Benedict Arnold (June 14, 1801) was an American-born military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defecting to the British in 1780. General George Washington had given him his fullest trust and had placed him in command of West Point in New York. Arnold was planning to surrender the fort to British forces, but the plot was discovered in September 1780, whereupon he fled to the British lines. In the later part of the war, Arnold was commissioned as a brigadier general in the British Army and placed in command of the American Legion. He led the British army in battle against the soldiers whom he had once commanded, after which his name became synonymous with treason and betrayal in the United States.

Arnold was born in Connecticut. He was a merchant operating ships in the Atlantic when the war began. He joined the growing American army outside of Boston and distinguished himself by acts that demonstrated intelligence and bravery: In 1775, he captured Fort Ticonderoga. In 1776, he deployed defensive and delay tactics at the Battle of Valcour Island in Lake Champlain that gave American forces time to prepare New York's defenses. His performance in the Battle of Ridgefield in Connecticut prompted his promotion to major general. He performed  operations that provided the Americans with relief during the siege of Fort Stanwix, and key actions during the pivotal 1777 Battles of Saratoga in which he sustained leg injuries that put him out of combat for several years.

Arnold repeatedly claimed that he was being passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress, and that other officers were being given credit for some of his accomplishments. Some in his military and political circles charged him with corruption and other bad acts. After formal inquiries, he was usually acquitted, but Congress investigated his finances and determined that he was indebted to Congress and that he had borrowed money heavily to maintain a lavish lifestyle.

Arnold mingled with Loyalist sympathizers in Philadelphia and married into the Loyalist family of Peggy Shippen. She was a close friend of British Major John André and kept in contact with him when he became head of the British espionage system in New York. Many historians see her as having facilitated  Arnold's plans to switch sides; he opened secret negotiations with André, and she relayed their messages to each other. The British promised £20,000 for the capture of West Point, a major American stronghold. Washington greatly admired Arnold and gave him command of that fort in July 1780. His scheme was to surrender the fort to the British, but it was exposed in September 1780 when American militiamen captured André carrying papers which revealed the plot. Arnold escaped; André was hanged.

Arnold received a commission as a brigadier general in the British Army, an annual pension of £360, and a lump sum of over £6,000. He led British forces in the Raid on Richmond and nearby areas, and they burned much of New London, Connecticut to the ground and slaughtered surrendering forces after the Battle of Groton Heights—just a few miles downriver from the town where he had grown up.  In the winter of 1782, he and Peggy moved to London, England. He was well received by King George III and the Tories but frowned upon by the Whigs and most Army officers. In 1787, he moved to Canada to run a merchant business with his sons Richard and Henry. He was extremely unpopular there and returned to London permanently in 1791, where he died ten years later.

Early life
Benedict Arnold was born a British subject, the second of six children of his father Benedict Arnold III (1683–1761) and Hannah Waterman King in Norwich, Connecticut, on January 14, 1741. Arnold was the fourth surviving member of his family named after his great-grandfather Benedict Arnold I, an early governor of the Colony of Rhode Island; his grandfather (Benedict Arnold II) and father, as well as an older brother who died in infancy, were also named for the colonial governor. Only he and his sister Hannah survived to adulthood; his other siblings died from yellow fever in childhood. His siblings were, in order of birth: Benedict (1738–1739), Hannah (1742–1803), Mary (1745–1753), Absolom (1747–1750), and Elizabeth (1749–1755). Through his maternal grandmother, Arnold was a descendant of John Lothropp, an ancestor of six presidents.

Arnold's father was a successful businessman, and the family moved in the upper levels of Norwich society. He was enrolled in a private school in nearby Canterbury, Connecticut, when he was 10, with the expectation that he would eventually attend Yale College. However, the deaths of his siblings two years later may have contributed to a decline in the family fortunes, since his father took up drinking. By the time that he was 14, there was no money for private education. His father's alcoholism and ill health kept him from training Arnold in the family mercantile business, but his mother's family connections secured an apprenticeship for him with her cousins Daniel and Joshua Lathrop, who operated a successful apothecary and general merchandise trade in Norwich.  His apprenticeship with the Lathrops lasted seven years.

Arnold was very close to his mother, who died in 1759. His father's alcoholism worsened after her death, and the youth took on the responsibility of supporting his father and younger sister. His father was arrested on several occasions for public drunkenness, was refused communion by his church, and died in 1761.

French and Indian War
In 1755, Arnold was attracted by the sound of a drummer and attempted to enlist in the provincial militia for service in the French and Indian War, but his mother refused permission. In 1757 when he was 16, he did enlist in the Connecticut militia, which marched off toward Albany, New York, and Lake George. The French had besieged Fort William Henry in northeastern New York, and their Indian allies had committed atrocities after their victory. Word of the siege's disastrous outcome led the company to turn around, and Arnold served for only 13 days. A commonly accepted story that he deserted from militia service in 1758 is based on uncertain documentary evidence.

Colonial merchant
Arnold established himself in business in 1762 as a pharmacist and bookseller in New Haven, Connecticut, with the help of the Lathrops. He was hardworking and successful, and was able to rapidly expand his business. In 1763, he repaid money that he had borrowed from the Lathrops, repurchased the family homestead that his father had sold when deeply in debt, and re-sold it a year later for a substantial profit. In 1764, he formed a partnership with Adam Babcock, another young New Haven merchant. They bought three trading ships, using the profits from the sale of his homestead, and established a lucrative West Indies trade.

During this time, Arnold brought his sister Hannah to New Haven and established her in his apothecary to manage the business in his absence. He traveled extensively in the course of his business throughout New England and from Quebec to the West Indies, often in command of one of his own ships. Some sources recount how, on one of his voyages, he fought a duel in Honduras with a British sea captain who had called him a "damned Yankee, destitute of good manners or those of a gentleman". The captain was wounded in the first exchange of gunfire, and he apologized when Arnold threatened to aim to kill on the second. However, it is unknown whether this encounter actually happened or not.

The Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 severely curtailed mercantile trade in the colonies. The Stamp Act prompted Arnold to join the chorus of voices in opposition, and also led to his joining the Sons of Liberty, a secret organization which advocated resistance to those and other restrictive Parliamentary measures. Arnold initially took no part in any public demonstrations but, like many merchants, continued to do business openly in defiance of the Parliamentary Acts, which legally amounted to smuggling. He also faced financial ruin, falling £16,000 in debt with creditors spreading rumors of his insolvency, to the point where he took legal action against them. On the night of January 28, 1767, he and members of his crew roughed up a man suspected of attempting to inform authorities of Arnold's smuggling. He was convicted of disorderly conduct and fined the relatively small amount of 50 shillings; publicity of the case and widespread sympathy for his views probably contributed to the light sentence.

On February 22, 1767, Arnold married Margaret Mansfield, daughter of Samuel Mansfield, the sheriff of New Haven and a fellow member in the local Masonic Lodge. Their son Benedict was born the following year and was followed by brothers Richard in 1769 and Henry in 1772. Margaret died on June 19, 1775, while Arnold was at Fort Ticonderoga following its capture.  She is buried in the crypt of the Center Church on New Haven Green. The household was dominated by Arnold's sister Hannah, even while Margaret was alive. Arnold benefited from his relationship with Mansfield, who became a partner in his business and used his position as sheriff to shield him from creditors.

Arnold was in the West Indies when the Boston Massacre took place on March 5, 1770. He wrote that he was "very much shocked" and wondered "good God, are the Americans all asleep and tamely giving up their liberties, or are they all turned philosophers, that they don't take immediate vengeance on such miscreants?"

Revolutionary War (American service)

Siege of Boston and Fort Ticonderoga
Arnold began the war as a captain in the Connecticut militia, a position to which he was elected in March 1775. His company marched northeast the following month to assist in the siege of Boston that followed the Battles of Lexington and Concord. He proposed an action to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety to seize Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York, which he knew was poorly defended. They issued him a colonel's commission on May 3, 1775, and he immediately rode off to Castleton in the disputed New Hampshire Grants (Vermont) in time to participate with Ethan Allen and his men in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. He followed up that action with a bold raid on Fort Saint-Jean on the Richelieu River north of Lake Champlain. A Connecticut militia force arrived at Ticonderoga in June; Arnold had a dispute with its commander over control of the fort, and resigned his Massachusetts commission. He was on his way home from Ticonderoga when he learned that his wife had died earlier in June.

Quebec expedition
The Second Continental Congress authorized an invasion of Quebec, in part on the urging of Arnold—but he was passed over for command of the expedition. He then went to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and suggested to George Washington a second expedition to attack Quebec City via a wilderness route through Maine. He received a colonel's commission in the Continental Army for this expedition and left Cambridge in September 1775 with 1,100 men. He arrived before Quebec City in November, after a difficult passage in which 300 men turned back and another 200 died en route. He and his men were joined by Richard Montgomery's small army and participated in the December 31 assault on Quebec City in which Montgomery was killed and Arnold's leg was shattered. His chaplain Rev. Samuel Spring carried him to the makeshift hospital at the Hôtel Dieu. Arnold was promoted to brigadier general for his role in reaching Quebec, and he maintained an ineffectual siege of the city until he was replaced by Major General David Wooster in April 1776.

Arnold then traveled to Montreal where he served as military commander of the city until forced to retreat by an advancing British army that had arrived at Quebec in May. He presided over the rear of the Continental Army during its retreat from Saint-Jean, where he was reported by James Wilkinson to be the last person to leave before the British arrived. He then directed the construction of a fleet to defend Lake Champlain, which was overmatched and defeated in the October 1776 Battle of Valcour Island. However, his actions at Saint-Jean and Valcour Island played a notable role in delaying the British advance against Ticonderoga until 1777.

During these actions, Arnold made a number of friends and a larger number of enemies within the army power structure and in Congress. He had established a decent relationship with George Washington, as well as Philip Schuyler and Horatio Gates, both of whom had command of the army's Northern Department during 1775 and 1776. However, an acrimonious dispute with Moses Hazen, commander of the 2nd Canadian Regiment, boiled into Hazen's court martial at Ticonderoga during the summer of 1776. Only action by Arnold's superior at Ticonderoga prevented his own arrest on countercharges leveled by Hazen. He also had disagreements with John Brown and James Easton, two lower-level officers with political connections that resulted in ongoing suggestions of improprieties on his part. Brown was particularly vicious, publishing a handbill which claimed of Arnold, "Money is this man's God, and to get enough of it he would sacrifice his country".

Rhode Island and Philadelphia

General Washington assigned Arnold to the defense of Rhode Island following the British seizure of Newport in December 1776, where the militia were too poorly equipped to even consider an attack on the British. He took the opportunity to visit his children while near his home in New Haven, and he spent much of the winter socializing in Boston, where he unsuccessfully courted a young belle named Betsy Deblois.  In February 1777, he learned that he had been passed over by Congress for promotion to major general. Washington refused his offer to resign, and wrote to members of Congress in an attempt to correct this, noting that "two or three other very good officers" might be lost if they persisted in making politically motivated promotions.

Arnold was on his way to Philadelphia to discuss his future when he was alerted that a British force was marching toward a supply depot in Danbury, Connecticut. He organized the militia response, along with David Wooster and Connecticut militia General Gold Selleck Silliman. He led a small contingent of militia attempting to stop or slow the British return to the coast in the Battle of Ridgefield, and was again wounded in his left leg.

He then continued on to Philadelphia, where he met with members of Congress about his rank. His action at Ridgefield, coupled with the death of Wooster due to wounds sustained in the action, resulted in his promotion to major general, although his seniority was not restored over those who had been promoted before him. Amid negotiations over that issue, Arnold wrote out a letter of resignation on July 11, the same day that word arrived in Philadelphia that Fort Ticonderoga had fallen to the British. Washington refused his resignation and ordered him north to assist with the defense there.

Saratoga campaign
Arnold arrived in Schuyler's camp at Fort Edward, New York, on July 24.  On August 13, Schuyler dispatched him with a force of 900 to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix, where he succeeded in a ruse to lift the siege. He sent an Indian messenger into the camp of British Brigadier General Barry St. Leger with news that the approaching force was much larger and closer than it actually was; this convinced St. Leger's Indian allies to abandon him, forcing him to give up the effort.

Arnold returned to the Hudson where General Gates had taken over command of the American army, which had retreated to a camp south of Stillwater. He then distinguished himself in both Battles of Saratoga, even though General Gates removed him from field command after the first battle, following a series of escalating disagreements and disputes that culminated in a shouting match. During the fighting in the second battle, Arnold disobeyed Gates' orders and took to the battlefield to lead attacks on the British defenses. He was again severely wounded in the left leg late in the fighting. Arnold said that it would have been better had it been in the chest instead of the leg.  Burgoyne surrendered ten days after the second battle on October 17, 1777. Congress restored Arnold's command seniority in response to his valor at Saratoga.  However, he interpreted the manner in which they did so as an act of sympathy for his wounds, and not an apology or recognition that they were righting a wrong.

Arnold spent several months recovering from his injuries. He had his leg crudely set, rather than allowing it to be amputated, leaving it  shorter than the right. He returned to the army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in May 1778 to the applause of men who had served under him at Saratoga. There he participated in the first recorded Oath of Allegiance, along with many other soldiers, as a sign of loyalty to the United States.

Residence in Philadelphia
The British withdrew from Philadelphia in June 1778, and Washington appointed Arnold military commander of the city.  Historian John Shy states:
Washington then made one of the worst decisions of his career, appointing Arnold as military governor of the rich, politically divided city.  No one could have been less qualified for the position. Arnold had amply demonstrated his tendency to become embroiled in disputes, as well as his lack of political sense. Above all, he needed tact, patience, and fairness in dealing with a people deeply marked by months of enemy occupation.

Arnold began planning to capitalize financially on the change in power in Philadelphia, even before the Americans reoccupied their city. He engaged in a variety of business deals designed to profit from war-related supply movements and benefiting from the protection of his authority. Such schemes were not uncommon among American officers, but Arnold's schemes were sometimes frustrated by powerful local politicians such as Joseph Reed, who eventually amassed enough evidence to publicly air charges against him. Arnold demanded a court martial to clear the charges, writing to Washington in May 1779: "Having become a cripple in the service of my country, I little expected to meet ungrateful returns".

Arnold lived extravagantly in Philadelphia and was a prominent figure on the social scene. During the summer of 1778, he met Peggy Shippen, the 18-year-old daughter of Judge Edward Shippen (III), a Loyalist sympathizer who had done business with the British while they occupied the city; Peggy had been courted by British Major John André during the British occupation of Philadelphia. She married Arnold on April 8, 1779. Shippen and her circle of friends had found methods of staying in contact with paramours across the battle lines, despite military bans on communication with the enemy. Some of this communication was effected through the services of Joseph Stansbury, a Philadelphia merchant.

Plotting to change sides
Historians have identified many possible factors contributing to Arnold's treason, while some debate their relative importance. According to W. D. Wetherell, he was:

Wetherell says that the shortest explanation for his treason is that he "married the wrong person".

Arnold had been badly wounded twice in battle and had lost his business in Connecticut, which made him profoundly bitter. He grew resentful of several rival and younger generals who had been promoted ahead of him and given honors which he thought he deserved. Especially galling was a long feud with the civil authorities in Philadelphia which led to his court-martial. He was also convicted of two minor charges of using his authority to make a profit. General Washington gave him a light reprimand, but it merely heightened Arnold's sense of betrayal; nonetheless, he had already opened negotiations with the British before his court martial even began. He later said in his own defense that he was loyal to his true beliefs, yet he lied at the same time by insisting that Peggy was totally innocent and ignorant of his plans.

Arnold had an extremely ambitious and jealous personality.  He knew that he was distrusted and disliked by senior military officers on both sides. Washington was one of the few who genuinely liked and admired him, but Arnold thought that Washington had betrayed him.

As early as 1778, there were signs that Arnold was unhappy with his situation and pessimistic about the country's future. On November 10, 1778, Major General Nathanael Greene wrote to Brigadier General John Cadwalader, "I am told General Arnold is become very unpopular among you oweing to his associateing too much with the Tories." A few days later, Arnold wrote to Greene and lamented over the "deplorable" and "horrid" situation of the country at that particular moment, citing the depreciating currency, disaffection of the army, and internal fighting in Congress, while predicting "impending ruin" if things did not change soon. Biographer Nathaniel Philbrick argues:

Early in May 1779, Arnold met with Philadelphia merchant Joseph Stansbury who then "went secretly to New York with a tender of [Arnold's] services to Sir Henry Clinton".  Stansbury ignored instructions from Arnold to involve no one else in the plot, and he crossed the British lines and went to see Jonathan Odell in New York. Odell was a Loyalist working with William Franklin, the last colonial governor of New Jersey and the son of Benjamin Franklin. On May 9, Franklin introduced Stansbury to Major André, who had just been named the British spy chief. This was the beginning of a secret correspondence between Arnold and André, sometimes using his wife Peggy as a willing intermediary, which culminated more than a year later with Arnold's change of sides.

Secret communications

André conferred with Clinton, who gave him broad authority to pursue Arnold's offer. André then drafted instructions to Stansbury and Arnold. This initial letter opened a discussion on the types of assistance and intelligence that Arnold might provide, and included instructions for how to communicate in the future. Letters were to be passed through the women's circle that Peggy Arnold was a part of, but only Peggy would be aware that some letters contained instructions that were to be passed on to André, written in both code and invisible ink, using Stansbury as the courier.

By July 1779, Arnold was providing the British with troop locations and strengths, as well as the locations of supply depots, all the while negotiating over compensation. At first, he asked for indemnification of his losses and £10,000, an amount that the Continental Congress had given Charles Lee for his services in the Continental Army. Clinton was pursuing a campaign to gain control of the Hudson River Valley, and was interested in plans and information on the defenses of West Point and other defenses on the Hudson River. He also began to insist on a face-to-face meeting, and suggested to Arnold that he pursue another high-level command. By October 1779, the negotiations had ground to a halt. Furthermore, revolutionary mobs were scouring Philadelphia for Loyalists, and Arnold and the Shippen family were being threatened. Arnold was rebuffed by Congress and by local authorities in requests for security details for himself and his in-laws.

Court martial

Arnold's court martial on charges of profiteering began meeting on June 1, 1779, but it was delayed until December 1779 by Clinton's capture of Stony Point, New York, throwing the army into a flurry of activity to react. Several members on the panel of judges were ill-disposed toward Arnold over actions and disputes earlier in the war, yet Arnold was cleared of all but two minor charges on January 26, 1780. Arnold worked over the next few months to publicize this fact; however, Washington published a formal rebuke of his behavior in early April, just one week after he had congratulated Arnold on the birth of his son Edward Shippen Arnold on March 19:

Shortly after Washington's rebuke, a Congressional inquiry into Arnold's expenditures concluded that he had failed to account fully for his expenditures incurred during the Quebec invasion, and that he owed the Congress some £1,000, largely because he was unable to document them. Many of these documents had been lost during the retreat from Quebec. Angry and frustrated, Arnold resigned his military command of Philadelphia in late April.

Offer to surrender West Point
Early in April, Philip Schuyler had approached Arnold with the possibility of giving him the command at West Point. Discussions had not borne fruit between Schuyler and Washington by early June. Arnold reopened the secret channels with the British, informing them of Schuyler's proposals and including Schuyler's assessment of conditions at West Point. He also provided information on a proposed French-American invasion of Quebec that was to go up the Connecticut River (Arnold did not know that this proposed invasion was a ruse intended to divert British resources). On June 16, Arnold inspected West Point while on his way home to Connecticut to take care of personal business, and he sent a highly detailed report through the secret channel. When he reached Connecticut, Arnold arranged to sell his home there and began transferring assets to London through intermediaries in New York. By early July, he was back in Philadelphia, where he wrote another secret message to Clinton on July 7 which implied that his appointment to West Point was assured and that he might even provide a "drawing of the works ... by which you might take [West Point] without loss".

André returned victorious from the siege of Charleston on June 18, and both he and Clinton were immediately caught up in this news. Clinton was concerned that Washington's army and the French fleet would join in Rhode Island, and he again fixed on West Point as a strategic point to capture. André had spies and informers keeping track of Arnold to verify his movements. Excited by the prospects, Clinton informed his superiors of his intelligence coup, but failed to respond to Arnold's July 7 letter.

Arnold next wrote a series of letters to Clinton, even before he might have expected a response to the July 7 letter. In a July 11 letter, he complained that the British did not appear to trust him, and threatened to break off negotiations unless progress was made. On July 12, he wrote again, making explicit the offer to surrender West Point, although his price rose to £20,000 (in addition to indemnification for his losses), with a £1,000 down payment to be delivered with the response. These letters were delivered by Samuel Wallis, another Philadelphia businessman who spied for the British, rather than by Stansbury.

Command at West Point

On August 3, 1780, Arnold obtained command of West Point. On August 15, he received a coded letter from André with Clinton's final offer: £20,000 and no indemnification for his losses. Neither side knew for some days that the other was in agreement with that offer, due to difficulties in getting the messages across the lines. Arnold's letters continued to detail Washington's troop movements and provide information about French reinforcements that were being organized. On August 25, Peggy finally delivered to him Clinton's agreement to the terms.

Arnold's command at West Point also gave him authority over the entire American-controlled Hudson River, from Albany down to the British lines outside New York City. While en route to West Point, Arnold renewed an acquaintance with Joshua Hett Smith, who had spied for both sides and who owned a house near the western bank of the Hudson about 15 miles south of West Point.

Once Arnold established himself at West Point, he began systematically weakening its defenses and military strength. Needed repairs of the chain across the Hudson were never ordered. Troops were liberally distributed within Arnold's command area (but only minimally at West Point itself) or furnished to Washington on request. He also peppered Washington with complaints about the lack of supplies, writing, "Everything is wanting." At the same time, he tried to drain West Point's supplies so that a siege would be more likely to succeed. His subordinates, some long-time associates, grumbled about Arnold's unnecessary distribution of supplies and eventually concluded that he was selling them on the black market for personal gain.

On August 30, Arnold sent a letter accepting Clinton's terms and proposing a meeting to André through yet another intermediary: William Heron, a member of the Connecticut Assembly whom he thought he could trust. In an ironic twist, Heron went into New York unaware of the significance of the letter and offered his own services to the British as a spy. He then took the letter back to Connecticut, suspicious of Arnold's actions, where he delivered it to the head of the Connecticut militia. General Parsons laid it aside, seeing a letter written as a coded business discussion. Four days later, Arnold sent a ciphered letter with similar content into New York through the services of the wife of a prisoner of war. Eventually, a meeting was set for September 11 near Dobbs Ferry. This meeting was thwarted when British gunboats in the river fired on his boat, not being informed of his impending arrival.

Plot exposed
Arnold and André finally met on September 21 at the Joshua Hett Smith House. On the morning of September 22, from their position at Teller's Point, two American rebels (under the command of Colonel James Livingston), John "Jack" Peterson and Moses Sherwood, fired on HMS Vulture, the ship that was intended to carry André back to New York. This action did little damage besides giving the captain, Andrew Sutherland, a splinter in his nose—but the splinter prompted the Vulture to retreat, forcing André to return to New York overland. Arnold wrote out passes for André so that he would be able to pass through the lines, and he also gave him plans for West Point.

André was captured near Tarrytown, New York, on Saturday, September 23, by three Westchester militiamen. They found the papers exposing the plot to capture West Point and passed them on to their superiors, but André convinced the unsuspecting Colonel John Jameson, to whom he was delivered, to send him back to Arnold at West Point—but he never reached West Point. Major Benjamin Tallmadge was a member of the Continental Army's Culper Ring, a network of spies established under Washington's orders, and he insisted that Jameson order the prisoner to be intercepted and brought back. Jameson reluctantly recalled the lieutenant who had been delivering André into Arnold's custody, but he then sent the same lieutenant as a messenger to notify Arnold of André's arrest.

Arnold learned of André's capture the morning of September 24 while waiting for Washington, with whom he was going to have breakfast at his headquarters in British Colonel Beverley Robinson's former summer house on the east bank of the Hudson. Upon receiving Jameson's message, however, he learned that Jameson had sent Washington the papers which André was carrying. Arnold immediately hastened to the shore and ordered bargemen to row him downriver to where HMS Vulture was anchored, fleeing on it to New York City. From the ship, he wrote a letter to Washington requesting that Peggy be given safe passage to her family in Philadelphia—which Washington granted.

Washington remained calm when he was presented with evidence of Arnold's treason. He did, however, investigate its extent, and suggested that he was willing to exchange André for Arnold during negotiations with Clinton concerning André's fate. Clinton refused this suggestion; after a military tribunal, André was hanged at Tappan, New York, on October 2. Washington also infiltrated men into New York City in an attempt to capture Arnold. This plan very nearly succeeded, but Arnold changed living quarters prior to sailing for Virginia in December and thus avoided capture. He justified his actions in an open letter titled "To the Inhabitants of America", published in newspapers in October 1780. He also wrote in the letter to Washington requesting safe passage for Peggy: "Love to my country actuates my present conduct, however it may appear inconsistent to the world, who very seldom judge right of any man's actions."

Revolutionary War (British service)

Raids in Virginia and Connecticut colonies
The British gave Arnold a brigadier general's commission with an annual income of several hundred pounds, but they paid him only £6,315 plus an annual pension of £360 for his defection because his plot had failed. In December 1780, he led a force of 1,600 troops into Virginia under orders from Clinton, where he captured Richmond by surprise and then went on a rampage through Virginia, destroying supply houses, foundries, and mills. This activity brought out Virginia's militia led by Colonel Sampson Mathews, and Arnold eventually retreated to Portsmouth to be reinforced or to evacuate.

The pursuing American army included the Marquis de Lafayette, who was under orders from Washington to hang Arnold summarily if he was captured. British reinforcements arrived in late March led by Major General William Phillips who served under Lieutenant General John Burgoyne at Saratoga. Phillips led further raids across Virginia, including a defeat of Baron von Steuben at Petersburg, but he died of fever on May 12, 1781. Arnold commanded the army only until May 20, when Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis arrived with the southern army and took over. One colonel wrote to Clinton concerning Arnold: "There are many officers who must wish some other general in command." Cornwallis ignored Arnold's advice to locate a permanent base away from the coast, advice that might have averted his surrender at Yorktown.

On his return to New York in June, Arnold made a variety of proposals for attacks on economic targets to force the Americans to end the war. Clinton was uninterested in most of his aggressive ideas, but finally authorized him to raid the port of New London, Connecticut. He led a force of more than 1,700 men which burned most of New London to the ground on September 4, causing damage estimated at $500,000. They also attacked and captured Fort Griswold across the river in Groton, Connecticut, slaughtering the Americans after they surrendered following the Battle of Groton Heights—and all these deeds were done just a few miles down the Thames River from Norwich, where Arnold grew up. However, British casualties were high; nearly one quarter of the force was killed or wounded, and Clinton declared that he could ill afford any more such victories.

British surrender and exile in England
Even before Cornwallis's surrender in October, Arnold had requested permission from Clinton to go to England to give Lord George Germain his thoughts on the war in person. He renewed that request when he learned of the surrender, which Clinton then granted. On December 8, 1781, Arnold and his family left New York for England.

In London, Arnold aligned himself with the Tories, advising Germain and King George III to renew the fight against the Americans. In the House of Commons, Edmund Burke expressed the hope that the government would not put Arnold "at the head of a part of a British army" lest "the sentiments of true honour, which every British officer [holds] dearer than life, should be afflicted". The anti-war Whigs had gained the upper hand in Parliament, and Germain was forced to resign, with the government of Lord North falling not long after.

Arnold then applied to accompany Lieutenant General Guy Carleton, who was going to New York to replace Clinton as commander-in-chief, but the request went nowhere. Other attempts all failed to gain positions within the government or the British East India Company over the next few years, and he was forced to subsist on the reduced pay of non-wartime service. His reputation also came under criticism in the British press, especially when compared to Major André who was celebrated for his patriotism. One critic said that he was a "mean mercenary, who, having adopted a cause for the sake of plunder, quits it when convicted of that charge". George Johnstone turned him down for a position in the East India Company and explained: "Although I am satisfied with the purity of your conduct, the generality do not think so. While this is the case, no power in this country could suddenly place you in the situation you aim at under the East India Company."

To Canada, then back to England

In 1785, Arnold and his son Richard moved to Saint John, New Brunswick, where they speculated in land and established a business doing trade with the West Indies.  Arnold purchased large tracts of land in the Maugerville area, and acquired city lots in Saint John and Fredericton. Delivery of his first ship the Lord Sheffield was accompanied by accusations from the builder that Arnold had cheated him; Arnold replied that he had merely deducted the contractually agreed amount when the ship was delivered late. After her first voyage, Arnold returned to London in 1786 to bring his family to Saint John. While there, he disentangled himself from a lawsuit over an unpaid debt that Peggy had been fighting while he was away, paying £900 to settle a £12,000 loan that he had taken while living in Philadelphia. The family moved to Saint John in 1787, where Arnold created an uproar with a series of bad business deals and petty lawsuits. The most serious of these was a slander suit which he won against a former business partner; and following this, townspeople burned him in effigy in front of his house, as Peggy and the children watched. The family left Saint John to return to London in December 1791.

In July 1792, Arnold fought a bloodless duel with the Earl of Lauderdale after the Earl impugned his honor in the House of Lords. With the outbreak of the French Revolution, Arnold outfitted a privateer, while continuing to do business in the West Indies, even though the hostilities increased the risk. He was imprisoned by French authorities on Guadeloupe amid accusations of spying for the British, and narrowly eluded hanging by escaping to the blockading British fleet after bribing his guards. He helped organize militia forces on British-held islands, receiving praise from the landowners for his efforts on their behalf. He hoped that this work would earn him wider respect and a new command; instead, it earned him and his sons a land-grant of  in Upper Canada, near present-day Renfrew, Ontario.

Death and funeral
In January 1801, Arnold's health began to decline. He had suffered from gout since 1775, and the condition attacked his unwounded leg to the point where he was unable to go to sea. The other leg ached constantly, and he walked only with a cane. His physicians diagnosed him as having dropsy, and a visit to the countryside only temporarily improved his condition. He died after four days of delirium on June 14, 1801, at the age of 60. Legend has it that, when he was on his deathbed, he said, "Let me die in this old uniform in which I fought my battles. May God forgive me for ever having put on another," but this story may be apocryphal. Arnold was buried at St. Mary's Church in Battersea, England. As a result of a clerical error in the parish records, his remains were removed to an unmarked mass grave during church renovations a century later. His funeral procession boasted "seven mourning coaches and four state carriages"; the funeral was without military honors.

Arnold left a small estate, reduced in size by his debts, which Peggy undertook to clear. Among his bequests were considerable gifts to one John Sage, perhaps an illegitimate son or grandson.

Legacy
Benedict Arnold became permanently synonymous with "traitor" soon after his betrayal became public.

Biblical themes were often invoked. One 1794 textbook stated that "Satan entered into the heart of Benedict." Benjamin Franklin wrote that "Judas sold only one man, Arnold three millions", and Alexander Scammell described his actions as "black as hell". In Arnold's home town of Norwich, Connecticut, someone scrawled "the traitor" next to his record of birth at city hall, and all of his family's gravestones have been destroyed except his mother's.

Arnold was aware of his reputation in his home country, and French statesman Talleyrand described meeting him in Falmouth, Cornwall in 1794:

Talleyrand continued, "I must confess that I felt much pity for him, for which political puritans will perhaps blame me, but with which I do not reproach myself, for I witnessed his agony".

Early biographers attempted to describe Arnold's entire life in terms of treacherous or morally questionable behavior. The first major biography of his life was The Life and Treason of Benedict Arnold, published in 1832 by historian Jared Sparks; it was particularly harsh in showing how Arnold's treacherous character was formed out of childhood experiences. George Canning Hill authored a series of moralistic biographies in the mid-19th century and began his 1865 biography of Arnold: "Benedict, the Traitor, was born…". Social historian Brian Carso notes that, as the 19th century progressed, the story of Arnold's betrayal was portrayed with near-mythical proportions as a part of the national history. It was invoked again as sectional conflicts increased in the years before the American Civil War. Washington Irving used it as part of an argument against dismemberment of the union in his 1857 Life of George Washington, pointing out that the unity of New England and the southern states which led to independence was made possible in part by holding West Point. Jefferson Davis and other southern secessionist leaders were unfavorably compared to Arnold, implicitly and explicitly likening the idea of secession to treason. Harper's Weekly published an article in 1861 describing Confederate leaders as "a few men directing this colossal treason, by whose side Benedict Arnold shines white as a saint".

Fictional invocations of Benedict Arnold's name carry strongly negative overtones. A moralistic children's tale entitled "The Cruel Boy" was widely circulated in the 19th century. It described a boy who stole eggs from birds' nests, pulled wings off insects, and engaged in other sorts of wanton cruelty, who then grew up to become a traitor to his country. The boy is not identified until the end of the story, when his place of birth is given as Norwich, Connecticut, and his name is given as Benedict Arnold. However, not all depictions of Arnold were so negative. Some theatrical treatments of the 19th century explored his duplicity, seeking to understand rather than demonize it.

Canadian historians have treated Arnold as a relatively minor figure. His difficult time in New Brunswick led historians to summarize it as full of "controversy, resentment, and legal entanglements" and to conclude that he was disliked by both Americans and Loyalists living there. Historian Barry Wilson points out that Arnold's descendants established deep roots in Canada, becoming leading settlers in Upper Canada and Saskatchewan. His descendants are spread across Canada, most of all those of John Sage, who adopted the Arnold surname.

Honors

The Boot Monument at Saratoga National Historical Park pays tribute to Arnold but does not mention his name. It was donated by Civil War General John Watts DePeyster, and its inscription reads: "In memory of the most brilliant soldier of the Continental army, who was desperately wounded on this spot, winning for his countrymen the decisive battle of the American Revolution, and for himself the rank of Major General." The victory monument at Saratoga has four niches, three of which are occupied by statues of Generals Gates, Schuyler, and Morgan. The fourth niche is pointedly empty.

There are plaques on the grounds of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, commemorating all of the generals who served in the Revolution. One plaque bears only a rank and a date but no name: "major general… born 1740". Historical markers in Danvers, Massachusetts, and Newburyport, MA commemorate Arnold's 1775 expedition to Quebec. There are also historical markers bearing his name at Wyman Lake Rest Area on US-201 north of Moscow, Maine, on the western bank of Lake Champlain, New York, and two in Skowhegan, Maine.

The house where Arnold lived at 62 Gloucester Place in central London bears a plaque describing him as an "American Patriot". He was buried at St Mary's Church, Battersea, England which has a commemorative stained glass window. The faculty club at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, has a Benedict Arnold Room in which letters written by Arnold hang on the walls.

Marriages and children

Arnold had three sons with Margaret Mansfield:
 Benedict Arnold (1768–1795) (Captain, British Army in Jamaica)
 Richard Arnold (1769–1847) (Lieutenant, American Legion cavalry)
 Henry Arnold (1772–1826) (Lieutenant, American Legion cavalry)

He had five children with Peggy Shippen:
 Edward Shippen Arnold (1780–1813) (Lieutenant, British Army in India; see Bengal Army)
 James Robertson Arnold (1781–1854) (Lieutenant General, Royal Engineers)
 George Arnold (1787–1828) (Lieutenant Colonel, 2nd (or 7th) Bengal Cavalry)
 Sophia Matilda Arnold (1785–1828)
 William Fitch Arnold (1794–1846) (Captain, 9th Queen's Royal Lancers)

Arnold left significant bequests in his will to John Sage (born 1786), who has been identified by some historians as a possible illegitimate son, but may also have been a grandchild.

Published works

In popular culture
 Benedict Arnold, a 1909 short film directed by J. Stuart Blackton and played by Charles Kent.
 Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor, a 2003 TV film directed by Mikael Salomon, with Aidan Quinn as Arnold
 Washington, 2020 miniseries in which Ciarán Owens portrays Arnold
 Benedict Arnold, played by Owain Yeoman, is a major character in the TV series Turn: Washington's Spies
 Benedict Arnold, voiced by Andy Samberg, as the primary antagonist and werewolf in the animated action parody America: The Motion Picture
 The episode Benedict Arnold Slipped Here from TV series Murder, She Wrote.
 Benedict Arnold, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, as the minor antagonist in the episode "Twistory" from the TV series The Fairly OddParents.
 Benedict Arnold, played by Stephen Macht, is a major character in the 1984 miniseries George Washington.
 Benedict Arnold, played by Curtis Caravaggio, is a one-time character in the episode "The Capture of Benedict Arnold" in the 2016–2018 TV series Timeless.
 Benedict Arnold, voiced by Dustin Hoffman, appeared only in 4 episodes from the 2002–2003 TV series Liberty's Kids.
 Benedict Arnold, voiced by Jim Meskimen, appeared only in 2 episodes from the 2010–2013 TV series Mad.
 Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed, a 2021 TV documentary film directed by Chris Stearns and played by Peter O'Meara.
 Drunk History Season 2 Episode 8 as retold by Erin McGathy featuring Chris Parnell as Benedict Arnold, Derek Waters as John André, and Wynona Rider as Peggy Shippen.
 The final episode of the first season of The Scooby-Doo Show, "The Spirits of '76," features the ghosts of Arnold, Major André and ensign William Demont as the villains' disguises.
 In Kingsley Amis' 1976 alternate history novel, The Alteration, Arnold is remembered as a hero by the Republic of New England, whose major city is named "Arnoldstown."
 Appears in season 7, episode 7 of the television series Outlander.

See also

 List of Freemasons
 List of people from Connecticut

Notes

References

Bibliography

 Shy, John. "Arnold, Benedict," American National Biography (1999) short scholarly biography
   This book includes a reprint of Arnold's diary of his march.

   This book is about Arnold's time in Canada both before and after his treachery.

Further reading

 ; Very old and outdated
 Burt, Daniel S. The Biography Book: A Reader's Guide To Nonfiction, Fictional, and Film Biographies of More Than 500 of the Most Fascinating Individuals of all Time (2001) pp. 12–13; annotates 26 books and 2 films.
 Case, Stephen and Mark Jacob. Treacherous Beauty: Peggy Shippen, The Woman Behind Benedict Arnold's Plot To Betray America (2012), popular biography
 Courtwright, Julie. "Whom Can We Trust Now? The Portrayal of Benedict Arnold in American History" Fairmont Folio: Journal of History (Wichita State University) v. 2 (1998) online
 ; studies numerous biographies and textbooks to trace American memory of him over the centuries
 Fine, Gary Alan. Difficult reputations: Collective memories of the evil, inept, and controversial (University of Chicago Press, 2001) , chapter 1 on "Benedict Arnold and the Commemoration of Treason"
 Merrill, Jane, and John Endicott. The Late Years of Benedict Arnold: Fugitive, Smuggler, Mercenary, 1780-1801 (McFarland, 2022).
 Nicolosi, Annie et al. Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor.: The Idea Book for Educators, Spring 2003. (A&E Network, 2003) online teaching ideas for secondary schools.
 Palmer, Dave Richard. George Washington and Benedict Arnold: A Tale of Two Patriots (2014); Popular dual biography.
 Philbrick, Nathaniel. Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution (2016).
 , a novel.
 Rubin Stuart, Nancy. Defiant brides: the untold story of two revolutionary-era women and the radical men they married, (Boston: Beacon Press, 2013).
 Shalhope, Robert E. "Benedict Arnold as Hero." Reviews in American History 26.4 (1998): 668-673. excerpt
 Shy, John. "Arnold, Benedict (1741–1801)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Arnold, Benedict (1741–1801), army officer | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
 ; The first major history, now entirely outdated
 Timmers, Christopher. "Judas of the revolution: America's most infamous traitor." TLS. Times Literary Supplement, no. 6043, 25 Jan. 2019, p. 28. u=anon~cb0f2d40&sid=googleScholar&xid=49a0729d online

 ; Old and outdated
 Trees, Andy. "Benedict Arnold, John André, and His Three Yeoman Captors: A Sentimental Journey or American Virtue Defined." Early American Literature 35.3 (2000): 246-273. online
 Van Doren, Carl. Secret History of the American Revolution: An Account of the Conspiracies of Benedict Arnold and Numerous Others Drawn from the Secret Service Papers of the British Headquarters in North America now for the first time examined and made public (1941) online free
 Wallace, Willard M. "Benedict Arnold: Traitorous Patriot." in George Athan Billias, ed., George Washington's Generals (1964): 163–193.
 Wallace, Willard M. Traitorous Hero The Life & Fortunes of Benedict Arnold (1954).

Primary sources

 "Spy Letters of the American Revolution"  includes Arnold's 1779–80 letters to Clinton and André, proposing treason; from the Clements Library]
 links to primary sources about Benedict Arnold before and after his treason

External links

 Benedict Arnold : Hero Betrayed
 Benedict Arnold at AmericanRevolution.org
 Benedict Arnold at Encyclopædia Britannica

 Benedict Arnold at George Washington's Mount Vernon
 Benedict Arnold's Portraits at varsitytutors.com

Benedict Arnold
1741 births
1801 deaths
18th-century American non-fiction writers
American booksellers
American defectors
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
American Freemasons
American male non-fiction writers
American people of English descent
American rebels
Apothecaries
Benedict
British Army brigadiers
British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War
British duellists
British military intelligence informants
British people of the French Revolutionary Wars
British privateers
British spies during the American Revolution
Burials in England
Businesspeople from New Haven, Connecticut
Colonial American merchants
Connecticut militiamen in the American Revolution
Continental Army generals
Continental Army officers from Connecticut
Continental Army personnel who were court-martialed
Deaths from edema
Military personnel from Norwich, Connecticut
People of colonial Connecticut
People of Connecticut in the French and Indian War
Traitors in history
Writers from Connecticut

Benedict Arnold


Bulgaria inquinans is a fungus in the family Phacidiaceae. It is commonly known by the name black bulgar and black jelly drops.

It grows on branches and bark of dead oak and hornbeam. It has also been growing on ash trees due to ash dieback disease. The species can be found from October to March. It can be commonly found on felled trees stored in timber yards. Research into the colouring materials found in the fungus by H.Lockett and R.Edwards at Bradford University gave name to three purple pigments as two bulgarhodins and bulgarein.

Description
The cap of Bulgaria inquinans generally has a diameter between 0.5 and 4 cm (0.19 in to  1.6 in). It has a flat top when young but later become more cupped. These mushrooms generally grow in medium sized clusters on dead trees, generally oak and hornbeam, but also ash trees. The texture of the mushroom is similar to leather or elastic, depending on dry weather (elastic like), or wet weather (leather). It grows across mainland Europe and in the British Isles. It also grows in parts of the United States.

The species is inedible.

Similar species include Ascocoryne sarcoides and Exidia glandulosa.

Gallery

References

External links
 SoortenBank.nl

Leotiomycetes
Fungi described in 1794
Fungi of Europe
Fungi of North America
Inedible fungi
Taxa named by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon

Bulgaria inquinans


Widji Thukul (born 26 August 1963) is an Indonesian poet and activist. His work is political, often critical of the Indonesian government and the social conditions of the country. He has been missing since 1998.

Life
Born on 26 August 1963, Thukul attended junior high school, but left middle school in 1982 due to his family's financial constraints. Early jobs included newspaper-seller, ticket-scalper, and finisher in a furniture shop.

As well as being a poet, Thukul was also a musician and also accompanied a theatre group, Theater Jagat, around Solo.

In 1988, Thukul married Dyah Sujirah. They had two children and together they founded an arts group called Sanggar Suka Banjir (Frequent Flooding Studio).

Thukul helped organize workers demonstrations and was a member of Partai Rakyat Demokratik (People's Democratic Party). In a worker demonstration in 1995, Thukul was struck in the eye by a rifle butt, causing permanent damage to his sight.

His last contact with his wife was in February 1998. In April of that year he was seen in a demonstration in Tangerang but has not been seen since. It is suspected that he was one of many anti-government protesters abducted by government forces during the anti-Suharto demonstrations. His wife Dyah has since died in 2023.

Publications
 Puisi Pelo (Lisping Poetry), published by Taman Budaya Surakata, Solo, 1984.
 Darman dan Lain-lain (Darman and the Others), published by Taman Budaya Surakata, Solo, 1994.
 Mencari Tanah Lapang (Looking for an Open Plot of Land), published by Manus Amici, 1994.
 Aku Ingin Jadi Peluru (I Want to be a Bullet), published by IndonesiaTera, Magelang, 2000.

Awards
Thukul's Looking for an Open Plot of Land won the 'Encourage Award' from the Netherlands-based Wertheim Foundation.

See also
List of people who disappeared

References

Notes
Some of this information in this article is taken from the biographical essay 'Wiji Thukul: People's Poet' by Tinuk R. Yampolsky, in Menagerie 5, edited by John McGlynn and Laora Arkeman, Lontar Foundation, Jakarta, 2003.

External links
 Translation into English of some of Thukul's poems

1963 births
1990s missing person cases
20th-century Indonesian poets
20th-century male writers
Indonesian male poets
Indonesian human rights activists
Political repression in Indonesia
Missing people
Missing person cases in Indonesia
Possibly living people

Widji Thukul


Léonce Girardot (30 April 1864 – 7 September 1922) was a French racing driver. He drove for Panhard & Levassor, the leading brand of this era and his strongest competitors were his teammates Fernand Charron and René de Knyff.

His first major race came in the 1897 season, when in the Paris-Dieppe race he took sixteenth place. Twenty-fourth place in the 1897 Paris-Trouville and the retirement from the first race in the next season 1898 Paris-Bourdeaux followed before Girardot finished in second place in the 1898 Paris–Amsterdam–Paris. He continued with the same result at the Tour de France for automobiles in 1899 and Paris-Lyon 1900. In 1901, he won the Gordon Bennett Trophy race, although he was the only one who finished from the field of three cars that entered. He finished in second place in the 1901 Paris-Berlin race.

In 1901, he founded the race car company Charron, Girardot et Voigt (C.G.V.) along with his teammates Charron and Émile  Voigt. These cars proved unreliable, and it was only at the 1903 Ardennes race he finished, taking second position. After an accident in the French trials for 1905 Gordon Bennett Cup which he only just survived, he ended his racing career.

He patented an improved friction-clutch for motor cars in 1905, under US Patent number: 787031.

Léonce Girardot died in 1922.

References

French racing drivers
1864 births
1922 deaths

Léonce Girardot


A Tale of Two Cities is a 1935 play by Terence Rattigan and John Gielgud, adapting the novel of the same name by Charles Dickens. It was intended to premiere in 1935, but Gielgud (who had also planned to play Sydney Carton) cancelled the production to avoid competing with another actor's adaptation of the same work. It was put on once at a school and adapted for radio in 1950, but its professional stage premiere was from September 25 until October 19, 2013 at the King's Head Theatre.

References

External links

1935 plays
Plays based on works by Charles Dickens
Plays by Terence Rattigan
Works based on A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities (1935 play)


Sompal Shastri or Sompal Singh Shastri () born on 20 January 1942 in a Farmer-Jat family and began his career as a politician of Rashtriya Lok Dal from Uttar Pradesh India. He has been Minister for Agriculture for the national government and a member of the Planning Commission. He is Vice Chairman, State Planning Board, Madhya Pradesh.

Sompal won in 1998 defeating Rashtriya Lok Dal's chief Chaudhary Ajit Singh from Baghpat. But lost to Chaudhary Ajit Singh in 1999 by a margin of over 1.54 lakh votes.

Sompal's father was Raghubir Singh Shastri, and represented Baghpat in the fourth Lok Sabha. He graduated from Boys High School in Allahabad now Prayagraj, 1957; B.A. Hons. (Economics), Delhi University, 1961;  M.A. (Economics), Delhi University, 1964;  LL.B., Delhi University, 1967.

In September 2013, Sompal Shastri refused to contest Lok Sabha polls under the Samajwadi Party banner. In a letter written to party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mr. Shastri said he was not in a position to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Baghpat after the violence in which over 38 people were killed. The incidents of communal violence in Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Baghpat were unfortunate, he said.

References

External links
 India Today Cover story Winners of 1998

People from Bagpat district
People from Haridwar
1942 births
Living people
India MPs 1998–1999
Agriculture Ministers of India
Delhi University alumni
Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh
Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh
Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh
Samajwadi Party politicians
Janata Dal politicians
Rashtriya Janata Dal politicians

Sompal Shastri


Windel Beneto Edwards (born 25 October 1983), better known by his stage name Gyptian (), is a Jamaican reggae singer. He often appears with roots reggae songs within the reggae subgenre dancehall.

Early life
Born to a Seventh-day Adventist mother Pauline McCaulsky and Rastafarian father, Edwards received his musical calling at the age of seven, when he began singing in the church. He grew up in a small community in Rural St. Andrew, Jamaica called King Weston District. Recognizing his talent, his parents introduced him to Mr. Wong, a record producer from Portmore, St. Catherine. "I did not take it seriously," said Edwards "My family members have always been carrying me to Portmore to see him, but I usually disappear. One day, they dropped me off at his studio and left me and it all began there."

Career

Career beginnings
Under the guidance of Mr. Wong and Earl Chinna Smith, Gyptian honed his sound, winning the 2004 Star Search talent competition at Kens Wild Flower Lounge in Portmore, earning him a spot at Sting 2004, dubbed the 'greatest one night reggae show on earth'.

The singer earned his nickname from his habit of tying a shirt around his head and twisting his chin hair like an Egyptian pharaoh. In 2005, he scored two hits, "Is There A Place" on the Seasons Riddim and "Serious Times".

Nominated for Best New Entertainer at the 2006 International Reggae and World Music Awards, the singer has been dominating the Jamaican charts with hits including "Is There a Place", "Beautiful Lady", and the chart-topping ballad, "Mama, Don't Cry".

On 12 September 2006, Gyptian released his first album My Name Is Gyptian on VP Records. On 12 December 2007, Gyptian, while in New York City, shot the music video, directed by Rhona Fox, for his new single, "I Can Feel Your Pain" (Cloud Nine Riddim) Produced by JonFX. The song was the first to be confirmed to appear on his second album I Can Feel Your Pain, which was released in 2008.

2010 and crossover success
As of the end of May 2010, his single "Hold Yuh" had peaked at number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 33 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Chart, number 6 on the Billboard Heatseekers Songs Chart and had been at the top of the Reggae Digital Songs chart for nine consecutive weeks.

In June, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually reached a new peak of 77 on that chart, number 3 on the Heatseekers Songs chart, 31 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Chart, 63 on the Radio Songs chart and an astonishing peak of 28 on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40, capitalizing it crossover success. The song also peaked at number 1 on the Dancehall/Reggae fusion Charts of the Jamaica Weekly Music Charts for two consecutive weeks. In Canada it peaked at No. 69 on the Canadian Hot 100. The official remix for the song features rapper Nicki Minaj. It spent 29 weeks on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Chart and 15 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. (Despite it sounding similar to Alison Hinds' Roll it gyal)

Gyptian had further chart success with his third album Hold You, which reached number 2 on Billboard'''s Reggae Albums Chart. The title track, "Hold Yuh", became a multi-chart hit worldwide. According to Billboard magazine, "not since Wayne Wonder's "No Letting Go" has an underground reggae artist garnered as much attention in the United States as Jamaica's own Gyptian."

The song also became popular in the UK, and was released there on 7 November by Ministry of Sound Recordings, in an EP which will include remixes by Shy FX, Major Lazer and Toddla T.

In October 2012, he released the SLR EP, which included three tracks from his forthcoming album. His fourth album Sex, Love & Reggae was released in October 2013 and entered the Billboard Top Reggae Albums chart at number one.

His latest album, Nothing to Lose'', was set for release in April 2015, but never got released.

Artistry
His style of reggae music is considered lovers rock and roots reggae, with songs about political issues and love. His musical and lyrical style has been compared to established Jamaican artists, such as Sizzla, Luciano and Beres Hammond.

Personal life
Gyptian is currently single and is living in Jamaica. In June 2006 his twin sons died after being born prematurely.

On 8 June 2010, he crashed his motorbike and sustained minor head and shoulder injuries.

He is Rastafarian, and this is supported by lyrics in some of his songs, including "Leave Us Alone", where chants about Selassie I can be heard.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Featured singles

References

External links
Article about Gyptian in the Jamaica Star

Jamaican reggae musicians
Reggae fusion artists
1983 births
Living people
Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica
VP Records artists

Gyptian


Turbo51 is a compiler for the programming language Pascal, for the Intel MCS-51 (8051) family of microcontrollers. It features Borland Turbo Pascal 7 syntax, support for inline assembly code, source-level debugging, and optimizations, among others. The compiler is written in Object Pascal and produced with Delphi.

In the 1980s, Intel introduced the 8051 as the first member of the MCS-51 processor family. Today, hundreds of cheap derivatives are available from tens of manufacturers. This makes the architecture very interesting for professionals and hobbyists. It is surprising that this 8-bit architecture is still in use today, and is still so popular. Of all 8051 compilers, several widely used C compilers exist, but only a few Pascal compilers. Turbo51 is available as freeware and was created with the goal to make a Pascal compiler for MCS-51 processors that will be as fast as Turbo Pascal, will use the same syntax and will generate high quality optimized code.

Language dialect

Turbo51 uses Borland Turbo Pascal 7 dialect. The syntax was extended with some constructs to support specific features of MCS-51 processors.

Var   RS485_TX: Boolean absolute P3.2;
      I2C.SDA:   Boolean absolute P3.7;
      I2C.SCL:   Boolean absolute P3.4;

      EEPROM_Data:    TEEPROM_Data XDATA absolute 0;

      ModuleAddress:  Byte;
      RX_LedTimer:    Byte;
      TX_LedTimer:    Byte;

      SavedOutput:    TOutputData IDATA;
      OutputsAuxData: Array [1..8] of Byte IDATA;

Features

 Win32 console application
 Fast single pass optimizing compiler
 Borland Turbo Pascal 7 syntax
 Full floating point support
 Mixed Pascal and assembly programming
 Full use of register banks
 Advanced multi-pass optimizer
 Smart linker
 Generates compact high quality code
 Output formats: Binary, Intel HEX, OMF51 Object Module Format
 Assembly source code generation

"Hello World" example

Program HelloWorld;

Const
 Osc      = 22118400;
 BaudRate = 19200;

 BaudRateTimerValue = Byte (- Osc div 12 div 32 div BaudRate);

Var SerialPort: Text;

Procedure WriteToSerialPort; Assembler;
Asm
  CLR   TI
  MOV   SBUF, A
@WaitLoop:
  JNB   TI, @WaitLoop
end;

Procedure Init;
begin
  TL1  := BaudRateTimerValue;
  TH1  := BaudRateTimerValue;
  TMOD := %00100001;    { Timer1: no GATE, 8 bit timer, autoreload }
  SCON := %01010000;    { Serial Mode 1, Enable Reception }
  TI   := True;         { Indicate TX ready }
  TR1  := True;         { Enable timer 1 }

  Assign (SerialPort, WriteToSerialPort)
end;

begin
  Init;
  Writeln (SerialPort, 'Hello world!')
end.

See also
 Intel 8051
 Pascal (programming language)
 Comparison of Pascal and C
 Borland
 Turbo Pascal

External links

Pascal (programming language) compilers
Pascal programming language family
Object-oriented programming languages
compilers and interpreters
Pascal (programming language) software

Turbo51


Reynaldo Dagsa (1975 – January 1, 2011) was a Filipino politician. A member of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team, he served as councilman for Barangay 35 in Maypajo, Caloocan until his assassination in 2011. He was also a corporal in the Philippine Army Reserve Command.

Assassination and photo
His death achieved notoriety due to his taking of a New Year's Day family photo on Tuna Street which inadvertently captured the faces of both his killer and a lookout for the killer; the shooter, a convicted robber out on parole, pointed the gun in the photo directly at Dagsa seconds before the shot went off. Dagsa was rushed to Martinez Hospital but was immediately pronounced dead from a .45-caliber gunshot wound to the head. The photo was later turned over to Caloocan city police; the shooter in the photo was identified as Arnel Buenaflor, who was arrested on January 7, and two suspected accomplices, one Michael Gonzales (alias Fubo of Fish Pond Area I) and Rommel Oliva (alias Balong), were arrested by January 3 in connection with the murder. Buenaflor was charged with murder by Assistant City Prosecutor Darwin G. Canete after inquest. Buenaflor, a member of the Pasaway Gang, claimed to have shot Dagsa in retribution for being shot in the head by persons associated with Dagsa during a shootout months earlier, while police attributed a motive to Dagsa's peacekeeping efforts in the barangay.

References

People from Caloocan
1975 births
2011 deaths
Assassinated Filipino politicians
Deaths by firearm in the Philippines
Philippine Army personnel
Metro Manila city and municipal councilors
2010s assassinated politicians

Reynaldo Dagsa


A coral reef is a large underwater structure made of dead and living corals. In most healthy reefs, stony corals are predominant. They are built from colonial polyps from the phylum Cnidaria which secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate. The reefs are formed in tropical marine areas (30 degrees north and south of the equator) and between the tropics. The reef acts as the home of many tropical fish and other animals. Coral reefs systems are a major tourism attraction because of their beauty and color of the corals and their many associated animals.

People look at them while snorkeling and diving. One example of a coral reef is in Malaysia at Pulau Tioman, off the State of Pahang. The most famous is the Great Barrier Reef off the East coast of Australia.

Formation
Most present-day coral reefs were formed after the last ice age when melting ice caused the sea level to rise and flood the continental shelves. This means they are less than 10,000 years old. As coral reef communities were established on the shelves, they built reefs that grew upwards, keeping pace with the rise in sea level. Reefs that did not keep pace became drowned reefs, covered by so much water that there was insufficient light for further survival.

Coral reefs are also found in the deep sea away from the continental shelves, around oceanic islands and as atolls. The vast majority of these ocean coral islands are volcanic in origin. The few exceptions have tectonic origins where plate movements have lifted the deep ocean floor on the surface.

Conservation
Coral reefs are fragile ecosystems. Because corals need warm, sunlit water to live, they often grow close to the top of the water. Being so close to land makes them often be damaged by poisons and dirt that can come from boats and the land nearby. Dirt makes the water more cloudy, which makes the sunlight less. Poisons can bleach and kill corals. Also, they are hard for ships to see, but easy to hit, which makes ships often run into the coral, damaging both the boats and coral. Because of this, many countries are trying to lessen the kinds of building that usually happen near beaches that have coral reefs nearby, and be more careful about the boats that go around reefs.

References

Further reading

Biomes

Coral reef


Christopher Pringle (born 26 January 1968) is a New Zealand former cricketer. A medium-fast bowler, he played 14 Tests and 64 One Day Internationals (ODI) for New Zealand between 1990 and 1995. He represented Auckland in the State Championship between 1989 and 1998.

Pringle was in England in 1990 playing cricket in the Bradford Cricket League and had gone to watch an ODI at Headingley, Leeds between England and New Zealand. He asked if there was a spare ticket for the match, and when three other New Zealand bowlers were injured or unwell, he found himself playing in two matches.

International career
Pringle made his Test debut versus Pakistan at Karachi in 1990/91 and in his third test took Test best figures of 11-152, including 7-52 in the first innings. The match and the series was dogged by controversy as both teams were accused of ball tampering. Pringle later admitted that he had used a bottle cap that he'd cut into four quarters to scrape one side of the ball.  He appeared intermittently for the Test side, gaining more success in the one-day game. From his seemingly uncoordinated action he was good at bowling yorker length deliveries in the closing overs.

In a 1990 ODI at Hobart versus Australia, Pringle was due to bowl the 50th and final over of the innings with Australia needing two runs to win. He ended up bowling a maiden over with batsman Bruce Reid run out going for the tie. New Zealand won the match by one run.

In 1994, Pringle became the first number 11 batsman in ODI history to top score for his team in an ODI. He scored unbeaten 34 runs in New Zealand's total of 171/9.

Later career
He played and coached cricket in the Netherlands. An ankle injury ended his cricketing career in 1998.

References

External links

1968 births
Living people
New Zealand cricketers
New Zealand Test cricketers
New Zealand One Day International cricketers
Auckland cricketers
Netherlands cricketers
People educated at Rosmini College
M Parkinson's World XI cricketers
North Island cricketers

Chris Pringle


The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (chassis code W 198) is a two-seat sports car that was produced by Mercedes-Benz from 1954 to 1957 as a gullwinged coupé and from 1957 to 1963 as a roadster. The 300 SL traces its origins to the company's 1952 racing car, the W194, and was equipped with a mechanical direct fuel injection system that significantly increased the power output of its three-liter overhead camshaft straight-six engine.

The 300 SL was capable of reaching speeds of up to 263 km/h (163 mph), earning it a reputation as a sports car racing champion and making it the fastest production car of its time. The car's iconic gullwing doors and innovative lightweight tubular-frame construction contributed to its status as a groundbreaking and highly influential automobile.

The designation "SL" is an abbreviation of the German term "super-leicht," meaning "super-light," a reference to the car's racing-bred lightweight construction. The 300 SL was introduced to the American market at the suggestion of Max Hoffman, Mercedes-Benz's United States importer at the time, who recognized the potential demand for a high-performance sports car among American buyers. The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL remains a highly sought-after classic car and is celebrated for its performance, design, and technological advancements.

Development

Origin in the W194 racing car

The 300 SL traces its origin to a racing sports car, the Mercedes-Benz W194. For this purpose, Daimler-Benz decided to race in 1951 and built a sports car. As a result, Mercedes' largest engine was developed: the M186, shared by the 300 "Adenauer" saloon (W186) and the luxury 300 S two-seat tourer (W188).

Racing successes in 1952 were somewhat surprising as the W194 engine was fitted only with carburetors, producing less than competing cars by Ferrari and Jaguar and the 300 SL road car introduced in 1954. Nevertheless, low weight and low aerodynamic drag made the W194 fast enough to be competitive in endurance races.

Mercedes-Benz developed a new version for the 1953 racing season by adding fuel injection and 16-inch wheels; the gearbox was installed on its rear axle. Its body was made of Elektron, a magnesium alloy, which reduced its weight by . Mercedes-Benz decided not to race this alloy car, choosing instead to begin participating in Formula One in 1954. Later versions revised the body to lower air resistance, and did not continue the transmission arrangement.

Origin of the 300 SL

The idea of Mercedes producing a toned-down Grand Prix car targeted to affluent performance enthusiasts in the booming post-war American market was suggested by Max Hoffman at a 1953 directors' meeting in Stuttgart. Mercedes' new general director, Fritz Konecke, agreed to Hoffman's order for 1,000 cars to guarantee the success of the production run; the 300 SL was introduced at the February 1954 New York International Auto Show instead of the Frankfurt or Geneva shows, where company models usually debuted. In addition, the production of a smaller roadster, the Mercedes-Benz 190 SL, was announced after Hoffman ordered another 1,000 of them. The 300 SL and the 190 SL premiered at the 1954 New York show; Mercedes-Benz experienced a positive visitor response to both, and production began at the Sindelfingen plant in August of that year.

Cost
The price for the 300 SL coupe in Germany was DM 29,000, and $6,820 in the US. The roadster was DM 32,500 in Germany, and $10,950 in the US – 10 percent more expensive than the coupe in Europe, and over 70 percent more in the US.

SL abbreviation
Mercedes-Benz did not announce what the abbreviation "SL" meant when the car was introduced; magazines and company officials have called it "Sport Leicht" and "Super Leicht" ("light"). It was called "Sport Leicht" on the company website until 2017, when "SL" was changed to "Super Leicht" after a chance finding in the corporate archives.

300 SLS

A special 300 SLS (Super Light Special) version of the 300 SL roadster was created for the Mercedes-Benz US racing team to compete on the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) national circuit in 1957.  After the 300 SL coupe dominated the D Production class en route to titles in 1955 and 1956, the rules were changed to make the class more competitive by enlarging the maximum engine size from three to 3.5 liters.  Rather than radically modifying its engine size (on the cusp of releasing the company's new 300 SL roadster, replacing the coupe), Mercedes-Benz created two roadsters to campaign on the D Modified class SCAA circuit. They featured a solid cover over the passenger seat, a low-profile racing screen in place of a full-width and -height windscreen, a driver's seat roll bar, a custom cowl with engine air intake, and no front and rear bumpers. These and other modifications lowered vehicle weight from  to . Engine output was increased , to . Team driver Paul O'Shea again won the title for the company.

Overview

The 300 SL has a steel tubular frame chassis, with a steel body combined with an aluminum bonnet, doors, dashboard, and boot lid to further reduce weight. An additional  could be eliminated with an expensive all-aluminum body, but only 29 were made.  Depending on the rear axle ratio, fuel consumption was 17 liters per 100 km (14 miles per US gallon; 17 miles per imperial gallon).

Interior
Three checkered-pattern seat fabrics were standard: grey and green, grey and blue, and cream and red. Most customers opted for leather upholstery, which became standard on the roadster. With upward-opening doors, the coupe has an unusually-high sill; entering and exiting the car is problematic. The steering wheel pivots on its hub 90 degrees away from the dashboard to facilitate entry. Storage space for luggage is behind the seats in the coupe; the boot only holds a spare wheel and fuel tank. The roadster was available with two custom-fitted leather suitcases for the larger boot. The coupe's windows are fixed and roll down in the roadster.

Exterior
The body consists mainly of sheet steel, with the bonnet, boot lid, dashboard, sill, and door skins made of aluminum. Silver-grey was the standard color; all others were options.

The objective of the overall design was to make the vehicle as streamlined as possible. The width of the tubular frame along the cockpit allowed the cabin roofline to be inset considerably on both sides, dramatically reducing the front area. The structure was also quite high between the wheels, prohibiting the attachment of standard doors. The only option – already used on the W194 race car – which would allow passengers over its high, deep sill was a gullwing door.

The car's distinctive eyebrows are a functional feature in the front, both physically and aerodynamically deflecting road water from the windscreen, and stylistic in the rear, added for visual symmetry.

Engine
The Mercedes-Benz M198 engine is a water-cooled  overhead cam straight six. Like the racing Mercedes-Benz M194, the 300 SL borrowed the basic two-valves-per-cylinder M186 engine from the regular four-door 300 (W186 "Adenauer") luxury touring car introduced in 1951.

It featured the M186's aluminum head: a 30-degree diagonal base, allowing larger intake and exhaust valves than a standard horizontal joint with the engine block. To improve performance, the M198 replaced the W194's triple two-barrel Solex carburetors with a Bosch mechanical fuel-injection system. This raised output on the 300 SL from  SAE gross to  SAE gross at 6,100 rpm. Compression was set at 8.55:1.

Another performance feature was dry sump lubrication, which ensured proper oil distribution in high-speed cornering and reduced engine height by eliminating a traditional oil pan. A more-powerful version of the M198, with a radical sports camshaft and 9.5:1 compression ratio, could be ordered free of additional charge for the coupe. The roadster had this engine only in its 1957 debut year. For the M198 engine to be installed in a low-profile car, it was tilted 50 degrees toward the driver's side. The result was aerodynamic efficiency and an enormous, sand-cast aluminum intake manifold as wide as the engine.

The engine was coupled by a single-disc dry clutch to a four-speed transmission with gear ratios of 3.34:1, 1.97:1, 1.39:1, and 1:1, and a reverse ratio of 2.73:1. The stock rear-axle ratio at the beginning of production was 1:3.42; at the 41st vehicle, it was changed to 1:3.64 for better acceleration. It allows a top speed of  and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 9.3 seconds. Faster acceleration was provided with ratios of 1:3.89 and 1:4.11. The lowest final-gear ratio, 1:3.25, delivered a top speed of up to  and made the 300 SL the fastest production car of its time. City drivers found the tall first gear challenging. Clutch-pedal operation was initially cumbersome, remedied by an improved clutch-arm helper spring.

Unlike present-day electronic fuel-injection systems, the 300 SL's mechanical fuel pump would continue to inject gasoline into the engine during the interval between ignition shut-off and the engine's coming to a stop. This extra fuel washed away the oil film critical to an engine during start-up and led to oil dilution, excessive ring wear, and scouring of the cylinder walls. Exacerbating the problem was the engine's dry-sump lubrication system, with its large oil cooler and enormous  oil capacity, which virtually guaranteed that the oil would not get hot enough on the short trips frequently taken by most car owners to flow properly. Owners might block off airflow through the oil cooler and stick rigidly to the appropriately low  recommended oil-change interval. An auxiliary fuel pump provided additional fuel for extended high-speed operation (or cold starts), but overuse could also lead to oil dilution. From March 1963 to the end of production later that year, a light alloy crankcase was installed in 209 vehicles.

Chassis

Like modern racing cars, the 300 SL has a tubular frame, designed by Mercedes head engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut and made of steel. Such a frame provided high rigidity with low mass. Thin, straight chrome-molybdenum tubes were assembled as triangles, with the finished frame weighing a remarkable . Elements of the coupe frame fill span the entire width of the vehicle's track from wheel to wheel, making for an unusually high and deep threshold for access to the passenger compartment. The upper tube is so high it is level with the driver's elbow, making conventional horizontally, hinged doors infeasible.  The resulting design - upward opening "gullwing" doors - gave the car its iconic nickname.

Suspension
The suspension was a regular Mercedes-Benz W186 with a sportier tuning. Front-to-rear weight distribution is almost exactly in the center of the vehicle.

Unlike many 1950s cars, recirculating ball steering was relatively precise, and the four-wheel independent suspension allowed for a reasonably-comfortable ride and markedly-better overall handling.

The front suspension consisted of unequal-length double wishbones, coil springs, hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers, and a torsion anti-roll bar.

The rear has a low-pivot swing axle, radius arms, and coil springs.  Being jointed only at the differential (not at the wheels themselves), the swing axle could make rear end cornering treacherous at high speeds or on bad roads due to extreme changes in camber. This was remedied in the roadster by switching to a high-pivot geometry.

Brakes

The 300SL had the same  self-cooled,  drum brakes as the Mercedes 300S.  A brake booster was used to decrease pedal force by using negative pressure from the intake manifold. Brake shoes were  wide. The front drum brakes were two-wheel brake cylinders/wheels, and the rear drum brakes were one-wheel brake cylinders/wheels. The handbrake was a mechanical parking brake that acted on the rear wheels. The roadster had the same drum brakes until March 1961, when Ø  front and rear disc brakes were introduced.

The roadster's wheels were larger than the coupe's. The wheels were steel bowl/aluminum rim rivet compound wheels. Rudge 5J × 15-inch rims were a valuable option. The tires were 6.50-15 inches on the coupe and 6.70–15 on the roadster.

Roadster

In mid-1956, sales had begun to fall, and the board decided to show a convertible version at the Geneva show in March and convert the factory to a roadster version in May 1957 to serve the California market.

The 300 SL Roadster, with conventional doors, was first exhibited at the Geneva Salon in May 1957. The production of an open 300 SL involved redesigning the cockpit with lower sills for improved access. The rear suspension also incorporated low-pivot swing axles.

The  roadster weighs  more than the coupe; with , the roadster has slightly more power. Its tubular frame was modified to create more space in the boot. The spare tire was placed under the boot floor and, combined with a smaller fuel tank, made room for custom-made fitted luggage. The lower door sill provides a more comfortable entry.

The rear axle was changed to a single-joint arrangement, with its pivot point located  below the differential centreline. This improved handling (particularly in corners) and comfort. Head engineer Uhlenhaut wanted the new low pivot axle for the coupe but was voted down by the board of directors, which reminded him that 3,000 manufactured axle units remained at the factory and costs were already high for the car. An optional hardtop became available in September 1958.

Racing

Mercedes decided to return to international motorsport at the beginning of the 1950s, and Alfred Neubauer was again entrusted with the task. In 1951, the company built five V8 W165 cars and engines to enter the Grand Prix. Ferrari's V16 performed well at Silverstone, however, and Neubauer knew that the W165 could not win; Mercedes began planning a V12 W195. The FIA sporting commission changed the rules for 1954 in October 1951, and the W195s could not compete; the company began to develop a six-cylinder 300 SL for racing. Its doors originally extended onto the bottom of the side windows, and access through them required a removable steering wheel.

1952

The 300 SL's first race was the 1952 Mille Miglia. The  race was from Brescia to Rome and back, pitting Karl Kling's 300 SL against Giovanni Bracco's new 3-liter V-12 Ferrari. Bracco won by four minutes and 32 seconds, and Kling finished second. Driving a car with a less-powerful engine, Rudolf Caracciola placed fourth.

Two weeks after the Mille Miglia, the original four cars raced at Bern before the Grand Prix. Concerned that Le Mans officials would not accept the gullwing-door design, Daimler-Benz revised the door down into the side of the body. Rear-brake locking was a continuing problem for the 300 SL; Caracciola's coupe hit a tree head-on, and he did not race again. Kling, Hermann Lang and Fritz Riess finished first, second and third when the 4.1-liter Ferrari broke down at the start.

Three new cars were built for the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in June. The engines were detuned for the long race to 166 bhp, and the fuel-tank filler rose above the rear window. The team brought an experimental spare car with a rooftop air brake which folded flat until the driver activated it. The unusual brake design unnerved the other drivers. The brake was effective; at 100 mph it could exert a deceleration of up to 0.2 g, but it also weakened the supporting pylons. The cars used more tires than expected, and Kling and Hans Klenk were forced out of the race by a generator failure. Lang and Riess won the race with an average speed of , and Theo Helfrich and Helmut Niedermayr placed second.

The  Nürburgring race on August 2 was held on a challenging track. The competition shifted to Jaguar and Alfa Romeo. Nürburgring required a light, powerful car; aerodynamics were less critical, so the top of the coupe was removed (creating a 300 SL roadster with the rear deck and the passenger's side covered by an aluminum cover). All four cars raced at Nürburgring in unsupercharged form after trials indicated no benefit with a supercharged engine, which was no faster than the standard 300 SL. The team concluded that the car's relatively-crude swing-axle rear suspension was already at its limit in transmitting power to the road, and the engine was less durable. Lang won the race, with Kling and Riess finishing second and third. This was the official end of the company's efforts with the 300 SL, it felt that it had done all it could with the six-cylinder racers and would focus on the Grand Prix.

For a final outing, the company (pressured by the Daimler-Benz representative in Mexico City) sent Mexico two -ton trucks and 35 people to compete in the third Carrera Panamericana. Two 300 SL coupes and two roadsters were updated with right-side exhaust and new window molding. Since there was no three-liter class, the cylinder displacement was increased to 3.1 liters to provide 177 bhp. Continental did not have the time (or expertise) to make special tires for the event, so the company sent 300 tires of different types. Lang hit a dog, and Kling struck a buzzard in the early stages at a speed of . The 300 SLs did better later, overtaking the lead Ferrari driven by Bracco. Kling and Klenk finished first, ahead of Lang and Erwin Grupp. A 1-2-3 finish might have been the final result, but American John Fitch was disqualified for allowing a mechanic to touch his car on the next-to-last day.

The race team prepared a new version of the 300 SL for the 1953 season; the 300 SLK would be lighter, with a shorter wheelbase, larger wheels, fuel injection, and better brakes. After Mercedes prioritized its efforts on a new Grand Prix car, however, the 300 SLK was canceled.

Mid-1950s
Werner Engel won the 1955 European Rally Championship in a 300 SL. Stirling Moss won the overall title at the 1955 Mille Miglia in a 300 SLR racing car, and John Fitch won his class in a production 300 SL coupe. The marathon Liege-Rome-Liege rally was won in 1955 by Olivier Gendebien, and in 1956 by Willy Mairesse. A 300 SL won the Sports Car Club of America Class D championship from 1955 to 1957.

Racing roadster

Although roadsters were made for touring, Daimler-Benz marketed its roadster by racing on American tracks. Since production began, the Sports Car Club of America could not admit the roadster as a standard model for the 1957 season; it would have to compete in the Class D sports-racing car class with other three-liter cars such as the Maserati 300S, Ferrari Monza, and Aston Martin DB3S. The O'Shea-Tilp team used a lightened roadster with drilled front coil-spring mounts, no fan, a welded sheet-aluminum inlet manifold, and twin exhaust-pipe outlets. The roadster (sometimes known as the SLS) won the 1957 Class D Sports championship with triple the points of its nearest competitor, Carroll Shelby's Maserati.

1957present
Horácio Macedo finished second in the 1960 Rali Vinho da Madeira. Former Gull Wing Group International president Bob Sirna set a Bonneville Speedway F/GT three-liter sports-car speed record of  in a modified coupe in 2016.

Reception and sales
Sales quintupled in the model's second year but dropped off over the next three years. Roadster sales were initially high before leveling off to about 200 a year. Initially, the model was distributed only by Max Hoffman, later on by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation.

Production numbers

Notable owners
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Wernher von Braun, Rob Walker, Juan Manuel Fangio,Juan Peron, B. J. Habibie, Tony Curtis, Pablo Picasso, Sophia Loren, Romy Schneider, Clark Gable, Glenn Ford, Briggs Cunningham, Luigi Chinetti, John von Neumann, Pierre Trudeau, Justin Trudeau, Paul Newman, Yul Brynner, Bernie Ecclestone, Ralph Lauren, Frank Lloyd Wright, Adrian Conan Doyle, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Natalie Wood have owned a 300 SL.

Legacy

Building on the sensational 1954 debut of the 300 SL, a less-expensive, 1.9-liter roadster was introduced the following year as the 190 SL. The latter was succeeded  by the then only SL in the Mercedes line, the 230 SL, in 1963, produced in increasing displacement and cost up to a  280 SL through 1971. Subsequent SL generations include the R107 (variously produced in models and displacements from 280 SL to 560 SL from 1971 to 1989) and the R129 (likewise, in 280 SL through 600 SL from 1989–2001).

The two generations of the SL that have followed are extremely high-powered grand tourers available as coupe convertibles.

The ,  gullwinged V8 SLS AMG debuted in 2009 as the successor of the original 300 SL Coupe. Produced through the end of 2014, it was replaced by the AMG GT, with traditional doors and a  twin-turbo V8 engine producing . A GT R version was introduced in 2016 up-rated to .

The 300 SL was voted the "sports car of the century" in 1999.

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL owners are supported by Gull Wing Group International, which began in 1961.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

300 SL
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Sports racing cars
Roadsters
Automobiles with gull-wing doors
Rally cars
24 Hours of Le Mans race cars
Cars introduced in 1954
1960s cars

Mercedes-Benz 300 SL


Gabrielle Elaine Franco Rose (born January 11, 1977) is a Brazilian-American former competition swimmer who participated in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. Rose, a resident of Memphis, Tennessee, competed for Brazil at the 1995 Pan American Games and 1996 Summer Olympics, but later represented the United States starting at the 1999 Pan American Games.  Rose attended St. Mary's Episcopal School in Memphis, and graduated in 1995.  She then attended Stanford University, where she swam for the Stanford Cardinal swimming and diving team.  She graduated from Stanford in March 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies, and in 2009 with a master of business administration degree. She is the daughter of former Holiday Inn CEO, Mike Rose, and his wife Regina Rose.

International career
At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Rose finished 14th in the 100-meter butterfly, 22nd in the 200-meter individual medley, and 23rd in the 100-meterre freestyle. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Rose finished 7th in the 200-meter individual medley final.

At the 1995 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Rio de Janeiro, she finished 4th in the 200-meter individual medley, with a time of 2:12.64; 6th in the 4×100-meter medley, with a time of 4:12.76; 6th in the 4×100-meter freestyle, along with Paula Aguiar, Lúcia Santos and Raquel Takaya, breaking the South American record, with a time of 3:45.87; and 8th in the 100-meter butterfly, with a time of 1:00.34, new South American record. In the 100-meter freestyle heats, she broke the South American record, with a time of 56.13 seconds. At the 2002 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Moscow, Rose won three silver medals in the 100-meter individual medley, 200-meter individual medley, and 4×200-meter freestyle.

At the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata, Rose won a silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly, and two bronze medals in the 4×100-meter freestyle and medley relays. She also finished 5th in the 100-meter freestyle, and 6th in the 200-meter individual medley. At the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, she finished 4th in the 200-meter individual medley.

Records
Rose is a former Brazilian record holder of the 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly, 100-meter breaststroke and 200-meter individual medley. The 100-meter breaststroke record was overcome by Patrícia Comini. The 200-meter individual medley records were beaten by Joanna Maranhão in long and short pools. The 100-meter freestyle record was overcome by Tatiana Lemos.

References

External links

1977 births
Living people
American female freestyle swimmers
American female medley swimmers
Brazilian female butterfly swimmers
Brazilian female freestyle swimmers
Brazilian female medley swimmers
Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)
Olympic swimmers for Brazil
Olympic swimmers for the United States
Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil
Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil
Sportspeople from Memphis, Tennessee
Swimmers from Rio de Janeiro (city)
Stanford Cardinal women's swimmers
Swimmers at the 1995 Pan American Games
Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1999 Pan American Games
Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Pan American Games medalists in swimming
Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games
Sportspeople of Brazilian descent

Gabrielle Rose (swimmer)


The Embassy of the United Kingdom in The Hague is the chief diplomatic mission of the United Kingdom in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Embassy is located on one of the most famous streets in the Netherlands, Lange Voorhout, in the Centrum. The current British Ambassador to the Netherlands is Joanna Roper.

Since the formation in 1997 of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is located in The Hague, the British Ambassador to the Netherlands has also been the UK's Permanent Representative to the OPCW.

Outside The Hague, there is also a British Consulate General in Amsterdam where the senior officer is known as the Consul-General. The Embassy and Consulate General also represent the British Overseas Territories in the Netherlands.

See also
Netherlands–United Kingdom relations
List of diplomatic missions in the Netherlands
List of diplomats of the United Kingdom to the Netherlands

References

Hague
United Kingdom
Buildings and structures in The Hague
Netherlands–United Kingdom relations

Embassy of the United Kingdom, The Hague