document_title: Monty Python's Life of Brian

question_text: who played jesus in the life of brian

question_tokens: who played jesus in the life of brian

root

text: Monty Python's Life of Brian

text: Plot[edit]

text: Brian Cohen is born in a stable next door to the one in which Jesus is born, which initially confuses the three wise men who come to praise the future King of the Jews. Brian grows up an idealistic young man who resents the continuing Roman occupation of Judea. While attending Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Brian becomes infatuated with an attractive young rebel, Judith. His desire for her and hatred for the Romans lead him to join the "People's Front of Judea", one of many fractious and bickering independence movements, who spend more time fighting each other than the Romans.

tag: p

text: After several misadventures, and escaping from Pontius Pilate, Brian winds up in a line-up of would-be mystics and prophets who harangue the passing crowd in a plaza. Forced to come up with something plausible in order to blend in and keep the guards off his back, Brian repeats some of what he had heard Jesus say, and quickly attracts a small but intrigued audience. Once the guards have left, Brian tries to put the episode behind him, but he has unintentionally inspired a movement. He grows frantic when he finds that some people have started to follow him around, with even the slightest unusual occurrence being hailed as a miracle. Their responses grow in fervour and intensity, making it harder and harder for him to get away from them, yet because of the mob's excitement over the 'miracles' they discover, they ultimately end up completely ignoring Brian himself. Judith is the only one that doesn't leave; Brian and Judith then spend the night together. In the morning, Brian, completely naked, opens the curtains to discover an enormous crowd outside his mother's house which proclaims him to be the Messiah. Brian's mother protests, telling the crowd that "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy" and, "There's no Messiah in here. There's a mess, all right, but no Messiah." All of her attempts at dispersing the crowd are rebuffed. Furthermore, once Brian addresses them, he also finds that he is unable to change their minds. His followers are completely committed to their belief in Brian's divinity. They immediately seize upon everything he says and does as points of doctrine.

text: The hapless Brian is unable to escape his unwanted 'disciples'; even his mother's house is surrounded by an enormous, enraptured crowd. They fling their afflicted bodies at him, demanding miracle cures and divine secrets. After sneaking out the back, Brian is then finally captured and scheduled to be crucified. Meanwhile, yet another huge crowd has assembled outside the palace. Pontius Pilate (together with the visiting Biggus Dickus) tries to quell the feeling of revolution by granting them the choice of one person to be pardoned. The crowd, however, shouts out names containing the letter "r", mocking Pilate's rhotacistic speech impediment. Eventually, Judith appears in the crowd and calls for the release of Brian, which the crowd echoes since the name also contains an "r". Pilate agrees to "welease Bwian".

text: His order is eventually relayed to the guards, but in a scene that parodies the climax of the film Spartacus, various crucified people all claim to be "Brian of Nazareth" and the wrong man is released. Various other opportunities for a reprieve for Brian are denied as, one by one, his "allies" (including Judith and his mother) step forward to explain why they are leaving the "noble freedom fighter" hanging in the hot sun. Hope is renewed when a crack suicide squad from the "Judean People's Front" (not to be confused with the People's Front of Judea) come charging towards the Romans, but rather than fighting to release Brian or the other prisoners, they commit mass suicide as a political protest. Condemned to a long and painful death, Brian finds his spirits lifted by his fellow sufferers, who break into song with "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."[7]

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Graham Chapman as Brian, Biggus Dickus, 2nd wise man
John Cleese as Reg, High priest, Centurion of the Yard, Deadly Dirk, Arthur, 1st wise man
Terry Gilliam as Another person further forward (at Mount – "Do you hear that? 'Blessed are the Greek'!"), Blood and Thunder prophet, Geoffrey, Gaoler, Frank
Eric Idle as Mr Cheeky, Stan/Loretta, Harry the Haggler, Culprit woman who casts first stone, Intensely dull youth, Otto, Gaoler's assistant, Mr Frisbee III
Terry Jones as Brian Cohen's mother (Mandy), Colin, Simon the Holy Man, Saintly passer-by
Michael Palin as Mr Big-Nose, Francis, Mrs A, Ex-leper, Ben, Pontius Pilate, Boring Prophet, Eddie, Nisus Wettus, 3rd wise man
Terence Bayler as Gregory
Carol Cleveland as Mrs. Gregory
Kenneth Colley as Jesus Christ
Neil Innes as A Weedy Samaritan
John Young as Matthias
Gwen Taylor as Mrs. Big-Nose
Sue Jones-Davies as Judith Iscariot

tag: ul

text: Several characters remained unnamed during the film but do have names that are used in the soundtrack album track listing and elsewhere. There is no mention in the film of the fact that Eric Idle's ever-cheerful joker is called 'Mr Cheeky', or that the Roman guard played by Michael Palin is named 'Nisus Wettus'.

text: Spike Milligan plays a prophet, ignored because his acolytes are chasing after Brian. By coincidence he was visiting his old World War II battlefields in Tunisia where the film was being made. The Pythons were alerted to this one morning and he was promptly included in the scene that just happened to be being filmed. He disappeared again in the afternoon before he could be included in any of the close-up or publicity shots for the film.[8]

text: Production[edit]

text: There are various stories about the origins of Life of Brian. Shortly after the release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Eric Idle flippantly suggested that the title of the Pythons' forthcoming feature would be Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory (a play on the UK title for the 1970 American film Patton).[9] This was after he had become frustrated at repeatedly being asked what it would be called, despite the troupe not having given the matter of a third film any consideration. However, they shared a distrust of organised religion, and, after witnessing the critically acclaimed Holy Grail's enormous financial turnover, confirming an appetite among the fans for more cinematic endeavours, they began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way that Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. All they needed was an idea for a plot. Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam, while promoting Holy Grail in Amsterdam, had come up with a sketch in which Jesus' cross is falling apart because of the idiotic carpenters who built it and he angrily tells them how to do it correctly. However, after an early brainstorming stage, and despite being non-believers, they agreed that Jesus was "definitely a good guy" and found nothing to mock in his actual teachings: "He's not particularly funny, what he's saying isn't mockable, it's very decent stuff", said Idle later.[10] After settling on the name Brian for their new protagonist, one idea considered was that of "the 13th disciple".[9] The focus eventually shifted to a separate individual born at a similar time and location who would be mistaken for the Messiah, but had no desire to be followed as such.

text: Writing began in December 1976, with a first draft completed by mid-1977. The final pre-production draft was ready in January 1978, following "a concentrated two-week writing and water-skiing period in Barbados".[11] The film would not have been made without Python fan former Beatle George Harrison, who set up HandMade Films to help fund it at a cost of £3 million. Harrison put up the money for it as he "wanted to see the movie" (this was later described by Terry Jones as the "world's most expensive cinema ticket"[12]). The original backers, EMI Films, had been scared off at the last minute by the subject matter, particularly Bernard Delfont.[9] The very last words in the film are: "I said to him, 'Bernie, they'll never make their money back on this one'", teasing Delfont for his lack of faith in the project. Terry Gilliam later said, "They pulled out on the Thursday. The crew was supposed to be leaving on the Saturday. Disastrous. It was because they read the script ... finally."[13] As a reward for his help, Harrison appears in a cameo appearance as Mr. Papadopoulos, "owner of the Mount", who briefly shakes hands with Brian in a crowd scene (at 1:09 in the film). His one word of dialogue (a cheery but out of place Scouse "'ullo") had to be dubbed in later.

text: Terry Jones was solely responsible for directing, having amicably agreed with Gilliam (who co-directed Holy Grail) that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style.[citation needed] Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. However, this did not put an absolute end to their feuding. On the DVD commentary, Gilliam expresses pride in one set in particular, the main hall of Pilate's fortress, which had been designed so that it looked like an old Judean temple that the Romans had converted by dumping their structural artefacts (such as marble floors and columns) on top. He reveals his consternation at Jones for not paying enough attention to it in the cinematography. Gilliam also worked on the matte paintings, useful in particular for the very first shot of the three wise men against a star-scape and in giving the illusion of the whole of the outside of the fortress being covered in graffiti. Perhaps the most significant contribution from Gilliam was the scene in which Brian accidentally leaps off a high building and lands inside a starship about to engage in an interstellar war. This was done "in camera" using a hand-built model starship and miniature pyrotechnics, likely influenced by the then recently released Star Wars. Afterwards, George Lucas met Terry Gilliam in San Francisco and praised him for his work.

text: The film was shot on location in Monastir, Tunisia, which allowed the production to reuse sets from Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth (1977).[14] The Tunisian shoot was documented by Iain Johnstone for his BBC film The Pythons. Many locals were employed as extras on Life of Brian. Director Jones noted, "They were all very knowing because they'd all worked for Franco Zeffirelli on Jesus of Nazareth, so I had these elderly Tunisians telling me, 'Well, Mr Zeffirelli wouldn't have done it like that, you know.'"[13] Further location shooting took place in Sousse (Jerusalem outer walls and gateway), Carthage (Roman amphitheatre) and Matmata, Tunisia (Sermon on the Mount and Crucifixion).[15] Graham Chapman, suffering from alcoholism, was so determined to play the lead role – at one point coveted by Cleese – that he dried out in time for filming, so much so that he also acted as the on-set doctor.[8] Following shooting between 16 September and 12 November 1978,[11] a two-hour rough cut of the film was put together for its first private showing in January 1979. Over the next few months Life of Brian was re-edited and re-screened a number of times for different preview audiences, losing a number of entire filmed sequences (see § Lost scenes below).[9]

text: Religious satire and blasphemy accusations[edit]

text: Author Richard Webster comments in A Brief History of Blasphemy (1990) that "internalised censorship played a significant role in the handling" of Monty Python's Life of Brian. In his view, "As a satire on religion, this film might well be considered a rather slight production. As blasphemy it was, even in its original version, extremely mild. Yet the film was surrounded from its inception by intense anxiety, in some quarters of the Establishment, about the offence it might cause. As a result it gained a certificate for general release only after some cuts had been made. Perhaps more importantly still, the film was shunned by the BBC and ITV, who declined to show it for fear of offending Christians in the UK. Once again a blasphemy was restrained – or its circulation effectively curtailed – not by the force of law but by the internalisation of this law."[16] On its initial release in the UK, the film was banned by several town councils – some of which had no cinemas within their boundaries, or had not even seen the film. A member of Harrogate council, one of those that banned the film, revealed during a television interview that the council had not seen the film, and had based their opinion on what they had been told by the Nationwide Festival of Light, a grouping with an evangelical Christian base, of which they knew nothing.[8]

text: Some bans continued into the 21st century. In 2008, Torbay Council finally permitted the film to be shown after it won an online vote for the English Riviera International Comedy Film Festival.[17] In 2009, it was announced that a thirty-year-old ban of the film in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth had finally been lifted, and the subsequent showing was attended by Terry Jones and Michael Palin alongside mayor Sue Jones-Davies (who portrayed Judith Iscariot in the film).[18][19] However, before the showing, an Aberystwyth University student discovered that a ban had only been discussed by the council and in fact that it had been shown (or scheduled to be shown) at a cinema in the town in 1981.[20][21] In 2013, a German official in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia considered the film to be possibly offensive to Christians and hence subject to a local regulation prohibiting its public screening on Good Friday, despite protests by local atheists.[22][23]

text: In New York (the film's release in the US preceded British distribution), screenings were picketed by both rabbis and nuns ("Nuns with banners!" observed Michael Palin).[10] It was also banned for eight years in Ireland and for a year in Norway (it was marketed in Sweden as "The film so funny that it was banned in Norway").[24] During the film's theatrical run in Finland, a text explaining that the film was a parody of Hollywood historical epics was added to the opening credits.[25]

text: In the UK, Mary Whitehouse, and other traditionalist Christians, pamphleteered and picketed locations where the local cinema was screening the film, a campaign that was felt to have boosted publicity.[26] Leaflets arguing against the film's representation of the New Testament (for example, suggesting that the Wise Men would not have approached the wrong stable as they do in the opening of the film) were documented in Robert Hewison's book Monty Python: The Case Against.

text: One of the most controversial scenes was the film's ending: Brian's crucifixion. Many Christian protesters said that it was mocking Jesus' suffering by turning it into a "Jolly Boys Outing" (such as when Mr Cheeky turns to Brian and says: "See, not so bad once you're up!"), capped by Brian's fellow sufferers suddenly bursting into song. This is also reinforced by the fact that several characters throughout the film claim crucifixion is not as bad as it seems, such as when Brian asks his cellmate in prison what will happen to him, and he replies: "Oh, you'll probably get away with crucifixion", and when Matthias, the old man who works with the PFJ, dismisses crucifixion as "a doddle" and says being stabbed would be worse. The director, Terry Jones, issued the following riposte to this criticism: "Any religion that makes a form of torture into an icon that they worship seems to me a pretty sick sort of religion quite honestly."[8] Religious figures[who?] later responded by saying that Jones did not seem to understand the meaning of the crucifix symbol or its significance to Christians as a reminder of the suffering and death Christ endured for their sake.[citation needed] The Pythons also argued that crucifixion was a standard form of execution in ancient times and not just one especially reserved for Jesus.[27]

text: The Pythons prided themselves on the depths of the historical research they had taken before writing the script. They all believe that, as a consequence, the film portrays 1st-century Judea more accurately than actual Biblical epics, with its focus centred more on the average person of the era.[citation needed]

text: Shortly after the film was released, Cleese and Palin engaged in debate on the BBC2 discussion programme Friday Night, Saturday Morning with Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood, the Bishop of Southwark, who put forward arguments against the film. Muggeridge and the Bishop, it was later claimed, had arrived 15 minutes late to see a screening of the picture prior to the debate, missing the establishing scenes demonstrating that Brian and Jesus were two different characters, and hence contended that it was a send-up of Christ himself.[10] Both Pythons later felt that there had been a strange role reversal in the manner of the debate, with two young upstart comedians attempting to make serious, well-researched points, while the Establishment figures engaged in cheap jibes and point scoring. They also expressed disappointment in Muggeridge, whom all in Python had previously respected as a satirist (he had recently converted to Christianity after meeting Mother Teresa and experiencing what he described as a miracle). Cleese expressed that his reputation had "plummeted" in his eyes, while Palin commented that, "He was just being Muggeridge, preferring to have a very strong contrary opinion as opposed to none at all."[10] Muggeridge's verdict on the film was that it was "Such a tenth-rate film that it couldn't possibly destroy anyone's genuine faith."

text: The Pythons unanimously deny that they were ever out to destroy people's faith. On the DVD audio commentary, they contend that the film is heretical because it lampoons the practices of modern organised religion, but that it does not blasphemously lampoon the God that Christians and Jews worship. When Jesus does appear in the film (on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The music and lighting make it clear that there is a genuine aura around him. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love and tolerance ("I think he said, 'blessed are the cheese makers'"). Importantly, he is distinct from the character of Brian, which is also evident in the scene where an annoying and ungrateful ex-leper pesters Brian for money, while moaning that since Jesus cured him, he has lost his source of income in the begging trade (referring to Jesus as a "bloody do-gooder").

text: James Crossley, however, has argued that the film makes the distinction between Jesus and the character of Brian to make a contrast between the traditional Christ of both faith and cinema and the historical figure of Jesus in critical scholarship and how critical scholars have argued that ideas later got attributed to Jesus by his followers. Crossley points out that the film uses a number of potentially controversial scholarly theories about Jesus but now with reference to Brian, such as the Messianic Secret, the Jewishness of Jesus, Jesus the revolutionary, and having a single mother.[28]

text: Not all the Pythons agree on the definition of the movie's tone. There was a brief exchange that occurred when the surviving members reunited in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998.[citation needed] In the section where Life of Brian is discussed, Terry Jones says, "I think the film is heretical, but it's not blasphemous." Eric Idle can be heard to concur, adding, "It's a heresy." However, John Cleese, disagreeing, counters, "I don’t think it's a heresy. It's making fun of the way that people misunderstand the teaching." Jones responds, "Of course it's a heresy, John! It's attacking the Church! And that has to be heretical." Cleese replies, "No, it's not attacking the Church, necessarily. It's about people who cannot agree with each other."

text: In a later interview, Jones said the film "isn't blasphemous because it doesn’t touch on belief at all. It is heretical, because it touches on dogma and the interpretation of belief, rather than belief itself."[29]

text: The film continues to cause controversy; in February 2007, the Church of St Thomas the Martyr in Newcastle upon Tyne held a public screening in the church itself, with song-sheets, organ accompaniment, stewards in costume and false beards for female members of the audience (alluding to an early scene where a group of women disguise themselves as men so that they are able to take part in a stoning). Although the screening was a sell-out, some Christian groups, notably the conservative Christian Voice, were highly critical of the decision to allow the screening to go ahead. Stephen Green, the head of Christian Voice, insisted that "You don't promote Christ to the community by taking the mick out of him." The Reverend Jonathan Adams, one of the church's clergy, defended his taste in comedy, saying that it did not mock Jesus, and that it raised important issues about the hypocrisy and stupidity that can affect religion.[30] Again on the film's DVD commentary, Cleese also spoke up for religious people who have come forward and congratulated him and his colleagues on the film's highlighting of double standards among purported followers of their own faith.[10]

text: Political satire[edit]

text: The film pokes fun at revolutionary groups and 1970s British left-wing politics. "What the film does do is place modern stereotypes in a historical setting, which enables it to indulge in a number of sharp digs, particularly at trade unionists and guerilla organisations".[31] The groups in the film all oppose the Roman occupation of Judea, but fall into the familiar pattern of intense competition among factions that appears, to an outsider, to be over ideological distinctions so small as to be invisible, thus portraying the phenomenon of the narcissism of small differences.[32] Michael Palin says that the various separatist movements were modelled on "modern resistance groups, all with obscure acronyms which they can never remember and their conflicting agendas".[33]

text: The People's Front of Judea, composed of the Pythons' characters, harangue their "rivals" with cries of "splitters" and stand vehemently opposed to the Judean People's Front, the Campaign for a Free Galilee, and the Judean Popular People's Front (the last composed of a single old man,[34] mocking the size of real revolutionary Trotskyist factions). The infighting among revolutionary organisations is demonstrated most dramatically when the PFJ attempts to kidnap Pontius Pilate's wife, but encounters agents of the Campaign for a Free Galilee, and the two factions begin a violent brawl over which of them conceived of the plan first. When Brian exhorts them to cease their fighting to struggle "against the common enemy," the revolutionaries stop and cry in unison, "the Judean People's Front!" However, they soon resume their fighting and, with two Roman legionaries watching bemusedly, continue until Brian is left the only survivor, at which point he is captured.

text: Other scenes have the freedom fighters wasting time in debate, with one of the debated items being that they should not waste their time debating so much. There is also a famous scene in which Reg gives a revolutionary speech asking, "What have the Romans ever done for us?" at which point the listeners outline all forms of positive aspects of the Roman occupation such as sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, public health and peace, followed by "what have the Romans ever done for us except sanitation, medicine, education...". Python biographer George Perry notes, "The People's Liberation Front of Judea conducts its meetings as though they have been convened by a group of shop stewards".[35]

text: Lost scenes[edit]

text: A number of scenes were cut during the editing process. Five deleted scenes, a total of 13 minutes, including the controversial "Otto", were first made available in 1997 on the Criterion Collection Laserdisc.[36] An unknown amount of raw footage was destroyed in 1998 by the company that bought Handmade Films. However, a number of them (of varying quality) were shown the following year on the Paramount Comedy Channel in the UK; it has not been disclosed how these scenes were saved or where they came from; possibly the source was the Criterion laserdisc.[citation needed] The scenes shown included three shepherds discussing sheep and completely missing the arrival of the angel heralding Jesus's birth, which would have been at the very start of the film; a segment showing the attempted kidnap of Pilate's wife (a large woman played by John Case) whose escape results in a fistfight; a scene introducing hardline Zionist Otto, leader of the Judean People's Front (played by Eric Idle) and his men who practise a suicide run in the courtyard; and a brief scene in which Judith releases some birds into the air in an attempt to summon help. The shepherds' scene has badly distorted sound, and the kidnap scene has poor colour quality.[37] The same scenes that were on the Criterion laserdisc can now be found on the Criterion Collection DVD.

text: The most controversial cuts were the scenes involving Otto, initially a recurring character, who had a thin Adolf Hitler moustache and spoke with a German accent, shouting accusations of "racial impurity" at people whose conceptions were similar to Brian's (Roman centurion rape of native Judean women), and other Nazi phrases. The logo of the Judean People's Front, designed by Terry Gilliam,[38] was a Star of David with a small line added to each point so it resembled a swastika, most familiar in the West as the symbol of the anti-Semitic Nazi movement. The rest of this faction also all had the same thin moustaches, and wore a spike on their helmets, similar to those on Imperial German helmets. The official reason for the cutting was that Otto's dialogue slowed down the narrative. However, Gilliam, writing in The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons, said he thought it should have stayed, saying "Listen, we've alienated the Christians, let's get the Jews now". Idle himself was said to have been uncomfortable with the character; "It's essentially a pretty savage attack on rabid Zionism, suggesting it's rather akin to Nazism, which is a bit strong to take, but certainly a point of view".[10] Michael Palin's personal journal entries from the period when various edits of Brian were being test-screened consistently reference the Pythons' and filmmakers' concerns that the Otto scenes were slowing the story down and thus were top of the list to be chopped from the final cut of the film.[15] However, Oxford Brookes University historian David Nash says the removal of the scene represented "a form of self-censorship" and the Otto sequence "which involved a character representative of extreme forms of Zionism" was cut "in the interests of smoothing the way for the film's distribution in America."[39]

text: The only scene with Otto that remains in the film is during the crucifixion sequence. Otto arrives with his "crack suicide squad", sending the Roman soldiers fleeing in terror. Instead of doing anything useful, they "attack" by committing mass suicide in front of the cross ("Zat showed 'em, huh?" says the dying Otto, to which Brian despondently replies "You silly sods!"), ending Brian's hope of rescue (they do however show some signs of life during the famous rendition of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" when they are seen waving their toes in unison in time to the music). Terry Jones once mentioned that the only reason this excerpt was not cut too was due to continuity reasons, as their dead bodies were very prominently placed throughout the rest of the scene. He acknowledged that some of the humour of this sole remaining contribution was lost through the earlier edits, but felt they were necessary to the overall pacing.

text: Otto's scenes, and those with Pilate's wife, were cut from the film after the script had gone to the publishers, and so they can be found in the published version of the script. Also present is a scene where, after Brian has led the Fifth Legion to the headquarters of the People's Front of Judea, Reg (John Cleese) says "You cunt!! You stupid, bird-brained, flat-headed..."[40] The profanity was overdubbed to "you klutz" before the film was released. Cleese approved of this editing as he felt the reaction to the four-letter word would "get in the way of the comedy".[10]

text: An early listing of the sequence of sketches reprinted in Monty Python: The Case Against by Robert Hewison reveals that the film was to have begun with a set of sketches at an English public school. Much of this material was first printed in the MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK that accompanied the original script publication of The Life of Brian and then subsequently reused. The song "All Things Dull and Ugly" and the parody scripture reading "Martyrdom of St. Victor" were performed on Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980). The idea of a violent rugby match between school masters and small boys was filmed in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983). A sketch about a boy who dies at school appeared on the unreleased The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (1981).

text: Box office[edit]

text: For the original British and Australian releases, a spoof travelogue narrated by John Cleese, Away From It All, was shown before the film itself. It consisted mostly of stock travelogue footage and featured arch comments from Cleese. For instance, a shot of Bulgarian girls in ceremonial dresses was accompanied by the comment "Hard to believe, isn't it, that these simple happy folk are dedicated to the destruction of Western Civilisation as we know it!", Communist Bulgaria being a member of the Warsaw Pact at the time. Not only was this a spoof of travelogues per se, it was a protest against the then common practice in Britain of showing cheaply made banal short features before a main feature.

text: Life of Brian opened on 17 August 1979 in five North American theatres and grossed US$140,034 ($28,007 per screen) in its opening weekend. Its total gross was $19,398,164. It was the highest grossing British film in North America that year. Released on 8 November 1979 in the UK,[41] the film was the fourth highest-grossing film in Britain in 1979.

text: On 30 April 2004, Life of Brian was re-released on five North American screens to "cash in" (as Terry Jones put it)[24] on the box office success of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. It grossed $26,376 ($5,275 per screen) in its opening weekend. It ran until October 2004, playing at 28 screens at its widest point, eventually grossing $646,124 during its re-release. By comparison, a re-release of Monty Python and the Holy Grail had earned $1.8 million three years earlier. A DVD of the film was also released that year.

text: Album[edit]

text: An album was also released by Monty Python in 1979 in conjunction with the film. In addition to the "Brian Song" and "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", it contains scenes from the film with brief linking sections performed by Eric Idle and Graham Chapman. The album opens with a brief rendition of "Hava Nagila" on Scottish bagpipes. A CD version was released in 1997.

text: Legacy[edit]

text: Life of Brian has regularly been cited as a significant contender for the title "greatest comedy film of all time", and has been named as such in polls conducted by Total Film magazine in 2000,[42] the British TV network Channel 4 in 2006[43] and The Guardian newspaper in 2007.[44] Rotten Tomatoes lists it as one of the best reviewed comedies, with a 96% approval rating from 44 published reviews. A 2011 poll by Time Out magazine ranked it as the third greatest comedy film ever made,[45] behind Airplane! and This is Spinal Tap.

text: The BFI declared Life of Brian to be the 28th best British film of all time, in their equivalent of the original AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list. It was the seventh highest ranking comedy on this list (four of the better placed efforts were classic Ealing Films).[46] Another Channel 4 poll in 2001 named it the 23rd greatest film of all time (the only comedy that came higher on this occasion was Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot, which was ranked 5th).[47]

text: The line, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", spoken by Brian's mother Mandy to the crowd assembled outside her house, has been voted by readers of BOL.com the funniest line in film history.[48] This poll also featured two of the film's other famous lines ("What have the Romans ever done for us?" and "I'm Brian and so's my wife") in the top 10.

text: Spin-offs[edit]

text: Spin-offs include a script-book The Life of Brian of Nazareth, which was printed back-to-back with MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK as a single book. The printing of this book also caused problems, due to rarely used laws in the United Kingdom against blasphemy, dictating what can and cannot be written about religion. The publisher refused to print both halves of the book, and original prints were by two companies.[49]

text: An album of the songs sung in Monty Python's Life of Brian was released on the Disky label. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was later re-released with great success, after being sung by British football fans. Its popularity became truly evident in 1982 during the Falklands War when sailors aboard the destroyer HMS Sheffield, severely damaged in an Argentinean Exocet missile attack on 4 May, started singing it while awaiting rescue.[50][51] Many people have come to see the song as a life-affirming ode to optimism. One of its more famous renditions was by the dignitaries of Manchester's bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games, just after they were awarded to Sydney. Idle later performed the song as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" is also featured in Eric Idle's Spamalot, a Broadway musical based upon Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and was sung by the rest of the Monty Python group at Graham Chapman's memorial service and at the Monty Python Live At Aspen special. The song is a staple at Iron Maiden concerts, where the recording is played after the final encore.

text: Julian Doyle, the film's editor, wrote The Life of Brian/Jesus, a book which not only describes the filmmaking and editing process but argues that it is the most accurate Biblical film ever made. In October 2008, a memoir by Kim "Howard" Johnson titled Monty Python's Tunisian Holiday: My Life with Brian was released. Johnson became friendly with the Pythons during the filming of Life of Brian and his notes and memories of the behind-the-scenes filming and make-up.[52]

text: Oratorio[edit]

text: With the success of Eric Idle's musical retelling of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, called Spamalot, Idle announced that he would be giving Life of Brian a similar treatment. The oratorio, called Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy), was commissioned to be part of the festival called Luminato in Toronto in June 2007, and was written/scored by Idle and John Du Prez, who also worked with Idle on Spamalot. Not the Messiah is a spoof of Handel's Messiah. It runs approximately 50 minutes, and was conducted at its world premiere by Toronto Symphony Orchestra music director Peter Oundjian, who is Idle's cousin.[53] Not the Messiah received its US premiere at the Caramoor International Music Festival in Katonah, New York. Oundjian and Idle joined forces once again for a double performance of the oratorio in July 2007.[54]

text: Appearances in other media[edit]

text: In October 2011, BBC Four premiered the made-for-television comedy film Holy Flying Circus, written by Tony Roche and directed by Owen Harris. The "Pythonesque" film explores the events surrounding the 1979 television debate on talk show Friday Night, Saturday Morning between John Cleese and Michael Palin and Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood, then Bishop of Southwark.[55]

text: In a Not the Nine O'Clock News sketch, a bishop who has made a scandalous film called The Life of Christ is hauled over the coals by a representative of the "Church of Python", claiming that the film is an attack on "Our Lord, John Cleese" and on the members of Python, who, in the sketch, are the objects of Britain's true religious faith. This was a parody of the infamous Friday Night, Saturday Morning programme, broadcast a week previously. The director of the film (played by Rowan Atkinson) claims that the reaction to the film has surprised him, as he "didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition."

text: Radio host John Williams of Chicago's WGN 720 AM has used "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" in a segment of his Friday shows. The segment is used to highlight good events from the past week in listeners' lives and to generally celebrate the end of the work week. In the 1997 Oscar-winning film As Good as It Gets, the misanthropic character played by Jack Nicholson sings "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" as evidence of the character's change in attitude.[56]

text: A BBC history series What the Romans Did for Us, written and presented by Adam Hart-Davis and first broadcast in 2000, takes its title from John Cleese's rhetorical question "What have the Romans ever done for us?" in one of the film's scenes. (Cleese himself parodied this line in a 1986 BBC advert defending the Television Licence Fee: "What has the BBC ever given us?")[57]

text: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in his Prime Minister's Questions of 3 May 2006 made a shorthand reference to the types of political groups, "Judean People's Front" or "People's Front of Judea", lampooned in Life of Brian.[58][59] This was in response to a question from the MP David Clelland, asking "What has the Labour government ever done for us?" – itself a parody of John Cleese's "What have the Romans ever done for us?"

text: On New Year's Day 2007, and again on New Year's Eve, UK television station Channel 4 dedicated an entire evening to the Monty Python phenomenon, during which an hour-long documentary was broadcast called The Secret Life of Brian about the making of The Life of Brian and the controversy that was caused by its release. The Pythons featured in the documentary and reflected upon the events that surrounded the film. This was followed by a screening of the film itself.[8] The documentary (in a slightly extended form) was one of the special features on the 2007 DVD re-release – the "Immaculate Edition", also the first Python release on Blu-ray.

text: Most recently, in June 2014 King's College London, UK, hosted an academic conference[60] on the film, in which internationally renowned Biblical scholars and historians discussed the film and its reception, looking both at how the Pythons had made use of scholarship and texts, and how the film can be used creatively within modern scholarship on the Historical Jesus. In a panel discussion[61] including Terry Jones and Richard Burridge, John Cleese described the event as "the most interesting thing to come out of Monty Python". The papers from the conference have gone on to prompt the publication of a book, edited by Joan E. Taylor, the conference organiser, Jesus and Brian: Exploring the Historical Jesus and His Times via Monty Python's Life of Brian, published by Bloomsbury in 2015.[62]


document_title: Parliament of South Africa

question_text: south africa’s legislative capital (in which the national parliament meets) is

question_tokens: south africa 's legislative capital ( in which the national parliament meets ) is

text: Parliament of South Africa

text: History[edit]

text: Before 1910[edit]

text: The predecessor of the Parliament of South Africa, before the 1910 Union of South Africa, was the bicameral Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope. This was composed of the House of Assembly (the lower house) and the Legislative Council (the upper house). It dated back to the beginnings of Cape independence in 1853, and was elected according to the multi-racial Cape Qualified Franchise system, whereby suffrage qualifications were applied equally to all males, regardless of race.

text: The buildings of the Cape Parliament went on to house the Parliament of South Africa, after union.[2][3]

text: 1910 to 1961[edit]

text: When the Union of South Africa was established in 1910,[4] the Parliament was bicameral and consisted of the King or the Queen, the Senate, and the House of Assembly (known in Afrikaans as the Volksraad).

text:
The King (from 1952, the Queen of South Africa) was represented by the Governor-General.
The Senate consisted of senators nominated by the four provinces, and by the Governor-General, initially for a period of ten years. The number of senators was changed from time to time. The Senate was chaired by a President of the Senate chosen by the senators from among themselves.
The House of Assembly consisted of members who were directly elected by the voters. Each MP represented an electoral district (constituency), and most of them were elected on the basis of their political party. The number of constituencies and parliamentary seats was increased from time to time, in line with increases in the population. The House was chaired by a Speaker chosen by the MPs from among themselves.
Only white men could be senators or MPs.
The franchise (right to vote) was originally granted to white men in all four provinces, to black men in the Cape Province and Natal, and to Coloured men in the Cape Province – in all cases, the minimum age was 21 years.

text: The composition of Parliament was changed by constitutional amendments from time to time:

text:
From 1930, white women had the vote, and the right to serve as senators and MPs, on the same basis as white men.
In 1934, Parliament was declared "the sovereign legislative power in and over the Union".[5]
From 1937, black voters were separated from the other races – in the Senate they were represented by four elected senators (two for the Cape, one for Natal, one for the Orange Free State and Transvaal), and in the House of Assembly by three "native representative" MPs elected in separate black constituencies.[6]
From 1950, white voters in South West Africa, which was under South African administration at that time, were represented by four senators and six MPs.
From 1957, Coloured voters were separated from the whites – in the Senate they were represented by separate senators, and in the House of Assembly by MPs elected in separate Coloured constituencies.[7] To pass this amendment in the face of strong opposition (and two Supreme Court rulings), prime minister Johannes Strijdom had to enlarge the Senate and appoint enough pro-government senators to get the two-thirds majority he needed to force through the constitutional change.[8]
Representation of black voters was ended in 1960.
Voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1960.

text: In a referendum held in 1960, a small majority of the white voters approved the conversion of the country from a Commonwealth Realm (formerly known before 1931 as a dominion) to a republic.

text: 1961 to 1984[edit]

text: The Republic of South Africa was established in 1961. The only change made to the composition of the Parliament was the substitution of the State President for the Queen.[9] A few significant changes were made later:

text:
Coloured representation was ended in 1968, leaving both the Senate and the House of Assembly representing white voters only.
South West Africa ceased to be represented in Parliament from 1977.[10]
The Senate was abolished in 1981, changing Parliament to a unicameral legislature.

text: 1984 to 1994[edit]

text: A new Constitution, introduced in 1984, re-enfranchised the Coloured population (women as well as men), and enfranchised the Indian population. It retained the existing House of Assembly for whites, and established a House of Representatives to represent the Coloureds, and a House of Delegates for the Indians, making Parliament a tricameral legislature. Blacks continued to be excluded.

text:
Each house consisted of members elected to represent constituencies, plus a few additional members elected by the MPs, and some nominated by the State President.
Each house legislated on "own affairs" exclusive to its own race group, and they legislated jointly on "general affairs" affecting all races.[11] In practice, the House of Assembly, which had more MPs than the other two houses combined, continued to dominate the legislature.
Each house was chaired by a chairman elected by its members from among themselves. They were co-ordinated by a Speaker of Parliament, elected by the members of all three houses in a joint sitting.
The existing House of Assembly, elected in 1981, was deemed to have been re-elected in 1984, to co-ordinate its term of office with those of the two new houses. However, this was later overturned by the Supreme Court, and a separate election had to be held for the House of Assembly in 1987. The House elected in 1987 was then dissolved with the other houses in 1989.

text: The black majority were still disfranchised, and the new system lacked legitimacy even among the Coloureds and Asians, many of whom boycotted elections. In a referendum held in 1992, 68.73% of (only white) voters approved the reform process that effectively ended Apartheid. In late 1993, one of the last pieces of legislation passed by the Tricameral Parliament was the Interim Constitution, which took effect on 27 April 1994, the same day as the first non-racial elections.

text: Since 1994[edit]

text: A new interim constitution, introduced in 1994 after four years of negotiation, finally introduced all-race democracy and enfranchised men and women of all races on equal terms, the minimum age remaining 18 years. Parliament was reconstituted to consist of a Senate and a National Assembly.

text:
The Senate consisted of 90 senators, ten nominated by each of the nine provinces. It was chaired by a President of the Senate elected by the senators from among themselves.

The National Assembly consists of 400 members, elected by voters on a proportional representation/party list system. There are no electoral districts, and each party is allocated a number of seats proportionate to the percentage of the votes it receives across the country. It is chaired by a Speaker elected by the MPs from among themselves.

In 1997 the final Constitution of South Africa came into force, in which the Senate was replaced by a 90-member National Council of Provinces (NCOP), made up of a 10-member delegation from each province (six delegates elected by the provincial legislature, the Premier and three other members of the provincial legislature). The NCOP is chaired by a Chairperson elected by the members from among themselves.

text: The parliamentary system uses proportional representation, with voters voting for political parties rather than for candidates. Proportional representation allows for smaller parties to have a chance of acquiring seats in parliament, although these parties often combine in order to have a stronger voice within the political system, especially against the ANC. The Independent Electoral Commission is charged with keeping elections fair, regular, and equal. Parties submit closed lists of candidates to the IEC, and the IEC fills the seats allotted to individual parties using the candidate lists after election results come in. The electoral system has seen little corruption since 1994. An average of 30% of Africans have admitted to giving bribes in exchange for public services between 2015 and 2016, while only 15% of South Africans have admitted to this.[12]

text: Major Political Parties in Parliament[edit]

text: African National Congress: The ANC was created in 1912, but became the leading political party after the end of apartheid in 1994. Its main platform rests on racial equality and eradicating the socioeconomic classes which are often based on race. The ANC has been considered a party for native South Africans, especially before 2009 when party leader President Zuma faced multiple accusations regarding corruption, particularly using public funds for his own purposes.[13] The economic struggle of South Africa as well as the police brutality have both been blamed on the ANC. Currently the ANC holds 249 seats in parliament. Support for the ANC went down between the 2009 and the 2014 elections, with violent protests erupting all over the country in response to the allegations of corruption within the ANC.

text: Democratic Alliance: The DA formed when New National Party and Federal alliance joined the Democratic Party in 2000 to form an alliance. The DA is the opposition party and the majority of its supporters are white or of mixed race, although in the past seven years black support of the DA has gone up from 1% to 6%.[14] The DA supports free market and has struggled to evade the racist perception that has surrounded it since its beginning. The DA was allotted 89 seats in parliament after the 2014 general election.

text: Economic Freedom Fighters: The EFF emerged 8 months before the 2014 general election and took a startling 25 seats in parliament. The EFF is a more radical version of the ANC, lobbying for the supremacy of black South Africans, and for an end to corruption within parliament.

text: Because the ANC has such a large majority of parliament, smaller parties are constantly forming alliances and coalitions in order to oppose the ANC-run legislative and executive branches.

text: Seat of Parliament[edit]

text: Parliament sits in Cape Town, even though the seat of government is in Pretoria. This dates back to the foundation of the Union, when there was disagreement among the four provinces as to which city would be the national capital. As a compromise, Cape Town was designated the legislative capital, Bloemfontein the judicial capital, and Pretoria the administrative capital. The African National Congress (ANC) government has proposed moving Parliament to Pretoria, arguing that the present arrangement is cumbersome as ministers, civil servants and diplomats must move back and forth when Parliament is in session.

text: However, many Capetonians have spoken out against such a move, accusing the ANC of trying to centralise power. Under the Constitution, there is provision for Parliament to sit elsewhere than Cape Town on grounds of public interest, security or convenience and Parliament is permitted to provide in its rules and orders for sittings outside Cape Town. Rule 24 of the National Assembly Rules accordingly allows the Speaker to direct that the House will sit at 'a place other than the Houses of Parliament in Cape Town' after consulting the Leader of the House and the Chief Whip of each party represented in the House. Rule 21 of the rules of the National Council of Provinces allows the Council to pass a resolution providing for it to sit elsewhere.

text: List of Parliaments[edit]

text: Parliaments of the Union[edit]

text:
1st South African Parliament (1910–1915) – majority party : South African Party
2nd South African Parliament (1915–1920) – majority party : South African Party
3rd South African Parliament (1920–1921) – majority party : South African Party
4th South African Parliament (1921–1924) – majority party : South African Party
5th South African Parliament (1924–1929) – majority party : National Party
6th South African Parliament (1929–1933) – majority party : National Party
7th South African Parliament (1933–1938) – majority party : United Party
8th South African Parliament (1938–1943) – majority party : United Party
9th South African Parliament (1943–1948) – majority party : United Party
10th South African Parliament (1948–1953) – majority party : National Party
11th South African Parliament (1953–1958) – majority party : National Party
12th South African Parliament (1958–1961) – majority party : National Party

text: Parliaments of the Republic[edit]

text:
1st Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (1961–1966) – majority party : National Party
2nd Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (1966–1970) – majority party : National Party
3rd Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (1970–1974) – majority party : National Party
4th Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (1974–1977) – majority party : National Party
5th Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (1977–1981) – majority party : National Party
6th Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (1981–1984) – majority party : National Party
7th Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (1984–1987) – majority party : National Party
8th Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (1987–1989) – majority party : National Party
9th Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (1989–1994) – majority party : National Party
1st Democratic Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (1994–1999) – majority party : African National Congress
2nd Democratic Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (1999–2004) – majority party : African National Congress
3rd Democratic Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (2004–2009) – majority party : African National Congress
4th Democratic Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (2009–2014) – majority party : African National Congress
5th Democratic Parliament of the Republic of South Africa (2014–present) - majority party : African National Congress


document_title: DEFCON

question_text: what defcon level is the us at right now

text: DEFCON

text: Operations[edit]

text: The DEFCON level is controlled primarily by the U.S. president and the U.S. Secretary of Defense through the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combatant Commanders; each DEFCON level defines specific security, activation and response scenarios for the personnel in question.

text: Different branches of the U.S. Armed Forces (i.e. U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard) and different bases or command groups can be activated at different defense conditions. In general, there is no single DEFCON status for the world or country and it may be set to only include specific geographical areas. According to Air & Space/Smithsonian, as of 2014, the worldwide DEFCON level has never been more severe than DEFCON 3. The DEFCON 2 levels in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and 1991 Gulf War were not worldwide.[4]

text: DEFCONs should not be confused with similar systems used by the U.S. military, such as Force Protection Conditions (FPCONS), Readiness Conditions (REDCONS), Information Operations Condition (INFOCON) and its future replacement Cyber Operations Condition (CYBERCON),[5] and Watch Conditions (WATCHCONS), or the former Homeland Security Advisory System used by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

text: Levels[edit]

text: Defense readiness conditions vary between many commands and have changed over time,[2] and the United States Department of Defense uses exercise terms when referring to the DEFCONs.[6] This is to preclude the possibility of confusing exercise commands with actual operational commands.[6] On 12 January 1966, NORAD "proposed the adoption of the readiness conditions of the JCS system", and information about the levels was declassified in 2006:[7]

text:
Readiness condition
Exercise term
Description
Readiness

DEFCON 1
COCKED PISTOL
Nuclear war is imminent
Maximum readiness

DEFCON 2
FAST PACE
Next step to nuclear war
Armed Forces ready to deploy and engage in less than 6 hours

DEFCON 3
ROUND HOUSE
Increase in force readiness above that required for normal readiness
Air Force ready to mobilize in 15 minutes

DEFCON 4
DOUBLE TAKE
Increased intelligence watch and strengthened security measures
Above normal readiness

DEFCON 5
FADE OUT
Lowest state of readiness
Normal readiness

tag: table

text: History[edit]

text: After NORAD was created, the command used different readiness levels (Normal, Increased, Maximum) subdivided into eight conditions, e.g., the "Maximum Readiness" level had two conditions "Air Defense Readiness" and "Air Defense Emergency".[7] In October 1959, the JCS Chairman informed NORAD "that Canada and the U.S. had signed an agreement on increasing the operational readiness of NORAD forces during periods of international tension."[7] After the agreement became effective on 2 October 1959,[7] the JCS defined a system with DEFCONs in November 1959 for the military commands.[2] The initial DEFCON system had "Alpha" and "Bravo" conditions (under DEFCON 3) and Charlie/Delta under DEFCON 4, plus an "Emergency" level higher than DEFCON 1 with two conditions: "Defense Emergency" and the highest, "Air Defense Emergency" ("Hot Box" and "Big Noise" for exercises).[7]

text: DEFCON 2[edit]

text: Cuban Missile Crisis[edit]

text: During the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 22, 1962, the U.S. Armed Forces (with the exception of United States Army Europe (USAREUR)) were ordered to DEFCON 3. On October 24, Strategic Air Command (SAC) was ordered to DEFCON 2, while the rest of the U.S. Armed Forces remained at DEFCON 3. SAC remained at DEFCON 2 until November 15.[8]

text: The Gulf War[edit]

text: On January 15, 1991, the Joint Chiefs of Staff declared DEFCON 2 in the opening phase of Operation Desert Storm during the Persian Gulf War.[9]

text: DEFCON 3[edit]

text: Yom Kippur War[edit]

text: On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a joint attack on Israel resulting in the Yom Kippur War. The U.S. became concerned that the Soviet Union might intervene, and on October 25, U.S. forces, including Strategic Air Command, Continental Air Defense Command, European Command and the Sixth Fleet, were placed at DEFCON 3.

text: According to documents declassified in 2016, the move to DEFCON 3 was motivated by Central Intelligence Agency reports indicating that the Soviet Union had sent a ship to Egypt carrying nuclear weapons along with two other amphibious vessels.[10] Soviet troops never landed, though the ship supposedly transporting nuclear weapons did arrive in Egypt. Further details are unavailable and may remain classified.

text: Over the following days, the various forces reverted to normal status with the Sixth Fleet standing down on November 17.[11]

text: Operation Paul Bunyan[edit]

text: Following the axe murder incident at Panmunjom on August 18, 1976, readiness levels for American forces in South Korea were increased to DEFCON 3, where they remained throughout Operation Paul Bunyan which followed thereafter.[12]

text: September 11 attacks[edit]

text: During the attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ordered the increased DEFCON level to 3, and also a stand-by for a possible increase to DEFCON 2.[13]

text: In other media[edit]

text:
DEFCON was used significantly in the films Armageddon, WarGames, Thirteen Days, Watchmen, Independence Day, The Sum of All Fears, By Dawn's Early Light, Crimson Tide, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, and Canadian Bacon.
The television series Deutschland 83 depicts the events which occurred in 1983 when the level was raised to a simulated DEFCON 1 during NATO exercise Able Archer 83. In the story line, briefing papers released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that Operation Able Archer, a major war games exercise conducted in November 1983 by the US and its NATO allies, was so realistic it made the Soviets believe that a nuclear strike on its territory was a real possibility.[14]
The 2006 real-time strategy video game DEFCON.
DEFCON is a key element in Twilight Struggle, a board game about the Cold War.
The video game "Unturned". In the game the DEFCON system appears to have been adopted worldwide; the level is raised to a DEFCON 1 after the start of a zombie infection.
Surf punk band Man or Astro-man? released an album in 2013 titled Defcon 5...4...3...2...1 featuring songs titled for every level of the DEFCON system.
British Indie band Pop Will Eat Itself (PWEI) released a song titled "Def. Con. One".
In The Santa Clause 2, starring Tim Allen, the North Pole's defense system is revealed to be based on levels of ELFCON, a reference to the United States' DEFCON.
The DEFCON system is also parodied in the 2015 animated film Inside Out, which is utilized by the emotions of Riley Andersen's father during a conflict at dinner.


document_title: Sand wedge

question_text: what is the loft of a standard sand wedge

text: Sand wedge

text: History[edit]

text: Gene Sarazen began to win tournaments in 1935 with a new club he had invented that was specialized for sand play. He is hailed as the inventor of the sand wedge, though its history goes about 3 years further back than that. Spoon clubs offered varying degrees of loft and allowed players to scoop their ball out of sand traps and deep rough. As manufacturers became more and more innovative with club design, new types of wedges appeared. Some had concave faces, others featured deeply grooved faces, but not all of these designs conformed to USGA and R&A regulations, and many were banned. With the concave-faced wedge having been outlawed in 1931, Sarazen designed his sand wedge with a straight face. Another modification that he made was to add extra lead to the front edge of the club face, allowing it to cut through the sand more smoothly. After he won the 1932 British and U.S. Opens with the help of his new club, its popularity quickly grew.

text: Design[edit]

text: The modern sand wedge is often the heaviest iron in a player's bag, with most weighing nearly 40 ounces (1.1 kg). Traditionally it also had the highest loft at 56 degrees (55–56 being most common), although that distinction now goes to the lob wedge, which often has a loft of 60 degrees or more. It usually has one of the shortest shafts, between 33 inches (84 cm) and 36 inches (91 cm), though in some sets the sand wedge has a longer shaft than the pitching wedge.

text: Bounce[edit]

text: The main distinguishing difference of the club from most others, however, is a feature called bounce. On most other irons, the sole of the club is perpendicular to the shaft, meaning it is roughly parallel to the ground when the club is at rest, allowing the leading edge to get between the ball and the ground more easily. A sand wedge however is designed with the sole of the club at an angle to the ground in the same position, lifting the leading edge of the club off the ground. This design accomplishes three things:

text: First, this design generally requires more material, which increases the weight of the club head for more momentum and places that weight low and forward in the club head for higher launches.

text: Second, the angled sole lifts the leading edge off the ground at the bottom of the swing, preventing the club from digging in to softer lies—e.g., sand, muddy ground, and thick grass—instead tending to skim over the surface. This in turn allows players more flexibility when addressing the ball; the player can line the ball up in the centre of their stance and take a normal swing in which the club will skim over the turf before contact with the ball, or alternatively they can move the ball rearward in their stance (towards the right foot for a right-handed player) and strike the ball earlier in the swing. The natural consequence of such a correctly executed shot is that the club face has less loft at contact, so the ball is launched at a lower angle for more distance. Without bounce, such a shot will generally cause the club to dig into the ground after it contacts the ball, even if executed correctly. With such a high-lofted club, the player is prevented from following through on their swing and can be injured.

text: Lastly, when playing from a bunker, the ball may have buried itself deeply into the sand (depending on the sand's consistency and the degree of impact, the ball may be completely submerged). To lift it out, the club head must contact the ball from underneath, meaning the leading edge of the club must sometimes be 1 or 2 inches (3 or 5 cm) under the surface of the sand at contact. The angle of the sole counteracts the natural downward pressure of the club face digging itself ever deeper into the sand, making it easier to swing the club down under the surface of the sand and then lift the club—and the ball—back out again.

text: Other clubs, especially short irons and other wedges, now incorporate a small degree of bounce to assist in plays from the rough or other soft lies, but the sand wedge will typically have the highest amount of bounce of any club in a player's bag. There are however exceptions; Callaway Golf for instance markets a "Big Bertha" line of irons in which the lob wedge has significantly higher bounce than the sand wedge.

text: Usage[edit]

text: As its name suggests, a sand wedge is used most often to extract the ball from a sand bunker. However, the features which make it useful for this purpose are advantageous in other soft lies such as thick rough, soggy ground, or mud. It's also used from firmer grass lies for lobs or chips, generally onto the green. It can also be used as any other short iron would; with a full swing, a skilled golfer can typically hit a sand wedge between 80–100 yards (70–90 m). Tour players often use a lob wedge (60° wedge) to get out of bunkers with controlled trajectory and lots of spin.

text:
hidevteGolf clubsTypes
Wood
Hybrid
Iron
Wedge (Pitching, Gap, Sand,  Lob)
Putter
Parts
Shaft
See also
Obsolete golf clubs

text:
showvteGolfOverview
History
Glossary
Outline
Rules
penalties
playoffs
etiquette
Stroke play
scoring
handicap
Match play
four-ball
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text: Golf clubsGolf terminology

text: Articles lacking sources from November 2007All articles lacking sources


document_title: Lists of oldest cricketers

question_text: who is the oldest cricket player still playing

text: Lists of oldest cricketers

text: Oldest living Test cricketers[edit]

text:
Name
Country
Date of birth
Debut
Last match
Age as of 27 August 2017

John Watkins
South Africa
10 April 1923
24 December 1949
5 January 1957
7004344730000000000♠94 years, 139 days

Don Smith
England
14 June 1923
20 June 1957
27 July 1957
7004344080000000000♠94 years, 74 days

Roy Miller
West Indies
24 December 1924
11 March 1953
17 March 1953
7004338490000000000♠92 years, 246 days

Everton Weekes
West Indies
26 February 1925
21 January 1948
31 March 1958
7004337850000000000♠92 years, 182 days

Hubert Doggart
England
18 July 1925
18 June 1950
29 June 1950
7004336430000000000♠92 years, 40 days

Ronald Draper
South Africa
24 December 1926
10 February 1950
6 March 1950
7004331190000000000♠90 years, 246 days

Ken Archer
Australia
17 January 1928
22 December 1950
5 December 1951
7004327300000000000♠89 years, 222 days

Clive van Ryneveld
South Africa
19 March 1928
7 June 1951
4 March 1958
7004326680000000000♠89 years, 161 days

John Richard Reid
New Zealand
3 June 1928
23 July 1949
13 July 1965
7004325920000000000♠89 years, 85 days

Jack Nel
South Africa
10 July 1928
24 December 1949
28 December 1957
7004325550000000000♠89 years, 48 days

text: Oldest living Test cricketers by country[edit]

text:
Australia: Ken Archer – 7004327300000000000♠89 years, 222 days
Bangladesh: Enamul Haque – 7004188090000000000♠51 years, 181 days
England: Don Smith – 7004344080000000000♠94 years, 74 days
India: Datta Gaekwad – 7004324460000000000♠88 years, 304 days
New Zealand: John Richard Reid – 7004325920000000000♠89 years, 85 days
Pakistan: Wazir Mohammad – 7004320250000000000♠87 years, 248 days
South Africa: John Watkins – 7004344730000000000♠94 years, 139 days
Sri Lanka: Somachandra de Silva – 7004274710000000000♠75 years, 77 days
West Indies: Roy Miller – 7004338490000000000♠92 years, 246 days
Zimbabwe: John Traicos – 7004256700000000000♠70 years, 102 days

text: Note: Eighteen first-class cricketers are known to have attained centenarian status (see relevant section below). John Manners, who represented Hampshire and Combined Services amongst others, appears to be the oldest living, born 25 September 1914, thus aged 7004375920000000000♠102 years, 336 days.

text: Oldest Test cricketers still playing at Test level[edit]

text:
Name
Country
Date of birth
Debut
Age as at
27 August 2017

Rangana Herath
Sri Lanka
19 March 1978
22 September 1999
7004144060000000000♠39 years, 161 days

Zulfiqar Babar
Pakistan
10 December 1978
14 October 2013
7004141400000000000♠38 years, 260 days

Mohammad Hafeez
Pakistan
17 October 1980
20 August 2003
7004134630000000000♠36 years, 314 days

text: Oldest Test cricketers still playing at Test level, by country[edit]

text:
Australia: Adam Voges – 7004138420000000000♠37 years, 327 days
Bangladesh: Mahmudullah – 7004115270000000000♠31 years, 204 days
England: Gareth Batty – 7004145630000000000♠39 years, 318 days
India: Amit Mishra – 7004126950000000000♠34 years, 276 days
New Zealand: Neil Broom – 7004123340000000000♠33 years, 280 days
Pakistan: Zulfiqar Babar – 7004141400000000000♠38 years, 260 days
South Africa: Hashim Amla – 7004125680000000000♠34 years, 149 days
Sri Lanka: Rangana Herath – 7004144060000000000♠39 years, 161 days
West Indies: Marlon Samuels – 7004133520000000000♠36 years, 203 days
Zimbabwe: Hamilton Masakadza – 7004124370000000000♠34 years, 18 days

text: Note: The above lists include players who have played Test cricket within the past 12 months and have not formally announced their retirement.

text: Oldest Test cricketers[edit]

text:
Name
Country
Date of birth
Debut
Last match
Date of death
Age

Norman Gordon
South Africa
6 August 1911
24 December 1938
14 March 1939
2 September 2014
7004376480000000000♠103 years, 27 days

Eric Tindill
New Zealand
18 December 1910
26 June 1927
25 March 1947
1 August 2010
7004363860000000000♠99 years, 226 days

Francis MacKinnon
England
9 April 1848
2 January 1879
4 January 1879
27 February 1947
7004361170000000000♠98 years, 324 days

Lindsay Tuckett
South Africa
6 February 1919
7 June 1947
9 March 1949
5 September 2016
7004359970000000000♠98 years, 202 days

Andy Ganteaume
West Indies
22 January 1921
11 February 1948
16 February 1948
17 February 2016
7004352810000000000♠96 years, 217 days

Jack Kerr
New Zealand
28 December 1910
27 June 1931
27 July 1937
27 May 2007
7004352140000000000♠96 years, 150 days

Wilfred Rhodes
England
29 October 1877
1 June 1899
12 April 1930
8 July 1973
7004349500000000000♠95 years, 252 days

Bill Brown
Australia
31 July 1912
8 June 1934
29 June 1948
16 March 2008
7004349270000000000♠95 years, 229 days

Lindsay Weir
New Zealand
2 June 1908
24 January 1930
17 August 1937
31 October 2003
7004348490000000000♠95 years, 151 days

Sydney Barnes
England
19 April 1873
13 December 1901
18 February 1914
26 December 1967
7004345830000000000♠94 years, 251 days

Esmond Kentish
West Indies
21 November 1916
27 March 1948
21 January 1954
10 June 2011
7004345340000000000♠94 years, 201 days

M. J. Gopalan
India
6 June 1909
5 January 1934
8 January 1934
21 December 2003
7004345310000000000♠94 years, 198 days

Ron Hamence
Australia
25 November 1915
28 February 1947
5 January 1948
24 March 2010
7004344530000000000♠94 years, 119 days

Denis Begbie
South Africa
12 December 1914
6 December 1948
6 March 1950
10 March 2009
7004344220000000000♠94 years, 88 days

Jack Newman
New Zealand
3 July 1902
27 February 1932
3 April 1933
23 September 1996
7004344160000000000♠94 years, 82 days

Don Cleverley
New Zealand
23 December 1909
27 February 1932
30 March 1946
16 February 2004
7004343880000000000♠94 years, 55 days

text: See also Oldest living Test cricketers above.

text: Note: The longest lived Pakistan Test cricketer was Aslam Khokhar, known as Mohammad Aslam, who died aged 91 years, 17 days in January 2011.

text: Oldest Test debutants[edit]

text:
Name
Country
Date of birth
Debut
Age

James Southerton
England
16 November 1827
15 March 1877
7004180170000000000♠49 years, 119 days

Miran Bakhsh
Pakistan
20 April 1907
29 January 1955
7004174510000000000♠47 years, 284 days

Don Blackie
Australia
5 April 1882
14 December 1928
7004170540000000000♠46 years, 253 days

Bert Ironmonger
Australia
7 April 1882
30 November 1928
7004170380000000000♠46 years, 237 days

Nelson Betancourt
West Indies
4 June 1887
1 February 1930
7004155820000000000♠42 years, 242 days

Rockley Wilson
England
25 March 1879
25 February 1921
7004153120000000000♠41 years, 337 days

Rustomji Jamshedji
India
18 November 1892
15 December 1933
7004150010000000000♠41 years, 27 days

text: Oldest Test debutant by country[edit]

text:
Australia – Don Blackie (46 years, 253 days)
Bangladesh – Enamul Haque (35 years, 58 days)
England – James Southerton (7004180170000000000♠49 years, 119 days)
India – Rustomji Jamshedji (41 years, 27 days)
New Zealand – Herb McGirr (38 years, 101 days)
Pakistan – Miran Bakhsh (47 years, 284 days)
South Africa – Omar Henry (40 years, 295 days)
Sri Lanka – Somachandra de Silva (39 years, 251 days)
West Indies – Nelson Betancourt (42 years, 242 days)
Zimbabwe – Andy Waller (37 years, 84 days) Note: John Traicos debuted for Zimbabwe at the age of 7004165910000000000♠45 years, 154 days, but had already played three Tests for South Africa 22 years prior.[4]

text: Note: The oldest debutant, James Southerton, was also the first Test cricketer to die (on 16 June 1880). Miran Bakhsh was known as Miran Bux during his playing career. The only septuagenarian to play first-class cricket was Raja Maharaj Singh, aged 72, his sole appearance being for the Bombay Governor's XI against a Commonwealth XI in November 1950.[5] The longest lived first-class cricketer is believed to have been Jim Hutchinson who represented Derbyshire from 1920 until 1931 and who died aged 103 years, 344 days in 2000.

text: Oldest Test cricketers on final appearance[edit]

text:
Name
Country
Date of birth
Test Debut
Last match
Age at last Test

Wilfred Rhodes
England
29 October 1877
1 June 1899
12 April 1930
7004191570000000000♠52 years, 165 days

Bert Ironmonger
Australia
7 April 1882
30 November 1928
28 February 1933
7004185890000000000♠50 years, 327 days

WG Grace
England
18 July 1848
6 September 1880
3 June 1899
7004185820000000000♠50 years, 320 days

George Gunn
England
13 June 1879
13 December 1907
12 April 1930
7004185650000000000♠50 years, 303 days

James Southerton
England
16 November 1827
15 March 1877
4 April 1877
7004180370000000000♠49 years, 139 days

Miran Bakhsh
Pakistan
20 April 1907
29 January 1955
16 February 1955
7004174690000000000♠47 years, 302 days

Sir Jack Hobbs
England
16 December 1882
1 January 1908
22 August 1930
7004174150000000000♠47 years, 249 days

Frank Woolley
England
27 May 1887
9 August 1909
22 August 1934
7004172530000000000♠47 years, 87 days

text: Oldest Test cricketers on final appearance by country[edit]

text:
Australia – Bert Ironmonger (50 years, 327 days)
Bangladesh – Mohammad Rafique (7004136940000000000♠37 years, 180 days)
England – Wilfred Rhodes (7004191570000000000♠52 years, 165 days)
India – Vinoo Mankad (41 years, 305 days)
New Zealand – Jack Alabaster (41 years, 247 days)
Pakistan – Miran Bakhsh (47 years, 302 days)
South Africa – Dave Nourse (45 years, 207 days)
Sri Lanka – Somachandra de Silva (42 years, 78 days)
West Indies – George Headley (44 years, 236 days)
Zimbabwe – John Traicos (45 years, 304 days)

text: Note: The Test career of Wilfred Rhodes spanned a record 30 years, 315 days. England's youngest Test cricketer and another Yorkshireman, Brian Close (born 24 February 1931), lies second in this regard. He made his debut against New Zealand in 1949 and was recalled, after an absence of almost nine years, to oppose West Indies in 1976 (his career lasting 26 years, 356 days).

text: Oldest first-class cricketers[edit]

text: This list includes players who lived to 100 or more.

text: Deceased   Living

text:
Rank
Name
Team(s)
Birth date
Death date
Age
Nationality

1
Jim Hutchinson
Derbyshire
29 November 1896
7 November 2000
103 years, 344 days
 England

2
Syd Ward
Wellington
5 August 1907
31 December 2010
103 years, 148 days
 New Zealand

3
Norman Gordon
South Africa, Transvaal
6 August 1911
2 September 2014
103 years, 27 days
 South Africa

4
John Manners
Hampshire, Combined Services
25 September 1914
Living
7004375920000000000♠102 years, 336 days
Living in  England

5
Rupert de Smidt
Western Province
23 November 1883
3 August 1986
102 years, 253 days
 South Africa

6
Edward English
Hampshire
1 January 1864
5 September 1966
102 years, 247 days
 England

7
Cyril Perkins
Northamptonshire, Minor Counties
4 June 1911
21 November 2013
102 years, 170 days
 England

8
John Wheatley
Canterbury
8 January 1860
19 April 1962
102 years, 101 days
 New Zealand

9
Ted Martin
Western Australia
30 September 1902
9 June 2004
101 years, 253 days
 Australia

10
D. B. Deodhar
Hindus, Maharashtra
14 January 1892
24 August 1993
101 years, 222 days
 India

11
George Harman
Dublin University
6 June 1874
14 December 1975
101 years, 191 days
 Ireland

12
Fred Gibson
Leicestershire
13 February 1912
28 June 2013
101 years, 135 days
 Jamaica (lived in  England)

13
Alan Finlayson
Eastern Province
1 September 1900
28 October 2001
101 years, 57 days
 South Africa

14
Neil McCorkell
Hampshire, Players
23 March 1912
28 February 2013
100 years, 342 days
 England

15
Harold Stapleton
New South Wales
7 January 1915
24 September 2015
100 years, 260 days
 Australia

16
Charles Braithwaite
English Residents, Players of USA
10 September 1845
15 April 1946
100 years, 217 days
 United States

17
Harry Forsyth
Dublin University
18 December 1903
19 July 2004
100 years, 214 days
 Ireland

18
Jack Laver
Tasmania
9 March 1917
Living
7004366960000000000♠100 years, 171 days
Living in  Australia

19
Tom Pritchard
Wellington
10 March 1917
22 August 2017
100 years, 165 days
 New Zealand

20
George Deane
Hampshire
11 December 1828
26 February 1929
100 years, 77 days
 England

text: Note: Although born in New South Wales, Australia, Syd Ward and John Wheatley appear to have been raised in New Zealand. George Harman, who acquired two Rugby Union caps for Ireland, died in Cornwall. Charles Braithwaite was born in England. Fred Gibson moved to England in 1944. Neil McCorkell was born in England, but lived in South Africa from 1951. The prominent Antiguan cricketer, Sir Sydney Walling, who died aged 102 years, 88 days in October 2009, never appeared in matches accorded first-class status.

text: Women cricketers[edit]

text: England Women's cricketer Eileen Whelan (born 30 October 1911) was the first female Test cricketer to attain centenarian status, currently aged 7004386530000000000♠105 years, 301 days. Thelma McKenzie (Australia, born 6 April 1915) became second to achieve this landmark.

text: ODI cricketers[edit]

text: The oldest living ODI cricketer is Ray Illingworth, currently aged 7004311260000000000♠85 years, 80 days.


document_title: List of Major League Baseball longest winning streaks

question_text: what is the most games won in a row in baseball

text: Key[edit]

text:
^
Denotes streaks that contain unofficial tie(s) not included in the win totals

**
Denotes streaks that spanned over two seasons

Denotes streaks that are currently in progress

*
Denotes season in which team won the World Series

text: Game streaks[edit]

text: Regular season[edit]

text: This list contains only the top 30 streaks consisting entirely of regular-season games.

text:
Rank
Games
Team
Season(s)
Season
record(s)
Date
Score
Opponent
Date
Score
Opponent

Beginning (first victory)
End (first defeat)

1
26^
New York Giants
1916
86–66
000000001916-09-07-0000September 7, 1916
4–1
Brooklyn Robins
000000001916-09-30-0000September 30, 1916
3–8
Boston Braves

2
22
Cleveland Indians
2017
91–57
000000002017-08-24-0000August 24, 2017
13–6
Boston Red Sox
000000002017-09-15-0000September 15, 2017
3–4
Kansas City Royals

7000200000000000000♠3 (tie)
21^
Chicago White Stockings
1880
67–17
000000001880-06-02-0000June 2, 1880
5–4
Boston Braves
000000001880-07-10-0000July 10, 1880
0–2
Cleveland Spiders

7000200000000000000♠3 (tie)
21
Chicago Cubs
1935
100–54
000000001935-09-04-0000September 4, 1935
8–2
Philadelphia Phillies
000000001935-09-28-0000September 28, 1935
5–7 (11)
St. Louis Cardinals

7000500000000000000♠5 (tie)
20
St. Louis Maroons
1884
94–19
000000001884-04-20-0000April 20, 1884
7–2
Chicago/Pittsburgh
000000001884-05-24-0000May 24, 1884
1–8
Boston Reds

7000500000000000000♠5 (tie)
20
Providence Grays
1884
84–28
000000001884-08-07-0000August 7, 1884
4–2
New York Giants
000000001884-09-09-0000September 9, 1884
0–2
Buffalo Bisons

7000500000000000000♠5 (tie)
20
Oakland Athletics
2002
103–59
000000002002-08-13-0000August 13, 2002
5–4
Toronto Blue Jays
000000002002-09-06-0000September 6, 2002
0–6
Minnesota Twins

7000800000000000000♠8 (tie)
19^
Chicago White Sox
1906*
93–58
000000001906-08-02-0000August 2, 1906
3–0
Boston Americans
000000001906-08-25-0000August 25, 1906
4–5
Washington Senators

7000800000000000000♠8 (tie)
19
New York Yankees
1947*
97–57
000000001947-06-29-0000June 29, 1947
3–1
Washington Senators
000000001947-07-18-0000July 18, 1947
0–8
Detroit Tigers

7001100000000000000♠10 (tie)
18
Chicago White Stockings
1885
87–25
000000001885-06-01-0000June 1, 1885
6–0
Detroit Wolverines
000000001885-06-25-0000June 25, 1885
0–2
Philadelphia Phillies

7001100000000000000♠10 (tie)
18^
Boston Beaneaters
1891
87–51
000000001891-09-16-0000September 16, 1891
7–2
Chicago Colts
000000001891-10-03-0000October 3, 1891
3–5
Philadelphia Phillies

7001100000000000000♠10 (tie)
18
New York Giants
1904
106–47
000000001904-06-16-0000June 16, 1904
4–3
St. Louis Cardinals
000000001904-07-04-0000July 4, 1904
5–6
Philadelphia Phillies

7001100000000000000♠10 (tie)
18
New York Yankees
1953*
99–52
000000001953-05-27-0000May 27, 1953
3–1
Washington Senators
000000001953-06-16-0000June 16, 1953
1–3
St. Louis Browns

7001140000000000000♠14 (tie)
17
St. Louis Browns
18851
79–33
000000001885-05-05-0000May 5, 1885
12–4
Louisville Colonels
000000001885-06-02-0000June 2, 1885
1–7
Baltimore Orioles

7001140000000000000♠14 (tie)
17
Boston Beaneaters
1897
93–39
000000001897-05-31-0000May 31, 1897
25–5
St. Louis Cardinals
000000001897-06-22-0000June 22, 1897
4–7
Brooklyn Bridegrooms

7001140000000000000♠14 (tie)
17
New York Giants
1907
82–71
000000001907-04-25-0000April 25, 1907
6–3
Philadelphia Phillies
000000001907-05-20-0000May 20, 1907
4–6
St. Louis Cardinals

7001140000000000000♠14 (tie)
17
Washington Senators
1912
91–61
000000001912-05-30-0000May 30, 1912
5–0
Boston Red Sox
000000001912-06-19-0000June 19, 1912
1–2
Philadelphia Athletics

7001140000000000000♠14 (tie)
17
New York Giants
1916
86–66
000000001916-05-09-0000May 9, 1916
13–5
Pittsburgh Pirates
000000001916-05-30-0000May 30, 1916
1–5
Philadelphia Phillies

7001140000000000000♠14 (tie)
17
Philadelphia Athletics
1931
107–45
000000001931-05-05-0000May 5, 1931
4–1
Boston Red Sox
000000001931-05-26-0000May 26, 1931
2–6
New York Yankees

7001140000000000000♠14 (tie)
17
Pittsburgh Pirates**
1937
1938
86–68
86–64
000000001937-09-24-0000September 24, 1937
8–2
Cincinnati Reds
000000001938-04-26-0000April 26, 1938
3–5 (10)
Chicago Cubs

7001210000000000000♠21 (tie)
16
St. Louis Maroons
1884
94–19
000000001884-08-26-0000August 26, 1884
5–4
Chicago/Pittsburgh
000000001884-09-18-0000September 18, 1884
2–4
Washington Nationals

7001210000000000000♠21 (tie)
16^
Philadelphia Quakers
1887
75–48
000000001887-09-15-0000September 15, 1887
8–4
Indianapolis Hoosiers
000000001888-04-20-0000April 20, 1888
3–4
Boston Beaneaters

7001210000000000000♠21 (tie)
16
Philadelphia Phillies
1890
78–53
000000001890-07-08-0000July 8, 1890
9–4
Cincinnati Reds
000000001890-07-28-0000July 28, 1890
4–12
Chicago Colts

7001210000000000000♠21 (tie)
16
Philadelphia Phillies
1892
87–66
000000001892-06-10-0000June 10, 1892
7–1
Cleveland Spiders
000000001892-06-29-0000June 29, 1892
1–9
Boston Beaneaters

7001210000000000000♠21 (tie)
16
Pittsburgh Pirates
1909*
110–42
000000001909-09-09-0000September 9, 1909
3–1
Cincinnati Reds
000000001909-09-27-0000September 27, 1909
7–8
New York Giants

7001210000000000000♠21 (tie)
16
New York Giants
1912
103–48
000000001912-06-19-0000June 19, 1912
6–5
Boston Braves
000000001912-07-04-0000July 4, 1912
4–10
Brooklyn Dodgers

7001210000000000000♠21 (tie)
16
New York Yankees
1926
91–63
000000001926-05-10-0000May 10, 1926
13–9
Detroit Tigers
000000001926-05-28-0000May 28, 1926
1–2
Philadelphia Athletics

7001210000000000000♠21 (tie)
16
New York Giants
1951
98–59
000000001951-08-12-0000August 12, 1951
3–2
Philadelphia Phillies
000000001951-08-28-0000August 28, 1951
0–2
Pittsburgh Pirates

7001210000000000000♠21 (tie)
16
Kansas City Royals
1977
102–60
000000001977-08-31-0000August 31, 1977
5–4
Texas Rangers
000000001977-09-16-0000September 16, 1977
1–4
Seattle Mariners

7001210000000000000♠21 (tie)
16
Milwaukee Brewers**
1986
1987
77–84
91–71
000000001986-10-03-0000October 3, 1986
4–1
Toronto Blue Jays
000000001987-04-21-0000April 21, 1987
1–7
Chicago White Sox

text: National Association[edit]

text:
Rank
Games
Team
Season(s)
Season
record(s)
Date
Score
Opponent
Date
Score
Opponent

Beginning (first victory)
End (first defeat)

7000100000000000000♠1
26^
Boston Red Stockings
1875
71–8
000000001875-04-19-0000April 19, 1875
6–0
New Haven Elm Citys
000000001875-06-05-0000June 5, 1875
4–5
St. Louis Brown Stockings

7000200000000000000♠2
18
Boston Red Stockings
1872
39–8
000000001872-05-07-0000May 7, 1872
23–3
Brooklyn Atlantics
000000001872-07-20-0000July 20, 1872
10–17
Troy Trojans

7000300000000000000♠3 (tie)
15
Hartford Dark Blues**
1874
1875
16–37
54–28
000000001874-10-27-0000October 27, 1874
10–3
Philadelphia Whites
000000001875-05-18-0000May 18, 1875
5–10
Boston Red Stockings

7000300000000000000♠3 (tie)
15
Boston Red Stockings
1875
71–8
000000001875-09-06-0000September 6, 1875
9–4
Philadelphia Whites
000000001875-10-29-0000October 29, 1875
8–9
Hartford Dark Blues

text: 1Denotes season in which team won a pennant in the American Association

text: Postseason[edit]

text: This list contains only the top 10 streaks consisting entirely of postseason games.

text:
Rank

Games
Team
Beginning (first victory)
End (first defeat)

7000100000000000000♠1 (tie)
12
New York Yankees
1927–28, 1932
000000001927-10-05-0000October 5, 1927
5–4
Pittsburgh Pirates
000000001936-09-30-0000September 30, 1936
1–6
New York Giants

7000100000000000000♠1 (tie)
12
New York Yankees
1998–99
000000001998-10-10-0000October 10, 1998
4–0
Cleveland Indians
000000001999-10-16-0000October 16, 1999
1–13
Boston Red Sox

7000300000000000000♠3
11
Kansas City Royals
1985, 2014
000000001985-10-24-0000October 24, 1985
6–1
St. Louis Cardinals
000000002014-10-21-0000October 21, 2014
1–7
San Francisco Giants

7000400000000000000♠4 (tie)
10
New York Yankees
1937–39, 1941
000000001937-10-10-0000October 10, 1937
4–2
New York Giants
000000001941-10-02-0000October 2, 1941
2–3
Brooklyn Dodgers

7000400000000000000♠4 (tie)
10
Oakland Athletics
1989–90
000000001989-10-07-0000October 7, 1989
6–5
Toronto Blue Jays
000000001990-10-16-0000October 16, 1990
0–7
Cincinnati Reds

7000400000000000000♠4 (tie)
10
San Francisco Giants
2012, 2014
000000002012-10-19-0000October 19, 2012
5–0
St. Louis Cardinals
000000002014-10-06-0000October 6, 2014
1–4
Washington Nationals

7000700000000000000♠7
9
Boston Red Sox
2007–08
000000002007-10-18-0000October 18, 2007
7–1
Cleveland Indians
000000002008-10-05-0000October 5, 2008
4–5 (12)
Los Angeles Angels

7000800000000000000♠8 (tie)
8
Cincinnati Reds
1975–76
000000001975-10-22-0000October 22, 1975
4–3
Boston Red Sox
000000001979-10-12-0000October 12, 1979
2–5 (11)
Pittsburgh Pirates

7000800000000000000♠8 (tie)
8
Cincinnati Reds
1990, 1995
000000001990-10-12-0000October 12, 1990
2–1
Pittsburgh Pirates
000000001995-10-10-0000October 10, 1995
1–2 (11)
Atlanta Braves

7000800000000000000♠8 (tie)
8
Boston Red Sox
2004
000000002004-10-17-0000October 17, 2004
6–4 (12)
New York Yankees
000000002005-10-04-0000October 4, 2005
2–14
Chicago White Sox

7000800000000000000♠8 (tie)
8
Chicago White Sox
2005
000000002005-10-12-0000October 12, 2005
2–1
Los Angeles Angels
000000002008-10-02-0000October 2, 2008
4–6
Tampa Bay Rays

text: World Series[edit]

text: This list contains only the top 10 streaks consisting entirely of World Series games.

text:
Rank
Games
Team
Series
Date
Score
Opponent
Date
Score
Opponent

Beginning (first victory)
End (first defeat)

7000100000000000000♠1
14
New York Yankees
1996, 1998–2000
000000001996-10-22-0000October 22, 1996
5–2
Atlanta Braves
000000002000-10-24-0000October 24, 2000
2–4
New York Mets

7000200000000000000♠2
12
New York Yankees
1927–28, 1932
000000001927-10-05-0000October 5, 1927
13–6
Pittsburgh Pirates
000000001936-09-30-0000September 30, 1936
1–6
New York Giants

7000300000000000000♠3
10
New York Yankees
1937–39, 1941
000000001937-10-10-0000October 10, 1937
3–2
New York Giants
000000001941-10-02-0000October 2, 1941
2–3
Brooklyn Dodgers

4(tie)
9
Cincinnati Reds
1975–76, 1990
October 22, 1975
4–3
Boston Red Sox

4(tie)
9
Boston Red Sox
2004, 2007, 2013
000000002004-10-23-0000October 23, 2004
8–1
St. Louis Cardinals
000000002013-10-24-0000October 24, 2013
2–4
St. Louis Cardinals

7000500000000000000♠5(tie)
7
New York Yankees
1949–50
000000001949-10-07-0000October 7, 1949
5–2
Brooklyn Dodgers
000000001951-10-04-0000October 4, 1951
1–5
New York Giants

7000500000000000000♠5(tie)
7
San Francisco Giants
2010, 2012, 2014
000000002010-10-31-0000October 31, 2010
7–1
Texas Rangers
000000002014-10-22-0000October 22, 2014
2–7
Kansas City Royals

7000700000000000000♠7(tie)
6
Chicago Cubs
1907–08
000000001907-10-09-0000October 9, 1907
6–1
Detroit Tigers
000000001908-10-12-0000October 12, 1908
3–8
Detroit Tigers

7000700000000000000♠7(tie)
6
Los Angeles Dodgers
1981, 1988
000000001981-10-23-0000October 23, 1981
6–0
New York Yankees
000000001988-10-18-0000October 18, 1988
1–2
Oakland Athletics

7000700000000000000♠7(tie)
6
New York Yankees
1978, 1981
000000001978-10-13-0000October 13, 1978
3–0
Los Angeles Dodgers
000000001981-10-23-0000October 23, 1981
4–5
Los Angeles Dodgers

7001100000000000000♠10(tie)
5
Baltimore Orioles
1966, 1969
000000001966-10-05-0000October 5, 1966
4–1
Los Angeles Dodgers
000000001969-10-12-0000October 12, 1969
1–2
New York Mets

7001100000000000000♠10(tie)
5
Boston Americans
1903, 1912
000000001903-10-07-0000October 7, 1903
11–2
Pittsburg Pirates
000000001912-10-09-0000October 9, 1912
6–6
(tie)

New York Giants

000000001912-10-10-0000October 10, 1912
1–2

7001100000000000000♠10(tie)
5
Boston Braves
1912, 1914
000000001912-10-16-0000October 16, 1912
3–1
Philadelphia Athletics
000000001915-10-08-0000October 8, 1915
1–3
Philadelphia Phillies

7001100000000000000♠10(tie)
5
Boston Red Sox
1915–16
000000001915-10-09-0000October 9, 1915
6–5
Brooklyn Robins
000000001916-10-07-0000October 7, 1916
5–6
Boston Red Sox

7001100000000000000♠10(tie)
5
Los Angeles Dodgers
1959, 1963
000000001959-10-08-0000October 8, 1959
2–1
Chicago White Sox
000000001965-10-06-0000October 6, 1965
2–8
Minnesota Twins

7001100000000000000♠10(tie)
5
New York Yankees
1943, 1947
000000001943-10-07-0000October 7, 1943
10–3
St. Louis Cardinals
000000001947-10-02-0000October 2, 1947
8–9
Brooklyn Dodgers

text: Regular season and postseason[edit]

text: This list includes streaks that involve both regular season games and games which occurred in the postseason.

text:
Rank
Total games
Playoff games
Team
Season(s)
Season
record(s)
Date
Score
Opponent
Date
Score
Opponent

Beginning (first victory)
End (first defeat)

7000100000000000000♠1
17
6
Baltimore Orioles
1970
108–54
000000001970-09-20-0000September 20, 1970
7–0
Cleveland Indians
000000001970-10-14-0000October 14, 1970
5–6
Cincinnati Reds

7000200000000000000♠2
16
5
Baltimore Orioles
1971
101–57
000000001971-09-19-0000September 19, 1971
8–1
Detroit Tigers
000000001971-10-12-0000October 12, 1971
1–5
Pittsburgh Pirates

7000300000000000000♠3
12
4
New York Yankees
1927
1928
110–44
101–53
000000001927-09-27-0000September 27, 1927
7–4
Philadelphia Athletics
000000001928-04-19-0000April 19, 1928
6–7
Boston Red Sox

7000400000000000000♠4 (tie)
11
4
New York Yankees
1932
1933
107–47
91–59
000000001932-09-28-0000September 28, 1932
12–6
Chicago Cubs
000000001933-04-23-0000April 23, 1933
4–5
Washington Senators

7000400000000000000♠4 (tie)
11
4
New York Yankees
1998
114–48
000000001998-09-22-0000September 22, 1998
10–4
Cleveland Indians
000000001998-10-07-0000October 7, 1998
1–4 (12)
Cleveland Indians

7000600000000000000♠6 (tie)
10
1
Baltimore Orioles
1974
91–71
000000001974-09-22-0000September 22, 1974
7–2
Boston Red Sox
000000001974-10-06-0000October 6, 1974
0–5
Oakland Athletics

7000600000000000000♠6 (tie)
10
7
Cincinnati Reds
1976
1977
102–60
88–74
000000001976-10-03-0000October 3, 1976
11–1
Atlanta Braves
000000001977-04-09-0000April 9, 1977
3–6
San Diego Padres

7000600000000000000♠6 (tie)
10
3
Atlanta Braves
1998
106–56
000000001998-09-19-0000September 19, 1998
5–0
Arizona Diamondbacks
000000001998-10-07-0000October 7, 1998
2–3 (10)
San Diego Padres

7000600000000000000♠6 (tie)
10
7
Colorado Rockies
2007
90–73
000000002007-09-29-0000September 29, 2007
11–1
Arizona Diamondbacks
000000002007-10-24-0000October 24, 2007
1–13
Boston Red Sox

7001100000000000000♠10 (tie)
9
4
New York Giants^
1922
1923
93–61
95–58
000000001922-10-01-0000October 1, 1922
3–0
Boston Braves
000000001923-04-20-0000April 20, 1923
2–9
Boston Braves

7001100000000000000♠10 (tie)
9
3
Detroit Tigers
1984
1985
104–58
84–77
000000001984-10-12-0000October 12, 1984
5–2
San Diego Padres
000000001985-04-17-0000April 17, 1985
0–2
Milwaukee Brewers

7001100000000000000♠10 (tie)
9
1
San Francisco Giants
2002
95–66
000000002002-09-20-0000September 20, 2002
5–1
Milwaukee Brewers
000000002002-10-03-0000October 3, 2002
3–7
Atlanta Braves

7001100000000000000♠10 (tie)
9
8
Chicago White Sox
2005
2006
99–63
90–72
000000002005-10-12-0000October 12, 2005
2–1
Los Angeles Angels
000000002006-04-04-0000April 4, 2006
2–8
Cleveland Indians

7001100000000000000♠10 (tie)
9
8
Kansas City Royals
2014
89–73
000000002014-09-28-0000September 28, 2014
6–4
Chicago White Sox
000000002014-10-21-0000October 21, 2014
1–7
San Francisco Giants

7001100000000000000♠10 (tie)
9
1
Chicago Cubs
2015
97–65
000000002015-09-27-0000September 27, 2015
4–0
Pittsburgh Pirates
000000002015-10-09-0000October 9, 2015
0–4
St. Louis Cardinals

7001100000000000000♠10 (tie)
9
6
Cleveland Indians
2016
94–67
000000002016-09-30-0000September 30, 2016
7–2
Kansas City Royals
000000002016-10-18-0000October 18, 2016
1–5
Toronto Blue Jays

text: Series streaks[edit]

text: Postseason[edit]

text: This list contains only the top 10 streaks consisting entirely of postseason series. For the purpose of this list, one-game wild card matchups, such as the 2012 Cardinals' win, and the Giants' wild card wins in 2014 and 2016, are counted.

text:
Rank

Series
Team
Beginning (first victory)
End (first defeat)

7000100000000000000♠1 (tie)
11
New York Yankees
1998–2001
1998 ALDS
3–0
Texas Rangers
2001 WS
3–4
Arizona Diamondbacks

7000200000000000000♠1 (tie)
11
San Francisco Giants
2010, 2012, 2014, 2016
2010 NLDS
3–1
Atlanta Braves
2016 NLDS
1–3
Chicago Cubs

7000300000000000000♠3
8
New York Yankees
1927–28, 1932, 1936–39, 1941
1927 WS
4–0
Pittsburgh Pirates
1942 WS
1–4
St. Louis Cardinals

7000400000000000000♠4
7
New York Yankees
1943, 1947, 1949–53
1943 WS
4–1
St. Louis Cardinals
1955 WS
3–4
Brooklyn Dodgers

7000500000000000000♠5 (tie)
6
Oakland Athletics
1972–74
1972 ALCS
3–2
Detroit Tigers
1975 ALCS
0–3
Boston Red Sox

7000500000000000000♠5 (tie)
6
Florida Marlins*
1997, 2003
1997 NLDS
3–0
San Francisco Giants

7000700000000000000♠7 (tie)
5
Boston Red Sox
1903, 1912, 1915–16, 1918
1903 WS
5–3
Pittsburgh Pirates
1946 WS
3–4
St. Louis Cardinals

7000700000000000000♠7 (tie)
5
Atlanta Braves
1995–96
1995 NLDS
3–1
Colorado Rockies
1996 WS
2–4
New York Yankees

7000700000000000000♠7 (tie)
5
Minnesota Twins
1987, 1991, 2002
1987 ALCS
4–1
Detroit Tigers
2002 ALCS
1–4
Anaheim Angels

7000700000000000000♠7 (tie)
5
Philadelphia Phillies
2008–09
2008 NLDS
3–1
Milwaukee Brewers
2009 WS
2–4
New York Yankees

7000700000000000000♠7 (tie)
5
St. Louis Cardinals
2011–12
2011 NLDS
3–2
Philadelphia Phillies
2012 NLCS
3–4
San Francisco Giants