document_title: List of Hit the Floor episodes

question_text: what was the last episode of hit the floor

text: List of Hit the Floor episodes

text: Series overview[edit]

text: Episodes[edit]

text: Season 1 (2013)[edit]

text:
No.overallNo. inseasonTitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUS viewers(millions)11"Pilot"Sanaa HamriJames LaRosaMay 27, 2013 (2013-05-27)1.54[7]
Ahsha Hayes tries out for the Los Angeles Devil Girls, much to the chagrin of her mother Sloane—one of the original Devil Girls, who distanced herself from the team to have her daughter. Ahsha immediately attracts the attention of player Derek Roman, and the ire of Devil Girls captain Jelena Howard, who sees the talented Ahsha as a threat. After Ahsha makes the team, Sloane tells former player-turned-coach Pete Davenport that he is Ahsha's biological father.
22"Game On"Tamra DavisJames LaRosaJune 3, 2013 (2013-06-03)1.67[8]
Ahsha continues to rebuff Derek's advances. Olivia Vincent helps get recently-replaced Devil Girl Raquel Saldana a job at the Devils Playground private club, and puts an end to Jelena's influence over her decisions. Team captain Terrence Wall tells Derek to put aside his partying and womanizing, and focus on his game. Devil Girl Kyle Hart wins over a Devils VIP. Jelena tells Ahsha that Pete is her father.
33"Out of Bounds"Tamra DavisAyanna A. FloydJune 10, 2013 (2013-06-10)1.98[9]
Upset over her mother's secret, Ahsha misses the Devil Girls dance at the opening game, and narrowly avoids being fired by Olivia. Ahsha confronts Sloane, and moves in with her boyfriend German Vega. Pete encourages Raquel to fight her ex. Devils owner Oscar Kinkade and Olivia's husband Chase Vincent conspire to find a missing Devil Girl named Mia. Terrence and Derek clash again over Derek's behavior.
44"Rebound"Daisy von Scherler MayerJason GanzelJune 17, 2013 (2013-06-17)2.16[10]
Pete and Sloane discuss the past, starting with when she caught him in bed with her best friend—Olivia. Jelena sets up Ahsha to fail at a photo shoot, but Kyle and Derek help her succeed. Olivia tries to track Mia down and rekindle her friendship with Sloane. Jelena recognizes a connection between Derek and Ahsha.
55"Keep Away"Daisy von Scherler MayerTonya KongJune 24, 2013 (2013-06-24)2.22[11]
Pete tries to connect with Ahsha. Jelena uses Derek to make German insecure in his relationship with Ahsha. Sloane tells Ahsha about her sordid past, admitting that getting pregnant and leaving Pete saved her life. Terrence reveals that he has opened a restaurant named Jelena's.
66"Lights Out"Melanie MayronJames LaRosaJuly 1, 2013 (2013-07-01)2.12[12]
German and Ahsha have a fight. A blackout at the arena traps Derek and Ahsha in an elevator together; they argue, and then kiss. Mia comes to Jelena for help finding her missing uniform. Pete and Raquel kiss, but he is not ready to become romantically involved. He and Sloane have sex. Oscar's plans to build a new arena in Hollywood are revived, thanks to his sabotaging the emergency generator.
77"Moving Screens"Melanie MayronAyanna A. FloydJuly 8, 2013 (2013-07-08)2.23[13]
Pete and Sloane continue their affair. Ahsha checks in on Derek, who is reeling about Terrence's desire to be traded to another team because of Derek's lack of commitment. Mia searches the arena for her old costume, which she believes will protect her from Oscar. After leaking her own sex tape, Kyle avoids being fired by blackmailing members of the discretionary board. Ahsha informs a stunned Jelena about Terrence's intentions. German punches Derek.
88"Fast Break"Daisy von Scherler MayerJason GanzelJuly 15, 2013 (2013-07-15)2.23[14]
Jelena is mad at Terrence for not telling her about the trade. When Jelena takes her frustrations out on the Devil Girls in practice, Olivia takes Jelena off choreography duty. Mia comes to Sloane's house seeking Ahsha. German and Ahsha fight over their disintegrating relationship. Sick of Jelena's taunts, Ahsha decides to compete against her for the All-Star game.
99"Benched"Daisy von Scherler MayerJames LaRosaJuly 22, 2013 (2013-07-22)2.50[15]
Terrence's trade falls apart when he tests positive for oxymethalone, a performance-enhancing drug. Mia finds her old costume—and the microphone it contains—and hands it over to Oscar. Ahsha walks in on Pete and Sloane in bed, and Sloane ends the affair. Jelena plots with Raquel to get rid of Jesse for good. At Olivia's suggestion, Ahsha goes public with the fact that Pete is her father to draw attention that will hopefully help her win All-Star. German learns that Ahsha and Derek kissed, and breaks up with Ahsha. Planning to propose to Jelena, Terrence discovers oxymethalone in her locker. Oscar rewards Jelena for helping him keep Derek in LA. A Devil Girl is found dead.
1010"Turnover"Millicent SheltonJames LaRosaJuly 29, 2013 (2013-07-29)2.62[16]
Olivia announces Mia's death. Ahsha makes All-Star over Jelena. When Chase accuses Oscar of killing Mia, Oscar reminds Chase that he raped Mia. Pete asks Raquel out. After seeing German with another woman, Ahsha takes Derek up on his offer to celebrate her win. Derek and Ahsha have sex. As part of his deal with Jelena, Oscar replaces Olivia with Sloane as director of the Devil Girls. Terrence breaks up with Jelena for drugging him. Ahsha reaches out to Pete. Secretly working with the league, Sloane intends to investigate Oscar from inside the Devils organization.

text: Season 2 (2014)[edit]

text:
No.overallNo. inseasonTitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUS viewers(millions)111"Game Changer"Tamra DavisJames LaRosaMay 26, 2014 (2014-05-26)2.36[17]
Oscar signs Zero, a cocky forward from a rival Ohio team, whose agent is Oscar's estranged son, Jude. Sloane starts as the director of the Devil Girls, and clashes with Jelena. Pete's soon-to-be ex-wife, famous actress Lionel, reappears. Derek asks Ahsha to move in; she resists at first, but finally agrees. Zero befriends Derek and Terrence, but also pursues a newly-single Jelena, who is not interested. Pete offers German an assistant coach position. Jelena agrees to go out with Zero to make Terrence jealous. Jude wants Lionel to attend every game, but she will only agree if Pete is no longer dating Raquel. At the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Devils arena, Oscar uncovers Olivia's body.
122"Passing"Tamra DavisHolly Henderson & Don WhiteheadJune 2, 2014 (2014-06-02)2.15[18]
Olivia's murder creates a public relations nightmare for Oscar, which Sloane intends to exploit. Derek and Ahsha struggle to hide their relationship. Beau coerces Kyle into fleecing Devils VIPs in exchange for her divorce papers. Jude manages to drive a wedge between Pete and Raquel. Jelena rebuffs Zero's advances, but then has sex with him at Olivia's church service. Chase is arrested for murder at the burial.
133"Behind the Back"Jonathan FrakesJason GanzelJune 9, 2014 (2014-06-09)2.15[19]
Chase tells Sloane that he did not kill Olivia—but he did move the body. He believes Oscar did it to silence Olivia, and framed him. Pete and Raquel reconcile, but Jude and Lionel sour their plans for a weekend getaway. Jelena arranges for pictures to be taken of Derek and Ahsha together. Zero tells Jelena that Terrence is selling the restaurant he named after her. Jude encourages Zero to drive a wedge between Terrence and Derek. Lionel admits to Pete that she wants him back. Jelena has a red blackmail envelope from Olivia.
144"Full-Court Press"Jonathan FrakesSarah E. FaheyJune 16, 2014 (2014-06-16)2.39[20]
With the pictures of Derek and Ahsha about to be made public, Lionel goes to Pete with a plan to publicize Derek and Ahsha's relationship before it can be twisted into a scandal. Zero goes to German with plays that he says would guarantee the team more wins, but would feature more of Zero and less of Derek. Michael urges Sloane to give up her investigation into Oscar's wrongdoings. Jude continues trying to keep Pete and Raquel apart. Beau settles Kyle's debt and gives her the divorce papers, and they have sex. Jelena learns that Olivia left her 10% share of the Devil Girls to Jelena's mother, Vanessa. Raquel catches Sloane trying to break into Oscar's office. Jude, Kyle, and Derek have red envelopes from Olivia.
155"Shattered Glass"Emile LevisettiJames LaRosaJune 23, 2014 (2014-06-23)2.45[21]
Raquel agrees to help Sloane with her investigation, and later breaks things off with Pete. Jelena makes Vanessa an offer for the Devil Girls shares. Jake confronts Kyle with the evidence Olivia had on her. Jude discovers that Olivia was also blackmailing Derek; she knew that he tested positive for cocaine, and that Jude provided it for him. Jelena tells her mother how disgusted she is that Vanessa let herself be physically abused by Jelena's father years before. Vanessa refuses to sell her shares in order to maintain a connection with Jelena. Pete tells Derek about German's new plays. Raquel has one of Olivia's blackmail envelopes, as well as her own file from Oscar's office.
166"Blow Out"Emile LevisettiJudalina NeiraJune 30, 2014 (2014-06-30)2.38[22]
Derek accuses German of purposely contructing new plays to exclude him, which puts Derek at odds with Terrence and Ahsha. Zero helps Jelena dig up dirt on Sloane, which includes his posing nude in exchange for an embarrassing photo of Sloane. Raquel convinces Jude not to submit her to a background check. Derek realizes that Zero brought the new plays to German. Pete and Sloane kiss. Derek explodes at Zero and Terrence at his roast, and the picture of Sloane is displayed to everyone. Derek gets pulled over, and the police see the cocaine he tossed into Ahsha's purse.
177"Isolation"Daisy von Scherler MayerHolly Henderson & Don WhiteheadJuly 7, 2014 (2014-07-07)2.45[23]
Derek gets Ahsha off with a warning, but she is still upset. Jude confronts Zero about his fight with Derek. Lionel calls off her agreement with Jude, and signs the divorce papers. Terrence and Jelena have an intimate moment during a visit from Terence's old friend Vance, who is suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Zero gives Jelena an ultimatum to choose him or Terrence. Pete and Lionel have sex. Raquel tells Sloane what Olivia had on her: she is undocumented. Jude discovers that Sloane and Raquel want to take Oscar down.
188"Playing Dirty"Daisy von Scherler MayerJason GanzelJuly 14, 2014 (2014-07-14)2.14[24]
Jude demands that Sloane and Raquel give him what they have on Oscar, or he will tell his father that they are plotting against him. Zero threatens to purposely sabotage the Devils' chance at a championship ring if Jelena does not choose him over Terrence. Ahsha confronts Pete about his drinking. Three rich suitors compete for Kyle. Zero makes Jude his only agent, and buys him a sportscar. In retaliation for Zero's threats, Jelena destroys his religious image by leaking information about his dalliances with prostitutes to the press. Raquel and Sloane turn the tables on Jude when they find out that he was being blackmailed by Olivia. Jude kisses Zero.
199"Unguarded"Millicent SheltonJames LaRosaJuly 21, 2014 (2014-07-21)2.41[25]
Jelena and Terrence reunite. Raquel and Sloane find a link between Oscar and the medical examiner who performed Mia's autopsy. Pete expresses to Sloane his remorse for abandoning her before Ahsha was born. Jelena confronts Terrence over his drug use, and he admits that he needs surgery on his leg. Raquel finds Kyle's red envelope, and tells her that Oscar was somehow involved in Mia's death. A jealous Zero kisses Jude, and they have sex.
2010"Steal"Millicent SheltonSarah E. Fahey & Judalina NeiraJuly 28, 2014 (2014-07-28)1.95[26]
Pete and Sloane rekindle their romance, and Lionel is crushed when her divorce from Pete is finalized. Jude and Zero continue their sexual relationship, which Zero prefers to call "having fun". Jelena is not happy when the Devil Girls vote for Ahsha to choreograph their next performance. Terrence tells Derek that he needs surgery. Chase gets out of jail on a technicality, and gives Sloane a lead in her investigation of Oscar. Lionel discovers that she is pregnant. With the investigation into Olivia's murder reopening, Jude and Derek agree to be each other's alibis. Zero gives Kendall a scoop. Jelena finds Sloane's evidence against Oscar.
2111"Sudden Death"James LaRosaHolly Henderson & Don WhiteheadAugust 4, 2014 (2014-08-04)1.86[27]
Chase is officially cleared of Olivia's murder. Thanks to Zero, news of Terrence's injury goes public. Derek confronts Jude for conspiring with Zero against him and Terrence. Jude goes to Oscar to tell him about Sloane and Raquel investigating him even though the women may reveal Jude's crime. Oscar, however, throws his discovery of Jude's homosexuality in his face, so Jude stays silent. German and Ahsha have sex. Lionel uses Sloane's evidence of Oscar's crimes to coerce him. Oscar points the police toward several suspects in Olivia's murder—including Jude.
2212"Winner Takes All"James LaRosaJames LaRosaAugust 11, 2014 (2014-08-11)2.37[28]
Oscar and Lionel announce that they are getting married. Suspecting that Jelena gave the evidence to Lionel, Sloane finds the recording device in Lionel's things, and gives it to the police. Terrence breaks his leg on the court. Derek's point wins the Devils the championship, to Zero's annoyance. Frustrated by Zero's unwillingness to stop hiding their relationship, Jude ends it. Oscar is arrested for Mia's murder, and knows that the evidence came from Sloane. Kyle offers to marry Raquel to secure her citizenship. Lionel tells Sloane that she manipulated her into incriminating Oscar so Lionel could get rid of him and take over the team. Jelena's price for helping Lionel is Ahsha being fired from the Devil Girls. German is revealed to be the person who killed Olivia, after intercepting one of her red envelopes meant for Ahsha.

text: Season 3 (2016)[edit]

text:
No.overallNo. inseasonTitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUS viewers(millions)231"Power Play"Jonathan FrakesJames LaRosaJanuary 18, 2016 (2016-01-18)1.71[29]
The Devil Girls are auditioning new dancers, and with Jelena's encouragement, Raquel gets back on the team. With Terrence's place on the team in jeopardy, Jelena realizes that she does not have as much control over Lionel as she thought. Zero's new bad boy image has attracted endorsements, and he wants Jude back as his agent. Jude, however, accepts Lionel's offer to be executive vice president of the Devils. Sloane convinces the league to force a sale of the Devils to oust Lionel. Terrence proposes to Jelena, and she accepts. They secretly make overtures to buy the Devils.
242"Blocked"Jonathan FrakesHolly Henderson & Don WhiteheadJanuary 25, 2016 (2016-01-25)1.55[30]
Lionel is under pressure to avoid the forced sale by re-signing Derek, who is holding out for more money. Noticing that Derek's new agent, Lucas, is interested in Jude, Lionel tasks Jude to use it to their advantage. Ahsha gets a job offer to join another team—in Boston. Jelena goes to her mother to secure the 10% share of the Devil Girls, but Vanessa makes it contingent on her participation in Jelena's wedding planning. Zero makes a play for captain of the team, and Pete gives it to him. German is tormented by Olivia's murder. Derek agrees to sign if Lionel rehires Ahsha. Zero discovers that Terrence and Jelena are the secret investors attempting to buy the Devils.
253"Fake Out"Tamra DavisSarah E. FaheyFebruary 1, 2016 (2016-02-01)1.35[31]
As part of Derek's deal, Lionel rehires Ahsha, and makes Derek team captain. Zero blackmails Terrence and Jelena into agreeing to trade Derek if they manage to buy the team. Raquel is diagnosed with a serious heart condition. On Oscar's order, Sloane's captor plans to kill her and make it look like suicide, but she escapes. Summoned to jail to visit Oscar, Jude refuses to give any aid until Oscar fully accepts him as his son. Beau returns with another scheme for Kyle. Jude and Zero give in to their desires and have sex in a closet at Terrence and Jelena's engagement party, but Jude is furious that Zero still wants to hide their relationship.
264"Good D"Tamra DavisJames LaRosaFebruary 8, 2016 (2016-02-08)1.17[32]
Zero tells Jude about Terrence and Jelena's plan. Sloane learns how to fire a gun. Zero says "I love you" to Jude, who says it back, but leaves when Zero is still not ready to take their relationship to the next level. Jude has another date with Lucas, and they sleep together. Thrown together in Las Vegas, Derek and Ahsha have sex. Lionel uses Derek to outsmart Terrence and Jelena and stop the forced sale of the Devils. German is in a car accident. Zero kisses a surprised Jude in front of the press and millions of viewers, effectively coming out. German tells Ahsha that he killed Olivia.
275"Lockout"Bille WoodruffJudalina NeiraFebruary 22, 2016 (2016-02-22)1.42[33]
Jude and Zero's romance is big news. Sloane goes into protective custody before the trial. Jelena plots to drive a wedge between Lionel and the owner of the arena. Ahsha struggles with German's secret, and cannot stay away from Derek. Terrence and Jelena buy the arena out from under Lionel. Sloane is manipulated into incriminating herself in Olivia's murder.
286"Carrying"Billie WoodruffHolly Henderson, Don Whitehead & Kristen SaBerreFebruary 29, 2016 (2016-02-29)1.30[34]
Thanks to a police officer on Oscar's payroll, Sloane is a suspect in Olivia's murder. Terrence and Jelena triple the rent for the arena. Zero warms to his situation as more endorsements and a book deal come his way. To Jelena's chagrin, a former employee of Terrence's restaurant is pregnant with his child. German confronts Derek about sleeping with Ahsha. Pete hides Sloane's unregistered gun from the police. Oscar fails Jude's test of his trustworthiness. The suicide note that Sloane's captor forced her to write surfaces, and she is arrested for murder.
297"Killer Crossover"Janice CookeJames LaRosaMarch 7, 2016 (2016-03-07)1.11[35]
Ahsha agrees to help repair the rift between Derek and Terrance if Jelena makes her captain of the Devil Girls. Kyle and Beau's movie scam hits a snag when early footage starts getting buzz. Ahsha wants German to confess to the murder to exonerate Sloane, but he disappears. Sloane visits Oscar, who insinuates that Ahsha has a connection to the murder. Zero and Jude visit the house where Zero grew up in foster care, and Jude helps Zero face his past. Jelena proves that the baby is not Terrence's. Beau tells Kyle that he loves her, and she later realizes that she loves him too. Raquel collapses. Sloane guesses that German is the killer, and when he hears about her predicament, he confesses.
308"Upset"Janice CookeSarah E. Fahey & Judalina NeiraMarch 14, 2016 (2016-03-14)0.92[36]
Jelena confronts her father over his abuse of her mother. Lionel apologizes to Sloane for publicly condemning her, but Sloane is unforgiving. Raquel is told her heart condition is worse, and she likely has only weeks to live. Zero helps Jude win the support of a powerful Devils board member. Sloane helps Terrence and Jelena get another shot at buying the team. A desperate Lionel makes the murder charges against Oscar go away to get him out of jail to help her hold onto the team. Jelena learns she may not be able to conceive a child. German is sentenced to 20 years, but Chase stabs him on the way out of the courtroom.
319"Loss"James LaRosaHolly Henderson & Don WhiteheadMarch 21, 2016 (2016-03-21)1.32[37]
Oscar turns the tables on Lionel by relieving her of the evidence of racketeering she has against him. Raquel is dying. A recovering German wishes Chase killed him, and asks Derek to help him kill himself. Oscar pressures the league to reject Terrence and Jelena's offer. Jude's private detective finds Laura. The Devil Girls perform a special dance for Raquel before she dies. Oscar vows to kill Sloane.
3210"Possession"James LaRosaJames LaRosaMarch 28, 2016 (2016-03-28)1.21[38]
Oscar keeps Jude on the payroll, giving him a limited time to prove his loyalty. Jelena tells Terrence about her infertility, but he does not immediately believe her. Derek proposes to Ahsha on the court in front of everyone. Jelena gives Oscar the arena in exchange for 10% of the Devils. Raquel leaves Kyle with a video confessing to Olivia's murder, and exonerating German. Jelena reveals to Oscar that she has been buying all of the board's minority shares, and with her new 10% she is now the majority owner of the team. Lionel plots to frame Oscar for her attempted murder, but she and Pete become trapped in a garage filling with carbon monoxide. Jelena breaks things off with Terrence, and informs Zero that she is trading him. After firing Sloane, Jelena is shot.

text: Special (2016)[edit]

text:
No.overallTitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUS viewers(millions)33"Til Death Do Us Part"James LaRosaJames LaRosaSeptember 5, 2016 (2016-09-05)1.24[39]
Lionel and Pete are rescued from the garage, and Pete tells the police that Oscar tried to kill Lionel. Jelena survives, and the police question the likely suspects in the shooting: Ahsha, Sloane, Jude, and Zero. Lionel negotiates with Oscar to recant her story in exchange for a divorce. Derek tells Jelena that he intends to leave the Devils for another team. At first she makes it impossible, but then relents so she can be rid of Ahsha. Jelena discovers that a repentant Sloane shot her, but decides to keep the secret. Derek and Ahsha get married. Jelena takes in Raquel's young son Miguel, and makes Kyle captain of the Devil Girls.

text: Season 4 (2018)[edit]

text:
No.overallNo. inseasonTitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUS viewers(millions)341"Slay"James LaRosaJames LaRosaJuly 10, 2018 (2018-07-10)0.48[40]
Over a year after Jelena took control of the Devils, Lionel now owns Inside Sports network as part of her divorce settlement from Oscar. Derek has divorced Ahsha after she had an abortion without telling him in Miami. The news prompts Pete to start drinking again, and he is killed in a car crash. Jude is still reeling from his breakup with Zero. He meets Noah during an attempted convenience store robbery and they have sex. Jelena is annoyed when Kyle recruits London, who clashes with fellow new Devil Girl Jamie. Jelena re-signs Derek to the Devils. Jude and Noah realize that they will be working together. Eve vows revenge against everyone she blames for her mother Olivia's death.
352"Beast Mode"James LaRosaJames LaRosaJuly 17, 2018 (2018-07-17)0.34[41]
German returns from Boston to be the Devils' new head coach. Eve's first move is to interfere with Jelena's adoption of Miguel; her second is to have sex with Lionel. Derek has a party, and accidentally burns down his mansion. Jude tries to keep his distance from Noah at work, but the men end up having sex in Noah's press office. London's ex-lover Curtis professes his love, but is really trying to dissuade her from performing in public. Jelena sells the team to Jude, and skips town with Miguel.
363"Bad Blood"Bille WoodruffHolly HendersonJuly 24, 2018 (2018-07-24)0.37[42]
Pax continues have sex with women for money, and Derek slams him for his poor performance on the court. London wins the lead in a Devils promo over Jamie as a side bet in a high-stakes strip poker game. German and Lionel have sex in her car. Jude gets jealous when Jamie sets Noah up with a closeted movie star. With Miami coming to LA to play the Devils, Eve fans the flames of their animosity toward Derek, and a fight breaks out on the court. Derek and Jude's feud comes to a head. Derek and London hook up.
374"Number's Up"Bille WoodruffSarah E. FaheyJuly 31, 2018 (2018-07-31)TBD
Pax's training by Kyle brings results, and encouragement from Derek. Noah produces a profile of Jude. Pax finds out that one of his lovers is married to the commissioner, which Eve uses to her own ends. Jamie sees Derek and London together. Noah asks Jude about Zero, and Jude breaks things off. Eve and German have sex.
385"End Game"George BamberCarla Banks WaddlesAugust 7, 2018 (2018-08-07)TBD
396"Hot Streak"[6]TBATBAAugust 14, 2018 (2018-08-14)TBD
407"Foul"[6]TBATBAAugust 21, 2018 (2018-08-21)TBD
418"Final Seconds"[6]TBATBAAugust 28, 2018 (2018-08-28)TBD


document_title: America's Got Talent

question_text: when is 2018 america's got talent start

question_tokens: when is 2018 america 's got talent start

root

text: America's Got Talent

text: Series overview[edit]

text:
Season
Duration
Winner's prize2
Finalists
Presenter
Judges

Premiere
Finale
Winner
Runner-up
Third place

1
June 21, 2006
August 17, 2006
$1,000,000
Bianca Ryan
All That
The Millers
Regis
Philbin
David Hasselhoff
Piers Morgan
Brandy Norwood
N/A1

2
June 5, 2007
August 21, 2007
Terry Fator
Cas Haley
Butterscotch
Jerry
Springer
Sharon Osbourne

3
June 17, 2008
October 1, 2008
Neal E. Boyd
Eli Mattson
Nuttin' But Stringz

4
June 23, 2009
September 16, 2009
Kevin Skinner
Bárbara Padilla
Recycled Percussion
Nick
Cannon

5
June 1, 2010
September 15, 2010
Michael Grimm
Jackie Evancho
Fighting Gravity
Howie Mandel

6
May 31, 2011
September 14, 2011
Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr.
Silhouettes
Team iLuminate

7
May 14, 2012
September 13, 2012
Olate Dogs
Tom Cotter
William Close
Howard Stern

8
June 4, 2013
September 18, 2013
Kenichi Ebina
Taylor Williamson
Jimmy Rose
Mel B
Heidi Klum

9
May 27, 2014
September 17, 2014
Mat Franco
Emily West
AcroArmy

10
May 26, 2015
September 16, 2015
Paul Zerdin
Drew Lynch
Oz Pearlman

11
May 31, 2016
September 14, 2016
Grace VanderWaal
The Clairvoyants
Jon Dorenbos
Simon Cowell

12
May 30, 2017
September 20, 2017
Darci Lynne Farmer
Angelica Hale
Light Balance
Tyra
Banks

13
May 29, 2018
September 2018
TBA
TBA
TBA

tag: table

text:
^ A fourth judge was added in season eight.
^ Beginning with season three, the prize includes the one million dollars, payable in a financial annuity over 40 years, and a chance to headline a show on the Las Vegas Strip. The length of the headlining stint has varied, with season four's prize including a 10-week schedule[6] and season eleven's lasting three days.[6]
A book was released in 2013 titled, Inside AGT: The Untold Stories of America's Got Talent. It describes the seasons, contestants, judges, and production techniques of the show and contains detailed interviews with contestants from all seasons.[7]

tag: ol

text: Guest judges[edit]

text: Starting with the tenth season, each of the main judges invited a guest judge to join the judging panel for one night during the Judge Cuts stage of the competition. The guest judges had the ability to employ the golden buzzer to bypass the other judges and advance an act to the live shows. The first guest judge, Neil Patrick Harris, appeared at the invitation of Howard Stern in episode eight of season ten, which aired on July 14, 2015. Michael Bublé appeared at the invitation of Heidi Klum in episode nine of season ten, which aired on July 21, 2015. Marlon Wayans appeared at the invitation of Howie Mandel in episode ten of season ten, which aired on July 28, 2015. Piers Morgan appeared at the invitation of Mel B in episode eleven of season ten, which aired on August 4, 2015.[8] Beginning with the eleventh season the guest judges were announced without any indication if they were invited by one of the regular judges.[9] This continued into the twelfth season when the guest judges were announced by NBC through various outlets.[10][11][12]

tag: p

text:
Season
Guest Judge (in order of appearance)

10
Neil Patrick Harris
Michael Bublé
Marlon Wayans
Piers Morgan

11
Ne-Yo
Reba McEntire
George Lopez
Louis Tomlinson

12
Chris Hardwick[13]
DJ Khaled[14]
Laverne Cox[15]
Seal[16]

text: Selection process[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Producers' auditions[edit]

text: The general selection process of the show begins with separate producers' auditions held in various cities across the United States, some of which host only the producers' auditions, and some of which also host judges' auditions held in theaters. This round is held several months before the judges' audition. Acts that have made it through the producers' audition then audition in front of the judges and a live audience.[17]

text: Judges' Auditions[edit]

text: Following the producers' auditions, acts audition in front of (as of 2013) four celebrity judges. These auditions are held in theaters in various cities nationally and are later televised. Judges may individually register their disapproval of an act by pressing a red buzzer, which lights up their corresponding X above the stage. Any performer who receives X's (3 in seasons 1 to 7, or 4 from season 8 onwards) from the judges must stop performing and is eliminated. Since season three (2008), large audiences have also been a factor in the judging process, as their reaction to an act's performance may swing or influence a judge's vote. If an act receives three or more "yes" votes, they advance to the next round of competition. However, in the majority of seasons, several acts do not perform in the second round and are immediately sent home by the judges without a second performance.

text: Golden Buzzer[edit]

text: Introduced in season nine, the "Golden Buzzer" is located on the center of the judges' desk and may be used once per season by each judge. In season 9, a judge could press the golden buzzer to save an act from elimination, regardless of the number of X's earned from the other judges. Starting in season 10 and onward, any act that receives a golden buzzer advances directly to the live show; and in season 11, the hosts also were given the power to use the golden buzzer. The golden buzzer is also used in the Judge Cuts format.

text:
Season
Nick Cannon
Howie Mandel
Mel B
Heidi Klum
Howard Stern

9
N/A
Emmanuel & Phillip Hudson
N/A
Dustin's Dojo

10
Drew Lynch
Sharon Irving
Arielle Baril
Freckled Sky

Season
Nick Cannon
Howie Mandel
Mel B
Heidi Klum
Simon Cowell

11
Dorothy Williams
Grace VanderWaal
Laura Bretan
Sal Valentinetti
Calysta Bevier

Season
Tyra Banks
Howie Mandel
Mel B
Heidi Klum
Simon Cowell

12
Light Balance
Christian Guardino
Darci Lynne Farmer
Angelina Green
Mandy Harvey

text: Judge cuts[edit]

text: From season two (2007) to season eight (2013), Las Vegas Week has been an intermediary televised taped round between the auditions and the live shows. This round takes place in a notable venue on the Las Vegas Strip. Names for this round in previous seasons have included "Las Vegas Callbacks" and "Vegas Verdicts". The Las Vegas round generally consists of acts performing a second time for the judges (except for season four in 2009), who then pick select acts to move on to the live shows. An act eliminated in Las Vegas Week is not completely excluded from the live show competition, as several seasons have featured contestants being brought back from this round as "wild card" acts.

text: Prior to the inclusion of this round, the judges would have a list containing a number of acts which advanced past the auditions during each live show. The judges would then pick ten acts from that group each week, leaving several acts without the chance to perform.

text: In season nine (2014), acts went to New York instead of Las Vegas to determine a place in the live shows.[18]

text: YouTube auditions[edit]

text: From season five (2010) to season seven (2012), acts who did not attend live auditions could instead submit a taped audition online via YouTube. Acts from the online auditions were then selected to compete in front of the judges and a live audience during the "live shows" part of the season, prior to the semi-finals. The most successful act of the YouTube auditions was Jackie Evancho, who went on to place second in season five and after the season ended, became the youngest solo artist ever to go platinum in the U.S.[19][20]

text: Before the inclusion of this round, the show had a separate audition episode in seasons three and four (2008–2009) for contestants who posted videos on MySpace.[21]

text: Live shows[edit]

text: During the live shows, a group of acts ranging from only a Top 20 (season two), to as many as 60, compete for viewers' and judges' votes. In the first season, the judges could not end an act's performance, but could either "check" or "X" the performance during their critique. Since season two (2007), judges have been able to end an act's performance early, and the "check" was removed. Generally, acts each perform first in a live round consisting of a series of quarterfinals. In seasons with YouTube auditions, the round of live judging of YouTube finalists takes place then, as part of these quarterfinals. Then there may be additional shows for "Wild Card" acts—acts that one or more of the judges select to be given one more chance for audience vote despite previous elimination. From these shows, the existing group is narrowed through votes by the public and/or the judges (depending on the season). Acts then move on to a semifinal round, and even further rounds (such as a "Top 8" or a "Top 10", depending on the season) through a series of weekly shows, which trim the number of acts down each time based on a public vote. In the majority of seasons, judges have had no vote from the semifinals. All these rounds culminate in a live final, which has consisted of anywhere from four to ten acts throughout the seasons. The act with the most votes is declared the winner, given $1 million, and, since season three (2008), a chance to headline a show on the Las Vegas Strip.

text: During seasons one through six (2006–11), the live shows were filmed at Stage 36 of CBS Television City in Los Angeles. In season seven (2012), the live shows were held at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. From seasons eight through ten (2013–15), live performances were held at Radio City Music Hall in New York. From season eleven (2016) onwards the live shows are being held at the Dolby Theatre.[22]

text: For seasons five through eight (2010–13), the show also made the winner the headline act of a national tour with runners up following the final show, stopping in 25 cities.[23][24] For season nine, however (2014), there was no tour; two shows were held in Las Vegas for the winner and some of the runner-up acts.[25] (See #America's Got Talent Live, below.)

text: Season synopses[edit]

text: Season 1 (2006)[edit]

text: In May 2006, NBC announced the new show. The audition tour took place in June. Auditions were held in the following locations: Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. Some early ads for the show implied that the winning act would also headline a show at a casino, possibly in Las Vegas; however, this was replaced with a million dollars due to concerns of minors playing in Las Vegas, should one become a champion. More than 12 million viewers watched the series premiere (which is more than American Idol got during its premiere in 2002). The two-hour broadcast was the night's most-watched program on U.S. television and the highest-rated among viewers aged 18 to 49 (the prime-time audience that matters most to advertisers), Nielsen Media Research reported.[26]

text: On the season finale, there was an unaired segment that was scheduled to appear after Aly & AJ. The segment featured Tom Green dressing in a parrot costume and squawking with a live parrot to communicate telepathically. Green then proceeded to fly up above the audience, shooting confetti streamers out of his costume onto the crowd below.

text: In season one, the show was hosted by Regis Philbin and judged by actor David Hasselhoff, singer Brandy Norwood, and journalist Piers Morgan.

text: The winner of the season was 11-year-old singer Bianca Ryan, and the runners-up were clogging group All That and musical group The Millers.

text: Season 2 (2007)[edit]

text: After initially announcing in June 2006 that season two would premiere in January 2007 and would air at 8 pm on Sunday nights, with no separate results show, the network changed that, pushing the show back to the summer, where the first season had enjoyed great success. This move kept the show out of direct competition with American Idol, which had a similar premise and was more popular.

text: In AGT's place, another reality-based talent show, Grease: You're The One That I Want, began airing on Sunday nights in the same time slot on NBC beginning in January.[27] In March, NBC announced that Philbin would not return as host of the show, and that Jerry Springer would succeed him as host,[28] with Sharon Osbourne (formerly a judge on Cowell's UK show The X Factor) succeeding Brandy Norwood as a judge.

text: The season finale was shown Tuesday, August 21, with the winner being Terry Fator, a singing impressionist ventriloquist. The runner-up was singer Cas Haley.

text: Season 3 (2008)[edit]

text: Season three premiered on June 17, 2008. Auditions took place in Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Chicago from January to April. A televised MySpace audition also took place.

text: Season three differed from the previous two in many ways. Auditions were held in well-known theaters across the nation, and a new title card was introduced, featuring the American flag as background. The X's matched the ones on Britain's Got Talent as did the judges' table. Like the previous season, the Las Vegas callbacks continued, but there were forty acts selected to compete in the live rounds, instead of twenty. This season also contained several results episodes, but not on a regular basis. The show took a hiatus for two-and-a-half weeks for the 2008 Summer Olympics, but returned with the live rounds on August 26.

text: Neal E. Boyd, an opera singer, was named the winner on October 1. Eli Mattson, a singer and pianist, was runner-up.

text: Season 4 (2009)[edit]

text: Season four premiered on Tuesday, June 23, 2009. It was the first to be broadcast in high definition. Auditions for this season were held in more than nine major cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Tacoma, Boston, and Houston. Los Angeles auditions kicked off the January 29–31 tour at the Los Angeles Convention Center, followed by the February 7–8 Atlanta auditions. New York and Miami auditions were held during March. Tacoma auditions were held April 25 and 26. In addition to live auditions and the ability to send in a home audition tape, season four offered the opportunity for acts to upload their video direct to NBC.com/agt with their registration. This year's host was Nick Cannon. Jerry Springer said that he could not return as host due to other commitments.[29]

text: The audition process in season four was the same as the previous season, but the 'Las Vegas Callbacks' was renamed 'Vegas Verdicts'. This was the first season since season one where results episodes lasted one hour on a regular basis. The title card this year featured bands of the American flag and stars waving around the America's Got Talent logo.

text: On September 16, country music singer Kevin Skinner was named the season's winner. The grand prize was $1 million and a 10-week headline show at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The runner-up was Bárbara Padilla, an opera singer.[30]

text: Season 5 (2010)[edit]

text: For season five, the network had considered moving the show to the fall, after rival series So You Think You Can Dance transferred from the summer to fall season in 2009.[31] NBC ultimately decided to keep Talent a summer show.

text: Open auditions were held in the winter to early spring of 2010 in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, and Portland (Oregon). Non-televised producers' auditions were also held in Atlanta and Philadelphia. For the first time, online auditions were also held via YouTube.

text: David Hasselhoff left to host a new television show[32] and was replaced by comedian and game show host Howie Mandel. This made Piers Morgan the only original judge left in the show.[33] The show premiered Tuesday, June 1, 2010, at 8 pm ET. Afterward, Talent resumed the same time slot as the previous season.[34]

text: On September 15, singer Michael Grimm was named the winner. He won a $1 million prize and a chance to perform at the Caesars Palace Casino and Resort on the Las Vegas Strip, as well as headline the 25-city America's Got Talent Live Tour along with runner-up Jackie Evancho, Fighting Gravity, Prince Poppycock, and the other top ten finalists.[23][24]

text: Season 6 (2011)[edit]

text: Season six premiered on Tuesday, May 31, 2011, with a two-hour special. Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne continued as judges after taking jobs on Piers Morgan Tonight and The Talk, respectively. On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on July 27, 2010, Morgan officially stated that he had signed a three-year contract to stay on Talent.[35]

text: The show held televised auditions in Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Seattle, and Houston. Non-televised producers' auditions were also held in Denver and Chicago. Previews of auditions were shown during NBC's The Voice premiere on April 26. Online auditions via YouTube were also held for the second time in the show's run, beginning on May 4. Finalists for this audition circuit competed live on August 9.

text: On Wednesday, September 14, Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr., a Frank Sinatra-style singer, was named the winner. Dance group Silhouettes was runner-up.

text: Season 7 (2012)[edit]

text: Season seven premiered on May 14, 2012. The first round of auditions, which are judged by producers, were held in New York, Washington, D.C., Tampa, Charlotte, Austin, Anaheim, St. Louis, and San Francisco from October 2011 to February 2012.[36] The show began its live theater performances at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark on February 27.

text: Piers Morgan did not return as a judge for season seven, due to his work hosting CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight,[37] and he was replaced by Howard Stern. Since Stern hosts his SiriusXM radio show in New York City, the live rounds of the show were moved to nearby Newark, New Jersey.[38] In December 2011, Simon Cowell, the show's executive producer, announced that the show would be receiving a "top-to-bottom makeover", confirming that there would be new graphics, lighting, theme music, show intro, logo, and a larger live audience at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.[39] On July 2, at the first live performance show of the season, their new location and stage were unveiled in a two-and-a-half-hour live special. A new set was also unveiled with a revised judges' desk and a refreshed design of the "X".

text: On August 6, Sharon Osbourne announced that she would leave America's Got Talent after the current season, in response to allegations that her son Jack Osbourne was discriminated against by the producers of the upcoming NBC program Stars Earn Stripes.[40]

text: On September 13, Olate Dogs were announced the winner of the season, becoming the show's first completely non-singing act to win the competition and also the first non-solo act to win. Comedian Tom Cotter finished as the runner-up.

text: Season 8 (2013)[edit]

text: Season eight of AGT premiered on Tuesday, June 4, 2013.[41] The new season was announced in a promotional video shown during a commercial break for season seven's second live show. Sharon Osbourne initially stated that she would not return for the season,[42] but later said that she was staying with the show "for now."[43] Osbourne confirmed that she would be leaving the show after a feud with NBC on August 6, 2012.[44][45]

text: On February 20, 2013, it was announced that one of the Spice Girls members, Mel B (Melanie Brown), would replace Sharon Osbourne as the third judge. Entertainment Weekly also reported at the same time that NBC was looking at a possible fourth judge to be added.[46] On March 3, it was announced that supermodel Heidi Klum would be joining the show as the new fourth judge.[47]

text: An Audition Cities poll for the season was announced on July 11, 2012. The first batch of Audition Cities were announced as Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland (Oregon), New Orleans, Birmingham, Memphis, Nashville, Savannah, Raleigh, Norfolk, San Antonio, New York, Columbus (Ohio), and Chicago. This season, the auditions traveled to more cities than ever before.[48] America's Got Talent moved its live shows to Radio City Music Hall in New York for season eight.[49] Auditions in front of the judges and an audience began taping on March 4. The show traveled to New Orleans, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Antonio.[49]

text: On September 18, 2013, martial arts dancer/mime Kenichi Ebina was announced the winner of the season, the first dance act to win the competition. Stand-up comedian Taylor Williamson was the runner-up.

text: Season 9 (2014)[edit]

text: Season nine premiered on Tuesday, May 27, 2014, at 8 pm ET.[50] The producers' auditions began on October 26, 2013, in Miami. Other audition sites included Atlanta, Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and New York. Contestants could also submit a video of their audition online.[51] Auditions in front of the judges were held February 20–22 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, which also hosted the live shows during season seven. Judges' auditions were held in New York City at Madison Square Garden from April 3 to 6 and in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre from April 21 to 26.[52]

text: The live shows return to Radio City Music Hall on July 29. There was also a new twist in the show, where "Judgment Week" was held in New York City instead of Las Vegas. Judgment Week was originally intended to be held in front of a live studio audience, but after three acts performed, the producers scrapped the live audience concept.[18] This season also came with the addition of a "Golden Buzzer," which was unveiled on that same year's Britain's Got Talent. Each judge can press the buzzer only once each season that can save an act, typically used when there is a tie.[53]

text: For this season, contestants were invited to submit a video of their performance to The Today Show website throughout June, and the top three entrants performed their acts on The Today Show on July 23, 2014. The performer with the most votes, Cornell Bhangra, filled the 48th spot in the quarterfinals.

text: On September 17, magician Mat Franco was announced the winner of the season, the first magic act to win the competition. Singer Emily West was the runner-up.

text: Season 10 (2015)[edit]

text: Season ten premiered on May 26, 2015. Producer auditions began on November 2, 2014, in Tampa. Other audition sites included Nashville, Richmond (Virginia), New York, Chicago, St. Louis, San Antonio, Albuquerque, San Francisco, Seattle, Boise, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Online submissions were also accepted.[54]

text: Howard Stern rumored on his radio show on October 1, 2014, that he might not return,[55] but announced on December 8 that he would return for the upcoming season. Nick Cannon returned for his seventh season as host.[56] On February 9, 2015, Howie Mandel said he would return for season ten[57] and Mel B announced the next day that she would be returning as well.[58] It was revealed on February 11 that Heidi Klum would also be returning.[59]

text: It was announced on December 4, 2014, that Cris Judd would be named as a dance scout.[60] He previously worked on the show as a choreographer behind the scenes, and on the New Zealand version of Got Talent as a judge.

text: Auditions in front of the judges began on March 2, 2015, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.[61][62] They continued at the Manhattan Center in New York City and the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. A special "extreme" audition session was held outside at the Fairplex in Pomona, California, where danger acts performed outside for the judges, who were seated at an outdoor stage.

text: During NBC's summer press tour, it was announced that America's Got Talent would be making their "Golden Buzzer" more like Britain's Got Talent where the contestant that gets the buzzer will be sent directly to the live shows.[63] An official trailer for the season was released, which showed that Dunkin Donuts was the show's official sponsor for the season, with their cups prominently placed on the judges' desk. Dunkin replaced Snapple, which sponsored the show since season seven.

text: On June 24, Howard Stern announced on The Howard Stern Show that season ten would be his last season as judge. Stern said, "In all seriousness, I’ve told you, I’m just too f*cking busy…something's got to give… NBC's already asked me what my intentions are for next year, whether or not I’d come back, I kind of have told them I think this is my last season. Not I think, this is my last season".[64]

text: On September 16, Paul Zerdin was announced the winner of the season, making him the second ventriloquist to win. Comedian Drew Lynch was runner-up, and magician mentalist Oz Pearlman was in Third Place.

text: Season 11 (2016)[edit]

text: America's Got Talent was renewed for an eleventh season on September 1, 2015.[65] The season will have preliminary open call auditions in Detroit, New York, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, San Jose, San Diego, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Orlando, and Dallas.[66] As in years past, hopeful contestants may also submit auditions online.[67]

text: On October 22, 2015, it was announced that creator Simon Cowell would replace Howard Stern as a judge for season 11.[3] Mel B, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel all returned as judges, with Nick Cannon returning as host. The live shows moved from New York back to Los Angeles, due to Stern's departure,[68] at the Dolby Theatre.[69]

text: Auditions in front of the judges began on March 3, 2016 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California.[70] The season premiered on May 31, 2016.[71]

text: On September 14, 12-year-old singer-songwriter and ukulele player, Grace VanderWaal, was announced as the second female and second child to win America's Got Talent (Bianca Ryan, age 11, was first). Magician mentalists The Clairvoyants were runners-up, and magician Jon Dorenbos was placed third.

text: Season 12 (2017)[edit]

text: On August 2, 2016, it was announced that host Nick Cannon and all four judges would be returning for season 12.[72] Later that year, on October 4, Simon Cowell signed a contract to remain as a judge through to 2019 (Season 14).[73]

text: On February 13, 2017, Cannon announced he would not return as host for the twelfth season, citing creative differences between him and executives at NBC. The resignation came in the wake of news that the network considered firing Cannon after he made disparaging remarks about NBC in his Showtime comedy special, Stand Up, Don't Shoot.[74] NBC selected Tyra Banks as the new host for season 12,[4] which premiered on Tuesday, May 30, 2017.[75]

text: On September 20, Darci Lynne Farmer won the twelfth season, becoming the third ventriloquist, third child act and the third female act to win the competition (second year in a row after VanderWaal's win in 2016). Child singer Angelica Hale was announced as the runner-up, and Ukrainian dance act Light Balance finished in third place. Deaf musician Mandy Harvey and dog act Sara & Hero rounded out the top five.

text: Season 13 (2018)[edit]

text: On February 21, 2018, it was announced that judges Simon Cowell, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel along with Tyra Banks would all be returning. the season is set to premiere on May 29, 2018.[76][5]

text: Post-show[edit]

text: America's Got Talent Live[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: America's Got Talent Live is a show on the Las Vegas Strip that features the winner of each season of America's Got Talent as the main performance.

text: In 2009, America's Got Talent Live appeared on the Las Vegas Strip appearing Wednesday through Sunday at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, in a limited ten-week run from October through January featuring winner Kevin Skinner, runner-up Barbara Padilla and fourth-place finisher The Texas Tenors. It featured the final ten acts which made it to the season four (2009) finale. Jerry Springer emceed, commuting weekly between Stamford, Connecticut, tapings of his self-named show and Las Vegas.[77]

text: In 2010, on the first live show of season five, the winner headlined America's Got Talent Live from Caesars Palace Casino and Resort on the Las Vegas Strip, which was part of a 25-city tour that featured the season's finalists. Jerry Springer returned as both host of the tour and the headliner of the show.[78]

text: In 2012, the tour returned, featuring winners Olate Dogs, Spencer Horsman, Joe Castillo, Lightwire Theater, David Garibaldi and his CMYK's, Jarrett and Raja, Tom Cotter, and other fan favorites.

text: In 2013, after the success of the 2012 tour, another tour was scheduled, featuring season eight's winner, Kenichi Ebina, and finalists Collins Key, Jimmy Rose, Taylor Williamson, Cami Bradley, The KriStef Brothers, and Tone the Chiefrocca.[79] Tone hosted the tour.

text: In 2014, America's Got Talent Live announced that performances in Las Vegas on September 26 and 27 would feature Taylor Williamson, the season eight (2013) runner-up, and the top finalists for season nine: Mat Franco, Emily West, Quintavious Johnson, AcroArmy, Emil and Dariel, Miguel Dakota, and Sons of Serendip.[25]

text: In 2015, no tour was held. Instead, three shows were given at the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas featuring winner Paul Zerdin, runner-up Drew Lynch, and fan favorite Piff the Magic Dragon.

text: In 2016, four shows were given at the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas. They featured the top two finalists for season 11, Grace VanderWaal and The Clairvoyants, as well as finalist Tape Face.[80]

text: In 2017, four shows were given at the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas. They featured winner Darci Lynne, runner-up Angelica Hale, third-placed Light Balance, and finalist Preacher Lawson.[81]

text: Holiday Spectacular[edit]

text: NBC broadcast the two-hour America's Got Talent Holiday Spectacular on December 19, 2016, hosted by Cannon with performances by Grace VanderWaal, Jackie Evancho, Andra Day, Penn & Teller, Pentatonix, Terry Fator, Mat Franco, Piff the Magic Dragon, Olate Dogs, Professor Splash, Jon Dorenbos and others, and featuring the Season 11 judges, including Klum, who sang a duet with Season 11 finalist Sal Valentinetti.[82] The special drew 9.5 million viewers.[83]

text: Reception[edit]

text: U.S. television ratings[edit]

text: Since the show began, its ratings have been very high, ranging from 9 million viewers to as many as 16 million viewers, generally averaging around 11 million viewers. The show has also ranked high in the 18–49 demographic, usually rating anywhere from as low as 1.6 to as high as 4.6 throughout its run. Audition shows and performance shows rate higher on average than results shows.

text: Although the show's ratings have been high, the network usually keeps the show's run limited to before the official start of the next television season in the third week of September with some reductions or expansions depending on Olympic years, where finale ratings are usually lower due to returning programming on other networks.

text: The highest rated season in overall viewers to date is season four (2009). The most-watched episode has been the finale of season five (2010), with 16.41 million viewers. The series premiere and an episode featuring the first part of Las Vegas Week in season six (2011) have each tied for highest rating among adults 18–49, both having a 4.6 rating.

text:
Season
Premiered
Ended
TV season
Timeslot (ET)
Season
viewers
Season
ranking

Date
Viewers
(in millions)
Date
Viewers
(in millions)

1
June 21, 2006
12.41
Final Performances: August 16, 2006

2005–06
Wednesday 8:00 pm

1

Season Finale: August 17, 2006
12.05
Thursday 9:00 pm

1

2
June 5, 2007
12.93
Final Performances: August 20, 2007

2006–07
Tuesday 8:00 pm

1

Season Finale: August 21, 2007
13.87

3
June 17, 2008
12.80
Final Performances: September 30, 2008
10.23
2007–08
Tuesday 9:00 pm (June 17 – August 5)
Tuesday 8:00 pm (after August 26)

1

Season Finale: October 1, 2008
12.55
Wednesday 9:00 pm
(after August 27)

1

4[84][85][86]
June 23, 2009
11.30
Final Performances: September 15, 2009
13.84
2008–09
Tuesday 9:00 pm

1

Season Finale: September 16, 2009
15.53
Wednesday 9:00 pm

1

5[87][88]
June 1, 2010
12.35
Final Performances: September 14, 2010
14.60
2009–10
Tuesday 9:00 pm

1

Season Finale: September 15, 2010
16.41
Wednesday 9:00 pm

1

6[89][90][91]
May 31, 2011
15.28
Final Performances: September 13, 2011
13.67
2010–11
Tuesday 8:00 pm (May 31 – July 5)
Tuesday 9:00 pm (after July 5)
12.65
1

Season Finale: September 14, 2011
14.37
Wednesday 9:00 pm
(after June 22)
11.49[92]
1

7[93][94][95]
May 14, 2012
10.48
Final Performances: September 12, 2012
11.05
2011-12
Monday 8:00 pm (May 14 – July 3)
Tuesday 8:00 pm (after July 3)
10.48[96]
1

Season Finale: September 13, 2012
10.59
Tuesday 9:00 pm (May 14 – July 3)
Wednesday 9:00 pm (after July 3)
10.58[92]
1

8[97][98][99]
June 4, 2013
12.41
Final Performances: September 17, 2013
11.19
2012–13
Tuesday 8:00 pm
11.22[100]
1

Season Finale: September 18, 2013
11.49
Wednesday 8:00 pm
(after July 10)
10.34[101]
1

9[102][103][104]
May 27, 2014
12.00
Final Performances: September 16, 2014
11.46
2013–14
Tuesday 8:00 pm (May 27 – July 15)
Tuesday 9:00 pm (after July 22)
10.31[105]
1

Season Finale: September 17, 2014
12.21
Wednesday 9:00 pm
(after July 23)
10.37[106]
1

10[107][108][109]
May 26, 2015
11.09
Final Performances: September 15, 2015
11.33
2014–15
Tuesday 8:00 pm
10.70[110]
1

Season Finale: September 16, 2015
9.54
Wednesday 8:00 pm
(after August 12)
9.07[111]
1

11[112][113][114]
May 31, 2016
11.67
Final Performances: September 13, 2016
13.97
2015–16
Tuesday 8:00 pm
11.71[115]
1

Season Finale: September 14, 2016
14.41
Wednesday 8:00 pm
(after July 5)
10.97[116]
1

12[117][118][119]
May 30, 2017
12.37
Final Performances: September 19, 2017
14.70
2016–17
Tuesday 8:00 pm
12.90[120]
1

Season Finale: September 20, 2017
15.64
Wednesday 8:00 pm
(after August 9)
12.00[121]
1

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Year
Association
Category
Result
Ref.

2011
People's Choice Awards
Favorite Competition Show
Nominated
[122]

Kids' Choice Awards
Favorite Reality Show
Nominated
[123]

Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Hairstyling For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special
Nominated
[124]

2012
Kids' Choice Awards
Favorite Reality Show
Nominated
[125]

Teen Choice Awards
Choice Summer TV Show
Nominated
[126]

Choice Male TV Personality: Nick Cannon
Nominated
[127]

2013
Kids' Choice Awards
Favorite Reality Show
Nominated
[128]

2014
People's Choice Awards
Favorite TV Competition Show
Nominated
[129]

Kids' Choice Awards
Favorite Reality Show
Nominated
[130]

2015
People's Choice Awards
Favorite TV Competition Show
Nominated
[131]

Kids' Choice Awards
Favorite Talent Competition Show
Nominated
[132]

2016
People's Choice Awards
Favorite TV Competition Show
Won
[133]

Kids' Choice Awards
Favorite Talent Competition Show
Nominated
[134]

2017
Critics' Choice Awards
Best Reality Series - Competition
Nominated

People's Choice Awards
Favorite TV Competition Show
Nominated
[133]

Kids' Choice Awards
Favorite Reality Show
Won

2018
Critics' Choice Awards
Best Reality Series - Competition
Nominated

text: Top-selling albums by former contestants[edit]

text: Sales numbers and rankings are U.S. sales only.

text:
Rank
Former contestant
Total US sales
Albums

1
Jackie Evancho
(season 5, runner-up)
3,000,000+[135]

Prelude to a Dream (2009) No. 121[136]
O Holy Night (2010) No. 2 (Platinum certification)[137]
Dream with Me (2011) No. 2 (Gold certification)[137][138]
Heavenly Christmas (2011) No. 11[137][139]
Songs from the Silver Screen (2012) No. 7[140]
Awakening (2014) No. 17[141][142]
Someday at Christmas (2016) No. 93[143]
Two Hearts (2017) No. 100[144] (Evancho's 7th consecutive No. 1 ranking on the Classical Albums Chart)[145]

2
Lindsey Stirling
(season 5 quarterfinalist)
856,000+[146]

Lindsey Stirling (2012) No. 23
Shatter Me (2014) No. 2
Brave Enough (2016) No. 5

3
The Texas Tenors
(season 4, 4th place)
500,000+[147]

The Texas Tenors (album)|Country Roots, Classical Sound: Remastered Special Edition (2011) No. 1 Classical Catalog Albums chart[148]
O Night Divine (2013) No. 13 Classical Albums chart[149]
You Should Dream (2013) No. 111; No. 5 Classical Albums chart[150]
First 5 Years Live (2014) No. 1 Classical Catalog Albums chart[151]
Rise (2017) No. 22; No. 1 Classical Albums Chart[152]

4
Grace VanderWaal
(season 11 winner)
200,000+[153]

Perfectly Imperfect (2016) No. 4
Just the Beginning (2017) No. 22

5
Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr.
(season 6 winner)
156,000+[154]

That's Life (2011) No. 34[155]
Christmas Made for Two (2013) did not chart

6
Bianca Ryan
(season 1 winner)
150,000+[156]

Bianca Ryan (2006) No. 57
Christmas Everyday (2007) did not chart
The True Meaning of Christmas (2009) did not chart

7
Cas Haley
(season 2 runner-up)
40,000+[157][158]

Cas Haley (2008) No. 8
Connection (2010) did not chart
La Si Dah (2013) did not chart

8
Michael Grimm
(season 5 winner)
22,000+[159]

Michael Grimm Live (2007) did not chart
I Am Michael Grimm (2009) did not chart
Leave Your Hat On (2010) No. 101
Michael Grimm (2011) No. 13

9
Neal E. Boyd
(season 3 winner)
6,000+[160]

My American Dream (2009) No. 195

text: Contestants who have competed on other reality shows[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Many acts which have competed on America's Got Talent, but were ultimately eliminated before the final round, have either previously competed on or went on to compete in a number of other reality shows, most notably American Idol and America's Best Dance Crew.

text: The following America's Got Talent (AGT) contestants also appeared on American Idol (AI):

text:
AGT
Season
Year
Contestant
AI
Season
Year
Outcome

1
2006
Jessica Sanchez
11
2012
Runner-up

3
2008
Holli Harden
9
2010
Appeared

4
2009
Thia Megia
10
2011
Finished in the Top 11

4, 9
2009, 2014
Kelli Glover
1
2002
Appeared

6
2011
Shevonne Phillidor
15
2016
Appeared

9
2014
Nick Fradiani, member of Beach Avenue
14
2015
Winner

10
2015
Jenna Renae
15
2016
Top 24

11
2016
Sal Valentinetti
14
2015
Appeared

text: The following America's Got Talent (AGT) contestants also appeared on America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC):

text:
AGT
Season
Year
Contestant
ABDC
Season
Year
Outcome

2
2007
Jabbawockeez
1
2008
Champions

3
2008
Extreme Dance FX
5
2010
Competed as Blended Projekt

3, 4
2008, 2009
SQ Entertainment
1
2008
Runner-up

4
2009
BreakSk8
1
2008
Finished in fourth place

4
2009
FootworKINGz
6
2011
Competed

5
2010
Rated Next Generation (RNG)
7
2012
Finished in Top Four

5
2010
Strikers All-Stars
3
2009
Finished in Top Four

7
2012
787 Crew
6
2011
Competed

9
2014
Flight Crew Jump Rope
5
2010
Finished in fifth place, and competed as Saltare

text: The following America's Got Talent (AGT) contestants also appeared on these other shows:

text:
AGT
Season
Year
Contestant
Show
Season
Year
Network
Outcome

1
2006
Tonya Kay, member of Trey Knight's Stilt World
Who Wants to Be a Superhero?
1
2006
SyFy
5th Place

2
2007
Tammie Brown
RuPaul's Drag Race
1
2009
Logo
8th Place

2
2007
Tika "Sweetie" Rainn
Flavor of Love
1
2006
VH1
8th Place

3
2008
Derrick Barry
RuPaul's Drag Race
8
2016
Logo
5th Place

5
2010
Justin Hopkins
The Voice
2
2012
NBC
Advanced to Battle Rounds

5
2010
Murray SawChuck
Celebracadabra
1
2008
VH1
Appeared

5
2010
Alice Tan Ridley
30 Seconds to Fame
Pilot
2002
Fox
Winner

6
2011
Dani Shay
The Glee Project
2
2012
Oxygen
Appeared

7
2012
Trisha Paytas
Who Wants to Be a Superhero?
2
2007
SyFy
7th Place

7
2012
Horse
American Ninja Warrior
4
2012
G4 and NBC
Competed

7
2012
Bria Kelly
The Voice
6
2014
NBC
Advanced to Top 10 on Team Usher

7
2012
Academy of Villains
Fake Off
2
2015
TruTV
Appeared

7
2012
Lightwire Theatre
Fake Off
1
2014
TruTV
Winners

7, 8
2012, 2013
D'Angelo and Amanda
Live to Dance
1
2011
CBS
Winners

7
2015
Ben Blaque
Britain's Got Talent
10
2010
ITV
Advanced to the semi-finals

8
2015
Alexandr Magala
Britain's Got Talent
10
2010
ITV
9th place

8
2013
Kennedy Davenport
RuPaul's Drag Race
7
2015
Logo
4th Place

8
2013
Tummy Talk
The Gong Show
1
2017
ABC
Appeared

8
2013
Angela Hoover
First Impressions
1
2016
USA Network
Appeared

8
2013
KriStef Brothers
Fake Off
1
2014
TruTV
7th Place

8
2013
Taylor Williamson
Last Comic Standing
7
2010
NBC
Semifinalist

9
2014
Adrian Romoff
Child Genius
2
2016
Lifetime
Winner

10
2015
Leroy Patterson
Solitary
2
2007
Fox Reality
7th Place

10
2015
Myq Kaplan
Last Comic Standing
7
2010
NBC
Finalist

10
2015
Freelusion Dance Company
Fake Off
1
2014
TruTV
Fourth place, appeared as Freelusion USA

10
2015
Piff the Magic Dragon
Penn & Teller: Fool Us
1
2011
2014
ITV (U.K.)
The CW (U.S.)
Appeared

10
2015
Stevie Starr
Britain's Got Talent
4
2010
ITV
Advanced to the semi-finals[161]

11
2016
Cory Kahaney
Last Comic Standing
1
2003
NBC
Finalist

11
2016
Laura Bretan
Romania's Got Talent
6
2016
Pro TV
Winner[162]

text: International broadcasts[edit]

text: In Indonesia, the eleventh season has currently been broadcast by NET. since October 22, 2016 every Saturday and Sunday at 10 pm WIB.[163] But, since Monday, October 31, in addition to the weekend slot, the show has also been broadcast every Monday to Friday at 5 pm WIB as the replacement of the currently concluded TV drama, the second season of Kesempurnaan Cinta, which was concluded on Friday, October 28, 2016.[164]

text: In the United Kingdom, TruTV, along with simulcasts on the Made Television network, show America's Got Talent, with TruTV showing it from the tenth season.


document_title: History of calendars

question_text: who invented the calendar system we use today

text: History of calendars

text: Etymology[edit]

text: The term calendar itself is taken from the calends, the term for the first day of the month in the Roman calendar, related to the verb calare "to call out", referring to the calling or the announcement that the new moon was just seen. Latin calendarium meant "account book, register", as accounts were settled and debts were collected on the calends of each month.

text: The Latin term was adopted in Old French as calendier and from there in Middle English as calender by the 13th century. The spelling calendar is from Early Modern English.

text: Prehistory[edit]

text: A number of prehistoric structures have been proposed as having had the purpose of timekeeping (typically keeping track of the course of the solar year). This includes many megalithic structures, and reconstructed arrangements going back far into the Neolithic period.

text: A ceramic artefact from Bulgaria, known as the Slatino furnace model, has been pronounced by local archeologists and media to be oldest known calendar representation, a claim not endorsed in mainstream views.[3]

text: A mesolithic arrangement of twelve pits and an arc found in Warren Field, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, dated to roughly 10,000 years ago, has been described as a lunar calendar and dubbed the "world's oldest known calendar" in 2013.[4]

text: Ancient Near East[edit]

text:
The ancient Sumerian calendar divided a year into 12 lunar months of 29 or 30 days.[5] Each month began with the sighting of a new moon. Sumerian months had no uniform name throughout Sumer because of the religious diversity.[6] This resulted in scribes and scholars referring to them as "the first month", "the fifth month" etc.[citation needed] To keep the lunar year of 354 days in step with the solar year of 365.242 days an extra month was added periodically, much like a Gregorian leap year.[6] Also, every six years the Sumerian calendar included an extra month of 62 days.
There were no weeks in the Sumerian calendar.[7] Holy days and time off from work were usually celebrated on the first, seventh and fifteenth of each month. In addition to these holy days, there were also feast days which varied from city to city. A day was divided into twelve hours, six daylight hours, each lasting one-sixth of the day, and six nighttime hours, each lasting one-sixth of the night.[citation needed] This meant the length of hours varied from month to month, daylight hours being shorter in the winter and longer in the summer and vice versa.[citation needed]

text: Antiquity[edit]

text: China[edit]

text: Before the Spring and Autumn period (before 770 BC), the Chinese Calendars were solar calendars. In the so-called five-phase calendar, the year consists of 10 months and a transition, each month being 36 days long, and the transitions 5 or 6 days. During the Warring States period (~475-220 BC), the primitive lunisolar calendars were established under the Zhou Dynasty, known as the six ancient calendars (simplified Chinese: 古六历; traditional Chinese: 古六曆). The months of these calendars begin on the day with the new moon, with 12 or 13 months (lunations) in a year. The intercalary month is placed at the end of the year. In Qin China, the Qin calendar (simplified Chinese: 秦历; traditional Chinese: 秦曆) was introduced. It follows the rules of Zhuanxu's calendar, but the months order follows the Xia's calendar.

text: Babylonia and Persia[edit]

text: Although the earliest evidence of Iranian calendrical traditions is from the second millennium BCE, predating the appearance of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster, the first fully preserved calendar is that of the Achaemenids. Throughout recorded history, Persians have been keen on the idea and importance of having a calendar. They were among the first cultures to use a solar calendar and have long favoured a solar over lunar and lunisolar approaches. The sun has always been a symbol in Iranian culture and is closely related to the folklore regarding Cyrus the Great.[8]

text: Old Persian calendar[edit]

text: Old Persian inscriptions and tablets indicate that early Iranians used a 360-day calendar based on the solar observation directly and modified for their beliefs. Days were not named. The months had two or three divisions depending on the phase of the moon. Twelve months of 30 days were named for festivals or activities of the pastoral year. A 13th month was added every six years to keep the calendar synchronized with the seasons.

text: Zoroastrian calendar[edit]

text: The first calendars based on Zoroastrian cosmology appeared in the later Achaemenid period (650 to 330 BCE). They evolved over the centuries, but month names changed little until now.

text: The unified Achaemenid Empire required a distinctive Iranian calendar, and one was devised in Egyptian tradition, with 12 months of 30 days, each dedicated to a yazata (Eyzad), and four divisions resembling the Semitic week. Four days per month were dedicated to Ahura Mazda and seven were named after the six Amesha Spentas. Thirteen days were named after Fire, Water, Sun, Moon, Tiri and Geush Urvan (the soul of all animals), Mithra, Sraosha (Soroush, yazata of prayer), Rashnu (the Judge), Fravashi, Bahram (yazata of victory), Raman (Ramesh meaning peace), and Vata, the divinity of the wind. Three were dedicated to the female divinities, Daena (yazata of religion and personified conscious), Ashi (yazata of fortune) and Arshtat (justice). The remaining four were dedicated to Asman (lord of sky or Heaven), Zam (earth), Manthra Spenta (the Bounteous Sacred Word) and Anaghra Raocha (the 'Endless Light' of paradise).

text: Modifications by Parthians, Ardashir I, Hormizd I, Yazdgerd III[edit]

text: The Parthians (Arsacid dynasty) adopted the same calendar system with minor modifications, and dated their era from 248 BCE, the date they succeeded the Seleucids. Their names for the months and days are Parthian equivalents of the Avestan ones used previously, differing slightly from the Middle Persian names used by the Sassanians. For example, in Achaemenid times the modern Persian month 'Day' was called Dadvah (Creator), in Parthian it was Datush and the Sassanians named it Dadv/Dai (Dadar in Pahlavi).

text: When in April of AD 224 the Parthian dynasty fell and was replaced by the Sasanid, the new king, Ardashir I, abolished the official Babylonian calendar and replaced it with the Zoroastrian. This involved a correction to the places of the gahanbar, which had slipped back in the seasons since they were fixed. These were placed eight months later, as were the epagemonai, the 'Gatha' or 'Gah' days after the ancient Zoroastrian hymns of the same name. Other countries, such as the Armenians and Choresmians, did not accept the change.

text: The formation of the current Persian calendar in the 11th century[edit]

text: Toghril Beg, the founder of the Seljuq dynasty, had made Esfahan the capital of his domains and his grandson Malik-Shah was the ruler of that city from 1073. An invitation was sent to Khayyam from Malik-Shah and from his vizier Nizam al-Mulk asking Khayyam to go to Esfahan to set up an Observatory there. Other leading astronomers were also brought to the Observatory in Esfahan and for 18 years Khayyam led the scientists and produced work of outstanding quality. During this time Khayyam led work on compiling astronomical tables and he also contributed to calendar reform in 1079.

text: Cowell quotes The Calcutta Review No 59:- When the Malik Shah determined to reform the calendar, Omar was one of the eight learned men employed to do it, the result was the Jalali era (so called from Jalal-ud-din, one of the king's names) - 'a computation of time,' says Gibbon, 'which surpasses the Julian, and approaches the accuracy of the Gregorian style.'

text: Khayyam measured the length of the year as 365.24219858156 days. Two comments on this result. Firstly it shows an incredible confidence to attempt to give the result to this degree of accuracy. We know now that the length of the year is changing in the sixth decimal place over a person's lifetime. Secondly it is outstandingly accurate. For comparison the length of the year at the end of the 19th century was 365.242196 days, while today it is 365.242190 days.[9]

text: Classical Greece[edit]

text: The Greeks, as early as the time of Homer, appear to have been familiar with the division of the year into the twelve lunar months but no intercalary month Embolimos or day is then mentioned. Independent of the division of a month into days, it was divided into periods according to the increase and decrease of the moon. Thus, the first day or new moon was called Noumenia. The month in which the year began, as well as the names of the months, differed among the states, and in some parts even no names existed for the months, as they were distinguished only numerically, as the first, second, third, fourth month, etc.

text: The ancient Athenian calendar was a lunisolar calendar with 354-day years, consisting of twelve months of alternating length of 29 or 30 days. To keep the calendar in line with the solar year of 365.242 days, an extra, intercalary month was added in every other year.[citation needed] The Athenian months were called Hekatombion, Metageitnion, Boedromion, Pyanepsion, Maimakterion, Poseidon, Gamelion, Anthesterion, Elaphebolion, Munychion, Thargelion, and Skirophorion.[10] The intercalary month usually came after Poseidon, and was called second Poseidon.[citation needed]

text: In addition to their regular, "festival" calendar, the Athenians maintained a second, political calendar . This "conciliar" calendar divided the year into "prytanies", one for each of the "phylai", the subdivisions of Athenian citizens. The number of phylai, and hence the number of prytanies, varied over time. Until 307 BC, there were 10 phylai. After that the number varies between 11 and 13 (usually 12). Even more confusing, while the conciliar and festival years were about the same length in the 4th century BC, such was not regularly the case earlier or later. Documents dated by prytany are frequently very difficult to assign to a particular equivalent in the Julian calendar.

text: The table of Greek Olympiads, following the four-year cycles between the Olympic Games from 1 July 776 BC, continued until the end of the 4th century AD.[11] The Babylonian Era of Nabonassar, beginning on 26 February 747 BC, was used by the Greeks of Alexandria.[11] It was later known in the Middle Ages from the works of Ptolemy.[11]

text: Hellenistic period[edit]

text: The Greek calendars were greatly diversified by the Hellenistic period, with separate traditions in every Greek state. Of primary importance for the reconstruction of the regional Greek calendars is the calendar of Delphi, because of the numerous documents found there recording the manumission of slaves, many of which are dated both in the Delphian and in a regional calendar.

text: The Macedonian Era of the Seleucids, which began with the conquest of Babylon by Seleucus Nicator in 312 BC.[11] It became widely used in the Levant.[11] The Jews knew it as the "era of contracts", and used it in Europe until the 15th century.[11]

text: The Roman Republican calendar numbered years based on the sitting consuls.[11] References to the year of consulship were used in both conversation and official records.[11] Romans from the same family often had the same praenomen, which sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish them, and there were two consuls at any one time, each of whom might sometimes hold the appointment more than once, meaning that it was (and is) necessary to be well educated in history to understand the references.[11] The Romans had an eight-day week, with the market-day falling every eight days. It was called a nundinum or 'nine-day' in inclusive counting.

text: Most of the regional Hindu calendars are inherited from a system standardized in classical Hindu astronomy as adopted via Indo-Greek transmission in the final centuries BCE, and reformed by Gupta era astronomers such as Āryabhaṭa and Varāhamihira.

text: Ancient India[edit]

text: Time keeping was important to Vedic rituals, and Jyotisha was the Vedic era field of tracking and predicting the movements of astronomical bodies in order to keep time, in order to fix the day and time of these rituals.[12][13][14] This study was one of the six ancient Vedangas, or ancillary science connected with the Vedas – the scriptures of Hinduism.[12][13]

text: Hindu calendar, sometimes referred to as Panchanga, is a collective term for the various lunisolar calendars traditionally used in Hinduism. They adopt a similar underlying concept for timekeeping, but differ in their relative emphasis to moon cycle or the sun cycle, the names of months and when they consider the New Year to start.[15][16] The ancient Hindu calendar is similar in conceptual design to the Jewish calendar, but different from the Gregorian calendar.[17] Unlike Gregorian calendar which adds additional days to lunar month to adjust for the mismatch between twelve lunar cycles (354 lunar days)[18] and nearly 365 solar days, the Hindu calendar maintains the integrity of the lunar month, but insert an extra full month by complex rules, every few years, to ensure that the festivals and crop related rituals fall in the appropriate season.[17][19]

text: The Hindu calendars have been in use in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times, and remains in use by the Hindus in India and Nepal particularly to set the Hindu festival dates. Early Buddhist and Jain communities of India adopted the ancient Hindu calendar, later Vikrami calendar and then local Buddhist calendars. Buddhist and Jain festivals continue to be scheduled according to a lunar system in the luni-solar calendar.[20][21][22]

text: Roman Empire[edit]

text: The old Roman year had 304 days divided into 10 months, beginning with March. However the ancient historian Livy gave credit to the second ancient Roman king Numa Pompilious for devising a calendar of 12 months. The extra months Ianuarius and Februarius had been invented, supposedly by Numa Pompilious as stop-gaps.[11] Julius Caesar realized that the system had become inoperable, so he effected drastic changes in the year of his third consulship.[11] The New Year in 709 AUC began on 1 January and ran over 365 days until 31 December.[11] Further adjustments were made under Augustus, who introduced the concept of the "leap year" in 737 AUC (AD 4).[11] The resultant Julian calendar remained in almost universal use in Europe until 1582.[11]

text: Marcus Terentius Varro introduced the Ab urbe condita epoch, assuming a foundation of Rome in 753 BC. The system remained in use during the early medieval period until the widespread adoption of the Dionysian era in the Carolingian period. In the Roman Empire, the AUC year could be used alongside the consular year, so that the consulship of Quintus Fufius Calenus and Publius Vatinius could be determined as 707 AUC (or 47 BC), the third consulship of Caius Julius Caesar, with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, as 708 AUC (or 46 BC), and the fourth consulship of Gaius Julius Caesar as 709 AUC (or 45 BC).[11]

text: The seven-day Week has a tradition reaching back to the Ancient Near East, but the introduction of the "planetary week" which remains in modern use dates to the Roman Empire period (see also names of the days of the week).

text: Middle Ages[edit]

text: Christian Europe[edit]

text: For the first six centuries since the birth of Jesus Christ, European countries used various local systems to count years, most usually regnal years, modeled on the Old Testament.[11] In some cases, Creation dating was also used. In the 6th century, the Christian monk Dionysius Exiguus devised the Anno Domini system, dating from the Incarnation of Jesus.[11] In the 8th century, the Anglo-Saxon historian Bede the Venerable used another Latin term, "ante uero incarnationis dominicae tempus" ("the time before the Lord's true incarnation", equivalent to the English "before Christ"), to identify years before the first year of this era.[23]

text: According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, even Popes continued to date documents according to regnal years, and usage of AD only gradually became common in Europe from the 11th to the 14th centuries.[citation needed] In 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to adopt the Anno Domini system.[citation needed]

text: In 1267, the medieval scientist Roger Bacon stated the times of full moons as a number of hours, minutes, seconds, thirds, and fourths (horae, minuta, secunda, tertia, and quarta) after noon on specified calendar dates.[24] Although a third for  1⁄60 of a second remains in some languages, for example Arabic ثالثة, the modern second is further divided decimally.

text: Rival calendar eras to Anno Domini remained in use in Christian Europe.[11] In Spain, the "Era of the Caesars" was dated from Octavian's conquest of Iberia in 39 BC.[11] It was adopted by the Visigoths and remained in use in Catalonia until 1180, Castille until 1382 and Portugal until 1415.[11]

text: For chronological purposes, the flaw of the Anno Domini system was that dates have to be reckoned backwards or forwards according as they are BC or AD. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "in an ideally perfect system all events would be reckoned in one sequence. The difficulty was to find a starting point whence to reckon, for the beginnings of history in which this should naturally be placed are those of which chronologically we know least."[citation needed] For both Christians and Jews, the prime historical date was the Year of Creation, or Annus Mundi.[25] The Eastern Orthodox Church fixed the date of Creation at 5509 BC.[25] This remained the basis of the ecclesiastical calendar in the Greek and Russian Orthodox world until modern times.[25] The Coptic Church fixed on 5500 BC. Later, the Church of England, under Archbishop Ussher in 1650, would pick 4004 BC.[25]

text: Bulgar calendar[edit]

text: The Bulgar calendar was a calendar system used by the Bulgars, a seminomadic people, originally from Central Asia, who from the 2nd century onwards dwelled in the Eurasian steppes north of the Caucasus and around the banks of river Volga. In 681 part of the Bulgars settled in the Balkan peninsula and established Bulgaria. The main source of information used for reconstruction of the Bulgar calendar is a short 15th century transcript, which contains 10 pairs of calendar terms, the same dating system being found in a marginal note of a manuscript from the 10th c. According to the reconstructed calendar, the Bulgars used a 12-year cyclic calendar similar to the one adopted by Turkic peoples from the Chinese calendar, with names and numbers that are deciphered as in Bulgar language.

text: Islamic calendar[edit]

text: The Islamic calendar is based on the prohibition of intercalation (nasi') by Muhammad, in Islamic tradition dated to a sermon held on 9 Dhu al-Hijjah AH 10 (Julian date: 6 March 632). This resulted in an observationally based lunar calendar shifting relative to the seasons of the solar year.

text: Icelandic calendar[edit]

text: In medieval Iceland, a calendar was introduced in the 10th century. While the ancient Germanic calendars were based on lunar months, the new Icelandic calendar introduced a purely solar reckoning, with a year having a fixed number of weeks (52 weeks or 364 days). This necessitated the introduction of "leap weeks" instead of the Julian leap days.

text: Indo-Islamic calendars[edit]

text: During the Mughal rule, land taxes were collected from Bengali people according to the Islamic Hijri calendar. This calendar was a lunar calendar, and its new year did not coincide with the solar agricultural cycles. According to some sources, Mughal Emperor Akbar asked his royal astronomer Fathullah Shirazi to create a new calendar by combining the lunar Islamic calendar and solar Hindu calendar already in use, and this was known as Fasholi shan (harvest calendar).[26][27] According to Amartya Sen, Akbar's official calendar "Tarikh-ilahi" with the zero year of 1556 CE was a blend of pre-existing Hindu and Islamic calendars. It was not used much in India outside of Akbar's Mughal court, and after his death the calendar he launched was abandoned. However, adds Sen, there are traces of the "Tarikh-ilahi" that survive in the Bengali calendar.[28] Some historians attribute the Bengali calendar to the 7th century Hindu king Shashanka.[26][29][30]

text: Mesoamerica[edit]

text: Of all the ancient calendar systems, the Maya and other Mesoamerican systems are the most complex. The Mayan calendar had 2 years, the 260-day Sacred Round, or tzolkin, and the 365-day Vague Year, or haab.[31]

text: The Sacred Round of 260 days is composed of two smaller cycles: the numbers 1 through 13, coupled with 20 different day names: Imix, Ik, Akbal, Kan, Chicchan, Cimi, Manik, Lamat, Muluc, Oc, Chuen, Eb, Ben, Ix, Men, Cib, Caban, Eiznab, Cauac, and Ahau. The Sacred Round was used to determine important activities related to the gods and humans: name individuals, predict the future, decide on auspicious dates for battles, marriages, and so on.[31]

text: The two cycles of 13 and 20 intermesh and are repeated without interruption: the cycle would begin with 1 Imix, then 2 Ik, then 3 Akbal and so on until the number 13 was reached, at which point the number cycle was restarted so 13 Ben would be followed by 1 Ix, 2 Men and so on. This time Imix would be numbered 8. The cycle ended after 260 days, with the last day being 13 Ahau.[31]

text: The Vague Year of 365 days is similar to our modern calendar, consisting of 18 months of 20 days each, with an unlucky five-day period at the end. The Vague Year had to do primarily with the seasons and agriculture, and was based on the solar cycle. The 18 Maya months are known, in order, as: Pop, Uo, Zip, Zotz, Tzec, Xuc, Yaxkin, Mol, Chen, Yax, Zac, Ceh, Mac, Kankin, Maun, Pax, Kayab and Cumku. The unlucky five-day period was known as Uayeb, and was considered a time which could hold danger, death and bad luck.[31]

text: The Vague Year began with the month of Pop. The Maya 20-day month always begins with the seating of the month, followed by days numbered 1 to 19, then the seating of the following month, and so on. This ties in with the Maya notion that each month influences the next. The Maya new year would start with 1 Pop, followed by 2 Pop, all the way through to 19 Pop, followed by the seating of the month of Uo, written as 0 Uo, then 1 Uo, 2 Uo and so on. These two cycles coincided every 52 years. The 52-year period of time was called a "bundle" and was similar to a modern-day century.[31]

text: Modern calendars[edit]

text: While the Gregorian calendar is now in worldwide use for secular purposes, various medieval or ancient calendars remain in regional use for religious or social purposes, including the Julian calendar, the Hebrew calendar, the Islamic calendar, various Hindu calendars, the Zoroastrian calendar etc.

text: There are also various modern calendars that see limited use, either created for the use of new religious movements or reformed versions of older religious calendars, or calendars introduced by regionalist or nationalist movements.

text:
Javanese calendar (1633)
Jōkyō calendar (1685)
French Republican calendar (1793)
Baha'i calendar (1873)
Solar Hijri calendar (1925)
Indian national calendar (1957)
Discordian calendar (1963)
Juche Era calendar (1997)

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