• Starbucks opened its biggest location in Chicago, Illinois, on Friday, November 15.
• The Reserve Roastery has five special floors that feature specialty coffee drinks, coffee-infused cocktails, pastries, and pizzas. 
• The building has giant copper structures, a curved escalator, and a rooftop bar.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

On Friday, November 15, Starbucks opened its biggest storefront to date in Chicago, Illinois.

The giant roastery has five special floors (including a seasonal rooftop) and just about everything, from coffee cocktails to gourmet pastries.

Here's a look inside the world's biggest Starbucks location. 

I visited before the Starbucks officially opened to the public, so all of the windows were covered with paper.

The building sits on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Erie Street and it's Starbucks' biggest location yet at 35,000 square feet.

This is the chain's sixth Reserve Roastery, with five others located in Seattle, Shanghai, Tokyo, Milan, and New York.

The building used to be a furniture store, but it has been almost entirely transformed.

This building used to house a multi-story furniture shop that I'd been to before, so I recognized the floor-to-ceiling windows and central escalator — but everything else looked different. 

My first impression was that it looked like a cross between a coffee theme park and Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

As soon as I stepped inside, I was overwhelmed by the smell of freshly ground coffee and the large crowds of people rapidly ordering pastries and coffees from the Reserve's bar area.

The middle of the room is filled with glass, copper, and coffee beans.

Set in the middle of the room, the bar offers multiple points of access for its coffee-loving patrons, which I'm guessing will help spread out and manage the amount of foot traffic from the street.

The bar also has a few displays of breakfast and lunch items.

There are countless glass-covered displays of mouthwatering pastries, cakes, sandwiches, and even a build-a-bowl granola bar from the Starbucks' Reserve food partner, the Milan-based Princi Bakery. 

The first floor definitely looks like it's made for on-the-go customers or tourists who are popping in for a quick bite.

On this level, you can order handcrafted coffee beverages and grab-and-go foods, which is pretty convenient for those who are just stopping by. 

There's also a takeout-style scooping bar for coffee beans if you want to bring any of the blends home.

The centerpiece of the Reserve has to be the giant copper-clad casks in the middle of the building.

In the far-right corner of the space, a group of roasters were tending to a large copper coffee roaster that is connected to a set of six giant coffee-bean chambers.

These chambers house all of the beans the location is currently brewing and they go up through the Reserve's five stories.

I could also hear and see coffee beans shooting through clear pipes throughout the building when I looked up.

The lead designer of the roastery, Jill Enomoto, told Insider that the clear tubes that run through the building are meant to allow customers to hear and see the coffee as it is transported throughout the Reserve location. 

At the back of the shop, there's also a whimsical glass conveyor belt of sorts where you can watch baked goods and other items move around the building.

Near the roaster, there's also an entire limited-edition merchandise collection.

All Starbucks Reserve locations feature some city-specific merchandise that visitors can purchase, and the Chicago stop is no different. 

There was hand-painted merchandise for sale, too.

In addition to shirts, letterman jackets, and mugs, local artist Mac Blackout also hand-painted two one-of-a-kind boom boxes (which cost $1,000 to $1,200) and a $6,500 La Marzocco Linea Mini Espresso Machine.

To get to the second floor, I took the escalator, which is an architectural anomaly in itself.

The copper coffee chambers are encircled by the curved escalator, which wraps around and leads the eye all the way up to the skylight at the top of the fourth floor. 

While on the escalator, I was able to get a better look at the architecture of the building, which is designed to draw the eye upward.

The ceiling panels, which are arranged in a circular pattern, go from light green to dark green, giving the optical illusion that the ceiling is rising. 

The second floor — the Princi Bakery and Cafe — was very relaxed.

This area had the Princi pastries I saw on the first floor, but with many additional menu options and way more places to sit. 

The Milan-based Princi, which also supplies food to other Reserve locations, serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner items, including pizza, salad, and pasta. 

There were glass cases of pastries everywhere I looked.

The vibe was visibly different on the second floor, with much more seating, artwork on the walls, and a generally more relaxed atmosphere for people wanting a slower-paced meal.

All of the savory and sweet goods are baked in-house daily, and you can watch the bakers in action because of the floor's open-concept kitchen and visible ovens. 

I tried a few different treats, both sweet and savory.

I ordered the chocolatey Princina Tart, a tiramisu cup, an impossibly flaky croissant sandwich filled with 20-month-aged prosciutto from Parma, and a buttery croissant with jam. 

Everything I tried was delicious, but I especially enjoyed the croissants.

Princi already has a stand-alone location in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, and I recommend anything that's served on a pastry as they have some of the flakiest croissants I've ever eaten. 

The third floor was filled with fun experiences and large crowds.

As soon as I arrived on the third floor, I felt like I was in a coffee theme park of sorts.

The entire third floor of the building is marketed as an "experiential coffee bar," and a placard on the wall states that this floor is completely dedicated to the "art, science, and theater of coffee."

I immediately saw baristas showing off a ton of different brewing methods including espresso, pour-over, coffee press, siphon, Chemex, Clover, and cold brewing. 

The first thing to catch my eye was a theatrical demonstration of a barista preparing coffee using a siphon, which uses vapor pressure and heat.

The floor's coolest feature might be the liquid-nitrogen-infused gelato bar.

This station has workers infuse gelato with liquid nitrogen by hand and make a dramatic spectacle of the process with clouds of white vapor. Apparently this process creates a smooth, creamy ice cream without ice crystals. 

The affogato station is on the opposite side of the heat-focused siphon station, making for a cool "fire and ice" contrast. 

Before going to the fourth floor, I sampled siphon-brewed coffee and chocolate flights.

One of my favorite experiences on the third floor was doing the coffee equivalent of a wine-and cheese-tasting, mouth swirling and sniffing included.

You can even order an entire siphon-brewed flight with curated corresponding chocolates to make it a whole experience. 

I made my way to the fourth floor, where I immediately loved the natural light.

Due to the natural light coming in through the clear ceiling, the fourth floor was a lot brighter than the other ones.

The fourth floor's big draw is the Arriviamo Bar, which pays homage to the Windy City with exclusive cocktails and local ingredients.

After all of the spirit-free tastings, I headed to the fourth floor to check out the boozy offerings at Starbucks' Arriviamo Bar, which is the second in the US (the other one is in New York City). 

The menu has five Chicago-exclusive cocktails that are infused with cold brew, coffee, and tea. They cost around $14 to $16 each.

In addition to having specialty cocktails, the bar also serves local liquors.

The Roastery is open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and until 11 p.m. during the week, so I could definitely see myself lounging here with a cocktail after a long day. 

And, as a resident of Chicago, I was surprised to see several local libations on the menu, like the Rhine Hall Bierschnaps and the divisive liquor Malört. 

I was also really excited to see Starbucks' first barrel-aged coffee bar.

This part of the bar serves eight alcohol-free beverages that are exclusive to Chicago.

The spirit-free beverages all start with Guatemalan beans aged in Knob Creek Whiskey barrels, giving them a hint of whiskey flavor with none of the ABV percentage. 

Some of the drinks you can order include a Minted Cold Brew (which is inspired by a mint julep) as well as a Smoked Old Fashion, a cold brew that's infused with bitters then smoked with apple chips.

There is also a small gift section in the corner where you can purchase barrel-aged coffee beans or a DIY cold-brew kit. 

I could sort of see the rooftop bar when I looked up, but it's not open yet.

Next to the elevator was a sign advertising the fifth-floor rooftop bar, which offers views of Michigan Avenue.

Unfortunately, it's only open seasonally, meaning that Chicago residents and tourists will probably have to wait until the spring to take advantage of it. 

Read More:

• I visited the world's highest Starbucks with incredible views of Taiwan. Here's how it compares to the coffee chain in the US.
• 11 of the coolest Starbucks Frappuccinos you can get around the world
• Disneyland's hidden Starbucks sells special cups, treats, and villain-themed drinks. Here's what it's like inside.

• Electronic Arts'"Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" is a single-player game designed to invoke the same spirit of mythic adventure that inspired the first generation of "Star Wars" fans back in 1977.
• While recent "Star Wars" games have been focused on online multiplayer, "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" is a story-driven experience that returns to the roots of the franchise.
• The game stars Jedi-in-training Cal Kestis as he works to repair his connection to the force and restore the Jedi order.
• "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" is out now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Electronic Arts has launched just a handful of "Star Wars" games since acquiring the publishing rights from Disney in 2014, focusing on online multiplayer games in genres with mass appeal.

But the newly released "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" feels like a direct response to critics who accused EA of trying to capitalize on the "Star Wars" fanbase with generic games and microtransactions.

"Fallen Order" returns to a story-driven experience that's both recognizable and intimate for "Star Wars" movie fans, moving away from the large-scale online multiplayer that defined "Star Wars: Battlefront" and "Star Wars: The Old Republic.

EA's "Star Wars: Battlefront 2" was widely criticized for its generic military gameplay and shallow single-player experience. The game garnered attention from lawmakers for its initial plans to include costly in-game purchases for iconic characters like Darth Vader, and a comment from EA's support team defending those microtransactions eventually became the most disliked comment in the history of Reddit. Sales fell well short of expectations as a result of the controversy.

In October 2017, a month before "Star Wars: Battlefront 2" was released, EA announced it would shutter development studio Visceral Entertainment, and revamp development on a single-player "Star Wars" game the studio was working on. The announcement left some questioning whether single-player adventure games were still viable for major video game companies.

However, "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" eventually surfaced under the helm of Respawn Entertainment, the same studio that launched EA's wildly popular "Apex Legends" earlier this year.

Unlike most major studio releases this year, "Fallen Order" is completely forgoing downloadable content, season passes, or any other form of microtransactions at launch. Instead, the game is a single-player adventure focused on delivering a complete experience and telling a new story in the "Star Wars" universe.

It's a gamble on EA's part, since the won't be any downloadable content to boost the game's sales in the future. But it also shows a degree of confidence in delivering a quality product that millions of "Star Wars" fans can appreciate on a personal level, without the need for online play or constant updates.

Here's a closer look at "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order."

SEE ALSO: The new 'Star Wars' game is a must-buy for any fan — and it's one of the most fun and addicting adventures I've played in a long time

Cal Kestis is the hero of "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order." He was once a padawan training to become a Jedi, but the Jedi Order was executed by the Empire before the start of the game.

"Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" goes back to the series' roots, with a story set just before the original "Star Wars" movie, and a hero that echoes Luke Skywalker's own coming-of-age story. It's not a retelling by any means, but a parallel tale that aims to capture the spirit of adventure that makes players want to become Jedi in the first place.

"Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" follows Cal Kestis, a young man whose Jedi-training was cut short by the nebulous Empire's rise to power. During the journey, players work to restore Cal's connection to the force, gaining new powers to fight the Empire in the process. 

Cal is searching for a set of ancient alien temples to repair his connection to the force and restore the Jedi Order.

Cal isn't alone on his quest — he's accompanied by BD-1, a helpful droid who keeps a map for Cal and scans the environment for information.

The game itself is pretty challenging, though there's a story-specific difficulty if you just want to breeze through and see the story unfold.

"Fallen Order" is designed to beat you down and make you stronger, so even when you're struggling to push past waves of enemies, you'll gradually improve Cal's skills and take steps towards mastery.

Combat in "Fallen Order" is intense and can quickly turn deadly for Cal. Your lightsaber will cut foes down quickly, but you'll need to learn how to parry and dodge enemy attacks since you can only heal in limited amounts.

"Fallen Order" will immediately draw comparisons to the "Dark Souls" series or "Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice" for its intense and punishing melee combat, but the game feels much more flexible thanks to its variable difficulties.

There's also a greater emphasis on exploration and platforming in "Fallen Order," and less focus on mastering the combat system. You'll even have to do a bit of puzzle-solving when you encounter ancient alien temples.

There aren't a ton of enemy types, but they each feel unique and require slightly different strategies to beat. Mashing the attack button will leave Cal open to attacks.

"Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" has a quite a few bosses, too — beating them requires a mix of strategy, proper use of force powers, and good timing.

Cal explores several planets, each with their own environment. You'll have to battle against animals and the elements to complete the journey.

Cal doesn't have his own ship, so you'll spend your time mapping out the planets on foot and finding ways to reach unexplored areas. There's no fast traveling either, so you'll have to get used to navigation and platforming.

Respawn worked with Lucasfilm to ensure that each planet in "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" had a distinct personality, and bizarre alien creatures to match.

Between clashes with the Empire and adventuring across the different planets, "Fallen Order" will provide a challenge for most players. Luckily, you can change the difficulty at any time.

The story-driven action sequences in "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" are some of the game's finest moments, but you have to restart the game to replay them.

The story isn't anything life-changing, but it will feel fun and familiar for fans of the "Star Wars" movies.

As always, "Star Wars" fans can expect some twists and turns as the story unfolds, and the game is short enough to warrant multiple runs.

Completing "Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order" took me about 12 hours on the second-hardest difficulty, Jedi Master. I could easily spend a few more hours collecting hidden treasure, upgrading Cal's abilities, and just enjoying the combat.

"Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order" is the best "Star Wars" game in a very long time, and a refreshing return to story-driven games for the "Star Wars" franchise.

"Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" is a wonderful "Star Wars" game that pays proper respect to the franchise and encourages players to immerse themselves in the universe.

It does lack some of the polish that I would expect from a major studio game, with some graphical errors and frame rate issues occasionally interrupting an otherwise great experience.

But all in all, "Fallen Order" sits squarely on my list of must-play games for 2019.It's available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Happy Friday — and welcome to Shifting Gears! It's the second week for our roundup of transportation news. Fittingly, it was a whirlwind with plenty of drama.

You can sign up to get this recap in your inbox every week here. What did we miss? Let me know at grapier@businessinsider.com

It was a busy week in transportation news across the board. Tesla's chief executive Elon Musk was in Germany to accept yet another award for the company's Model 3 sedan, where he also announced plans to build a factory near Berlin. And in the US, Boeing is no closer to returning its embattled plane to the skies, while Uber saw insiders cash out as its post-IPO lock-up period expired and the company finds a new regulatory fight. 

Here's what happened:

SEE ALSO: A Bezos-backed trucking startup now valued at $2.75 billion just raised $400 million from Al Gore's fund to dominate the digital-freight market

Driving the Future

Business Insider's transportation team collaborated to report stories about the sector's attempts to reduce carbon emissions. Transportation alone accounts for some 29% of US greenhouse-gas emissions, according  to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Electric cars, of course, could help stave off a lot of the emissions from highways — but without drastic policy shifts, my colleague Matt DeBord points out, the US will likely remain well behind China and Europe on adoption rates. EV's also don't always have the cleanest supply chains, Mark Matousek reports.

Airlines are also a major source of pollution, but without any realistic alternative yet, jet engines aren't likely go go anywhere anytime soon: David Slotnick reports on the incremental efforts thus far.

Amazon, meanwhile, has been ridiculed online in viral videos for plastic packaging, but Rachel Premack reports the outrage might be overblown.

Finally, I spoke to Lyft's head of sustainability, Sam Arons, about the ride-hailing firms' efforts to go completely carbon free. With most of its rides still occurring in gas-guzzling cars, mostly occupied by only one person, he's got his work cut out for him.

Uber insiders continue to cash out

Uber's founders kept cashing out of big chunks of their stakes in the ride-hailing giant as its stock price continues to slide. Travis Kalanick sold another large tranche this week, regulatory filings show, bringing his total sales to $711 million.

Board member and founder Garrett Camp, who self-funded one of Uber's earliest rounds, also sold about $13 million this week, according to SEC filings.

I spoke to the head of Uber for Business, Ronnie Gurion, about how his division — one of the most lucrative — could help the embattled company finally turn a profit.

And let us not forget that Uber began the week with CEO Dara Khosrowshahi fervently backtracking after telling Axios that Saudi Arabia's murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi "a mistake" and comparing it to when an Uber self-driving car killed a pedestrian in Arizona.

Tesla heads to Germany

On stage to accept an award from Auto Bild (which, full disclosure, is also owned by Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer) Elon Musk announced that Tesla plans to build a fourth factory, its first in Europe, near Berlin.

Details are scant, in classic Tesla fashion, but what here's everything we do know, courtesy of my German colleagues at Welt.

In other Tesla news, the company is making progress on fixing a big problem with the Model 3 and Model S that put it at odds with Consumer Reports.

Boeing might deliver new 737 Max planes earlier than previously thought

The company said it had completed simulator test flights with the Federal Aviation Administration to certify software fixes to the plane. That could help Boeing resume deliveries of the grounded plane to airlines in December.

Boeing has faced increasing pressure as it halted deliveries while production continued. Though in April it cut its production rate to 42 planes per month from 52, it has had difficulty finding places to store the completed but undeliverable planes.

There's a new world's longest flight

Last month, David Slotnick took the world's longest flight from New York to Sydney, Australia. Now, Qantas has completed a test flight of a similarly-strenuous version, totaling nearly 20 hours, from London to Sydney.

The route from London to Sydney is about 500 miles longer than the path from New York. However, due to trade winds, the flight is expected to take about the same amount of time.

What we're reading elsewhere:

• Tesla/Germany: 'glorious success' or Schnapsidee? — Financial Times
• Uber fined $649 million by New Jersey for saying drivers aren't employees — New York Times
• Elon Musk's Boring Co. is run by a former bar owner who can quote Ayn Rand — Bloomberg
• Daimler's new CEO warns electric-car shift will be painful — Bloomberg
• Amtrak's new ticket rules won't let passengers sue in a crash — Politico
• E-bikes are coming back to San Francisco after Lyft resolves issues with battery fires — The Verge
• Worker injuries, 911 calls, housing crisis: Recruiting Tesla exacts a price — USA Today

• Elon Musk's Boring Company is one of the most talked-up transportation companies of the moment, with an ambitious goal of drilling a network of tunnels meant for cars under major cities.
• The company's president, Steve Davis, has a fittingly whimsical background, laid out in a new profile from Bloomberg.
• Davis taught himself how to make frozen yogurt while earning his Ph.D. and opened his own yogurt shop, which he later sold for $1.
• He also used to own a Washington bar called Thomas Foolery that accepted Bitcoin payments.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Elon Musk's Boring Company has built a reputation for offbeat stunts — while its primary business is focused on digging a network of tunnels for Tesla cars under major US cities, the company has drawn attention for selling flamethrowers and building a Monty Python-style watchtower.

As it turns out, Boring Company president Steve Davis has a history of wacky gimmicks throughout his career, detailed in a new profile from Bloomberg reporter Sarah McBride (the profile builds on reporting from Ashlee Vance's book on Elon Musk).

Davis was hand-picked by Musk to lead Boring Company, perhaps in part because of his colorful background. Before working for Musk, Davis founded a frozen yogurt shop and a bar that accepts bitcoin, among other ventures.

Boring Company now faces scrutiny, especially in Chicago and Las Vegas, where it plans to build its first tunnels. It still hasn't constructed any commercial tunnels, though the Las Vegas project is under construction. The company is now weathering pushback from skeptical lawmakers— Davis will have to navigate those concerns in order for the company to follow through on its vision.

Here are some of the most striking details from Davis' life before Boring Company.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk says Tesla owners will soon be able to replace their horn with fart noises

Musk tested Davis' engineering skills by challenging him to make a $120,000 part with a budget of $5,000. After months of work, Davis emailed Musk that he did so with just $3,900 and Musk responded with one word: "Ok."

The anecdote was reported in Ashlee Vance's book, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future.

Davis was living in D.C. working for SpaceX and missed California-style Frozen Yogurt, so he taught himself to make it "via trial and error" and opened his own yogurt shop, "Mr. Yogato."

Source: Bloomberg

Mr. Yogato offered discounts to customers who could answer trivia questions, or ask "Seinfeld" trivia questions that Davis couldn't answer. Customers also got a discount for dressing as tennis player Bjorn Borg.

The "Rules of Yogato" are detailed on Mr. Yogato's website.

Davis ultimately held a Willy Wonka-style contest to select the new owner of Mr. Yogato and sold it for $1 to the new owner.

Source: The Washingtonian

Davis founded and ran Mr. Yogato while simultaneously earning his Ph.D. in economics at George Mason University. The focus of his dissertation was US currency debasement.

Source: Bloomberg

After getting his Ph.D., Davis opened a bar in D.C. called Thomas Foolery, which was one the city's first establishments to accept Bitcoin payments.

Source: Washington City Paper

Thomas Foolery offered "gimmick upon gimmick," according to the Washington Post. The bar offered "angry hour," when patrons could receive a discount for shouting their drink order. Visitors to the bar could also get discounts for things like dancing "the Carlton," a move from "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

Source: The Washington Post,Thrillist

Davis is reportedly a devoted fan of Ayn Rand and has quoted "Atlas Shrugged" during public events. He was also an extra in a 2012 "Atlas Shrugged" movie.

Source: Mother Jones

Musk hand-picked Davis to lead Boring Company. At an event announcing the company's tunnel plans, Davis joked that they would use bricks made from excavated dirt to build a pyramid in Musk's honor.

Source: Bloomberg

We rounded up the 11 best sales and deals happening online today, with savings on 23andMe DNA kits, the new Echo Dot with clock, pants and denim at Bonobos, toys at Target, and more. 

Deals in this story are subject to change throughout the day. The prices listed reflect the deal at the time of publication. For even more deals and savings across the web, check out Business Insider Coupons.

The best sales and deals happening today at a glance:

• Save 50% on 23andMe DNA Kits
• Save $15 on the new Echo Dot with clock on Amazon
• Save up to 30% on outdoor gear and clothing at REI*
• Save 25% on pants and denim at Bonobos
• Save 30% on select styles at Ralph Lauren
• Save 25% on your order at L.L.Bean
• Save up to 50% on hundreds of toys at Target

SEE ALSO: The best mattresses you can buy

DON'T MISS: I got my teeth straightened through an online service called Candid for under $2,000 — here’s how it works

1. Save 50% on 23andMe DNA Kits

23andMe Health and Ancestry DNA Kit, $99 (Originally $199) [You save $100]

23andMe won't be able to give you all of the answers, but the popular DNA test will be able to tell you more about your heritage than most of us know off the top of our heads. All you need to do is provide a saliva sample using the tools you'll find in this kit and send it back to 23andMe for testing. Within six to eight weeks you'll receive your results, and you'll be able to prove where you come from once and for all. Originally priced at $199, you can get the kit for $99. If you're looking to give the gift of discovering ancestry this holiday season, you'll want to stock up now.

2. Save $15 on the new Echo Dot with clock on Amazon

Echo Dot 3rd Gen with clock on Amazon, $44.99 (Originally $59.99) [You save $15]

The new Echo Dot is identical to the 3rd generation Echo Dot (released last year) with a big difference: It's also a clock. This Alexa-enabled speaker sports an LED digital clock face and can display timers and alarms. You can tap the top of the device to snooze. For a limited time, you can $15 on the device.

3. Save up to 30% on outdoor gear and clothing at REI*

Shop the REI Gear Up Get Out sale now. 

As winter and the holiday season nears, the outdoor retailer is having a huge "Gear Up Get Out" sale that's worth taking advantage of for yourself or anyone on your holiday gift list. Now through November 25, you can get up to 30% off outdoor apparel, gear, footwear, and accessories. The limited-time sale includes discounts on jackets, warm base layers, winter boots, tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, ski gear, bikes, and much more.

* This deal features Sponsored Products that have been suggested by REI and that also meet our editorial criteria in terms of quality and value.

4. Save 25% on pants and denim at Bonobos

Shop the Bonobos sale now. 

Bonobos has grown to become a head-to-toe menswear brand, but the latest sale focuses on its bread and butter: pants. Now through November 16, 11:59 p.m. ET, you can save 25% on pants and denim by using the promo code "PANTBUYMEALONE" at checkout. Whether you're looking for chinos, corduroys, dress pants, or jeans, you'll find plenty of sizes, fits, and colors here. 

5. Save 30% on select styles at Ralph Lauren

Shop the Ralph Lauren sale now. 

Ralph Lauren is known for its iconic American-inspired designs and to help you prepare for the upcoming gift-giving season, the brand is having a huge sale for the entire family. Now through November 19, you can save 30% on select styles, plus an extra 15% on select outerwear.

6. Save 25% on your order at L.L. Bean

Shop the L.L. Bean sale now. 

L.L. Bean is kicking off the gift-giving season with a sitewide sale. Now through November 19, you can save 25% on your order by using the promo code "SAVE25" at checkout. You'll find fleece jackets, flannels,  the popular Bean Boots, and other fall and winter staples included in the sale. 

7. Save up to 50% on hundreds of toys at Target

Shop the Target sale now. 

The holiday season is upon us and many kinds of toys will definitely be on kids' wish lists. To help you save on them, Target is having a huge sale. For a limited time, you can save 50% on hundreds of toys. With options for kids of all ages, the sale includes everything from board games, dollhouses, and action figures to remote-control cars, learning and activity kits, and bikes. 

7. Get $750 worth of travel points when you sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred

Learn more about the Chase Sapphire Preferred from our partner The Points Guy.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is a great option if you're new to earning points and miles, as it has a reasonable $95 annual fee. You'll earn 2 points per dollar on all travel and dining purchases and 1 point on everything else, and the card includes some valuable benefits like trip delay coverage and primary car rental insurance.

You can earn 60,000 Chase points with the Chase Sapphire Preferred when you spend $4,000 in the first three months from account opening. That's worth at least $750 toward travel. Read our review to learn more about the card's benefits.

Business Insider may receive a commission from The Points Guy Affiliate Network if you apply for a credit card, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

8. Save 25% on Gravity Blankets and more

Shop the Gravity Blanket sale now. 

Weighted blankets are becoming an increasingly popular method for reducing stress and getting a good night of sleep — and the popular Gravity Blanket is on sale now. For a limited time, you can save 25% sitewide with the promo code "HOLIDAY2019" at checkout. In addition to the original Gravity Blanket, the sale also includes travel blankets, weighted sleep masks, aromatherapy pillows, and more. 

9. Save 20% on OXO Smart Seal containers and glass bakeware

Shop the OXO sale now. 

Thanksgiving is a few weeks away, and if you're planning on preparing a big feast, you're going to need lots of containers to prepare food and store all those leftovers. Now through December 8, you can save 20% on all OXO Smart Seal containers and glass bakeware automatically. Instead of struggling with the mismatched containers and lids in your cabinet, this is a good opportunity to save on new high-quality containers.

10. Save 25% on a Bear mattress, plus get two free pillows

Shop the Bear Mattress sale now. 

Named the best mattress for hot sleepers in our buying guide, Bear Mattresses are designed to keep you cool and comfortable at night. Additionally, the mattresses feature Celliant, a material that converts heat from the body into far infrared — a type of energy that's been proven to help rebuild cells. The technology can help you wake up feeling well-rested and free of aches and pains, plus you won't break a sweat in your sleep. Now through November 30, you can get 25% off your order with promo code "GIFT" at checkout. You'll also receive two free pillows when you purchase a mattress or bundle.

• Under Armour has fallen into a bit of a rut.
• The company says it is currently under federal investigation over its accounting practices.
• On October 22, the company's founder, Kevin Plank, announced he would be stepping down from his role as CEO after 23 years. Plank will be replaced by COO Patrik Frisk. 
• It has had massive problems in the past, including $1.3 billion in leftover merchandise in 2018, shrinking popularity among teens, and a scandal involving executives going to strip clubs and expensing the outings.
• We traced the rise and fall of Under Armour, from its early days as a powerful force in the athletic-wear sphere to its current struggles and decline.
• Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

Under Armour is in trouble.

While similar sports retailers like Nike and Adidas are posting positive sales growth numbers relatively consistently in past years, Under Armour has sputtered. And recently, things have taken another turn for the worse.

On October 22, its longtime leader Kevin Plank announced he would be stepping down from his position as CEO. The company announced that Plank, who founded the company in 1996, would become executive chairman and brand chief while his CEO duties would be taken on by COO Patrik Frisk. These changes will go into effect on January 1. 

The company also said earlier this month that it is currently under federal investigation over its accounting practices. In its most recent earnings call, it reported a 1% decline in revenue. 

This isn't Under Armour's first rough patch. The company has experienced many ups and downs in its over 20-year history. In 2018, the level of the company's leftover inventory grew 11% to $1.3 billion in the second quarter. That same year, Under Armour executives were embroiled in a scandal that involved going to strip clubs on the company's dime, a practice that was officially banned in February 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

Under Armour announced a turnaround plan to revive the brand in December 2018. In September, the company announced in a press release that Stephanie Pugliese would take over the role of president of Under Armour North America as part of a strategy to further establish the presence of the brand in the company's home market.

Under Armour wasn't always the trouble-stricken brand that it is today. It once seemed poised to overtake the sportswear market in what seemed like a true Cinderella story.

From its rise to a once-$15 billion athletic-apparel empire and its eventual slow decline, here is the complete story of Under Armour so far. 

SEE ALSO: Here's how Under Armour grew into a $15 billion athletic-apparel empire

The story begins with Kevin Plank, Under Armour's founder and CEO. A team captain on the University of Maryland football team, Plank wanted to design athletic-wear that could withstand sweat and intense activity.

Source: Bethesda Magazine

Plank founded Under Armour in 1996 and designed the first prototype that year. It was called "The Shorty" and was tight, soft, and designed as a base layer to wick away sweat to keep athletes dry.

Source: Under Armour, Business Insider

This performance-enhancing goal is still evident in the Under Armour's clothing today. A recent visit to Under Armour's brand house in New York City revealed a display for the brand's Rush line, which also utilizes special fabric to enhance performance and endurance.

In the company's early days, Plank sold his merchandise from his grandmother's basement in Washington, DC. The company also a breakthrough when it made major deals with Georgia Institute of Technology and North Carolina State University.

Source: Sports Illustrated

Eventually, Plank started sending prototypes to contacts in the NFL to spread the word. Stars like Deion Sanders eventually bought some shirts, The New Yorker reported, and it made the jump from college to professional.

Source: Forbes,The New Yorker,Sports Illustrated

By the early 2000s, Under Armour was soaring. The company was expanding into new merchandise and advertising on television. Sales exceeded $200 million by 2004 and Plank decided to take the company public in 2005. The company raised $157 million in the IPO.

Source: The New Yorker,Marketwatch, Biz Journals

Endorsements and media attention were helping the brand solidify among the titans of sport and athletic wear. In 2010, the company signed a personal endorsement deal with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Source: Sports Pro Media

In 2011, Under Armour partnered with Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who became one of the company's most prized endorsers. Below are his Under Armour cleats.

Source: The New Yorker, Business Insider.CNBC

Under Armour also began to include women in its advertisements and endorsements, representing a stark change from the company's gruff and tough football beginnings. In 2014, the company signed Gisele Bundchen, Tom Brady's wife, and featured ballerina Misty Copeland in an advertisement that went viral.

Source: Forbes, Time

Today, Under Armour has a vast selection of women's clothing, including sports bras, leggings, and tank tops.

Under Armour bought MapMyFitness in 2013 for $150 million, followed by Endomondo for $85 million and MyFitnessPal for $475 million in 2015. The acquisitions of the fitness and health-focused apps and technology were part of the company's efforts to expand its digital offerings.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Under Armour experienced a minor setback in 2014 when the suits it designed for the US speed skating team were blamed by some for slowing down Olympic skaters in 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

That same year, Under Armour became the second best-selling sportswear brand in the US, surpassing Adidas but still trailing behind Nike by a wide margin.

Source: Business Insider

In 2015, Under Armour had another win when it signed a deal with boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

Source: Business Insider

In 2016, Under Armour introduced the UA SpeedForm Gemini 2 Record Equipped, its first smart shoe with a built-in sensor to store and track data.

Source: Under Armour

In 2016, it was also announced the company would become the official supplier of uniforms for Major League Baseball — its first major league-wide deal.

Source: Business Insider

The next year, the company introduced its sleepwear designed to help speed up the body's recovery process. We found some merchandise in stores this year.

Source: Under Armour

2017 was a turning point for Under Armour. The company's stock fell more than 40% and it reported its first quarterly loss ever. At least five top executives left the company that year, including footwear chief Peter Ruppe.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Business Insider

It also became clear the company had missed the boat on the athleisure style trend, with Plank saying the company needed to "become more fashion."

Earlier that year, Plank upset many customers when he praised President Trump in an interview with CNBC, calling him "a real asset for the country." The company later clarified the CEO's comments via multiple statements.

Source: Business Insider

Another blow came in 2018, when some athletes at UCLA refused to wear Under Armour's shoes after complaining that the bottoms were peeling off. Under Armour was the school's official shoe and apparel sponsor per a $280 million deal in 2016.

Source: Business Insider

Also in 2018, Dick's Sporting Goods' CEO called out Under Armour in an earnings call for broadening its distribution of merchandise in multiple new stores, saying the brand had a "significant weakness."

Source: Business Insider

Suddenly, Under Armour was losing appeal among its former customer base. Most shockingly, teens were abandoning the brand in huge numbers, Piper Jaffray's "Taking Stock of Teens" survey showed in April of 2018. The survey revealed that Under Armour was the No. 1 most cited "old" brand teens were no longer wearing.

Source: Business Insider

Under Armour saw some brief success in the July 2018, when its North American sales jumped for the first time in a year. But the brand still faced issues when it came to differentiating itself from competitors like Adidas and Nike, resulting in a "lack of brand clarity," according to Neil Saunders, a retail analyst and consultant.

Source: Business Insider

Despite some success, the company was still stuck with $1.3 billion worth of unsold inventory. To make matters worse, it emerged that executives and employees of Under Armour had been charging the company for visits to strip clubs with athletes or co-workers. This practice was put to an end earlier in 2018, but it didn't help the company's image.

Source: Business Insider,The Wall Street Journal

In September 2018, Under Armour announced a round of layoffs meant to help with growth and restructuring. One month later, the company beat profit expectations for its third-quarter earnings.

Source: Markets Insider, Markets Insider

Under Armour announced a turnaround plan in December to increase offerings for women and to focus more on the wants of the consumer. For a while, it seemed to be working.

Source: PR Newswire, Business Insider

It was announced in January 2019 that Under Armour backed out of its agreement with MLB to supply uniforms, saving the company a reported $50 million.

Source: Sports Pro Media

The uncertainty quickly returned. Though inventory numbers were down 26%, the company missed sales expectations for the second quarter of 2019 and shares fell 15% following the announcement. The company also updated its full-year guidance for lower sales in North America as the company continued to struggle in the athletic-wear game.

Source: Markets Insider, CNBC, Under Armour

In September, Under Armour announced Stephanie Pugliese as the new North American president. Then-President and COO Patrik Frisk said that Pugliese's "demonstrated record of leadership and retail expertise significantly strengthens our ability to further amplify Under Armour as the pre-eminent athletic performance brand in our home market.”

Source: Under Armour

On October 22, the company announced that Plank would be stepping down from his role as CEO after 23 years to become executive chairman and brand chief of Under Armour.

Plank will be replaced by Under Armour's current COO Patrik Frisk, who joined the company in 2017 after being CEO of Aldo Group. 

In a statement to the press announcing his resignation from his duties as CEO, Plank said:

"Patrik is the right person to serve as Under Armour's next CEO. As my partner during the most transformative chapter in our history, he has been exceptional in his ability to translate our brand's vision into world-class execution by focusing on our long-term strategy and re-engineering our ecosystem through a strategic, operational and cultural transformation."

Shortly after, on November 3, the company said that the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Department of Justice had been investigating its accounting practices since 2017. An Under Armour representative told Business Insider in a statement that the company was cooperating with the investigations and stood behind its accounting disclosures.

Source: Business Insider, The Wall Street Journal

A few weeks later, former executives told the Wall Street Journal that the company often redirected goods that were intended for factory stores to off-price chains like TJ Maxx near the end of each quarter to hit sales numbers.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

In an official company statement sent to Business Insider, Under Armour said, "As we have stated previously, we firmly believe that our disclosures and our accounting practices have been entirely appropriate."

In an email sent to employees on Friday and obtained by Business Insider, Plank responded to the Journal's report: "Given recent events that have entered the realm of public opinion without full context, it is disappointing to have our integrity and reputation called into question."

Source: Business Insider

• Many tech accessories are catered toward iPhones and iPhone users.
• This can make it difficult to gift someone in your life who doesn't own an iPhone but does love their Android. 
• We found 25 phone accessories and compatible gadgets — like phone cases, earbuds, and even phone sanitizers — that prove gifting an Android user isn't actually as difficult as you think. 
• Looking for more gift ideas? We've got you covered with all of our holiday gift guides.

From the first smartphone I owned, I've always been an Android user. Much to the chagrin of nearly all my friends and peers, I really do like the operating system and my Samsung phone. However, I do have to admit the world of tech accessories is made for iPhone users and the number and variety of options are tipped in their favor. 

If you have an Android phone user in your life who you generally regard with suspicion and is already causing you a lot of stress in the gift-hunting search, fear not — and just be glad they don't have a Windows phone. We're here to help you find some cool Android accessories they'll appreciate. Some are specially optimized for Android devices, while others are just great accessory gifts for all types of phones. 

The top 5 best tech gifts for Android users:

1. A wireless charging stand
2. Comfortable, high-quality wireless earbuds
3. A PopSockets phone grip and stand
4. A powerful external battery pack
5. A phone case that holds their cards

See all 25 phone accessories and compatible gadgets that prove gifting an Android user isn't actually as difficult as you think. 

A camera lens kit for enthusiastic phone photographers

Xenvo Camera Lens Kit Pro, $39.99, available at Amazon

Take breathtaking landscape photos and detailed close-ups with the 140-degree, wide-angle lens and the 10x macro lens in this kit. Simply clip it to the phone and align it with its camera to start snapping high-quality pictures. 

Comfortable, high-quality wireless earbuds

Master & Dynamic MW07 True Wireless In-Ear Headphones, $249.98, available at Best Buy

These true wireless earbuds topped even the Apple Airpods in our guide, a testament to their beautiful design and excellent sound quality. Since it's more expensive than most models, it makes sense to splurge for them during the holidays. 

A flexible car mount

iOttie Easy One Touch Qi Wireless Fast Charge Car Mount, $49.94, available at Amazon

This accessory pulls double duty by charging their phone while holding it securely on their dash. The telescopic arm extends up to eight inches and pivots on a wide arc for easy readability and access. 

A smart home assistant

Google Home Mini, $25, available at Best Buy and Walmart

Owners of Android devices like the Google Pixel will be happiest staying within the Google ecosystem and using the Google Home Mini smart home assistant, which helps them start their day, enjoy entertainment, and control other smart home devices. 

A portable photo printer

HP Sprocket 2nd Edition Instant Photo Printer, $114.99-$129.85, available at Amazon

It's quick and easy to print photos directly from their phone gallery and share them with your friends. The newest model can connect to multiple devices at once, allowing for group printing, and features a sleep mode that keeps it connected without draining battery. 

Long, efficient charging cables

Anker Six-Foot PowerLine Charging Cable, $12.99, available at Amazon

Braided cables are more durable and don't tangle as easily as the regular ones, plus they're simply more aesthetically pleasing. Anker's are specially designed to charge phones with USB-C ports efficiently. 

A pretty floral phone case

Geranium Case, $49, available at Casetify

Available for Samsung, Google, Sony, HTC, and LG devices

Phone cases often only satisfy two out of the following three criteria: durable, non-bulky, and beautiful. Casetify's are all three and I never feel like I'm settling while shopping its site. 

A tough phone storage box

OtterBox DRYBOX 3250 Series, $34.95, available at Amazon

This rugged case is basically like a tiny storage box, protecting not only their phone but also their keys, wallet, and other small essentials. It's even waterproof up to 90 feet for 30 minutes, making it perfect for outdoor adventures. 

A mini projector

Nebula Capsule Smart Mini Projector, $299.99, available at Amazon

After downloading the Nebula app, their phone becomes the TV remote for this high-quality mini projector. The projector itself runs on Android 7.1 and hosts streaming apps like YouTube and Netflix. 

A crossbody to hold just the essentials

Long Crossbody Phone Pocket, $40, available at Leatherology

Travel light with a stylish, full-grain pebbled leather bag that holds their phone with a little room to spare. Choose from more than 10 different leather colors and add a monogram for just $10. 

A running armband to hold your phone

Tribe Water Resistant Cell Phone Armband Case, $10.98, available at Amazon

Compatible with most phones, this best-selling case has a plush, elastic band for non-obtrusive comfort, reflective borders for safety, and a small pocket to hold their key as they run. 

A VR headset

Google Daydream View, $79.99, available at Walmart 

Samsung Gear VR with Controller, $102.80, available at Amazon

Depending on which device they have, either one of these VR headsets is a great choice that will immerse them in new worlds. The Daydream View works with Daydream-compatible phones like the Google Pixel 2, Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+/Note 8, Moto Z and Moto Z2, while the Samsung Gear VR works with the Galaxy and Note series. 

A gaming controller

GameSir G3s Bluetooth Wireless Controller, $35.99, available at Amazon

This controller lets them enjoy the classic gaming experience with their favorite Android games. It has a battery life of up to 18 hours, realistic vibration feedback, and a comfortable grip. 

A portable speaker

Ultimate Ears Boom 3 Portable Bluetooth Wireless Speaker (Waterproof), $149.99, available at Amazon

The newest version of the popular UE Boom series is waterproof and can even float on top of water (a feature that we put to the test). This "virtually indestructible" Bluetooth speaker is a must-have at their next party. 

A compact selfie stick

Anker Bluetooth Selfie Stick, $15.99, available at Amazon

They can get the whole group in their photo with this selfie stick. It's light and durable, while featuring a 20-hour battery life and ergonomic handle. 

A Wear OS smartwatch

Fossil Gen 4 Q Explorist HR Stainless Steel Touchscreen Smartwatch, $275, available at Fossil

While iPhone users have Apple Watches, Android users can choose from a number of Wear OS smartwatches. Fossil's sleek watch includes heart rate tracking, smartphone notifications, NFC payments, GPS, microphone and Google Assistant, music storage and controls, and customizable watch faces. 

A wireless charging stand

Samsung Qi Certified Fast Charge Wireless Charger Stand, $48.38, available at Amazon

Get a wireless charger stand to reduce cord clutter and use their phone as it's charging. Three neutral colors (black, white, navy) maintain minimalist style. 

A PopSockets phone grip and stand

PopSockets Grip, from $10, available at PopSockets and Amazon

iPhone and Android users can at least agree on one thing: PopSockets are great. Other than their smart and useful design, they're worthy gifts because there's a different style for every personality. 

A powerful external battery pack

RAVPower USB-C Power Bank 20100 Portable Charger, $49.99, available at Amazon

This power bank has a USB-C port and can fully charge up their Samsung Galaxy S9 an impressive four times. It can also quickly and simultaneously charge multiple devices so they're never stuck with a dead phone or laptop.  

A precise stylus pen

Bargains Depot 2-in-1 Universal Touch Screen Pen, $9.77, available at Amazon

They might want or need a stylus if they have a phone with an especially large screen. These affordable pens are precise and include 20 replacement tips. It also doesn't hurt that the colors are vibrant and eye-catching. 

A phone case that holds their cards

Spigen Slim Armor Case with Card Slot Holder, $18.99, available at Amazon

They should feel safe using this phone case, which has a dual layered construction of a rigid outer shell and shock-absorbent interior. The secure storage slot slides open to fit two cards and some cash. 

A car charger

Samsung Fast Charge Dual-Port Car Charger, $13.05, available at Amazon

Anyone who's spending a lot of time in their car, whether stuck in a daily commute or taking a cross-country road trip, might as well be productive during that time by keeping a car charger on hand. By the time they get to their destination, their phone will be up and ready again. 

A portable Bluetooth keyboard

OMOTON Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard for Android, $13.99, available at Amazon

Typing up important emails or reports on a small phone is uncomfortable and invites mistakes. A light and portable Bluetooth keyboard is a convenient companion to their phone that will let them work more efficiently and accurately. 

A phone sanitizer that kills 99.99% of germs on their phone

PhoneSoap 3 UV Cell Phone Sanitizer and Dual Universal Cell Phone Charger, $79.95, available at Amazon

For better or for worse, we bring our phones with us everywhere. PhoneSoap uses UV light to kill the many bacteria they pick up along the way. It also charges their phone at the same time. 

A headset to make it easy to take calls

Plantronics M95 Bluetooth Headset, $49.99, available at Best Buy

Calls come through this headset with impressive clarity. They can rely on it for uninterrupted calls as they juggle tasks like driving, grocery shopping, and dealing with kids. 

Looking for more gift ideas? We've got you covered.

• Our master list of every gift guide you'll ever need
• Creative gift ideas under $25
• Thoughtful gift ideas under $50
• Clever gift ideas under $100
• Cool stocking stuffers on Amazon
• Affordable tech gifts under $25
• Thoughtful gifts for her, all under $50
• Cool gifts for him on Amazon

Black Friday is coming up — read about Black Friday sales and deals:

• The absolute best Black Friday deals of 2019
• The best tech deals of Black Friday 2019
• Kohl's Black Friday deals 2019
• Amazon Black Friday deals 2019
• Walmart Black Friday deals 2019
• Target Black Friday deals 2019
• The best mattress deals on Black Friday 2019

Cyber Monday is approaching — read about Cyber Monday 2019 sales and deals:

• The absolute best Cyber Monday deals of 2019
• The best tech deals of Cyber Monday 2019
• Amazon Cyber Monday deals 2019
• Target Cyber Monday deals 2019
• Walmart Cyber Monday deals 2019
• Macy's Cyber Monday deals 2019
• What is Cyber Monday? Everything you need to know

• Squeezing lemons and oranges is easier with a great citrus juicer.
• The Zulay Citrus Stand Press is our top pick, thanks to its ability to squeeze every bit of juice out of your citrus fruit haul. 

A citrus juicer is a handy accessory for every kitchen. When you want to make a jug of iced lemonade on a hot summer's day, drink fresh orange juice for an early morning boost, or whip up a lemon vinaigrette to dress a salad, there's nothing better than freshly squeezed juice.

Packed with vitamins and minerals including Vitamin C, lemon and orange juice have plenty of health benefits and anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Of course, fresh juice is best because you can be sure it's 100% pure with no added preservatives or sugar.

When it comes to choosing the perfect citrus juicer, you need to consider what you want to use it for. Arguably the most important quality is how much juice it can get from a single fruit using the least amount of effort. If you plan on using lots of citrus then you'll need a professional quality squeezer, while smaller, cheaper models are better if you think you'll only need a small amount of juice.

Manual lemon squeezers are usually easier to assemble and clean, and they take up much less space in your kitchen. They are also usually much more affordable than electric ones, but it takes a lot longer to make a lot of juice. If you want to squeeze a high volume of citrus, then an electric one is better. However, they can be noisy and you need to change the batteries on some models.

Some people also prefer manual squeezers because they believe the juice produced tastes better or is higher in nutrients, while electric ones may heat up the juice, potentially changing the flavor and reducing these nutrients.

Choosing the best citrus juicer requires careful research, but we've put all the work in so you don't need to. We've looked at all the options on the market from budget to high end, squeezed hundreds of lemons, and consulted thousands of expert and buyer reviews to come up with our top four citrus juicers.

Here are the best citrus juicers you can buy: 

• The best citrus juicer overall: Zulay Citrus Stand Press
• The best handheld squeezer: Bellemain Stainless Steel Squeezer
• The best motorized citrus juicer: Breville 800CPXL Motorized Juicer
• The best affordable citrus juicer: Prepworks by Progressive Citrus Juicer

Updated 11/15/19 by Caitlin Petreycik: Updated prices, links, and formatting. Added related guides. 

SEE ALSO: The best juicers for your kitchen

The best citrus juicer overall

For hassle-free squeezing that requires no effort on your part, the Zulay Commercial Manual Citrus Press Stand Juicer is our top pick.

If you would rather use a manual citrus juicer instead of an electric one, but you plan to squeeze large quantities of lemons or oranges, we recommend the Zulay Commercial Manual Citrus Press Stand Juicer.

This super-efficient, professional-grade citrus press uses leverage and gravity to effortlessly extract every drop of juice from each lemon as well as other citrus fruits. All you do is pop in half a fruit and pull down the handle. It separates freshly squeezed juice from the seeds with ease, and the adjustable cup works for lemons, limes, and oranges, too.

You can squeeze dozens of fruits without your hands getting tired and they stay clean. It's easy for kids to use, too.

The Zulay Citrus Juicer is made from heavy-duty cast iron with rubber feet. The detachable parts are dishwasher safe for easy cleaning.

Pros: Ideal for large quantities of fruit, designed for all citrus fruits, removable parts are dishwasher safe

Cons: Bulky, more expensive than other manual lemon squeezers

The best handheld squeezer

The Bellemain Premium Quality Stainless Steel Lemon Squeezer is an inexpensive tool that gets every drop of juice with minimal effort.

The Bellemain Lemon Squeezer is made from stainless steel with reinforced hinges and strong levers for restaurant-standard squeezing. Unlike plastic models, it is designed to last and won't rust or crack. The bright red, ergonomic silicone handles cushion your hands and absorb pressure for easy squeezing. It also has a large bowl to collect the juice.

This lemon squeezer feels premium and is so simple to use. It squeezes out all the juice without much effort and your hands won't ache. It copes very well with different sized lemons and limes. However, this squeezer is not suitable for juicing lots of fruit as it would take a long time. You can pop it in the dishwasher to clean. Because it is small, it can be stored easily.

Pros: Small, easy to use, extracts all the juice, dishwasher safe, works with limes too, lifetime guarantee

Cons: Not suitable for producing large amounts of juice

The best motorized citrus juicer

The Breville Die-cast Motorized Citrus Press juices in seconds, making it ideal when you're hosting a large group of friends or family.

I love this Breville Citrus Juicer. It's great looking and whizzes through lemons and oranges in seconds. 

To operate it, you simply put halved fruit on top of the reamer and pull down the handle, for fast, efficient, and mess-free juicing. Built-in sensors activate the juicing process once the lever and fruit are in proper contact. The reamer fits all citrus fruits and a flip-up spout prevents drips.

Made from industrial-strength, brushed stainless steel, it is highly durable, rust-resistant, and the removable parts are dishwasher safe for easy cleaning.

The Breville Citrus Juicer is ranked "Best of the Best" on Best Reviews and Williams Sonoma buyers rave about it. 

Pros: Fast, efficient, durable, quiet, works with all citrus fruits

Cons: Pricey, can over-ream fruit, no container for catching juice

The best affordable citrus juicer

The Prepworks by Progressive Citrus Juicer is an affordable and effective juicer. It's about the size of an orange so it'll take up little space on your counter.

Whether you want some fresh lemon juice to dress a salad or to make a lemon meringue pie, the Prepworks by Progressive Citrus Juicer is the ideal cooking accessory. It's also a bargain.

The dome lid doubles as a measuring cup and the base has a well-designed spout, so you won't spill the juice all over the countertop when you pour it out. The tray does a great job of separating the juice from the seeds. It is not suited to squeezing more than one or two lemons or limes at a time because it is a small juicer.

Pros: Small, easy to use, easy to store, dishwasher safe

Cons: Only works with small fruits, suited to small quantities of lemons, doesn't squeeze out all the juice

Check out our other great kitchen gadget guides

The best juicers 

The nutritional benefits of starting your day with fruits and vegetables are undeniable, but so is the financial hit of being a juice bar regular (if you go five times a week, we're talking hundreds — if not thousands — of dollars a year). With a juicer, however, you can offset the cost of your healthy habit by squeezing your own greens at home. Here are the best juicers you can buy: 

• Best juicer overall: Hurom HP Slow Juicer
• Best budget juicer: Hamilton Beach 67650A Juicer
• Best centrifugal juicer: Breville JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus
• Best high-end juicer: Hurom's H-AI Slow Juicer
• Best citrus juicer: Hurom Citrus Juicer

The best ice makers

If you often find yourself needing a little more ice than what your freezer can make, consider a countertop ice maker. From portable, compact units to heavy-duty models, these are the best ice makers you can buy:

• Best ice maker overall: Frigidaire EFIC108 Compact Ice Maker
• Best stowable ice maker: Vremi Countertop Ice Maker
• Best high-output countertop ice maker: NewAir Portable Ice Maker
• Best portable nugget ice maker: FirstBuild Opal Nugget Countertop Ice Maker
• Best freestanding ice maker: Manitowac Air-Cooled Undercounter Dice Cube Ice Machine

The best KitchenAid stand mixers

Whether you're a professional baker or home cook, the KitchenAid stand mixer is one of the best tools you can have. But there are several models to choose from. In our guide, we pick the best options and what type of chef they're great for. Check out the best KitchenAid stand mixers you can buy:

• Best overall: KitchenAid Artisan Tilt-Head Stand Mixer with Pouring Shield
• Best on a budget: KitchenAid 4.5-Quart Classic Series Stand Mixer
• Best for bread: KitchenAid Professional 5 Plus Series Stand Mixer
• Best for pros: KitchenAid 6 Qt. Professional 600 Series Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer
• Best upscale model: KitchenAid 5-Qt. Artisan Design Series with Glass Bowl

• Adidas is currently having an exclusive sitewide sale until November 15 at 11:59 p.m. PST. Customers can save 30% online with some exclusions.
• Use the promo code"GIVEADI" at checkout to receive the discount. You won't see the promotion listed anywhere on the site, but the code will work.
• The sale includes apparel, outerwear, and popular sneakers like the ZX Torsion, select Ultraboosts, NMDs, Nite Joggers, Stan Smiths, and more. Some exclusions include select Ultraboosts and the Alphaedge 4D.
• We rounded up the 10 best deals in the sale for men and women, below.
• For more sales and deals at Adidas, visit Business Insider Coupons. 
• Shop the Adidas sale now. 

Men's Adidas Ultraboost 19

$75.60 (Originally $180) [You save $104.40]

Men's Adidas Stan Smith

$56 (Originally $100) [You save $44]

Men's Adidas NMD_R1

$72.80 (Originally $130) [You save $57.20]

Men's Adidas Alphaboost

$84 (Originally $120) [You save $36]

Men's Adidas ZX Torsion

$98 (Originally $140) [You save $42]

Women's Adidas EQT Gazelle

$38.50 (Originally $110) [You save $71.50]

Women's Adidas Tresc Run

$45.50 (Originally $130) [You save $84.50]

Women's Adidas Gazelles

$35 (Originally $100) [You save $65]

Women's Adidas Nite Jogger

$91 (Originally $130) [You save $39]

Women's Adidas Senseboost Go

$58.50 (Originally $120) [You save $61.50]

• "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" were released on the Nintendo Switch on November 15.
• The games introduced dozens of new Pokémon from the Galar region, a new area in the Pokémon world.
• "Sword" and "Shield" will bring the total number of Pokémon in the series to more than 1,000 when including different forms, but the games won't include every Pokémon from the franchise's history.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A pair of brand-new Pokémon games were released for the Nintendo Switch on November 15, and they've introduced a whole new generation of Pokémon to fans.

"Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" mark the eighth generation of Pokémon games, and bring the total number of Pokémon to more than 1,000 when taking different forms into account.

Like the original Pokémon titles, "Sword" and "Shield" are role-playing games. Players will adventure through the brand-new Galar region, capturing Pokémon and battling other trainers on their way to becoming the Pokémon champion.

Players will choose from one of three new starter Pokémon — Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble — at the start of their adventure and encounter hundreds more Pokémon as they explore Galar. Nintendo has revealed about 25 new Pokémon so far, and there are sure to be dozens more by time the games arrive in November.

However, "Sword and Shield" will be the first main Pokémon games not to include every species of Pokémon in the prior games. While many fan-favorites like Pikachu and Charizard are confirmed to return, players will spend more time getting familiar with the new species of Pokémon introduced in the Galar region. 

Some of the older Pokémon, like Ponyta and Weezing, have unique Galarian forms with new abilities while other classic Pokémon like Farfetch'd and Zigzagoon have new evolutions.

"Pokemon Sword and Shield" will also include a new ability called "Gigantamax" that makes certain Pokémon huge. Some Gigatamax Pokémon will change forms completely, and they'll have access to super-powered attacks called G-Max moves. However, Gigantamax only lasts for a few turns in battle, so it's not a full fledged evolution.

Not every Pokémon can Gigantamax — you'll have to catch Gigantamax Pokémon in special raid battles in the wild areas of the Galar region. That means even if you catch a normal Charizard, you'll have to catch a new one in a raid battle to unlock the Gigantamax form.

Here are all of the confirmed new Pokémon we've seen in "Pokémon Sword and Shield" so far, with their official descriptions:

SEE ALSO: Pokémon fans are accusing the developers of being ‘lazy’ for not including all 1,000-plus Pokémon in the new Nintendo Switch games

Grookey, the Chimp Pokémon (Grass)

Grookey can share its energy with plants.

Scorbunny, the Rabbit Pokémon (Fire)

"Scorbunny uses its powerful legs to run and jump around its opponents, confusing and disorienting them. The soles of its feet can become very hot, and Scorbunny can kick opponents to damage and burn them, too!"

Scorbunny's can increase its heart rate with its "fire sac."

"Scorbunny has a fire sac in its chest, which contains viscous fire energy. If Scorbunny is able to increase its heart rate and body temperature by running around and warming up properly, the true power of its fire energy will be awakened and its physical capabilities will greatly increase."

Sobble's tears force everyone around it to start crying, too.

"Sobble's tears are capable of making others cry. This effect is so strong, it is said that its tears are as potent as 100 onions. If Sobble feels threatened, it will start to bawl and spread its tears around the area, causing everyone around it to start crying uncontrollably. Sobble will then use this distraction as a chance to escape."

Sobble, the Water Lizard Pokémon (Water)

"When Sobble touches water, its body changes its pattern and color, allowing it to blend into its surroundings. Sobble is a bit timid, and so if it gets nervous or embarrassed, it will secrete the water within its body like sweat and disappear into the surroundings."

Zamazenta, the legendary Pokémon on the cover of "Pokémon Shield"

"Zamazenta's regal and majestic movements overwhelm any opponents that dare face it. Its body is covered in what seems to be a shield."

Zacian, the legendary Pokémon on the cover of "Pokémon Sword"

"Zacian attacks so gracefully that its movements can even captivate its opponents. It holds what appears to be a sword in its mouth."

Mr. Rime, the Comedian Pokémon (Fairy/Ice)

"It's amusing movements make it very popular. It releases its psychic power from the pattern on its belly."

Corviknight, the Raven Pokémon (Flying/Steel)

"It is said that Corviknight is the strongest Pokémon living in the skies of the Galar region. It can often be seen fearlessly soaring through the air. Many say that any Pokémon foolish enough to challenge Corviknight are sent running with just a sharp glare and cry from this fearsome Pokémon."

Players can use Corviknight as a flying taxi to travel between towns.

"Corviknight possess superb flying skills and high intelligence. Because of this, many of them work for the company called Galar Taxi, helping transport people from town to town."

Gigantamax Corviknight (Flying/Steel)

Sirfetch'd, Wild Duck Pokémon (Fighting)

"The Farfetch'd of the Galar region can evolve into Sirfetch'd after experiencing many battles. They are calm and collected, and they make a point of always battling fairly. They are so noble in battle that they are often chosen as a motif for paintings. Of particular note is a painting —famous in the Galar region — that depicts a duel between a Sirfetch'd and an Escavalier."

Sirfetch'd is the only Pokémon that can learn the new move Meteor Assault.

"In battle, Sirfetch'd uses the sharp stalk of its leek as a lance and the thick leaves as a shield. It maintains this leek over the span of many years and treasures it more than anything. When its leek finally withers, Sirfetch'd will leave the battlefield and retire from battling entirely.

Meteor Assault is a new move introduced in these games that only Sirfetch'd can learn! Sirfetch'd points its leek at the opponent and charges toward them at great speed. This move is devastatingly powerful! However, it appears that the move also puts great strain on Sirfetch'd. It will be unable to take action immediately after using this move."

Galarian Ponyta, the Unique Horn Pokémon (Psychic)

"Galarian Ponyta have been found in a certain forest of the Galar region since ancient times. It is said that they were exposed to the overflowing life energy of the forest over many generations, and this is why their appearance became unique in this region."

Unlike the Ponyta found in "Pokémon Red and Blue," the Galarian version has a horn like a unicorn and a sparkling mane. It's also Psychic-type instead of Fire-type.

Gigantamax Charizard (Fire/Flying)

"The flames inside its body have become stronger, and now fire erupts from its mouth and horns in addition to its tail. It seems that the strength of the flames increases when Charizard roars.

Charizard's flames have become enhanced with Gigantamax power and now form wings on its back. These wings are hotter than magma, and Charizard can fire them off to scorch its opponents!"

Polteageist, the Black Tea Pokémon (Ghost)

"Polteageist's body is made from black tea and is said to have a very distinct aroma and flavor. It will only allow a Trainer it trusts to sample its tea. However, drinking too much can lead to indigestion or an upset stomach, so be careful!"

Packs of Polteageist haunt hotels and restaurants around the Galar region, and the Pokémon packs a unique flavor.

Cramorant, the Gulp Pokémon (Flying/Water)

If Cramorant uses dive or surf, it will pick up a fish to use as a weapon in battle.

"Cramorant's Ability, Gulp Missile, is a new Ability introduced in these titles, and it can be triggered during battles. After Cramorant uses Surf or Dive, it will return with a catch in its mouth. If it takes damage while in this state, Cramorant will retaliate by spitting out its catch at the attacker!"

Morpeko, the Two-Sided Pokémon (Electric/Dark)

Morpeko changes form when it gets hungry, converting its energy from Electric-type to Dark-type.

When experiencing prolonged hunger, the balance of hormones within Morpeko's body changes. This causes its fur color to change and triggers more aggressive and volatile behavior. The energy stored in its cheek sacs also changes from Electric type to Dark type.

Gigantamax Pikachu (Electric)

"All the electricity it generates in the sacs in its cheeks is stored in its tail. In battle, it will strike opponents with its tail and send a jolt of electricity through them as great as any lightning strike!

It's become so powerful that now it can produce enough electricity to rival a power plant! However, using this electricity to help power people's homes seems difficult, as Pikachu can only remain Gigantamaxed for a short time."

Obstagoon, the Blocking Pokémon

"The Linoone of the Galar region live in harsh conditions compared to those found in other regions, with fierce competition against others of their species. Their survival instincts have been honed as a result, leading to their evolution into Obstagoon."

Obstagoon can use a move called Obstruct to counter incoming attacks.

"Though Obstagoon is extremely combative, it seems that it doesn't often launch the first attack. It will taunt an opponent, goading it into attacking. When it does, Obstagoon will cross its arms and meet the oncoming attack with its Obstruct move."

Alcremie, the Cream Pokémon (Fairy)

"Alcremie can produce whipped cream, which becomes richer the happier Alcremie is feeling. Desserts made using this cream are invariably delicious, so many pastry chefs strive to have an Alcremie as their partner."

Alcremie uses its delicious cream as a defense mechanism.

"When attacked by an opponent, Alcremie will throw sweet-scented cream to distract them or temporarily blind them, giving itself time to escape. The cream it uses for this purpose has an incredibly powerful soothing effect, and any opponent that tries to eat the cream will rapidly lose the will to battle."

Gigantamax Alcremie (Fairy)

"The cream pouring out of its body hardens when subjected to impacts—the stronger the impact, the harder it becomes. This gives Alcremie a truly impressive resistance to physical attacks. Additionally, the giant 'Berry' decorations on Alcremie's body are as hard as diamonds, and it's said that most attacks won't even be able to leave a scratch.

Drednaw, the Bite Pokémon (Water/Rock)

Drednaw is a handful for inexperienced trainers.

"Drednaw is known to be extremely vicious, and it takes a skilled Trainer to tame and handle this Pokémon. It seems that some Trainers will release Drednaw back into the wild once they discover they can't handle it."

Gigantamax Drednaw (Water/Rock)

"The power of Gigantamaxing has allowed it to stand on its hind legs and become bipedal! From its standing position, it can come crashing down on opposing Pokémon and crush them with its massive body!

Wooloo, the Sheep Pokémon (Normal)

"The white fur that covers their bodies grows throughout their lives, and it will fully grow back in three months even if the Wooloo has been completely shorn. The fur is used for clothing and carpets and the like, and it is very popular as a specialty product of the Galar region."

Wooloo tend to avoid conflict.

"Wooloo live as a herd and mimic the actions of their Trainer or herd leader. They dislike conflict, and if they need to escape from enemies, they will simply roll away."

Gossifleur, the Flowering Pokémon (Grass)

"Gossifleur prefers lands with clean water and air, and its pollen has a healing effect. Its pollen works on people, too, and it used to be a common folk medicine remedy for children of the Galar region to be given a tea made from this pollen when they fell ill."

Gossifleur travels along the wind.

"Gossifleur travels over long distances by getting blown along by the wind. It controls the direction of its travels by twisting its body and petals."

Eldegoss, the Cotton Bloom Pokémon (Grass)

"When Gossifleur evolves into Eldegoss, its head becomes covered in thick cotton fluff. This cotton fluff serves as a cushion, helping to protect Eldegoss's head from damage."

Eldegoss's seeds provide nutrition to people and Pokémon alike.

"The tiny seeds attached to the cotton fluff are said to be highly nutritious and beneficial to both people and Pokémon. Eldegoss spreads these seeds throughout the region by sending them on the wind, making the soil of the Galar region rich in nutrients."

Gigantamax Butterfree (Bug/Flying)

"Its most notable feature is its blinding wings, which have grown to gigantic proportions. The light of its wings comes from their scales, which can inflict paralysis, poisoning, or sleep on its opponents. These scales are Butterfree's most effective weapons!

Butterfree's vast wings can stir up a wind strong enough to lift a 10-ton truck, just by flapping. This wind also scatters poisonous scales around the area, so simply being near this Pokémon is very dangerous."

Yamper, the Puppy Pokémon (Electric)

"Yamper has a tendency to be drawn to things that are moving quickly. It can chase after people and Pokémon or even go charging at vehicles!"

Yamper's body crackles with electricty as it runs.

"Yamper has an organ in its body that generates electricity, and this organ is activated when Yamper runs around. Yamper can't store the electricity it generates, so it's often seen running around with electric sparks crackling around it."

Duraludon, the Alloy Pokémon (Steel/Dragon)

"The metal composing its body is incredibly durable but also surprisingly light. It only weighs about 88 lbs. in total. Thanks to this, Duraludon can move quite quickly in spite of its appearance. Its body is weak to corrosion, however, and is known to rust easily."

Duraludon's arms are strong enough to crush boulders.

"Duraludon live in caves and mountainous areas. Their two arms have slightly different shapes from each other, and they use these to grind down rock surfaces for food. They share their habitat with Tyranitar, and these two Pokémon are often seen battling each other in the mountains of the Galar region."

Rolycoly, the Coal Pokémon (Rock)

"Its red eye can illuminate dark areas, while it uses the lump of coal attached to its body like a wheel to move through coal mines and caves. It seems to be able to travel smoothly even over rough terrain."

Families in the Galar region once used Rolycoly to heat their homes.

"Until about one hundred years ago, every household in the Galar region had a Rolycoly. The families would use the coal that dropped off its body for cooking and heating their homes. Even in the modern day, Rolycoly is a very popular Pokémon to take for outdoor activities!"

Galarian Weezing, the Poison Gas Pokémon (Poison/Fairy)

"Galarian Weezing consumes polluted air and poisonous gases for sustenance. The air and gases absorbed will have toxins removed before being spewed out again from the tops of Weezing's heads. Apparently the air produced through this purification process is very clean!"

Though Weezing is a poison-type Pokémon, it actually inhales pollution to purify the air.

Gigantamax Meowth (Normal)

"Gigantamaxing has caused Meowth's body to stretch to astounding lengths, and the coin on its head has also become massive. The giant coin can emit a torrent of Gigantamax power, filling the surrounding area with a powerful golden gleam.

Meowth loves shiny objects, and when it sees skyscrapers lined with glass, it won't be able to resist the urge to sharpen its claws on them. This behavior can cause considerable damage, such as wearing down the exterior walls and breaking windows."

Galarian Linoone, the Rushing Pokémon (Dark/Normal)

Galarian Linoone's fierce attitude and aggression make it popular with angsty teens.

"Galarian Linoone can reach speeds of over 60 miles per hour and can deliver devastating Tackles and Headbutts. These attacks have enough destructive force to even knock a car away, but they can also throw Linoone off balance if they miss."

Galarian Zigzagoon,

"Galarian Zigzagoon enjoy battles and will charge at people and other Pokémon in an attempt to provoke a fight. This behavior usually succeeds in starting a battle with other Pokémon, but humans tend to think Galarian Zigzagoon is just playing or showing affection. It seems to cause Galarian Zigzagoon some frustration when people don't get angry even though it's trying to provoke them."

Galarian Zigzagoon can be found all across the Galar region, and they constantly try to start fights.

"The Zigzagoon of the Galar region move about however they like and never settle down. They're known to inhabit all areas of the region, including fields, forests, and even towns! There is some speculation that the zigzag movements of the Zigzagoon in other regions stem from the restless nature of Galarian Zigzagoon, which is considered to be the oldest branch of the species."

• Kevin Plank founded Under Armour, a leading athletic-wear brand, 23 years ago in his grandmother's basement.
• On October 22, Under Armour announced that Plank would be stepping down from his role as CEO and will be replaced by COO Patrik Frisk on January 1. Plank will become the executive chairman and brand chief.
• On November 4, the Wall Street Journal reported that Under Armour is under federal investigation to determine whether the brand altered its recorded revenue to bolster its healthy appearance. In a statement, Under Armour said it is cooperating with the probe.
• On November 15, Business Insider obtained a rallying email Plank sent to Under Armour employees responding to another WSJ report that alleged Under Armour "dumped goods" at off-price chains like TJ Maxx to bolster sales growth.
• Plank has a net worth of $1.7 billion. Here's a look at how he built Under Armour and how he spends his money.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

On October 22, Under Armour announced that founder Kevin Plank would be stepping down from his role as CEO. Effective January 1, he will be replaced by Patrik Frisk, the company's current president and chief operating officer.

According to the statement, Plank will become the executive chairman and brand chief at Under Armour, a company he founded in his grandmother's Washington D.C. basement in 1996.

Two weeks after the announcement of Plank's departure from his role, the Wall Street Journal reported that federal authorities are investigating Under Armour's accounting practices. According to the Journal's November 4 report, the company has been under Justice Department and SEC investigations since 2017 for its revenue disclosure practices.

"The company firmly believes that its accounting practices and disclosures were appropriate," a representative for Under Armour told the Journal. Under Armour is reportedly cooperating with the investigations.

In a November 14 report, the Journal alleged that Under Armour purposefully "pushed early shipments" and "dumped goods" at off-price stores such as TJ Maxx to bolster sales growth. Business Insider obtained an email Plank wrote to employees on Friday."Given recent events that have entered the realm of public opinion without full context, it is disappointing to have our integrity and reputation called into question," Plank wrote.

"With respect to inquiries into Under Armour's business practices by the Securities and Exchange commission and the Department of Justice, we firmly believe that our disclosures and our accounting practices have been entirely appropriate," he reiterated. "We respect the government's process and will continue to cooperate with thoughtful and proper resolve."

Keep reading for a look at how Kevin Plank, who is worth $1.7 billion, built Under Armour and established his wealth — and how he spends it.

SEE ALSO: Kevin Plank is stepping down as CEO of Under Armour

DON'T MISS: Under Armour founder Kevin Plank responds to an explosive report alleging the company dumped goods at TJ Maxx to sweeten sales numbers

According to Forbes, Kevin Plank has a net worth of $1.7 billion. In 1996, Plank founded Under Armour; on October 22, he announced that he would be stepping down from his role as the company's CEO.

According to an April 2017 report from The Wall Street Journal's Sara Germano, Plank has taken an annual nominal salary of $26,000. According to the same report, Under Armour paid more than $73 million in 2016 to companies controlled by Plank.

Source:Under Armour, Forbes

Plank's road to Under Armour began after getting kicked out of a Washington D.C. prep school.

Plank, the youngest of five brothers, was kicked out of Georgetown Prep, a private Jesuit high school outside Washington D.C., for being involved in "an alcohol-fueled brawl" during his sophomore year.

He then attended St. John's College High, another Catholic prep school in the area, where he played football. He graduated at 17, and instead of going directly to college, he went to a military academy known for producing top football talent for one year. 

Plank became a walk-on at the University of Maryland in College Park; it was there that he started focusing on the material of his football uniform.

As Business Insider previously reported, he couldn't stand the way his cotton T-shirts became drenched up with sweat and bunched up under his gear, even though they were on trend for the 1990s.

In 1996, Plank developed the first prototype of a skin-tight base layer made from a sweat-wicking synthetic fabric. He started the entire operation in his grandmother's D.C. basement.

In a 2014 interview with the Washington Post, Plank said "I had about $15,000 in cash, and I had established pretty good credit. I had about $40,000 in credit cards," when asked about how he financed the company early on.

Source:Business Insider

Plank was able to get his business off the ground by selling his shirts to his football-playing contacts.

In the company's first year, 1996, it saw $17,000 in sales.

It wasn't long before college and professional players were wearing Under Armour; the company sales exceeded $200 million by 2004.

As the brand grew, Plank successfully positioned Under Armour through a variety of celebrity endorsements. Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Cam Newton, and Misty Copeland are all tied to Under Armour.

Source: The New Yorker

As Business Insider has previously reported, Plank has been known not to name his competition directly. However, Under Armour has grown to be comparable to other mainstay athletic brands like Nike and Adidas.

While Under Armour's initial growth was rapid, it has slowed as of recent.

As Haley Peterson reported for BI, the company's revenue in 2018 grew just 4% over the previous year to $5.2 billion. For comparison, Nike grew 7.5% to $39.1 billion in its 2019 fiscal year.

Read more: We visited Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour to see which store does athletic-wear the best — the winner shocked us

Recently, Plank worked directly with Richard Branson to design and develop spacesuits for Virgin Galactic.

"I have followed Under Armour's progress through a personal friendship with its CEO, Kevin Plank and via the great relationships it has established over the years with various Virgin companies," Branson explained of the partnership in a January statement.

"I've loved its determination to push technical boundaries in order to improve performance, so could not have been more pleased when Kevin and his talented teams stepped up to the considerable task of creating a range of space apparel and performance programmes for Virgin Galactic," Branson continued.

Read more:Take a look at the Under Armour-designed spacesuits Virgin Galactic wants to send people to space in

In 2017, Plank sparked controversy after he praised President Trump in an interview.

In an interview with CNBC, Plank said: "To have such a pro-business president is something that is a real asset for the country."

The comment caused waves and Under Armour ultimately issued a statement saying: "We engage in policy, not politics."

On other topics, however, Plank publicly disagreed with Trump. When the president referred to Baltimore as a "rodent infested mess,"Plank took to Instagram to defend Under Armour's homebase.

Plank lives outside of Baltimore, Maryland with his wife of 16 years and their two children.

In February, The Wall Street Journal reported that sources had indicated that Plank had a very close relationship with an MSNBC anchor, Stephanie Ruhle. Ruhle and Plank had traveled together on his private jet and she had given him input on business matters, The Journal reported, citing executives and people familiar with the matter.

Plank and Ruhle alike declined to comment for the Journal's article. "Mr. Plank and Ms. Ruhle are friends," Under Armour's senior vice president of communications, told The Wall Street Journal at the time.

At one point, Plank's family listed the most expensive home in Washington D.C.

The completely renovated, 12,200-square-foot, eight-bedroom Georgetown mansion was put on the market in 2015 for $29.5 million, making it the most expensive home in D.C. 

It did not sell and was put back on the market earlier this month at a 17% price cut for $24.5 million. The family does not live in the home and is selling, according to the Washington Business Journal, because they do not use it as often as initially anticipated.

The family lives outside of Baltimore, near Under Armour's headquarters. According to the Baltimore Sun, they were also building a home nearby, but construction was halted for unknown reasons last fall.

As The Wall Street Journal reported in February, Plank owns a company that leases a black Gulfstream jet to Under Armour.

According to The Wall Street Journal's Khadeeja Safdar, Plank "also uses the same aircraft for private travels."

While it's unclear what model Gulfstream the company owns, a new Gulfstream G700 just revealed in Las Vegas will have a list price of $75 million. 

The family also has a privately held investment company called Plank Industries. Its holdings include an award-winning whiskey company.

According to the company's website, Plank Industries has holdings across several industries, including thoroughbred racing, hospitality, food and beverage, and commercial real estate.

Their company's key holding is Sagamore Spirit, a rye whiskey company that was named the world's best rye whiskey at San Francisco's World Spirits Competition.

Plank also owns Sagamore Racing Farm, a thoroughbred farm and training ground in Maryland previously owned by the Vanderbilts. He purchased and restored the farm in 2007.

Source: Sagamore Racing

Plank is stepping down as CEO but will act as the executive chairman and brand chief at Under Armour. Current COO Patrik Frisk will take up the duties of CEO on January 1, 2020.

"Patrik is the right person to serve as Under Armour's next CEO," Plank said in a statement. "As my partner during the most transformative chapter in our history, he has been exceptional in his ability to translate our brand's vision into world-class execution by focusing on our long-term strategy and re-engineering our ecosystem through a strategic, operational and cultural transformation."

Source: Business Insider

Frisk will helm a company that is currently under federal investigation.

On November 4, the Wall Street Journal's Aruna Viswanatha and Khadeeja Safdar reported that the Justice Department and the SEC are investigating Under Armour for its accounting and revenue disclosure practices. The main question is whether the company altered recorded revenue from quarter to quarter to maintain a healthy appearance. The company told The Journal it is cooperating with the investigation.

The company began responding to requests for accounting-related documents in July 2017. A company representative told the Journal: "The company firmly believes that its accounting practices and disclosures were appropriate."

On Thursday November 14, the Journal released a report alleging that Under Armour "dumped goods" at off-price chains like TJ Maxx to boost sales growth. The report led Plank to send a company-wide email in response.

"Given recent events that have entered the realm of public opinion without full context, it is disappointing to have our integrity and reputation called into question,"Plank wrote in the Friday email obtained by Business Insider.

• On November 15, a jury in federal court in Washington, DC convicted former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone on five counts of making false statements, one count of obstruction of justice, and one count of witness tampering. 
• In March, Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted the final report on his nearly two-year investigation to the Department of Justice.
• Since 2017, Mueller has investigated Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and whether the Trump campaign collaborated with Moscow to tilt the race in Trump's favor. 
• So far, Mueller's team has charged eight Americans once affiliated with Trump's campaign or administration, 13 Russian nationals, 12 Russian intelligence officers, three Russian companies, and two other people with federal crimes.
• Here's everyone who's been charged and convicted in the Mueller probe so far.

SEE ALSO: Meet Roger Stone: One of Donald Trump's most loyal supporters who was indicted by the Mueller probe

DON'T MISS: Here are all the known contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian government-linked people or entities

Trump ally and informal campaign advisor Roger Stone

Stone, who has worked as a political consultant for Trump since the 1980s, was convicted in a Washington, D.C. federal court on November 15, 2019 on five counts of obstruction of justice, one count of making false statements to Congress, and one count of witness tampering.

Mueller's investigation charged Stone on those seven counts in January in connection with his statements to Congress on his communications with people affiliated with the radical transparency group WikiLeaks. 

Stone, who acted as an informal adviser to Trump during the campaign, sent out several tweets in the summer of 2016 that raised questions about whether he had prior knowledge about WikiLeaks' plans to publish the hacked emails.

The indictment laying out the charges Stone was convicted on alleged that Stone made "multiple false statements to [the House Intelligence Committee] about his interactions regarding Organization 1, and falsely denied possessing records that contained evidence of these interactions" in 2017 testimony. 

Not only is making false statements to Congress a crime on its own, but the indictment said that Stone's misleading testimony deliberated obstructed ongoing investigations by the FBI, House Intelligence Committee, and Senate Intelligence Committee.

Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer

Trump's former personal lawyer and "right-hand man" Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison on fraud and lying charges, weeks after Mueller released a memorandum that detailed more than 70 hours of cooperating and witness testimony.

Cohen's is the most substantial sentence to date in Mueller's investigation. 

Prosecutors previously recommended "substantial" prison time for Trump's former attorney Cohen, who pleaded guilty to financial crimes, campaign violations, and lying to Congress. The Southern District of New York recommended Cohen face 3 1/2 years of prison time and a $100,000 fine.

The filings concluded that Cohen "acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1," an apparent reference to Trump that implicates him in campaign finance violation for payments to two women who said they had affairs with Trump that prosecutors saidshowed intention to influence the election.

In a separate filing the same day, Mueller wrote that Cohen told prosecutors about previously unknown contact with a Russian national who claimed to be a "trusted person" in the Russian Federation who offered the campaign "political synergy" and "synergy on a government level." Cohen claimed that person repeatedly suggested a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Nov. 29, Cohen pleaded guilty to making false statements to Congress and reached a new plea deal with the special counsel.

Cohen pleaded guilty to lying about the dates during which the Trump Organization actively pursued a business deal to pursue a Trump Tower in Moscow, initially claiming the discussions ended in January 2016 when they in fact continued into the summer of the year. 

Prosecutors from the special counsel's office also charged that Cohen lied to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in testifying that he had never offered to travel to Russia and that he didn't recall any response from the Russian government regarding the deal.

In August, Cohen pleaded guilty in the Southern District of New York to five counts of tax evasion, one count of bank fraud, one count of making an unlawful corporate contribution, and one count of making an illegal campaign finance contribution — which he said were made "at the direction" of Trump. 

Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chairman

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight federal counts of bank and tax fraud and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and one count of conspiracy against the US.

He also entered into a deal that included an agreement to cooperate with Mueller's investigation instead of going to trial in the District of Columbia on a separate indictment of counts of money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent.

Manafort previously faced a total of 18 counts, but the 10 remaining were dismissed during the plea hearing after a judge declared mistrial in a Virginia trial.

On Nov. 26, however, Mueller's office said in a court filing that in the course of his cooperation, Manafort had lied to the FBI and the special counsel on "a variety of subject matters," which could land him in even more legal jeopardy. 

He surrendered to federal authorities on October 30, 2017, after he was indicted, along with his business associate Rick Gates, on 12 counts, including conspiracy against the US and money laundering.

Manafort was forced to step down as Trump's campaign chairman in May 2016 after coming under fire for his connections to Russian oligarchs and his past lobbying efforts abroad.

Trump's former campaign chairman is accused of committing crimes while working as an unregistered lobbyist in the US for the Ukrainian government and pro-Russia interests beginning in 2006.

Konstantin Kilimnik

Mueller charged Manafort's "right-hand man" Konstantin Kilimnik in June with witness tampering in a superseding indictment that charges the Russian citizen and Manafort with conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice.

Mueller reportedly began further investigation into Kilimnik in November with the help of three of his associates, including Manafort, to examine their political consultancy and lobbying work that connected them with prominent Russian oligarchs.

The special counsel has said Kilimnik has strong ties from past work with Russian intelligence and was in contact with top figures in Trump's 2016 campaign.

Sam Patten, Republican lobbyist

On August 31, Republican lobbyist Sam Patten plead guilty in federal court for failing to register as a foreign agent while he lobbied on behalf of Ukrainian interests in the US. 

Patten worked on behalf of several a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party, including helping Ukrainian oligarchs illegally spend $50,000 in tickets to Trump's January 2017 inauguration, in violation of federal laws that ban inauguration funds from accepting money from foreign entities. 

Patten is linked both to Manafort and Kilminik, as well as the opposition research firm Cambridge Analytica. 

While Patten technically plead guilty in federal court in the District of Columbia and was not charged by the Mueller probe, Mueller referred the charges to the US Attorney's office for the District of Columbia, and the terms of his guilty plea require him to cooperate in the special counsel investigation. 

Rick Gates, one of Manafort's business partners

In October 2017, Gates was indicted along with Manafort on 12 counts, including conspiracy against the US, making false statements, and failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. He at first pleaded not guilty on all counts.

Gates joined Trump election efforts in the spring of 2016, working as Manafort's deputy. He traveled with Trump and grew close with many top campaign officials.

After Manafort was ousted as Trump's campaign chief in August 2016, Gates continued working on behalf of the soon-to-be president, helping fundraise $25 million for the pro-Trump nonprofit America First Policies and working on Trump's inaugural committee. As Mueller's probe intensified in the early months of the Trump administration, Gates left the nonprofit altogether.

But as recently as June 2017, The Daily Beast reported that Gates was still visiting the White House and working under Tom Barrack, who has remained one of Trump's most trusted advisers.

Gates opted to take a plea deal in late February, pleading guilty to one charge of lying to investigators and one charge of conspiracy in exchange for becoming a cooperating witness in the Mueller probe. He testified against Manafort as the prosecution's star witness in its case in Virginia.

Gates confessed to committing crimes with Manafort, and also stealing millions of dollars from his longtime business partner to finance an extramarital affair.

Defense attorneys sought to paint Gates as the mastermind of his and Manafort's tax and bank fraud.

George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign adviser

On the same day Mueller's office announced the indictments of Manafort and Gates, it was revealed that George Papadopoulos, a 30-year-old former Trump adviser, had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia.

After delivering seven hours of testimony to the House Judiciary and Oversight committees in October, Papadopoulos sought immunity before testifying to the Senate about Russian meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. 

According to documents that were unsealed by the Mueller investigation, Papadopoulos had made at least six attempts to set up a meeting between the Trump campaign and Russian representatives throughout the course of the 2016 presidential campaign, using a London-based professor named Joseph Mifsud and a female Russian national as conduits.

He was arrested October 5, 2017, and subsequently cooperated with Mueller's team. Papadopoulos is currently serving a 14-day prison sentence for lying to the FBI.

Trump has described Papadopoulos as a low-level volunteer.

"Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar," Trump tweeted following news of the guilty plea. "Check the DEMS!"

Special counsel Robert Mueller previously recommended that Papadopoulos be sentenced to as many as six months in prison.

Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser

Flynn, who has reportedly been at the center of Mueller's investigation for months, is perhaps the most high-profile person to be indicted to date.

On December 1, 2017, he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations last December with Russia's ambassador to the US at the time, Sergey Kislyak.

An indictment filed by Mueller's office said Flynn "falsely stated" on December 29, 2016 that he did not ask Kislyak "to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions that the United States had imposed against Russia that same day," and that Flynn did not recall Kislyak "subsequently telling him that Russia had chosen to moderate its response to those sanctions as a result of his request."

Trump fired Flynn in February 2016, citing an "evolving and eroding level of trust" after the former national security adviser lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his interactions with Kislyak.

The firing was "not based on a legal issue, but based on a trust issue," Sean Spicer, who was then the White House press secretary, said at the time.

Flynn had been on the job for just 25 days.

13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies

On February 16, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the indictments of 13 Russian citizens and three companies allegedly involved in meddling in the US political system.

"The defendants allegedly conducted what they called 'information warfare against the United States' with the stated goal of spreading distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general,"Rosenstein said.

The charges focused on the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a notorious Russian "troll factory" that focused on sowing political discord during the 2016 US election by using internet bots to spread fake news and pro-Trump propaganda on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a prominent businessman and associate of President Vladimir Putin who helped fund the IRA, was charged along with two of his businesses.

The defendants included 12 other Russian citizens, all of whom were identified as former IRA employees who played a role in Russian influence operations before, during, and after the 2016 election.

They are: Mikhail Bystrov, Mikhail Burchik, Aleksandra Krylova, Sergey Polozov, Anna Bogacheva, Maria Bovda, Robert Bovda, Dzheykhun Aslanov, Vadim Podkopaev, Gleb Vasilchenko, Irina Kaverzina, and Vladimir Venkov.

California businessman Richard Pinedo

California resident Richard Pinedo pleaded guilty to one count of identity fraud on February 12, according to court documents.

The plea deal's release came immediately after Mueller's office announced charges against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities accused of interfering in the 2016 US election by mounting an elaborate and multi-faceted social media influence operation meant to sow political discord during and after the race.

According to the statement of offense, Pinedo ran a company called "Auction Essistance," which offered services meant to get around the security requirements set by online payment companies like eBay, PayPal, and Amazon. Auction Essistance was shut down in December.

To help customers circumvent the security protocols set up by online payment websites, Pinedo created bank accounts on the internet using fraudulent identities and then sold those account numbers to Auction Essistance customers, the statement of offense said.

It added that although Pinedo was not directly involved in registering the accounts while using fake identities, "he willfully and intentionally avoided learning about the use of stolen identities."

Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer tied to Manafort and Gates

Alex van der Zwaan pleaded guilty on February 20 to one count of making false statements to federal investigators.

Van der Zwaan represents the interests of numerous Russian oligarchs. He is also the son-in-law of German Khan, the Ukrainian-Russian billionaire who controls Russia's Alfa Bank.

The institution attracted scrutiny last year, when a dossier published by former British spy Christopher Steele alleged that Alfa Bank had played a role in meddling in the 2016 US election.

Van der Zwaan was charged with "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations" to federal investigators about his work for the law firm Skadden, Arps, Meagher, & Flom LLP and Affiliates in 2012.

He was also accused of misleading federal investigators about his communications with Gates.

12 Russian intelligence officers

On July 13, Rosenstein announced the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers for the hacking of the Democratic National Committee before the 2016 US presidential election.

All 12 indicted are members of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence unit. The accusations against them include conspiring to interfere with the election by hacking computers, stealing documents, and releasing those documents with intent to interfere.

In early 2017, US intelligence identified the hacking of the DNC and the spreading of emails intended to hurt Democrats and the party's 2016 presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, as the main pillar of Russia's election interference campaign.

These charges represented the first time Mueller's office directly pointed a finger at the Russian government for interfering in the election.

Announced three days before Trump met with Putin in Helsinki, the indictments were a main point of contention between the press, lawmakers, and Trump, who did not directly confront Putin over the charges.

Originally stating that he didn't "see any reason why" Russia would be responsible for the election meddling, Trump corrected himself a day later, adding he has "full faith" in US intelligence.

• Read more about the Russia investigation:
• Mueller turned his final report in to Attorney General William Barr, but the Russia probe is nowhere near finished
• Here's what 'collusion' actually means, and whether members of Trump campaign could have broken the law
• Here's everyone who has been charged and convicted in the Russia probe so far
• Democrats demand that Attorney General William Barr release special counsel Robert Mueller's entire report on the Russia investigation
• Read Attorney General William Barr's letter to Congress on Robert Mueller's Russia investigation report

Bryan Logan contributed to an earlier version of this report.

• With 17 major candidates, the Democratic 2020 presidential field is one of the largest, most competitive, and most unpredictable in modern history.
• We've combined Insider's polling and results of Morning Consult's daily survey of the 2020 Democratic primary to create a power ranking of 2020 candidates.
• The last two weeks have been incredibly eventful in the 2020 field. On November 1, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke suddenly dropped out of the race.
• Then, two new candidates, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, shook up the race with very last-minute entries into the Democratic field. 
• Here's what our power ranking looks like as of November 15, 2019.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

With 17 major candidates in the race, the Democratic 2020 presidential field is set to be one of the largest, most competitive, and most unpredictable in modern history.

To help make sense of where all these candidates stand, Insider has been conducting a recurring SurveyMonkey Audience national poll. You can download every poll here, down to the individual respondent data.

Read more about how the Insider 2020 Democratic primary tracker works.

We're mainly interested in using our polling to figure out:

• What percentage of Democratic voters are familiar with each candidate in the first place.
• How Democrats rate each candidate's chances of beating President Donald Trump in the general election.
• If a given candidate were to drop out of the race, who that candidate's supporters would flock to next.

We've combined Insider's polling and results of Morning Consult's daily survey of the 2020 Democratic primary to create a power ranking of declared and potential 2020 candidates.

The last two weeks have been incredibly eventful in the 2020 field. On November 1, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke suddenly dropped out of the race.

Then, two new candidates, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, made last-minute entries into the Democratic field with the potential to shake up the field. 

Here's what our ranking looks like as of November 15, 2019.

SEE ALSO: Here's everyone who's running for president in 2020, and who has quit the race

17: Former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland

Delaney is among those at 1% in Morning Consult polls. According to Insider's polling, he's known by about 20% of Democrats, but he has been unable to build a base of support having to compete with former VP Joe Biden for moderate voters. 

We moved Delaney to the bottom of our ranking in early August he was thoroughly walloped by Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the July Democratic debates.

Warren had the line of the night in criticizing him, saying, "I don't understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can't do and shouldn't fight for."

Now that he hasn't qualified for the fall debates and is on the outside looking in, the rationale for him staying in the race is less and less clear.

Read more about John Delaney's campaign.

16: Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana

Bullock raised $1 million in the first 24 hours of his candidacy and has been able to attract some sizable crowds and support from statewide and local politicians in Iowa.

Despite his strong opening week and qualifying for the July Democratic debate, Bullock is still at 1% in Morning Consult's polling and 0% in early states. 

Bullock had a solid performance in the late-July Democratic debates, earning him a promotion to the top 15 in August. But having failed to qualify for the fall debates and lacking significant support, it's hard to see Bullock's candidacy staying viable for much longer. 

As the race narrows down, it makes less and less sense for Bullock to stay in the race with an upcoming Senate race in his state and numerous other opportunities he could pursue, landing him in second-to-last place in our ranking. 

Read more about Steve Bullock's campaign.

15: Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado

Despite being a relatively savvy politician, Bennet — who has been in the US Senate for 10 years — has the distinction of being both the least recognized and worst-polling person with any political experience in the 2020 field. 

Bennet is at 1% in Morning Consult's polling, and his would-be constituency has not materialized.

Bennet moved up two spots from 16th to 14th place in late August thanks to his fellow Rocky Mountain and West Coast-based rivals John Hickenlooper and Jay Inslee dropping out of the race, but his practically non-existent fundraising and lack of debate qualification places him at the back of the pack.

Read more about Michael Bennet's campaign.

14: Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts

Like Bloomberg, Patrick also made an extremely late entry into the race, officially announcing his campaign on November 14.

While Patrick hasn't been very active on the political scene for the past few years, he's led a long career in business and politics. He served as the governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015, and was most recently a managing director at Bain Capital, the private equity firm founded by Sen. Mitt Romney. 

Patrick will have a tough uphill battle in his presidential bid, and it's almost impossible to see a clear path to him winning any primary contests at all, much less a path to the nomination, which is why we put him in 14th place near the bottom of our ranking. 

He's already missed the filing deadline for two key Super Tuesday state primaries in Alabama and Arkansas, and unlike Bloomberg, he doesn't have billions of dollars in personal wealth to draw from.

More importantly, Patrick doesn't seem to have a clear rationale for running for president other than trying to position himself as a unifying Obama-type figure — the exact lane Biden is occupying. 

Read more about Deval Patrick's campaign.

13: Marianne Williamson

Despite having one of the longest-running campaigns, Williamson, a motivational speaker and New Age spiritual guru, has not been capable of consolidating support or name recognition.

Williamson raised $1.5 million in 2019's first quarter and earned the 65,000 individual donors required to make the first Democratic debates. 

Despite her low name recognition and lack of political experience, Williamson debated in both the June and July Democratic debates and made a huge splash — making her an online sensation and the subject of countless jokes and memes. 

But that online enthusiasm hasn't translated much into the real world. While Williamson has gotten lots of publicity, she hasn't cracked 1% in Morning Consult all year, and her chances of qualifying for any future Democratic debates are next to nothing. 

Read more about Marianne Williamson's campaign.

12: Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro

Castro became a breakout candidate in June when he distinguished himself as an authority on immigration and proved himself to be a smart and savvy debater. 

About 40% of Democratic primary voters are aware of him, and about a quarter would be satisfied with him as the nominee. 

However, many of Castro's supporters would be satisfied with other candidates, according to Insider polling.

Sen. Kamala Harris, in particular, is consolidating a base of support that could eat Castro's lunch in early primary states like California, Nevada, South Carolina, and Arizona. 

Castro took advantage of the first Democratic primary debate to establish himself as an expert on the issue of immigration, putting the pressure on fellow candidates to support decriminalizing unauthorized border crossings.

But we knocked Castro down four spots between October 25 and November 1 after he threatened to drop out of the race if he doesn't raise $800,000 by Halloween — a huge show of weakness for his campaign that indicates his days in the race might be numbered. He also failed to qualify for the November Democratic debate. 

Read more about Julian Castro's campaign.

11: Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii

Gabbard has some serious viability problems among Democrats.

Not only do a significant proportion of respondents in Insider polling say they are unhappy with her as the nominee compared with her rivals, but Gabbard has not been able to consolidate support in a meaningful way.

Despite being one of the first to enter the race, Gabbard is still polling at 1% in Morning Consult and is considered a less viable opponent to President Donald Trump in the general election than most other candidates. 

But we gave Gabbard another boost on November 1, moving her up two spots from 12th to 10th place following her very public and nasty feud with 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who Gabbrard called "the embodiment of corruption" and the "personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party."

The bump in media attention clearly worked in Gabbard's favor when it comes to polling. She's fully qualified for the fifth Democratic debate on November 20, and has three out of the necessary four qualifying polls for the December debate. 

Read more about Tulsi Gabbard's campaign.

10: Tom Steyer

Steyer achieved billionaire status as an investor and hedge fund manager — but he has since focused his efforts on advancing Democratic causes with two organizations, Need To Impeach and NextGen America.

He entered the race late, on July 9, and has pledged to spend $100 million of his own money on his presidential race. For context, the highest-fundraising candidate of 2019's second quarter — Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana — raised $24.8 million. 

In determining where to place Steyer in our ranking, we wondered: "Which candidates are worth more than Tom Steyer and $100 million?"

Given the TV ads and campaign infrastructure that money can buy, we placed him ahead of several of the lowest-polling and lowest-fundraising candidates, but we're still not sure that $100 million can buy him more support and better polling numbers than the ones above him.

Steyer dropped down to 12th place on October 11 after his lackluster fundraising quarter, bringing just $2 million despite spending millions on Facebook ads in early states, and his largely flat and unremarkable performance in the fourth Democratic debate. 

We bumped Steyer up one spot on October 25 for qualifying for the fifth Democratic debate in November, and moved him up another two spots on November 1 due to his strong polling, placing in 6th place at 6% in early primary states in Morning Consult.

Read more about Tom Steyer's campaign.

9: Michael Bloomberg

On November 7, The New York Times reported that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to make a late entrance in the 2020 Democratic primary. He has filed to run in the Democratic primary presidential primaries in Alabama and Arkansas.

Bloomberg will have to work quickly to get his campaign off the ground just three months out from the Iowa caucus on February 2, and New Hampshire primary on February 9, but he has the luxury of being able to self-fund his campaign with his estimated $52 billion net worth.

But there's a big catch: Bloomberg has announced he's sitting out the first four primary contests altogether, and will try to rack up victories in Super Tuesday states, making his impact on the race hard to predict.

In a best-case scenario, Bloomberg will end up splitting the vote in some primary states, winning some delegates, and maybe participating in a brokered convention scenario. Because of his extreme personal wealth but the highly quixotic nature of his bid, we placed him one spot about Tom Steyer but below the rest of the field. 

Read more about Michael Bloomberg's campaign.

8: Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

Klobuchar is relatively well-known, but she's still largely overshadowed by her other Senate colleagues with higher name recognition, polling at 2% in Morning Consult. 

While Klobuchar famously launched her campaign in a snowstorm, her campaign has failed to gain much traction in light of Biden dominating the centrist lane. 

We dropped Klobuchar down to 12th place on the week of October 11 due to her now polling at just 1% in early primary states in Morning Consult— a very ominous sign for a candidate whose entire strategy revolves around winning in Iowa and New Hampshire. 

But we bumped her up three spots to 9th place on October 18 after her strong debate performance. Klobuchar successfully revitalized her campaign by landing strategic punches on other candidates, making the case for her pragmatic agenda, and raising over $1 million the day after. 

We bumped Klobuchar up another spot on October 25 for qualifying for the fifth Democratic debate on November 20.

Read more about Amy Klobuchar's campaign.

7: Sen. Kamala Harris of California

Harris is fairly well-known for a first-term senator, and 35% of Insider Democratic primary poll respondents believe she could beat Trump. 

Harris also enjoys the greatest support among other candidates' supporters, Insider polling found.

74% of Booker supporters, 72% of Klobuchar supporters, and 76% of Castro supporters would also be satisfied with Harris as the Democratic nominee, meaning she could consolidate some support when her rivals drop out.

We bumped Harris down two spots on September 19 due to her polling average dramatically dropping. In Morning Consult, Harris' support fell from 13% in late July to just 7% in October, and she's ranked in the low single-digits in every other recent poll, too, earning just 3% in a Monmouth poll of New Hampshire and a national Quinnipiac poll. 

Her quarterly fundraising hasn't improved during the time she's been running, resulting in her campaign having to lay off dozens of employees both in her Baltimore headquarters and around the country, according to a recent report in Politico. 

We dropped Harris down another spot for her underwhelming performance at the fourth Democratic debate, where her attempt to attack Warren for not agreeing that Trump should be banned largely fell flat. 

Harris has also seen some concerning poll numbers for a candidate supposedly in the top tier, coming in at 3% in a Monmouth poll of Iowa and only 1% in a Quinnipiac poll of New Hampshire. 

Read more about Kamala Harris' campaign.

6: Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey

Booker is known by half of likely Democratic primary voters, but he has not been able to translate that into good polling numbers, staying stagnant at 2% to 4% of the vote for the duration of 2019 in Morning Consult surveys.

His support is precarious in the sense that people who like Booker also like lots of other candidates.

Seventy percent of Booker supporters would be happy with Biden, 76% would be satisfied with Harris, and 74% would be satisfied Warren as the nominee, according to Insider polling.

We dropped Booker down four spots to 8th place after his campaign released a memo on September 21 warning that Booker's campaign might no longer be viable if he doesn't raise another $1.7 million by the end of quarter deadline on September 30. 

But Booker's campaign met their fundraising goal, and Booker performed well in the October debate and qualified for the next debate in November, earning him a bump up to 6th place in our ranking. 

Read more about Cory Booker's campaign.

5: Andrew Yang

Yang, despite the low name recognition that accompanies running for president without political experience, is actually doing fairly well in Insider polling.

He isn't a favorite by any measure, polling at 3% in Morning Consult, but his online army of supporters and meme creators, known as the Yang Gang, have helped him sustain the buzz around his campaign for months despite his lack of political experience.

He's steadily rising in the polls, built a grassroots network of over 200,000 unique donors, and hasn't let Biden's presence into the race undermine his appeal and policy ideas. 

Yang not only did well in the September debate and qualified for the next round of Democratic primary debates in October, but has been able to successfully play the media and outpace many of his rivals. 

We bumped Yang up a spot on the week of October 4 because of his outstanding third-quarter fundraising haul in which he brought in $10 million, an increase of $7.2 million over his second-quarter fundraising performance. 

Read more about Andrew Yang's campaign.

4: Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Sanders enjoys widespread name recognition among Democrats from his decades serving in Congress and his 2016 run against Hillary Clinton. He's also established a grassroots army of small donors that helped him lead the pack in fundraising with an $18.2 million haul in 2019's first and second quarters. 

He is considered the top rival of Biden, and 49% think Sanders would beat Trump in a general election compared with 29% who think he'd lose, according to Insider polling.

Furthermore, Insider polling found that Sanders would be a satisfactory nominee for half of Biden supporters, which could seriously benefit him in case Biden's candidacy falters.

Sanders is supported by 20% of Democrats, according to Morning Consult, down four percentage points from April and in third place. 

We bumped him a spot to second place on October 11 due to him raising a monster sum of $25 million in the third fundraising quarter of 2019, outpacing all his fellow candidates. Even more impressive, Sanders doesn't do private, closed-door fundraising, relying on 100% grassroots donations. 

We dropped Sanders down one spot on November 15. In early October, Sanders, who is 78, suffered a heart attack and a week later announced he was slowing the pace of his campaign.

While Sanders cinched the endorsements of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other prominent progressive congresswomen, he's since somewhat faded from the spotlight and taken a back seat to Biden and Warren publicly feuding with each other over Warren's wealth tax — even though Sanders has proposed a similar policy.

Read more about Bernie Sanders' campaign.

3: Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana

Despite relatively low name recognition, he's enjoyed a strong past few months in the polls and in fundraising. 

The Democratic primary voters who do know him are fairly confident in his ability to beat Trump, compared with his more experienced and nationally known rivals, Insider polling has found.

Buttigieg has enjoyed a considerable polling bump. In late April, Morning Consult had him ranked third behind Biden and Sanders at 8%, up from 0% in late February and 1% in March. He's now at 7% in fourth place. 

While Buttigieg's numbers have slightly dipped in Morning Consult's polling, his sustained strong performance in polling and fundraising shows both that he's not a flavor-of-the-month candidate and that he has lots of room to grow.

We moved Buttigieg up one spot after his strong and spirited performance in the fourth Democratic debate in Ohio. 

His combative approach paid off. According to senior campaign adviser Lis Smith, Buttigieg received more traffic to his website than any other day of his campaign, and raised over $1 million the day after the debate. 

On November 15, we moved Buttigieg up another spot to third place due to him successfully positioning himself as the heir to Biden's dominance over the moderate lane, coming in first place (albeit within the margin of error of Biden and Warren) in a Monmouth University poll of Iowa and making huge investments in his Iowa ground game. 

Read more about Pete Buttigieg's campaign.

2: Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

Warren is the best-known candidate who has not previously run for president, and is quickly proving herself to be a top-tier candidate.

Warren overlaps considerably with Sanders and Biden's bases, with 50% of Biden supporters and 57% of Sanders supporters also being satisfied with her as the nominee in INSIDER polling.

Not only does Warren have high name recognition, but Insider polling respondents see her as the second most electable candidate behind Biden. 

Warren is in second place at 20% in Morning Consult polling, and her favorability ratings and perceived electability numbers only keep getting better over time. 

We moved Warren to 1st place the week of August 30, and she's stayed there since due to her consistent surging across multiple polls in support, favorability, enthusiasm, and perceived electability — putting her on track to overtake Biden if her momentum is sustained. 

We slightly dropped Warren back down to second place on November 15 after Biden regained his lead in Democratic primary polling, and Warren didn't receive a significant boost from finally releasing her long-awaited plan for financing Medicare for All.

Read more about Elizabeth Warren's campaign.

1: Former Vice President Joe Biden

Biden, who announced his long-awaited presidential bid on April 25, has unparalleled name recognition among Democrats from his eight years as President Barack Obama's vice president and 36 years in the US Senate. 

Despite taking hits from his rivals at both of the first Democratic primary debates, Biden maintains high levels of support, leading the field with 32% support in Morning Consult and being perceived as most likely to beat Trump in Insider polling and most other polls. 

Biden has managed to recover from his setbacks along the way and bounced back in the polls. He ranks first also due to his high levels of support among older and African-American voters— two crucial constituencies in Democratic primaries. 

Even though Biden still has a commanding lead among those key demographic groups, he's lost the frontrunner position to Warren, who is gaining on him more in more in polling, enthusiasm, and favorability. 

But we moved Biden back up to first place on November 15 due to him regaining his lead in RealClearPolitics' polling average, coming in first place in a Quinnipiac poll of New Hampshire, and being within the margin of error of Warren and Sanders in a Monmouth poll of Iowa, two states where Sanders and Warren should be overperforming. 

Read more about Joe Biden's campaign.

Read more:

Andrew Yang is locking down way more supporters than other non-frontrunners in the 2020 Democratic race

The Democratic elite is panicked about Joe Biden, but he's far more popular with voters than donors

Biden fans don't get Yang, Sanders supporters detest Buttigieg: Here's the rival that's most disliked by each 2020 candidate's supporters

Here's who will be onstage for the November Democratic debate hosted by MSNBC and the Washington Post, what time it'll start, and how to watch

• Parents want to set their kids up for success. Some of that comes in the form of honesty, whether it's talking about the realities of professional life or letting them fail.
• Creating routines, setting firm limits on screentime, and trying to eat dinner as a family can also pay off down the road.
• There are also real positive effects associated with reading to kids and traveling with them.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.  

Much has been written about the attributes of high-achieving adults, and what makes them different from everyone else. But if you're a parent, a more compelling question may be: "What can I do to make sure my kids succeed in life?" Here's what researchers say.

SEE ALSO: I offered to come back from maternity leave 3 days after I gave birth — and my employer said it wasn’t fast enough

1. Don't tell them they can be anything they want.

According a survey of 400 teenagers, conducted by market research agency C+R Research, young Americans aren't interested in doing the work that will need to be done in the years to come. Instead, they aspire to be musicians, athletes, or video game designers, even though these kinds of jobs only comprise 1% of American occupations. In reality, jobs in healthcare or in construction trades will be golden in future decades. Why not steer them into well-paying professions in which there will be a huge shortage of workers?

2. Eat dinner as a family.

According to a nonprofit organization operating out of Harvard University, kids who eat with their families roughly five days a week exhibit lower levels of substance abuse, teen pregnancy, obesity, and depression. They also have higher grade-point averages, better vocabularies, and more self-esteem.

3. Enforce no-screen time.

Researchers have found that the brains of little kids can be permanently altered when they spend too much time using tablets and smartphones. Specifically, the development of certain abilities is impeded, including focus and attention, vocabulary, and social skills. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says children younger than 18 months should have no screen time at all, other than video-chatting. For kids ages two to five, it recommends limiting screen time to one hour a day. For older kids, it's a matter of making sure media doesn't take the place of adequate sleep, exercise, and social interaction. The AAP also says parents should make the dinner table, the car, and bedrooms media-free zones.

4. Work outside the home.

There are certainly familial benefits to having a stay-at-home mother, but researchers at Harvard Business School have found that when moms work outside the home, their daughters are more likely to be employed themselves, hold supervisory roles, and make more money than peers whose mothers did not have careers.

5. Make them work.

In a 2015 TED Talk, Julie Lythcott-Haims, author of "How to Raise an Adult" and the former dean of freshman at Stanford University, cites the Harvard Grant Study, which found that the participants who achieved the greatest professional success did chores as a child.

6. Delay gratification.

The classic Marshmallow Experiment of 1972 involved placing a marshmallow in front of a young child, with the promise of a second marshmallow if he or she could refrain from eating the squishy blob while a researcher stepped out of the room for 15 minutes. Follow-up studies over the next 40 years found that the children who were able to resist the temptation to eat the marshmallow grew up to be people with better social skills, higher test scores, and a lower incidence of substance abuse. They also turned out to be less obese and better able to deal with stress. To help kids build this skill, train them to have habits that must be accomplished every day — even when they don't feel like doing them.

"Top performers in every field — athletes, musicians, CEOs, artists — are all more consistent than their peers,"writes James Clear, an author and speaker who studies the habits of successful people. "They show up and deliver day after day while everyone else gets bogged down with the urgencies of daily life and fights a constant battle between procrastination and motivation."

7. Read to them.

Researchers at the New York University School of Medicine have found that babies whose parents read to them have better language, literacy, and early reading skills four years later before starting elementary school. And kids who like books when they're little grow into people who read for fun later on, which has its own set of benefits. That's according to Dr. Alice Sullivan, who uses the British Cohort Study to track various aspects of 17,000 people in the UK. "We compared children from the same social backgrounds who achieved similar tested abilities at ages five and 10, and discovered that those who frequently read books at age 10 and more than once a week when they were 16 had higher test results than those who read less," she writes for The Guardian. "In other words, reading for pleasure was linked to greater intellectual progress, in vocabulary, spelling, and mathematics."

8. Encourage them to travel.

The Student and Youth Travel Association (SYTA) surveyed 1,432 US teachers who credit international travel, in particular, with affecting students in a myriad of good ways:

• Desire to travel more (76%)
• Increased tolerance of other cultures and ethnicities (74%)
• Increased willingness to know/learn/explore (73%)
• Increased willingness to try different foods (70%)
• Increased independence, self-esteem, and confidence (69%)
• More intellectual curiosity (69%)
• Increased tolerance and respectfulness (66%)
• Better adaptability and sensitivity (66%)
• Being more outgoing (51%)
• Better self-expression (51%)
• Increased attractiveness to college admissions (42%)

If sending your son or daughter abroad or bringing them with you overseas isn't feasible, take heart. The survey also asked teachers about domestic travel and found similar benefits for students.

9. Let them fail.

While it may seem counterintuitive, it's one of the best things a parent can do. According to Dr. Stephanie O'Leary, a clinical psychologist specializing in neuropsychology and author of "Parenting in the Real World: The Rules Have Changed," failure is good for kids on several levels. First, experiencing failure helps your child learn to cope, a skill that's certainly needed in the real world. It also provides him or her with the life experience needed to relate to peers in a genuine way. Being challenged also instills the need for hard work and sustained efforts, and also demonstrates that these traits are valuable even without the blue ribbon, gold star, or top score. Over time, children who have experienced defeat will build resilience and be more willing to attempt difficult tasks and activities because they are not afraid to fail. And, she says, rescuing your child sends the message that you don't trust him or her. "Your willingness to see your child struggle communicates that you believe they are capable and that they can handle any outcome, even a negative one," she says.

This Inc. story was originally published on Business Insider October 16, 2019.

Despite all the festive cheer and time with loved ones that come with the holiday season, it can also be a stressful time if you plan on buying gifts for everyone in your life.

Every year, Insider Picks creates dozens of gift guides to help you find the best Christmas gifts out there — for any budget, hobby or interest, and person. You can find all our holiday gift guides on this page, but to make it even easier on you, we've also rounded up and categorized them below. 

Consider this your ultimate cheat sheet to knocking out your gift shopping for the year. Click on a link below to jump directly to all the gift guides in that category. 

• Gifts under $25
• Gifts under $50
• Gifts under $100
• Stocking stuffers
• Gifts for her
• Gifts for him
• Tech gifts
• Unique gifts
• Home and kitchen gifts
• Food and drink gifts
• Gifts for hobbies and interests
• Gifts from your favorite stores
• Limited-edition gifts

Here's a master list of all our holiday gift guides: 

• 50 clever gifts under $25 that won't end up getting regifted

The elements of a good present — thoughtful, useful, or novel — aren't restricted to a big budget.

• 26 affordable tech gifts under $25

It's tough to be a tech enthusiast when the market is full of expensive gadgets. Some of the best tech gifts, however, won't cost more than $25. 

• 44 cool stocking stuffers on Amazon for under $20

Stocking stuffers have a reputation for being cute but useless. These small gifts challenge that perception.

• 27 unique stocking stuffer ideas — all under $10

Surprise your friendly neighborhood mailman or the cousin you only ever see at the big family holiday gathering with a thoughtful stocking stuffer. 

• 50 gifts under $50 for everyone on your list

Whether you're searching for practical, nostalgic, quirky, or sentimental, there's an under-$50 gift from brands big and small in this guide. 

• 31 clever gifts from Amazon — all under $50

Not only are all these gifts affordable, but they're also available on a shopping site you know well. 

Kitchen gifts don't have to be expensive. Even a simple and practical accessory like a ramekin or avocado slicer will make them happy. 

• 22 work-appropriate gifts for your boss — all under $50

A good manager isn't easy to come by. Show your appreciation with a useful, thoughtful, and work-appropriate gift.

• 55 hilarious White Elephant gifts under $50

Gift swaps reward the niche, novel, and irreverent, with bonus points going to those who can check the boxes of funny and useful.

• 51 gifts for her, all under $50

Whether you're looking for the perfect gift for your sister, mom, partner, or otherwise, we've put together a list of over 50 great gifts under $50 that we think she'll love. 

• 54 clever and practical gifts for Dad — all under $50

The unique selection of gifts includes picks for every sort of dad, from the hapless car-key-losing fool to the history buff and the masterful (and not-so-masterful) home chef. 

• 76 gift ideas for everyone on your list, all under $100

With a $100 budget, you can buy anything from a smart speaker to an educational cooking class. 

• 40 thoughtful and fun tech gifts under $100

Most people automatically think cool tech has to be expensive. Wireless earbuds, fitness trackers, and smart lights prove the assumption wrong. 

• 28 gifts for him that you can get from Amazon — all under $100

Here's a double whammy: fast Prime shipping and under $100. 

• 30 thoughtful gifts for teachers to thank them for a great year

If you're not already one of their favorite students, you surely will be after they receive something from this list. 

• 50 thoughtful gifts for mom under $50

When it comes to gifting your own mother, the saying "it's the thought that counts" has never been more appropriate.

• 51 gifts for her, all under $50

Whether you're looking for the perfect gift for your sister, mom, partner, or otherwise, we've put together a list of over 50 great gifts under $50 that we think she'll love. 

• 25 tech gifts for women that she'll love to get this holiday season

You won't find bedazzled, dumbed down, and all-pink tech gadgets here. These gifts are both stylish and powerful. 

• 24 great gifts for your grandma

Grandma is another important woman in your life who you know always has your back. Show her the love and appreciation she deserves with these gifts. 

• 39 thoughtful gifts to give your girlfriend

We give you more than three dozen gift ideas that make gifting your partner infinitely easier this year. 

• 50 thoughtful gifts to give your wife

You don't need to spend a crazy amount of money or plan an extravagant gesture to show your wife you appreciate her. 

• 23 beauty gifts from Nordstrom

Nordstrom carries some of the best brands in beauty and skin care, like everyday makeup from Anastasia Beverly Hills and luxurious creams from La Mer. 

• 65 cool gifts for him that you can buy on Amazon

Every gift he could ever want, from a fidget toy to luxury sheets, can be found on Amazon. 

• 50 gifts your dad actually wants

Dads always say they never want anything, but we came up with 50 gift ideas for you anyways. 

• 24 gifts your husband will appreciate

Some of these gifts for your husband might even benefit the entire family, so it's a cost-efficient, win-win situation. 

• 54 clever and practical gifts for dad under $50

If you have a specific budget you're working with, you'll find affordable yet useful gifts in this guide. 

• 28 gifts for him that you can get from Amazon — all under $100

Here's a double whammy: fast Prime shipping and under $100. 

• 21 gifts for the dad that loves to travel

Make his travels more enjoyable, restful, and convenient with gifts like comfortable shoes and a streaming service subscription.

• 18 gifts every Disney dad will love

The unapologetic Disney dad in your life might love a Disney Plus subscription, retro Magic Kingdom sweatshirt, and Mickey Mouse watch. 

• 25 hidden gems on Amazon

Using the Amazon Gift Finder tool, we found some cool gifts that makes shopping on the site feel less impersonal. 

• 32 kitchen gifts from Williams Sonoma

Carrying legacies like KitchenAid and Le Creuset to modern classics like Instant Pot, specialty shop Williams Sonoma proves it's serious about cooking. 

• 21 unique kitchen gifts from Sur la Table

Sur La Table has a great selection of gifts for cooks of all levels. Or, if your recipient would rather eat than cook, it has gifts for foodies, too. 

• 32 unique kitchen gifts from Food52's online shop

In addition to devising creative and delicious recipes, Food52 sells kitchen products, including ones from its own in-house brand. 

Kitchen gifts don't have to be expensive. Even a simple and practical accessory like a ramekin or avocado slicer will make them happy. 

• 32 thoughtful gifts on Amazon that are Prime eligible

Procrastinators, this is the guide for you. As long as you're a Prime member, you can get any of these cool gifts in two days. 

• 23 gift sets and limited-edition beauty gifts at Nordstrom

Nordstrom carries some of the best brands in beauty and skin care, like everyday makeup from Anastasia Beverly Hills and luxurious creams from La Mer. 

• "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" were released on the Nintendo Switch on November 15.
• "Pokémon Sword" and Shield" introduce dozens of Pokémon and are set in a never-before-seen region of the Pokémon world, Galar.
• Like prior Pokémon role-playing games, "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" are two versions of the same game. Players will encounter different Pokémon depending on which version they pick, and will have to trade for Pokémon from the opposite version.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

"Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" were released on the Nintendo Switch on November 15, introducing fans to the eighth generation of Pokémon.

Announced on the 23rd anniversary of the franchise, "Pokémon Shield" and "Pokémon Sword" will debut dozens of new Pokémon living in a never-before-seen part of the Pokémon world.

Like the original Pokémon titles, "Sword" and "Shield" are role-playing games. Players will adventure through the brand-new Galar region, capturing Pokémon and battling other trainers on their way to becoming the Pokémon champion.

"Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" are two versions of the same game, a long-standing tradition in the Pokémon series. Players will encounter different Pokémon depending on which version they pick, and will have to trade for Pokémon from the opposite version. Still, both games share the same story and gameplay experience.

Though "Pokémon Sword and Shield" will have lots of new Pokémon, not all of the franchise's 800-plus creatures will appear in the game. Past Pokémon games made room for the whole roster, but the developers of "Sword and Shield" chose to focus on 400 Pokémon and spend the rest of their resources improving the game.

Here's what you can expect from "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" so far:

SEE ALSO: The Nintendo Switch's first full Pokémon games, 'Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu!' and 'Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee!' will introduce a new generation of players to the joys of 'Pokémon: Red and Blue'

DON'T MISS: The arrival of Pokémon on the Nintendo Switch is the end of an era — and kids are the ones who are going to lose out

"Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" let you choose between a boy or girl trainer, a series staple since "Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire."

You'll choose between one of three starter Pokémon: Grookey, Scorbunny or Sobble.

You'll travel through the Galar region, a never-before-seen part of the Pokémon world.

This is only a portion of the entire map of the Galar region. You can see the full map here.

Professor Magnolia will help introduce you to the Galar region and help you choose your starter Pokémon.

Your Pokémon will be fully rendered in 3D, and there will be dozens of brand-new Pokémon exclusive to the Galar region.

Like all Pokémon games, "Sword and Shield" will have legendary Pokémon too. Zacian is the cover star of "Pokémon Sword."

Zamazenta is on the cover of "Pokémon Shield." It's still unclear how these two legendary Pokémon will factor into the game's story.

"Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" will have dynamic environments that are impacted by the weather and time of day. When out in the wild, you'll be able to control the camera to see more of your surroundings.

Previews for "Sword" and "Shield" have shown a number of different environments including a lakeside town, a snowy mountain trail, a desert, and a steam-powered city.

Shifting camera angles will change your view of the world as you travel. The original Pokémon games used a fixed, top-down view that limited your perspective.

Like previous games, battling other Pokémon trainers will play an important role in "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield."

Hop is your rival trainer in "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield," so you can expect to battle him multiple times during the story.

Sonia is Magnolia's niece and assistant, and she'll be offering players help during their journey as well.

Pokémon gyms are a staple destination in Pokémon games, where players face off against gym leaders to become the Pokémon champion.

Gym Leaders specialize in a specific type of Pokémon. If you can beat them, you'll earn a special badge proving you're a top trainer. Gym leaders can vary depending on whether you're playing "Sword" or "Shield."

Pokémon battles are a popular spectator sport in the Galar region, so every gym is a massive stadium and battles are broadcast on TV.

Leon is the Galar region's current Pokémon Champion, meaning he's the strongest trainer around.

Leon has no shortage of challengers. Another rival trainer named Marnie and her partner Morpeko have a massive fanbase.

Team Yell is a collection of Marnie's biggest fans, and they'll do whatever it takes to make her Pokémon champion, including sabotaging other trainers.

Dynamax is a new feature in "Pokémon Sword" and "Pokémon Shield" that lets you dramatically increase a Pokémon's size and strength.

Dynamax gives you access to upgraded moves, but you can only use it once per battle, and it only lasts for three turns.

In a new mode called "Max Raid battle," up to four players can team up to battle a Dynamax Pokémon. Some Pokémon can only be captured after being defeated in Max Raid Battle.

Some Pokémon caught in raid battles can use Gigantamax, a type of Dynamax that also changes a Pokémon's appearance and moveset. Gigantamax Pokémon can use a unique ability called a "G-Max move" that is specific to its species.

Nintendo also released a special "Pokémon Sword and Shield" version of its new Nintendo Switch Lite consoles to celebrate the game's launch.

"Pokémon Shield" and "Pokémon Sword" were released worldwide on November 15, 2019. Nintendo is also offering a double-pack with both games for $100, they're normally $60 each.

You can check out the latest trailer below:

• The new Motorola Razr is the most desirable smartphone I've seen in years, and yet it's not a phone that people who care about functionality and value should buy.
• It has a high price tag, less-powerful specs, fewer features, and foldable-smartphone technology still has a long way to go before it's as reliable as regular smartphones. 
• Instead, the new Razr will appeal to those who value fashion and design. After all, it looks like the iconic Razr from the mid 2000s that's been modernized into an ultra-sleek smartphone with a long, foldable screen.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Whether you remember the original Motorola Razr from the mid 2000s or not, the new Motorola Razr foldable smartphone is the most desirable smartphone in years.

It taps into nostalgic design without appearing dated in any way. And the way it folds is the best we've seen in any foldable smartphone so far because it makes your phone smaller when you're not using it— perfect for freeing up space in your pocket or bag.

And it's a device you can actually pre-order soon, on December 26. And you'll find it on store shelves at Verizon stores and some Walmart locations in January 2020. 

It's also more about looks rather than function and value, and there's certainly a good number of people who won't mind some of the new Razr's shortcomings when it looks so good. With that in mind, there are four good reasons a smartphone user who cares about performance and functionality shouldn't run out and pre-order or buy the new Motorola Razr, at least until these four things are addressed in future models. 

Check it out:

SEE ALSO: The 5 coolest features of Motorola's new $1,500 Razr phone

At $1,500, the new Motorola Razr costs less than other foldable smartphones. But it's still a phone, and it costs hundreds more than even the priciest traditional smartphones.

It has decent specs, but they're still not up to par with other high-end Android flagships.

The new Razr has 6 GB of RAM, which is fine but on the low end compared to other flagship Android smartphones. 

The real point of concern with the new Razr is its chip. It runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 from 2018, while most high-end Android phones run on the Snapdragon 855 from 2019.

The new Motorola Razr doesn't have many of the features you'd expect from a $1,500 high-end Android smartphone.

Some of the more notable missing features we've come to expect in expensive, high-end Android phones include:

• A triple-lens, or even dual-lens, camera system.
• Advanced facial recognition.
• A large battery.
• A charger with over 18W of charging power for faster charging.
• Wireless charging.
• Good water and dust resistance.

Foldable smartphones are still in their infancy, which means they're fragile and the tech for foldable screens will improve over time in future models.

Phone engineers and designers have just figured out how to give smartphones foldable screens in a commercially available device. Now, they need time to perfect the tech. 

They still need to figure out how to make foldable screens more durable and how to give foldable smartphones the same kind of water and dust resistance that have become standard on most smartphones these days. 

Your best bet is to wait a few years for those engineers and designers to nail down foldable smartphone technology until it's as reliable as the smartphone in your hands right now. 

• After Vice President Mike Pence announced he was hiring Katie Waldman as his new press secretary, news of Waldman's reported relationship with controversial White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller broke.
• On November 4, a widely circulated picture of an Instagram post showed that the couple was engaged. 
• Waldman will begin the role on October 1. Previously, she's worked with Republican lawmakers and defended President Donald Trump's immigration policies as Department of Homeland Security press secretary. 
• Here's what we know about Pence's newly minted press secretary.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Vice President Mike Pence announced in September that his press secretary would be Katie Waldman, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump who previously had stints with Republican lawmakers and the Department of Homeland Security. 

The news of the hire madeeven more headlines after Washington Post reporter Nick Miroff tweeted alongside the news that 27-year-old Waldman is dating controversial White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, who would become Waldman's fianceé around six weeks later. 

From Waldman's past controversies, her reputation as a hard worker, and harsh comments on immigration, see what we know about Pence's newly minted press secretary.

Waldman has a controversial past that began when she was still a student, similar to Miller.

In 2012, Waldman was at the center of a University of Florida student government scandal when she and another student were seen throwing away hundreds of copies of the school's newspaper that endorsed a candidate from the opposing party the night before student government elections.

While Waldman didn't ultimately face any punishment for the incident, a fellow student government member hit out at her "ethical and moral fiber." 

"Sen. Katie Waldman's appointment to the position of allocations chairwoman is an affront to the students of UF," Max Stein, the Assistant Minority Leader of the Students Party, wrote in the school's newspaper. "I do not question her qualifications, passion or work ethic. I question her ethical and moral fiber."

Miller got his start as a rising star on the far-right after making waves in high school student government through incidents including his argument that students shouldn't have to pick up their own trash because there are "plenty of janitors who are paid to do it" for them and that "Osama Bin Laden would feel very welcome at Santa Monica High School" because of the student body's anti-war attitude after 9/11.

She got her start as a star press secretary in the Senate.

According to her LinkedIn page, Waldman first worked as a press assistant at the National Republican Senatorial Committee before serving Republican Sen. Steve Daines as his first press secretary after he won election to the Senate in 2014.

Daines told NBC News that Waldman "has a very strong personality" and an "incredible work ethic."

In 2014, former Buzzfeed writer Benny Johnson followed Waldman as she was assigned to deliver a birthday cake to Democratic Sen. Mark Begich that also served as a tongue-in-cheek reminder that he had voted with then-President Barack Obama 97% of the time.

She has a history of making harsh comments about migrants.

Waldman previously served as deputy press secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, where she defended the administration's policy of family separations and made several controversial and unproven claims about immigrants.

Waldman said in a CNN interview in January 2019 that asylum seekers are a "violent mob of migrants" that were threatening agents and the border. 

She previously told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade in October 2018 that the migrant caravan traveling to the southern border was a media stunt. 

"This caravan is being put together by NGOs and others mainly for media attention," Waldman said. "I mean as I just said we're seeing caravan size every day at the border. You know we've heard reports of these folks getting on buses and then getting off and walking for the cameras. You know they are getting a ton of media attention."

An anonymous former DHS official told NBC News that Waldman's work "impressed a lot of people in the administration" and another official told the outlet that "she's pro-Trump and that checks all the boxes." 

Waldman and Miller provoked reactions when it was reported that they were dating.

Several Twitter users had dramatic reactions when Washington Post reporter Nick Miroff tweeted the news. 

Several pointed to Miller's close ties to the "zero-tolerance" policy enforced by President Donald Trump's administration that separated immigrant children from their families at the southern border.

Miller is one of the few remaining staffers from Trump's 2016 campaign who has also written some of the president's biggest speeches, including Trump's first State of the Union address. He was also identified in June 2018 as the biggest champion of the "zero-tolerance" policy and pushed it into action despite doubts by other members of the administration. 

Two days after the announcement, Waldman and Miller made an appearance together at the Trumps' second state dinner, which was held in the Rose Garden in honor of Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny. 

On November 4, it was reported that the couple was engaged after Waldman posted an Instagram that was screenshotted and widely circulated.

Just over six weeks after their first public appearance together, news of the engagement provoked strong reactions from Washington insiders once the photo was posted on Twitter, but no further details about the couple's nuptials were immediately available. 

Waldman will surely be a key asset as Pence heads into an election year.

Immigration has been a major talking point for candidates on both sides of the aisle leading up to the campaign, and Waldman's track record of defending Trump's harsh policies could come in handy as the race heats up. 

Marc Short, Pence's chief of staff, told NBC that Waldman "has the mettle to handle intense environments."

NBC News reported Waldman will begin the role on October 1.

• The 2010s marked a decade of legal triumph for LGBTQ people, with landmark court cases in issues like same-sex marriage, LGBTQ adoption, and transgender bathroom rights.
• Marriage equality was legally affirmed by the US Supreme Court in 2015, while issues like workplace protections for LGBTQ people are still being fought over. 
• Here is an overview of advancements in LGBTQ rights throughout the 2010s. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It's been 50 years since the first brick was thrown at the Stonewall Inn— a moment some historians have deemed  the beginning of the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the US.

In the half-century following the famed Stonewall riots, the landscape of LGBTQ civil rights has completely shifted.

In the last decade alone, many of the issues like marriage equality, same-sex adoption, and the right for transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice have had their day in court and successfully made advancements for the rights of LGBTQ people. Legal victories coupled with the heightened visibility of LGBTQ people in the media make the 2010s a notable decade for the community. 

But while this has been a decade of monumental change, it is also important to note that many of the issues the organizers at the Stonewall Inn fought against, like LGBTQ homelessness and safety from assault, remain dire — with transgender women of color at a disproportionately high risk for violence and assault. 

Here is an overview of the landmark court cases, political decisions, and that advanced the rights of LGBTQ people in the US in the 2010s. 

Florida's Third District Court of Appeal ended the state's ban on gay adoption in 2010.

For over 33 years, Florida barred all gays and lesbians from adopting children. This law ended in 2010 after Florida's Third District Court of Appeal in Miami ruled that the ban was unconstitutional and there was "no rational basis" for it — making Florida the final US state to abolish adoption bans for gays and lesbians.

A federal judge in San Francisco struck down Proposition 8 in 2010, abolishing California's ban on same-sex marriage​.

Proposition 8, a California law voted into effect in 2008 that prohibited same-sex marriage, was struck down by Vaughn R. Walker, chief judge of the Federal District Court in San Francisco, in 2010.

Walker stated that Prop 8 stood in direct opposition to the Equal Rights Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prevents states from "deny(ing) to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Though the ban of Proposition 8 did not immediately make same-sex marriage in California legal and did not eliminate bans against same-sex marriage in other states, it was a significant step in the overall battle for marriage equality in the US.

In 2010, the US government repealed 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' its ban on openly lesbian, bisexual, and gay people serving in all branches of the military.

Put into effect in 1994 under the Clinton administration, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was a policy preventing gay, lesbian, or bisexual military members from disclosing their sexual orientation. 

The code stated that disclosing their sexuality "would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability."

Although the policy was enacted to relax the military's stance on homosexuality at the time, public opinion steadily grew against it over time. After 17 years of lawsuits and organizing from grassroots organizations, national organizations, and government representatives, President Obama signed a repeal of the policy on December 22, 2010.

Obama became the first sitting US president to openly support same-sex marriage in 2012.

Following Vice President Joe Biden's announcement of his support of same-sex marriage, President Barack Obama discussed his "evolution" of views on same-sex marriage during an interview with ABC's Robin Roberts. During the interview, he stated that despite his open opposition to it in the past, his views had changed over time to support same-sex marriage. 

"I've just concluded that — for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that — I think same-sex couples should be able to get married," he said.

The Democratic Party became the first major US political party to support gay marriage in 2012.

The Democratic Party announced that same-sex marriage would be included in its list of issues for the party's platform after Obama announced his support of marriage equality earlier in 2012.

Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay person elected to the Senate in 2012.

Tammy Baldwin broke barriers when she became the first openly gay person elected into Senate in 2012. But this was not the first time Baldwin had made history. She also became the first gay woman elected to the House of Representatives in 1998. 

The US Supreme Court ruled against the Defense of Marriage Act Section 3 in 2013, paving the way for same-sex​ spousal rights.

The Defense of Marriage Act passed by Congress in 1996 defined marriage legally as a union between a man and a woman. For nearly three decades, DOMA's narrow definition of marriage legally allowed states to put same-sex marriage bans in place and simultaneously allowed states to ignore same-sex marriages that were performed and legally recognized in other states. 

DOMA prevented same-sex couples from having the full rights of straight married people in the eyes of the law, barring couples from having rights over their spouses in times of illness and death — which became the primary issue in the landmark case United States v. Windsor.

Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer were a same-sex couple from New York who had been together for over 50 years. In 2007, the pair got married in Toronto because same-sex marriage was legal in Canada and not in the US at the time. Spyer's death in 2009 prompted a series of lawsuits filed by Windsor due to the state of New York not recognizing the couple's marriage, which in turn required Windsor to pay $350,000 in federal taxes for her inheritance of Spyer's estate — a price that would amount to zero dollars if their marriage had been recognized. 

The Americans Civil Liberties Union worked with Windsor to file a lawsuit against the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2010, challenging DOMA Section 3, which prevented the federal government from recognizing any same-sex marriage under the law, including those legally recognized in specific states. 

In 2013, the lawsuit made it to the US Supreme Court, which ruled that DOMA Section 3 was unconstitutional because it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution. While this ruling did not legalize marriage equality throughout the US, it was a large step in legally recognizing the rights of existing same-sex marriages.  

The Colorado Civil Rights Division legally affirmed that Coy Mathis, a transgender first-grade girl, has the right to use the girls' bathroom at her elementary school in 2013.

Colorado first-grader Coy Mathis had been blocked from using the girls' restroom at her school by Fountain-Fort Carson School District officials, who stated that Mathis, who is transgender, only had the option of using the boys' restroom, the nurses' restroom, or staff bathroom. 

After Mathis' family filed a discrimination lawsuit against the school board that made it to the Colorado Civil Rights Division, the state ruled in favor of Mathis' right to use the restroom that corresponds to her gender identity rather than biological sex in 2013.

The decision stated that banning Mathis from using the girls' bathroom "creates an environment that is objectively and subjectively hostile, intimidating or offensive."

The US Supreme Court affirmed marriage equality in 2015 by ruling that state 'marriage​ bans' barring the full rights of same-sex spouses are unconstitutional.

After hearing several same-sex marriage cases, the US Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages were to be legally recognized across all 50 states. This ruling gave same-sex couples the same legal rights to marry as partnerships between one man and one woman. 

The Pentagon announced it was lifting the ban on transgender people serving in the military in 2016 — although the victory was short-lived.

In 2016, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that the Department of Defense's ban against transgender people serving in the Armed Forces was lifted. 

While this was celebrated by many as a step towards equity for transgender people, the victory was short-lived. President Donald Trump announced his ban of transgender people serving in the military in 2018. 

In 2016, Washington, DC, began to allow residents to choose the gender-neutral​ option 'X' for the gender marker on their identification cards rather than just female or male.

Washington, DC, added a third gender marker option to ID cards in order to give people who identify as neither male or female the ability to correctly gender themselves on government documents. 'X' was made an option in addition to male and female.

In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that applying nondiscrimination laws to religious people showed 'hostility' in the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, leaving the question of whether or not it is legal for religious people to refuse service to LGBTQ people unanswered.

In 2012, David Mullins and Charlie Craig went to Lakewood, Colorado's Masterpiece Cakeshop to place an order for a wedding cake and were denied service by the shop's owner for being a same-sex couple. Mullins and Craig filed complaints with the Colorado Civil Rights Division stating that this refusal of service stood in direct violation of Colorado state civil rights law.  

The division affirmed Mullins and Craig's claims and found that Masterpiece Cakeshop was in direct violation of state which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexuality. The case then traveled through the Colorado Court of Appeals in 2015, where the same decision was made, ruling in favor of Mullins and Craig. 

However, when the US Supreme Court heard the case in 2017, the justices reversed the decision made by the lower courts, stating that the laws in place showed "hostility" toward religious people. 

The decision still leaves the question of whether or not businesses can discriminate and refuse service to LGBTQ people on the basis of sexual orientation because of religious beliefs. While the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Masterpiece Cakeshop, more lawsuits dealing with similar cases of discrimination are being fought in the lower courts and could bring the same issue to the Supreme Court in the future. 

The US Supreme Court affirmed the ​Trump administration's effective ban of most transgender people from the military in 2019.

The Trump administration was granted permission by the US Supreme Court to pass an order that effectively bars most transgender people from serving in the military. The order acts as a ban because it dictates that any transgender person who wishes to serve in any branch of the Armed Forces must serve with the gender they were assigned at birth rather than their actual gender identity. 

The ban and subsequent Supreme Court affirmation of it have elicited a wave of public outcry against the Trump administration's treatment of transgender people. While the ban went into effect earlier this year, advocacy groups and politicians alike are working to combat it. 

The future of LGBTQ workplace discrimination currently hangs in the balance as the Supreme Court considers arguments heard in October 2019.

On October 8, 2019, the US Supreme Court heard three individual cases— one from a transgender woman and two from gay men — to determine whether or not LGBTQ people are protected from workplace discrimination under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 

This decision will ultimately decide whether it is constitutional to discriminate and fire LGBTQ people on the basis of gender identity or sexuality, and it will affirm or undermine over 20 years of case law, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality. 

The court is expected to make its decision in 2020.

Pete Buttigieg's Pride month Out magazine cover prompts questions about the future of the fight for LGBTQ rights.

June marks LGBTQ Pride Month around the world, and in 2019 it coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots. In honor of the half-century of activism since the rebellion, many publications, including Out magazine, featured important LGBTQ figures on their front covers.

On one of their Pride Month covers, Pete Buttigieg, an openly gay politician and a Democratic presidential candidate, appeared alongside the word's "Stonewall: Then, Now, Next. Is Pete Buttigieg what we really fought for?" 

Buttigieg is the only openly gay candidate running for president, and the question of what his candidacy means for the future LGBTQ rights has been contested by scholars and advocates alike. While some argue that the LGBTQ representation Buttigieg brings to mainstream politics is monumental, others, like Micki McElya, professor at the University of Connecticut, make the point that the activists at Stonewall did not stand for the same politics that Buttigieg represents.

"Gay liberationists didn't want what straight, middle-class white America had, they wanted a new world, one in which conventional structures of domination were abolished," McElya wrote in an article about Buttigieg's campaign for the Boston Review. 

• More than 10 US states have seen their homeless populations rise in the last decade. 
• We've rounded up the states with the largest share of homeless residents.
• Washington, DC ranks highest, followed by New York and Hawaii.
• Visit Businessinsider.com for more stories.

Talk of homelessness in the US tends to center on the most visible crises in a few major cities: open-air drug markets in San Francisco, crowded encampments in Los Angeles, and tent cities in Seattle. 

But nationwide, more than 10 states have seen their homeless populations increase since 2008. A few states with a relatively small number of homeless residents, like Idaho and Vermont, have seen an increase of more than 35%. South Dakota, meanwhile, has seen a 23% rise in the last year. 

One way to evaluate the extent of homelessness in America and pinpoint the nation's worst crises is to look at the share of homeless residents relative to a state's population size. This controls for the fact that states with more residents tend to have higher total homeless populations.

We crunched that data across all 50 states using numbers from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for 2018. Here's what homelessness looks like in the nine states with the worst crises, which also have some of the highest housing costs in the US.

SEE ALSO: California is becoming unlivable, according to science

Washington, DC ranks highest, according to our analysis, even though its homeless population declined between 2017 and 2018.

When it comes to the overall proportion of homeless residents, no state compares to Washington, DC. Of the district's 702,000 residents, around 6,900 are homeless — nearly 1%. That's about three times the share in California overall.

However, it's actually a slight improvement from last year. From 2017 to 2018, DC's homeless population fell by nearly 8%. 

An analysis from a local homeless services organization, Thrive DC, found that three-quarters of their clients in DC had been homeless for more than a year. Though many of the people the group serves are victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, the organization points to a lack of affordable housing and rising rent costs as the two biggest obstacles to ending homelessness in the district.

New York rose in the state ranking after the city saw a surge in homelessness in 2018.

With nearly 92,000 homeless residents, New York's overall share is the second highest in the country. 

The majority of the state's homeless people — nearly 80,000 residents— are in New York City, where a lack of affordable housing is a well known problem. The city saw a 3% rise in homelessness from 2017 to 2018, and a 50% increase in the last decade.

But not all of New York City's homeless residents live on the streets or in makeshift dwellings like cars and tents. HUD found that only 3,700 homeless residents in the city sleep without a roof over their heads. The rest are in shelters, which house more homeless residents than the shelters in California, Oregon, and Washington combined.

Hawaii's homeless population, which once prompted a state of emergency, is now getting smaller.

In 2015, Hawaii's homelessness crisis prompted Gov. David Ige to proclaim a state of emergency. Ige made it illegal to sit or lie down on sidewalks and commissioned social workers to move homeless residents off the streets and into shelters. 

The policy hasn't done much to mitigate homelessness in Hawaii; the state still has the third highest share of homeless residents relative to its population size. From 2007 to 2017, Hawaii saw a 19% increase in its number of homeless citizens — one of the biggest upticks in the country. But from 2017 to 2018, the state's homeless population declined by nearly 10%. 

Oregon's homeless population rose by 4% from 2017 to 2018.

Oregon has seen a 30% decline in its homeless population in the last decade, but its share of homeless residents still ranks fourth in the US. 

In early 2016, the Portland Police Association criticized Mayor Ted Wheeler for placing the responsibility to mitigate homelessness on the shoulders of police officers. 

"Our city has become a cesspool," the association wrote on Facebook. "The Portland Police Bureau has not been given nearly enough resources to fulfill its small piece in addressing the homelessness crisis."

The city later estimated that it would need as much as $640 million to build 2,000 units of supportive housing in the next 10 years. 

California still represents nearly a quarter of the US homeless population.

Less than 0.4% of California residents are homeless, but the state's homeless residents make up nearly a quarter of the US' total homeless population. That's because California is home to four of the 10 cities with the largest homeless populations in the country: Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and San Jose.

The homelessness crisis in San Francisco is by far the most acute; Leilani Farha, a United Nations special rapporteur, has called it a "human rights violation." From 2017 to 2019, the city saw its homeless population rise by 30%. 

In Los Angeles, meanwhile, the homeless population has increased by 12% since 2018. On any given night, around 1,800 people congregate in the Skid Row homeless encampment.

Read more: Los Angeles just got $1 million to shelter the homeless in backyard homes — with permission from homeowners

Washington state has around 22,000 homeless residents.

Washington has about as many homeless residents as Oregon and DC combined, but its share of homeless residents is smaller relative to its total population.

Much of the state's homeless population is concentrated in Seattle, where homelessness has risen by 9% each year since 2014. King County, in which Seattle is located, created a 10-year plan to combat homelessness; but the deadline has come and gone, and the crisis shows no sign of slowing.

In recent years, tent cities have grown in Seattle. The large homeless encampments are sanctioned by the government.

Read more: Seattle wants to build a $3 million 'mega tent' for the homeless amid a crackdown on illegal camps

Massachusetts saw a dramatic uptick in homelessness from 2017 to 2018.

The state's homeless population rose by 14% within a year — one of the sharpest increases of any US state.

Kelly Turley, associate director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, told Boston.com that rising housing costs were largely responsible for the uptick. 

Massachusetts now has more than 20,000 homeless residents, around 6,000 of whom are in Boston. The majority of the state's homeless population — around 13,200 people — are families with children. Only 1,400 individuals in Massachusetts are chronically homeless, meaning they've been homeless for at least one year or four times in the last three years.

Alaska's homeless population is rising, too.

Alaska has a relatively small homeless population compared to the other states on this list, with a little more than 2,000 homeless residents. But that number has risen by more than 22% in the last decade. Much of this growth took place from 2017 to 2018, when the state's homeless population increased by 9%.

Around half of the state's homeless population is located in the city of Anchorage.

Homelessness is particularly dangerous in Alaska, since temperatures there can fall below freezing from October to April. 

The vast majority of Nevada's 7,500 homeless residents hail from Las Vegas.

Homelessness in Vegas appears to be on the rise, despite a 13% statewide decline in Nevada over the last decade. 

The issue may stem from the city's rental crisis, which has caused 86% of extremely low-income households to become cost-burdened. The city of Las Vegas has opted to buy up some of this land and build legal courtyards and facilities for the homeless.