The siege of Lexington, also known as the First Battle of Lexington or the Battle of the Hemp Bales, was a minor conflict of the American Civil War. The siege took place from September 13 to 20, 1861 between the Union Army and the pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard in Lexington, county seat of Lafayette County, Missouri. The victory won by the Missouri Guard bolstered the considerable Southern sentiment in the area, and briefly consolidated Missouri State Guard control of the Missouri River Valley in the western part of the state.

Background
Prior to the American Civil War, Lexington was an agricultural town of over 4,000 residents that served as the county seat of Lafayette County and enjoyed a position of considerable local importance on the Missouri River in west-central Missouri. Hemp (used for rope production), tobacco, coal and cattle all contributed to the town's wealth, as did the river trade. Though Missouri remained in the Union during the war, many of Lexington's residents were slaveowners, and several openly sympathized with the Southern cause. Lafayette County had a high ratio of slaves to free persons, with slaves comprising 32% of its population.

Following the Battle of Boonville in June 1861, Federal Brigadier Gen. Nathaniel Lyon ordered the 5th Regiment of the United States Reserve Corps to occupy Lexington.  This regiment was composed primarily of Germans from St. Louis, and it had participated in the Camp Jackson Affair.  Arriving on the steamer White Cloud on July 9, the Northerners were commanded by Colonel Charles G. Stifel. Stifel's second in command was Lt. Col. Robert White, who became a primary point of contact with the local civilians.  Stifel selected the defunct Masonic College in Lexington as his headquarters, and the soldiers began entrenching and fortifying that position.

Stifel's scouts began securing or destroying boats that could be used to cross the river, and also confiscated about 200 kegs of gunpowder, 33 muskets, and two 6-pounder cannons from the area.  The cannons were placed under the command of Charles M. Pirner.  Several local pro-Union home guard companies were raised and placed under the command of Major Frederick W. Becker.

In mid-August the 90-day enlistments of Stifel's regiment were expiring, and they were ordered to return to St. Louis. Lt. Col. White had been organizing a new regiment locally, but he suddenly left for several weeks during which time Major Becker had command of the post. Meanwhile, on the Southern side, self-styled Colonel Henry L. Routt of Clay County had collected around a thousand men for a regiment that he was raising.  Routt had led the force that had seized the Liberty Arsenal in April.

Routt now arrested several prominent Union men, including former Missouri governor Austin A. King, then surrounded the Federal outpost at Lexington.  He demanded Becker's surrender but this was refused.  One night two of Becker's men, Charles and Gustave Pirner, tested some rounds they had fabricated for two mortars that had come into their possession.  They lobbed three shells into Routt's encampment with one of the mortars, causing a panic but no real damage.  Later, learning of the approach of Col. Thomas A. Marshall's 1st Illinois cavalry, Routt withdrew from the area.  Lt. Col. Robert White returned at the end of August and briefly assumed command of the post from Becker until the Illinois cavalry arrived a few days later. White resumed organization of the 14th Home Guard Regiment.

Following their victory at Wilson's Creek on August 10, the main body of the pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard under Maj. Gen. Sterling Price marched toward the Missouri-Kansas border with around 7,000 men to repel incursions by Lane's pro-Union Kansas Brigade.  On September 2, the Guard drove away Lane's Kansans in the Battle of Dry Wood Creek, sending them back beyond Fort Scott.  Price then turned north along the border and toward Lexington, intending to break Federal control of the Missouri River and gather recruits from both sides of the river.  Price collected recruits as he went along, including Col. Routt and several hundred of his men then at the town of Index in Cass County.

Federal reinforcements arrived in Lexington on September 4: the 13th Missouri Infantry commanded by Col. Everett Peabody and a battalion of the United States Reserve Corps under Maj. Robert T. Van Horn.  To prevent rebel Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson from obtaining any funds from local banks, General John C. Frémont gave orders to impound their funds.  On September 7, Col. Marshall removed approximately $1,000,000 from the Farmers' Bank in Lexington while Col. Peabody was dispatched to Warrensburg to do the same there.  On arriving in Warrensburg, Peabody's detachment found itself in Price's path and made a hasty retreat back to Lexington.

Finally, on September 10, Colonel James A. Mulligan arrived to take command with his 23rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment—known as the "Irish Brigade"—and a detachment of the 27th Missouri Mounted Infantry under Lt. Col. Benjamin W. Grover.  On September 11, the 13th Missouri Infantry and Van Horn's battalion returned to Lexington. Mulligan now commanded 3,500 men, and quickly commenced to constructing extensive fortifications around the town's Masonic College where it soon developed a fatal shortage of drinking water. Trees were felled to make lines of fire, and earthworks were erected around the dormitory and classroom buildings. His superiors dispatched further reinforcements under Samuel D. Sturgis, with which Mulligan hoped to hold his enlarged position, but they were ambushed by pro-Confederate militia (alerted by a secessionist telegraph tapper) and compelled to retreat.

Battle

Opening round
Price and his army—now numbering around 15,000 men—arrived before Lexington on September 11, 1861. Skirmishing began the morning of September 12, when two Federal companies posted behind hemp shocks along a hill opposed Price's cavalry advance.  Price pulled back several miles to Garrison creek to await his artillery and infantry.  With their arrival in the afternoon, he resumed the advance along a more westerly course, eventually intercepting the Independence Road.   Mulligan dispatched four companies of the 13th Missouri Infantry (USA) and the two companies of Van Horn's United States Reserve Battalion to oppose this movement.  They battled Price's advance elements among the tombstones in Machpelah Cemetery south of town, hoping to buy time for the rest of Mulligan's men to complete their defensive preparations.  Price's artillery deployed and together with his growing infantry contingent, dislodged the defenders and forced them back to their fortifications.

Pursuing the fleeing Federals, Price deployed Guibor and Bledsoe's batteries to shell the Federal fortifications at the college.  Three Federal artillery pieces replied, destroying one of Guibor's caissons near the end of the exchange.  The two-and-a-half hour artillery duel badly diminished the State Guard's ammunition, and much of Price's ordnance supply train had been left at Osceola.  This development combined with the redoubtable nature of the Union fortifications to render any further assault impractical.  The Federals remained trapped in their fortress, however, surrounded by an army nearly five times their size.  Having bottled up his enemy, Price decided to await his own ammunition wagons, other supplies and reinforcements before renewing the assault.  "It is unnecessary to kill off the boys here," said he; "patience will give us what we want." Accordingly, he ordered his infantry to fall back to the county fairgrounds.

On September 18, Price had determined the time had come. The State Guard advanced under heavy Union artillery fire, pushing the enemy back into their inner works.  Price's cannon responded to Mulligan's with nine hours of bombardment, utilizing heated shot in an attempt to set fire to the Masonic College and other Federal positions. Mulligan stationed a youth in the attic of the college's main building, who was able to remove all incoming rounds before they could set the building ablaze.

Anderson house

Once described by a local newspaper as "...the largest and best arranged dwelling house west of St. Louis," the Anderson House was a three-story, Greek Revival style house constructed by Oliver Anderson, a prominent Lexington manufacturer.  Sometime around July 1861 the Anderson family was evicted from their home, which lay adjacent to Col. Mulligan's fortifications, and a Union hospital was established there.  At the start of the battle over a hundred sick or wounded Union soldiers occupied this structure, with their medical care entrusted to a surgeon named Dr. Cooley, while Father Butler, Chaplain of the 23rd Illinois, provided for their spiritual needs.

Because of its tactical significance—lying as only a few yards from State Guard positions—General Thomas Harris ordered soldiers from his 2nd Division (MSG) to capture the house on September 18.  Shocked at what he considered a violation of the Laws of War, Col. Mulligan ordered the structure to be retaken. Company B, 23rd Illinois, Company B, 13th Missouri, and volunteers from the 1st Illinois Cavalry charged from the Union lines and recaptured the house, suffering heavy casualties in the process. Harris's troops recaptured the hospital later that day, and it remained in State Guard hands thereafter.

During the Federal assault on the Anderson house, Union troops summarily executed three State Guard soldiers at the base of the grand staircase in the main hall. The Southerners claimed the men had already surrendered, and should have been treated as prisoners of war. The Federal troops, who had sustained numerous casualties in retaking the residence, considered the prisoners to have been in violation of the Laws of War for having attacked a hospital in the first place.  The Anderson home was heavily damaged by cannon and rifle projectiles, with many of the holes still visible both inside and outside the house (which is now a museum) today.

The Anderson House and Lexington Battlefield was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.

Preparing for the final assault
On September 19 the State Guard consolidated its positions, kept the Federals under heavy artillery fire, and prepared for their final attack.  One problem faced by the defenders was a chronic lack of water; wells within the Union lines had gone dry, and State Guard sharpshooters were able to cover a nearby spring, picking off any man who tried to approach it.  Surmising that a woman might succeed where his men had failed, Mulligan sent a female to the spring.  Price's troops held their fire, and even permitted her to take a few canteens of water back to the beleaguered Federals. This tiny gesture, however, could not solve the increasing crisis of thirst among the Union garrison, which would contribute to their ultimate undoing.

General Price had established his headquarters in a bank building at 926 Main Street on September 18, 1861, located across the street from the Lafayette County Courthouse, directing State Guard operations from a room on the second floor. On the 20th a cannonball, probably fired from Captain Hiram Bledsoe's State Guard Battery, struck the courthouse only about one hundred yards from General Price's headquarters.  According to accounts dating from 1920, the ball did not originally lodge in the column but fell out and was recovered by a collector.  Decades after the battle, the then-elderly gentleman signed an affidavit with his story, then gave the cannonball to County Commissioners.  They in turn had the ball screwed onto a two-foot iron rod embedded in the column for the purpose, where it remains visible to tourists today.

On the evening of September 19, soldiers of Brigadier General Thomas A. Harris's 2nd Division (State Guard) began using hemp bales seized from nearby warehouses to construct a moveable breastwork facing the Union entrenchment. These bales were soaked in river water overnight, to render them impervious to any heated rounds fired from the Federal guns. Harris's plan was for his troops to roll the bales up the hill the following day, using them for cover as they advanced close enough to the Union garrison for a final charge. The hemp bale line started in the vicinity of the Anderson house, extending north along the hillside for about 200 yards. In many places the hemp bales were stacked two high to provide additional protection.

Deployment of the hemp bales

Early on the morning of September 20, Harris's men advanced behind his mobile breastworks. As the fighting progressed, State Guardsmen from other divisions joined Harris's men behind them, increasing the amount of fire directed toward the Union garrison. Although the defenders poured red-hot shot into the advancing bales, their soaking in the Missouri River the previous night had given the hemp the desired immunity to the Federal shells. By early afternoon, the rolling fortification had advanced close enough for the Southerners to take the Union works in a final rush. Mulligan requested surrender terms after noon, and at 2:00 p.m. his men vacated their trenches and stacked their arms.

Many years later, in his book The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Southern president Jefferson Davis opined that "The expedient of the bales of hemp was a brilliant conception, not unlike that which made Tarik, the Saracen warrior, immortal, and gave his name to the northern pillar of Hercules."

Aftermath

Casualties at Lexington were relatively low because the battle was largely fought from protective positions. Price claimed a loss of only 25 men killed and 72 wounded in his official report.  However, a study of his subordinates' after-action reports reveals a total of at least 30 killed and 120 wounded.  This would not include any civilians or recruits who had not yet enrolled but who had joined the fighting.  The Federals lost 39 killed and 120 wounded. The relatively light casualties may be attributed to Mulligan's excellent entrenchments and Harris's hemp-bale inspiration; nevertheless, the entire Union garrison was taken prisoner.  Among the casualties at the First Battle of Lexington was Lt. Col. Benjamin W. Grover, commanding the 27th Missouri Mounted Infantry, who was wounded by a musket ball in the thigh. He succumbed to his wound October 31, 1861.

The surrendered Union soldiers were compelled to listen to a speech by the deposed pro-Confederate Missouri governor Claiborne F. Jackson, who upbraided them for entering his state without invitation and waging war upon its citizens. The Federals were then paroled by General Price, with the notable exception of Colonel Mulligan, who refused parole. Price was reportedly so impressed by the Federal commander's demeanor and conduct during and after the battle that he offered Mulligan his own horse and buggy, and ordered him safely escorted to Union lines. Mulligan was mortally wounded at the Second Battle of Kernstown near Winchester, Virginia on July 24, 1864, while Price would go on to command Confederate forces at numerous battles throughout the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters.

Following the surrender at Lexington, Fremont and Price negotiated an exchange cartel.  The Camp Jackson parolees were exchanged for a portion of Mulligan's command.  This worked smoothly for the officers who were specifically named, but not for all of the Federal enlisted men.  Some enlisted men were ordered back into Federal service without having been properly exchanged, then moved to different theaters.  Several were captured at Shiloh, where they were recognized and executed for violating their parole.

See also
List of American Civil War battles

Notes

References
The Battle of Lexington, 1861 Firsthand accounts of the battle, including official reports from both commanders. (Archived from the original on May 2, 2007)

Lexington Battlefield Guide (Archived from the original on July 26, 2008)
National Park Service battle description
 CWSAC Report Update

Further reading

External links

"The Battle of Lexington, Missouri, from sketches by a Western correspondent"
"Charge of the Irish Regiment over the Breast-Works at Lexington, Missouri"
"Portrait of Colonel Mulligan"
"The Rebel Ex-Governor Jackson, of Missouri, addressing Colonel Mulligan's troops after the surrender at Lexington"

1861 in the American Civil War
1861 in Missouri
Lexington I
Lexington I
Lexington I
Lafayette County, Missouri
Lexington I
September 1861 events
Sieges of the American Civil War

First Battle of Lexington


Asturian cuisine refers to the typical dishes and ingredients found in the cuisine of the Asturias region of Spain.

Foods
Asturias is especially known for its seafood, such as fresh squid, crab, shrimp and sea bass.  Salmon are caught in Asturian rivers, notably the Sella; the first fish of the season is called campanu (Bable word for campana), a bell tolled to signal the first catch.

Bread

Spelt bread (pan d'escanda) is very traditional. Formigos are a type of French toast made with crumbled bread and eggs. Bollos preñaos are buns filled with chorizo. Pancakes called frixuelos, similar to Galician filloas, are typical desserts.  Other specialities are made with cornmeal, such as boroña (round loaf of hard bread), the fariñes, farrapes or papes (cornmeal porridge), the rapa (similar to boroña with pieces of bacon inside the dough) and tortos (cornmeal flatbread).

Fruits, vegetables and legumes

The most common legume in Asturian cuisine is beans ("fabes"), the main element in the iconic fabada stew, one of the most well-know Asturian dishes, apart from other dishes such as beans and clams (fabes con amasueles). Another rich stew is pote asturianu, with cabbage, potatoes, beans and pork products. Turnips are found in pote de nabos (turnip stew), a typical winter dish, just as chestnuts in the more humble pote de castañes (chestnut stew). Green beans, peas, potatoes, peppers, cawliflower and other vegetables are also common. Mushrooms from the Asturian forests are also found, such as fairy ring mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and parasol mushrooms.

Among fruits, apples are most important (an indispensable element for making Asturian cider, there being several autochthonous varieties). Cherries, strawberries and figs (such as figos miguelinos) are also quite typical, as well as chestnuts, walnuts and hazelnuts.

Cheeses

Asturian cheeses, especially Cabrales, are also famous throughout Spain and beyond; Cabrales is known for its pungent odour and strong flavour. Asturias is often called "the land of cheeses" (el pais de los quesos) due to the product's diversity and quality in this region. Other famous cheeses are:

Afuega'l pitu

Casín cheese
Gamonéu cheese
La Peral cheese

Dishes
The most famous regional dish is fabada Asturiana, a rich stew made with the Asturian typical large white beans (fabes de la Granja), pork shoulder (llacón), morcilla, chorizo, and saffron (azafrán).

Other major dishes include beans with clams (fabes con almejas), Asturian stew, Cachopo, frixuelos, and rice pudding.

Beverages
Apple groves foster the production of the traditional alcoholic drink, a natural cider (sidra).  It is a very dry cider, and unlike French or English natural ciders, uses predominantly acidic apples, rather than sweet or bittersweet. The proportions are: acidic 40%, sub-acidic 30-25%, sweet 10-15%, bittersweet 15-20%, bitter  5%.

Sidra is traditionally poured in by an expert server (or escanciador): the bottle is raised high above his or her head to oxygenate the brew as it moves into the glass below. The glass is also held at a slight angle. A small amount (~120ml) is poured at a time (called a "culín"), as it must be drunk immediately before the sidra loses its carbonation.  Any sidra left in the glass is poured onto a woodchip-strewn floor or a trough along the bottom of the bar.

See also

 Spanish cuisine

References

Asturian cuisine


Geosteering is the optimal placement of a wellbore based on the results of realtime downhole geological and geophysical logging measurements rather than three-dimensional targets in space. The objective is usually to keep a directional wellbore within a hydrocarbon pay zone defined in terms of its resistivity, density or even biostratigraphy. In mature areas, geosteering may be used to keep a wellbore in a particular reservoir section to minimize gas or water breakthrough and maximize economic production from the well. In the process of drilling a borehole, geosteering is the act of adjusting the borehole position (inclination and azimuth angles) on the fly to reach one or more geological targets. These changes are based on geological information gathered while drilling.

Originally only a projected target would be aimed for with crude directional tools. Now the advent of rotary steerable tools and an ever-increasing arsenal of geophysical tools enables well placement with ever-increasing accuracy. Typically a basic tool configuration will have directional and inclination sensors, along with a gamma ray tool. Other options are neutron density, look ahead seismic, downhole pressure readings et al. Due to the vast volume of data generated, especially by imaging tools, the data transmitted to the surface is a carefully selected fraction of what is available. Data is collected in memory for a data dump when back on the surface with the tool.

History

Geosteering only practically became possible with the advent of deep reading 2 MHz resistivity LWD tools from the major LWD vendors (BakerHughes Reservoir Navigation Tool, SperrySun and Schlumberger) and other tools in the early 1990s, and the forward modeling software from a number of vendors capable of predicting resistivity tool responses for different relative angles and formation resistivities. Prior to this, Gamma ray gave some bed information, but was rarely used to dynamically adjust the well path to the best oil saturation and porosity. The advent of nuclear tools for porosity and azimuthally sensitive gamma and resistivity tools improved the ability to infer whether the wellbore should be steered up or down. The development of the Troll Oilfield by Norsk Hydro (Later Statoil and Equinor) would not have been possible without the ability to precisely geosteer within a 4-meter thick horizon to avoid gas above and water below.

Description
From 2D and 3D models of underground substructures, deviated wells (2D and 3D) are planned in advance to achieve specific goals: exploration, fluids production, fluids injection or technical.

A well plan is a continuous succession of straight and curved lines representing the geometrical figure of the expected well path. A well plan is always projected on vertical and horizontal maps.

While the borehole is being drilled according to the well plan, new geological information is gathered from mud logging, measurement while drilling (MWD) and logging while drilling (LWD). These usually show some differences from what is expected from the model. As the model is continuously updated with new geological information (formation evaluation) and the borehole position (well deviation survey), changes start to appear in the geological substructures and can lead to the well plan being updated to reach the corrected geological targets.

The following data can be used for the geosteering: MWD, LWD, Image logs, 2D and 3D seismic data, and geological models.

See also
Oil well
Directional drilling
Well logging
Deviation survey

References

Drilling technology
Petroleum production
Boreholes

Geosteering


Oliver Beirne (March 26, 1811 - April 21, 1888) was a landowner from western Virginia (now formally West Virginia), one of the owner of the Old Sweet Springs resort, and sole heir to plantation millionaire John Burnside, of whom he was a longtime friend.

Early life
Oliver Beirne was born on March 26, 1811, the son of Andrew Beirne (1771–1845) and Eleanor "Ellen" Grey Keenan (1779–1824).

Career
Beirne partnered with John Burnside in a mercantile business established in New Orleans in 1837. Beirne retired from the mercantile business in 1847 and Burnside became a wealthy merchant, later owner of The Houmas plantation and another dozen plantations in Louisiana.

Back in Virginia, Oliver Beirne became a landowner and postmaster of Sweet Springs,  Virginia (now West Virginia) , where he owned the Old Sweet Springs resort. Aside from the resort at Sweet Springs, all other properties still belong to his heirs.

Personal life
Oliver Beirne married Margaret Melinda Caperton (1812–1844) on August 2, 1831. His children were: John, Jane E., Elizabeth "Bettie" Miles (1835–1874) (who married William Porcher Miles), Andrew, Susan Robinson (1840–1871) (married Major Henry Robinson), Nancy (married first Samuel B. Parkman, killed at Antietam, second Emil von Ahlefeldt) and Alice.

John Burnside, his longtime friend from the time when they worked together in New Orleans, was a lifelong bachelor, and when he died on June 29, 1881, he left his entire estate, estimated 5 or 6 million dollars, to Oliver Beirne. When Beirne died Houmas House and the other plantations went to William Porcher Miles, Beirne's son-in-law.

External links

References

1811 births
1888 deaths
19th-century American landowners
West Virginia postmasters
19th-century American businesspeople
People from Monroe County, West Virginia
American hoteliers
Businesspeople from West Virginia
19th-century American merchants
American people of Irish descent
Burials in West Virginia

Oliver Beirne


Decomposition or rot is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biosphere. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death. Animals, such as worms, also help decompose the organic materials. Organisms that do this are known as decomposers or detritivores. Although no two organisms decompose in the same way, they all undergo the same sequential stages of decomposition. The science which studies decomposition is generally referred to as taphonomy from the Greek word taphos, meaning tomb. Decomposition can also be a gradual process for organisms that have extended periods of dormancy.

One can differentiate abiotic decomposition from biotic decomposition (biodegradation). The former means "the degradation of a substance by chemical or physical processes", e.g., hydrolysis; the latter means "the metabolic breakdown of materials into simpler components by living organisms", typically by microorganisms.

Animal decomposition

Decomposition begins at the moment of death, caused by two factors: autolysis, the breaking down of tissues by the body's own internal chemicals and enzymes, and putrefaction, the breakdown of tissues by bacteria. These processes release compounds such as cadaverine and putrescine, that are the chief source of the unmistakably putrid odor of decaying animal tissue.

Prime decomposers are bacteria or fungi, though larger scavengers also play an important role in decomposition if the body is accessible to insects, mites and other animals. Additionally, soil animals are considered key regulators of decomposition at local scales but their role at larger scales is unresolved. The most important arthropods that are involved in the process include carrion beetles, mites, the flesh-flies (Sarcophagidae) and blow-flies (Calliphoridae), such as the green bottle flies seen in the summer. In North America, the most important non-insect animals that are typically involved in the process include mammal and bird scavengers, such as coyotes, dogs, wolves, foxes, rats, crows and vultures. Some of these scavengers also remove and scatter bones, which they ingest at a later time. Aquatic and marine environments have break-down agents that include bacteria, fish, crustaceans, fly larvae and other carrion scavengers.

Stages of decomposition
Five general stages are typically used to describe the process of decomposition in vertebrate animals: fresh, bloat, active decay, advanced decay, and dry/remains. The general stages of decomposition are coupled with two stages of chemical decomposition: autolysis and putrefaction. These two stages contribute to the chemical process of decomposition, which breaks down the main components of the body. With death the microbiome of the living organism collapses and is followed by the necrobiome that undergoes predictable changes over time.

Fresh
Among those animals that have a heart, the "fresh" stage begins immediately after the heart stops beating. From the moment of death, the body begins cooling or warming to match the temperature of the ambient environment, during a stage called algor mortis. Shortly after death, within three to six hours, the muscular tissues become rigid and incapable of relaxing, during a stage called rigor mortis. Since blood is no longer being pumped through the body, gravity causes it to drain to the dependent portions of the body, creating an overall bluish-purple discoloration termed livor mortis or, more commonly, lividity. Depending on the position of the body, these parts would vary. For instance, if the person was flat on their back when they died, the blood would collect in the parts that are touching the ground. If the person was hanging, it would collect in their fingertips, toes and earlobes.

Once the heart stops, the blood can no longer supply oxygen or remove carbon dioxide from the tissues. The resulting decrease in pH and other chemical changes causes cells to lose their structural integrity, bringing about the release of cellular enzymes capable of initiating the breakdown of surrounding cells and tissues. This process is known as autolysis.

Visible changes caused by decomposition are limited during the fresh stage, although autolysis may cause blisters to appear at the surface of the skin.

The small amount of oxygen remaining in the body is quickly depleted by cellular metabolism and aerobic microbes naturally present in respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, creating an ideal environment for the proliferation of anaerobic organisms. These multiply, consuming the body's carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, to produce a variety of substances including propionic acid, lactic acid, methane, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. The process of microbial proliferation within a body is referred to as putrefaction and leads to the second stage of decomposition known as bloat.

Blowflies and flesh flies are the first carrion insects to arrive and they seek a suitable oviposition site.

Bloat
The bloat stage provides the first clear visual sign that microbial proliferation is underway. In this stage, anaerobic metabolism takes place, leading to the accumulation of gases, such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen. The accumulation of gases within the bodily cavity causes the distention of the abdomen and gives a cadaver its overall bloated appearance. The gases produced also cause natural liquids and liquefying tissues to become frothy.  As the pressure of the gases within the body increases, fluids are forced to escape from natural orifices, such as the nose, mouth and anus, and enter the surrounding environment. The buildup of pressure combined with the loss of integrity of the skin may also cause the body to rupture.

Intestinal anaerobic bacteria transform haemoglobin into sulfhemoglobin and other colored pigments. The associated gases which accumulate within the body at this time aid in the transport of sulfhemoglobin throughout the body via the circulatory and lymphatic systems, giving the body an overall marbled appearance.

If insects have access, maggots hatch and begin to feed on the body's tissues. Maggot activity, typically confined to natural orifices, and masses under the skin, causes the skin to slip, and hair to detach from the skin. Maggot feeding, and the accumulation of gases within the body, eventually leads to post-mortem skin ruptures which will then further allow purging of gases and fluids into the surrounding environment. Ruptures in the skin allow oxygen to re-enter the body and provide more surface area for the development of fly larvae and the activity of aerobic microorganisms. The purging of gases and fluids results in the strong distinctive odors associated with decay.

Active decay
Active decay is characterized by the period of greatest mass loss. This loss occurs as a result of both the voracious feeding of maggots and the purging of decomposition fluids into the surrounding environment. The purged fluids accumulate around the body and create a cadaver decomposition island (CDI). Liquefaction of tissues and disintegration become apparent during this time and strong odors persist. The end of active decay is signaled by the migration of maggots away from the body to pupate.

Advanced decay
Decomposition is largely inhibited during advanced decay due to the loss of readily available cadaveric material. Insect activity is also reduced during this stage. When the carcass is located on soil, the area surrounding it will show evidence of vegetation death. The CDI surrounding the carcass will display an increase in soil carbon and nutrients such as phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium; changes in pH; and a significant increase in soil nitrogen.

Dry/remains
During the dry/remains stage, the resurgence of plant growth around the CDI may occur and is a sign that the nutrients present in the surrounding soil have not yet returned to their normal levels. As the ecosystem recovers from the disturbance, the CDI moves into the dry/remains stage, which is characterized by a decrease in the intensity of the disturbance and an increase in the amount of plant growth around the affected area. This is a sign that the nutrients and other ecological resources present in the surrounding soil have not yet returned to their normal levels.

During this stage, it is important to monitor the ecosystem for any signs of continued disturbance or ecological stress. The resurgence of plant growth is a positive sign, but it may take several years for the ecosystem to fully recover and return to its pre-disturbance state. All that remains of the cadaver at this stage is dry skin, cartilage, and bones, which will become dry and bleached if exposed to the elements. If all soft tissue is removed from the cadaver, it is referred to as completely skeletonized, but if only portions of the bones are exposed, it is referred to as partially skeletonized.

Factors affecting decomposition of bodies

Exposure to the elements
A dead body that has been exposed to the open elements, such as water and air, will decompose more quickly and attract much more insect activity than a body that is buried or confined in special protective gear or artifacts. This is due, in part, to the limited number of insects that can penetrate a coffin and the lower temperatures under the soil.

The rate and manner of decomposition in an animal body are strongly affected by several factors. In roughly descending degrees of importance, they are:
 Temperature;
 The availability of oxygen;
 Prior embalming;
 Cause of death;
 Burial, depth of burial, and soil type;
 Access by scavengers;
 Trauma, including wounds and crushing blows;
 Humidity, or wetness;
 Rainfall;
 Body size and weight;
Composition;
 Clothing;
 The surface on which the body rests;
 Foods/objects inside the specimen's digestive tract (bacon compared to lettuce).

The speed at which decomposition occurs varies greatly. Factors such as temperature, humidity, and the season of death all determine how fast a fresh body will skeletonize or mummify. A basic guide for the effect of environment on decomposition is given as Casper's Law (or Ratio): if all other factors are equal, then, when there is free access of air a body decomposes twice as fast as if immersed in water and eight times faster than if buried in the earth. Ultimately, the rate of bacterial decomposition acting on the tissue will depend upon the temperature of the surroundings. Colder temperatures decrease the rate of decomposition while warmer temperatures increase it. A dry body will not decompose efficiently. Moisture helps the growth of microorganisms that decompose the organic matter, but too much moisture could lead to anaerobic conditions slowing down the decomposition process.

The most important variable is the body's accessibility to insects, particularly flies. On the surface in tropical areas, invertebrates alone can easily reduce a fully fleshed corpse to clean bones in under two weeks. The skeleton itself is not permanent; acids in soils can reduce it to unrecognizable components. This is one reason given for the lack of human remains found in the wreckage of the  Titanic, even in parts of the ship considered inaccessible to scavengers. Freshly skeletonized bone is often called "green" bone and has a characteristic greasy feel. Under certain conditions (normally cool, damp soil), bodies may undergo saponification and develop a waxy substance called adipocere, caused by the action of soil chemicals on the body's proteins and fats. The formation of adipocere slows decomposition by inhibiting the bacteria that cause putrefaction.

In extremely dry or cold conditions, the normal process of decomposition is halted – by either lack of moisture or temperature controls on bacterial and enzymatic action – causing the body to be preserved as a mummy. Frozen mummies commonly restart the decomposition process when thawed (see Ötzi the Iceman), whilst heat-desiccated mummies remain so unless exposed to moisture.

The bodies of newborns who never ingested food are an important exception to the normal process of decomposition. They lack the internal microbial flora that produces much of decomposition and quite commonly mummify if kept in even moderately dry conditions.

Anaerobic vs aerobic
Aerobic decomposition takes place in the presence of oxygen. This is most common to occur in nature. Living organisms that use oxygen to survive feed on the body. Anaerobic decomposition takes place in the absence of oxygen. This could be a place where the body is buried in organic material and oxygen can not reach it. This process of putrefaction has a bad odor accompanied by it due to the hydrogen sulfide and organic matter containing sulfur.

Artificial preservation
Embalming is the practice of delaying the decomposition of human and animal remains. Embalming slows decomposition somewhat but does not forestall it indefinitely. Embalmers typically pay great attention to parts of the body seen by mourners, such as the face and hands. The chemicals used in embalming repel most insects and slow down bacterial putrefaction by either killing existing bacteria in or on the body themselves or by "fixing" cellular proteins, which means that they cannot act as a nutrient source for subsequent bacterial infections. In sufficiently dry environments, an embalmed body may end up mummified and it is not uncommon for bodies to remain preserved to a viewable extent after decades. Notable viewable embalmed bodies include those of:
 Eva Perón of Argentina, whose body was injected with paraffin was kept perfectly preserved for many years, and still is as far as is known (her body is no longer on public display).
 Vladimir Lenin of the Soviet Union, whose body was kept submerged in a special tank of fluid for decades and is on public display in Lenin's Mausoleum.
 Other Communist leaders with pronounced cults of personality such as Mao Zedong, Kim Il Sung, Ho Chi Minh, Kim Jong Il and most recently Hugo Chávez have also had their cadavers preserved in the fashion of Lenin's preservation and are now displayed in their respective mausoleums.
 Pope John XXIII, whose preserved body can be viewed in St. Peter's Basilica.
 Padre Pio, whose body was injected with formalin before burial in a dry vault from which he was later removed and placed on public display at the San Giovanni Rotondo.

Environmental preservation
A body buried in a sufficiently dry environment may be well preserved for decades. This was observed in the case for murdered civil rights activist Medgar Evers, who was found to be almost perfectly preserved over 30 years after his death, permitting an accurate autopsy when the case of his murder was re-opened in the 1990s.

Bodies submerged in a peat bog may become naturally "embalmed", arresting decomposition and resulting in a preserved specimen known as a bog body. The generally cool and anoxic conditions in these environments limits the rate of microbial activity, thus limiting the potential for decomposition. The time for an embalmed body to be reduced to a skeleton varies greatly. Even when a body is decomposed, embalming treatment can still be achieved (the arterial system decays more slowly) but would not restore a natural appearance without extensive reconstruction and cosmetic work, and is largely used to control the foul odors due to decomposition.

An animal can be preserved almost perfectly, for millions of years in a resin such as amber.

There are some examples where bodies have been inexplicably preserved (with no human intervention) for decades or centuries and appear almost the same as when they died. In some religious groups, this is known as incorruptibility. It is not known whether or for how long a body can stay free of decay without artificial preservation.

Importance to forensic sciences

Various sciences study the decomposition of bodies under the general rubric of forensic science because the usual motive for such studies is to determine the time and cause of death for legal purposes:
 Forensic taphonomy specifically studies the processes of decomposition to apply the biological and chemical principles to forensic cases to determine post-mortem interval (PMI), post-burial interval as well as to locate clandestine graves.
 Forensic pathology studies the clues to the cause of death found in the corpse as a medical phenomenon.
 Forensic entomology studies the insects and other vermin found in corpses; the sequence in which they appear, the kinds of insects, and where they are found in their life cycle are clues that can shed light on the time of death, the length of a corpse's exposure, and whether the corpse was moved.
 Forensic anthropology is the medico-legal branch of physical anthropology that studies skeletons and human remains, usually to seek clues as to the identity, age, sex, height and ethnicity of their former owner.

The University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility (better known as the Body Farm) in Knoxville, Tennessee has several bodies laid out in various situations in a fenced-in plot near the medical center. Scientists at the Body Farm study how the human body decays in various circumstances to gain a better understanding of decomposition.

Plant decomposition

Decomposition of plant matter occurs in many stages. It begins with leaching by water; the most easily lost and soluble carbon compounds are liberated in this process. Another early process is physical breakup or fragmentation of the plant material into smaller pieces, providing greater surface area for microbial colonization and attack. In smaller dead plants, this process is largely carried out by the soil invertebrate fauna, whereas in larger plants, primarily parasitic life-forms such as insects and fungi play a major role in breaking down matter, and are not assisted by numerous detritivore species.

Following this, the plant detritus (consisting of cellulose, hemicellulose, microbial products, and lignin) undergoes chemical alteration by microbes. Different types of compounds decompose at different rates. This is dependent on their chemical structure. For instance, lignin is a component of wood, which is relatively resistant to decomposition and can in fact only be decomposed by certain fungi, such as the white-rot fungi.

Wood decomposition is a complex process involving fungi which transport nutrients to the nutritionally scarce wood from outside environment. Because of this nutritional enrichment, the fauna of saproxylic insects may develop and, in turn, affect dead wood, contributing to decomposition and nutrient cycling in the forest floor. Lignin is one such remaining product of decomposing plants with a very complex chemical structure, causing the rate of microbial breakdown to slow. Warmth increases the speed of plant decay by roughly the same amount, regardless of the composition of the plant.

In most grassland ecosystems, natural damage from fire, insects that feed on decaying matter, termites, grazing mammals, and the physical movement of animals through the grass are the primary agents of breakdown and nutrient cycling, while bacteria and fungi play the main roles in further decomposition.

The chemical aspects of plant decomposition always involve the release of carbon dioxide. In fact, decomposition contributes over 90 percent of carbon dioxide released each year.

Food decomposition

The decomposition of food, either plant or animal, called spoilage in this context, is an important field of study within food science. Food decomposition can be slowed down by conservation. The spoilage of meat occurs, if the meat is untreated, in a matter of hours or days and results in the meat becoming unappetizing, poisonous or infectious. Spoilage is caused by the practically unavoidable infection and subsequent decomposition of meat by bacteria and fungi, which are borne by the animal itself, by the people handling the meat, and by their implements. Meat can be kept edible for a much longer time – though not indefinitely – if proper hygiene is observed during production and processing, and if appropriate food safety, food preservation and food storage procedures are applied.

Spoilage of food is attributed to contamination from microorganisms such as bacteria, molds and yeasts, along with natural decay of the food. These decomposition bacteria reproduce at rapid rates under conditions of moisture and preferred temperatures. When the proper conditions are lacking the bacteria may form spores which lurk until suitable conditions arise to continue reproduction.

Rate of decomposition

The rate of decomposition is governed by three sets of factors—the physical environment (temperature, moisture and soil properties), the quantity and quality of the dead material available to decomposers, and the nature of the microbial community itself.

Decomposition rates are low under very wet or very dry conditions. Decomposition rates are highest in damp, moist conditions with adequate levels of oxygen. Wet soils tend to become deficient in oxygen (this is especially true in wetlands), which slows microbial growth. In dry soils, decomposition slows as well, but bacteria continue to grow (albeit at a slower rate) even after soils become too dry to support plant growth.  When the rains return and soils become wet, the osmotic gradient between the bacterial cells and the soil water causes the cells to gain water quickly. Under these conditions, many bacterial cells burst, releasing a pulse of nutrients. Decomposition rates also tend to be slower in acidic soils. Soils which are rich in clay minerals tend to have lower decomposition rates, and thus, higher levels of organic matter. The smaller particles of clay result in a larger surface area that can hold water. The higher the water content of a soil, the lower the oxygen content and consequently, the lower the rate of decomposition. Clay minerals also bind particles of organic material to their surface, making them less accessible to microbes. Soil disturbance like tilling increases decomposition by increasing the amount of oxygen in the soil and by exposing new organic matter to soil microbes.

The quality and quantity of the material available to decomposers is another major factor that influences the rate of decomposition. Substances like sugars and amino acids decompose readily and are considered labile. Cellulose and hemicellulose, which are broken down more slowly, are "moderately labile". Compounds which are more resistant to decay, like lignin or cutin, are considered recalcitrant. Litter with a higher proportion of labile compounds decomposes much more rapidly than does litter with a higher proportion of recalcitrant material. Consequently, dead animals decompose more rapidly than dead leaves, which themselves decompose more rapidly than fallen branches. As organic material in the soil ages, its quality decreases. The more labile compounds decompose quickly, leaving an increasing proportion of recalcitrant material. Microbial cell walls also contain recalcitrant materials like chitin, and these also accumulate as the microbes die, further reducing the quality of older soil organic matter.

See also
Cadaverine
Chemical decomposition
 Ecosystem
 Humus
 Leachate
 Microbiology of decomposition
 Peat (turf)
 Putrescine
 Staling

References

External links

 How to Revive Dying or Dead Plants: 10 Easy Steps for Snake Plant

 1Lecture.com – Food decomposition (a Flash animation)

Anaerobic digestion
Articles containing video clips
Biodegradable waste management
Composting
Signs of death
Biostratinomy

Decomposition


The Amiga was a line of personal computers that Commodore International produced during the 1980s and early 1990s. The first Amiga computer, the Amiga 1000, possessed a HAM mode enabled the machine to display 4096 colors, a chip that enabled it to play back four channels of sound at once, an operating system with multitasking, and a graphical user interface at a time that these features were uncommon or not as developed as Amiga's. The Amiga is often said to have been ahead of its time. Although the Amiga did not sell well and Commodore went bankrupt, the Amiga developed a fandom and niche amongst video and graphics enthusiasts and gamers.

The Amiga was initially created by computer chip designer Jay Miner and Hi-Toro (later Amiga Corporation). In 1984, Commodore purchased Amiga Corporation. The first Amiga, the Amiga 1000, was released in 1985 after delays and marketing blunders. In 1994, Commodore declared bankruptcy.

References

Other websites

Amiga, by Joe Cassara, at urbandictionary.com
A history of the Amiga, by Jeremy Reimer, at arstechnica.com

Commodore computers

Amiga


Olympic Spirit Toronto was an Olympic-themed attraction featuring the moments of high drama and emotion experienced by Olympians and fans throughout Canada's history with the Olympic Games. It offered visitors a taste of what the Olympics are about through interactive sports activities that gave them a chance to try Olympic sports and engage in friendly competitions among themselves. The education-oriented attraction operated in a building at 35 Dundas Street East on Dundas Square in Toronto from August 2004 to August 2006.

Following the closure of Olympic Spirit Toronto, the building was purchased by Rogers Communications, and was renovated into television studios for Citytv and Omni Television. Citytv moved into the space on September 8, 2009.

Olympic Spirit won a number of prestigious awards, including the 2005 Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement and the 2005 Innovation Award presented by Tourism Federation of Ontario (TFO). The Calling, the high-definition film produced for Olympic Spirit, was awarded the 2005 AMOVA Award at the 23rd edition of "Sport Movies & TV - Milano International FICTS Fest" in Milano, Italy.

Future of the Olympic Spirit in Toronto
Mark Dzenick, chairman of the Olympic Spirit Group, the master licensor of the Olympic Spirit concept together with the International Olympic Committee and the Canadian Olympic Committee, expressed his confidence in the city and optimism for the future. "I appreciate the effort that the local licensee and operator, PenEquity Management Corp. and Toros Entertainment Inc., put into the project. They believed in Toronto and in bringing the Olympic Spirit to its citizens. I have a great deal of faith and trust in the city. The Olympic Spirit is alive and well in Toronto, and we hope to announce plans for a more family-oriented location sometime soon."

References

External links
Olympic Spirit Toronto
 Olympic Spirit Group - Wayback Machine
 Canadian Olympic Committee
 International Olympic Committee

Museums disestablished in 2006
Museums established in 2004
Defunct museums in Toronto
Canada at the Olympics
Olympic Games
Sports museums in Canada
Olympic museums

Olympic Spirit Toronto


A octobass is a musical instrument. It is a giant bass with three strings. It is played with a stick like a double bass. It has the deepest sound of any string instrument. There are only seven octobass in the world and they are mostly in museums. The only full working octobass is the one in the Montreal symphony orchestra, making it the only orchestra in the world to have a octobass.

String instruments

Octobass


Aegisthus (or Aigisthos) was a figure in Greek mythology. He is known from two sources. The first is Homer's Odyssey, about the end of the 8th century BC. The second from Aeschylus's Oresteia, written in the 5th century BC.

As Agamemnon lay siege to Troy, his queen Clytemnestra took Aegisthus as a lover. The couple killed Agamemnon when he returned.  Aegisthus ruled for seven more years before being killed by Agamemnon's son Orestes. This is part of the story of the Orestia.

People in Greek mythology

Aegisthus


Theodore Sadowski (April 1, 1936 – July 18, 1993) was an American professional baseball player and a middle-relief pitcher in the Major Leagues for the Washington Senators / Minnesota Twins (1960–62). Sadowski batted and threw right-handed, stood  tall and weighed . He was the brother of  Bob Sadowski and Ed Sadowski, and uncle of Jim Sadowski.

Coming from a Pittsburgh baseball family, Sadowski himself had a 12-year pro career. He broke into the big leagues with the 1960 Senators, who the following season became the Minnesota Twins. In his three-season MLB career, he posted a 2–3 record with a 5.76 ERA and one save in 43 games and 84 innings pitched.

Sadowski died of cancer in Shaler Township, Pennsylvania, at age 57.

External links

Baseball Library

1936 births
1993 deaths
Albany Senators players
American people of Polish descent
Atlanta Crackers players
Baseball players from Pittsburgh
Burials at Allegheny Cemetery
Charleston Senators players
Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players
Dallas Rangers players
Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania
Erie Sailors players
Fox Cities Foxes players
Kinston Eagles players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Minnesota Twins players
Minnesota Twins scouts
Syracuse Chiefs players
Tacoma Giants players
Vancouver Mounties players
Washington Senators (1901–1960) players
Wilson Tobs players

Ted Sadowski


Michael Vincent Forrestal (November 26, 1927 – January 11, 1989) was one of the leading aides to McGeorge Bundy, the National Security Advisor of President John F. Kennedy. He was seen as a pivotal figure in the changing of U.S. foreign policy, including recommending support for the coup d'état that deposed the first president of South Vietnam, Ngô Đình Diệm.

Following the arrest and assassination of Diệm, which was backed by the Central Intelligence Agency, General Dương Văn Minh assumed the presidency in November, 1963. The negative repercussions from the coup and the John F. Kennedy assassination, which occurred later in the month, led to Forrestal's retirement from government service in 1965.  Speculation at the time suggested that he left the White House because of his decreasing influence in the administration of Kennedy's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson.

Other than his political life, Forrestal was a senior partner in Shearman & Sterling and a legal advisor to the state-owned Algerian oil company, Sonatrach during the 1970s. Forrestal also had a role in the German-based Allied Control Council and the U.S.–USSR Trade and Economic Council.

Biography
Forrestal was born in New York City on November 26, 1927 to James Forrestal and Josephine Forrestal.  His father served as Secretary of the Navy before becoming the first Secretary of Defense in 1947.

In 1946 Michael Forrestal graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy. He received a commission in the United States Navy, and was appointed an assistant naval attaché in Moscow under W. Averell Harriman, the Ambassador to the Soviet Union.  He later served as secretary of the Quadripartite Naval Directorate, part of the post-World War II Allied Control Council that administered Berlin.  From 1948 to 1950 he was deputy director of the East-West Trade Division of the U.S. European Cooperation Administration.

Forrestal attended Princeton University, and completed his LL.B. degree at Harvard Law School in 1953. He practiced with the New York City firm of Shearman & Sterling, and became a partner in 1960.  By 1978 he had become the firm's senior partner.

Vietnam War

From 1962 to 1965 Forrestal was a member of the senior staff of the National Security Council, where he specialized in Asian affairs and participated in the deliberations and decisions that led to increased U.S. military presence in Vietnam.

In response to President Ngo Dinh Diem's repression of the Buddhist majority, widespread civil disobedience broke out, culminating in nationwide raids on Buddhist temples leaving an estimated death toll in the hundreds. Forrestal, Harriman and Hilsman were prominent among the State Department officials who felt that Diem needed to be removed, and began drafting a response to the raids to send to Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. They were the only senior State Department officials on duty on August 24, 1963, a Saturday afternoon, with Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and CIA director John McCone on vacation. President Kennedy was on vacation, when Forrestal telephoned seeking to expedite the process with the commander-in-chief's verbal approval. Kennedy asked them to "wait until Monday" when all the key figures would be in Washington, but Forrestal said that Harriman and Hilsman wanted to get the cable "out right away". Kennedy thus told Forrestal to get another high-ranking official to "get it cleared". The trio then contacted other senior officials, several of whom approved under the misunderstanding that someone else had already cleared the cable. Forrestal phoned Roswell Gilpatric in the evening and  told him that both Kennedy and Rusk had already approved. Gilpatric later recalled that "If Rusk went along with it and the President went along with it, I wasn't going to oppose it." Richard Helms of the CIA also endorsed the message without notifying his director McCone; he later said that he believed that Forrestal was only advising of a resolution that had already been made. Forrestal then told Kennedy that he had gained the support of Kennedy's inner circle, so the president told him to send the message. Cable 243 was thus sent to Lodge at 21:36.

Cable 243 called for Lodge to lobby for the removal from influence of Diem's younger brother and chief political adviser Ngo Dinh Nhu, and to look for alternative leadership options if Diem refused. As it was known that Diem would never sideline Nhu, it was effectively an authorisation for Lodge to encourage a military coup.

The decision to authorise the cable prompted significant infighting in the administration at the Monday morning meeting on August 26. Kennedy was met with angry comments by Rusk, McNamara, McCone and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell Taylor, all of whom denied authorizing the cable. Taylor condemned the cable as an "egregious end run" by an anti-Diem faction.  He later claimed that the message was reflective of Forrestal and Hilsman's "well-known compulsion" to remove Diem. and accused them of pulling "a fast one". Kennedy was unhappy at Forrestal for perceived incompetence and angrily criticized Forrestal for proceeding without gaining the explicit approval of McCone, Forrestal offered to resign. Kennedy acerbically replied "You're not worth firing. You owe me something, so you stick around."

Forrestal was a longtime trustee of Phillips Exeter Academy and served as the board's president.  In addition, he was a longtime patron of the Metropolitan Opera, and was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Association's executive committee.

Personal life

Forrestal died in New York City on January 11, 1989.  He suffered an aneurysm while chairing a meeting of the Lincoln Center board of trustees. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia, near the graves of his parents and his brother Peter.  Michael Forrestal never married or had children.

Notes

References

External links

 Michael V. Forrestal in Historical Dictionary of the 1960s.  James Stuart Olson.  1999. p. 171.

1927 births
1989 deaths
Lawyers from New York City
Harvard Law School alumni
United States Navy officers
Buddhist crisis
American people of Irish descent
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
People associated with Shearman & Sterling

Michael Forrestal


Athenian sacred ships were ancient Athenian ships, often triremes, which had special religious functions such as serving in sacred processions (theoria) or embassies or racing in boat races during religious festivals.  The two most famous such ships were the Paralus and the Salaminia, which also served as the messenger ships of the Athenian government in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Other notable ships included one possibly named the Delias, a triakonter (thirty-oared galley) believed to be the ship in which Theseus had sailed to Crete, and which was involved in several traditional theoria to Delos; the vessel was constantly repaired by replacing individual planks to keep it seaworthy while maintaining its identity as the same ship. (For the philosophical question of the ship's identity, see Ship of Theseus.) After the reforms of Cleisthenes, a ship was named for each of the ten tribes that political leader had created; these ships may also have been sacred ships.

The Paralus and the Salaminia, and possibly some other sacred ships, served in the Athenian combat fleet. Those two vessels, being particularly swift, were used as scout and messenger ships, but also fought in the line of battle. The Paralus and Salaminia, meanwhile, also performed various tasks for the government; the Paralus appears to have carried most diplomatic missions, and the Salaminia carried official state messages; most famously, it was sent to arrest Alcibiades while that politician was commanding the Sicilian Expedition. These two triremes also had dedicated treasurers, or tamiai.

References

Sources

Jordan, Borimir, The Athenian Navy in the Classical Period.  (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1975). .
Lewis, David M.  "Book Review: The Athenian Navy in the Classical Period by Borimir Jordan".  Classical Philology Vol. 73 No. 1 1978, pp. 70–72.
Xenophon, A History of my Times

Ancient Greek religion
Ships of ancient Greece
Sacred ships
Sacred ships
Religious objects

Athenian sacred ships


; CAP) is the Italian post code numeric system, created in 1967. It consists of five digits: the first two denote the administrative province (sometimes shared by two or more provinces for those that have been split after 1967); the third indicates if the town is the chief town of the province (odd number, usually 1 or 9, e.g. 07100 for Sassari) or not (even, usually 0 or 8, e.g. 10015 for Ivrea); the last two designate the specific town or village, (only in provinces created after 1992) the delivery post office, or, in large cities like Rome, Milan, Naples, or Venice, the urban postal district (usually 00 or 70 in minor provincial chief towns). San Marino and the Vatican City are integrated into the Italian postcode system.

External links
The Italian ZIP Code – nonsoloCAP.it

Italy
Postal system of Italy

Codice di avviamento postale


The endpin is the component of a cello or double bass that makes contact with the floor to support the instrument's weight. It is made of metal, carbon fiber, or, occasionally, wood, and is typically extensible from the bottom of the instrument, secured there with a thumbscrew or other tightening mechanism. Most bass clarinets and contrabassoons also have a similar fixture. Endpins became a standard part of the cello in the mid-19th century. Before then, celli were held tightly with the legs. Some performers of pieces of baroque music continue to not use an endpin during period performances. The endpin is widely credited to making the cello more appealing to play for women, who were before compelled to hold the instrument on the floor due to the complicated dress and fashion of the time.

Types of endpins
Endpins are usually tipped with a point to stick into the floor, which is sometimes capped with black rubber to preserve the floor's surface and provide friction. Generally, endpins are parallel to the long axis of the instrument, but some cellists and bassists fit their instruments with a Tortelier-style endpin, which angles more towards the floor, improving mobility at the expense of stability. Also, some endpins have a secondary extension for tall musicians. The endpin also may have notches cut in it, allowing it to have extra holding strength at these points. This design is particularly common on string basses and beginning-level cellos. The former often require these because of their greater weight.

Endpin anchors

Left-hand pressure on a cello fingerboard, acting against the fulcrum of the player's chest and/or knees, may cause the endpin to slip forward on the floor. To prevent this slippage, objects known as "endpin stoppers", "pinstops", "donuts", "black holes", "endpin anchors", "endpin holders", "spike holders" or "rock stops" are sometimes used.

One type of endpin stopper is placed between the endpin and the floor to add surface area and enhance friction, and stands alone. With this sort, the base must be made out of a non-slippery material like rubber. One very common type consists of a pliable disc surrounding a circular cup to hold the endpin's tip, such as the "Sure-Stop".

A different sort of endpin stopper uses the musician's chair as an anchor. T-shaped wooden stoppers are anchored by placing the top of the T behind the chair legs. Straight plank stoppers use one or two straps with loops at the end which are anchored around the chair legs. Since in this case the distance from the stopper to the chair is usually fixed, such stoppers typically have a line of dents running down the plank, allowing the instrument's angle to be adjusted by placing the endpin in a different dent.

Basses do not always require stoppers, being heavier and usually played in a more vertical orientation than a cello.  However, bassists often use rockstops when sitting on a stool or when playing on high-glossed floors or uneven surfaces.

Endpins and flooring
Pointed endpins can cause extensive damage, especially to tile and wooden flooring. Many music rooms bear evidence of this in a myriad of small holes or chips. Here, rubber tips and/or stoppers are beneficial. On carpet, the damage is less extensive. The bare tip is thus most effective in outdoor conditions, carpeted areas, and old flooring where the damage will not be as serious. However, the sharper the endpin, the more likely it is to go through the standard rubber tip.

References

Musical instrument parts and accessories
Cellos
Double basses

Endpin


Berovo Lake is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of North Macedonia.

The lake lies within 7 km of the North Macedonia-Bulgaria Border, near the town of Berovo. The lake is surrounded by evergreen and deciduous type species of forests. Many locals go swimming, fishing, or sailing in the lake. The forested areas that surround the lake are protected by the Macedonian Forestry Police. Illegal cutting down forested areas for fire is prohibited in most areas of the country.

References

Lakes of North Macedonia
Berovo Municipality

Berovo Lake


In electrical engineering, admittance is a measure of how easily a circuit or device will allow a current to flow. It is defined as the reciprocal of impedance, analogous to how conductance and resistance are defined. The SI unit of admittance is the siemens (symbol S); the older, synonymous unit is mho, and its symbol is ℧ (an upside-down uppercase omega Ω). Oliver Heaviside coined the term admittance in December 1887. Heaviside used Y to represent the magnitude of admittance, but it quickly became the conventional symbol for admittance itself through the publications of Charles Proteus Steinmetz. Heaviside probably chose Y simply because it is next to Z in the alphabet, the conventional symbol for impedance.

Admittance is defined as

where
Y is the admittance, measured in siemens
Z is the impedance, measured in ohms

Resistance is a measure of the opposition of a circuit to the flow of a steady current, while impedance takes into account not only the resistance but also dynamic effects (known as reactance). Likewise, admittance is not only a measure of the ease with which a steady current can flow, but also the dynamic effects of the material's susceptance to polarization:

where
 is the admittance, measured in siemens.
 is the conductance, measured in siemens.
 is the susceptance, measured in siemens.

The dynamic effects of the material's susceptance relate to the universal dielectric response, the power law scaling of a system's admittance with frequency under alternating current conditions.

Conversion from impedance to admittance

The impedance, Z, is composed of real and imaginary parts,

where
R is the resistance, measured in ohms
X is the reactance, measured in ohms

Admittance, just like impedance, is a complex number, made up of a real part (the conductance, G), and an imaginary part (the susceptance, B), thus:

where G (conductance) and B (susceptance) are given by:

The magnitude and phase of the admittance are given by:

where
G is the conductance, measured in siemens
B is the susceptance, also measured in siemens

Note that (as shown above) the signs of reactances become reversed in the admittance domain; i.e. capacitive susceptance is positive and inductive susceptance is negative.

Shunt admittance in electrical power systems modeling
In the context of electrical modeling of transformers and transmission lines, shunt components that provide paths of least resistance in certain models are generally specified in terms of their admittance. Each side of most transformer models contains shunt components which model magnetizing current and core losses. These shunt components can be referenced to the primary or secondary side. For simplified transformer analysis, admittance from shunt elements can be neglected. When shunt components have non-negligible effects on system operation, the shunt admittance must be considered. In the diagram below, all shunt admittances are referred to the primary side. The real and imaginary components of the shunt admittance, conductance and susceptance, are represented by Gc and B, respectively.

Transmission lines can span hundreds of kilometers, over which the line's capacitance can affect voltage levels. For short length transmission line analysis, which applies to lines shorter than 80 kilometers, this capacitance can be ignored and shunt components are not necessary in the model. Lines between 80 and about 250 kilometers, generally considered to be in the medium-line category, contain a shunt admittance governed by

where

 Y = total shunt admittance
 y = shunt admittance per unit length
 l = length of line
 C = capacitance of line

See also

Nodal admittance matrix
SI electromagnetism units
Immittance

References

Physical quantities
Electrical resistance and conductance

Admittance


Leslie Mah is an American musician and performer.

Biography
Mah first began performing with Anti-Scrunti Faction, a hardcore punk band based in Boulder, Colorado which she co-founded with Tracie Thomas. The group first appeared on the Flipside fanzine compilation, Flipside Vinyl Fanzine Vol.1 in 1984 and, in 1985, released one single and an album, Damsels In Distress, on Flipside. The two lead performers and songwriters, Mah and Thomas, were part of the formation of the early Queercore movement, appearing in the seminal zine J.D.s, and starred and performed in The Yo-Yo Gang by G.B. Jones, released in 1992.

In 1988, Mah moved to San Francisco and helped found another of the pioneering queercore punk bands, Tribe 8, for which she played guitar. The group released their first single on Harp Records, following up with EPS on fledgling queercore label Outpunk and were later signed to the independent record label Alternative Tentacles, releasing a number of singles and albums in the years they were together.
As a band, they first appeared on film in A Gun for Jennifer; performed in She's Real, Worse Than Queer, which featured interviews with Mah, Lynn Breedlove and other members of the band; and were the subjects of the documentary Rise Above: A Tribe 8 Documentary by Tracy Flannigan, which played at film festivals around the world and won several awards including 'Best Documentary'.

Mah has also appeared in other independent films such as Shut Up White Boy by Vu T. Thu Ha, and directed her own film called Estrofemme.  She has also performed with groups such as Grannies and Trannies at the music festival Homo-A-GoGo.

Mah began working as a professional tattoo artist in 1995 in San Francisco. She is a founder of the Diving Swallow Tattoo collective in Oakland, California.

Filmography
 The Yo-Yo Gang by G.B. Jones, 1992
 A Gun For Jennifer, 1996
 She's Real, Worse Than Queer by Lucy Thane, 1997
 Shut Up White Boy by [Vũ T. Thu Hà]
 Estrofemme by Leslie Mah, 1998
 Rise Above: A Tribe 8 Documentary by Tracy Flannigan, 2003
 FtF: Female to Femme, directed by Kami Chisholm and Elizabeth Stark, 2006
 Hot Chick Hot Rod Stoner BBQ by Tina Gordon, 2006
 Godspeed by Lynn Breedlove and Jen Gilomen, 2007

Publications
 Dragon Ladies: Asian American Feminists Breathe Fire, edited by Sonia Shah, South End Press, 1997

References

External links
 Leslie Mah Tattoo
 Diving Swallow Tattoo

Living people
American women guitarists
American punk rock bass guitarists
Women bass guitarists
Women punk rock singers
American lesbian musicians
American LGBT singers
Musicians from Boulder, Colorado
American tattoo artists
Queercore musicians
1964 births
Guitarists from Colorado
20th-century American bass guitarists
20th-century American women musicians
20th-century American LGBT people

Leslie Mah


The Royal Aldrich House is a single-family house located at 31110 West 11 Mile Road in Farmington Hills, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. It is one of a few remaining Greek Revival style houses in southeast Michigan still located on the site where built.

History
In 1823, Esek Aldrich of Farmington, New York purchased this land. In 1839, Esek's 24-year-old son Royal moved from New York to Michigan to make a fresh start after the death of his wife and daughter. Shortly after his move, Royal married Betsey Janette Stevens, the daughter of a local farmer. The couple eventually had three children: Almeron, Bruce and Erin. In 1843, Royal constructed this Greek Revival farmhouse on his property.

Royal Aldrich died in 1856, passing the farm to his wife and children. In 1870, the farm was sold to Frederick Bade, a German immigrant. The Bade family owned the farm until the middle to the 20th century. In the post-World War II housing boom, the farm land was subdivided, and the house served as a duplex for a time.

Description
The Royal Aldrich house is an upright-and-double wing Greek Revival of post-and-beam construction. It is covered with clapboard and sits on a fieldstone foundation. The upright section is a two-story front-gable structure with cornice returns and broad architrave and frieze bands. The flanking wings are single story, hip roof sections, both with porches on the front. The windows are six-over-six units; the original movable shutters are still installed.

The interior of the house includes a parlor, sitting room, dining room, bedroom, and kitchen on the ground floor, with the kitchen likely a c. 1880 addition. The second floor contains two more bedrooms. The interior is generally simple, with little decoration. Walls are plaster, and the floors are softwood tongue-and-groove planking. The stairs to the second floor are mahogany.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Oakland County, Michigan
Greek Revival architecture in Michigan

Royal Aldrich House


Péter Halász (born July 23, 1976) is a Hungarian conductor.

Life and career
Péter Halász was born in Budapest. After studying piano and composition in his native city, he went on to study conducting under Leopold Hager at Universitaet für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Wien. He took master classes in Lucerne as a student of Bernard Haitink. He has been massively influenced by Ádám Fischer to whom he acted as assistant at the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt.

After completing his studies, Péter Halász coached young singers as a member of the International Opera Studio at Opernhaus Zürich (2001/2002). Following this, he was engaged as a conductor by Staatstheater Mainz where he led fifteen different productions (2003-2010).

From 2011 Péter Halász was the deputy music director of Theater Aachen and Sinfonieorchester Aachen. In his two seasons he conducted the premieres of Salvatore Sciarrino's Superflumina, Rossini's La Cenerentola, Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus, Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, and Poulenc's La voix humaine together with Monteverdi's Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. With the premieres in Aachen of Ariodante and Alcina, he initiated a Handel cycle played on period instruments. He additionally conducted performances of Bizet's Carmen, Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, and Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, while Tristan und Isolde was significant as the first time he had conducted a Wagner opera.

It was at the invitation of Ádám Fischer that Péter made his debut at the Hungarian State Opera with Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia in 2010. Since then he has regularly led repertoire performances in Budapest, including Verdi's Rigoletto, Nabucco, and La traviata; Puccini's Turandot, Madama Butterfly, and La bohéme; Mozart's Don Giovanni and Le nozze die Figaro; and Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus.

As music director of the Hungarian State Opera from 2013 to 2016, Péter Halász was responsible for many successful, critically acclaimed premieres. The first of these was Verdi's Falstaff, timed to coincide with the two hundredth anniversary of the composer's birth. In 2014 he premiered the first ever domestic performance of Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten. In collaboration with Academy Award-winning director Jiri Menzel, he presented Mozart's Cosí fan tutte. In the same season he also conducted Weber's Der Freischütz. 2015 saw the inception of a brand-new production of Wagner's Ring cycle with Das Rheingold, which was followed by Die Walküre in 2016, and Siegfried in 2017. When in 2016, Thomas Adès' The Tempest received its first ever Eastern European performance, it was also the first occasion on which a stage work by the preeminent contemporary composer had been performed in Hungary.

In 2016 he was the conductor for Plácido Domingo's gala concert, which was the great tenor's first ever performance at the Hungarian State Opera.

Péter Halász has also conducted gala concerts by such world-famous singers as Angela Gheorghiu, Vesselina Kassarova, Piotr Beczala, and Feruccio Furlanetto.

In 2017 he was awarded the Golden Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic.

In 2015 Péter Halász was invited to join Staatsoper Hamburg, where he made his debut with Puccini's Manon Lescaut. He also worked as a guest conductor at many other German opera houses – Baadisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Staatstheater Kassel, Saarlaendisches Staatstheater, Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen, Staatstheater Braunschweig.

In 2016 Zoltán Kocsis personally invited him to conduct the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2017 Péter Halász led the Staatsorchester Nürnberg for a concert of Hungarian composers. He has also led concerts by the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, the MAV Symphony Orchestra (Budapest), Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Staatsorchester Mainz, Sinfonieorchester Aachen, and Radio Sinfonieorchester Wien.

References

External links
Péter Halász official website
Cademi Agency: Péter Halász
Theater Aachen: Péter Halász
Hungarian State Opera, Budapest: Péter Halász
Péter Halász Operabase
Deutschlandfunk, Wagners Walküre in Budapest
Magyar Narancs interview with Péter Halász (in Hungarian)
Szinhaz.net essay, Péter Halász (in Hungarian)

Hungarian male musicians
Hungarian male conductors (music)
1976 births
Living people
21st-century conductors (music)
21st-century Hungarian male musicians

Péter Halász (conductor)


Five Star Final is a 1931 American crime drama movie directed by Mervyn LeRoy and was based on the 1930 play of the same name by Louis Weitzenkorn. It stars Edward G. Robinson, Aline MacMahon, Boris Karloff, H.B. Warner, Anthony Bushell, Oscar Apfel and was distributed by Warner Bros.. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1932 and was remade as Two Against the World.

Other websites

1931 drama movies
1930s American crime drama movies
Movies based on plays
Movies directed by Mervyn LeRoy

Five Star Final


The Railroad Hour was a radio series of musical dramas and comedies broadcast from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s.

Sponsored by the Association of American Railroads, the series condensed musicals and operettas to shorter lengths, concentrating on those written before 1943. Singer-actor Gordon MacRae starred in scripts by Jean Holloway, Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee. Marvin Miller was the announcer. Warren Barker, at the age of 24, was appointed chief arranger for The Railroad Hour, a position he held for six years. The show's musical director was Carmen Dragon.

With its theme song, "I've Been Working on the Railroad", the series began on ABC October 4, 1948 as a 45-minute program, advertised as "World's Greatest Musical Comedies." It was reduced to 30 minutes on April 25, 1949, continuing until September 26, 1949. It then moved to NBC for a run from October 3, 1949, until June 21, 1954. On both networks it aired Monday evenings at 8pm (Eastern).

Shows and performers
Doris Day co-starred with MacRae in No, No, Nanette and Jane Powell co-starred in Brigadoon. Other offerings included The Desert Song, Holiday Inn, The Merry Widow, The Mikado, Naughty Marietta, Show Boat, Song of Norway, State Fair, The Student Prince and The Vagabond King. Soprano Dorothy Kirsten, Dorothy Warenskjold and Lucille Norman were frequent co-stars. Kirsten, Warenskjold, Rise Stevens and other performers on The Railroad Hour were also regular guests on Harvest of Stars during the late 1940s.

Gerald Wilson and Martin Grams, Jr. documented the program in their book The Railroad Hour (BearManor Media, 2007). It features an episode guide listing all 299 episodes with titles of all songs in correct sequence and the vocalist for each song, plus the origins of all musicals with plots and cast lists.

Many scripts for the series are on file at the Ohio State University's Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute.

Sources
Kreuger, Miles. Show Boat: The Story of a Classic American Musical, Appendix, Oxford, 1977.
Wilson, Gerald and Martin Grams, Jr. The Railroad Hour. Albany Georgia: BearManor Media, 2007.
Woods, Alan. The Selected Plays of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1995.

Listen to

OTR Network: The Railroad Hour (11 episodes)

External links
The Railroad Hour
Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: The Railroad Hour
The Railroad hour 1948-1954, Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center

American music radio programs
1940s American radio programs
1950s American radio programs
ABC radio programs
NBC radio programs

The Railroad Hour


The 1966 Memorial Cup was the 48th annual Memorial Cup competition, organized by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) to determine the champion of "junior A" ice hockey.  The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey Association in Eastern Canada competed against the Abbott Cup champions Edmonton Oil Kings of the Central Alberta Hockey League in Western Canada. Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario hosted the Final, which featured Bobby Orr, the Generals captain. It was the last of 18 Memorial Cup series to be played at the Gardens. In a best-of-seven series, Edmonton won their second Memorial Cup, defeating Oshawa four games to two. Orr was injured and played sparingly.

Lloyd Pollock oversaw the tournament on behalf of the CAHA. A Canadian Press release published on May 13, 1966, credited him for keeping the peace and being unflappable. He was quoted as saying "a big stick can be just as effective as a soft-sell", after he rejected protests from both Wren Blair of Oshawa, and Bill Hunter of Edmonton, for both managers not knowing the regulations. After the conclusion of the series, Pollock announced a $40,000 profit in ticket sales due to playing all of the games at Maple Leaf Gardens, and that the CAHA received 25% of revenue from television broadcasts of the games which would benefit junior hockey.

Scores
Game 1: Edmonton 7-2 Oshawa
Game 2: Oshawa 7-1 Edmonton
Game 3: Oshawa 6-2 Edmonton
Game 4: Edmonton 5-3 Oshawa
Game 5: Edmonton 7-4 Oshawa
Game 6: Edmonton 2-1 Oshawa

Source: MasterCardMemorialCup.ca

Winning roster
Ron Anderson, Garnet Bailey, Doug Barrie, Brian Bennett, Ron Caley, Craig Cameron, Bob Falkenberg, Al Hamilton, Jim Harrison, Brian Hague, Galen Head, Ted Hodgsen, Kerry Ketter, Ross Lonsberry, Jim Knox, Don McLeod, Jim Mitchell, Harold Myers, Eugene Peacosh, Ross Perkins, Murray Pierce, Dave Rochefort, Ted Rogers, Jim Schraefel, Red Simpson, Ron Walters. Coach: Ray Kinasewich

References

External links
 Memorial Cup
 Canadian Hockey League

Mem
1966 Memorial Cup
Ice hockey competitions in Toronto
1960s in Toronto

1966 Memorial Cup