"Dancing On My Own" is a song by Swedish singer-songwriter Robyn, released on 20 April 2010 as the lead single from her fifth studio album, Body Talk Pt. 1 (2010), the first in her Body Talk series. "Dancing On My Own" was produced by Patrik Berger, co-produced by Robyn, and mixed by Niklas Flyckt, with Robyn and Patrik sharing writing credits. The song's stark mid-tempo electropop version from her album was the first version of the single released followed by a layered mid-tempo synth-pop edit designed for radio and a downtempo piano ballad recording for Radio 1's Live Lounge – Volume 5 later that year. It depicts a female protagonist in a crowded club just before last call who is dancing on her own while watching her ex-boyfriend who she sought out dancing with and embracing another woman, pondering confronting him for the last time before her time runs out. The song was inspired by situations Robyn observed while on her previous tour then clubbing throughout Stockholm, her favorite "inherently sad gay disco anthems", and the dissolution of her engagement.

Critics praised "Dancing On My Own" as another bittersweet anthem for her song canon, with some ranking it as the greatest song of the year and eventually, the decade. Several reassessed its influence as Robyn's signature song, a gay anthem, and "the ultimate sad banger" of the poptimist movement, with Rolling Stone ranking her original album version at number 20 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2021. "Dancing On My Own" became Robyn's first number one in her native country following its live premiere on Swedish TV show Sommarkrysset and also reached the top ten in Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom later that month. Frequent collaborator Max Vitali directed "Dancing On My Own" Rosie Perez-inspired music video, first released on 21 May 2010, that showed Robyn portraying the protagonist in the song's lyrics in various club and rehearsal settings. The song later earned a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards and was awarded Best Song at the Grammisgalan in Sweden. All three of her song's versions were promoted well into the following decade through multiple televised and streamed live performances and inclusion on many films, television series, and commercials.

"Dancing On My Own" was covered by numerous artists and bands, with several releases, especially of Robyn's downtempo version. Inspired by the downtempo Southern rock ballad cover of it performed (but not released) by band Kings of Leon, a downtempo AC ballad by Britain's Got Talent contestant Calum Scott was most prominently released on 15 April 2016. Calum's cover was a moderate sleeper hit throughout Europe following substantial success in the UK, where it went viral on streaming services despite little initial radio play. Critical reception to it was polarized, with Robyn praising the cover but prominent music journalists comparing it negatively to her original. The first major test release by controversial London-based AI algorithm-based A&R start-up Instrumental, its formula in finding Calum and releasing his cover would go on to revolutionize major label signing based on early Internet engagement. An accompanying music video was released on 15 April 2016 that received over 400 million YouTube views in four years.

Background and creation
Deep into sessions one "dark" week of November 2009 in Stockholm with longtime collaborator Klas Åhlund, Robyn's "stormy" engagement to Swedish MMA fighter and contemporary visual artist Olof Inger was starting to fray. "Tired of the broken heart", Robyn returned to writing about "sad love", a theme that remained prevalent in her work because it was universal, yet continued to give her fresh ideas. After launching her own pop-up club series in Hornstull Beach, Söder in January 2010, Konichiwa Bitches goes Tutti Frutti, modeled after Christian Falk's A Love Supreme, Robyn became inspired by DJing, clubbing and people-watching throughout Stockholm. Recalling how much the "dance world" had changed during the five years she spent promoting Robyn (2005), especially in America, Robyn realized it was finally ripe for exploitation: "It's really going to have its time now and not just be looked upon as kitsch." Conceptualizing club culture, Robyn created narratives for past patrons she had seen from situations she had witnessed, including their "expectations" for the night to "meet that person", reach a "good high", or experience "some kind of emotion", revisiting stories from Olof on his time as a doorman describing how they'd act then reminiscing on her time in New York City in 1997 promoting Robyn Is Here as a "lonely misfit teenager shoulder-shimmying alone in a gloomy corner" on Club Vinyl's "last ever" Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, The Shelter, and the "near mythological" Body&SOUL, respectively. Robyn came to see clubs as "an important place for our generation—almost like a church or a place where we go to experience something that's bigger than ourselves", feeling it wasn't just "cool" but "important", and even "utopian", that "in the middle of all these other people doing the same thing" she could dance in her "own space" on her "own terms", wanting "to make a song called 'Dancing On My Own'" but still unsure "what it was going to be about". Following the example of the "inherently sad, gay disco anthems" she loved, including tracks by Donna Summer with Giorgio Moroder, Sylvester, Billy Idol's "Dancing with Myself" (1980), Ultravox's "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" (1984), and Sheila E's "A Love Bizarre" (1985), the song's storyline eventually came to her, picturing "the god-awful feeling of a woman who is watching her ex get with someone new at a club".

"With an idea of a chorus in her mind," Robyn wanted to work further with Åhlund but couldn't stop "toying" with the song on her own, eventually reaching out to prior collaborator Patrik Berger for a "different perspective". Patrik had prepared for weeks before their first session at his Stockholm studio with a "slew of electronic beats and tracks for Robyn to write over". All of this was for naught as the first thing she said was, "Can we sit down and write a song on an acoustic guitar today? I'm so tired of writing over electronic beats and tracks." Their first result was an "acoustic 'campfire'" demo with three chords in the manner of a country song. The chorus came first quickly, followed by the chords and parts of the melody. After days of "fatten[ing]...up" that demo, the two of them realized "...they preferred the original and stripped it all back down" again. Patrik, facing pressure from Swedish music industry insiders "telling him what he should do" with the song, decided for the first time that "rather than following the pack", he'd write and produce the song "how he wanted to", following a new group of "sonic scholars" in the country breaking away from Max Martin's "school of pop". Swapping "the acoustic guitar for synthesizers with frayed edges and a beat that aimed for a TKO," Patrik went "raw and gritty", "aiming for a 'window' of song" that would capture its "commercial appeal without destroying" its "myster[y]".

With this third demo, entitled "Right Over Here", compared by Robyn and critics to Glasvegas' "Geraldine" (2008) and later heard in part in 2018 at the Red Bull Music Academy in New York, Robyn and Patrik had finally settled on a blueprint for the final track. A "lot of time" was spent subsequently on "the individual components of the song: the drums, the bass and the pounding staccato it starts with". Lyrically, Robyn and Patrik were "super picky" and took even longer. Obsessively trying to come up with the right words to not "sugar-coat the experience" of all of the "messy moments of rejection," they both wanted "uncomfortably honest" lyrics designed to have each phrase read like a "little poem". "Weeks" were spent "texting each other...on lines" with "a couple of days [spent] on each" that filled a "handful of notebooks" by the end, with one entirely "scrapped", as "every single word needed to feel right." Soon after completion of the song, Robyn became "conflicted" about having her collaborators and friends hear it. Recalling her excitement upon initially "sending the demo to the record label and telling them I thought we had a good single", its themes of "nostalgia and sentimentality" in retrospect came across like a "teenage version" of herself she was "happy to let go of". Robyn ended up deciding to include the song on Body Talk Pt. 1, working through "difficult" early promotion as the themes didn't "always feel true" to her.

Many years later Robyn and Patrik realized their leaps of faith with the song were worth it. After "taking a step back from what she'd created", working through "a lot of therapy" where she "worked on [...] and healed" herself, then felt the "song was talking back to her" when "thousands of fans" sang it back to her on her 2019 tour when she "cut the song just before the chorus", she realized the song had "moved on from its beginnings" and was no longer "conflicted" about "playing it live", feeling it had become "something that took on meaning for a lot of people in different ways". Meanwhile, Patrik was reaffirmed of his decision to break from Max Martin's formula despite "ang[er]" from many of his peers in Sweden, as it became "one of those songs where people came up to [him], talking about how much it mattered."

Composition and release

"Dancing On My Own" was composed by Robyn and Patrik Berger. Featuring "elements of 'many different worlds'" she loves that make her "proud" of the track, including "80s rock ballads" and "queer electronica", with the goal of releasing a record that would meet the standard of Prince, two versions of the midtempo ballad were released for the album then for radio, where "everything, bar Robyn's vocal, is electronic". A third, downtempo, 'pared down', piano-based version, recorded from her performance on 16 June 2010 on BBC Radio 1 was then released separately from the project on Radio 1's Live Lounge – Volume 5 on 22 October 2010. Both electronic versions keep a tempo of 117 beats per minute in common time, which NPR Sam Sanders implies was arranged deliberately as it was "situated [...] pretty close to what scientists say is the preferred walking tempo for humans". All three versions are in the key of G major, following an "immediately familiar one-five-four" chord progression of G–D–C and traditional ABABCB structure except for one pre-chorus line following its first verse and one outro line of a portion of its chorus following its choral refrain that concludes the song, with Robyn's vocals spanning from D4 to E5.
 The "brutal", "direct", and "minimal" electropop album version, the first version of the song released, leaked on approximately 19 April, then was released as a digital single the next day, followed by its official release on 1 June 2010 as Body Talk Pt. 1's lead single. Its focus is on its "relentless jackhammer" "iconic throbbing bass backbone" synth, made using the Korg Mono/Poly (MP-4) analog synthesizer. That is followed by the use of a "kick drum" on beats "1 and 3" and a "snare" on beats "2 and 4", both of which last through the entire song, accented with "eight repeated, robotic, hihat quavers halfway through [beginning at 1:57], [...] little clave tinkles in the verses [1:36] and the odd crash cymbal".  A "sad piano motif" accompanies the song's "middle 8", the "one moment in the track when you're allowed to pause", then "[at 2:45]...the pause is broken by 16 snare hits, all at maximum volume, with no crescendo or dynamic," followed by a return to the choral refrain that closes out the song. USC musicologist Nate Sloan highlighted the "miracle" of the "lyrics [...] sparseness" and the "six seconds of silence between each line in the verse" which he observed "wasn't a lot of time in the abstract" but "eons" on a pop song, which NPR's Sam Sanders felt Robyn left to let the listener "live in that space – to give you time to insert all of your emotions and stories and feelings into the seconds between the lines". The song's second synth-pop version, designed for radio and first heard accompanying its music video when it premiered on 21 May 2010, was released as a bonus track to Body Talk Pt. 1 iTunes release on 11 June 2010. It mixes those elements at substantially different levels and most noticeably adds "an extra arpeggiated synth through the intro and the verse". James Montgomery of MTV News described the radio version as "a computerized kaleidoscope of chippy, chiming blips and piston-like drums." Vanyaland Michael Marotta pointed out a small bell effect resembling last call that rings at the climax of the song in both electronic versions' middle 8, interpreting its inclusion as an indication the protagonist's time had run out in her last effort to gain notice from the ex-lover.

Robyn's "love letter" to Stockholm as indicated in her "favorite lyric" describing its weather in winter, a "big black sky over [her] town", the song's "bittersweet, voyeuristic narrative" is of "a woman dancing alone in a crowded club while her ex and his new lover look on", with a deliberate "bait and switch" of production that sounds in its opening "life-affirming" but in reality is backing what the listener soon realizes is a "bleak, wounded" "breakup song" lyrically, a deliberate "juxtaposition" "of light and dark at the same time" whose "magic" Robyn explained to Kindness at Red Bull Music Academy is what she's "drawn to when [she] make[s] music", and is "much more satisfying" to her than just one feeling or the other, which she'd found "predictable" and "boring". NPR's Sam Sanders felt these contrasts of "female empowerment through angst" in "lesser hands [...] might be confusing" but "[w]hen Robyn does it, it's human." Outside its story of the "total outsider" in "love sickness" "in the middle of the club" who's still "going to take care of herself and have a good time even though she's pretty dramatic and crazy", she left the rest of its narrative up for interpretation, explaining to Z100's JJ Kincaid that revealing every detail wouldn't have been "as interesting", preferring writing that brings out "emotion[s]....in a way that enables the listener to [...] connect to [the song] in their own way".

Music video
 The music video for "Dancing On My Own" premiered via Robyn's official Vimeo account on 21 May 2010 and was released to YouTube on 28 May 2010, accompanied by its radio version. Directed by Max Vitali (who previously worked with Robyn on the second music video for her 2005 single "Be Mine!"), and choreographed by longtime collaborator Maria "Decida" Wahlberg, the music video was produced by Nils Ljunggren and HSI Productions, with filming by Erik Sohlstrom and editing by Johan Söderberg and Johan Wik. Wardrobe, hair, and makeup were done by Naomi Itkes, Ali Pirzadeh and Linda Öhrström, respectively.

According to Robyn, Max, and 'Decida' from a behind-the-scenes black-and-white preview posted to Robyn's website the day before its release, it's meant to be a visually "simple" yet "still...atmospher[ic]" "performance video" aesthetically connected to her then "upcoming gigs and tour" that depicts "being sad on a dancefloor" in a "rave" or club" where other "people are dancing" and Robyn's choreography is meant to "[bring] out" a "pissed off [...] energy". Robyn portrays the protagonist depicted in the song's lyrics while lip-syncing its lines in three scenes in the center of the club's dance floor, in a dark hallway of that club and in a separate "harshly lit rehearsal" setting. The microphone stand with no microphone in the latter setting BBC Fraser McAlpine argued was a deliberate direction as a metaphor for the song's narrative. Robyn is occasionally watching her ex with another woman and trying to get his attention in both club settings prior to leaving – though not overtly, nor is there an obvious reference in the video as to who the ex and his girlfriend are among the club goers.

'Decida' later explained to Billboard that "angry" choreography was inspired by "her own experiences as a teenager" channeling "Rosie Perez's dance sequence in the opening credits to Do the Right Thing (1989)," while another choreographed moment of Robyn's "making out with yourself dance" where she turns "her back to the camera" and feigns intimacy with another person by "wrapping her arms around herself" was meant as a "moment of levity" from her "serious-faced" attempts to get her ex's attention, and she would continue to use both moves in subsequent live performances of the song. Reassessing her styling in the video with i-D years later, Robyn said she "loved" her wardrobes consisting of Philip Van De Roq jewellery chains attached to her ear and lapel, an altered Alexander Wang dress, and Sandra Backlund knitted armour, and only disliked her "hair", which she found "ridiculous", thinking she "[wasn't] sure what we were thinking there!"

Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork wrote of the video, "When you're a star, sometimes all you need to do is put on a casually stylish outfit, gaze into a lens, move your limbs around in a rhythmic manner, and-- just like that-- a high-quality music video is born. Robyn is a star. And that's exactly what happens in this video." Leslie Simon of MTV Buzzworthy named it a "Video You Need To Know" and wrote, "Amid a sea of strobe lights and PDA-stricken couples, Robyn seems cautiously fed up with dancing solo. Sad. We'll dance with you, lady!" Jake Hall of Dazed saw the video's "stand-out moment" as accompanying the song's "hammering drums transition into the final chorus", when Robyn is shown "ruthlessly throwing punches as strobe lights frame her wounded aggression."

Reception

Critical

Luke Lewis of NME praised it as "a comet-trail of sadness and exhilaration that's easily the equal of Robyn's breakthrough hit, 'With Every Heartbeat.' Fraser McAlpine of BBC Radio 1 was stunned at the about-face from the "fragile waif" displayed in that prior song, praising Robyn's "always [...] ready-packed" voice "with a whole world of pain and anguish", the song's "punishingly tough" production and new narrative, and her "toughness" which "lies in her ability to express total agony, and total assurance at the same time, via the medium of a plaintive chorus [...] " Nick Levine of Digital Spy lauded the "misty-eyed electro-disco tune" he similarly found "every bit as emotive" as her singles from Robyn, including "'Be Mine!' [...] If your bottom lip's not quivering like the bassline by the time the second chorus hits, you've taken waaay too many mood stabilisers [...] "
Pitchfork Ryan Dombal appreciated it showed "the scuffs on her scepter" in comparison to her promotional singles from Body Talk Pt. 1, awarding it their infamous "Best New Music" label the day of release, and the outlet's Tom Breihan during its promotion would deem it her "Euro-pop masterpiece."    The Guardian Michael Hann stated that song's "pulsing synths and electronic percussion manage to sound both jackbooted and ineffably melancholy." Jer Fairall wrote for PopMatters that "[t]he aggressive stun-gun rhythm of 'Dancing On My Own' can't hide a classic drama-played-out-on-the-dancefloor scenario inherited from standard bearers like ABBA's 'Dancing Queen' and Madonna's 'Into the Groove', nor is it cold enough not to melt at the touch of Robyn's warm, yearning vocals or the song's shimmering keyboard chime."

Slant Magazine named "Dancing On My Own" the best song of 2010, writing: "Few artists risk Robyn's emotional nakedness, and with 'Dancing on My Own' she reveals the exquisite flipside to her more empowered 'With Every Heartbeat'". The Guardian named it the best song of the year as well, writing: "'Dancing On My Own' is an extraordinary addition to Robyn's canon of skewed love songs; thoughtful and romantic enough for stuck-on-repeat listening, but with a pop sensibility that makes you want to head out in search of a dancefloor." Pitchfork named it the fourth best of 2010, saying that it "demonstrate[s] she is the Rocky Balboa of pop music." Rolling Stone named it the twenty-sixth best song of 2010, writing: "The Swedish diva spots her beloved with another girl – then turns her sadness into sparkling pop, perfect for solo freakouts." The song landed at number six on MTV's Best Songs of 2010, with James Montgomery writing: "as soon as 'Dancing' gets to that hair-raising build – a breathless rush of drums and adrenaline – you're no longer thinking about what Robyn's saying, really." In January 2011, the American music magazine The Village Voice Pazz & Jop annual critics' poll ranked "Dancing On My Own" at number three to find the best music of 2010. The song was nominated at the 53rd Grammy Awards in the category Best Dance Recording, but lost to "Only Girl (In the World)" by Rihanna.

Commercial

"Dancing On My Own" debuted at number two on the Sverigetopplistan chart on the issue dated 11 June 2010. The following weeks, the song ascended and descended between number two and number three, before reaching the top position on the issue dated 30 July 2010. The song became Robyn's first number one on the chart, as well as her seventh top-ten hit. In Denmark, "Dancing On My Own" debuted at number thirty-three on the issue dated 18 June 2010. After steadily ascending on the chart for several weeks, the song reached its peak of number two on the issue dated 6 August 2010. It has since then been certified platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in Denmark for selling over 30,000 units. In Norway, the song debuted at number six, which became its peak.

The song peaked at number twenty-two on the European Hot 100 Singles chart, becoming her highest-peaking song on the chart. On the UK Singles Chart, it debuted and peaked at number eight on the issue dated 26 June 2010, immediately becoming Robyn's best charting single in the country since "With Every Heartbeat" in 2007. "Dancing On My Own" also reached number three on the UK Dance Chart. In the United States, "Dancing On My Own" debuted at number forty on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. On the issue dated 17 July 2010, it reached its peak of number three and stayed on that position for two weeks.

Live performances

On 5 June 2010, Robyn gave her live premiere of the track's midtempo version for Sommarkrysset on TV4 at the Stora Scenen in Stockholm's Gröna Lund amusement park. On 16 June 2010 Robyn premiered the downtempo version of the track on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge. The first live performance of the track on US television was on the Late Show with David Letterman on 19 July 2010. On 12 September 2010, Robyn performed a remix of the midtempo version with DJ deadmau5 at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, truncated by a commercial break. The two did not rehearse the performance until the morning of the show, and Robyn said, "I met him for, like, five minutes, and then we were playing." In 2010–2011, Robyn performed the song on other American television shows such as Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen DeGeneres Show Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Saturday Night Live. She also performed it at the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway.

On 17 January 2011, Robyn attended the Grammisgalan to accept the awards for Best Song (for "Dancing On My Own"), Best Album, Best Female Artist and Best Composer. On 15 March 2011 she performed the song along with "Fembot" and "With Every Heartbeat" at Studio Hamburg, Germany as part of a promotional mini-concert for Deutsche Telekom's Telekom Street Gigs, later broadcast on ProSieben's We Love In Concert series.

Impact and legacy
Anticipation among several music journalists surrounding Robyn's social media announcement on 27 July 2018 of her first release of solo material in eight years, "Missing U", began a reassessment of the strength of her Body Talk series' "anchor", the original album version of "Dancing On My Own", and more broadly, its impact on other musical artists and the industry as a whole in the years that followed. In June 2018, Rolling Stone ranked that version of the song 19th on its list of 'The 100 Greatest Songs of the Century – So Far', in July 2018, NPR ranked it as the 49th greatest song by a female or nonbinary artist in the 21st century, in March 2020, after compiling over 35 global outlets' countdowns and 550 tracks, critics' algorithmic aggregator Acclaimed Music named it as the greatest song of the 2010s, and in October 2020, The Guardian Alexis Petridis called it "the greatest pop single of the past 20 years".  The track was considered the greatest of the decade by Rolling Stone, NME, Stereogum, Slant, Consequence, AP, Insider, Esquire, iNews, Vanyaland and Audiofemme. Time, NPR listeners, Paste, Good Housekeeping, The Interns and The Wild Honey Pie ranked it second, Pitchfork third, Elle and Treble fourth and USA Today ninth. Gorilla vs. Bear ranked it 12th, Crack Magazine 13th, NBHAP 15th, Uproxx 18th and Harper's Bazaar 22nd. In September 2021, Rolling Stone, from a poll of more than 250 artists, musicians, producers, critics, journalists and industry figures, ranked the original album version of Robyn's "Dancing On My Own" at number 20, between Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" and John Lennon's "Imagine", on their reissued list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", the decade's highest entry on their list.

Released at what Harper's Bazaar Natalie Maher deemed "the height of the pop renaissance" of the late 2000s/early 2010s, several columnists thought it took a decade for the song's influence to be appreciated critically due to the sharp contrast with its initial commercial reception, a result of several factors including its tone and theme. "Seamlessly ushering dance music to the forefront of the pop continuum by making a record and a single that was easily adaptable to radio play but didn't alienate its raw emotions, delivering a certain edge and undeniable melancholia", it arrived "just when brainless EDM started taking off in the US", and as Treble Jeff Terich observed, "the protagonist of every other pop hit from the early half of the decade [turned] a possible sexual encounter with a nightclub fling into the 'Most Important Moment on Earth,'" (and Robyn reminded us that "no, it doesn't always work out that way"). "Never touching the Hot 100" as Pitchfork Ryan Dombal noted Fawbert saw it taking "another nine-and-a-half years" to reveal its impact over the course of the decade after "slowly unleashing its tentacles and hooking itself around the music world." The song "heralded the end of the glitzy, VIP-filled, champagne-drenched 'Club' era of songwriting" in Fawbert's view, and it "changed the trajectory of pop, indie and dance." Insider Callie Ahlgrim wrote that the song "served as a lodestar for so much of this decade's pop" when "the best work of countless female pop stars" that followed "bears the mark of Robyn's signature poptimism". Ahlgrim said that, without Robyn's influence, there would be "no Carly Rae Jepsen, no Charli XCX, no Lorde." Max Martin's manager said that Martin thought "Dancing On My Own" was "one of the best pop songs ever made," and years later at a dinner he told her that he continued to have a "lot" of female artists come into his studio, "...put your album on the table," and say, "I wanna make this!" Robyn described his response as "Well, fuck you, go work with her then!" which she found "very sweet."

In October 2020 The Guardian Alexis Petridis detailed the track's "brilliant electronic rebooting of the old disco trick whereby euphoric club music is paired with lyrical despair" and Pitchfork Jamieson Cox saw a similar dynamic when comparing her output to fellow Swedes ABBA for a September 2019 retrospective of their iconic greatest hits compilation released in 1992, expressing that she "became one of this decade's great pop heroes by pinning down that same sad-ecstatic balance and welding it to modern, muscular production." NBHAP Norman Fleischer also felt ABBA's anthem "Dancing Queen" had "finally found a proper successor" in Robyn's track. Seeing the domination over the music landscape by the close of the 2010s of this kind of song "whose instrumental sets you up for good times, only to sucker punch your heart with lyrics of Biblical sadness," BBC Mark Savage solely credited Robyn and the single, arguing the "sad banger" had clearly "influenced an entire generation of songwriters." To that end, Lorde shared with Vice her "friendly fixation" with Robyn, including keeping a framed portrait of her on the piano during her performance of "Liability" on Saturday Night Live and in the studio as a "patron saint" to watch over the Melodrama sessions. Héloïse Letissier of Christine & the Queens, who presented Robyn with the award for Songwriter of the Decade, said that "as a songwriter I can only marvel at a song like 'Dancing On My Own' ...it's a gem of pop." Pop stars Charli XCX and Zara Larsson acknowledged Robyn's influence, with Charli XCX expressing that "Robyn has definitely been part of paving the way for pop stars who fall a little to the left of the Top 40 norm," and Larsson saying, "She's what I strive to be in a sense of making my own choices and staying true to myself."

Becoming what NME Eli Hunt described as the "queen of the misfits," Robyn has been described as a gay icon because of the popularity of "Dancing On My Own", itself described as a gay anthem. Robyn said she "felt connected to the gay audience because there's an element to the culture that you have had to think about or make up your mind about what it is to be an outsider..." By the late 2010s out singer/songwriter Sam Smith expressed that they thought the track made Robyn "a huge part of the LGBTQ community because we get to dance our pain away." Rolling Stone ranked "Dancing On My Own" at number 20 on their list of "25 Essential LGBTQ Pride Songs", describing the song as "deeply resonant to queer, marginalized people."

Formats and track listings

Australia digital download
"Dancing On My Own" (Radio Version) – 4:39
"Dancing On My Own" (Rex the Dog Remix) – 6:25

Germany/UK CD single
"Dancing On My Own" (Radio Edit) – 3:37
"Dancing On My Own" (Rex the Dog Extended Remix) – 7:28

Germany digital EP
"Dancing On My Own" (Radio Edit) – 3:37
"Dancing On My Own" (Radio Version) – 4:36
"Dancing On My Own" (Buzz Junkies Edit) – 4:06
"Dancing On My Own" (Album Edit) – 3:37
"Dancing On My Own" (Rex the Dog Remix) – 6:22
"Dancing On My Own" (Azzido Da Bass vs. Dirty Disco Youth Remix) – 5:52
"Dancing On My Own" (Jakwob Remix) – 4:10
"Dancing On My Own" (Buzz Junkies Remix) – 5:57

Germany digital EP – Part 2
"Dancing On My Own" (Michael Woods Remix Edit) – 4:43
"Dancing On My Own" (Michael Woods Remix) – 7:45
"Dancing On My Own" (Michael Woods Remix Instrumental) – 7:46
"Dancing On My Own" (Jakwob Remix) – 4:10
"Dancing On My Own" (Fred Falke Radio Edit) – 4:21
"Dancing On My Own" (Fred Falke Remix) – 7:30
"Dancing On My Own" (Fred Falke Instrumental) – 7:30
"Dancing On My Own" (Rex the Dog Extended Remix) – 7:28

Sweden/US digital download
"Dancing On My Own" – 4:48

Sweden digital EP – Remixes
"Dancing On My Own" (Fred Falke Remix) – 7:30
"Dancing On My Own" (Jakwob Remix) – 4:10
"Dancing On My Own" (Michael Woods Remix) – 7:45
"Dancing On My Own" (Chew Fu Remix) – 5:05
"Dancing On My Own" (Rex the Dog Remix) – 6:25

UK digital EP
"Dancing On My Own" (Radio Version) – 4:39
"Dancing On My Own" (Rex the Dog Remix) – 6:25
"Dancing On My Own" (Buzz Junkies Remix) – 6:00
"Dancing On My Own" (Jakwob Remix) – 4:10
"Dancing On My Own" (Azzido Da Bass vs. Dirty Disco Youth Remix) – 5:51
"Dancing On My Own" (Fred Falke Remix) – 7:30
"Dancing On My Own" (Michael Woods Remix) – 7:45

US digital EP – Remixes
"Dancing On My Own" (Michael Woods Remix Edit) – 4:42
"Dancing On My Own" (Michael Woods Remix) – 7:44
"Dancing On My Own" (Fred Falke Remix) – 7:30
"Dancing On My Own" (Jakwob Remix) – 4:09
"Dancing On My Own" (Rex the Dog Extended Remix) – 7:27
"Dancing On My Own" (Rex the Dog Remix Edit) – 3:24
"Dancing On My Own" (Buzz Junkies Remix) – 5:59

Credits and personnel
The liner notes of the album Body Talk Pt. 1 provide the following credits:
Robyn – music, lyrics, co-production, instruments, programming
Patrik Berger – music, lyrics, production, instruments, programming
Niklas Flyckt – mixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Calum Scott version

Before he became famous, Calum Scott posted a cover version to his personal YouTube channel on 1 March 2014, and later performed the song for his audition on Britain's Got Talent in April 2015, the original clip of which has garnered over 415 million YouTube views. "Naive about the [music] industry" and worried his "career was over" after he wasn't signed to Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment when "the show was over and it went quiet", Calum thought his "opportunity was gone". Tracking the data behind the sudden rise in engagement and speed of new subscribers to Calum's channel over several months, A&R executive Conrad Withey encouraged him to release the song officially. With Conrad's endorsement, Calum signed independently with Warner Music Group, and the song was released as his debut solo single on 15 April 2016, with a 3 June 2016 release in other territories under Capitol Records.

With this early exposure, Conrad's Instrumental, a London-based AI algorithm-based A&R start-up looking to streamline "notoriously inefficient methods of talent discovery" using internet engagement to cut costs with a "data-driven" platform that would controversially prioritize "popular[ity]" over "artistry" in support of "online engagement", "internet stars" and "brand and content partnerships" rather than "musicians", reversing preconceived notions of building fanbases from scratch by capitalizing on those that already existed, went on to contract their services with the 'Big 3' and revolutionize A&R signing of artists.

Scott's cover was noted for its "soft focus", with critical reception being polarized, and streaming performance being very strong in the UK and Australia, followed by sleeper hit longevity throughout Europe. Two EDM remixes of the cover were commissioned and released by Calum's label from Tiësto on 15 July 2016 and Hull-based Ben Dooks on 29 October 2018. Different music videos were commissioned and released later in 2016 for Calum's cover as well as the Tiësto remix.

Critical reception
Reception to Calum's cover was polarized. Metro Weekly Sean Maunier called it a "stellar" confessional, noting its "subtle yet powerful" slight lyric changes to "reflect his own experience as a gay man" that were "casual" yet still "matter-of-fact, and all the more striking for it," Ones to Watch Miro Sarkissian praised it as "stunning", and Digital Journal Markos Papadatos found it "crisp and haunting". BBC Newsbeat Steve Holden wrote that Calum's "second lease of life" he gave the song reached "a far wider audience in the mid-2010s", and Robyn shared with Steve she was "super happy" for Calum's success that got people to "know the song a little bit more", praising his "voice" and "interpretation [...] in a way that 'made the song come alive again.'"

On the other hand, both Noisey Grace Medford and Dazed Jake Hall wrote lengthy editorials harshly comparing Calum's cover to Robyn's original, similarly noting the irony of Calum pursuing the "commercial mechanisms of the music industry" which Robyn had rejected then lamenting his "undeserved praise" and "chart dominating power [...] for casting a miserable, faux-ballad shadow over a well-crafted pop song". The former excoriated it as "the aural experience of walking knee-deep in wet cement" with an instrumental that had "all the exuberance of a John Lewis Christmas advert", a "nasal whine the likes of which have gone unheard since James Blunt", and "breathy" syllables "chomp[ed]", "overenunciat[ed]" and "split" to sound more "regional and everyman", like the "shy guy" at "open mic", while the latter damned it with faint praise, arguing that despite his "undeniabl[y] pure, talented, amazing voice", the cover "stripp[ed] the song of its initial context," deeming it a "formulaic piano ballad" that "lost the duality which made the original so incredible." The Guardian Alexis Petridis likewise felt his cover "gormlessly sandblasted away the original's emotional complexity – a very realistic mix of despair, steely determination and euphoria – in favour of mournful bloke-at-a-piano emoting" and Pitchfork Jayson Greene also found it "dubious" and "weepy" in comparison to Robyn's.

Tiësto's remix of Calum's cover also had a polarized reception. USA Today Bryan Kalbrosky dismissed it outright as "inferior", arguing there was simply "no reason to listen" to it "so long as Robyn's [original] exists" while We Rave You Petar Lazarevic appreciated Tiësto "slowly envelope[d]" yet still left "plenty of room" for Calum's vocals, building "the presence of the glossy guitar riffs in the drop" which evoked "the lazy and comfortable feelings that accompany the early hours of the morning after a fantastic night".

In March 2018, Scott revisited the mixed reactions to his version. He said that those complaining he had ruined Robyn's song were counterbalanced by positive responses, for instance one person that had "just written to me and said that they've come out to their family because of my interpretation". He said he "didn't change the pronouns of the song" because he wanted the interpretation to always come from a "gay man's perspective". He said the gay community have thanked him repeatedly for the song, saying "how much it means to them that they have a voice in music."

Chart performance
The cover went viral on streaming services, with Spotify tracking it reaching number one in six countries while ranking in the Top 10 in over 20, peaking at number 2 in the Global Viral 50. On iTunes it charted in the top ten in more than 12 countries. The track had its greatest reception in the UK, where, despite little radio airplay (apart from West Hull FM), it climbed into the top 40 and slowly reached number 4 in July. It was then added to BBC Radio 2's C List playlist and peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart on 5 August. The track remained in the top three four months after its release and later that year it was revealed it was the most bought song of the summer in the country. Scott told the Official Charts Company on its reception there that he was "absolutely over the moon" at the news. The track went on to become the best-selling UK single by a British solo artist in 2016.

In the subsequent months and years, the track became a moderate sleeper hit in Europe, including by mid-2018 reaching 550M streams and becoming certified platinum in at least four countries. Scott said in a press statement upon signing with Capitol Records in the U.S. that "when I recorded the song in my bedroom, I never thought for a second that it would reach as far as it has and bring this level of support from literally all over the globe...I'm completely overwhelmed by it all."

Music videos

Self-produced by Calum Scott and directed by Ryan Pallotta, the video for the original version was released on 15 June 2016. A crowd of silent people dressed in white are looking towards a light source. Among them, Scott mouths the song lyrics. A man and a woman move through the crowd to find each other. By April 2020 the video had received over 400 million YouTube views.

The official video for the Tiësto remix was commissioned by Capitol Records and released on 4 October 2016. Co-directed by Josh Killacky and David Moore, and edited by Alex Ditommaso, the video depicts a man pursuing a woman who is no longer his lover. With Moore shooting video while riding a hoverboard in a stark studio space, Josh Killacky and Haley Fitzgerald perform a modern dance routine, choreographed by Killacky.

Media

The cover aired on the 20th episode, "Kill 'em All" of The CW series The Vampire Diaries, broadcast 29 April 2016, while Caroline makes soup for Bonnie while ranting to Alaric about Stefan, commitment and closure. It also aired on the 24th episode, "Ring of Fire" of the ABC series Grey's Anatomy, broadcast 17 May 2017, while Nathan asks Meredith details about Megan, then hugs her in celebration and drives off. Scott promoted the track throughout 2016 and 2017 most notably on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Good Morning America, Elvis Duran and the Morning Show, Good Morning Britain, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Dancing with the Stars. Following the 10th episode "Brainwave Jr." of the DC Universe series Stargirl in July 2020, the cover "racked up 10.5 million U.S. on-demand streams, along with 3,000 digital downloads, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data", topping The Hollywood Reporter'''s Top TV Songs Chart. During the 2021 MLB postseason, the Boston Red Sox adopted the Tiësto remix of the song as their postseason anthem, playing the song in their celebrations after their Wild Card Game win over their rivals, the New York Yankees, and their series win over the Tampa Bay Rays. During the 2022 MLB postseason, the Philadelphia Phillies also adopted the Tiësto remix of the song as their own postseason anthem, with the team carrying it over into the 2023 season as well.

Awards and nominations

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

 Other versions
Belgian singer Kato Callebaut performed Robyn's downtempo version as part of her audition on Idool 2011 then released her studio cover, receiving a gold certification for 10,000+ copies sold. American rock band Kings of Leon performed but never officially released a cover of Robyn's ballad during a session on Zane Lowe's show on BBC Radio 1, officially posted by the show to their YouTube channel on 10 September 2013, which Billboard Jason Lipshutz went on to describe as an "injection" of its "muscular Southern rock stylings" with "meaty guitar riffs", "Caleb Followill's signature growl in full effect", and with the "'Whoa-oh-oh's' echo on the chorus", a recalling of the singer's "epic "Use Somebody" flare-ups". Instinct Jeremy Hinks slammed it as "nails on a chalkboard," while Spin Marc Hogan praised it as "disarmingly effective" and having brought out Robyn's "smart songwriting", noting their connection to her "deeply conflicted relationship with mainstream success".

American a cappella group Pentatonix released a cover of her mid-tempo version in July 2017 with a music video, presenting their first track as a quartet instead of a quintet. American actress Elle Fanning performed the mid-tempo version as the character Violet in the film Teen Spirit, released in September 2018, and her recording, described as "unassuming" yet "impressive" by MTV, was subsequently released in April 2019 as part of its soundtrack with a promotional music video depicting her role, aiming for pop stardom. Singer/songwriter Kelly Clarkson covered the downtempo version on 28 February 2019 in Dallas, Texas, on her Meaning of Life Tour. Robyn went on to tell BBC Newsbeat in 2020 that she "really liked" Kelly's version, noting "she has a really powerful voice. She recorded one of my favorite Max Martin songs, Since U Been Gone, which I covered in the Radio 1 Live Lounge. So that's funny."

Alternative rock band Grouplove released an indie pop cover of the midtempo version in March 2020, described as "electric" and "passionate" by Flood Magazine, promoting it on Cover Nation, Sirius XM and ALT 98.7. American folk singer Willie Watson, former founding member of Americana and bluegrass band Old Crow Medicine Show, released a folk version of the song in May 2020, dedicating it in a live stream performance of the song from his own studio to everyone "dancing on their own" amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2020 English singer/songwriter and model Karen Elson released a downtempo alternative country version on her EP, Radio Redhead, Vol.1''. Los Angeles-based garage punk band the Regrettes released a cover of the midtempo version in March 2023. Tove Lo covered the song in October 2022 for Like a Version on Australian radio station Triple J with the cover subsequently being released on the station's YouTube channel as well as music streaming services.

References

External links

2010 singles
Capitol Records singles
Warner Music Group singles
Number-one singles in Scotland
Number-one singles in Sweden
Robyn songs
Calum Scott songs
2016 debut singles
Songs written by Patrik Berger (record producer)
Songs written by Robyn
Electropop ballads
Songs about dancing
Songs about loneliness
2010 songs
2010s ballads
LGBT-related songs

Dancing On My Own


Colentina is a neighborhood in Bucharest's Sector 2. It is located on the north-east of the city and is named after the nearby Colentina River.

Name
A local folk etymology says that the name is derived from "colea-n-tină" (there, in the mud), this being the answer given by a spătar to Matei Basarab, who asked the former where he had defeated the Ottoman army.

History

Early history
Until the second half of the 18th century, the area of today's Colentina was forested, as it was on the map of Stolnic Constantin Cantacuzino. Nevertheless, archeologists found traces of small settlements in Colentina, dated from the 6th-7th century; in one of such settlements, archeologists found a Justinian-era Byzantine bronze coin dated 539.

Monastery estate

The village of Colentina located near the Plumbuita Monastery was first mentioned on the map of H. C. Schütz of 1780 and on I. F. Schmidt's 1788 map. An Austrian map of 1791 shows the village as being located at the crossroad of the routes leading to Fundeni, Afumați, Ștefănești, and Pipera, with the high road bound for Bucharest. The earliest houses were built at the crossroad and around the Cârstienești Bridge across the Colentina river, close to the gate of the monastery.

Soon after, the Plumbuita Monastery, which owned the land in Colentina built and rented (embatic) grocer's shops, pubs, inns, as well as agricultural land. In the early 19th century, among the renters was the Paharnic Andronache Teohari, whose name was given to the Andronache estate in Northern Colentina, the name being still in use today.

The houses were built especially along the road towards Bucharest, while the houses on the island of the monastery were still spread out. Due to this, in 1837, the ocârmuitor of Ilfov County asked the hegumen of the monastery to donate plots for the peasants on the domains to build their houses according to a plan. The people who settled in Colentina were a heterogenous mix: some were Romanians from across Wallachia, others were Greeks, Bulgarians or Serbs.

During the 1821 revolts that preceded the Greek War of Independence, Alexander Ypsilantis and the Filiki Eteria, coming from Moldavia settled on the field on the Bucharest-ward bank of Colentina. The same place was used for the consecration of the flags of the first national militia in 1830 and the place where the first soldiers of the National Army took their oath of allegiance in 1834. After this, for a long time, the same field was used for military exercises.

Commune of Colentina-Fundeni
The 1863 law on the secularization of monastery estates in Romania made the Colentina estate property of the state and in March 1864, the rural commune of Colentina-Fundeni was created, which had three component villages: Plumbuita, Colentina and Fundeni. It was around this time that a primary school was built in the city.

Toward the end of the 19th century, Colentina continued to keep its agricultural economy, much of the land being owned by the large landowners, while the inhabitants owned only a sixth of the agricultural land. The commune had six abattoirs, three in Colentina and three in Plumbuita, killing around 12000 cows each year, the meat being then sold in Bucharest and to the 26 pubs and 5 inns that Colentina had at the time.

In the 1890s, the village of Colentina had a population of 254, the village of Plumbuita 288 and the village of Fundeni 279. The 1899 Romanian Census shows that three more villages were created in the commune: Andronache and Boldu, on the northern part of the former Plumbuita estate, while the Tei village was created around the Ghica Palace, the commune having a population of 1048, of which 46 foreign citizens, most of which Transylvanian refugees.

Bucharest neighbourhood
In 1939, Colentina, together with Pipera, Tei, Plumbuita, Andronache, and Fundeni were made part of Bucharest. The neighborhood suffered a lot of modifications in the mid 1970s and 1980s when houses were replaced with 8 to 10 storey apartment blocks, like in Tei, Obor, and Calea Moșilor and has been recently the home of Arab and Chinese immigrants to Romania.

Notes

References
 Nicolae Ghinea, "Așezări sătești din sec. XV-XIX pe teritoriul orașului București", in București – Materiale de istorie și muzeografie, VII, 1969.
 Constantin C. Firescul vieții sale, Istoria Bucureștilor. Din cele mai vechi timpuri pînă în zilele noastre, Bucharest, 1966

External links

Districts of Bucharest
Place names of Slavic origin in Romania

Colentina, Bucharest


Byal Orchard Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located northeast of Mingo, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.  At the time of its nomination it contained three resources, which included two contributing sites, and one contributing structure.  It includes four strands of top-worked apple trees that were planted 1933 to 1934, and a windbreak of Ash and Mulberry trees that were planted in 1936. They both count as the sites, and the structure is a network of traffic corridors that were established 1933 to 1934.  Its historic significance comes from the symbiotic relationship between science and practice in Iowa agriculture.  They used planting techniques that were advocated by researchers at Iowa State College, now Iowa State University, and carried out by progressive fruit growers like Hugh and Roscoe Byale.  In this instance they employed Hibernal root stock and top-work grafting.  The Armistice Day Blizzard in 1940 wiped out most of Iowa's apple orchards, but it validated the techniques employed here.

References

Landforms of Jasper County, Iowa
National Register of Historic Places in Jasper County, Iowa
Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa
Historic districts in Jasper County, Iowa

Byal Orchard Historic District


Chlorella is a genus of single-cell green algae. It is in the division Chlorophyta. It is microscopic in size and round in shape.

Chlorella has in its body two green color substances: "chlorophyll-a" and "chlorophyll b." It uses photosynthesis, similar to plants which also have chlorophyll. It multiplies rapidly, needing only carbon dioxide, water, sunlight, and a small amount of minerals to reproduce.

Many people believe Chlorella can serve as a possible source of food and energy. This is because its photosynthesis process can, in theory, reach 8% efficiency. This is even better than that of other highly efficient crops such as sugar cane, which are already being used for food and energy.

In 1961, Melvin Calvin of the University of California received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on the pathways of carbon dioxide assimilation using Chlorella.

Chlorella reproduce asexually by aplanospores. A single chlorellon cell produces at least 16 non-motile aplanospores and each one of them matures into an individual unicellular alga (chlorellon) under favourable conditions. There are no any reports of sexual reproduction in Chlorella.

References

Algae
Plant physiology

Chlorella


Paradise, Hawaiian Style is a 1966 American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley. It was the third and final motion picture that Presley filmed in Hawaii. The film reached #40 on the Variety weekly box office chart, earning $2.5 million in theaters. In agreeing to do this film, Elvis's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was hoping to replicate the success of Presley's 1961 film, Blue Hawaii.

Plot
Rick Richards (Presley) returns to his home in Hawaii after being fired from his job as an airline pilot. He and his buddy Danny Kohana (James Shigeta) go into the helicopter charter business together. But Rick's reckless flying and his careless flirting with local women may cost Rick the business and Danny his home. This tendency seems to get in the way of their secretary, Judy "Friday" Hudson (Suzanna Leigh) and Rick getting together.

Disaster looms as Danny becomes overdue on a flight after Rick has been grounded by government officials. Rick must decide if he should risk losing his license forever by going to look for his friend.

Cast
 Elvis Presley as Rick Richards
 Suzanna Leigh as Judy "Friday" Hudson
 James Shigeta as Danny Kohana
 Jan Shepard as Betty Kohana
 Philip Ahn as Moki Kaimana
 Donna Butterworth as Jan Kohana
 Marianna Hill as Lani Kaimana
 Irene Tsu as Pua
 Linda Wong as Lehua Kawena
 Julie Parrish as Joanna
 Red West as fighter in bar (uncredited)
 Grady Sutton as Mr. Cubberson

Production
Principal photography in Paradise, Hawaiian Style began in Hawaii on July 27, 1965 (with the working title of Hawaiian Paradise) and finished on September 29 in Los Angeles.

Major scenes in both Blue Hawaii (1961) and this film were shot on the island of Kauaʻi, with the Coco Palms Resort prominently featured. The famous resort was destroyed by Hurricane Iniki in 1992 and never rebuilt.

Some scenes were filmed above, at and around the Polynesian Cultural Center on O'ahu.

Around the official wrap on production, Elvis met Tom Jones, who visited the set, and The Beatles, who visited Elvis' Bel Air home a few weeks after production was completed.

Soundtrack

Reception
Released in June 1966, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, despite its "stunning aerial photography", "inspired a collective yawn" with film critics. The New York Times film reviewer Vincent Canby compared the film to the formulaic 1930s musicals that Bing Crosby used to star in, concluding that it was "all harmless and forgettable." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "pleasant hot-weather diversion. Pretty much the usual Elvis Presley formula of songs and romance, this Paramount release ... has the added bonus of lush tropical scenery in color. And Elvis, as always, remains [a] relaxed, enjoyable entertainer."

Variety called the film "a gaily-begarbed and flowing musical," with the Hawaii setting seldom before having been "utilized to such lush advantage." The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "This is Elvis Presley right back in the old rut, parading his talents as a man of action while women swoon at his passage. The script is rather worse than routine, and the songs and choreography are undistinguished; which leaves very little but Wallace Kelley's colourful photography of the strictly tourist-eye view of the islands."

See also
List of American films of 1966

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

 Knight, Timothy. Elvis Presley in the Movies. New York: Metro Books, 2009. .

External links

 Elvis in Hawaii
 Review by Janet Branagan at Apollo Movie Guide
 Review of the movie collection "Lights! Camera! Elvis! Collection (King Creole, Blue Hawaii, G.I. Blues, Fun in Acapulco, Roustabout, Girls! Girls! Girls!, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, Easy Come, Easy Go) by Paul Mavis at DVD Talk, August 6, 2007
 Review by Jon Danziger at digitallyOBSESSED!, March 2, 2003

1966 films
1966 musical comedy films
1966 romantic comedy films
American musical comedy films
American romantic comedy films
American aviation films
American romantic musical films
Films directed by Mickey Moore
Films produced by Hal B. Wallis
Films set in Hawaii
Films shot in Hawaii
Films shot in Los Angeles
Paramount Pictures films
1966 directorial debut films
1960s English-language films
1960s American films

Paradise, Hawaiian Style


Griswoldville is an unincorporated community in Jones County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Griswoldville is located about ten miles east of Macon.

History
A post office called Griswoldville was established in 1849, and remained in operation until 1928. Variant names are "Griswold" and "Griswoldsville".

The community was founded as an industrial site/company town by, and named for, Samuel Griswold, proprietor of a local cotton mill.  In addition to his three-story, 24-room mansion, Griswold built a church, slave and workers quarters, expanded his cotton gin factory (which later produced firearms), a saw mill, a grist mill, brickworks, and factories that made furniture, candles, soap, and other products.

The town was largely destroyed at the Battle of Griswoldville in 1864 during the American Civil War.

References

Unincorporated communities in Georgia (U.S. state)
Unincorporated communities in Jones County, Georgia

Griswoldville, Georgia


The U.S. state of Alabama is currently divided into seven congressional districts, each represented by a member of the United States House of Representatives.

Since the 1973 redistricting following the 1970 U.S. census, Alabama has had seven congressional districts. This is three fewer districts than the historic high of ten congressional districts just prior to the 1930 census.

In the case of Allen v. Milligan, 599 U.S. 1 (2023), the Supreme Court of the United States held that the state's current map violates section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 () and needs to be redrawn with an additional black-majority district. The Alabama Legislature approved another map which also violated the law, but a federal court selected a new map on appeal.

Current districts and representatives
The delegation has seven members: 6 Republicans and 1 Democrat.

Redistricting

2000s
The redistricting in 2002 following the 1990 census marginally strengthened the Democratic position, but did not contribute to any net changes by the parties over the decade. The biggest change in 2002 was to the 3rd district, which lost then arch-Republican stronghold St. Clair County in exchange for more Democratic parts of Montgomery County, including the area around the capitol. The district's black composition rose by 7 percent as a result. However, this did not lead to an unseating of the Republican member. The seat flips during the decade were a fluke flip of the Wiregrass-based 2nd district in the Democratic wave of 2008, and a flip (via party switch and then election of a different Republican) of the Huntsville and north Alabama-based 5th district as part of the continuing realignment of the rural white South towards nearly unanimous support for the Republican party.

The Alabama Legislature is in charge of apportionment and redistricting in Alabama. A bipartisan interim committee of 22 representatives (11 from the Alabama House of Representatives, and 11 from the Alabama Senate) is formed to develop a redistricting plan for recommendation to the legislature. The governor has veto power over both the state legislative and congressional plans.

All redistricting plans in recent history have been court-ordered due to a failure on the part of the legislature to enact their own plans. The redistricting plan adopted after the 1990 census was first proposed by Republicans and ordered into effect by the federal courts. That plan moved black residents out of the 2nd and 6th districts, which had been competitive for Democrats.

The 6th and 7th districts are considered by redistricting watch organizations such as Fair Vote and the National Committee for an Effective Congress to be "irregular" or "gerrymandered".

After a federal trial court rejected a racial gerrymandering claim regarding state house districts, the United States Supreme Court vacated and remanded.  The five justice majority found "there is strong, perhaps overwhelming, evidence that race did predominate as a factor".  Because the trial court had wrongly looked for racial gerrymandering at the statewide level the Supreme Court ordered the trial court to instead look at each district individually.

2020s

The initial map after the 2020 census passed by the Republican-controlled legislature in November 2021 did not differ from the previous decade's map. It drew a single district with a heavily black population by putting the most heavily African-American areas of Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties in with much of the heavily African-American Black Belt and heavily African-American parts of the capital county of Montgomery.

In a per curiam opinion on January 24, 2022, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama blocked as illegal the map passed by the Alabama legislature after a lawsuit was filed by the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, ordering the legislature to draw two districts with either Black voting-age population majorities or "in which Black voters otherwise have an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice." This case reached the Supreme Court soon after. Subsequent briefing followed and oral argument culminated on October 4, 2022. The question presented for deliberations amongst the Justices and an eventual opinion was: "Whether the state of Alabama's 2021 redistricting plan for its seven seats in the United States House of Representatives violated section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 52 U. S. C. §10301.21"On June 8, 2023 the United States Supreme Court published its decision in Allen v. Milligan. In a 5-4 opinion by Chief Justice Roberts, joined by Justices  Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh and Jackson, the Court ruled that Alabama's redistricting plan likely violates Section 2 of the VRA of 1965 by diluting the power of black voters, and ordered the State to draw a new map with an additional black-majority district.

The state's legislature proceeded to draw a map which only marginally increased the share of Black voters in the 2nd district. Subsequently, the state was sued by the Milligan plaintiffs for noncompliance with the Court's decision. Soon after, the trial court ruled against the state and appointed a special master to redraw the map, Alabama's Attorney General Steve Marshall appealed to the Supreme Court for a stay of the decision, but his request was denied with no publicized dissents. Following this, the state withdrew all appeals, and one of the three proposed maps was approved by the trial court on October 5, 2023 to be put into place for the remaining decade.

The new map, set to take effect for the 2024 U.S. House elections, significantly alters the 7th and 2nd districts to have slim Black majority or plurality voting-age populations and span across the eastern portion of Alabama's Black Belt, with the 2nd district set to include portions of the cities of Phenix City, Montgomery and Mobile. In addition the map draws the southeastern coastal portion of Alabama from the 2nd district into the 1st district.

History of congressional delegation

Alabama is typical of most southern states in its pattern, although there are a few interesting deviations. Admitted into the union in 1819, it first appointed members in the 18th United States Congress in 1823. Alabama's growing population coupled with the expansions of the United States House of Representatives meant that by the time the Civil War broke out, Alabama had seven seats - all of which had been dominated by either Democrats or Democratic-Republicans up to that point.

After the civil war, Alabama was subject to the Reconstruction and placed under an effective military control for a period. Typical of this era, freedmen were given the right to vote, and the Republican federal government installed Republican candidates as senators, congressmen and governors. Alabama was no exception. However, by 1874 the Democratic party had re-established itself in Alabama, and a series of redistrictings and then punitive race laws ensured that no Republicans remained congressmen after 1877.

With very little deviation, Southern Democrats (Dixiecrats) remained steadfastly dominant in Alabama until 1965. Over the next 30 years Republicans and Democrats shared representation of Alabama in Congress.

By 1997 the Republicans had come to dominate Alabama's congressional holdings.

See also

List of United States congressional districts
United States Congress
Politics of Alabama

References

Congressional districts

Alabama's congressional districts


Fèis Bharraigh () is an annual Gaelic arts and culture event, held on Barra. The first event was held in 1981. Events continue to promote, encourage, foster and develop the practice and study of the Scottish Gaelic language, literature, music, drama and culture on the islands of Barra and Vatersay.

The Fèis movement came about when a group of parents and other individuals on the Isle of Barra became concerned that local traditions were dying out and that island children were not being taught traditional music in the context of formal education. This first Fèis, which means "festival" in Gaelic, laid down the path for many more Fèisean, inspired by the success of the first Fèis, to spring up around Scotland with each one community led and tailored to local needs. By 2007, there were 40 Fèisean held across Scotland.

In 2007, Fèis Bharraigh launched "BarraFest - Live @ the Edge", a weekend festival of traditional and modern Scottish music held on the Tangasdale machair. BarraFest 2008 was held on 25–26 July.

See also
 List of Celtic festivals

References

External links

Scottish culture
Scottish Gaelic language
Music festivals in Scotland
Folk festivals in Scotland
Arts festivals in Scotland
Celtic music festivals

Fèis Bharraigh


Amna Buttar (born 1962) is a Pakistani American medical doctor and former member of Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, Pakistan. She is currently working as clinical associate professor of medicine and geriatrics at the NYU Langone Health.

Biography
Born in a Buttar family in Lahore, Amna Buttar did her MBBS from Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore, and went to United States. She did her internal medicine residency at the University of Wisconsin, and fellowship in Geriatrics from the University of Michigan. She also completed a master's degree in public health from the University of Michigan.

Buttar served as assistant professor of medicine and geriatrics at Indiana University and served as associate professor of the same discipline at University of Wisconsin. She was serving as director of geriatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when she moved to Pakistan in 2007. She has written numerous book chapters in multiple textbooks, and authored many research papers, including publications in prestigious journals like Annals of Internal Medicine, and the Journal of the American Medical Association. She has given over 100 presentations locally, nationally, and internationally pertaining to geriatrics medicine. Buttar developed and implemented four different health care programs in three different states in the US. She is recipient of prestigious Career Award by the Department of Health and Human Services in the US, and served on advisory committee to the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the US.

During her stay in the US, she served in Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America as president/secretary of FJMC alumni. She is founder president of Asian-American Network Against Abuse of human rights (ANAA). She actively advocated for human and women rights and brought cases of Mukhtar Mai and Dr Shazia Khalid to limelight all across the globe.

She has been given LeadHer Award by the Girls Learn International in New York City in 2006, in that ceremony the same award was given to Senator Hillary Clinton. She has also received Human rights award from Pakistan Peoples Party human rights wing in August 2006. She has testified to the U.S. Congress, as well as representing Pakistan United Nations at the UN Commission on Status of Women.

Apart from numerous, social, charitable and welfare programs, she started a charitable program to help poor women lingering in Pakistani Prisons for a long time having no monetary and legal support. Her interviews have appeared in local and international print and electronic media, including CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, National Public Radio of USA and many others.  She has served as Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Punjab from women reserved seats for Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP) 2008 to 2012. She holds dual American nationality.

She moved back to the USA in 2012, and now resides in New York. She is serving as Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Geriatrics at NYU Langone Health System, New York, USA. She is section chief of Geriatrics at NYU Langone Health Main Campus, New York, USA.

Dual nationality case
On 4 June 2012, the Supreme Court of Pakistan admitted a petition by the registrar's office. The petition stated that Amna Buttar holds dual Pakistani and American nationality, and hence, according to Pakistan's constitution, she is not eligible to hold public office in Pakistan. Along with Amna Buttar, the petition included names of 13 other current members of National and Provincial assemblies in Pakistan.

Controversy
Amna Buttar recently criticized a Pakistani Beauty Pageant, Miss Pakistan World for being irrelevant to the problems faced by Pakistani women.
"In Pakistan, we are trying to get basic rights for women: right to marry, right to divorce, equal opportunity for job and education, and issues like Miss Pakistan create problems for this movement...An average Pakistani young woman does not want to wear a bikini in public, and for her it is important to have equal opportunity and all focus should be on that, and not on a pageant where only the elite can participate."
.

References

1962 births
Living people
Pakistani emigrants to the United States
Indiana University faculty
Pakistan People's Party politicians
Pakistani geriatricians
Women geriatricians
Pakistani science writers
Politicians from Punjab, Pakistan
Women members of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab
Punjab MPAs 2008–2013
Politicians from Lahore
American people of Punjabi descent
University of Michigan School of Public Health alumni
American physicians of Pakistani descent
21st-century Pakistani women politicians
People with acquired American citizenship
People from Lahore

Amna Buttar


The wine industry of Ukraine is well-established with long traditions. Several brands of wine from Ukraine are exported to bordering countries, the European Union, and North America.

The regions of wine industry in Ukraine corresponds to its viticulture regions situated predominantly in close vicinity to Black Sea coast in Southern Ukraine as well as around Tisza valley of Zakarpattia Oblast.

History

A wine culture existed in today's Ukraine already in the 4th century BC at the south coast of the Crimea. Presses and amphoras were found from this period. Wine cultivation in the northern part of the country (around Kyiv and Chernihiv) however only started in the 11th century by monks.

Under Empress Catherine the Great (1729–1796) in 1783 the Crimea became a part of the Russian Empire. Count Mikhail Vorontsov planted the first wine gardens in 1820 and established a large winery near Yalta. The viticulture research institute Magarach was founded then in 1828. In 1822, with the approval of Tsar Alexander I, Swiss winegrowers from the canton Vaud established a colony at Shabo (French: Chabag). They later founded daughter colonies on the Dnieper and in Crimea. Wine from Chabag was displayed at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and received a medal of recognition.

The founder of the famous sparkling wines is prince Lev Golitsyn, who for the first time manufactured Russian "Champagner" after the Crimean War (1854 to 1856) on his property Novyi Svet near Yalta. Later, under the last Tsar Nicholas II (1868–1918) the predecessor of Massandra, today's state winery, was founded. During Soviet times Ukraine with  was the largest supplier of the wines in the USSR. It came to a disaster in 1986: about  of the vineyards were destroyed, when Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev started a campaign against the over-consumption of alcohol in USSR. Since 2000 the production as well as the export of the wines has increased rapidly.

After the annexation of Crimea, Ukraine lost not only 17 thousand hectares of vineyards, but also wineries that provided 60% of wines.

Main vine-growing regions

 Southern Ukraine: Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, and Odesa Oblasts as well as such regions like Crimea (Balaklava, Massandra) and Bessarabia (Budjak)
 Zakarpattia Oblast (Carpathian Ruthenia)
 Varietals

The main varietals are Aligoté, Muscat, Isabella, Traminer, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Rkatsiteli.  The Golubok grape variety was first cultivated in Ukraine.

Sparkling wines
Production of sparkling wine like Sovetskoye Shampanskoye ('Soviet Champagne') is increasing. Most of the sparkling wine is produced around large cities like Kyiv, Bakhmut, Lviv, Odesa and Kharkiv. Most of the production is based on Pinot blanc, Aligoté, Riesling and Feteasca.

Special wineries
 Magarach Wine Institute near Yalta with possibility to sample some of their 20,000 different wines derived from 3,200 vine species.
 Winery Massandra.

See also
 Konstantin Frank
 Winemaking
 Agriculture in Ukraine

Notes

References
 Weinbau in der Ukraine: Stand und Perspektiven, Business Guide Deutschland Ukraine 2011, author: Wellem Bougie
 Der ukrainische Weinmarkt birgt ein enormes Wachstumspotential, UKRAINEaktuell 12-2010, author: Wellem Bougie

Economy of Ukraine
Agriculture in Ukraine
Wine by country

Ukrainian wine


William Benham (15 January 1831–30 July 1910) was a British churchman, academic and author.

Early life
Born on 15 January 1831 at West Meon in Hampshire, where his father James Benham was postmaster, he was educated at the village school. Its founder, the rector Henry Vincent Bayley, made him his secretary, taught him Greek and Latin, and at his death left instructions that the boy's education should be continued.

Benham was sent in 1844 to St. Mark's College, Chelsea, recently established under Derwent Coleridge, to be trained as a schoolmaster. On completing his course he taught in a rural school, and was tutor to John Sebright between 1849 and 1852. With the support of Bayley's family he was able to attend the theological department of King's College, London, where his religious position was influenced by F. D. Maurice.

Priest
In 1857 Benham was ordained deacon, and priest in 1858. He was appointed divinity tutor and lecturer in English literature at St. Mark's, Chelsea, still under Coleridge. He remained there until in 1865 he became editorial secretary to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. At the same time he engaged in Sunday ministerial work as curate of St. Lawrence Jewry, under Benjamin Morgan Cowie. From 1866 to 1871 he was also professor of modern history at Queen's College, Harley Street, in succession to Maurice.

Benham's preaching attracted the attention of Archbishop Charles Longley, who made him in 1867 first vicar of his local parish of Addington, where the archbishop resided. Longley was in poor health: Benham acted as his private secretary during the period of the first Lambeth Conference in 1867, and was with him at his death in 1868. Longley's successor Archibald Campbell Tait gave him the Lambeth degree of B.D., made him one of the six preachers of Canterbury, and in 1872 gave him the vicarage of Margate.

In Margate Benham restored the parish church, and was chairman of the first school board of the town. In 1880 Tait made him vicar of Marden and in 1882 he was appointed rector of St. Edmund the King with St. Nicholas Acons, Lombard Street, a post he held for life. In 1888 Archbishop Edward White Benson made him honorary canon of Canterbury, and in 1898 Hartford University, U.S.A., granted him the degree of D.D. He was Boyle lecturer in 1897, and rural dean of East City from 1903 till his death.

Death
Benham died of heart failure on 30 July 1910, and was buried at Addington.

Work
Benham was a prolific writer. The Life of Archbishop Tait (1891), with Randall Davidson, was the major work of his later life. He also edited the memoirs of Catherine and Craufurd Tait, the wife and son of the archbishop (1879; abridged edit. 1882). His other main works were:

 The Gospel According to St. Matthew … with Notes, 1862.
 The Epistles for the Christian Year with Notes, 1865.
 The Church of the Patriarchs, 1867.
 A Short History of the Episcopal Church in the United States, 1884.
 Winchester (in "Diocesan Histories" series), 1884.
 Sermons for the Church's Year, Original and Selected, 2 vols. 1883–4.
 The Dictionary of Religion: An Encyclopædia of Christian and Other Religious Doctrines, ... Terms, History, Biography, 1887; reissued 1891, begun by John Henry Blunt.
 Winchester Cathedral, 1893; illustrated, 1897.
 Rochester Cathedral, 1900 (both of these in "English Cathedrals" series).
 Mediæval London, 1901 and 1911, with Charles Welch.
 Old St. Paul's Cathedral, 1902.
 The Tower of London, 1906 (all three of these in the "Portfolio Monographs").
 St. John and His Work ("Temple" series of Bible handbooks), 1904.
 Old London Churches, 1908.
 Letters of Peter Lombard, 1911, posthumous, with a preface by Randall Davidson. Benham had written miscellaneous paragraphs in the Church Times headed "Varia", and signed "Peter Lombard".

Benham produced an edition of William Cowper's poetry in 1870; published in 1873 a Companion to the Lectionary (new edition 1884); and translated The Imitation of Christ (1874; new ed. 1905). He edited the reprint series Ancient and Modern Library of Theological Literature. Lombard Street in Lent (1894), addresses by various preachers, presented the kind of sermon which he thought a City church should supply to attract businessmen in their lunch hour.

Family
Benham was twice married:

 to Louisa, daughter of Lewis Engelbach, by whom he had three daughters;
 to Caroline, daughter of Joseph Sandell of Old Basing, Hampshire, who survived him.

Notes

Attribution

External links

1831 births
1910 deaths
19th-century English Anglican priests
English male writers
People from the City of Winchester
Schoolteachers from Hampshire
Alumni of Plymouth Marjon University
Alumni of King's College London

William Benham (priest)


Aram Shah () (died in June 1211, r. 1210–1211) was the second Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate. He briefly held the throne from Lahore after the unexpected death of Qutb ud-Din Aibak before being defeated and dethroned by Iltutmish who began ruling from Delhi.

Origins

Aram Shah is an obscure figure, and his relationship to his predecessor Qutb al-Din Aibak is not certain. In some manuscripts of Minhaj-i-Siraj's Tabaqat-i Nasiri, the words "bin Aibak" ("son of Aibak") appear after his name in a chapter heading, and later writers believed him to be a son of Aibak. However, the words "bin Aibak" in the headline may have been an erroneous addition made by a scribe. Minhaj-i-Siraj refers to only three daughters of Aibak elsewhere in the text, and Ata-Malik Juvayni's Tarikh-i Jahangushay explicitly states that Aibak did not have any son. What is known is that he succeeded Aibak in city of Lahore.

Reign

In 1210, Qutb al-Din Aibak died unexpectedly in Lahore during a sport game, without having named a successor. To prevent instability in the kingdom, the Turkic nobles (maliks and amirs) in Lahore appointed Aram Shah as his successor at Lahore. However, the Turkic nobles in different parts of the Sultanate opposed his ascension, and some of them - such as the Khalji nobles of Bengal - rebelled against him. According to the 16th century historian Firishta, the kingdom also suffered an invasion from the neighbouring ruler Nasir ad-Din Qabacha of Multan.

A group of nobles, led by the military justiciar (Amir-i Dad) Ali-yi Ismail, invited Iltutmish to occupy the throne. Iltutmish, a former slave of Aibak and the governor of Badaun, had a distinguished record of service and was called a son by Aibak, because of which the nobles considered him as a good candidate for the throne. Iltutmish marched to Delhi, where he seized the power, and later defeated Aram Shah's forces at Bagh-i Jud. According to the Tabaqat-i Nasiri, Aram Shah was "martyred": it is not clear if he was killed on the battlefield, or put to death as a prisoner of war. Two of his important officers - Aqsanqar and Farrukh Shah - were killed on the battlefield. Iltutmish subsequently consolidated his power and began ruling from Delhi.

References

Bibliography

Sultans of the Mamluk dynasty (Delhi)
13th-century Indian monarchs
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death unknown
13th-century Indian Muslims

Aram Shah


The Arch and Ridge Streets Historic District is a historic district located in Marquette, Michigan, running along Arch and Ridge Streets from Front Street to Lake Superior. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The district includes the Call House.

Description
The residential core of the district is defined by ridge running east-and-west (known locally as simply "the Ridge"), which gives Ridge Street its name. The district includes spectacular residences built for some of the leading citizens of Marquette, as well as more modest houses for white- and blue-collar workers. Two public structures, the Peter White Library and First United Methodist Church, are also located within the district.

Seven of these structures are built from local sandstone. These include the Daniel Merritt House and St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral. A small cottage in the neighborhood was the inspiration for Carroll Watson Rankin's 1904 novel, The Dandelion Cottage.

History
The first construction in the Arch and Ridge Streets Historic District was in 1867, when Peter White built the first house on the Ridge. Most of the construction in the district took place over the next 35 years as other leading citizens of Marquette followed White's lead, including pioneer businessman and industrialist Hiram A. Burt, Charles H. Call, Daniel Merritt, Andrew Ripka, David Murray, Josiah Reynolds, Frank Bennett Spear, and James Jopling.

Gallery

See also

References

Marquette, Michigan
Geography of Marquette County, Michigan
Gothic Revival architecture in Michigan
Italianate architecture in Michigan
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
National Register of Historic Places in Marquette County, Michigan


A/S Akersbanerne was a municipal owned company that operated tramways in the former Municipality of Aker in current Oslo, Norway. The company was established in 1917, and opened the suburban Østensjø Line tramway in 1926; it took over the majority ownership of Holmenkolbanen in 1933, that owned the Holmenkoll Line, Sognsvann Line and the Røa Line. Akersbanerne merged with Oslo Sporveier in 1949, following the merger of the municipalities.

History

The company was founded on 7 June 1917 to coordinate the construction of new suburban tramways from Kristiania (now Oslo) to the new suburbs in Aker. The company planned to build several lines from the end of the street tramways in the city, and extend them on grade-separated right-of-way. The first project was the Østensjø Line; with construction starting in 1922 it opened from Vålerenga to Bryn on 18 December 1923 and to Oppsal on 10 January 1926. For the first three years street trams operated by Kristiania Sporveisselskab went the 1.5 km route to Bryn, but after the full line opened, Akersbanerne could never reach agreement with Oslo Sporveier, and not until 1937 did they run trams into the city center.

Also in 1922 the company started building the Sognsvann Line, and in 1924 it bought the Smestad Line from A/S Holmenkolbanen. In 1928 the Sognsvann Line and the Holmenkoll Line were extended from Majorstuen to Nationaltheatret, but the builder A/S Holmenkolbanen had acquired so much debt in the process that they on 16 November 1933 were forced to save the company by merging the Sognsvann and Smestad Line into Akersbanerne—giving the latter a majority ownership stake in the former. From 4 January 1937 Bærumsbanen took over the operation of trams on the Østensjø Line, though the ownership of the line remained with Akersbanerne.

On 1 January 1948 the municipalities of Oslo and Aker merged, and on 31 May 1949 the two municipal owned companies merged, taking the name of Oslo Sporveier.

References

Railway companies established in 1917
1917 establishments in Norway
Railway companies disestablished in 1949
Companies based in Oslo
Companies formerly owned by municipalities of Norway
Defunct railway companies of Norway
Oslo Tramway operators

Akersbanerne


Sir Thomas Grosvenor, 3rd Baronet (20 November 1656 – 2 July 1700) was an English Member of Parliament, and an ancestor of the modern day Dukes of Westminster.  He was the first member of the family to build a substantial house on the present site of Eaton Hall in Cheshire.

Early life and education
Grosvenor was born at Eaton Hall, Cheshire, the son of Roger Grosvenor by his wife, Christian (or Christine), daughter of Thomas Myddleton of Chirk Castle, Denbighshire. He was less than five years old when his father, Roger, was killed in a duel with his cousin, Hugh Roberts, on 22 August 1661. Roger had been the son and heir of Sir Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Baronet, and therefore, Thomas succeeded to the baronetcy upon the death of his grandfather on 31 January 1665. He was eight years old at that time.

Grosvenor was educated by a private tutor, who also accompanied him when he undertook the Grand Tour, in his case, a three-year educational tour of France, Italy and the Levant, starting in 1670.  On his return, he set about building a new house at Eaton.  At that time, the family house was a medieval moated house.  The new house was the first substantial one to be built, and it was constructed to the north of the older house.  Grosvenor appointed the architect William Samwell to design it, and building started in 1675.  By 1683, over £1,000 (£ ) had been spent on the hall.  The money for this venture came partly from the estates, and also from coal and lead mines, and from stone quarries in north Wales, that were owned by the family.

Public life
Grosvenor played his part in public life.  In 1677, he was granted the freedom of Chester, and later the same year, he became an alderman.  Two years later, he was returned as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Chester for the first time, in what became known as the Habeas Corpus Parliament; in all, he was to serve in six parliaments.  In 1685, he became Mayor of Chester, and later that year, raised a troop of horses to support James II in the Monmouth Rebellion.  Grosvenor served as Sheriff of Cheshire in 1688–89.

Family
Grosvenor married in 1677; he was aged 21, and his wife, Mary Davies, was only 12 years old. The marriage proved to be harmonious and conventional. Mary was the daughter of Alexander Davies, a scrivener (scribe), and she had inherited substantial land to the west of London from her great-uncle Hugh Audley. This was part of the Manor of Ebury (previously Eia), and Mary's portion consisted of 'swampy meads' (marshland). The area was later to become the Mayfair, Park Lane, and Belgravia areas of London; the most valuable parts of the Grosvenor Estate.

The couple had three daughters and five sons. Two of the sons, Thomas and Roger, died young; the other three sons all succeeded in turn to the baronetcy, Richard became the 4th Baronet, Thomas the 5th, and Robert the 6th. Two of the daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, also died young. Grosvenor died when Mary was eight months pregnant; she gave birth to a daughter, Ann, within a month.

Mary, Lady Grosvenor, had converted to Roman Catholicism shortly after coming of age. Because of this, and because Eaton Hall was used as a meeting place for Catholics, Grosvenor's loyalty to the king was questioned.  However, he continued openly as an Anglican until his death in 1700, and he was buried in Eccleston church. Grosvenor's surviving sons were all under age at the time of his death; Sir Richard Myddelton, 3rd Baronet, and Thomas and Francis Cholmondeley were appointed as their guardians.

Mary was buried in the churchyard of St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, where in 1892, her tomb was the only one to be seen there, close to the north porch of the church.

References

External links

1656 births
1700 deaths
Baronets in the Baronetage of England
Tory MPs (pre-1834)
High Sheriffs of Cheshire
Thomas Grosvenor, 3rd Baronet
English MPs 1679
English MPs 1680–1681
English MPs 1685–1687
English MPs 1690–1695
English MPs 1695–1698
English MPs 1698–1700
Mayors of Chester

Sir Thomas Grosvenor, 3rd Baronet


George Strother Gaines (1 May 1784 – 21 January 1873) was a federal Indian agent in the Mississippi Territory (today's Alabama and Mississippi). He began as the US Indian agent to the Choctaw, explored the country west of the Mississippi River, and supervised the removal of the Choctaw to Indian Territory in the 1830s. He worked as a banker, and served as a state senator and railroad lobbyist, becoming even more influential in the early history of the region.

Life
Gaines was born in North Carolina on 1 May 1784, the 11th of 13 children of Captain James Gaines and Elizabeth (née Strother) Gaines. His father had served in the Revolutionary War, and both parents came from prominent Virginia families. His older brother, Edmund Pendleton Gaines, for whom Gainesville, Florida was named, rose to the rank of major general in the U.S. Army. Not long after George's birth, the family moved to Gallatin, Tennessee.

In 1804 Gaines was appointed to work for the federal government as an assistant Indian factor at the Choctaw Trading House in St. Stephens, Mississippi Territory (now in Alabama). Indian factors coordinated trading practices and served as personal contacts between the government and the tribes. St. Stephens was a small settlement on the banks of the Tombigbee River.

In 1806 the senior Indian factor, Joseph Chambers, resigned and Gaines succeeded him. In this position he earned the respect of Indians and settlers. As tensions grew as settlers encroached on Choctaw land and competed for natural resources, Gaines was able to maintain a degree of calm in the region. After the Fort Mims massacre in 1813 by a faction of the Creek Indians, Gaines convinced the Choctaw and Chickasaw to help defend the lower Tombigbee River valley. He outfitted Choctaw volunteers to fight against the Creek during the Creek War of 1813-1814, when the US was also involved in the War of 1812.

Gaines resigned his position at the Choctaw Trading House in 1818 to join the Tombeckbee Bank in St. Stephens, by then designated as the temporary capital of the new Alabama Territory. Financial difficulties made worse by the Panic of 1819, forced Gaines to resign in 1822. He moved to Demopolis, Alabama and purchased the Choctaw Trading House from the federal government. Gaines assumed responsibility for its operation, and continued trading with the Choctaw.

Gaines served as a member of the Alabama State Senate from 1825 to 1827. Gaines also served as the president of the Mobile, Alabama, branch bank from 1833 to 1846. Gaines negotiated the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek between the United States and the Choctaw people, acquiring most of their lands in Alabama and Mississippi. At the request of the Choctaw tribe, Gaines led an expedition to scout the prospective Choctaw lands in the Indian territory, before the Choctaw reluctantly agreed to emigrate there. Gaines was criticized for spending too much money on moving the Choctaw. In comparison to the removal of the Cherokee and other of the Five Civilized Tribes, he accomplished the task in a relatively humane fashion.

He is buried at State Line, Mississippi.

See also
Gainestown, Alabama, community named in his honor, founded on the site of one of his former trading posts
Edmund P. Gaines, his brother

References

 Leftwich, George J. Colonel George Strother Gaines and Other Pioneers in Mississippi Territory. Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, v. 1. Jackson, Miss: Mississippi Historical Society, 1916. googlebooks.com Accessed October 20, 2007

Further reading
Pate, James P. (Editor), The Reminiscences of George Strother Gaines: Pioneer and Statesman of Early Alabama and Mississippi, 1805-1843. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1998.
Leftwich, George J. Colonel George Strother Gaines and other Pioneers in Mississippi Territory. Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society 1904:442-56.
DeRosier, Arthur H. The Removal of the Choctaw Indians, Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1970.

1784 births
1873 deaths
American merchants
People from Washington County, Alabama
People from Mississippi
People from Mobile, Alabama
Pendleton family
Choctaw

George Strother Gaines


Richard Hanson (born February 20, 1940) served as secretary of state of Missouri in 1994 following the removal from office of his predecessor, Judith Moriarty.

A Democrat from Cole County, Hanson served on an interim basis in 1994 from the time of Moriarty's removal from office by the Missouri Supreme Court following her impeachment by the Missouri House of Representatives until Governor Mel Carnahan appointed Bekki Cook to serve until the following scheduled election for the office.

References

Secretaries of State of Missouri
Missouri Democrats
People from Cole County, Missouri
1940 births
Living people

Richard Hanson (Missouri politician)


An anklet, also called ankle chain, ankle bracelet or ankle string, is an ornament worn around the ankle. Barefoot anklets and toe rings historically have been worn for at least over 8,000 years by girls and women in Indus Valley, in South Asia where it is commonly known as pattilu, payal, golusu and sometimes as nupur. They have also been worn by Egyptian women since predynastic times. In the United States both casual and more formal anklets became fashionable from the 1930s to the late–20th century. While in Western popular culture both younger men and women may wear casual leather anklets, they are popular among barefoot women. Formal anklets (of silver, gold, or beads) are used by some women as fashion jewellery. Anklets are an important piece of jewellery in Indian marriages, worn along with saris.

Occasionally, anklets on both ankles are joined by a chain to limit the step. This practice was once prevalent in Southeast Asia, where the effect was to give a "feminine" short tripping step. Today, a few Western women follow this practice, but rarely in public.  More rarely still, some people wear "permanent" (e.g., soldered) ankle chains and even connecting chains.

History

Egypt
Anklets were worn as an everyday ornament by Egyptian women of all social classes in ancient Egypt from as early as predynastic times. The name for anklets was not much different from that of bracelets being menefret (mnfrt) except by adding a phrase to denote connection to the feet. They were made of different metals and in multiple shapes, with more expensive metals like gold being more common among the rich, while less expensive ones like silver and iron more common among lower social classes. During the fourth, fifth, and sixth dynasties, anklets were usually made of beads threaded in several rows held together with spacer-bars. Anklets were also worn by dancers like those shown in the tombs of Kagemni, Ti, and Akh-hotp.

In the early–20th century, anklets were commonly worn by Egyptian women of inner cities. They were called kholkhal (pl. khalakheel) and were most commonly worn by women of Alexandria, along with a traditional dress covered by a one-piece black cloth called melaya leff.

Today, anklets are not commonly worn by Egyptian women in public due to increased Islamic conservatism that has spread in Egypt where wearing anklets in  public is generally perceived as being immodest. Anklets are still commonly worn by dancers in public events.

Europe
Bronze anklets are visible as early as the Bronze Age in temperate Europe, in an area roughly along the Danube, in the Alpine foreland, up the Rhine to the Atlantic, and also down the Rhône (Sherratt, 2001). These were found among hoards in these areas, along with other bronze items characteristic of this time (c. 1800 BCE onwards), and are attributable to the Tumulus culture that spread across this region.

South Asia
Neolithic and chalcolithic periods at Mehrgarh indicate use of anklets. Jhon Marshall describes dancing girl statue as being adorned with armlets, bangles, and anklets A first-century CE epic of Tamil literature called Silappatikaram (The Story of the Anklet) dealt with a woman whose husband was killed while trying to sell one of her ruby anklets to a dishonest goldsmith. The anklets are described in great detail in the poem.

Rajasthani women wear the heaviest type of anklets, which are silver and signify tribal adherence. The women wear these as costume jewelry, but also to show their bravery as a tribe against other rival tribes. The fashion for heavy anklets is declining in India, but is still common in rural areas.

In the eastern Indian state of Odisha, which is known for its traditional jewelry, there are varieties of anklets known as Paunji Nupur, which are worn by women. Another variety, which covers the entire foot, is known as Padapadma. In ancient times men also wore anklets. Traditionally, only Kshatriya (royal/warrior caste) persons can wear gold anklets, and other castes wear silver anklets.

The word "Payal" (payalak) and "Jhanjar" are words for the anklet in Hindi and Punjabi   respectively.

In Bengali language anklet is called "nupur" and widely worn in Bangladesh.

In Eastern cultures, particularly India, anklets are worn on either or both ankles.

Sri Lanka
The dancers wear anklets. Anklets are worn on both ankles.

As an ornament

Anklets can be made of silver, gold, and other less precious metals as well as leather, plastic, nylon and other such materials.

Metal anklets are of two types: "flexible" and "inflexible". Flexible anklets, often called paayal, pajeb or jhanjhar in India, are made by tying links in a chain. Subsequently, sonorous bells can be attached to the chain, so that the wearer can make pleasing sounds while walking. Inflexible anklet are usually created by shaping flat metal sheet to the ankle.

Salangai or ghunghru
Salangai or Ghunghru are small bells that bharatnatyam, kathak, kuchipudi, and odissi dancers tie around their ankles.

Other anklets
Scuba divers sometimes wear lead anklets to stop a tendency for their legs to float up when diving in a drysuit. Convicted criminals may wear ankle monitors as electronic tagging devices while being confined to a specific venue.

See also
 Ankle monitor
 Bangle

References

Footwear accessories
Types of jewellery
Ankle

Anklet