Ruins of a Roman bath in Dion, Greece, showing the under-floor heating system, or hypocaust

"Ancient Ruins Used as Public Baths" by Hubert Robert (1798)

The Asser Levy Public Baths in Manhattan, New York City (1904-1906, restored 1989-1990)

Alfred Laliberté's "Les petits Baigneurs," 1915 restored 1992 at Maisonneuve public baths, Montreal, Quebec

Public baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. The term public may confuse some people, as some types of public baths are restricted depending on membership, gender, religious affiliation, or other reasons. As societies have changed, public baths have been replaced as private bathing facilities became more commonly available. Public baths have also become incorporated into the social system as meeting places. As the title suggests public bathing does not refer only to bathing. In ancient times public bathing included saunas, massages and relaxation therapies. Members of the society considered it as a place to meet and socialize. Public bathing could be compared to the spa of modern times.

Cultures and countries[link]

Indus Valley Civilization[link]

The earliest public baths are found in the ruins in of the Indus Valley Civilization. According to John Keay, the "Great Bath" of Mohenjo Daro in present-day Pakistan was the size of 'a modest municipal swimming pool', complete with stairs leading down to the water at each one of its ends.^[1] The bath is housed inside a larger—more elaborate—building and was used for public bathing.^[1] the Great Bath and the house of the priest suggest that the Indus had a religion.

Greece[link]

In The Book of the Bath, Françoise de Bonneville wrote, "It is unimaginable that bathing would be considered sanitary. In fact it is completely opposite in nature." where men and women washed in basins near places of exercise, physical and intellectual. Later gymnasia had indoor basins set overhead, the open maws of marble lions offering showers, and circular pools with tiers of steps for lounging. Bathing was ritualized, becoming an art – of cleansing sands, hot water, hot air in dark vaulted "vapor baths," a cooling plunge, a rubdown with aromatic oils. Cities all over Ancient Greece honored sites where "young ephebes stood and splashed water over their bodies."

Rome[link]

The first public thermae of 19 BC had a rotunda 25 meters across, circled by small rooms, set in a park with artificial river and pool. By AD 300 the Baths of Diocletian would cover 1.5 million square feet (140,000 m²), its soaring granite and porphyry sheltering 3,000 bathers a day. Roman baths became "something like a cross between an aquacentre and a theme park," with pools, game rooms, gardens, even libraries and theatres. One of the most famous public bath sites is Aquae Sulis in Bath, England.

Dr.Garrett G Fagan, Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and History at The Pennsylvania State University, has named public bathing as a "social event" for the Romans in his book "Bathing in Public in the Roman World". He also states that "In Western Europe only the Finns still practice a truly public bathing habit." Dr. Fagan has done extensive research on public bathing.^[2][3]

Japan[link]

The origin of Japanese bathing is Misogi, ritual purification with water.^[4] After Japan imported Buddhist culture, many temples had saunas, which were available for anyone to use for free.

In the Heian period, houses of prominent families, such as the families of court nobles or samurai, had baths. The bath had lost its religious significance and instead became leisure. Misogi became Gyōzui, to bathe in a shallow wooden tub.^[5]

In the 17th century, the first European visitors to Japan recorded the habit of daily baths in sexually mixed groups.^[4] Before the mid-19th century, when Western influence increased, nude communal bathing for men, women, and children at the local unisex public bath, or sentō, was a daily fact of life.

In contemporary times, many administrative regions require public baths to have separate facilities for males and females. Public baths using water from onsen (hot springs) are particularly popular. Towns with hot springs are destination resorts, which are visited daily by the locals and people from other, neighboring towns.

Ottoman Empire[link]

During the Ottoman Empire public baths were widely used. The baths had both a religious and popular origin deriving from the Qur'an (ablution ritual) and the use of steamrooms by the Turks. The Turkish baths also known as the Hammam, was considered a place for social gathering in Turkish Culture, states the official website Turkish baths. The process of Hammam is very similar to that of the Roman bathing.^[6]

United Kingdom[link]

Roman style public baths were reintroduced to England by returning crusaders in the medieval period, who had enjoyed warm baths in the middle east. These, however, rapidly degenerated into brothels or at least the reputation as such. During the reign of Henry II (1154–89) many bath houses were set up on the South bank of the river Thames in Southwark, south of the city of London. They were called bagnios, from the Italian bagno, the word for bath, or "stewhouses" as the clients of the baths stewed in the hot water. By the 12th century there were 18 bagnios in Southwark alone.

A bathhouse, c. 1475-1485

Henry VI (1422–61 and 1470–71) closed the bath houses due to their bad reputation as fronts for brothels, but demand for bathing was so great he was forced to reopen them, limiting the number to 12. Finally in 1546, Henry VIII closed them down for good.

In the late 1790s ritual and elite baths were available, but it was not until the mid-19th century that Britain's first true public bath house was opened. These Turkish baths were popularised by the Turkophile MP David Urquhart. The original baths were used for individual washing and men-only swimming. It was not until 1914 that family bathing was allowed.^[7]

The introduction of bath houses into British culture was a response to the public's desire for increased sanitary conditions, and by 1915 most towns in Britain had at least one.^[8]

United States[link]

In the 19th and 20th centuries, public baths were constructed in the United States, such as Bathhouse Row^[9] in Arkansas, and Asser Levy Public Baths in New York City. Public baths were created to improve health and sanitary condition of the public before personal baths became commonplace.

Bathing in 1568

See also[link]

• Bathing
• Steam shower
• By culture
  • Gymnasium (ancient Greece)
  • Banya – Russian
  • Sauna – Finnish
  • Hammam – Turkish
  • Jjimjilbang & Mogyoktang – Korean
  • Sweat lodge - Native American

References[link]

References[link]

• Clark, Scott (1994). Japan, a view from the bath. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1657-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=pT7tP4zFHdYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Baths

• Tales of Toronto’s first Jewish shvitz
• SaunaScape A directory of public baths worldwide
• SentoGuide – A guide to public baths in Japan

Ranbir Kapoor
Kapoor at the BIG Star Entertainment Awards, December 2011
Born	(1982-09-28) 28 September 1982 (age 29) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2007–present
Parents	Rishi Kapoor Neetu Singh
Signature	150px

Ranbir Kapoor (born 28 September 1982^[1]) is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood movies.

Making his acting debut in the 2007 film Saawariya, for which he won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut, Kapoor earned positive notice for his performance in Wake Up Sid (2009). He later appeared in the romantic comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009) and the political thriller Raajneeti (2010), with the later being his biggest commercial success to date.^[2] In 2011, Kapoor starred and earned critical acclaim for his performance in Rockstar for which he received the Best Actor and Best Actor (Critics) awards at the Filmfare ceremony.

Early life[link]

Ranbir Kapoor, the son of actors Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, was born into a family of Punjabi origin;^[3] his sister is Riddhima Kapoor Sahni. He is the grandson of actor and filmmaker Raj Kapoor, great grandson of Prithviraj Kapoor, nephew of actors Randhir Kapoor and Rajiv Kapoor, grand-nephew of actors Shashi Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor, and first-cousin of actresses Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor. Kapoor studied at Bombay Scottish School in Mahim, Mumbai and went on to pursue method acting at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York.^[4]

Career[link]

Before starting off his career as an actor, Kapoor appeared in two short films: Passion to Love (2002), which was also directed by him, and India 1964 (2004). He later began working as an assistant with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, where he was involved in the making of the film Black (2005).^[5] Kapoor who initially had plans of becoming an actor was later cast by Bhansali in his next directional venture, Saawariya opposite newcomer Sonam Kapoor. The film failed to do well at the box office,^[6] though his performance was largely appreciated. Kapoor was then seen in Siddharth Anand's romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) alongside Bipasha Basu, Minissha Lamba and Deepika Padukone. The film was a semi-hit at the box-office.^[7]

2009 saw Kapoor appear in three movies. His first release was Ayan Mukerji's Wake Up Sid, in which he portrayed the character of Siddharth Mehra, a spoiled and self-centered college student from Mumbai. Featured opposite Konkona Sen Sharma, the film was a critical and commercial success.^[8] Shrey Patnaik wrote, "Ranbir's Sid is a near-perfect portrait of the aimless young man searching for a direction in life. Ranbir handles the character's inner life with the effortlessness of a Sitar maestro twiddling with his instrument's strings to create a music that takes the audience to a world where the sounds suggest a harmony between art and life. In Wake Up Sid, Ranbir proves once and for all that he's the future of Hindi cinema."^[9] Kapoor earned several nominations for Best Actor. He next starred alongside Katrina Kaif in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, which surfaced as one of the biggest hits of the year.^[10]

Following this, Kapoor appeared in Shimit Amin's drama Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. Upon release, the film received positive reviews by critics but failed to do well.^[11] Kapoor's performance was critically acclaimed, with one critic writing, "Ranbir brings to his part a whole lot of earnestness and heart. His natural and utterly contagious exuberance so much on display in his last two films Wake Up Sid and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is effortlessly curbed here."^[12]

In 2010, he featured in Prakash Jha's multi-starrer political thriller Rajneeti. The film opened to positive reviews and was declared a "blockbuster".^[13] His performance was well received with critic Nikhat Kazmi concluding, "The film finally belongs to Ranbir Kapoor who perfects the art of minimalism – and literally grows before your eyes – as the simmering volcano that cannot be held back, once it erupts. He's as grey and soot-filled, as volcanoes go."^[14] In the same year, Kapoor appeared alongside Priyanka Chopra in Siddharth Anand's Anjaana Anjaani which was a moderate box office success.^[13]

2011 saw Kapoor feature opposite newcomer Nargis Fakhri in Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar. The film, upon release, met with positive to mixed reviews^[15] and grossed over Rs.1 billion worldwide^[16] In a review published by CNN-IBN, Rajeev Masand wrote: "Rockstar belongs to Ranbir Kapoor over everyone else. It is a riveting performance [...] and Ranbir roots it in the real. Watch how he seizes the stage in the "Sadda Haq" number and virtually makes the track his own. For Ranbir alone, this film deserves a watch."^[17] The film earned Kapoor a Best Actor and Best Actor (Critics) award at the 2012 Filmfare awards ceremony.

As of April 2012, Kapoor is scheduled to appear in Anurag Basu's Barfee alongside Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D'Cruz and Ayan Mukherjee's Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani alongside ex-girlfriend Deepika Padukone.

In the media[link]

Kapoor currently lives with his parents in Pali Hill in Mumbai, Maharashtra. During an interview in March 2008, he announced that he was dating Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone;^[18] the couple later broke up in 2009.^[19] In 2008, Kapoor co-hosted the 54th Filmfare Awards alongside Imran Khan; he was later chosen to co-host the 56th and 57th edition of the award ceremony alongside Imran Khan and Shah Rukh Khan respectively. During November 2010, he made an appearance on the talk show Koffee with Karan alongside Imran Khan.

Awards and nominations[link]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ranbir Kapoor at the Internet Movie Database

Jonathan Dimbleby (born 31 July 1944, Aylesbury) is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, a political commentator and a writer. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of British TV presenter David Dimbleby.

Education[link]

Dimbleby was educated at Charterhouse School, a boys' Independent school in Surrey. Later, he studied Farm Management at the Royal Agricultural College and graduated in 1965. He read Philosophy at University College London and graduated in 1969.^[1] He is an Honorary Fellow of UCL. In July 2008 he was made an Honorary Graduate of the University of Exeter.^[2]

TV and radio career[link]

Dimbleby began his career at the BBC in Bristol in 1969. In 1970 he joined The World at One as a reporter where he also presented The World This Weekend. In 1972 he joined ITV's flagship current affairs programme This Week. Over the following six years he reported from crises in many parts of the world. His coverage of the 1973 Ethiopian famine - The Unknown Famine - was followed by TV and radio appeals which raised a record sum nationally and internationally. His report (for which he won the SFTA Richard Dimbleby Award) contributed to the overthrow of the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. In 1978 he wrote and presented the ITV series Jonathan Dimbleby In South America. In 1979 he joined Yorkshire Television where he wrote and presented three ITV network series - The Bomb (1979), The Eagle and The Bear, (1980) and The Cold War Game (1981). He also presented the ITV documentary series First Tuesday. In 1985 he joined TV-am as presenter of Jonathan Dimbleby on Sunday. In 1986 he returned to ITV as presenter of This Week. In 1987 he joined the BBC to present the new flagship political programme On the Record (1987–92). In 1995 he wrote, presented and co-produced two documentary series, The Prince of Wales - The Private Man, The Public Face (ITV 1994) and The Last Governor - the story of the last five years of British rule in Hong Kong (BBC 1, 1997). In 1995 he re-joined ITV to present the new flagship political programme, Jonathan Dimbleby (1995–2006). He also anchored ITV's general election coverage in 1997, 2001 and 2005. He wrote and presented Russia with Jonathan Dimbleby (BBC2 2008), 'An African Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby'(2010), and A South American Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby (2011).

For BBC Radio 4 he has presented 'Any Questions?' since 1987 and 'Any Answers?' since 1988.

Writing and other activities[link]

• Richard Dimbleby: A Biography (1975)
• The Palestinians (1978)
• The Prince of Wales: A Biography (1994)
• The Last Governor: Chris Patten and the Handover of Hong Kong (1997)
• Russia - A Journey to the Heart of a Land and Its People (2008).

Other work[link]

Dimbleby wanted to be a farmer when he left school and he worked on the Royal Farm, Windsor and trained as a showjumper. For a number of years he ran an organic farm near Bath. He is also Vice-President (former President) of the Soil Association. He is president of Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). He is also Vice-President (and past President) of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) and a trustee of Dimbleby Cancer Care. He wrote the forewords for "The Organic Directory: Your Guide to Buying Natural Foods" in 1999 and "The Origins of the Organic Movement" in 2001.

Dimbleby is also Chairman of Index on Censorship.

Dimbleby is also President of the South Hams Society South Hams Society.

Family[link]

Dimbleby is the son of the World War II war correspondent Richard Dimbleby, who was later to become presenter of the BBC TV current affairs programme Panorama, and the younger brother of David Dimbleby, also a current affairs commentator and presenter of BBC programmes. Jonathan wrote a biography of his father in 1975.

For thirty-five years, Dimbleby was married to fellow author Bel Mooney. They have two adult children, Kitty, who works for the charity Help For Heroes and Daniel, a television producer. In 2003 he began a relationship with the operatic soprano, Susan Chilcott with whom he lived until her death from breast cancer three months later, in September, 2003. The following year the Dimblebys announced their separation. In 2007 he married Jessica Ray. They have two children, Daisy (3) and Gwendolen (1).

External links[link]

• Dimbleby's Russia website
• Russia (BBC Documentary) on IMDB
• Jonathan Dimbleby biography at BBC Radio 4
• Index on Censorship
• Jonathan Dimbleby on IMDB

References[link]