underground

Underground railway system used to transport passengers within urban and suburban areas. The first subway line, 3.75 mi (6 km) long, opened in London in 1863 and carried 912 million passengers in its first year. The first electrified subway opened in 1890 in London (where it is called the underground or tube). Subways opened in Budapest in 1896 (the first on the European continent), Boston in 1897, Paris in 1900 (where it is called the métro), Berlin in 1902, New York in 1904, and later in Madrid (1919), Tokyo (1927), and Moscow (1935). Improvements in systems built from the 1970s on (including San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles) include computer technology to run subway trains by remote control, and refinements in track and car construction for faster, smoother, and quieter rides.

Learn more about subway with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Clandestine groups opposed to Nazi rule in German-occupied Europe in World War II. The groups included civilians who worked secretly against the occupation and armed bands of partisans or guerrilla fighters. Resistance activities ranged from assisting the escape of Jews and Allied airmen shot down over enemy territory to committing sabotage, ambushing German patrols, and sending intelligence information to the Allies. Resistance groups were not always unified; in some countries, rival groups divided along communist and noncommunist lines. However, in France the clandestine National Council of the Resistance coordinated all French groups, which gave support to the Normandy Campaign and participated in the August 1944 uprising that helped liberate Paris. Resistance groups in other northern European countries also undertook military actions to help the Allied forces in 1944–45.

Learn more about Resistance with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Secret system in northern U.S. states to help escaping slaves. Its name derived from the need for secrecy and the railway terms used in the conduct of the system. Various routes in 14 states, called lines, provided safe stopping places (stations) for the leaders (conductors) and their charges (packages) while fleeing north, sometimes to Canada. The system developed in defiance of the Fugitive Slave Acts and was active mainly from 1830 to 1860. An estimated 40,000 to 100,000 slaves used the network. Assistance was provided mainly by free blacks, including Harriet Tubman, and philanthropists, church leaders, and abolitionists. Its existence aroused support for the antislavery cause and convinced Southerners that the North would never allow slavery to remain unchallenged.

Learn more about Underground Railroad with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Underground may refer to:

• Underground rapid transit system, urban railway
• London Underground, a metro system that covers the Greater London area
• Resistance movement, an opposition to an invader, a political position, or to a government
• Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th century slaves in the U.S. to escape to free states

In film:

• Underground (1995 film), directed by Emir Kusturica
• Underground (1941 film), directed by Vincent Sherman
• Underground (1928 film), directed by Anthony Asquith
• Underground (documentary film)

In music:

• Underground (Thelonious Monk album), a 1967 jazz recording by Thelonious Monk
• Underground (Keaggy album), a 1983 album by guitarist Phil Keaggy
• Underground (Britney Spears single), a 2008 single by Britney Spears.
• Underground (Analog Pussy album), a 2001 album by Analog Pussy
• Underground (Electric Prunes album), a 1967 album by The Electric Prunes
• Underground (soundtrack), soundtrack to the Emir Kusturica film by Goran Bregović
• Underground (song), a 1986 single by David Bowie featured in the film Labyrinth
• Underground (Ben Folds Five song), a 1995 song by Ben Folds Five
• The Underground (concert venue), a Christian-affiliated concert venue, operated in the Greater Cincinnati area
• The Union Underground, an inactive Rock band associated with WWE
• Underground Operations, a Toronto-based independent punk rock record label
• Underground Resistance, a musical collective from Detroit, Michigan
• Linkin Park Underground, the official fan club of the band Linkin Park
• Global Underground, a music label which symbolizes the international explosion of dance music during the 1990s

In television:

• Underground (Stargate Atlantis), a Stargate Atlantis television series episode
• The Underground (TV series), a sketch comedy show starring Damon Wayans.
• TCM Underground, a late-night cult film showcase airing on Turner Classic Movies

In other media:

• The Underground (Animorphs), the seventeenth book in the Animorphs series by K.A. Applegate
• Underground (stories), a collection of non-fiction interviews compiled by Haruki Murakami
• Underground (role playing game), a satirical role playing game released by Mayfair Games in 1993
• Underground (book), a 1997 book by Suelette Dreyfus reconstructing the actions of a group of hackers
• Underground (novel), a 2006 Australian novel by Andrew McGahan
• Medal of Honor: Underground, the second in the Medal of Honor series by EA Games
• Need for Speed: Underground, a video game published by Electronic Arts
• Need for Speed: Underground 2, the sequel to Need for Speed: Underground
• Tony Hawk's Underground, a video game published by Activision Studios
• Tony Hawk's Underground 2, the sequel to THUG by Activision Studios

In subculture:

• Underground comix, small press or self-published comic books that began to appear in the US in the late 1960s
• Underground culture, a term to describe various alternative cultures
• Underground economy, commerce that is not taxed
• Underground film, cinema outside the commercial mainstream
• Underground hip hop, a style of hip hop music
• Underground living, living below the ground's surface
• Underground music, music that has a certain following despite a moderate commercial success
• Underground press, the alternative print media in the late 1960s and early 1970s
• UK underground, a 1960s countercultural movement in the United Kingdom

See also

• Underground Atlanta, a nightspot in Atlanta, Georgia
• Karst topography, a landscape of distinctive dissolution patterns often marked by underground drainages
• Organized crime, crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations
• Underground city, a network of tunnels that connect buildings, usually in the downtown area of a city
• Subterranean (disambiguation)