document_title: Wheat flour

question_text: a blend of hard and soft flour is known as

text: Wheat flour

text: Milling[edit]

text: To produce refined (white) wheat flour,[2] grain is usually tempered, i.e. moisture added to the grain, before milling, to optimize milling efficiency. This softens the starchy "endosperm" portion of the wheat kernel, which will be separated out in the milling process to produce what is known to consumers as white flour. The addition of moisture also stiffens the bran and ultimately reduces the energy input required to shatter the kernel, while at the same time avoiding the shattering of bran and germ particles to be separated out in this milling process by sieving or sifting.

text: The endosperm portion of the kernel makes up about 80% of the volume and is desirable because the products produced by this white flour are often considered to have milder flavor, smoother texture, and, in the case of bread, greater volume. The balance of the kernel is composed of the bran and the germ which tend to be coarser. With the invention of the roller milling system in the late 19th century, the bran and the germ were able to be removed, dramatically improving the appeal of baked products to the public.

text: The moistened grain is first passed through the series of break rollers, then sieved to separate out the fine particles that make up white flour. The balance are intermediate particles of endosperm (otherwise known as product middling or farina) and coarse particles of bran and germ. The middling then makes multiple passes through the reduction rolls, and is again sieved after each pass to maximize extraction of white flour from the endosperm, while removing coarser bran and germ particles.

text: To produce whole wheat flour, 100% of the bran and germ must be reintroduced to the white flour that the roller milling system was originally designed to separate it from. Therefore, these elements are first ground on another mill (usually a pin mill). These finer bran and germ fractions are then reintroduced to the endosperm (white flour) to produce whole wheat flour made of 100% of the kernel of wheat.

text: Types[edit]

text: Wheat flour is available in many varieties; the categorization is regional, and the same name may have several different regional meanings.

text: Canada[edit]

text:
Whole wheat flour in Canada may have up to 5% or the grain removed; most of the germ is often removed to prevent the flour from going rancid.[3]
Whole grain flour contains the whole grain, including bran, germ, and endosperm, but not the chaff

text: Fiji[edit]

text: Sharp flour is produced in Fiji and primarily used in Indian cuisine.

text: Indian wheat flours[edit]

text: Indian flours are generally categorized by how much of the grain is stripped away.

text:
Wheat powder/flour – 'whole grain' (mixture of germ, endosperm and bran)
Atta flour – mixture of endosperm and bran
Maida flour – endosperm, bleached; a very white flour, similar to the American bleached flour
Sooji/rava – coarse-ground endosperm

text: Southeast Asia[edit]

text: Tang flour or wheat starch is a type of wheat flour used primarily in Chinese cuisine for making the outer layer of dumplings and buns. It is also used in Vietnamese cuisine, where it is called bột lọc trong.

text: United States[edit]

text: American flours are categorized by gluten/protein content, processing, and use.

text:
All-purpose or plain flour is a blended wheat with a protein content lower than bread flour, ranging between 9% and 12%. Depending on brand or the region where it is purchased, it may be composed of all hard or soft wheats, but is usually a blend of the two, and can range from low protein content to moderately high. It is marketed as an inexpensive alternative to bakers' flour which is acceptable for most household baking needs.[1]
Bread flour or strong flour is always made from hard wheat, usually hard spring wheat. It has a very high protein content, between 10% and 13%, making it excellent for yeast bread baking. It can be white or whole wheat or in between.[1]
Cake flour is a finely milled white flour made from soft wheat. It has very low protein content, between 8% and 10%, making it suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher protein content of other flours would make the cakes tough. American cake flour is bleached; in countries where bleached flour is prohibited, plain flour can be treated in a domestic microwave to improve the texture of the end product.[4] Related to cake flour are masa harina (from maize), maida flour (from wheat or tapioca), and pure starches.[1]
Durum flour is made from Durum wheat and is suited for pasta making, traditional pizza and flatbread for doner kebab.
Graham flour is a special type of whole wheat flour. The endosperm is finely ground, as in white flour, while the bran and germ are coarsely ground. Graham flour is uncommon outside of the United States (but see atta flour, a similar product, below). Graham flour is the basis of true graham crackers.
Instant flour is pregelatinized (precooked) for easier incorporation in gravies and sauces.
Pastry flour or cookie flour or cracker flour has slightly higher protein content than cake flour but lower than all-purpose flour. Its protein content ranges between 9% and 10%. It is available as a white flour, a whole-wheat flour, or a white flour with the germ retained but not the bran. It is suitable for pie pastry and tarts, some cookies, muffins, biscuits and other quick breads. Flour is shaken through a sieve to reduce the amount of lumps for cooking pastry.[1]
Whole-wheat flour contains the wheat germ, endosperm and bran
White flour or refined flour contains only the endosperm
Enriched flour is white flour with nutrients added to compensate for the removal of the bran and germ
Bleached flour is a white flour treated with flour bleaching agents to whiten it (freshly milled flour is yellowish) and give it more gluten-producing potential. Oxidizing agents are usually employed, most commonly organic peroxides like acetone peroxide or benzoyl peroxide, nitrogen dioxide, or chlorine. A similar effect can be achieved by letting the flour oxidize with oxygen in the air ("natural aging") for approximately 10 days; however, this process is more expensive due to the time required. Flour bleached with benzoyl peroxide has been prohibited in the UK since 1997.[5]
Bromated flour has a maturing agent added. The agent's role is to help with developing gluten, a role similar to the flour bleaching agents. Bromate is usually used. Other choices are phosphates, ascorbic acid, and malted barley. Bromated flour has been banned in much of the world, as bromate is classified as possibly carcinogenic in humans (Group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC),[6] but remains available in the United States.
Self-rising or self-raising flour is white flour that is sold premixed with chemical leavening agents. It was invented by Henry Jones.[citation needed] Self-rising flour is typically composed of the following ratio:

1 cup (100 g) flour
1 1⁄2 teaspoons (3 g) baking powder
a pinch to 1⁄2 teaspoon (1 g or less) salt

text: Other[edit]

text: Spelt flour is flour produced from the type of wheat called spelt. It is less commonly used in modern cooking than other wheat varieties. It is still used for specialty baking.

text: Flour strength – W index[edit]

text: A device called Alveograph Chopin invented in 1921 by Marcel Chopin, provides an index called W that is now commonly used by professional bakers. W index measures the flour strength. The maximum of the curve, identified by P, represents the toughness of gluten, while L represents the extensibility, the higher the value of L the more elastic the dough will be.

text: Flours between 90 and 160 W are called "weak flours". They have a low protein content, usually 9%, used to produce biscuits or cakes.

text: Flours between 160 and 250 W have a medium force. They are used, for example, for Pugliese bread, pizza and focaccia.

text: Flours > 300 W Flours with a high W are called "strong flours" because they have a great resistance to the deformation of gluten.

text: In general, the longer rising time a bread product requires, the more a flour will need a high W, because it better retains the carbon dioxide produced in the fermentation.[7]

text: National Flour in the United Kingdom[edit]

text: During World War II, the British government promoted "National Flour"; it was adopted in 1942 both for health reasons and those concerned about the import of wheat into the UK and losses during the war.[8] The flour is described as being of 85% extraction, i.e. containing more of the whole wheat grain than refined flour, generally described as 70% extraction at the time. Parliamentary questions on the exact constitution of National Flour in 1943 reveal that it was "milled from a grist consisting of 90 per cent. wheat and 10 per cent. diluent grains. Authorised additions are calcium at the rate of 7 oz (200 g) per 280 lb (130 kg) of flour and dried milk at the rate of 2 lb (910 g) per 280 lb (130 kg) of flour and customary improvers in normal proportions." The diluent grains were barley, oats and rye and customary improvers were "certain oxidising agents which improve the quality of the bread baked from the flour, and their nature depends on the kind of grain used, whether hard or soft.".[9] A survey of the composition of National Flour was conducted for the period 1946–1950[10] National Flour was discontinued in 1956 against the recommendations of the MRC[8] as the government considered that the addition of nutritional supplements to refined flour removed the necessity for using National Flour on health grounds.

text: Flour production[edit]

text: Kenya[edit]

text: National Flour was also a term for a flour introduced in Kenya by the colonial government which contained 70% wheat flour and 30% maize flour.[11]


document_title: New York Stock Exchange

question_text: when did the stock market start in the united states

root

text: New York Stock Exchange

text: History[edit]

text: The earliest recorded organization of securities trading in New York among brokers directly dealing with each other can be traced to the Buttonwood Agreement. Previously securities exchange had been intermediated by the auctioneers who also conducted more mundane auctions of commodities such as wheat and tobacco.[13] On May 17, 1792 twenty four brokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement which set a floor commission rate charged to clients and bound the signers to give preference to the other signers in securities sales. The earliest securities traded were mostly governmental securities such as War Bonds from the Revolutionary War and First Bank of the United States stock,[13] although Bank of New York stock was a non-governmental security traded in the early days.[14] The Bank of North America along with the First Bank of the United States and the Bank of New York were the first shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.[15]

tag: p

text: In 1817 the stockbrokers of New York operating under the Buttonwood Agreement instituted new reforms and reorganized. After sending a delegation to Philadelphia to observe the organization of their board of brokers, restrictions on manipulative trading were adopted as well as formal organs of governance.[13] After re-forming as the New York Stock and Exchange Board the broker organization began renting out space exclusively for securities trading, which previously had been taking place at the Tontine Coffee House. Several locations were used between 1817 and 1865, when the present location was adopted.[13]

text: The invention of the electrical telegraph consolidated markets, and New York's market rose to dominance over Philadelphia after weathering some market panics better than other alternatives.[13] The Open Board of Stock Brokers was established in 1864 as a competitor to the NYSE. With 354 members, the Open Board of Stock Brokers rivaled the NYSE in membership (which had 533) "because it used a more modern, continuous trading system superior to the NYSE’s twice-daily call sessions." The Open Board of Stock Brokers merged with the NYSE in 1869. Robert Wright of Bloomberg writes that the merger increased the NYSE's members as well as trading volume, as "several dozen regional exchanges were also competing with the NYSE for customers. Buyers, sellers and dealers all wanted to complete transactions as quickly and cheaply as technologically possible and that meant finding the markets with the most trading, or the greatest liquidity in today’s parlance. Minimizing competition was essential to keep a large number of orders flowing, and the merger helped the NYSE to maintain its reputation for providing superior liquidity."[16] The Civil War greatly stimulated speculative securities trading in New York. By 1869 membership had to be capped, and has been sporadically increased since. The latter half of the nineteenth century saw rapid growth in securities trading.[17]

text: Securities trade in the latter nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was prone to panics and crashes. Government regulation of securities trading was eventually seen as necessary, with arguably the most dramatic changes occurring in the 1930s after a major stock market crash precipitated an economic depression.

text: The Stock Exchange Luncheon Club was situated on the seventh floor from 1898 until its closure in 2006.[18]

text: The main building, located at 18 Broad Street, between the corners of Wall Street and Exchange Place, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978,[19] as was the 11 Wall Street building.[5][20][21]

text: The NYSE announced its plans to merge with Archipelago on April 21, 2005, in a deal intended to reorganize the NYSE as a publicly traded company. NYSE's governing board voted to merge with rival Archipelago on December 6, 2005, and became a for-profit, public company. It began trading under the name NYSE Group on March 8, 2006. A little over one year later, on April 4, 2007, the NYSE Group completed its merger with Euronext, the European combined stock market, thus forming NYSE Euronext, the first transatlantic stock exchange.

text: Wall Street is the leading US money center for international financial activities and the foremost US location for the conduct of wholesale financial services. "It comprises a matrix of wholesale financial sectors, financial markets, financial institutions, and financial industry firms" (Robert, 2002). The principal sectors are securities industry, commercial banking, asset management, and insurance.

text: Prior to the acquisition of NYSE Euronext by the ICE in 2013, Marsh Carter was the Chairman of the NYSE and the CEO was Duncan Niederauer. Presently,[when?] the chairman is Jeffrey Sprecher.[22] In 2016, NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange Inc. earned $419 million in listings-related revenues.[23]

text: Notable events[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. (May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: The exchange was closed shortly after the beginning of World War I (July 31, 1914), but it partially re-opened on November 28 of that year in order to help the war effort by trading bonds,[24] and completely reopened for stock trading in mid-December.

text: On September 16, 1920, a bomb exploded on Wall Street outside the NYSE building, killing 33 people and injuring more than 400. The perpetrators were never found. The NYSE building and some buildings nearby, such as the JP Morgan building, still have marks on their façades caused by the bombing.

text: The Black Thursday crash of the Exchange on October 24, 1929, and the sell-off panic which started on Black Tuesday, October 29, are often blamed for precipitating the Great Depression. In an effort to try to restore investor confidence, the Exchange unveiled a fifteen-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public on October 31, 1938.

text: On October 1, 1934, the exchange was registered as a national securities exchange with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with a president and a thirty-three-member board. On February 18, 1971, the non-profit corporation was formed, and the number of board members was reduced to twenty-five.

text: One of Abbie Hoffman's well-known publicity stunts took place in 1967, when he led members of the Yippie movement to the Exchange's gallery. The provocateurs hurled fistfuls of dollars toward the trading floor below. Some traders booed, and some laughed and waved. Three months later the stock exchange enclosed the gallery with bulletproof glass.[25] Hoffman wrote a decade later, "We didn't call the press; at that time we really had no notion of anything called a media event."[26]

text: On October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped 508 points, a 22.6% loss in a single day, the second-biggest one-day drop the exchange had experienced. Black Monday was followed by Terrible Tuesday, a day in which the Exchange's systems did not perform well and some people had difficulty completing their trades.

text: Subsequently, there was another major drop for the Dow on October 13, 1989—the Mini-Crash of 1989. The crash was apparently caused by a reaction to a news story of a $6.75 billion leveraged buyout deal for UAL Corporation, the parent company of United Airlines, which broke down. When the UAL deal fell through, it helped trigger the collapse of the junk bond market causing the Dow to fall 190.58 points, or 6.91 percent.

text: Similarly, there was a panic in the financial world during the year of 1997; the Asian Financial Crisis. Like the fall of many foreign markets, the Dow suffered a 7.18% drop in value (554.26 points) on October 27, 1997, in what later became known as the 1997 Mini-Crash but from which the DJIA recovered quickly. This was the first time that the "circuit breaker" rule had operated.

text: On January 26, 2000, an altercation during filming of the music video for "Sleep Now in the Fire," which was directed by Michael Moore, caused the doors of the exchange to be closed and the band Rage Against the Machine to be escorted from the site by security[27] after band members attempted to gain entry into the exchange.

text: In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the NYSE was closed for 4 trading sessions, resuming on Monday, September 17, one of the rare times the NYSE was closed for more than one session and only the third time since March 1933. On the first day, the NYSE suffered a 7.1% drop in value (684 points), after a week, it dropped by 14% (1370 points). An estimated of $1.4 trillion was lost within five days of trading.[28] The NY Stock Exchange is only 5 blocks from Ground Zero.

text: On May 6, 2010, the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its largest intraday percentage drop since the October 19, 1987, crash, with a 998-point loss later being called the 2010 Flash Crash (as the drop occurred in minutes before rebounding). The SEC and CFTC published a report on the event, although it did not come to a conclusion as to the cause. The regulators found no evidence that the fall was caused by erroneous ("fat finger") orders.[29]

text: On October 29, 2012, the stock exchange was shut down for 2 days due to Hurricane Sandy.[30] The last time the stock exchange was closed due to weather for a full two days was on March 12 and 13 in 1888.[31]

text: On May 1, 2014, the stock exchange was fined $4.5 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges it violated market rules.[32]

text: On August 14, 2014, Berkshire Hathaway's A Class shares, the highest priced shares on the NYSE, hit $200,000 a share for the first time.[33]

text: On July 8, 2015, technical issues affected the stock exchange, halting trading at 11:32 am ET. The NYSE reassured stock traders that the outage was "not a result of a cyber breach," and the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that there was "no sign of malicious activity."[34] Trading eventually resumed at 3:10 pm ET the same day.

text: Official holidays[edit]

text: The New York Stock Exchange is closed on New Years Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Washington's Birthday, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. When those holidays occur on a weekend, the holiday is observed on the closest weekday. In addition, the Stock Exchange closes early on the day before Independence Day, the day after Thanksgiving, and the day before Christmas.[35]

text: Trading[edit]

text: The New York Stock Exchange (sometimes referred to as "the Big Board") provides a means for buyers and sellers to trade shares of stock in companies registered for public trading. The NYSE is open for trading Monday through Friday from 9:30 am – 4:00 pm ET, with the exception of holidays declared by the Exchange in advance.

text: The NYSE trades in a continuous auction format, where traders can execute stock transactions on behalf of investors. They will gather around the appropriate post where a specialist broker, who is employed by a NYSE member firm (that is, he/she is not an employee of the New York Stock Exchange), acts as an auctioneer in an open outcry auction market environment to bring buyers and sellers together and to manage the actual auction. They do on occasion (approximately 10% of the time) facilitate the trades by committing their own capital and as a matter of course disseminate information to the crowd that helps to bring buyers and sellers together. The auction process moved toward automation in 1995 through the use of wireless hand held computers (HHC). The system enabled traders to receive and execute orders electronically via wireless transmission. On September 25, 1995, NYSE member Michael Einersen, who designed and developed this system, executed 1000 shares of IBM through this HHC ending a 203-year process of paper transactions and ushering in an era of automated trading.

text: As of January 24, 2007, all NYSE stocks can be traded via its electronic hybrid market (except for a small group of very high-priced stocks). Customers can now send orders for immediate electronic execution, or route orders to the floor for trade in the auction market. In the first three months of 2007, in excess of 82% of all order volume was delivered to the floor electronically.[36] NYSE works with US regulators like the SEC and CFTC to coordinate risk management measures in the electronic trading environment through the implementation of mechanisms like circuit breakers and liquidity replenishment points.[37]

text: Until 2005, the right to directly trade shares on the exchange was conferred upon owners of the 1366 "seats." The term comes from the fact that up until the 1870s NYSE members sat in chairs to trade. In 1868, the number of seats was fixed at 533, and this number was increased several times over the years. In 1953, the number of seats was set at 1,366. These seats were a sought-after commodity as they conferred the ability to directly trade stock on the NYSE, and seat holders were commonly referred to as members of the NYSE. The Barnes family is the only known lineage to have five generations of NYSE members: Winthrop H. Barnes (admitted 1894), Richard W.P. Barnes (admitted 1926), Richard S. Barnes (admitted 1951), Robert H. Barnes (admitted 1972), Derek J. Barnes (admitted 2003). Seat prices varied widely over the years, generally falling during recessions and rising during economic expansions. The most expensive inflation-adjusted seat was sold in 1929 for $625,000, which, today, would be over six million dollars. In recent times, seats have sold for as high as $4 million in the late 1990s and as low as $1 million in 2001. In 2005, seat prices shot up to $3.25 million as the exchange entered into an agreement to merge with Archipelago and became a for-profit, publicly traded company. Seat owners received $500,000 in cash per seat and 77,000 shares of the newly formed corporation. The NYSE now sells one-year licenses to trade directly on the exchange. Licenses for floor trading are available for $40,000 and a license for bond trading is available for as little as $1,000 as of 2010.[38] Neither are resell-able, but may be transferable during a change of ownership of a corporation holding a trading license.

text: Following the Black Monday market crash in 1987, NYSE imposed trading curbs to reduce market volatility and massive panic sell-offs. Following the 2011 rule change, at the start of each trading day, the NYSE sets three circuit breaker levels at levels of 7% (Level 1), 13% (Level 2), and 20% (Level 3) of the average closing price of the S&P 500 for the preceding trading day. Level 1 and Level 2 declines result in a 15-minute trading halt unless they occur after 3:25 pm, when no trading halts apply. A Level 3 decline results in trading being suspended for the remainder of the day.[39] (The biggest one-day decline in the S&P 500 since 1987 was the 9.0% drop on October 15, 2008.)

text: NYSE Composite Index[edit]

text: In the mid-1960s, the NYSE Composite Index (NYSE: NYA) was created, with a base value of 50 points equal to the 1965 yearly close.[40] This was done to reflect the value of all stocks trading at the exchange instead of just the 30 stocks included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. To raise the profile of the composite index, in 2003 the NYSE set its new base value of 5,000 points equal to the 2002 yearly close. Its close at the end of 2013 was 10,400.32.

text: Timeline[edit]

text:
In 1792, NYSE acquires its first traded securities.[41][42]
In 1817, the constitution of the New York Stock and Exchange Board is adopted, it had also been established by the New York brokers as a formal organization.[43]
In 1865, New York Gold Exchange was acquired by the NYSE.[44]
In 1867, Stock tickers were first introduced.[45]
In 1885, the 400 NYSE members in the Consolidated Stock Exchange withdraw from Consolidated over disagreements on exchange trade areas.[46]
In 1896, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is first published in The Wall Street Journal.[45]
In 1903, NYSE moves into new quarters at 18 Broad Street.
In 1906, the DJIA exceeds 100 on January 12.
In 1907, Panic of 1907.
In 1909, Trading in bonds.
In 1914, World War I causes the longest exchange shutdown: four months, two weeks; re-opening December 12 brings the largest one-day percentage drop in the DJIA (24.4%).
In 1915, Basis of quoting and trading in stocks changed from % of par value to dollars.
In 1920, a bomb exploded on Wall Street outside the NYSE building. Thirty killed and over 100 injured.
In 1923, Poor's Publishing introduced their "Composite Index," today referred to as the S&P 500, which tracked a small amount of companies on the NYSE.[47]
In 1929, central quote system established; Black Thursday, October 24 and Black Tuesday, October 29 signal the end of the Roaring Twenties bull market.
In 1943, trading floor is opened to women.[48]
In 1949, the third longest (eight-year) bull market begins.[49]
In 1954, the DJIA surpasses its 1929 peak in inflation-adjusted dollars.
In 1956, the DJIA closes above 500 for the first time on March 12.
In 1957, after Poor's Publishing merged with the Standard Statistics Bureau, the Standard & Poors composite index grew to track 500 companies on the NYSE, becoming known as the S&P 500.[47]
In 1966, NYSE begins a composite index of all listed common stocks. This is referred to as the "Common Stock Index" and is transmitted daily. The starting point of the index is 50. It is later renamed the NYSE Composite Index.[50]
In 1967, Muriel Siebert becomes the first female member of the New York Stock Exchange.[51]
In 1967, protesters led by Abbie Hoffman throw mostly fake dollar bills at traders from gallery, leading to the installation of bullet-proof glass.
In 1970, Securities Investor Protection Corporation established.
In 1971, NYSE incorporated and recognized as Not-for-Profit organization.[50]
In 1971, the Nasdaq was founded and competes with the NYSE as the world's first electronic stock market.[52] To date, the Nasdaq is the second-largest exchange in the world by market capitalization, behind only the NYSE.[53]
In 1972, the DJIA closes above 1,000 for the first time on November 14.
In 1977, foreign brokers are admitted to NYSE.
In 1980, New York Futures Exchange established.
In 1987, Black Monday, October 19, sees the second-largest one-day DJIA percentage drop (22.6%, or 508 points) in history.
In 1990, the longest (ten-year) bull market begins.[49]
In 1991, the DJIA exceeds 3,000.
In 1995, the DJIA exceeds 5,000.
In 1996, real-time ticker introduced.[54]
In 1997, on October 27, a sell-off in Asia's stock markets hurts the U.S. markets as well; DJIA sees the largest one-day point drop of 554 (or 7.18%) in history.[55]
In 1999, the DJIA exceeds 10,000 on March 29.
In 2000, the DJIA peaks at 11,722.98 on January 14; first NYSE global index is launched under the ticker NYIID.

Security after the September 11 attacks

In 2001, trading in fractions (n⁄16) ends, replaced by decimals (increments of $0.01, see Decimalization); September 11 attacks occur causing NYSE to close for four sessions.
In 2003, NYSE Composite Index relaunched and value set equal to 5,000 points.
In 2006, NYSE and ArcaEx merge, creating NYSE Arca and forming the publicly owned, for-profit NYSE Group, Inc.; in turn, NYSE Group merges with Euronext, creating the first trans-Atlantic stock exchange group; DJIA tops 12,000 on October 19.
In 2007, US President George W. Bush shows up unannounced to the Floor about an hour and a half before a Federal Open Market Committee interest-rate decision on January 31;[56] NYSE announces its merger with the American Stock Exchange; NYSE Composite closes above 10,000 on June 1; DJIA exceeds 14,000 on July 19 and closes at a peak of 14,164.53 on October 9.
In 2008, the DJIA loses more than 500 points on September 15 amid fears of bank failures, resulting in a permanent prohibition of naked short selling and a three-week temporary ban on all short selling of financial stocks; in spite of this, record volatility continues for the next two months, culminating at 5½-year market lows.
In 2009, the second longest and current bull market begins on March 9 after the DJIA closes at 6,547.05 reaching a 12-year low; DJIA returns to 10,015.86 on October 14.[49]
In 2013, the DJIA closes above 2007 highs on March 5; DJIA closes above 16,500 to end the year.
In 2014, the DJIA closes above 17,000 on July 3 and above 18,000 on December 23.
In 2015, the DJIA achieved an all-time high of 18,351.36 on 19 May.[57]
In 2015, the DJIA dropped over 1,000 points to 15,370.33 soon after open on August 24, 2015, before bouncing back and closing at 15,795.72, a drop of over 669 points.
In 2016, the DJIA hits an all-time high of 18,873.6.
In 2017, the DJIA reaches 20,000 for the first time (on January 25).
In 2018, the DJIA reaches 25,000 for the first time (on January 4th).[58] On February 5, the DJIA dropped 1,175 points, making it the largest point drop in history. [59]

tag: ul

text: Merger, acquisition, and control[edit]

text: In October 2008 NYSE Euronext completed acquisition of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) for $260 million in stock.[60]

text: On February 15, 2011, NYSE and Deutsche Börse announced their merger to form a new company, as yet unnamed, wherein Deutsche Börse shareholders will have 60% ownership of the new entity, and NYSE Euronext shareholders will have 40%.

text: On February 1, 2012, the European Commission blocked the merger of NYSE with Deutsche Börse, after commissioner Joaquin Almunia stated that the merger "would have led to a near-monopoly in European financial derivatives worldwide."[61] Instead, Deutsche Börse and NYSE will have to sell either their Eurex derivatives or LIFFE shares in order to not create a monopoly. On February 2, 2012, NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse agreed to scrap the merger.[62]

text: In April 2011, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), an American futures exchange, and NASDAQ OMX Group had together made an unsolicited proposal to buy NYSE Euronext for approximately US$11,000,000,000, a deal in which NASDAQ would have taken control of the stock exchanges.[63] NYSE Euronext rejected this offer twice, but it was finally terminated after the United States Department of Justice indicated their intention to block the deal due to antitrust concerns.[63]

text: In December 2012, ICE had proposed to buy NYSE Euronext in a stock swap with a valuation of $8 billion.[9][63] NYSE Euronext shareholders would receive either $33.12 in cash, or $11.27 in cash and approximately a sixth of a share of ICE. The chairman and CEO of ICE, Jeffrey Sprecher, will retain those positions, but four members of the NYSE board of directors will be added to the ICE board.[9]

text: Opening and closing bells[edit]

text: The NYSE's opening and closing bells mark the beginning and the end of each trading day. The 'opening bell' is rung at 9:30 am ET to mark the start of the day's trading session. At 4 pm ET the 'closing bell' is rung and trading for the day stops. There are bells located in each of the four main sections of the NYSE that all ring at the same time once a button is pressed.[64] There are three buttons that control the bells, located on the control panel behind the podium which overlooks the trading floor. The main bell, which is rung at the beginning and end of the trading day, is controlled by a green button. The second button, colored orange, activates a single-stroke bell that is used to signal a moment of silence. A third, red button controls a backup bell which is used in case the main bell fails to ring.[65]

text: History[edit]

text: The signal to start and stop trading was not always a bell. The original signal was a gavel (which is still in use today along with the bell), but during the late 1800s, the NYSE decided to switch the gavel for a gong to signal the day's beginning and end. After the NYSE changed to its present location at 18 Broad Street in 1903, the gong was switched to the bell format that is currently being used.

text: A common sight today is the highly publicized events in which a celebrity or executive from a corporation stands behind the NYSE podium and pushes the button that signals the bells to ring. Many consider the act of ringing the bells to be quite an honor and a symbol of a lifetime of achievement. Furthermore, due to the amount of coverage that the opening/closing bells receive, many companies coordinate new product launches and other marketing-related events to start on the same day as when the company's representatives ring the bell. This daily tradition wasn't always this highly publicized either. In fact, it was only in 1995 that the NYSE began having special guests ring the bells on a regular basis. Prior to that, ringing the bells was usually the responsibility of the exchange's floor managers.[64]

text: Notable bell-ringers[edit]

text: Many of the people who ring the bell are business executives whose companies trade on the exchange. However, there have also been many famous people from outside the world of business that have rung the bell. Athletes such as Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees and Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps, entertainers such as rapper Snoop Dogg, singer and actress Liza Minnelli[66] and members of the band Kiss, and politicians such as Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani and President of South Africa Nelson Mandela have all had the honor of ringing the bell. Two United Nations Secretaries General have also rung the bell. On April 27, 2006, Secretary-General Kofi Annan rang the opening bell to launch the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment.[67] On July 24, 2013, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon rang the closing bell to celebrate the NYSE joining the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative.[68]

text: In addition there have been many bell-ringers who are famous for heroic deeds, such as members of the New York police and fire departments following the events of 9/11, members of the United States Armed Forces serving overseas, and participants in various charitable organizations.

text: There have also been several fictional characters that have rung the bell, including Mickey Mouse, the Pink Panther, Mr. Potato Head, the Aflac Duck, and Darth Vader.[69]


document_title: South of the Border (1939 song)

question_text: who wrote the song south of the border

question_tokens: who wrote the song south of the border

text: South of the Border (1939 song)

text: This article  possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (August 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: "South of the Border" is a popular song describing a trip to Mexico, written by Jimmy Kennedy and Michael Carr and published in 1939 for the film of the same name starring country star Gene Autry.[1]

text: In the lyrics, a man looks back with regret and pain for having lied to the woman he can't forget ("...and now as I wander, my thoughts ever stray...") and returned far too late, to discover she had become a nun.[2] The lyric is in juxtaposition with the music, which swings with syncopated joy.[citation needed]

text: The song was a hit in 1939 for Shep Fields, vocal by Hal Derwin.[3]  Other successful recordings in 1939 were by Guy Lombardo, Gene Autry, Ambrose (vocal by Denny Dennis) and Tony Martin.[4]

text: Frank Sinatra recorded the song on April 30, 1953[5] for Capitol Records and it reached the Billboard charts with a top position of #18 in a 4-week stay.[6]

text: Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[7]

text: Other notable recordings[edit]

text:
Al Bowlly recorded May 11, 1939 (see Al Bowlly Discography)
Acker Bilk -included in the album Clarinet Moods (2002)[8]
Bing Crosby included in his album Bing Crosby's Treasury - The Songs I Love (1965)
Chris Isaak for his album Baja Sessions (1996)
Chuck Berry - for the album Chuck Berry (1975) (a few liberties taken with the lyrics)
Dean Martin for his album Dino Latino (1962)
Engelbert Humperdinck - for the album The Winding Road (2007)[9]
Fats Domino included in his album Here He Comes Again! (1963)[10]
Frankie Laine (1953)[11]
Gale Storm - issued as a single[12] and also included in the album Gale Storm Sings (1957)[13]
Herb Alpert for his album South of the Border (1964)
Keely Smith for the album Keely Sings Sinatra (2001)[14]
Malcolm Vaughan - included in the EP Requests for Malcolm Vaughan (1960)[15]
Mel Tormé - included in the album ¡Olé Tormé!: Mel Tormé Goes South of the Border with Billy May (1959)
Patsy Cline - included in her album Showcase (1961)
Patti Page - recorded for her album Let's Get Away from It All (1957)[16]
Perry Como recorded for his album We Get Letters (1957)
Russ Conway - for his album Piano Requests (1958)[17]
Sam Cooke - included in his Cooke's Tour album (1960)
The Shadows - for their album Out of the Shadows (1962)
Slim Whitman - included in the album In Love the Whitman Way (1968)[18]
Willie Nelson - for his album What a Wonderful World (1988) and for his album Let's Face the Music and Dance (2013)


document_title: Official game

question_text: how many innings must be played for a baseball game to count

text: Official game

text: An official game in baseball, also sometimes called a regulation game, is a game that has progressed beyond the point at which it can be considered complete if necessary. This is approximately the halfway point of the game. In the case of inclement weather, any game which has reached this point may be stopped and shortened as needed, with the result being final, and all records and statistics counted. A game which has not reached this point before being stopped is either considered a suspended game (to be continued at a later date from the point of stoppage), or is simply canceled and replayed from the start. (This depends on the rules of each individual league.) In either case, no statistics are counted until the game becomes official.

text: Since most professional baseball games are nine innings long, the fifth inning is used as the threshold for an official game. If the visiting team is leading, or the game is tied, the end of the fifth inning marks this point. If the home team (which bats last) is already ahead in the score, and theoretically would not need its half of the fifth inning, then 4½ innings (i.e., the middle of the fifth) is considered an official game. The game is also considered official if the home team scores to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, since the game would end immediately if the same thing happened in the ninth.

text: In nearly all cases, the "official game" status is used to determine whether a rain check will be honored for fans holding tickets. If a game is started but does not reach the point of becoming official, fans are entitled to a new ticket for the make-up game or (in most modern cases) any other available game of their choice. If a game is halted after it becomes official, the game is simply shortened and no rain check is given.

text: The "official game" statistic received some attention during the 1995 season, when Cal Ripken, Jr. was approaching the record for consecutive games played, previously held by Lou Gehrig. Large numbers were hung on the side of the B&O Warehouse at Oriole Park at Camden Yards to show the number of games in Ripken's streak. Each day, a new number was unfurled during the fifth inning after each game had become official (since the statistic would not have counted if the game had been stopped before that point). A similar practice has been used to count down toward the demolition of several stadiums (including Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia in 2003, Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis in 2005, and the original Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium in New York City in 2008 and Turner Field in Atlanta in 2016); as each game became official, the team would unveil a new (lower) number showing the number of games left to be played in the stadium.

text: In Major League Baseball playoff games are not complete until the trailing team has batted nine innings. This rule also applies for tiebreaker games for playoff positions.

text: Other sports[edit]

text: Other professional sports utilize similar rules regarding "official" games/events.

text: Most codes of motorsport declare a race "official" with an official result if just three laps are completed, though only half the normal championship points are awarded if less than 75% of the race distance (rounded up to the nearest whole lap) is completed. If more than 75% of the race is completed, full points are awarded.

text: The major exception applies in the United States, mainly in NASCAR and INDYCAR, where races must go at the next full lap after halfway. A race is considered "official" if it has completed half the scheduled distance plus one additional lap. For instance, the Indianapolis 500 (200 laps) must complete 101 laps to be considered official.


document_title: Government of Texas

question_text: who is the only non elected executive official in the texas state government

text: Government of Texas

text: Executive[edit]

text: The statewide elected officials are:

text: The executive branch consists of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Land Commissioner, Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, the three-member Texas Railroad Commission, the State Board of Education, and the Secretary of State. Texas has a plural executive branch system which limits the power of the Governor. Except for the Secretary of State, all executive officers are elected independently making them directly answerable to the public, not the Governor.[2]

text: Partly because of many elected officials, the governor's powers are quite limited in comparison to other state governors or the U.S. President. In popular lore and belief the lieutenant governor, who heads the Senate and appoints its committees, has more power than the governor. The governor commands the state militia and can veto bills passed by the Legislature and call special sessions of the Legislature (this power is exclusive to the governor and can be exercised as often as desired). The governor also appoints members of various executive boards and fills judicial vacancies between elections. All members of the executive branch are elected statewide except for the Secretary of State (appointed) and the State Board of Education (each of its 15 members are elected from single-member districts).

text: State agencies[edit]

text: The executive branch also includes several boards and commissions that are constituted through a mixture of elections and gubernatorial appointments confirmed by the Senate.[3] Even with the Governor appointing several members of boards and commissions, the overall effect is a sprawling network of administrative bodies that neither the Governor nor the Legislature are able to coordinate or completely control.[3] The Governor appoints the directors of a handful of state agencies, and the Governor exercises direct authority over these offices.[3] Most state agencies are headquartered in Austin.

text: The Texas Administrative Code contains the compiled and indexed regulations of Texas state agencies and is published yearly by the Secretary of State.[4] The Texas Register contains proposed rules, notices, executive orders, and other information of general use to the public and is published weekly by the Secretary of State.[5]

text: Legislature[edit]

text: The Texas Legislature is bicameral. The Texas House of Representatives has 150 members, while the Texas Senate has 31. The Speaker of the House presides over the House, and the Lieutenant Governor presides over the Senate. It is a powerful arm of the Texas government not only because of its power of the purse to control and direct the activities of state government and the strong constitutional connections between it and the Lieutenant Governor, but also due to Texas's plural executive.

text: The legislature convenes its regular sessions at noon on the second Tuesday in January of odd-numbered years. The maximum duration of a regular session is 140 days. The governor is given authority under the state constitution to convene the legislature at other times during the biennium. Such sessions are known as called or special sessions and are reserved for legislation that the governor deems critically important in the conduct of state affairs. Called sessions are limited to a period of 30 days, during which the legislature is permitted to pass laws only on subjects submitted by the governor in calling for the session. Its session laws are published in the official General and Special Laws;[6] most, but not all, of these statutes are codified in the Revised Civil Statutes, Penal Code, and Code of Criminal Procedure (sometimes referred to as the Texas Statutes).[7][8]

text: Judiciary[edit]

text: The judicial system of Texas has a reputation as one of the most complex in the United States,[9] with many layers and many overlapping jurisdictions.[10]

text: Texas has two courts of last resort: the Texas Supreme Court, which hears civil cases, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Except in the case of some municipal benches, partisan elections choose all of the judges at all levels of the judiciary; the governor fills vacancies by appointment. All members of the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals are elected statewide.

text: The Municipal Courts are the most active courts, with the County and District Courts handling most other cases and often sharing the same buildings. Administration is the responsibility of the Supreme Court, which is aided by the Texas Office of Court Administration, the Texas Judicial Council and the State Bar of Texas (the Texas Bar).

text: Local government[edit]

text: County[edit]

text: Texas has a total of 254 counties, by far the largest number of counties of any state.

text: Each county is run by a five-member Commissioners' Court consisting of four commissioners elected from single-member districts (called commissioner precincts) and a county judge elected at-large. The county judge does not have authority to veto a decision of the commissioners court; the judge votes along with the commissioners (being the tie-breaker in close calls). In smaller counties, the county judge actually does perform judicial duties, but in larger counties the judge's role is limited to serving on the commissioners court and certifying elections. Certain officials, such as the sheriff and tax collector, are elected separately by the voters, but the commissioners court determines their office budgets, and sets overall county policy. All county elections are partisan. The Commissioners Courts in Texas are served and provided continued education by the County Judges and Commissioners Association[11] events and the official association publication County Progress.[12]

text: Counties in Texas have limited regulatory (ordinance) authority.[13] Counties in Texas do not have zoning power (except for limited instances). However, counties can collect a small portion of property tax and spend it to provide residents with needed services or to employ the power of eminent domain.

text: Unlike other states, Texas does not allow for consolidated city-county governments.  Cities and counties (as well as other political entities) are permitted to enter "interlocal agreements" to share services (for instance, a city and a school district may enter into agreements with the county whereby the county bills for and collects property taxes for the city and school district).

text: Municipal[edit]

text: Texas does not have townships; areas within a county are either incorporated or unincorporated. Incorporated areas are part of a city, though the city may contract with the county for needed services. Unincorporated areas are not part of a city; in these areas the county has authority for law enforcement and road maintenance. Their local ordinances, rules, and police regulations are usually codified in a "code of ordinances".[14]

text: Cities are classified as either "general law" or "home rule". A city may elect home rule status (i.e., draft an independent city charter) once it exceeds 5,000 population and the voters agree to home rule. Otherwise, it is classified as general law and has very limited powers. Larger cities (those exceeding 225,000) have a unique authority: that of "limited annexation", whereby an adjoining area may be annexed for purposes of imposing city ordinances related to safety and building codes.  The residents can vote for mayor and council races but cannot vote in bond elections (and, consequently, the city cannot directly collect city sales tax from businesses or city property tax from owners).

text: Municipal elections in Texas are nonpartisan in the sense that candidates do not appear on the ballot on party lines, and do not run as party tickets. However, a candidate's party affiliation is usually known or can be discerned with minimal effort (as the candidate most likely has supported other candidates on partisan tickets).

text: Special districts[edit]

text: In addition to cities and counties, Texas has numerous special districts. As with municipal elections in Texas, board members or trustees are elected on a nonpartisan basis or may be appointed.

text: The most common is the independent school district, which (with one exception) has a board of trustees that is independent of any other governing authority. School district boundaries are not generally aligned with city or county boundaries; it is common for a school district to cover one or more counties or for a large city to be served by several school districts. The Texas Education Agency governs public education in Texas.

text: Other special districts include Groundwater Conservation Districts (regulatory agencies), river authorities, water supply districts (for irrigation or municipal supply), public hospitals, road districts and community colleges.


document_title: Samwell Tarly

question_text: where does samwell tarly go to become a maester

text: Samwell Tarly

text: Character[edit]

text: Description[edit]

text: Samwell Tarly is the eldest son of Lord Randyll Tarly of Horn Hill and his wife Lady Melessa Florent.  Randyll, renowned as one of Westeros' finest military commanders, tried to groom Sam as a worthy heir when he was young, but Sam's complete lack of martial abilities and his interest in scholarly pursuits ultimately forced Randyll to raise Sam's younger brother Dickon to take Sam's place instead. Randyll refused to let Sam join the Citadel to become a maester, but instead forced him to forfeit his rights of inheritance and join the Night's Watch, implying that he would have Sam killed and his death staged as a hunting accident if he refused.  Sam had no choice but to join the Night's Watch, where he later met his future best friend Jon Snow and love interest Gilly.

text: When they first met, Jon Snow described Sam as "the fattest boy he had ever seen standing in the door of the armory. By the look of him, he must have weighed twenty stone (280 pounds, or 127 kilograms). The fur collar of his embroidered surcoat was lost beneath his chins. Pale eyes moved nervously in a great round moon of a face, and plump sweaty fingers wiped themselves on the velvet of his doublet".  His obesity soon earned him the derogatory nickname "Ser Piggy" and makes him vulnerable to bullying.  Samwell is fond of music and songs, prefers books over weapons, and is afraid of blood and violence.  In spite of his self-professed cowardice, Sam is highly intelligent, observant, resourceful and loyal.

text: Creation and overview[edit]

text: George R. R. Martin has said that the character Samwell Tarly is the closest to himself of all the characters he has written.[5] Asked why, Martin said in a 2014 interview because he's "the fat kid who likes to read books and doesn't like to go up a lot of stairs."[5]

text: Storylines[edit]

text: In the books[edit]

text: Samwell Tarly is a background character in the first two novels of the series, and his actions and thoughts are interpreted through the eyes of Jon Snow.  He then becomes a point of view character in the third novel A Storm of Swords and the fourth novel A Feast for Crows, with total of ten chapters told from his point of view.[6]

text: A Game of Thrones[edit]

text: Upon arriving at the Wall, Sam is soon bullied by Ser Alliser Thorne and the fellow recruits for his weight, shyness and clumsiness in training.  Jon Snow takes pity on Sam and defends him in arms training.  Later on, Sam confesses his life story to Jon, who sympathizes with Sam and secretly uses his influence among the recruits (making violent threats when necessary) to protect Sam from harm.  When Sam fails to progress in fight training and is not deemed worthy to join the Night's Watch, Jon persuades Maester Aemon take in Sam as a personal steward assigned to help Aemon in the rookery and library.

text:
Sam is the first person to notice something strange about the corpse of rangers Othor and Jafer Flowers (who are actually wights
sent to assassinate Lord Commander Jeor Mormont).  When Jon tries to abandon the Night's Watch to join Robb Stark's army and avenge the death of his father Eddard Stark, Sam alerts their fellow recruits, who catch up to Jon and convince to not break his vows to the Night's Watch.

text: A Clash of Kings[edit]

text: Sam takes part in the Great Ranging beyond the Wall, to take care of the ravens as Lord Commander Jeor Mormont's aide. While stopping at Craster's Keep, Sam befriends one of Craster's daughter-wives, Gilly.  Gilly is pregnant and fears that, if her child is a boy, Craster will sacrifice him to the Others.  Sam is horrified, but unable to help.  Later, at camp at the Fist of the First Men, Sam and Jon's direwolf Ghost discover a cache of dragonglass daggers buried underground.

text: A Storm of Swords[edit]

text: The Night's Watch's camp at the Fist of the First Men comes under attack and is overwhelmed by an army of wights sent by the Others, with Sam one of the survivors who manage to break out.  The survivors then flee to Craster's Keep, but Sam and two other brothers, Small Paul and Grenn, become separated from the group. They are attacked by an Other that kills Paul before Sam stabs it with a dragonglass dagger in desperation, killing it instantly.  Sam and Grenn then regroup with the other survivors at Craster's Keep, where Gilly gives birth to a son.  Soon after, a mutiny breaks out, and Mormont and Craster are among those killed in the fight.  Sam flees with Gilly and her son, and are accosted by wights before being rescued by a mysterious man, Coldhands, who looks like a wight but is friendly and supposedly a fellow black brother.  Coldhands takes them to the Nightfort and asks them to escort Bran Stark and his party through the Wall.

text: Sam and Gilly then encounter a group of black brothers led by Denys Mallister and Bowen Marsh and join them on the march to Castle Black. They arrive to find that Stannis Baratheon has defeated the Wildlings besieging Castle Black.  Due to Lord Commander Mormont's death, the Night's Watch undergoes an election for a new leader.  Mallister and Cotter Pyke are the leading candidates, but Janos Slynt, who Sam thinks will be a disastrous leader, is gaining popularity.  When Stannis threatens to appoint a leader himself if the Watch cannot decide on a leader within a few days, Sam approaches Mallister and Pyke (who despise each other) independently, claiming that Stannis plans to name the other as Lord Commander, and suggesting that they both support Jon as middle-ground candidate instead.  Thanks to Sam's machinations, Jon is elected Lord Commander with overwhelming majority vote.

text: A Feast for Crows[edit]

text: Jon sends Sam to Oldtown to become a Maester, accompanied by another brother, Dareon (who is appointed as a recruiter), Maester Aemon (who Jon fears will be sacrificed by Melisandre for his royal blood) and Gilly and her baby. During the voyage to Braavos, Gilly grows despondent, and Sam realises that Jon had swapped Gilly's baby with Mance Rayder's newborn son lest he be sacrificed as well. Aemon falls ill during the voyage and they are forced to spend their money on a healer and lodging in Braavos. In Braavos, Sam also encounters Arya Stark, though he does not realise her identity. Aemon hears of his great-grandniece Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons, and comes to believe that she fulfills the prophecy of a "prince that was promised", asking them to inform the Citadel. Dareon decides to desert and Sam fights him, before being thrown into a canal. He is rescued by a Summer Islander, Xhondo, who offers Sam and Gilly passage to Oldtown. Aemon ultimately passes away early in the journey, and Sam and Gilly briefly become lovers in their grief.

text: Sam plans to have Gilly sent to Horn Hill, with the baby passed off as Sam's bastard. Meanwhile, Sam arrives at Oldtown to meet with Archmaester Marwyn, telling him of Aemon's request. Marwyn resolves to travel to Slaver's Bay to meet with Daenerys, ordering Sam to keep his story secret from the other maesters, and left Sam's care in the hand of acolyte Alleras.

text: In the show[edit]

text: Season 1[edit]

text: Sam is quickly identified as being soft and weak by Castle Black's master-at-arms Ser Alliser Thorne and suffers in sword-training until Jon Snow convinces the other new recruits to go easy on him. Sam is assigned to the order of stewards, to serve Maester Aemon. When Jon tries to abandon the Night's Watch, Sam follows with Pyp and Grenn and convinces Jon to remain loyal to the Night's Watch.

text: Season 2[edit]

text: Sam joins the Night's Watch in the Great Ranging. Along the journey the party rests at Craster's Keep, where Sam encounters and falls in love with Craster's pregnant daughter-wife Gilly. While camping at the Fist of the First Men, Sam discovers a cache of weapons made from dragonglass. While Sam is out collecting dung for fires, the White Walkers march on the Fist of the First Men. Sam is unable to outrun the army of the dead, but for unknown reasons their leader spares Sam.

text: Season 3[edit]

text: Sam and the survivors of the resulting massacre flee back to Craster's Keep. Sam witnesses Gilly give birth to a baby boy, with Gilly and Sam realising that they must keep the birth secret to stop Craster giving the baby to the White Walkers. A brawl later breaks out among Craster and the Night's Watch, and Sam flees with Gilly and the baby. They are followed by a White Walker who tries to take the baby, but Sam kills it by stabbing it with a dragonglass dagger. Sam and Gilly pass through the Wall at the Nightfort, where they discover Jon's half-brother Bran Stark and his party, headed beyond the Wall. Sam is unable to dissuade them to come to Castle Black, but promises not to tell Jon of their destination.

text: Arriving back at Castle Black, Sam warns Aemon of the advancing White Walkers and Aemon has Sam send the warning throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Later, Jon returns to Castle Black, gravely wounded and disguised as a Wildling. Sam recognises Jon and orders him to be attended to.

text: Season 4[edit]

text: Sam reveals to Jon that Bran is alive and headed beyond the Wall. Sam decides to send Gilly to Mole's Town to work as a maid in the brothel, as he fears for her safety at Castle Black. Mole's Town is attacked by the Wildlings, who slaughter the entire populace of the town; Sam is distraught, unaware that Gilly and her baby had been spared by Ygritte. Gilly later makes it to Castle Black moments before the Wildlings attack. Sam participates in the battle, and manages to kill the Thenn Warg.

text: Season 5[edit]

text: When the Night's Watch convenes to choose their new Lord Commander, Sam speaks up to nominate Jon, who is ultimately elected. Sam spends his time researching the weaknesses of the White Walkers and tending to a dying Maester Aemon, and comforts Aemon in his final moments as he dies of old age. Later, Sam is beaten while defending Gilly from two black brothers who attempt to rape her, but they are saved by Jon's direwolf Ghost. Gilly tends to his wounds, and the two finally consummate their relationship. After Jon returns from Hardhome, Sam entreats Jon to send him to the Citadel in Oldtown in order to train as a Maester, while also taking Gilly and her baby to safety.

text: Season 6[edit]

text: As women are banned from the Citadel, Sam intends to leave Gilly and Little Sam at the Tarly seat of Horn Hill, though he warns Gilly to hide her Wildling heritage due to his father's bigotry towards the Wildlings. At dinner with the members of House Tarly, Randyll insults Sam's lack of fighting prowess. Gilly defends Sam by revealing that he killed a White Walker, in doing so accidentally revealing that she is a Wildling. Though disgusted, Randyll acquiesces to Gilly staying at Horn Hill as a servant, but forbids Sam from ever returning to Horn Hill. Sam decides to take Gilly and Little Sam with him to the Citadel, also stealing House Tarly's Valyrian steel sword Heartsbane. They travel on to Oldtown, where Sam is scheduled to explain events at Castle Black to the Archmaester. While he waits, Sam is permitted to peruse the Citadel's library, and is awestruck by the library's expanse.

text: Season 7[edit]

text: Sam's early days in Oldtown are frustrating, as he is assigned to menial tasks in the Citadel. The only person who believes his account of the White Walkers' return is Archmaester Ebrose; however, Ebrose refuses to let Sam access forbidden textbooks to learn more about the White Walkers, as he does not consider them a threat serious enough to break with protocol. Sam steals a key to take the books back to his and Gilly's quarters. He discovers the location of a large deposit of dragonglass in a map of Dragonstone, and sends word to Jon (now King in the North) of its existence.

text: Sam encounters Jeor's son Jorah, who is infected by the terminal disease greyscale. Sam discovers a cure for greyscale in an old medical text. Although Ebrose forbids him from attempting it, Sam treats Jorah anyway, out of gratitude for Jeor's saving his life. Sam is successful in curing Jorah, who is discharged from the Citadel. Ebrose is grudgingly impressed, but reassigns Sam to transcribe papers in danger of decomposing.

text: Sam overhears Ebrose and several other maesters discussing a warning sent by Bran about the White Walkers' march on the Wall, and is dismayed when the maesters are skeptical. While transcribing the papers in his quarters, Gilly discovers from a recently-deceased High Septon's journal that Rhaegar Targaryen had his marriage to Elia Martell annulled and married another woman (Lyanna Stark) in secret, but Sam does not realize the significance of this information due to Gilly having mispronounced Rhaegar as 'Ragger'. Annoyed at being unable to help in the battle against the White Walkers from the Citadel, Sam steals scrolls pertaining to the White Walkers and leaves Oldtown with Gilly and Little Sam.

text: Sam and his family arrive at Winterfell in the season finale, where Sam is reunited with Bran. When Bran tells Sam that Jon is actually the bastard son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, Sam is reminded of the record  detailing Rhaegar receiving an annulment to marry another woman and tells Bran of his discovery. Bran then uses his greenseeing abilities to witness the wedding, and deduces that Jon is a trueborn Targaryen and the actual heir to the Iron Throne.

text: Family tree of House Tarly[edit]

text:
RandyllMelessa Florent

SamwellTallaDaughterDaughterDickonEleanorMooton

text: TV adaptation[edit]

text: Samwell Tarly is played by John Bradley in the television adaption of the series of books.[7][8][9] Samwell Tarly appeared for the first time in the fourth episode of first season, as new recruit of the Night's Watch and a self-described coward. It was Bradley's first professional appearance after graduating from the Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre. The scene used in the auditions belonged to "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things," with Sam explaining to Jon how his father forced him to take the black. According to author and executive producer George R. R. Martin, Bradley delivered "a heartbreaking performance."[10] When asked which character he personally would be on the show, Martin said of Samwell Tarly, "I love Sam, too. He's a great character - Tyrion might be who I want to be, but Sam is probably closer to who I actually am. The fat kid who likes to read books and doesn't like to go up a lot of stairs."[5]

text: Remarking on the character's sex life with Gilly:

text: I think Sam would just happily accept more of the same. He's not one of the people that tries to inject exotica into his sex life, - Sam thinks about sex the way that most people think about space. It goes on. He has nothing to do with it. He's fascinated by it in a childlike way.[11]


document_title: Julie Mayer (Desperate Housewives)

question_text: who is julie having an affair with on desperate housewives

text: Julie Mayer (Desperate Housewives)

text: Development and casting[edit]

text: Prior to being cast in the role, Bowen did not think she would get it, explaining, "they were looking for a 12-year-old brunette ... and I was a 13-year-old blonde."[8] As a result, Bowen was asked to dye her hair for the role.[8] Bowen was initially attracted to the series because of the amount of attention paid to the younger characters. She stated, "If you watch a lot of other television shows, the kids don't have that much [of a] part in it. On this show, the writers give us each our own individual storylines that have a lot of layers to them."[8] For the show's third season, the character's storylines began revolving around themes of teenage rebellion and angst. Bowen commented: "She’s going to have, you know, primarily one love interest, and he’s a bit of a bad boy. We’re going to see if she has a positive effect on him, or if he has a negative effect on her. I’m definitely very excited about it ... because you kind of get to see a different side to her."[9]

text: At the beginning of the series' fourth season, Bowen commented on the possibility that her character would be leaving the show for college, stating that the writers had briefly alluded to the character's departure early in the season but removed it from the script. She continued: "Do I want my character to go off to college? No, I'm very happy where I am but I wouldn’t be too devastated if it happened because none of us feel too secure with their jobs being that people get killed left and right. I think we all live with the suspicion that we're going to be going."[10] The Julie character was written off the series for the fifth season. Hatcher expressed disappointment in the decision, but series creator Marc Cherry promised that Bowen would return to the series.[11] Bowen returned to the series for one episode during season five and rejoined the main cast as a series regular for the sixth season.[12] She appeared once in the seventh season and returned for a string of episodes in the show's eighth and final season.[13]

text: History[edit]

text: Season 1[edit]

text: Julie usually helps Susan deal with problems regarding Susan's love life. She also helps to care for her mother after her divorce. She is briefly romantically involved with Zach Young (Cody Kasch), the troubled son of Susan's friend, Mary Alice (Brenda Strong). She harbors Zach in her room when he escapes from the mental institution Paul has sent him to.[14] Susan eventually finds Zach and sends him home, which Julie considers an act of betrayal.[5][7] Eventually, Susan bans Zach from seeing Julie due to his increasingly disturbing behavior, but they continue dating in secrecy.[15] Soon after, Julie breaks up with Zach because of his sadistic mentality.[16]

text: Season 2[edit]

text: During the second season, Julie expressed concern over Susan's remarriage to her father Karl, but agreed to it because she wanted Susan to have her surgery to remove her wandering spleen. Julie recognizes that Zach has changed and rekindles their romance. As an act of kindness towards Zach and Mike Delfino (James Denton), she invited Zach bowling with them, to try to help Mike and Zach bond. Their friendship was ruined when Zach's father, Paul Young (Mark Moses), forbids him from speaking to Julie, fearing he will discover Mike is his biological father.[17]

text: Julie catches Susan in bed with Karl, and she is forced to sleep in a small van with Susan when their house is burned down by Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan). Karl buys them a new house, but Susan refuses, eventually moving back to their house in season 3.

text: Season 3[edit]

text: In the beginning of the third season, Julie meets Edie's nephew, Austin McCann (Josh Henderson), whom she likes but does not want to admit it.[18][19] Edie soon tells Julie that Austin is bad news and that she should not get attached.

text: After the two are held hostage in a grocery store, they begin dating.[20] Julie loses her virginity to Austin, realising that the relationship has to move forward if she wants to keep dating him. Unfortunately, her mother and Edie catch Austin with Danielle Van de Kamp (Joy Lauren),Julie and breaks up with him.[21] Eventually Julie agrees to give him a second chance, but when Danielle learns that she is pregnant with his child, Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan) insists Austin leave town.[22]

text: Season 4[edit]

text: In the fourth Season premiere Julie is reunited with her childhood best friend, Dylan Mayfair (Lyndsy Fonseca), when Dylan and her family return to the street after twelve years of being absent. However Dylan does not remember Julie or ever living on Wisteria Lane. Julie becomes suspicious of Dylan.[23] Julie tells Susan that Dylan is not the same girl as she was years ago when they were best friends. It turns out that Julie's right, because the real Dylan had been crushed to death by a wardrobe and buried just before Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany) left Fairview.

text: Julie also adjusts to having Mike as her stepfather. In the second episode of Season 4 "Smiles of a Summer Night" Julie asks Susan if she can go to a party. Mike tells her he would rather she did not go as he has seen some crazy parties at the house where Julie was going. Even though Susan had previously given Julie permission to go to the party, she sides with Mike and Julie is forbidden to go. However, without telling Mike, Susan changes her mind again and, telling Julie she just wanted Mike to feel as if he were part of the decision making process, she allows Julie to attend the party. Mike later finds out and tells Susan that he respects her decisions on how to raise Julie how she wants, since Julie is her child and not Mike's.[24]

text: Julie then began dating a questionable boy named Derek, who has many piercings, which freaked Susan out, so she tried to fix her up with a young man who had showed up at the house looking for Mike. However, Susan quickly broke the relationship up when she found out that the young man was in fact, Mike's drug dealer.

text: In the fourth-season finale, Julie is accepted to Princeton University.[25] One of the professors at Princeton was so impressed by her senior thesis that she was offered a summer internship. She left to attend college.

text: Season 5[edit]

text: After the five-year time jump, Julie reappears in the episode "City on Fire" and introduces Susan to her boyfriend, her college professor, Lloyd (Steven Weber), a 40-year-old man who has been married 3 times. Lloyd proposes to Julie but she rejects him, stating that she does not believe in marriage, following her mother's string of bad luck. Susan explains to Julie how much she believes in marriage and the two share a hug.[26]

text: Season 6[edit]

text: Julie returns to Wisteria Lane for the summer to help her mother with her upcoming wedding. During this time, she forms a relationship with Danny Bolen (Beau Mirchoff), who has moved in across the street with his parents. The relationship is turbulent and short-lived. When Julie is found, strangled outside her house and comatose, Danny is the prime suspect.[27][28] As the other characters work to reveal the identity of Julie's attacker, her affair with Danny's father, Nick (Jeffrey Nordling), and a pregnancy scare prior to the attack are exposed.[29] Several months after waking up from her coma, Julie decides to visit relatives on the East Coast until her attacker is caught.[30] In the episode "Epiphany", Julie's attacker is revealed to be Eddie Orlofsky (Josh Zuckerman), who mistook her for Susan and was planning to attack her for rejecting him.[31]

text: Season 7[edit]

text: Julie is not seen again until the seventh season episode "Where Do I Belong" when she visits Susan in hospital after her kidney has been removed.[32]

text: Season 8[edit]

text: Julie, who is working toward a Ph.D., reveals that she is six months pregnant. She plans to give her daughter up for adoption, hoping to spare herself and her child the drama that she experienced while being raised by a single mother.[33] Later, Susan learns that the baby's father is Porter Scavo (Charlie Carver), son of her friend Lynette (Felicity Huffman). Despite Julie's insistence, Porter refuses to let her put their daughter up for adoption, planning to raise her himself.[34] Eventually, Julie decides to keep the baby.[35] Julie's baby is born in the same day of Renee Perry's wedding and Karen McCluskey's death, in the series finale.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Bowen's performance throughout the course of the series has received mixed reviews. Entertainment Weekly's Annie Barrett identified Julie as a TV character she irrationally hates. She criticized the character as being one-note and inconsequential and opined that Bowen "started off the series in an awkward phase and then we realized the awkward phase was going to last her entire life."[36] Following the announcement that Bowen would be rejoining the cast for the sixth season, Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly wrote that Bowen's performance is "so deeply unconvincing [that she risks] getting upstaged if there's so much as a house plant in a scene with [her]."[37] He also criticized the performances of other young actresses on the series and raised the question, "how come Desperate Housewives has such a dreadful track record with younger actresses?"[37] Following the character's attack in the sixth-season premiere, Entertainment Weekly's Tanner Stransky wrote: "What I love about having Julie in peril in the first episode is that it's shocking and totally unexpected. She's a big enough character that I care about her and know a decent amount about her, but it's not like [a more important character] was knocked off the show."[38]


document_title: Elephant seal

question_text: how long can an elephant seal hold its breath

text: Elephant seal

text: Description[edit]

text: Elephant seals are marine mammals classified under the order Pinnipedia, which in Latin, means feather or fin footed.[6] Elephant seals are considered true seals, and fall under the family Phocidae.[7] Phocids (true seals), are characterized by having no external ear and reduced limbs.[7] The reduction of their limbs helps them be more streamlined and move easily in the water.[6] However, it makes navigating on land a bit difficult because they cannot turn their hind flippers forward to walk like the Otariids.[6] In addition, the hind flipper of elephant seals have a lot of surface area, which helps propel them in the water.[6] Elephant seals spend the majority of their time (90%) underwater in search of food, and can cover 60 miles a day when they head out to sea.[7] When elephant seals are born, they can weigh up to 80 pounds and reach lengths up to 4 feet.[7] Sexual dimorphism is prominently seen in elephant seals due to the fact that male elephant seals can weigh up to 10 times more than females.[8] Also, the large proboscis, which is considered a secondary sexual characteristic, helps males assert dominance during mating season.[7]

text: Elephant seals take their name from the large proboscis of the adult male (bull), which resembles an elephant's trunk.[9] The bull's proboscis is used in producing extraordinarily loud roaring noises, especially during the mating season. More importantly, however, the nose acts as a sort of rebreather, filled with cavities designed to reabsorb moisture from their exhalations.[10] This is important during the mating season when the seals do not leave the beach to feed, and must conserve body moisture as there is no incoming source of water. They are colossally large in comparison with other pinnipeds, with southern elephant seal bulls typically reaching a length of 5 m (16 ft) and a weight of 3,000 kg (6,600 lb), and are much larger than the adult females (cows), with some exceptionally large males reaching up to 6 m (20 ft) in length and weighing 4,000 kg (8,800 lb); cows typically measure about 3 m (10 ft) and 900 kg (2,000 lb). Northern elephant seal bulls reach a length of 4.3 to 4.8 m (14 to 16 ft) and the heaviest weigh about 2,500 kg (5,500 lb).[11][12] When elephant seals are born, they can weigh up to 80 pounds and reach lengths up to 4 feet.[7] Sexual dimorphism is prominently seen in elephant seals due to the fact that male elephant seals can weigh up to 10 times more than females.[7] Also, the large proboscis, which is considered a secondary sexual characteristic, helps males assert dominance during mating season.[7]

text: The northern and southern elephant seal can be distinguished by looking at various external features. On average, the southern elephant seal tends to be larger than the northern species.[8] Adult male elephant seals belonging to the northern species tend to have a larger proboscis, and thick chest area with a red coloration compared to the southern species.[8] Females do not have the large proboscis and can be distinguished between species by looking at their nose characteristics.[8] Southern females tend to have smaller blunt nose compared to northern females.[8]

text: Extant Species[edit]

text:
Image
Scientific name
Common Name
Distribution

M. angustirostris
northern elephant seal
eastern Pacific Ocean

M. leonina
southern elephant seal
South Atlantic

text: Physiology[edit]

text: Elephant seals spend up to 80% of their lives in the ocean. They can hold their breath for more than 100 minutes[13][14] – longer than any other noncetacean mammal. Elephant seals dive to 1,550 m beneath the ocean's surface[13] (the deepest recorded dive of an elephant seal is 2,388 m (7,835 ft) by a southern elephant seal).[15] The average depth of their dives is about 300 to 600 m (980 to 1,970 ft), typically for around 20 minutes for females and 60 minutes for males, as they search for their favorite foods, which are skates, rays, squid, octopuses, eels, small sharks and large fish. Their stomachs also often contain gastroliths. They spend only brief amounts of time at the surface to rest in between dives (2-3 minutes).[7] Females tend to dive a bit deeper due to their prey source.[7]

text: Elephant seals are shielded from extreme cold by their blubber, more so than by fur. Their hair and outer layers of skin molt in large patches. The skin has to be regrown by blood vessels reaching through the blubber. When molting occurs, the seal is susceptible to the cold, and must rest on land, in a safe place called a "haul out". Northern males and young adults haul out during June to July to molt; northern females and immature seals during April to May.

text: Elephant seals have a very large volume of blood, allowing them to hold a large amount of oxygen for use when diving. They have large sinuses in their abdomens to hold blood and can also store oxygen in their muscles with increased myoglobin concentrations in muscle. In addition, they have a larger proportion of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. These adaptations allow elephant seals to dive to such depths and remain underwater for up to two hours.[16]

text: Elephant seals are also able to slow down their heartbeat (bradycardia) and divert blood flow from the external areas of the body to important core organs.[7] In addition, they can also slow down their metabolism while performing deep dives.[7]

text: Elephant seals also have a helpful feature in their bodies known as the countercurrent heat exchanger to help conserve energy and prevent heat loss.[7] In this system, arteries and veins are organized in a way to maintain a constant body temperature by having the cool blood flowing to the heart warmed by blood going to external areas of the animal.[7]

text: Milk produced by elephant seals is remarkably high in milkfat compared to other mammals. After an initially lower state, it rises to over 50% milkfat (human breast milk is about 4% milkfat, and cow milk is about 3.5% milkfat).[17]

text: Adaptations[edit]

text: Elephant seals have large circular eyes that have more rods than cones to help them see in low light conditions when they are diving.[6][7] These seals also possess a structure called the tapetum lucidum, which helps their vision by having light reflected back to the retina to allow more chances for photoreceptors to detect light.[6]

text: Their body is covered in blubber, which helps them keep warm and reduce drag while they are swimming.[7] The shape of their body also helps them maneuver well in the water, but limits their movement on land.[7] Also, elephant seals have the ability to fast for long periods of time while breeding or molting.[7] The turbinate process, another unique adaptation, is very beneficial when these seals are fasting, breeding, molting, or hauling out.[7] This unique nasal structure recycles moisture when they breath and helps prevent water loss.[7]

text: Elephant seals have external whiskers called vibrissae to help them locate prey and navigate their environment.[7] The vibrissae are connected to blood vessels, nerves, and muscles making them an important sensing tool.[6]

text: Due to evolutionary changes, their ear has been modified to work extremely well underwater.[6] The structure of the inner ear helps amplify incoming sounds, and allows these seals to have good directional hearing due to the isolation of the inner ear.[6] In addition to these adaptations, tissues in the ear canal allow the pressure in the ear to be adjusted while these seals perform their deep dives.[6]

text: Breeding Season[edit]

text: Dominant males arrive at potential breeding sites in November, and will spend 3 months on the beach fasting to ensure that they can mate with as many females as possible.[7] Male elephant seals use fighting, vocal noises, and different positions to determine who will be deemed the dominate male.[7][18] When males reach 8 to 9 years of age, they have developed a pronounced long nose, in addition to a chest shield, which is thickened skin in their chest area.[7] Showing off their noses, making loud vocalizations, and altering their posture are a few ways males show off their dominance.[7][18] When battles come into play, seals will stand tall, and ram themselves into one another using their chest plates and sharp teeth.[7]

text: When the pregnant females arrive, the dominating males have already selected their territory on the beach.[7] Females cluster in groups called harems, which could consist up to 50 or more females surrounding one alpha male.[7] Outside of these groups, a beta bull is normally roaming around on the beach.[7] The beta bull helps the alpha by preventing other males accessing the females.[7] In return, the beta bull might have an opportunity to mate with one of the females while the alpha is occupied.[7]

text: Birth on average only takes a few minutes, and the mother and pup have a connection due to each other's unique smell and sound.[7] The moms will fast and nurse up to 28 days, providing their pups with rich milk.[7] The last two to three days however, females will be ready to mate, and the dominate males will pounce on the opportunity.[7] During this exhaustive process, males and females lose up to a third of their body weight during the breeding season.[7] The gestation period for females is 11 months, and the pupping seasons lasts from mid December through the middle of February.[7] The new pups will spend up to 10 more additional weeks on land learning how to swim and dive.[7]

text: Life history[edit]

text: The average lifespan of a Northern Elephant Seal is 9 years, while the average lifespan of a Southern Elephant Seal is 20–22 years.[19] Males reach maturity at five to six years, but generally do not achieve alpha status until the age of eight, with the prime breeding years being between ages 9 and 12. The longest life expectancy of a male northern elephant seal is approximately 14 years.

text: Females begin breeding at age 3–6 (median=4), and have one pup per breeding attempt.[20] Once they begin breeding, 79% of adult females breed each year.[21] Breeding success is much lower for first-time mothers relative to experienced breeders.[21] Annual survival probability of adult females is 0.83 for experienced breeding females, but only 0.66 for first-time breeders indicating a significant cost of reproduction.[21] More male pups are produced than female pups in years with warmer sea surface temperature in the northeastern Pacific Ocean.[22]

text: Molting[edit]

text: Once a year, elephant seals go through a process called molting where they shed the outer layer of hair and skin.[7] This molting process takes up to a month to fully complete.[7] When it comes time to molt, they will haul out on land to shed their outer layer, and will not consume any food during this time.[7] The females and juveniles will molt first, followed by the sub adult males, and finally the large mature males.[7]

text: Predators[edit]

text: The main predator of elephant seals is the great white shark.[7] Orcas are also another predator to elephant seals.[7] Cookie cutter sharks can even take notorious bites out of their skin.[7]

text: Status[edit]

text: The IUCN lists both species of elephant seal as being of least concern, although they are still threatened by entanglement in marine debris, fishery interactions, and boat collisions. Though a complete population count of elephant seals is not possible because all age classes are not ashore at the same time, the most recent estimate of the California breeding stock was approximately 124,000 individuals. In the United States, the elephant seal, like all marine mammals, is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), passed in 1972, which outlaws hunting, killing, capture, and harassment of the animal.[23]

text: Gallery[edit]

text:
South Georgia elephant seal

Elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) on Piedras Blancas beach, near San Simeon, California

Male, female and pup

Northern elephant seals during molting season at Piedras Blancas beach, near San Simeon, California

Two bulls fighting

Elephant seal snout

Juvenile southern elephant seal

Beachmasters, the dominant bulls fighting at Macquarie Island

Elephant seals at Piedras Blancas, California