document_title: Life of the Party (2018 film)

question_text: who is jack in life of the party

question_tokens: who is jack in life of the party

text: Life of the Party (2018 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text:
After dropping off their daughter Maddie (Molly Gordon) to her senior year at Decatur University in Atlanta, Dan tells Deanna (Melissa McCarthy) that he wants a divorce because he has fallen in love with another woman, a realtor Marcie (Julie Bowen), and he also wants to sell their house under his name. Heartbroken, Deanna visits her parents Mike (Stephen Root) and Sandy (Jacki Weaver) to tell them what happened, but Mike is frustrated because Dan made Deanna drop out of her college because she was pregnant, as well as his overbearing ways during their marriage.
Deanna goes to see Maddie in her dorm to tell the news about her divorce and her plans to study again at the university to earn a degree in Archaeology. Maddie initially has doubts about her plan but she ultimately accepts it. Maddie introduces Deanna to her friends - Amanda (Adria Arjona), neurotic Debbie (Jessie Ennis), and Helen (Gillian Jacobs). Deanna later meets her agoraphobic and chronically depressed roommate Leonor (Heidi Gardner).

text: On the first day of school, she meets demeaning girls, Jennifer (Debby Ryan) and her friend Trina (Yani Simone), who mocks Deanna's age. Deanna later signed the divorce papers, with her best friend Christine, in front of Dan and Marcie. At night, Maddie and her friends take Deanna to the party, where she meets a boy named Jack (Luke Benward), who later falls in love with her and, the next day, they have sex inside the library. In another night, they attend an 80's-themed party where Deanna has a dance-off with Jennifer, resulting in earning the respect of her schoolmates. Deanna later has stage fright during her oral presentation and she faints.

text: While Deanna hanging out for the dinner with Christine, her husband, and their couple friends, Dan and Marcie unexpectedly show up, who declare that they are getting married. Jack turns out to be Marcie's son and knowing about Deanna sleeping with Jack, Marcie walks out in disgust. On the night of Dan and Marcie's wedding, Deanna and her friends get high from chocolate bark laced with weed, and they head to the reception, where they start wrecking the wedding hall. Dan, Marcie, and Maddie find them and Marcie tells Deanna she is cut off financially from Dan. Deanna is filled with shame, if only because of how Maddie saw her.

text: Deanna tries to make amends with Maddie, but she tells her that she is leaving college since she has no means of completing the rest of the year on her own. The girls then come up with a plan to throw a party to raise money to pay for Deanna's tuition. Since everyone is at Christina Aguilera concert, Helen posts the message on her Twitter, claiming Aguilera will be at the party after her show. Christine shows up with her husband, as do Mike and Sandy. Mike offers to give Deanna a 401K check to pay her tuition, but Deanna refuses to take it. The party is not a success until Aguilera (who ends up being Leonor’s cousin) arrives and she puts on a show with Deanna and the girls to an excited crowd.

text: Later on, Deanna is due to repeat her presentation in class. She is still nervous until Maddie, Helen, Amanda, Debbie, and all the sorority sisters show up to support her, and Deanna manages to give the presentation with ease. At the end of the year, Deanna and Maddie graduate together, with all their friends and family there to support them. Maddie encourages Deanna to throw her cap in the air. She does so, and it hits Dan in the face, knocking out an earring he was wearing while Marcie berates him for losing the expensive diamond stud.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Melissa McCarthy as Deanna "Dee Rock" Miles (née Cook)
Molly Gordon as Maddie Miles, Dan and Deanna's daughter
Gillian Jacobs as Helen, a sorority sister who is older than the rest due to having been in a coma for eight years.
Maya Rudolph as Christine Davenport, Deanna's neurotic and heavy drinking best friend
Jessie Ennis as Debbie, a sorority sister with "issues"
Adria Arjona as Amanda, another sorority sister with "issues"
Matt Walsh as Daniel "Dan" Miles, Deanna's ex-husband, Maddie's father
Julie Bowen as Marcie Strong, a real estate agent, Deanna's nemesis and Dan's lover
Debby Ryan as Jennifer, a "mean girl" in Deanna's archaeology class
Stephen Root as Michael "Mike" Cook, Deanna's father and Maddie's grandfather
Jacki Weaver as Sandy Cook, Deanna's mother and Maddie's grandmother
Luke Benward as Jack Strong, a frat boy infatuated with Deanna
Jimmy O. Yang as Tyler, Maddie's boyfriend and Jack's friend
Chris Parnell as Wayne Truzack, Deanna's professor
Heidi Gardner as Leonor, Deanna's reclusive Goth roommate
Yani Smone as Trina, Jennifer's snarky sidekick
Damon Jones as Frank Davenport, Christine's husband
Ben Falcone as Dale, the Uber driver
Nat Faxon as Lance
Sarah Baker as Gildred
Karen Maruyama as Mediator
Steve Mallory as Bill
Courtney Patterson as Amy
Steve Falcone (Ben Falcone's real-life father) as Older Man #1 / Vince
Michael D. McCarthy (Melissa McCarthy's real-life father) as Older Man #2 / Dennis
Christina Aguilera as herself (cameo)

text: Production[edit]

text: Filming began in August 2016 in the metro Atlanta area. The sorority house used in the film is The Twelve Oaks Bed & Breakfast (www.thetwelveoaks.com) located in Covington, GA. The interior of the mansion was replicated in a warehouse in Decatur, GA for the interior scenes and the exterior scenes were filmed on location at the inn.[citation needed]

text: Release[edit]

text: Life of the Party was released on May 11, 2018.[5] The first official trailer for the film was released on February 5, 2018.[6]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Life of the Party grossed 52.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $12.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $65.7 million.[3]

text: In the United States and Canada, Life of the Party was released alongside Breaking In, and was projected to gross $18–21 million from 3,656 theaters in its opening weekend.[7] It made $4.9 million on its first day, including $700,000 from Thursday night previews, down from the $985,000 McCarthy's The Boss grossed in March 2016, and similar to the $650,000 grossed by Snatched on the Thursday before the same weekend the previous year.[2] The film went on to debut to $17.9 million, and finished second behind Avengers: Infinity War ($62 million in its third week); 80% of its audience was over the age of 25, while 70% was female.[8] It fell 57% in its second weekend, to $7.6 million, finishing fourth at the box office,[9] and another 33% to $5.1 million in its third, finishing fifth.[10]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 38% based on 129 reviews, and an average rating of 5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Life of the Party's good-natured humor and abundance of onscreen talent aren't enough to make up for jumbled direction and a script that misses far more often than it hits."[11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on reviews from 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[12] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, higher than the "C+" earned by McCarthy and Falcone's previous two film collaborations.[8]

text: Matt Zoller-Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film two out of four stars, calling it "the latest Melissa McCarthy star vehicle that fails to do justice to the sheer awesomeness of its leading lady."[13] Leigh Monson from Birth.MoviesDeath wrote, "One hundred minutes of self-indulgence and tedium, even if it's well-meaning in its intentions."[14]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Award

Category

Recipient

Result

Teen Choice Awards

Choice Summer Movie

Nominated

Choice Summer Movie Actress

Melissa McCarthy

Nominated

People's Choice Awards

The Comedy Movie Star of 2018

Pending


document_title: Abbasid Caliphate

question_text: 1. what city was built as the new capital for the abbasids

question_tokens: 1 . what city was built as the new capital for the abbasids

root

text: Abbasid Caliphate

text: History[edit]

text: Abbasid Revolution (750–751)[edit]

text: The Abbasid caliphs were Arabs descended from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, one of the youngest uncles of Muhammad and of the same Banu Hashim clan. The Abbasids claimed to be the true successors of Prophet Muhammad in replacing the Umayyad descendants of Banu Umayya by virtue of their closer bloodline to Muhammad.

tag: p

text: The Abbasids also distinguished themselves from the Umayyads by attacking their moral character and administration in general. According to Ira Lapidus, "The Abbasid revolt was supported largely by Arabs, mainly the aggrieved settlers of Merv with the addition of the Yemeni faction and their Mawali".[7] The Abbasids also appealed to non-Arab Muslims, known as mawali, who remained outside the kinship-based society of the Arabs and were perceived as a lower class within the Umayyad empire. Muhammad ibn 'Ali, a great-grandson of Abbas, began to campaign for the return of power to the family of Prophet Muhammad, the Hashimites, in Persia during the reign of Umar II.

text: During the reign of Marwan II, this opposition culminated in the rebellion of Ibrahim the Imam, the fourth in descent from Abbas. Supported by the province of Khorasan, Persia, even though the governor opposed them, and the Shi'i Arabs,[2][8] he achieved considerable success, but was captured in the year 747 and died, possibly assassinated, in prison.

text: On 9 June 747 (15 Ramadan AH 129), Abu Muslim, rising from Khorasan, successfully initiated an open revolt against Umayyad rule, which was carried out under the sign of the Black Standard. Close to 10,000 soldiers were under Abu Muslim's command when the hostilities officially began in Merv.[9] General Qahtaba followed the fleeing governor Nasr ibn Sayyar west defeating the Umayyads at the Battle of Gorgan, the Battle of Nahāvand and finally in the Battle of Karbala, all in the year 748.[8]

text: The quarrel was taken up by Ibrahim's brother Abdallah, known by the name of Abu al-'Abbas as-Saffah, who defeated the Umayyads in 750 in the battle near the Great Zab and was subsequently proclaimed caliph.[10] After this loss, Marwan fled to Egypt, where he was subsequently assassinated. The remainder of his family, barring one male, were also eliminated.[8]

text: Immediately after their victory, As-Saffah sent his forces to Central Asia, where his forces fought against Tang expansion during the Battle of Talas. The noble Iranian family Barmakids, who were instrumental in building Baghdad, introduced the world's first recorded paper mill in the city, thus beginning a new era of intellectual rebirth in the Abbasid domain. As-Saffah focused on putting down numerous rebellions in Syria and Mesopotamia. The Byzantines conducted raids during these early distractions.[8]

text: Power (752–775)[edit]

text: The first change the Abbasids, under Al-Mansur, made was to move the empire's capital from Damascus, in Syria, to Baghdad in Iraq. This was to both appease as well to be closer to the Persian mawali support base that existed in this region more influenced by Persian history and culture, and part of the Persian mawali demand for less Arab dominance in the empire. Baghdad was established on the Tigris River in 762. A new position, that of the vizier, was also established to delegate central authority, and even greater authority was delegated to local emirs.[12]

text: This eventually meant that many Abbasid caliphs were relegated to a more ceremonial role than under the Umayyads, as the viziers began to exert greater influence, and the role of the old Arab aristocracy was slowly replaced by a Persian bureaucracy.[12] During Al-Mansur's time control of Al-Andalus was lost, and the Shiites revolted and were defeated a year later at the Battle of Bakhamra.[8]

text: The Abbasids had depended heavily on the support of Persians[2] in their overthrow of the Umayyads. Abu al-'Abbas' successor, Al-Mansur welcomed non-Arab Muslims to his court. While this helped integrate Arab and Persian cultures, it alienated many of their Arab supporters, particularly the Khorasanian Arabs who had supported them in their battles against the Umayyads.

text: These fissures in their support led to immediate problems. The Umayyads, while out of power, were not destroyed. The only surviving member of the Umayyad royal family, which had been all but annihilated, ultimately made his way to Spain where he established himself as an independent Emir (Abd ar-Rahman I, 756). In 929, Abd ar-Rahman III assumed the title of Caliph, establishing Al Andalus from Córdoba as a rival to Baghdad as the legitimate capital of the Islamic Empire.

text: In 756, the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mansur sent over 4,000 Arab mercenaries to assist the Chinese Tang dynasty in the An Shi Rebellion against An Lushan. The Abbasides or "Black Flags," as they were commonly called, were known in Tang dynasty chronicles as the hēiyī Dàshí, "The Black-robed Tazi", (黑衣大食) ("Tazi" being a borrowing from Persian Tāzī, the word for "Arab").[nb 1][nb 2][nb 3][nb 4][nb 5]  Al-Rashid sent embassies to the Chinese Tang dynasty and established good relations with them.[18][nb 6][nb 7][21][22][23][24][25] After the war, these embassies remained in China [26][27][28][29][30] with Caliph Harun al-Rashid establishing an alliance with China.[18] Several embassies from the Abbasid Caliphs to the Chinese court have been recorded in the T'ang Annals, the most important of these being those of Abul Abbas al-Saffah, the founder of the Abbasid dynasty, Abu Jafar and Harun al-Rashid.

text: Abbasid Golden Age (775–861)[edit]

text: The Abbasid leadership had to work hard in the last half of the 8th century (750–800), under several competent caliphs and their viziers to overcome the political challenges created by the far flung nature of the empire, and the limited communication across it and usher in the administrative changes needed to keep order.[32] It was also during this early period of the dynasty, in particular during the governance of  al-Mansur, Harun al-Rashid, and al-Ma'mun, that the reputation and power of the dynasty was created.[2]

text: Al-Mahdi restarted the fighting with the Byzantines and his sons continued the conflict until Empress Irene pushed for peace.[8] After several years of peace, Nikephoros I broke the treaty, then fended off multiple incursions during the first decade of the 9th century. These attacks pushed into the Taurus Mountains culminating with a victory at the Battle of Krasos and the massive invasion of 806, led by Rashid himself.[33]

text: Rashid's navy also proved successful as he took Cyprus. Eventually, the momentum turned and much of the land gained was lost. Rashid decided to focus on the rebellion of Rafi ibn al-Layth in Khorasan and died while there.[33] While the Byzantine Empire was fighting Abbasid rule in Syria and Anatolia, military operations during this period were minimal, as the caliphate focused on internal matters, its governors exerting greater autonomy and using their increasing power to make their positions hereditary.[12]

text: At the same time, the Abbasids faced challenges closer to home. Harun al-Rashid turned on the Barmakids, a Persian family that had grown significantly in power within the administration of the state and killed most of the family.[34] During the same period, several factions began either to leave the empire for other lands or to take control of distant parts of the empire away from the Abbasids. The reign of al-Rashid and his sons were considered to be the apex of the Abbasids.[35]

text: After Rashid's death, the empire was split by a civil war between the caliph al-Amin and his brother al-Ma'mun who had the support of Khorasan. This war ended with a two-year siege of Baghdad and the eventual death of al-Amin in 813.[33] Al-Ma'mun ruled for 20 years of relative calm interspersed with a rebellion supported by the Byzantines in Azerbaijan by the Khurramites. Al-Ma'mun was also responsible for the creation of an autonomous Khorasan, and the continued repulsing of Byzantine forays.[33]

text: Al-Mu'tasim gained power in 833 and his rule marked the end of the strong caliphs. He strengthened his personal army with Turkish mercenaries and promptly restarted the war with the Byzantines. His military excursions were generally successful culminating with a resounding victory in the Sack of Amorium. His attempt at seizing Constantinople failed when his fleet was destroyed by a storm.[36] The Byzantines restarted the fighting by sacking Damietta in Egypt. Al-Mutawakkil responded by sending his troops into Anatolia again, sacking and marauding until they were eventually annihilated in 863.[37]

text: Fracture to autonomous dynasties (861–945)[edit]

text: Even by 820, the Samanids had begun the process of exercising independent authority in Transoxiana and Greater Khorasan, as had the Shia Hamdanids in Northern Syria, and the succeeding Tahirid and Saffarid dynasties of Iran. The Saffarids, from Khorasan, nearly seized Baghdad in 876, and the Tulunids took control of most of Syria. The trend of weakening of the central power and strengthening of the minor caliphates on the periphery continued.[35]

text: An exception was the 10-year period of Al-Mu'tadid's rule. He brought parts of Egypt, Syria, and Khorasan back into the Abbasid's control. Especially after the "Anarchy at Samarra", the Abbasid central government was weakened and centrifugal tendencies became more prominent in the Caliphate's provinces. By the early 10th century, the Abbasids almost lost control of Iraq to various amirs, and the caliph al-Radi was forced to acknowledge their power by creating the position of "Prince of Princes" (amir al-umara).[35]

text: Al-Mustakfi had a short reign from 944–946, and it was during this period that the Persian faction known as the Buyids from Daylam swept into power and assumed control over the bureaucracy in Baghdad. According to the history of Miskawayh, they began distributing iqtas (fiefs in the form of tax farms) to their supporters. This period of localized secular control was to last nearly 100 years.[2] The loss of Abbasid power to the Buyids would shift as the Seljuks would take over from the Persians.[35]

text: At the end of the eighth century the Abbasids found they could no longer keep a huge polity larger than that of Rome together from Baghdad. In 793 the Shi'ite dynasty of Idrisids set up a state from Fez in Morocco, while a family of governors under the Abbasids became increasingly independent until they founded the Aghlabid Emirate from the 830s. Al-Mu'tasim started the downward slide by utilizing non-Muslim mercenaries in his personal army. Also during this period officers started assassinating superiors with whom they disagreed, in particular the caliphs.[2]

text: By the 870s Egypt became autonomous under Ahmad ibn Tulun. In the East as well, governors decreased their ties to the center. The Saffarids of Herat and the Samanids of Bukhara had broken away from the 870s, cultivating a much more Persianate culture and statecraft. By this time only the central lands of Mesopotamia were under direct Abbasid control, with Palestine and the Hijaz often managed by the Tulunids. Byzantium, for its part, had begun to push Arab Muslims farther east in Anatolia.

text: By the 920s, the situation had changed further, as North Africa was lost to the Abbasids. A Shi'ite sect only recognizing the first five Imams and tracing its roots to Muhammad's daughter Fatima took control of Idrisi and then Aghlabid domains.[35] Called the Fatimid dynasty, they had advanced to Egypt in 969, establishing their capital near Fustat in Cairo, which they built as a bastion of Shi'ite learning and politics. By 1000 they had become the chief political and ideological challenge to Sunni Islam in the form of the Abbasids. By this time the latter state had fragmented into several governorships that, while recognizing caliphal authority from Baghdad, did mostly as they wanted, fighting with each other. The Caliph himself was under 'protection' of the Buyid Emirs who possessed all of Iraq and western Iran, and were quietly Shi'ite in their sympathies.

text: Outside Iraq, all the autonomous provinces slowly took on the characteristic of de facto states with hereditary rulers, armies, and revenues and operated under only nominal caliph suzerainty, which may not necessarily be reflected by any contribution to the treasury, such as the Soomro Emirs that had gained control of Sindh and ruled the entire province from their capital of Mansura.[32] Mahmud of Ghazni took the title of sultan, as opposed to the "amir" that had been in more common usage, signifying the Ghaznavid Empire's independence from caliphal authority, despite Mahmud's ostentatious displays of Sunni orthodoxy and ritual submission to the caliph. In the 11th century, the loss of respect for the caliphs continued, as some Islamic rulers no longer mentioned the caliph's name in the Friday khutba, or struck it off their coinage.[32]

text: The Ismaili Fatimid dynasty of Cairo contested the Abbasids for even the titular authority of the Islamic ummah. They commanded some support in the Shia sections of Baghdad (such as Karkh), although Baghdad was the city most closely connected to the caliphate, even in the Buyid and Seljuq eras. The Fatimids' green banners contrasted with Abbasids' black, and the challenge of the Fatimids only ended with their downfall in the 12th century.

text: Buyid and Seljuq military control (945–1118)[edit]

text: Despite the power of the Buyid amirs, the Abbasids retained a highly ritualized court in Baghdad, as described by the Buyid bureaucrat Hilal al-Sabi', and they retained a certain influence over Baghdad as well as religious life. As Buyid power waned after the death of Baha' al-Daula, the caliphate was able to regain some measure of strength. The caliph al-Qadir, for example, led the ideological struggle against the Shia with writings such as the Baghdad Manifesto. The caliphs kept order in Baghdad itself, attempting to prevent the outbreak of fitnas in the capital, often contending with the ayyarun'

text: With the Buyid dynasty on the wane, a vacuum was created that was eventually filled by the dynasty of Oghuz Turks known as the Seljuqs. By 1055, the Seljuqs had wrested control from the Buyids and Abbasids, and took any remaining temporal power.[2] When the amir and former slave Basasiri took up the Shia Fatimid banner in Baghdad in, the caliph al-Qa'im was unable to defeat him without outside help. Toghril Beg, the Seljuq sultan, restored Baghdad to Sunni rule and took Iraq for his dynasty.

text: Once again, the Abbasids were forced to deal with a military power that they could not match, though the Abbasid caliph remained the titular head of the Islamic community. The succeeding sultans Alp Arslan and Malikshah, as well as their vizier Nizam al-Mulk, took up residence in Persia, but held power over the Abbasids in Baghdad. When the dynasty began to weaken in the 12th century, the Abbasids gained greater independence once again.

text: Revival of military strength (1118–1258)[edit]

text: While the Caliph al-Mustarshid was the first caliph to build an army capable of meeting a Seljuk army in battle, he was nonetheless defeated in 1135 and assassinated. The Caliph al-Muqtafi was the first Abbasid Caliph to regain the full military independence of the Caliphate, with the help of his vizier Ibn Hubayra. After nearly 250 years of subjection to foreign dynasties, he successfully defended Baghdad against the Seljuqs in the siege of Baghdad (1157), thus securing Iraq for the Abbasids. The reign of al-Nasir (d. 1225) brought the caliphate back into power throughout Iraq, based in large part on the Sufi futuwwa organizations that the caliph headed.[35] Al-Mustansir built the Mustansiriya School, in an attempt to eclipse the Seljuq-era Nizamiyya built by Nizam al-Mulk.

text: Mongol invasion (1206–1258)[edit]

text: In 1206, Genghis Khan established a powerful dynasty among the Mongols of central Asia. During the 13th century, this Mongol Empire conquered most of the Eurasian land mass, including both China in the east and much of the old Islamic caliphate (as well as Kievan Rus') in the west. Hulagu Khan's destruction of Baghdad in 1258 is traditionally seen as the approximate end of the Golden Age.[38] Mongols feared that a supernatural disaster would strike if the blood of Al-Musta'sim, a direct descendant of Muhammad's  uncle Al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib,[39] and the last reigning Abbasid caliph in Baghdad, was spilled. The Shiites of Persia stated that no such calamity had happened after the deaths of Husayn ibn Ali; nevertheless, as a precaution and in accordance with a Mongol taboo which forbade spilling royal blood, Hulagu had Al-Musta'sim wrapped in a carpet and trampled to death by horses on 20 February 1258. The Caliph's immediate family was also executed, with the lone exceptions of his youngest son who was sent to Mongolia, and a daughter who became a slave in the harem of Hulagu.[40]

text: Abbasid Caliphate of Cairo (1261–1517)[edit]

text: In the 9th century, the Abbasids created an army loyal only to their caliphate, composed of non-Arab origin people, known as Mamluks.[41][42][43][44][45] This force, created in the reign of al-Ma'mun (813–33) and his brother and successor al-Mu'tasim (833–42), prevented the further disintegration of the empire. The Mamluk army, though often viewed negatively, both helped and hurt the caliphate. Early on, it provided the government with a stable force to address domestic and foreign problems. However, creation of this foreign army and al-Mu'tasim's transfer of the capital from Baghdad to Samarra created a division between the caliphate and the peoples they claimed to rule. In addition, the power of the Mamluks steadily grew until al-Radi (934–41) was constrained to hand over most of the royal functions to Muhammad ibn Ra'iq.[10]

text: The Mamluks eventually came to power in Egypt. In 1261, following the devastation of Baghdad by the Mongols, the Mamluk rulers of Egypt re-established the Abbasid caliphate in Cairo. The first Abbasid caliph of Cairo was Al-Mustansir. The Abbasid caliphs in Egypt continued to maintain the presence of authority, but it was confined to religious matters.[citation needed] The Abbasid caliphate of Cairo lasted until the time of Al-Mutawakkil III, who was taken away as a prisoner by Selim I to Constantinople where he had a ceremonial role. He died in 1543, following his return to Cairo.[citation needed]

text: Culture[edit]

text: Islamic Golden Age[edit]

text: The Abbasid historical period lasting to the Mongol conquest of Baghdad in 1258 CE is considered the Islamic Golden Age.[46] The Islamic Golden Age was inaugurated by the middle of the 8th century by the ascension of the Abbasid Caliphate and the transfer of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad.[47] The Abbassids were influenced by the Qur'anic injunctions and hadith such as "the ink of a scholar is more holy than the blood of a martyr" stressing the value of knowledge. During this period the Muslim world became an intellectual center for science, philosophy, medicine and education as [47] the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge and established the House of Wisdom in Baghdad; where both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars sought to translate and gather all the world's knowledge into Arabic.[47] Many classic works of antiquity that would otherwise have been lost were translated into Arabic and Persian and later in turn translated into Turkish, Hebrew and Latin.[47] During this period the Muslim world was a cauldron of cultures which collected, synthesized and significantly advanced the knowledge gained from the ancient Roman, Chinese, Indian, Persian, Egyptian, North African, Greek and Byzantine civilizations.[47] "In virtually every field of endeavor—in astronomy, alchemy, mathematics, medicine, optics and so forth—the Caliphate's scientists were in the forefront of scientific advance."[48]

text: Science[edit]

text: The reigns of Harun al-Rashid (786–809) and his successors fostered an age of great intellectual achievement. In large part, this was the result of the schismatic forces that had undermined the Umayyad regime, which relied on the assertion of the superiority of Arab culture as part of its claim to legitimacy, and the Abbasids' welcoming of support from non-Arab Muslims. It is well established that the Abbasid caliphs modeled their administration on that of the Sassanids.[49] Harun al-Rashid's son, Al-Ma'mun (whose mother was Persian), is even quoted as saying:

text: The Persians ruled for a thousand years and did not need us Arabs even for a day. We have been ruling them for one or two centuries and cannot do without them for an hour.[50]

text: A number of medieval thinkers and scientists living under Islamic rule played a role in transmitting Islamic science to the Christian West. In addition, the period saw the recovery of much of the Alexandrian mathematical, geometric and astronomical knowledge, such as that of Euclid and Claudius Ptolemy. These recovered mathematical methods were later enhanced and developed by other Islamic scholars, notably by Persian scientists Al-Biruni and Abu Nasr Mansur.

text:
Christians (particularly Nestorian Christians) contributed to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the Ummayads and the Abbasids by translating works of Greek philosophers to Syriac and afterwards to Arabic.[53][54] Nestorians played a prominent role in the formation of Arab culture,[55] with the Jundishapur school being prominent in the late Sassanid, Umayyad and early Abbasid periods.[56] Notably, eight generations of the Nestorian Bukhtishu family served as private doctors to caliphs and sultans between the eighth and eleventh centuries.[57][58]
Algebra was significantly developed by Persian scientist Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī during this time in his landmark text, Kitab al-Jabr wa-l-Muqabala, from which the term algebra is derived. He is thus considered to be the father of algebra by some,[59] although the Greek mathematician Diophantus has also been given this title. The terms algorism and algorithm are derived from the name of al-Khwarizmi, who was also responsible for introducing the Arabic numerals and Hindu-Arabic numeral system beyond the Indian subcontinent.

text: Arab scientist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) developed an early scientific method in his Book of Optics (1021). The most important development of the scientific method was the use of experiments to distinguish between competing scientific theories set within a generally empirical orientation, which began among Muslim scientists. Ibn al-Haytham's empirical proof of the intromission theory of light (that is, that light rays entered the eyes rather than being emitted by them) was particularly important. Alhazen was significant in the history of scientific method, particularly in his approach to experimentation,[61] and has been referred to as the "world’s first true scientist".[62]

text: Medicine in medieval Islam was an area of science that advanced particularly during the Abbasids' reign. During the 9th century, Baghdad contained over 800 doctors, and great discoveries in the understanding of anatomy and diseases were made. The clinical distinction between measles and smallpox was described during this time. Famous Persian scientist Ibn Sina (known to the West as Avicenna) produced treatises and works that summarized the vast amount of knowledge that scientists had accumulated, and was very influential through his encyclopedias, The Canon of Medicine and The Book of Healing. The work of him and many others directly influenced the research of European scientists during the Renaissance.

text: Astronomy in medieval Islam was advanced by Al-Battani, who improved the precision of the measurement of the precession of the Earth's axis. The corrections made to the geocentric model by al-Battani,[citation needed] Averroes,[citation needed] Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Mo'ayyeduddin Urdi and Ibn al-Shatir were later incorporated into the Copernican heliocentric model.[63] The astrolabe, though originally developed by the Greeks, was developed further by Islamic astronomers and engineers, and subsequently brought to medieval Europe.

text: Muslim alchemists influenced medieval European alchemists, particularly the writings attributed to Jābir ibn Hayyān (Geber). A number of chemical processes such as distillation techniques were developed in the Muslim world and then spread to Europe.

text: Literature[edit]

text: The best known fiction from the Islamic world is The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of fantastical folk tales, legends and parables compiled primarily during the Abbassid era. The collection is recorded as having originated from an Arabic translation of a Sassanian era Persian prototype, with likely origins in Indian literary traditions. Stories from Arabic, Persian, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian folklore and literature were later incorporated. The epic is believed to have taken shape in the 10th century and reached its final form by the 14th century; the number and type of tales have varied from one manuscript to another.[64] All Arabian fantasy tales were often called "Arabian Nights" when translated into English, regardless of whether they appeared in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.[64] This epic has been influential in the West since it was translated in the 18th century, first by Antoine Galland.[65] Many imitations were written, especially in France.[66] Various characters from this epic have themselves become cultural icons in Western culture, such as Aladdin, Sinbad and Ali Baba.

text: A famous example of Islamic poetry on romance was Layla and Majnun, an originally Arabic story which was further developed by Iranian, Azerbaijani and other poets in Persian, Azerbaijani, Turkish languages.[67] It is a tragic story of undying love much like the later Romeo and Juliet.[citation needed]

text: Arabic poetry reached its greatest height in the Abbasid era, especially before the loss of central authority and the rise of the Persianate dynasties. Writers like Abu Tammam and Abu Nuwas were closely connected to the caliphal court in Baghdad during the early 9th century, while others such as al-Mutanabbi received their patronage from regional courts.

text: Philosophy[edit]

text: One of the common definitions for "Islamic philosophy" is "the style of philosophy produced within the framework of Islamic culture."[68] Islamic philosophy, in this definition is neither necessarily concerned with religious issues, nor is exclusively produced by Muslims.[68] Their works on Aristotle was a key step in the transmission of learning from ancient Greeks to the Islamic world and the West. They often corrected the philosopher, encouraging a lively debate in the spirit of ijtihad. They also wrote influential original philosophical works, and their thinking was incorporated into Christian philosophy during the Middle Ages, notably by Thomas Aquinas.[citation needed]

text: Three speculative thinkers, al-Kindi, al-Farabi, and Avicenna, combined Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism with other ideas introduced through Islam, and Avicennism was later established as a result. Other influential Abbasid philosophers include al-Jahiz, and Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen).

text: Architecture[edit]

text: As the power shifted from the Umayyads to the Abbasids, the architecture styles changed also. The Christian styles evolved into a style based more on the Sasanian Empire utilizing mud bricks and baked bricks with carved stucco.[69] Another major development was the creation or vast enlargement of cities as they were turned into the capital of the empire. First, starting with the creation of Baghdad, starting in 762, which was planned as a walled city with a mosque and palace in the center. The walls were to have four gates to exit the city. Al-Mansur, who was responsible for the creation of Baghdad, also planned the city of Raqqa, along the Euphrates. Finally, in 836, al-Mu'tasim moved the capital to a new site that he created along the Tigris, called Samarra. This city saw 60 years of work, with race-courses and game preserves to add to the atmosphere.[69] Due to the dry remote nature of the environment, some of the palaces built in this era were isolated havens. Al-Ukhaidir Fortress is a fine example of this type of building which has stables, living quarters, and a mosque, all surrounding inner courtyards.[69] Other mosques of this era, such as the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, in Cairo, and the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia while ultimately built during the Umayyad dynasty, it was substantially renovated in the 9th century. This renovation was so extensive as to ostensibly be a rebuild, was in the furthest reaches of the Muslim world, in an area that the Aghlabids controlled; however the styles utilized were mainly of the Abbasids.[70] Mesopotamia only has one surviving mausoleum from this era, in Samarra. This octagonal dome is the final resting place of al-Muntasir.[71] Other architectural innovations and styles were few, such as the four-centered arch, and a dome erected on squinches. Unfortunately, much was lost due to the ephemeral nature of the stucco and luster tiles.[71]

text: Glass and crystal[edit]

text: The Near East has, since Roman times, been recognized as a center of quality glassware and crystal. 9th century finds from Samarra show styles similar to Sassanian forms. The types of objects made were bottles, flasks, vases, and cups utilized for domestic use. Decorations on these domestic items include molded flutes, honeycomb patterns, and inscriptions.[72] Other styles seen that may not have come from the Sassanians were stamped items. These were typically round stamps, such as medallions or disks with animals, birds, or Kufic inscriptions. Colored lead glass, typically blue or green, have been found in Nishapur, along with prismatic perfume bottles. Finally, cut glass may have been the high point of Abbasid glass-working, decorated with floral and animal designs.[73]

text: Painting[edit]

text: Early Abbasid painting has not survived in great quantities, and sometimes harder to differentiate; however Samarra is a good example as it was built by the Abbasids and abandoned 56 years later. The walls of the principal rooms of the palace that has been excavated show wall paintings and lively carved stucco dadoes. The style is obviously adopted with little variation from Sassanian art, as not only the styles is similar with harems, animals, and dancing people, all enclosed in scrollwork, but also the garments are Persian.[74] Nishapur had its own school of painting. Excavations at Nishapur show artwork both monochrome and polychrome from the 8th and 9th centuries. One famous piece of art consists of hunting nobles with falcons and on horseback, in full regalia; the clothing identifies him as Tahirid, which was again, a sub-dynasty of the Abbasids. Other styles are of vegetation, and fruit in nice colors on a four foot high dedo.[74]

text: Pottery[edit]

text: Whereas painting and architecture were not areas of strength for the Abbasid dynasty, pottery was a different story. The Islamic culture as a whole and the Abbasid's, in particular, were at the forefront of new ideas and techniques. Some examples of their work were pieces engraved with decorations and then colored with yellow-brown, green, and purple glazes. Designs were diverse with geometric patterns, Kufic lettering, arabesque scrollwork, along with rosettes, animals, birds, and humans.[75] Abbasid pottery from the 8th and 9th centuries have been found throughout the region, as far as Cairo. These were generally made with a yellow clay and fired multiple times with separate glazes to produce metallic luster in shades of gold, brown, or red. By the 9th century, the potters had mastered their techniques and their decorative designs could be divided into two styles. The Persian style would show animals, birds, humans, along with Kufic lettering in gold. Pieces excavated from Samarra exceed in vibrancy and beauty any from later periods. These predominantly being made for the Caliphs use. Tiles were also made utilizing this same technique to create both monochromic and polychromic luster tiles.[76]

text: Textiles[edit]

text: Egypt being a center of the textile industry was part of the Abbasid cultural advancement. Copts were employed in the textile industry and produced linens and silks. Tinnis was famous for its factories and had over 5,000 looms. Kasab, a fine linen for turbans and badana for garments of the upper class to name a couple. In a town named Tuna near Tinnis, was made the kiswah for the kaaba in Mecca. Fine silk was also made in Dabik and Damietta.[77] Of particular interest is the stamped and inscribed fabrics. Not only did they utilize inks but also liquid gold. Some of the finer pieces were colored in such a manner as to require six separate stamps to achieve the proper design and color. This technology spread to Europe eventually.[78]

text: Technology[edit]

text: In technology, the Abbasids adopted papermaking from China.[79] The use of paper spread from China into the caliphate in the 8th century CE, arriving in al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) and then the rest of Europe in the 10th century. It was easier to manufacture than parchment, less likely to crack than papyrus, and could absorb ink, making it ideal for making records and making copies of the Koran. "Islamic paper makers devised assembly-line methods of hand-copying manuscripts to turn out editions far larger than any available in Europe for centuries."[80]  It was from the Abbasids that the rest of the world learned to make paper from linen.[81]  The knowledge of gunpowder was also transmitted from China via the caliphate, where the formulas for pure potassium nitrate and an explosive gunpowder effect were first developed.[82]

text: Advances were made in irrigation and farming, using new technology such as the windmill. Crops such as almonds and citrus fruit were brought to Europe through al-Andalus, and sugar cultivation was gradually adopted by the Europeans. Apart from the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, navigable rivers were uncommon, so transport by sea was very important. Navigational sciences were highly developed, making use of a rudimentary sextant (known as a kamal). When combined with detailed maps of the period, sailors were able to sail across oceans rather than skirt along the coast. Abbasid sailors were also responsible for reintroducing large three masted merchant vessels to the Mediterranean. The name caravel may derive from an earlier Arab ship known as the qārib.[83] Arab merchants dominated trade in the Indian Ocean until the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century. Hormuz was an important center for this trade. There was also a dense network of trade routes in the Mediterranean, along which Muslim countries traded with each other and with European powers such as Venice, Genoa and Catalonia. The Silk Road crossing Central Asia passed through Abbasid caliphate between China and Europe.

text: Engineers in the Abbasid caliphate made a number of innovative industrial uses of hydropower, and early industrial uses of tidal power, wind power, and petroleum (notably by distillation into kerosene). The industrial uses of watermills in the Islamic world date back to the 7th century, while horizontal-wheeled and vertical-wheeled water mills were both in widespread use since at least the 9th century. By the time of the Crusades, every province throughout the Islamic world had mills in operation, from al-Andalus and North Africa to the Middle East and Central Asia. These mills performed a variety of agricultural and industrial tasks.[79] Abbasid engineers also developed machines (such as pumps) incorporating crankshafts, employed gears in mills and water-raising machines, and used dams to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines.[85] Such advances made it possible for many industrial tasks that were previously driven by manual labour in ancient times to be mechanized and driven by machinery instead in the medieval Islamic world. It has been argued that the industrial use of waterpower had spread from Islamic to Christian Spain, where fulling mills, paper mills, and forge mills were recorded for the first time in Catalonia.[86]

text: A number of industries were generated during the Arab Agricultural Revolution, including early industries for textiles, sugar, rope-making, matting, silk, and paper. Latin translations of the 12th century passed on knowledge of chemistry and instrument making in particular.[87]  The agricultural and handicraft industries also experienced high levels of growth during this period.[88]

text: Status of women[edit]

text: In contrast to the earlier era, women in Abbasid society were absent from all arenas of the community's central affairs.[89] While their Muslim forbearers led men into battle, started rebellions, and played an active role in community life, as demonstrated in the Hadith literature, Abbasid women were ideally kept in seclusion. Conquests had brought enormous wealth and large numbers of slaves to the Muslim elite. The majority of the slaves were women and children,[90] many of whom had been dependents or harem-members of the defeated Sassanian upper classes.[91] In the wake of the conquests an elite man could potentially own a thousand slaves, and ordinary soldiers could have ten people serving them.[90]

text: Nabia Abbott, preeminent historian of elite women of the Abbasid Caliphate, describes the lives of harem women as follows.

text: The choicest women were imprisoned behind heavy curtains and locked doors, the strings and keys of which were entrusted into the hands of that pitiable creature – the eunuch. As the size of the harem grew, men indulged to satiety. Satiety within the individual harem meant boredom for the one man and neglect for the many women. Under these conditions ... satisfaction by perverse and unnatural means crept into society, particularly in its upper classes.[91]

text: The marketing of human beings, particularly women, as objects for sexual use meant that elite men owned the vast majority of women they interacted with, and related to them as would masters to slaves.[92] Being a slave meant relative lack of autonomy during this time period, and belonging to a harem caused a wife and her children to have little insurance of stability and continued support due to the volatile politics of harem life.

text: Elite men expressed in literature the horror they felt for the humiliation and degradation of their daughters and female relatives. For example, the verses addressed to Hasan ibn al-Firat on the death of his daughter read:

text: Even so, courtesans and princesses produced prestigious and important poetry. Enough survives to give us access to women's historical experiences, and reveals some vivacious and powerful figures, such as the Sufi mystic Raabi'a al-Adwiyya (714–801 CE), the princess and poet 'Ulayya bint al-Mahdi (777–825 CE), and the singing-girls Shāriyah (c. 815–70 CE), Fadl Ashsha'ira (d. 871 CE) and Arib al-Ma'muniyya (797–890 CE).[94]

text: Military[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2018)

tag: table

text: In Baghdad there were many Abbasid military leaders who were or said they were of Arab descent. However, it is clear that most of the ranks were of Iranian origin, the vast majority being from Khorasan and Transoxania, not from western Iran or Azerbaijan.[95] with most of the Khorasani soldiers who brought the Abbasids to power were Arabs.[96]

text: the standing army of the Muslims in Khurasan was overwhelmingly Arab, The unit organization of the Abbasids was designed with the goal of ethnic and racial equality among supporters. When Abu Muslim recruited officers along the Silk Road, he registered them based not on their tribal or ethno-national affiliations but on their current places of residence.[97]

text: Arabization[edit]

text: While the Abbasids originally gained power by exploiting the social inequalities against non-Arabs in the Umayyad Empire, ironically during Abbasid rule the empire rapidly Arabized. As knowledge was shared in the Arabic language throughout the empire, people of different nationalities and religions began to speak Arabic in their everyday lives. Resources from other languages began to be translated into Arabic, and a unique Islamic identity began to form that fused previous cultures with Arab culture, creating a level of civilization and knowledge that was considered a marvel in Europe.[98]

text: Decline of the empire[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text:
Abbasids found themselves at odds with the Shia Muslims, most of whom had supported their war against the Umayyads, since the Abbasids and the Shias claimed legitimacy by their familial connection to Prophet Muhammad. Once in power, the Abbasids embraced Sunni Islam and disavowed any support for Shi'a beliefs. Shortly thereafter, Berber Kharijites set up an independent state in North Africa in 801. Within 50 years the Idrisids in the Maghreb and Aghlabids of Ifriqiya and a little later the Tulunids and Ikshidids of Misr were effectively independent in Africa. The Abbasid authority began to deteriorate during the reign of al-Radi when their Turkic Army generals, who already had de facto independence, stopped paying the Caliphate. Even provinces close to Baghdad began to seek local dynastic rule. Also, the Abbasids found themselves to often be at conflict with the Umayyads in Spain.
The Abbasid financial position weakened as well, with tax revenues from the Sawād decreasing in the 9th and 10th centuries.[99]

text: Separatist dynasties and their successors[edit]

text: The Abbasid Caliphate differed from others in that it did not have the same borders and extent as Islam. Particularly, in the west of the Caliphate, there were multiple smaller caliphates that existed in relative peace with them.[2] This list represents the succession of Islamic dynasties that emerged from the fractured Abbasid empire by their general geographic location. Dynasties often overlap, where a vassal emir revolted from and later conquered his lord. Gaps appear during periods of contest where the dominating power was unclear. Except for the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt, recognizing a Shi'ite succession through Ali, and the Andalusian Caliphates of the Umayyads and Almohads, every Muslim dynasty at least acknowledged the nominal suzerainty of the Abbasids as Caliph and Commander of the Faithful.

text:
Northwest Africa: Idrisids (788–974) → Almoravids (1040–1147) → Almohads (1120–1269)
Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia, eastern Algeria and western Libya): Aghlabids (800–909 CE) → Fatimids of Egypt (909–973 CE) → Zirids (973–1148) → Almohads (1148–1229) → Hafsids (1229–1574)
Egypt and Palestine: Tulunids (868–905 CE) → Ikhshidids (935–969) → Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171) → Ayyubid dynasty (1171–1250) → Mamluks (1250–1517)
Al-Jazira (modern Syria and northern Iraq): Hamdanids (890–1004 CE) → Marwanids (990–1085) and Uqaylids (990–1096) → Seljuks (1034–1194) → Mongol Empire and the Ilkhanate (1231–1335)
Southwest Iran: Buyids (934–1055) → Seljuks (1034–1194) → Mongol Empire
Khorasan (modern Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan): Tahirids (821 -873) → Saffarids (873–903) → Samanids (903–995) → Ghaznavids (995–1038) → Seljuks (1038–1194) → Ghurids (1011–1215) → Khwarazmians (1077–1231) → Mongol Empire and the Ilkhanate (1231–1335)
Transoxiana (modern Central Asia): Samanids (819–999) → Karakhanids (840–1212) → Khwarazmians (1077–1231) → Mongol Empire and the Chagatai Khanate (1225–1687)

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text: Abbasid Khanate of Bastak[edit]

text: In 656 AH/1258 CE, the year of the fall of Baghdad, and following the sack of the city, a few surviving members of the Abbasid dynastic family led by the eldest amongst them, Ismail II son of Hamza son of Ahmed son of Mohamed,[nb 8] made their way into the region of Fars in Southern Persia.[101]  They settled in the city of Khonj, then a great centre for learning and scholarship. Shaikh Abdulsalam Khonji (b. 661 AH – d. 746 AH) son of Abbas son of Ismail II was born in Khonj only five years after the fall of Baghdad and the arrival of his grandfather in the city.[102][103] He became a great religious scholar and Sufi saint, held in high esteem by the local populace. His tomb still stands in Khonj and is a site visited by people from near and far.

text: The descendants of Shaikh Abdulsalam Khonji were religious scholars and figures of great respect and repute for generation after generation. One such scholar and direct descendant of Shaikh Abdulsalam Khonji in the male line, Shaikh Mohamed (d. around 905 AH) son of Shaikh Jaber son of Shaikh Ismail IV, moved to Bastak.[100][page needed]  His grandson, Shaikh Mohamed the Elder (d. 950 or 975 AH) son of Shaikh Nasser al-Din Ahmed son of Shaikh Mohamed, settled in Khonj for a time. But in 938 AH, in response to growing Safavid power, Shaikh Mohamed the Elder moved permanently to Bastak as his grandfather had done.[104]  His own grandson, Shaikh Hassan (d. 1084 AH) (also called Mulla Hassan) son of Shaikh Mohamed the Younger son of Shaikh Mohamed the Elder, is the common ancestor of all the Abbasids of Bastak and its neighbouring areas.[105]

text: Shaikh Hassan’s grandsons, Shaikh Mohamed Saeed (b. 1096 AH – d. 1152 AH) and Shaikh Mohamed Khan (b. 1113 AH – d. 1197 AH) son of Shaikh Abdulqader son of Shaikh Hassan, became the first two Abbasid rulers of the region. In 1137 AH, Shaikh Mohamed Saeed began gathering support for an armed force. Following the capture of Lar, he ruled the city and its dependencies for 12 or 14 years before dying in 1152 AH.[106]

text: Shaikh Mohamed Khan Bastaki, his brother, was meanwhile the ruler of Bastak and the region of Jahangiriyeh. In 1161 AH, Shaikh Mohamed Khan Bastaki departed for Didehban Fortress, leaving Bastak and its dependencies in the hands of his eldest son Shaikh Mohamed Sadeq and his cousin Agha Hassan Khan son of Mulla Ismail.[107]  Shaikh Mohamed Khan ruled Jahangiriyeh from Didehban Fortress for a period of roughly 20 to 24 years, for which reason he has been referred to as Shaikh Mohamed "Didehban".[108]  He eventually returned to Bastak and continued to reign from there up to the time of his death. At the height of his rule, the Khanate of Bastak included not only the region of Jahangiriyeh, but its power also extended to Lar and Bandar Abbas as well as their dependencies, not to mention several islands in the Persian Gulf.[109][110][111][112][113]

text: Shaikh Mohamed Khan Bastaki was the first Abbasid ruler of Bastak to hold the title of "Khan" (Persian: خان, Arabic: الحاكم), meaning "ruler" or "king", which was bestowed upon him by Karim Khan Zand.[110] The title then became that of all the subsequent Abbasid rulers of Bastak and Jahangiriyeh, and also collectively refers in plural form – i.e., "Khans" (Persian: خوانين) - to the descendants of Shaikh Mohamed Khan Bastaki.

text: The last Abbasid ruler of Bastak and Jahangiriyeh was Mohamed A’zam Khan Baniabbassian son of Mohamed Reza Khan "Satvat al-Mamalek" Baniabbasi. He authored the book Tarikh-e Jahangiriyeh va Baniabbassian-e Bastak (1960),[114] in which is recounted the history of the region and the Abbasid family that ruled it. Mohamed A’zam Khan Baniabbassian died in 1967, a year regarded as marking the end of the Abbasid reign in Bastak.


document_title: Key West, Florida

question_text: what is the highest elevation of key west

question_tokens: what is the highest elevation of key west

text: Key West, Florida

text: History[edit]

text: Colonial and precolonial times[edit]

text: In Pre-Colonial times Key West was inhabited by the Calusa people. The first European to visit was Juan Ponce de León in 1521. As Florida became a Spanish territory, a fishing and salvage village with a small garrison was established here.[citation needed]

text: Cayo Hueso (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaʝo ˈweso]) is the original Spanish name for the island of Key West. Spanish-speaking people today also use the term when referring to Key West. It literally means "bone cay (a low island or reef)". It is said that the island was littered with the remains (bones) of prior native inhabitants, who used the isle as a communal graveyard.[10] This island was the westernmost Key with a reliable supply of water.[11]

text: In 1763, when Great Britain took control of Florida, the community of Spaniards and Native Americans were moved to Havana. Florida returned to Spanish control 20 years later, but there was no official resettlement of the island. Informally the island was used by fishermen from Cuba and from the British, who were later joined by others from the United States after the latter nation's independence. While claimed by Spain, no nation exercised de facto control over the community there for some time.

text: Ownership claims[edit]

text: In 1815, the Spanish governor of Cuba in Havana deeded the island of Key West to Juan Pablo Salas, an officer of the Royal Spanish Navy Artillery posted in Saint Augustine, Florida. After Florida was transferred to the United States in 1821, Salas was so eager to sell the island that he sold it twice – first for a sloop valued at $575 to a General John Geddes, a former governor of South Carolina, and then to a U.S. businessman John W. Simonton, during a meeting in a Havana café on January 19, 1822, for the equivalent of $2,000 in pesos in 1821. Geddes tried in vain to secure his rights to the property before Simonton who, with the aid of some influential friends in Washington, was able to gain clear title to the island. Simonton had wide-ranging business interests in Mobile, Alabama. He bought the island because a friend, John Whitehead, had drawn his attention to the opportunities presented by the island's strategic location. John Whitehead had been stranded in Key West after a shipwreck in 1819 and he had been impressed by the potential offered by the deep harbor of the island. The island was indeed considered the "Gibraltar of the West" because of its strategic location on the 90-mile (140 km)–wide deep shipping lane, the Straits of Florida, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

text: On March 25, 1822, Lt. Commander Matthew C. Perry sailed the schooner Shark to Key West and planted the U.S. flag, claiming the Keys as United States property.[12] No protests were made over the American claim on Key West, so the Florida Keys became the property of the United States.

text: After claiming the Florida Keys for the United States, Perry renamed Cayo Hueso (Key West) to "Thompson's Island" for Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson, and the harbor "Port Rodgers" in honor of War of 1812 hero and President of the Navy Supervisors Board John Rodgers. In 1823, Commodore David Porter of the United States Navy West Indies Anti-Pirate Squadron took charge of Key West, which he ruled (but, according to some,[according to whom?] exceeding his authority) as military dictator under martial law. Porter was tasked by the American Navy to end acts of piracy in the Key West area including slave ships.

text: First developers[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. (November 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Soon after his purchase, John Simonton subdivided the island into plots and sold three undivided quarters of each plot to:

text:
John Mountain and U.S. Consul John Warner, who quickly resold their quarter to Pardon C. Greene, who took up residence on the island. Greene is the only one of the four "founding fathers" to establish himself permanently on the island, where he became quite prominent as head of P.C. Greene and Company. He was a member of the city council[13] and also served briefly as mayor. He died in 1838 at the age of 57.
John Whitehead, his friend who had advised him to buy Key West.[14] John Whitehead lived in Key West for only eight years. He became a partner in the firm of P.C. Greene and Company from 1824 to 1827. A lifelong bachelor, he left the island for good in 1832. He came back only once, during the Civil War in 1861, and died the next year.
John Fleeming (nowadays spelled Fleming).[14] John W.C. Fleeming was English-born and was active in mercantile business in Mobile, Alabama, where he befriended John Simonton. Fleeming spent only a few months in Key West in 1822 and left for Massachusetts, where he married. He returned to Key West in 1832 with the intention of developing salt manufacturing on the island but died the same year at the young age of 51.

text: Simonton spent the winter in Key West and the summer in Washington, where he lobbied hard for the development of the island and to establish a naval base on the island, both to take advantage of the island's strategic location and to bring law and order to the town. He died in 1854.

text: The names of the four "founding fathers"[15] of modern Key West were given to main arteries of the island when it was first platted in 1829 by William Adee Whitehead, John Whitehead's younger brother. That first plat and the names used remained mostly intact and are still in use today. Duval Street, the island's main street, is named after Florida's first territorial governor, who served between 1822 and 1834 as the longest-serving governor in Florida's U.S. history.

text: William Whitehead became chief editorial writer for the "Enquirer", a local newspaper, in 1834. He had the genius of preserving copies of his newspaper as well as copies from the "Key West Gazette", its predecessor. He later sent those copies to the Monroe County clerk for preservation, which gives us a precious view of life in Key West in the early days (1820–1840).

text: In the 1830’s Key West was the richest city per capita in the United States.[16]

text: In 1852 the first Catholic Church, St. Mary's Star-Of-The-Sea was built. The year 1864 became a landmark for the church in South Florida when five Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary arrived from Montreal, Canada, and established the first Catholic school in South Florida. The Convent of Mary Immaculate, the oldest Catholic School in Florida which is now known as Mary Immaculate Star of the Sea School.

text: American Civil War and late 19th century[edit]

text: During the American Civil War, while Florida seceded and joined the Confederate States of America, Key West remained in U.S. Union hands because of the naval base. However, most locals were sympathetic to the Confederacy, and many flew Confederate flags over their homes.[17] Fort Zachary Taylor, constructed from 1845 to 1866, was an important Key West outpost during the Civil War. Construction began in 1861 on two other forts, East and West Martello Towers, which served as side armories and batteries for the larger fort. When completed, they were connected to Fort Taylor by railroad tracks for movement of munitions.[17] Fort Jefferson, located about 68 miles (109 km) from Key West on Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas, served after the Civil War as the prison for Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, convicted of conspiracy for setting the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln.

text: In the 19th century, major industries included wrecking and salvaging; fishing; turtling, and salt manufacturing.[18] From 1830 to 1861, Key West was a major center of U.S. salt production, harvesting the commodity from the sea (via receding tidal pools) rather than from salt mines.[18] After the outbreak of the Civil War, Union troops shut down the salt industry after Confederate sympathizers smuggled the product into the South.[18] Salt production resumed at the end of the war, but the industry was destroyed by an 1876 hurricane and never recovered, in part because of new salt mines on the mainland.[18]

text: During the Ten Years' War (an unsuccessful Cuban war for independence in the 1860s and 1870s), many Cubans sought refuge in Key West.

text: A fire on April 1, 1886, started at a cigar club and grew out of control, destroying 18 cigar factories and 614 houses and government warehouse buildings.[19]

text: By 1889, Key West was the largest and wealthiest city in Florida.[17]

text: The USS Maine sailed from Key West on its fateful visit to Havana, where it blew up and sank in Havana Harbor, igniting the Spanish–American War. Crewmen from the ship are buried in Key West, and the Navy investigation into the blast occurred at the Key West Customs House.

text: 20th century[edit]

text: The Overseas Railroad linked Key West to the mainland in 1912; it was destroyed in the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. The Overseas Highway, and extension of U.S. Route 1 in Florida, was completed in 1938; it was built atop many of the footings of the railroad.

text: Pan American Airlines was founded in Key West, originally to fly visitors to Havana, in 1926. The airline contracted with the United States Postal Service in 1927 to deliver mail to and from Cuba and the United States. The mail route was known as the Key West, Florida – Havana Mail Route.

text: John F. Kennedy was to use "90 miles from Cuba" extensively in his speeches against Fidel Castro. Kennedy himself visited Key West a month after the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

text: Prior to the Cuban revolution of 1959, there were regular ferry and airplane services between Key West and Havana.

text: Geography[edit]

text:
[show]
Places adjacent to Key West, Florida

Sunset Key, Wisteria Island
Gulf of Mexico, Fleming Key, Sigsbee Park
North Stock Island, Key Haven

Gulf of Mexico, Marquesas Keys

Key West

Stock Island, Cow Key

Gulf of Mexico, Sand Key
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean

text: Key West is located at 24°33′33″N 81°47′03″W / 24.55917°N 81.78417°W / 24.55917; -81.78417.[20] The maximum elevation above sea level is about 18 feet (5 m), a 1-acre (4,000 m2) area known as Solares Hill.[21]

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.4 square miles (19 km2), of which 5.9 square miles (15 km2) is land and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2) (19.73%) is water.

text: Since the 1940s, the island has more than doubled in size via landfill.[citation needed] The new section on the eastern side is called "New Town." It contains shopping centers, retail malls, residential areas, schools, ball parks, and Key West International Airport.

text: Key West and most of the rest of the Keys are on the dividing line between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The two bodies have different currents, with the calmer and warmer Gulf of Mexico being characterized by great clumps of seagrass. The area where the two bodies merge between Key West and Cuba is called the Straits of Florida.

text: Rail and road access[edit]

text: Key West was relatively isolated until 1912, when it was connected to the Florida mainland via the Overseas Railway extension of Henry M. Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). Flagler created a landfill at Trumbo Point for his railyards. The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 destroyed much of the railroad and killed hundreds of residents, including around 400 World War I veterans who were living in camps and working on federal road and mosquito-control projects in the Middle Keys. The FEC could not afford to restore the railroad.

text: The U.S. government then rebuilt the rail route as an automobile highway, completed in 1938, which became an extension of United States Highway 1. The portion of U.S. 1 through the Keys is called the Overseas Highway. Franklin Roosevelt toured the road in 1939.

text: Climate[edit]

text: Key West has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw, similar to the Caribbean islands).[22] Like most tropical climates, Key West has only a small difference in monthly mean temperatures between the coolest month (January) and the warmest month (July) – with the annual range of monthly mean temperatures around 15 °F (8.3 °C). The Florida Keys are one of the only locations on the mainland U.S. known to never have had a frost or freeze – the lowest temperature on record is 41 °F (5 °C) on January 12, 1886, and January 13, 1981. Prevailing easterly tradewinds and sea breezes suppress the usual summertime heating, with temperatures rarely reaching 95 °F (35 °C). There are 55 days per year with 90 °F (32 °C) or greater highs,[23] with the average window for such readings June 10 through September 22, shorter than almost the entire southeastern U.S. However, low temperatures often remain above 80 °F (27 °C). The all-time record high temperature is 97 °F (36 °C) on July 19, 1880, and August 29, 1956.[23]

text:
[show]Climate data for Key West Int'l, Florida (1981–2010 normals,[a] extremes 1872−present)[b]

Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year

Record high °F (°C)
90
(32)
87
(31)
89
(32)
91
(33)
93
(34)
96
(36)
97
(36)
97
(36)
95
(35)
93
(34)
91
(33)
88
(31)
97
(36)

Mean maximum °F (°C)
82.0
(27.8)
82.7
(28.2)
84.2
(29)
86.0
(30)
88.6
(31.4)
91.0
(32.8)
92.0
(33.3)
92.1
(33.4)
91.1
(32.8)
88.7
(31.5)
85.6
(29.8)
82.7
(28.2)
92.6
(33.7)

Average high °F (°C)
74.3
(23.5)
76.0
(24.4)
78.2
(25.7)
81.3
(27.4)
85.0
(29.4)
87.8
(31)
89.3
(31.8)
89.4
(31.9)
87.9
(31.1)
84.5
(29.2)
79.9
(26.6)
76.0
(24.4)
82.5
(28.1)

Daily mean °F (°C)
69.3
(20.7)
71.0
(21.7)
73.2
(22.9)
76.4
(24.7)
80.3
(26.8)
83.3
(28.5)
84.5
(29.2)
84.5
(29.2)
83.2
(28.4)
80.2
(26.8)
75.8
(24.3)
71.4
(21.9)
77.76
(25.42)

Average low °F (°C)
64.2
(17.9)
66.0
(18.9)
68.3
(20.2)
71.6
(22)
75.7
(24.3)
78.8
(26)
79.8
(26.6)
79.6
(26.4)
78.5
(25.8)
76.0
(24.4)
71.7
(22.1)
66.9
(19.4)
73.1
(22.8)

Mean minimum °F (°C)
51.0
(10.6)
53.7
(12.1)
57.4
(14.1)
61.9
(16.6)
69.5
(20.8)
73.4
(23)
74.1
(23.4)
73.8
(23.2)
73.6
(23.1)
69.1
(20.6)
62.2
(16.8)
54.5
(12.5)
48.8
(9.3)

Record low °F (°C)
41
(5)
44
(7)
47
(8)
48
(9)
63
(17)
65
(18)
68
(20)
68
(20)
64
(18)
59
(15)
49
(9)
44
(7)
41
(5)

Average rainfall inches (mm)
2.04
(51.8)
1.49
(37.8)
2.05
(52.1)
2.05
(52.1)
3.00
(76.2)
4.11
(104.4)
3.55
(90.2)
5.38
(136.7)
6.71
(170.4)
4.93
(125.2)
2.30
(58.4)
2.22
(56.4)
39.83
(1,011.7)

Average rainy days (≥ 0.01 in)
6.2
5.3
5.8
4.5
7.2
11.0
11.7
14.2
16.2
11.3
6.6
6.4
106.4

Average relative humidity (%)
76.0
74.3
73.0
70.1
71.8
74.0
72.2
73.4
75.3
75.1
76.0
76.2
74.0

Mean monthly sunshine hours
249.6
245.4
308.8
324.6
340.3
314.0
325.2
306.6
269.6
254.7
230.9
234.5
3,404.2

Percent possible sunshine
75
77
83
85
82
77
78
76
73
71
70
71
77

Source: NOAA (relative humidity and sun 1961−1990)[23][24][25], The Weather Channel[26]

text: Wet and dry seasons[edit]

text: Like most tropical climates, Key West has a two-season wet and dry climate. The period from November through April is normally sunny and quite dry, with only 25 percent of the annual rainfall occurring. May through October is normally the wet season. During the wet season some rain falls on most days, often as brief, but heavy tropical downpours, followed by intense sun. Early morning is the favored time for these showers, which is different from mainland Florida, where showers and thunderstorms usually occur in the afternoon. Easterly (tropical) waves during this season occasionally bring excessive rainfall, while infrequent hurricanes may be accompanied by unusually heavy amounts. On average, rainfall markedly peaks between August and October; the single wettest month in Key West is September, when the threat from tropical weather systems (hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions) is greatest. Key West is the driest city in Florida, averaging just under 40 inches of rain per year. This is driven primarily by Key West's relative dryness in May, June and July. In mainland Florida peninsular areas like Orlando, Tampa/St. Petersburg and Fort Myers, June and July average monthly rainfalls typically reach 7 to 10 inches, while Key West has only half such amounts over the same period.[27]

text: Hurricanes[edit]

text: Hurricanes rarely affect Key West, and the island has been relatively unaffected by major storms. Some locals maintain that Hurricane Wilma on October 24, 2005, was the worst storm in memory. The entire island was told to evacuate and business owners were forced to shut their doors. After the hurricane had passed, the resulting storm surge sent eight feet (two meters) of water inland completely inundating a large portion of the lower Keys. Low-lying areas of Key West and the lower Keys, including major tourist destinations, were under as much as three feet (one meter) of water. Sixty percent of the homes in Key West were flooded.[28] The higher parts of Old Town, such as the Solares Hill and cemetery areas, did not flood, because of their higher elevations of 12 to 18 feet (4 to 5 m).[29] The surge destroyed tens of thousands of cars throughout the lower Keys, and many houses were flooded with one to two feet (thirty to sixty-one centimeters) of sea water. A local newspaper referred to Key West and the lower Keys as a "car graveyard."[30] The peak of the storm surge occurred when the eye of Wilma had already passed over the Naples area, and the sustained winds during the surge were less than 40 mph (64 km/h).[29] The storm destroyed the piers at the clothing-optional Atlantic Shores Motel and breached the shark tank at the Key West Aquarium, freeing its sharks. Damage postponed the island's famous Halloween Fantasy Fest until the following December. MTV's The Real World: Key West was filming during the hurricane and deals with the storm.

text: In September 2005, NOAA opened its National Weather Forecasting building on White Street. The building is designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane and its storm surge. Tours of the office are available, weather permitting, Monday-Friday from 10am to 12pm.

text: The most intense previous hurricane was Hurricane Georges, a Category 2, in September 1998. The storm damaged many of the houseboats along "Houseboat Row" on South Roosevelt Boulevard near Cow Key channel on the east side of the island.

text: The most recent hurricane to impact Key West was Hurricane Irma, which made landfall in the Keys in the morning of September 10, 2017 as a Category 4 storm.

text: Port of Key West[edit]

text: The first cruise ship was the Sunward in 1969, which docked at the Navy's pier in the Truman Annex or the privately owned Pier B. The Navy's pier is called the Navy Mole.

text: In 1984 the city opened a pier right on Mallory Square. The decision was met with considerable opposition from people who felt it would disrupt the tradition of watching the sunset at Mallory Square. Cruise ships now dock at all three piers.

text: In present times, several cruise ships dock on a regular basis at Key West, including the Royal Caribbean ship Majesty of the Seas and the Carnival Fascination, both of which visit weekly. In the last several years, however, larger cruise ships have increasingly bypassed Key West due to the narrowness of the island's main ship channel. On October 1, 2013, 74% of resident voters opposed a referendum that would have allowed the City Commission to request a feasibility study from the Army Corps of Engineers for a $36 million project to dredge a wider channel.[31] Economic benefits from visiting cruise ship passengers are substantial but not attractive to all Key West citizens as the daily presence of thousands of tourists from cruise ships affects the character of the city, resulting in operation of facilities that cater to mass tourism rather than to a potentially more profitable and pleasant upscale clientele. There are also environmental issues as Key West is surrounded by coral habitat.[9] Concerns over environmental protection were considered a prominent factor in the failure of the 2013 referendum.[32]

text: As of 2009[update], there were 859,409 passengers annually.[33]

text: Demographics[edit]

text:
Historical population

Census
Pop.

%±

1840
688

—

1850
2,367

244.0%

1860
2,832

19.6%

1870
5,016

77.1%

1880
9,890

97.2%

1890
18,080

82.8%

1900
17,114

−5.3%

1910
19,945

16.5%

1920
18,749

−6.0%

1930
12,831

−31.6%

1940
12,927

0.7%

1950
26,433

104.5%

1960
33,956

28.5%

1970
29,312

−13.7%

1980
24,382

−16.8%

1990
24,832

1.8%

2000
25,478

2.6%

2010
24,649

−3.3%

Est. 2016
26,990
[3]
9.5%

U.S. Decennial Census[34]

text: As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 25,478 people, 11,016 households, and 5,463 families residing in Key West. The population density was 4,285.0 inhabitants per square mile (1,653.3/km²). There were 13,306 housing units at an average density of 2,237.9 per square mile (863.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.94% White, 9.28% African American, 0.39% Native American, 1.29% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.86% from other races, and 2.18% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino persons of any race were 16.54% of the population.

text: There were 11,016 households, out of which 19.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.7% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.4% were classified as non-families. Of all households, 31.4% were made up of individuals, and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.84.

text: The population was spread out, with 16.0% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 37.1% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 122.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 126.0 males.

text: The median income for a household was $43,021, and the median income for those classified as families was $50,895. Males had a median income of $30,967 versus $25,407 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,316. About 5.8% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 11.3% of those age 65 or over.

text: The ancestries most reported in 2000 were English (12.4%), German (12.2%), Irish (11.3%), Italian (6.8%), American (6.0%) and French (3.6%).

text: The number of families (as defined by the Census Bureau) declined dramatically in the last four decades of the 20th century. In 1960 there were 13,340 families in Key West, with 42.1% of households having children living in them. By 2000 the population had dwindled to 5,463 families, with only 19.9% of households having children living in them.[35]

text: As of 2000, 76.66% spoke English as a first language, while Spanish was spoken by 17.32%, 1.06% spoke Italian, 1.02% spoke French, and German spoken as a mother tongue was at 0.94% of the population. In total, other languages spoken besides English made up 25.33% of residents.[36]

text: "Conchs"[edit]

text: Many of the residents of Key West were immigrants from the Bahamas, known as Conchs (pronounced "conks"'), who arrived in increasing numbers after 1830. Many were sons and daughters of Loyalists who fled to the nearest Crown soil during the American Revolution.[37] In the 20th century many residents of Key West started referring to themselves as Conchs, and the term is now generally applied to all residents of Key West. Some residents use the term "Conch" (or, alternatively, "Saltwater Conch") to refer to a person born in Key West, while the term "Freshwater Conch" refers to a resident not born in Key West but who has lived in Key West for seven years or more.[38] However, the true original meaning of Conch applies only to someone with European ancestry who immigrated from the Bahamas. It is said that when a baby was born, the family would put a conch shell on a pole in front of their home.

text: Many of the black Bahamian immigrants who arrived later lived in Bahama Village, an area of Old Town next to the Truman Annex.

text: Cuban presence[edit]

text: Key West is closer to Havana (106 miles [171 km]) than it is to Miami (129 miles [208 km]). In 1890, Key West had a population of nearly 18,800 and was the biggest and richest city in Florida.[39] Half the residents were said to be of Cuban origin, and Key West regularly had Cuban mayors, including the son of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, father of the Cuban Republic, who was elected mayor in 1876.[40] Cubans were actively involved in reportedly 200 factories in town, producing 100 million cigars annually. José Martí made several visits to seek recruits for Cuban independence starting in 1891 and founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party during his visits to Key West.[40]

text: Key West was flooded with refugees during the Mariel Boatlift. Refugees continue to come ashore and, on at least one occasion, most notably in April 2003, flew hijacked Cuban Airlines planes into the city's airport.[41]

text: Government[edit]

text: Key West Government is governed via the mayor-council system. The city council is known as the city commission. It consists of six members each elected from individual districts. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote.

text: Mayors[edit]

text: Mayors of Key West have reflected the city's cultural and ethnic heritage. Among its mayors are the first Cuban mayor and one of the first openly gay mayors. One mayor is also famous for having water-skied to Cuba.[42]

text: Conch Republic[edit]

text: In 1982 the city of Key West briefly declared its "independence" as the Conch Republic in a protest over a United States Border Patrol blockade. This blockade was set up on U.S. 1, where the northern end of the Overseas Highway meets the mainland at Florida City. The blockade was in response to the Mariel Boatlift. A traffic jam of 17 miles (27 km) ensued while the Border Patrol stopped every car leaving the Keys, supposedly searching for illegal immigrants attempting to enter the mainland United States. This paralyzed the Florida Keys, which rely heavily on the tourism industry. Flags, T-shirts and other merchandise representing the Conch Republic are still popular souvenirs for visitors to Key West, and the Conch Republic Independence Celebration—including parades and parties—is celebrated every April 23.

text: Education[edit]

text: Monroe County School District operates public schools in Key West.

text: District-operated elementary schools serving the City of Key West include Poinciana Elementary School, which is located on the island of Key West, and Gerald Adams Elementary School, which is located on Stock Island.[43] District-operated middle and high schools include Horace O'Bryant School, a former middle school which now operates as a K–8 school, and the Key West High School. All of Key West is zoned to Horace O'Bryant School for grades 6-8 and to Key West High School for grades 9–12. Sigsbee Charter School is a K–8 school of choice, sanctioned by the District and serving predominantly military dependent children as well as children from the community at large.[44] Admission to Sigsbee Charter School is limited and the waiting list is managed by a lottery system.[45] Key West Montessori Charter School is a district-sanctioned charter school on Key West Island.[46]

text: The main campus of Florida Keys Community College is located in Key West.

text: Points of interest[edit]

text: Southernmost city[edit]

text: One of the biggest attractions on the island is a concrete replica of a buoy at the corner of South and Whitehead Streets that claims to be the southernmost point in the contiguous United States (see Extreme Points). Erected in 1983, the famous brightly painted and labeled "SOUTHERNMOST POINT CONTINENTAL U.S.A.", it is one of the most visited and photographed attractions in the United States. However, the marker is not located at the exact southernmost point in the continental United States, Whitehead Spit, on the Truman Annex property just west of the buoy, is the true southernmost point, but it has no marker since it is U.S. Navy land and cannot be entered by civilian tourists. [47]

text: The claim "90 Miles to Cuba" on the monument is close to correct, Cuba at its closest point has been measured at 94 statute miles (151 km) from Key West.[48]

text: Old Town[edit]

text: The original Key West settlement on the western part of the island is called "Old Town" and comprises the Key West Historic District. It includes the major tourist destinations of the island, including Mallory Square, Duval Street, the Truman Annex and Fort Zachary Taylor. It is where are found the classic bungalows and guest mansions.

text: Generally, the structures date from 1886 to 1912. The basic features that distinguish the local architecture include wood-frame construction of one- to two-and-a-half-story structures set on foundation piers about three feet (one meter) above the ground. Exterior characteristics of the buildings are peaked "metal" roofs, horizontal wood siding, gingerbread trim, pastel shades of paint, side-hinged louvered shutters, covered porches (or balconies, galleries, or verandas) along the fronts of the structures, and wood lattice screens covering the area elevated by the piers.

text: Old Town is comparable to the "New Town" section of the island, which was created when the island of Key West was more than doubled in size via landfill. New Town, on the eastern part of the island, contains shopping centers, retail malls, residential areas, schools, ball parks, and Key West International Airport.

text: Key West Naval Air Station[edit]

text: Key West was always an important military post, since it sits at the northern edge of the deepwater channel connecting the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico (the southern edge 90 miles [140 km] away is Cuba) via the Florida Straits. Because of this, Key West since the 1820s had been dubbed the "Gibraltar of the West." Fort Taylor was initially built on the island. The Navy added a small base from which the USS Maine sailed to its demise in Havana at the beginning of the Spanish–American War.

text: At the beginning of World War II the Navy increased its presence from 50 acres (200,000 m2) to 3,000 acres (12 km2), including all of Boca Chica Key's 1,700 acres (7 km2) and the construction of Fleming Key from landfill. The Navy built the first water pipeline extending the length of the keys, bringing fresh water from the mainland to supply its bases.[49] At its peak 15,000 military personnel and 3,400 civilians were at the base. Included in the base are:

text:
NAS Key West – This is the main facility on Boca Chica, where the Navy trains its pilots. Staff are housed at Sigsbee Park. In 2006 there were 1,650 active-duty personnel; 2,507 family members; 35 Reserve members; and 1,312 civilians listed at the base. In the 1990s the Navy worked out an agreement with the National Park Service to stop sonic booms near Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. Many of the training missions are directed at the Marquesas "Patricia" Target 29 nautical miles (54 km) due west of the base. The target is a grounded ship hulk 306 feet (93 m) in length that is visible only at low tide. Bombs are not actually dropped on the target.
Truman Annex – The area next to Fort Taylor became a submarine pen and was used for the Fleet Sonar School. President Harry S. Truman was to make the commandant's house his winter White House. The Fort Taylor Annex was later renamed the Truman Annex. This portion has largely been decommissioned and turned over to private developers and the city of Key West. However, there are still a few government offices there, including the new NOAA Hurricane Forecasting Center. The Navy still owns its piers.
Trumbo Annex – The docking area on what had been the railroad yard for Flagler's Overseas Railroad is now used by the Coast Guard.

text: Notable residences[edit]

text: Winter White House[edit]

text: Several U.S. presidents have visited Key West. Harry Truman visited for 175 days on 11 visits during his presidency and visited several times after he left office (see Truman Annex).

text: Key West was in a down cycle when Franklin D. Roosevelt visited in 1939. The buildup of military bases on the island occurred shortly thereafter.

text: In addition to Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower stayed in Key West following a heart attack. In November 1962, John F. Kennedy visited Key West a month after the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Jimmy Carter held a family reunion in Key West after leaving office.

text: Ernest Hemingway house[edit]

text: Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway wrote part of A Farewell to Arms while living above the showroom of a Key West Ford dealership at 314 Simonton Street[50] while awaiting delivery of a Ford Model A roadster purchased by the uncle of his wife Pauline in 1928.[51]

text: Hardware store owner Charles Thompson introduced him to deep-sea fishing. Among the group who went fishing was Joe Russell (also known as Sloppy Joe). Russell was reportedly the model for Freddy in To Have and Have Not. Portions of the original manuscript were found at Sloppy Joe's Bar after his death. The group had nicknames for each other, and Hemingway wound up with "Papa".

text: Pauline's rich uncle Gus Pfeiffer bought the 907 Whitehead Street house[52] in 1931 as a wedding present. Legend says the Hemingways installed a swimming pool for $20,000 in the late 1930s (equivalent in 2013 to $330,000). It was such a high price that Hemingway is said to have put a penny in the concrete, saying, "Here, take the last penny I've got!" The penny is still there.

text: During his stay he wrote or worked on Death in the Afternoon, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. He used Depression-era Key West as one of the locations in To Have and Have Not—his only novel with scenes that occur in the United States.

text: Pauline and Hemingway divorced in 1939; Hemingway only occasionally visited when returning from Havana until his suicide in 1961.

text: The six- or seven-toed polydactyl cats descended from Hemingway's original pet "Snowball" still live on the grounds and are cared for at the Hemingway House, despite complaints by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that they are not kept free from visitor contact. The Key West City Commission has exempted the house from a law prohibiting more than four domestic animals per household.

text:
Famous Sloppy Joe's Bar at night

The Silver Slipper dance hall adjacent to Sloppy Joe's, painted in the 1930s by Waldo Peirce.

One of the more than 50 polydactyl cats that live at the Hemingway house. This particular cat has seven (two extra) toes on each paw.

text: Tennessee Williams house[edit]

text: Tennessee Williams first became a regular visitor to Key West in 1941 and is said to have written the first draft of A Streetcar Named Desire while staying in 1947 at the La Concha Hotel. He bought a permanent house in 1949 and listed Key West as his primary residence until his death in 1983. In contrast to Hemingway's grand house in Old Town, the Williams home at 1431 Duncan Street[53] in the "unfashionable" New Town neighborhood is a very modest bungalow. The house is privately owned and not open to the public. The Academy Award–winning film version of his play The Rose Tattoo was shot on the island in 1956. The Tennessee Williams Theatre is located on the campus of Florida Keys Community College on Stock Island.[54]

text: Williams had a series of rented homes all over the United States, but the only home he owned was in Key West.

text: Even though Hemingway and Williams lived in Key West at the same time, they reportedly met only once—at Hemingway's home in Cuba, Finca Vigía.

text: Media[edit]

text: Key West is part of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale television market. It is served by rebroadcast transmitters in Key West and Marathon that repeat the Miami-Fort Lauderdale stations. Comcast provides cable television service. DirecTV and Dish Network provide Miami-Fort Lauderdale local stations and national channels.

text: The Key West area has 11 FM radio stations, 4 FM translators, and 2 AM stations. WEOW 92.7 is the home of The Rude Girl & Molly Blue, a popular morning zoo duo; Bill Bravo is the afternoon host. SUN 99.5 has Hoebee and Miss Loretta in the p.m. drive. Island 107.1 FM is the only locally owned, independent FM station in Key West, featuring alternative rock music and community programs.

text: The Florida Keys Keynoter and the Key West Citizen are published locally and serve Key West and Monroe County. The Southernmost Flyer, a weekly publication printed in conjunction with the Citizen, is produced by the Public Affairs Department of Naval Air Station Key West and serves the local military community. Key West the Newspaper (known locally as The Blue Paper due to its colorful header) is a local weekly investigative newspaper, established in 1994 by Dennis Cooper, taken over in 2013 as a fully digital publication by Arnaud and Naja Girard.[55]

text: Notable people[edit]

text:
Vic Albury, MLB pitcher
Bronson Arroyo, baseball player[56]
John James Audubon[57]
Judy Blume, author
Jimmy Buffett, musician[58]
David Allan Coe, musician[59]
Sandy Cornish, civic leader, former slave[60]
Paul Cotton, musician
John Dewey, philosopher and psychologist[61]
Stepin Fetchit, comedian[62]
Mel Fisher, treasure hunter[63]
Robert Fuller, actor
Khalil Greene, MLB shortstop
Ernest Hemingway, author[57][64][65]
Winslow Homer, landscape painter[66]
Calvin Klein, fashion designer[65][67]
Mike Leach, college football coach [68]
Stephen Mallory, U.S. senator[69]
Amber McDonald, actress
Kelly McGillis, actress[57]
George Mira, football player[70]
John Patterson, MLB second baseman
Quincy Perkins, filmmaker
Boog Powell, baseball player[71][72]
David Robinson, basketball player[73]
Shel Silverstein, author, cartoonist and musician[74]
Shane Spencer, MLB outfielder
Randy Sterling, MLB pitcher
Harry S. Truman, U.S. president[57]
Dick Vermeil, former Super Bowl Champion NFL Coach
Tennessee Williams, author[64]
Stuart Woods, author[75]

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: Key West and the Florida Keys have been the setting for many film and television productions beginning in 1942 with Reap the Wild Wind.[76]