Cab
Cab Calloway (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer, bandleader, songwriter, and performer renowned for his scat singing, energetic stage presence, and leadership of the Cab Calloway Orchestra during the swing era.[1][2] Born Cabell Calloway III in Rochester, New York, to a middle-class family, he rose to prominence in the late 1920s through performances in New York nightclubs, eventually becoming a fixture at the Cotton Club where his revue-style shows blended music, dance, and call-and-response routines.[3][1] His breakthrough hit, "Minnie the Moocher" (1931), sold over a million copies and exemplified his signature "hi-de-ho" scat improvisation, which influenced generations of jazz vocalists.[3][2] Calloway's career spanned over six decades, encompassing radio broadcasts, film appearances in productions like The Blues Brothers (1980), and Broadway revivals such as Hello, Dolly! in the 1960s, where he succeeded Pearl Bailey in the lead role.[1][4] He maintained strict discipline in his orchestra, enforcing rules against drug use and tardiness to sustain professional standards amid the era's temptations, which contributed to the ensemble's longevity and reputation for precision.[5] Despite facing racial barriers in the segregated entertainment industry, Calloway's charisma and business acumen enabled him to build a self-sustaining operation, including publishing his own songbook and leading international tours.[2] Later in life, he focused on education, teaching at institutions like the New England Conservatory of Music and advocating for jazz preservation until his death from a stroke.[1]Transport
Taxicabs and historical carriages
The term "cab" derives from "cabriolet," a light, two-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with a folding hood, originating in France in the early 19th century and introduced to London from Paris around 1823 as a nimble vehicle for hire pulled by one or two horses.[6][7] These early cabs facilitated urban passenger transport, evolving from heavier 17th-century hackney carriages licensed in Paris in 1635 and London in 1654, which charged fixed fares for short distances.[8] By the 1830s, the hansom cab, patented by Joseph Hansom in 1834, improved efficiency with a lighter design requiring only one horse, lower center of gravity for speed, and rear-facing driver position, becoming a staple in cities like London where over 3,000 operated by the 1880s.[9] The transition to motorized taxicabs occurred in the late 19th century, with the taximeter—combining "taxa" (Latin for charge) and "meter"—invented by German Friedrich Wilhelm Gustav Bruhn in 1891 to automatically calculate fares based on distance and time via a gear-linked device.[10][11] Gottlieb Daimler produced the first purpose-built motorized taxi, the Daimler Victoria, in 1897, an electric vehicle equipped with a taximeter, followed by gasoline models like Louis Renault's in 1899; services launched in Stuttgart that year, then Paris and London by 1900, replacing horse-drawn cabs amid rising urbanization and reducing reliance on animal power, which had peaked at fleets of thousands in major cities.[12][13] The term "taxicab" emerged as a portmanteau of "taximeter cab," standardizing regulated for-hire operations; by 1907, New York City introduced metered cabs imported from Europe, enforcing fares at 50 cents for the first mile plus 10 cents per additional, curbing haggling and enabling scalable urban mobility.[8][14] In the 20th century, taxicabs solidified as essential infrastructure, with fleets like New York's yellow cabs—painted that color from 1907 for visibility—numbering over 13,000 by the 1930s, serving economic hubs amid population booms.[15] The advent of ride-hailing apps from the 2010s, starting with Uber's launch in 2009, disrupted traditional medallion-based systems by enabling on-demand booking via smartphones, GPS, and dynamic pricing, which reduced wait times but sparked regulatory conflicts over licensing and driver classification in cities worldwide.[16] This shift integrated cabs into the gig economy, with cashless payments and algorithms optimizing routes, projecting the global ride-hailing market to reach $229.98 billion by 2030 at a 5.06% CAGR, driven by urbanization, smartphone penetration exceeding 80% in developed regions, and demand for flexible, 24/7 transport in megacities.[17] Traditional cabs persist through medallions and unions, adapting via hybrid models, underscoring their enduring role in equitable access where public transit gaps exist.[18]Driver and operator compartments
In heavy machinery, including trucks, locomotives, cranes, and tractors, the cab denotes the enclosed compartment containing the operator's station, controls, and instrumentation for vehicle or equipment operation.[19][20] This design isolates the operator from external hazards while facilitating precise control, with early 20th-century iterations prioritizing basic enclosure over advanced features.[21] Operator stations originated as open platforms on 19th-century steam locomotives and early tractors, exposing crews to weather, coal dust, and exhaust, which prompted a transition to partial or full enclosures around the 1900s for protection against rain, wind, and temperature extremes.[22] In locomotives, this evolution culminated in diesel-era cab units from the mid-1930s, featuring streamlined, full-length hoods and cabs that standardized controls for multiple-unit operation.[23] A notable variant, the cab-forward steam locomotive, emerged with Southern Pacific Railroad's adoption of oil-fired, reversed-engine designs starting in 1911 and peaking in the 1920s–1940s, positioning the cab ahead of the boiler to shield operators from smoke, cinders, and heat in long tunnels and snowsheds, such as those on Donner Pass routes.[24][25] This configuration improved forward visibility on steep grades—up to 2.4% inclines—and reduced fatigue, with 256 such units built by 1944 before diesel transition.[22] Post-World War II ergonomic advancements, drawing from wartime human factors studies on aircraft cockpits, integrated adjustable seats, enhanced instrumentation layouts, and larger windshields into cab designs to minimize operator error and fatigue during extended shifts.[26][27] In tractors and cranes, U.S. regulations like OSHA's 1970 standards mandated rollover protective structures (ROPS) and falling-object protections by the mid-1970s, reducing cab-related fatalities by enclosing operators against overturns and debris impacts.[28] Federal Railroad Administration surveys from 1972 further emphasized short-hood forward cabs for locomotives, citing 20–30% visibility gains and lower accident rates from reduced blind spots.[27] These developments prioritized causal factors like vibration damping and control reach, yielding measurable declines in injury claims—e.g., tractor overturn deaths dropped 70% post-ROPS enforcement.[28]People
Real individuals
Cab Calloway (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer, songwriter, and bandleader celebrated for his scat singing, energetic stage presence, and leadership of the Cab Calloway Orchestra.[1] Born Cabell Calloway III in Rochester, New York, he rose to prominence in the 1930s with performances at Harlem's Cotton Club, where his band served as the resident orchestra from 1931 to 1934, introducing audiences to swing-era innovations.[29] His signature hit "Minnie the Moocher," released in 1931, became a chart-topping novelty song that showcased his call-and-response style and sold over a million copies.[1] Calloway also pioneered as the first African American to host a nationally syndicated radio program in 1932 and authored Cab Calloway's Cat-ologue (1938), a slang dictionary reflecting Harlem's jive talk.[2] His career spanned vaudeville, Broadway revivals like Hello, Dolly! (1967–1968), and films, influencing subsequent entertainers through his dynamic showmanship until health issues curtailed performances in the 1980s.[29]Fictional characters
Benny the Cab is a supporting character in the 1988 hybrid live-action/animation film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Touchstone Pictures. Depicted as a slender, anthropomorphic yellow taxicab with headlights serving as eyes and a grille forming a mouth, Benny embodies the film's Toon Town aesthetic where animated vehicles exhibit human-like traits and speech. Voiced by Charles Fleischer, who also provided voices for other characters in the production, Benny delivers rapid-fire puns tied to his vehicular form, such as exclamations during motion like "Toon up!"[30] In the narrative, Benny first appears chained in a Toon Town alley, where protagonists Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) and Roger Rabbit free him to evade Judge Doom's weasel henchmen and pursuing police. During the ensuing chase across Los Angeles, Benny's evasive maneuvers—jumping gaps, dodging gunfire, and quipping amid peril—provide comic relief and advance the plot toward the film's climax at the Acme Factory. Shot multiple times but resilient due to his cartoon physics, Benny revives to continue assisting, highlighting the film's theme of Toons' exaggerated durability.[31] The character draws from classic animation tropes of personified machines, akin to earlier shorts like UPA's One Cab's Family (1952), but Benny's role uniquely integrates into a detective noir framework, personifying the "cab" as a loyal, street-smart ally in a world blending human and animated realms.[32] No major adaptations expand Benny's backstory beyond the film, though merchandise like plush toys and ride vehicles at Disney parks perpetuate his image.[33]Places
Geographical locations
Čab is a village and municipality located in the Nitra District of the Nitra Region, southwestern Slovakia, approximately 15 kilometers northwest of the city of Nitra in the valley of the Radošinka River.[34] The settlement has a recorded population of 781 residents as of the 2021 census. Lac Cab is a lake situated in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada, at an elevation of 381 meters above sea level.[35]Buildings and structures
The Cab Calloway School of the Arts occupies a mid-20th-century building originally constructed as Wilmington High School between 1958 and 1960 at the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and DuPont Road in Wilmington, Delaware.[36][37] Designed in the International Style by architects Whiteside, Moeckel, and Carbonell, the structure featured modernist elements such as pilotis supporting the roof and served as the state's largest high school upon opening, accommodating over 2,000 students with facilities including a 1,000-seat theater and art gallery.[36][38] The school repurposed the site in 1992, establishing a magnet program for grades 6–12 focused on performing and visual arts, with expansions to include high school levels by 1997; remnants of the original Wilmington High signage were retained to honor its history.[39][40] London's Cabmen's Shelters consist of 13 surviving wooden structures erected between 1875 and 1914 by the Cabmen's Shelter Fund to provide rest, meals, and newspapers for hansom cab drivers, preventing them from congregating in public houses while keeping horses in view.[41][42] The first shelter was built in 1875 at St John's Wood on Acacia Road, funded through public subscriptions initiated by Captain Armstrong; a total of 61 were constructed at approximately £200 each, typically measuring 13 feet by 10 feet to accommodate 10–13 men, featuring cast-iron roofs, cooking facilities, and green livery for visibility.[43][44] All remaining examples, such as the Grade II-listed Temple Place shelter circa 1900, are protected heritage assets reflecting Victorian efforts to promote driver welfare and urban order, now primarily serving licensed black taxi drivers with modern adaptations like electricity while preserving original layouts.[41][45] The Checker Cab Building in Detroit, Michigan, constructed in 1927 by the Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company at 2128 Trumbull Avenue, functioned initially as a garage and office for a rival taxi firm before becoming headquarters for Checker Cab Company in 1931. This three-story, 120,000-square-foot reinforced concrete facility supported the fleet of Checker cabs, renowned for durability and produced until 1982, underscoring the company's role in early 20th-century urban transport amid Detroit's automotive boom.[46][47] Repurposed in the late 2010s into mixed-use lofts and retail as Elton Park Apartments, the building retains industrial features like high ceilings, highlighting adaptive reuse of taxi infrastructure in post-industrial revitalization.[48][49]Arts and Entertainment
Music
CAB, an American jazz fusion supergroup, was founded in 2000 by bassist Bunny Brunel, drummer Dennis Chambers, and guitarist Tony MacAlpine.[50] The band's self-titled debut album, released in 2000, featured instrumental tracks blending fusion elements with technical virtuosity, followed by CAB 2 in 2001 and CAB 4 later in the series, establishing their reputation in progressive and fusion circles for complex compositions and live performances.[50] The Cab, a pop-rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2006 around singer-songwriter Alexander DeLeon, with early members including drummer Alex Marshall and guitarist Dave Briggs.[51] Their debut album, Whisper War, released in 2008, included the track "One of THOSE Nights" featuring Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump, marking their entry into the pop-punk and alternative rock scene with melodic hooks and piano-driven arrangements.[51] The band's second album, Symphony Soldier, arrived in 2011, led by the single "Bad," which showcased a shift toward more polished production; after a hiatus, they announced new material in 2025 with the EP Road to Reign: A Prelude, their first release in over a decade.[52] The song "Cab" by Train, released as the lead single from their 2006 album For Me, It's You on November 15, 2005, evokes urban winter imagery in New York, achieving moderate chart success and highlighting the band's acoustic pop-rock style.[53]Other media
D.C. Cab is a 1983 American action comedy film written and directed by Joel Schumacher, depicting the efforts of a ragtag group of taxi drivers at a rundown Washington, D.C., cab company to evade closure amid internal chaos and external threats.[54] The story revolves around newcomer Albert Hockenberry, who arrives from rural Georgia to join his late father's friend in operating the faltering business, rallying misfit drivers including convicted felons and oddballs.[55] Cash Cab is an American game show that debuted on the Discovery Channel on January 17, 2006, with comedian Ben Bailey as host driving contestants in a tricked-out taxi cab, quizzing them on trivia for escalating cash rewards en route to their destinations.[56] Participants can use "Safe Bet" red-light challenges or solicit help from fellow passengers, but three misses trigger expulsion without winnings upon arrival.[57] In video games, Neo Cab (2019), developed by Chance Agency and published by Fellow Traveller, casts players as Lina, the final human cab driver in the app-based Neo Cab service within the cyberpunk city of Los Ojos, navigating passenger dialogues that branch into emotional narratives amid automation's rise.[58] Released initially for iOS, macOS, and Apple TV before expanding to consoles, it emphasizes choice-driven storytelling over action.[59] Hell Cab (1993) is an adventure game in which players confront a demonic New York City cab driver, completing trials in eras like Ancient Rome, World War I, and the Jurassic period to retrieve a wagered soul.[60] The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886), authored by Fergus Hume, is a pioneering detective novel set in Melbourne, Australia, where a affluent man's bludgeoning death inside a locked hansom cab propels investigator Calton and detective Kilsip through class tensions and hidden motives, achieving bestseller status with over 500,000 copies sold by 1890.[61]Computing
File formats and software
The Cabinet (CAB) file format is a proprietary archive format developed by Microsoft for packaging multiple files into compressed containers, primarily for software installation and distribution on Windows systems.[62] It supports lossless data compression applied across file boundaries to optimize storage efficiency, allowing related files to be bundled without individual recompression overhead.[63] CAB files also embed digital certificates for verifying file integrity and authenticity during extraction or installation.[64] Microsoft introduced the CAB format with the release of Windows 95 on August 24, 1995, where it was used to store compressed system files on distribution media, such as in structures like Win95#.cab for core operating system components.[65] The format employs multiple compression algorithms, including MSZIP (a variant of Deflate), LZX for higher ratios on larger datasets, and the older Quantum method, selectable via tools like makecab.exe to balance speed and size reduction.[66] MSZIP offers compatibility with ZIP-like performance, while LZX provides denser packing for payloads exceeding several megabytes, though at greater computational cost during creation.[67] In software distribution, CAB files facilitate efficient delivery of updates and installers, as seen in Microsoft products like Internet Explorer setups and Windows Service Packs, where they enable partial extraction without full unpacking.[68] Extraction is handled natively by the command-line utility Expand.exe, included in Windows since version 95, which decompresses files from CAB archives or distribution disks via syntax likeexpand source.cab -F:* destination.[69] This cross-boundary compression yields superior ratios to per-file methods in ZIP for multi-file bundles, reducing payload sizes by up to 20-30% in typical installer scenarios involving binaries and resources, though exact gains depend on data entropy and algorithm choice.[63][68] Third-party tools like cabextract provide open-source alternatives for non-Windows environments, but Microsoft's implementation prioritizes seamless integration with Windows Installer for signed, tamper-evident packages.[70]