Alan Jackson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Howard Antony. He originally appeared between 16 November 1993 and 16 October 1997, and returned on 12 October 2010 for three episodes.

Kind-hearted Alan gives the Jackson family some much needed stability. He loves and cares for Carol's children as if they are his own. Their relationship does not go so smoothly however. Carol's stubborn and nagging nature eventually drives him into the arms of another woman.

Storylines

Backstory
Alan was 20, single and a plumber when he met Carol Branning (Lindsey Coulson). He came to her council flat to unblock her sink and they started dating each other soon after. Carol had gone through a lifetime of struggle and heartache. In the past, the fathers of her three children, Bianca (Patsy Palmer), Robbie (Dean Gaffney) and Sonia (Natalie Cassidy), had all deserted her, but Alan was different and he stuck around, giving the family real stability. Soon he had added to her collection of children, fathering Billie (Devon Anderson) in 1988. Even though Alan and Carol were not married initially, the whole family took Alan's surname. They were later joined by Alan's grandmother, Blossom (Mona Hammond).

1993–2010
When Alan arrives in Walford with his family, he is unemployed and although he does odd jobs for his neighbours, his inability to bring in a regular wage causes conflict between him and Carol. He gets a job working on Mark Fowler's (Todd Carty) fruit and veg stall but neglects to inform the Job Centre that he is working, committing benefit fraud so market inspector Richard Cole (Ian Reddington) does it for him, so he loses his benefits. Alan also fixes cars for David Wicks (Michael French) but is fired following a series of thefts, which eventually turn out to be Robbie's doing. Alan is furious to be branded a thief and his anger towards David increases soon after when he sees Carol spending time with him. Alan accuses Carol of having an affair, unaware that David is actually Bianca's biological father. Upon discovering this, Alan becomes extremely jealous and is annoyed that Carol kept it from him, finding Bianca and David's father/daughter relationship hard to take.

In 1996, Carol and Alan attend the wedding of Carol's sister, April Branning (Debbie Arnold) to Nikos (Yorgos Glastras). Carol's father Jim Branning (John Bardon) and her brother, Derek (Terence Beesley) are opposed to their interracial relationship, constantly trying to provoke Alan into violence. Despite Carol's family's prejudices, Alan and Carol decide to marry, taking April's slot at the church after she is jilted. After the ceremony, Alan is attacked by a drunken Derek, who has come simply to cause trouble. David intervenes and beats up Derek, making Alan and Carol grateful. However, cracks begin to show in their relationship. Money is a concern for Carol and her constant nagging about Alan's inability to provide drives him into the arms of another woman. Alan catches the eye of singer Frankie Pierre (Syan Blake), who does everything she can to seduce him. Despite Alan's initial protests, he soon succumbs and they have sex. Alan regrets it and tries to call off the affair, but Frankie is hell-bent on destroying his marriage, and threatens to tell Carol unless he leaves her. When this does not work, Frankie plants lingerie in Alan's clothes and leaves her personal effects around his house. Carol inevitably discovers them and realises what has been occurring. She is furious and after an argument, Alan leaves and moves in with Frankie.

The separation causes Carol to reignite her romance with David, infuriating Alan. Frankie soon gets bored of Alan and her history of chasing unobtainable men and losing interest once she has them is revealed. Dumped by Carol and Frankie, Alan becomes severely depressed and his attempts to reconcile with his wife are constantly rejected. Things alter after Robbie is beaten up by Ted Hills (Brian Croucher). Alan provides Carol with much-needed support and defends her family, which eventually leads to a reconciliation. In 1997, Billie is the only witness to an armed robbery at a building society. He is kidnapped in order to prevent him testifying in court, leaving Alan and Carol frantic with worry. Billie is returned safely but the Jackson family (bar Bianca and Robbie) are placed in a witness protection programme and leave Walford for their safety. However, terror that Billie will disappear again causes Alan to have a nervous breakdown, which leads to him and Carol splitting up again off-screen. Carol gets engaged to a new man, Dan Sullivan (Craig Fairbrass), but this ends after Dan has an affair with Bianca. Alan and Carol later reunite and live in Balham with Billie and Blossom.

In February 2010, when Bianca's daughter Tiffany (Maisie Smith) visits Carol in Balham, it seems that she and Alan have split once again. When Sonia returns to Walford, it is suggested that Alan has a new partner and now lives in Forest Hill. Later in 2010, Alan comes to Walford to see Billie, not knowing that he has died, Carol avoids him and Bianca tells him before he leaves. He returns for Billie's funeral where Carol tries to kiss him but he pushes her away and reminds her that he is married. He attends Billie's wake with his wife and their son, Kai, and they leave afterwards with Blossom.

Creation and development

1994 was a historic year for EastEnders, as in April, a third weekly episode was introduced. Due to the programme's increased frequency, a number of new characters were introduced to the regular cast in the latter part of 1993 and early 1994. Among them were the Jackson family: mother Carol Jackson (Lindsey Coulson), her four children, Bianca (Patsy Palmer), Robbie (Dean Gaffney), Sonia (Natalie Cassidy), and Billie (Devon Anderson), as well as Carol's partner Alan Jackson (Howard Antony). Though Carol and Alan were not initially married in the serial, and though Alan was only the biological father of Billie, the whole family took on Alan's surname. The family was created by writer Tony McHale. None of the actors cast as the Jackson family were matched for appearance or screen compatibility. Cassidy has commented, "it was all decided without doing that. I don't think it particularly mattered that none of us Jackson kids looked like each other because all our characters had different dads!"

Various members of the family began to appear sporadically from November 1993 onwards, but in episodes that aired early in 1994, the Jacksons moved from Walford Towers, a block of flats, to the soap's focal setting of Albert Square. Their slow introduction was a deliberate attempt by the programme makers to introduce the whole family over a long period. The Jacksons have been described by EastEnders scriptwriter Colin Brake as a "classic problem family".

Alan has been described as a good, reliable, hard-working father and well integrated into his community. Alan's main storyline during his initial four years in EastEnders surrounded his interracial marriage to Carol Jackson and being a paternal figure to Carol's children, three of whom were fathered by other men. Antony has revealed that his portrayal was partly based on his own life experiences, as he had grown up with siblings with different fathers to his own. Antony told author Larry Jaffee, "Alan was so family oriented, but I liked that a young black guy who was very responsible, mature - that was something that I was very comfortable with because it was something I grew up with to a point. To me, if you love someone you love everything about them. It's not 'I love you, but I don't love your kids'. It was something I was very glad to do. The whole black-and-white thing, I think we're at a stage now that people are more informed."

In 1997, Lindsey Coulson quit her role as Carol, and the majority of the Jackson clan were written out of the serial to facilitate her desire to leave. This was only temporary however, and many of the Jacksons returned shortly after. Antony opted not to re-new his contract. At the time it was reported that he had grown disillusioned with the storylines his character had been given, in particular an affair Alan had with home-wrecker Frankie Pierre (Syan Blake). Antony is quoted saying "There are those above me who make decisions for my character and they're not always ones I like. There were certain aspects of the Frankie story I didn't like. I was frustrated with Alan taking so much nonsense. I thought 'Why are you investing time in Frankie when the woman you've been with for nine years [Carol] wants you back? As an actor it was a difficult pill to swallow. I've had a great time in EastEnders, but the future looks bright."

In 2003, Antony told Jaffee that when he originally quit he intended to return, but decided against it on his agent's advice: "They said the character is incredibly popular, and we are going to bring you back. I said to myself at the time that I had only wanted to do three years, so having done four I thought it might be a good time to see what the big wide world had in store for me. I was worried about getting typecast as well. I'd saved enough money, so I didn't really need to go back."

Actor Devon Anderson reprised his childhood role as Billie Jackson in 2010 but producer Bryan Kirkwood made the decision to kill Billie off that year and Alan was reintroduced for three episodes as part of the storyline in October that year. He attended Billie's funeral.

Reception
According to author Stephen Bourne, Alan was viewed critically by the black community, stating that his "goodness made him terribly boring" and his affair with Frankie was "implausible".

References

External links

Interview with Howard Antony

EastEnders characters
Fictional plumbers
Fictional Black British people
Television characters introduced in 1993
Fictional fraudsters
British male characters in television
Branning family

Alan Jackson (EastEnders)


The Kansas City Blues were a minor league baseball team located in Kansas City, Missouri, in the Midwestern United States. The team was one of the eight founding members of the American Association.

The Blues did not field particularly competitive teams until 1918, when they won the AA pennant. The team won again in 1923, and again in 1929. They won the Junior World Series championship both years, defeating the Baltimore Orioles and the Rochester Red Wings of the International League, respectively, in best-of-nine series.

In 1935, the Blues became a farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1936 they became an affiliate of the New York Yankees.  They won the AA championships five times in the 1930s and 1940s. They defeated the Newark Bears, another Yankees farm club, in the 1938 Junior World Series.

When the American League Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City in 1955, the Blues moved to Denver, Colorado, and became  the Denver Bears.

The 1923, 1929, and 1939 Blues were recognized as being among the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.

History
Preceded in Kansas City by the Kansas City Blues of the Western League and Western Association, the 1902 Kansas City Blues were admitted to the American Association, and won their first league championship in 1918. They would win two more, one in 1923 and the second in 1928. However, the onset of The Great Depression took a toll on the team as attendance began to fall. At one point, the Blues lead the league in attendance, but that number would soon be cut in half. Frustrated with how things were going in Kansas City, owner George Muehlebach sold the franchise to a group headed by Hollywood actor Joe E. Brown, and included former MLB star Tris Speaker. Speaker would also serve as the team's manager. The change in ownership did little to spark interest in the team and Speaker was replaced as manager with Nick Allen. who had won a championship with St. Paul. The franchise was sold again, this time to Kansas City resident and former Cubs player Johnny Kling who in turn hired Roger Peckinpaugh, who had just been released as manager by the Cleveland Indians to take over as manager for Kansas City.

The Blues still struggled with attendance, though it did improve, even if Kansas City finished in last place. Another change was made as Peckinbaugh was released and Dutch Zwilling, who piloted the Blues to their 1929 championship, was brought back as manager. The Blues began to rise in the league standings and the attendance rose as well. Another ownership change was afoot as Kling sold the franchise to the New York Yankees who quickly made the Blues one of their farm teams. The home opener in 1939 was a near sell out and the fans went home happy, as outfielder Vince Dimaggio hit a home run in his first at bat. The Blues routed Louisville 8-2 en route to a season that saw Kansas City win 107 games. However, the Blues lost to Indianapolis in the playoffs. One of the stars of the Blues that season was a 21 year old shortstop named Phil Rizzuto.

The Blues would never have a team as great as the 1939 squad again, but the team was a launching pad for future major league players like Johnny Lindell and in later years, Mickey Mantle. And by the 1950s it was over for the Blues altogether, as the franchise ceased once the A's moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City.

Notable alumni

Hall of Fame alumni
 Jake Beckley, First Basemen, Manager, 1908-1909
 Burleigh Grimes, Manager, 1946
 Mickey Mantle, outfielder and three-time AL MVP
 Phil Rizzuto, Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year in 1940
 Tris Speaker, Manager, 1933
 Casey Stengel, Right Fielder, 1910-1911; Manager, 1945

Players and managers
Well-known members of the 1929 Junior World Series-winning Kansas City Blues included:
Dutch Zwilling, manager
Clyde "Pea Ridge" Day, pitcher
Joe Kuhel, 23-year-old first baseman who later played for the Washington Senators
Lynn (Line Drive) Nelson, pitcher
Fred Nicholson, outfielder
Bill Wambsganss, 35-year-old shortstop who was best known for making an unassisted triple play in the 1920 World Series

Other well-known players and managers include:
 Harry Craft, manager in the 1950s
 George Leslie Cochran, switch-hitting infielder
 Dick Kryhoski, first baseman in the late 1940s
 Al Rosen, 4x All Star, MVP
 Homer "Doc" Smoot, outfielder in 1910-11

See also
List of past and present Kansas City sports teams

References

Baseball teams established in 1888
Baseball teams disestablished in 1954
Defunct minor league baseball teams
Defunct American Association (1902–1997) teams
Blues
Pittsburgh Pirates minor league affiliates
New York Yankees minor league affiliates
1888 establishments in Missouri
1954 disestablishments in Missouri
Defunct baseball teams in Missouri

Kansas City Blues (American Association)


Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth,  (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 (1988–1997), chairman of the board of governors of the BBC (2004–2006), and executive chairman of ITV plc (2007–2009). Since 2011, he has been a Conservative Party life peer in the House of Lords.

In April 2022, it was announced by the Government that Grade would take up his four year appointment as chairman of Ofcom from May 2022 and would move to the crossbenches in the House of Lords at the earliest practical opportunity.

Early life

Grade was born into a Jewish show business family originally called Winogradsky; his father was the theatrical agent Leslie Grade and his uncles were the impresarios Lew Grade and Bernard Delfont. When he was three years old his mother Lynn Smith left the family to conduct a relationship with wrestling commentator Kent Walton. Grade was brought up by his grandmother, and only saw his non-Jewish mother once more as an adult. He was educated at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire and St Dunstan's College in London.

Career
Grade joined the Daily Mirror in 1960, and was a sports columnist from 1964 to 1966. By his own account (as related on Channel 4 chat show The Late Clive James), the job had been organised by his father. When Leslie Grade suffered a serious stroke in 1966, the 23-year-old Michael moved into his theatrical business. In 1969, he moved to London Management & Representation. Among the artists whom Grade represented were Morecambe and Wise (he successfully negotiated the duo's defection from ATV to BBC2 in 1968) and Larry Grayson.

LWT
Grade entered the television industry in 1973 when he joined London Weekend Television (LWT) as deputy controller of programmes (entertainment). During this time he bought the scripts of an African-American sitcom Good Times which had an all-black cast. Adapted as The Fosters (1976–1977), it became the first British sitcom to have an entirely black cast. At LWT, Grade worked with both John Birt and Greg Dyke.

After he became director of programmes in 1977, Grade commissioned the series Mind Your Language, but later cancelled it. At an event at the Edinburgh Television Festival in 1985, he agreed that the series was racist, and said that "it was really irresponsible of us to put it out". In what was termed 'Snatch of the Day' by the press in 1978, Grade attempted the acquisition of exclusive screening rights to Football League matches. Previously the BBC had held the more desirable rights, but the Office of Fair Trading intervened, and Grade's purchase was revoked. The package of recorded highlights on Saturday evenings now alternates each season between ITV and the BBC.

Also in 1978, Grade managed to place under contract the entertainer Bruce Forsyth who had helped the BBC to dominate the Saturday evening television ratings through the decade via The Generation Game series. His new vehicle was titled Bruce Forsyth's Big Night and was intended to feature all his talents in one programme lasting two hours. The budget was £2million for a fourteen-week run. The new series was considered a disaster, with the press turning against the host, but did achieve an initial audience of 14 million. The Generation Game, with new host Larry Grayson, managed to achieve a larger audience. LWT's Big Night was not recommissioned.

Grade announced at a press conference in May 1979 that LWT had secured a contract with a production company formed by television dramatist Dennis Potter and his producer Kenith Trodd. The corporate association proved short-lived, with both sides having insufficient experience for budgeting drama shot on film, and was terminated by Grade in the summer of 1980. Only three of what had been projected as six filmed plays by Potter were shot and screened. Grade though, was directly involved with some of the playwright's later commissions.

Grade approved production of The Professionals and initiated the long-running arts' programme The South Bank Show.

In 1981, Grade left LWT to begin a two-year period as the president of Embassy Television in the United States. In The Times he was quoted as stating, "It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; it is, if you like, a gamble I want to take". His pay rose from £32,000 to $250,000 per annum. During this time he was largely involved in developing and selling sitcoms in this period: "When you read 30 or 40 comedy scripts a week, you get a bit barking." Grade also produced a series for the only time in his career, a nine-part adaptation of Kane and Abel, the novel by Jeffrey Archer. In a Jewish Chronicle interview with Michael Freedland in 2011, Grade said he had "missed public service broadcasting, real drama, news, current affairs".

BBC
Grade joined BBC Television in early summer 1984, becoming controller of BBC 1 on 1 September 1984, taking, as he told Michael Freedland, "the biggest pay cut in history"; his salary went down from $500,000, excluding large bonuses, to £37,000 a year. Later he became director of programmes in 1986, and managing director designate in 1987, before leaving the BBC at the end of 1987. His three-year tenure as a BBC controller was controversial.

Grade cancelled the rights to screen Dallas while fighting Thames Television for the rights to the series (although this decision was subsequently reversed). He cut short the expensive serialisation of The Tripods trilogy, written by John Christopher, because he was dissatisfied with the ratings it had achieved after two series. He also considered cancelling the sitcom Blackadder, judging the first series to be unfunny. In exchange for renewing Blackadder, he required that it become a wholly studio-based production on a lower budget.

Grade agreed to commission Dennis Potter's serial The Singing Detective (1986) after a brief meeting with Jonathan Powell, then the BBC's head of drama. It was a highlight of this period, but came under criticism from Mary Whitehouse and the tabloid press for its content. Referring to the depiction of an illicit sexual encounter in episode three, Grade said: "There are very few people in television drama that you are prepared to trust with scenes like this. But Dennis Potter is one of them".

During his time as controller, Grade was also responsible for purchasing the Australian soap opera Neighbours for BBC1's new daytime schedule; it debuted on British television on 27 October 1986. He was also responsible for repeating Neighbours, at first exclusively an afternoon programme, in a later timeslot (on the advice of his daughter, Alison, who was annoyed that she could not watch it because she was at school). This proved to be a successful scheduling decision, with audiences in excess of 18 million for the new 5.35 pm broadcasts. Other successes during Grade's tenure included the debut of soap operas EastEnders and Howards' Way in 1985 and the hospital drama Casualty in 1986. He was also praised by Bob Geldof for agreeing to broadcast the charity rock concert Live Aid for 24 hours.

In November 1984 he decided to end screening beauty pageants, stating, "I believe these contests no longer merit national air time. They are an anachronism in this day and age of equality and verging on the offensive."

Doctor Who controversy
Grade announced on 27 February 1985 that season 23 of Doctor Who, which was scheduled to be transmitted from January to March 1986, would be postponed as he had decided that the programme's budget would be better spent on other drama productions. What became an 18-month hiatus for Doctor Who (the series did not resume transmission until September 1986) prompted a strong reaction from viewers. Grade was also noted for his strong dislike of the series, such as in an interview in 2004, where he said: "I thought it was horrible, awful. I thought it was so outdated. It was just a little show for a few pointy head Doctor Who fans. It was also very violent and it had lost its magic". In an appearance on the BBC's Room 101 in 2002, Grade chose the series as one of his hates, criticised its production values and said that he had little interest in, or sympathy for, science fiction.

Eric Saward, the script editor of Doctor Who at the time of its suspension, responded to Grade's criticism a few years later. In his view, Grade's comments were unfair because he was in the position to allocate more resources to the programme and thus improve its quality. Actress Katy Manning, who had portrayed a companion of Jon Pertwee's Doctor, praised Grade's treatment of the series on the DVD commentary for The Mind of Evil (1971). In her view, Grade "was actually doing the right thing", and she credited the long break prior to 2005 with rejuvenating the series.

In the autumn of 1986, Grade decided that season 24 of Doctor Who could only happen on the condition that Colin Baker was removed from the title role. Years later Grade stated that he thought Baker's portrayal of the Doctor was "utterly unlikeable; absolutely God-awful in fact". Baker's immediate predecessor in the role, Peter Davison, argued in 2018 that the decision to dismiss the actor was more to do with the executives wanting to get rid of the series' producer, John Nathan-Turner, saying: "I was upset about what happened, really – because, first of all, it wasn't to do with Colin, I know that. It was to do with other issues. The power structure in the BBC had changed and they didn't want John Nathan-Turner around is the truth of it."

Following the end of the first series of the revived Doctor Who in 2005, Grade wrote a letter to Mark Thompson, the Director-General of the BBC, congratulating all involved in the production on its success, signing-off with "PS never dreamed I would ever write this. Must be going soft!" In an interview for Radio Times in 2012, Grade commented: "From clunky Daleks that couldn't go up and down stairs to the filmic qualities today of Doctor Who, it's a transformation... The show still leaves me cold, but I admire it, which I never did before."

Channel 4
Grade left the BBC in 1987 after an unsuccessful application to succeed Alasdair Milne as director-general and a conflict with the corporation's new deputy director-general, John Birt, a former friend and colleague at London Weekend Television. He accepted the post of chief executive of Channel 4, succeeding Jeremy Isaacs, and took up his position at the beginning of 1988. It was a decision which led Isaacs to criticise the appointment and to threaten to "throttle" Grade if the nature of the channel was altered.

Grade phased out some of its more high-brow programming, for which he was accused of "dumbing down". His 1991 decision to axe the long-running and widely admired discussion series After Dark is detailed here. Grade stated that in the same week that he moved to Channel 4, it had shown a repeat of the 1984 adaptation of The Far Pavilions, featuring American actress Amy Irving "blacked up" as an Indian princess. During this period, he was also criticised by the conservative press: Daily Mail columnist Paul Johnson dubbed him Britain's "pornographer-in-chief".

In addition to securing talent from the BBC, Grade recognised the improving quality of US television output, making series such as Friends and ER the mainstays of the channel's schedule. In 1994, while at Channel 4, he was awarded the BAFTA fellowship in recognition of "an exceptional contribution" to television.

In 1997, Grade became involved in a dispute with Chris Morris regarding the satire Brass Eye after repeatedly intervening in the production to order edits to various episodes, and rescheduling some instalments for sensitivity. Morris responded by inserting a frame stating "Grade is a cunt" into the final episode of the first run. In the same year, Grade left Channel 4 to head First Leisure Corporation but departed two years later following a substantial internal re-structuring. His next job was as the chairman of the new Pinewood and Shepperton film studios company.

Return to the BBC
Grade was on the board of the poorly received Millennium Dome project, and has served as chairman of Octopus Publishing, the Camelot Group, and Hemscott (a position that he intends to relinquish).

He had ambitions to become chairman of the BBC board of governors in 2001, but was beaten to the post by Gavyn Davies. Following Davies' resignation in the aftermath of the Hutton Inquiry report, it was announced on 2 April 2004 that Grade had been appointed BBC chairman; his only demand was that he would not have to give up his job as a director of Charlton Athletic F.C. He took up his post on 17 May.

On 19 September 2006, Grade became non-executive chairman of online food delivery company Ocado. He resigned from the role on 23 January 2013, after which he was replaced by Sir Stuart Rose.

ITV
On 28 November 2006, Grade and the BBC confirmed that he was to resign from his position within the corporation to replace Sir Peter Burt as chairman, and Charles Allen as chief executive, of one of the companies forming part of its commercial rival, ITV. He became executive chairman of ITV plc on 8 January 2007.

During Grade's tenure, ITV struggled with falling advertising revenue and viewing figures. Upon appointment, Grade announced that his first priority would be to work as a senior partner at ITV Network Limited to improve ITV programming, as well as strengthen its digital channels, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV. On 12 September 2007, Grade announced a controversial five-year re-structuring plan for ITV plc-owned regions, selecting entertainment as the top priority. A major overhaul of ITV plc's regional structure was also proposed. The plans would result in the consolidation of the ITV regional news programmes in England, with regions now broadcasting a single service per region rather than multiple, specialised, local services (for example, ITV Yorkshire would no longer broadcast in separate northern and southern regions). They would also merge fully ITV Border with ITV Tyne Tees, and ITV West with ITV Westcountry, effectively ending two regions' tenure as independent players within ITV; the proposals have been criticised by BECTU and the National Union of Journalists. Any such changes would be subject to approval by Ofcom.

In March 2009, Grade initiated libel action against another television executive, Greg Dyke, and The Times newspaper over allegations of improper conduct made by Dyke about Grade, relating to his move from the BBC to ITV in 2006. The newspaper subsequently withdrew the allegations and published an apology, admitting that the allegations had no justification.

On 23 April 2009, Grade announced he would be stepping down as chief executive to become non-executive chairman at the conclusion of regulatory reviews into advertising contract rights and digital TV, at some point before the end of 2009.

Peerage
Grade revealed his membership of the Conservative Party for the first time in May 2010. On 25 January 2011, he was created a life peer, as Baron Grade of Yarmouth, of Yarmouth in the County of Isle of Wight. He was introduced in the House of Lords on 27 January and sat as a Conservative until moving to the crossbenches as part of his role as chairman of Ofcom, conditions of appointment effective from 1 May 2022.

Ofcom
On 2 April 2022, it was announced by the government that Grade would take up his four year appointment as chairman of Ofcom effective from 1 May 2022.

Personal life
Grade was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1998. That same year, he published his autobiography, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time, and married his third wife, Francesca Leahy; they have a son, Samuel.

He was previously married to Penelope Jane Levinson (1967–1981) (she later married writer and historian Sir Max Hastings), by whom he has two children, and Sarah Lawson (1982–1991), a film producer.

Grade is a fan of Charlton Athletic F.C.

References

External links

 Michael Grade InterviewBritish Library sound recording
 BBC News Online: Michael Grade Profile
 BBC News Online: "Grade Goes Commercial Again"
 Daily Telegraph: "Grade Defects to ITV"
 BBC News Online: "Michael Grade is New BBC Chairman"
 Financial Times: Grade's Letter to Staff and BBC Response
 BBC Online: BBC Press Release

1943 births
Living people
20th-century English businesspeople
21st-century English businesspeople
BAFTA fellows
BBC Governors
BBC One controllers
British corporate directors
Businesspeople from London
Chairmen of the BBC
Chairmen of ITV
Channel 4 people
Charlton Athletic F.C. directors and chairmen
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Conservative Party (UK) life peers
Daily Mirror people
English businesspeople in retailing
English columnists
English expatriates in the United States
English people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
English talent agents
English television executives
Impresarios
Life peers created by Elizabeth II
People educated at St Dunstan's College
People educated at Stowe School

Michael Grade


Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom.  As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, and one in Gibraltar. The company is headquartered in Bradford, England.

Founded in 1899 by William Morrison, hence the abbreviation Wm Morrison, it began as an egg and butter stall in Rawson Market, Bradford, England. Until 2004, Morrisons store locations were focused primarily in the North of England but, with the takeover of Safeway in that year, the company's presence increased significantly in the South of England, Wales and Scotland. As of February 2021, Morrisons employed 110,000 employees and served around 11 million customers each week.

The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) in October 2021. Many changes were made after the takeover, and the company was struggling financially.

Morrisons is the fifth largest supermarket in the United Kingdom by market share (8.8%), having recently been overtaken for fourth place by Aldi in September 2022.

History

Founding
The company was founded in 1899 by William Morrison, who started the business as an egg and butter merchant in Rawson Market, Bradford, England, operating under the name of Wm Morrison Limited.

His son Ken Morrison took over the company in 1952, aged 21. In 1958, Morrisons opened a small shop in the city centre. It was the first self-service store in Bradford, the first store to have prices on its products, and it had three checkouts. The company opened its first supermarket, "Victoria", in the Girlington district of Bradford in 1961.

In 1967, Morrisons became a public limited company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Safeway

In March 2004, Morrisons acquired Safeway, a British supermarket chain which owned 479 stores, giving Morrisons a larger presence in southern England. The company was purchased for £3.3 billion, comprising 1 new Morrisons share (enabling Safeway shareholders to have a 40% stake in the enlarged group and reducing the Morrison family's shareholding to 18%), plus 60 pence in cash (paid for by the divestment of 52 overlapping stores) for each Safeway share held. The acquisition quickly ran into difficulties caused in part by Safeway UK's outgoing management changing the chain's accounting systems six weeks before the transaction was completed. This caused a series of profit warnings being issued by Morrisons, poor financial results and a reversion to manual systems.

The programme of store conversions from Safeway to Morrisons was the largest of its kind in British retail history, focusing initially on the retained stores which were freehold, over  with separate car parks. Within a few weeks, Safeway carrier bags were replaced by those of Morrisons, and Morrisons own-brand products began to appear in Safeway stores.

Originally 52 shops were to be compulsorily divested after the takeover. Two closed for other reasons, John Lewis Partnership purchased 19 to be part of its Waitrose chain, J Sainsbury plc purchased a further 14, and Tesco bought 10 in October 2004. At the time Morrisons chose not to move into the convenience store sector, although it later did so with its M Local stores. In accordance with this policy decision, 114 smaller 'Safeway Compact' stores were sold to rival supermarket chain Somerfield in 2004 in a two-part deal worth £260.2 million.

In Northern Ireland Morrisons sold the Safeway stores, and a store in Bangor that opened after the Morrisons takeover, to Asda.

Waitrose purchased five stores in 2005, followed by six more on 18 July 2006, including the former Safeway store in Hexham, Northumberland, which became England's most northerly Waitrose branch.

In May 2005, Morrisons announced the closure of Safeway and BP joint venture convenience store/petrol station. Under the deal, the premises had been split 50/50 between the two companies.

Morrisons also sold Safeway's Channel Islands stores, in Guernsey and Jersey, to CI Traders where the stores continued to trade as Safeway, although the products they sold carried the brand names of chains such as Iceland. In 2011, Sandpiper CI/CI Traders sold the Channel Island Safeway stores to Waitrose, and the Safeway brand disappeared from the Channel Islands. On the Isle of Man, the Douglas store was sold to Shoprite and the Ramsey store was sold to The Co-operative Food. The Gibraltar store was originally offered for sale, but was ultimately converted. In November 2006, plans were submitted for the extension and redevelopment of the store to introduce the full Morrisons format.

In September 2005, the company announced the closure of former Safeway depots in Kent, Bristol and Warrington with the loss of 2,500 jobs. The Kent depot was later sold to upmarket rival Waitrose, and the Warrington one to frozen food rival Iceland. Part of the Bristol depot was sold to Gist.
The store conversion process was completed on 24 November 2005 when the final Safeway fascia disappeared from the UK.

Morrison family step down
Following the acquisition of Safeway, Morrisons encountered a number of difficulties. The company had issued five profits warnings since the acquisition, and it was felt that the original Morrisons northern format did not work as well in some of the former Safeway stores in the south. To reinvigorate its new national image, Morrisons appointed Dutchman Marc Bolland, the chief operating officer of Heineken, as its new Chief Executive.

On 13 March 2008, Sir Ken Morrison retired as chairman after 55 years at the company, and was made Honorary President.

Expansion and partnerships
When the Co-operative Group completed its takeover of the Somerfield supermarket chain in March 2009, it was required to sell a number of stores by the Competition Commission. Morrisons purchased 35 stores from the combined group, mostly trading under the Somerfield name. These new stores were the first of more than 100 identified by Morrisons for expansion into smaller supermarkets, with the aim of having a store within 15 minutes of every UK home.

Marc Bolland departed to become the CEO of Marks & Spencer in December 2009, and Dalton Philips was appointed as his replacement in January 2010.

In 2010, Morrisons signed a deal with budget retailer Peacocks, the first concession store opened as part of a refurbishment at the retailer's store in Idle, Bradford. The Peacocks section was rolled out into other stores before launching its own children's-wear brand 'Nutmeg' into 85 stores on 21 March 2013.

The first Morrisons M local store opened in Ilkley, Yorkshire, in 2011. All M Local stores were later rebranded as the short-lived "My Local" chain in 2015.

In December 2012, a television advertising campaign which showed a dog being given pieces of Christmas pudding was criticised by the British Veterinary Association and the Kennel Club, as raisins in Christmas pudding can be harmful to dogs. Morrisons said that a veterinarian had said that there would be minimal, if any, risk.

In May 2013, Morrisons formed a partnership with Ocado to use its technology systems and distribution infrastructure to help launch its own online service.

Restructuring
Richard Pennycook, who had joined Morrisons in October 2005, was replaced as Chief Financial Officer at Morrisons in June 2013 by Trevor Strain, previously Finance Director Corporate.

In February 2014, it emerged that younger members of the founding Morrison family, who own 10% of the company and who are thought to include two of Honorary President Sir Ken Morrison's children, William Morrison Junior and Andrea Shelley, along with Sir Ken Morrison's niece and her husband, Susan and Nigel Pritchard, had approached a number of private equity firms about taking the company private. They were said to be extremely unhappy about the company's disastrous financial performance, and Dalton Philips's corporate strategy.

Following a new three-year corporate strategy revealed in March 2014 aimed at recovering sales and market share, at Morrisons Annual General Meeting in June 2014 Morrisons former chairman Sir Ken Morrison criticised Dalton Philips and his new board of directors for destroying the company he inherited from his father. Sir Ken Morrison's views were backed up by his nephew Chris Blundell, who controls most of the remaining family stake in the supermarket, who also told the board it needed rescuing, and welcomed the decision by chairman Sir Ian Gibson to leave the business in June 2015, after months of pressure.

In June 2014, Morrisons announced that plans had been put in place to cut 2,600 jobs as a result of changes to its management structure. Morrisons stated that it had trialled the new structure and believed that better performance was achieved via these methods. These cuts would primarily affect department manager and supervisory positions. Morrisons would create 1,000 jobs in Morrisons M local convenience stores and 3,000 in new supermarkets. Following this, Morrisons sold its distribution centre in Kent to a real estate investment company for £97.8 million. The depot in Kemsley was to be immediately leased back to the supermarket chain on a 25-year agreement, for a rent of £5.4 million per annum.

Following a 3.1% drop in like-for-like sales in the Christmas 2014 trading period, Sir Ian Gibson stood down six months early and was replaced by former Tesco chief financial officer Andrew Higginson at the end of January 2015. On 25 February 2015, Morrisons named former Tesco director David Potts as its new chief executive. Dalton Philips and five other executives also left the company in March 2015.

Morrisons also announced the closure of ten small loss-making stores (eight former Netto UK stores and two former Somerfield stores, bought under Philips's leadership) in Cramlington, Accrington, Ravensthorpe, Bransholme (Hull), Telford, West Bromwich, Wallasey (Seacombe), Newton le Willows, Rugby and Crawley. In addition, six unprofitable convenience stores would close, and the roll-out of the convenience store chain would be slowed, as a batch of 40 sites would no longer be bought.

In June 2015, Morrisons cut the price of 200 'everyday items' by up to 33% The store chain's like-for-like sales had fallen by 2.9% in the first three months of 2015, after falling 2.6% in the last three months of 2014. The company responded by deciding to 'simplify' its head office in Bradford at the cost of 720 jobs.

In September 2015, Morrisons announced the sale of its 140 M Local stores to Mike Greene and Greybull Capital, to be re-branded My Local, for £25 million and that it planned to close 11 supermarkets, with a reported 900 jobs lost. In January 2016 Morrisons bosses announced that a further 7 stores would be closing to help optimise their existing assets and address areas of underperformance.

Following a well-publicised crash in UK milk prices in November 2015, Morrisons launched a variety milk labelled 'For Farmers', with a large Union Jack on the label, promising an extra 23p per 4-pint bottle to be given to farmers – 10p per litre. Following complaints, Morrisons explained that the extra money was paid to the supplier of the milk, Arla Foods, to be divided among several countries, with a fifth of the 23p going to UK farmers. Morrisons later changed the scheme in 2017 such that the total additional payment went directly to a selected group of 300 British farmers. A smaller group of 50 farmers were tasked with supplying the range, with additional welfare standards applied to the production of the milk.

From March 2020, the company aimed to cut down 3,000 management roles, and created 7,000 shop-floor jobs as part of its restructuring plan.

In December 2020, Morrisons was criticised for retaining Paula Vennells on its board, despite her role as CEO of the Post Office during the subpostmasters' scandal and criticism of her leadership there as "both cruel and incompetent" by a Conservative peer and various MPs. Vennells left her role as a non-executive director on 26 April 2021.

On 16 August 2021, a worker led a protest against the company for raising deformed birds at four of its intensive farms. The Independent reported that campaigners from Open Cages, Animal Equality UK and The Humane League UK were urging Morrisons to sign the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), banning the use of fast-growing breeds susceptible to  lameness and heart attacks, and giving birds  natural light and more space. The company responded that they cared about animal welfare, required suppliers to maintain standards, and had asked for a full investigation.

CD&R takeover
In June 2021, Morrisons rejected a £5.5 billion takeover bid from private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) believing it "significantly undervalued" the company.

In July 2021 a bid to take over Morrisons, led by US private equity firm, Fortress Investment Group and backed by the Canada Pension Plan and Koch Industries, valuing the company at £6.3 billion ($8.7 billion), was made. This bid was provisionally accepted by the board, subject to shareholder approval on 3 July 2021. Following the Fortress bid, Apollo Global were considering a bid, leading to speculation of a bidding war, but Apollo Global withdrew and supported the Fortress bid. On 6 August 2021, the Fortress-led consortium increased its offer to £6.7 billion ($9.29 billion) after Silchester International Investors, Morrisons largest shareholder, said the previous offer was too low. The Morrisons board once again recommended the deal to shareholders. However, on 19 August 2021 an improved offer of £7 billion from CD&R was recommended by the board of Morrisons to shareholders; the board dropped its recommendation for Fortress's offer.

In October 2021 the £7 billion CD&R bid was accepted; the takeover was approved by the High Court on 26 October 2021.

In May 2022, Morrisons purchased McColl's in a pre-packaged insolvency arrangement with its administrator.

In February 2023, 16 months after the CD&R takeover of the 124-year-old chain, it was reported as having "fallen into a hole that just keeps getting deeper".

The chain's underlying profits had dropped by 15% to £828 million in the year ending 30 October; sales dropped by 4.2% despite prices increasing sharply—implying an even greater loss in volume of sales—for a pre-tax loss of £33 million. Morrisons' net debt obligations had been £3.2bn before the CD&R takeover, and had increased to £7.5 billion. A former senior Morrisons executive said "[CD&R] paid too much and now they have to claw that back".

Unlike any other UK supermarket, Morrisons has a manufacturing arm including abattoirs, vegetable packing houses and fish processing plants comprising a vertically integrated supply chain. An industry insider suggested that this may be sold, which would mean a complete change of course for the company.

Financial performance
The financial results have been as follows:

Current operations

In July 2020, Morrisons had 497 superstores in the United Kingdom, including those it retained following its purchase of Safeway plc. Until 2004, Morrisons superstores were largely concentrated in the English Midlands and the North of England, but had expanded southwards, beginning with a store at Erith, Greater London, which opened in 1998.

In April 2021, Morrisons said that it will stop selling plastic bags and will remove them from its stores and will replace them with paper bags as a move to cut the plastic use.

Store formats
Most Morrisons superstores have produce in Market Street. Packaged meat is near or next to the butcher's counter, the delicatessen with cheese fridge nearby, and a rotisserie counter named Oven Fresh.

Convenience stores
Following the failure of the supermarket's M Local stores, Morrisons returned to the convenience market in 2016 with a new chain of five trial forecourt stores under the Morrisons Daily brand in partnership with Motor Fuel Group. Soon after in 2017, this trial ended with the stores closed and a new partnership was formed with Rontec to open 40 stores across the company's forecourts. In 2019, Morrisons Daily stores operated by MPK Garages and Essar began to trade under a similar deal.

In 2018, Morrisons agreed on a franchise and wholesale supply deal with SandpiperCI to operate 43 Morrisons Daily convenience stores in the Channel Islands, which were previously operated under the Nisa brand. By 2022, SandpiperCI had converted 19 of their stores in the Channel Islands to the Morrisons Daily format, including the former Benest's of Millbrook store at Lisbon House.

A partnership agreement in 2021 saw Morrisons and McColl's committing to the conversion of 300 existing McColl's convenience stores into Morrisons Daily stores over the next three years, following a successful trial of 30 conversions in the months prior. This extension is of a deal, first struck in 2017, which sees Morrisons acting as McColl's sole supplier until at least 2027, with the supermarket currently supplying over 1,200 of their stores.

Morrisons revived the Safeway brand in 2016 for use in stores of its wholesale customers and in Morrisons Daily stores, along with two MPK Garages forecourt stores which operate with Safeway Daily branding.

Online retail
In 2012, the group launched its first retail website called "Morrisons Cellar" selling wine from around the world.

Unlike its major competitors, Morrisons did not make an early entry into offering online shopping. In May 2013 Morrisons announced a partnership with Ocado to use its technology systems and distribution infrastructure to help launch its own online service. Morrisons also signed a deal with Amazon to supply products for their Prime Pantry.

Market share

Morrisons' UK market share declined steadily since 2019; in September 2022 it was 9.1% – behind Tesco (26.9%), Sainsbury's (14.6%), Asda (14.1%), comparable with Aldi (9.3%), and ahead of Lidl (7.1%).

According to CACI, as of 2006, Morrisons had market dominance in 10 postcode areas; SY (Shrewsbury), LD (Llandrindod Wells), WS (Walsall),
TS (Teesside), TD (Hawick), BD (Bradford), HG (Harrogate), LS (Leeds), WF (Wakefield) and HD (Huddersfield).

Vertical integration
Unlike the other UK supermarkets, Morrisons manufacture a substantial volume of their own food products at sites across the UK.

Home-delivery service

Morrisons offer a home delivery service, as do most UK supermarkets.

In June 2020, at an early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom Morrisons, introduced a home delivery program with telephone ordering for elderly and vulnerable people residing within 10 miles of a Morrisons shop who cannot go shopping in supermarkets. Morrison's Doorstep Delivery continued to be available, with some changes (in particular, a limit of three items per order to prevent stockpiling was dropped), after pandemic restrictions were removed.

Petrol stations
Morrisons operate 339 petrol stations across the UK (as of 2022), offering Petrol & Diesel at all sites and LPG Autogas at selected sites. Most petrol stations are located in the car park area within selected stores, but there are also a number of standalone petrol stations operated by either Morrisons Daily or Morrisons Select.

Over the years, Morrisons petrol stations underwent several different re-brands and colour schemes. These were:

Fuel cards
For many years until 2014, Morrisons petrol stations provided a loyalty card scheme known as the Miles card. Each member earned 10 points whenever they purchased a litre of fuel, along with a £5 shopping voucher if they bought a total of 500 litres or more. This was replaced by the Match & More card in 2014, followed by the More card in 2016 and My Morrisons in 2021, later rebranded as Morrisons More with deals such as Fiver, where purchases give customers points, 5000 points being worth £5 in 2023.

Morrisons also offer the fuelGenie fuel card scheme.

Former operations

Kiddicare
In 2011, Morrisons bought children's retailer Kiddicare for £70 million to give it the knowledge to sell clothing and homewares online. In 2012 10 former Best Buy stores from the Carphone Warehouse were acquired to expand Kiddicare into retail stores. Kiddicare was sold to the Endless private equity firm for £2 million in July 2014, and sold on to Worldstores two months later for an undisclosed sum.

FreshDirect
Morrisons purchased a 10% stake in New York-based online grocer FreshDirect for £31 million in 2011. After having sent a team to New York to learn from the business ahead of the predicted launch in 2013, Morrisons began a home delivery initiative in January 2014. In March 2014 Morrisons CEO Dalton Phillips announced the company had agreed to sell its stake in FreshDirect due to financial difficulties the company was facing and, as it had set up its own online shopping site, it no longer needed FreshDirect. The sale was completed in August 2016 for £45 million.

Convenience stores

The company operated a number of smaller stores called "Morrisons M Local" in major places such as Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Bristol. These stores had a similar format to small Tesco Express and Sainsbury's Local stores, but included a wider range of ready-to-eat hot food such as pastries, coffee, rotisserie, porridge and also a salad bar. Items were supplied from nearby superstores and shoppers could also order foods, including fresh meat and fish.

A distribution centre in Feltham, West London was acquired to provide a distribution network to the stores in London and the South East where there are relatively few Morrisons superstores.

Around 70 stores were opened by the end of 2013, boosted by the purchase of 7 Jessops and 49 Blockbuster stores from administrators. On 26 February 2013, a further six HMV stores were acquired from administrators. The M Local chain was sold to a private equity group in 2015 and rebranded My Local, but entered administration itself less than a year later.

Marketing and branding

Logos and slogans

On 15 March 2007, Morrisons unveiled a new "more modern brand image", which was rolled out to all stores, vehicles and distribution sites. This kept the main 'Morrisons' signage and colour scheme, while replacing the familiar 'M' logo. The low price in-house brand, Bettabuy, was also changed to a 'more modern' brand called Morrisons Value, which was again rebranded to M Savers in January 2012.
The change saw the replacement of the old yellow and black logo, with the 'More Reasons To Shop at Morrisons' strap line replaced with 'Fresh Choice For You'. In 2010 this was replaced by 'Eat Fresh. Pay Less'. This was later changed again in 2013 to 'More Of What Matters'. It also involved the replacement of external signage, with the previous Morrisons signs being retained alongside the new logo, as well as changes to product packaging, point of sale, advertising, staff uniforms (replacing the old blue ties and bows with green ones) and distribution vehicles. The rationale behind the decision was the need for Morrisons to attract a wider national customer base, capitalising on its expanded geographical spread following the acquisition of Safeway.

In 2016, Morrisons released a new logo and slogan 'Morrisons Makes It' to try and draw on the brand's heritage, with the new logo being installed on all store signs as well as new uniforms and new in-store looks. As well as this, the capital M, as seen on the top of the other logos, is removed and instead replaced at the bottom, 'Since 1899' and above the I, are yellow flower petals. As well as this, all of the letters, apart from the M, are all turned into lowercase letters.

In May 2023, Morrisons launched a new advertising campaign which saw the old 'More Reasons to Shop at Morrisons' slogan and jingle being revived.

Loyalty card
The Match & More card price matched the chain's customers' comparable grocery shopping in store and online with Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda. If a customer spent £15 or more and could have paid less for their comparable groceries, Morrisons automatically gave them the difference in points on their card at the checkout. For 1p difference in the cost of shopping, customers got 10 Match points—and for £1 difference they got 1,000 points. The difference was calculated at the checkout on national brands and comparable own label products and fresh food, even those that are on promotion elsewhere. In 2016 the Match & More loyalty cards were rebranded as the "More" loyalty card and all customers were issued a new card in line with the rebranding. The loyalty scheme was rebranded once again in May 2021 as "My Morrisons", in line with the company dropping the points collection feature.
The Morrisons More loyalty scheme was reintroduced on 22 May 2023, replacing My Morrisons. The reintroduced scheme replicates the original format announced in 2016.

Product ranges
Morrisons stocks thousands of lines sold under their own brands. These include Morrisons Savers, formerly M Savers, an economy brand including items ranging from food and drink to toiletries, in 2015 the UK's fastest-growing grocery brand.

Tommy's Afternoon Tea Box
Morrisons launched a special 'Tommy's Afternoon Tea Box' to support shoppers wishing to mark the end of World War Two anniversary on 2 September 2020. The boxes benefitted the Tommy Tea initiative through the Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI), with £1 on every box heading to the charity, as well as an additional £10,000 provided by the company.

Distribution

In 2005, Morrisons purchased part of the collapsed Rathbones Bakeries, which supplied Morrisons bread, for £15.5 million.

In 2007, Morrisons opened a new Distribution Centre in Swindon and announced that it had bought a new site on Junction 23 of the M5 in Bridgwater in Somerset, for redevelopment as a fresh produce packing facility.

In 2011, Morrisons opened a new 767,500 sq/foot distribution centre in Bridgwater as part of the £11 million redevelopment project. This project also created 1,200 new jobs. Following the opening of the new distribution centre the Swindon depot was no longer required, and it was closed in December 2011.

See also

 List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom
 McColl's
 Mainstop

References

External links

1899 establishments in England
1960s initial public offerings
2021 mergers and acquisitions
Retail companies established in 1899
British brands
British companies established in 1899
Companies based in Bradford
Supermarkets of Gibraltar
Supermarkets of the United Kingdom
Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
Private equity portfolio companies

Morrisons


Major-General Derek Gordon Thomond Horsford CBE DSO & bar (7 February 1917 – 5 October 2007) was a British Army officer who commanded the 17th Gurkha Division.

Military career
Educated at Clifton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Horsford was commissioned into the 8th Gurkha Rifles in Quetta in 1938. He saw active service in the Second World War and became Commanding Officer of 4th Battalion the 1st Gurkha Rifles in 1944. He led his battalion at the Battle of Kohima securing Hunter's Hill in Burma under heavy fire.

After a tour on the staff of General Sir Claude Auchinleck in Delhi, he transferred to the Royal Artillery and became an Instructor at the Staff College, Camberley, in 1950. After service in Korea, he was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion the King's Regiment on its formation in 1958. After service as Assistant Adjutant-General at the War Office, in 1960 he was appointed Commander of 24th Infantry Brigade in which role he was rushed to Kuwait to respond to the threat from Abdul Kassem who had seized power in Iraq. He went on to be Assistant Chief of Staff (Operations) at the Ministry of Defence in 1964, General Officer Commanding 50th (Northumbrian) Division/District of the Territorial Army in 1966 and General Officer Commanding Yorkshire District in 1967. His last appointments were as General Officer Commanding 17th Gurkha Division and Malaya District in 1969 and Deputy Commander Land Forces, Hong Kong in 1970 before retiring in 1971.

From 1965 to 1970 he was Colonel of the King's Regiment.

Family
In 1948 he married Sheila Kitson (née Crawford); they had a son, a stepson and two stepdaughters. Following the death of his first wife, he married Gillian Moorhouse (née Horsford), who brought him two more stepsons, in 1996.

References

|-

1917 births
2007 deaths
British Army major generals
People educated at Clifton College
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
Indian Army personnel of World War II
British Army personnel of the Korean War
British Indian Army officers
Academics of the Staff College, Camberley
Military personnel from London
King's Regiment officers

Derek Horsford


Frank McKlusky, C.I. is a 2002 comedy film directed by Arlene Sanford and written by Mark Perez. Dave Sheridan plays McKlusky, a safety-conscious insurance claims investigator investigating the murder of his partner Jimmy, played by Kevin Farley. Randy Quaid and Dolly Parton play McKlusky's parents, "Madman" McKlusky, Frank's daredevil father, and Edith, Frank's over-protective mother.

Walt Disney Pictures developed Frank McKlusky Claims Investigator as a vehicle for Sheridan, out of enthusiasm for Sheridan's comedic talent, which they felt made him a potential movie star. However, the film was panned by critics, who criticized its humor, and Sheridan's performance, which was seen as being derivative of the comedy of Jim Carrey.

Plot
Frank McKlusky was raised by his mother Edith, as a result of his daredevil father "Madman" McKlusky's tragic 1979 accident which left him in a coma, turned Edith into an over-protective mother and made Frank extremely safety conscious, as he constantly wears a helmet, kneepads and a pocket protector.

While working as a claims investigator for Conglomerate Insurance, Frank's partner Jimmy is murdered, forcing McKlusky to investigate his death while utilizing a series of disguises, and along with his new partner, Sharon, Frank uncovers gymnast steroid abuse and jockey murder, as well as learning that Jimmy was a homosexual.

Cast

In addition, the band Hanson, Scott Baio, Emmanuel Lewis, Gary Coleman, Willie Tyler & Lester, Lou Ferrigno and Gary Owens make cameo appearances as themselves.

Development

Mark Perez wrote the screenplay for Walt Disney Pictures during his last week under a 1-year contract with the studio. Disney hired Perez to develop the screenplay Frank McKlusky Claims Investigator as a vehicle for actor Dave Sheridan; impressed by Sheridan's performance in the film Bubble Boy, Disney thought Sheridan would be "the next Jim Carrey". In 2001, Dolly Parton was cast as Edith McKlusky, Frank's over-protective mother. Parton's last film role was her cameo in The Beverly Hillbillies (1993).

Release
Frank McKlusky C.I. received a limited theatrical release. Perez said "[Disney] only released it in 5 theaters in Florida". Perez recalls that, while attending a screening with his parents in Florida, "they thought I had bought out the whole theater but really just nobody showed up. It was just me and my family watching Frank McKlusky."

Critical reception
Leonard Maltin panned the film as a "bomb", calling it a "crude, clumsy comedy". The Oklahoman wrote, "What might make Frank McKlusky, C.I. worth renting is that it is so horribly bad. I laughed. I laughed quite a bit at jokes that have been done before in much better movies, starring much better casts." TV Guide gave the film 1 out of 4 stars, calling it a "cartoonish farce likely to disappoint even the staunchest fans of bird-brained comedy."

JoBlo.com gave the film 2 out of 10 stars, writing, "I was actually yawning as I tried to figure out how an entire production of people, most of whom had acted in successful films before, could take part in this movie, shoot these extremely lame over-the-top sequences, deliver these horrible lines and perpetuate every stupid, unfunny joke that you've seen rehashed over the past 10 years (fart, gay and handicap jokes abound), and not raise their hand and say, 'Uhhhhm, am I the only one who thinks that none of this is even one damn bit humorous??'" DVD Talk gave the film half a star, writing, "tries to be Jim Carrey and fails miserably - the lowlight being an instance where the character has to fake being a female gymnast and ends up doing a series of what appear to be dance routines. Quaid's character spends most of the film in a coma, so he doesn't have much to do, while Parton seems embarrassed [sic]. [...] Although I thought Sheridan was capable of something decent based upon his prior roles, McKlusky is the kind of film that ruins careers."

Nathan Rabin panned the film, writing, "Who is Dave Sheridan? Well, the quick, easy answer is that he is a poor man's Jim Carrey. Who is Frank McKlusky? Well, imagine, for a minute, that Ace Ventura was a generic nerd character and instead of being a pet detective be was essentially an insurance detective? If that sounds terrible, it's because it is. Theater owners, like audiences, were right to give this whole sorry production a hard pass."

References

External links

2002 films
2002 comedy films
American comedy films
Films directed by Arlene Sanford
Touchstone Pictures films
Films scored by Randy Edelman
2000s English-language films
2000s American films

Frank McKlusky, C.I.


The Libertarian Party (Spanish: Partido Libertario or P-LIB) is a Spanish political party. It was formed in 2009. It is currently led by Juan Pina.

The party believes in classical liberalism and that government should stay out of economics. They also believe in objectivism. They believethat governments should only be able to protect people from violence, theft, fraud, and other actions that go against people's rights. The party is open to some more libertarian and anarcho-capitalism ideas. There are two groups within the party; the Objectivist and Radicals. Most party members aren't involved with these groups.

The party took part in the 2011 Spanish general election in Madrid and Zaragoza. They received about 7,000 votes to the Senate and over 2,000 (0.01 %) to the Congress.

Other websites
Official website (in Spanish)

References

Libertarian parties
Political parties in Spain

Libertarian Party (Spain)


The Maine Coon is a large domesticated cat breed. It is one of the oldest natural breeds in North America. The breed originated in the U.S. state of Maine, where it is the official state cat.

The Maine Coon is a large and social cat, which could be the reason why it has a reputation of being referred to as "the gentle giant." The Maine Coon is predominantly known for its size and dense coat of fur which helps it survive in the harsh climate of Maine. The Maine Coon is often cited as having "dog-like" characteristics.

Due to its large size, professionals have noticed certain health problems, including feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and hip dysplasia.

History
The Maine Coon is one of the largest domesticated cats. It has a distinctive physical appearance and valuable hunting skills. The breed was popular in cat shows in the late 19th century, but its existence became threatened when long-haired breeds from overseas were introduced in the early 20th century. The Maine Coon has since made a comeback, in 2020 becoming the third most popular pedigree cat breed in the world.

Origin

Myths
Maine Coon cats originated in Maine, however their lineage is surrounded by mystery, folk tales, and myths. One myth claims the Maine Coon cat is a hybrid with another animal species, such as the raccoon or bobcat. The second myth states the cats are descendants of Viking ship's cats, known today as the Norwegian Forest cats. A third story involves Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France who was executed in 1793. The story goes that before her death, Antoinette attempted to escape France with the help of Captain Samuel Clough. She loaded Clough's ship with her most prized possessions, including six of her favorite Turkish Angora or possibly Siberian cats. Although she did not make it to the United States, all of her pets managed to reach the shore of Wiscasset, Maine, safely, where they bred with other short-haired breeds and developed into the modern breed of the Maine Coon.

Science
These myths and theories have long speculated that the long-haired Maine Coon cat has to be related to other long-haired breeds, due to their similarities in phenotype. And for the Maine Coon in particular, that it is descended from the Norwegian or Siberian Forest cat, brought to New England by settlers or Vikings. However, phylogenetic studies showed that the Maine Coon belongs to the Western European monophyletic cat branch, but forms the closest relationship with the random-bred cat population in the Northeastern US (New York region). This Western European branch also contains the Norwegian and Siberian Forest cat, but they fall under a different sub-branch. The Maine Coons are descendants of cats brought to New England by Puritan settlers in the 1600-1700s, and out of the European cats they are genetically closest to cats found in the United Kingdom. It is not relatedness that makes them look similar to the Norwegian and Siberian Forest cats, but convergent evolution. These breeds all formed in harsh climates in which natural selection pressures for similar qualities. Thick, long coats, toe and ear tufts, big bodies, and snowshoe-like big feet, are useful traits in all the harsh climates where these breeds originate from.

Cat shows and popularity

The first mention of Maine Coon cats in a literary work was in 1861, in Frances Simpson's The Book of the Cat (1903). F.R. Pierce, who owned several Maine Coons, wrote a chapter about the breed. During the late 1860s, farmers located in Maine told stories about their cats and held the "Maine State Champion Coon Cat" contest at the local Skowhegan Fair.

In 1895, a dozen Maine Coons were entered into a show in Boston. On 8 May 1895, the first North American cat show was hosted at Madison Square Garden in New York City. A female Maine Coon brown tabby, named Cosey, was entered into the show. Owned by Mrs. Fred Brown, Cosey won the silver collar and medal and was named Best in Show. The silver collar was purchased by the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) Foundation with the help of a donation from the National Capital Cat Show. The collar is housed at the CFA Central Office in the Jean Baker Rose Memorial Library.

In the early 20th century, the Maine Coon's popularity began to decline with the introduction of other long-haired breeds, such as the Persian, which originated in the Middle East. The last recorded win by a Maine Coon in a national cat show for over 40 years was in 1911 at a show in Portland, Oregon. The breed was rarely seen after that. The decline was so severe that the breed was declared extinct in the 1950s, although this declaration was considered to be exaggerated and reported prematurely at the time. The Central Maine Cat Club (CMCC) was created in the early 1950s by Ethylin Whittemore, Alta Smith, and Ruby Dyer in an attempt to increase the popularity of the Maine Coon. For 11 years, the CMCC held cat shows and hosted exhibitions of photographs of the breed and is noted for creating the first written breed standards for the Maine Coon.

The Maine Coon was denied provisional breed status—one of the three steps required for a breed not yet recognized by the CFA to be able to compete in championship competitions—by the CFA three times, which led to the formation of the Maine Coon Cat Club in 1973. The breed was accepted by the CFA under provisional status on May 1, 1975, and was approved for championship status on May 1, 1976. The next couple of decades saw a rise in popularity of the Maine Coon, with championship victories and an increase in national rankings. In 1985, the state of Maine announced that the breed would be named the official state cat. Today the Maine Coon is the third most popular cat breed, according to the number of kittens registered with the CFA.

Description

The Maine Coon is a large and sociable cat characterized by a prominent ruff along its chest, robust bone structure, strong jawline, rectangular body shape, an uneven two-layered coat with longer guard hairs over a silky satin undercoat, and a long, bushy tail.

Fur coat
The Maine Coon is a long- or medium-haired cat. The coat is soft and silky, although texture may vary with coat color. The length is shorter on the head and shoulders and longer on the stomach and flanks, with some cats having a leonine ruff around their neck. Minimal grooming is required for the breed compared to other long-haired breeds, as their double coat is mostly self-maintaining owing to a light-density undercoat. The coat is subject to seasonal variation, with the fur being thicker in the winter and thinner during the summer.

Maine Coons have several physical adaptations for survival in harsh winter climates. Their dense water-resistant fur is longer and shaggier on their underside and rear for extra protection when they are walking or sitting on top of wet surfaces of snow or ice. Their long and bushy raccoon-like tail is resistant to sinking in snow, and can be curled around their face and shoulders for warmth and protection from wind and blowing snow. It can even be curled around their backside like an insulated seat cushion when sitting down on a frozen surface.

Large paws, and especially the extra-large paws of polydactyl Maine Coons, facilitate walking on snow and are often compared to snowshoes. Long tufts of fur growing between their toes help keep the toes warm and further aid walking on snow by giving the paws additional structure without significant extra weight. Heavily furred ears with extra long tufts of fur growing from inside can keep warm more easily.

Coat colors
Maine Coons can have any colors that other cats have. Colors indicating crossbreeding, such as chocolate, lavender, the Siamese pointed patterns or the "ticked" patterns, are not accepted by some breed standards. This is not universal; the ticked pattern, for example, is accepted by TICA and CFA. The most common pattern seen in the breed is brown tabby. All eye colors are accepted under breed standards, with the exception of blue or odd-eyes, i.e. heterochromia iridium (two eyes of different colors), in cats possessing coat colors other than white.

Personality
Maine Coons are regarded as "gentle giants" and possess above-average intelligence, making them relatively easy to train. They are known for being loyal to their family and cautious—but not mean—around strangers, but are independent and not clingy. The Maine Coon is generally not known for being a "lap cat," but their gentle disposition makes the breed relaxed around dogs, other cats, and children. Many Maine Coons have a fascination with water and some speculate that this personality trait comes from their ancestors, who were aboard ships for much of their lives. Maine Coons are also well known for being very vocal cats, using trills and chirps to communicate their physical and emotional needs i.e. hunger, thirst, desire to play. Their frequent chirping and trilling is often a sign of happiness and excitement. They also make other loud vocalizations such as yowling or howling.

Size

The Maine Coon was considered the largest breed of domestic cat until the introduction of the Savannah cat in the mid 1980s, and is still the largest non-hybrid breed. On average, males weigh from , with females weighing from . The height of adults can vary between  and they can reach a length of up to , including the tail, which can reach a length of  and is long, tapering, and heavily furred, almost resembling a raccoon's tail. The body is solid and muscular, which is necessary for supporting their weight, and the chest is broad. Maine Coons possess a rectangular body shape and are slow to physically mature; their full size is normally not reached until they are three to five years old, while other cats take about one year.

In 2010, the Guinness World Records accepted a male purebred Maine Coon named "Stewie" as the "Longest Cat", measuring  from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. Stewie died on February 4, 2013, from cancer at his home in Reno, Nevada, at age 8. As of 2015 the living record-holder for "Longest Cat" is "Ludo", measuring . He lives in Wakefield, England, in the United Kingdom.
Large Maine Coons can overlap in length with Eurasian lynxes, although with a much lighter build and lower height.

Health

Heart

Pet insurance data obtained from a study during years 2003–2006 in Sweden puts the median lifespan of the Maine Coon at > 12.5 years. 74% lived to 10 years or more and 54% lived to 12.5 years or more. Maine Coons are generally a healthy and hardy breed that is adapted to survive the challenging climate of New England. The most severe threat is feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the most common heart disease seen in cats, whether purebred or not. In Maine Coons, it is thought to be inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. Middle-aged to older cats and males are thought to be predisposed to the disease. HCM is a progressive disease and can result in heart failure, paralysis of the hind legs due to clot embolization originating in the heart, and sudden death.

A specific mutation that causes HCM, for which testing services are offered, is seen in Maine Coons. Of all the Maine Coons tested for the MyBPC mutation at the Veterinary Cardiac Genetics Lab at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University, approximately one-third tested positive. Not all cats that test positive will have clinical signs of the disease, and some Maine Coon cats with clinical evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy test negative for this mutation, strongly suggesting that a second mutation exists in the breed. The HCM prevalence was found to be 10.1% (95% CI 5.8 -14.3%) in this study. Early growth and nutrition, larger body size, and obesity may be environmental modifiers of genetic predisposition to HCM.

Kidney
Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an inherited condition in cats that causes multiple cysts (pockets of fluid) to form in the kidneys. These cysts are present from birth. Initially, they are very small, but they grow larger over time and may eventually disrupt kidney function, resulting in kidney failure. While renal cysts are observed with a low incidence in Maine Coons, PKD appears to be a misnomer in this particular breed. In a recent study spanning 8 years, renal cysts were documented by ultrasound in 7 of 187 healthy Maine Coons enrolled in a pre-breeding screening programme. The cysts were mostly single and unilateral (6/7, 85.7%) small (mean 3.6 mm in diameter) and located at the corticomedullary junction (4/6, 66.7%), thus different in size, number, and location from those observed in Persian-related breeds. In the same study, not only did all six Maine Coon cats with renal cysts test negative for the PKD1 mutation, proving the disease in these cats to be unrelated to the PKD observed in Persians and related breeds, but gene sequencing of these cats failed to demonstrate any common genetic sequences. 'Maine Coon PKD' thus appears to represent a form of juvenile nephropathy other than AD-PKD.

Skeletal, joint and muscle
Another potential health problem is spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), another genetically inherited disease that causes the loss of the spinal-cord neurons which activate the skeletal muscles of the trunk and limbs. Symptoms are normally seen within 3–4 months of age and result in muscle atrophy, muscle weakness, and a shortened lifespan. A test is offered to detect the genes responsible for SMA.

Hip dysplasia is an abnormality of the hip joint which can cause crippling lameness and arthritis. The cats most commonly affected with hip dysplasia tend to be males of the larger, big-boned breeds such as Persians and Maine Coons. The relatively smaller size and weight of cats frequently results in symptoms that are less pronounced. X-rays submitted to the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) between 1974 and 2011 indicates that 24.3% of Maine Coons in the database were dysplastic. The Maine Coon is the only cat breed listed in the database. The hip dysplasia registry (public and private) collected by OFA through April 2015 also showed that there were 2,732 cats that suffered from hip dysplasia, of which 2,708 (99.1%) were Maine Coons. Dysplasia was more severe in bilateral than unilateral cases and with increasing age.

Polydactylism

Many of the original Maine Coon cats that inhabited the New England area possessed a trait known as polydactylism (having one or more extra toes on a paw).  With the 1970s revival of the interest in the breed, Maine Coon cats were noted to show an increased incidence of polydactylism compared to other breeds. Subsequently, breeders of show-standard cats were advised to regard this variation as undesirable and to offer affected kittens as household pets. The trait later became separately certified by some organizations, like The International Cat Association (TICA). Meanwhile, in increasing numbers of cat fancy competitions, the trait is no longer marked down.

Polydactylism is rarely, if ever, seen in Maine Coons in the show ring, since it is not allowed by competition standards. The gene for polydactylism is a simple autosomal dominant gene,. The polydactylism are genetic problems which are not encouraged for breeding.  Polydactyly in Maine Coon cats is characterised by broad phenotypic diversity. Polydactyly not only affects digit number and conformation, but also carpus and tarsus conformation. The trait was almost eradicated from the breed due to the fact that it was an automatic disqualifier in show rings. Some private organizations and breeders were created in order to preserve polydactylism in Maine Coon cats.

Other
Maine Coons also seem to be predisposed to develop entropion, mainly on the lateral aspect of the eyelids, which can lead to corneal irritation and ulceration, and may require surgery.

Diet
Maine Coon cats eat an animal protein-based diet. Like all other cats, they are obligate carnivores. They need to consume high levels of protein to fuel their high activity levels and keep their body fit and healthy. Protein-rich, low grain dry-food, wet food, raw food, or a combination of all three are best for Maine Coon kittens and cats.

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

Cat breeds
Cat breeds originating in the United States
Linebred animals
Maine culture
Natural cat breeds

Maine Coon


The Corn Exchange Bank was a retail bank founded in 1853 in New York state. Over the years, the company acquired many community banks.

History
In 1855, the Corn Exchange Bank moved into an existing building in New York City at the northwest corner of William and Beaver Streets in Manhattan. In 1894, the bank completed its new headquarters, an 11-story building designed by Robert Henderson Robertson located at 11-15 William Street. Between 1923 and 1925, together with a number of other New York banks, it held a small stake in the Connecticut-chartered Bank of Central and South America. In 1929, it was renamed the Corn Exchange Bank and Trust Company. In 1954, it merged with Chemical Bank and the combined entity took the name Chemical Corn Exchange Bank. After Chemical Corn merged with New York Trust Company in 1959, the words "Corn Exchange" were dropped, creating the Chemical Bank New York Trust Company.

As late as 1928, photographs show that the Corn Exchange Bank had a branch in a building on Grove Street, approximately 50 feet east of Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village. The building was likely expanded following the bank's merger with Chemical Bank in 1954. The enlarged building's exterior appearance is virtually unchanged since 1954, likely due to the creation of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1965 in response to the mounting losses of historically significant buildings in New York City, most notably the old Pennsylvania Station. The Grove Street building currently houses a Chase Bank branch. Chase Manhattan (now known as JPMorgan Chase) merged with Chemical Bank in 1995.

Acquisition history
 1899: Astor Place Bank (founded 1891), Hudson River Bank of the City of New York (founded 1888), and Queens County Bank (founded 1873 as Flushing and Queens County Bank).
 1900: Home Bank (founded 1883).
 1902: Mechanics & Traders' Bank of Brooklyn (founded 1867), Eleventh Ward Bank (founded 1867), and Union Square Bank of the City of New York (founded 1889).
 1905: First National Bank of Staten Island at New Brighton (founded 1886).
 1913: Mount Morris Bank (founded 1881).
 1914: Washington Trust Company of the City of New York (founded 1889).
 1928: Stapleton National Bank (founded in 1902).

See also

 JPMorgan Chase - the successor company

References

Sources

JPMorgan Chase
Banks established in 1853
Banks based in New York City
1954 mergers and acquisitions

Corn Exchange Bank


Odori may refer to:
Odori, a Japanese traditional dance
Odori ebi (sometimes just called odori): sushi prawns that are alive and still moving when served.

Odori can also refer to
Bon Odori, meaning simply "Bon dance" is an event held during Bon Festival, the Japanese Buddhist holiday to honor the departed spirits of one's ancestors.
Awa Odori, a traditional Japanese dance from Tokushima also a feature of the Koenji Awa Odori festival in Koenji, Suginami, Tokyo which takes place on the last weekend in August each year.
Kasa Odori, dance with paper umbrellas performed at Tottori City's Shan-shan festival.

Odori


The Liaoning bronze dagger culture or Lute-shaped bronze dagger culture is the provisional designation of an archeological complex of the Bronze Age in Northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Its classification is controversial. While some believe it to be sufficiently distinct to be labelled as a separate culture, others associate the findings with the Upper Xiajiadian culture.

Artifacts from the culture are found primarily in the Liaoning area of northeast China and in the Korean peninsula.  Various other bronze artifacts, including ornaments and weapons, are associated with the culture, but the daggers are viewed as the most characteristic. Liaoning bronzes contain a higher percentage of zinc than those of the neighboring bronze cultures.

Lee Chung-kyu (1996) considers that the culture is properly divided into five phases:  Phases I and II typified by violin-shaped daggers, Phases IV and V by slender daggers, and Phase III by the transition between the two.  Of these, remains from Phases I, II and III can be found in some amounts in both the Korean peninsula and northeast China, but remains from Phases IV and V are found almost exclusively in Korea.

Violin-shaped daggers

The early phase consists of an early period of bronze manufacture without daggers originated from the spreading processes of Siberian Seima-Turbino Type bronzeware throughout Eurasia continent, followed by a period of producing what is now called lute- or violin-shaped daggers by Korean scholars (Bipahyungdonggeom, 비파형동검). The prime period of production of violin-shaped daggers is dated to the 8th and 7th centuries BCE.

The earliest artifacts from this period are found exclusively in Liaoning of northeast China and seem only gradually to have spread to the Korean peninsula. By Lee's (1996) Phase II, however, a distinctive notched form of dagger begins to emerge in southern Korea, suggesting that by this time independent bronze production had begun in that region.

However, it is a regional variation of a much larger distribution of similar daggers that range from Hebei and Inner Mongolia in the west to the Korean peninsula in the east. Many scholars consider it to be a style shared by a number of groups, rather than representing a single culture.

Evidence gained from pottery indicates that the bronze dagger "culture" of this time actually included several distinct cultural groups. One distinct pottery tradition is found in northeast China and northwestern Korea, another in the Taedong River valley, another in the southwest around the Chungcheong provinces including the Geum River, and yet another throughout the rest of the southern Korean peninsula including Jeju island.

Slender daggers
This later part of the Liaoning bronze dagger culture is often referred to as the "Korean bronze dagger culture," since it was largely restricted to the Korean peninsula. At this point the Liaoning culture artifacts begin to disappear from the northeast China area.  A new form of dagger begins to turn up on the Korean peninsula, straight and slender (Sehyungdonggeom, 세형동검).

The greatest concentration of bronze daggers is found in the Geum River valley of South Chungcheong province.  Away from this area, the daggers become progressively fewer.  This appears to indicate that most daggers were produced in the Geum valley, and the other cultures of the peninsula acquired them primarily by trade. Trade also took place by sea, with artifacts from the Later Phase found in Japanese archeological sites as well.

Lee (1996) divides this phase into two distinct sections:  one dating to the 3rd century BCE in which the production of slender bronze daggers predominated, and one dating to the 2nd century BCE in which daggers are often accompanied by bronze mirrors with geometric designs and halberds influenced by the Chinese Qin state. In the first part, a single pottery culture typified by clay-band applique is found throughout the Korean peninsula, but in the second part distinctive pottery types emerge in the northwest and the remainder of the peninsula.

Historical identity
The disappearance of the Liaoning bronze dagger culture from China appears to coincide with the State of Yan's conquest of that area. The Korean bronze dagger culture of the Later Phase appears to correspond with the state of Jin, which occasionally enters Chinese annals as a contemporary of Wiman Joseon. Lee (1984, p. 13) views this as the period of emergence of the "walled-town states" in Korean culture, a hierarchical political structure in contrast to the tribal system which had prevailed during the Neolithic period.

Other archaelologists have associated the culture with the ancient Shanrong people, a group that lived on the periphery of Yan. However, convincing evidence for either assignment is still lacking.

See also
List of China-related topics
History of Korea
Megalithic tomb

Notes

References

Lee, K.-b. (1984).  A new history of Korea. Tr. by E.W. Wagner & E.J. Schulz, based on 1979 rev. ed. Seoul: Ilchogak.

Gija Joseon
Archaeological cultures of East Asia
Bronze Age cultures of Asia
Chalcolithic cultures of Asia
Archaeological cultures of China
Archaeological cultures in Korea
7th-century BC establishments in China

Liaoning bronze dagger culture


Gertrude Thompson Widener (née Douglas; July 8, 1897 – February 3, 1970) was an American socialite and a successful Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder. Born in Albany, New York, she was the daughter of Curtis N. Douglas, a businessman and New York State senator.

Life
Known to her friends as "Gertie", she was married firstly to Frederick G. Peabody, a successful men's clothing manufacturer. Together, they adopted a girl named Joan (later known as Joan Peabody Loudon), who was the natural daughter of Edward C. Johnson and Alice Brandt.

The couple divorced in 1924, and in November of that year, she remarried to Peter Arrell Browne Widener II, a prominent Philadelphian. He was the elder child and only son of Joseph E. Widener, from a family heavily involved in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing. In 1925, Joseph Widener had the stables at his Lynnewood Hall estate converted into a home for his son and daughter-in-law.

She and her husband both owned Thoroughbred racehorses, and after his death in 1948, she continued to own, breed and race Thoroughbreds with considerable success both in the United States and in France, where Joseph Widener had maintained a second home and operated a racing stable.

By the mid-1950s, she was living almost full-time in Paris. She remained there until 1968, when her failing health led to her returning home to New York City in 1968, where she died from cancer on February 3, 1970. Her remains were returned to Philadelphia for burial next to her second husband at West Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Thoroughbred racing
Gertrude Widener owned Ampola, who became the foundation mare for her French breeding operation. The principal trainer of her racing stable based in France was Etienne Pollet, who remained with her until she dispersed her stable in 1968. Her filly Hula Dancer won the British Classic 1,000 Guineas Stakes in 1963, and her filly Right Away won the French equivalent (and most important race for three-year-old fillies in France), the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches in 1966.

Her horses twice won the Prix Maurice de Gheest (1963, 1964), Critérium International (1962, 1964), Prix Robert Papin (1957, 1959) and Prix Daphnis (1936, 1967). She also won the Prix Morny three times (1957, 1961, 1964). As of 2009, she still holds the record for most wins in the Prix de Fontainebleau with four (1961, 1962, 1965, 1968), plus the record for most wins in the Prix du Bois with five (1957, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963).

During her thirty-plus years in racing, she bred or raced four champions:
 Polynesian (b. 1942) - multiple stakes winner, including the 1945 Preakness Stakes. Voted 1947 American Champion Sprint Horse. Sire of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Native Dancer.
 Prudent (b. 1959) - wins included the 1961 Prix de la Salamandre, Prix Yacowlef, and Prix Morny. French Champion Two-Year-Old Colt.
 Hula Dancer (b. 1960) - won multiple top races in Europe, including a British Classic in 1963, the 1,000 Guineas Stakes. Sold in 1968 for a European auction record price of 1.02 million French francs.
 Grey Dawn (b. 1962) - wins in France included the most important race for juveniles, the Grand Critérium (1964). Voted French Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, he won in the United States before being retired to stud duty, where he was the leading broodmare sire in North America in 1990.

She notably bred and raced Dan Cupid, sire of Sea Bird, whose 145 Timeform rating is the highest in flat racing history. Her daughter Ella (and husband Cortright Wetherill) owned Happy Hill Farm in Newtown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and bred Thoroughbreds, including the very important sire, Raise a Native.

References

1897 births
1970 deaths
American socialites
American racehorse owners and breeders
French racehorse owners and breeders
Sportspeople from Albany, New York
American expatriates in France
Widener family
People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania

Gertrude T. Widener


Genevestigator is an application consisting of a gene expression database and tools to analyse the data. It exists in two versions, biomedical and plant, depending on the species of the underlying microarray and RNAseq as well as single-cell RNA-sequencing data. It was started in January 2004 by scientists from ETH Zurich and is currently developed and commercialized by Nebion AG.

Researchers and scientists from academia and industry use it to identify, characterize and validate novel drug targets and biomarkers, identify appropriate research models and in general to understand how gene expression changes with different treatments.

Gene expression database
The Genevestigator database comprises transciptomic data from numerous public repositories including GEO, Array Express and renowned cancer research projects as TCGA. Depending on the license agreement, it may also contain data from private gene expression studies. All data are manually curated, quality-controlled and enriched for sample and experiment descriptions derived from corresponding scientific publications.

The number of species from where the samples are derived is constantly increasing. Currently, the biomedical version contains data from human, mouse, and rat used in biomedical research. Gene expression studies are from various research areas including oncology, immunology, neurology, dermatology and cardiovascular diseases. Samples comprise tissue biopsies and cell lines.

The plant version (no longer available) contained both, widely used model species such as arabidopsis and medicago as well as major crop species such as maize, rice, wheat and soybean. After the acquisition of Nebion AG by Immunai Inc. in July 2021, plant data began to be phased out as the biotech company prioritized their focus on biopharma data. As of 2023, the plant data is being maintained on a separate server for remaining users with a license to the plant version of Genevestigator.

Gene expression tools
More than 60,000 scientists from academia and industry use Genevestigator for their work in molecular biology, toxicogenomics, biomarker discovery and target validation. The original scientific publication has been cited over 3,500 times.

The analysis tools are divided into three major sets:
 CONDITION SEARCH tools: find conditions such as a tissue, disease, treatment or genetic background that regulate the gene(s) of interest
 GENE SEARCH tools: find genes that are specifically expressed in the condition(s) of interest
 SIMILARITY SEARCH tools: find genes or conditions that show a similar gene expression pattern

See also
Spatiotemporal gene expression

References

 Prasad A, Suresh Kumar S, Dessimoz C, Bleuler S, Laule O, Hruz T, Gruissem W, and P Zimmermann (2013) Global regulatory architecture of human, mouse and rat tissue transcriptomes. BMC Genomics 2013, 14:716.
 Hruz T, Wyss M, Lucas C, Laule O, von Rohr P, Zimmermann P, and S Bleuler (2013) A Multilevel Gamma-Clustering Layout Algorithm for Visualization of Biological Networks. Advances in Bioinformatics, vol. 2013, Article ID 920325, 10 pages, 2013. doi:10.1155/2013/920325.
 Hruz T, Wyss M, Docquier M, Pfaffl MW, Masanetz S, Borghi L, Verbrugge P, Kalaydjieva L, Bleuler S, Laule O, Descombes P, Gruissem W and P Zimmermann (2011) RefGenes: identification of reliable and condition specific reference genes for RT-qPCR data normalization. BMC Genomics 2011, 12:156.
 Hruz T, Laule O, Szabo G, Wessendorp F, Bleuler S, Oertle L, Widmayer P, Gruissem W and P Zimmermann (2008)  Genevestigator V3: a reference expression database for the meta-analysis of transcriptomes.  Advances in Bioinformatics 2008, 420747
 Grennan AK (2006) Genevestigator. Facilitating web-based gene-expression analysis. Plant Physiology 141(4):1164-6
 Laule O, Hirsch-Hoffmann M, Hruz T, Gruissem W, and P Zimmermann (2006) Web-based analysis of the mouse transcriptome using Genevestigator. BMC Bioinformatics 7:311
 Zimmermann P, Hennig L and W Gruissem (2005) Gene expression analysis and network discovery using Genevestigator. Trends in Plant Science 9 10, 407-409
 Zimmermann P, Hirsch-Hoffmann M, Hennig L and W Gruissem (2004) GENEVESTIGATOR: Arabidopsis Microarray Database and Analysis Toolbox. Plant Physiology 136 1, 2621-2632
Zimmermann P, Schildknecht B, Garcia-Hernandez M, Gruissem W, Craigon D, Mukherjee G, May S, Parkinson H, Rhee S, Wagner U and L Hennig (2006) MIAME/Plant - adding value to plant microarray experiments. Plant Methods  2, 1

Genetics
Bioinformatics software

Genevestigator