Alexios V Doukas (;  – December 1204), in Latinised spelling Alexius V Ducas, was Byzantine emperor from February to April 1204, just prior to the sack of Constantinople by the participants of the Fourth Crusade. His family name was Doukas, but he was also known by the nickname Mourtzouphlos or Murtzuphlus (), referring to either bushy, overhanging eyebrows or a sullen, gloomy character. He achieved power through a palace coup, killing his predecessors in the process. Though he made vigorous attempts to defend Constantinople from the crusader army, his military efforts proved ineffective. His actions won the support of the mass of the populace, but he alienated the elite of the city. Following the fall, sack, and occupation of the city, Alexios V was blinded by his father-in-law, the ex-emperor Alexios III, and later executed by the new Latin regime. He was the last Byzantine emperor to rule in Constantinople until the Byzantine recapture of Constantinople in 1261.

Origins and character

Though in possession of the surname used by a leading Byzantine aristocratic family, there is very little definitely known concerning the ancestry of Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos. The noble Doukas clan were not the only Doukai, as the surname was also employed by many families of humble origins. It has been claimed that Alexios Doukas was a great-great-grandson of the emperor Alexios I Komnenos () in the female line (cognatic descent). This is not improbable, as all other Byzantine emperors, and the majority of attempted usurpers, of the period had a connection with the former imperial house of the Komnenoi, either by descent or marriage. A more precise theory has been proposed, that he was the son of an Isaac Doukas, and was the second cousin of Alexios IV Angelos (). A letter sent to Pope Innocent III, stated that Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos was 'a blood relation' of Alexios IV Angelos.

The contemporary historian Niketas Choniates was dismissed from office as logothete of the sekreta by Mourtzouphlos. His assessment of the emperor's character might therefore be biased; however, Choniates allows that he was extremely clever by nature, though arrogant in his manner and lecherous.

Political intrigues and usurpation

The participation of Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos in the attempted overthrow of Alexios III Angelos () by John Komnenos the Fat in 1200 had led to his imprisonment. Mourtzouphlos was probably imprisoned from 1201 until the restoration to the throne of Isaac II Angelos (), the brother and predecessor of Alexios III. Isaac II, along with his son Alexios IV Angelos, were restored to the throne through the intervention of the leaders of the Fourth Crusade in July 1203. On release, Mourtzouphlos was invested with the court position of protovestiarios (head of the imperial finances). He had been married twice but was allegedly the lover of Eudokia Angelina, a daughter of Alexios III.

By the beginning of 1204, Isaac II and Alexios IV had inspired little confidence among the people of Constantinople with their efforts to protect the city from the Latin crusaders and their Venetian allies, and the citizens were becoming restless. The crusaders were also losing patience with the emperors; they rioted and set fires in the city when the money and aid promised by Alexios IV was not forthcoming. The fires affected about a sixth of the area of Constantinople and may have made up to a third of the population homeless; the dislocation and desperation of those affected eventually sapped the will of the people to resist the crusaders. Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos emerged as a leader of the anti-Latin movement in the city. He won the approval of the populace by his valour in leading an attack on the Latins at "Trypetos Lithos"; in this clash his mount stumbled and he would have been killed or captured had a band of youthful archers from the city not defended him. Mourtzouphlos exploited the hatred of the people for the Latins to serve his personal ambition.

The citizens of Constantinople rebelled in late January 1204, and in the chaos an otherwise obscure nobleman named Nicholas Kanabos was acclaimed emperor, though he was unwilling to accept the crown. The two co-emperors barricaded themselves in the Palace of Blachernae and entrusted Mourtzouphlos with a mission to seek help from the crusaders, or at least they informed him of their intentions. Instead of contacting the crusaders, Mourtzouphlos, on the night of 28–29 January 1204, used his access to the palace to bribe the "ax-bearers" (the Varangian Guard), and with their backing arrest the emperors. Choniates states that Mourtzouphlos, when bribing the guards, had the help of a eunuch with access to the imperial treasury. The support of the Varangians seems to have been of major importance in the success of the coup, though Mourtzouphlos also had help from his relations and associates. The young Alexios IV was eventually strangled in prison; while his father Isaac, both enfeebled and blind, died at around the time of the coup, his death variously attributed to fright, sorrow, or mistreatment. Kanabos was initially spared and offered an office under Alexios V, but he refused both this and a further summons from the emperor and took sanctuary in the Hagia Sophia; he was forcibly removed and killed on the steps of the cathedral.

Emperor

The timing of the deaths of the deposed emperors and of Kanabos, and their relation to the coronation of Alexios V are problematic. Alexios V appears to have been acclaimed emperor as early as the night he moved against the Angeloi co-emperors, on 27 January. He was crowned soon after, on or around 5 February.

Finding the treasury empty, the new emperor confiscated money from the aristocracy and high officials to be put to public use. These actions endeared Alexios V to the citizens, but alienated his relations and other prominent supporters. Once in firm control, Alexios V closed the gates of the city to the crusaders and strengthened the fortifications. Sword in hand, he was active in leading attacks on sorties made by the crusaders in search of supplies. On 2 February, Henry of Flanders led a part of the crusader army to Filea (or Phileas), in order to obtain food supplies. As he returned towards Constantinople, Alexios V attacked his rearguard. The Byzantines were defeated, the imperial standard and an important icon of the Virgin (the Panagia Nikopoios) were captured. The Byzantines lost some of their best soldiers in the clash, and Alexios V was lucky to escape alive. At about this time Alexios V attempted to destroy the crusader fleet with fire-ships, but to little effect.

The loss of the icon, traditionally seen as a physical embodiment of divine protection for the city, was a severe psychological blow. Its possession by the crusaders convinced many of the population of Constantinople that the victory of the Westerners was now divinely sanctioned, as a punishment for the sins of the Byzantines.

Around 8 February, Alexios V met the Doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, for peace talks. The conditions demanded by the Venetian, however, were too harsh for the Byzantines to consider. Choniates states that the meeting was brought to a close by a sudden attack by crusader cavalry on Alexios V and his entourage, the emperor narrowly escaping capture. Alexios IV was probably killed the same day; the insistence by the crusaders that he be restored to the throne may have precipitated his death. When news of the death of Alexios IV reached the crusaders, relations between them and Alexios V deteriorated further. The forcible expulsion of all Latins resident in Constantinople in March seems to have been the tipping point which led the crusaders to begin actively negotiating amongst themselves regarding the partition of the Byzantine Empire. They also began to prepare for their final assault on the city, which took place the following month.

The fall of Constantinople, flight and death
The defenders of Constantinople held out against a crusader assault on 9 April. The crusaders' second attack three days later, however, proved too strong to repel. Breaking through the walls near the Petria Gate, the crusaders entered the city and looted the Blachernae Palace. Alexios V attempted to rally the people to the defence of the city, but with no success. Alexios V then boarded a fishing boat and fled the city towards Thrace on the night of 12 April 1204, accompanied by Eudokia Angelina and her mother Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera. In the Hagia Sophia Constantine Laskaris was acclaimed as emperor, but being unable to persuade the Varangians to continue the fight, in the early hours of 13 April he also fled, leaving Constantinople under crusader control.

Alexios V and his companions eventually reached Mosynopolis, which had been occupied by the deposed emperor Alexios III Angelos and his followers. At first they were well received, with Alexios V marrying Eudokia Angelina. Later, however, Alexios III arranged for his new son-in-law to be made captive and blinded, thereby rendering him ineligible for the imperial throne. Having been abandoned by both his supporters and his father-in-law, Alexios V was captured near Mosynopolis, or possibly in Anatolia, by the advancing Latins under Thierry de Loos in November 1204. On his return to Constantinople as a prisoner, Alexios V was tried for treason against Alexios IV. In his trial the blind ex-emperor argued that it was Alexios IV who had committed treason to his country, through his intention to invite the crusaders to enter Constantinople in force. On being condemned, he was executed by novel means: he was thrown to his death from the top of the Column of Theodosius.

The new, alien, Latin regime of conquerors in Constantinople may have viewed the public trial and execution of the man who murdered the last "legitimate emperor" as a way to cast an aura of legitimacy on themselves. Alexios V was the last Byzantine Emperor to reign in Constantinople before the establishment of the Latin Empire, which controlled the city for the next 57 years, until it was recovered by the Nicaean Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos in 1261.

See also

List of Byzantine emperors
Sack of Constantinople (1204)

References

Bibliography
Akropolites, G. The History, trans. Ruth Macrides (2007) Oxford University Press

Falk, A. (2010) Franks and Saracens: Reality and Fantasy in the Crusades, Karnac Books
Giarenis, I. (2017) "The Crisis of the Fourth Crusade in Byzantium (1203–1204) and the Emergence of Networks for Anti-Latin Reaction and Political Action", Mediterranean World, 23, pp. 73–80.
Head, C. (1980) "Physical Descriptions of the Emperors in Byzantine Historical Writing", Byzantion, Vol. 50, No. 1 (1980), Peeters Publishers, pp. 226–240
Hendrickx, B. and Matzukis, C. (1979) "Alexios V Doukas Mourtzouphlos: His Life, Reign and Death (?–1204)", in Hellenika (Έλληνικά) 31: 111–117
Madden, T.F. (1992) "The Fires of the Fourth Crusade in Constantinople, 1203- 1204: A Damage Assessment", Byzantinische Zeitschrift, lxxxiv–v, pp. 72–93.
Madden, T.F. (1995) "Outside and Inside the Fourth Crusade", The International History Review, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Nov., 1995), Taylor and Francis, pp. 726–743

Further reading
 Jonathan Harris, Byzantium and the Crusades (London and New York, 2nd ed., 2014).

 Jonathan Phillips (2004). The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople (London and New York, 2004)

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Blind royalty and nobility
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Leaders who took power by coup
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Alexios V Doukas


Gorham Parks (May 27, 1794 – November 23, 1877) was a U.S. Representative from Maine, and a Democratic Party candidate for Maine Governor.

Born in Westfield, Massachusetts, Parks attended the common schools and graduated from Harvard University in 1813, where he studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1819 and began his practice in Bangor, Maine in 1823.

Parks was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth United States Congresses (March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837).  He was a local leader of the Loco-foco or radical faction of the Democratic Party, which was anti-bank, anti-paper money, and anti-monopoly.  He was opposed locally by Bangor's "Bank Junto", or conservative Democrats, which included Samuel Veazie, William Emerson, John Hodgdon, and Thomas A. Hill.

In 1837 Parks was the Democratic candidate for Maine governor.  The election was unusual in that Parks' opponent, Edward Kent of the Whig Party, lived in the same city (Bangor) and both were Harvard graduates. In one of the closest gubernatorial races in Maine history, Parks lost by less than a thousand votes (with about 70,000 cast).

Parks was subsequently appointed United States Marshal for the District of Maine (1838–1841), and then United States Attorney for Maine (1843–1845).  He ended his political career as United States Consul at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, (1845–1849), a post later occupied by his former opponent Edward Kent

Parks died in Bay Ridge, New York, November 23, 1877, and was interred in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.  His son, also Gorham Parks, became Clerk of the New York Court of Appeals, and died in Albany in 1897.

References

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1877 deaths
Harvard University alumni
Politicians from Bangor, Maine
Maine Jacksonians
Maine lawyers
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Gorham Parks


N.B. is the second studio album from Natasha Bedingfield. It was released in United Kingdom on 30 April 2007 to mixed reviews by critics. The album was released in Canada and the United States during January 2008 as Pocketful of Sunshine. The US version's title single became a top 5 hit. Another track, "Love Like This", became a top twenty hit. The reviews from United States critics for this record were mixed.

Natasha Bedingfield albums
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N.B.


Hangikjöt (; lit. "hung meat") is a traditional festive food  in Iceland, served at Christmas.

Etymology and history
This Icelandic smoked lamb, mutton, or horse meat is usually boiled and served either hot or cold in slices, traditionally with potatoes in béchamel sauce and green peas, or in thin slices on bread such as flatkaka or rúgbrauð or laufabrauð. It takes its name from the old tradition of smoking food in order to preserve it by hanging it from the rafters of a smoking shed.

Sometimes, bits of string are present in the meat, having been tied around the meat to compress it and hold it together as it is being smoked; the strings are not eaten.

There are several types of hangikjöt. The meat can come from various parts of the sheep, but the most common is the hind legs. A whole leg on the bone, with an adequate layer of fat, is by many considered the best of all, although others prefer the convenience of a boned roll of meat or want most of the fat trimmed off.

Commercial form
In recent years other types have become available, such as tvíreykt ("twice smoked") hangikjöt, i.e. lamb or mutton that has been smoked for a longer period of time and is more like the old country hangikjöt which often hung high above the kitchen fire for many months. This is usually served raw in thin slices, sometimes in a manner similar to the Italian prosciutto, with melon. Modern commercial hangikjöt is usually fairly lightly smoked. The two main types are either smoked with Icelandic birch or with dried sheep dung.

A recent survey established that around 90% of all Icelanders eat hangikjöt at least once over the holidays.

Smoked mutton is known as macon in the UK, but is not common.

See also

 List of lamb dishes
 List of smoked foods

References

Icelandic cuisine
Lamb dishes
Christmas food
Smoked meat
Christmas in Iceland

Hangikjöt


John "Jack" Sheppard (4 March 1702 – 16 November 1724), or "Honest Jack", was a notorious English thief and prison escapee of early 18th-century London.

Born into a poor family, he was apprenticed as a carpenter but began committing theft and burglary in 1723, with little more than a year of his training to complete. He was arrested and imprisoned five times in 1724 but escaped four times from prison, making him notorious, though popular with the poorer classes. Ultimately, he was caught, convicted, and hanged at Tyburn, ending his brief criminal career after less than two years. The inability of the notorious "Thief-Taker General" Jonathan Wild to control Sheppard, and injuries suffered by Wild at the hands of Sheppard's colleague Joseph "Blueskin" Blake, resulted in Wild's demise as a criminal boss.

Sheppard was as renowned for his attempts to escape from prison as he was for his crimes. An autobiographical "Narrative", thought to have been ghostwritten by Daniel Defoe, was sold at his execution, quickly followed by popular plays. The character of Macheath in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) was based on Sheppard, keeping him well-known for more than 100 years. He returned to the public consciousness around 1840, when William Harrison Ainsworth wrote a novel entitled Jack Sheppard, with illustrations by George Cruikshank. The popularity of his tale, and the fear that others would be drawn to emulate his behaviour, caused the authorities to refuse to license any plays in London with "Jack Sheppard" in the title for forty years.

Early life
Sheppard was born in White's Row, in London's Spitalfields. He was baptised on 5 March, the day after he was born, at St Dunstan's, Stepney, suggesting a fear of infant mortality by his parents, perhaps because the newborn was weak or sickly. His parents named him after an older brother, John, who had died before Sheppard's birth. In life, he was better known as Jack, or even "Gentleman Jack" or "Jack the Lad". He had a second brother, Thomas, and a younger sister, Mary.  Their father, a carpenter, died while Sheppard was young, and his sister died two years later.

Unable to support her family without her husband's income, Jack's mother sent him to Mr Garrett's School, a workhouse near St Helen's Bishopsgate, when he was six years old. Sheppard was sent out as a parish apprentice to a cane-chair maker, taking a settlement of 20 shillings, but his new master soon died. He was sent out to a second cane-chair maker, but Sheppard was treated badly. Finally, when Sheppard was 10 years old, he went to work as a shop-boy for William Kneebone, a wool draper with a shop on the Strand. Sheppard's mother had been working for Kneebone since her husband's death. Kneebone taught Sheppard to read and write and apprenticed him to a carpenter, Owen Wood, in Wych Street, off Drury Lane in Covent Garden. Sheppard signed his seven-year indenture on 2 April 1717.

By 1722, Sheppard was showing great promise as a carpenter. Aged 20, he was a small man, only 5'4" (1.63 m) and lightly built, but deceptively strong. He had a pale face with large, dark eyes, a wide mouth and a quick smile. Despite a slight stutter, his wit made him popular in the taverns of Drury Lane. He served five unblemished years of his apprenticeship but then began to become involved with crime.

Joseph Hayne, a button-moulder who owned a shop nearby, also managed a tavern named the Black Lion off Drury Lane, which he encouraged the local apprentices to frequent. The Black Lion was visited by criminals such as Joseph "Blueskin" Blake, Sheppard's future partner in crime, and self-proclaimed "Thief-Taker General" Jonathan Wild, secretly the boss of a criminal gang which operated across London and later Sheppard's implacable enemy.

According to Sheppard's autobiography, he had been an innocent until going to Hayne's tavern, but there began a preference for strong drink and the affections of Elizabeth Lyon, a prostitute also known as Edgworth Bess (or Edgeworth Bess) from her place of birth at Edgeworth in Middlesex. In his History, Defoe records that Bess was "a main lodestone in attracting of him up to this Eminence of Guilt". Such, Sheppard claimed, was the source of his later ruin. Peter Linebaugh offers a more politicized version: that Sheppard's sudden transformation was a liberation from the dull drudgery of indentured labour and that he progressed from pious servitude to self-confident rebellion and Levelling.

Criminal career
Sheppard began habitually drinking and whoring. Inevitably, his carpentry suffered, and he became disobedient to his master.  With Lyon's encouragement, Sheppard began criminal activity in order to augment his legitimate wages. His first recorded theft was in Spring 1723, when he engaged in petty shoplifting, stealing two silver spoons while on an errand for his master to the Rummer Tavern in Charing Cross.  Sheppard's misdeeds were undetected, and he progressed to larger crimes, often stealing goods from the houses where he was working. Finally, he quit the employ of his master on 2 August 1723, with less than two years of his apprenticeship left, although he continued to work as a journeyman carpenter. He was not suspected of the crimes, and progressed to burglary, in company with criminals in Jonathan Wild's gang.

He relocated to Fulham, living as husband and wife with Lyon at Parsons Green, before relocating to Piccadilly. When Lyon was arrested and imprisoned at St Giles's Roundhouse, the beadle, a Mr Brown, refused to let Sheppard visit, so he broke in and took her away.

Arrested and escaped twice
Sheppard was first arrested after a burglary he committed with his brother, Tom, and his mistress, Lyon, in Clare Market on 5 February 1724. Tom, also a carpenter, had already been convicted once for stealing tools from his master the previous autumn and burned in the hand. Tom was arrested again on 24 April 1724. Afraid that he would be hanged this time, Tom informed on Jack, and a warrant was issued for Jack's arrest.

Jonathan Wild was aware of Sheppard's thefts, as Sheppard had fenced some stolen goods through one of Wild's men, William Field. Wild asked another of his men, James Sykes (known as "Hell and Fury") to challenge Sheppard to a game of skittles at Redgate's public house near Seven Dials. Sykes betrayed Sheppard to a Mr Price, a constable from the parish of St Giles, to gather the usual £40 reward for giving information resulting in the conviction of a felon. The magistrate, Justice Parry, had Sheppard imprisoned overnight on the top floor of St Giles's Roundhouse pending further questioning, but Sheppard escaped within three hours by breaking through the timber ceiling and lowering himself to the ground with a rope fashioned from bedclothes.  Still wearing irons, Sheppard coolly joined the crowd that had been attracted by the sounds of his breaking out. He distracted their attention by pointing to the shadows on the roof and shouting that he could see the escapee, and then swiftly departed.

On 19 May 1724, Sheppard was arrested for a second time, caught in the act of picking a pocket in Leicester Fields (near present-day Leicester Square). He was detained overnight in St Ann's Roundhouse in Soho and visited there the next day by Lyon; she was recognised as his wife and locked in a cell with him. They appeared before Justice Walters, who sent them to the New Prison in Clerkenwell, but they escaped from their cell, known as the Newgate Ward, within a matter of days. By 25 May, Whitsun Monday, Sheppard and Lyon had filed through their manacles; they removed a bar from the window and used their knotted bed-clothes to descend to ground level. Finding themselves in the yard of the neighbouring Bridewell, they clambered over the 22-foot-high (6.7 m) prison gate to freedom. This feat was widely publicised, not least because Sheppard was only a small man, and Lyon was a large, buxom woman.

Third arrest, trial, and third escape
Sheppard's thieving abilities were admired by Jonathan Wild. Wild demanded that Sheppard surrender his stolen goods for Wild to fence, and so take the greater profits, but Sheppard refused. He began to work with Joseph "Blueskin" Blake, and they burgled Sheppard's former master, William Kneebone, on Sunday 12 July 1724. Wild could not permit Sheppard to continue outside his control and began to seek Sheppard's arrest. Unfortunately for Sheppard, his fence, William Field, was one of Wild's men. After Sheppard had a brief foray with Blueskin as highwaymen on the Hampstead Road on Sunday 19 July and Monday 20 July, Field informed on Sheppard to Wild. Wild believed Lyon would know Sheppard's whereabouts, so he plied her with drinks at a brandy shop near Temple Bar until she betrayed him.  Sheppard was arrested a third time at Blueskin's mother's brandy shop in Rosemary Lane, east of the Tower of London (later renamed Royal Mint Street), on 23 July by Wild's henchman, Quilt Arnold.

Sheppard was imprisoned in Newgate Prison pending his trial at the next Assize of oyer and terminer. He was prosecuted on three charges of theft at the Old Bailey, but was acquitted on the first two due to lack of evidence. Kneebone, Wild and Field gave evidence against him on the third charge, the burglary of Kneebone's house. He was convicted on 12 August, the case "being plainly prov'd", and sentenced to death. On Monday 31 August, the very day when the death warrant arrived from the court in Windsor setting Friday 4 September as the date for his execution, Sheppard escaped. Having loosened an iron bar in a window used when talking to visitors, he was visited by Lyon and Poll Maggott, who distracted the guards while he removed the bar (security was lax compared to that of later years; the guard-to-prisoner ratio at Newgate in 1724 was 1:90, and wives could stay overnight). His slight build enabled him to climb through the resulting gap in the grille, and he was smuggled out of Newgate in women's clothing that his visitors had brought him. He took a coach to Blackfriars Stairs, a boat up the River Thames to the horse ferry in Westminster, near the warehouse where he hid his stolen goods, and completed his escape.

Fourth arrest and final escape

By this time, Sheppard was a hero to a segment of the population, being a cockney, non-violent, handsome and seemingly able to escape punishment for his crimes at will. He spent a few days out of London, visiting a friend's family in Chipping Warden in Northamptonshire, but was soon back in town. He evaded capture by Wild and his men but was arrested again on 9 September by a posse from Newgate as he hid on Finchley Common, and returned to the condemned cell at Newgate. His fame had increased with each escape, and he was visited in prison by various people. His plans to escape during September were thwarted twice when the guards found files and other tools in his cell, and he was transferred to a strong-room in Newgate known as the "Castle", put in leg irons, and chained to two metal staples in the floor to prevent further escape attempts. After demonstrating to his gaolers that these measures were insufficient, by showing them how he could use a small nail to unlock the horse padlock at will, he was bound more tightly and handcuffed. In his History, Defoe reports that Sheppard made light of his predicament, joking that "I am the Sheppard, and all the Gaolers in the Town are my Flock, and I cannot stir into the Country, but they are all at my Heels Baughing after me".

Meanwhile, "Blueskin" Blake was arrested by Wild and his men on Friday 9 October, and Tom, Jack's brother, was transported for robbery on Saturday 10 October 1724. New court sessions began on Wednesday 14 October, and Blueskin was tried on Thursday 15 October, with Field and Wild again giving evidence. Their accounts were not consistent with the evidence that they gave at Sheppard's trial, but Blueskin was convicted anyway. Enraged, Blueskin attacked Wild in the courtroom, slashing his throat with a pocket-knife and causing an uproar. Wild was lucky to survive, and his control of his criminal gang was weakened while he recuperated.

Taking advantage of the disturbance, which spread to Newgate Prison next door and continued into the night, Sheppard escaped for the fourth time. He unlocked his handcuffs and removed the chains. Still encumbered by his leg irons, he attempted to climb up the chimney, but his path was blocked by an iron bar set into the brickwork. He removed the bar and used it to break through the ceiling into the "Red Room" above the "Castle", a room which had last been used some seven years before to confine aristocratic Jacobite prisoners after the Battle of Preston.  Still wearing his leg irons as night began, he then broke through six barred doors into the prison chapel, then to the roof of Newgate, 60 feet (20 m) above the ground. He went back down to his cell to get a blanket, then back to the roof of the prison, and used the blanket to reach the roof of an adjacent house, owned by William Bird, a turner. He broke into Bird's house, and went down the stairs and out into the street at around midnight without disturbing the occupants. Escaping through the streets to the north and west, Sheppard hid in a cowshed in Tottenham (near modern Tottenham Court Road). Spotted by the barn's owner, Sheppard told him that he had escaped from Bridewell Prison, having been imprisoned there for failing to provide for a (nonexistent) bastard son. His leg irons remained in place for several days until he persuaded a passing shoemaker to accept the considerable sum of 20 shillings to bring a blacksmith's tools and help him remove them, telling him the same tale. His manacles and leg irons were later recovered in the rooms of Kate Cook, one of Sheppard's mistresses. This escape astonished everyone. Daniel Defoe, working as a journalist, wrote an account for John Applebee, The History of the Remarkable Life of John Sheppard.  In his History, Defoe reports the belief in Newgate that the Devil came in person to assist Sheppard's escape.

Final capture

Sheppard's final period of liberty lasted just two weeks. He disguised himself as a beggar and returned to the city. He broke into the Rawlins brothers' pawnbroker's shop in Drury Lane on the night of 29 October 1724, taking a black silk suit, a silver sword, rings, watches, a wig, and other items. He dressed himself as a dandy gentleman and used the proceeds to spend a day and the ensuing evening on the tiles with two mistresses. He was arrested a final time in the early morning on 1 November, drunk, "in a handsome Suit of Black, with a Diamond Ring and a carnelian ring on his Finger, and a fine Light Tye Peruke".

This time, Sheppard was placed in the Middle Stone Room, in the centre of Newgate next to the "Castle", where he could be observed at all times. He was also loaded with 300 pounds of iron weights. He was so celebrated that the gaolers charged high society visitors four shillings to see him, and the King's painter James Thornhill painted his portrait. Several prominent people sent a petition to King George I, begging for his sentence of death to be commuted to transportation. "The Concourse of People of tolerable Fashion to see him was exceeding Great, he was always Chearful and Pleasant to a Degree, as turning almost everything as was said onto a Jest and Banter." To a Reverend Wagstaffe who visited him, he said, according to Defoe, "One file's worth all the Bibles in the World".

Sheppard came before Mr Justice Powis in the Court of King's Bench at Westminster Hall on 10 November. He was offered the chance to have his sentence reduced by informing on his associates, but he scorned the offer, and the death sentence was confirmed. The next day, Blueskin was hanged, and Sheppard was moved to the condemned cell.

Execution
The next Monday, 16 November, Sheppard was taken to the gallows at Tyburn to be hanged. He planned one more escape, but his pen-knife, intended to cut the ropes binding him on the way to the gallows, was found by a prison warder shortly before he left Newgate for the last time.

A joyous procession passed through the streets of London, with Sheppard's cart drawn along Holborn and Oxford Street accompanied by a mounted City Marshal and liveried Javelin Men. The occasion was as much as anything a celebration of Sheppard's life, attended by crowds of as many as 200,000 people (one third of London's population). The procession halted at the City of Oxford tavern on Oxford Street, where Sheppard drank a pint of sack. A carnival atmosphere pervaded Tyburn, where his "official" autobiography, published by Applebee and probably ghostwritten by Defoe, was on sale. Sheppard handed "a paper to someone as he mounted the scaffold", perhaps as a symbolic endorsement of the account in the "Narrative". His slight build had aided his previous prison escapes, but it caused him a slow death by strangulation from the hangman's noose. After hanging for the prescribed 15 minutes, his body was cut down. The crowd pressed forward to stop his body from being removed, fearing dissection; their actions inadvertently prevented Sheppard's friends from implementing a plan to take his body to a doctor in an attempt to revive him. His badly mauled remains were recovered later and buried in the churchyard of St Martin-in-the-Fields that evening.

Legacy

There was a spectacular public reaction to Sheppard's deeds, which were cited favourably as an example in newspapers.  Pamphlets, broadsheets, and ballads were all devoted to his amazing experiences, real and fictional, and his story was adapted for the stage almost immediately. Harlequin Sheppard, a pantomime by one John Thurmond (subtitled "A night scene in grotesque characters"), opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on Saturday 28 November, only two weeks after Sheppard's hanging. In a famous contemporary sermon, a London preacher drew on Sheppard's popular escapes as a way of holding his congregation's attention:

The account of his life remained well-known through the Newgate Calendar, and a three-act farce was published but never produced, but, mixed with songs, it became The Quaker's Opera, later performed at Bartholomew Fair. An imagined dialogue between Jack Sheppard and Julius Caesar was published in the British Journal on 4 December 1724, in which Sheppard favourably compares his virtues and exploits to those of Caesar.

Perhaps the most prominent play based on Sheppard's life is John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728). Sheppard was the inspiration for the character Captain Macheath; his nemesis, Peachum, is based on Jonathan Wild. The play was spectacularly popular, restoring the fortune that Gay had lost in the South Sea Bubble, and was produced regularly for more than 100 years. An unperformed but published play The Prison-Breaker was turned into The Quaker's Opera (in imitation of The Beggar's Opera) and performed at Bartholomew Fair in 1725 and 1728. Two centuries later The Beggar's Opera was the basis for The Threepenny Opera of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (1928).

Sheppard's tale may have been an inspiration for William Hogarth's 1747 series of 12 engravings, Industry and Idleness, which shows the parallel habituation of an apprentice, Tom Idle, to crime, resulting in his being hung, beside the fortunes of his fellow apprentice, Francis Goodchild, who marries his master's daughter and takes over his business, becoming wealthy as a result, eventually emulating Dick Whittington to become Lord Mayor of London.

Sheppard's tale was revived during the first half of the 19th century. A melodrama, Jack Sheppard, The Housebreaker, or London in 1724, by W. T. Moncrieff was published in 1825. More successful was William Harrison Ainsworth's third novel, entitled Jack Sheppard, which was published  originally in Bentley's Miscellany from January 1839 with illustrations by George Cruikshank, overlapping with the final episodes of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. An archetypal Newgate novel, it generally remains close to the facts of Sheppard's life, but portrays him as a daring hero. Like Hogarth's prints, the novel pairs the increasing involvement of the "idle" apprentice with crime with the fortunes of a typical melodramatic character, Thames Darrell, a foundling of aristocratic birth who defeats his evil uncle to recover his fortune. Cruikshank's images perfectly complemented Ainsworth's tale—William Thackeray wrote that "... Mr Cruickshank really created the tale, and that Mr Ainsworth, as it were, only put words to it." The novel quickly became very popular: it was published in book form later that year, before the serialised version was completed, and even outsold early editions of Oliver Twist. Ainsworth's novel was adapted into a successful play by John Buckstone in October 1839 at the Adelphi Theatre featuring (strangely enough) Mary Anne Keeley; indeed, it seems likely that Cruikshank's illustrations were deliberately created in a form that were informed by, and would be easy to repeat as, tableaux on stage. It has been described as the "exemplary climax" of "the pictorial novel dramatized pictorially".

The story generated a type of cultural mania, embellished by pamphlets, prints, cartoons, plays and souvenirs, not repeated until George du Maurier's novel Trilby in 1895. By early 1840, a cant song from Buckstone's play "Nix My Dolly, Pals, Fake Away" was reported to be "deafening us in the streets". Public alarm at the possibility that young people would emulate Sheppard's behaviour caused the Lord Chamberlain to ban, at least in London, the licensing of any plays with "Jack Sheppard" in the title for forty years. The fear may not have been entirely unfounded: Courvousier, the valet of Lord William Russell, said in one of his several confessions that the book had inspired him to murder his master. Frank and Jesse James wrote letters to the Kansas City Star signed "Jack Sheppard". Nevertheless, burlesques of the story were written after the ban was ended, including a popular Gaiety Theatre, London, piece called Little Jack Sheppard (1886) by Henry Pottinger Stephens and William Yardley, which featured Nellie Farren as Jack.

The Sheppard story has been revived three times as movies the 20th century: The Hairbreadth Escape of Jack Sheppard (1900), Jack Sheppard (1923), and Where's Jack? (1969), a British historical drama directed by James Clavell with Tommy Steele in the title role. Jake Arnott features him in his 2017 novel The Fatal Tree. In Confessions of the Fox, a 2018 novel by Jordy Rosenberg, the Sheppard story was recontextualized as a queer narrative.

In 1971 British popular music group Chicory Tip paid tribute to Sheppard in "Don't Hang Jack", the B-side to "I Love Onions". The song, apparently sung from the viewpoint of a witness in the courtroom, describes Jack's daring exploits as a thief, and futilely begs the judge to spare Sheppard because he was loved by the women of the town, and idolised by the lads who "made him their king".

In Jordy Rosenberg's 2018 novel Confessions of the Fox, a 21st-century academic discovers a manuscript containing Sheppard's "confessions", which tell the story of his childhood and his love affair with Edgeworth Bess, and reveals that he was a transgender man.

The reasons for the lasting legacy of Sheppard's exploits in the popular imagination have been addressed by Peter Linebaugh, who suggests that Sheppard's legend was based on the prospect of excarceration, of escape from what Michel Foucault in Folie et déraison termed the grand renfermement (Great Confinement), in which "unreasonable" members of the population were locked away and institutionalised. Linebaugh further says that the laws applied to Sheppard and similar working class criminals were a means of disciplining a potentially rebellious multitude into accepting increasingly harsh property laws. Another nineteenth-century opinion of the Jack Sheppard phenomenon was offered by Charles Mackay in Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds:

Notes

References
 Anon. The Bloody Register vol. II London, 1764.
 Buckley, Matthew. "Sensations of Celebrity: Jack Sheppard and the Mass Audience", Victorian Studies, Volume 44, Number 3, Spring 2002, pp. 423–463
 Defoe, Daniel. The History of the Remarkable Life of John Sheppard. London: 1724.   Retrieved 5 February 2007.
 Howson, Gerald. Thief-Taker General: Jonathan Wild and the Emergence of Crime and Corruption as a Way of Life in Eighteenth-Century England. New Brunswick, NJ and Oxford, UK: 1970.
 Linebaugh, Peter. The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteenth Century. Verso, 2003,
 Lynch, Jack (editor). Jack Sheppard, from The Complete Newgate Calendar. Retrieved 5 February 2007.
 Mackay, Charles. Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. Wordsworth Editions, (1841) 1999 edition. .
 Moore, Lucy. The Thieves' Opera. Viking, 1997,
 Mullan, John, and Christopher Reid. Eighteenth-Century Popular Culture: A Selection. Oxford University Press, 2000. .
 Norton, Rictor. Early Eighteenth-Century Newspaper Reports: A Sourcebook, "Jack Sheppard, Jail-Breaker". Retrieved 5 February 2007.
 Sugden, Philip. "John Sheppard" in Matthew, H.C.G. and Brian Harrison, eds. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.  vol. 50, 261–263.  London: OUP, 2004.

Further reading
 Proceedings from the Old Bailey. Ordinary's Account of 4 September 1724. Reference (docket) t17240812-52.
 Anon (often attributed to Defoe). A Narrative of All the Robberies, Escapes, Etc. of John Sheppard. 1724.
 Bleackley, Horace,  Trial of Jack Sheppard. Wm Gaunt & Sons,  (1933) 1996 edition. .
 G.E. Authentick Memoirs of the Life and Surprising Adventures of John Sheppard by Way of Familiar Letters from a Gentleman in Town. 1724.
 Gatrell, V.A. The Hanging Tree: Execution and the English People 1770–1868. Oxford University Press, 1996. .
 Hibbert, Christopher. The Road to Tyburn: The story of Jack Sheppard and the Eighteenth-Century London Underworld.  New York: The World Publishing Company, 1957. (2001 Penguin reprint: )
 Linnane, Fergus. The Encyclopedia of London Crime. Sutton Publishing, 2003. .
 Meisel, Martin. (1983) Realizations: Narrative, Pictorial and Theatrical Arts in Nineteenth-Century England. Princeton.
 Rawlings, Philip. Drunks, Whores, and Idle Apprentices: Criminal Biographies of the Eighteenth Century. Routledge (UK), 1992. .
 Rogers, Pat. Daniel Defoe: The Critical Heritage. Routledge (UK), 1995. .

External links

 Jack Sheppard, from the Newgate Calendar, including contemporary sermon.  Retrieved 5 February 2007.
 Project Gutenberg etext of William Harrison Ainsworth's novel.
 The Thief-Taker Hangings: How Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Wild, and Jack Sheppard Captivated London and Created the Celebrity Criminal by Aaron Skirboll

1702 births
1724 deaths
1723 crimes in Europe
Crime in London
English criminals
English escapees
Escapees from England and Wales detention
Executed people from London
Fugitives
People from Spitalfields
People executed at Tyburn
People executed by England and Wales by hanging
People executed by the Kingdom of Great Britain
People executed for robbery

Jack Sheppard


Francis Andrew "Drew" Gaffney is an American doctor and former astronaut. He previously worked for NASA and participated in the STS-40 Space Life Sciences (SLS 1) Space Shuttle mission in 1991 as a payload specialist.

Gaffney was a co-investigator on an experiment that studied human cardiovascular adaption to space flight. The SLS-1 mission crew completed over 18 experiments in nine days, bringing back more medical data than any previous NASA flight.

Dr. Gaffney became a member of the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Space Biology and Medicine, serving from 1992 to 2000.  He is a professor of medicine (cardiovascular disease) at Vanderbilt University and continues to serve as a consultant and reviewer for human spaceflight-related studies.

He is currently a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University. Gaffney has over 50 publications in the areas of cardiovascular regulation and space physiology.

Biography
Gaffney was born June 9, 1946, in Carlsbad, New Mexico. He is married to Elizabeth (Lili) Burgo Sims of Berkeley, California. He has two daughters.

Gaffney graduated from Carlsbad, New Mexico High School in 1964; received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1968; and a Doctor of Medicine degree, University of New Mexico in 1972.

A Colonel in the Texas Air National Guard, Gaffney served as a Flight Surgeon for the 147th Fighter Interceptor Group at Ellington Air National Guard Base, Houston, Texas.

Gaffney served as a Visiting Senior Scientist with the Life Sciences Division at NASA Headquarters from January 1987 through June 1989. He worked with the Operational Medicine group and was Associate Manager of Biomedical Research as well as Program Scientist for the D-2 Spacelab mission and the Research Animal Holding Facility.  He was a member of several working groups and implementation teams planning collaborative research with German, French and Soviet government scientists. He also served on a number of Space Station Freedom and advanced mission planning groups including the "Humans to Mars" study group.

Gaffney's 15 years of experience in cardiac research and operation of equipment such as echocardiograms and rebreathing devices led to his being selected as a payload specialist aboard STS-40 Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS 1), a mission which took place in June 1991. STS-40 was the first Spacelab mission dedicated to biomedical studies.  The SLS-1 mission flew over 3.2 million miles in 146 orbits and its crew completed over 18 experiments in nine days, bringing back more medical data than any previous NASA flight. Mission duration was 218 hours, 14 minutes and 20 seconds.

References

External links
Spacefacts biography of F. Drew Gaffney

1946 births
Living people
Physician astronauts
People from Carlsbad, New Mexico
University of California, Berkeley alumni
University of New Mexico alumni
United States Air Force officers
Texas National Guard personnel
NASA civilian astronauts
Vanderbilt University faculty
Space Shuttle program astronauts

F. Drew Gaffney


Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk Louw (11 June 1906 in Sutherland, Cape Colony – 18 June 1970 in Johannesburg), almost universally known as N.P. van Wyk Louw, was an Afrikaans-language poet, playwright and scholar. He was the older brother of Afrikaans-language poet W.E.G. Louw.

One of the Dertigers, or "Writers of the Thirties," N.P. van Wyk Louw produced among his most famous works his debut 1935 volume of poems, Alleenspraak ("Monologue"), the 1937 poetry collection Die halwe kring ("The Semicircle"), the verse epic Raka, and the 1956 tragedy Germanicus.

N.P. van Wyk Louw is quoted on the Afrikaans Language Monument in Paarl, Western Cape Province; in his quote, he views Afrikaans as a bridge that connects Europe with Africa.

The South African composer Cromwell Everson composed a song cycle, "Vier Liefdesliedjies" ("Four little love songs") that used three of Louw's poems: "Nagliedje", "Net altyd jy" and "Dennebosse" (respectively, "Little night song", "Only always you" and "Pine forest").

A collection of the correspondence between N.P. van Wyk and his brother W.E.G. Louw was published by Hemel & See Boeke in 2011 under the title "Briewe van W.E.G. en N.P. van Wyk Louw 1941-1970".

Life
The second of four brothers, N.P. van Wyk Louw moved to Cape Town at the age of 14. He earned a master's degree in German at the University of Cape Town, where he later taught. He received an honorary degree from the University of Utrecht in 1948 and was a professor of Afrikaans at the University of Amsterdam from 1949 to 1958. He finished his academic career at the University of Witwatersrand as head of the Dutch/Afrikaans department.

Criticism

D.J. Opperman (Senior Verseboek, Nationale Pers 1962), one of the notable Afrikaner poets of the first half of the twentieth century, was in no doubt that van Wyk Louw was the greatest Afrikaner poet of the period.

References

External links
 Picture and brief biography

1906 births
1970 deaths
People from Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality
Afrikaner people
South African people of Dutch descent
Afrikaans-language poets
University of Cape Town alumni
Hertzog Prize winners for drama
Hertzog Prize winners for poetry
Hertzog Prize winners for prose
20th-century South African poets
Alumni of South African College Schools

N. P. van Wyk Louw


The Quino checkerspot (Euphydryas editha quino) is a butterfly native to southern California and northwestern Baja California. It is a subspecies of the common Edith's checkerspot (Euphydryas editha) and the second such subspecies to be listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Taxonomy
This taxon, like many others, has undergone several changes in nomenclature and classification. It was originally described as Melitaea quino in 1863 and then in 1929 it was reduced to a subspecies of Euphydryas chalcedona. In 1998 it was concluded through Hans Hermann Behr's 1863 description that it should be classified as E. editha, not E. chalcedona.  Moreover, the subspecies E. editha wrighti was demoted to a junior synonym for E. editha quino.

Description

Appearance
A member of the brush-footed butterfly family, Nymphalidae, the Quino checkerspot is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of approximately 3 cm. The dorsal wing surfaces are a colorful checkerboard of brown, red and yellow spots. The Quino differs from other E. editha subspecies in that its spots tend to be a darker red.

It also differentiates itself through its size and larval and pupal phenotypes. The ventral side of the butterfly are dominated by a checkered red and cream pattern. Its abdomen has red stripes across the dorsal side. After a second molt, the Quino checkerspot is recognized by the dark black coloration and row of 8 to 9 orange tubercles on their back. Before the larvae first molt they are mostly yellowish. After first molt and before their second molt they are gray with black markings. The pupae are mottled black on a blue-gray background.

The Quino checkerspot is easily confused in the field by inexperienced butterfly searchers. It is generally confused with three other co-occurring butterfly species, the Chalcedon or variable checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona), Gabb's checkerspot (Chlosyne gabbii) and Wright's checkerspot (Thessalia leonira wrighti).

Life cycle
The life cycle of the Quino checkerspot closely mirrors that of the close Bay checkerspot. They share the same host plant and similar chronology of developmental stages. Sometimes, organisms molt seven times before reaching adulthood. There are typically only one generation of adults every year. The flight period is between February through May.

Habitat
The obvious factor in the decline of the Quino checkerspot is urban development. Much of the historic scrub land that it occupied, much like the Mission blue butterfly, also endangered, has been built over. The persisting habitat faces other threats. Invasive species, in the form of non-native plant life and overgrazing are just two of the hurdles facing the recovery of the Quino checkerspot. Today, there are eight populations of the Quino known.

Range
Habitat declined and, thus, distribution and population of the Quino checkerspot has been greatly reduced during the last 100 years, likely around 75%. Nearly all of the blame lies in agricultural and urban development in southern California. The other impactors to the decline include non-native grasses and fire suppression practices as well as grazing. The Quino checkerspot became the second subspecies of Euphydryas editha to be listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The first was the Bay checkerspot.

Currently, the Quino checkerspot is only found in a very few locales. Western Riverside County, southern San Diego County and northern Baja California, Mexico. The animal's historic range once included much of coastal California south of Ventura County as well as the inland valleys south of the Tehachapi Mountains. Regardless, more than 75% of the butterfly's original range has been lost. The range loss translates directly into population decline. Quino checkerspot butterfly populations appear to have decreased by more than 95% range wide.

Impact of barrier construction along Mexico-United States border
American President Donald Trump proposed expansion of the border wall between Mexico and the US to prevent illegal entry by foreign nationals through Mexico into the US during his presidential campaign and upon being elected. The construction of additional border walls in new locations would likely have adverse effects on many species, including the Quino checkerspot. Because the range of the subspecies is so reduced and threatened already, the construction of a wall would separate the organisms in Mexico and the US, which would reduce the genetic diversity between the populations. In addition, the proposed wall could harm the native vegetation the butterflies need and may spread invasive species in areas disturbed by the construction.

References

Euphydryas
Fauna of California
Fauna of the Baja California Peninsula
Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands
Natural history of Baja California
Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges
Natural history of the Transverse Ranges
Butterflies of North America
Endangered fauna of California
Endangered biota of Mexico
Endangered fauna of North America
ESA endangered species
Butterfly subspecies

Quino checkerspot


The InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS), (pronounced "insights"), is an ANSI-accredited standards development organization composed of Information technology developers. It was formerly known as the X3 and NCITS.

INCITS is the central U.S. forum dedicated to creating technology standards.  INCITS is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is affiliated with the Information Technology Industry Council, a global policy advocacy organization that represents U.S. and global innovation companies.

INCITS coordinates technical standards activity between ANSI in the USA and joint ISO/IEC committees worldwide.  This provides a mechanism to create standards that will be implemented in many nations. As such, INCITS' executive board also serves as ANSI's Technical Advisory Group for ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1. JTC 1 is responsible for International standardization in the field of information technology.
INCITS operates through consensus.  Many times, the U.S. standard that INCITS members develop then will become the baseline standard for the international community.

Governance
INCITS is guided by its executive board.
The INCITS executive board  established more than 50 Technical Committees, Task Groups and Study Groups that are constantly developing standards for new technologies and updating standards for older products.

Standards development
More than 750  standards  have been created and approved through the INCITS process, with another 800 in development.  American National Standards are voluntary and serve U.S. interests well because all materially affected stakeholders have the opportunity to work together to create them.  INCITS-approved standards only become mandatory when, and if, they are adopted or referenced by the government or when market forces make them imperative.

Given the responsibilities and the expenditures associated with U.S. participation in international standards activities, INCITS considers participation as a "P" member of ISO/IEC JTC 1, as a declaration of support for the international committee's technical work. INCITS policy is to adopt as "Identical" American National Standards all ISO/IEC or ISO standards that fall within its program of work, with exceptions as outlined in our procedures.  Accordingly, INCITS will adopt as "Identical" American National Standards all ISO/IEC or ISO standards that fall within its program of work. Similarly, INCITS will withdraw any such adopted American National Standard that has been withdrawn as an ISO/IEC or ISO International Standards.

History
INCITS was established in 1961 as the Accredited Standards Committee X3, Information Technology'and is sponsored by Information Technology Industry Council (ITI),  a trade association representing providers of information technology products and services then known as the Business Equipment Manufacturers Association (BEMA) and later renamed the Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers' Association (CBEMA). The first organizational meeting was in February 1961 with ITI (CBEMA then) taking Secretariat responsibility. X3 was established under American National Standards Institute (ANSI) procedures. The forum was renamed Accredited Standards Committee NCITS, National Committee for Information Technology Standards in 1997, and the current name was approved in 2001.

References

External links

Technical Committees, Task Groups, Study Groups
 ATA Storage Interface (T13 Technical Committee)
 BigData (BIG-DATA Study Group)
 Biometrics (M1 Technical Committee)
 Data Interchange Formats (M1.3 Task Group)
 Performance Testing and Reporting (M1.5 Task Group)
 Cross Jurisdictional and Societal Aspects (M1.6 Task Group)
 Character Sets and Internationalization (L2 Technical Committee)
 Cloud Computing and Distributed Platforms (CLOUD38 Technical Co
 Coding of Audio, Picture, Multimedia, and Hypermedia Information (L3 Technical Committee)
 MPEG (L3.1 Task Group)
 JPEG (L3.2 Task Group)
 Computer Graphics & Image Processing (H3 Technical Committee)
 Cyber Security (CS1 Technical Committee)
 Data Management (DM32 Technical Committee)
 Database (DM32.2 Task Group)
 Metadata (DM32.8 Technical Committee)
 Fibre Channel Interfaces (T11 Technical Committee)
 Physical Variants (T11.2 Task Group)
 Interconnection Schemes (T11.3 Task Group)
 Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (L1 Technical Committee)
 Governance of IT (GIT1 Technical Committee)
 Identification Cards and Related Devices Physical Characteristics and Test Methods (B10 Technical Committee)
 Integrated Circuit Cards with Contacts (B10.12 Task Group)
 Contactless IC Cards (B10.5 Task Group)
 Driver's License/ID Cards (B10.8 Technical Committee)
 Physical Characteristics and Test Methods (B10.11 Task Group)
 Internet of Things (IoT) (IOT10 Technical Committee)
 IT Sustainability (ITS39 Technical Committee)
 Programming Languages (PL22 Technical Committee) - Fortran (PL22.3 Task Group), COBOL (PL22.4 Task Group), C Language (PL22.11 Task Group), C++ Language (PL22.16 Task Group)
 Office Equipment (W1 Technical Committee)
 Open Systems (T3 Technical Committee)
 Smart Cities (SMART-CITIES Technical Committee)
 SCSI Storage Interfaces (T10 Technical Committee)

Others
 Homepage of INCITS, includes a list of INCITS standards
 Contact INCITS
 ANSI Accredited Standards Developers (ANSI Accredited SDO )
 JTC 1 Homepage
 Charles A. Phillips Papers, 1959-1985 (Historical reference to BEMA)

Organizations established in 1961
Standards organizations
Information technology organisations

තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ප්‍රමිති පිළිබඳ ජාත්‍යන්තර කමිටුව


COSARA (Comptoirs Saigonnais de Ravitaillements) was a Vietnamese aviation and transport company founded by Maurice Loubière. The company's office was located at 5–13, Turc Street, Saigon - now Ho Huan Nghiep Street, Ho Chi Minh City.

Origin of the company

Loubière was posted to the French 4th Colonial Artillery Regiment, based in Hanoi in 1929, to undertake his military service. He sailed from France of the Chargeurs Réunis. Once in Hanoi he learnt Vietnamese and became the regiment's interpreter. In September 1942, he started his own business, Les Comptoirs des Industries Locales, which provided provisions for the Army. Indo-China was controlled by the French Vichy government at this time although occupied by the Japanese.

On 9 September 1947 Loubière, along with one of his Vietnamese friends, founded COSARA (Comptoirs Saigonnais de Ravitaillements). The company's aim was to air freight supplies to army units scattered around Vietnam by using the airfields built by the Japanese during World War II.

First aircraft

In September 1947 COSARA leased an Amiot AAC.1 Toucan from  STA (Société Transatlantique Aérienne). The company was also granted the right to carry passengers between Saigon and Sóc Trăng, Phnom-Penh, and Laos. A second AAC.1 was leased from STA that same year. STA also became a shareholder in COSARA.
During the same period, COSARA also ran a trucking business to carry supplies from the airports to their destinations.
In 1948 COSARA added three Swissair Douglas C-47's to its fleet.

An aviation branch, STAEO (Société Transatlantique Aérienne d'Extrême-Orient) was set up as a subsidiary of COSARA. The passenger routes were expanded to include Tourane, Huế, Hanoi, and Tayninh. By 1950 these were expanded again to include Phan Thiết, and Vientiane.

Prince Savang, Luang Prabang, Laos became a member of the board and Air France a shareholder.

War service

In 1949 COSARA provided assistance to the French Army during the First Indochina War by evacuating wounded soldiers from Sóc Trăng at its own expense. A gesture that earned the praise of General Blaizot.
In 1952 COSARA was nominated for the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor military medal for transporting 230 military passengers from Saigon to Hanoi between 10 and 12 December 1951. Also that same year a COSARA C-47 was shot down on takeoff by the Viet Minh at Phan Thiet.

COSARA participated in Operation Cognac evacuating 6,000 people from North Vietnam to South Vietnam between 22 August and 4 October 1954 and tied in with the much larger Operation Passage to Freedom.

Growth and humanitarian aid
Four additional C-47s were added to COSARA's fleet between 1951 and 1953 and two Sud-Ouest SO.30 Bretagne's were added on 24 July 1952. The SO.30s were named Bac Hac and Van Huong From 1953 to 1954 a further two C-47s were added to the fleet along with five SO.30s.

During 1953 COSARA under its Vietnamese managing director, Mr Phạm Hòe, provided assistance to the Vietnamese Red Cross, transporting medical staff and supplies.

Demise

On 20 July 1954 Vietnam was partitioned into North and South Vietnam and by 1955 COSARA had ceased flying. Its C-47s were sold to Air Vietnam and its SO.30s to the French Navy. Its operations base at Tan Son Nhut was taken over by Air Vietnam and became an international airport. Maurice Loubière returned to France after the company ceased operations.

Fleet

Link for a detailed list of COSARA aircraft

References

External links
Saigon-vietnam.fr: COSARA

Defunct airlines of South Vietnam
Defunct airlines of Vietnam
Air Vietnam
Organizations of the First Indochina War
First Indochina War
French Fourth Republic
Airlines established in 1947
Airlines disestablished in 1955
1947 establishments in French Indochina
1947 establishments in Vietnam
1955 disestablishments in Vietnam
1940s in French Indochina
1950s in French Indochina
1940s in Vietnam
1950s in South Vietnam

COSARA


Boyce Cedric Mullins II (born October 1, 1994) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2018. He was an All-Star and won the Silver Slugger Award in 2021.

Career

Early career
Mullins attended Brookwood High School in Snellville, Georgia. His first two years of college baseball were spent at Louisburg College where he had a perfect 4.0 grade point average and graduated Summa Cum Laude with an Associate of Arts in 2014. He was a one-year letterman in 2015 at Campbell University where he led the Fighting Camels in batting average (.340), runs scored (59), base hits (80), doubles (23) and triples (7). He was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 13th round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft.

Mullins made his professional debut with the Low-A Aberdeen IronBirds in 2015, spending the whole season there, posting a .264 batting average with two home runs and 32 RBIs in 68 games. He played 2016 with the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds, batting .273 with 14 home runs, 55 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases in 124 games, and spent 2017 with the Double-A Bowie Baysox, where he batted .265 with 13 home runs, 37 RBIs, and a .778 OPS in 76 games. He began 2018 with Bowie and was promoted to the Triple-A Norfolk Tides during the season.

Baltimore Orioles (2018–present)

2018

The Orioles promoted Mullins to the major leagues on August 10, 2018, and he made his major league debut that same night, collecting three hits, two RBI, drawing a walk and scoring three runs in a 19-12 loss to the Boston Red Sox. He became the first Oriole in franchise history to collect three hits in his Major League debut and became only the fifth player in MLB history to score three or more runs and collect two or more extra-base hits in his debut, joining Joey Gallo, J. P. Arencibia, Craig Wilson and Hall of Famer Willie McCovey. Mullins finished the season with a .235 batting average and four home runs in 45 games played.

2019

Mullins began the 2019 season as the Orioles starting center fielder. After struggling to start the season, Mullins was demoted to Triple-A Norfolk on April 22. Mullins continued to struggle in Norfolk and was demoted to Double-A Bowie on July 10, though Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said the organization still felt "really highly about Cedric and his ability." He would play in Double-A for the remainder of the season.

Mullins ended his season hitting .094 in 64 at bats for Baltimore.

2020
Despite his lost season in 2019, Mullins was able to play his way onto Baltimore's opening day roster in 2020 with a strong camp. In 2020 for the Orioles, Mullins hit for .271/.315/.407 with 3 home runs, 12 RBI, and 7 stolen bases. He disclosed on February 2, 2022 that he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, and had 10 to 15 centimeters of intestine removed in November 2020 after playing the entire campaign with chronic abdominal pain.

2021
In February 2021, the Orioles announced Mullins would give up switch-hitting and become a full-time left-handed hitter. Mullins first approached the Orioles with the idea in the spring of 2019 but the team opposed it. Before 2021, he had slashed .251/.305/.394 while batting left-handed and .147/.250/.189 from the right side. On April 26, 2021, Mullins had his first career multi-home run game, with two homers against the New York Yankees. From June 4 through June 6, Mullins collected 9 hits in as many at bats including 3 home runs. On July 4, Mullins was named an All-Star for the first time in his career. On July 12, he was chosen to be the starting center fielder in the 2021 All-Star Game, as a replacement for the injured Mike Trout.

On September 24, Mullins became the first Orioles player to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a season since the franchise moved from St. Louis. For the 2021 season, Mullins slashed .291/.360/.518 with thirty home runs, 59 RBIs, 37 doubles, and thirty stolen bases, and led all major league outfielders with 389 putouts. He was unanimously voted the winner of the 2021 Louis M. Hatter Most Valuable Oriole Award by members of the local media. Mullins finished ninth in the American League MVP balloting. On November 11, 2021, Mullins received his first Silver Slugger Award.

2022
On April 12, 2022, Mullins hit his first career grand slam off of Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Eric Lauer. He continued to perform well in his 2022 season, ending with a batting average of .258/.318/.721, 16 home runs, 64 RBIs, and 34 stolen bases. On January 13, 2023, he agreed to a one-year, $4.1 million contract with the Orioles for the 2023 season, avoiding salary arbitration.

2023
Mullins was the seventh in Orioles history and second in two years following teammate Austin Hays to hit for the cycle in a 6–3 home victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 12, 2023. He joined Luis Arráez in achieving the feat during the 2023 season. He singled in the third inning, tripled in the fifth, doubled in the seventh and hit a two-out three-run homer to right field off Duane Underwood Jr. in the eighth. Coming off the bench in the sixth inning of his third match after being activated from the injured list, he robbed Ty France of a potential game-tying solo homer in the ninth and hit a one-out two-run shot off Trent Thornton in the tenth of a 5–3 win over the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on August 13. He hit a one-out grand slam to right-center off Andre Pallante in a 11–5 home win over the St. Louis Cardinals on September 11. His one-out three-run homer to right off Ryan Pressly in the ninth erased a two-run deficit and resulted in an 8–7 away win over the Houston Astros on September 18.

International career
On August 21, 2022, Mullins announced that he would join the United States national baseball team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Awards and accomplishments

Personal life
Mullins is a fan of anime, with Naruto serving as an inspiration for him in his childhood and professional career.

References

External links

Campbell Fight Camels bio

1994 births
Living people
21st-century African-American sportspeople
Aberdeen IronBirds players
African-American baseball players
American League All-Stars
Baltimore Orioles players
Baseball players from Greensboro, North Carolina
Bowie Baysox players
Campbell Fighting Camels baseball players
Delmarva Shorebirds players
Louisburg Hurricanes baseball players
Major League Baseball outfielders
Norfolk Tides players
Silver Slugger Award winners
2023 World Baseball Classic players

Cedric Mullins


Irving Herbert Pomeroy III (April 15, 1930 – August 11, 2007) was an American jazz trumpeter, teacher, and the founder of the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble.

Early life
Pomeroy was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States. He began playing trumpet at an early age. In his early teens he started performing in Boston, claiming inspiration from the music of Louis Armstrong. In 1946, at the age of 16, he became a member of the Musicians Union in Gloucester after the union did not have enough members to conduct a meeting. He studied dentistry at Harvard University for a year but dropped out to pursue his jazz career.

After high school, he studied music from 1950 to 1952 at the Schillinger House in Boston.

Career
Remaining in Boston, he played with Charlie Parker for one week in 1953, then briefly with Charlie Mariano, before going on tour with Lionel Hampton and Stan Kenton. Back in Boston, he played with Serge Chaloff and was hired to teach at Schillinger after it had been renamed the Berklee School of Music. During the latter part of the 1950s he was the leader of a sixteen-piece band which included Mariano, Bill Berry, Jaki Byard, Joe Gordon, and Boots Mussulli.  For two years after that, he led another band, which included Alan Dawson, Hal Galper, Michael Gibbs, Dusko Goykovich, and Sam Rivers. He worked in pit orchestras for Broadway shows passing through Boston. Beginning in 1963 he led bands at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He led a band until 1993, two years before retiring from Berklee.

He helped establish the Jazz Workshop on Stuart Street under the leadership of Mariano and including Chaloff, Varty Haroutunian, Ray Santisi, and Dick Twardzik on the faculty. In 1963 he was hired to revitalize the Techtonians big band at MIT. It was renamed the Festival Jazz Ensemble, and he continued as its director for 22 years. He led the band throughout the US and abroad, taking it to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. On May 10, 2008 the university had a memorial concert for him. He taught at the Lenox School of Music where he conducted a full orchestra of his students. After retirement, he did workshops for local students through the Gloucester Education Foundation.

Although Pomeroy is remembered as a music educator, his first love was performing as a trumpeter.

Awards and honors
 Hall of Fame, International Association of Jazz Educators, 1996
 Jazz Education Hall of Fame, Down Beat magazine
 Honorary degree, Berklee, 1995
 Musician of the Year, Boston Musician's Association, 2004

Former students

Former students include Lee Allen (piano), Franck Amsallem, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Michel Barbaud,  Alan Broadbent,  Gary Burton, Janez Gregorc, Duško Gojković, Mika Pohjola, Mark Levine (author, trombone, piano),  Gary McFarland, Jože Privšek, Miroslav Vitouš, Ranko Rihtman, Dennis Wilson (trombone), and Mickey Yoshino.

Discography

As leader
 Jazz in a Stable (Transition, 1955)
 Life Is a Many Splendored Gig (Roulette, 1957)
 Band in Boston (United Artists, 1958)
 The Band and I  with Irene Kral (United Artists, 1958)
 Pramlatta's Hips (Shiah, 1980)
 This Is Always (Daring, 1996)
 Walking on Air (Arbors, 1997)

As sideman
With John Lewis
 The Wonderful World of Jazz (Atlantic, 1960)
 Essence (Atlantic, 1962)

With Charlie Mariano
 Charlie Mariano with His Jazz Group (Imperial, 1950)
 Modern Saxophone Stylings of Charlie Mariano (Imperial, 1951)

With Gary McFarland
 The Jazz Version of "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying" (Verve, 1962)

With Anita O'Day
 All the Sad Young Men (Verve, 1962)

See also
Pomeroy scale

References

External links
 MIT
 Jazz History Database
 Herb Pomeroy solos and interview with Studio 3
 The Pocket Herb, The teachings of Herb Pomeroy in Outline Form

1930 births
2007 deaths
People from Gloucester, Massachusetts
American jazz trumpeters
American male trumpeters
Harvard School of Dental Medicine alumni
Bebop trumpeters
Berklee College of Music faculty
American jazz bandleaders
Swing trumpeters
20th-century American musicians
20th-century trumpeters
Jazz musicians from Massachusetts
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
Orchestra U.S.A. members
Arbors Records artists
Roulette Records artists
United Artists Records artists

Herb Pomeroy


My Dog Tulip is a 2009 American independent animated feature film based on the 1956 memoir of the same name by J. R. Ackerley, BBC editor, novelist and memoirist. The film tells the story of Ackerley's fifteen-year relationship with his Alsatian dog (German Shepherd) Queenie, who had been renamed Tulip for the book. The film – geared toward an adult audience – was adapted, directed and animated by Paul Fierlinger with backgrounds and characters painted by his wife, Sandra Fierlinger.

Christopher Plummer narrated Ackerley's voice, Isabella Rossellini provided the voice of the veterinarian, and Lynn Redgrave provided the voice (in her last film performance) of Ackerley's sister Nancy.

The film premiered at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 10, 2009 and received Honourable Mention for Best Animated Film at the 2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival. The film won Grand Prix – best feature film award at the World Festival of Animated Film Zagreb – Animafest Zagreb in 2011.

As with the original book, the film gives detailed descriptions of the dog's bowel movements and sex life – received as "positively juvenile" and helping the film achieve realism and avoid anthropomorphism.

In 1988, Colin Gregg had filmed Ackerley's We Think the World of You (1960) – also about Ackerley's relationship with his dog Queenie.

Animation
Fierlinger and his wife divided the film into fourteen sections, making it over a two and a half year period using TVPaint, a French, bitmap-based digital animation software package.  No paper was used in the production.

The film alternates between several animation styles: fully rendered scenes, simple drawings, black and white line illustrations and quick notepad sketches.

The Fierlingers drew and painted about 60,000 drawings for the film, which comprises about 460 scenes and about 600 individual background paintings. The film includes 116,640 frames, with every frame shot twice, making 12 original frames for each second of projection time or 720 drawings per minute. At a length of 81 minutes, the film includes 58,320 drawings.

Fierlinger had earlier animated a half-hour PBS special called Still Life With Animated Dogs.

Distribution and release
In July 2010, US distribution rights were acquired by New Yorker Films.

The film was distributed in the UK and Ireland by Axiom Films, with a release date of 6 May 2011.

References

External links
 Official Site

 Press release for the film (August 14, 2006)
 Comments about the unfinished film by Michael Sporn (Oct. 30, 2006)

2009 films
2009 animated films
American independent films
2000s American animated films
Animated films about dogs
Films about pets
LGBT-related animated films
2009 LGBT-related films
2000s English-language films

My Dog Tulip


Rodolfo Saglimbeni (born 8 December 1962, in Barquisimeto, Venezuela) is a conductor.  He studied music in Venezuela and then at the Royal Academy of Music of London with Colin Metters, John Carewe and George Hurst, obtaining his degree with Honors.

Saglimbeni studied under Franco Ferrara at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome) in 1981. He has served as Associate Director of the Caracas Sinfonietta and Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, as well as in the role of founder and Artistic Director of the Great Marshal of Ayacucho Symphony orchestra, and Musical Director of the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex.

In 1985, he won 2nd prize at France's International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors; where he was also the youngest conductor that year. He returned to Venezuela in 1987. He has been invited to conduct symphony orchestras in France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina and El Salvador.

In 1990, he was hired as tutor and later as Co-director of the summer course of the Canford Summer School of music (which moved location and is now the Sherborne Summer School of Music) in England.    He has been awarded the prize of Best Director of the Year and National Prize  of the Artist and decorated with the Order "Jose Felix Ribas" First Class. In March 1999, he won the Director of the Americas Award in Santiago de Chile. In 2003, he was appointed artistic director of the Municipal Symphony Orchestra of Caracas. In 2019 Saglimbeni was appointed Principal Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile.

References

Sources

External links
Web site of Rodolfo Saglimbeni
Webpage of Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas

1962 births
Living people
People from Barquisimeto
Venezuelan conductors (music)
Male conductors (music)
Venezuelan classical musicians
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music
Prize-winners of the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni
21st-century conductors (music)
21st-century male musicians

Rodolfo Saglimbeni


Ian Alec Harvey Dench (born 7 August 1964) is an English songwriter and musician. He was the guitarist and principal songwriter for EMF, who scored a major international hit reaching number 1 in the United States with "Unbelievable" in 1991. It was voted one of BBC Radio 2's 'Greatest Guitar Riffs'.

Early life
Ian Alec Harvey Dench was born in Cheltenham.
Dench's father, Harold Dench, taught Ian classical guitar.
Ian attended The Crypt School in Gloucester from 1975, where one year at Prizegiving, his chosen prize of "100 Greatest Rock Licks" was somewhat frowned upon, compared to the preferred academic tomes of others.
Ian began his music career playing in a Gloucester City punk band called Curse. He then formed the Gloucester-based band Apple Mosaic who were signed to Virgin Records and released the single "Honey If". This band later dissolved, and its members formed Bedazzled, which released the album "Sugarfree" on Columbia Records in 1992, following several singles.

EMF
In 1989, Dench met the other members of EMF, and within a few months of playing together, they were signed to a major label. Their debut hit, Unbelievable, was written by Dench although credited as EMF, and reached number three in the UK chart. Six months later, the song reached #1 in America.

In an interview with Spin in September 1991, Dench commented on the dynamics within the band, stating that: "I'm the musical director, but I couldn't do it without them. They provide so much attitude.

The band split in 1997 due to musical differences.

Post EMF and songwriting career

After leaving EMF, he found independent success with the band Whistler, signed to Wiiija Records. Whistler released two albums, Whistler and Faith in the Morning.

In 2007, Dench wrote the duet Beautiful Liar for Beyoncé and Shakira, and "Tattoo" for American Idol winner Jordin Sparks with Amanda Ghost with whom he had worked since 1995 when they wrote for Ghost's Ghost Stories album. Beyoncé's 2008 album I Am Sasha Fierce saw a further three Dench and Ghost collaborations: Disappear, Ave Maria, and Satellites.

Dench co-wrote Colours on the Prodigy's 2009 album, Invaders Must Die, and "Red" a top 5 hit for Daniel Merriweather in the UK in May 2009. Gypsy, another collaboration with Amanda Ghost, was the third single from the album, She Wolf by Shakira.

From March 2009 until November 2010, Dench was Vice President of A&R at Epic Records in New York, where he A&R'd albums by Alice Smith and Augustana and signed the acts Progress in Color and HeyHiHello.

In 2011, Dench collaborated in the writing of Bedroom Hymns from Florence and the Machine's Ceremonials album, and her collaboration with ASAP Rocky, I Come Apart.

In 2013, Dench collaborated on the Sub Focus track Endorphins, reaching No 10 in the UK charts, The Conversation by Texas and Astronaut and Run by Joel Compass.

The singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum sang two Dench-penned songs in the ITV series The Halcyon in 2016.

In 2017 it was announced that Dench was heading up a new record label, LGM Records, with former Goldheart Assembly frontman James Dale, where the two developed and signed indie pop band Friedberg. The label was featured in The Times and other publications before founding a digital advertising agency called SINE Digital.

In 2018 Dench worked with Amanda Ghost and Marius DeVries on the song 'The Wonder' for the musical King Kong on Broadway.

Awards

Dench won an Ivor Novello Award for Beautiful Liar in the Best Selling British Song Category in 2008. In 2009, he was nominated for a Golden Globe as co-writer of Once in a Lifetime, sung by Beyonce for the film, Cadillac Records. He was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2010, one as co-producer of two tracks on Beyoncé's album I Am... Sasha Fierce, which was nominated as Album of the Year and the other for Once in a Lifetime.

References

1966 births
Living people
English male songwriters
English rock guitarists
Ivor Novello Award winners
Musicians from Cheltenham
Alumni of the Ruskin School of Art

Ian Dench


Cezary Maciej Ostrowski (born 30 September 1962) is a Polish composer, musician, songwriter, author, visual artist and journalist.

Ostrowske was born in Brzeg, Lower Silesia.  He is best known for his work as a leader of the critically acclaimed new wave band Bexa Lala, established in 1983. Before that, he had fronted the groups: Taz and Leo Patett in the early 1980s, bands renowned for their rough, and violent sound influenced by free jazz, electronica, and post-punk. In 2001, he formed the jazz duo Trzaska & Ostrowski that released the album Blades. In 2003 his another duo Swietlicki & Ostrowski released the album Crawl. Ostrowski's music is generally characterised by intensity and a wide variety of influences.

Cezary Ostrowski's work was selected for 60x60 International mix in 2005.

Cezary Ostrowski lives in Poznań, Poland.

Youth and education
Ostrowski was born in the small town of Brzeg in the Lower Silesia, Poland, to Izabela and Tomasz Ostrowski.

As a child, Ostrowski lived in Brzeg and then Zielona Góra in Poland. His father Tomasz was a lawyer, with a love of literature, and his mother was a teacher. In spite of this Ostrowski was often in trouble with the local school authorities.
In 1977 his family moved to Poznań. After his secondary schooling, Ostrowski studied drawing (Fine Art) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań.

Work with other artists
Cezary Ostrowski has also played with Mikolaj Trzaska, Olga Jackowska, Marcin Swietlicki, Malgorzata Ostrowska, Piotr Bikont.

References

External links
Cezary Ostrowski on ccMixter.org
Cezary Ostrowski on ReverbNation
Cezary Ostrowski on Last.fm
Music for the Fish on archive.org
Brainscan on DMOMA

1962 births
Living people
Polish composers

Cezary Ostrowski


Born's rule (also called the Born law, Born's rule, or Born's law) is a law of quantum mechanics. It is named after its originator, the physicist Max Born. The Born rule is one of the key principles of quantum mechanics.

It gives the probability that a measurement on a quantum system will yield a predicted result.

Quantum mechanics

Born's rule


Tendaguripterus was a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian to Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Middle Saurian Beds (Tendaguru Formation) of Tendaguru, Lindi Region, Tanzania.

Discovery and naming
During the German paleontological expeditions to German East Africa between 1909 and 1913, some pterosaur fossil material was collected that was recognized as such by Hans Reck in 1931. In 1999 David Unwin and Wolf-Dieter Heinrich named a new genus for it. The type species is Tendaguripterus recki. The genus name is derived from Tendaguru and a Latinized Greek pteron, "wing". The specific name honors Reck.

Description
The genus is based on holotype MB.R.1290, a partial mandible with teeth (the symphyseal region, where the two lower jaws meet and fuse into one element). The top of the back of the symphysis is very concave. The teeth in the posterior section of the jaw fragment point strongly backwards. They are also the longest. The teeth are set relatively far apart in alveoli with a slightly thickened ridge.  Overall, this would have been a small pterosaur; the skull length is estimated at twenty centimeters (7.9 inches), and the wingspan at around 100 cm (39.4 in). This specimen is the first report of pterosaur cranial material from Tendaguru. First described as a member of the Germanodactylidae, it was later regarded as a more general dsungaripteroid (of uncertain affinities), meaning it may have fed on crabs and other shellfish. This was mainly motivated by the somewhat raised margins of the tooth sockets. In 2007 Alexander Kellner stated that the resemblance to either Germanodactylus or Dsungaripterus was superficial and that it was not even certain it was a member of the Pterodactyloidea instead of a more basal pterosaur. He accordingly referred it to a newly named but undefined clade, the Tendaguripteridae, of which it is the only member.

See also
 List of pterosaur genera
 Timeline of pterosaur research

References

External links
Tendaguripterus in The Pterosauria

Pterodactyloids
Late Jurassic pterosaurs
Pterosaurs of Africa
Jurassic reptiles of Africa
Fossil taxa described in 1999

Tendaguripterus


The Declaration on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a historical document which, together with the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR, formed the constitutional basis for the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a multinational state.

The Declaration stated the reasons necessitating the formation of a union between all existing Soviet republics into one united socialist state and expressed willingness to undertake a 'permanent revolution', exporting the Socialist Revolution to other states, primarily in the West, as evidenced by the recent Polish-Soviet War. The Declaration also stressed that the creation of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics was a voluntary union of peoples with equal rights, whereby each Soviet republic retained the right to freely secede from the Union, a provision that was used as the legal basis for the independence of several republics and the subsequent dissolution of the Union in 1991.

The draft declaration was endorsed on 29 December 1922, by a conference of plenipotentiary delegations from the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, Byelorussian SSR, and the Transcaucasian SFSR. On 30 December 1922, the declaration together with the Treaty on the Establishment of the USSR was adopted by the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR. It was included as preamble in the Constitution of the USSR of 1924.

See also

 October Revolution Day
 Treaty on the Creation of the USSR

References

Treaties of the Soviet Union
1922 in the Soviet Union
Treaties concluded in 1922
Treaties entered into force in 1922
Treaties of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Treaties of republics of the Soviet Union
Treaties of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
Treaties of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Politics of the Soviet Union
December 1922 events
Proclamations

Declaration of the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics


Lauriston Castle is a 16th-century tower house with 19th-century extensions overlooking the Firth of Forth, in Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies on Cramond Road South, between Cramond, Davidson's Mains, and Silverknowes. The substantial grounds, Lauriston Castle Gardens, operate as a local park. The castle was bequeathed to the Edinburgh Corporation (post 1975 known as Edinburgh City Council) and hosts the Lord Provost's annual Garden Party. The house is a Category A listed building and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

History

A Lauriston Castle stood on this site in medieval times but was almost totally destroyed in the raids on Edinburgh in 1544 by the Earl of Hertford's troops.

A tower house was rebuilt around 1590 by Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston, father of John Napier, for his first son by his second marriage, also named Archibald (1575–1600), known as Napier of Woolmet. Logically, this would be no earlier than 1596, the age of legal majority then being 21. There is no evidence that he ever occupied Lauriston Castle, and he was murdered in 1600, returning to his home, Woolmet House, south of Edinburgh. It is likely that Lauriston was instead occupied by William Napier (c. 1577–1622), the second son of his second marriage. What is certain is that in 1622 the property was inherited by Alexander Napier (the third son of the second marriage) who four years later adopted the title "Lord Laurieston". Lord Laurieston died in 1629, but the house continued to be occupied by his widow and three young children.

In 1683, the estate was purchased by Edinburgh goldsmith and financier William Law, father of infamous economist John Law (1671–1729), shortly before his death. John Law then inherited the estate and it stayed in the family until 1823 when sold to banker and mineralogist Thomas Allan. There is no evidence that the Law family ever resided at Lauriston during their 140 years of ownership. In 1827, Allan commissioned William Burn (1789–1870) to extend the house in the Jacobean style. Subsequent owners were the Right Hon. Andrew Lord Rutherfurd (1791–1854), and Thomas Macknight Crawfurd of Cartsburn and Lauriston Castle, 8th Baron of Cartsburn from 1871 to 1902.

On 3 December 1827 Sir Walter Scott wrote in his journal: "Went with Tom Allan to see his building at Lauriston where he has  good taste; supporting instead of tearing down or destroying the old Chateau which once belonged to the famous Mississippi Law. The additions are in very good taste and will make a most comfortable house."

William Robert Reid, proprietor of Morison & Co., an Edinburgh cabinetmaking business, acquired Lauriston Castle in 1902, installed modern plumbing and electricity, and he and his wife Margaret filled the house with a collection of fine furniture and artwork. The Reids, being childless, left their home to Scotland on the condition that it should be preserved unchanged. The City of Edinburgh Council has administered the house since Mrs Reid's death in 1926, which today offers a glimpse of Edwardian life in a Scottish country house. Lauriston Castle was bequeathed to the nation of Scotland in 1926 and is held in Trust by the City of Edinburgh Council. It holds many similarities with the Estate of John and Mabel Ringling, left to the State of Florida in 1926. In 1925, John Fairley, who was to become a Trustee of Lauriston Castle Estate and its first live onsite curator wrote a limited edition book, of 350 copies, entitled "Lauriston Castle" detailing the history of the Castle and Estate - the holy grail for Lauriston Castle enthusiasts.

In 1905, during one of its numerous refurbishments, a stone carving of an astrological horoscope was installed in the outer wall, on the south-west corner. The horoscope was reputedly done by John Napier for his brother. It can be seen in some pictures on the front wall, beneath the leftmost stair tower, near the ground.

In 2013 it was suggested that the castle could be renovated and turned into an official residence for the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, but the proposal did not go ahead due to costs and other reasons.

Design

Lauriston Castle was originally a four-storey, stone L plan tower house, with a circular stair tower, with two-storey angle turrets complete with gun loops. A Jacobean range was added in 1827, to convert it to a country manor. This was designed by the prominent architect William Burn.

The majority of the interior is Edwardian.

Gardens

The extensive gardens at Lauriston are open to the public at no charge and include a number of different styles and forms. The most recent addition is a notable Japanese garden of one hectare. The garden, built by Takashi Sawano, and dedicated as the Edinburgh–Kyoto Friendship Garden, opened in August 2002.

At the back of the castle, there are beautiful views of the Firth of Forth and beyond to Fife, which are enjoyed by members of the Edinburgh Croquet Club on the three croquet lawns laid out on the castle grounds between 1950 and 1955.

To the north-east, the gardens include some excellent mature examples of monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana).

The site is also famed for its bluebell wood but the size of this was much reduced by the formation of the Japanese Garden.

Ghost
Lauriston Castle, like many other Scottish castles, is reputedly haunted.  It is said that the sound of ghostly footsteps can be heard.

References

External links

Description of Lauriston with photo
Lauriston Castle official website
Edinburgh Croquet Club
Friendship Garden
"Stravaiging Around Scotland: 'Lauriston Castle'"
Engraving of Lauriston Castle by James Fittler in the digitised copy of Scotia Depicta, or the antiquities, castles, public buildings, noblemen and gentlemen's seats, cities, towns and picturesque scenery of Scotland, 1804 at National Library of Scotland

Castles in Edinburgh
Houses in Edinburgh
Clan Napier
Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes
Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh
Listed castles in Scotland
Japanese gardens
Gardens in Edinburgh
Parks and commons in Edinburgh
Historic house museums in Edinburgh
Reportedly haunted locations in Edinburgh
Tower houses in Scotland

Lauriston Castle


Lopsi is the name of a Liburnian tribe inhabiting the mountains along the eastern coast of the Adriatic before and during the Roman Empire, specifically present-day Velebit.

The tribe was mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia, and it borrowed its name to one of the Roman cities on the coast, Lopsica (present day Sveti Juraj in Croatia). The name has survived to present day as a place name, as well as the family surname Lopac.

See also
List of ancient tribes in Illyria

References

Illyrian tribes
Ancient tribes in the Balkans
Illyrian Croatia

Lopsi


In Greek mythology, Salmacis was a naiad nymph of a spring at Caria in Asia Minor. She didn't follow the other nymphs of the goddess Diana and united bodies with Hermaphroditus becoming a single being, both male and female.

"There dwelt a Nymph, not up for hunting or archery:
unfit for footraces. She the only Naiad not in Diana's band.
Often her sisters would say: "Pick up a javelin, or
bristling quiver, and interrupt your leisure for the chase!
But she would not pick up a javelin or arrows,
nor trade leisure for the chase.
Instead she would bathe her beautiful limbs and tend to her hair,
with her waters as a mirror."

Ovid, Metamorphoses. Book IV, 306-312.

According to Ovid's myth, she fell in love with Hermaphroditus, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite. When he bathed in her spring, she embraced him and prayed to the gods to be united with him forever, the gods heard her prayer and merged their bodies together, transforming Hermaphroditus into an androgynous being. Hermaphroditus then cursed the spring of Salmacis, so that any man who drank or bathed in its water would also become androgynous.

Other websites

 hermaphroditus and salmacis art
The Wish of Salmacis
The Pool of Salmacis
Salmacis and hermaphroditus

Nymphs

Salmacis


Thomas George Farris (September 16, 1920November 16, 2002) was an American football quarterback who played for the Chicago Bears (1946–1947) in National Football League (NFL) the Chicago Rockets (1948) in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC).

After playing college football at the University of Wisconsin, Farris was an 11th round selection (99th overall pick) of the 1942 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. But before training camp, he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard to serve in World War II. He played 33 regular season games over 3 seasons. In 1946, which was his best season, he had 1 passing touchdown, 2 pass interceptions, 1 reception and 16 receiving yards.

External links
Fantasy Football Challenge
Tom Farris. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-04-16.

1920 births
2002 deaths
Sportspeople from Casper, Wyoming
Players of American football from Wyoming
American football quarterbacks
Wisconsin Badgers football players
United States Coast Guard enlisted
United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II
Chicago Rockets players
Chicago Bears players

Tom Farris