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The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene^[1] (around 12,000 ¹⁴C years ago) and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words ὅλος (holos, whole or entire) and καινός (kainos, new), meaning "entirely recent". It has been identified with the current warm period, known as MIS 1 and based on that past evidence, can be considered an interglacial in the current ice age.

The Holocene also encompasses within it the growth and impacts of the human species world-wide, including all its written history and overall significant transition toward urban living in the present. Given these, a new term Anthropocene, is specifically proposed and used informally for the latest part of this epoch since approximately synchronous lithospheric evidence, or more recently atmospheric evidence, of human impacts have been found on the Earth and its ecosystems; these impacts may be considered of global significance for future evolution of living species.

Overview[link]

It is generally accepted that the Holocene started approximately 12,000 years BP (before present day). The period follows the last glacial period (regionally known as the Wisconsinan Glacial Period, the Baltic-Scandinavian Ice Age, or the Weichsel glacial). The Holocene can be subdivided into five time intervals, or chronozones, based on climatic fluctuations:^{[citation needed]}

• Preboreal (10 ka – 9 ka),
• Boreal (9 ka – 8 ka),
• Atlantic (8 ka – 5 ka),
• Subboreal (5 ka – 2.5 ka) and
• Subatlantic (2.5 ka – present).

Note: "ka" means "thousand years" (non-calibrated C14 dates)

The Blytt-Sernander classification of climatic periods defined, initially, by plant remains in peat mosses, is now of purely historical interest. The scheme was defined for Northern Europe, but the climate changes were claimed to occur more widely. The periods of the scheme include a few of the final, pre-Holocene, oscillations of the last glacial period and then classify climates of more recent prehistory.^{[citation needed]}

Paleontologists have defined no faunal stages for the Holocene. If subdivision is necessary, periods of human technological development, such as the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Bronze Age, are usually used. However, the time periods referenced by these terms vary with the emergence of those technologies in different parts of the world.^{[citation needed]}

Climatically, the Holocene may be divided evenly into the Hypsithermal and Neoglacial periods; the boundary coincides with the start of the Bronze Age in European civilization. According to some scholars, a third division, the Anthropocene, began in the 18th century.^[2]

Geology[link]

Holocene cinder cone volcano on State Highway 18 near Veyo, Utah

Continental motions due to plate tectonics are less than a kilometre over a span of only 10,000 years. However, ice melt caused world sea levels to rise about 35 m (115 ft) in the early part of the Holocene. In addition, many areas above about 40 degrees north latitude had been depressed by the weight of the Pleistocene glaciers and rose as much as 180 m (590 ft) due to post-glacial rebound over the late Pleistocene and Holocene, and are still rising today.^{[citation needed]}

The sea level rise and temporary land depression allowed temporary marine incursions into areas that are now far from the sea. Holocene marine fossils are known from Vermont, Quebec, Ontario, Maine, New Hampshire, and Michigan. Other than higher-latitude temporary marine incursions associated with glacial depression, Holocene fossils are found primarily in lakebed, floodplain, and cave deposits. Holocene marine deposits along low-latitude coastlines are rare because the rise in sea levels during the period exceeds any likely tectonic uplift of non-glacial origin.^{[citation needed]}

Post-glacial rebound in the Scandinavia region resulted in the formation of the Baltic Sea. The region continues to rise, still causing weak earthquakes across Northern Europe. The equivalent event in North America was the rebound of Hudson Bay, as it shrank from its larger, immediate post-glacial Tyrrell Sea phase, to near its present boundaries.^{[citation needed]}

Climate[link]

Temperature variations during the Holocene

Paleogeographic reconstruction of the North Sea appr. 9000 years ago during the early Holocene and after the end of the last ice age.

Climate has been fairly stable over the Holocene. Ice core records show that before the Holocene there was global warming after the end of the last ice age and cooling periods, but climate changes became more regional at the start of the Younger Dryas. During the transition from last glacial to holocene, the Huelmo/Mascardi Cold Reversal in the Southern Hemisphere began before the Younger Dryas, and the maximum warmth flowed south to north from 11,000 to 7,000 years ago. It appears that this was influenced by the residual glacial ice remaining in the Northern Hemisphere until the later date.^{[citation needed]}

The hypsithermal was a period of warming in which the global climate became warmer. However, the warming was probably not uniform across the world. This period of warmth ended about 5,500 years ago with the descent into the Neoglacial. At that time, the climate was not unlike today's, but there was a slightly warmer period from the 10th–14th centuries known as the Medieval Warm Period. This was followed by the Little Ice Age, from the 13th or 14th century to the mid 19th century, which was a period of significant cooling, though not everywhere as severe as previous times during neoglaciation.^{[citation needed]}

The Holocene warming is an interglacial period and there is no reason to believe that it represents a permanent end to the current ice age. However, the current global warming may result in the Earth becoming warmer than the Eemian Stage, which peaked at roughly 125,000 years ago and was warmer than the Holocene. This prediction is sometimes referred to as a super-interglacial.^{[citation needed]}

Compared to glacial conditions, habitable zones have expanded northwards, reaching their northernmost point during the hypsithermal. Greater moisture in the polar regions has caused the disappearance of steppe-tundra.^{[citation needed]}

Ecological developments[link]

Animal and plant life have not evolved much during the relatively short Holocene, but there have been major shifts in the distributions of plants and animals. A number of large animals including mammoths and mastodons, saber-toothed cats like Smilodon and Homotherium, and giant sloths disappeared in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene—especially in North America, where animals that survived elsewhere (including horses and camels) became extinct. This extinction of American megafauna has been explained as caused by the arrival of the ancestors of Amerindians; though most scientists assert that climatic change also contributed. In addition, a discredited bolide impact over North America which was hypothesized to have triggered the Younger Dryas.^[3]

Throughout the world, ecosystems in cooler climates that were previously regional have been isolated in higher altitude ecological "islands".^{[citation needed]}

The 8.2 ka event, an abrupt cold spell recorded as a negative excursion in the δ¹⁸O record lasting 400 years, is the most prominent climatic event occurring in the Holocene epoch, and may have marked a resurgence of ice cover. It is thought that this event was caused by the final drainage of Lake Agassiz, which had been confined by the glaciers, disrupting the thermohaline circulation of the Atlantic.^[4]

Human developments[link]

Bronze bead necklace, Muséum de Toulouse

The beginning of the Holocene corresponds with the beginning of the Mesolithic age in most of Europe; but in regions such as the Middle East and Anatolia with a very early neolithisation, Epipaleolithic is preferred in place of Mesolithic. Cultures in this period include: Hamburgian, Federmesser, and the Natufian culture, during which the oldest inhabited places still existing on Earth were first settled, such as Jericho in the Middle East.^{[citation needed]}

Both are followed by the aceramic Neolithic (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B) and the pottery Neolithic. The Late Holocene brought advancements such as the bow and arrow and saw new methods of warfare in North America. Spear throwers and their large points were replaced by the bow and arrow with its small narrow points beginning in Oregon and Washington. Villages built on defensive bluffs indicate increased warfare, leading to food gathering in communal groups rather than individual hunting for protection. ^[5]

Impact events[link]

Many meteorite events which occurred in the Holocene have so far been found in Europe, in bodies of water such as the Indian Ocean and in Russia, near the remote region of Siberia. Siberia also being the site of a modern impact event happening in 1908 known as the Tunguska Event. It has been speculated that an impact effect such as that represented today by the Burckle Crater^[6] could have dramatically affected human culture in its early history by the creation of megatsunamis, perhaps inspiring deluge or inundation myths such as that of Noah's Flood.^[7]

See also[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Roberts, Neil (1998). The Holocene: an environmental history (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-18637-9. 
• Mackay, A. W.; Battarbee, R. W.; Birks, H. J. B. et al., eds. (2003). Global change in the Holocene. London: Arnold. ISBN 0-340-76223-3. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Holocene

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Holocene.

• HistoricalClimatology.com, further links and resources, updated 2012
• Climate History Network, network of historical climatologists, updated 2012
• The 8.2 ka event
• Detecting Holocene changes in thermohaline circulation

Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon, 2010
Birth name	James Thomas Fallon, Jr.
Born	(1974-09-19) September 19, 1974 (age 37) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, music, television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	1990–present
Genres	Satire/political satire/news satire, observational comedy, musical comedy, surreal humor, awkward
Subject(s)	American culture, American politics, pop culture, current events, mass media/news media
Influences	Dana Carvey, Robin Williams
Spouse	Nancy Juvonen (2007–present)
Notable works and roles	Saturday Night Live Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (host, 2009–present)

James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. (born September 19, 1974) is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC. Prior to that he appeared in several films, and was best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2004.

Early life[link]

James Thomas Fallon, Jr., was born in Brooklyn, New York. Jimmy is the son of Gloria and James Fallon, Sr.,^[1] who is a Vietnam War veteran.^[2] His family later settled in Saugerties, New York, while his father worked at IBM in nearby Kingston, New York. He is of Irish descent.^[3] As a child, he and his older sister, Gloria, would reenact the “clean parts” of Saturday Night Live that his parents had taped for him.^[4] Fallon was such a fan of Saturday Night Live that he made a weekly event of watching it in his dormitory during college. In his teens, he impressed his parents with different impersonations, the first being of James Cagney.^[5][6] He was also musically inclined, and started playing guitar at age 13. He would go on to mix comedy and music in contests and shows.^[6]

Education[link]

Fallon attended St. Mary of the Snow, a Roman Catholic parochial school, and Saugerties High School, from which he graduated in 1992. He attended The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. He was a Computer Science major, but switched to Communications in his senior year, dropping out a semester shy of a degree.^[7][8] "I was a Computer Science major. I got out once it got really hard. I made it up to C++. Then I couldn't do the math – it got really confusing. I switched to Communications, which is a ridiculous major – let's be honest," he recalls.^[9] On May 9, 2009, Fallon received a B.A. in Communications and^[10] an honorary doctorate degree from The College of Saint Rose after presenting college officials with his portfolio, which satisfied all requisites for his degree.^[7] In addition to receiving a BA, Fallon spoke at the school's 86th commencement. That night, on Saturday Night Live, he held up his diploma during the closing of the show. Additionally, he showed excerpts from the ceremony on his late night show May 11, 2009.

Career[link]

Stand-up[link]

Fallon gives credit to troll dolls for his big break. He was given a troll doll with a graduation cap in his senior year of high school. His mother heard about an impression contest at Bananas Comedy Club in Poughkeepsie, NY. Fallon came up with a stand-up routine that was a commercial for troll dolls. He would impersonate various celebrities auditioning to be the spokesperson. He won the contest and after college he began to do stand-up tours across the country. When he was in Los Angeles, he took improv classes with The Groundlings.^[5]

Early work[link]

Fallon appeared in the feature film The Scheme (originally entitled The Entrepreneurs). His one line in Father's Day was cut but he can still be seen in the background. In 1998 Fallon appeared briefly on the show Spin City in the second season as a man selling photographs. By late 1998, Fallon was studying at the Groundlings Theater in Los Angeles, making $7.50 a set at The Improv Theater, when he was summoned to New York to audition for the long-running late night sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live. Fallon did his impersonations of Jerry Seinfeld,^[11] French Stewart, Pat O'Brien, Chris Rock, Hilary Swank, Gilbert Gottfried, Enrique Iglesias, Adam Sandler, Jeff Foxworthy, Eddie Murphy, Larry the Cable Guy, many of which drew laughter from producer Lorne Michaels, which is generally unheard of. Fallon also did musical impersonations of Bono of U2, Adam Duritz of Counting Crows, Alanis Morissette, and Robert Smith of The Cure.^[4]

[edit] Saturday Night Live

Fallon's impersonations helped land him on Saturday Night Live as a featured player in the 1998–1999 season,^[12] and he was promoted to full cast member in the summer of 1999.^[4] Among his signature bits were his song parodies, which he performed when Colin Quinn was doing Update and continued to showcase on special occasions after he had replaced him. He became co-anchor of Weekend Update with Tina Fey with the October 7, 2000 season premiere.^[13] Fallon left SNL in 2004 and began pursuing a film career.

Fallon returned to SNL, hosting the December 17, 2011 episode, having made several cameos in episodes in the years since his departure.^[14]

Recurring characters[link]

• Dave, a young man in the Will Ferrell/Rachel Dratch recurring sketch, "The Lovers", often used as a pawn in Roger and Virginia's matchmaking.
• Jarret (from Jarret's Room), a stoner who hosts his own Internet webcam show.
• Jeffrey's clerk, one of the clerks (the other being a male host for the show) of an upscale department store.
• Joey Mack, an obnoxious radio DJ who mocks his celebrity guests.
• Kip Bloder, brother to Chris Parnell's Wade Bloder.
• The Leather Man, an intense man who owns a shop filled with leather clothes.
• Nick Burns, a sarcastic tech support representative who helps office workers with computer problems (and is almost always exposed as not knowing as much as he should by one of the workers). He frequently used the catchphrase "Moooooove!" when ousting people from their desk so he could fix the problem.
• Pat Sullivan, nicknamed "Sully", one of the Boston Teens, boyfriend of Rachel Dratch's Denise character.
• Patrick Fitzwilliam, a surly Irishman who hosts a show called Top O' The Morning with his friend, William Fitzpatrick (played by Seth Meyers)
• Randy Goldman, from "Wake Up Wakefield", Megan's (Maya Rudolph) crush who does not know she exists.
• Rodney "The Zipper" Calzoun, the MC at the Rialto Grande
• Señor Guadalupe Ramirez, one of the guitar players on the recurring sketch, "The 'How Do You Say, Ah, Yes' Show"
• Wade, one of the members of the boy band 7 Degrees Celsius
• Barry Gibb, in the skit called "The Barry Gibb Talk Show", he hosts along with his brother Robin Gibb (played by Justin Timberlake).
• Carson Daly, whom he impersonated with the catch phrase "I am a massive tool."^[15]
• Pat O'Brien, who "doesn't breathe through his nose ever!"

[edit] Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Fallon succeeded fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus Conan O'Brien as the host of NBC's Late Night after O'Brien left the show to prepare to take over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno in 2009.^[16] The deal for the long-expected succession was confirmed April 24, 2008, with an official announcement made on May 12, 2008 at NBC's upfront presentation.^[17][18] The official press conference was released on Hulu.com.^[19]

The show, titled Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, first aired on March 2, 2009 with guests Robert De Niro, Justin Timberlake, Nick Carter, and musical guest Van Morrison. Guests on the show's first week included Tina Fey, Jon Bon Jovi, Cameron Diaz, Donald Trump, and Drew Barrymore.

"Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" sometimes features parodies by Fallon impersonating various musicians, and he has been praised for his ability to pull off spot-on impressions. Fallon often changes the lyrics to honour a recent event in popular culture and videos of these performances tend to go viral. In one segment, on May 26, 2011, Fallon impersonated Neil Young, singing along with guests Graham Nash and David Crosby, of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Recent victims include Fallon making parodies of Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam performing "Jeremy (Lin)" in light of the hysteria surrounding New York Knicks shocking standout Jeremy Lin, the Doors singing the theme song to the PBS children's show "Reading Rainbow", Neil Young's version of the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" theme song, and David Bowie's "Space Oddity" with inspiration by Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. First appearing in January 2012, and dubbing himself as "Tebowie", Fallon's impersonation of the famously-religious quarterback went viral. Due to overwhelmingly positive acclaim from the public, Fallon revived the act on March 20, 2012 after the Denver Broncos acquired superstar and future hall of fame quarterback Peyton Manning, and revealed their intentions to trade Tebow. Fallon continues to do impersonations, in some of the show's comedy segments, especially impersonations of famous singers.

To celebrate the second anniversary on March 2, 2011, Ben & Jerry's launched a personalized "Late Night Snack" ice cream. This was immediately parodied on The Colbert Report the next day and the two show hosts engaged in a brief ice cream personality war. Colbert used numerous "fecal matter" jokes to describe the flavor of the ice cream named after Jimmy Fallon.^[20]

On November 21, 2011 U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann, who was active in the Republican Presidential Primaries at the time, appeared as a guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. As she walked onto the stage, the band played a funk song titled "Lyin' Ass Bitch," without any lyrics. Hours earlier, the band's drummer Questlove had sent a tweet about the song choice: “late night walkon song devotees: you love it when we snark: this next one takes the cake. ask around cause i aint tweeting title.” After a prominent Democratic Congress woman complained, Fallon made a general apology by tweet.^[21] Fallon began his tweet with the words: "I'm honored that @michelebachmann was on our show yesterday and I'm so sorry about the intro mess."^[22] Fallon also used his Twitter account to tease his Roots bandleader Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson that he was "grounded".^[22]

Fallon in April 2007

Fallon has appeared in Taxi, Anything Else, Almost Famous, Fever Pitch, Band of Brothers, Doogal, Factory Girl and Whip It. He occasionally does stand up comedy at the Comedy Club in New York City and has also performed at the House of Blues in Boston, Massachusetts on occasions.

In 2002, Fallon released the comedy album The Bathroom Wall. In a mixed review, Rolling Stone praised the album's songs, calling the album the "second-best Prince parody ever, after Beck's 'Debra'." However the magazine panned the album's comedy routines, ultimately giving it two-out-of-five stars.^[23] The album was nominated for a Grammy in 2003 for Best Spoken Comedy Album. Fallon co-hosted the 2001 MTV Movie Awards with Kirsten Dunst on June 7, 2001.^[24] Fallon has played Neo in Sex and the Matrix, a comedic two-in-one parody of Sex and the City and The Matrix.^[25] He hosted the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards alone that year.^[26] His opening number included parodies of videos by Eminem, Avril Lavigne, Nelly, The White Stripes, Dave Matthews and Enrique Iglesias.

Also in 2002, Fallon appeared in The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch as the son of Melvin Hall, and constantly pesters his father, often stealing his mike, claiming that the film is "his documentary."^[27]

Fallon also hosted the 2005 MTV Movie Awards and played Anakin Skywalker in comedic parody of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith's Mustafar scene, in which Anakin and Padme have their last conversation. Fallon was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2002, an honor Fallon found embarrassing.^[28]

Following the Boston Red Sox's World Series clinching game over the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004, Fallon ran onto the field at Busch Stadium with Drew Barrymore to film a scene for their movie Fever Pitch.

In 2006, Fallon starred in "Spontaneous Combustion", a Traktor-directed Pepsi television commercial with actress Parker Posey. In the ad, Fallon and Posey can be seen dancing and jumping around to the song Streamline by Newton. In October of that year, Fallon appeared on stage in The Secret Policeman's Ball, a charity gig filmed to raise awareness of Amnesty International at the Royal Albert Hall. Fallon made three appearances during the show, the first in a sketch in which he performed impressions of people such as David Bowie, Jerry Seinfeld and David Blaine in order to get past a doorman (Shaun Williamson) who claims Fallon is not on the list. The doorman finally recognizes him for his role in Taxi, but still will not let him in. He later masqueraded as Russell Brand before being led off by Williamson, and made one final appearance in a cameo role as the front of a pantomime horse in the Al Murray "pub landlord" routine. He also provided the voice of Dylan in Doogal.

In 2007, Fallon wrote the song "Car Wash for Peace" and donated all proceeds to charity. He performed the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The View and dedicated a MySpace page to the cause. Around the same time, a video circulated on various Internet sites called lonelyfallon32, in which Fallon parodied YouTube celebrity Jessica Rose (a.k.a. lonelygirl15) and later performed the song.

Fallon, along with his sister Gloria, wrote I Hate This Place: The Pessimist's Guide to Life for TV Books in 1999. A second book is anticipated but has not yet been released, to be titled "I Hate This Place 2: Tokyo Drift."^[4] Fallon has also written a children's book, illustrated by Adam Stower, entitled Snowball Fight.

Fallon also appeared on Diggnation's 185th show.^[29]

On May 4, 2010, NBC announced that Fallon would host the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards.^[30] With Fallon as host, viewership of the 2010 Emmy Awards increased by over 200,000 viewers from the year before.^[31]

On April 24, 2012, Jimmy Fallon filmed his live show in Chapel Hill, NC on the campus of the University of North Carolina. His guest was President Barack Obama, who spoke primarily about Congress potentially doubling the interest rates of student loans. His musical guest was Dave Matthews.

Personal life[link]

Fallon married Nancy Juvonen on December 22, 2007.^[32] Juvonen and Drew Barrymore own the production company Flower Films.

On February 22, 2011, Fallon was on The Dr. Oz Show. He had a mole removed from his left hand in front of a live studio audience by visiting cosmetic surgeon Arthur Perry.^[33][34]

Television[link]

• Saturday Night Live (1998–2004)
• Spin City (1998)
• Band of Brothers as 2nd Lt. George C. Rice in "Crossroads"(2001)
• 30 Rock (2009)
• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009–present)
• The Electric Company (2009)
• Family Guy (2009)
• Saturday Night Live (December 17, 2011)
• Silent Library (2011)
• 30 Rock (2012) - Young Jack
• iCarly (2012) - As Himself

Filmography[link]

• Almost Famous (2000)
• The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2002)
• Anything Else (2003)
• The Entrepreneurs a.k.a. The $cheme (filmed in 1998, released in 2003)
• Taxi (2004)
• Fever Pitch (2005)
• The Magic Roundabout (2006) (voice)
• Arthur and the Invisibles (2006) (voice)
• Factory Girl (2006)
• The Year of Getting to Know Us (2008)
• Whip It (2009)
• Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• The Bathroom Wall (2002)
• Blow Your Pants Off (2012)

Singles[link]

• "Idiot Boyfriend" (2002)
• "Car Wash for Peace" (2008)
• "Drunk On Christmas (feat. John Rich)" (2010)

Further reading[link]

• Baldwin, Kristen (2002-05-10), "Update with Destiny". Entertainment Weekly. (653):26
• Thank You Notes (Jan 2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (May 2011)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jimmy Fallon

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jimmy Fallon

• Jimmy Fallon at the Internet Movie Database
• Food Bank For New York City public service announcement
• Jimmy Fallon with Popular Radio Personality Rich Stevens
• JimmyFallon.net – Bathroom Wall
• NBC's Official Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Site
• Interview of Jimmy Fallon for New Beacon Theatre Documentary