A choking agent, also called a pulmonary agent, is a type of chemical weapon.  Choking agents make fluid build up in the lungs, and can cause suffocation.

The most common examples of choking agents are chlorine and phosgene.  There are others, but they are not often used.

Phosgene

Phosgene is the most dangerous choking agent that is commonly used.

Phosgene can be a liquid or a gas.  As a gas, it is heavier than air, so it can stay near the ground (where people can breathe it in for long periods of time.  It smells like freshly cut grass or moldy hay.

Along with being a choking agent, phosgene is also a blood agent.  This means it keeps oxygen from getting into the body's cells.  Without oxygen, a person's cells will die, and the person will suffocate.

Phosgene usually does not cause its worst effects right away.  The worst symptoms do not happen until 12 hours after a person breathed in phosgene.  The person usually dies within 24 to 48 hours.

Chlorine
Chlorine is naturally a gas, but it can be made into a liquid or a solid.  Chlorine is used to make many different things, like plastics, and is used to clean swimming pools.

Chlorine gas is very dangerous if it is inhaled.  Chlorine can react with water in the lungs to make hydrochloric acid.  This is a very strong acid which can burn the lungs so badly that a person dies.

Signs and symptoms

The signs and symptoms of exposure to a choking agent depend on how the chemical got into a person's body.

If a choking agent gets into a person's eyes or on their skin, it usually causes very bad burns.

If a choking agent is inhaled, it usually causes:
 Burning in the throat
 Coughing
 Vomiting
 Headache
 Chest pain

If a person got a high enough dose of a choking agent, they will eventually suffocate.

Use in World War I

Phosgene and chlorine gas were both used as weapons during World War I.  Chlorine was used first.  It was the first chemical weapon that was used during the war to try to kill enemy soldiers.  (Before this, countries like France and Germany had used tear gas, which is not meant to kill people.)

Chlorine
Chlorine was used as a weapon for the first time by the German Army around January 1915, against the British Army.  At the time, German Major Karl von Zingler wrote: "[I]t has been said that our Chlorine is very effective. 140 English officers have been killed. This is a horrible weapon ...".

About four months later, the German Army used chlorine gas for the first time against French and Algerian soldiers.  These soldiers did not know about this new weapon, and they panicked and tried to run away.  However, running makes chlorine's effects worse.  In a few minutes, the gas killed more than 1,000 French and Algerian soldiers, and injured more than 4,000 others.  One soldier who survived said:

[I watched] figures running wildly in confusion over the fields. Greenish-gray clouds swept down upon them, turning yellow as they traveled over the country blasting everything they touched and shriveling up the [plants]. . . . Then there staggered into our midst French soldiers, blinded, coughing, chests heaving, faces an ugly purple color, lips speechless with agony, and behind them in the gas soaked trenches, we learned that they had left hundreds of dead and dying comrades.

In September 1915, the British Army used chlorine gas as a weapon for the first time.

The German Army used chlorine gas as a weapon many more times, against French, Canadian, and Russian soldiers.  In one attack on Russian soldiers in Poland, 9,000 Russian soldiers were injured by the gas, and more than 1,000 were killed.

However, soon soldiers learned that the effects of chlorine were not as bad if they stayed still, got as high off the ground as possible, and used a damp cloth to cover their mouths and faces.  Because chlorine gas is green, soldiers could see the chlorine coming and would have time to protect themselves.  This made chlorine gas less deadly, and both sides soon switched to using phosgene.

Phosgene

Phosgene was first used by the German Army to attack the British Army in 1915.  After that, phosgene was used often during World War I.  Countries on both sides of the war - including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States - used phosgene to attack enemy soldiers.  Often they mixed it with chlorine, with the goal of killing more people.

In World War I, phosgene caused about 85% of the 100,000 deaths caused by poison gas during the war (a total of about 85,000 deaths).

Use after World War I
After people saw the effects of poison gases during World War I, these gases were not used often after that war.

However, the Imperial Japanese Army used phosgene against China many times during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).

In 2007, Iraqi insurgents used chlorine bombs to attack soldiers and civilians.  Over 350 people got sick from the first attack. In two other attacks, more than 30 people died in each attack.

Related pages
 Chemical warfare
 Chemical weapons in World War I
 Chemical Weapons Convention

References

Chemical warfare

Choking agent


The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping company Rakuten.

History

2004: Origins and formation

During Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2004 season, the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave announced that the two teams planned to merge into one for the start of the 2005 season. Both teams were in the Pacific League (PL), and a merger between the two would result in a team imbalance with the PL's opposing league, the Central League (CL). As a large number of players and personnel were expected to lose their jobs when the merger was finalized, the players conducted a two-day strike on September 18–19, 2004. With the threat of further strikes looming, team representatives agreed to ease the rules of entry for new teams into NPB and that one would be allowed to join the following season. To fill the void left by the merger, internet services companies Livedoor and Rakuten submitted applications to form teams to be based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. NPB selected Rakuten to create a Sendai-based PL team. The team would play its home games in Miyagi Baseball Stadium, which was being renovated by Rakuten. Marty Kuehnert and Yasushi Tao were hired as general manager and manager, respectively, of their newly named "Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles" baseball club. The name is derived from the Japanese golden eagle, a large, endangered, predatory bird found in the mountains of Japan's Tōhoku region.

Instead of allowing the Eagles to draft players from all 11 NPB teams in an expansion draft, the team had to construct their roster from the 107 players left over from the dissolved Kintetsu and original Orix teams during a special dispersal draft. Furthermore, Orix was allowed to select 25 players that would be protected from the distribution process before the draft, thus giving them preferential signing rights. Included in these selections were all free agents and foreign players. Rakuten was only then allowed to select 20 unprotected players, not including any first- or second-year players. After that, the first- and second-year players were unprotected and Orix and Rakuten alternating selecting 20 more players for the last round of the draft. The league's decision to employ an unequal dispersal draft to build the Eagles roster was blamed for the team's struggles to come. In the draft, Rakuten was able to pick up former Buffaloes outfielder Koichi Isobe as he was left unprotected by Orix because he refused to play for their newly formed team. Similarly, the Eagles were able to acquire Buffaloes' star pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma. Despite also voicing that he had no intention of playing for the merged team, Orix still protected him. After, negotiations took place between Iwakuma and Orix that eventually resulted in Orix trading him to the Eagles.

2005–2009: Debut and the road to the Climax Series
Just over a month into their first season, the Eagles removed Kuehnert as general manager and demoted the head and batting coaches following a 6–22 start. The team finished 51.5 games out of first place and was the first NPB team in 40 years to lose over 90 games in a single season. As a result, ten players were released, and Tao was dismissed despite being signed to a three-year contract. In an otherwise disastrous season, one highlight was team's home debut. Only five months after being awarded a franchise and without a preseason game as a dry run, Rakuten ran and operated the game smoothly in front of a packed, partially-renovated Miyagi Stadium. It was also estimated that the economic impact of the team in the Tōhoku region was $300 million in the first year. Rakuten planned to spend more than ¥1 billion on enhancing player training and about ¥3 billion on the continuing remodel of the ballpark. The stadium's off-season renovations expanded its seating capacity and added amenities. Mikitani looked to experience to lead the Eagles in its second season when he replaced first-time manager Tao with Hall of Famer and veteran manager Katsuya Nomura, signing him to a three-year contract. The team improved slightly over its first season, and third baseman José Fernández went on to receive the Eagles' first Best Nine Award in his first season with the team. However, the 2006 season also brought the Eagles' their first no-hit loss, and they still finished last in the Pacific League. At the end of the season, Rakuten drafted pitcher Masahiro Tanaka in the first round of the 2006 amateur high school draft.

The Eagles' first real signs of improvement came during the 2007 season, the team's third. Takeshi Yamasaki led the league in home runs through May and was named the PL MVP for the month of May, the team's first. He went on to be selected by fans to the Pacific League All-Star team for the 2007 All-Star Series, receiving the most votes of any player overall. With one of the All-Star games being played at the Eagles' home stadium that year, fans also voted in seven other Rakuten players, including rookie pitcher Tanaka. Rakuten finished the season with a losing record, however, for the first time they did not finish the season in last, instead finishing in fourth. At the end of the season, Yamasaki led the league in both home runs and runs batted in (RBIs) and Tanaka was awarded the PL Rookie of the Year Award. The team finished fifth next season, however, Iwakuma finished with the best earned run average (ERA) and most wins in the league after struck by injuries the previous few years. At season's end, he was presented with his and the team's first PL Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Eiji Sawamura Awards. In the 2008–09 offseason, the Eagles extended Nomura's contract to keep him on as manager for one more year. Rakuten secured second place in the Pacific League the next season and advanced to the Climax Series for the first time. A pair of complete game wins at home both by Iwakuma and Tanaka in the First Stage allowed the Eagles to advance but the team lost to the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in four games in the Second Stage, ending their season.

2010–2013: From disaster to championship
Rakuten hired American Marty Brown to succeed Nomura as manager. Even though Brown was signed to a two-year contract, he was let go a year later after the Eagles finished the 2010 season in last place. The club looked to Senichi Hoshino next to turn the team around. Kazuo Matsui and Akinori Iwamura, both returning from playing stints in Major League Baseball (MLB), were also added to the roster, and Teppei Tsuchiya was named as the team's first ever captain. On March 11, 2011, two weeks before the first game of the season, the Tōhoku region was struck by the largest earthquake in the country's history. The quake and the subsequent tsunami devastated the region, including the Eagles' home city of Sendai. With the season opener postponed until April 12, the team continued to train in the Kansai region because of the aftermath in Sendai. In addition to Rakuten holding fund-raising events, all 12 teams played charity games to help raise money for earthquake relief. They hosted their first "home" game at Koshien Stadium while restoration work to Miyagi Stadium continued. Baseball returned to Sendai on April 12, when the Eagles played their first game at their home field. Furthermore, the final game of the 2011 All-Star Series was switched from Tokyo Dome to Miyagi Stadium, the second time the Eagles hosted the event since 2007. Rakuten finished the 2011 season in fifth and again missed the playoffs. However, in addition to winning a Golden Glove and a Best Nine award, Tanaka was also named PL MVP of the month three times over the course of the season, a first for the Pacific League.

After the season, Hisashi Iwakuma left the club to play in MLB. Rakuten went deep into the 2012 season as a playoff contender that year, but ultimately missed advancing to the Climax Series by one game and finished fourth. Before the start of the 2013 season, the Eagles signed former MLB players Casey McGehee and Andruw Jones. The Eagles finished April in fifth place, however, the next two months saw Tanaka winning consecutive PL MVP of the month awards, helping the club to finish June in second. The team took sole possession of first place in the Pacific League in early July and never relinquished it, winning the Eagles' their first PL pennant. Over the remaining three months of the season, Tanaka continued to win games and finished the season with 24 wins and no losses. He was awarded a record-setting five consecutive monthly MVPs from May to September. As league champions, the Eagles advanced directly to the Final Stage of the Climax Series Final where they defeated the Chiba Lotte Marines to advance to their first Japan Series. Rakuten defeated the Yomiuri Giants at home in the final game of a seven-game series to win the franchise's first and only Japan Series championship. Game 6 of that Japan Series would also mark the only loss, including postseason games, that Tanaka would be given, after pitching a 160 pitch complete game in Game 6, but he followed it up in what would be his final game before being posted to the Yankees, a save in Game 7. Starting pitcher Manabu Mima was named the Japan Series MVP after the series, and at the end of the season, Tanaka was presented with the PL MVP and Eiji Sawamura Awards, Norimoto was named the PL Rookie of the Year, and Senichi Hoshino was given the Matsutaro Shoriki Award. After the increased ticket demand during the 2013 season, an expansion project that increased Miyagi Stadium's maximum seating capacity above 28,000 was completed the next year.

2014–2020: Post-Tanaka struggles
Following the championship-winning season, Masahiro Tanaka left the Eagles via the posting system to play for the New York Yankees, netting the team a $20 million transfer fee in return. Likewise, McGehee also left for MLB, and the team struggled in the years following their departures, finishing last the next season. This disappointing finish prompted manager Senichi Hoshino to resign despite ownership wanting him to return for a fifth season. Rakuten promoted their farm team manager Hiromoto Okubo to manager. At the end of July, hitting coach Tomio Tashiro abruptly resigned and it was brought to light that owner Hiroshi Mikitani had often been interfering in on-the-field decisions, such as dictating the batting order. After Tashiro's resignation, Mikitani began conferring with field personnel before making any decisions, however the team again finished in last and Okubo resigned at the end of the season. The turmoil brought about by Mikitani taking the lead on baseball operations after Hoshino's unexpected resignation forced Rakuten to reevaluate how the team was managed and organized. It was decided that Hoshino, who had been retained as an Eagles vice chairman, would have full authority over baseball operations, similar to the role of an MLB general manager.

In preparation for the 2016 season, Miyagi Stadium underwent its last major renovation during the offseason, increasing its capacity to over 30,000 people. The team, hoping to avoid a third consecutive last-place finish, hired veteran PL manager Masataka Nashida and signed free agent Toshiaki Imae, a two-time Japan Series MVP. During the season, Rakuten formed a training team to help further develop talent by playing against university, corporate, club, and independent teams. The Eagles avoided finishing the season in last, however they placed fifth and again missed the playoffs. The 2017 Eagles, however, found themselves battling the Saitama Seibu Lions near the end of the season for second place. Ultimately, the team secured a First Stage, Climax Series berth against the Lions with a third-place finish. After losing the first game of the three-game series, Rakuten won the final two to defeat Seibu and advance to the Final Stage. Against the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the Eagles took the first two games of the series but were eliminated after the Hawks won the next three.

2018–present: Ishii as general manager and Tanaka returns
Hoshino died in January 2018. Following the death, Rakuten erected a memorial flower stand in front of the newly named Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi. Mikitani then announced that Hoshino's uniform number 77 would be retired permanently just before the start of the season. The Eagles struggled immediately that season, falling to 20 games under .500 by mid-June. Taking responsibility for the team's poor performance, Nashida resigned as manager that month and head coach Yosuke Hiraishi acted as interim manager for the remainder of the season. The Eagles went on to finish the season in last, however before it was over Rakuten formally created a general manager (GM) position in Hoshino's absence. Former NPB and MLB pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii was hired in the role to help coordinate the efforts of the front office and field management.

Hiraishi was kept on as full-time manager for the 2019 season and led the Eagles to a third-place finish and a postseason berth. However, the team was defeated by the Hawks in the First Stage. After the loss, another managerial change was made and Hajime Miki was promoted from farm team manager. The Eagles failed to make the playoffs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and Ishii sent Miki back to manage the farm team after only one season. To replace him, Ishii appointed himself as manager starting with the 2021 season. Meanwhile, the conclusion of MLB's 2020 season marked the end of Masahiro Tanaka's seven-year contract with the Yankees. Instead of signing with another MLB team, Tanaka chose to return to play in Japan and signed a two-year contract with Rakuten. The next season, a third-place finish secured the Eagles a place in the 2021 PL Climax Series, however a loss and a tie against the Marines ensured that Rakuten would not advance to the Final Stage.

Roster

Former players

Retired numbers
10 – This number is worn by both team mascots, Clutch and Clutchina, and is considered the number of the fan, the 'tenth man' on the field. It is the first retired number in NPB involving a fan, inspired by some teams in other sports (such as football, which retires "12" for the "12th man", or basketball, which retires "6" for the "6th man"). There are ten starting players in the Pacific League as the league uses the designated hitter.  The Chiba Lotte Marines has the No. 26 retired in similar fashion (MLB's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim has retired No. 26, in similar fashion, for the original owner Gene Autry).
 77 - Senichi Hoshino - First retired number of a manager

MLB players
Former:
Masahiro Tanaka (2014–2020)
Retired:
Kazuo Fukumori (2008)
Hisashi Iwakuma (2012–2017)

Honors and records

Honors
Japan Series Championship (1): 2013

Former managers

Records

Team identity

Logos and uniforms
The Eagles' team color is crimson red, the corporate color of its parent company, Rakuten. Yellow was added as an accent color to represent a golden eagle. The team's logo applies a golden eagle motif to the word "Eagles", which has wings added to its left and right sides. The word "Rakuten" sits at atop in a smaller, simpler font. The winged "E" from this logo also serves as the team's cap insignia. The club's home and away uniforms both include the same crimson caps bearing this insignia. Starting with the 2020 season, '47 supplies the caps for the team. Their glossy helmets mimic the cap design and are created using a traditional Miyagi Prefecture lacquer technique called tamamushi-nuri. The supplier of Rakuten's uniforms has changed several times. At the start of the 2011 season, Descente provided all of the team's uniforms and apparel. Then, from 2014 to 2019, the team had a contract with Majestic Athletic, the then-supplier of MLB. Since the start of the 2020 season, Mizuno Corporation has supplied the uniforms and apparel for the Eagles. The Eagles' uniforms bear the logos of various sponsors on the jersey, pants, cap, and helmet.

Home and visitor uniforms

The Eagles home uniforms are all white. The pants are white with crimson piping from beltline to cuff on each side and have not changed since being introduced. For the team's inaugural season, the front of the white, button-down jersey displayed the team's logo along with the player's number in crimson outlined in yellow. The raglan lines on the shoulders and sides featured crimson piping, and the back displayed the player's name and number in the same style as the front number. The right sleeve displayed Rakuten's corporate logo. The jersey underwent a small design change for the 2011 season when the fonts for the player's name and numbers were simplified to match the font on the visitor jersey. Then, after the Tōhoku earthquake, a patch reading  was added to the left sleeve as a symbol of support. This patch has been featured on every home and visitor uniform since it was first added. Before the 2018 season, the home jersey design was again tweaked. All of the yellow was changed to gold, including the chest logo, its first change. Additionally, the raglan and side piping was removed in favor of crimson and gold stripes around the collar and sleeves and the font of the player's name and numbers was again modified. The club's current home jersey debuted before the 2020 season and is very similar to its previous iteration, albeit with the crimson and gold collar stripes removed.

The team's visitor uniform has undergone more drastic changes since the first design. The same pants worn with the home jerseys are utilized for the visitor uniforms, however the button-down jersey is crimson red and bears the name of the team's owner "Rakuten" on the chest. In the garment's first iteration, the white Rakuten logo was wholly original and incorporated a yellow drop shadow to give it a 3D effect. White piping along the raglan lines on the shoulders and sides was added and the player's number in white appeared on the front. The back displayed the player's name and number, again in white. As with the home jerseys, the right sleeve displayed Rakuten's corporate logo. Its first design change came one year before the home jersey's when the chest logo was changed in 2009. All yellow was removed leaving the logo completely white, and the font was changed to bring it in line with Rakuten's corporate branding. Additionally, the font of the name and numbers was simplified. The font used for the name and numbers was again modified for the 2014 season. The next change to the visitor jersey occurred in 2018, the same time as the home design change. Again keeping with the changes to the corporate logo, a white line was added under "Rakuten" on the chest. The raglan and side piping was also removed in favor of white stripes around the collar and sleeves. The Eagles' current visitor jersey again debuted alongside the home jersey. Similarly, the stripes around the collar were removed, however a gold stripe was added to the white stripes around the sleeves. Gold outlines were also added to the back name and number and the front chest number was removed for the first time.

Third and special uniforms

Throughout the team's history, there have also been several alternate and limited-time uniform designs. A third alternate uniform was introduced in 2006 for home games during interleague play. These were primarily white with crimson sides and shoulders outlined by yellow piping along the raglan lines. The left side of the chest featured the cap emblem, while the right featured the player's number in crimson outlined in yellow. It was redesigned for the 2010 and 2011 seasons and worn at several games played in the Tōhoku region before being discontinued. The chest displayed the words "Tohoku" and "Rakuten" in crimson, with the "E" logo moved instead to the sleeve and the player's chest number removed altogether. The yellow piping was removed in favor of yellow and white stripes around the sleeve cuff.

Other than the third alternate uniform, the Eagles have also worn many limited, seasonal uniforms throughout their history that often have unique designs, colors, and sleeve patches. Starting with the 2007 season, players wore special uniforms during a limited, home-game stretch dubbed "Fan Club Day". From 2007 to 2009, each season's uniform was selected from a pool of fan-submitted designs and were variants of their white, home jersey. After skipping the 2010 season, the event returned in 2011, however the design contest was no longer employed. In an effort to fill the stands with color for the event, the jersey was changed to crimson, a color traditionally used only for road games, for 2012 and 2013. In 2014, these jerseys were rebranded as the "Fans'" uniform and were worn for home games played throughout the Tōhoku region. To reflect this, the Eagles' chest logo was removed from the crimson jersey and instead replaced with the word "Tohoku". A patch was also added to the sleeve that season to commemorate the team's 2013 Japan Series win. This general design continued to be utilized for Fans' Days through the 2018 season. For the 2019 season, Rakuten's fifteenth, the Fans' uniform was changed and again borrowed the home jersey design, however in grey instead of white. The next year, the same design was kept but the base color was changed to black, and it would be worn again in 2021 after the COVID pandemic limited fan attendance in 2020.

In addition to the various Fans' uniform iterations, the Eagles have worn several themed seasonal uniforms throughout its history. The first was introduced in 2011 to celebrate the team's seventh season, a lucky number in Japan. The design, dubbed the "Eagle Rainbow", was drastically different from the team's previous uniforms. The jersey was the team's only v-neck pullover and was white and crimson with seven different shades of red, orange, and yellow. The chest bore the word "Eagles" in a simple dark blue font with a logo illustration of an eagle underneath. The cap emblem was also changed to feature the same "E" as on the chest. The uniforms were worn during four interleague games that season, and the player-worn jerseys were auctioned off to raise money for earthquake relief. The team has worn a special summer uniform every season since, and next season Rakuten unveiled the "Eagle Star" uniform, which added crimson, full-body pinstripes to the home design. The "Tohoku Green" theme was introduced in 2013 and variations of the same uniform was used for three seasons. To bring attention to the conservation of Tōhoku's forests, the jerseys were green and displayed "Tohoku" across the chest. Full-body crimson pinstripes were brought back in 2016, this time extending to the cap as well. These "Eagle Summer" uniforms also displayed "Rakuten" on the chest. The next two seasons featured black jerseys and caps. The first, "Black Eagles" in 2017, was a black version of the home uniforms. The following year, the "Tōhoku Pride" uniform was a black version of that year's Fans' uniform. The current special uniform theme is "Tohoku Blue", a companion to the green theme. First introduced in 2019, the jersey design was similar to the previous year's, however it was blue to represent the sky. The colors were modified for the following season when it changed to white with blue pinstripes. As with the Fans' uniform, 2020's Tohoku Blue uniforms are returning for 2021.

Mascots
At the time of team's inception, Rakuten created a pair of male and female golden eagle mascots. Named Clutch and Clutchena respectively, the names were chosen from suggestions from the public and are derived from the clutch of an eagle's claw as well as the baseball concept of a clutch hitter. Clutch wears a jersey bearing the number 10, an Eagles retired number that represents the fans. A third mascot, a harpy eagle named Switch, was unveiled in 2016. The Eagles have also periodically featured an unofficial, mischievous mascot named Mr. Carrasco. The character, based on a black crow, is masked and rides a motorcycle. For Black Eagles Day in 2017, Rakuten added a mascot character called Kurowashi-san. Unlike the other costumed mascots, Kurowashi-san appeared as a normal man with a black eagle on his head.

Minor League team
The Golden Eagles farm team plays in the Eastern League. The team was founded in 2005.

See also
 – the first Golden Eagles' official cheer song, recorded and released as a single by J-pop idol group Morning Musume.
 – the fourth Golden Eagles' official cheer song, recorded by J-pop idol group Cute.
Vegalta Sendai

External links
 Official website

References

Nippon Professional Baseball teams
Baseball teams established in 2004
2004 establishments in Japan
Rakuten

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles


Tepia sacrificial spring, also known as Tepia silmaallikas or Tepia silmaläte (spring for eyes) is a spring in Võru County, Meremäe rural municipality, in Tepia village by Tuhkvitsa stream in Estonia. The spring is situated in a forest beside Lätteperve farm field, about 330 metres north-east of Lätteperve farm buildings. The spring is under protection as a cultural monument.
The spring was believed to have healing properties. People were hoping to get healed by the spring and used to make donations by throwing coins or flowers in it. One could not take the coins thrown in the spring home, as it was believed that this would bring sickness in.

References

Setomaa Parish
Springs of Estonia
Religion in Estonia

Tepia sacrificial spring


The Macchiaioli () were a group of  Italian painters active in Tuscany in the second half of the nineteenth century.  They strayed from antiquated conventions taught by the Italian art academies, and did much of their painting outdoors in order to capture natural light, shade, and colour. This practice relates the Macchiaioli to the French Impressionists who came to prominence a few years later, although the Macchiaioli pursued somewhat different purposes. The most notable artists of this movement were Giuseppe Abbati, Cristiano Banti, Odoardo Borrani, Vincenzo Cabianca, Adriano Cecioni, Vito D'Ancona, Serafino De Tivoli, Giovanni Fattori, Raffaello Sernesi, Silvestro Lega and Telemaco Signorini.

The movement

The movement originated with a small group of artists, many of whom had been revolutionaries in the uprisings of 1848.  In the late 1850s, the artists met regularly at the Caffè Michelangiolo in Florence to discuss art and politics. These idealistic young men, dissatisfied with the art of the academies, shared a wish to reinvigorate Italian art by emulating the bold tonal structure they admired in such old masters as Rembrandt, Caravaggio and Tintoretto. In addition, they found inspiration in the paintings of their French contemporaries of the Barbizon school thanks to Serafino De Tivoli (referred to as the father of the Macchiaioli's technique by his friend Telemaco Signorini), who brought those influences at the Caffe' Michelangiolo after his trip to Paris for the Exposition Universelle in 1855.

The Macchiaioli's group believed that areas of light and shadow, or "macchie" (literally patches or spots) were the chief components of a work of art. Indeed, their revolution primarily consists in juxtaposing spots of different colors (even relatively large at times), in such a way to contrast light and shade. Such a representation of light becomes the main way of shaping the painted subject, whose finer details become irrelevant and often neglected. The word macchia was commonly used by Italian artists and critics in the nineteenth century to describe the sparkling quality of a drawing or painting, whether due to a sketchy and spontaneous execution or to the harmonious breadth of its overall effect.

In its early years the new movement was ridiculed. A hostile review published on November 3, 1862 in the journal Gazzetta del Popolo marks the first appearance in print of the term Macchiaioli. The term carried several connotations: it mockingly implied that the artists' finished works were no more than sketches, and recalled the phrase  "darsi alla macchia", meaning, idiomatically, to hide in the bushes or scrubland. The artists did, in fact, paint much of their work in these wild areas. This sense of the name also identified the artists with outlaws, reflecting the traditionalists' view that new school of artists was working outside the rules of art, according to the strict laws defining artistic expression at the time.

The Macchiaioli group represents the first example of an independent group of artists who revolutionized painting thanks to a technique essentially based on the investigation and representation of light. For this reason, they have often been compared to the Impressionists, whose movement started in Paris roughly fifteen years after the Macchiaioli. However, the Macchiaioli did not go as far as their younger French colleagues in the pursuit of optical effects. Erich Steingräber says that the Macchiaioli "declined to divide up their palette into the components of the colour-spectrum, and did not paint blue shadows. This is why their pictures lack the all-penetrating light that eclipses colours and contours and gives rise to the 'vibrism' peculiar to Impressionist painting. The independent identity of the individual figures is unimpaired."

When analyzing the comparison between the two groups, it has been often pointed out that the Macchiaioli did not benefit from the technological advancement of the (portable) paint tubes, which on the other hand were practically available later on to the Impressionists in France. As a result, to avoid their hand-made paint colors to dry out, the Macchiaioli could not follow the Impressionists' practice of finishing relatively large paintings entirely en plein air, but rather they were limited to small sketches painted out-of-doors as the basis for works eventually finished in the studio. As a matter of fact, sketches painted on relatively small board panels (often fitting into standard cigar boxes), and where the "macchia" technique is mostly exemplified, represent a sort of trademark of the  Macchiaioli's movement.

The verdict that the Macchiaioli were "failed impressionists" has been countered by an alternative view which places the Macchiaioli in a category of their own, a decade or so ahead of the Parisian impressionists. This interpretation views the Macchiaioli as early modernists, with their broad theories of painting capturing the essence of subsequent movements that would not see the light of day for another decade or more. In this view the Macchiaioli emerge as being very much embedded in their social fabric and context, literally fighting alongside Giuseppe Garibaldi on behalf of the Risorgimento and its ideals.  As such, their works provide comments on various socio-political topics, including Jewish emancipation, prisons and hospitals, and women's conditions, including the plight of war widows and life behind the lines.

Many of the artists of the Macchiaioli died in penury, achieving fame only towards the end of the 19th century. Today the work of the Macchiaioli is much better known in Italy than elsewhere; much of the work is held, outside the public record, in private collections there.

Other painters, such as Luigi and Flavio Bertelli and Antonino Sartini, were influenced by this movement, without being a full part of it.

The Macchiaioli were the subject of an exhibition at the Chiostro del Bramante in Rome, October 11, 2007 – February 24, 2008,  which traveled to the Villa Bardini in Florence, March 19 – June 22, 2008. An exhibition in Venice, at the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti showed the capolavori della collezione Mario Taragoni from March 8 - July 27, 2008. Another exhibition of the Macchiaioli was held at the Terme Tamerici in Montecatini Terme, August 12, 2009 – March 18, 2010. The Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris mounted an exhibition of the Macchiaioli April 10 – July 22, 2013.

Gallery

See also
Hudson River School
Barbizon School
Caffè Michelangiolo

Notes

References
Boime, Albert (1993). The Art of the Macchia and the Risorgimento. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
Broude, Norma (1987). The Macchiaioli: Italian Painters of the Nineteenth Century. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Steingräber, E., & Matteucci, G. (1984). The Macchiaioli: Tuscan Painters of the Sunlight : March 14-April 20, 1984. New York: Stair Sainty Matthiesen in association with Matthiesen, London.
Turner, J. (1996). Grove Dictionary of Art. USA: Oxford University Press.

Further reading
 Piero Bargellini, Caffè Michelangiolo, Firenze, Vallecchi Editore, 1944.
Panconi, T. (1999). Antologia dei Macchiaioli, La trasformazione sociale e artica nella Toscana di metà 800. Pisa (Italy): Pacini Editore.
Panconi, T. (2009). I Macchiaioli, Il Nuovo dopo la Macchia. Pisa (Italy): Pacini Editore.
Durbe, Dario (1978). I Macchiaioli. Rome: DeLuca Editore.

Italian art movements
Modern art
Landscape art by school
Painters from Tuscany
Italian artist groups and collectives

Macchiaioli


Tourtière du Lac-Saint-Jean is a Québécois dish of the pie family and a variation of the tourtière dish popular in French Canada. This variant originates from the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec. The tourtière du Lac-Saint-Jean differs from a regular tourtière by having thicker crust, cubes of potatoes, meats and broth (instead of only minced meat), as well as being placed in a much larger and deeper container. Like a regular tourtière, the meat chosen is usually pork, beef or veal. Wild game like moose, hare and ruffed grouse is used if available. Chicken soaked in onions is also sometimes used. Tourtière du Lac-Saint-Jean is prepared for at least 10 servings, which is why it is a popular choice for festivals and "le temps des fêtes" (a time period in Quebec when families celebrate multiple Holidays in December and January). This tourtière also differs from the cipaille of Gaspésie and Acadia because it doesn't use multiple layers of dough and sometimes uses a different set of ingredients. Though, the tourtière du Lac-Saint-Jean is thought to be more closely related to the cipaille than to the regular tourtière. In fact, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean residents typically reserve the name "tourtière" for this specific dish, while referring to regular tourtière as "pâté à la viande" ("meat pie").

Etymology
Contrary to popular belief, the name "tourtière" does not come from the tourte voyageuse - the now extinct species of bird that used to be the most popular meat for tourtière. Rather, its name comes from a kind of container in which precursors to the tourtières of today were cooked. The oldest known recipe for a tourtière-like dish is found in the 13th-century work Liber de Coquina, in which "Torta parmigiana" is depicted with at least six layers of different ingredients.

Gallery

See also
Tourtière
Cuisine of Quebec
Cipaille
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean

References

External links
 Zoom sur… Tourtière en son royaume, Émilie Folie-Boivin, ledevoir.com, 23 December 2011.

Cuisine of Quebec
Christmas food
Meat and potatoes dishes
Beef dishes
Pork dishes
Veal dishes
Wild game dishes
Christmas in Canada

Tourtière du Lac-Saint-Jean


Scouts' Own or Guides' Own is an inspirational, informal ceremony held as part of Scouting or Guiding activities.

A Scouts' Own service is usually short, often lasting no longer than 15 minutes. They are made up of a mixture of readings, prayers, reflections and music. Many Scouts' Owns are based on a particular theme, such as friendship, using resources wisely, or fairness.  This might be connected to a certain event or occasion.

History
H. Geoffrey Elwes established the idea of Scouts' Own.  The first was held in 1909 at the Crystal Palace Rally in London and were originally meant to be simple interdenominational religious celebrations. "Uncle" Elwes advocated a strongly Christian content for the Scouts' Own and later disagreed with the founder of Scouting, Robert Baden-Powell, who favoured an interfaith approach. Baden-Powell approvingly described a Scouts' Own at the international Scouters' training centre at Gilwell Park, in which a visiting Arab Scouter had read verses from the Quran in addition to a reading from the Gospels. Baden-Powell diplomatically avoided confrontation with Elwes and various church leaders, but by 1930, it was Baden-Powell's doctrine that was being promoted in Scout training manuals and books.

In 1928, Baden-Powell described his views on the subject in The Scouter:
For an open Troop, or for Troops in camp, I think the Scouts' Own should be open to all denominations, and carried on in such a manner as to offend none. There should not be any special form, but it should abound in the right spirit, and should be conducted not from any ecclesiastical point of view, but from that of the boy. Everything likely to make an artificial atmosphere should be avoided. We do not want a kind of imposed Church parade, but a voluntary uplifting of their hearts by the boys in thanksgiving for the joys of life, and a desire on their part to seek inspiration and strength for greater love and service for others.

A Scouts' Own should have as big an effect on the boys as any service in church, if in conducting the Scouts' Own we remember that boys are not grown men, and if we go by the pace of the youngest and most uneducated of those present. Boredom is not reverence, nor will it breed religion.

To interest the boys, the Scout's Own must be a cheery and varied function. Short hymns (three verses are as a rule quite enough-never four); understandable prayers; a good address from a man who really understands boys (a homily "talk" rather than an address), which grips the boys, and in which they may laugh or applaud as the spirit moves them, so that they take a real interest in what is said. If a man cannot make his point to keen boys in ten minutes he ought to be shot! If he has not got them keen, it would be better not to hold a Scouts' Own at all.

Individual organizations
The Boy Scouts of America no longer officially uses the term Scouts' Own, preferring "outdoor worship service" or "interfaith worship service."

See also

 Religion in Scouting

References

External links

Scouting
Interfaith dialogue
Religious pluralism

Scouts' Own


John de Courcy Ling CBE (14 October 1933 – 10 November 2005) was a British diplomat, farmer, politician and writer. His Roman Catholic faith contributed to making him a strong internationalist who believed in overseas aid.

Family and personal life
Born in Warwickshire, Ling was the son of Arthur Norman Ling, of Warwick, and of Veronica de Courcy, of Painestown, County Kildare, and was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham followed by Clare College, Cambridge where he received his BA degree in 1955. Although Cambridge graduates are entitled to proceed to the degree of Master of Arts after passing nine terms, he did not collect his MA until 1981. He married the half-Canadian Jennifer Rosemary Haynes in 1959; the couple had a son (Adam) and three daughters (Julia, Tricia and Kate).

Early career
Ling served his National Service as a second lieutenant in the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1956, and served as a lieutenant on active service in Cyprus from 1957 to 1958. On being demobilised he entered the Diplomatic Service and was the resident Deputy Middle Eastern Secretary at the Foreign Office in 1959. Following the usual Diplomatic Service practice of alternating postings in Whitehall with those in foreign embassies, he was private secretary to Ministers of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Harlech and Joseph Godber from 1961 to 1963, and then Second Secretary at the embassy in Santiago from 1963 to 1966.

Senior diplomatic posts
Promoted to First Secretary at the Nairobi embassy in 1966, Ling served three years before returning to the Rhodesia Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1969. He transferred to the American Department in 1970 and became Assistant Head of the West African Department in 1971. His final postings were as chargé d'affaires at Chad in 1973, and then as Counsellor in Paris from 1974 to 1977. During this time he also became involved in managing farms at Henley and later a farm he inherited from his mother at Painestown.

Political involvement
Following his resignation from the Diplomatic Service, Ling entered politics as a Conservative. His experience in Paris and with the Foreign Office had made him a pro-European and he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for Midlands Central in 1979. He served as Chief Whip for the Conservative Group for four years and chaired the EU Parliamentary Delegation to Israel from 1979 to 1983. He was vice-chairman of the Development Aid Committee from 1984 until 1987. He was defeated in the 1989 elections by Christine Oddy.

Ling had previously served as a Member of the Council of Lloyd's of London from 1986 to 1988, and continued to be a member of the Catholic Bishops' Committee on Europe (to which he had been appointed in 1983) until 2001. He wrote for publications such as The Tablet and the Sunday Times, as well as books on the decline of empire and African famine. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1990.

Sources
The Times: 17 November 2005

1933 births
2005 deaths
People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham
Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge
Royal Ulster Rifles officers
English non-fiction writers
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Conservative Party (UK) MEPs
British military personnel of the Cyprus Emergency
MEPs for England 1979–1984
MEPs for England 1984–1989
People from Warwick
20th-century English farmers
Members of HM Diplomatic Service
Private secretaries in the British Civil Service
English male non-fiction writers
20th-century English male writers
Military personnel from Warwickshire
20th-century British diplomats

John Ling


An intermediate representation (IR) is the data structure or code used internally by a compiler or virtual machine to represent source code. An IR is designed to be conducive to further processing, such as optimization and translation. A "good" IR must be accurate – capable of representing the source code without loss of information – and independent of any particular source or target language. An IR may take one of several forms: an in-memory data structure, or a special tuple- or stack-based code readable by the program. In the latter case it is also called an intermediate language.

A canonical example is found in most modern compilers. For example, the CPython interpreter transforms the linear human-readable text representing a program into an intermediate graph structure that allows flow analysis and re-arrangement before execution. Use of an intermediate representation such as this allows compiler systems like the GNU Compiler Collection and LLVM to be used by many different source languages to generate code for many different target architectures.

Intermediate language
An intermediate language is the language of an abstract machine designed to aid in the analysis of computer programs. The term comes from their use in compilers, where the source code of a program is translated into a form more suitable for code-improving transformations before being used to generate object or machine code for a target machine. The design of an intermediate language typically differs from that of a practical machine language in three fundamental ways:

 Each instruction represents exactly one fundamental operation; e.g. "shift-add" addressing modes common in microprocessors are not present.
 Control flow information may not be included in the instruction set.
 The number of processor registers available may be large, even limitless.

A popular format for intermediate languages is three-address code.

The term is also used to refer to languages used as intermediates by some high-level programming languages which do not output object or machine code themselves, but output the intermediate language only. This intermediate language is submitted to a compiler for such language, which then outputs finished object or machine code. This is usually done to ease the process of optimization or to increase portability by using an intermediate language that has compilers for many processors and operating systems, such as C. Languages used for this fall in complexity between high-level languages and low-level languages, such as assembly languages.

Languages
Though not explicitly designed as an intermediate language, C's nature as an abstraction of assembly and its ubiquity as the de facto system language in Unix-like and other operating systems has made it a popular intermediate language: Eiffel, Sather, Esterel, some dialects of Lisp (Lush, Gambit), Squeak's Smalltalk-subset Slang, Nim, Cython, Seed7, SystemTap, Vala, V, and others make use of C as an intermediate language. Variants of C have been designed to provide C's features as a portable assembly language, including C-- and the C Intermediate Language.

Any language targeting a virtual machine or p-code machine can be considered an intermediate language:
 Java bytecode
 Microsoft's Common Intermediate Language is an intermediate language designed to be shared by all compilers for the .NET Framework, before static or dynamic compilation to machine code.
 While most intermediate languages are designed to support statically typed languages, the Parrot intermediate representation is designed to support dynamically typed languages—initially Perl and Python.
 TIMI is used by compilers on the IBM i platform.
 O-code for BCPL
 MATLAB precompiled code
 Microsoft P-Code
 Pascal p-code

The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) uses several intermediate languages internally to simplify portability and cross-compilation. Among these languages are
 the historical Register Transfer Language (RTL)
 the tree language GENERIC
 the SSA-based GIMPLE. (Lower-level than GENERIC; input for most optimizers; has a compact "bytecode" notation.)

GCC supports generating these IRs, as a final target:
 HSA Intermediate Layer
 LLVM Intermediate Representation (converted from GIMPLE in the now-defunct llvm-gcc which uses LLVM optimizers and codegen)

The LLVM compiler framework is based on the LLVM IR intermediate language, of which the compact, binary serialized representation is also referred to as "bitcode" and has been productized by Apple. Like GIMPLE Bytecode, LLVM Bitcode is useful in link-time optimization. Like GCC, LLVM also targets some IRs meant for direct distribution, including Google's PNaCl IR and SPIR. A further development within LLVM is the use of Multi-Level Intermediate Representation (MLIR) with the potential to generate code for different heterogeneous targets, and to combine the outputs of different compilers.

The ILOC intermediate language is used in classes on compiler design as a simple target language.

Other
Static analysis tools often use an intermediate representation. For instance, Radare2 is a toolbox for binary files analysis and reverse-engineering. It uses the intermediate languages ESIL and REIL to analyze binary files.

See also
 Interlingual machine translation
 Pivot language
 Abstract syntax tree
 Bytecode (Intermediate code)
 Symbol table
 Source-to-source compiler
 Graph rewriting and term rewriting
 UNCOL

References

External links
 The Stanford SUIF Group

Compiler construction
Programming language classification

Intermediate representation


Cnidoscolus texanus, commonly known as Texas bullnettle (also Texas bull nettle and Texas bull-nettle), tread-softly, mala mujer, and finger rot, is a perennial herb covered with stinging hairs. The main stem, branches, leaves, and seed pods are all covered with hispid or glass-like bristly hairs that release an allergenic toxin upon contact. Contact with the plant results in intense pain: stinging, burning, and itching lasting for hours. It is native to the U.S. states of Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma and also native to the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is an herbaceous flowering plant that grows between  tall and as much as  across. Texas bullnettle (Cnidoscolus texanus) has showy, fragrant white flowers that can bloom throughout the year in southern regions of its distribution, predominantly March to November in northern regions. It is a drought-tolerant plant, therefore making it a superb choice for xeriscaping. This plant is attractive to birds, bees, butterflies, and other insects. The seeds are known to be consumed by Rio Grande wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia) and mourning doves (Zenaida macroura).

The seeds, which are edible when ripe, are also consumed by humans.  Indigenous Peoples harvested bullnettle seeds in the past and some people still eat them today. Each seed pod contains three seeds, which are smooth, somewhat cylindrical, brownish white, and a half to three quarters of an inch long. When ripe, they are dispersed when the pod burst open, catapulting the seeds away from the plant. Great care and caution is advised in collecting the seeds. Tull suggested wearing long pants, long sleeves, boots, and gloves to pick the seed pods with a pair of tongs, then dropping them into a paper sack and waiting for the pods to ripen and burst in the sack to collect the seeds. They are said to be appetizing and tasty with a nutty flavor.

Description

It is a perennial plant with erect or sprawling branching stems growing from thick root stock, up to 40 inches long and 8 inches thick. It has milky latex and stiff prickly glandular-based, stinging hairs. The stems and leaves are green. The leaves are three to six inches, simple, and are alternately arranged on the stem, and each leaf is deeply cut with 3 to 5 lobes. The lobes are typically roughly and irregularly toothed or lobed again. The flowers are in a few flowered terminal cymose inflorescences about one inch across. Flowers have five sepals and lack petals, the sepals are lobed, white, fragrant, and covered with hispid hairs. Each flower has 10 connate stamens. The male and female flowers separate but within the same cluster. The fruits are in prickly 3-seeded capsules.

It was first described by Johannes Müller Argoviensis in 1865 as Jatropha texana. It was then moved to the genus Cnidoscolus in 1903 by John Kunkel Small.

Bullnettle exposure

Contact with the plant, even the inadvertent, gentle brushing of exposed skin in passing, results in intense pain, including a burning, stinging, itching rash lasting for hours, with the fine hairs breaking off in the skin secreting caustic irritants. The spines providing a vehicle for the plants secretions to make it into the dermal and epidermal layers of the skin. In a few extreme cases, people experience a severe reaction that may require treatment, ranging from cellulitis (a type of skin infection) to rare allergic reactions. Some authors suggest relief from a normal reaction can be found with the application of a weak solution of ammonia, "Windex is a good choice" or when in remote areas that urine can be applied, stating "desperate times call for desperate measures".

The secretions of the plant cause an intense burning sensation due to their highly acidic pH. Once the nettles themselves are removed from the skin, a moderately basic preparation such as baking soda mixed with water to form a paste is sufficient to neutralize the acidic secretions of the plant, thus stopping the painful burning and itching sensation. The spines can be removed with an adhesive tape, however, one website suggest waiting 10–15 minutes for the spines to dry, otherwise the pressure from applying the tape will only press more toxins into the skin.

References

texanus
Flora of Arkansas
Flora of Kansas
Flora of Louisiana
Flora of Oklahoma
Flora of Tamaulipas
Flora of Texas
Plants described in 1865
Taxa named by John Kunkel Small
Flora without expected TNC conservation status

Cnidoscolus texanus


Thomas Ainslie Young (June 12, 1797 – February 8, 1860) was an official and political figure in Lower Canada.

He was born in Quebec City in 1797, the son of John Young (seigneur) and grandson of Thomas Ainslie (colonial official), and studied in Lower Canada and at London. In 1820, he was appointed controller of customs for the Port of Quebec; he was inspector general of the public accounts for Lower Canada from 1823 to 1826, when he was named auditor general for the public accounts. In 1823, Young married Monique-Ursule, the daughter of François Baby. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada for the Lower Town of Quebec in 1824 and reelected in 1827 and 1830. He voted against the Ninety-Two Resolutions.

He served as sheriff for Quebec district from 1823 to 1827. In 1828, he was named a justice of the peace. Young served as inspector and superintendent of police for Quebec City from 1837 to 1840. In 1838, he arrested the editor and printer for Le Canadien, a newspaper viewed as inflammatory. In 1839, he arrested the editor of Le Fantasque of Quebec on similar charges. He arrested a number of other individuals suspected of being involved in rebel activity during the Lower Canada Rebellion; most were released without being charged some time later. From 1840 to 1842, he was police magistrate for Quebec district. Young also served in the militia, becoming major, and was a director of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning.

He died at Quebec City in 1860.

External links

1797 births
1860 deaths
Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada
Canadian justices of the peace
Baby family (Canada)

Thomas Ainslie Young


The Tampa Bay hurricane of 1921 (also known as the 1921 Tarpon Springs hurricane) was a destructive and deadly major hurricane which made landfall in the Tampa Bay area of Florida in late October 1921. The eleventh tropical cyclone, sixth tropical storm, and fifth hurricane of the season, the storm developed from a trough in the southwestern Caribbean Sea on October 20. Initially a tropical storm, the system moved northwestward and intensified into a hurricane on October 22 and a major hurricane by October 23. Later that day, the hurricane peaked as a Category 4 on the modern day Saffir–Simpson scale with maximum sustained winds of . After entering the Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane gradually curved northeastward and weakened to a Category 3 before making landfall near Tarpon Springs, Florida, late on October 25. It was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the Tampa Bay area since the hurricane of 1848 and the last to date.

The storm weakened to a Category 1 hurricane while crossing the Florida peninsula, and it reached the Atlantic Ocean early the following day. Thereafter, the system moved east-southeastward and remained fairly steady in intensity before weakening to a tropical storm late on October 29. The storm was then absorbed by a larger extratropical cyclone early the next day, with the remnants of the hurricane soon becoming indistinguishable.

The storm brought strong winds to the Swan Islands, including hurricane-force winds on the main island. Heavy rains fell in Cuba, particularly in Pinar del Río Province, but only minor damage occurred. In Florida, storm surge and abnormally high tides caused damage along much of the state's west coast from Pasco County southward. Several neighborhoods in Tampa were inundated, especially the interbay neighborhoods of Ballast Point, DeSoto Park, Edgewater Park, Hyde Park, Palmetto Beach, and other areas in the vicinity of Bayshore Boulevard. Strong winds also damaged hundreds of trees, signs, buildings, and homes. Four deaths occurred in Tampa, three from drownings and another after a man touched a live wire. The storm left two additional fatalities in St. Petersburg. A number of streets in Tarpon Springs were littered with masses of debris, with many structures and trees suffering extensive damage. Southward in Manatee County and Sarasota County, many waterfront communities along Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, such as Cortez and Sarasota, suffered heavy structural losses. Strong winds occurred as far east as the Atlantic coast of the state, though wind damage east of the Tampa Bay area was generally limited to downed trees and power lines, resulting in power outages, particularly in Orlando. Agriculture throughout the state experienced significant impact as well, including over $2 million (equivalent to $ million in ) in damage and the loss of at least 800,000 boxes of citrus crops alone. Overall, the hurricane left at least eight deaths and about $10 million (equivalent to $ million in ) in damage.

Meteorological history

In mid-October, a significant drop in atmospheric pressures over the western Caribbean Sea coincided with the development of a trough on October 17. Observations suggested that a circulation formed on October 20, with the Atlantic hurricane database listing a tropical storm beginning at 00:00 UTC, with the system was situated about  southeast of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina. The cyclone initially moved slowly northwestward due to a high pressure system over Bermuda. Early on October 22, the storm intensified into a Category 1 hurricane, based on sustained winds of  on Great Swan Island. The hurricane strengthened significantly over the northwestern Caribbean, becoming a Category 2 hurricane at 00:00 UTC on October 23 and a Category 3 hurricane six hours later. Around 18:00 UTC, the cyclone reached Category 4 intensity and peaked with maximum sustained winds of  and a minimum barometric pressure of . The latter was observed by the schooner Virginia, while the former was estimated using the southern wind-pressure relationship.

Early on October 24, the hurricane moved northward across the Yucatán Channel and entered the Gulf of Mexico. Thereafter, the system gradually curved to the northeast as the high pressure weakened and the storm became under the influence of a southwesterly air current. At 12:00 UTC on October 25, the cyclone weakened to a Category 3 hurricane. About 10 hours later, the hurricane made landfall near Tarpon Springs, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of . The storm further weakened to a Category 1 hurricane over Central Florida early on October 26, about six hours before emerging into the Atlantic Ocean near New Smyrna Beach. Reaching the Atlantic with winds of , the hurricane briefly re-strengthened to reach winds of  early on October 27. It then moved east-southeastward after the high pressure weakened further. Late on October 29, the system accelerated northeastward and weakened to a tropical storm, before being absorbed by a large extratropical cyclone about  southeast of Bermuda at 00:00 UTC on October 30. About six hours later, the remnants of the hurricane became indistinguishable. These remnants were the second storm encountered by USS Olympia in its Atlantic crossing with the American unknown soldier from World War I.

Preparations
Forecasters at the United States Weather Bureau issued advisories for ships and oceangoing vessels, while posting hurricane warnings for areas in western Florida stretching from Key West to Apalachicola on October 24 and October 25. Additionally, storm warnings were issued eastward from mouth of the Mississippi River and along the east coast of Florida.

Impact
In Cuba, heavy rainfall in Pinar del Río Province caused rivers and creeks to rise. However, only minimal damage was reported.

The hurricane passed to the west of the Florida Keys as a Category 4 hurricane. Its large wind field caused tropical storm force winds to the islands, with the highest wind report being  in Key West. Rainfall from the hurricane's outer bands was intermittent, and storm tides of  were reported. Further north, Captiva and Sanibel islands were completely inundated with water. In Punta Rassa, the majority of homes were either extensively damaged or washed away. Most highways leading out of Fort Myers were impassible due to high water. Damage to railroad tracks resulted in a suspension of service for three days. On Estero Island, a number of buildings were damaged, including the casinos, cottages, and Crescent Beach resort. The storm also destroyed the mausoleum of Dr. Cyrus Teed, the founder of Koreshanity. Damage in Lee County reached about $1.5 million. Along the Myakka River near Boca Grande, the railroad bridge washed away, while the storm also destroyed two vehicular bridges over the Charlotte Harbor Bay. The streets of Punta Gorda were inundated, where a tide of  above normal was recorded. One death occurred in the city due to drowning. At Egmont Key, above normal tides forced 75 people to seek shelter in the lighthouse. The entire island was inundated by water.

In Manatee County, the storm demolished much of the waterfront not only along Tampa Bay, but also Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, On Passage Key, sustained winds of  and a storm surge of . During the storm, a cyclone-induced tidal wave was reported to have washed away the island's vegetation, which never rebounded. Southward on Anna Maria Island, the storm washed away high ground that was once a characteristic of the north end of the island. In the small fishing village of Cortez, the storm destroyed all of the community's fish houses and docks. The storm surge completely flooded the area up to 67th Street in Bradenton. Cortez's residents, with little forewarning of the storm, sought refuge in their rural graded schoolhouse, which withstood the storm while many houses floated away. Inland, the storm caused flooding along the Myakka River and the destruction of many wharfs along the Manatee River.

The hurricane brought a storm surge of  to Tampa Bay. The highest rainfall total in Tampa was at . However, the observer noted that winds probably blew water out of the gauge. The barometric pressure fell to , breaking a previous record set in 1910. The hurricane also brought sustained winds of  and a storm tide of . Damage from the wind was generally minor, while most of the impact wrought by the storm was due to abnormally high tides in Tampa and elsewhere in the area. Much of the city was flooded, with the worst along Bayshore Boulevard, where some of the most expensive properties were located. At Hyde Park, dwellings were inundated about halfway up the first story, prompting several people to be rescued by boat. Electrical poles and wires were washed away near the intersection of Bayshore Boulevard and Howard Avenue. The latter was also left impassible by car. In the Palmetto Beach neighborhood, much of the section was inundated. A group of about 40 volunteers rescued a number of women and children. A total of 50 homes were destroyed by cedar logs used to construct cigar boxes at the Tampa Box Company on 22nd Street.

At Ballast Point, the pavilion and bathhouse were destroyed by the storm. Nearby, the Tampa Yacht and Country Club suffered severe damage. Many cars along the waterfront were severely damaged and nearly all flat railroad cars were submerged. The Malloy Line dock was also left under several feet of water. A number of waterfront warehouses were also damaged by floodwaters. After the Tampa Electrical Company power house experienced water damage, the electricity was shut off. Additionally, the company's cable station was flooded under several feet of water. Winds downed hundreds of trees and sign across roadways and tore-up awnings. At least 50 awnings were ripped from a bank building on Franklin Street alone. Falling trees also damaged the post office and the YMCA. Almost 500 dwellings in the neighborhood of Ybor City were demolished. Five people were killed in the city, three from people coming into contact with a live wire and the other two from drowning. Only minor damage occurred in Plant City. Throughout Hillsborough County, many county roads were impassable due to downed telegraph poles and other debris, especially between Tampa and Plant City.

Tides  above normal and storm surge in St. Petersburg damaged or destroyed all four fishing piers. Many ships and boats of all sizes capsized or were beached, including the trawler Hypnotist, which ejected the crew of seven into the water, all of whom were rescued. The St. Petersburg Beach Hotel was destroyed, after employees swam through the lobby for safety. At the office of the St. Petersburg Times, then located at Fifth Street and First Avenue South, the loss of electricity resulted in staff working overnight with lanterns. With no power to operate the typesetting machine, the employees connected their linotype machine to a two-cylinder motorcycle to publish the "Motorcycle Extra". Two deaths occurred in St. Petersburg, one from a heart attack during preparations for the storm and the other from a man being crushed by a falling roof.

Initially, there were rumors and unconfirmed reports that Pass-a-Grille (today a neighborhood of St. Pete Beach) was wiped out and that up to 150 deaths occurred. Though the town was hit particularly hard, there were no fatalities and damage was less severe than indicated, reaching about $50,000. Storm surge was partially diverted to Boca Ciega Bay, but Pass-a-Grille generally suffered severe impact due to  of water covering some areas. The island's luxury resort hotel was extensively damaged, and its dancing pavilion was destroyed. It never reopened and was destroyed by fire the following year.  A number of cottages were badly damaged. The storm destroyed a casino in Gulfport. The casino in Indian Rocks Beach collapsed after the sand foundation was washed away. In Largo, nearly all of the buildings at the Pinellas County Fairgrounds were rendered unusable.

Buildings were severely damaged in  Clearwater, including the ice and power plants, a theater, and a hotel. Many residences were also damaged. Electric and telephone wires were downed, leaving the city without power or telephone service. Boats were tossed about in the bay. The city of Oldsmar was devastated by storm surge, with portions of the town being inundated by  of water. Many homes were practically demolished. Although no loss of human life occurred, many cattle drowned.

In Tarpon Springs, streets were littered with masses of debris. Sections of the city along the Anclote River were flooded. Primarily, impact consisted of structures being unroofed, windows shattering, and tree being uprooted. Throughout the city, electrical and telephone lines were downed, but telephone was partially maintained and electricity was restored quickly. Two hotels suffered extensive damage due to flooding. Although the high school was also severely damaged, classrooms remained usable. The cupola was torn away and the roof was partially damaged, including over the auditorium. The Odd Fellows Hall was thrown off its foundation and virtually destroyed. In the business district, most of the buildings leaked, resulting in damage to merchandise. Crop damage in Pinellas County was extensive, totaling about $1 million, which included a loss of 50%–70% of fruit lost and considerable damage to citrus trees.

The hurricane also brought extensive impact to portions of Pasco County. In New Port Richey, a few churches suffered severe damage or were destroyed. Nearly all walls collapsed and many windows were shattered at the school house. Only one shop remained standing at a plaza with several industrial stores. The vast majority of homes in the city received some degree of damage. Local crops experienced extensive impact, with a local farm losing about 800 boxes worth of fruit. Similar effects occurred in Port Richey. All stores received water damage, while two homes were destroyed and several others were inflicted with varying degrees of impact.

In Dade City, Mt. Zion Baptist Church was demolished, which was never rebuilt. Only the church cemetery remains. Another church, which opened early in the year, was nearly demolished by falling trees. A turpentine plant was damaged, including the loss of about one-third of the lumber stored in the building. The Sunnybrook Tobacco Company suffered significant impact, with nine large barns destroyed and about  of trees toppled. A number of other companies sustained damage, including the Dade City Packing Company and the Dade City Ice, Light and Power Company. Damage to the business reached $100,000. Several homes were damaged. Electrical, telegraph, and telephone wires were downed throughout the city. During the storm, electricity was maintained in the downtown section, while residential areas were left without power for two days. In San Antonio and Trilby, a number of buildings were moved off their foundations. The old city hall in Zephyrhills was moved about . At a hotel, the building lost a portion of its roof and several windows were broken. In addition, the hurricane virtually destroyed much of Passage Key, part of which was later rebuilt.

In Polk County, the storm left light property damage in Lakeland, reaching under $5,000, which included the school building being deroofed. Damage to crops was mostly limited to grapefruit and oranges, with losses estimated to have been less than 10%. In the rural communities outside Lakeland, several small building suffered damage. This was considered the worst tropical cyclone in the area since 1897. Lake County experienced sustained winds of  and  of rain in some areas. Much of the impact was confined to large trees being uprooted and ornamental vines suffering damage. A number of trees fell on electrical wires, causing power outages and disruptions to telephone service. Additionally, it is possible that a tornado touched down, based on some pine trees being "splintered from top to bottom and curled up like molasses candy." Damage to citrus crops was light, with losses conservatively estimated at less than 5%. Strong winds in Orange County left the entire city of Orlando without electricity, disrupting commerce. Citrus crops suffered no more than 5% in losses in the county. In St. Augustine, wind downed wires, some of which caused small fires in the business district.
A steamship capsized sailing from Jacksonville to Miami capsized offshore Jupiter and there were reports of damage to several other small boats offshore. Agricultural damage from the hurricane was high, reaching over $2 million, with more than $1 million incurred to crops and the remainder to fertilizer and other materials. Citrus crops were especially hard hit, with 800,000 to 1,000,000 boxes of fruit lost. Salt water, caused by coastal flooding, prevented cultivation of soil in some areas, though rainfall eventually washed away the salt. In all, the hurricane left at least eight people dead and about $10 million in damage.

Aftermath

After receiving reports of mass casualties and destruction at Pass-a-Grille, the American Red Cross stocked a United States Navy subchaser with pine caskets and relief supplies, but found no bodies and only a fraction of the reported damage. Because of fears that the hurricane might hinder the Florida land boom of the 1920s, rebuilding and cleanup of the area commenced quickly and the land boom in the Tampa Bay region and in southern Florida continued. Local officials, businessmen, realtors, and later the press soon attempted to cover up or downplay the damage, which threatened to distort Tampa's advertised image as the "Year Round City". On October 28, a writer for The Tampa Tribune stated, "Everyone is accepting the storm as an incident and all are going to work to rebuild the devastated areas, with the firm conviction that there will not be another storm of such severity during the life of anyone now living." One of the destroyed buildings at the Ballist Point Pavilion was soon rebuilt after the storm. However, the building was destroyed again by fire in 1922. In 1925, a new pavilion was built. On Captiva Island, the Wayside Chapel suffered extensive damage, but was repaired and reopened as Captiva School and Chapel-by-the-Sea, which has been listed as a National Historic Place since 2013. Many farmers on the island sold their land for a significantly reduced price to Clarence B. Chadwick, who would transform more than  of property into the South Seas Island Resort.

The hurricane was the first major hurricane to strike the Tampa Bay region since a hurricane in 1848 and the most recent to date. Additionally, since this storm, only a hurricane in 1946 has made landfall in the area. In the past few decades especially, local officials have been concerned about a major hurricane impacting the area due to population increases, older building codes, storm surge projections, and complacency among some residents. The combined population of Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties has increased from about 135,000 people in 1921 to approximately 2.7 million by 2011. In Pasco County, more than half of the homes were constructed prior to the enactment of stronger building codes in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. A Sea, Lake, and Overland Surge from Hurricanes (SLOSH) computer model from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indicates that portions of Downtown Tampa would be flooded with over  of water in the event of a Category 4 hurricane, while St. Petersburg would be surrounded by water. CoreLogic, an international property information firm, estimated in 2016 that nearly 455,000 homes were at risk of being damaged by storm surge, with costs of property damage and repairs reaching approximately $80.6 billion (2016 USD). Another property firm, Karen Clark & Co., estimated in 2015 that storm surge could inflict as much as $175 billion (2015 USD) in damage in a worst-case scenario.

See also

1946 Florida hurricane – Most recent hurricane to directly impact the Tampa Bay Area
Hurricane Zeta – Latest major hurricane to strike the continental United States in the calendar year on record
Hurricane Ian
List of Florida hurricanes (1900–1949)

Notes

References
General

Specific

External links

Tampa Bay Hurricane of 1921 best track data
Hurricane Effects in Pasco County and Tarpon Springs

Tampa Bay Hurricane, 1921
Tampa Bay Hurricane, 1921
20th century in Tampa, Florida
1921
 (1921)
1921 natural disasters in the United States
History of Tampa, Florida

1921 Tampa Bay hurricane


Amando de Ossorio (6 April 1918 – 13 January 2001) was one of the foremost Spanish horror film directors during the European horror film surge in the 1970s, known especially for his "Blind Dead" tetralogy.

Biography
De Ossorio directed a short political film in 1956 called The Black Flag, then spent the next few years doing documentaries and commercials. He was also a talented painter and artist. In 1964, he was hired to direct a few innocuous westerns and comedies, then he moved into horror in 1969 where he made his mark with Malenka, The Vampire's Niece.

Amando de Ossorio complained in interviews that right from the start of his directing career, his producers were always tampering with his projects. His first horror film, Malenka, The Vampire's Niece (1969), was written to be a psychological thriller about a young woman who inherits a castle in Europe and is summarily driven crazy by her uncle who tries to convince her that he and she are both vampires. At the end of the film, the uncle's scheme is revealed and explained by her boyfriend to be a hoax. However, after de Ossorio finished the film, the producers decided to make the uncle an actual vampire in the English-language version, and added a low-budget disintegration scene to the finale of the English-dubbed prints that completely contradicted the plot.

In 1971, de Ossorio came up with the concept of The Blind Dead, a cult of blind, undead Templar Knights who sucked human blood, rode skeletal ghost-horses and were attracted to their victims by the sound of their heartbeat. The first film, Tombs of the Blind Dead, was so successful, he immediately embarked on a career as a Euro-horror film director. Three more "Blind Dead" films followed in quick succession....Return of the Evil Dead, The Ghost Galleon and Night of the Seagulls.

Monsters very similar to de Ossorio's Templar Knights later appeared in two other Spanish horror films, Jesus Franco's film Mansion of the Living Dead (1982) and Paul Naschy's film The Devil's Cross (1974). Those two films were not connected to de Ossorio's in any way however, they were simply homages.

De Ossorio filmed several other stand-alone horror films during this time, including Night of the Sorcerers and The Loreley's Grasp. His 1975 Demon Witch Child (one of the many European Exorcist clones) is today regarded by his fans as an underrated must-see horror classic. In the late 70s, de Ossorio's name even wound up on a couple of X-Rated adult films. (The Spanish horror film industry petered out after 1975 and, unlike the Italian film industry which rebounded with gory zombie and cannibal films in 1980, the Spanish horror film market never recovered.)

He started to direct a cannibal film called Man Hunter (aka Devil Hunter) in 1980, but Spanish director Jesús Franco was given the project by the producer, and de Ossorio gracefully bowed out. Also in 1980, de Ossorio began directing a historical drama (peplum) entitled Los Cantabros (The Cantabrians), but he was replaced on the project by Paul Naschy, who agreed to direct the picture if he was allowed to start the whole project from scratch, working up an entirely new screenplay and hiring his own actor friends to replace de Ossorio's cast members.

Strangely, many of the actors who regularly appeared in Jesus Franco's films also worked for Amando de Ossorio, such as Jack Taylor, Montserrat Prous, Paul Muller, Fernando Bilbao, Luis Barboo, Rosanna Yanni and Kali Hansa. He also worked with Julia Saly & Helga Liné, two actresses who starred in a number of Paul Naschy's horror films during the same period.

Unfortunately de Ossorio's last horror film, the 1984 Sea Serpent (which had been his dream project for many years) was a disappointment to him due to the very low-budget special effects he was forced to utilize, and led him to retire from filmmaking in 1984, at age 66.

He was interviewed for a 2001 documentary about his life entitled Amando de Ossorio: The Last Templar just a short time before he died. During the interview, de Ossorio complained about the pitifully tiny budgets he was always forced to work within, and he lamented that in almost every case, the finished project never came close to what he had envisioned when he first conceived each film. He cited his worst disappointment being the abysmal special effects that appeared at the climax of his The Ghost Galleon (1974), wherein the producers actually used a plastic toy boat in a bathtub to represent the Spanish galleon that burns and sinks at the end of the film.

In his final years, he augmented his income by producing scary oil paintings of his Templar Knights and selling them to his fans. In 1993, de Ossorio was shopping around a script for a fifth Blind Dead film, to be called "The Necronomicon of the Templars", but he failed to interest a producer in the project. He died in 2001 from natural causes at the age of 82. His four "Blind Dead" films are now available in a deluxe DVD box set, and most of his other horror films are also available now on DVD, with the exception of The Sea Serpent (which has only been released on VHS).

Complete filmography

 La Bandera Negra (The Black Flag), 1956 (short political drama made as an independent film project)
 Grave of the Gunfighter, 1964 (Spaghetti western) starred Jack Taylor
 I tre del Colorado (Three From Colorado), 1966 (Spaghetti western);  a.k.a. Rebels In Canada, a.k.a. Canadian Wilderness
 Pasto de Fieras (Field of Beasts), 1967 (children's drama)
 La Niña del Patio (The Girl in the Yard), 1967 (comedy)
 Malenka, The Vampire's Niece (1969) a.k.a. Malenka, la Nipote del Vampiro; starred Anita Ekberg, Rosanna Yanni, Diana Lorys, Paul Muller, Julian Ugarte and Fernando Bilbao; released on DVD as Fangs of the Living Dead (English language version only).
 Tombs of the Blind Dead (1971) (first film in the Blind Dead series)  a.k.a. La Noche del Terror Ciego, a.k.a. The Blind Dead; starred Lone Fleming;  DVD features both the edited English language print as well as the unedited Spanish language print, along with its alternate opening sequence.
 Return of the Blind Dead (1973) (second film in the Blind Dead series)  a.k.a. The Return of the Evil Dead, a.k.a. El Ataque de los Muertos Sin Ojos; starred Tony Kendall, Lone Fleming and Luis Barboo;  DVD features both the English language version as well as the slightly longer Spanish version.
 The Loreley's Grasp (1974) a.k.a. Las Garras de Lorelei; starred Tony Kendall and Helga Liné;  released on VHS as When The Screaming Stops, and later on DVD as The Loreley's Grasp;  DVD features both the English and Spanish language versions, completely unedited.
 Night of the Sorcerers (1974) a.k.a. La Noche de los Brujos/ The Night of the Witches; starred Jack Taylor and Kali Hansa; DVD features both the English and Spanish versions, completely unedited.
 The Ghost Galleon (1974) (third film in the Blind Dead series);  a.k.a. El Buque Maldito / The Cursed Ship/ Ghost Ship of the Blind Dead; starred Jack Taylor and Maria Perschy; released on VHS as Horror of the Zombies, and later on DVD as The Ghost Galleon; DVD features both the English and Spanish versions, completely unedited.
 Demon Witch Child (1974) a.k.a. La Endemoniada; a.k.a. El Poder de las Tinieblas; starred Kali Hansa, Julia Saly and Montserrat Prous; released on VHS and DVD as Demon Witch Child.
 Night of the Seagulls (1975) (fourth and final film in the Blind Dead series)  a.k.a. La Noche de las Gaviotas/ Terror Beach/ Don't Go Out At Night!; starred Maria Kosti and Julia Saly; released on VHS as Night of the Death Cult, and later on DVD as Night of the Seagulls; DVD features both the English and Spanish versions, completely unedited.
 Las Alimañas (The Vermin), 1976 (X-Rated film)
 Pasión Prohibida (Forbidden Passion), 1980 (X-Rated film)
 The Sea Serpent (1984) a.k.a. Serpiente del Mar / Hydra, The Sea Monster; starred Ray Milland, Timothy Bottoms, Taryn Power, Jack Taylor and Jared Martin; released on VHS as The Sea Serpent (English language version only)

References

External links

 http://www.santoandfriends.com

1918 births
2001 deaths
Film directors from Galicia (Spain)
Horror film directors

Amando de Ossorio


Vice Admiral Sir James George Jungius KBE DL (15 November 1923 – 14 October 2020) was a Royal Navy officer who became Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic.

Naval career
Educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Jungius was commissioned a sub-lieutenant on 1 February 1943. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II and took part on commando operations in the Adriatic Sea. During the Italian Campaign, he took part in the capture of Termoli in Operation Devon, for which he was mentioned in dispatches.

He was promoted to lieutenant-commander on 1 December 1951, and to commander on 31 December 1955. He took command of the destroyer HMS Wizard during the Suez Crisis in 1956. Promoted to captain on 30 June 1963, he was appointed Assistant Naval attaché in Washington D. C. in 1968 and Captain of the aircraft carrier HMS Albion in 1971.

Jungius was promoted to rear admiral on 7 July 1972 and appointed Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Operational Requirements) the same year. He was promoted to vice-admiral on 8 September 1974, and was appointed Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic from January 1975. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1977 New Year Honours, and was appointed the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic's Representative in Europe in 1978. He retired on 21 April 1980.

In retirement he became Deputy Lieutenant of Cornwall.

He died on 14 October 2020 at the age of 96.

Family
In 1949, he married Rosemary Frances Turquand Matthey: they have three sons. Lady Jungius died in 2005.

References

1923 births
2020 deaths
Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
People of the Suez Crisis
Royal Navy vice admirals
Royal Navy officers of World War II
Deputy Lieutenants of Cornwall

James Jungius


Sir Richard Geoffrey James Ottaway (born 24 May 1945) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Croydon South from 1992 to 2015. He was previously MP for Nottingham North from 1983 to 1987.

Early life
Ottaway was born in Sonning, Berkshire. He attended Backwell School, a secondary modern in Backwell, North Somerset, and joined the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth before serving as a Royal Navy officer in 1961-70 as a Lieutenant.

Ottaway studied law at Bristol University, graduating in 1974. He qualified as a solicitor in 1977, specialising in maritime and commercial law, and was a partner of William A. Crump & Son in London in 1981–87. He was a director of Coastal States Petroleum (UK) Ltd in 1988–95.

Parliamentary career
Ottaway was MP for Nottingham North from 1983 to 1987. This was a long-standing Labour Party seat, and he won it unexpectedly with a majority of 362 in the landslide victory following the Falklands War. Unsurprisingly the seat reverted to Labour in 1987, when he was defeated by Graham Allen. Ottaway re-entered Parliament in 1992 when he won Croydon South.

In 1992-95 Ottaway was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Michael Heseltine MP and from October 1995 he was a Government Whip. In opposition until 2005, he was a Front Bench spokesman as Shadow Minister for London and Local Government, Shadow Defence Minister, Shadow Paymaster General and Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment.

In the 2005–2010 Parliament he was a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee, Vice Chairman of the 1922 Committee and a member of the Conservative Party Board. After the 2010 election he became the first Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee to be elected by MPs from all sides of the House.

In 2011 he was declared The Week's "Backbencher of the Year" based on an enquiry into Afghanistan that was highly critical of Government policy and urged the UK to do more to encourage the US to talk with the Taliban.

Ottaway chaired the All Party Parliamentary London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Group and is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Population, Development and Reproductive Health. In 2012 he won the Population Institute's Global Media Award for ground-breaking research into population growth. His Sex, Ideology and Religion: 10 Myths about world population won the Best Essay category.

As a long-standing campaigner for the right of terminally-ill people to die at home, Ottaway tabled a historic backbench committee debate on assisted suicide in the House of Commons in March 2012. This resulted in Parliament agreeing for the first time that it is not in the public interest to prosecute people who compassionately help a loved one to die. However, assisting suicide is still illegal and the issue is controversial. He subsequently made the case for assisted dying – suicide with the help of medical professionals. In October 2012 he debated at the Oxford Union in favour of the motion: This House Would Legalise Assisted Dying, and won by 167 to 131 votes.

In October 2012, Ottaway announced his decision not to stand in 2015 at a meeting of his local party. He was appointed to the Privy Council in October 2013. On 12 November 2013, Chris Philp was selected to become the next Conservative parliamentary candidate for Croydon South.

Ottaway was knighted in the 2014 New Year Honours for parliamentary and political service.

Foreign Affairs Select Committee
After the 2010 General Election Ottaway was elected the Chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs. He presided over inquiries including an annual look at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Human Rights work, the UK's relations with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, foreign policy implications of and for a separate Scotland, and the future of the EU. He raised through correspondence with Foreign Secretary William Hague concerns about the legality of arming rebels in Syria.

Ottaway voted for the Iraq War based on evidence presented to Parliament, but subsequently regretted his decision as he believes that the British public were not told the truth. Ottaway was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in 2003 when the committee took evidence from David Kelly, the former UN weapons inspector who revealed details of the dossier on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. His question to Prime Minister Tony Blair on 4 February 2003 revealed that Blair had not appreciated that Iraq possessed only defensive battlefield or small-calibre weaponry rather than long-range weapons of mass destruction when he made his speech in the Iraq debate that led to the House of Commons voting in favour of war. Ottaway asserted that if that information had been spelled out to MPs "those weapons might not have been described as weapons of mass destruction threatening the region and the stability of the world". He is currently leading an inquiry on the UK's relation with Hong Kong, a former British colony, 30 years after the Joint Declaration amid series pro-democracy protests.

Europe
Ottaway is a founding member of the European Mainstream Group, formed in February 2013 to articulate a positive Conservative attitude to Europe as set out by David Cameron in his Bloomberg Speech.

As Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ottaway presided over an inquiry into the Future of the EU and has pledged his support for the EU Referendum Bill. On 15 May 2013 he made the economic case for staying in the EU in the Queen's Speech debate on economic growth. He answered his main opponent on the day in an article in ConservativeHome.

Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013
In 2013, Ottaway celebrated the passing of his Private Member's Bill to crack down on metal theft and the desecration of war memorials by tighter regulation of scrap metal yards, car breakers and anyone buying, selling and trading in scrap metal. Ottoway worked closely with the Home Office, Chief Constable Paul Crowther and Superintendent John McBride to bring about change.  His interest in metal theft dated back to 2009, when thieves stole lead from a constituency parish church, causing tens of thousands of pounds worth damage to the building and the historic organ when rainwater trickled through.

The Bill won overwhelming support in both Houses as well as from the Government. It was backed by organisations including The Royal British Legion, War Memorials Trust, Church of England, Network Rail, BT, the Energy Networks Association, the Institute of Directors, the Federation of Small Businesses, Arts Council England, Tate Galleries, the Henry Moore Foundation, the Local Government Association, British Transport Police and the British Metals Recycling Association. It received Royal Assent on 28 February 2013 and was implemented on 1 October 2013, in time for the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

2009 expenses scandal
During the Daily Telegraph expenses scandal it was revealed that Ottaway claimed for a second home nine miles south of the constituency, with another house minutes from Parliament. Ottaway apologised to constituents for his part in 'allowing an indefensible system of allowances to develop' and announced he would let Croydon South party members decide his fate in a vote of confidence. The local association's President, Lord Bowness, chaired the meeting, which ended in a secret ballot that Ottaway won.

Among his expenses claims between April 2004 and March 2008 were £59.99 on light bulbs and £48 for modifying a scarifier. He paid back £2,025 that he had claimed as half of the price of an orthopaedic bed and £1,400 for homeware and electrical goods. David Cameron's Conservative head office scrutiny panel did not ask him to pay back any more.

2014 incident with constituents

It was reported that Ottaway called the police for 'security' when a group of constituents – most of whom were of pension age – visited his office to hand in a petition against the 'Gagging Law' (Transparency of Lobbying, non-Party Campaigning, and Trade Union Administration Bill) on 17 January 2014. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Officers spoke to all parties. No offences were identified and the officers left." Ottaway, however, was reported as saying that he would do the same again.

Personal life
Ottaway married Nicky, a magistrate and former international television production executive, in 1982. His main leisure interests are jazz and sailing. He is an active member of the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group. He is also an enthusiastic amateur yachtsman, competing in the Daring keelboat class.

He is the nephew of the actor James Ottaway.

References

External links
 Richard Ottaway MP Official site

 ePolitix.com - Richard Ottaway MP
 Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Richard Ottaway MP
 TheyWorkForYou.com - Richard Ottaway MP
 The Public Whip - Richard Ottaway MP voting record
 BBC News - Richard Ottaway  profile BBC News, 16 March 2006

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1945 births
Alumni of the University of Bristol
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
English solicitors
Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College
Knights Bachelor
Living people
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
People from Backwell
People from Sonning
Politics of the London Borough of Croydon
Royal Navy officers
UK MPs 1983–1987
UK MPs 1992–1997
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015

Richard Ottaway