the face". The royal family were seen as sharing their subjects' hardship, as The Sunday Graphic reported:

text: By the Editor: The King and Queen have endured the ordeal which has come to their subjects. For the second time a German bomber has tried to bring death and destruction to the home of Their Majesties … When this war is over the common danger which King George and Queen Elizabeth have shared with their people will be a cherished memory and an inspiration through the years.[100]

text: On 15 September 1940, known as the Battle of Britain Day, an RAF pilot, Ray Holmes of No. 504 Squadron RAF rammed a German bomber he believed was going to bomb the Palace. Holmes had run out of ammunition and made the quick decision to ram it. Holmes bailed out. Both aircraft crashed. In fact the Dornier Do 17 bomber was empty. It had already been damaged, two of its crew had been killed and the remainder bailed out. Its pilot, Feldwebel Robert Zehbe, landed, only to die later of wounds suffered during the attack. During the Dornier's descent, it somehow unloaded its bombs, one of which hit the Palace. It then crashed into the forecourt of London Victoria station.[101] The bomber's engine was later exhibited at the Imperial War Museum in London. The British pilot became a King's Messenger after the war, and died at the age of 90 in 2005.[102]

text: On VE Day—8 May 1945—the palace was the centre of British celebrations. The King, Queen, Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen), and Princess Margaret appeared on the balcony, with the palace's blacked-out windows behind them, to the cheers from a vast crowd in the Mall.[103] The damaged Palace was carefully restored after the War by John Mowlem & Co.[104] It was designated a Grade I listed building in 1970.[105]

text: 21st century: Royal use and public access[edit]

text: Every year, some 50,000 invited guests are entertained at garden parties, receptions, audiences, and banquets. Three Garden Parties are held in the summer, usually in July.[106] The Forecourt of Buckingham Palace is used for Changing of the Guard, a major ceremony and tourist attraction (daily from April to July; every other day in other months).[107]

text: The palace, like Windsor Castle, is owned by the reigning monarch in right of the Crown. It is not the monarch's personal property, unlike Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle.[108] Many of the contents from Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace, and St James's Palace are part of the Royal Collection, held in trust by the Sovereign; they can, on occasion, be viewed by the public at the Queen's Gallery, near the Royal Mews. Unlike the palace and the castle, the purpose-built gallery is open continually and displays a changing selection of items from the collection.[109] It occupies the site of the chapel destroyed by an air raid in World War II.[17] The palace's state rooms have been open to the public during August and September and on selected dates throughout the year since 1993. The money raised in entry fees was originally put towards the rebuilding of Windsor Castle after the 1992 fire devastated many of its state rooms.[110] In the year to 31 March 2016, 519,000 people visited the palace, and 194,000 visited the gallery.[111]

text: Her Majesty's Government is responsible for maintaining the palace in exchange for the profits made by the Crown Estate.[112] In November 2015, the State Dining Room was closed for six months because its ceiling had become potentially dangerous.[113] A 10-year schedule of maintenance work, including new plumbing, wiring, boilers, and radiators, and the installation of solar panels on the roof, has been estimated to cost £369 million and was approved by the prime minister in November 2016. It will be funded by a temporary increase in the Sovereign Grant paid from the income of the Crown Estate and is intended to extend the building's working life by at least 50 years.[114][115] In March 2017, the House of Commons backed funding for the project by 464 votes to 56.[116]

text: Thus, Buckingham Palace is a symbol and home of the British monarchy, an art gallery, and a tourist attraction. Behind the gilded railings and gates that were completed by the Bromsgrove Guild in 1911[43] and Webb's famous façade, which has been described in a book published by the Royal Collection Trust as looking "like everybody's idea of a palace",[43] is not only a weekday home of the Queen and Prince Philip but also the London residence of the Duke of York and the Earl and Countess of Wessex. The palace also houses their offices, as well as those of the Princess Royal and Princess Alexandra, and is the workplace of more than 800 people.[44]


document_title: Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

question_text: where did they get the tree for rockefeller center

text: Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

text: Selection and decoration[edit]

text: Trees are traditionally donated to Rockefeller Center, which in turn donates the lumber after display. Until his death in 2009, the late David Murbach,[4] Manager of the Gardens Division of Rockefeller Center, scouted for the desired tree in upstate New York and surrounding states, and even Ottawa, Canada.[5]

text: The trees are now scouted by Erik Pauzé, Head Gardener at Rockefeller Center. Pauzé visits nurseries throughout the tri-state area while keeping his eye out for one-of-a-kind backyard trees. Trees may also be submitted for consideration through Rockefeller Center's web site. Pauzé and his team choose each year’s tree based on its heartiness and “Christmas tree shape,” as well as its ability to support the heavy ornaments.[6]

text: Once a tree is selected, a crane supports the tree while it is cut, then moved to a custom telescoping trailer able to transport trees up to 125 feet (38 m) tall, although the width of city streets around Rockefeller Center limits the height of the tree to 100 feet (30 m). Local business Christmas Tree Brooklyn provides support in delivering the tree safely into the city. On its way to Manhattan, the tree is often dressed in giant red bows or banners extending holiday greetings to witnesses. Trucks, barges, and even a transport plane have all been used to help the tree make the trip.[7]

text: Once at Rockefeller Center, the tree is supported[8] by four guy-wires attached at its midpoint and by a steel spike at its base. Scaffolding is erected around the tree to assist workers in hanging about 50,000 multi-colored LED lights and the star top.[9] The crystal star that has topped the tree since 2004 is 9.5 feet (2.9 m) in diameter and weighs 550 pounds (250 kg). This "Swarovski Star," containing 25,000 Swarovski crystals, 1 million facets, and LED lights, was created by German artist Michael Hammers.[10][11]

text: History[edit]

text: Although the official Christmas tree tradition at Rockefeller Center began in 1933 (the year 30 Rockefeller Plaza opened), an unofficial tradition began during the Depression-era construction of the Center, when workers decorated a smaller 20 foot (6.1 m) balsam fir with "strings of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tin cans" on Christmas Eve (December 24, 1931), as recounted by Daniel Okrent in his history of Rockefeller Center.[12] According to Rockefeller Center, workers pooled their money for that unlit tree, with the garlands made by workers' families.

text: With the lighting of the 50-foot-tall (15 m) first official tree two years later, the tree became what Rockefeller Center dubbed "a holiday beacon for New Yorkers and visitors alike." A skating rink was opened below the tree in the plaza in 1936.[2] Rockefeller Center has observed the tree to be "from the beginning ... a gathering place and reflection of what was happening in the world around it."[13]

text: World War II ushered in simple, patriotic decorations, including red, white and blue unlit globes and painted wooden stars. In 1942, instead of one large tree, three more modest trees were raised, each decorated in one of the flag's colors. From 1944 until the war's end in 1945, the tree went unlit due to blackout regulations.[2] After the war, the year of darkness was left behind, as six ultraviolet light projectors were employed to make it appear as though the tree’s 700 fluorescent globes were glowing in the dark.[2]

text: By the 1950s, workers began using scaffolding to decorate the tree, as larger trees were accommodated. Before the decade was over, the decorating process called for 20 workers and nine days.[14] 1951 marked the first time that NBC televised the tree lighting with a special on The Kate Smith Show.[2]

text: In 1969, artist Valerie Clarebout’s towering wire herald angels were added to the Channel Gardens in front of the tree near Fifth Avenue. Clarebout created the 12 sculptures using 75 points of metal wire each.[15]

text: The 1971 tree, a 65-footer from East Montpelier, Vt., was the first to be mulched and recycled. It was turned into 30 three-bushel bags of mulch for the nature trails of upper Manhattan. Though the tree typically makes its journey on a truck bed, in 1998 it was flown in from Richfield, Ohio on the world’s largest transport plane.[2]

text: 1999 saw Rockefeller Center's tallest tree, a 100 foot (30 m) spruce from Killingworth, Conn.[16] In 2001, following the events of September 11, the tree was again decorated in hues of red, white and blue.[17]

text: In 2007, the tree went "green", converting to energy-efficient lighting with LEDs.[18] [19] The LEDs use 1,200 fewer kilowatts of electricity per day, enough to power a 2,000-square-foot home for a month.[2]

text: Also since 2007, each year after display, the tree has been milled into lumber and donated to Habitat for Humanity for use in house construction. [20]

text: The 2016 tree, a Norway Spruce from Oneonta, N.Y., is at 94 feet high the second tallest ever erected at Rockefeller Center. At 56 feet wide and over 30,000 pounds, the tree is the widest and heaviest to date, according to construction crews. [21]

text: Since 2011, the tree lighting ceremony has been followed by the singing of Joy to the World.

text: The decorated tree remains on display at Rockefeller Plaza, between West 48th and 51st Streets and Fifth and Sixth Avenues, at least through January 6 of the new year.

text: More than a half million people pass by the tree each day while it is on display, according to Rockefeller Center.[22]

text: Broadcasting[edit]

text: Since 1997, the lighting ceremony has been broadcast live on NBC in the first hour of primetime, live in the Eastern and Central time zones, and on tape elsewhere.[23] The ceremony is hosted by Today's Al Roker(1997- Present ), Savannah Guthrie (2012- Present ),and Hoda Kotb (2017- Present )

text: Yearly tree details[edit]

text:
Year
Original location
Tree type
Height
Lighting

2017
State College, PA[24]
Norway spruce
75 ft
November 29, 2017

2016
Oneonta, NY[25]
Norway spruce
94 ft
November 30, 2016

2015
Gardiner, NY[26]
Norway spruce
78 ft
December 2, 2015

2014
Danville, PA[27]
Norway spruce
85 ft
December 3, 2014

2013
Shelton, CT[28]
Norway spruce
76 ft
December 4, 2013

2012
Flanders, NJ[29]
Norway spruce
80 ft
November 28, 2012

2011
Mifflinville, PA
Norway spruce
74 ft
November 30, 2011

2010
Mahopac, NY[30]
Norway spruce
74 ft
November 30, 2010

2009
Easton, CT[31]
Norway spruce
76 ft
December 2, 2009

2008
Hamilton, NJ[32]
Norway spruce
72 ft
December 3, 2008

2007
Shelton, CT[33]
Norway spruce
84 ft
November 28, 2007

2006
Ridgefield, CT[34]
Norway spruce
88 ft
November 29, 2006

2005
Wayne, NJ[35]
Norway spruce
74 ft
November 30, 2005

2004
Suffern, NY[36]
Norway spruce
71 ft
November 30, 2004

2003
Manchester, CT[36]
Norway spruce
79 ft
December 3, 2003

2002
Bloomsbury, NJ[37]
Norway spruce
76 ft
December 4, 2002

2001
Wayne, NJ
Norway spruce
81 ft
November 28, 2001

2000
Buchanan, NY[38]
Norway spruce
80 ft
November 29, 2000

1999
Killingworth, CT[39]
Norway spruce
100 ft*
December 1, 1999

1998
Richfield, OH[40]
Norway spruce
75 ft
December 2, 1998

1997
Stony Point, NY
Norway spruce
70 ft
December 2, 1997

1996
Armonk, NY[41]
Norway spruce
90 ft
December 3, 1996

1995
Mendham, NJ
Norway spruce
75 ft
December 5, 1995

1994
Ridgefield, CT
Norway spruce
85 ft
December 2, 1994

1989
Montebello, NY[42]
Norway spruce
70 ft

1986
Nanuet, NY[43]
Norway spruce
68 ft

1980
Mahwah, NJ[44]
Norway spruce
70 ft

1978
Mahwah, NJ[45]
Norway spruce
75 ft

1963
Rockaway, NJ
Bruce Fir, Veit
84 ft

1957
Brighton, VT[46]
White spruce
67 ft

text: *Tallest Tree on Record