The Tulsa metropolitan area, officially defined as the Tulsa metropolitan statistical area is a metropolis in northeastern Oklahoma centered around the city of Tulsa and encompassing Tulsa, Rogers, Wagoner, Osage, Creek, Okmulgee and Pawnee counties. It had a population of 1,034,123 according to the 2022 U.S. census estimates.

Counties
The Tulsa metropolitan area (TMA) consists of the following counties, listed in descending order of population (2010 census):
 Tulsa County
 Rogers County
 Wagoner County
 Creek County
 Osage County
 Okmulgee County
 Pawnee County

Osage County, the largest county by land area in Oklahoma constitutes 36 percent of the TMA. Wagoner County, with 8 percent of the area, is the smallest county of the TMA. Tulsa County has the highest population density by far (1,058.1 people per square mile) and Osage County has the lowest (21.1 people per square mile).

Cities

The Tulsa metropolitan area's anchor city, Tulsa, is surrounded by two primary rings of suburbs. Connected by suburban sprawl, the cityscapes of Tulsa and its initial outlying ring of suburbs form to make the immediate Tulsa Urban Area, an area that sits apart from a second ring of noncontiguous suburbs. Forming the first ring of suburbs are Catoosa, Bixby, Broken Arrow, Jenks, Owasso, Sand Springs, Sapulpa and Turley. Cities and towns in the second ring of suburbs include, Claremore, Okmulgee, Glenpool, Collinsville, Wagoner, Coweta, Skiatook, and Inola.

Largest cities

Tulsa

Tulsa, home to 413,066 people in 2020, is the principal cultural and economic hub of the Tulsa metropolitan area (TMA). The city, once known as the Oil Capital of the World, is still home to a large array of international oil-related industries, financial corporations, and manufacturing bases. The city contains the region's only public two-year college Tulsa Community College, and only private four-year universities, Oral Roberts University, and the University of Tulsa. The Tulsa International Airport and Tulsa Port of Catoosa serve as the region's primary international travel and shipping hubs.

Broken Arrow

Broken Arrow is the metropolitan area's second largest city. According to the 2020 US Census, Broken Arrow has a population of 113,540 residents and is the fourth largest city in the state. It is the 267th-largest city in the United States. Once a bedroom community for nearby Tulsa, Broken Arrow has emerged in recent decades as an economic center in its own right. In 2007, the city was rated the safest city in Oklahoma and 20th safest in the nation, as well as one of the nation's 100 best places to live.

Owasso

Owasso, a bedroom community of 38,240 people in 2020, is the third largest city in the Tulsa metropolitan area and one of the fastest-growing in the state. Situated just north of the Tulsa International Airport and the Tulsa Zoo in Tulsa and Rogers counties, the city is connected to Tulsa by Highway 169 and contains a large base of upscale retail.

Bartlesville

Bartlesville is an exurb of the city of Tulsa. With 37,290 people in 2020, the city is the fourth largest in the Tulsa-Bartlesville Combined Statistical Area, though it is not considered part of the immediate Tulsa Statistical Area by the Census Bureau. It is the county seat of Washington County, and contains the only skyscraper built by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the Price Tower. Oklahoma Wesleyan University,a private four-year university and a branch of Rogers State University are Bartlesville's primary institutions of higher education.

Muskogee

Muskogee is another exurb of the city of Tulsa. With 36,878 people in 2020, the city is the fifth largest in the Tulsa-Bartlesville Combined Statistical Area. It is the county seat of Muskogee County. Bacone College, a private four-year university, and branches of Connors State College and Northeastern State University are Muskogee's primary institutions of higher education.

Bixby

Bixby, located south of Tulsa, is a rapidly growing city to the south of Tulsa. It had a population of 28,609 at the 2020 census, a 13.70 percent increase from the 2010 census. It also has the largest per capita income in the TMA. Originally an agricultural community known as "The Garden Spot of Oklahoma", it has largely become a bedroom community in the Tulsa area.

Jenks

Jenks, the sixth largest city in the TMA, is another rapidly growing suburb of Tulsa, located southwest of Tulsa largely between the Arkansas River and U.S. Route 75. A portion of the Jenks Public School District extends east of the Arkansas River encompassing a part of the city of Tulsa south of 91st street. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 26,017,  compared to 16,924 in 2010, an increase of 49.4 percent.  Jenks is known as the "Antiques Capitol of Oklahoma" and is home to the Oklahoma Aquarium.

Sapulpa

Sapulpa is a city in Creek and Tulsa counties, with its town center located approximately 14 miles southwest of downtown Tulsa. It is also the seat of Creek County. The population was 21,937 at the 2020 United States census, compared to 20,544 at the 2010 census), making it the seventh largest city in the TMC. It is the county seat of Creek County.

Sand Springs

Sand Springs, a diverse urban community is one of the oldest suburbs of Tulsa, and eighth largest city in the TMA. The population was 18,906 in the 2010 U.S. Census and 19,926 in the 2020 U.S. Census. It is located along the Arkansas River, just five miles west of downtown Tulsa. It has a fast-growing residential population and is recognized as a hub of industrial activity. Attractions in Sand Springs include the Keystone Ancient Forest, Sand Springs Pogue Airport, the Canyons at Blackjack Ridge Golf Course and easy access to Keystone State Park. The city is connected to Tulsa by Highway 412/64, 41st Street and Avery Drive.

Claremore

Claremore, the ninth largest city in the TMA, is an outer suburb of Tulsa and the county seat of Rogers County. The population was 19,580 at the 2020 census. It is home to Rogers State University, a public four-year university located on the city's west side. The city is home to many historical figures such as Will Rogers, a famous actor, Lynn Riggs, author of the novel that inspired the musical Oklahoma. Claremore is also the setting of Oklahoma the musical. Country singer Garth Brooks also lives just outside Claremore. The Will Rogers Memorial is located in Claremore.

Other communities
North – Skiatook, Collinsville, Pawhuska, Dewey, Barnsdall.

West – Cleveland, Kellyville, Mannford, Hominy.

East – Catoosa, Wagoner, Coweta, Porter, Inola, Verdigris, Pryor Creek.

South – Glenpool, Mounds, Beggs, Okmulgee,  Henryetta and Haskell.

Metropolitan statistics

As of the census of 2010, there were 937,478 people, 367,091 households, and 246,290 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA were as follows:

 White: 70.9% (68.7% Non-Hispanic White)
 Black or African American: 8.4%
 American Indian and Alaskan Native: 8.3%
 Asian: 1.8% (0.3% Vietnamese, 0.3% Indian, 0.3% Hmong, 0.2% Chinese)
 Pacific Islander: 0.1%
 Two or more races: 6.4%
 Some other race: 4.2%
 Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 8.4% (6.6% Mexican, 0.3% Puerto Rican, 0.2% Spanish, 0.2% Guatemalan)

The median income for a household in the MSA was $47,760 and the median income for a family was $59,746. The per capita income was $26,029.

Combined Statistical Area
Based on commuting patterns, the Federal Census Bureau defines the adjacent micropolitan areas of Muskogee (Muskogee County), Bartlesville (Washington County) and Tahlequah (Cherokee County) into a region known as the Tulsa–Muskogee–Bartlesville Combined Statistical Area (CSA), commonly known as the Green Country region. The population of this wider region is 1,153,719 — nearly one-third of Oklahoma's population—as of 2020. The Tulsa CSA is the 48th largest CSA, and the 54th largest primary census statistical area in the country.

Transportation

Interstate Highways and turnpikes
The Tulsa metropolitan area is heavily reliant on automobiles as a means of transportation. Interstate 44 (which runs northeast–southwest), U.S. Highway 75 (which runs north–south) and U.S. Highway 412 (which runs east–west) serve as the major thoroughfares of the region. Turnpikes play a vital role in the region's transportation system. The Will Rogers, Turner, Muskogee, Cimarron, and Creek turnpikes aide travel in the area.

Transit
Tulsa Transit provides local transit services within the urbanized area. Intercity transit services are available through Greyhound Lines and Jefferson Lines.

Rail, seaport, and airport facilities
The area is home to the nation's farthest inland port, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa. This port, along with the Port of Muskogee, is situated along the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, which helps in the shipment of goods to international trade routes. Several major rail lines are located throughout the region, although the Tulsa metropolitan area is one of the largest urban areas in the nation not served by Amtrak. The region's principal airport is the Tulsa International Airport, which offers domestic passenger service. Other minor airports serving general aviation are located throughout the region.

Education

Common education
The Tulsa metropolitan area, like much of the state of Oklahoma, is served by independent school districts. Each county contains several school districts and each school district is governed by a local school board. The region's largest school district is Tulsa Public Schools.

Higher education
See also List of colleges and universities in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The Tulsa metro is home to several colleges and universities. The Tulsa area's largest private schools are University of Tulsa and Oral Roberts University. Rogers State University is located in Claremore with branch campuses in Bartlesville and Pryor. Also, there are branch campuses of major state colleges, such as Oklahoma State University–Tulsa, University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, and Northeastern State University in Broken Arrow. Langston University, Oklahoma's only Historically Black College (HBCU) has a satellite branch in Tulsa. Tulsa Community College serves thousands of students as the region's primary junior college.

Two medical schools are also located in the region: Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences and University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, where students can attend all four years of medical school since 2017.

The only law school in northeastern Oklahoma is the University of Tulsa College of Law.

In 2021, seven higher education institutions and seven community organizations in the Tulsa MSA founded the Tulsa Higher Education Consortium (THE Consortium) . THE Consortium is a higher education collaborative designed to support cross-institutional and cross-sector work. In December 2022, an eighth institutional member joined THE Consortium, which now comprises Langston University, Northeastern State University, Oklahoma State University–Tulsa, University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, Rogers State University, Tulsa Community College,  University of Tulsa, and Southern Nazarene University- Tulsa. Affiliate members include the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the City of Tulsa, the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce, ImpactTulsa, Schusterman Family Philanthropies, and Tulsa Community Foundation. THE Consortium is the only consortium of its kind (cross-institutional and cross-sector) in the state of Oklahoma.

As of 2011, 30% of adults in the City of Tulsa held a bachelor's degree or higher. In Broken Arrow 32% of adults held degrees, in Owasso 31% held degrees, in Bixby 38% held degrees, in Jenks 46% held degrees, and in Bartlesville 31% held degrees. This compares to 23.0% for all of Oklahoma and 28.2% for the entire U.S. In 2009, Businessweek ranked Tulsa as one of the best cities for new college grads.

Economy

The Tulsa metropolitan area is the economic engine of the Green Country as well as Eastern Oklahoma. In 2017 the Tulsa metropolitan area's GDP was $57.7 billion, up from 43.4 billion in 2009, nearly thirty percent of Oklahoma's economy, and the 53rd largest in the nation. The chief industries of the region are energy, aerospace, telecommunications, and manufacturing. Energy has long been a dominant player in the area's economy, as Tulsa was once dubbed the 'Oil Capital of the World'. Today, Fortune 500 energy companies still call the area home, such as ONEOK and Williams Companies. Also, a majority of American car rental companies are headquartered in the area, such as Fortune 1000 Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group. There are major manufacturing and maintenance operations for the aerospace industry in Tulsa. In 2012, Engine Advocacy ranked the Tulsa Metro as having some of the highest growth in the high-tech industry at 7.6% compared to 2.6% for the national average for 2010–2012, and is expected to have continuous growth throughout 2013. The Tulsa region is home to the 8th best workforce in aerospace, 9th best in Energy and 18th best in telecommunications. In 2001, Tulsa metro's total gross product was in the top one-third of metropolitan areas, states, and countries globally, with more than $29 billion in total goods, expected to grow at a rate of nearly $500 Million every two years.

Among its resident Tulsa area is home to two billionaires, George Kaiser (BOK Financial Corporation), and Lynn Schusterman (philanthropist).

As of Nov 2012, the Metro's unemployment rate is 5.1 percent.

Shopping
Tulsa has many options for shopping. Some of the well known shopping areas are Downtown Tulsa, Brookside (Peoria Avenue), Cherry Street, Brady Arts District, and Utica Square.

Recreation and tourism

Green Country

"Green Country" is a popular term used in different scenarios to describe different aspects of the Greater Tulsa Region, but may also refer specifically to the official Tulsa MSA. Each usage of the term is derived from its official meaning as the tourism designation for all of Northeastern Oklahoma. Its name was devised in the 1960s by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation as one of six travel destination regions within the state, but is the most historically significant of all of them, as the name's usage can be traced to the early part of the 20th century. While the Tulsa MSA only officially occupies a section of Green Country as it is defined by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the entire region is sometimes referred to as the Greater Tulsa Area. On the same accord, the term "Green Country" often applies to the immediate Tulsa urban area or the city of Tulsa proper, but neither of these are technically the proper use for the term.

Attractions
The area has several lakes and state parks. Major lakes include Keystone, Skiatook, Fort Gibson, and Oologah. Popular state parks include Keystone Lake and Osage Hills.

The area contains two world-renowned museums: Gilcrease and Philbrook, both in Tulsa. Museums focusing on western heritage draw visitors, such as Woolaroc near Bartlesville and Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore.

Lakes and reservoirs
 Birch Lake
 Claremore Lake
 Fort Gibson
 Heyburn Lake
 Hulah Lake
 Kaw Lake
 Keystone Lake
 Oologah Lake
 Skiatook Lake
 Lake Yahola

State parks
 Dripping Springs State Park, Okmulgee County
 Keystone Lake, Tulsa County, Oklahoma
 Osage Hills, Osage County, Oklahoma
 Okmulgee State Park, Okmulgee County
 Sequoyah Bay State Park, Wagoner County
 Wah-Sha-She State Park, Osage County, Oklahoma
 Walnut Creek State Park, Osage County, Oklahoma

Other natural attractions
 Mohawk Park, a city-owned park in northeastern Tulsa that includes the Tulsa Zoo and the Oxley Nature Center
 Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is in Osage County, Oklahoma, near Foraker, Oklahoma.
 Turkey Mountain (Oklahoma), an urban wilderness park in southwestern Tulsa
 Redbud Valley, a city-owned nature reserve and wilderness trail

References

External links

Metropolitan areas of Oklahoma

Tulsa metropolitan area


In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest judicial tribunal in the court system of a particular state.

Generally, the state supreme court, like most appellate courts, is exclusively for hearing appeals from lower courts. It does not make any finding of facts, and thus holds no trials.  In the case where the trial court made an egregious error in its finding of facts, the state supreme court will send the case back to the trial court for a new trial.  This responsibility of correcting the errors of inferior courts is the origin of a number of the different names for supreme courts in various state court systems. The court consists of a panel of judges selected by methods outlined in the state constitution.

Many states elect their state Supreme Court justices and/or use elections to retain judges. Since 2000, the amount of money raised by judicial candidates has risen enormously. Special interest groups have contributed to many of these campaigns raising questions of impartiality. The US Supreme Court, in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. (2009) in a 5-4 decision, ruled that an elected state supreme court judge sitting on a case involving a campaign contributor was a violation of due process.

References

American courts

State supreme court


Jay Jacobs was a clothing retailer based in downtown Seattle, Washington, founded in 1941 by its namesake Jay Jacobs (October 13, 1911 – February 15, 2013). It specialized in trendy clothing for teens, mainly targeting girls. Although the company's first 20 years saw the opening of only two more stores, it was largely profitable at its height in the mid-1980s and operated 288 stores in 22 western states by 1993.

However, 1992 saw a major about face from success and many of the stores, especially in southern California, were becoming unprofitable and were closed. Although the cause of the turnaround is difficult to put a finger on, a recession, which proved troublesome for many retailers, could have been partially to blame. Some thought the company was expanding too quickly and its assets were spread too thin. Others argued that Jacobs had lost touch with the rapidly changing fashion trends and that he never gave his son-in-law enough control over the company.

In an attempt to gain back lost business, the company tried to expand its target audience by going after young adults with career oriented clothing. This did not work, however, and with stores closing and rapidly falling sales, Jay Jacobs filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May, 1994.

Less than half the stores remained after the bankruptcy proceedings concluded. Founder Jay Jacobs resigned as chairman of the board in June, 1997 and left the board entirely the following November. They again filed for Chapter 11 on September 3, 1999, and announced the closure of the remaining 114 stores the same day.

Jacobs, the namesake of the company, died Feb. 15, 2013.

References

External links
 Jay Jacobs company history
 Seattle Post Intelligencer article from September 4, 1999

Clothing retailers of the United States
Defunct retail companies of the United States
Defunct companies based in Seattle
American companies established in 1941
Retail companies established in 1941
Retail companies disestablished in 1999
1941 establishments in Washington (state)
1999 disestablishments in Washington (state)
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1994
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1999

Jay Jacobs (retailer)


MicroTiles are discontinued modular rear projection cube units designed, developed and marketed by Christie Digital. The building-block nature of the system made the configuration of the overall screen area and shape flexible. This allowed for simple traditional rectangular displays, and more complex non-standard shapes.

MicroTile units have sensors to detect whether there is another unit next to it, allowing the display controller to automatically determine the tile layout and the size and magnification of the video picture to be displayed across the screen area.

Launch
The system was in development for two years before being launched. It was first publicly announced during an SEGD conference in New York on 11 November 2009. The official launch event was at the Touch nightclub in Manhattan, New York, on 9 December 2009.

The launch in Europe was at the ISE trade show in Amsterdam, 2–4 February 2010.

Following North America and Europe, the system was launched in Japan on 22 April 2010, and then throughout the rest of Asia throughout the following months.

System design

The system was invented in 2005 by Christie Digital's Bob Rushby (CTO) and Mike Perkins (senior product developer) during discussions at a Tokyo hotel bar, during a business trip.

Color reproduction and resolution
The system is capable of exceeding the NTSC specification for colour gamut by 115%. Because the LED light engine has a saturated color output, the image appears to be about 25% brighter than a similar lamp-based projector with the same lumen output. This is due to the Helmholtz–Kohlrausch effect. According to Mike Perkins, the subjective effect of this is that the purer colors from MicroTiles are punchier, more vivid, and more engaging.

Each tile is 16" × 12" (408 mm × 306 mm) and has a native resolution of 720 × 540 with a pixel pitch of 0.57 mm. The total resolution of the display can be a maximum of the sum of the native resolutions of each tile. Lower input resolutions are automatically up-scaled to fill the display area, which effectively increases the pixel pitch of the image displayed.

Self-configuring
Each tile has microprocessor control to communicate with neighboring tiles to auto-adjust and balance both the color and brightness across all the tiles in the display. An electronic control unit (ECU) talks to each tile and creates an internal map of each tile position, and scales the video input across the whole display. This eliminates the need for calibrating the display manually.

Maintenance
The servicing of a MicroTile unit in a display has also been a primary design consideration. Servicing is done from the front, and all major components, including the light engine, can be replaced in 15 minutes or less. This can be carried out without shutting down or dismantling the rest of the display. The LED light source is rated at 65,000 hours lifespan to 50% brightness. This is the equivalent of the system running continuously for seven years.

Technical details

Projector engine
The projector light engine is based on a Luminus Devices, Inc. PhatLight LED chipset and uses a TI DLP digital micromirror device. The short throw lens rear projects the image onto the removable tile screen.

Cabinet design

The 10.2" (260 mm) depth tile chassis is equipped with precision fittings allowing tiles to be mated to each other side by side both horizontally and vertically, allowing displays of various shapes and sizes to be built. The screen is a matte-finished polycarbonate material mounted on a metal frame which is held onto the front of the tile cabinet magnetically. The frame is designed so that the seams visible in the picture between each tile in a screen array are kept to a minimum of about 1 mm. The power and signal connectors are on the rear of the cabinet, and once installed, there is no further need to access the rear panel for adjustments or maintenance. All mechanical maintenance is carried out from the front of the unit, with access gained by detaching the magnetically held screen with a suction grip tool.

Video input and control
The video input to the system is via a DVI connector on the Electronic Control Unit (ECU), and it can accept video modes up to WUXGA (1920 × 1200). This is typically fed from a video processor or media player with a DVI interface as the video output. The ECU is also connected to the MicroTiles in a daisy chain or ring network using a customised version of the DisplayPort interface.

As well as carrying the video information, the DisplayPort links carry two way control and monitoring signalling between the tiles and the ECU. The ECU performs automatic calibration of light output and color control to ensure that the picture displayed is uniform across the array of tiles. MicroTiles displays can use multiple ECUs to allow higher resolution images to be displayed on large arrays. In this case one ECU arbitrates to become the master, and it assumes the role for device control; the other slave ECUs are just used for image signal processing.

The MicroTiles display system can be configured in shapes and sizes which don't conform to standard rectangular aspect ratio shapes and resolutions, and the number of pixels in the WUXGA video mode (about 2.3 million) is near the maximum that one ECU can display on a MicroTiles display. This allows resolutions to be displayed on smaller tile arrays at the native 0.57 mm pixel pitch (for up to six tiles)—larger arrays need more ECUs to be added to the system, which means that multiple media player outputs will be needed to drive the extra ECUs. If the highest quality native resolution display is not necessary, then lower resolution video inputs to the ECUs will be scaled across the display.

Built-in sensors in the cabinet top, bottom and sides allow the ECU to communicate with each tile and discover its neighbors, allowing it to map the array layout automatically. The ECU will then tell each tile what portion of the video input to display, so that an entire image is correctly formed and scaled across the whole display.

The ECU monitors the light output of the LED light sources in each tile and automatically adjusts the color and brightness of each tile to ensure the picture is uniform over the whole array.

Examples in use
Since the product launch, the system has been used in some installations that can be seen by the public:
 In January 2010, the re-designed television set of the US show The Colbert Report contained four angled vertical columns of MicroTiles behind the presenter, and three horizontal displays around the floor.
 The NASCAR Hall of Fame opened in May 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a large display made up of 252 MicroTiles (a 14 ft × 18 ft "fan Billboard") flown from the roof in the Great Hall.
  The Christie MicroTile wall at the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus is three stories tall and made up of 150 individual MicroTiles.

See also
 Digital Light Processing
 Comparison of display technology

References

External links
 MicroTiles official website
 Christie Digital official website
 Christie Digital at Digital Signage Exposition (DSE) 2011
 Digital Display Screen

Television technology
Display technology

MicroTiles


Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235), also known as Alexander Severus, was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was eventually assassinated, and his death marked the beginning of the events of the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the collapse of the monetary economy.

Alexander was the heir to his cousin, the 18-year-old Emperor Elagabalus. The latter had been murdered along with his mother Julia Soaemias by his own guards, who, as a mark of contempt, had their remains cast into the Tiber river. Alexander and his cousin were both grandsons of Julia Maesa, who was the sister of empress Julia Domna and had arranged for Elagabalus's acclamation as emperor by the Third Gallic Legion.

Alexander's 13-year reign was the longest reign of a sole emperor since Antoninus Pius. He was also the youngest sole legal Roman emperor during the existence of the united empire. Alexander's peacetime reign was prosperous. However, Rome was militarily confronted with the rising Sassanid Empire and growing incursions from the tribes of Germania. He managed to check the threat of the Sassanids. But when campaigning against Germanic tribes, Alexander attempted to bring peace by engaging in diplomacy and bribery. This alienated many in the Roman army, leading to a conspiracy that resulted in the assassination of Alexander, his mother Julia Avita Mamaea, and his advisors. After their deaths, the accession of Maximinus Thrax followed. Alexander's death marked the epoch event for the Crisis of the Third Century.

Early life

The future emperor Severus Alexander was born on 1 October 208 in Arca Caesarea, Phoenicia. Of his birth name, only two cognomina are known, from literary sources: Bassianus () according to the historian Cassius Dio, and Alexianus () according to Herodian. "Bassianus" was also borne by several family members, while "Alexianus" was probably later converted to Alexander.

The historian Cassius Dio thought Alexianus was the son of Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus, but Icks disputes this, saying the latter could not have married the emperor's mother before 212 and that Alexianus must have been fathered by his mother's first husband, who is of unknown name but of certain existence. The priest Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus may have been his younger brother.

Emperor

Early reign

Severus Alexander became emperor when he was around 14 years old, making him the youngest emperor in Rome's history.  Alexander's grandmother Maesa believed that he had more potential to rule and gain support from the Praetorian Guard than her other grandson, the increasingly unpopular emperor Elagabalus. Thus, to preserve her own position, she had Elagabalus adopt the young Alexander and then arranged for Elagabalus' assassination, securing the throne for Alexander. The Roman army hailed Alexander as emperor on 13 March 222, immediately conferring on him the titles of Pater Patriae and Pontifex maximus on the following day.

Throughout his life, Alexander relied heavily on guidance from his grandmother, Maesa, before her death in 224, and mother, Julia Mamaea. As a young, immature, and inexperienced adolescent, Alexander knew little about government, warcraft, or the role of ruling over an empire. In time, however, the army came to admire what Jasper Burns refers to as "his simple virtues and moderate behavior, so different from [Elagabalus]".

Domestic achievements
Under the influence of his mother, Alexander did much to improve the morals and condition of the people, and to enhance the dignity of the state. He employed noted jurists, such as Ulpian, to oversee the administration of justice. His advisers were men like the senator and historian Cassius Dio, and historical sources claimed that with the help of his family, he created a select board of 16 senators, although this claim is sometimes disputed. Some scholars have rejected Herodian's view that Alexander expanded senatorial powers. He also created a municipal council of 14 who assisted the urban prefect in administering the affairs of the 14 districts of Rome. Excessive luxury and extravagance at the imperial court were diminished, and he restored the Baths of Nero in 227 or 229; consequently, they are sometimes also known as the Baths of Alexander after him. He extended the imperial residence at the Horti Lamiani with elaborate buildings and created the Nymphaeum of Alexander (known as the Trophies of Marius), which still stands in the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. This was the great fountain he built at the end of the Aqua Claudia aqueduct.

Upon his accession he reduced the silver purity of the denarius from 46.5% to 43%the actual silver weight dropped from 1.41 grams to 1.30 grams; however, in 229 he revalued the denarius, increasing the silver purity and weight to 45% and 1.46 grams. The following year he decreased the amount of base metal in the denarius while adding more silver, raising the silver purity and weight again to 50.5% and 1.50 grams. Additionally, during his reign taxes were lightened; literature, art and science were encouraged; and, for the convenience of the people, loan offices were instituted for lending money at a moderate rate of interest.

In religious matters, Alexander preserved an open mind. According to the Historia Augusta, he wished to erect a temple to Jesus but was dissuaded by the pagan priests; however, this claim is unreliable as the Historia Augusta is considered untrustworthy by historians, containing significant amounts of information that is false and even invented, extending to when it was written and the number of authors it was written by. He allowed a synagogue to be built in Rome, and he gave as a gift to this synagogue a scroll of the Torah known as the Severus Scroll.

In legal matters, Alexander did much to aid the rights of his soldiers. He confirmed that soldiers could name anyone as heirs in their will, whereas civilians had strict restrictions over who could become heirs or receive a legacy. He also confirmed that soldiers could free their slaves in their wills, protected the rights of soldiers to their property when they were on campaign, and reasserted that a soldier's property acquired in or because of military service (his castrense peculium) could be claimed by no one else, not even the soldier's father.

Persian War
On the whole, Alexander's reign was prosperous until the rise of the Sassanids under Ardashir I. In 231 AD, Ardashir invaded the Roman provinces of the east, overrunning Mesopotamia and penetrating possibly as far as Syria and Cappadocia, forcing from the young Alexander a vigorous response. Of the war that followed there are various accounts. According to the most detailed authority, Herodian, the Roman armies suffered a number of humiliating setbacks and defeats, while according to the Historia Augusta as well as Alexander's own dispatch to the Roman Senate, he gained great victories. Making Antioch his base, he organized in 233 a three-fold invasion of the Sassanian Empire; at the head of the main body he himself advanced to recapture northern Mesopotamia, while another army invaded Media through the mountains of Armenia, and a third advanced from the south in the direction of Babylon. The northernmost army gained some success, fighting in mountainous territory favorable to the Roman infantry, but the southern army was surrounded and destroyed by Ardashir's skilful horse-archers, and Alexander himself retreated after an indecisive campaign, his army wracked by indiscipline and disease. Further losses were incurred by the retreating northern army in the inclement cold of Armenia as it retired into winter quarters, due to a failure through incompetence to establish adequate supply lines. Still, Mesopotamia was retaken, and Ardashir was not thereafter able to extend his conquests, though his son, Shapur, would obtain some success later in the century.

Although the Sassanids were checked for the time, the conduct of the Roman army showed an extraordinary lack of discipline. In 232, there was a mutiny in the Syrian legion, which proclaimed Taurinus emperor. Alexander managed to suppress the uprising, and Taurinus drowned while attempting to flee across the Euphrates. The emperor returned to Rome and celebrated a triumph in 233.

Military discipline

Alexander's reign was also characterized by a significant breakdown of military discipline. In 228, the Praetorian Guard murdered their prefect, Ulpian, in Alexander's presence. Alexander could not openly punish the ringleader of the riot, and instead removed him to a nominal post of honor in Egypt and then Crete, where he was "quietly put out of the way" sometime after the excitement had abated. The soldiers then fought a three-day battle against the populace of Rome, and this battle ended after several parts of the city were set on fire.

Dio was among those who gave a highly critical account of military discipline during the time, saying that the soldiers would rather just surrender to the enemy. Different reasons are given for this issue; Campbell points to ...the decline in the prestige of the Severan dynasty, the feeble nature of Alexander himself, who appeared to be no soldier and to be completely dominated by his mother's advice, and lack of real military success at a time during which the empire was coming under increasing pressure.
Herodian, on the other hand, was convinced that "the emperor's miserliness (partly the result of his mother's greed) and slowness to bestow donatives" were instrumental in the fall of military discipline under Alexander.

Germanic War

After the Persian war, Alexander returned to Antioch with Origen, one of the Fathers of the Christian Church. Alexander's mother, Julia Mamaea, asked for Origen to tutor Alexander in Christianity.

While Alexander was being educated in the Christian doctrines, the northern portion of his empire was being invaded by Germanic and Sarmatian tribes. A new and menacing enemy started to emerge directly after Alexander's success in the Persian war. In 234, the barbarians crossed the Rhine and Danube in hordes that caused alarm as far as Rome. The soldiers serving under Alexander, already demoralized after their costly war against the Persians, were further discontented with their emperor when their homes were destroyed by the barbarian invaders.

As word of the invasion spread, the emperor took the front line and went to battle against the Germanic invaders. The Romans prepared heavily for the war, building a fleet to carry the entire army across. However, at this point in Alexander's career, he still knew little about being a general. Because of this, he hoped the mere threat of his armies would be sufficient to persuade the hostile tribes to surrender.  Severus enforced a strict military discipline in his men that sparked a rebellion among his legions. Due to incurring heavy losses against the Persians, and on the advice of his mother, Alexander attempted to buy the Germanic tribes off, so as to gain time.

It was this decision that resulted in the legionaries looking down upon Alexander. They considered him dishonorable and feared he was unfit to be Emperor. Under these circumstances the army swiftly looked to replace Alexander.

Gaius Julius Verus Maximinus was the next best option. He was a soldier from Thrace who had a golden reputation and was working hard to increase his military status. He was also a man with superior personal strength, who rose to his present position from a peasant background. With the Thracian's hailing came the end of the Severan Dynasty, and, with the growing animosity of Severus' army towards him, the path for his assassination was paved.

Assassination

Alexander was forced to face his German enemies in the early months of 235. By the time he and his mother arrived, the situation had settled, and so his mother convinced him that to avoid violence, trying to bribe the German army to surrender was the more sensible course of action. According to historians, it was this tactic combined with insubordination from his own men that destroyed his reputation and popularity. Alexander was thus assassinated together with his mother on 21 or 22 March, in a mutiny of the Legio XXII Primigenia at Moguntiacum (Mainz) while at a meeting with his generals. These assassinations secured the throne for Maximinus.

The Historia Augusta documents two theories that elaborate on Severus's assassination. The first claims that the disaffection of Mamaea was the main motive behind the homicide. However, Lampridius makes it clear that he is more supportive of an alternative theory, that Alexander was murdered in Sicilia (located in Britain).

This theory has it that, in an open tent after his lunch, Alexander was consulting with his insubordinate troops, who compared him to his cousin Elagabalus, the divisive and unpopular Emperor whose own assassination paved the way for Alexander's reign. A German servant entered the tent and initiated the call for Alexander's assassination, at which point many of the troops joined in the attack. Alexander's attendants fought against the other troops but could not hold off the combined might of those seeking the Emperor's assassination. Within minutes, Alexander was dead. His mother, Julia Mamaea, was in the same tent with Alexander and soon fell victim to the same group of assassins.

Alexander's body was buried together with the body of his mother, Julia Mamaea, in a mausoleum in Rome. The actual mausoleum, called , is the third largest in Rome after those of Hadrian and Augustus. It is still visible in Piazza dei Tribuni, in the Quadraro area in Rome, where it resembles a large earth mound. The large sarcophagus found inside the tomb in the 16th century, and which contained the emperor's remains, is in the Palazzo dei Conservatori Museum in Rome. According to some sources inside the same sarcophagus in 1582 a precious glass urn was found, the Portland Vase, currently on display at the British Museum in London.

Legacy

Alexander's death marked the end of the Severan dynasty. He was the last of the Syrian emperors and the first emperor to be overthrown by military discontent on a wide scale. After his death his economic policies were completely discarded, and the Roman currency was devalued; this signaled the beginning of the chaotic period known as the Crisis of the Third Century, which brought the empire to the brink of collapse.

Alexander's death at the hands of his troops can also be seen as the heralding of a new role for Roman emperors. Though they were not yet expected to personally fight in battle during Alexander's time, emperors were increasingly expected to display general competence in military affairs. Thus, Alexander's taking of his mother's advice to not get involved in battle, his dishonorable and unsoldierly methods of dealing with the Germanic threat, and the relative failure of his military campaign against the Persians were all deemed highly unacceptable by the soldiers. Indeed, Maximinus was able to overthrow Alexander by "harping on his own military excellence in contrast to that feeble coward". Yet by arrogating the power to dethrone their emperor, the legions paved the way for a half-century of widespread chaos and instability.

Alexander was deified after the death of Maximinus in 238.

Portland Vase
Perhaps his most tangible legacy was the emergence in the 16th century of the cameo glass Portland Vase (or "Barberini Vase"), dated to around the reign of Augustus. This was allegedly found at the mausoleum of the emperor and his family at Monte Del Grano. The discovery of the vase is described by Pietro Santi Bartoli. Pietro Bartoli indicates that the vase contained the ashes of Severus Alexander. However, this together with the interpretations of the scenes depicted are the source of countless theories and disputed 'facts'. The vase passed through the hands of Sir William Hamilton Ambassador to the Royal Court in Naples, and in 1784 was sold to the Duchess of Portland, and has subsequently been known as the Portland Vase. After an attack by a disturbed man in the British Museum in 1845 smashed it into many fragments, the vase has been reconstructed three times. In 1786 the Portland vase had been borrowed from the 3rd Duke of Portland and copied in black Jasperware pottery by Josiah Wedgwood for his firm Wedgwood. He appears to have added some drapery to cover nudity, but his replicas were useful in the reconstructions.

Personal life

Family

Alexander's only known wife was Sallustia Orbiana, Augusta, whom he married in 225 when she was 16 years old. Their marriage was arranged by Alexander's mother, Mamaea. According to historian Herodian, however, as soon as Orbiana received the title of Augusta, Mamaea became increasingly jealous and resentful of Alexander's wife due to Mamaea's excessive desire of all regal female titles. Alexander divorced and exiled Orbiana in 227, after her father, Seius Sallustius, was executed after being accused of treason.

According to Historia Augusta, a late Roman work containing biographies of emperors and others, and considered by scholars to be a work of dubious historical reliability, Alexander was also at some point married to Sulpicia Memmia, a member of one of the most ancient Patrician families in Rome and a daughter to a man of consular rank; her grandfather's name was Catulus. She is mentioned as his wife only in this later text, thus the marriage has been questioned.

The ancient historian Zosimus claimed that Alexander was married three times. A man named Varius Macrinus may have been Alexander's father-in-law, but it is uncertain if he was the same man as Seius Sallustius, the father of Memmia or the father of an entirely unknown third wife.

Alexander is not known to have fathered any children.

Also, according to the Historia Augusta, Alexander's "chief amusement consisted in having young dogs play with little pigs." Herodian portrays him as a mother's boy.

Christianity
The Historia Augusta claims that Alexander prayed every morning in his private chapel. He was extremely tolerant of Jews and Christians alike. He continued all privileges towards Jews during his reign, and the Augustan History relates that Alexander placed images of Abraham and Jesus in his oratory, along with other Roman deities and classical figures.

Severan dynasty family tree

See also
 Severan dynasty family tree
 Sassanid campaign of Severus Alexander
 Mesopotamian campaigns of Ardashir I

References

Citations

Bibliography

Ancient sources

 Cassius Dio ( 230), Roman History, Book 80
 Herodian ( 240), Roman History, Book 6
 Aurelius Victor att. ( 400), Epitome de Caesaribus
 Historia Augusta, Life of Severus Alexander
 Zosimus ( 500), Historia Nova
 Joannes Zonaras ( 1120), Compendium of History

Modern sources

  Although a few phrases appear to be copied from this encyclopedia, all of them are attributed here to primary sources.

External links

 Severus Alexander on NumisWiki
 Coins of Severus Alexander

208 births
235 deaths
3rd-century people
3rd-century Roman emperors
3rd-century murdered monarchs
Ancient child monarchs
Ancient Roman adoptees
Aurelii
Crisis of the Third Century
Deified Roman emperors
Emesene dynasty
Imperial Roman consuls
Murdered Roman emperors
People from Homs
People of Roman Syria
Severan dynasty
Roman emperors to suffer posthumous denigration or damnatio memoriae
Roman pharaohs
Damnatio memoriae

Severus Alexander


Richard Noel "Dick" Richards (born August 24, 1946), (Capt, USN, Ret.), is a retired American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, chemical engineer, and a former NASA astronaut. He flew aboard four Space Shuttle missions in the 1980s and 1990s.

Early life and education
He was born on August 24, 1946, in Key West, Florida, but considers Houston, Texas, to be his hometown. He is married to the former Lois Hollabaugh of Amarillo, Texas. He graduated from Riverview Gardens High School in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1964. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri in 1969, and a Master of Science degree in aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida in 1970. While at the University of Missouri, he became a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.

Military service
Richards was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy upon graduating from the University of Missouri in 1969 and was designated a Naval Aviator in August of the following year. From 1970 to 1973, he flew support missions in the A-4 Skyhawk and F-4 Phantom airplanes while assigned to Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 33 (VAQ-33) at Norfolk Naval Air Station, Virginia. He subsequently reported to Fighter Squadron 103 (VF-103), and deployed to the North Atlantic and Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carriers  and , flying F-4 airplanes. Selected for test pilot training, he reported to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, in 1976. A tour in the Naval Air Test Center's Carrier Systems Branch and F/A-18A Program Office of the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate followed Test Pilot School graduation. Over the next  years, Richards served as a project test pilot for automatic carrier landing systems development work in F-4 and A-7 aircraft and also conducted approach/landing/catapult flying qualities and catapult minimum end speed performance testing of a prototype "slatted" F-4S airplane. As carrier suitability project officer for the F/A-18A Hornet airplane, he made the first shipboard catapults and arrested landings during Initial Sea Trials of the F/A-18A on board USS America in 1979. He was reassigned to Fighter Squadron 33 (VF-33) in May 1980 and was en route to that assignment when notified of his selection as an astronaut candidate.

NASA career
Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in May 1980, Richards became an astronaut in August 1981. He served as ascent CAPCOM for STS-51F, passing up the "Abort ATO" call when Challenger's centre engine went down.
Richards flew on four missions: STS-28 (August 8–13, 1989), STS-41 (October 6–10, 1990), STS-50 (June 25 – July 9, 1992), and STS-64 (September 9–20, 1994)--and logged a total of 33 days, 21 hours, 32 minutes, 15 seconds in space. In April 1995, Richards left the Astronaut Office, and was assigned to the Space Shuttle Program Office at the Johnson Space Center. He was designated as the Mission Director/Manager for the second Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Space Shuttle Mission (STS-82), and Mission Manager for the second Tethered Satellite System Space Shuttle mission (STS-75).

Spaceflight experience

On his first space flight, Richards was pilot on the crew of STS-28 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 8, 1989. The mission carried Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads. After 80 orbits of the Earth, this five-day mission concluded with a dry lakebed landing on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on August 13, 1989. Mission duration was 121 hours 9 seconds.

Slightly more than one year later, Richards commanded the crew of STS-41. The five-man crew launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on October 6 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on October 10, 1990. During 66 orbits of the Earth, the STS-41 crew successfully deployed the Ulysses spacecraft, starting this interplanetary probe on its four-year journey, via Jupiter, to investigate the polar regions of the Sun.

In June 1992, Richards commanded the crew of STS-50 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. STS-50 was the first flight of the United States Microgravity Laboratory and the first extended duration Orbiter flight. Over a two-week period, the STS-50 flight crew conducted a wide variety of experiments relating to materials processing and fluid physics in a microgravity environment. At that time this was the longest Space Shuttle flight in history.

In September 1994, Richards commanded the STS-64 crew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. Mission highlights included: the first use of a space based laser for environmental research; deployment and retrieval of a spacecraft in support of solar wind and corona studies; robotic processing of semiconductors; maneuvered the robotic arm in proximity to over 100 Shuttle reaction control system jet firings to measure forces imparted to a plume detection instrument in support of future Space Station/Shuttle rendezvous flights; first untethered spacewalk in 10 years to test a self-rescue jetpack. Mission duration was 10 days, 22 hours, 51 minutes.

Post-NASA career
In August 1998, Richards left NASA to join the Boeing Company. Between 1998 and 2007 he supported NASA via Boeing's Space Shuttle Sustaining Engineering Support Contract. Boeing has over 1,000 employees across the United States involved with Space Shuttle flight operations. In 2007, Richards retired from Boeing as the Deputy Program Manager for Space Shuttle, and now lives in Houston, Texas.

Awards and honors
Defense Superior Service Medal
Distinguished Flying Cross
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
National Defense Service Medals (2)
Vietnam Service Medal
NASA Distinguished Service Medal
NASA Exceptional Service Medal
NASA Space Flight Medals (4)
Distinguished Graduate of U.S. Naval Test Pilot School
Naval Air Test Center Test Pilot of the Year for 1980.

References

External links

1946 births
Living people
United States Navy astronauts
University of Missouri alumni
University of West Florida alumni
United States Navy officers
United States Naval Aviators
Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal
Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal
Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal
United States Naval Test Pilot School alumni
Space Shuttle program astronauts

Richard N. Richards


Josefina Alys Hermes de Vasconcellos (26 October 1904 – 20 July 2005) was an English sculptor who worked in bronze, stone, wood, lead and perspex. She was at one time the world's oldest living sculptor. She lived in Little Langdale, Cumbria much of her working life. Her most famous work includes Reconciliation (Coventry Cathedral, University of Bradford); Holy Family (Liverpool Cathedral, Gloucester Cathedral); Mary and Child (St. Paul's Cathedral); and Nativity (at Christmas) at St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Trafalgar Square).

Biography
de Vasconcellos was born in Molesey in Surrey; she was the only child of Hippolyto de Vasconcellos, a Brazilian diplomat and Freda Coleman, an English Quaker.

After drawing lessons at Bournemouth Art School, de Vasconcellos studied at the Regent Street Polytechnic in London and, after the award of a Bronze Medal for Design in Sculpture during 1923, she studied in Florence under Guido Calore and Libero Andreotti before enrolling in the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, where she was taught by Antoine Bourdelle, one of Auguste Rodin's assistants. She first exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Show in 1926, with The Repentance of St Hubert and completed her first major commission in 1929 for the Church of Saint Valéry in Varengeville-sur-Mer, Normandy, which included a life-sized reclining figure of Saint Valéry under a stone altar. After she returned to England, de Vasconcellos enrolled in the Royal Academy Schools and was placed second in the 1930 Prix de Rome contest.

During the Second World War de Vasconcellos began working on a number of large sculptures including The Last Chimera, which is now in the grounds of the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh and The Hand, a memorial in green slate to a friend killed in the war which now serves as a war memorial for St Bees School in Cumbria. After the war de Vasconcellos and her husband Delmar Banner established a studio in London, while maintaining their home in the Lake District. A joint exhibition of their work was held in December 1946 at the Royal Watercolour Society Gallery off Bond Street with some larger sculptures, including The Last Chimera displayed on a Piccadilly bombsite. This exhibition helped establish de Vasconcellos in the British art world. She became a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy and at the Paris Salon. In 1948 she became the first female fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, serving on its council and organising committee, and was also a founding member of the Society of Portrait Sculptors in 1953. Subjects of her portrait busts and sculptures included Lord Denning, Edith Sitwell, Roger Bannister, Norman Nicholson, General Sir William Platt, James Cameron and, in perspex, Tenzing Norgay. Other notable commissions included the Prince of Peace (1950), a war memorial in Aldershot (repaired in 1998). In 1955, with the help of students from St. Paul's School, she created Mary and Child, a work that remains in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral. In 1959, she was commissioned by the vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square in London to construct a Nativity scene of life-sized figures, which became a regular fixture of the church's Christmas display. In the 1990s she designed a memorial to the pilots who were based near her Lake District home during World War Two.

In 1977, the department of peace studies at Bradford University commissioned a sculpture that de Vasconcellos entitled Reunion. After its restoration in 1994 it was renamed Reconciliation and in 1995, to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, bronze casts of this sculpture were placed in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral and in the Hiroshima Peace Park in Japan. An additional cast is in the grounds of Stormont in Belfast.    To mark the opening of the rebuilt German Reichstag building in 1999, another cast was placed as part of the Berlin Wall memorial.

Throughout her life de Vasconcellos undertook numerous large commissions often carved in a flowing, naturalistic style. This contrasted with the more abstract styles of, for example Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. de Vasconcellos' subjects were frequently religious and many of her sculptures are in parish churches and cathedrals around Britain, including the cathedrals in Blackburn, Bristol, Carlisle, Gloucester, Liverpool, Norwich and Wells and in parishes such as St Bees Priory and St Mary's Church, Warrington. The National Art Gallery in Rio de Janeiro, Sheffield Art Galleries, Glasgow Art Galleries and the Civic Centre in Southampton all hold examples of her work.

de Vasconcellos was also an active member of the Royal Society of Sculptors for much of her career.

Personal life

In 1930 de Vasconcellos married the artist and academic Delmar Banner, who was an Anglican lay preacher, and they remained together until his death in 1983 and they adopted two children in 1940. Her husband led her to be received into the Church of England, and the topic of faith came to run through much of her artistic work. The couple adopted two boys, and the family settled in a farmhouse at The Bield in Little Langdale in the Lake District, where she made a studio in an outhouse, as well as decorating the house with carvings and a mural. de Vasconcellos and her husband were also god-parents to at least 20 children. In 1967, through associations with Pelham House School in West Cumbria, the family helped found the Beckstone Centre, an Outward Bound-type facility for disadvantaged boys at Beckstones in the Duddon Valley. In 1975, she initiated the founding of The Harriet Trust, on the Duddon Estuary at Millom so that disabled children could enjoy nature holidays within a purpose-built dwelling; the modified former fishing trawler The Harriet was used as a recreation space. It was such work, rather than her sculpture, that led to de Vasconcellos being awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1985.

Last years
In 1988, illness forced de Vasconcellos to leave Little Langdale, and for a time she was accommodated at Isel Hall near Cockermouth. She was able to find a small cottage and studio at Peggy Hill, Ambleside. She continued her creative work well into her 90s, her final piece, Escape to Light, was created in 2001 to commemorate the men of the Independent Off-Shore Rescue Service; it is located at Haverigg on the Cumbrian coast. De Vasconcellos died at 6 am on 20 July 2005, a few months after her 100th birthday, at the Orchard Lodge nursing home, Blackpool. Josefina de Vasconcellos published in her 99th year 'She was Loved: Memories of Beatrix Potter' (Titus Wilson 2003) an account with letters of the friendship between the two cultivated over many years including a number of photographs of her sculptures and other illustrations.

References

External links

Josefina de Vasconcellos at Cartmel
Official website for the Josefina de Vasconcellos charitable Trust

1904 births
2005 deaths
20th-century British sculptors
20th-century English women artists
Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière
Alumni of Arts University Bournemouth
Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools
British centenarians
English people of Brazilian descent
English Anglicans
English women sculptors
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Modern sculptors
People from Molesey
Women centenarians

Josefina de Vasconcellos


Chalahgawtha (or, more commonly in English, Chillicothe) was the name of one of the five divisions (or bands) of the Shawnee, a Native American people, during the 18th century. It was also the name of the principal village of the division. The other four divisions were the Mekoche, Kispoko, Pekowi, and Hathawekela. (All five division names have been spelled in a great variety of ways.) Together these divisions formed the loose confederacy that was the Shawnee tribe.

Chillicothe division

By tradition, each Shawnee division had certain roles it performed on behalf of the entire tribe. These customs were fading by the time they were recorded in writing by European Americans. The Chillicothe division often provided political leadership for the tribe. A well-known Chillicothe leader was Chief Blackfish.

Chillicothe villages
The village where the chief of the Chillicothe division lived was also known as "Chillicothe". When this principal village was relocated, often as a result of war or the expansion of European-American settlement, the new village would be again be known as "Chillicothe". Not all the Shawnee living in the town belonged to the Chillicothe division. They also tolerated residents from tribes other than the Shawnee. As a result of naming their communities in this way, there are numerous Shawnee Chillicothe villages in the historical record. This has occasionally caused some confusion to researchers.

Chillicothes on the Scioto
Lower Shawnee Town, as it was called by European-American colonists, was a large town on the Ohio River, founded about 1734 by Shawnee. The Shawnee name of the town was not recorded, but scholars believe it may have been "Chillicothe". The town grew to be a major trading hub in the years leading up to the French and Indian War. But it was of lesser political importance than Logstown, which was upriver on the Ohio. Members from most, if not all five Shawnee divisions, lived in the town, as well as an assortment of other Native Americans, Europeans, and African Americans. It had an estimated total population of 1,200 or more people. Lower Shawnee Town was abandoned in 1758, after the population relocated north into central Ohio to avoid attack by the Virginia militia.

The next Chillicothe (1758–1787) was one of seven Shawnee villages developed on the west bank of the Scioto River, near Paint Creek and what developed as modern Chillicothe, Ohio. The village was settled in the late 1750s by survivors of the floods at Lower Shawnee Town and the burning of Logstown, at a time when Shawnee were returning to the Ohio Country after having been driven out and scattered by the Iroquois decades earlier in competition over the fur trade.

Cheeseekau, older brother of Tecumseh, was probably born here about 1761. Tecumseh may have been born here in 1768, or at nearby Kisposko town.  In 1762, Chillicothe contained about 300 warriors (representing a total of perhaps 1,200 people). The majority of Shawnee then living in Ohio lived there.

European influences, especially in trade goods such as guns, kettles, and clothing, were prevalent among the Shawnee at this time. David Jones, an Anglican missionary, visited the town in 1773 and noted that a British fur trader named Moses Henry lived there.

In the early 1770s, the Shawnee towns on the Scioto were the focus of a Shawnee-led movement formed to resist colonial expansion onto their traditional hunting grounds following the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix. The Shawnee were ultimately unsuccessful in forging a large alliance, however. They fought Dunmore's War in 1774 with little support from other tribes. An army from Virginia marched to the Scioto villages and forced the Shawnee to accept the boundary established in the Stanwix treaty.

After the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, many Chillicothe residents relocated northwest to form a village on the Little Miami River. Shawnee villagers continued to live on the Scioto, along with some Cherokee, until the village was attacked by Americans in 1787 during the Northwest Indian War, after the establishment of the United States.

Old Chillicothe

Because of its prominence in the American Revolutionary War, Old Chillicothe (1774–1780) was the most famous of the Shawnee Chillicothe villages in American history. It is often referred to in historical writing as "Old Chillicothe", in order to distinguish it from the modern Ohio city of Chillicothe. Settlement of the village began in 1774. Located on the Little Miami River, the area is now known as Oldtown, near present-day Xenia.

Chillicothe was the home of Blackfish, war chief of the division. From here the Shawnee staged numerous raids into Kentucky, where they hoped to drive out the American settlers. Frontiersman Daniel Boone was captured in Kentucky in 1778 by Chief Blackfish and brought to Chillicothe with other prisoners. Boone was adopted into the tribe and lived for several months at Chillicothe. According to tradition the village was the birthplace of Tecumseh, who became a famous Shawnee leader responsible for creating a large alliance among tribes in the late eighteenth century. But Tecumseh was born in 1768, before this Chillicothe was settled. As mentioned above, he was likely born at a village on the Scioto River.

There were raids across the Ohio on both sides during the American Revolutionary War. After Chief Blackfish unsuccessfully besieged Boonesborough, Kentucky in 1778, Americans crossed the Ohio River and attacked Chillicothe on May 29, 1779. Blackfish successfully defended the town, but was shot in the leg and later died when the wound became infected. In 1780, in retaliation for Bird's invasion of Kentucky, George Rogers Clark led the Kentucky militia up the Little Miami River. The Shawnee and other residents abandoned Chillicothe as Clark approached. Clark burned the town and destroyed the surrounding crops. (By some accounts, the Shawnee had burned the town before fleeing, to deny the Kentucky militia plunder and supplies.) Clark marched further north and fought a battle at Pekowi town, where he defeated the Shawnee.

Other Chillicothes

Chillicothe was resettled on the Great Miami River (1780–1782) after the destruction of the previous village. Although a British army surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, the war on the frontier continued unabated. In Kentucky, the Americans were defeated at the Battle of Blue Licks in August 1782, the worst defeat of the war for the soldiers of Kentucky. In retaliation, in November Clark led another expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war. His forces destroyed Chillicothe and four other villages.

The next Chillicothe was on the St. Mary's River (1783–1790). Another Chillicothe (1788–1792) was located on the Maumee River, near present Fort Wayne, Indiana. A Chillicothe (1787–?) was located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, north of present Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

References

Bibliography
Bakeless, John. Background to Glory: The Life of George Rogers Clark. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1957. Bison Book printing, 1992; .
Edmunds, R. David. "Forgotten Allies: The Loyal Shawnees and the War of 1812" in David Curtis Skaggs and Larry L. Nelson, eds., The Sixty Years' War for the Great Lakes, 1754-1814, pp. 337–51. East Lansing: Michigan State U P, 2001. .
Henderson, A. Gwynn. "The Lower Shawnee Town on Ohio: Sustaining Native Autonomy in an Indian 'Republic'" in Craig Thompson Friend, ed., The Buzzel About Kentuck: Settling the Promised Land. Lexington: U of Kentucky P, 1999. .
Sugden, John. Tecumseh: A Life. New York: Holt, 1997.  (hardcover);  (1999 paperback).
Sugden, John. "Blackfish" in American National Biography. Oxford: Oxford U.P., 1999.
Tanner, Helen Hornbeck, ed. Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 1987.

Native American populated places
Pre-statehood history of Ohio
Shawnee history
Native American tribes in Ohio
Shawnee

Chalahgawtha


Len Kasper is an American sportscaster. As of 2023 he is the radio play-by-play announcer for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball, teaming with color analyst Darrin Jackson on ESPN 1000 and the Chicago White Sox Radio Network.

From 2005 to 2020, Kasper worked alongside analysts Bob Brenly and Jim Deshaies on Chicago Cubs telecasts. He also joined the team's radio network for the fifth inning of games that were televised nationally (including playoff games), working with regular radio announcers Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer.

Career
Kasper first worked for WTMJ-AM (620) from 1994 to 2002 in Milwaukee as the host of the station's daily sports show, hosted pregame and halftime shows for the Green Bay Packers, and was a co-host on a hot stove league show on the Brewers' radio network. After realizing he would need experience calling baseball games, he started working with Brett Dolan on the weekends in the late 1990s calling several innings at a time for the Beloit Snappers. In 1999, he was then asked to  do fill-in TV work with the Milwaukee Brewers for Matt Vasgersian who started to get work on the national stage. Kasper continued to work alongside Bill Schroeder as a fill-in for Vasgersian on Brewers telecasts through 2001.

In 2002, Kasper was hired as a full-time TV play-by-play announcer to work alongside color commentator Tommy Hutton for the Florida Marlins and worked for Florida through the 2004 season until being hired for the Cubs in 2005. Kasper received the Harry Caray Sportscaster of the Year Award from the Pitch and Hit Club of Chicago in 2011.

On Friday, December 4, 2020, it was announced that he would be leaving the Chicago Cubs TV broadcasting booth to go to the Chicago White Sox lead radio announcing booth for WMVP 1000 AM and fill-in TV work for NBC Sports Chicago for the 2021 season. He was replaced by Jon Sciambi.

Personal life
Kasper grew up in Michigan. His broadcasting influence was the Detroit Tigers' radio broadcasters, Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey. He graduated from Shepherd High School. He graduated summa cum laude from Marquette University with a degree in public relations in 1993. He and his wife, Pam, have one son named Leo.

References

External links
Chicago Cubs Broadcasters at Comcastsportsnet.com
Ask Len and Bob at Comcastsportsnet.com
Chicago Cubs Broadcasters at Cubs.com
Len & Bob's baseball blog at WGN Sports.com
Len & Bob play Summertime Blues.

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Year of birth missing (living people)

Len Kasper


Hovsvatnet is a lake in the municipality of Lund in Rogaland county, Norway.  The lake lies between the villages of Eik (in the north) and Moi in the south.  The European route E39 highway runs along the whole southern shore of the V-shaped lake.  Most of the sides of the lake have high mountains on the shoreline, preventing habitation along most of the lake.

See also
List of lakes in Norway

References

Lund, Norway
Lakes of Rogaland

Hovsvatnet


Conan the Destroyer is a fantasy novel written by Robert Jordan featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian, a novelization of the feature film of the same name. It was first published in paperback by Tor Books in 1984.

Plot summary
Queen Taramis of Shadizar promises to bring Conan's lost love Valeria back to life if the Cimmerian will procure two magical items that she hopes will gain her ultimate power, a wizard's gem and a horn that can awaken the dreaming god Dagoth. He undertakes the quest together with his thief partner Malak and Taramis' niece Jehnna and henchman Bombaata. On their journey they are joined by two additional allies whom Conan saves from dire fates; the magician Akiro and the female warrior Zula. At their goal, the castle of the wizard Amon-Rama, Jehnna is kidnapped. Thanks to Akiro's magic she is located in Amon-Rama's lair and a way in is discovered. Inside, Conan is separated from the others and forced to battle a Man-Ape in a hall of mirrors, which he is only able to defeat by destroying the mirrors. He also mortally wounds the wizard, who is hiding behind one of them. Jehnna, who is the only person who can safely handle the wizard's gem, retrieves the first magical item.

Afterward, the group beats off an attack by Corinthian soldiers and continues on to the fortress that holds the horn. It is retrieved at the cost of a battle with its Dagoth-worshipping keepers, whose leader Akiro defeats in a sorcerous duel. Bombaata and Jehnna escape through a tunnel, which the former closes to the others by starting a landslide. Back at Taramis' palace, the queen conducts a ritual to awaken Dagoth that entails the placing of the horn on the forehead of the sleeping deity, and ultimately the sacrifice of Jehnna. Conan, Akiro, and Zula, having survived the landslide, interrupt the proceedings.

Conan fights and defeats Bombaata while Zula rescues Jehnna. In the absence of the sacrifice, Dagoth is an uncontrollable monster on his revival, eating Taramis and threatening the destruction of everything else. On the advice of Akiro, Conan rips the horn from Dagoth's forehead, and the creature finally falls. In the aftermath, Jehnna succeeds to the throne of Shadazar and takes Zula, Akiro, and Malak as advisors. She offers Conan her hand and a place at her side as king, but the Cimmerian prefers to win his own kingdom.

Reception
Don D'Ammassa writes "The novelization of the second Conan movie contains none of the annoying inconsistencies of the first. ... This wasn't a bad movie and the novelization is quite readable."

The novelization was also reviewed by Sheldon Jaffery in Fantasy Review, September 1984, and W. Paul Ganley in Fantasy Mongers No. 11, Summer 1984.

References

External links
 Page at Fantastic Fiction

1984 American novels
1984 fantasy novels
Conan the Barbarian novels
Tor Books books

Conan the Destroyer (novel)


State Street is a major thoroughfare in the city of Chicago.  It represents 0 East/West in the city, as it is believed to be the original location of how far inland Lake Michigan went in downtown Chicago before the Great Chicago Fire happened.  Unlike other North-South thoroughfares, State Street is named a street instead of an avenue to help people remember that it is 0 East/West in Chicago.

For a certain distance, the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) Red Line runs under State Street.

0 North/South in Chicago is Madison Street, which has included such buildings as the former Chicago Stadium and currently the United Center, both nicknamed the "Madhouse on Madison".

Roads in Chicago

State Street (Chicago)


USS PGM-7  was a gunboat that served in the United States Navy during World War 2.  She was commissioned as USS SC-1072, an SC-497 Class Submarine Chaser on 28 June 1943.  She was reclassified as a PGM-1 Class Motor Gunboat on 10 December 1943.  She was dispatched to the Solomon Islands for patrol service.

History
All twenty-four crew members reporting on board USS SC-1072, 28 June 1943, were received from the receiving station, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The official Reports of Changes for USS SC-1072 provide port locations and sailing destinations as follows:

19 July 43 sailing from Naval Air Station, Cape May, New Jersey to Jacksonville, Florida

11 August 43 sailing from Pier #2, S.C.T.C, Miami, Florida to Navy Section Base, Key West, Florida

15 August 43 sailing from N.O.B., Key West, Florida to Burwood, Mississippi

17 August 43 sailing from Burwood, Louisiana to Canal Zone [Burwood is located in the state of Louisiana, perhaps the 15 August entry refers to the Mississippi River as the location of Burwood?]

28 August 43 sailing from Naval Station, Coco Solo, Canal Zone to Naval Station, San Diego, California

14 September 43 sailing from Naval Base, San Diego, California to Naval Base, San Francisco, California

24 September 43 sailing from Naval Section Base, Treasure Island, California to Naval Section Base, Seattle, Washington

19 November 43 sailing from NavSta, Pier 41, Seattle, Washington to Naval Operating Base, San Pedro, California

23 November 43 sailing from NavSecBase, Treasure Island, California to Naval Operating Base, San Pedro, California

23 January 1944, USS PGM-7 departed San Pedro, California, headed for Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, in company of PGM's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 and USS Armadillo (IX-111).  The Armadillo provided fuel and water for the PGM's in transit to Hawaii.  The Log Book of USS PGM-3 contains the following entry for 25 January 1045 hours: "U.S.S. PGM-2 reported bad leak and was ordered by Senior Officer Present Afloat to return to port accompanied by U.S.S. PGM-4 as escort". PGM-7 and the remaining ships continued their journey, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 1 February.  On 12 February the PGM-7 left Pearl Harbor en route to Palmyra Atoll in company of PGM's 8, 5, 3 and 1 and arrived there 15 February.  The next day the five PGM's continued their journey en route to Pago Pago, Tutuila Island, American Samoa, arriving there on 20 February.

Sadly, Edmund Roman Niess, Machinist's Mate first class, a member of the crew of PGM-7, drowned in an accident on 23 February 1944, in Pago Pago Harbor.  He was buried in the USMC Cemetery, Tutuila, the next day.  Niess was the only member of the crew of PGM-7 lost during the war according to the official Reports of Changes for the ship.

The five PGM's left Pago Pago on 24 February, headed toward Suva, Viti Levu, Fiji, arriving there on 27 February after adjusting the ships' clocks forward one day.  PGM's 8, 5, 3 and 7 departed Suva on 28 February en route to Nouméa, New Caledonia, arriving there 2 March.  The same four PGM's departed Nouméa 10 days later en route for Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, arriving there 14 March.  PGM-7 departed for the Solomon Islands on 15 March in company of PGM's 5 and 8, arriving at Guadalcanal two days later.  After a short stay at Guadalcanal, the ships crossed over to nearby Tulagi, Florida Islands (known today as Nggela Islands).

After a stay of nearly two weeks, PGM's 5, 7 and 8 departed the Florida Islands on 29 March en route for Rendova Island, New Georgia Islands, Solomon Islands.  On 6 April, PGM-7 departed Rendova in company of PGM-5 headed for the Motor Torpedo Boat Base #9, Treasury Islands, arriving there on the same day.  MTB Base #9 served as the home base for the remainder of PGM-7s navy career.

Two days after arriving at MTB Base #9, PGM-7 departed at 1743 hours on 8 April for its first patrol of the coastal waters of southwest Bougainville Island.  Over the next three months, PGM-7 conducted anti-barge and anti-submarine patrols along the southwest and southeast coasts of Bougainville, the general vicinity of Fauro Island, and the west coast of Choiseul Island.  The ship was accompanied on these patrols by various other PGM ships of PGM Division One as well as various PT boats from nearby squadrons.

Starting at the end of June 1944, the PGM-7 participated in a prolonged patrol along the northwestern coast of New Ireland (island), in view, at a distance, of night attacks on the Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain.  On 28 June, PGM's 5, 7 and 8 departed Torokina for New Ireland to patrol area "uncle".  The patrol included the coastal locations of Tambaker Point, Huru Point and Cape Roloss.  The ships visited the advance base at Green Islands, arriving the afternoon of 1 July and departing the afternoon of 4 July, taking on fuel and water and doing other unspecified work during this period.  The PGMs returned to the same patrol area, concluding their patrol on 7 July and arriving back at MTB Base #9 on the Treasury Islands on 8 July.

In the early morning hours of 18 July, PGM-7 departed MTB Base #9 for another patrol of New Ireland in company of PGM's 4, 5 and 8.  At 0543 hours PGM-7 was severely damaged in a collision with PGM-4.  An eyewitness account of the collision is available in the book Splinter Fleet by Theodore R. Treadwell.  Heavy seas contributed to difficulties in maintaining proper patrol formation and PGM-4 lost track of PGM-7 on radar.  Suddenly the PGM-7 appeared off the starboard bow of PGM-4 and it was too late to prevent a collision.  Contrary to other reports, the official Log Book of PGM-7 establishes for a fact that the ship did not sink.  Quoted here are the entries in the ship's log for 18 July 1944 and subsequent dates:18 July 1944"0300 underway from Sterling Harbor, Treasury Islands, en route to New Ireland and New Britain for operations in company with PGMs 4, 5 & 8 "

"0543 rammed by PGM 4 in engine room, port side. Collision piped by watch topside, General alarm dead, all hands given word to put on life jackets, PGM 4 drifted out of hole alongside port side, bow facing PGM 7's stern, Captain went aboard PGM 4, directed all hands to abandon ship, 19 men abandon ship before ships drifted apart, Executive and Third Officer and 8 men aboard PGM 7, Executive Officer passes word to men still aboard to jettison all ammunition on starboard side of forward magazine, engine room flooded 30 inches above deck, control room had 6 inches above deck, after crew's quarters reported by Savage, J.J., PhM1c, water up to deck boards, permission granted by Executive Officer to jettison 40mm ammunition in after magazine, Captain returned aboard in rubber life raft with Reuter, J.E, BM1c and proceeded to unload after magazine, when magazine emptied with exception of port side of forward magazine, in order to counter-balance starboard list, 2 barbettes were jettisoned, during this time the water had risen above the deck in the after crew's quarters and attempts were made to pump out the water with a gasoline handy-billy, it failed to start and soon after Lt. (jg) Lindblooom and two MoMMs came aboard from the PGM 5 in a rubber life raft and attempted to start handy-billy, it failed and the PGM 5 sent over their handy-billy which also failed, later these pumps were operated successfully"

"0745 PGM 8 attempted to tow the PGM 7 with the anchor chain but the attempt failed after five minutes when the chain parted"

"0830 PGM 8 attempted to tow the PGM 7 with the six inch hawser approximately 200 feet in length, this also failed several minutes later when the tow line parted due to the short length of the line used"

" 0945 PGM 8 again attempts to tow with their own anchor chain, this attempt also failed about 45 minutes when chain parted"

"1000 the gasoline handy-billy began to work and the after compartment and the tank compartment were continually pumped thereafter"

"1240 U.S.S. YMS 249 came alongside to tow us in, proceeding at 1250"

"1846 through nets, U.S.S. YMS 249 still towing"

"1900 PGM 8 received tow and brought us up to Steaming Dock, Sterling Harbor, Treasury Islands".

"19 July "
"0000-0400 moored as before alongside Dry Dock Pier at Sterling Harbor, Treasury Islands, being patched temporarily"

"26 July "
"Moored as before"

"0715 getting underway, secured alongside PGM 4, proceeding in harbor, en route for Purvis Bay "

"0755 through nets "

"0800 PGM 4 left alongside, now taking tow, speed 5 knots"

"0800-1200 being towed by PGM 4 en route to Purvis Bay, speed 5 knots, using 1200 feet ¾ inch cable, temporarily patched on deck and port side, 2 gasoline pumps on board for purpose of pumping bilges, 8 men and 2 officers aboard"

"28 July"
"1130 Carter City [Florida Islands], now secured to Sub-Buoy in harbor, PGM 4 left for water"

"31 August 1944" [last page of log]
"0000-0400 moored as before at Carter City, Small Craft Repair Base, Florida Island area, in dry dock, using portable gasoline generator for ships power, crew living on base, officers living aboard, awaiting further orders from Bureau"

The final fate of PGM-7 is not indicated in the ship's log.  It was apparently scrapped by the navy due to extensive damage to the hull.Fate of the crew of PGM-7'''All 27 crew and 3 officers of PGM-7 survived the collision of 18 July 1944.  The PGM-7 Report of Changes for the month ending 31 July 1944, lists 19 crew members transferred to MTBRons, Base 9, Navy 811, Treasury Islands, for temporary duty.  The PGM Division One (Base Force at Treasury Islands) Report of Changes for the month ending 30 September 1944, lists 28 crew members received from PGM-7 on 17 September 1944, with 14 transferred the same day to other PGMs of Division One (the extra crew member reported aboard after the collision).

References

USS PGM-7, 1943-1944. Originally SC-1072
Motor Gunboat / Patrol Gunboat Photo Archive:  PGM-7
Howard La Favre, Service on PGM-7 and PGM-3
Log Book of USS PGM-3, 1944
Log Book of USS PGM-7, 1944
Report of Changes of USS PGM-7, February 24, 1944 – death of  Edmund Roman Niess
Reports of Changes of USS PGM-7, 1944
Reports of Changes of USS SC-1072, 1943Splinter Feet: The Wooden Subchasers of World War II'', by Theodore R. Treadwell, 274 p., copyright 2000, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland

PGM-1-class motor gunboats
Ships built by the Mathis Yacht Building Company
1943 ships
World War II gunboats of the United States

USS PGM-7


Farfallon is a 1974 Italian comedy film directed by Riccardo Pazzaglia starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio. It is a parody of Papillon.

Plot
Farfallon is a Sicilian pastry chef who finds himself in prison for attempted murder and is obsessed with the idea of escaping to carry out his crime. During a transfer by sea following a riot, he is approached by a neighboring politician, the baron of Vistacorta, in prison, in turn, for a fraudulent contract on the construction of the bridge over the Strait of Messina, who instructs him to keep him a precious cartridge case containing a considerable sum of money.

After a failed escape attempt to Naples, Farfallon is hidden by the Trappistine nuns who, in exchange, ask him to teach them the secrets of Sicilian pastry, only to betray him by handing him over to the Swiss Guards of the Vatican.

During the transfer to prison, Farfallon, taking advantage of the distraction of the guards, manages to escape once again but, taking refuge in the refrigerated body of a meat truck, he ends up right in the middle transporting meat to the prison. On reaching his destination, he is welcomed by the Baron of Vistacorta, who was also transferred there. He immediately realizes the strange atmosphere that exists in prison, with a widespread permissiveness and even the union of the male and female sections.

Nevertheless, the desire to escape to carry out his revenge against his Immaculate wife remains intact in him. So one night in a dream comes to him St. Peter who, after a negotiation on how Farfallon should later have repaid, reveals to him a secret passage from the penalty cell to a tunnel that opens onto the outside. Since it would have been unthinkable to be sent to a prison cell in such a prison, with the help of the Baron, he manages to be led to the place by the director with a ruse. The escape succeeds in half and, daringly, the Baron is also involved.

Once out, however, they are immediately caught and taken to the Criminal Agricultural Colony, where there is a prison system opposite to the previous one, with a director who immediately sets the record straight with the new arrivals. The two therefore go through a period of hard work and various humiliations, culminating in a detention of eight years in a prison cell due to a simulated attempted rape by the director's wife and sister-in-law.

Upon exiting the penalty cell, they are approached by a strange inmate named Leonardo, fascinated by the idea of reproducing the flight of birds for humans, who proposes to the two to test wings built by himself. Farfallon is the first to launch himself from the cliff and falls tumbling into the water, remaining miraculously unharmed, verifying, in fact, the failure of the invention; the Baron, consequently, prefers not to jump.

In the credits we discover that Farfallon managed to swim to Sicily where he finally killed his wife and also the Baron's lover before being arrested again and taken back to prison where he spent the rest of his life in life imprisonment with the Baron.

Cast
 Franco Franchi as Farfallon
 Ciccio Ingrassia as  Barone di Vistacorta
 Fiorenzo Fiorentini as  Leonardo
 Gina Rovere as  Madre superiora
 Micaela Pignatelli as  Direttrice del carcere
 Mario Carotenuto as  Direttore della colonia penale agricola
 Nino Terzo as  Guardia carceraria
 Linda Sini  as Figlia del colonnello
 Enzo Andronico as  Detenuto

References

External links

Farfallon at Variety Distribution

1974 films
1970s parody films
Commedia all'italiana
Italian parody films
Italian prison films
Italian buddy comedy films
1970s buddy comedy films
1974 comedy films
1970s Italian films

Farfallon


The bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) is a small sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Anas albeola.

The genus name is derived from ancient Greek boukephalos, "bullheaded", from bous, "bull", and kephale, "head", a reference to the oddly bulbous head shape of the species. The species name albeola is from Latin albus, "white". The English name is a combination of buffalo and head, again referring to the head shape. This is most noticeable when the male puffs out the feathers on the head, thus greatly increasing the apparent size of the head.

Description
The bufflehead ranges from  long and weighs , with the drakes larger than the females. Averaging  and , it rivals the green-winged teal as the smallest American duck. The bufflehead has a wingspan of 21.6 in (55 cm).

Adult males are striking black and white, with iridescent green and purple heads and a large white patch behind the eye. Females are grey-toned with a smaller white patch behind the eye and a light underside.

Distribution and habitat
They are migratory and most of them winter in protected coastal waters, or open inland waters, on the east and west coasts of North America and the southern United States. They can also be observed wintering on the Great Lakes. The bufflehead is an extremely rare vagrant to western Europe. Their breeding habitat is wooded lakes and ponds in Alaska and Canada, almost entirely included in the boreal forest or taiga habitat. From 1966 - 2015, the bufflehead experienced a >1.5% yearly population increase throughout its breeding range.

Behavior

Buffleheads have evolved their small size to fit the nesting cavity of their "metabiotic" host, a woodpecker, the northern flicker. Due to their small size, they are highly active, undertaking dives almost continuously while sustained by their high metabolism. They do not tend to collect in large flocks; groups are usually limited to small numbers. One duck serves as a sentry, watching for predators as the others in the group dive in search of food. Buffleheads are amongst the last waterfowl to leave their breeding grounds and one of the world's most punctual migrants, arriving on their wintering grounds within a narrow margin of time.

Breeding
Buffleheads are monogamous, and the females may return to the same nest site, year after year. They nest in cavities in trees, primarily aspens or poplars, using mostly old flicker nests, close (usually < ) to water. Nest competitors include mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides), tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), and European starling. There was one recorded instance of a female Barrow's goldeneye killing a bufflehead adult female and her brood. Smaller cavities are preferred because of less competition with the larger goldeneyes. Females may be killed on the nest by mammals, such as foxes (Vulpes and Urocyon sp.), weasels (Mustela and Neogale sp.) or mink (Neogale vison), and by goldeneyes over nest competition.

Average clutch size is nine (range six to 11), and eggs average . Incubation averages 30 days, and nest success is high (79% in one study) compared to ground-nesting species like the teal. A day after the last duckling hatches, the brood leaps from the nest cavity. The young fledge at 50–55 days of age. Predators of adults include the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus), bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), and Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii).

Diet
These diving birds forage underwater. They prefer water depths of . In freshwater habitats, they eat primarily insects, and in saltwater, they feed predominantly on crustaceans and mollusks. Aquatic plants and fish eggs can often become locally important food items, as well.

Relationship with humans
Because of their striking plumage, highly active nature, and proximity to humans on waterfront properties, buffleheads are one of the most popular birds amongst bird watchers. The bufflehead, also known as the spirit duck, was added to the coat of arms of the town of Sidney, British Columbia, in 1995. Buffleheads are hunted and are considered a gamebird. In contrast to many other seaducks that have declined in recent decades, bufflehead numbers have remained relatively constant. Habitat degradation is the major threat to this bird, since they depend on very limited coastal habitat on their wintering grounds, and very specific habitat in their boreal breeding grounds. Although buffleheads do use man-made nest boxes, they still need the forest habitat to thrive.

References

External links
Bufflehead at Birds of North America Online
BirdWeb.Org: Bufflehead
Bufflehead at Boreal Birds
Buffleheads in Winter Birdnote Archives, KPLU, 7 Dec 2009.
 Bufflehead Species Account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
 Bufflehead – Bucephala albeola – USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter

Bucephala (bird)
Native birds of Alaska
Birds of Canada
Native birds of the Northwestern United States
Birds described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Bufflehead


WDJW is the call sign of the FM radio station licensed to the Somers, Connecticut Board of Education.  One of only a handful of high school radio stations in the state, WDJW has served the school and the community for over 35 years. Originally operating on 105.3 MHz, WDJW moved to 89.7 in the early 1990s and has had an eclectic format consisting of student and faculty programs supplemented with the programming of WWUH from the University of Hartford.

History

WDJW was founded in 1979 by Somers High School sophomore Robert Child.  Child approached the Somers Board of Education in early 1979 to request funding and approval and was granted sufficient funds to purchase and install the requisite equipment.  The radio station was installed in a small utility room at Somers High School, and was staffed by volunteer students under the direction of Radio Station Club faculty adviser Otto Bouldwin. Child went on to a distinguished career in film and television, and is an Emmy® nominated writer and director.

In 1979, representatives of the station requested and received authorization from WTIC-AM to simulcast Boston Red Sox games to the Somers community.  Formal ratings data was not available during the station launch era
, but the complete listening audience was better understood when in 1980 Somers High School Administration received a petition from inmates at the Somers Maximum Security Correctional Facility to support WDJW radio.  The petition was signed by hundreds of prison inmates, who apparently followed and appreciated the efforts of the volunteer student 'disc jockeys'.

The earliest Federal Communications Commission (FCC) document available on line is an "original construction permit" which was granted on June 25, 1979 authorizing construction of a station on 89.7 MHz with 10 watts of power.  A License to Cover was granted on March 14, 1980. A "Major Modification" was granted by the FCC on February 28, 1983 but the on line data base does not specify any details. On December 12, 1990 a Construction Permit was granted to change the frequency to 105.3 MHz.  Reportedly the Board of Education decided not to pursue this change and the next FCC database entry is a renewal on June 10, 1999 showing the frequency as 89.7 MHz.

In late 1995 WDJW's old transmitter failed for good and the station went off the air.  WDJW was faced with deletion since a recent FCC rule change called for automatic deletion of any license that was off the air for one year.   WWUH at the University of Hartford offered the BOE a loan of a transmitter in return for use of the WDJW signal when local programming was unavailable. WDJW went back on the air in late 1996 and moved its studios and transmitter to the new high school building in the late 1990s.

WDJW has a construction permit from the FCC to add circular polarization and correct antenna coordinates. It is licensed for 9 watts effective radiated power and the antenna is -18 meters height above average terrain.

External links
Unofficial WDJW History
WWUH

DJW
Somers, Connecticut
Radio stations established in 1979
1979 establishments in Connecticut

WDJW