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28th_Tony_Awards	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/28th_Tony_Awards	[ 214 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/28th_Tony_Awards" ]	The 28th Annual Tony Awards ceremony was held on April 21, 1974, at the Shubert Theatre in New York City, and broadcast by ABC television. Hosts were Peter Falk, Florence Henderson, Robert Preston and Cicely Tyson. The theme was "Homecoming", where stars from TV and film returned to Broadway to help present the awards or perform. The ceremony Presenters: Alan Alda, Ed Asner, Karen Black, David Carradine, Johnny Carson, Bette Davis, Peter Falk, Henry Fonda, Elliott Gould, Ken Howard, Glynis Johns, Cloris Leachman, Michael Learned, Elizabeth Montgomery, Carroll O'Connor, Al Pacino, Suzanne Pleshette, Jane Powell, Lynn Redgrave, Esther Rolle, Marlo Thomas, Lesley Ann Warren. Performers: Beatrice Arthur, Carol Channing, Will Geer, Joel Grey, Florence Henderson, Cleavon Little, Charles Nelson Reilly, Nancy Walker. Musicals represented: Over Here! ("Over Here"/"Charlie's Place" - Patty and Maxene Andrews and Company) Raisin ("Whole Lot of Sunshine" - Virginia Capers/"Sidewalk Tree" - Ralph Carter) Lorelei ("Men" - Carol Channing, Peter Palmer and Ian Tucker) Good News ("You're the Cream in My Coffee" - Alice Faye and John Payne) Seesaw ("I'm Way ahead"/"Seesaw" - Michele Lee) Fanny ("Welcome Home" - Florence Henderson) A Mother's Kisses ("There Goes My Life" - Bea Arthur) Medley of Songs from Broadway Shows - Charles Nelson Reilly The Cradle Will Rock (Medley - Will Geer) George M! (Medley - Joel Grey) Phoenix '55 ("Upper Berth" - Nancy Walker and Men) Purlie ("New Fangled Preacher Man" - Cleavon Little) Winners and nominees Winners are in bold Special Tony awards Liza Minnelli, for adding lustre to the Broadway season Bette Midler, for adding lustre to the Broadway season Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, co-stars and authors of Good Evening A Moon for the Misbegotten, an outstanding dramatic revival of an American classic. Produced by Lester Osterman, Elliott Martin and Richard Hurner Candide, an outstanding contribution to the artistic development of the musical theatre. Produced by Chelsea Theatre Group, Harold Prince and Ruth Mitchell Actors' Equity Association Theatre Development Fund John F. Wharton, veteran theatrical attorney Harold Friedlander, the industry's foremost printing expert Multiple nominations and awards External links Tony Awards Official Site
Academy_Award_for_Best_Supporting_Actor	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Supporting_Actor	[ 214 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Supporting_Actor" ]	The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role in a film released that year. The award is traditionally presented by the previous year's Best Supporting Actress winner. In lieu of the traditional Oscar statuette, supporting acting recipients were given plaques up until the 16th Academy Awards, when statuettes were awarded to each category instead. The Best Supporting Actor award has been presented a total of 88 times, to 79 actors. The first winner was Walter Brennan for his role in Come and Get It. The most recent winner is Robert Downey Jr. for Oppenheimer. The record for most wins is three, held by Brennan–who won every other year within a succession of the first five years. Seven other actors have won twice. Brennan is also tied for receiving the most nominations in the category (with four altogether) along with Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Claude Rains, and Mark Ruffalo. Nominations process Nominees are currently determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS; winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. Winners and nominees In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of film release in Los Angeles County; the ceremonies are always held the following year. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months, from August 1 to July 31. For the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1, 1932, to December 31, 1933. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31. 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Multiple wins and nominations The following individuals received two or more Best Supporting Actor awards: The following individuals received three or more Best Supporting Actor nominations: Age superlatives Films with multiple Supporting Actor nominations There have been 22 instances in which films have produced more than one nominee within this category. All resulted in two nominations, with the exceptions of On the Waterfront (1954); The Godfather (1972); and The Godfather Part II (1974), which each obtained three. Winners are in bold. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) -- Harry Carey Sr. and Claude Rains Quo Vadis (1951) -- Leo Genn and Peter Ustinov Shane (1953) -- Brandon deWilde and Jack Palance On the Waterfront (1954) -- Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, and Rod Steiger Peyton Place (1957) -- Arthur Kennedy and Russ Tamblyn Anatomy of a Murder (1959)-- Arthur O'Connell and George C. Scott The Hustler (1961) -- Jackie Gleason and George C. Scott Bonnie and Clyde (1967) -- Gene Hackman and Michael J. Pollard The Last Picture Show (1971) -- Jeff Bridges and Ben Johnson The Godfather (1972) -- James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Al Pacino The Godfather Part II (1974) -- Robert De Niro, Michael V. Gazzo, and Lee Strasberg Rocky (1976) -- Burgess Meredith and Burt Young Julia (1977) -- Jason Robards and Maximilian Schell Ordinary People (1980) -- Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton Terms of Endearment (1983) -- John Lithgow and Jack Nicholson Platoon (1986) -- Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe Bugsy (1991) -- Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) -- Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell The Irishman (2019) -- Al Pacino and Joe Pesci Judas and the Black Messiah (2020) -- Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield The Power of the Dog (2021) -- Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) -- Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan Multiple character nominations Max "Pop" Corkle from Here Comes Mr. Jordan (James Gleason, 1941) & Heaven Can Wait (Jack Warden, 1978) Thus far, this is the only instance of the same character producing two nominated performances within this particular same category. See also All Academy Award acting nominees List of awards for supporting actor List of Academy Award–nominated films Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Notes References Bibliography Crouse, Richard (2005). Reel Winners: Movie Award Trivia. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-55002-574-3. Kinn, Gail; Piazza, Jim (2014), The Academy Awards: The Complete Unofficial History (5 ed.), New York, United States: Workman Publishing Company, ISBN 978-1-57912-986-6 Levy, Emanuel (2003), All About Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards, New York, United States: Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-82641-452-6 Thise, Mark (2008), Hollywood Winners & Losers A to Z, New York, United States: Limelight Editions, ISBN 978-0-87910-351-4 External links Oscars.org Archived January 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (official Academy website) The Academy Awards Database (official website) Oscar.com Archived September 9, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (official ceremony promotional website)
BAFTA_Award_for_Best_Actor_in_a_Supporting_Role	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAFTA_Award_for_Best_Actor_in_a_Supporting_Role	[ 214 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAFTA_Award_for_Best_Actor_in_a_Supporting_Role" ]	Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, children's film and television, and interactive media. Since 1968, selected actors have been awarded with the BAFTA award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at an annual ceremony. In the following lists, the titles and names in bold with a gold background are the winners and recipients respectively; those not in bold are the nominees. The years given are those in which the films under consideration were released, not the year of the ceremony, which always takes place the following year. History The Best Supporting Actor award has been presented a total of 54 times to 48 different actors. No award was given out in this category in 1980, when no actors, male or female, were nominated for supporting roles. In addition, the award was replaced with a gender-neutral category for Best Supporting Artist, allotted for the year 1981 only, with all four nominees that year being male. The first winner was Ian Holm for his role in The Bofors Gun. The most recent winner is Robert Downey Jr. for his role in Oppenheimer. The record for most wins is three, held by Denholm Elliott, who won three consecutive times, while five other actors have won twice. Elliott also holds the record for most nominations, with seven. Winners and nominees 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Multiple wins and nominations Multiple nominations Multiple wins 3 wins Denholm Elliott 2 wins Edward Fox Ian Holm Ray McAnally Geoffrey Rush Christoph Waltz See also Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Notes References External links BAFTA Awards Database
List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Christopher_Plummer	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Christopher_Plummer	[ 214 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Christopher_Plummer" ]	The following is a List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Plummer. Christopher Plummer is a Canadian actor known for his diverse roles on stage and screen. Plummer is one of the few actors to have received the Triple Crown of Acting, having won the Academy Award, Emmy Award and Tony Award. Other awards Plummer has received include a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Plummer was just a Grammy Award away from achieving the EGOT status (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), which is considered the "grand slam" of American show business. Plummer won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 82 for playing an elderly gay man in Mike Mills' comedy drama Beginners (2010), becoming the oldest person to win an acting award (a distinction he held until being supplanted by 83-year-old Anthony Hopkins in 2021). He was Oscar-nominated for playing Leo Tolstoy in the drama The Last Station (2009) and J. Paul Getty in the crime thriller All the Money in the World (2017), the later making him the oldest person to be nominated in an acting category at the age of 88. For his work on the Broadway stage he won two Tony Awards, his first for Best Actor in a Musical for playing Cyrano de Bergerac in the musical Cyrano (1974) and Best Actor in a Play for playing John Barrymore in the play Barrymore (1997). He was Tony-nominated for his performances in the plays J.B. (1959), Othello (1982), No Man's Land (1994), King Lear (2004), and Inherit the Wind (2007). For his work on television he has also received seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations winning twice for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Arthur Hailey's the Moneychangers (1977) and Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for Madeline in 1994. He has also received a Grammy Award for Best Children's Album nomination for Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker in 1986. Major associations Academy Awards BAFTA Awards Emmy Awards Golden Globe Awards Grammy Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards Tony Awards Critics associations Miscellaneous awards Other theatre awards Honorary awards Canadian Honours Canadian Honours System Notes See also Christopher Plummer on screen and stage == References ==
George_Eliot	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eliot	[ 215 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eliot" ]	Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrote seven novels: Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Romola (1862–1863), Felix Holt, the Radical (1866), Middlemarch (1871–1872) and Daniel Deronda (1876). As with Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy, she emerged from provincial England; most of her works are set there. Her works are known for their realism, psychological insight, sense of place and detailed depiction of the countryside. Middlemarch was described by the novelist Virginia Woolf as "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people" and by Martin Amis and Julian Barnes as the greatest novel in the English language. Scandalously and unconventionally for the era, she lived with the married George Henry Lewes as his conjugal partner, from 1854–1878, and called him her husband. He remained married to his wife and supported their children, even after she left him to live with another man and have children with him. In May 1880, eighteen months after Lewes's death, George Eliot married her long-time friend, John Cross, a man much younger than she, and she changed her name to Mary Ann Cross. Life Early life and education Mary Ann Evans was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, at South Farm on the Arbury Hall estate. She was the third child of Robert Evans (1773–1849), manager of the Arbury Hall estate, and Christiana Evans (née Pearson, 1788–1836), daughter of a local mill-owner. Her full siblings were: Christiana, known as Chrissey (1814–1859), Isaac (1816–1890), and twin brothers who died a few days after birth in March 1821. She also had a half-brother, Robert Evans (1802–1864), and half-sister, Frances "Fanny" Evans Houghton (1805–1882), from her father's previous marriage to Harriet Poynton (1780–1809). In early 1820, the family moved to a house named Griff House, between Nuneaton and Bedworth. The young Evans was a voracious reader and obviously intelligent. Because she was not considered physically beautiful, Evans was not thought to have much chance of marriage, and this, coupled with her intelligence, led her father to invest in an education not often afforded to women. From ages five to nine, she boarded with her sister Chrissey at Miss Latham's school in Attleborough, from ages nine to thirteen at Mrs. Wallington's school in Nuneaton, and from ages thirteen to sixteen at Miss Franklin's school in Coventry. At Mrs. Wallington's school, she was taught by the evangelical Maria Lewis—to whom her earliest surviving letters are addressed. In the religious atmosphere of the Misses Franklin's school, Evans was exposed to a quiet, disciplined belief opposed to evangelicalism. After age sixteen, Evans had little formal education. Thanks to her father's important role on the estate, she was allowed access to the library of Arbury Hall, which greatly aided her self-education and breadth of learning. Her classical education left its mark; Christopher Stray has observed that "George Eliot's novels draw heavily on Greek literature (only one of her books can be printed correctly without the use of a Greek typeface), and her themes are often influenced by Greek tragedy". Her frequent visits to the estate also allowed her to contrast the wealth in which the local landowner lived with the lives of the often much poorer people on the estate, and different lives lived in parallel would reappear in many of her works. The other important early influence in her life was religion. She was brought up within a low church Anglican family, but at that time the Midlands was an area with a growing number of religious dissenters. Move to Coventry In 1836, her mother died and Evans (then 16) returned home to act as housekeeper, though she continued to correspond with her tutor Maria Lewis. When she was 21, her brother Isaac married and took over the family home, so Evans and her father moved to Foleshill near Coventry. The closeness to Coventry society brought new influences, most notably those of Charles and Cara Bray. Charles Bray had become rich as a ribbon manufacturer and had used his wealth in the building of schools and in other philanthropic causes. Evans, who had been struggling with religious doubts for some time, became intimate friends with the radical, free-thinking Brays, who had a casual view of marital obligations and the Brays' "Rosehill" home was a haven for people who held and debated radical views. The people whom the young woman met at the Brays' house included Robert Owen, Herbert Spencer, Harriet Martineau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Through this society Evans was introduced to more liberal and agnostic theologies and to writers such as David Strauss and Ludwig Feuerbach, who cast doubt on the literal truth of Biblical texts. In fact, her first major literary work was an English translation of Strauss's Das Leben Jesu kritisch bearbeitet as The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined (1846), which she completed after it had been left incomplete by Elizabeth "Rufa" Brabant, another member of the "Rosehill Circle". The Strauss book had caused a sensation in Germany by arguing that the miracles in the New Testament were mythical additions with little basis in fact. Evans's translation had a similar effect in England, with the Earl of Shaftesbury calling her translation "the most pestilential book ever vomited out of the jaws of hell." Later she translated Feuerbach's The Essence of Christianity (1854). The ideas in these books would have an effect on her own fiction. As a product of their friendship, Bray published some of Evans's own earliest writing, such as reviews, in his newspaper the Coventry Herald and Observer. As Evans began to question her own religious faith, her father threatened to throw her out of the house, but his threat was not carried out. Instead, she respectfully attended church and continued to keep house for him until his death in 1849, when she was 30. Five days after her father's funeral, she travelled to Switzerland with the Brays. She decided to stay on in Geneva alone, living first on the lake at Plongeon (near the present-day United Nations buildings) and then on the second floor of a house owned by her friends François and Juliet d'Albert Durade on the rue de Chanoines (now the rue de la Pelisserie). She commented happily that "one feels in a downy nest high up in a good old tree". Her stay is commemorated by a plaque on the building. While residing there, she read avidly and took long walks in the beautiful Swiss countryside, which was a great inspiration to her. François Durade painted her portrait there as well. Move to London and editorship of the Westminster Review On her return to England the following year (1850), she moved to London with the intent of becoming a writer, and she began referring to herself as Marian Evans. She stayed at the house of John Chapman, the radical publisher whom she had met earlier at Rosehill and who had published her Strauss translation. She then joined Chapman's ménage-à-trois along with his wife and mistress. Chapman had recently purchased the campaigning, left-wing journal The Westminster Review. Evans became its assistant editor in 1851 after joining just a year earlier. Evans's writings for the paper were comments on her views of society and the Victorian way of thinking. She was sympathetic to the lower classes and criticised organised religion throughout her articles and reviews and commented on contemporary ideas of the time. Much of this was drawn from her own experiences and knowledge and she used this to critique other ideas and organisations. This led to her writing being viewed as authentic and wise but not too obviously opinionated. Evans also focused on the business side of the Review with attempts to change its layout and design. Although Chapman was officially the editor, it was Evans who did most of the work of producing the journal, contributing many essays and reviews beginning with the January 1852 issue and continuing until the end of her employment at the Review in the first half of 1854. Eliot sympathized with the 1848 Revolutions throughout continental Europe, and even hoped that the Italians would chase the "odious Austrians" out of Lombardy and that "decayed monarchs" would be pensioned off, although she believed a gradual reformist approach to social problems was best for England. In 1850–51, Evans attended classes in mathematics at the Ladies College in Bedford Square, later known as Bedford College, London. Relationship with George Henry Lewes The philosopher and critic George Henry Lewes (1817–1878) met Evans in 1851, and by 1854 they had decided to live together. Lewes was already married to Agnes Jervis, although in an open marriage. In addition to the three children they had together, Agnes also had four children by Thornton Leigh Hunt. In July 1854, Lewes and Evans travelled to Weimar and Berlin together for the purpose of research. Before going to Germany, Evans continued her theological work with a translation of Feuerbach's The Essence of Christianity, and while abroad she wrote essays and worked on her translation of Baruch Spinoza's Ethics, which she completed in 1856, but which was not published in her lifetime because the prospective publisher refused to pay the requested £75. In 1981, Eliot's translation of Spinoza's Ethics was finally published by Thomas Deegan, and was determined to be in the public domain in 2018 and published by the George Eliot Archive. It has been re-published in 2020 by Princeton University Press. The trip to Germany also served as a honeymoon for Evans and Lewes, who subsequently considered themselves married. Evans began to refer to Lewes as her husband and to sign her name as Mary Ann Evans Lewes, legally changing her name to Mary Ann Evans Lewes after his death. The refusal to conceal the relationship was contrary to the social conventions of the time, and attracted considerable disapproval. Career in fiction While continuing to contribute pieces to the Westminster Review, Evans resolved to become a novelist, and set out a pertinent manifesto in one of her last essays for the Review, "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists" (1856). The essay criticised the trivial and ridiculous plots of contemporary fiction written by women. In other essays, she praised the realism of novels that were being written in Europe at the time, an emphasis on realistic storytelling confirmed in her own subsequent fiction. She also adopted a nom-de-plume, George Eliot; as she explained to her biographer J. W. Cross, George was Lewes's forename, and Eliot was "a good mouth-filling, easily pronounced word". Although female authors were published under their own names during her lifetime, she wanted to escape the stereotype of women's writing being limited to lighthearted romances or other lighter fare not to be taken very seriously. She also wanted to have her fiction judged separately from her already extensive and widely known work as a translator, editor, and critic. Another factor in her use of a pen name may have been a desire to shield her private life from public scrutiny, thus avoiding the scandal that would have arisen because of her relationship with Lewes, who was married. In 1857, when she was 37 years of age, "The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton", the first of the three stories included in Scenes of Clerical Life, and the first work of "George Eliot", was published in Blackwood's Magazine. The Scenes (published as a 2-volume book in 1858), was well received, and was widely believed to have been written by a country parson, or perhaps the wife of a parson. Eliot was profoundly influenced by the works of Thomas Carlyle. As early as 1841, she referred to him as "a grand favourite of mine", and references to him abound in her letters from the 1840s and 1850s. According to University of Victoria professor Lisa Surridge, Carlyle "stimulated Eliot's interest in German thought, encouraged her turn from Christian orthodoxy, and shaped her ideas on work, duty, sympathy, and the evolution of the self." These themes made their way into Evans's first complete novel, Adam Bede (1859). It was an instant success, and prompted yet more intense curiosity as to the author's identity: there was even a pretender to the authorship, one Joseph Liggins. This public interest subsequently led to Mary Anne Evans Lewes's acknowledgment that it was she who stood behind the pseudonym George Eliot. Adam Bede is known for embracing a realist aesthetic inspired by Dutch visual art. The revelations about Eliot's private life surprised and shocked many of her admiring readers, but this did not affect her popularity as a novelist. Her relationship with Lewes afforded her the encouragement and stability she needed to write fiction, but it would be some time before the couple were accepted into polite society. Acceptance was finally confirmed in 1877 when they were introduced to Princess Louise, the daughter of Queen Victoria. The queen herself was an avid reader of all of Eliot's novels and was so impressed with Adam Bede that she commissioned the artist Edward Henry Corbould to paint scenes from the book. When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Eliot expressed sympathy for the Union cause, something which historians have attributed to her abolitionist sympathies. In 1868, she supported philosopher Richard Congreve's protests against governmental policies in Ireland and had a positive view of the growing movement in support of Irish home rule. She was influenced by the writings of John Stuart Mill and read all of his major works as they were published. In Mill's The Subjection of Women (1869) she judged the second chapter excoriating the laws which oppress married women "excellent." She was supportive of Mill's parliamentary run, but believed that the electorate was unlikely to vote for a philosopher and was surprised when he won. While Mill served in parliament, she expressed her agreement with his efforts on behalf of female suffrage, being "inclined to hope for much good from the serious presentation of women's claims before Parliament." In a letter to John Morley, she declared her support for plans "which held out reasonable promise of tending to establish as far as possible an equivalence of advantage for the two sexes, as to education and the possibilities of free development", and dismissed appeals to nature in explaining women's lower status. In 1870, she responded enthusiastically to Lady Amberley's feminist lecture on the claims of women for education, occupations, equality in marriage, and child custody. However, it would not be correct to assume that the female protagonists of her works can be considered "feminist", with the sole exception perhaps of Romola de' Bardi, who resolutely rejects the State and Church obligations of her time. After the success of Adam Bede, Eliot continued to write popular novels for the next fifteen years. Within a year of completing Adam Bede, she finished The Mill on the Floss, dedicating the manuscript: "To my beloved husband, George Henry Lewes, I give this MS. of my third book, written in the sixth year of our life together, at Holly Lodge, South Field, Wandsworth, and finished 21 March 1860." Silas Marner (1861) and Romola (1863) soon followed, and later Felix Holt, the Radical (1866) and her most acclaimed novel, Middlemarch (1871–1872). Her last novel was Daniel Deronda, published in 1876, after which she and Lewes moved to Witley, Surrey. By this time Lewes's health was failing, and he died two years later, on 30 November 1878. Eliot spent the next six months editing Lewes's final work, Life and Mind, for publication, and found solace and companionship with longtime friend and financial adviser John Walter Cross, a Scottish commission agent 20 years her junior, whose mother had recently died. Marriage to John Cross and death On 16 May 1880, eighteen months after Lewes' death, Eliot married John Walter Cross (1840–1924) and again changed her name, this time to Mary Ann Cross. While the marriage courted some controversy due to the 21 year age differences, it pleased her brother Isaac that she was married in this relationship. He had broken off relations with her when she had begun to live with Lewes, and now sent congratulations. While the couple were honeymooning in Venice, Cross, in a suicide attempt, jumped from the hotel balcony into the Grand Canal. He survived, and the newlyweds returned to England. They moved to a new house in Chelsea, but Eliot fell ill with a throat infection. This, coupled with the kidney disease with which she had been afflicted for several years, led to her death on 22 December 1880 at the age of 61. Due to her denial of the Christian faith and her relationship with Lewes, Eliot was not buried in Westminster Abbey. She was instead interred in Highgate Cemetery (East), Highgate, London, in the area reserved for political and religious dissenters and agnostics, beside the love of her life, George Henry Lewes. The graves of Karl Marx and her friend Herbert Spencer are nearby. In 1980, on the centenary of her death, a memorial stone was established for her in the Poets' Corner between W. H. Auden and Dylan Thomas, with a quote from Scenes of Clerical Life: "The first condition of human goodness is something to love; the second something to reverence". Personal appearance George Eliot was considered by contemporaries to be a physically unattractive woman; she herself knew this and made jokes about her appearance in letters to friends. Yet somehow the force of her personality overcame her ugliness. This was noted by numerous acquaintances. Of his first meeting with her on 9 May 1869, Henry James wrote: ... To begin with she is magnificently ugly — deliciously hideous. She has a low forehead, a dull grey eye, a vast pendulous nose, a huge mouth, full of uneven teeth & a chin & jawbone qui n'en finissent pas ["which never end"] ... Now in this vast ugliness resides a most powerful beauty which, in a very few minutes steals forth & charms the mind, so that you end as I ended, in falling in love with her. Spelling of her name She spelled her name differently at different times. Mary Anne was the spelling used by her father for the baptismal record and she uses this spelling in her earliest letters. Within her family, however, it was spelled Mary Ann. By 1852, she had changed to Marian, but she reverted to Mary Ann in 1880 after she married John Cross. Her memorial stone reads Here lies the body of'George Eliot'Mary Ann Cross Memorials and tributes Several landmarks in her birthplace of Nuneaton are named in her honour. These include the George Eliot Academy, Middlemarch Junior School, George Eliot Hospital (formerly Nuneaton Emergency Hospital), and George Eliot Road, in Foleshill, Coventry. Also, The Mary Anne Evans Hospice in Nuneaton. A statue of Eliot is in Newdegate Street, Nuneaton, and Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery has a display of artifacts related to her. A tunnel boring machine constructing the Bromford Tunnel on High Speed 2 was named in honour of her. Literary assessment Throughout her career, Eliot wrote with a politically astute pen. From Adam Bede to The Mill on the Floss and Silas Marner, Eliot presented the cases of social outsiders and small-town persecution. Felix Holt, the Radical and The Legend of Jubal were overtly political, and political crisis is at the heart of Middlemarch, in which she presents the stories of a number of inhabitants of a small English town on the eve of the Reform Bill of 1832; the novel is notable for its deep psychological insight and sophisticated character portraits. The roots of her realist philosophy can be found in her review of John Ruskin's Modern Painters in Westminster Review in 1856. Eliot also express proto-Zionist ideas in Daniel Deronda. Readers in the Victorian era praised her novels for their depictions of rural society. Much of the material for her prose was drawn from her own experience. She shared with Wordsworth the belief that there was much value and beauty to be found in the mundane details of ordinary country life. Eliot did not, however, confine herself to stories of the English countryside. Romola, an historical novel set in late fifteenth century Florence, was based on the life of the Italian priest Girolamo Savonarola. In The Spanish Gypsy, Eliot made a foray into verse, but her poetry's initial popularity has not endured. Working as a translator, Eliot was exposed to German texts of religious, social, and moral philosophy such as David Friedrich Strauss's Life of Jesus and Feuerbach's The Essence of Christianity; also important was her translation from Latin of Jewish-Dutch philosopher Spinoza's Ethics. Elements from these works show up in her fiction, much of which is written with her trademark sense of agnostic humanism. According to Clare Carlisle, who published a new biography on George Eliot in 2023, the overdue publication of Spinoza's Ethics was a real shame, because it could have provided some illuminating cues for understanding the more mature works of the writer. She had taken particular notice of Feuerbach's conception of Christianity, positing that our understanding of the nature of the divine was to be found ultimately in the nature of humanity projected onto a divine figure. An example of this philosophy appeared in her novel Romola, in which Eliot’s protagonist displayed a "surprisingly modern readiness to interpret religious language in humanist or secular ethical terms." Though Eliot herself was not religious, she had respect for religious tradition and its ability to maintain a sense of social order and morality. The religious elements in her fiction also owe much to her upbringing, with the experiences of Maggie Tulliver from The Mill on the Floss sharing many similarities with the young Mary Ann Evans. Eliot also faced a quandary similar to that of Silas Marner, whose alienation from the church simultaneously meant his alienation from society. Because Eliot retained a vestigial respect for religion, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche excoriated her system of morality for figuring sin as a debt that can be expiated through suffering, which he demeaned as characteristic of "little moralistic females à la Eliot." She was at her most autobiographical in Looking Backwards, part of her final published work Impressions of Theophrastus Such. By the time of Daniel Deronda, Eliot's sales were falling off, and she had faded from public view to some degree. This was not helped by the posthumous biography written by her husband, which portrayed a wonderful, almost saintly, woman totally at odds with the scandalous life people knew she had led. In the 20th century she was championed by a new breed of critics, most notably by Virginia Woolf, who called Middlemarch "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people". In 1994, literary critic Harold Bloom placed Eliot among the most important Western writers of all time. In a 2007 authors' poll by Time, Middlemarch was voted the tenth greatest literary work ever written. In 2015, writers from outside the UK voted it first among all British novels "by a landslide". The various film and television adaptations of Eliot's books have re-introduced her to the wider reading public. Works Novels Adam Bede (1859) The Mill on the Floss (1860) Silas Marner (1861) Romola (1863) Felix Holt, the Radical (1866) Middlemarch (1871–1872) "Quarry for Middlemarch", MS Lowell 13, Houghton Library, Harvard University (A digital facsimile of the manuscript of research notes) Daniel Deronda (1876) Short story collection and novellas Scenes of Clerical Life (1857) The Sad Fortunes of the Rev. Amos Barton Mr Gilfil's Love Story Janet's Repentance The Lifted Veil (1859) Brother Jacob (1864) Impressions of Theophrastus Such (1879) Translations Das Leben Jesu, kritisch bearbeitet (The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined) Volume 2 by David Strauss (1846) Das Wesen des Christentums (The Essence of Christianity) by Ludwig Feuerbach (1854) The Ethics of Benedict de Spinoza by Benedict de Spinoza (1856) Poetry Knowing That I Must Shortly Put Off This Tabernacle (1840) In a London Drawingroom (1865) A Minor Prophet (1865) Two Lovers (1866) The Choir Invisible (1867) The Spanish Gypsy (1868) Agatha (1868) Brother and Sister (1869) How Lisa Loved the King (1869) Armgart (1870) Stradivarius (1873) Arion (1873) The Legend of Jubal (1874) I Grant You Ample Leave (1874) Evenings Come and Go, Love (1878) Self and Life (1879) A College Breakfast Party (1879) The Death of Moses (1879) Non-fiction "Three Months in Weimar" (1855) "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists" (1856) "The Natural History of German Life" (1856) Review of John Ruskin's Modern Painters in Westminster Review, April 1856 "The Influence of Rationalism" (1865) Explanatory notes References Citations General and cited sources Ashton, Rosemary (1997). George Eliot: A Life. London: Penguin, 1997. Bloom, Harold. (1994). The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. New York: Harcourt Brace. Cross, J. W. (ed.), (1885). George Eliot's life as related in her letters and journals, 3 vols. London: William Blackwood and Sons. Fleishman, Avrom (2010). George Eliot's Intellectual Life. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511691706. ISBN 9780511691706. Haight, Gordon S. (1968). George Eliot: A Biography. New York: Oxford University Press. Henry, Nancy (2008). The Cambridge Introduction to George Eliot. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511793233. ISBN 9780511793233. Karl, Frederick R. (1995). George Eliot: Voice of a Century: A Biography, New York, W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1995, ISBN 0-393-31521-5. Szirotny, June Skye (2015). George Eliot's Feminism. doi:10.1057/9781137406156. ISBN 978-1-349-48784-4. Further reading Haight, Gordon S., ed., George Eliot: Letters, New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University Press, 1954, ISBN 0-300-01088-5. Henry, Nancy, The Life of George Eliot: A Critical Biography, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012 Stephen, Leslie. George Eliot, Cambridge University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1-108-01962-0 (1st ed. 1902). Context and background Beer, Gillian, Darwin's Plots: Evolutionary Narrative in Darwin, George Eliot and Nineteenth-Century Fiction, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983, ISBN 0-521-78392-5. Gilbert, Sandra M., and Gubar, Susan, The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination, New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University Press, 1979, ISBN 0-300-08458-7. Hughes, Kathryn, George Eliot: The Last Victorian, New York, Farrar Straus Giroux, 1998, ISBN 0-374-16138-0. Maddox, Brenda, George Eliot in Love, New York, St. Martin's Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0230105188. Mintz, Steven. A Prison of Expectations: The Family in Victorian Culture, New York University Press, 1983. Pinney, Thomas, ed., Essays of George Eliot, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1963, ISBN 0-231-02619-6. Rignall, John, ed., Oxford Reader's Companion to George Eliot, Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-19-860099-2 Shuttleworth, Sally, George Eliot and Nineteenth-Century Science: The Make-Believe of a Beginning, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1984, ISBN 0-521-25786-7. Speaight, Robert, George Eliot, London, Arthur Barker, 1954. (The English Novelists series) Uglow, Jenny, George Eliot, London, Virago Press, 1987, ISBN 0-86068-400-8. Critical studies Alley, Henry, The Quest for Anonymity: The Novels of George Eliot, University of Delaware Press, 1997. Beaty, Jerome, Middlemarch from Notebook to Novel: A Study of George Eliot's Creative Method, Champaign, Illinois, University of Illinois, 1960. Calder, Simon. "George Eliot, Spinoza, and the Ethics of Literature" in Spinoza Beyond Philosophy, Beth Lord, ed. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 2012, 268–187. Carlisle, Clare, The Marriage Question: George Eliot's Double Life. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023. Carroll, Alicia, Dark Smiles: Race and Desire in George Eliot, Ohio University Press, 2003. Carroll, David, ed., George Eliot: The Critical Heritage, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1971. Daiches, David, George Eliot: Middlemarch, London, Edward Arnold, 1963. Arnold, Jean, ed., Marz Harper, Lila, ed., George Eliot: Interdisciplinary Essays, Springer International Publishing, 2019. Gatens, Moira. "The Art and Philosophy of George Eliot". Philosophy and Literature 33(1) 2009, pp. 74–90. Graver, Suzanne, George Eliot and Community: A Study in Social Theory and Fictional Form, Berkeley, California, University of California Press, 1984. Hardy, Barbara Nathan, The Novels of George Eliot: A Study in Form. Oxford UP, 1967. Harvey, W J, The Art of George Eliot, London, Chatto & Windus, 1961. Leavis, F R, The Great Tradition, London, Chatto & Windus, 1948. External links George Eliot Archive George Eliot Review Online George Eliot Scholars The George Eliot Fellowship The Victorian Web: George Eliot George Eliot Archived 18 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine at the British Library Online editions Works by George Eliot at the George Eliot Archive, Works about George Eliot at the George Eliot Archive, George Eliot Review Online, and George Eliot Scholars Works by George Eliot in eBook form at Standard Ebooks Works by George Eliot at Project Gutenberg Works by George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) at Faded Page (Canada) Works by or about George Eliot at the Internet Archive Works by George Eliot at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
Middlemarch	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlemarch	[ 215 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlemarch" ]	Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life is a novel by English author George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. It appeared in eight installments (volumes) in 1871 and 1872. Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midlands town, in 1829 to 1832, it follows distinct, intersecting stories with many characters. Issues include the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism, self-interest, religion, hypocrisy, political reform, and education. Despite comic elements, Middlemarch uses realism to encompass historical events: the 1832 Reform Act, early railways, and the accession of King William IV. It looks at medicine of the time and reactionary views in a settled community facing unwelcome change. Eliot began writing the two pieces that formed the novel in 1869–1870 and completed it in 1871. Initial reviews were mixed, but it is now seen widely as her best work and one of the great English novels. Background Middlemarch originates in two unfinished pieces that Eliot worked on during 1869 and 1870: the novel "Middlemarch" (which focused on the character of Lydgate) and the long story "Miss Brooke" (which focused on the character of Dorothea). The former piece is first mentioned in her journal on 1 January 1869 as one of the tasks for the coming year. In August she began writing, but progress ceased in the following month amidst a lack of confidence in it and distraction by the illness of George Henry Lewes's son Thornie, who was dying of tuberculosis. (Eliot had been living with Lewes since 1854.) After Thornie's death on 19 October 1869, all work on the novel stopped; it is uncertain whether Eliot intended at the time to revive it at a later date. In December she wrote of having begun another story, on a subject that she had considered "ever since I began to write fiction". By the end of the month she had written 100 pages of this story and entitled it "Miss Brooke". Although a precise date is unknown, the process of incorporating material from "Middlemarch" into the story she had been working on was ongoing by March 1871. While composing, Eliot compiled a notebook of hundreds of literary quotations, from poets, historians, playwrights, philosophers, and critics in eight different languages. By May 1871, the growing length of the novel had become a concern to Eliot, as it threatened to exceed the three-volume format that was then the norm in publishing. The issue was compounded because Eliot's most recent novel, Felix Holt, the Radical (1866) – also set in the same pre-Reform Bill England – had not sold well. The publisher John Blackwood, who had made a loss on acquiring the English rights to that novel, was approached by Lewes in his role as Eliot's literary agent. He suggested that the novel be brought out in eight two-monthly parts, borrowing the method used for Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables. This was an alternative to the monthly issues that had been used for such longer works as Dickens's David Copperfield and Thackeray's Vanity Fair, and avoided Eliot's objections to slicing her novel into small parts. Blackwood agreed, although he feared there would be "complaints of a want of the continuous interest in the story" due to the independence of each volume. The eight books duly appeared during 1872, the last three instalments being issued monthly. With the deaths of Thackeray and Dickens in 1863 and 1870, respectively, Eliot became "recognised as the greatest living English novelist" at the time of the novel's final publication. Plot Middlemarch centres on the lives of residents of Middlemarch, a fictitious Midlands town, from 1829 onwards – the years up to the 1832 Reform Act. The narrative may be considered to consist of four plots with unequal emphasis: the life of Dorothea Brooke, the career of Tertius Lydgate, the courtship of Mary Garth by Fred Vincy, and the disgrace of Nicholas Bulstrode. The two main plots are those of Dorothea and Lydgate. Each plot occurs concurrently, although Bulstrode's is centred on the later chapters. Dorothea Brooke is a 19-year-old orphan, living with her younger sister, Celia, as a ward of her uncle, Mr Brooke. Dorothea is an especially pious young woman whose hobby involves the renovation of buildings belonging to the tenant farmers, although her uncle discourages her. Dorothea is courted by Sir James Chettam, a man close to her own age, but she is oblivious to him. She is attracted instead to the Rev. Edward Casaubon, a 45-year-old scholar. Dorothea accepts Casaubon's offer of marriage, despite her sister's misgivings. Chettam is encouraged to turn his attention to Celia, who has developed an interest in him. Fred and Rosamond Vincy are the eldest children of Middlemarch's town mayor. Having never finished university, Fred is widely seen as a failure and a layabout, but is content because he is the presumed heir of his childless uncle Mr Featherstone, a rich but unpleasant man. Featherstone keeps as a companion a niece of his by marriage, Mary Garth; although she is considered plain, Fred is in love with her and wants to marry her. Dorothea and Casaubon experience the first tensions in their marriage on their honeymoon in Rome, when Dorothea finds that her husband has no interest in involving her in his intellectual pursuits. She meets Will Ladislaw, Casaubon's much younger disinherited cousin whom he supports financially. Ladislaw begins to feel attracted to Dorothea; she remains oblivious, but the two become friendly. Fred becomes deeply in debt and finds himself unable to repay what he owes. Having asked Mr Garth, Mary's father, to co-sign the debt, he now tells Garth he must forfeit it. As a result, Mrs Garth's savings from four years of income, held in reserve for the education of her youngest son, are wiped out, as are Mary's savings. Mr Garth thus warns Mary against ever marrying Fred. Fred comes down with an illness and is treated by Dr Tertius Lydgate, a newly arrived doctor in Middlemarch. Lydgate has modern ideas about medicine and sanitation which draw the ire and criticism of many in town. He allies himself with Bulstrode, a wealthy, church-going landowner and developer who wants to build a hospital and clinic that follow Lydgate's philosophy, despite the misgivings of Lydgate's friend, Farebrother, about Bulstrode's integrity. Lydgate also becomes acquainted with Rosamond Vincy, who is beautiful and educated, but shallow and self-absorbed. Seeking to make a good match, she decides to marry Lydgate, who comes from a wealthy family, and uses Fred's sickness as an opportunity to get close to him. Lydgate initially views their relationship as pure flirtation and backs away from Rosamond after discovering that the town considers them practically engaged. However, on seeing her a final time, he breaks his resolution and the two become engaged. Casaubon arrives back from Rome about the same time, but suffers a heart attack. Lydgate attends him and tells Dorothea it is difficult to pronounce on the nature of Casaubon's illness and chances of recovery: that he may indeed live about 15 years if he takes it easy and ceases his studies, but it is equally possible the disease may develop rapidly, in which case death will be sudden. As Fred recovers, Mr Featherstone falls ill. On his deathbed, he reveals that he has made two wills and tries to get Mary to help him destroy one. Unwilling to be involved in the business, she refuses, and Featherstone dies with both wills still intact. Featherstone's plan had been for £10,000 to go to Fred Vincy, but his estate and fortune instead go to his illegitimate son, Joshua Rigg. Casaubon, in poor health, has grown suspicious of Dorothea's goodwill to Ladislaw. He tries to make Dorothea promise, if he should die, to forever "avoid doing what I should deprecate, and apply yourself to do what I should desire". She is hesitant to agree, and he dies before she can reply. Casaubon's will is revealed to contain a provision that, if Dorothea marries Ladislaw, she will lose her inheritance. This leads to the general suspicion that Ladislaw and Dorothea are lovers, creating awkwardness between the two. Ladislaw is in love with Dorothea but keeps this secret, having no desire to involve her in scandal or cause her disinheritance. She realizes she has romantic feelings for him, but must suppress them. He remains in Middlemarch, working as a newspaper editor for Mr Brooke, who is mounting a campaign to run for Parliament on a Reform platform. Lydgate's efforts to please Rosamond soon leave him deeply in debt, and he is forced to seek help from Bulstrode. Meanwhile, Fred Vincy's humiliation at being responsible for Caleb Garth's financial setbacks shocks him into reassessing his life. He resolves to train as a land agent under the forgiving Caleb. He asks Farebrother to plead his case to Mary Garth, not realizing that Farebrother is also in love with her. Farebrother does so, thereby sacrificing his own desires for the sake of Mary, who he realises truly loves Fred and is just waiting for him to find his place in the world. John Raffles, a mysterious man who knows of Bulstrode's shady past, appears in Middlemarch, intending to blackmail him. In his youth, the church-going Bulstrode engaged in questionable financial dealings; his fortune is founded on his marriage to a wealthy, much older widow. The widow's daughter, who should have inherited her mother's fortune, had run away; Bulstrode located her but failed to disclose this to the widow, so that he inherited the fortune in lieu of her daughter. The widow's daughter had a son, who turns out to be Ladislaw. On grasping their connection, Bulstrode is consumed with guilt and offers Ladislaw a large sum of money, which Ladislaw refuses as being tainted. Bulstrode's terror of public exposure as a hypocrite leads him to hasten the death of the mortally sick Raffles, while lending a large sum to Lydgate, whom Bulstrode had previously refused to bail out of his debt. However, the story of Bulstrode's misdeeds has already spread. Bulstrode's disgrace engulfs Lydgate: knowledge of the loan spreads and he is assumed to be complicit with Bulstrode. Only Dorothea and Farebrother retain any faith in him, but Lydgate and Rosamond are still encouraged to leave Middlemarch by the general opprobrium. Disgraced and reviled, Bulstrode's one consolation is that his wife stands by him as he too faces exile. When Mr Brooke's election campaign collapses, Ladislaw decides to leave the town and visits Dorothea to say his farewell, but Dorothea has fallen in love with him. She renounces Casaubon's fortune and shocks her family by announcing that she will marry Ladislaw. At the same time, Fred, having been successful in his new career, marries Mary. The "Finale" details the ultimate fortunes of the main characters. Fred and Mary marry and live contentedly with their three sons. Lydgate operates a successful practice outside Middlemarch and attains a good income, but never finds fulfilment and dies at the age of 50, leaving Rosamond and four children. After he dies, Rosamond marries a wealthy physician. Ladislaw engages in public reform, and Dorothea is content as a wife and mother to their two children. Their son eventually inherits Arthur Brooke's estate. Characters Dorothea Brooke: An intelligent, wealthy woman with great aspirations, Dorothea avoids displaying her wealth and embarks upon projects such as redesigning cottages for her uncle's tenants. She marries the elderly Reverend Edward Casaubon, with the idealistic idea of helping him in his research, The Key to All Mythologies. However, the marriage was a mistake, as Casaubon fails to take her seriously and resents her youth, enthusiasm, and energy. Her requests to assist him make it harder for him to conceal that his research is years out of date. Faced with Casaubon's coldness on their honeymoon, Dorothea becomes friends with his relative, Will Ladislaw. Some years after Casaubon's death she falls in love with Will and marries him. Tertius Lydgate: An idealistic, talented, but naive young doctor, is relatively poor, but of good birth. He hopes to make big advances in medicine through his research, but ends up in an unhappy marriage with Rosamond Vincy. His attempts to show he is answerable to no man fail, and he eventually has to leave town, sacrificing his high ideals to please his wife. Rev. Edward Casaubon : A pedantic, selfish, elderly clergyman who is so taken up with his scholarly research that his marriage to Dorothea is loveless. His unfinished book, The Key to All Mythologies, is intended as a monument to Christian syncretism, but his research is out of date as he cannot read German. He is aware of this but admits it to no one. Mary Garth: The plain, kind daughter of Caleb and Susan Garth serves as Mr Featherstone's nurse. She and Fred Vincy were childhood sweethearts, but she will not let him woo her until he shows himself willing and able to live seriously, practically and sincerely. Arthur Brooke: The oft-befuddled, none-too-clever uncle of Dorothea and Celia Brooke has a reputation as the worst landlord in the county, but stands for Parliament on a Reform platform. Celia Brooke: Dorothea's younger sister is a beauty. She is more sensual than Dorothea and does not share her idealism and asceticism. She is only too happy to marry Sir James Chettam when Dorothea rejects him. Sir James Chettam: A neighbouring landowner, he is in love with Dorothea and helps with her plans to improve conditions for the tenants. When she marries Casaubon, he marries Celia Brooke. Rosamond Vincy: Vain, beautiful and shallow, Rosamond has a high opinion of her own charms and a low opinion of Middlemarch society. She marries Tertius Lydgate, believing he will raise her social standing and keep her comfortable. When her husband meets financial difficulties, she thwarts his efforts to economise, seeing such sacrifices as beneath her and insulting. She cannot bear the idea of losing social status. Fred Vincy: Rosamond's brother has loved Mary Garth from childhood. His family hopes he will advance socially by becoming a clergyman, but he knows Mary will not marry him if he does. Brought up to expect an inheritance from his uncle, Mr Featherstone, he is a spendthrift, but later changes through his love for Mary and finds by studying under Mary's father a profession that gains Mary's respect. Will Ladislaw: This young cousin of Mr Casaubon has no property, as his grandmother married a poor Polish musician and was disinherited. He is a man of verve, idealism and talent, but no fixed profession. He is in love with Dorothea, but cannot marry her without her losing Mr Casaubon's property. Humphrey Cadwallader and Elinor Cadwallader: Neighbours of the Brookes, Mr Cadwallader is a rector and Mrs Cadwallader a pragmatic and talkative woman who comments on local affairs with wry cynicism. She disapproves of Dorothea's marriage and Mr Brooke's parliamentary endeavours. Walter Vincy and Lucy Vincy: A respectable manufacturing couple, they wish their children to advance socially and are disappointed by Rosamond's and Fred's marriages. Vincy's sister is married to Nicholas Bulstrode. Mrs Vincy was an innkeeper's daughter and her sister the second wife of Mr. Featherstone. Caleb Garth: Mary Garth's father is a kind, honest, generous surveyor and land agent involved in farm management. He is fond of Fred and eventually takes him under his wing. Camden Farebrother: A poor but clever vicar and amateur naturalist, he is a friend of Lydgate and Fred Vincy and loves Mary Garth. His position improves when Dorothea appoints him to a living after Casaubon's death. Nicholas Bulstrode: A wealthy banker married to Vincy's sister, Harriet, he is a pious Methodist keen to impose his beliefs in Middlemarch society. However, he has a sordid past he is desperate to hide. His religion favours his personal desires and lacks sympathy for others. Peter Featherstone: An old landlord of Stone Court, he is a self-made man, who has married Caleb Garth's sister. On her death he takes Mrs Vincy's sister as his second wife. Jane Waule: A widow and Peter Featherstone's sister, she has a son, John. Mr Hawley: A foul-mouthed businessman, he is an enemy of Bulstrode. Mr Mawmsey: A grocer Dr Sprague: A Middlemarch physician Mr Tyke: A clergyman favoured by Bulstrode Joshua Rigg Featherstone: Featherstone's illegitimate son, he appears at the reading of Featherstone's will and receives a fortune instead of Fred. He is also the stepson of John Raffles, who comes into town to visit Rigg, but instead reveals Bulstrode's past. His appearance in the novel is crucial to the plot. John Raffles: Raffles is a braggart and a bully, a humorous scoundrel in the tradition of Sir John Falstaff, and an alcoholic. But unlike Falstaff, Raffles is a truly evil man. He holds the key to Bulstrode's dark past and Lydgate's future. Historical novel The action of Middlemarch takes place "between September 1829 and May 1832", or 40 years before its publication in 1871–1872, a gap not so pronounced for it to be regularly labelled as a historical novel. By comparison, Walter Scott's Waverley (1814) – often seen as the first major historical novel – takes place some 60 years before it appears. Eliot had previously written a more obviously historical novel, Romola (1862–1863), set in 15th-century Florence. The critics Kathleen Blake and Michael York Mason argue that there has been insufficient attention given to Middlemarch "as a historical novel that evokes the past in relation to the present". The critic Rosemary Ashton notes that the lack of attention to this side of the novel may indicate its merits: "Middlemarch is that very rare thing, a successful historical novel. In fact, it is so successful that we scarcely think of it in terms of that subgenre of fiction." For its contemporary readers, the present "was the passage of the Second Reform Act in 1867"; the agitation for the Reform Act of 1832 and its turbulent passage through the two Houses of Parliament, which provide the structure of the novel, would have been seen as the past. Though rarely categorised as a historical novel, Middlemarch's attention to historical detail has been noticed; in an 1873 review, Henry James recognised that Eliot's "purpose was to be a generous rural historian". Elsewhere, Eliot has been seen to adopt "the role of imaginative historian, even scientific investigator in Middlemarch and her narrator as conscious "of the historiographical questions involved in writing a social and political history of provincial life". This critic compares the novel to "a work of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus", who is often described as "The Father of History". Themes A Study of Provincial Life The fictional town of Middlemarch, North Loamshire, is probably based on Coventry, where Eliot had lived before moving to London. Like Coventry, Middlemarch is described as a silk-ribbon manufacturing town. The subtitle—"A Study of Provincial Life"—has been seen as significant. One critic views the unity of Middlemarch as achieved through "the fusion of the two senses of 'provincial'": on the one hand it means geographically "all parts of the country except the capital"; and on the other, a person who is "unsophisticated" or "narrow-minded". Carolyn Steedman links Eliot's emphasis on provincialism in Middlemarch to Matthew Arnold's discussion of social class in England in Culture and Anarchy essays, published in 1869, about the time Eliot began working on the stories that became Middlemarch. There Arnold classes British society in terms of Barbarians (aristocrats and landed gentry), Philistines (urban middle class) and Populace (working class). Steedman suggests Middlemarch "is a portrait of Philistine Provincialism". It is worth noting that Eliot went to London, as her heroine Dorothea does at the end of the book. There Eliot achieved fame way beyond most women of her time, whereas Dorothea takes on the role of nurturing Will and her family. Eliot was rejected by her family once she had settled in her common-law relationship with Lewes, and "their profound disapproval prevented her ever going home again". She omitted Coventry from her last visit to the Midlands in 1855. The "Woman Question" Central to Middlemarch is the idea that Dorothea Brooke cannot hope to achieve the heroic stature of a figure like Saint Teresa, for Eliot's heroine lives at the wrong time, "amidst the conditions of an imperfect social state, in which great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion". Antigone, a figure from Greek mythology best known from Sophocles' play, is given in the "Finale" as a further example of a heroic woman. The literary critic Kathleen Blake notes Eliot's emphasis on St Teresa's "very concrete accomplishment, the reform of a religious order", rather than her Christian mysticism. A frequent criticism by feminist critics is that not only is Dorothea less heroic than Saint Teresa and Antigone, but George Eliot herself. In response, Ruth Yeazell and Kathleen Blake chide these critics for "expecting literary pictures of a strong woman succeeding in a period [around 1830] that did not make them likely in life". Eliot has also been criticised more widely for ending the novel with Dorothea marrying Will Ladislaw, someone so clearly her inferior. The novelist Henry James describes Ladislaw as a dilettante who "has not the concentrated fervour essential in the man chosen by so nobly strenuous a heroine". Marriage Marriage is one of the major themes in Middlemarch. According to George Steiner, "both principal plots [those of Dorothea and Lydgate] are case studies of unsuccessful marriage". This suggests that these "disastrous marriages" leave the lives of Dorothea and Lydgate unfulfilled. This is arguably more the case with Lydgate than with Dorothea, who gains a second chance through her later marriage to Will Ladislaw, but a favourable interpretation of this marriage depends on the character of Ladislaw himself, whom numerous critics have viewed as Dorothea's inferior. In addition, there is the "meaningless and blissful" marriage of Dorothea's sister Celia Brooke to Sir James Chettam, and more significantly Fred Vincy's courting of Mary Garth. In the latter, Mary Garth will not accept Fred until he abandons the Church and settles on a more suitable career. Here Fred resembles Henry Fielding's character Tom Jones, both being moulded into a good husband by the love they give to and receive from a woman. Dorothea is a St Teresa, born in the wrong century, in provincial Middlemarch, who mistakes in her idealistic ardor, "a poor dry mummified pedant... as a sort of angel of vocation". Middlemarch is in part a Bildungsroman focusing on the psychological or moral growth of the protagonist: Dorothea "blindly gropes forward, making mistakes in her sometimes foolish, often egotistical, but also admirably idealistic attempt to find a role" or vocation that fulfils her nature. Lydgate is equally mistaken in his choice of a partner, as his idea of a perfect wife is someone "who can sing and play the piano and provide a soft cushion for her husband to rest after work". So he marries Rosamond Vincy, "the woman in the novel who most contrasts with Dorothea", and thereby "deteriorates from ardent researcher to fashionable doctor in London". Critical reception Contemporary reviews The Examiner, The Spectator and Athenaeum reviewed each of the eight books that comprise Middlemarch as they were published from December 1871 to December 1872; such reviews speculated on the eventual direction of the plot and responded accordingly. Contemporary response to the novel was mixed. Writing as it was being published, the Spectator reviewer R. H. Hutton criticised it for what he saw as its melancholic quality. Athenaeum, reviewing it after "serialisation", found the work overwrought and thought it would have benefited from hastier composition. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine reviewer W. L. Collins saw as the work's most forceful impression its ability to make readers sympathise with the characters. Edith Simcox of Academy offered high praises, hailing it as a landmark in fiction owing to the originality of its form; she rated it first amongst Eliot's œuvre, which meant it "has scarcely a superior and very few equals in the whole wide range of English fiction". Henry James presented a mixed opinion, Middlemarch, according to him, was "at once one of the strongest and one of the weakest of English novels ... Middlemarch is a treasure-house of details, but it is an indifferent whole". Among the details, his greatest criticism ("the only eminent failure in the book") was of the character of Ladislaw, who he felt was an insubstantial hero-figure as against Lydgate. The scenes between Lydgate and Rosamond he especially praised for their psychological depth – he doubted whether there were any scenes "more powerfully real... [or] intelligent" in all English fiction. Thérèse Bentzon, for the Revue des deux Mondes, was critical of Middlemarch. Although finding merit in certain scenes and qualities, she faulted its structure as "made up of a succession of unconnected chapters, following each other at random... The final effect is one of an incoherence which nothing can justify." In her view, Eliot's prioritisation of "observation rather than imagination... inexorable analysis rather than sensibility, passion or fantasy" means that she should not be held amongst the first ranks of novelists. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who read Middlemarch in a translation owned by his mother and sister, derided the novel for construing suffering as a means of expiating the debt of sin, which he found characteristic of "little moralistic females à la Eliot". Despite the divided contemporary response, Middlemarch gained immediate admirers: in 1873, the poet Emily Dickinson expressed high praise for the novel, exclaiming in a letter to a friend: "What do I think of Middlemarch? What do I think of glory." In separate centuries, Florence Nightingale and Kate Millett remarked on the eventual subordination of Dorothea's own dreams to those of her admirer, Ladislaw. Indeed, the ending acknowledges this and mentions how unfavourable social conditions prevented her from fulfilling her potential. Later responses In the first half of the 20th century, Middlemarch continued to provoke contrasting responses; while Leslie Stephen dismissed the novel in 1902, his daughter Virginia Woolf described it in 1919 as "the magnificent book that, which with all its imperfections, is one of the few English novels written for grown-up people." However, Woolf was "virtually unique" among the modernists in her unstinting praise for Middlemarch, and the novel also remained overlooked by the reading public of the time. F. R. Leavis's The Great Tradition (1948) is credited with having "rediscovered" the novel: The necessary part of great intellectual powers in such a success as Middlemarch is obvious ... the sheer informedness about society, its mechanisms, the ways in which people of different classes live ... a novelist whose genius manifests itself in a profound analysis of the individual. Leavis' appraisal of it has been hailed as the beginning of a critical consensus that still exists towards the novel, in which it is recognised not only as Eliot's finest work, but as one of the greatest novels in English. V. S. Pritchett, in The Living Novel, two years earlier, in 1946 had written that "No Victorian novel approaches Middlemarch in its width of reference, its intellectual power, or the imperturbable spaciousness of its narrative ... I doubt if any Victorian novelist has as much to teach the modern novelists as George Eliot ... No writer has ever represented the ambiguities of moral choice so fully". In the 21st century, the novel is still held in high regard. The novelists Martin Amis and Julian Barnes have both called it probably the greatest novel in the English language, and today Middlemarch is frequently included in university courses. In 2013, the then British Education Secretary Michael Gove referred to Middlemarch in a speech, suggesting its superiority to Stephenie Meyer's vampire novel Twilight. Gove's comments led to debate on teaching Middlemarch in Britain, including the question of when novels like Middlemarch should be read, and the role of canonical texts in teaching. The novel has remained a favourite with readers and scores high in reader rankings: in 2003 it was No. 27 in the BBC's The Big Read, and in 2007 it was No. 10 in "The 10 Greatest Books of All Time", based on a ballot of 125 selected writers. In 2015, in a BBC Culture poll of book critics outside the UK, the novel was ranked at number one in "The 100 greatest British novels". On 5 November 2019, the BBC News reported that Middlemarch is on the BBC list of 100 "most inspiring" novels. Legacy and adaptations Middlemarch has been adapted several times for television and the stage. In 1968 it appeared as a BBC-produced TV mini-series of the same name, directed by Joan Craft, starring Michele Dotrice. The first episode, "Dorothea", is missing from the BBC Archives, while the third episode, "The New Doctor", can be viewed online, although only as a low-quality black and white telerecording owned by a private collector. The other five episodes have been withheld from public viewing. In 1994 it was again adapted by the BBC as a television series of the same name, directed by Anthony Page with a screenplay by Andrew Davies. This was a critical and financial success and revived public interest adaptating the classics. In 2013 came a stage adaptation, and also an Orange Tree Theatre Repertory production adapted and directed by Geoffrey Beevers as three plays: Dorothea's Story, The Doctor's Story, and Fred & Mary. The novel has never been made into a film, although the idea was toyed with by the English director Sam Mendes. In April 2022, Dash Arts produced The Great Middlemarch Mystery, an immersive theatre experience staged across three locations in Coventry, including Drapers Hall. The opera Middlemarch in Spring by Allen Shearer, to a libretto by Claudia Stevens, has a cast of six and treats only the central story of Dorothea Brooke. It was first staged in San Francisco in 2015. In 2017, a modern adaptation, Middlemarch: The Series, aired on YouTube as a video blog. Lyrics for the song "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths were taken from Middlemarch ("I am the son and heir, of nothing in particular"). Notes References Bibliography Ashton, Rosemary (1983). George Eliot. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-287627-9. Ashton, Rosemary (1994). "Introduction". In Eliot, George (ed.). Middlemarch. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-141-43954-9. Beaty, Jerome (1960). Middlemarch from Notebook to Novel: A Study of George Eliot's Creative Method. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Blake, Kathleen (1976). "Middlemarch and the Woman Question". Nineteenth-Century Fiction. 31 (3): 285–312. doi:10.2307/2933580. JSTOR 2933580. (subscription required) Chase, Karen (1991). Eliot: Middlemarch (Landmarks of World Literature). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521359155. Eliot, George. Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life. Vol. 1 (first (1871-2) ed.), Eliot, George Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4 Eliot, George. Middlemarch free PDF of Blackwood's 1878 Cabinet Edition (the critical standard with Eliot's final corrections) at the George Eliot Archive James, Henry (March 1873). "Review of Middlemarch". The Galaxy – via complete-review.com. Leavis, F. R. (1950). The Great Tradition: George Eliot, Henry James, Joseph Conrad. New York: George W. Stewart. Steedman, Carolyn (Summer 2001). "Going to Middlemarch: History and the Novel". Michigan Quarterly Review. XL (3): n.p. Steiner, F. George (1955). "A Preface to Middlemarch". Nineteenth-Century Fiction. 9 (4): 262–279. doi:10.2307/3044392. JSTOR 3044392. Swinden, Patrick, ed. (1972). George Eliot: Middlemarch: A Casebook. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-02119-3. Woolf, Virginia (1925). The Common Reader. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. Wynne–Davies, Marion, ed. (1990). The Bloomsbury Guide to English Literature. New York: Prentice Hall. Further reading Adam, Ian, ed. (1975). This Particular Web: essays on Middlemarch. Toronto: University of Toronto Press Bloom, Harold, ed. (2009). George Eliot. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea ISBN 9781438116006. Beaty, Jerome (December 1957). "History by Indirection: The Era of Reform in Middlemarch". Victorian Studies. 1 (2): 173–179. ISSN 0042-5222. Carroll, David, ed. (1971). George Eliot: The Critical Heritage. London: Routledge & K Paul. ISBN 0-7100-6936-7 Chase, Karen, ed. (2006). Middlemarch in the Twenty-First Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press Daiches, David (1963). George Eliot: Middlemarch. London: Arnold Dentith, Simon (1986). George Eliot. Brighton, Sussex: Harvester Press. ISBN 0-7108-0588-8 Garrett, Peter K (1980). The Victorian Multiplot Novel: Studies in Dialogical Form. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-02403-7 Graver, Suzanne (1984). George Eliot and Community: A Study in Social Theory and Fictional Form. Berkeley: University of California Press.ISBN 0-520-04802-4. Harvey, W. J. (1961). The Art of George Eliot. London: Chatto & Windus Harvey, W. J. (1967). "Criticism of the Novel: Contemporary Reception". In Hardy, Barbara Nathan. Middlemarch: Critical Approaches to the Novel (2013 ed.). London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781472536143 Kettle, Arnold (1951). An Introduction to the English Novel, Volume I: To George Eliot. London: Hutchinson Mead, Rebecca (2014). My Life in Middlemarch. New York: Crown. ISBN 9780307984760 Neale, Catherine (1989). George Eliot, Middlemarch. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-077173-5 Tillotson, Geoffrey(1951). Criticism and the Nineteenth Century Novel. Trainini, Marco, Vendetta, tienimi compagnia. Due vendicatori in "Middlemarch" di George Eliot e "Anna Karenina" di Lev Tolstoj, Milano, Arcipelago Edizioni, 2012, ISBN 8876954759. Contemporary reviews Athenaeum, 7 December 1872 Bentzon, TH. Revue des deux Mondes, February 1873 Broome, F. N. The Times, 7 March 1873 Collins, W. L. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, December 1872 Colvin, Sidney, The Fortnightly Review, 1 January 1873 Hutton, R. H. The Spectator, 1 June 1872 Hutton, R. H. British Quarterly Review, 1 April 1873 Simcox, Edith, The Academy, 1 January 1873 Later reviews Woolf, Virginia, "George Eliot", The Times Literary Supplement, 20 November 1919 External links Middlemarch at Standard Ebooks Middlemarch free PDF of Blackwood's 1878 Cabinet Edition (the critical standard with Eliot's final corrections) at the George Eliot Archive Manuscript of Middlemarch Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine at the British Library Middlemarch Archived 24 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine on the British Library's Discovering Literature website Middlemarch public domain audiobook at LibriVox Middlemarch at Project Gutenberg Middlemarch at Victorian Web
Tertius_Zongo	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertius_Zongo	[ 215 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertius_Zongo" ]	Tertius Zongo (born 18 May 1957) was the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso from June 2007 to April 2011. Biography Zongo was born in Koudougou. He has an extensive background in economics and accounting. He became Minister Delegate for Budget and Planning, under the Minister of the Economy, Finances, and Planning, in June 1995. In February 1996 he became Government Spokesman in addition to his role as Minister Delegate, and he remained Government Spokesman until November 2000. His portfolio was changed to that of Minister Delegate for Finance and Economic Development, under the Prime Minister, in September 1996; he was subsequently promoted to the post of Minister of the Economy and Finance on 10 June 1997. He remained in the latter position until November 2000. On 14 February 2002 he became Ambassador to the United States, serving in that post until he was named prime minister in June 2007. Zongo also served as governor for Burkina Faso to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the African Development Bank and the Islamic Bank of Development. In 1992, he worked as director general of Cooperation at the Ministry of Finances and Planning and as chief of the Department of Multilateral Cooperation from 1988 to 1992. He has also been a professor of accounting, business economy and financial analysis at the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. Zongo holds a master's degree in economic sciences from the Institut d'Administration des Entreprises in France. Prime minister Following the May 2007 parliamentary election, Zongo was appointed prime minister by President Blaise Compaore on 4 June 2007. His government, composed of 34 members, was appointed on 10 June; its 34 members (excluding Zongo himself) included two ministers of state, 26 ministers, and six minister-delegates. Zongo took office as prime minister on 11 June, succeeding Paramanga Ernest Yonli. Amidst serious unrest, Compaore appointed Luc-Adolphe Tiao to replace Zongo on 18 April 2011. Zongo was subsequently appointed to the Board of Directors of SEMAFO, a Canadian mining company with operations in Burkina Faso and other West African countries, in May 2012. == References ==
Mountain_Cheese_Olympics	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Cheese_Olympics	[ 216 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Cheese_Olympics" ]	The International Mountain Cheese Olympics is a cheese festival and competition that has been ongoing for over 18 years. Cheesemakers from all over the world, including Switzerland, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Italy and many others compete to have the most exceptional quality of artisan mountain cheese. In previous years, the festival was held in Appenzell, Switzerland, and was originally intended to help promote the economic interests of the mountain regions of Switzerland. Currently, the festival is held in Galtür, Austria, a small ski resort village. Some popular tourist attractions in Galtür include hiking, biking, and open-air thermal spas regularly enjoyed by tourists and natives alike. Many people love the mountain air and crystal-clear lakes, but it is high-altitude sunlight, not snow, that is the new obsession. The festival will celebrate its 25th edition in September 2019. Mountain cheeses are particularly important to this festival and differ from mass-produced cheese sold all around the world. The festival focuses on "mountain cheese" because they have separate and more distinct qualities that other kinds of cheese don't. Mountain cheeses are most often made from sheep or goat milk, and tend to be softer than most types of cheeses. This cheese, focused on in the International Mountain Cheese Olympics, can also be known as Alpine cheese. The term "Alpine cheese" simply means any cheese indigenous to the Alps, the European mountain range marking the borders of Switzerland, France, Austria, and Italy. These cheeses have achieved global fame and replication, however, because of the centuries-old recipes and methods that make these cheeses so special. This particular group of cheese is made from animals, such as sheep and goats, that have grazed in the high elevation pastures. This type of cheese is important because it has a rich and complex flavour, which is why people from around the world come to compete for the best mountain cheese. The cheesemakers allowed to compete in this event have to be cheese artisans, making cheeses at altitudes over 600 m (1,970 ft), with prizes for taste and quality. The 2021 International Mountain Cheese Olympics will be held in Galtür, Austria, which is a small, well known ski resort village located in the upper Paznaun valley in the state of Tyrol. The Mountain Cheese Olympics were founded in 2002 "to promote the mountain region economy", and the festival itself consists of many events. This annual celebration allows festival visitors to purchase all different types of mountain cheeses by the competitors and explore international cuisine. The competition is the main highlight of the entire annual event, centering around how the mountain cheese is shaped and displayed, as well as taste. According to experts, the cheese industry is affected by several factors; economic factors like marketing and sales, and cultural factors related to the areas where the cheese is manufactured. This is why, at first, Switzerland started this competition to help their economic interest and allow individuals from all around the world to share their appreciation for mountain cheese. Though it was started primarily by Switzerland, France and Italy happen to dominate its awards, and there are typically over 100 entries, from all over the world, including Japan, Mexico, and Ethiopia. == References ==
Appenzell_District	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appenzell_District	[ 216 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appenzell_District" ]	Appenzell District is a district of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden in Switzerland. It has a population of 5,793 (as of December 2020). The area of Appenzell is 16.88 km2 (7 sq mi). The district of Appenzell consists of a part of the village Appenzell, as well as Rinkenbach, Kau and Meistersrüte. History Prehistoric Appenzell While a single late Bronze Age site has been discovered in the forest outside Appenzell, there is no evidence of a prehistoric settlement. The region around Appenzell remained forested and very lightly settled until the end of the Early Middle Ages. Under the Abbots of St. Gall Under the authority of the abbots of the monastery of St. Gall settlers began to colonization of the Sitter river valley in the late 11th century. It is mentioned, in a deed granting rights to clear land, in 1071 as Abbacella. At the same time, the parish of St. Mauritius was established. By 1200, the parish included the area of the modern district as well as villages of Brenden, Lank, Lehn and Meistersrüte. The meager records before 1500 does not allow accurate reconstruction of the early residential development. It is likely that the first village houses were along the road between church and abbot's farm, which was built at what is now Reichsstrasse near the Gansbach stream. This gave the early village an east–west orientation. East of the church the Metzibrücke bridge was built over the Sitter. This led to the extension of the village across the river. The eastern end of the village was a conglomerate of economic and administrative buildings. In 1291, Appenzell was devastated by the troops of the Count of Werdenberg-Sargans. In 1353, it was granted the market right and an open plaza, the Schmäuslemarkt, opened to the south of the main street and opposite from the town hall. At the same time, a row of houses grew up to line the Hauptgasse and Hirschengasse streets. The latter road (Hirschengasse) was added as a major cross street running in the north–south direction. Additional connecting roads, squares and open areas were built at around the same time. The village of Ried, south of the village center, was founded in 1483 as a charitable foundation for poor villagers. As the village began to grow in power it began to be mentioned as a separate entity from the rest of the abbatis cella (meaning the cell (i.e. estate) of the abbot). Starting on 10 November 1367, and often in the 15th century, the village and court are called Hof to distinguish it from the rest of ze Appacelle. The villagers of Appenzell are still known as Hofer, to distinguish them from the surrounding farmers. Starting in the 14th century, a variety of craftsmen and traders lived and worked in Appenzell. The Answer and Mandate Book of 1547 includes regulations and controls for farmers, millers and butchers. The number of fairs was increased to two on 23 September 1353 and the village was given the right to collect tolls. In the 15th century there is evidence of a tavern in Appenzell village and a set of weights and measures for regulating commercial activities. By about 1360, conflicts over grazing rights, taxes, and tithes were causing concern for both the abbot and the farmers of Appenzell. Both parties wanted to protect their rights and interests by joining the new Swabian League. In 1377 Appenzell was allowed to join the League with the support of the cities of Konstanz and St. Gallen (the city of St. Gallen was often at odds with the neighboring Abbey of St. Gall). With the support of League, Appenzell refused to pay many of the gifts and tithes that the Abbot Kuno von Stoffeln demanded. In response to the loss of revenue from his estates, Kuno approached the Austrian House of Habsburg for help. In 1392 he made an agreement with the Habsburgs, which was renewed in 1402. In response, in 1401 Appenzell entered into an alliance with the city of St. Gallen to protect their rights and freedom. Part of the Swiss Confederation Following increasing conflicts between the Appenzellers the abbot's agents, including the bailiff of Appenzell demanding that a dead body be dug up because he wanted the man's clothes, the Appenzellers planned an uprising. On a certain day, throughout the abbot's lands, they attacked the bailiffs and drove them out of the land. Following unsuccessful negotiations Appenzell and St. Gallen entered into a treaty. The treaty between St. Gallen and Appenzell marked a break between the abbot and his estates. Perhaps fearing the Habsburgs, in 1402 the League expelled Appenzell. During the same year, St. Gallen reached an agreement with the abbot and Appenzell could no longer count on St. Gallen's support. Appenzell declared itself ready to stand against the abbot, and in 1403 formed an alliance with the Canton of Schwyz, a member of the Old Swiss Confederation that had defeated the Austrians in the last century. Glarus provided less support, but authorized any citizen who wished to support Appenzell to do so. In response, the League raised an army and marched to St. Gallen before heading toward Appenzell. On 15 May 1403, they entered the pass to Speicher and outside the village of Vögelinsegg met the Appenzell army. A small force of Appenzell and Confederation troops defeated the League army and signed a short lived peace treaty. Following another Appenzell victory on 17 June 1405, at Stoss Pass on the border of Appenzell village, the new canton continued to expand. During the expansion, Appenzell had even captured the abbot of St Gall and in response they were excommunicated by the Bishop of Constance. However, while the Bund expanded the Austrians used the peace to regain their strength. On September 11, 1406, an association of nobles formed a knightly order known as the Sankt Jörgenschild (Order of St. George's Shield) to oppose the rebellious commoners of the Bund. Following a defeat at Bregenz, Appenzell was unable to hold the Bund together. The city of St. Gallen and the Canton of Schwyz each paid off the Austrians to avoid an attack, and the Bund was dissolved by King Rupert on April 4, 1408. As part of the peace treaty, the abbot gave up his ownership of Appenzell, but was still owned certain taxes. However, it wasn't until 1410 that the area was at peace. In 1411 Appenzell signed a defensive treaty with the entire Swiss Confederation (except Bern), which strengthened their position against the abbot. Appenzell joined the Confederation as an "Associate Member", and wouldn't become a full member until 1513. Following another battle, in 1429, Appenzell was granted freedom from the obligations in the future. This treaty represented the end of Appenzell's last financial tie to the Abbey of St. Gall, and a movement to closer relationships with the Confederation. By no later than the end of the 1440s Appenzell provided linen to the embroidery factories of the city of St. Gallen. Later Appenzell began to establish independent foreign trade relations (1494 Venice, 1497 Constance, about 1499 Lyon, 1529 Frankfurt am Main). Starting in the last quarter of the 15th century there was a weekly yarn and weaving market held in village. However, efforts to create an independent cloth weaving and embroidery industry in Appenzell failed repeatedly in the face of tough competition from the city of St. Gallen. Division of the Appenzell On 18 March 1560 the village was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt mostly using the old foundations and following the pre-fire roads. The reconstruction was considered the most part of the old homesteads and foundations. Following the division of Appenzell into two half cantons in 1597, Appenzell village lost much of its importance as the capital. Fires partially destroyed the village in 1679 and again in 1701. Most of the notable buildings, were built in the 16th century. The parish church is from 1560 to 1584, the ossuary in 1560–65 and the Rathaus (city hall) in 1560–83. On the southeastern edge of village, the so-called Castle was built in 1563–70 and the armory was built around 1568. The Capuchin monastery was built in 1587–88 financial statements, followed by the Capuchin nunnery in 1611–22. A comparison of historic views (from 1586, 1642 and 1839) shows that the size and structure of the village did not change between the 16th century and the mid-19th century. In the 16th–18th centuries, foreign military service played an important role in the economy of the village. Numerous families (especially the Sutter, Bischofberger, Büchler, Knusert and Ulmann) grew to dominate the foreign mercenary industry in the village. Creation of the Appenzell district The district was formally established in 1872 by joining the rhodes Lehn and Rinkenbach. Coat of arms The coat of arms shows an upright black bear with red claws on a silver background. The bear holds a red ring between its forepaws. This ring is the hamlet ring, representing the market village of Appenzell. The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent a bear Sable langued, armed and priapic in his virility Gules between his front paws an Annulet of the same. Geography Appenzell has an area, as of 2011, of 16.9 square kilometers (6.5 sq mi). Of this area, 66.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 22.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 10.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.7% is unproductive land. The district (equivalent to a municipality in other cantons) is the capital of the half canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden. It also includes the Feuerschaugemeinde (fire-fighting municipality), Kirchgemeinde (parish) and Schulgemeinde (school district). The village of Appenzell is located in the center of the Sitter river valley on the eastern border of the district. It borders the districts of Rüte (north of the Sitter) and Schwende (south of the Sitter). Demographics Appenzell has a population (as of December 2020) of 5,793. As of 2008, 18.0% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 4.8%. It has changed at a rate of 6.1% due to migration and at a rate of 5.7% due to births and deaths. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (4,723 or 86.7%), with Serbo-Croatian being second most common (302 or 5.5%) and Italian being third (98 or 1.8%). There are 14 people who speak French and 3 people who speak Romansh. Of the population in the district 2,794 or about 51.3% were born in Appenzell and lived there in 2000. There were 486 or 8.9% who were born in the same canton, while 1,115 or 20.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,018 or 18.7% were born outside of Switzerland. In 2008 there were 142 live births to Swiss citizens and 7 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 116 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 26 while the foreign population increased by 6. There were 8 Swiss men and 7 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 29 non-Swiss men and 34 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 4 and the non-Swiss population increased by 20 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.3%. As of 2000, there were 2,469 people who were single and never married in the district. There were 2,489 married individuals, 340 widows or widowers and 149 individuals who are divorced. As of 2000 the average number of residents per living room was 0.59 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.59 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m2 (43 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 45.3% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement). As of 2000, there were 2,107 private households in the district, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 693 households that consist of only one person and 254 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 2,144 households that answered this question, 32.3% were households made up of just one person and there were 30 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 527 married couples without children, 734 married couples with children There were 84 single parents with a child or children. There were 39 households that were made up of unrelated people and 37 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing. In 2000 there were 646 single family homes (or 47.2% of the total) out of a total of 1,370 inhabited buildings. There were 264 multi-family buildings (19.3%), along with 331 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (24.2%) and 129 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (9.4%). Of the single family homes 169 were built before 1919, while 81 were built between 1990 and 2000. In 2000 there were 2,351 apartments in the district. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 581. There were 121 single room apartments and 839 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 2,023 apartments (86.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 197 apartments (8.4%) were seasonally occupied and 131 apartments (5.6%) were empty. As of 2009, the construction rate of new housing units was 5.3 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the district, in 2010, was 0.57%. Historic Population The historical population is given in the following chart: Heritage sites of national significance There are nine sites in Appenzell that are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The list includes two farm houses around the village, the Kuenzes farm house at Lehnstrasse 102 and the Horersjokelis House with Barn at Lehn 76. The religious buildings on the list include the Capuchin Monastery Maria der Engel and the Parish Church of St. Mauritius. The secular buildings on the list include the Landesarchiv Appenzell Innerrhoden, the Museum Appenzell, the Rathaus (city hall) and the Castle. Finally, the entire medieval and early modern village of Appenzell was on the list. The entire village of Appenzell is also part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites. Politics In the 2007 federal election the CVP received 84.46% of the vote. In the federal election, a total of 786 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 20.6%. Economy As of 2010, Appenzell had an unemployment rate of 2.7%. As of 2008, there were 180 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 93 businesses involved in this sector. 1,380 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 117 businesses in this sector. 2,489 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 344 businesses in this sector. There were 2,842 residents of the district who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.5% of the workforce. In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 3,425. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 127, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,251 of which 785 or (62.7%) were in manufacturing and 407 (32.5%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 2,047. In the tertiary sector; 653 or 31.9% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 78 or 3.8% were in the movement and storage of goods, 202 or 9.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 32 or 1.6% were in the information industry, 170 or 8.3% were the insurance or financial industry, 225 or 11.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 112 or 5.5% were in education and 309 or 15.1% were in health care. In 2000, there were 1,776 workers who commuted into the district and 989 workers who commuted away. The district is a net importer of workers, with about 1.8 workers entering the district for every one leaving. Of the working population, 7.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 44.4% used a private car. Transport The district has two railway stations, Appenzell and Sammelplatz. The former is located at the junction of the Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen and Gossau–Wasserauen lines. Both are served by Appenzell Railways. A third station, Hirschberg, is located in the village of Appenzell within the adjacent district of Rüte. Religion From the 2000 census, 4,143 or 76.1% were Roman Catholic, while 494 or 9.1% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 181 members of an Orthodox church (or about 3.32% of the population), and there were 51 individuals (or about 0.94% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 3 individuals (or about 0.06% of the population) who were Jewish, and 379 (or about 6.96% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 8 individuals who were Buddhist, 5 individuals who were Hindu and 5 individuals who belonged to another church. 150 (or about 2.75% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 28 individuals (or about 0.51% of the population) did not answer the question. Weather Appenzell has an average of 158.5 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 1,698 mm (66.9 in) of precipitation. The wettest month is June during which time Appenzell receives an average of 212 mm (8.3 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 15.5 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 15.8, but with only 163 mm (6.4 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 99 mm (3.9 in) of precipitation over 11.7 days. Education In Appenzell about 1,849 or (33.9%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 529 or (9.7%) have completed additional higher education (either University or a Fachhochschule). Of the 529 who completed tertiary schooling, 66.2% were Swiss men, 17.8% were Swiss women, 10.2% were non-Swiss men and 5.9% were non-Swiss women. As of 2000, there were 816 students in Appenzell who came from another district, while 81 residents attended schools outside the district. Appenzell is home to the Innerhodische Kantonsbibliothek und Volksbibliothek library. The library has (as of 2008) 54,448 books or other media, and loaned out 77,789 items in the same year. It was open a total of 265 days with average of 31.5 hours per week during that year. References Appenzell District in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. External links Appenzell Tourism Appenzell (in German)
Neshaminy_State_Park	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neshaminy_State_Park	[ 217 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neshaminy_State_Park" ]	Neshaminy State Park is a 330-acre (134 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Bensalem Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Visitors to the park can catch a glimpse of the Philadelphia skyline from a hiking trail on Logan Point. The park is located at the confluence of Neshaminy Creek and the Delaware River. Neshaminy State Park is just off Interstate 95 on Pennsylvania Route 132. History Most of the lands of Neshaminy State Park were donated to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by the estate of Robert R. Logan in 1956. Logan was a descendant of James Logan who was the colonial secretary to William Penn the founder of Pennsylvania. Dunks Ferry Road, which forms the western boundary of the park, is one of the oldest roads in Pennsylvania. It was built in 1679 by Dunken Williams to provide access to his ferry which crossed the Delaware River. For forty years, the oral historian Alice of Dunk's Ferry collected tolls from those crossing the river. Dunks Ferry Inn was a major rest stop that served travelers from the mid-18th until the late 19th century. Ecology Neshaminy State Park is 116 miles (187 km) from the Atlantic Ocean, but it is at sea level. This combination of distance and elevation creates an estuary. The tidal effect causes the river to rise and fall each day. The Lenape who once lived on the banks of the river used tides to help them harvest fish. They built low fences in the tidal zone. At high tide the fish would swim in and be caught by the fences when the waters receded at low tide. According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types outside of the estuary, Neshaminy State Park would have a dominant vegetation type of Appalachian Oak (104) with a dominant vegetation form of Eastern hardwood forest (25). Recreation The Delaware River Neshaminy State Park is the home of a 370 slip marina on the Delaware River. Demand for slips in the marina is always very high and the waiting list is long. This is due to the location of the park, it is located squarely within the heart of heavily populated southeastern Pennsylvania. Recreational boating on the Delaware River is especially popular in the summer months. Unlimited horsepower boats are permitted on the river. All boats must display a current registration with any state or have a launch permit from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The Delaware River is a warm water fishery. All fishermen are expected to follow the rules and regulations of the fish commission. Swimming Swimming is not permitted in the river. A swimming pool is open daily from 12:00 pm until 6:00pm weekdays and 12:00 pm until 6:00 pm weekends, Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. Lifeguards are on duty. Thirteen dollars cash admission is charged to the pool area. For more info, contact http://www.neshaminypool.com. Hiking There are 4 miles (6.4 km) of hiking trails at Neshaminy State Park. Logan Walk is the former driveway to the Logan home. This tree lined trail is paved and serves as a hiking trail and park service road. River Walk Trail is a loop that begins and ends at Logan Walk. It follows the bank of the Delaware River and passes by the estuary and tidal marsh. Climate Neshaminy State Park lies in the transition zone between the Temperate Continental climate to the north and the Humid subtropical climate to the south. According to the Trewartha climate classification system, Neshaminy State Park has a Temperate Oceanic climate (Do) with hot summers (a), cool winters (k) and year-around precipitation. Dcak climates are characterized by all months having an average mean temperature > 32.0 °F (0 °C), four to seven months with an average mean temperature ≥ 50.0 °F (10 °C), at least one month with an average mean temperature ≥ 72.0 °F (22 °C) and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. Although most summer days are slightly humid at Neshaminy State Park, episodes of heat and high humidity can occur with heat index values > 109 °F (43 °C). Since 1981, the highest air temperature was 103.1 °F (40 °C) on 07/22/2011, and the highest daily average mean dew point was 76.3 °F (25 °C) on 08/13/1999. The average wettest month is July which corresponds with the annual peak in thunderstorm activity. Since 1981, the wettest calendar day was 6.44 inches (164 mm) on 08/27/2011. During the winter months, the plant hardiness zone is 7a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 2.3 °F (−17 °C). Since 1981, the coldest air temperature was −8.2 °F (−22 °C) on 01/22/1984. Episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur with wind chill values < −8 °F (−22 °C). The average annual snowfall (Nov-Apr) is between 24 and 30 inches (61 and 76 cm). The average snowiest month is February which corresponds with the peak in nor’easter activity. Nearby state parks The following state parks are within 30 miles (48 km) of Neshaminy State Park: Benjamin Rush State Park (Philadelphia County) Bull's Island Recreation Area (New Jersey) Delaware Canal State Park (Bucks and Northampton Counties) Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park (New Jersey) Evansburg State Park (Montgomery County) Fort Washington State Park (Montgomery County) Nockamixon State Park (Bucks County) Norristown Farm Park (Montgomery County) Ralph Stover State Park (Bucks County) Rancocas State Park (New Jersey) Ridley Creek State Park (Delaware County) Tyler State Park (Bucks County) Washington Crossing State Park (New Jersey) References External links "Neshaminy State Park official map" (PDF). (320.0 KB)
James_Logan_(statesman)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Logan_(statesman)	[ 217 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Logan_(statesman)" ]	James Logan (20 October 1674 – 31 October 1751) was a Scots-Irish colonial American statesman, administrator, and scholar who served as the fourteenth mayor of Philadelphia and held a number of other public offices. Logan was born in the town of Lurgan in County Armagh, Ireland to Ulster Scots Quakers. He served as colonial secretary to William Penn. He was a founding trustee of the College of Philadelphia, the predecessor of the University of Pennsylvania. Early life Logan was born in Lurgan, County Armagh in present-day Northern Ireland, on 20 October 1674, to parents Patrick Logan (1640–1700) and Isabella, Lady Hume (1647–1722), who married in early 1671, in Midlothian, Scotland. His father had a Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh, and originally was an Anglican clergyman before converting to Quakerism. James Logan apprenticed with a Dublin-based linen draper, received a good classical and mathematical education, and acquired a knowledge of modern languages not common at the period. The War of 1689–91 obliged him to follow his parents, first to Edinburgh, and then to London and Bristol, England where, in 1693, James replaced his father as schoolmaster. In 1699, he came to the colony of Pennsylvania aboard the Canterbury as William Penn's secretary. Logan is described as "tall and well-proportioned, with a graceful yet grave demeanor. He had a good complexion, and was quite florid, even in old age; nor did his hair, which was brown, turn grey in the decline of life, nor his eyes require spectacles." Career Logan supported proprietary rights in the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania and became a major landowner in the growing colony; he was also a slave-owner. Logan advanced through several political offices, including clerk (1701), commissioner of property (1701), receiver general (1703), and member of the provincial council (1703). In 1717, Logan's mother came to live with him in Philadelphia; she died on 17 January 1722, at his family home at Stenton in present-day neighbourhood of Logan, named in Logan's honour, in Philadelphia. Philadelphia and Pennsylvania government In 1722, Logan was elected mayor of Philadelphia. During his tenure as mayor, Logan allowed Irish Catholic immigrants to participate in the city's first public Mass. He later served as the colony's chief justice from 1731 to 1739, and in the absence of a governor of Pennsylvania, became acting governor from 1736 to 1738. As acting governor, he opposed Quaker pacifism and war tax resistance, and encouraged pacifist Quakers to give up their seats in the Pennsylvania Assembly so that it could make requisitions for the American Revolution, which had begun in many of the initial Thirteen Colonies. On October 9, 1736, Logan responded to requests from Native American leaders to control the sale of alcohol, which was creating serious social problems, by prohibiting the sale of rum in indigenous communities, but since the penalty was merely a fine of ten pounds and the law was poorly enforced, it did not have a significant effect. During his tenure as acting governor, Logan played an active role in the territorial expansion of the colony. While William Penn and his immediate successors pursued a policy of friendly relations with the Lenape Indian tribe, Logan and other colony proprietors, including William Penn's indebted sons, John, Richard and Thomas Penn, pursued a policy of land acquisition. Such efforts to expand were spurred by increased immigration to the colony and fears that the New York Colony was infringing on Pennsylvania's northern borders in the Upper Delaware river valley. In addition, many proprietors (including Logan and the Penn brothers) had engaged in extensive land speculation, selling off lands occupied by the Lenape to new colonists before concluding an official treaty with the tribe. Walking Purchase As part of his efforts to expand Pennsylvania, Logan signed the Walking Purchase with the Lenape, forcing the tribe to vacate lands in the present-day Lehigh Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania and parts of present-day western New Jersey under the auspices of the tribe having committed to sell the lands to William Penn in 1686, a treaty whose ratifying document is considered by some sources to have been a fabrication, but which was upheld in several federal lawsuits in the early 21st century. Under the terms of the treaty, the Lenape agreed to cede as much territory as a man could walk in one and one-half days to the Pennsylvania colony; however, Logan used the treaty's vague wording, the Lenape's unclear diplomatic status, and a heavily influenced (scouts were sent ahead to clear the path of the runners selected to represent the colony) "walk" to claim a much larger territory than was originally expected by the Lenape. Meanwhile, Logan preemptively negotiated with the powerful Iroquois Confederacy to allow for the treaty to take place. As a result, the Iroquois (nominally the diplomatic overlords and protectors of the Lenape people) rebuffed Lenape attempts to have the Iroquois intervene on their behalf. The net result of the Walking Treaty was an increase in the colony's size of over 1,200,000 acres, the scattering of the Lenape in a regional diaspora, and the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Pennsylvania and the tribe. Wealth and writings Throughout his life in the Province of Pennsylvania, Logan engaged in various mercantile pursuits, especially fur trading, with such success that he became one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies. Logan authored several scholarly papers published by the American Philosophical Society and European journals. Logan was also a natural scientist whose primary contribution to the emerging field of botany was a treatise that described experiments on the impregnation of plant seeds, especially corn. He tutored John Bartram, the American botanist, in Latin and introduced him to Linnaeus. Logan's daughter, Sarah, married Isaac Norris, a Philadelphia businessman and statesman. Death Logan died in 1751 in Stenton in the present-day Logan neighbourhood, named in Logan's honour, in Philadelphia at the age of 77. He was interred in the graveyard of Arch Street Friends Meeting House, built in 1804, in Philadelphia. Colonial bibliophile While Logan would eventually become mayor of Philadelphia, chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, lieutenant governor, and acting governor he is perhaps best known for being a bibliophile, confessing once that "Books are my disease".: 130 He collected a personal library of over 3,000 volumes. Some commentators consider Logan's library to have been the largest and best collection of classical writings in America at that time. Logan would in time become known to Benjamin Franklin and his "Junto"; an influential group of friends that would meet weekly and discuss scholarly and political issues. He became a mentor to Franklin, who published Logan's translation of Cicero's essay "Cato Maior de Senectute".: 56 Eventually, the Junto decided to establish a subscription library, a cooperative endeavour where members would pay a fee for use of the library. Franklin and the other members of the Junto considered Logan the "best Judge of Books in these parts" and chose him to select the first 43 titles for the Library Company of Philadelphia.: 32 At the same time Logan was helping to build the collection for the Library Company of Philadelphia, he was adding to his own personal library which was considered substantial in number and breadth.: 32 He planned on donating his library for public use after his death and to this end he had a building constructed on Sixth Street in Philadelphia.: 32 Upon Logan's death, and after a lengthy delay due to some confusion in his will, through an act of the Pennsylvania Assembly and the governor on March 31, 1792, the 3,953 volumes and other property of the Loganian Library were "vested in the Library Company of Philadelphia, their successors and assigns, for ever, in trust for the support and increase of the said Loganian Library." The Loganian Library The Loganian Library, as he wished it to be called,: 135 was diverse. The catalogue of its final holdings is now lost but a partial inventory done in 1760 reveals a wide selection of books.: 35–37 The book distribution by date reveals nothing out of the ordinary. Most were from the seventeenth century with 57 percent. Next came those from the eighteenth century at 27 percent. Finally, there was a good number from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries at 16 percent. The collection was mostly British and northern European with 33 percent from Britain; the Netherlands, 24 percent; Germany, 17 percent; France, 13 percent; Switzerland, 9 percent; Italy, 2 percent; and others (Scandinavia, Spain, Poland, Russia, America) at 2 percent The distribution of the books by subject in the 1760 catalogue is equally diverse with history, antiquities, geography, chronology, etc. at 22 percent. Religious subjects of divinity and ecclesiastical history constituted 15 percent. Scientific subjects such as "physick," "mathematicks", and natural history was at 16 percent. Literary subjects such as orators, poets, fables, romances, etc. at 14 percent with philology at 13 percent. Philosophy, surprisingly, was only 6 percent while arts, liberal and mechanical, "magick," etc. was 3 percent. The remaining subjects were as follows: medicine, surgery, and "chymistry," 2 percent; law, 2 percent; voyages and travels, 1 percent; philosophical history, 1 percent, and miscellaneous, 5 percent. Logan's library contained many 17th and 16th century classical works such as a 1615 edition of Archimedes' works, the mathematical treatise of Pappus of Alexandria printed in 1660, an Aratus of Soles from 1672, Elzevir's architecture publication of 1649 from Amsterdam, Johann Vossius' De Quatuar Artibus Popularibus published in 1650, and a 1599 edition of astronomy edited by Barthelemy Pitiscus.: 35 In one famous episode, Logan was reading a treatise on early astronomy by Johann Fabricius and read that the first printed edition of Greek astronomer Ptolemy's Almagest was printed in Greek in 1538. Logan was certain that it was released in an earlier Latin version, having sold it and his other books in Dublin before he left in 1699. Logan wrote Fabricius and politely explained his conviction. In reply, Fabricius reaffirmed his contention and sent his own 1538 copy as proof. Unconvinced, Logan wrote his agent in London, explaining that he had sold his library to a bookseller who lived on Castle Street and to see if he knew of the book's location. His agent was successful in finding the book and sent to Logan where it was confirmed that it was a Latin edition of the Almagest published in 1515.: 132–133 Such was the strength of Logan's bibliographic mind as professed by Benjamin Franklin. Legacy In Philadelphia, the Logan neighbourhood and the landmark Logan Circle are both named in honour of Logan. His 1730 estate Stenton in the Logan neighbourhood has been named a National Historic Landmark and operates as a public museum. See also Walking Purchase References Sources Strahan, Edward (1875). A Century After, picturesque glimpses of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Allen, Lane & Scott and J. W. Lauderbach. Claus Bernet (2010). "James Logan (statesman)". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 31. Nordhausen: Bautz. cols. 790–798. ISBN 978-3-88309-544-8. Further reading Armistead, Wilson (1851). Memoirs of James Logan. C. Gilpin. Tolles, Frederick B. (1957). James Logan and the Culture of Provincial America. Little, Brown, and Company. External links Abstract of his life at GwyneddMeeting.org Archived 11 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine Biography and portrait at the University of Pennsylvania Biography at USHistory.org An essay by Logan urging support for war requisitions
Oasis_(band)	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oasis_(band)	[ 218 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oasis_(band)" ]	Oasis is an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. The group initially consisted of Liam Gallagher (lead vocals), Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass guitar) and Tony McCarroll (drums), with Liam asking his older brother Noel Gallagher (lead guitar, vocals) to join as a fifth member a few months later to finalise their formation. Noel became the de facto leader of the group and took over the songwriting duties for the band's first four albums. They are characterised as one of the defining and most globally successful groups of the Britpop genre. Oasis signed to independent record label Creation Records in 1993 and released their record-setting debut album Definitely Maybe (1994), which topped the UK Albums Chart and quickly became the fastest-selling debut album in British history at the time. The following year they released follow up album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) with new drummer Alan White in the midst of a highly publicised chart rivalry with peers Blur. Spending ten weeks at number one on the British charts, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? was also an international chart success and became one of the best-selling albums of all time, the fifth-best-selling album in the UK and the best-selling album in the UK of the 1990s. The Gallagher brothers featured regularly in tabloid newspapers throughout the 1990s for their public disputes and wild lifestyles. In 1996, Oasis performed two nights at Knebworth for an audience of 125,000 each time, the largest outdoor concerts in UK history at the time. In 1997, Oasis released their highly anticipated third studio album, Be Here Now, which became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history but retrospectively was seen as a critical disappointment. Founding members Arthurs and McGuigan left in 1999 during the recording of the band's fourth studio album Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (2000). They were replaced by former Heavy Stereo guitarist Gem Archer on guitar and former Ride guitarist Andy Bell on bass guitar. White departed in 2004, replaced by guest drummer Zak Starkey, and later by Chris Sharrock. Oasis released three more studio albums in the 2000s: Heathen Chemistry (2002), Don't Believe the Truth (2005) and Dig Out Your Soul (2008). The group abruptly disbanded in 2009 after the sudden departure of Noel Gallagher. The remaining members of the band continued under the name Beady Eye until their disbandment in 2014. Both Gallagher brothers have had successful solo careers. In 2024, Oasis announced that they would reform in 2025 for performances around the world as part of the Oasis Live '25 Tour. As of 2024, Oasis have sold over 75 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. They are among the most successful acts in the history of the UK Singles Chart and the UK Albums Chart, with eight UK number-one singles and eight UK number-one albums. The band also achieved three Platinum albums in the US. They won 17 NME Awards, nine Q Awards, four MTV Europe Music Awards and six Brit Awards, including one in 2007 for Outstanding Contribution to Music and one for the "Best Album of the Last 30 Years" for (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. They were also nominated for two Grammy Awards. History 1991–1993: Formation and early years In 1991, bassist Paul McGuigan, guitarist Paul Arthurs, drummer Tony McCarroll, and singer Chris Hutton formed a band called the Rain. Unsatisfied with Hutton, Arthurs invited and auditioned acquaintance Liam Gallagher as a potential replacement. Liam suggested that the band name be changed to Oasis, inspired by an Inspiral Carpets tour poster in the childhood bedroom he shared with his brother Noel, which listed the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon as a venue. Oasis played their first gig on 14 August 1991 at the Boardwalk club in Manchester, bottom of the bill below the Catchmen and Sweet Jesus. Noel, who was working as a roadie for Inspiral Carpets, went with them to watch Liam's band play, and he was impressed with what he heard. Noel approached the group about joining on the provision that he would become the band's sole songwriter and leader, and that they would commit to an earnest pursuit of commercial success. Arthurs recalled, "He had loads of stuff written. When he walked in, we were a band making a racket with four tunes. All of a sudden, there were loads of ideas." Under Noel, the band crafted a musical approach that relied on simplicity, with Arthurs and McGuigan restricted to playing barre chords and root bass notes, McCarroll playing basic rhythms, and the band's amplifiers turned up to create distortion. Oasis thus created a sound described as being "so devoid of finesse and complexity that it came out sounding pretty much unstoppable". 1993–1995: Breakthrough with Definitely Maybe After over a year of live shows, rehearsals and a recording of a demo, the Live Demonstration tape, in May 1993, Oasis were spotted by the Creation Records co-owner Alan McGee. Oasis were invited to play a gig at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut club in Glasgow by Sister Lovers, who shared their rehearsal rooms. Oasis, along with a group of friends, hired a van and made the journey to Glasgow. When they arrived, they were refused entry as they were not on that night's set list. They and McGee have given contradicting statements about how they entered the club. They were given the opening slot and impressed McGee, who was there to see 18 Wheeler, and Sister Lovers, whose member Debbie Turner was a close friend of McGee's from his days frequenting the Haçienda in Manchester. McGee offered them a recording contract; however, they did not sign until several months later. Due to problems securing an American contract, Oasis signed a worldwide contract with Sony, which in turn licensed Oasis to Creation in the UK. Following a limited white label release of the demo of their song "Columbia", Oasis went on a UK tour to promote the release of their first single, "Supersonic", playing venues such as the Tunbridge Wells Forum, a converted public toilet. "Supersonic" was released in April 1994, reaching number 31 in the charts. The release was followed by "Shakermaker", which became the subject of a plagiarism suit, with Oasis paying $500,000 in damages. Their third single, "Live Forever", was their first to enter the top ten of the UK Singles Chart. After troubled recording and mixing sessions, Oasis's debut album, Definitely Maybe, was released on 29 August 1994. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number one within a week of its release, and at the time becoming the fastest selling debut album in the UK. Nearly a year of constant live performances and recordings, along with a hedonistic lifestyle, damaged the band. This behaviour culminated during a gig in Los Angeles in September 1994, leading to an inept performance by Liam during which he made offensive remarks about American audiences and hit Noel with a tambourine. Upset, Noel temporarily quit the band and flew to San Francisco (it was from this incident the song "Talk Tonight" was written). He was tracked down by Creation's Tim Abbot and they made a trip to Las Vegas. Once there, he was persuaded to continue with the band. He reconciled with Liam and the tour resumed in Minneapolis. The group followed up with the fourth single from Definitely Maybe, "Cigarettes & Alcohol", and the Christmas single "Whatever", issued in December 1994, which entered the British charts at number three. 1995–1996: (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, international success, and peak popularity In April 1995, "Some Might Say" became their first number-one UK single. At the same time, McCarroll was ousted from the band. He said he was "unlawfully expelled from the partnership" for what he called a "personality clash" with the brothers. The Gallaghers were critical of McCarroll's musical ability, with Noel saying: "I like Tony as a geezer but he wouldn't have been able to drum the new songs." He was replaced by Alan White, formerly of Starclub and the brother of the percussionist Steve White, who was recommended to Noel by Paul Weller. White made his debut with Oasis on a Top of the Pops performance of "Some Might Say". Oasis began recording material for their second album that May in Rockfield Studios near Monmouth. During this period, the British press seized upon a supposed rivalry between Oasis and another Britpop band, Blur. Previously, Oasis had not associated with the Britpop movement and were not invited to perform on the BBC's Britpop Now programme introduced by Blur's singer, Damon Albarn. On 14 August 1995, Blur and Oasis released singles on the same day, setting up the "Battle of Britpop" that dominated the national news. Blur's "Country House" outsold Oasis's "Roll with It" 274,000 copies to 216,000 during the week. Oasis's management argued that "Country House" had sold more because it was less expensive (£1.99 vs £3.99) and because there were two versions of the "Country House" single, with different B-sides, forcing fans to buy two copies. Creation said there were problems with the barcode on the "Roll with It" single case, which did not record all sales. Noel Gallagher told The Observer in September that he hoped members of Blur would "catch AIDS and die", which caused a media furore. He apologised in a formal letter to various publications. McGuigan briefly left Oasis in September 1995, citing nervous exhaustion. He was replaced by Scott McLeod, formerly of the Ya Ya's, who was featured on some of the tour dates as well as in the "Wonderwall" video before leaving abruptly while on tour in the US. McLeod contacted Noel, saying he felt he had made the wrong decision. Noel replied: "I think you have, too. Good luck signing on." Although a softer sound initially led to mixed reviews, Oasis's second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, was a worldwide commercial success, selling over four million copies and becoming the fifth-best-selling album in UK chart history. By 2008, it had sold up to 22 million copies globally, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. The album produced two more singles, "Wonderwall" and "Don't Look Back in Anger", which reached numbers two and one. It also contained "Champagne Supernova", which featured guitar and backing vocals by Paul Weller and received critical acclaim. The song reached number one on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. In November 1995, Oasis played on back-to-back nights at Earls Court in London, the biggest ever indoor gigs in Europe at the time. Noel played a customised Sheraton guitar emblazoned with a Union Jack, commercially released by Epiphone as the "Supernova". On 27 and 28 April 1996, Oasis played their first headline outdoor concerts, at Maine Road football stadium, home of Manchester City F.C., of whom the Gallagher brothers had been fans since childhood. Highlights from the second night featured on the video ...There and Then, released later the same year (along with footage from their Earls Court gigs). As their career reached its zenith, Oasis performed to 80,000 people over two nights at Balloch Country Park at Loch Lomond in Scotland on 3 and 4 August, before back-to-back concerts at Knebworth House on 10 and 11 August. The band sold out both shows within minutes. The audience of 125,000 people each night (2.5 million people applied for tickets, and 250,000 were actually sold, meaning the possibility of 20 sold out nights) was a record-breaking number for an outdoor concert held in the UK and remains the largest demand for a show in British history. Oasis were due to record an episode of MTV Unplugged at the Royal Festival Hall but Liam pulled out, citing a sore throat. He watched the performance from a balcony with beer and cigarettes, heckling Noel's singing between songs. Four days later the group left for a tour of American arenas but Liam refused to go; the band decided to continue the tour with Noel on vocals. Liam rejoined the tour on 30 August and on 4 September 1996, Oasis performed "Champagne Supernova" at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Liam made gestures at Noel during his guitar solo, then spat beer all over the stage before storming off. A few weeks later Noel flew home without the band, who followed on another flight. This event prompted media speculation that the group were splitting up. The brothers soon reconciled and decided to complete the tour. 1996–1999: Be Here Now and The Masterplan Oasis spent the end of 1996 and the first quarter of 1997 at Abbey Road Studios in London and Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey recording their third album. Quarrels between the Gallagher brothers plagued the recording sessions. Be Here Now was released in August 1997. Preceded by the UK number one single "D'You Know What I Mean?", the album was their most anticipated effort, and as such became the subject of considerable media attention. Footage of excited fans clutching copies made ITV News at Ten, leading anchorman Trevor McDonald to intone the band's phrase "mad for it". By the end of the first day of release, Be Here Now had sold 424,000 units and first week sales reached 696,000, making it the fastest-selling album in British history until Adele released 25 in 2015. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 in the US, but its first week sales of 152,000—below expected sales of 400,000 copies—were considered a disappointment. Predominantly written by Noel Gallagher during a holiday with Kate Moss, Johnny Depp and Mick Jagger, Gallagher has since expressed regret over the writing process of Be Here Now, adding it doesn't match up to the standard of the band's first two albums; In the studio it was great, and on the day it came out it was great. It was only when I got on tour that I was thinking, "It doesn't fucking stand up." ... People are prepared to have stand-up rows with me in the street: "I fucking love that album!" And I'm like, "Mate, look, I wrote the fucking thing. I know how much effort I put into it. It wasn't that much." Noel had been ambivalent about the album in pre-release interviews, telling NME, "This record ain't going to surprise many people." However, there was nobody around him to echo his reservations. "Everyone's going: 'It's brilliant!'" he later said. "And right towards the end, we're doing the mixing and I'm thinking to myself: 'Hmmm, I don't know about this now.'" When the album was released Oasis were woven into Britain's cultural fabric like no other band since the Beatles, and according to their former press officer Johnny Hopkins: "There were more hangers-on, constantly telling them they were the greatest thing. That tended to block out the critical voices." Dorian Lynskey writes, "If it couldn't be Britpop's zenith, then it must be the nadir. It can't be just a collection of songs – some good, some bad, most too long, all insanely overproduced – but an emblem of the hubris before the fall, like a dictator's statue pulled to the ground by a vengeful mob." After the conclusion of the Be Here Now Tour in early 1998, amidst much media criticism, the group kept a low profile. Later in the year, Oasis released a compilation album of fourteen B-sides, The Masterplan. "The really interesting stuff from around that period is the B-sides. There's a lot more inspired music on the B-sides than there is on Be Here Now itself, I think," said Noel in an interview in 2008. 1999–2001: Line-up change and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants In early 1999, the band began work on their fourth studio album. First details were announced in February, with Mark Stent revealed to be taking a co-producing role. Things were not going well and the shock departure of founding member Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs was announced in August. This departure was reported at the time as amicable, with Noel stating Arthurs wanted to spend more time with his family. Arthurs' statement clarified his leaving as "to concentrate on other things". However, Noel has since offered a contradicting version: that a series of violations of Noel's "no drink or drugs" policy (imposed by Noel so that Liam could sing properly) for the album's sessions resulted in a confrontation between the two. Two weeks later the departure of bassist Paul McGuigan was announced. The Gallagher brothers held a press conference shortly thereafter, in which they assured reporters that "the future of Oasis is secure. The story and the glory will go on." After the completion of the recording sessions, the band began searching for replacement members. The first new member to be announced was new lead/rhythm guitarist Colin "Gem" Archer, formerly of Heavy Stereo, who later claimed to have been approached by Noel Gallagher only a couple of days after Arthurs' departure was publicly announced. Finding a replacement bassist took more time and effort: the band were rehearsing with David Potts, but he quickly resigned, and they brought in Andy Bell, former guitarist/songwriter of Ride and Hurricane #1 as their new bassist. Bell had never played bass before and had to learn to play it (with Noel since saying, "I was amazed that Andy was up for actually playing the bass y'know, cos he's such a good guitarist"), along with a handful of songs from Oasis's back catalogue, in preparation for a scheduled US tour in December 1999. With the folding of Creation Records, Oasis formed their own label, Big Brother, which released all of Oasis's subsequent records in the UK and Ireland. Oasis's fourth album, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, was released in February 2000 to good first-week sales. It reached number one on the British charts and peaked at number 24 on the Billboard charts. Four singles were released from the album: "Go Let It Out", "Who Feels Love?", "Sunday Morning Call" and "Where Did It All Go Wrong?", of which the first three were top five UK singles. The "Go Let It Out" music video was shot before Bell joined the group and therefore featured the unusual line-up of Liam on rhythm guitar, Archer on lead guitar and Noel on bass. With the departure of the founding members, the band made several small changes to their image and sound. The cover featured a new "Oasis" logo, designed by Gem Archer, and the album was also the first Oasis release to include a song written by Liam Gallagher, entitled "Little James". The songs also had more experimental, psychedelic influences. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants received lukewarm reviews and sales slumped in its second week of release in the US. To support the record the band staged an eventful world tour. While touring in Barcelona in 2000, Oasis were forced to cancel a gig when an attack of tendinitis caused Alan White's arm to seize up, and the band spent the night drinking instead. After a row between the two brothers, Noel declared he was quitting touring overseas altogether, and Oasis were supposed to finish the tour without him. Noel eventually returned for the Irish and British legs of the tour, which included two major shows at Wembley Stadium. A live album of the first show, called Familiar to Millions, was released in late 2000 to mixed reviews. 2001–2003: Heathen Chemistry Throughout 2001, Oasis split time between sessions for their fifth studio album and live shows around the world. Gigs included the month-long Tour of Brotherly Love with the Black Crowes and Spacehog and a show in Paris supporting Neil Young. The album, Heathen Chemistry, Oasis's first album with new members Andy Bell and Gem Archer, was released in July 2002. The album reached number 1 in the UK and number 23 in the US, although critics gave it mixed reviews. There were four singles released from the album: "The Hindu Times", "Stop Crying Your Heart Out", "Little by Little/She Is Love" which were written by Noel, and "Songbird", written by Liam and the first single not to be written by Noel. The record blended the band's sonic experiments from their last albums, but also went for a more basic rock sound. The recording of Heathen Chemistry was much more balanced for the band, with all of the members, apart from White, writing songs. Johnny Marr provided additional guitar as well as backup vocals on a couple of songs. After the album's release, the band embarked on a successful world tour that was once again filled with incidents. In August 2002, while the band were on tour in the US, Noel, Bell and touring keyboardist Jay Darlington were involved in a car accident in Indianapolis. While none of the band members sustained any major injuries, some shows were cancelled as a result. In December 2002, the latter half of the German leg of the band's European tour had to be postponed after Liam Gallagher, Alan White and three other members of the band's entourage were arrested after a violent brawl at a Munich nightclub. The band had been drinking heavily and tests showed that Liam had used cocaine. Liam lost two front teeth and kicked a police officer in the ribs, while Alan suffered minor head injuries after getting hit with an ashtray. Two years later Liam was fined around £40,000. The band finished their tour in March 2003 after returning to those postponed dates. 2003–2007: Alan White's departure and Don't Believe the Truth Oasis began recording a sixth album in late December 2003 with producers Death in Vegas at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall. The album was originally planned for a September 2004 release, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the release of Definitely Maybe, However, long-time drummer Alan White, who at this time had played on nearly all of the band's material, had been asked to leave the band. At the time, his brother Steve White stated on his own website that "the spirit of being in a band was kicked out of him" and he wanted to be with his girlfriend. White was replaced by Zak Starkey, the Who's drummer and the son of the Beatles' drummer, Ringo Starr. Though Starkey performed on studio recordings and toured with the band, he was not officially a member and the band were a four-piece for the first time in their career. Starkey played publicly for the first time at Poole Lighthouse. A few days later, Oasis, with Starkey, headlined the Glastonbury Festival for the second time in their career and performed a largely greatest hits set, which included two new songs — Gem Archer's "A Bell Will Ring" and Liam Gallagher's "The Meaning of Soul". The performance received negative reviews, with NME calling it a "disaster". The BBC's Tom Bishop called Oasis's set "lacklustre and uneventful ... prompting a mixed reception from fans", mainly because of Liam's uninspired singing and Starkey's lack of experience with the band's material. After much turbulence, the band's sixth album was finally recorded in Los Angeles-based Capitol Studios from October to December the same year. Producer Dave Sardy took over the lead producing role from Noel, who decided to step back from these duties after a decade of producing leadership over the band. In May 2005, after three years and as many scrapped recording sessions, the band released their sixth studio album, Don't Believe the Truth, fulfilling their contract with Sony BMG. It followed the path of Heathen Chemistry as being a collaborative project again, rather than a Noel-written album. The album was the first in a decade not to feature drumming by Alan White, marking the recording debut of Starkey. The record was generally hailed as the band's best effort since Morning Glory by fans and critics alike, spawning two UK number one singles: "Lyla" and "The Importance of Being Idle", whilst "Let There Be Love" entered at number 2. Oasis picked up two awards at the Q Awards: one People's Choice Award and the second for Don't Believe the Truth as Best Album. Following in the footsteps of Oasis's previous five albums, Don't Believe the Truth also entered the UK album charts at number one. By 2013 the album had sold more than 6 million copies worldwide. In May 2005, the band's new line-up embarked on a large scale world tour. Beginning on 10 May 2005 at the London Astoria, and finishing on 31 March 2006 in front of a sold-out gig in Mexico City, Oasis played more live shows than at any time since the Definitely Maybe Tour, visiting 26 countries and headlining 113 shows for over 3.2 million people. The tour passed without any major incidents and was the band's most successful in more than a decade. The tour included sold-out shows at New York's Madison Square Garden and LA's Hollywood Bowl. A rockumentary film made during the tour, entitled Lord Don't Slow Me Down directed by Baillie Walsh was released in October 2007. Oasis released a compilation double album entitled Stop the Clocks in 2006, featuring what the band considers to be their "definitive" songs. The band received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music in February 2007, playing several of their most famous songs afterwards. Oasis released their first ever digital-only release, "Lord Don't Slow Me Down", in October 2007. The song debuted at number ten in the UK singles chart. 2007–2009: Dig Out Your Soul The band's resurgence in popularity since the success of Don't Believe the Truth was highlighted in February 2008 when, in a poll to find the fifty greatest British albums of the last fifty years conducted by Q magazine and HMV, two Oasis albums were voted first and second (Definitely Maybe and (What's The Story) Morning Glory? respectively). Two other albums by the band appeared in the list – Don't Believe The Truth came in at number fourteen, and the album that has previously been heavily criticised by some of the media, Be Here Now, made the list at no. 22. Oasis recorded for a couple of months in 2007 – between July and September – completing work on two new songs and demoing the rest. They then took a two-month break because of the birth of Noel's son. The band re-entered the studio on 5 November 2007 and finished recording around March 2008 with producer Dave Sardy. In May 2008, Zak Starkey left the band after recording Dig Out Your Soul, the band's seventh studio album. He was replaced by former Icicle Works and the La's drummer Chris Sharrock on their tour but Chris was not an official member of the band and Oasis remained as a four-piece. The first single from the record was "The Shock of the Lightning" written by Noel Gallagher, and was pre-released on 29 September 2008. Dig Out Your Soul, the band's seventh studio album, was released on 6 October and went to number one in the UK and number five on the Billboard 200. The band started touring for a projected 18-month-long tour expected to last till September 2009, with support from Kasabian, the Enemy and Twisted Wheel. On 7 September 2008, while performing at Virgin Festival in Toronto, a member of the audience ran on stage and physically assaulted Noel. Noel suffered three broken and dislodged ribs as a result from the attack, and the group had to cancel several shows while he recovered. In June 2008, the band re-signed with Sony BMG for a three-album deal. On 25 February 2009, Oasis received the NME Award for Best British Band of 2009, as well as Best Blog for Noel's 'Tales from the Middle of Nowhere'. On 4 June 2009, Oasis played the first of three concerts at Manchester's Heaton Park and after having to leave the stage twice due to a generator failure, came on the third time to declare the gig was now a free concert; it delighted the 70,000 ticket holders, 20,000 of whom claimed the refund. The band's two following gigs at the venue, on 6 and 7 June, proved a great success, with fans turning out in the thousands despite the changeable weather and first night's sound issues. 2009–2024: Split and aftermath After Liam contracted laryngitis, Oasis cancelled a gig at V Festival in Chelmsford on 23 August 2009. Noel stated in 2011 that the gig was cancelled due to Liam having "a hangover". Liam subsequently sued Noel, and demanded an apology, stating: "The truth is I had laryngitis, which Noel was made fully aware of that morning, diagnosed by a doctor." Noel issued an apology and the lawsuit was dropped. The band were due to perform on 28 August 2009 at the Rock en Seine festival near Paris, however mid-way through Bloc Party's set at the festival their frontman Kele Okereke (alongside Bloc Party tour manager Peter Hill) announced that Oasis would not be performing. Two hours later, a statement from Noel appeared on the band's website: It is with some sadness and great relief...I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer. Liam and the remaining members of Oasis decided to continue under the name Beady Eye, releasing two studio albums until their break-up in 2014. Liam started a solo career and has released three studio albums, with Arthurs joining him occasionally on tour. Noel formed a solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and has released four studio albums, with Sharrock and Archer later joining as members. Bell reunited with former band Ride. On 16 February 2010, Oasis won Best British Album of the Last 30 Years – for (What's the Story) Morning Glory? – at the 2010 Brit Awards. Liam collected the award alone before presenting his speech, which thanked Bonehead, McGuigan and Alan White but not Noel, and throwing his microphone and the band's award into the crowd; he later defended his actions. Time Flies... 1994–2009, a compilation of singles, was released on 14 June 2010. It became the band's final album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart. A remastered 3-disc version of Definitely Maybe was released on 19 May 2014. A documentary titled Oasis: Supersonic was released on 26 October 2016, which tells the story of Oasis from their beginnings to the height of their fame during the summer of 1996. Another concert documentary film was released in September 2021, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Oasis's two record breaking concerts at Knebworth Park in August 1996. A new demo recording, "Don't Stop...", previously only known from a recording during a soundcheck in Hong Kong, was rediscovered during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was released on 3 May 2020; it passed 1 million views on YouTube that morning and reached number 80 on the UK Singles Chart based on streaming alone. 2024–present: Reunion and Oasis Live '25 Tour On 27 August 2024, almost 15 years to the date of their 2009 split, Oasis announced that they would reform for performances in the UK and Ireland in July and August 2025, stating "The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over. Come see. It will not be televised." After the announcement of the reunion, it was rumoured that former members Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs, Gem Archer, Andy Bell, Zak Starkey and some members of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will perform alongside the two brothers. Former drummer Alan White also teased his involvement in the reunion, while original drummer Tony McCarroll said he does not think that he will be back. Liam Gallagher also teased on Twitter that new members could join the band on tour and also revealed on Twitter that Oasis had finished a new album. On 30 August 2024, following the news of the reunion Oasis released the 30th anniversary edition of their debut album Definitely Maybe. A week later the album charted at number 1 in the UK Official Albums Chart Top 100, 30 years after its release along with Time Flies and Morning Glory which rose to number 3 and 4 in the charts. Three more Oasis albums also entered the top 100 in the charts, The Masterplan at number 41, Be Here Now at number 42 and Heathen Chemistry at number 97. Oasis's single "Live Forever" charted at number 8 in the UK Official Singles Chart Top 40, two places higher than it originally finished in 1994, along with "Don't Look Back In Anger" which reached number 9 and "Wonderwall" which reached number 11. Musical style and influences Musically, Oasis have been regarded as a rock band. More specifically, the band has been described as Britpop, indie rock, alternative rock, pop rock, neo-psychedelia, psychedelic rock, and power pop. Oasis were most heavily influenced by the Beatles, an influence that was frequently labelled as an "obsession" by British media. The band were also strongly influenced by the other 1960s British Invasion acts, including the Kinks, the Rolling Stones, and the Who. Another major influence, especially during the band's early career, was 1970s British punk rock, in particular the Sex Pistols and their album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1977), as well as the Damned, and the Jam/Paul Weller. In addition, members of Oasis have cited as an influence or inspiration AC/DC, Acetone, Burt Bacharach, Beck, the Bee Gees, David Bowie, the Doors, Peter Green–era Fleetwood Mac, Grant Lee Buffalo, the La's, MC5, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Slade, the Smiths, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, the Specials, the Stone Roses, the Stooges, T. Rex, the Verve, the Velvet Underground/Lou Reed, and Neil Young. Oasis albums consistently featured loud tracks characterized by nasal vocals. These dynamic Britpop compositions stood in stark contrast to the more polished pop tunes of Blur, their chart rivals. Especially in their early years, Oasis's musical style and lyrics were grounded in the working-class backgrounds of Liam and Noel. The brothers became known for their rebellious demeanor, self-assured personalities, and sibling rivalry; these characteristics garnered media interest from the band's beginnings and endured throughout their entire career. Legal battles over songwriter credits Legal action has been taken against Noel Gallagher and Oasis for plagiarism on three occasions. The first was the case of Neil Innes (formerly of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and the Rutles) suing to prove the Oasis song "Whatever" borrowed from his song "How Sweet to Be an Idiot". Innes was eventually awarded royalties and a co-writer credit. Noel Gallagher said in 2010 that the plagiarism was unintentional and he was unaware of the similarities until informed of Innes's legal case. In the second incident, Oasis were sued by Coca-Cola and forced to pay $500,000 in damages to the New Seekers after it was alleged that the Oasis song "Shakermaker" had lifted words and melody from "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing". When asked about the incident, Noel Gallagher joked "Now we all drink Pepsi." On the third and final occasion, when promotional copies of (What's the Story) Morning Glory? were originally distributed, they contained a previously unreleased bonus song called "Step Out". This promotional CD was quickly withdrawn and replaced with a version that omitted the controversial song, which was allegedly similar to the Stevie Wonder song "Uptight (Everything's Alright)". Official releases of "Step Out", as the B-side to "Don't Look Back in Anger" and on Familiar to Millions, listed "Wonder, et al." as co-writers. The 2003 song "Life Got Cold" by UK band Girls Aloud received attention due to similarities between the guitar riff and melody of the song and that of the Oasis song "Wonderwall". A BBC review stated "part of the chorus sounds like it is going to turn into 'Wonderwall' by Oasis." Warner/Chappell Music has since credited Noel Gallagher as co-songwriter. Legacy and influence Despite parting ways in 2009, Oasis remain hugely influential in British music and culture and are now recognised as one of the biggest and most acclaimed bands of the 1990s. They are widely recognized as one of the spearheads of Britpop, which has claimed a prominent place in the British musical landscape. With their record breaking sales, concerts, sibling disputes, and their high-profile chart battle with Britpop rivals Blur, Oasis were a major part of 1990s UK pop culture, an era dubbed Cool Britannia. Many bands and artists have cited Oasis as an influence or inspiration, including Arctic Monkeys, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Deafheaven, the Killers, Alvvays, Maroon 5, Coldplay, and Ryan Adams. The band's success also helped local businesses. Pete Caban, owner of Bandwagon Music Supplies in Perth, Scotland, which closed in 2020 after 37 years in business, said: "The highlight years were the mid-90s to the early 2000s. That was the peak period. The Oasis period, as I call it, where everyone wanted to buy a guitar. That was the game changer for music and for me here in Perth. I was shovelling guitars out the door at the point. So hurrah for Noel Gallagher." In 2007, Oasis were one of the four featured artists in the seventh episode of the BBC/VH1 series Seven Ages of Rock – an episode about British indie rock – along with Britpop peers Blur in addition to the Smiths and the Stone Roses. In 2023, an unofficial music project by the name of AISIS was the first full-length album to use AI vocals. The project was a success and attracted more than half a million views within six weeks of publication, including multiple newspaper articles written about it, and brought Breezer, the band that created the project, out of obscurity and landed them with prestigious live dates. Bobby Geraghty and his Breezer bandmates wrote original Oasis-style songs and then used AI to create audio deepfakes based on Liam Gallagher's voice alongside their original instrumentation. Liam himself approved of the album, saying that he "sounded mega". Oasis received a nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on their sixth year of eligibility in February 2024. Initially, the members included in the nomination were the Gallagher brothers, McGuigan, White, Arthurs, McCarroll, Archer, and Bell. Band members Current members Liam Gallagher – vocals, tambourine (1991–2009, 2024–present); acoustic guitar (2001–2002, 2007–2008) Noel Gallagher – lead guitar, vocals (1991–1994, 1994–2009, 2024–present); rhythm guitar (1991, 1999–2009, 2024–present); keyboards (1993–1994, 1994–2009); bass (1993–1994, 1995, 1999) Former members Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs – rhythm guitar (1991–1999); lead guitar (1991, 1994); keyboards (1994–1997); bass (1995) Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan – bass (1991–1995, 1995–1999) Tony McCarroll – drums (1991–1995) Alan "Whitey" White – drums, percussion (1995–2004) Gem Archer – rhythm and lead guitar (1999–2009); backing vocals (2002–2003); keyboards (2002–2005); harmonica (2005–2009) Andy Bell – bass (1999–2009); rhythm guitar (2003–2009); keyboards (2007–2009) Former touring members Scott McLeod – bass (1995) Janette Mason - keyboards (1996) Mark Feltham - harmonica (1996) Mike Rowe – keyboards (1997–2000, 2001) Matt Deighton – rhythm guitar (2000) Steve White – drums (2001) Zeb Jameson – keyboards (2000–2001) Jay Darlington – keyboards (2002–2009) Zak Starkey – drums, percussion (2004–2008) Chris Sharrock – drums, percussion (2008–2009) Timeline Touring timeline Discography Definitely Maybe (1994) (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) Be Here Now (1997) Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (2000) Heathen Chemistry (2002) Don't Believe the Truth (2005) Dig Out Your Soul (2008) TBA (2025) Concert tours Definitely Maybe Tour (1994–1995) (What's the Story) Morning Glory? Tour (1995–1996) Be Here Now Tour (1997–1998) Standing on the Shoulder of Giants Tour (1999–2001) The Tour of Brotherly Love (2001) 10 Years of Noise and Confusion Tour (2001) Heathen Chemistry Tour (2002–2003) Don't Believe the Truth Tour (2005–2006) Dig Out Your Soul Tour (2008–2009) Oasis Live '25 Tour (2025) Awards and nominations Brit Awards: 6 wins from 18 nominations, including Outstanding Contribution to Music and Best Album of the Last 30 Years for "(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?". Grammy Awards: 2 nominations, including Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Rock Song. NME Awards: 17 wins from 26 nominations. Q Awards: 9 wins from 19 nominations. MTV Europe Music Awards: 4 wins from 4 nominations. Ivor Novello Awards: 2 wins from 3 nominations. Oasis has also been recognized by other award bodies, such as the MTV Japan Awards, UK Video Music Awards, and the Mercury Prize. See also List of best-selling music artists References Footnotes Bibliography External links Official website
Ysaires_Restituyo	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ysaires_Restituyo	[ 219 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ysaires_Restituyo" ]	Ysaires Restituyo is a female beach volleyball player from Dominican Republic, who played in the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit 2007 with Cinthia Piñeiro, 2008, with Ingrid Carmona and 2009 with Ana Ligia Fabian; at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. References Ysaires Restituyo at the Beach Volleyball Database
Cinthia_Pi%C3%B1eiro	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinthia_Pi%C3%B1eiro	[ 219 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinthia_Pi%C3%B1eiro#" ]	Cinthia Josefina Piñeiro Torres (born February 4, 1986, in Santo Domingo) is a volleyball and beach volleyball player from Dominican Republic, who participated in the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit 2007 with Ysaires Restituyo finishing in 9th place. She won the gold medal of the Dominican Republic National Championship 2006, partnering Rosalin Angeles. Clubs Bameso (2003) Mirador (2004–2005) References BV Database profile FEDOVOLI
Ana_Ligia_Fabian	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Ligia_Fabian	[ 219 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Ligia_Fabian" ]	Ana Ligia Fabian Hernández (born November 7, 1988) is a volleyball player from the Dominican Republic, who participated in the 2007 Junior World Championship in Thailand. She competed as wing spiker, wearing the #4 jersey. At the 2006 U-20 NORCECA Women´s Junior Continental Championship, she took with her team the silver medal. She participated with Ingrid Carmona at the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit in 2007 and 2009 with Ysaires Restituyo, finishing in 11th and 9th position. Clubs Mirador (2003) Los Prados (2004–2005) Mirador (2006) Aviación (2006) Distrito Nacional (2007) San Juan (2008) References External links Ana Ligia Fabian Hernandez at the FIVB World Grand Prix 2006 Ana Ligia Fabian Hernandez at the Beach Volleyball Database Ana Ligia Fabian Hernandez at the FIVB beach volleyball database
Deconstructing_Harry	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstructing_Harry	[ 220 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstructing_Harry" ]	Deconstructing Harry is a 1997 American black comedy film written, directed by, and co-starring Woody Allen, with an ensemble cast, including Caroline Aaron, Kirstie Alley, Bob Balaban, Richard Benjamin, Eric Bogosian, Billy Crystal and Judy Davis, as well as Jennifer Garner in her feature film debut. The film tells the story of a successful writer named Harry Block, played by Allen, who draws inspiration from people who he knows in real life, and from events that happen to him, sometimes causing these people to become alienated from him as a result. The central plot features Block driving to a university from which he was once thrown out, to receive an honorary degree. Three passengers accompany him on the trip: a prostitute, a friend, and his son, who he has kidnapped from his ex-wife. There are many flashbacks, segments taken from Block's writing, and interactions with his own fictional characters. Deconstructing Harry received moderately positive reviews from critics. Plot One night, Lucy takes a taxi to the home of famous Manhattan author Harry Block. She has just read Harry's latest novel, in which the character Leslie is having an affair with her sister's husband Ken. Lucy is angry because the novel is patently based on her and Harry's own affair; as a result, everyone knows about it. Lucy pulls a gun from her purse, threatening to kill herself. She turns the gun on Harry and begins firing. As she chases him onto the roof, he insists that he has already been punished: his latest girlfriend Fay has left him for his best friend Larry. To distract Lucy, Harry tells her a story that he is currently writing: a semi-autobiographical story of a sex-obsessed young man named Harvey who is mistakenly claimed by Death during an encounter with a prostitute. In therapy, Harry realizes that he has not changed since his sex-obsessed youth. He discusses his honoring ceremony at his old university in upstate New York, taking place the next day; he is particularly unhappy that he has nobody with whom to share the occasion. After the session, Harry asks his ex-wife and former therapist Joan if he can take their son Hilliard to the ceremony. She refuses, stating that Harry is a bad influence on Hilliard. She is also furious at Harry for the novel he wrote. In it, the character Epstein marries his therapist Helen, but the marriage begins to crumble after the birth of their son. Harry runs into an acquaintance, Richard, who is worried about his health. After accompanying Richard to the hospital, Harry invites him to the university ceremony; Richard claims that he will be busy that day. Harry meets with his ex-girlfriend Fay, who reveals that she is now engaged. Harry begs Fay to get back together with him. He asks Fay to accompany him to his ceremony, but it clashes with her wedding, scheduled the following day. That night, Harry sleeps with a prostitute, Cookie, who agrees to accompany him to his ceremony. In the morning, Richard unexpectedly arrives to join Harry and Cookie on the trip. On a whim, Harry decides to "kidnap" his son Hilliard. Along the way, they stop at a carnival, then at Harry's half-sister Doris's. Doris, a devoted Jew, is upset by Harry's portrayals of Judaism in his stories, as is her husband. During the trip, Harry encounters his fictional creations Ken and Helen, who force him to confront some painful truths about his life. Before arriving at the university, Richard dies peacefully in the car. While filming, Harry's fictional alter ego Mel literally slides out of focus, becoming blurred. The university's staffers gush over Harry, asking what he plans to write next. He describes a story about a man (based on himself) who journeys to Hell to reclaim his true love (based on Fay) from the Devil (based on Larry). Harry and the Devil engage in a verbal duel regarding who is truly the more evil of the two. Harry argues that he is a kidnapper, but the story is interrupted by the arrival of the police. Harry is arrested for kidnapping Hilliard, for possessing a gun (it was Lucy's), and for having drugs in the car (belonging to Cookie). Larry and Fay come from their wedding to bail out Harry from jail. Harry reluctantly gives them his blessings. At his apartment, a miserable Harry fantasizes that the university's ceremony is taking place. He eventually overcomes his writer's block by starting to write a book about a man who, like him, can function only in art, not in life. Cast Casting Woody Allen offered the role of Harry Block to Elliott Gould, Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Hopper and Albert Brooks, all of whom turned it down. Allen took the role himself. Influences The film is a general reworking of Allen's 1980 film Stardust Memories, which also had an artist attend a ceremony in his honor, while reminiscing over past relationships and trying to fix and stabilize current ones. Allen is an admirer of several renowned European directors, and his films in particular often draw on the works of Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini. The rough outline of the plot of Deconstructing Harry, that of an academic on a long drive to receive an honorary award from his old university while reflecting on his life's experiences, essentially mirrors that of Bergman's Wild Strawberries. Additionally, the film is similar to Fellini's 8½, in being about an artist struggling with his current relationships and remembering his old ones, interspersed with dream sequences, as well as works based on events from his life. It is acknowledged by some critics that Allen based the name of Harry Block on Antonius Block (Max von Sydow), the protagonist from Bergman's The Seventh Seal. Some critics, including Roger Ebert, have suggested that the character of Harry Block is based on real-life author Philip Roth, and not on Allen. Soundtrack Reception Critical reaction On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 73%, based on 37 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 61 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale. Writing for Variety, David Stratton stated: "Deconstructing Harry is abrasive, complex, lacerating and self-revelatory. It's also very funny, most of the time. Woody Allen's latest is one of his most provocative and challenging films." Accolades Allen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. The film was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. References External links Deconstructing Harry at IMDb Deconstructing Harry at AllMovie Deconstructing Harry at Box Office Mojo Deconstructing Harry at Rotten Tomatoes
Margin_Call	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margin_Call	[ 220 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margin_Call" ]	Margin Call is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor in his feature directorial debut. The principal story takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the 2007–2008 financial crisis. It focuses on the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse. The title comes from a finance term for when an investor must increase the securities or other assets used as collateral for a loan when their value falls below a certain threshold. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. The film was produced by the production companies Myriad Pictures, Benaroya Pictures and Before the Door Pictures (first to sign on, and owned by Zachary Quinto). It was also produced in association with Washington Square Films. Theatrically, it was commercially distributed by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions in North America, with Myriad distributing the film internationally through independent distributors elsewhere. The director and screenwriter, J. C. Chandor, is himself the son of an investment banker; the screenplay was partially informed by Chandor's own foray into real estate investments in New York City shortly before the financial crash. Preceding its theatrical release, Margin Call was met with positive critical reviews. Following its wide release in theaters, the film garnered award nominations from the Detroit Film Critics Society, along with several separate nominations for its screenplay and direction from recognized award organizations, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The score was composed by musician Nathan Larson. The film made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2011, and opened in theaters nationwide in the United States on October 21, 2011. Though it grossed just $5.4 million in domestic ticket sales from 199 theaters, the film had a ground-breaking day-and-date release that earned more than $10 million in video-on-demand sales. The DVD and Blu-ray editions of the film were released in the United States on December 20, 2011. Plot In 2008, an unnamed investment bank begins laying off a large number of employees. Among those affected is Eric Dale, head of risk management. Dale's attempts to speak about the implications of a model he is working on are ignored. On his way out, he gives a flash drive containing his work to Peter Sullivan, an associate in his department, warning him to "be careful." Sullivan, intrigued, works after hours to complete Dale's model. Sullivan discovers that the assumptions underpinning the firm's present risk profile are wrong; historical volatility levels in mortgage-backed securities are being exceeded, which means that the firm's position in those assets is over-leveraged and the debt incurred from those over-leveraged assets will bankrupt the company. Sullivan calls his colleague, Seth Bregman, to return to work with the head of credit trading, Will Emerson. Emerson in turn summons Sam Rogers, his boss, after reviewing Sullivan's findings. Attempts by the four to contact Dale end unsuccessfully due to his company phone having been shut off. Sullivan and Bregman go out to find Dale, while Rogers and Emerson inform the company's senior management of the situation. A subsequent meeting of division head Jared Cohen, chief risk management officer Sarah Robertson, and other senior executives concludes that Sullivan's findings are accurate, and firm CEO John Tuld is called. Upon Tuld's arrival, and after Sullivan explains the problem, Rogers, Cohen, and Tuld spar regarding a course of action: Cohen's plan, favored by Tuld, is a fire sale of the problematic assets. Rogers disagrees, pointing out that the sale will damage the firm's relationships and reputation within the industry and will cause major instability in the markets. Tuld stresses that his desire to avoid the firm's bankruptcy is worth that risk and the cost. After the meeting with Tuld, Emerson is informed by Dale's wife that he has returned home. Emerson travels to Dale's residence with Bregman and attempts to persuade him to return to the firm, but he refuses. During the drive back, Bregman asks if he will lose his job; Emerson responds that he likely will, but, philosophizing on the nature of the financial markets, tells him not to lose faith, and that his work is necessary. Tuld tells Robertson that he will assign the blame to her in front of the traders and the board of directors; Robertson argues that she warned Tuld and Cohen about the situation over a year ago, and that both Tuld and Cohen acknowledged the risks, but fails to persuade him. Meanwhile, Eric Dale is bribed and forced into cooperating with Cohen's plan, with the firm threatening to cut his benefits and severance if he refuses. He spends the day commiserating with Robertson. Despite his misgivings, Rogers rallies his traders and informs them of the fire sale. He acknowledges the damage likely to be done to their reputations and careers, but informs them that they will be well compensated with 7-figure bonuses if most of the traders' assigned assets are sold by day's end. As trading progresses, the firm elicits suspicion and eventually anger from their counterparties and incurs heavy losses, but they are able to sell off most of the bad assets. Another round of layoffs begins; Rogers, upon finding out that he was spared, confronts Tuld and submits his resignation. Tuld dismisses Rogers' view of the situation by recalling past economic crises, arguing that such events always happen and that Rogers should not feel guilty for acting in his and the firm's interests. Tuld asks Rogers to stay on for two more years and Rogers reluctantly accepts, citing his personal financial need. Tuld also informs Rogers that Sullivan is going to be promoted. The film ends with Rogers burying his euthanized dog in his ex-wife's front yard during the night. Cast Production Principal photography began on June 21, 2010, in New York City, and was shot in just 17 days. More than 80% of the action was shot on the 42nd floor of One Penn Plaza, which had recently been vacated by a trading firm. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The film also played In Competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival and was nominated for the Golden Bear. The film was produced by Zachary Quinto's production company, Before the Door Pictures, by Quinto and his two producing partners and Carnegie Mellon University classmates, Neal Dodson and Corey Moosa. Reception Critical response On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 174 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Smart, tightly wound, and solidly acted, Margin Call turns the convoluted financial meltdown of '08 into gripping, thought-provoking drama." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. The New Yorker film critic David Denby said it was "easily the best Wall Street movie ever made". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and half stars out of four, and said: "Margin Call employs an excellent cast who can make financial talk into compelling dialogue." A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "It is hard to believe that Margin Call is Mr. Chandor’s first feature. His formal command – his ability to imply far more than he shows or says and to orchestrate a large, complex drama out of whispers, glances, and snippets of jargon – is downright awe inspiring." In 2022, Bloomberg News financial columnist Matt Levine said that Margin Call was "the best finance movie". Box office Margin Call grossed $5.4 million domestically (United States and Canada), and $14.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $19.5 million, against a budget of $3.5 million. Themes Roger Ebert wrote: "I think the movie is about how its characters are concerned only by the welfare of their corporations. There is no larger sense of the public good. Corporations are amoral, and exist to survive and succeed, at whatever human cost. This is what the Occupy Wall Street protesters are angry about: They are not against capitalism, but about Wall Street dishonesty and greed. ... [The cast] reflects the enormity of what is happening: Their company and their lives are being rendered meaningless." A. O. Scott wrote: "Margin Call is a thriller, moving through ambient shadows to the anxious tempo of Nathan Larson’s hushed, anxious score. It is also a horror movie, with disaster lurking like an unseen demon outside the skyscraper windows and behind the computer screens. It is also a workplace comedy of sorts. The crackling, syncopated dialogue and the plot, full of reversals and double crosses, owe an obvious debt to David Mamet’s profane fables of deal-making machismo. Hovering over all of it is the dark romance of capital: the elegance of numbers; the kinkiness of money; the deep, rotten, erotic allure of power." Although the film does not depict any real Wall Street firm, and the fictional firm is unnamed, the plot has similarities to some events during the 2008 financial crisis: Goldman Sachs similarly moved early to hedge and reduce its position in mortgage-backed securities, at the urging of two employees, which essentially mirrors Tuld's comment about the advantage of moving first. Lehman Brothers moved second and went bankrupt. John Tuld's name is said to be a combination of Merrill Lynch's ex-CEO John Thain and Lehman Brothers' ex-CEO Richard Fuld. Accolades See also Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Great Recession Other films Wall Street (1987) Inside Job (2010, documentary) Too Big to Fail (2011) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) 99 Homes (2014) The Big Short (2015) The Hummingbird Project (2018) References Footnotes External links Margin Call at IMDb Margin Call at AllMovie Margin Call at Rotten Tomatoes Margin Call at Metacritic Margin Call at Box Office Mojo
Stanley_Tucci	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Tucci	[ 220 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Tucci" ]	Stanley Tucci Jr. ( TOO-chee Italian pronunciation: [ˈtuttʃi]; born November 11, 1960) is an American actor. Known as a character actor, he has played a wide variety of roles ranging from menacing to sophisticated. Tucci has earned numerous accolades, including six Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Tony Award. Tucci made his film debut in John Huston's Prizzi's Honor (1985), and continued to play a variety of supporting roles in films such as Deconstructing Harry (1997), Road to Perdition (2002), and The Terminal (2004). He made his directorial debut with the comedy Big Night (1996), which he also co-wrote and starred in. Following roles in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and Julie & Julia (2009), Tucci was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Lovely Bones (2009). Tucci's other film roles include Burlesque (2010), Easy A (2010), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Margin Call (2011), The Hunger Games film series (2012–2015), Spotlight (2015), Supernova (2020), and Worth (2021). He has starred in numerous television series such as the legal drama Murder One (1995–96), the medical drama 3 lbs (2006), Ryan Murphy's limited series Feud: Bette & Joan (2017), and the drama Limetown (2018). He played Stanley Kubrick in the HBO film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004). For his portrayal of Walter Winchell in the HBO film Winchell (1998) he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie. Since 2020, Tucci has voiced Bitsy Brandenham in the Apple TV+ animated series Central Park. From 2021 to 2022, he hosted the CNN food and travel documentary series Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy for which he won two consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (2003), and a Grammy Award for narrating the audiobook The One and Only Shrek! (2008). Early life and education Tucci was born on November 11, 1960, in Peekskill, New York, and grew up in nearby Katonah, New York. His parents, Joan (née Tropiano), a secretary and writer, and Stanley Tucci Sr. an art teacher at Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, New York, both of Italian descent, have roots in the town of Marzi in Calabria, South Italy. Tucci is the oldest of three children, including his sister, actress Christine Tucci. Screenwriter Joseph Tropiano is a cousin. During the early 1970s, the family spent a year living in Florence, Italy. He attended John Jay High School, where he played on the soccer and baseball teams, although his main interest lay in the school's drama club, where he and fellow actor and high school friend, Campbell Scott, son of actors George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst, gave well-received performances at many of John Jay's drama club productions. Tucci then attended State University of New York at Purchase, where he majored in acting and graduated in 1982. Among his classmates at SUNY Purchase was fellow acting student Ving Rhames. It was Tucci who gave Rhames, born Irving, the Ving nickname by which he is known. Career 1982–1995: Early roles and Broadway debut In 1982, Tucci earned his Actors' Equity card when actress Colleen Dewhurst, the mother of Tucci's high-school friend, actor Campbell Scott, arranged for the two young men to have parts as soldiers in a Broadway play in which she was co-starring, The Queen and the Rebels which premiered on September 30, 1982. Around this time, Tucci also worked as a model, with his most notable work being a television commercial for Levi's 501 jeans. In 1985, Tucci made his film debut as a Soldier in John Huston's black comedy crime film Prizzi's Honor starring Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner. During this period Tucci portrayed minor and supporting roles in a number of films including the psychological horror film Monkey Shines (1988), the comedy-drama Slaves of New York (1989) and the comedy Fear, Anxiety & Depression (1989). In 1991, he acted in the biographical drama film Billy Bathgate starring Dustin Hoffman and Nicole Kidman. Here Tucci portrayed mobster Lucky Luciano. That same year he performed the role of Scapino at the Yale Repertory Theatre in Molière's Scapin. In 1992, Tucci acted in the family comedy Beethoven and the romantic fantasy Prelude to a Kiss. The former spawned a franchise of the same name due to the success of the 1992 film. Tucci continued to take roles in films such as the legal thriller The Pelican Brief (1993) starring Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts, and the romantic comedy It Could Happen to You (1994) with Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda. From 1995 to 1996, Tucci starred in the television series Murder One as the mysterious Richard Cross. Tucci received his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his performance in the series, specifically for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Following disappointing ratings, ABC decided to revamp the series resulting in Tucci being dismissed from the series. 1996–2005: Directorial debut and other roles In 1996, Tucci co-wrote, co-directed the comedy-drama film Big Night. Tucci starred alongside Tony Shalhoub and co-wrote the screenplay with his cousin Joseph Tropiano and directed the film with friend Campbell Scott. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it was nominated for the "Grand Jury Prize". Tucci and Tropiano won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay for writing the screenplay of the film. The film also featured his sister Christine and their mother, who wrote a cookbook for the film. The film also starred Minnie Driver, Isabella Rossellini, Ian Holm, and Allison Janney. Critic Roger Ebert praised the film writing, "To some degree this film must represent a break for [Tucci]: He has been in good movies before, but not enough of them...Now here is their labor of love. Their perfect risotto. They include just what is needed and nothing else." That same year Tucci also acted in the independent drama The Daytrippers which was written and directed by Greg Mottola. The film also starred Hope Davis, Liev Schreiber, and Parker Posey. The following year he appeared in Woody Allen's comedy Deconstructing Harry which received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay nomination. In 1998, Tucci wrote, directed, co-produced and starred in the comedy film The Impostors. The film starred Tucci and Oliver Platt who play Laurel and Hardy like comedians who are struggling in the 1930s. The film premiered at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival where it received positive reviews. Shortly thereafter, Tucci starred in the HBO biographical television film Winchell (1998) in which Tucci portrayed columnist Walter Winchell. For his portrayal of Winchell, Tucci won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film. Tucci also received a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for his performance in the film. In 1999, he played Robin Goodfellow / Puck in the Michael Hoffman adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 2000, Tucci directed, produced and starred in the drama film Joe Gould's Secret, based on a 1964 biographical essay about Gould by The New Yorker reporter Joseph Mitchell. In 2001, Tucci starred in the HBO television war film Conspiracy as Adolf Eichmann. The project also starred Kenneth Branagh and Colin Firth. For his portrayal of Eichmann, Tucci won another Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film. The film was critically acclaimed and won a Peabody Award. In 2002, Tucci returned to the stage by starring in the revival of Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Tucci received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination for his performance in the play. Also in 2002, he starred in Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition opposite Tom Hanks. The film went on to receive $181 million at the box office and received six Academy Award nominations. He reunited with Hanks in Steven Spielberg's The Terminal (2004). That same year Tucci appeared in Shall We Dance (2004). Tucci also portrayed Stanley Kubrick in the HBO television film, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004). He also was a guest caller in an episode of Frasier. Also that year, Caedmon Audio released an audiobook of Tucci reading Kurt Vonnegut's 1973 novel Breakfast of Champions. In 2005, Tucci had his first voice role in the animated film Robots, which features other notable actors' voices such as Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, and Robin Williams. 2006–2010: Work with Meryl Streep and acclaim In 2006, Tucci had a major role in the comedy film The Devil Wears Prada, opposite Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, and Emily Blunt. Tucci portrays Nigel Kipling, a loyal confidant of Miranda Priestly (Streep). The film was a breakout role for him, with A.O. Scott of The New York Times declaring, "Mr. Tucci, has never been better". The film was Tucci's highest grossing-film until Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011. Also in 2006, Tucci made an appearance on the television series Monk, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Tucci returned to broadcast television by starring in the drama series 3 lbs, which premiered on November 14, 2006. However, due to low ratings CBS cancelled the series. The following year, Tucci went on to recur in the medical drama series ER. For his performance in ER, Tucci was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. In 2009, Tucci portrayed George Harvey, a serial killer of young girls, in The Lovely Bones starring Saoirse Ronan. The film, Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel, earned Tucci Academy and Golden Globe award nominations for Best Supporting Actor. To prepare for the role, he consulted with retired FBI profiler John Douglas. Also in 2009, Tucci reunited with Meryl Streep in Nora Ephron's biographical comedy Julie & Julia. In the film Tucci portrayed Paul Child, the husband of Julia Child (Streep). They were praised for their on-screen chemistry with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone declaring, "Tucci and Streep are magical together, creating a portrait of an unconventional marriage that deserves its own movie." The following year, Tucci directed a revival of the Ken Ludwig play Lend Me a Tenor on Broadway, starring Tony Shalhoub. Furthermore, Tucci had a supporting role in the teen coming-of-age romantic comedy film Easy A (2010) starring Emma Stone. Tucci and Patricia Clarkson portrayed her easy going and funny parents in the film. That same year Tucci starred alongside Cher and Christina Aguilera in Burlesque. The following year Tucci played Dr. Abraham Erskine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) starring Chris Evans. 2011–2019: Franchise roles and other work In 2011, Tucci took the role of Eric Dale in the J.C. Chandor directed drama film Margin Call starring Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, and Zachary Quinto. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it earned critical acclaim and later a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. In the fall of 2012, Tucci released his first cookbook titled The Tucci Cookbook. Tucci was also a co-owner of the Finch Tavern restaurant in Croton Falls, New York. He played Henry Warren Chang in the 30 Rock episode "Alexis Goodlooking and the Case of the Missing Whisky" in 2012. From 2012 to 2015, Tucci portrayed Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games (2012) and its sequels The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015). In 2013, Tucci played the role of the Ancient Greek God Dionysus in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Also in 2013, he lent his voice to an episode of the animated series American Dad!. During this time Tucci portrayed CEO Joshua Joyce in Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014). The same year, he voiced Leonardo da Vinci in the animated film Mr. Peabody & Sherman and had a cameo in Muppets Most Wanted. From 2014 to 2020, he had a recurring role, voicing character Herb Kazzaz in the animated series BoJack Horseman. Tucci portrayed Philippe I, Duke of Orléans in Alan Rickman's biographical costume romance drama A Little Chaos starring Kate Winslet. The following year Tucci portrayed Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer representing victims of sexual abuse in the biographical drama film Spotlight. The film was directed by Tom McCarthy and starred Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, and Liev Schrieber. The film received rave reviews with Geoffrey Mcnab of The Independent writing, "Spotlight is an old-fashioned film that tells its story in a painstaking and thoroughly absorbing fashion. It's the kind of movie that you could imagine Henry Fonda or James Stewart starring in as decent, upstanding journalist heroes who refuse to give up on their story in the face of considerable difficulty and intimidation." The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture as well as Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Also in 2015, Tucci starred in the British series Fortitude as DCI Eugene Morton. In 2017, Tucci directed and wrote the drama film Final Portrait. The same year, Tucci played the role of the composer Maestro Cadenza in the live-action adaptation of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, co-starring with Emma Watson and Dan Stevens. Tucci also returned to the Transformers film series by portraying Merlin in Transformers: The Last Knight. Furthermore, Tucci played the husband of Dame Fiona Maye, a British High Court judge, opposite Emma Thompson in The Children Act (2017), based on the book of the same name by Ian McEwan. Also in 2017, Tucci starred in the miniseries Feud as Warner Bros. studio head Jack L. Warner. Feud received critical acclaim and Tucci received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. In 2018, Tucci starred the independent films Patient Zero, A Private War and Night Hunter. In 2019, Tucci starred in the drama series Limetown, based on the podcast of the same name. Facebook cancelled the series after one season had aired. The same year, Tucci starred in the horror film The Silence. 2020–present In 2020, Tucci began voicing the character Bitsy Brandenham in the animated series Central Park. The series received a two-season order from Apple Inc., with each season set to consist of 13 episodes each. The series premiered on May 29, 2020. In the same year, Tucci narrated the series The California Century, on notable people in the history of California told from the point of view of a screenwriter. In 2020, Tucci starred in the British drama film Supernova opposite Colin Firth. The film explores the relationship between a couple played by Tucci and Firth as one of them succumbs to early onset dementia. The film premiered at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and since has received critical acclaim. Guy Lodge, critic for Variety wrote of their chemistry: "Firth and Tucci are such reliable stalwarts that we tend not to regard their presence too closely in films these days: Almost invariably, they fulfill our expectations of their refined gravitas. But there's something lovely and surprising in what they bring out of each other here, as they complement and reflect each other's curtness, evasiveness and occasional spillages of tenderness in the way that long-term couples do." In 2021, Tucci hosted the culinary travel series, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, a six-part original CNN series following the actor on a food tour of Italy. The series received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including one for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series, and was renewed for a second season set to air in 2022. Caroline Framke of Variety praised the series writing, "It’s exactly the picturesque scenario you might expect and want from a travel series hosted by Tucci, an extraordinarily charming presence who knows and loves Italian food". Tucci acted in the title role in the BBC One thriller series Inside Man (2022). The series was created by Steven Moffat and also starred David Tennant. In September, Tucci was cast as Grammy-winning producer Clive Davis in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022), a biopic on Whitney Houston. In 2023 Tucci acted in the Amazon Prime Video series Citadel starring Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden. Personal life Marriages and families Tucci married Kathryn Spath (born 1962) in 1995. She was a social worker, former wife of actor and stage manager Alexander R. Scott, and former sister-in-law of Tucci's high school friend Campbell Scott. They had three children together. The couple also raised Kathryn's two children from her previous marriage. Spath died of breast cancer in 2009. In 2010 Tucci met Felicity Blunt (born 1981), a British literary agent of the Curtis Brown Group, at the wedding of actor John Krasinski to Felicity's sister, British actress Emily Blunt. Tucci and Felicity became engaged in 2011 and married in a civil ceremony in the summer of 2012, followed by a larger observance at Middle Temple Hall in London on September 29, 2012. They have a son and a daughter. Charity work On September 12, 2016, Tucci, alongside other celebrities, appeared in a video from the United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR to help raise awareness of the global refugee crisis. The video, titled "What They Took With Them", has the actors reading a poem, written by Jenifer Toksvig and inspired by primary accounts of refugees, and is part of UNHCR's #WithRefugees campaign, which also includes a petition to governments to expand asylum to provide further shelter, integrating job opportunities, and education. On May 21, 2021, Tucci received a Doctorate Honoris Causa in Humane Letters from the American University of Rome, in Rome, Italy, for his lifelong contribution to the arts and humanities. Health issues In September 2021, Tucci revealed that he had been diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer three years earlier. He had received treatment (chemotherapy and radiation) after a tumor was found at the base of his tongue, and said it was unlikely that the tumor would return. In November 2022, he said there are still some foods he cannot eat, as a result of his cancer. In October 2021, his memoir Taste: My Life Through Food was published, which describes his encounter with cancer and his love of food. As of February 20, 2022, Taste: My Life Through Food had been on The New York Times Best Seller List for 18 weeks. Acting credits and accolades Published works Tucci, Stanley (October 9, 2012). The Tucci Cookbook. Gallery Books. ISBN 978-1451661255. Tucci, Stanley; Blunt, Felicity (2014). The Tucci Table: Cooking With Family and Friends. Gallery Books. ISBN 978-1476738567. Tucci, Stanley (October 5, 2021). Taste: My Life Through Food. Gallery Books. ISBN 978-1982168018. References External links Stanley Tucci at IMDb Stanley Tucci at the Internet Broadway Database
Demi_Moore	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demi_Moore	[ 220 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demi_Moore" ]	Demi Gene Moore ( də-MEE; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. A leading actress in the late 1980s and early 1990s, she was the world's highest-paid actress by 1995. Moore's accolades include nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. A former model, Moore joined the cast of the soap opera General Hospital in 1981. After departing the show in 1983, she rose to prominence as a member of the Brat Pack with roles in the films Blame It on Rio (1984), St. Elmo's Fire (1985), and About Last Night... (1986). She established herself as a star with the top-grossing romance film Ghost (1990). She had further box-office successes in A Few Good Men (1992), Indecent Proposal (1993), and Disclosure (1994), and received an unprecedented $12.5 million to star in Striptease (1996). Moore's output decreased significantly after The Scarlet Letter (1995), The Juror (1996), and G.I. Jane (1997) fell below commercial expectations. She has since held sporadic leading roles in arthouse films, as well as supporting roles in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Bobby (2006), Mr. Brooks (2007), and Margin Call (2011). Moore's television work include the anthology If These Walls Could Talk (1996), a guest arc on Empire (2015–2017), and the miniseries Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (2024). In 2024, she received renewed critical recognition for her starring role in the body horror film The Substance. Moore has been married three times. From 1981 to 1985, she was married to musician Freddy Moore. From 1987 to 2000, she was married to Bruce Willis, with whom she has three daughters. She was married to Ashton Kutcher from 2005 to 2013. Her memoir Inside Out (2019) became a New York Times Best Seller. Early life Moore was born November 11, 1962, in Roswell, New Mexico. Her biological father, Air Force airman Charles Foster Harmon Sr., deserted her then-18-year-old mother, Virginia (née King), after a two-month marriage before Moore's birth. Charles came from Lanett, Alabama, and Virginia was born in Richmond, California but had grown up in Roswell. Moore's maternal grandmother was raised on a farm in Elida, New Mexico. Moore has deep roots in the South Central and Southern United States, particularly Oklahoma, Arkansas and Georgia. When Moore was three months old, her mother married Dan Guynes, a newspaper advertising salesman who frequently changed jobs; as a result, the family moved many times. In 1967 they had Moore's half-brother Morgan. Moore said in 1991, "My dad is Dan Guynes. He raised me. There is a man who would be considered my biological father who I don't really have a relationship with." Moore has half-siblings from Charlie Harmon's other marriages, but she does not keep in touch with them either. Moore's stepfather Dan Guynes married and divorced Virginia twice. On October 20, 1980, a year after their second divorce from each other, Guynes committed suicide. Her biological father Harmon died in 1997 from liver cancer in Brazoria, Texas. Moore's mother had a long arrest record which included drunk driving and arson. Moore broke off contact with her in 1989, when Guynes walked away halfway through a rehab stay Moore had financed at the Hazelden Foundation in Minnesota. Virginia Guynes posed nude for the magazine High Society in 1993, where she spoofed Moore's Vanity Fair pregnancy and bodypaint covers and parodied her clay scene from Ghost. Moore and Guynes reconciled shortly before Guynes died of a brain tumor on July 2, 1998. Moore spent her early childhood in Roswell, and later, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Bob Gardner, a photographer for the Monongahela Daily Herald when Dan Guynes was head of advertising, recalled that Moore "looked malnourished and not so much abused as neglected. That haunting look as a child made me feel uneasy." She suffered from strabismus, which was corrected by two operations, as well as kidney dysfunction. Moore learned that Guynes was not her real father at age 13, when she discovered a marriage certificate and inquired about the circumstances since she "saw my parents were married in February 1963. I was born in '62." At age 14, Moore returned to her hometown of Roswell and lived with her grandmother for six months before relocating to Washington state, where her recently separated mother was residing near Seattle. Several months later, the family moved again to West Hollywood, California, where Moore's mother took a job working for a magazine distribution company. Moore attended Fairfax High School there. In 2019, she stated she was raped at 15 by landlord Basil Doumas, then 49. Doumas claimed he had paid Moore's mother to get access to Moore to rape her, although Moore said it is unclear if this were true. In November 1978, Moore moved in with 28-year-old guitarist Tom Dunston, quitting high school in her junior year to work as a receptionist at 20th Century Fox—a job she secured through Dunston's mother, who was an executive assistant to producer Douglas S. Cramer. She signed with the Elite Modeling Agency, then enrolled in acting classes after being inspired by her next-door neighbor, 17-year-old German starlet Nastassja Kinski. In August 1979, three months before her 17th birthday, Moore met married musician Freddy Moore, at the time leader of the band Boy, at the Los Angeles nightclub The Troubadour. He obtained a divorce in late 1980 and married Demi six weeks later. Career 1980s Moore co-wrote three songs with Freddy Moore and appeared in the music video for their selection "It's Not a Rumor", performed by his band, The Nu-Kats. She continues to receive royalty checks from her songwriting work (1980–1981). Moore appeared on the cover of the January 1981 issue of the adult magazine Oui, taken from a photo session in which she had posed nude. In a 1988 interview, Moore claimed she "only posed for the cover of Oui—I was 16; I told them I was 18". Interviewer Alan Carter said, "However, some peekaboo shots did appear inside. And later, nude shots of her turned up in Celebrity Sleuth—photos that she once said 'were for a European fashion magazine'." In 1990, she told another interviewer, "I was 17 years old. I was underage. It was just the cover." Moore made her film debut as the protagonist's girlfriend in Choices (1981), a sports drama directed by Silvio Narizzano. It was shown at the Montreal and Chicago international film festivals, but would not garner much attention until after Moore became a household name, with home video releases heavily hyping up her appearance. Her second feature was the 3-D sci-fi horror Parasite (1982), for which director Charles Band had instructed casting director Johanna Ray to "find me the next Karen Allen." It proved to be a minor hit on the drive-in circuit, ultimately grossing $7 million. Moore had already joined the cast of the ABC soap opera General Hospital several months before the film's release, playing the role of investigative reporter Jackie Templeton through 1983. During her tenure on the series, she made an uncredited cameo appearance in the 1982 spoof Young Doctors in Love. Moore's film career took off in 1984 following her appearance in the sex comedy Blame It on Rio. She then played the female lead in No Small Affair (1984), opposite Jon Cryer. Her commercial breakthrough came in Joel Schumacher's yuppie drama St. Elmo's Fire (1985), which received negative reviews, but was a box office success and brought Moore widespread recognition. Because of her association with that film, Moore was often listed as part of the Brat Pack, a label she felt was "demeaning". She progressed to more serious material with About Last Night... (1986), co-starring Rob Lowe, which marked a positive turning point in her career, as Moore noted that, following its release, she began seeing better scripts. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and praised her performance, writing, "There isn't a romantic note she isn't required to play in this movie, and she plays them all flawlessly." The success of About Last Night... was unrivaled by Moore's other two 1986 releases, One Crazy Summer and Wisdom, the last youth-oriented films in which she would star. Moore made her professional stage debut in an off-Broadway production of The Early Girl, which ran at the Circle Repertory Company in fall 1986. In 1988, Moore starred as a prophecy-bearing mother in the apocalyptic drama The Seventh Sign—her first outing as a solo film star— and in 1989, she played the quick-witted local laundress and part time prostitute in Neil Jordan's Depression-era allegory We're No Angels, opposite Robert De Niro. 1990s Moore's most successful film to date is the supernatural romantic melodrama Ghost, which grossed over US$505 million at the box office and was the highest-grossing film of 1990, as well as the most rented videocassette of 1991. She played a young woman in jeopardy to be protected by the ghost of her murdered boyfriend through the help of a reluctant psychic. The love scene between Moore and Patrick Swayze that starts in front of a potter's wheel to the sound of "Unchained Melody" has become an iconic moment in cinema history. Ghost was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, while Moore's performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination and the Saturn Award for Best Actress. She started fashion trends with her uncharacteristically gamine look, and legions of women emulated the short haircut she sported throughout the film. At one point, Ghost and Die Hard 2, starring Moore's then-husband Bruce Willis, would occupy the number one and number two spots at the box office, a feat that would not be accomplished again for a married Hollywood couple until 2024. In 1991 Moore starred in the horror comedy Nothing but Trouble, co-produced and appeared in the mystery thriller Mortal Thoughts, and played a blonde for the first time in the romantic comedy The Butcher's Wife, with Roger Ebert's review describing her as "warm and cuddly". All three films were commercial disappointments, but Moore sustained her A-list status with her starring roles in Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men (1992), Adrian Lyne's Indecent Proposal (1993), and Barry Levinson's Disclosure (1994)—all of which opened at No. 1 at the box office and were blockbuster hits. By 1995 Moore was the highest paid actress. However, she subsequently had a string of unsuccessful films starting with The Scarlet Letter (1995), a "freely adapted" version of the historical romance novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, in which her portrayal of Hester Prynne was met with harsh criticism. The coming-of-age drama Now and Then (1995) found moderate box office success. Moore was paid a record-breaking salary of US$12.5 million in 1996 to star in Striptease. Much hoopla was made over Moore's willingness to dance topless for the part, though this was the sixth time she had shown her breasts on film. The film opened to overwhelmingly negative reviews with Moore's performance being criticised. It was a moderate financial success, grossing US$113 million worldwide, and Moore received the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. Moore starred in the thriller The Juror (1996). It was a box office bomb and was heavily panned by critics. Moore produced and starred in a controversial miniseries for HBO called If These Walls Could Talk (1996), a three-part anthology about abortion alongside Sissy Spacek and Cher. Its screenwriter, Nancy Savoca, directed two segments, including one in which Moore played a widowed nurse in the early 1950s seeking a back-alley abortion. For the film, Moore received two Golden Globe nominations: Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film and Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television. Also in 1996, she provided the speaking voice of the beautiful Esmeralda in Disney's animated adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Moore shaved her head to play the first woman to undergo training in the Navy SEALs in Ridley Scott's G.I. Jane (1997). Budgeted at US$50 million, the film was a moderate commercial success, with a worldwide gross of US$97.1 million. During the production of G.I. Jane, it was reported that Moore had ordered studio chiefs to charter two planes for her entourage and her, which reinforced her negative reputation for being a diva—she had previously turned down the Sandra Bullock role in While You Were Sleeping because the studio refused to meet her salary demands, and was dubbed "Gimme Moore" by the media. Moore took on the role of an ultrapious Jewish convert psychiatrist in Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry, also in 1997. 2000s After G.I. Jane, Moore retreated from the spotlight and moved to Hailey, Idaho, on a full-time basis to devote herself to raising her three daughters. She was off screen for three years before re-emerging in the arthouse psychological drama Passion of Mind (2000), the first English-language film from Belgian director Alain Berliner. Her performance as a woman with dissociative identity disorder was well received, but the film itself garnered mixed reviews and was deemed "naggingly slow" by some critics. Moore then resumed her self-imposed career hiatus and continued to turn down film offers. Producer Irwin Winkler said in 2001, "I had a project about a year and a half ago, and we made an inquiry about her—a real good commercial picture. She wasn't interested." Moore returned to the screen playing a villain in the 2003 film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, opposite Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu. A commercial success, the film made US$259.1 million worldwide, and Rolling Stone, on Moore's role, remarked: "It's a relief when Demi Moore shows up as fallen angel [...] Moore, 40, looks great in a bikini and doesn't even try to act. Her unsmiling sexiness cuts through the gigglefest as the angels fight, kick, dance and motocross like Indiana Jones clones on estrogen". Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle was followed by yet another three-year absence. In the interim, Moore signed on as the face of the Versace fashion brand and the Helena Rubinstein brand of cosmetics. In Emilio Estevez's drama Bobby (2006), Moore portrayed an alcoholic singer whose career is on the downswing, as part of an ensemble cast, about the hours leading up to the Robert F. Kennedy assassination. As a member of the cast, she was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture. The film won the Hollywood Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Cast. Moore had a lead role as grieving and tormented novelist in the mystery thriller Half Light (2006) alongside Hans Matheson, then took on the role of a driven police officer investigating a serial killer in the psychological thriller Mr. Brooks (2007), with Kevin Costner. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $48.1 million worldwide. Rolling Stone wrote that "the cop on the case, played by Demi Moore with a striking directness that deserved better than being saddled with an absurd back story as an heiress with a fortune-hunting husband." Moore reunited with Blame It on Rio co-star Michael Caine for the British crime drama film Flawless (2008), which saw her portray an American executive helping to steal a handful of diamonds from the London Diamond Corporation during the 1960s. Moore received positive reviews from critics; Miami Herald wrote: "The inspired pairing of Demi Moore and Michael Caine as a pair of thieves in the diamond-heist semi-caper movie Flawless goes a long way toward overcoming the film's slack, leisurely pacing". 2010s In 2010, Moore took on the role of a daughter helping her father deal with age-related health problems in the dramedy Happy Tears, opposite Parker Posey and Rip Torn, and starred as the matriarch of a family moving into a suburban neighborhood in the comedy The Joneses, with David Duchovny. The latter film was largely highlighted upon its theatrical release, with critics concluding that it "benefits from its timely satire of consumer culture—as well as a pair of strong performances" from Duchovny and Moore. In Bunraku (2010), a film Moore described as a "big action adventure," she played a courtesan and a femme fatale with a secret past. Moore portrayed a chief risk management officer at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 2007–08 in the critically acclaimed corporate drama Margin Call (2011), where she was part of an ensemble cast that included Kevin Spacey, Simon Baker, and Paul Bettany. The cast garnered nominations for the "Best Ensemble" award from the Gotham Awards, the Phoenix Film Critics Society and the Central Ohio Film Critics Association. Also in 2011, Moore received a Directors Guild of America Award nomination for Outstanding Directing – Miniseries or TV Film for her work as a director in a segment of the 2011 Lifetime anthology film Five, and starred opposite Ellen Barkin, Ellen Burstyn and George Kennedy in Sam Levinson's black comedy Another Happy Day, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Moore appeared as the mother of Miley Cyrus' character in the romantic drama film LOL (2012). She played a similar mother role in her next film, the likewise coming-of-age dramedy Very Good Girls (2013), which co-starred Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen. Her part as an old flame of a quick-draw killer in the Western drama Forsaken (2015), with Donald Sutherland and Kiefer Sutherland, was followed by the role of the daughter of a retired high school teacher in the road comedy Wild Oats, which premiered on Lifetime in August 2016, and in a limited release the following month. In her next film, the drama Blind (2017), Moore starred opposite Alec Baldwin, portraying the neglected wife of an indicted businessman having an affair with a novelist blinded in a car crash. In 2017, Moore joined the cast of Empire, in the recurring role of a take-charge nurse with a mysterious past. The comedy film Rough Night (2017) featured Moore as one half of a nymphomaniac couple seducing a member of a bachelorette party gone wrong. The film opened to mixed reviews and lukewarm box office. She played Selma in the Indian drama film Love Sonia (2018), which tells the story of a young girl's journey to rescue her sister from the dangerous world of international sex trafficking. She portrayed Lucy, a superficial CEO in the comedy horror film Corporate Animals (2019), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Moore's memoir, Inside Out, was published in 2019, by HarperCollins. The book reached number one on The New York Times' Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction best-sellers list and the Hardcover Nonfiction best-sellers list. 2020s In 2020, Moore played Piper Griffin, the matriarch of a powerful family "who will stop at nothing to protect her family and her way of life" in the pandemic-themed thriller produced by Michael Bay, Songbird, alongside Craig Robinson, Paul Walter Hauser and Peter Stormare. Moore has a leading role as Diana in Amazon's drama series, Dirty Diana, which is based on the podcast of the same name. The podcast is voiced by Moore and she also serves as producer with screenwriter Shana Feste. Moore was among the celebrities who made cameo appearances modeling lingerie at Rihanna's Savage x Fenty Vol. 2 fashion show in 2020. In 2024, she was cast as socialite Ann Woodward in the Ryan Murphy created anthology series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans on FX on Hulu. Moore acted alongside Tom Hollander, Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, and Chloë Sevigny. That same year, she starred in Coralie Fargeat's body horror film The Substance, where she portrays an aging star who uses a black market drug to make herself younger. It premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, and Moore's performance was praised by critics. Nicholas Barber of BBC called it "her best big-screen role in decades" and praised her for being "fearless in parodying her public image." Phil de Semlyen of Time Out believed Moore "glues it all together, going full Isabelle Adjani-in-Possession in a vanity-free performance full of bruised ego, dawning horror and vulnerability". Public image Status and persona Moore is viewed as a pioneer for equal salary for women in Hollywood. She was paid $12.5 million for her role in Striptease, which was more money than any other woman in Hollywood had ever been offered at the time. Producers for Striptease and G.I. Jane got into a bidding war to see who could get Moore to film first. Striptease won and Moore became the highest paid actress in Hollywood in 1995. "She became a pioneer for other actresses by being the first female lead to demand the same salary, benefits and billing as her male counterparts," Lifetime wrote. "Her screen persona always has something indestructible about it. There's a toughness, a strength, a determination," The Guardian described in 2007. She was also the subject of an E! True Hollywood Story special in 2003 and of Celebrity Style Story special in 2012. Moore has been included in magazine lists of the world's most beautiful women. She was selected as one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the world in 1996. In 1999, Moore became a guest editor for the November issue of Marie Claire. In 1999, she was ranked eighth on Forbes' list of Top 20 Actresses, based on three separate lists of box office receipts. In 2004, People ranked her ninth on their list of All-Time Most Beautiful Women. She was voted seventh on Life & Style magazine's Best Dressed Female poll in December 2006. On December 31, 2019, The Wall Street Journal listed a cover story about Moore as one of their most-read stories in 2019. Moore has 4.5 million followers on Twitter as of January 2020. She uses Twitter as a platform to raise awareness of sexual trafficking and slavery. "She is practicing what she preaches: More than half of her posts are on the subject, directing followers where to get involved," Harper's Bazaar reported in August 2010. "I like to connect to people in the virtual world.. exchanging thoughts and ideas, when in the physical world we might never have the opportunity to cross paths," Moore told Harper's Bazaar. As of February 2024, Moore has 5 million Instagram followers. Moore has graced the cover of numerous international fashion magazines, including France's Elle; UK's Grazia; US' W, Vanity Fair, Interview, Rolling Stone, Glamour and InStyle; Australia's Harper's Bazaar and Turkey's Marie Claire. She has also appeared on the front cover of Vogue (Portugal, France and US). Moore has appeared in commercials and print ads throughout her career. She has appeared in television commercials for Keds, Oscar Mayer, Diet Coke, Lux, Jog Mate and Seibu Department Stores, and print ads for Versace and Ann Taylor. Vanity Fair controversies In August 1991, Moore appeared nude on the cover of Vanity Fair under the title More Demi Moore. Annie Leibovitz shot the picture while Moore was seven months pregnant with her second child, Scout LaRue Willis, intending to portray "anti-Hollywood, anti-glitz" attitude. The cover drew a lot of attention, being discussed on television, radio, and in newspaper articles. The frankness of Leibovitz's portrayal of a pregnant sex symbol led to divided opinions, ranging from suggestions of sexual objectification to celebrations of the photograph as a symbol of empowerment. The photograph was subject to numerous parodies, including the Spy Magazine version, which placed Moore's then-husband Bruce Willis's head on the body of a male model with a false belly. In Leibovitz v. Paramount Pictures Corp., Leibovitz sued over one parody featuring Leslie Nielsen, made to promote the 1994 film Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult. In the parody, the model's body was attached to what is described as "the guilty and smirking face" of Nielsen. The teaser said "Due this March." The case was dismissed in 1996 because the parody relied "for its comic effect on the contrast between the original." In November 2009, the Moroccan magazine Femmes du Maroc emulated the pose with Moroccan news reporter Nadia Larguet, causing controversy in the majority-Muslim nation. In August 1992, Moore again appeared nude on the cover of Vanity Fair, this time modeling for body painting artist Joanne Gair in Demi's Birthday Suit. In October 2019, she posed nude on the cover of Harper's Bazaar. Activism and philanthropy Moore has supported numerous charities, including All Day Foundation, American Foundation for AIDS Research, Artists for Peace and Justice, Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, Declare Yourself, Free The Slaves, Healthy Child Healthy World, Raising Malawi, The Art of Elysium and UNICEF. In 2010, Moore defeated Kevin Bacon to win $250,000 in the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge. She chose to support the organization GEMS: Girls Educational & Mentoring Services, a nonprofit group which aims to empower young women who have been the victims of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. She traveled to Haiti with the Artists for Peace and Justice following the earthquake of 2010. She has also supported Chrysalis, a non-profit organization which offers employment opportunities to the homeless. Moore became a special contributor to the CNN Freedom Project and traveled to Nepal to meet with 2010 CNN Hero of the Year Anuradha Koirala and her organization, Maiti Nepal, which has rescued more than 12,000 stolen Nepalese children from sex trafficking since 1993. Moore was the narrator and anchor of CNN's documentary on child trafficking, called Nepal's Stolen Children, which aired on June 26, 2011. In the documentary, Moore talked to Nepal's prime minister, Jhalanath Khanal, and young girls who were forced into prostitution before being saved by a Nepalese nonprofit. Moore appeared on PETA's Worst-Dressed List in 2009 for wearing fur; two years later she supported the group's efforts to ban circus workers' use of bullhooks on elephants. In 2009, Moore and Kutcher launched DNA Foundation, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization directed towards fighting child sexual slavery. The foundation's first campaign included several celebrities, including Justin Timberlake, Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper appearing in a series of viral videos proclaiming: "Real Men Don't Buy Girls." In November 2012, the foundation said it was renaming as Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children, which aimed "to disrupt and deflate the predatory behavior of those who abuse and traffic children, solicit sex with children or create and share child pornography". Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children, assisted law enforcement in identifying 5,894 child sex trafficking victims and rescuing 103 children from "situations where their sexual abuse was recorded and distributed" in 2017, according to the organization's 2017 impact report. In 2018, Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization, Visionary Women honored Moore with its inaugural Visionary Woman Award for her work to combat human trafficking. In 2022, Thorn found 824,466 child sexual abuse material files and identified 1,895 victims of child sexual abuse. Personal life On February 8, 1981, at the age of 18, Moore married singer Freddy Moore, then 30 and recently divorced from his first wife, Lucy. Before their marriage, Demi had already begun using Freddy's surname as her stage name. The pair separated in 1983, after which Demi had a relationship with Timothy Hutton. She filed for divorce from Freddy in September 1984; it was finalized on August 7, 1985. Moore was then engaged to actor Emilio Estevez, with whom she co-starred in St. Elmo's Fire and Wisdom, a crime drama he also wrote and directed. The pair planned to marry on December 6, 1986, but called off the engagement after a woman filed a $2 million paternity suit against Estevez. On November 21, 1987, Moore married her second husband, actor Bruce Willis. She and Willis have three children together: Rumer Glenn Willis (born 1988), Scout LaRue Willis (born 1991), and Tallulah Belle Willis (born 1994). They announced their separation on June 24, 1998, and divorced on October 18, 2000. Despite the divorce, Moore maintains a close friendship with Willis and his current spouse Emma Heming Willis, and has assisted her and their respective children with caretaking for Willis as his health has declined. Moore had a three-year romance with martial arts instructor Oliver Whitcomb, whom she dated from 1999 to 2002. In 2003, Moore began dating actor Ashton Kutcher. Soon after they began dating, Moore became pregnant and she suffered a stillbirth six months into the pregnancy. They married on September 24, 2005. The wedding was attended by about 150 close friends and family of the couple, including Willis. In November 2011, after months of media speculation about the state of the couple's marriage, Moore announced her decision to end her marriage to Kutcher. After over a year of separation, Kutcher filed for divorce from Moore on December 21, 2012, in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences. Moore filed her response papers in March 2013, requesting spousal support and payment of legal fees from Kutcher. On November 26, 2013, their divorce was finalized. Moore claims that her good health is due to a raw vegan diet. Moore was at one point a follower of Philip Berg's Kabbalah Centre religion, and initiated Kutcher into the faith, having said that she "didn't grow up Jewish, but [...] would say that [she has] been more exposed to the deeper meanings of particular rituals than any of [her] friends that did." She is no longer affiliated with Berg's organization. According to The New York Times, Moore is "the world's most high-profile doll collector", and among her favorites is the Gene Marshall fashion doll. At one point, she kept a separate residence to house her 2,000 dolls. Filmography Bibliography Inside Out: A Memoir; HarperCollins (2019), ISBN 978-0-062-04953-7 Awards and nominations Moore is the recipient of many accolades, including nominations for a Critics' Choice Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Notes References External links Demi Moore at IMDb Demi Moore interview by KVUE in 1986 discussing About Last Night from Texas Archive of the Moving Image Demi Moore at the Internet Broadway Database Demi Moore at the Internet Off-Broadway Database Thorn (formerly the Demi and Ashton Foundation) Demi Moore at AllMovie
York_city_walls	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_city_walls	[ 221 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_city_walls" ]	York has, since Roman times, been defended by walls of one form or another. To this day, substantial portions of the walls remain, and York has more miles of intact wall than any other city in England. They are known variously as York City Walls, the Bar Walls and the Roman walls (though this last is a misnomer as very little of the extant stonework is of Roman origin, and the course of the wall has been substantially altered since Roman times). The walls are generally 13 feet (4m) high and 6 feet (1.8m) wide. They are the longest town walls in England. History Roman walls The original walls were built around 71 AD, when the Romans erected a fort (castra) occupying about 50 acres or 21.5 hectares near the banks of the River Ouse. The rectangle of walls was built as part of the fort's defences. The foundations and the line of about half of these Roman walls form part of the existing walls, as follows: a section (the west corner, including the Multangular Tower) in the Museum Gardens the north-west and north-east sections between Bootham Bar and Monk Bar a further stretch between Monk Bar and the Merchant Taylors' Hall, at the end of which the lower courses of the east corner of the Roman wall can be seen on the city-centre side of the existing wall. The line of the rest of the Roman wall went south-west from the east corner, crossing the via principalis of the fortress where King's Square is now located. The south corner was in what is now Feasegate, and from here the wall continued northwest to the west corner. The point where the wall crossed the via praetoria is marked by a plaque in St Helen's Square near the Mansion House. Multangular Tower The Multangular Tower in the Museum Gardens is the most noticeable and intact structure remaining from the Roman walls. It was constructed as part of a series of eight similar defensive towers. The walls are almost certainly the creation of Septimius Severus; however, the Multangular Tower is probably a later addition of Constantine the Great around 310–320 AD. It has ten sides, based on a regular fourteen-sided figure designed so that a circle through the internal angles of the internal face is tangential to the curve. The rear four sides are missing to provide access to the interior of the tower. A low plinth or skirt extends out from the lowest course. The tower stands almost 30 feet (9.1 m) tall, has an external diameter of 48.5 feet (14.8 m) at the base and 46 feet (14 m) above the skirt. Length of each side varies from 7.5 feet (2.3 m) to 11 feet (3.4 m) on the inner face. The tower projects beyond the curtain wall to a distance of 36.75 feet (11.20 m). The foundations are concrete, atop which the tower extends having a rubble and mortar core between ashlar faced courses of small magnesian limestone blocks. At 15 feet (4.6 m) a scarcement reduces the thickness of the wall from 5 feet (1.5 m) to 3.25 feet (0.99 m), which continues for a further 4 feet (1.2 m) before being capped by 11 feet (3.4 m) of 13th century masonry in which arrowslits can be seen. After the Romans The Danes occupied the city in 867. By this time the Roman defences were in poor repair, and the Danes demolished all the towers save the Multangular Tower and restored the walls. The majority of the remaining walls, which encircle the whole of the medieval city, date from the 13th – 14th century. From the east corner of the Roman walls, the medieval wall extends to Layerthorpe Bridge. After the bridge, the King's Fishpool, a swamp created by the Normans' damming of the River Foss, provided adequate security for the city, and no walls were ever built in this area. In the Middle Ages the defence of the city was further helped not just by the walls but on the rampart underneath and the ditch surrounding them. The ditch along the walls was once 60 feet (18.3m) wide and 10 feet (3m) deep. In modern times the ditch was almost all filled in and no longer exists. For this reason the ground directly around the walls is higher in most places than it would have been in medieval times. The walls resume beyond the now canalised Foss at the Red Tower, a brick building which has been much restored over the years. They continue south and west around the Walmgate area, terminating in another tower (Fishergate Postern), near York Castle, which was formerly surrounded by its own walls and a moat. A small stretch of wall on the west side of Tower Gardens terminates at Davy Tower, another brick tower located next to the River Ouse. This originally ran up to the castle walls, with a postern on Tower Street. Beyond the Ouse, the walls resume at Skeldergate, where there was once another postern. They climb past Baile Hill, take a right turn and proceed north-west parallel to the Inner Ring Road. Near the railway station, they turn right again in a north-easterly direction, finishing at Barker Tower on the Ouse. Barker Tower was once linked to Lendal Tower by a chain across the river, parallel to the 19th-century Lendal Bridge. A small stretch of wall then leads to the entrance to Museum Gardens, the Multangular Tower and the original line of the Roman walls. The walls were repaired during the English Civil War by Parliamentarians as well as during the later Jacobite Risings due to fears of an invasion from Scotland. The walls were restored in the Victorian period after falling into disrepair. The Victorians widened the wall-walk as well as extending it in some areas, (such as in the northern area with views of the cathedral), previously, in some areas, there probably would have only been narrow ledges that could be used to support a timber wall-walk in times of danger. They also rebuilt the battlements and sometimes the tops of the walls. Some slit windows are at the wrong height and some are narrow for the full width of the parapet. Some parts of the walls still have small holes called musket loops from the 17th century for muskets to fire from although they are of uncertain age due to restoration. In the northern area where you have views of the Cathedral, the walls were defended from interval towers which would have been higher than they are now after the Victorian restoration. Some of the merlons spaced along the walls were added by the Victorians. However,some pre-date this period as can be seen in the 1782 Micklegate Bar illustration and the 1807 illustration showing the Multangular Tower and walls, although, very few original Medieval merlons remain. Perhaps one of the most notable additions to the wall was Robin Hood tower, built in 1889. Today the walls are a scheduled ancient monument and a grade I listed building. Bars The walls are punctuated by four main gatehouses, or 'bars', (Bootham Bar, Monk Bar, Walmgate Bar and Micklegate Bar below). These restricted traffic in medieval times, and were used to extract tolls, as well as being defensive positions in times of war. Bootham Bar Although much of Bootham Bar was built in the 14th and 19th centuries, it also has some of the oldest surviving stonework, dating to the 11th century. It stands almost on the site of porta principalis dextra, the north western gate of Eboracum. It was named in the 12th century as barram de Bootham, meaning bar at the booths, after the nearby market booths. It was the last of the bars to lose its barbican, which was removed in 1835. Monk Bar This four-storey gatehouse is the tallest and most elaborate of the four, and was built in the early 14th century. It was intended as a self-contained fort, and each floor is capable of being defended separately. The current gatehouse was built to replace a 12th-century gate known as Munecagate, which stood 100 yards (91 m) to the north-west, on the site of the Roman gate porta decumana – that location is indicated by a slight dip in the earth rampart. From 1993 to 2020, Monk Bar housed a museum called the Richard III Experience at Monk Bar and today, it retains its portcullis in working order. Walmgate Bar Most of Walmgate Bar was built during the 14th century, although the inner gateway dates from the 12th century. It was originally called Walbegate, the word Walbe possibly being an Anglo-Scandinavian personal name. The Bar's most notable feature is its barbican, which is the only one surviving on a town gate in England. It also retains its portcullis and has reproduction 15th century oak doors. On the inner side, an Elizabethan house, supported by stone Tuscan order columns (originally of Roman origin but modified in 1584), extends out over the gateway. The house was occupied until 1957. The Bar has been repaired and restored many times over the years, most notably in 1648, following the 1644 Siege of York in the English Civil War when it was bombarded by cannon fire, and in 1840 after it had suffered years of neglect. It was also damaged in 1489 when, along with Fishergate Bar, it was burnt by rebels who were rioting over tax raises. Micklegate Bar The name of this four-storey-high gatehouse is from the Old Norse 'mykla gata' or 'great road', and leads onto Micklegate. It was the traditional ceremonial gate for monarchs entering the city, who, in a tradition dating to Richard II in 1389, touch the state sword when entering the gate. The lower section was built in the 12th century while the top storeys in the 14th; the original barbican was removed in 1826. At least six reigning monarchs passed through this gate. Its symbolic value led to traitors' severed heads being displayed on the defences. Heads left there to rot included: Henry Hotspur Percy (1403), Henry Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham (1415), Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (1461), and Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland (1572). The Bar was inhabited until the 20th century. The upper two floors contain living quarters, which today are a museum known as the City Walls Experience at Micklegate Bar. A restoration of the Bar was completed in late 2017. Minor bars Besides the four main bars, there are two smaller bars. Fishergate Bar This Bar originally dates from around 1315, when it was documented as being called Barram Fishergate. It was bricked up following riots in 1489, but was reopened in 1827 and today provides pedestrian access through the walls between the Fishergate area (actually Fawcett Street/Paragon Street) and George Street. Victoria Bar As the name suggests, this bar is a 19th-century addition to the walls. It was opened in 1838 to provide direct access between Nunnery Lane and Bishophill. However, during its construction the remains of an ancient gateway were found beneath it. This was probably the gateway known in the 12th century as the lounelith or secluded gateway (in comparison to Micklegate Bar or the great bar located four hundred yards away). This was a small entrance to the city which dated back to early medieval times but was blocked up later with earth and stone, possibly during the period when the walls consisted solely of a wooden palisade before they were rebuilt in stone (from around 1250). See also List of town walls in England and Wales History of York Eboracum Museum Gardens Siege of York References Sources Pevsner, Nikolaus; Neave, David (1995) [1972]. Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (2nd ed.). London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-071061-8. Wilson, Barbara; Mee, Frances (2005). The City Walls and Castles of York: The Pictorial Evidence. York Archaeological Trust. ISBN 978-1-874454-36-6. Walking the Walls: An easy stage by stage guide to York's medieval walls. Huntington, York: Village. 1985. Beal, Pauline (1994). Walking the Walls. Village Publishing. External links York City Walls – information from City of York Council (responsible for caring for the City Walls) The Friends of York Walls website "York' City Walls Trail" – by The Friends of York Walls A new audio guide using the Guide.AI app – "Introducing – "York’s City Walls Audio Trail"" – Friends of York Walls CIO. "York Walls Walk - Walking Tour of York City Walls", york-united-kingdom.co.uk "Theme: The York City Walls" on the History of York website
Great_North_Run	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_North_Run	[ 221 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_North_Run" ]	The Great North Run (branded the AJ Bell Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shields. The run was devised by former Olympic 10,000 m bronze medallist and BBC Sport commentator Brendan Foster. The first Great North Run was staged on 28 June 1981, when 12,000 runners participated. By 2011, the number of participants had risen to 54,000. For the first year it was advertised as a local fun run; nearly thirty years on it has become one of the biggest running events in the world, and the biggest in the UK. Only the Great Manchester Run and London Marathon come close to attracting similar numbers of athletes each year. The 1992 edition of the race incorporated the 1st IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. The event also has junior and mini races attached with these being run the Saturday before the main race on the Newcastle Quayside. Martin Mathathi holds the current men's course record with his run of 58:56 in 2011. In 2019, Brigid Kosgei's women's course record of 64:28 bettered the previous mark by over a minute and was also the fastest ever half marathon by a woman; however, the course was not eligible for records. That same year, Mo Farah won a record sixth consecutive men's Great North Run. Course The Great North Run starts in Newcastle upon Tyne on the A167 road (the central motorway), on the edge of both the city centre and the Town Moor. The route heads east and south down the motorway section, around the eastern side of the city centre, then crosses the Tyne Bridge into Gateshead. It heads around the eastern side of Gateshead town centre, then at a roundabout turns east and heads down the A184 (the Felling Bypass) in the direction of Sunderland. After 3.5 miles (5.6 km), the route turns off the A184 and heads north-east towards South Shields down the A194 (Leam Lane). 2.5 miles (4.0 km) later, the route reaches the southern side of Jarrow and it turns east down the A1300 (John Reid Road). The route passes through the south of South Shields (through Harton and Marsden) until it reaches the seafront just over 3.5 miles (5.6 km) later, where it turns north up the A183. The last mile (1.6 km) of the route runs along the seafront road to the finishing line at South Shields. All roads on the course are closed several hours before the race begins, however multiple vehicles including TV crews, emergency services, event staff, and a fleet of buses carrying participants' belongings are authorised to travel between Newcastle and South Shields on the closed course roads ahead of and following the participants. History The run was devised by former Olympic 10,000 m bronze medallist and BBC Sport commentator Brendan Foster. Foster was inspired after running in the Round the Bays Race in New Zealand in 1979, and has built upon the Great North Run with a series of other Great Run road races. The first Great North Run was staged on 28 June 1981, when 12,000 runners participated. By 2003, the number of participants had risen to 47,000. The 2011 event saw an announced field of 54,000. The number of finishers was 35,777 in 2007, the largest half marathon and the 13th largest running race that year. In 2014, the event had 41,615 finishers, making it the largest half-marathon in the world as certified by Guinness World Records in 2016. For the first nine races, eight of them were held in June. Since 1990, the race has instead been held in the autumn, usually in September but occasionally in October. Since 1990, the earliest date the race has been held on is 7 September (2014) and the latest is 22 October (2000). Bupa was the title partner of the Great North Run from the early 1990s until 2014, one of Britain's longest ever sports sponsorship agreements. In 2015 Morrisons announced their sponsorship of the Great Run series. In November 2015, the Great Run Company announced it was searching for a new title sponsor which includes the Great North Run. The 2016 Great North Run was the first staging of the event without a title sponsor. Simplyhealth became the new lead sponsor for 2017. AJ Bell was announced as the new lead sponsor for the Great Run series in 2023 in a 5-year partnership Events In 2004 a runner died (the eighth death in the event's then 24-year history). The 2005 Great North Run was the twenty-fifth edition of the race. Events to mark the anniversary included the launch of the Great North Run Cultural Programme at the Sage Gateshead. The race was started by Mike McLeod, the winner of the inaugural race in 1981. During the race, four participants died en route to South Shields. An inquest into the four deaths from 2005 began on Monday 5 June 2006 at Gateshead Council Chambers. In subsequent events, more emergency service personnel were brought in to ensure there was adequate cover. In spite of increased medical provision at the 2006 race, a man in his twenties died. The 2007 Great North Run was held on 30 September and was started by former England and Newcastle United manager Sir Bobby Robson. Kara Goucher defeated Paula Radcliffe in an impressive victory for the American. Goucher's winning time was 1:06:57. The 2008 Great North Run was held on 5 October and was started by former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair. The 2009 Great North Run was held on 20 September and was started by the musician Sting. The 2010 Great North Run was the 30th running of the event and was held on 19 September and was started by TV presenters Ant & Dec. The number of finishers (half marathon only) was 39,459. The 2011 Great North Run took place on the morning of Sunday, 18 September 2011. The race was started by World 5,000-metre champion Mo Farah. In 2013 the 33rd Great North Run had 56000 participants, most of whom were raising money for charity. The elite races had Olympic Gold Medalists and World Champion long-distance runners participating including in the men's race, Mo Farah, Kenenisa Bekele and a regular supporter of the event, Haile Gebrselassie. Ethiopian Bekele won the men's event just ahead of Farah. Kenya's Priscah Jeptoo came first the women's race and multi Olympic Gold Medalist David Weir won the wheelchair event. In 2014 the 34th Great North Run had 57000 participants, celebrated the 1 millionth runner to cross the finish line, and was the first to have a British man win in 29 years. Mo Farah completed the race in exactly 1 hour, while Mary Keitany completed in 1:05:39 seconds - surpassing the previous course record of 1:05:40 by 1 second, a record held by Paula Radcliffe. Tracey Cramond, who was raising money for Butterwick Hospices, was the 1 millionth person to complete the run, stating she was "gobsmacked" and that it was her "moment of fame". The Great North Run was the first International Athletics Association Event (IAAF) event in the world to reach such a milestone. In 2015 a 58 year old male runner died. The 2020 Great North Run was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 event cancelled its Junior and Mini events due to the death of Elizabeth II. Eddie Howe started the 2023 Great North Run for the 60,000 participants. The race was Mo Farah's last ever before his retirement. The 2024 Great North Run took place on 8th September and was started by Olympic Silver Medalist Kieran Reilly. A 29 year old male runner died after collapsing during the race. Past winners Key: Course record Wheelchair race Course record See also Northeast of England References Results Butler, Mark (2012-11-17). Great North Run Half Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2013-01-20. History and Tradition Archived 26 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Great Run. Retrieved on 2013-01-20. External links Official website
Half_marathon	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_marathon	[ 221 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_marathon" ]	A half marathon is a road running event of 21.0975 kilometres (13 miles 192.5 yards)—half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcuts. If finisher medals are awarded, the medal or ribbon may differ from those for the full marathon. The half marathon is also known as a 21K, 21.1K, or 13.1 miles, although these values are rounded and not formally correct. A half marathon world record is officially recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. The official IAAF world record for men is 57:31, set by Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda in November 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal, and for women is 1:04:02, set by Ruth Chepng'etich of Kenya on April 4, 2021, in Istanbul, Turkey. Participation in half marathons has grown steadily since 2003, partly because it is a challenging distance, but does not require the same level of training that a marathon does. In 2008, Running USA reported that the half marathon is the fastest-growing type of race. History The concept of the half-marathon emerged in the 1960s. The first half marathon was the Route du Vin Half Marathon founded in 1961. Although the race was technically not the official current distance until it was standardized in 1995. The event grew in popularity leading to the eventual establishment of the World Athletics Road Running Championships in 1992, originally titled the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. All-time top 25 Men Correct as of September 2024. Notes Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 58:43: Jacob Kiplimo also ran 57:37 (2020), 57:56 (2022) and 58:09 (2024). Kibiwott Kandie also ran 57:40 (2023), 58:10 (2022) and 58:38 (2020). Sabastian Sawe also ran 58:05 (2024), 58:24 (2024), 58:29 (2023). Abraham Kiptum ran 58:18, but it was expunged for doping. Zersenay Tadese also ran 58:30 (2011). Yomif Kejelcha also ran 58:32 (2022). Philemon Kiplimo also ran 58:34 (2021). Daniel Mateiko also ran 58:40 (2022). Women Correct as of September 2024. Notes Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 1:05:15: Yalemzerf Yehualaw also ran 1:03:44 Mx a (2021, not legal), 1:04:22 Mx (2022), 1:04:40 Mx (2021), 1:04:46 (2020). Brigid Kosgei also ran 1:04:28 Mx a (2019). Hellen Obiri also ran 1:04:48 (2022), 1:04:51 Mx (2021). Joyciline Jepkosgei also ran 1:04:46 (2023), 1:04:51 (2017), 1:04:52 (2017). Sheila Chepkirui also ran 1:04:53 Mx (2021). Ruth Chepngetich also ran 1:05:06 (2020). Tsehay Gemechu also ran 1:05:08 Mx (2021). Joan Chelimo also ran 1:05:09 Mx (2021). Margaret Kipkemboi also ran 1:05:11 Mx (2024). Florence Jebet Kiplagat also ran 1:05:12 (2014). Mary Jepkosgei Keitany also ran 1:05:13 (2017). Season's bests This table lists the best half marathon performances per year since 1970, as recorded by the ARRS. The largest half marathon ever held was Broloppet (the Bridge race) between Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden with 79,719 finishers, held in connection with the Øresund Bridge inauguration in 2000. See also List of half marathon races World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Mini marathon Quarter marathon Half marathon world record progression One hour run Notes References Further reading Nilson, Finn; Lundkvist, Erik; Wagnsson, Stefan; Gustafsson, Henrik (2019-12-19). "Has the second 'running boom' democratized running? A study on the sociodemographic characteristics of finishers at the world's largest half marathon". Sport in Society. 24 (4): 659–669. doi:10.1080/17430437.2019.1703687. ISSN 1743-0437. External links IAAF list of half-marathon records in XML
1869_Newfoundland_general_election	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1869_Newfoundland_general_election	[ 222 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1869_Newfoundland_general_election" ]	The 1869 Newfoundland general election was held in 1869 to elect members of the 10th General Assembly of Newfoundland in the Newfoundland Colony. 21 Anti-Confederates (A-C) were elected against 9 Confederates (Con), ending for a moment the debate over joining the Dominion of Canada. Results by party Elected members Twillingate-Fogo Charles Duder (A-C) Smith McKay (A-C) Bonavista Bay James L. Noonan (A-C) William M. Barnes (A-C) Francis Winton (A-C) Trinity Bay Stephen Rendell (Con) Thomas H. Ridley (Con) Alexander Graham (later in a by-election) Robert Alsop (A-C) (defeated after named to cabinet post in 1870) John H. Warren (later, in a by-election) Bay de Verde John Bemister (Con) James J. Rogerson (later, in a by-election) Carbonear John Rorke (Con) Harbour Grace John Munn (Con) William S. Green (Con) Brigus-Port de Grave James B. Woods (A-C) St. John's East William P. Walsh (A-C) James Jordan (A-C) Robert J. Parsons, senior (A-C) St. John's West Peter Brennan (A-C) Thomas Talbot (A-C) Maurice Fenelon (later in a by-election) Henry Renouf (A-C) Lewis Tessier (later, in a by-election) Harbour Main James I. Little (A-C) John Kennedy (A-C) Ferryland Thomas Glen (A-C) Thomas Badcock (or Battcock) (A-C) Placentia-St. Mary's Charles Fox Bennett (A-C) (Leader of the Anti-Confederates) Robert J. Parsons, junior (A-C) Henry Renouf (A-C) Burin Frederick Carter (Con) (Leader of the Confederates) Edward Evans (Con) Fortune Bay Thomas R. Bennett (A-C) (Speaker of the Assembly) Burgeo-LaPoile Prescott Emerson (Con) == References ==
Charles_Fox_Bennett	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fox_Bennett	[ 222 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fox_Bennett" ]	Charles James Fox Bennett (11 June 1793 in Shaftesbury, England – 5 December 1883) was a merchant and politician who successfully fought attempts to take Newfoundland into Canadian confederation. Bennett was a successful businessman and one of the colony's richest residents with interests in the fisheries, distillery and brewery industry and shipbuilding. His brother Thomas Bennett, a magistrate and member of Newfoundland's first House of Assembly, was a partner in the business. Bennett became involved in politics in the 1840s as a leader of the colony's Anglican community and an opponent of responsible government, an argument he lost when an alliance of Catholics and non-Anglican Protestants persuaded the Colonial Office to grant Newfoundland self-government. In the 1860s, he led the Anti-Confederation Party opposing the proposals by Sir Frederick Carter to join Canada. Bennett's party defeated Carter's Conservatives on the Confederation issue in the 1869 elections, allowing Bennett to form a government in 1870. However, as Premier he was unable to keep his party united, and in 1874 resigned, allowing Carter to return to power. The issue of Confederation had become a moot point and would not be seriously raised again until the Great Depression. Bennet also commissioned extensive mineral surveys along the coasts, and in the 1860s developed the prosperous copper mine at Tilt Cove (Notre Dame Bay). Bennett's anti-Confederates reformed themselves into the colony's Conservative Party. References External links Hiller, James K. (1982). "Bennett, Charles James Fox". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XI (1881–1890) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
Shaftesbury	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaftesbury	[ 222 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaftesbury" ]	Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, 20 miles (32 kilometres) west of Salisbury and 23 miles (37 kilometres) north-northeast of Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about 215 metres (705 feet) above sea level on a greensand hill on the edge of Cranborne Chase. The town looks over the Blackmore Vale, part of the River Stour basin. Shaftesbury is the site of the former Shaftesbury Abbey, which was founded in 888 by King Alfred and became one of the richest religious establishments in the country, before being destroyed in the dissolution in 1539. Adjacent to the abbey site is Gold Hill, a steep cobbled street used in the 1970s as the setting for Ridley Scott's television advertisement for Hovis bread. In the 2021 census the town's civil parish had a population of 9,162. Toponymy Shaftesbury has acquired a number of names throughout its history. Writing in 1906, Sir Frederick Treves referred to four of these names from Celtic, Latin and English traditions in his book Highways & Byways in Dorset: The city has had many names. It was, in the beginning, Caer Palladour. By the time of the Domesday Book it was Sceptesberie. It then, with all the affectation of a lady in an eighteenth-century lyric, called itself Sophonia. Lastly it became Shaston, and so the people call it to this day, while all the milestones around concern themselves only with recording the distances to "Shaston". The original Celtic name is first recorded in Medieval Welsh literature as Caer Vynnydd y Paladr (The Mountain Fort/City of the Spears) and Thomas Gale records the name as Caer Palladour in his work of 1709. Though "Palladour" was described by one 19th-century directory as "mere invention", it has continued to be used as a poetic and alternative name for the town. The English name was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Sceptesberie, and the use of "Shaston" () was recorded in 1831 in Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of England and in 1840 in The parliamentary gazetteer of England and Wales. Thomas Hardy used both "Shaston" and "Palladour" to refer to the town in the fictional Wessex of his novels such as Jude the Obscure. History There is no substantive evidence that Shaftesbury was the "Caer Palladur" (or "Caer Palladwr") of Celtic and Roman times, and instead the town's recorded history dates from Anglo-Saxon times. By the early eighth century there was an important minster church here, and in 880 Alfred the Great founded a burgh (fortified settlement) here as a defence in the struggle with the Danish invaders. The burgh is recorded in the early-10th-century Burghal Hidage as one of only three that existed in the county (the others being at Wareham and 'Bredy' – which is probably Bridport). In 888 Alfred founded Shaftesbury Abbey, a Benedictine nunnery by the town's east gate, and appointed his daughter Ethelgifu as the first abbess. Æthelstan founded two royal mints, which struck pennies bearing the town's name, and the abbey became the wealthiest Benedictine nunnery in England. On 20 February 981 the relics of St Edward the Martyr, the teenage King of England, were transferred from Wareham and received at the abbey with great ceremony, thereafter turning Shaftesbury into a major site of pilgrimage for miracles of healing. King Canute died here in 1035, though he was buried at Winchester. Edward the Confessor licensed a third mint for the town. By the time of the Norman conquest in 1066 Shaftesbury had 257 houses, though many were destroyed in the ensuing years of conflict, and by the time the Domesday Book was compiled twenty years later, there were only 177 houses remaining, though this still meant that Shaftesbury was the largest town in Dorset at that time. In the first English civil war (1135–1154) between Empress Matilda and King Stephen, an adulterine castle or fortified house was built on a small promontory at the western edge of the hill on which the old town was built. The site on Castle Hill, also known locally as Boltbury, is now under grass and is a scheduled monument. In 1240 Cardinal Otto of Tonengo, legate to the Apostolic See of Pope Gregory IX visited the abbey and confirmed a charter of 1191, the first entered in the Glastonbury chartulary. During the Middle Ages the abbey was the central focus of the town; the abbey's great wealth was acknowledged in a popular saying at the time, which stated that "If the abbot of Glastonbury could marry the abbess of Shaftesbury their heir would hold more land than the king of England". In 1260 a charter to hold a market was granted. By 1340 the mayor had become a recognised figure, sworn in by the steward of the abbess. In 1392 Richard II confirmed a grant of two markets on different days. Edwardstowe, Shaftesbury's oldest surviving building, was built on Bimport at some time between 1400 and 1539. Also in this period a medieval farm owned by the Abbess of Shaftesbury was established, on a site now occupied by the Tesco supermarket car park. In 1539, the last Abbess of Shaftesbury, Elizabeth Zouche, signed a deed of surrender, the (by then extremely wealthy) abbey was demolished, and its lands sold, leading to a temporary decline in the town. Sir Thomas Arundell purchased the abbey and much of the town in 1540, but when he was later exiled for treason his lands were forfeit, and the lands passed to Pembroke then Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, and finally to the Grosvenors. Shaftesbury was a parliamentary constituency returning two members from 1296 to the Reform Act of 1832, when it was reduced to one, and in 1884 the separate constituency was abolished. In Survey of Dorsetshire, written in about 1630 by Thomas Gerard of the Dorset village of Trent, Shaftesbury is described as a "faire Thorough Faire, much frequented by Travellers to and from London". The town was broadly Parliamentarian in the Civil War, but was in Royalist hands. Wardour Castle fell to Parliamentary forces in 1643; Parliamentary forces surrounded the town in August 1645, when it was a centre of local clubmen activity. The clubmen were arrested and sent to trial in Sherborne. Shaftesbury took no part in the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685. In the 17th century the cloth industry formed part of Shaftesbury's economy, though much of the actual production took place as a cottage industry in the surrounding area. In the 18th century the town produced a coarse white woollen cloth called 'swanskin', that was used by fishermen of Newfoundland and for uniforms. Buttonmaking also became important around this time, though with the later advent of industrialisation this subsequently declined, resulting in unemployment, starvation and emigration, with 350 families leaving for Canada. Malting and brewing were also significant in the 17th and 18th centuries, and like other Dorset towns such as Dorchester and Blandford Forum, Shaftesbury became known for its beer. The railways however bypassed the town, which had consequences for Shaftesbury's economy; during the 19th century the town's brewing industry was reduced to serving only local markets, as towns elsewhere in the country could transport their produce more cheaply. During the 19th century the population of the town grew little. The town hall was built in 1837 by Earl Grosvenor after the guildhall was pulled down to widen High Street. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building. Shaftesbury Town Hall is next to the 15th-century St Peter's Church which is Grade II* listed. The Westminster Memorial Hospital was constructed on Bimport in the mid-19th century with a legacy from the wife of the Duke of Westminster. In 1918 Lord Stalbridge, 2nd Baron Stalbridge, Hugh Grosvenor, sold a large portion of the town, which was purchased by a syndicate and auctioned piece by piece over three days. The entire Stalbridge Estate of some 13,500 acres was sold and the title became extinct with the death of Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Baron Stalbridge in 1949. His only son and heir had been killed in a flying accident in 1930. Most of Shaftesbury's buildings date from no earlier than the 18th century, as the Saxon and most of the medieval buildings have not survived. Governance In the United Kingdom national parliament, Shaftesbury is in the North Dorset parliamentary constituency, represented since 2015 by Simon Hoare of the Conservative Party. In local government, Shaftesbury is administered by Dorset Council (a unitary authority) and Shaftesbury Town Council, which has responsibilities that include open spaces and recreational facilities, allotments, litter, street markets, public conveniences, grants to voluntary organisations, cemetery provision, bus shelters, crime prevention initiatives, civic events and the town hall, planning (as a consultee) and the war memorial. Shaftesbury is covered by an electoral ward called Shaftesbury Town, which elects two members to Dorset Council. Prior to changes in 2019, the town elected one member of Dorset County Council and four members of North Dorset District Council. Geography The old centre of Shaftesbury is sited on a westward-pointing promontory of high ground in northeast Dorset, on the scarp edge of a range of hills that extend south and east into Cranborne Chase and neighbouring Wiltshire. The town's built-up area extends down the promontory slopes to lower ground at St James, Alcester and Enmore Green, and eastwards across the watershed towards the hill's dip slope. Shaftesbury's altitude is between about 165 metres (541 feet) at the lowest streets below the promontory, to about 235 m (771 ft) at Wincombe Business Park on the hilltop in the north, with the promontory and town centre being at about 215 m (705 ft). Below the town to the west is the Blackmore Vale, which undulates between about 60 and 110 m (200 and 360 ft). About 2 mi (3 km) west of the town and within the Blackmore Vale is the conical mound of Duncliffe Hill, visible for miles and home to Duncliffe Wood and a nature reserve. The countryside east of the town is part of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Geologically, Shaftesbury's hill mostly comprises Upper Greensand, which is overlain by Lower Chalk in the east. These date from the Cretaceous, with the greensand having been formed in the Albian and early Cenomanian, and the chalk also in the Cenomanian. The greensand is composed of three beds: the oldest and lowest is a layer of Cann Sand, which is found in the lower parts of the town, such as St James and Alcester, that are below the promontory; above this is a layer of Shaftesbury Sandstone, which generally forms the steepest slopes around the promontory, and on top of this is a layer of Boyne Hollow Chert, which is found on top of the hill and on which most of the town is built. Below the Cann Sand, on the lower slopes of the hill to the north, west and south of the town, are extensive landslip deposits. Economy In 2012 there were 3,400 people employed in Shaftesbury, 65% of whom were working full-time and 35% part-time. Excluding agriculture, the most important employment sectors were public administration, education and health (31% of non-agricultural employment), production and construction (29%), and distribution, accommodation and food (26%). Significant employers include Dorset County Council, Pork Farms, Guys Marsh Prison, Royal Mail, Tesco, Port Regis School, Wessex Electricals, Stalbridge Linen Services, Blackmore Press and Dorset Chilled Foods. There are two industrial estates in the town: Longmead Industrial Estate, covering 7.7 hectares (19 acres), and Wincombe Business Park, covering 6.5 hectares (16 acres). In 2005 there were 75 shops in the town, with a total floorspace of 7,200 square metres (78,000 sq ft). The retail catchment area for major food shopping extends about 4+1⁄2 mi (7 km) in all directions. National retail chains with a presence in the town include the Body Shop, Boots, Somerfield, Superdrug, Tesco and WHSmith. A site has been identified for a projected parkway station on the West of England main railway line. It would be situated to the north of the town, beneath the A350 road, and a bus service would connect it with the town. Currently the nearest railway station is located in neighbouring Gillingham. Demography In the 2011 census Shaftesbury's civil parish had 3,493 dwellings, 3,235 households and a population of 7,314. The average age of inhabitants was 43, compared to 39.3 for England as a whole. 22.1% of inhabitants were age 65 or older, compared to 16.4% for England as a whole. 92% of Shaftesbury's residents were born in the United Kingdom, compared to 86.2% for England as a whole. Previous census figures for the total population of the civil parish are shown in the table below: Culture, art and media Shaftesbury Arts Centre was established in 1957 and stages a variety of exhibitions, performances, workshops and training courses. It is based in the old covered market in the town centre and is a charitable company that is run wholly by its volunteer members. Shaftesbury has two museums: Gold Hill Museum at the top of Gold Hill, and Shaftesbury Abbey Museum in the abbey grounds. Gold Hill Museum was founded in 1946 and displays many artefacts that relate to the history of Shaftesbury and the surrounding area, including Dorset's oldest fire engine, dating from 1744. Shaftesbury Abbey Museum tells the story of the abbey and also has a herb garden and medieval orchard. Shaftesbury Snowdrops is a Diamond Jubilee Community Legacy with the aim of creating a series of free and accessible snowdrop walks by planting snowdrops within the publicly open spaces and along the pathways throughout the town. The project was started in the winter of 2012 with the planting of 60,000 bulbs. Since 2013 there has been an annual Snowdrop Festival to encourage tourists to see the snowdrops in flower. Highlights of the festival include the Snowdrop Art Exhibition and the Snowdrop Lantern Parade. In 2014 Shaftesbury Snowdrops started a heritage collection of rare and unusual snowdrops. These are held in trust for the people of Shaftesbury and displayed in Shaftesbury Abbey during the annual Snowdrop Festival. The collection is being built through sponsorship and donations. Gold Hill Fair usually occurs in the first weekend of July and has food stalls, arts stalls and local music that can be found in the abbey ruins. In 2016, Shaftesbury's first open arts fringe festival was organised and has since grown to become one of the key fringe festivals in the country. The fringe is always held on the first weekend in July and attracts an eccentric mix of performers from local singers to celebrity comics heading for Edinburgh. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West and ITV West Country. Television signals are received from the Mendip TV transmitter. Shaftesbury's local radio stations are BBC Radio Solent, Vale FM, and Heart West Country. The town is home to a volunteer-run community radio station, Alfred, broadcasting local news, speech programming and music on 107.3 FM and online. It was awarded an Ofcom licence in 2020, having grown from a weekly podcast which went daily during the COVID-19 pandemic. The podcast won the gold award in the community radio awards in 2021. Representations Thomas Hardy used the names Shaston or Palladour to describe Shaftesbury in the fictional Wessex of his novels. In Jude the Obscure he described the loss of the town's former architectural glories, principally the abbey: "Vague imaginings of its castle, its three mints, its magnificent apsidal abbey, the chief glory of south Wessex, its twelve churches, its shrines, chantries, hospitals, its gabled freestone mansions—all now ruthlessly swept away—throw the visitor, even against his will, into a pensive melancholy, which the stimulating atmosphere and limitless landscape around him can scarcely dispel." In the 1970s Ridley Scott used Gold Hill, a steep cobbled street in the town, as the setting for a television advertisement for Hovis bread, in which a bread delivery boy is seen pushing his bicycle up the street before freewheeling back down. The advertisement made the street nationally famous. Transport Shaftesbury is served by the A30, between Salisbury and Yeovil, and the A350, which connects Poole and Chippenham. The town is 7 miles (11 km) south of the main A303 trunk road between London and South West England. Shaftesbury has never had a direct railway connection. The challenging topography likely played a significant role in this, as constructing a railway up the steep slopes would have been difficult and costly. In 1859, the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway established a station at Semley, 2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) north of Shaftesbury. This station allowed residents and visitors to access the broader railway network. Semley station closed in the Beeching cuts of 1966. The closest railway station to Shaftesbury is now Gillingham railway station (Dorset), 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of the town, on the West of England line from London Waterloo to Exeter. Local bus services connect the town to surrounding villages and towns. Amenities Shaftesbury has a non-League football club, Shaftesbury F.C., who play at Cockrams. The Shaftesbury Lido, an open air swimming pool at Barton Hill, is open during the summer months. Shaftesbury has a community hospital, opened in 1874 and named Westminster Memorial Hospital in memory of the Marquis of Westminster, whose widow donated the site. The town has a public library operated by Dorset Council. Notable people Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway, died in Shaftesbury on 12 November 1035; he was buried in Winchester. Poet William Chamberlayne lived there his whole life, from 1619 to 1689. Philosopher Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671–1713), an influential thinker on modern aesthetics. Actor Robert Newton, best known for his portrayals of Long John Silver and Bill Sikes in the 1948 David Lean film Oliver Twist, was born there. Architect Richard Upjohn, famous for his Gothic Revival churches in the United States, including Trinity Church in New York, was also born in Shaftesbury. Electronic music producer Seamus Malliagh, known professionally as Iglooghost, grew up in Shaftesbury. Electronic music producer and artist Kai Whiston grew up in Shaftesbury. Lavinia Young (1911–1986 ), born in Bimport, was elected Mayor of Shaftesbury (1970) and was Matron of Westminster Hospital, London from 1951 to 1966. See also St Mary's School, Shaftesbury Shaftesbury School References Notes General references Bettey, J. H. (1974). Dorset. City & County Histories. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-6371-9. Pitt-Rivers, Michael, 1979. Dorset. London: Faber & Faber. Berry, Geoffrey (1985). AA Illustrated Guide to: Country Towns and Villages of Britain. Contributions from The Automobile Association. Drive Publications. ISBN 9780903356343. External links Shaftesbury Tourist Information Centre Shaftesbury Town Council Shaftesbury at Curlie
Meat_Loaf	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_Loaf	[ 223 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_Loaf#Personal_life" ]	Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. His Bat Out of Hell album trilogy—Bat Out of Hell (1977), Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993), and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose (2006)—has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The first album stayed on the charts for over nine years and is one of the best-selling albums in history, still selling an estimated 200,000 copies annually as of 2016. Despite the commercial success of Bat Out of Hell and Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, and earning a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for the song "I'd Do Anything for Love", Meat Loaf nevertheless experienced some difficulty establishing a steady career within the United States. However, his career still saw success due to his popularity in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He received the 1994 Brit Award in the United Kingdom for best-selling album and single, and was ranked 23rd for the number of weeks spent on the UK charts in 2006. He ranks 96th on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock". Meat Loaf also acted in over 50 films and television shows, sometimes as himself or as characters resembling his stage persona. His notable film roles include Eddie in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), the bus driver in Spice World (1997), and Robert Paulson in Fight Club (1999). His early stage work included dual roles in the original Broadway cast of The Rocky Horror Show; he also appeared in the musical Hair, both on and Off-Broadway. Early life Marvin Lee Aday was born in Dallas, Texas, on September 27, 1947, the son of Wilma Artie (née Hukel), a schoolteacher and member of the Vo-di-o-do Girls gospel music quartet, and Orvis Wesley Aday, a former police officer who went into business selling a homemade cough remedy with his wife and a friend under the name of the Griffin Grocery Company. He stated in an interview that when he was born, he was "bright red and stayed that way for days" and that his father said he looked like "nine pounds of ground chuck,” and convinced hospital staff to put the name "Meat" on his crib. He was later called "M.L." in reference to his initials, but when his weight increased, his seventh-grade classmates referred to him as "Meat Loaf", referring to his 5-foot-2-inch (157 cm), 240-pound (110 kg) stature. He also attributed the nickname to an incident where, after he stepped on a football coach's foot, the coach yelled 'Get off my foot, you hunk of meatloaf!'” Meat Loaf's father would binge-drink alcohol for days at a time, a habit he started when he was medically discharged from the U.S. Army during World War II after being wounded by fragments from a mortar shell. Meat Loaf often accompanied his mother in driving to the bars in Dallas to look for his father, and often stayed with his grandmother. He attended church and Bible study every Sunday. He was 16 years-old on November 22nd, 1963, the day of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. That morning, Meat Loaf had seen the President when he arrived at Dallas Love Field. Later, after hearing of Kennedy's death, a friend and he drove to Parkland Hospital where he witnessed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, covered in her husband's blood, getting out of the car that brought her to the hospital. In 1965, Meat Loaf graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, having appeared in school stage productions such as Where's Charley? and The Music Man. He played high school football as a defensive tackle. After attending college at Lubbock Christian College, he transferred to North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas). In 1967, when Meat Loaf was 19 years old: his mother died of cancer, and his father lunged at him with a knife after falsely accusing the teen of having girls in his bedroom. Meat Loaf used the money his mother left him, to rent an apartment in Dallas, where he isolated for three and a half months, at which time a friend found him. Soon after, he went to the airport and caught the next flight to Los Angeles. Meat Loaf intentionally gained 60 pounds (27 kg) to fail his physical examination for the Vietnam War draft. Despite this strategy, he still received his notice to appear before his local draft board, but chose to ignore it. Career Early career In Los Angeles, Meat Loaf formed his first band, Meat Loaf Soul. The band received several recording contracts. Meat Loaf Soul's first gig was in Huntington Beach, California in 1968 at the Cave, opening for Van Morrison's band Them and Question Mark and the Mysterians. Meat Loaf later described his early days in the music industry as being treated like a "circus clown". The band underwent several changes of lead guitarists, changing the name of the band each time, to names including Popcorn Blizzard and Floating Circus. As Floating Circus, they opened for the Who, the Fugs, the Stooges, MC5, the Grateful Dead, and the Grease Band. Their regional success led them to release a single, "Once Upon a Time", backed with "Hello". Meat Loaf then joined the Los Angeles production of the musical Hair. 1970s With the publicity generated from Hair, Meat Loaf accepted an invitation by Motown, in Detroit. In addition to appearing as "Mother" and "Ulysses S. Grant" at Detroit's Vest Pocket Theatre, he recorded the vocals with fellow Hair performer Shaun "Stoney" Murphy on an album of songs written and selected by the Motown production team. The album, titled Stoney & Meatloaf (with Meatloaf spelled as one word), was released in September 1971 and included the single "What You See Is What You Get"; it reached number 36 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart and number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Meat Loaf and Stoney toured with Jake Wade and the Soul Searchers, opening for Richie Havens, the Who, the Stooges, Bob Seger, Alice Cooper, and Rare Earth. Meat Loaf left Motown soon after the label replaced his and Stoney's vocals from the one song he liked, "Who Is the Leader of the People?" with new vocals by Edwin Starr. He moved to Freeland, Michigan for a year and was the opening act at the Grande Ballroom 80 times. In December 1972, Meat Loaf was in the original off-Broadway production of Rainbow at the Orpheum Theatre in New York. After the tour, Meat Loaf rejoined the cast of Hair, this time at a Broadway theater. After he hired an agent, he auditioned for the Public Theater's production of More Than You Deserve. During the audition, Meat Loaf met Jim Steinman. He sang a Stoney and Meat Loaf favorite of his, "(I'd Love to Be) As Heavy as Jesus", and subsequently got the part of Rabbit, a maniac that blows up his fellow soldiers so they can "go home". Ron Silver and Fred Gwynne were also in the show. In the summer between the show's workshop production (April 1973) and full production (November 1973 – January 1974), Meat Loaf appeared in a Shakespeare in the Park production of As You Like It with Raul Julia and Mary Beth Hurt. In late 1973, Meat Loaf was cast in the original L.A. Roxy cast of The Rocky Horror Show, playing the parts of Eddie and Dr. Everett Scott. The success of the musical led to the filming of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in which Meat Loaf played only Eddie, a decision he said made the movie not as good as the musical. About the same time, Meat Loaf and Steinman started work on Bat Out of Hell. Meat Loaf convinced Epic Records to shoot music videos for four songs, "Bat Out of Hell", "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth", and "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" and convinced Lou Adler, the producer of Rocky Horror, to run the "Paradise" video as a trailer to the movie. During his recording of the soundtrack for Rocky Horror, Meat Loaf recorded two more songs: "Stand by Me" (a Ben E. King cover), and "Clap Your Hands". They remained unreleased for a decade, until 1984, when they appeared as B-sides to the "Nowhere Fast" single. In 1976, Meat Loaf recorded lead vocals for Ted Nugent's album Free-for-All when regular Nugent lead vocalist Derek St. Holmes temporarily quit the band. Meat Loaf sang lead on five of the album's nine tracks. That same year, Meat Loaf appeared in his final theatrical show in New York City, the short-lived Broadway production of Gower Champion's rock musical Rockabye Hamlet. It closed two weeks into its initial run. Meat Loaf and Steinman started working on Bat Out of Hell in 1972, but did not get serious about it until the end of 1974. Meat Loaf then decided to leave theater and concentrate exclusively on music. Meat Loaf was cast as an understudy for John Belushi in The National Lampoon Show. It was at the Lampoon show that Meat Loaf met Ellen Foley, the co-star who sang "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" and "Bat Out of Hell" with him on the album Bat Out of Hell. Meat Loaf and Steinman spent time seeking a record deal; however, their approaches were rejected by each record company, because their songs did not fit any specific recognized music industry style. Todd Rundgren, under the impression that they already had a record deal, agreed to produce the album as well as play lead guitar along with other members of Rundgren's band Utopia and Max Weinberg. They then shopped the record around, but they still had no takers until Steve Popovich's Cleveland International Records took a chance, releasing Bat Out of Hell in October 1977. Meat Loaf and Steinman formed the band Neverland Express to tour in support of Bat Out of Hell. Their first gig was opening for Cheap Trick in Chicago. Meat Loaf gained national exposure as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on March 25, 1978. In 1978, Meat Loaf jumped off a stage in Ottawa, Ontario, breaking his leg. He finished his tour performing in a wheelchair. Bat Out of Hell has sold an estimated 43 million copies globally, including 15 million in the United States, making it one of the bestselling albums of all time. In the United Kingdom alone, its 2.1 million sales put it in 38th place. Despite peaking at No. 9 and spending only two weeks in the top ten in 1981, it has now spent 485 weeks on the UK Albums Chart (May 2015), a figure bettered only by Rumours by Fleetwood Mac with 487 weeks. In Australia, it knocked the Bee Gees off the No. 1 spot and became the biggest-selling album of all time in that country. Bat Out of Hell has, as of December 2020, spent a total of 522 weeks in the Top 200 in the UK chart. 1980s In 1979, Steinman started to work on Bad for Good, the intended follow-up to 1977's Bat Out of Hell. During that time, a combination of touring, drugs and exhaustion had caused Meat Loaf to lose his voice. Without a singer, and pressured by the record company, Steinman decided that he should sing on Bad for Good himself. While Steinman worked on Bad for Good, Meat Loaf played the role of Travis Redfish in the movie Roadie until his singing voice returned. Steinman then wrote a new album for Meat Loaf, Dead Ringer, which was released in September 1981. Steinman had written five new songs which, in addition to the track "More Than You Deserve" (sung by Meat Loaf in the stage musical of the same name) and a reworked monolog, formed the album Dead Ringer, which was produced by Meat Loaf and Stephan Galfas, with backing tracks produced by Todd Rundgren, Jimmy Iovine, and Steinman. In 1976, Meat Loaf appeared on the track "Keeper Keep Us", from the Intergalactic Touring Band's self-titled album, produced by Galfas. The song "Dead Ringer for Love" was the pinnacle of the album, and launched Meat Loaf to even greater success. While it failed to chart in the US, it reached No. 5 in the United Kingdom and stayed in the UK Singles Chart for 19 weeks. Cher provided the lead female vocals in the song. On December 5, 1981, Meat Loaf and the Neverland Express were the musical guests for Saturday Night Live where he and former fellow Rocky Horror Picture Show actor Tim Curry performed a skit depicting a One-Stop Rocky Horror Shop. Also on the show, Curry performed "The Zucchini Song" and Meat Loaf & the Neverland Express performed "Bat Out of Hell" and "Promised Land". Following a dispute with his former songwriter Jim Steinman, Meat Loaf was contractually obliged to release a new album, resulting in Midnight at the Lost and Found, released in May 1983. According to Meat Loaf, Steinman had given the songs "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" to Meat Loaf for this album. However, Meat Loaf's record company did not want Meat Loaf to sing Steinman's songs, saying that nobody wanted to hear them. Bonnie Tyler's version of "Eclipse" and Air Supply's version of "Making Love" topped the charts together, holding No. 1 and No. 2 for a period during 1983. Meat Loaf is credited with having been involved in the writing of some of the tracks on the album, including the title track, "Midnight at the Lost and Found". Poor money management as well as 45 lawsuits totaling US$80 million, including ones from Steinman, resulted in Meat Loaf filing for personal bankruptcy in 1983. The bankruptcy resulted in Meat Loaf losing the rights to his songs, although he received royalties for Bat Out of Hell in 1997. In 1984, Meat Loaf went to England, where he felt increasingly at home, to record the album Bad Attitude; it was released that year. It features two songs by Steinman, both previously recorded, "Nowhere Fast" and "Surf's Up". The American release on RCA Records was in April 1985 and features a slightly different track list, as well as alternate mixes for some songs. The title track features a duet with the Who's lead singer Roger Daltrey. It was a minor success with a few commercially successful singles, the most successful being "Modern Girl". In 1985, Meat Loaf took part in some comedy sketches in the UK with Hugh Laurie. Meat Loaf also tried stand-up comedy, appearing several times in Connecticut. Meat Loaf worked with songwriter John Parr on his next album, Blind Before I Stop, which was released in 1986 by Arista Records. It features production, mixing, and general influence by Frank Farian. Meat Loaf was involved in the composition of three of the songs on the album. Meat Loaf performed "Thrashin" for the soundtrack of the 1986 skateboarding film Thrashin' (directed by David Winters and starring Josh Brolin). 1990s Following the success of Meat Loaf's touring in the 1980s, he and Steinman began work during December 1990 on Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell; the album was released in September 1993. The immediate success of Bat Out of Hell II led to the sale of over 15 million copies, and the single "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" reached number one in 28 countries. In March 1994, at the 36th Annual Grammy Awards, Meat Loaf won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo for "I'd Do Anything for Love". This song stayed at No. 1 in the UK chart for seven consecutive weeks. The single featured a female vocalist who was credited only as "Mrs. Loud". Mrs. Loud was later identified as Lorraine Crosby, a performer from England. Meat Loaf promoted the song with American vocalist Patti Russo, who performed lead female vocals on tour with him. Also in 1994, he sang the U.S. national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. He released the single "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through", which reached No. 13 in the United States. In 1995, Meat Loaf released his seventh studio album, Welcome to the Neighborhood. The album went platinum in the United States and the United Kingdom. It included three singles that hit the top 40, including "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)" (which reached No. 13 in the United States and No. 2 in the UK), and "Not a Dry Eye in the House" (which reached No. 7 in the UK chart). I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth) was a duet with Patti Russo, who had been touring with Meat Loaf and singing on his albums since 1993. Of the twelve songs on the album, two are written by Steinman. Both are cover versions, the "Original Sin" from Pandora's Box's Original Sin album and "Left in the Dark" first appeared on Steinman's own Bad for Good as well as the 1984 album Emotion by Barbra Streisand. His other singles, "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)" and "Not a Dry Eye in the House", were written by Diane Warren. In 1998, Meat Loaf released The Very Best of Meat Loaf. The album featured three new songs co-written by Steinman – two with Andrew Lloyd Webber and one with Don Black, "Is Nothing Sacred", released as a single. The single version of this song is a duet with Patti Russo, whereas the album version is a solo song by Meat Loaf. 2000s In 2003, Meat Loaf released his album Couldn't Have Said It Better. For only the third time in his career, Meat Loaf released an album without any songs written by Steinman (not counting live bonus tracks on special edition releases). Although Meat Loaf claimed that Couldn't Have Said It Better was "the most perfect album [he] did since Bat Out of Hell", it was not as commercially successful. The album was a minor commercial success worldwide and reached No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart, accompanied by a sellout world tour to promote the album and some of Meat Loaf's best selling singles. One such performance on his world tour was at the 2003 NRL Grand Final in Sydney. There were many writers for the album including Diane Warren and James Michael, who were both asked to contribute to his 2006 album, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. The album featured duets with Patti Russo and Meat Loaf's daughter Pearl Aday. On November 17, 2003, during a performance at London's Wembley Arena, on his Couldn't Have Said It Better tour, he collapsed of what was later diagnosed as Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, a condition marked by an extra electrical pathway in the heart which causes symptoms like a rapid heartbeat. The following week, he underwent a surgical procedure intended to correct the problem. As a result, Meat Loaf's insurance agency did not allow him to perform for any longer than one hour and 45 minutes. From February 20 to 22, 2004, during an Australian tour, Meat Loaf performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, in a set of concerts recorded for the album Bat Out of Hell: Live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The performances included the Australian Boys' Choir singing back-up on a Couldn't Have Said It Better track, "Testify". Meat Loaf and Steinman had begun to work on the third installment of Bat Out of Hell when Steinman suffered a heart attack. According to Meat Loaf, Steinman was too ill to work on such an intense project while Steinman's manager said health was not an issue. Steinman had registered the phrase "Bat Out of Hell" as a trademark in 1995. In May 2006, Meat Loaf sued Steinman and his manager in federal District Court in Los Angeles, seeking $50 million and an injunction against Steinman's use of the phrase. Steinman and his representatives attempted to block the album's release. An agreement was reached in July 2006. Denying reports in the press over the years of a rift between Meat Loaf and Steinman, in an interview with Dan Rather, Meat Loaf stated that he and Steinman never stopped talking, and that the lawsuits reported in the press were between lawyers and managers, and not between Meat Loaf and Steinman. The album Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose was released on October 31, 2006, and was produced by Desmond Child. The first single from the album "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" (featuring Marion Raven) was released on October 16, 2006. It entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 6, giving Meat Loaf his highest UK chart position in nearly 11 years. The album debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and sold 81,000 copies in its opening week, but after that did not sell as well in the United States and yielded no hit singles, although it was certified gold. The album also featured duets with Patti Russo and Jennifer Hudson. In the weeks following the release of Bat III, Meat Loaf and the Neverland Express did a brief tour of the U.S. and Europe, known as the Bases are Loaded Tour. In October 2006, Meat Loaf's private jet had to make an emergency landing at London Stansted Airport after the plane's forward landing gear failed. In 2007, Meat Loaf began The Seize the Night Tour, with Marion Raven, serving as a supporting act. Portions of the tour in February 2007 were featured in the documentary Meat Loaf: In Search of Paradise, directed by Bruce David Klein. The film was an official selection of the Montreal World Film Festival in 2007. It opened in theaters in March 2008 and was released on DVD in May 2008. During a performance at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, on October 31, 2007, at the opening of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" Meat Loaf walked off the stage early in the song and said that it was his last performance. His tour promoter, Andrew Miller, said that it was a result of "exhaustion and stress" and said that Meat Loaf would continue touring after suitable rest. The next two gigs in the tour, at the NEC and Manchester Evening News Arena were canceled because of "acute laryngitis" and were rescheduled for late November. The concert scheduled for November 6, 2007, at London's Wembley Arena was also canceled. Meat Loaf canceled his entire European tour for 2007 after being diagnosed with a cyst on his vocal cords. On June 27, 2008, Meat Loaf began The Casa de Carne Tour in Plymouth, England alongside his longtime duet partner Patti Russo, who debuted one of her own original songs during the show. The tour continued through July and August with twenty dates throughout England, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. Six U.S. shows were also added for October and December 2008. In May 2009, Meat Loaf began work on the album Hang Cool Teddy Bear in the studio with Green Day's American Idiot album producer Rob Cavallo, working with such writers as Justin Hawkins, Rick Brantley, Ollie Wride, Tommy Henriksen, and Jon Bon Jovi. The album is based on the story of a fictional soldier, whose "story" furnishes the theme. The album is based on a short story by the Los Angeles-based screenwriter and director Kilian Kerwin, a long-time friend of the singer. Hugh Laurie and Jack Black both perform on the album, Laurie plays piano on the song "If I Can't Have You", while Black sings a duet with Meat Loaf on "Like A Rose". Patti Russo and Kara DioGuardi also duet on the album. Brian May of Queen features on guitar along with Steve Vai. It received positive reviews from critics and fans alike. The first single from the album, "Los Angeloser", was released for download on April 5 with the album charting at number 4 in the UK Albums Chart on April 25, 2010. The Hang Cool Tour followed in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Patti Russo accompanied him on the tour, continuing through mid-2011. 2010s Hell in a Handbasket, released in October 2011 for Australia and New Zealand, and February 2012 for the rest of the world, was recorded and produced by Paul Crook; Doug McKean did the mix with input from Rob Cavallo. The album features songs called "All of Me", "Blue Sky", "The Giving Tree", "Mad, Mad World", and a duet with Patti Russo called "Our Love and Our Souls". At the 2011 AFL Grand Final, the pre-match entertainment was headlined by a 12-minute medley performed by Meat Loaf. The performance was panned as the worst in the 34-year history of AFL Grand Final pre-game entertainment in a multitude of online reviews by football fans and Australian sport commentators. Meat Loaf responded by calling online critics "butt-smellers", and the AFL "jerks", vowing to convince other artists not to play at the event. In 2011, Meat Loaf planned to release a Christmas album called Hot Holidays featuring Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire, but the album was never released. In September 2016, Braver Than We Are, a 10-track album created with Jim Steinman, was released. Meat Loaf recorded reworked versions of Steinman's songs "Braver Than We Are", "Speaking in Tongues", "Who Needs the Young", and "More" (previously recorded by the Sisters of Mercy) for the album. Additionally, the song "Prize Fight Lover", originally issued as a download-only bonus track for Hang Cool Teddy Bear, was re-recorded for the album. Later projects and Jim Steinman's death In January 2020, during an interview for The Mirror, Meat Loaf announced "I'm not old. I've got songs for another record and I'm reading a script." In a February 2020 Facebook post, Meat Loaf announced his intention to record a new album containing 'four or five new tracks', including Steinman's "What Part of My Body Hurts the Most" (a song long requested by fans, but previously under contract restrictions for the Bat Out of Hell musical), along with the original 1975 demo recordings made for the Bat Out of Hell album. Meat Loaf's longtime collaborator Jim Steinman died on April 19, 2021, of kidney failure. In a Facebook post in November 2021, he further elaborated that he and his band would be returning to the studio in January 2022 to record seven new songs for a forthcoming album, which would also include live tracks from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. However, on January 20, 2022, he died at age 74. At the time of his death, the recording process had not yet begun. Acting In addition to his role in 1975 for Rocky Horror Picture Show, Meat Loaf also had a career as an actor in television and film. 1992 he was a main character in Leap Of Faith where he played as the band director/bus driver/piano player, He also played a small role as a doorman/bouncer in Wayne's World. He appeared as the Spice Girls' bus driver in the 1997 movie Spice World and as Red in the 1998 thriller/drama film Black Dog alongside Patrick Swayze and Randy Travis. In David Fincher's 1999 film Fight Club he played Robert Paulsen, a man who joins a men's self-help group. He also reportedly assisted director David Fincher with the editing of the film. In 2000, he played a character in the sixth-season episode "Gettysburg" of The Outer Limits. Meat Loaf appears (uncredited) as Jack Black's father in the 2006 film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, providing vocals on the film's opening song "Kickapoo". In 2009, Meat Loaf acted in House (TV Series) S5 E20 "Simple Explanation", playing Eddie - a husband who is determined to die in order to donate his liver to his wife. On October 26, 2010, Meat Loaf (credited as Meat Loaf Aday) appeared on the Fox television series Glee in "The Rocky Horror Glee Show", the series' tribute episode to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In 2011, he was a contestant in season 11 of Celebrity Apprentice, during which he was eliminated after task number 12. In the course of the contest he had a notable dramatic showdown with fellow contestant Gary Busey which was then televised. Personal life Family and residences In December 1978, Meat Loaf went to work with Steinman in Woodstock, New York, where his future wife, Leslie G. Edmonds, was working as a secretary at Bearsville Studios; they were married in early 1979. From a previous marriage, Leslie had a daughter named Pearl, who later married Anthrax rhythm guitarist Scott Ian. Meat Loaf adopted Pearl in 1979, and her last name was changed to Aday. Also in 1979, he and his family moved to a house on Eagle Drive in Stamford, Connecticut. In 1981, Leslie gave birth to Amanda Aday, later a television actress. For a brief time after Amanda's birth, they lived in Westport, Connecticut. He coached children's baseball or softball in each of the Connecticut towns where he lived, including for his daughter's team at Joel Barlow High School. He lived on Orchard Drive in Redding, Connecticut, from 1989 to 1998. He had also lived on Beach Road in Fairfield, Connecticut. In February 1998, the family purchased a house in Beverly Hills, California for $1.6 million. Meat Loaf and Leslie divorced in 2001. In 2001, he sold his 5,083-square-foot house in Mandeville Canyon near Los Angeles to Greg Kinnear for $3.6 million. In 2003, the BBC said that he was seeking a residence in Hartlepool; Meat Loaf supported Hartlepool United F.C. In May 2005, he purchased a 7,142-square-foot Spanish-style home off Mulholland Highway in Calabasas, California, for $2,999,000; he sold it for $3,065,000 in May 2011. He married Deborah Gillespie in 2007. In May 2012, he moved to Austin, Texas, purchasing a newly constructed 5,200-square-foot house at 17701 Flagler Drive for $1,475,000. Before his death, he lived in Brentwood, Tennessee. Name change In 1984, Meat Loaf legally changed his first name from Marvin to Michael because he was "haunted" by a Levi Strauss & Co. commercial which—according to him—contained the line “Poor fat Marvin can't wear Levi's.” Sports Meat Loaf was a fan of the New York Yankees. He got Phil Rizzuto to recite the play-by-play of a young man racing around the bases in "Paradise by the Dashboard Light". He participated in multiple fantasy baseball leagues every season. He also expressed support for the English Association football team Hartlepool United F.C. In June 2008, he took part in a football penalty shootout competition on behalf of two cancer charities in Newcastle upon Tyne. He auctioned shots to the 100 highest bidders and then took his place between the goal posts. He also participated in celebrity golf tournaments. In April 2005, he was one of the celebrity drivers in the 2005 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, finishing seventh among the 12 celebrity drivers in the race. Social anxiety He revealed that he had social anxiety and said, "I never meet anybody much in a social situation because when I go into a social situation, I have no idea what to do." He said that he does not "even go anywhere" and that he felt that he led a "boring life", in having said that he "completely freaked" when having to attend a party and that he was "so nervous, so scared" of the idea. He also said that he spent time with fellow musicians mainly in work-related situations rather than social ones. He also said that as a kid, "Being too fat to play with the other children, I had to spend a lot of time alone, which probably has a lot to do with the way I am today. I'm usually alone in my hotel room from right after the show until the next day's sound check. And I'm never bored; I don't get bored. Probably because mothers wouldn't let their kids play with me." Vegetarianism Meat Loaf was a vegetarian from 1981 to 1992. Discussing the confusion caused by his contrasting stage name and dietary habits, he once told Entertainment Weekly, "There've been vegetarians who wouldn't speak to me because of my name. I was sitting with Jon Bon Jovi at one of those awards things, and I say, 'Oh, man, I love k.d. lang. I'd really like to meet her.' They went to find out if it was okay, and she goes, 'No. His name is Meat Loaf.' I stopped being a k.d. lang fan after that." He declared in 2019 that he would try veganism for Veganuary in 2020 and would be partnering with UK restaurant chain Frankie & Benny's to promote its vegan options. Religion Although he did not belong to any faith-based institution, Meat Loaf was religious. While growing up, he attended church with his mother and studied the Bible, which influenced his work. Several of his songs, such as "40 Days" and "Fall from Grace", have religious themes. He prayed every night. Politics Political affiliations Meat Loaf was not officially registered with any political party. In 1997, he performed at an inaugural ball during the second inauguration of Bill Clinton, and attended the first inauguration of George W. Bush in 2001. He donated to the presidential campaigns of Republican candidates Rick Santorum and John McCain, the latter of whom became the party's nominee in the 2008 United States presidential election. On October 25, 2012, Meat Loaf endorsed Mitt Romney for president, citing poor Russia–United States relations as a major reason he had been "arguing for Mitt Romney for a year". He said, "I have never been in any political agenda in my life, but I think that in 2012 this is the most important election in the history of the United States." He then said there are "storm clouds" over the United States and "thunder storms" over Europe: "There are hail storms – and I mean major hail storms! – in the Middle East. There are storms brewing through China, through Asia, through everywhere." The same day, he performed "America the Beautiful" standing next to Romney. In a 2017 interview with Billboard, he made positive remarks about President Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, and Donald Trump Jr.; they had worked together on The Celebrity Apprentice in 2011. When asked if he would vote for Trump, Meat Loaf said: "I would vote for you. In fact, I'll help you with your campaign." In 2020, however, he said he was not 100% supportive of Trump. Climate change views Meat Loaf said that he did not believe in climate change. In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2020, he called Greta Thunberg "brainwashed" due to her views on climate change, saying: "I feel for that Greta. She has been brainwashed into thinking that there is climate change and there isn't. She hasn't done anything wrong but she's been forced into thinking that what she is saying is true.” Criticism of COVID-19 rules He was critical of the COVID-19 lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in August 2021: "I hug people in the middle of COVID ... I understood stopping life for a little while, but they cannot continue to stop life because of politics." He opposed mask mandates and described a person who called for people on airplanes to wear masks as a "Nazi" and "power-mad". Meat Loaf then said: "If I die, I die, but I'm not going to be controlled." Health In 2003, Meat Loaf was diagnosed with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, a condition marked by an extra electrical pathway in the heart that causes symptoms like a rapid heartbeat. Meat Loaf had asthma and, in July 2011, he fainted on stage while performing in Pittsburgh due to an asthma attack. He collapsed again while on stage in Edmonton in June 2016 due to severe dehydration, after having already canceled two other shows due to illness. The playback containing his pre-recorded, voice-over vocal track continued while he lay unconscious on the stage, which caused controversy over lip syncing, claims that Meat Loaf denied, saying that his mic was live. After the incident, Meat Loaf used acupuncture, physical therapy and a trainer for four days a week, an hour and a half each session. Meat Loaf had emergency back surgery in November 2016 including a spinal fusion due to a cyst that was pinching nerves, and in 2019, he was using a cane and a wheelchair to get around. At the 2019 Texas Frightmare Weekend at the Hyatt Regency DFW hotel, Meat Loaf fell off an interview stage and broke his clavicle. Meat Loaf and his wife sued Texas Frightmare Weekend and Hyatt due to the accident. Death Meat Loaf died in Nashville, Tennessee, on the evening of January 20, 2022, at the age of 74. No official cause of death was released. He was reportedly ill with COVID-19 earlier in January, and reporting by TMZ suggested that he died from COVID-19 complications. As his health rapidly declined, his two daughters rushed to see him in the hospital with his wife being beside him as he died. His daughter had posted to Instagram in early January that: "We are not sick, but we have too many friends and family testing positive [for COVID-19] right now, positive but doing OK". Notable people who posted tributes include Bonnie Tyler, Cher, Brian May, Boy George, Travis Tritt, Marlee Matlin, Stephen Fry, his Rocky Horror co-star Nell Campbell, and Donald Trump. The Queen's Guard performed a rendition of "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)". Discography Tours Filmography Film Television Books Meat Loaf (1999). To Hell and Back: An Autobiography. ReganBooks. ISBN 0-06-039293-2. See also List of bestselling music artists References External links Meat Loaf at AllMusic Meat Loaf at IMDb Meat Loaf at the Internet Broadway Database
Levi_Strauss_%26_Co.	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Strauss_%26_Co.	[ 223 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi_Strauss_%26_Co.#Blue_jeans_era_(1960s%E2%80%931980s)" ]	Levi Strauss & Co. ( LEE-vy STROWSS) is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's ( LEE-vyze) brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to open a West Coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business. Although the corporation is registered in Delaware, the company's corporate headquarters is located in Levi's Plaza in San Francisco. History Origin and formation (1853–1890s) German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss began business at 90 Sacramento Street in San Francisco, then moved to 62 Sacramento Street. In 1858, the company was listed as Strauss, Levi (David Stern & Lewis Strauss) importers clothing, etc. 63 & 65 Sacramento St. (today, on the current grounds of the 353 Sacramento Street Lobby) in the San Francisco Directory with Strauss serving as its sales manager and his brother-in-law, David Stern, as its manager. Jacob Davis, a Latvian-Jewish immigrant, was a Reno, Nevada, tailor who frequently purchased bolts of denim cloth from Levi Strauss & Co.'s wholesale house. After one of Davis's customers kept purchasing cloth to reinforce torn pants, he thought of using copper rivets to reinforce points of strain, such as on pocket corners and the base of the button fly. Davis lacked sufficient funds to obtain a patent, so he wrote to Strauss proposing a business partnership. After Strauss accepted Davis's offer, the two men received U.S. patent 139,121 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office on May 20, 1873. The copper rivet was incorporated into the company's jean design and advertisements. Contrary to an advertising campaign suggesting that Levi Strauss sold his first jeans to gold miners during the California Gold Rush (which peaked in 1849), the manufacturing of denim overalls began in the 1870s. In 1890, the rivet patent went into the public domain; the same year, lot numbers were assigned to company products, and "501" was used to designate the famous copper-riveted waist overalls. The company lost its records in the 1906 earthquake and there is no information why that number was chosen. There are urban legends claiming that the first pair of Levi's jeans were made of hemp, despite being made from cotton by the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. This misinformation was likely spread by Jack Herer. The first hemp jeans from Levi's were manufactured in March 2019. Growth in popularity (1910s–1960s) Modern jeans began to appear in the 1920s, but sales were largely confined to the working people of the western US, such as cowboys, lumberjacks, and railroad workers. Levi's jeans were first introduced to the East during the dude ranch craze of the 1930s, when vacationing Easterners returned home with tales (and usually examples) of the hard-wearing riveted denim pants. Another boost came in World War II when blue jeans were declared an essential commodity and sold only to people engaged in defense work. Between the 1950s and 1980s, Levi's jeans became popular among a wide range of youth subcultures, including greasers, mods, rockers, and hippies. Levi's popular shrink-to-fit 501s were sold as labeled, sized as manufactured, and had substantial shrinkage upon laundering. Although popular lore (abetted by company marketing) holds that the original design remains unaltered, the crotch rivet, watch pocket rivets, and waist cinch were removed during World War II to conform with War Production Board metal conservation rules and only the watch pocket rivets restored after. Additionally, the back pocket rivets, which had been covered in denim since 1937 to prevent scratching furniture, were removed in the 1950s (and replaced by bar tacks) as they eventually wore through and caused the problem anyway. Blue jeans era (1960s–1980s) From the early 1960s through the mid-1970s, Levi Strauss experienced significant business growth as the casual look of the 1960s and 1970s ushered in the "blue jeans craze". Levi's, under the leadership of Walter Haas, Peter Haas Sr., Paul Glasco, and George P. Simpkins Sr., expanded the firm's clothing line by adding new fashions and models, such as "stone-washed" jeans through the acquisition of Great Western Garment Co. (GWG), a Canadian clothing manufacturer, a technique still in use by Levi Strauss. Simpkins is credited with the company's record-paced expansion of its manufacturing capacity from 16 plants to more than 63 in the US – and 23 overseas – from 1964 to 1974. In the 1980s, the company closed approximately 60 manufacturing plants because of financial difficulties and strong competition. The Dockers brand, launched in 1986 and sold primarily through department store chains, helped the company grow through the mid-1990s, as denim sales began to wane. Dockers were introduced into Europe in 1996 and led by CEO Jorge Bardina. Levi Strauss attempted to sell the Dockers division in 2004 to relieve part of the company's $2.6 billion outstanding debt. Brand competition (1990s) By the 1990s, Levi's faced competition from other brands and cheaper products from overseas and began accelerating the pace of its US factory closures and its use of offshore subcontractors. In 1991, Levi Strauss became implicated in a scandal involving pants made in the Northern Mariana Islands: some 3% of Levi's jeans sold annually with the "Made in the USA" label were shown to have been made by Chinese laborers under what the U.S. Department of Labor called slave-like conditions. As of 2016, only a few of the costlier higher-end styles are made domestically. Cited for sub-minimum wages, seven-day work weeks with 12-hour shifts, poor living conditions, and other workplace abuses, Tan Holdings Corporation, Levi Strauss' Marianas subcontractor, paid what were then the largest fines in US labor history, distributing more than $9 million in restitution to some 1,200 employees. Levi Strauss claimed no knowledge of the offenses, severed ties to the Tan family, and instituted labor reforms and inspection practices in its offshore facilities. The activist group Fuerza Unida (United Force) formed following the January 1990 closure of a plant in San Antonio, Texas, in which 1,150 seamstresses – some of whom had worked for Levi Strauss for decades – saw their jobs exported to Costa Rica. During the mid-and late 1990s, Fuerza Unida picketed the Levi Strauss headquarters in San Francisco and staged hunger strikes and sit-ins in protest of the company's labor policies. The company took on multibillion-dollar debt in February 1996 to help finance a series of private leveraged stock buyouts among family members determined to consolidate the company under their ownership. At the time, shares in Levi Strauss stock were not publicly traded. As of 2016, the firm was owned almost entirely by indirect descendants and collateral relatives of Levi Strauss, whose four nephews inherited the San Francisco dry-goods firm after their uncle died in 1902. The corporation's bonds are traded publicly, as are shares of the company's Japanese affiliate, Levi Strauss Japan K.K. In June 1996, the company offered to pay its workers an unusual dividend of up to $750 million in six years, having halted an employee-stock plan during the internal family buyout. However, the company failed to make cash-flow targets, and no worker dividends were paid. The annual sales of the brand increased in 1997 to $7.1 billion. Later developments (2000–present) In 2002, Levi Strauss began a close business collaboration with Walmart, producing a line of "Signature" jeans and other clothes for sale only in Walmart stores until 2006. In 2002, the company closed its Valencia Street plant in San Francisco, which opened in 1906, the year of the city's devastating earthquake. By the end of 2003, the closure of Levi's last U.S. factory in San Antonio ended 150 years of jeans made in the United States. Production of a few higher-end, more expensive styles of jeans resumed in the U.S. several years later. In 2002, Levi Strauss closed several factories worldwide and took control of GWG's operations. Attempts to make the GWG brand profitable again were unsuccessful, and the Edmonton GWG factory, along with all remaining Levi Strauss factories in North America, closed in 2004. By 2007, Levi Strauss was again profitable after declining sales in nine of the previous ten years. Its total annual sales of just over $4 billion were $3 billion less than during its peak performance in the mid-1990s. After more than two decades of family ownership, rumors of a possible public stock offering appeared in the media in July 2007. As of 2007, Levi Strauss leads the apparel industry in trademark infringement cases, filing nearly 100 lawsuits against competitors over six years from 2001. Most cases center on the alleged imitation of Levi's back pocket double arc stitching pattern (U.S. trademark No. 1,139,254), which Levi's filed for a trademark in 1978. Levi's has successfully sued Guess, Polo Ralph Lauren, Esprit Holdings, Zegna, Zumiez, and Lucky Brand Jeans, among other companies. In 2010, the company partnered with Filson, an outdoor goods manufacturer in Seattle, to produce a high-end line of jackets and workwear. In 2011, the firm hired Chip Bergh as the president and chief executive of the brand. In that same year, they established more than 20 different waterless manufacturing techniques, reducing the exceptionally high amounts of water used to create denim. Levi's is now the world's most sustainable brand of jeans in terms of water usage. On May 8, 2013, the NFL's San Francisco 49ers announced that Levi Strauss & Co. had purchased the naming rights to their new stadium in Santa Clara, California. The naming rights deal called for Levi's to pay $220.3 million to the city of Santa Clara and the 49ers over 20 years, with an option to extend the agreement for another five years for around $75 million. As of 2016, Levi Strauss Signature jeans were sold in 110 countries. In 2016, the company reported revenues of $4.6 billion. On July 13, 2017, Levi Strauss heir Bill Goldman died in a private plane crash near Sonoma, California. In 2017, Levi Strauss & Co. released a "smart jacket", an apparel they developed in partnership with Google. After two years of collaboration, the result was a denim jacket set at $350. In March 2019, Levi's debuted on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "LEVI". Levi Strauss was valued at $6.6 billion as its IPO priced above the target. In September 2019, Levi's won a final judgment on a trademark infringement in Guangzhou, China. The case centered on the "arcuate design on two pockets at the back of jeans", which has been protected in China since its registration there in 2005. The company won damages and costs in addition to a ban on future infringements. The infringer's ignorance of the trademark was no bar to punishment. In 2019, Levi's became one of only two major clothing companies with commitments in line with the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In 2020, Levi Strauss & Co. was expected to have completely replaced chemical usage as well as using lasers to cut, and design ripped parts of jeans. In December 2019, the Engage for Good (formerly Cause Marketing Forum) organization awarded the company the Golden Halo Award for 2020 for their advancements in corporate social impact. On August 5, 2021, Levi Strauss & Co. announced the acquisition of Beyond Yoga, entering the activewear market. They expect the acquisition will contribute more than $100 million in net revenue per year. It was announced senior executives are to speak with AI expert Blake Van Leer at the LA eCommerce Summit about their digital strategies and AI in 2023. It was announced in January 2023 that Levi would begin accepting old pairs of jeans to recycle into more denim in a campaign to go green. Levi's Autumn/Winter 2023 WellThread capsule aimed to show the brand's engagement to sustainability as it included items made from 100% transitional cotton as well as plant-based natural dyes. Cultural impact Levi's have been worn by people of all backgrounds – from miners to actors to Nobel Prize recipients. Marlon Brando and Albert Einstein wore Levi's, and Einstein wore a 1930s-era Levi's leather jacket, which sold at auction house Christie's in July 2016 for £110,500. Levi's is aggressive in advertising, marketing, and trademark protection. It has used its signature arched stitching on the back pockets of its jeans since 1873. In 1943, the firm trademarked the design in the U.S. and has done so in more than 100 total jurisdictions as of 2019. It has also trademarked various word marks, including "Levi's", "Red Tab", "Orange Tab", "Silvertab", "501", "505", "517", "550", "569": and "Dockers". During the Cold War, Levi's became a symbol of the west in the Soviet Union. According to historian Kristin Roth-Ey, the association stemmed from the 1957 World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow: Americans wore Levi's jeans to the event, resulting in widespread interest within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic that prompted the Soviet government to condemn the brand as a symbol of western decadence. Continued demand for the jeans resulted in both genuine articles and bootlegs becoming commonplace in Soviet black markets, and in 1979, the Soviet government struck deals with Levi's and the VF Corporation to manufacture jeans for consumers in the region; however, this deal fell through due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott following the onset of the Soviet–Afghan War. In 2022, it was reported that a pair of Levi's jeans from the 1880s found in an abandoned mine shaft was sold for $87,400 at an auction in New Mexico. The vintage Levi's bore a label with the inscription "the only kind made by white labor", a detail which helped date the jeans to the period between 1882, which was after the U.S. Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, banning Chinese laborers seeking to immigrate to the U.S., and the 1890s, when the company "reversed [its] policy and company leaders began speaking out against the nation's racist policy". Corporate structure and staff Levi Strauss & Co. is a worldwide corporation organized into three geographic divisions: Levi Strauss Americas (LSA), which is headquartered in San Francisco; Levi Strauss Europe (LSE), which is based in Brussels; and Levi Strauss Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Strauss passed the company to his nephews, the sons of David Stern, upon his death in 1902. Walter A. Haas, who married the daughter of David's fourth son, Sigmund Stern, became president in 1928, and the company remained under the ownership of the Stern-Haas family until first going public in 1971. However, in 1985, the Haas family recaptured ownership of the company, taking it private once again for the next 34 years. In February 2019, the company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LEVI. It was held on March 21, 2019, selling for $17 per share. The company is also well known for promoting progressive causes. It was one of the earliest private sector institutions to support LGBTQ causes and, during the 2016 presidential campaign, donated $1 million to support immigration and LGBTQ rights. In 2018, CEO Chip Bergh published an op-ed in Fortune magazine, speaking out against gun violence. However, the company is alleged to make use of Uyghur forced labor provided by the China-based supplier Beijing Guanghua Textile Group from a report by the Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice, the socialists and democrats in the European Parliament. Levi's has disputed these claims. In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company experienced a 62% drop in sales and recorded a $364 million loss. Some 700 office jobs were pared to reduce expenses by $100 million. Current products As of 2019, Levi's are made in many developing countries, including Bangladesh, India, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Mexico. Some top-end styles in the "Levi's Premium" and "Levi's Vintage Clothing" lines are produced in the United States. In addition to jeans, Levi's sells a full line of shirts, jackets, sweaters, underwear, socks, eyeglasses, accessories, dresses, skirts, and leather products. All jeans and pants are categorized by fit – skinny, slim, straight, bootcut, taper, relaxed, flare, and "big & tall" – identified by trademarked three-digit numbers. The 501, the company's original modern design, is available in styles for both men and women. The rest of the 500 series is designed for men, and the 300, 400, 700, and 800 series for women. See also Jean jacket References Further reading Ford, Carin T. (2004). Levi Strauss: The Man Behind Blue Jeans (Famous Inventors). Enslow Publishers. ISBN 0-7660-2249-8. Van Steenwyk, Elizabeth (1988). Levi Strauss: The Blue Jeans Man. Walker. ISBN 0-8027-6795-8. Cray, Ed (1978). Levi's: The Shrink to Fit business that stretched to cover the world. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-26477-4. External links Business data for Levi Strauss & Co.:
Brazil_national_football_team	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_national_football_team	[ 224 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_national_football_team#FIFA_World_Cup" ]	The Brazil national football team (Portuguese: Seleção Brasileira de Futebol), nicknamed Seleção Canarinho ("Canary Squad", after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international football and is administered by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), the governing body for football in Brazil. They have been a member of FIFA since 1923 and a member of CONMEBOL since 1916. Brazil is the most successful national team in the FIFA World Cup, being crowned winner five times: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. The Seleção also has the best overall performance in the World Cup competition, both in proportional and absolute terms, with a record of 76 victories in 114 matches played, 129 goal difference, 247 points, and 19 losses. It is the only national team to have played in all World Cup editions without any absence nor need for playoffs, and the only team to have won the World Cup in four different continents: once in Europe (1958 Sweden), once in South America (1962 Chile), twice in North America (1970 Mexico and 1994 United States), and once in Asia (2002 South Korea/Japan). Brazil was also the most successful team in the now-defunct FIFA Confederations Cup, winning it four times, in 1997, 2005, 2009, and 2013. With the capture of the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Brazil has become one of only two countries, the others being France, to have won all men's FIFA 11-player competitions at all age levels. In ranking standings, Brazil has the highest average football Elo rating, and the fourth all-time peak football Elo rating, established in 2022. In FIFA's ranking system Brazil holds the record for most Team of the Year first ranking wins with 13. Many commentators, experts, and former players have considered the Brazil team of 1970 to be the greatest team of all time. Other Brazilian teams are also highly esteemed and regularly appear listed among the best teams of all time, such as the Brazil teams of 1958–62 and the squads of the 1994–02 period, with honorary mentions for the gifted 1982 side. In 1996, the Brazil national team achieved 35 consecutive matches undefeated, a feat which they held as a world record for 25 years. Brazil has developed many rivalries through the years, with the most notable ones being with Argentina—known as the Superclássico das Américas in Portuguese, Italy—known as the Clássico Mundial in Portuguese or the World Derby in English, Uruguay—known as the Clássico do Rio Negro, due to the traumatic Maracanazo, and the Netherlands due to several important meetings between the two teams at several World Cups. History Early history (1914–1922) It is generally believed that the inaugural game of the Brazil national football team was a 1914 match between a Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo select team and the English club Exeter City, held in Fluminense's stadium. Brazil won 2–0 with goals by Oswaldo Gomes and Osman, though it is claimed that the match was a 3–3 draw. In contrast to its future success, the national team's early appearances were not brilliant. Other early matches played during that time include several friendly games against Argentina (being defeated 3–0), Chile (first in 1916) and Uruguay (first on 12 July 1916). However, led by the goalscoring abilities of Arthur Friedenreich, they were victorious at home in the South American Championships in 1919, repeating their victory, also at home, in 1922. First World Cup and title drought (1930–1949) In 1930, Brazil played in the first World Cup, held in Uruguay. The squad defeated Bolivia but lost to Yugoslavia, being eliminated from the competition at group stage. They lost in the first round to Spain in 1934 in Italy, but reached the semi-finals in France in 1938, being defeated 2–1 by eventual winners Italy. Brazil were the only South American team to participate in this competition. The 1949 South American Championship held in Brazil ended a 27-year streak without official titles. The last one was in the 1922 South American Championship, also played on Brazilian soil. The 1950 Maracanazo After that, Brazil first achieved international prominence when it hosted the 1950 FIFA World Cup. The team went into the last game of the final round, against Uruguay at Estádio do Maracanã in Rio, needing only a draw to win the World Cup. Uruguay, however, won the match and the Cup in a game known as "the Maracanazo". The match led to a period of national mourning. For the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, Brazil was then almost completely renovated, with the team colours changed (to a new design by Aldyr Schlee) from all white to the yellow, blue and green of the national flag, to forget the Maracanazo, but still had a group of star players. Brazil reached the quarter-final, where they were beaten 4–2 by tournament favourites Hungary in one of the ugliest matches in football history, known as the "Battle of Berne". Pelé and the First Golden Era (1958–1970) For the 1958 World Cup, Brazil were drawn in a group with England, the USSR and Austria. They beat Austria 3–0 in their first match, then drew 0–0 with England. Before the match, coach Vicente Feola made three substitutions that were crucial for Brazil to defeat the Soviets: Zito, Garrincha and Pelé. From the kick-off, they kept up the pressure relentlessly, and after three minutes, which were later described as "the greatest three minutes in the history of football", Vavá gave Brazil the lead. They won the match by 2–0. Pelé scored the only goal of their quarter-final match against Wales, and they beat France 5–2 in the semi-final. Brazil then beat Sweden 5–2 in the final, winning their first World Cup and becoming the first nation to win a World Cup title outside of its own continent. Pelé described it tearfully as a nation coming of age. In the 1962 World Cup, Brazil earned its second title with Garrincha as the star player, a mantle and responsibility laid upon him after the regular talisman, Pelé, was injured during the second group match against Czechoslovakia and unable to play for the rest of the tournament. In the 1966 World Cup, Brazil had their worst performance in a World Cup. The 1966 tournament was remembered for its excessively physical play, and Pelé was one of the players most affected. Against Portugal, several violent tackles by the Portuguese defenders caused forward player Pelé to leave the match and the tournament. Brazil lost this match and was eliminated in the first round of the World Cup for the first time since 1934. They have not failed to reach the knockout stages of the competition since. Brazil became the second nation to be eliminated in the first round while holding the World Cup crown following Italy in 1950. After the 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cups, France, Italy, Spain and Germany were also added to this list. After the tournament, Pelé declared that he did not wish to play in the World Cup again. Nonetheless, he returned in 1970. Brazil won its third World Cup in Mexico in 1970. It fielded what has been widely considered the best World Cup football squad ever, led by Pelé in his last World Cup finals, captain Carlos Alberto Torres, Jairzinho, Tostão, Gérson and Rivellino. Even though Garrincha had retired, this team was still a force to be reckoned with. They won all six of their games—against Czechoslovakia, England and Romania during group play, and against Peru, Uruguay and Italy in the knockout rounds. Jairzinho was the second top scorer with seven goals, and is the only player to score in every match in a World Cup; Pelé finished with four goals. Brazil lifted the Jules Rimet trophy for the third time (the first nation to do so), which meant that they were allowed to keep it. A replacement was then commissioned, though it would be 24 years before Brazil won it again. The dry spell (1974–1990) After the international retirement of Pelé and other stars from the 1970 squad, Brazil was not able to overcome the Netherlands at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, and finished in fourth place after losing the third place game to Poland. In the second group stage of the 1978 World Cup, Brazil competed with tournament hosts Argentina for top spot and a place in the finals. In their last group match, Brazil defeated Poland 3–1 to go to the top of the group with a goal difference of +5. Argentina had a goal difference of +2, but in its last group match, it defeated Peru 6–0, and thus qualified for the final in a match accused of ultimately-unproven match fixing. Brazil subsequently beat Italy in the third place play-off, and were the only team to remain unbeaten in the tournament. At the 1982 World Cup, held in Spain, Brazil were the tournament favorites, and easily moved through the early part of the draw, but a 3–2 defeat in Barcelona to Italy, in a classic World Cup match, eliminated them from the tournament in the match that they refer to as "Sarriá's Tragedy", referencing the stadium's name. The 1982 team, with a midfield of Sócrates, Zico, Falcão and Éder, is remembered as perhaps the greatest team never to win a World Cup. Several players, including Sócrates and Zico, from 1982 returned to play at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Brazil, still a very good team and more disciplined defensively than four years earlier, met the Michel Platini-led France in the quarter-finals in a classic of Total Football. The game played to a 1–1 draw in regulation time, and after a goalless extra time, it all came down to a penalty shoot-out, where Brazil was defeated 4–3. After a 40-year hiatus, Brazil was victorious in the 1989 Copa América, this being their fourth victory in four tournaments hosted in Brazil. This achievement ended Brazil's 19-year streak without an official championship since the 1970 World Cup. At the 1990 World Cup in Italy, Brazil was coached by Sebastião Lazaroni, who had been the coach in the 1989 Copa América. With a defensive scheme, whose main symbol was midfielder Dunga, forward Careca and three centre-backs, the team lacked creativity but made it to the second round. Brazil was eliminated by Diego Maradona-led Argentina in the round of 16 in Turin, losing to their South American archrivals 1–0. The Second Golden Era (1994–2002) Brazil went 24 years without winning a World Cup or even participating in a final. Their struggles ended at the 1994 tournament in the United States, where a solid side headed by Romário and Bebeto in attack, captain Dunga in midfield, goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel and defender Jorginho, won the World Cup for a then-record fourth time. Highlights of their campaign included a 1–0 victory over the United States in the round of 16 at Stanford University, a 3–2 win over the Netherlands in the quarter-finals in Dallas, and a 1–0 victory over Sweden in the semi-finals at Pasadena's Rose Bowl. This set up Brazil–Italy in the final in Pasadena. A game played in searing heat which ended as a goalless draw, with Italy's defence led by Franco Baresi keeping out Romário, penalty kicks loomed, and Brazil became champions with Roberto Baggio missing Italy's last penalty. Despite the triumph, the 1994 World Cup winning team is not held in the same high esteem in Brazil as their other World Cup winning teams. FourFourTwo magazine labelled the 1994 team "unloved" in Brazil due to their pragmatic, defensive style over the more typical Brazilian style of attacking flair. Entering the 1998 World Cup as defending champions, Brazil finished runner-up. Having topped their group and won the next two rounds, Brazil beat the Netherlands on penalties in the semi-final following a 1–1 draw. Player of the tournament Ronaldo scored four goals and made three assists en route to the final. The build up to the final itself was overshadowed by Ronaldo suffering a convulsive fit only hours before kick off. The starting line up without Ronaldo was released to a shocked world media, but after pleading that he felt fine and requested to play, Ronaldo was reinstated by the coach, before giving a below par performance as France, led by Zidane, won 3–0. Fuelled by the "Three R's" (Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho), Brazil won its fifth championship at the 2002 World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan. Brazil beat all three opponents in group play in South Korea and topped the group. In Brazil's opening game against Turkey, in Ulsan, Rivaldo fell to the ground clutching his face after Turkey's Hakan Ünsal had kicked the ball at his legs. Rivaldo escaped suspension but was fined £5,180 for play-acting, and became the first player ever to be punished in FIFA's crackdown on diving. In their knockout round matches in Japan, Brazil defeated Belgium 2–0 in Kobe in the round of 16. Brazil defeated England 2–1 in the quarter-finals in Shizuoka, with the winning goal coming from an unexpected free-kick by Ronaldinho from 40 yards out. The semi-final was against Turkey in Saitama; Brazil won 1–0. The final was between Germany and Brazil in Yokohama, where Ronaldo scored two goals in Brazil's 2–0 triumph. Ronaldo also won the Golden Shoe as the tournament's leading scorer with 8 goals. Brazil's success saw them receive the Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year. Brazil won the 2004 Copa América, their third win in four competitions since 1997. Brazil also won the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup for the second time. Manager Carlos Alberto Parreira built his side through a 4–2–2–2 formation. Nicknamed the "Magic quartet", the attack was built around four players: Ronaldo, Adriano, Kaká and Ronaldinho. World Cup drought (2006–present) In the 2006 World Cup, Brazil won their three group games against Croatia (1–0), Australia (2–0) and Japan (4–1). Ronaldo scored twice and equalled the record for the most goals scored across all World Cups. In the round of 16, Brazil beat Ghana 3–0. Ronaldo's goal was his 15th in World Cup history, breaking the record. Brazil, however, were eliminated in the quarter-finals against France, losing 1–0 to a Thierry Henry goal. Dunga was appointed as Brazil's new team manager in 2006. Brazil then won the 2007 Copa América. Two years later, Brazil won the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, defeating the U.S. 3–2 in the final, to seal their third Confederations Cup title. At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Brazil won their first two matches against North Korea (2–1) and the Ivory Coast (3–1), respectively. Their last match, against Portugal, ended in a 0–0 draw. They faced Chile in the round of 16, winning 3–0, although in the quarter-final they fell to the Netherlands 2–1. In July 2010, Mano Menezes was named as Brazil's new coach. At the 2011 Copa América, Brazil lost against Paraguay and was eliminated in the quarter-finals. In November 2012, coach Mano Menezes was sacked and replaced by Luiz Felipe Scolari. On 6 June 2013, Brazil was ranked 22nd in the FIFA ranking, their lowest-ever rank. At the 2013 Confederations Cup, Brazil defended their title, beating Spain in the final, winning 3–0 and sealing their fourth Confederations Cup title. 2014 FIFA World Cup In the opening match of the 2014 World Cup against Croatia, two goals from Neymar and one from Oscar saw the Seleção off to a winning start in their first World Cup on home soil in 64 years. The team then drew with Mexico, before confirming qualification to the knockout stage by defeating Cameroon 4–1. Brazil faced Chile in the round of 16, needing penalties to prevail to the next round following a 1–1 draw. The team again faced South American opposition in the quarter-final, defeating Colombia 2–1. However, late in the match, Neymar was stretchered off after suffering a fractured vertebra, ruling him out for the remainder of the tournament. The Seleção went on to lose 7–1 to the Germans – their biggest ever defeat at the World Cup and first home loss in a competitive match since 1975. The match has been nicknamed the Mineirazo, making reference to the nation's previous World Cup defeat on home soil, the Maracanazo against Uruguay in 1950, and the Estádio do Mineirão where the match took place. Brazil subsequently lost 3–0 to the Netherlands in the third-place play-off match. Following the tournament, Scolari announced his resignation. Return of Dunga (2014–2016) On 22 July 2014, Dunga was announced as the new manager of Brazil, returning to the position for the first time since the team's exit at the 2010 World Cup. At the 2015 Copa América, Brazil finished first in Group C to advance to the knockout stages. However, they were eliminated in the next round, losing on penalties to Paraguay. At the 2016 Copa América Centenario, Brazil began the tournament with a goalless draw with Ecuador before beating Haiti 7–1 in the next match. Needing only a draw to progress to the knockout stage of the tournament, Brazil suffered a controversial 1–0 loss to Peru, with Raúl Ruidíaz scoring in the 75th minute. This defeat saw Brazil eliminated from the tournament in the group stage for the first time since 1987. 2016–present On 14 June 2016, Tite replaced Dunga as manager of Brazil. At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Brazil finished top of their group. After defeating Mexico in the round of 16, Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Belgium, losing 2–1. Despite elimination from the tournament, Tite remained as head coach ahead of the 2019 Copa América held on home soil. He would lead Brazil to their first Copa América title since 2007. After beating rivals Argentina 2–0 in the semi-finals, Brazil beat Peru in the final to win their ninth Copa América title. At the 2021 Copa América, Brazil reached the final match again, but this time they were defeated by Argentina 1-0 in the Maracana Stadium. At the 2022 World Cup, Brazil finished first in their group. The team then faced South Korea in the round of 16, winning with a 3-goal margin, and progressed to the quarter-finals where they eventually lost 4–2 on penalties to Croatia. Following their exit from the World Cup, Tite resigned as head coach. At the 2024 Copa América, Brazil were eliminated on penalties by Uruguay in the quarter-finals following a 0–0 draw. Team image Uniforms Brazil's first team colors were white with blue collars, but following the defeat at Maracanã in the 1950 World Cup, the colors were criticized for lacking patriotism. With permission from the Brazilian Sports Confederation, the newspaper Correio da Manhã held a competition to design a new kit incorporating the four colors of the Brazilian flag. The winning design was a yellow jersey with green trim and blue shorts with white trim drawn by Aldyr Garcia Schlee, a nineteen-year-old from Pelotas. The new colors were first used in March 1954 in a match against Chile, and have been used ever since. Topper were the manufacturers of Brazil's kit up to and including the match against Wales on 11 September 1991; Umbro took over before the next match, versus Yugoslavia in October 1991. Nike began making Brazil kits in late 1996, in time for the 1997 Copa América and the 1998 World Cup. The use of blue and white as the second kit colors owes its origins to the defunct latter-day Portuguese monarchy and dates from the 1930s, but it became the permanent second choice accidentally in the 1958 World Cup Final. Brazil's opponents were Sweden, who also wore yellow, and a draw gave the home team, Sweden, the right to play in yellow. Brazil, who traveled with no second kit, hurriedly purchased a set of blue shirts and sewed the badges taken from their yellow shirts on them. Kit sponsorship Nicknames The Brazil national team is known by different names in various parts of the world. Nicknames for the squad in Brazil include: Canarinho, meaning 'Little Canary', a reference to a species of bird commonly found in Brazil that has a vivid yellow color, this phrase was popularized by the late cartoonist Fernando "Mangabeira" Pieruccetti during the 1950 World Cup despite the team not wearing the color yet back then Amarelinha (Little Yellow One) Seleção (The National Squad) Verde-amarela (The Green and Yellow) Pentacampeão (Five-time Champions) Esquadrão de Ouro (The Golden Squad) Some Latin American commentators often refer to the Brazil team as El Scratch (The Scratch), among others. In 2022 FIFA World Cup, FIFA's YouTube channel referred to the team as Samba Boys. Training camp Brazil's training camp is the Granja Comary in Teresópolis, located 90 km (56 mi) from Rio de Janeiro. Granja Comary was opened in 1987, and underwent significant renovations in 2013 and 2014. Results and fixtures The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. Win Draw Loss Fixture 2023 2024 2025 Coaching staff Players Current squad The following 23 players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification against Chile and Peru on 10 and 15 October 2024, respectively. Caps and goals are correct as of 10 September 2024, after the match against Paraguay. Recent call-ups The following players have also been called up to the Brazil squad in the last twelve months. Individual records As of 12 October 2023. Players in bold are still active with Brazil. Most capped players Top goalscorers Other records Youngest goalscorer Pelé (16 years and nine months) vs. Argentina, 7 July 1957 Oldest goalscorer Romário (39 years and two months) vs. Guatemala, 27 April 2005 Most goals scored in a single match Evaristo (5 goals) vs. Colombia, 24 March 1957 First goal scored Oswaldo Gomes vs. Exeter City FC, 21 July 1914 (unofficial game) Rubens Salles vs. Argentina, 27 September 1914 (official game) Most clean sheets Cláudio Taffarel (52 matches) Most matches as a captain Cafu (66 matches) Most yellow cards received Neymar (31 yellow cards) Most red cards received Dunga and Éder Aleixo (3 red cards each) Manager records Mário Zagallo became the first person to win the FIFA World Cup both as a player (1958 and 1962) and as a manager (1970). In 1970, when he was of age 38, he won the FIFA World Cup which made him the second youngest coach to win the FIFA World Cup. While still in Brazil as an assistant coach, the team won the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Competitive record Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place Tournament played fully or partially on home soil FIFA World Cup Brazil has qualified for every FIFA World Cup they entered, never requiring a qualifying play-off. With five titles, they have won the tournament on more occasions than any other national team. *Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out. Copa América FIFA Confederations Cup Olympic Games Head-to-head record Below is a result summary of all matches Brazil have played against FIFA recognized teams. Updated to 10 September 2024, after the match against Paraguay. Positive Record Neutral Record Negative Record Matches against non-FIFA and clubs Honours Major competitions Worldwide FIFA World Cup Champions (5): 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002 Runners-up (2): 1950, 1998 Third place (2): 1938, 1978 FIFA Confederations Cup Champions (4): 1997, 2005, 2009, 2013 Runners-up (1): 1999 Olympic Games Silver medal (2): 1984, 1988 Continental South American Championship / Copa América Champions (9): 1919, 1922, 1949, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007, 2019 Runners-up (12): 1921, 1925, 1937, 1945, 1946, 1953, 1957, 1959 (Argentina), 1983, 1991, 1995, 2021 Third place (7): 1916, 1917, 1920, 1942, 1959 (Ecuador), 1975, 1979 Panamerican Championship Champions (2): 1952, 1956 Runners-up (1): 1960 CONCACAF Gold Cup Runners-up (2): 1996, 2003 Third place (1): 1998 Friendly Roca Cup (vs Argentina) Winners (8): 1914, 1922, 1945, 1957, 1960, 1963, 1971 (shared), 1976 Superclásico de las Américas (vs Argentina) Winners (4): 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018 Copa Confraternidad (vs Argentina) Winners: 1923 Copa 50imo Aniversario de Clarín (vs Argentina) Winners: 1995 Copa Río Branco (vs Uruguay) Winners (7): 1931, 1932, 1947, 1950, 1967 (shared), 1968, 1976 Copa Rodrigues Alves (vs Paraguay) Winners (2): 1922, 1923 Taça Oswaldo Cruz (vs Paraguay) Winners (8): 1950, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1968, 1976 Copa Bernardo O'Higgins (vs Chile) Winners (4): 1955, 1959, 1961, 1966 (shared) Copa Teixeira (vs Chile) Winners: 1990 (shared) Taça Jorge Chavéz / Santos Dumont (vs Peru) Winners: 1968 Taça Interventor Federal (vs EC Bahia) Winners: 1934 Taça Dois de Julho (vs Bahia XI) Winners: 1934 Copa Emílio Garrastazú Médici (vs Mexico) Winners: 1970 Taça Independência Winners: 1972 Taça do Atlântico Winners (3): 1956, 1970, 1976 U.S.A. Bicentennial Cup Tournament Winners: 1976 Taça Centenário Jornal O Fluminense (vs Rio de Janeiro XI) Winners: 1978 Saudi Crown Prince Trophy (vs Al Ahli Saudi FC) Winners: 1978 Rous Cup Winners: 1987 Australia Bicentenary Gold Cup Winners: 1988 Amistad Cup Winners: 1992 Umbro Cup Winners: 1995 Nelson Mandela Challenge Winners: 1996 Lunar New Year Cup Winners: 2005 Kirin Challenge Cup Winners: 2022 Awards FIFA Team of the Year Winners (13): 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2022 World Soccer Team of the Year Winners (2): 1982, 2002 Laureus World Team of the Year Winners: 2003 Gazzetta Sports World Team of the Year Winners (2): 1994, 2002 FIFA World Cup Fair Play Trophy Winners (4): 1982, 1986, 1994, 2006 FIFA Confederations Cup Fair Play Trophy Winners (2): 1999, 2009 Copa América Fair Play Trophy Winners (2): 2019, 2021 Chronology of titles Summary See also Brazil national football team results (2010–present) Brazil national under-23 football team Brazil national under-20 football team Brazil national under-17 football team Brazil national futsal team Brazil national beach soccer team Brazilian football songs List of Brazil national football team managers Pra Frente Brasil References Sources Ruy Castro (2005). Garrincha – The triumph and tragedy of Brazil's forgotten footballing hero. Translated by Andrew Downie. London: Yellow Jersey Press. ISBN 0-224-06433-9. Ivan Soter (2015). Enciclopédia da Seleção: 100 anos de seleção brasileira de futebol. Rio de Janeiro: Folha Seca. ISBN 978-85-87199-29-4. External links Official website (in Portuguese) Brazil FIFA profile Brazil CONMEBOL profile Brazilian Football – Guide to Football in Brazil RSSSF Brazil All about Brazilian Football – Sambafoot.com
Blink-182	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink-182	[ 224 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink-182#Tours" ]	Blink-182 is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Poway, California. Their current and best-known line-up consists of bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though their sound has diversified throughout their career, their musical style, described as pop-punk, blends catchy pop melodies with fast-paced punk rock. Their lyrics primarily focus on relationships, adolescent frustration, and maturity—or lack thereof. The group emerged from a suburban, Southern California skate punk scene and first gained notoriety for high-energy live shows and irreverent humour. The band's debut studio album, Cheshire Cat, was released in 1994. Their second studio album, Dude Ranch, came out in 1997. After years of independent recording and touring, including stints on the Warped Tour, the group signed to MCA Records. Their third and fourth albums—Enema of the State (1999) and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001)—reached their furthest commercial success while their singles, "All the Small Things", "Dammit" and "What's My Age Again?" became hit songs and MTV staples. Later efforts, including an untitled album (2003), Neighborhoods (2011), and an EP Dogs Eating Dogs (2012), marked stylistic shifts. Hoppus is the only member to remain in the band throughout its entire history. DeLonge left the group twice, both times a decade apart, before returning once more. Founding drummer Scott Raynor recorded and toured with the group before being dismissed in 1998, thereafter being replaced by Barker. During DeLonge's absence from 2015 to 2022, the band included Alkaline Trio singer and guitarist Matt Skiba, with whom they recorded two albums, California (2016), and Nine (2019), and toured in support of both. Their ninth album, One More Time..., was released on October 20, 2023. Blink-182's straightforward approach and simple arrangements, which helped initiate pop-punk's second mainstream rise, made them popular among generations of audiences. Worldwide, the group has sold 50 million albums and moved 15.3 million copies in the U.S. History Formation and initial years (1992–1994) Blink-182, originally named only Blink, was formed in August 1992 in Poway, California, a northern suburb of San Diego. Guitarist Tom DeLonge was expelled from Poway High School for being drunk at a basketball game and was forced to attend another school, Rancho Bernardo High School, for one semester. There, he performed at a Battle of the Bands competition, where he was introduced to drummer Scott Raynor. He also befriended Kerry Key, who was also interested in punk rock music. Key was dating Anne Hoppus, sister of bassist Mark Hoppus, who had recently moved from Ridgecrest, California, to work at a record store and attend college. Both Hoppus and DeLonge grew up listening to punk rock music, with both particularly enamoured by the Descendents. Southern California had a large punk population in the early 1990s, aided by an active surfing, skating, and snowboarding scene. In contrast to East Coast punk music, the West Coast wave of groups typically introduced more melodic aspects. "New York is gloomy, dark and cold. It makes different music. The Californian middle-class suburbs have nothing to be that bummed about," said DeLonge. Anne introduced her brother to DeLonge on August 2, 1992. The pair instantly connected and played for hours in DeLonge's garage, exchanging lyrics and co-writing songs—one of which became fan favorite "Carousel". Hoppus, hoping to impress DeLonge, fell from a lamppost in front of DeLonge's home and cracked his ankles, putting him on crutches for three weeks. The trio began to practice together in Raynor's bedroom, spending time writing music, seeing movies and punk concerts, and playing practical jokes. The trio first operated under a variety of names, including Duck Tape and Figure 8, until DeLonge rechristened the band "Blink". Hoppus' girlfriend of the time was annoyed by his constant attention to the band, and demanded he make a choice between the band and her, which resulted in Hoppus leaving the band not long after its formation. Shortly thereafter, DeLonge and Raynor borrowed a four-track recorder from friend and collaborator Cam Jones and were preparing to record a demo tape, with Jones on bass. Hoppus promptly broke up with his girlfriend and returned to the band. Flyswatter—a combination of original songs and punk covers—was recorded in Raynor's bedroom in May 1993. The band began booking shows, and were on stage nearly every weekend, even at Elks Lodges and YMCA centres. DeLonge constantly called clubs in San Diego asking for a spot to play, as well as local high schools, convincing them that Blink was a "motivational band with a strong antidrug message" in hopes to play at an assembly or lunch. San Diego at this time was "hardly a hotbed of [musical] activity", according to journalist Joe Shooman and the band's popularity grew as did punk rock concurrently in the mainstream. They quickly became part of a circuit that also included bands such as Ten Foot Pole and Unwritten Law, and Blink soon found its way onto the bill as the opening band for acts performing at Soma, a local all-ages venue. "The biggest dreams we ever had when we started was to [headline] a show at Soma", Hoppus said later. Meanwhile, Hoppus' manager at the record store, Patrick Secor, fronted the group money to properly record another demo at a local studio Doubletime. The result was Buddha (1994), which the members of the band viewed as the band's first legitimate release. That year, however, Raynor's family relocated to Reno, Nevada, and he was briefly replaced by musician Mike Krull. The band saved money and began flying Raynor out to shows, and he eventually moved back and in with Hoppus in mid-1995. During that time, the band would record its first album, first music video, and develop a larger following. Early releases and touring (1995–1998) The heart of the local independent music scene was Cargo Records, which offered to sign the band on a "trial basis," with help from O, guitarist for local punk band Fluf, and Brahm Goodis, a friend of the band whose father was president of the label. Hoppus was the only member to sign the contract, as DeLonge was at work at the time and Raynor was still a minor. The band recorded their debut album—Cheshire Cat, released in February 1995—in three days at Westbeach Recorders in Los Angeles, fueled by both new songs and re-recordings of songs from previous demos. "M+M's", the band's first single, garnered local radio airplay from 91X, and Cargo offered the band a small budget to film a music video for it. Meanwhile, the record also drew the attention of Irish band Blink. Unwilling to engage in a legal battle, the band agreed to change their name. Cargo gave the band a week, but the trio put off the decision for more than two afterward. Eventually, Cargo called the trio, demanding that they "change the name or [we'll] change it for you," after which the band decided on a random number, 182. The band soon hired a manager, Rick DeVoe, who had worked with larger bands such as NOFX, Pennywise and The Offspring. In addition, the group drew the attention of Rick and Jean Bonde of the Tahoe booking agency, who were responsible for "spreading the name of the band far and wide." In late 1995, the trio embarked on their first national tour, promoting the surf video Good Times with Unwritten Law, Sprung Monkey and 7 Seconds. Good Times was directed by filmmaker Taylor Steele, who was a friend of DeVoe. In preparation for the trek, the band members purchased their own tour van, which they nicknamed the Millennium Falcon. The Good Times tour extended outside the States with a leg in Australia; the trio were financially unable to go, but Pennywise's members paid for their plane tickets. Fletcher Dragge, guitarist of Pennywise, believed in the band strongly. He demanded that Kevin Lyman, founder of the traveling rock-based Warped Tour, sign the band for its 1996 iteration, predicting they would become "gigantic." That year, the band toured heavily, with several domestic shows on and off the Warped Tour, trips to Canada and Japan, and more Australian dates. Australia was particularly receptive to the band and their humorous stage antics, which gained the band a reputation, but also made them ostracized and considered a joke. By March 1996, the trio began to accumulate a genuine buzz among major labels, resulting in a bidding war between Interscope, MCA and Epitaph. MCA promised the group complete artistic freedom and ultimately signed the band, but Raynor held a great affinity for Epitaph and began to feel half-invested in the band when they chose MCA. The group, discouraged by Cargo's lack of distribution and faith in the group, held no qualms about signing to a major label but were fiercely criticized in the punk community. After nonstop touring, the trio began recording their follow-up LP, Dude Ranch, over the period of a month in late 1996 with producer Mark Trombino. The record was released the following June, and the band headed out on the 1997 Warped Tour. "Dammit", the album's second single, received heavy airplay on modern rock stations. Dude Ranch shipped gold by 1998, but an exhaustive touring schedule brought tensions among the trio. Raynor had been drinking heavily to offset personal issues, and he was fired by DeLonge and Hoppus in mid-1998 despite agreeing to attend rehab and quit drinking. Travis Barker, drummer for tour-mate The Aquabats, filled in for Raynor, learning the 20-song setlist in 45 minutes before the first show. By July, he joined the band full-time and later that year, the band entered the studio with producer Jerry Finn to begin work on their third album. Mainstream breakthrough and continued success (1999–2004) At the onset of the millennium, the band became one of the biggest international rock acts with the release of their third album, the fast-paced, melodic Enema of the State (1999). It became an enormous worldwide success, moving over fifteen million copies. Singles "What's My Age Again?", "All the Small Things", and "Adam's Song" became radio staples, with their music videos and relationship with MTV cementing their stardom. It marked the beginning of their friendship with producer Jerry Finn, a key architect of their "polished" pop-punk rhythm; according to journalist James Montgomery, writing for MTV News, the veteran engineer "served as an invaluable member of the Blink team: part adviser, part impartial observer, he helped smooth out tensions and hone their multiplatinum sound." This style and sound made for an extensive impact on pop punk, igniting a new wave of the genre. It became a transitionary time for the group, adjusting to larger venues than before, including amphitheaters, arenas, and stadiums. At the beginning of the album's promotional cycle, the trio were driving from show to show in a van with a trailer attached for merchandise and equipment; by its end, they were flying on private jets. Hoppus recalled that "we had gone from playing small clubs and sleeping on people's floors to headlining amphitheaters and staying in five-star hotels." In the public eye, Blink became known for their juvenile antics, including running around nude; the band made a cameo appearance in the similarly bawdy comedy American Pie (1999). This goofy branding, encompassing video documentaries and merchandise, "made fans feel like members of their extended social circle," according to music critic Kelefa Sanneh. While grateful for their success—which the trio parlayed into various business ventures, like Famous Stars and Straps, Atticus Clothing and Macbeth Footwear—they gradually became unhappy with their public image. In one instance, the European arm of UMG had taken photos shot lampooning boy bands and distributed them at face value, making their basis for parody appear thin. In response, a conscious effort was made to make the trio appear more authentic with their next album—the comically titled Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001). It became the first punk rock album to reach number one in the U.S., and spawned the singles "The Rock Show", "Stay Together for the Kids" and "First Date". The band supported the LP with the Pop Disaster Tour, a series of co-headlining dates with Green Day. The relentless pace began to wear on the group: they felt rushed into making a follow-up album, with the record label reportedly penalizing the group if they did not "make their quarterly revenue statements." Meanwhile, with time off from touring, DeLonge felt a desire to broaden his musical palette. He channelled his chronic back pain and resulting frustration into Box Car Racer (2002), a project emulating post-hardcore influences. Finn naturally returned to produce, and DeLonge invited Barker to record drums—making Hoppus the odd man out. It marked a major rift in their friendship: while DeLonge claimed he was not intentionally omitted, Hoppus nonetheless felt betrayed. With A&R representatives from MCA eager to market a new band by the guitarist, Box Car Racer quickly evolved into a full-fledged side project, launching two national tours throughout 2002. Barker also extended his love of hip-hop into the rap rock outfit Transplants, a collaboration with Rancid's Tim Armstrong. The band regrouped in 2003 to record its fifth studio album, infusing experimentalist elements into its usual pop-punk sound, inspired by lifestyle changes: all three band members became fathers before the album was released. The new Blink-182 album—its front cover emblazoned with a "smiley face" logo—was released in November 2003 through Geffen Records, which absorbed sister label MCA earlier that year. Critics generally complimented the new, more emo direction taken for the album and its lead singles "Feeling This" and "I Miss You" were well received. The global touring schedule, which saw the band travel to Japan and Australia, also found the three performing for troops stationed in the Persian Gulf during the first year of the Iraq War. The band came to regard this period as a "huge turning point" in their career, marking a change in the way they write and record music, as well as view themselves. As the aughts wore on however, unresolved tensions within the trio—stemming from the gruelling schedule, Box Car Racer, and DeLonge's desire to spend more time with his family—started to become evident. Hiatus, side projects, and Barker's plane crash (2005–2008) In February 2005, a press statement announced the band's "indefinite hiatus"; the band had broken up after members' arguments regarding their future and recording process. DeLonge felt increasingly conflicted both about his creative freedom within the group and the toll touring was taking on his family life. He expressed his desire to take a half-year respite from touring; Hoppus and Barker felt that was overly long. Rehearsals for a benefit concert grew contentious, rooted in the trio's increasing bitterness toward one another; DeLonge considered his bandmates' priorities incompatible, coming to the conclusion that they had simply grown apart. Instead, DeLonge founded Angels & Airwaves, both a band and "multimedia project" composed of albums, films, and interactive services. Hoppus and Barker made one album with their next outfit, +44. Barker remained particularly famous; his rocky relationship with former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, chronicled in his MTV reality series Meet the Barkers, made them tabloid favorites. The band members did not speak from their breakup until 2008. That August, former producer and mentor Jerry Finn suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died. The following month, Barker and collaborator Adam Goldstein were involved in a plane crash that killed four people, leaving them the only two survivors. Barker sustained second and third degree burns and developed post-traumatic stress disorder, and the accident resulted in sixteen surgeries and multiple blood transfusions. Goldstein's injuries were less severe, but less than a year later, he died from a drug overdose. Barker's brush with death prompted him, DeLonge and Hoppus to meet that October, laying the grounds for the band's reunion. The three opened up, discussing the events of the hiatus and their break-up, and DeLonge was the first to approach the subject of reuniting. Hoppus remembered: "I remember [Tom] said, 'So, what do you guys think? Where are your heads at?' And I said, 'I think we should continue with what we've been doing for the past 17 years. I think we should get back on the road and back in the studio and do what we love doing.'" Reunion (2009–2014) After five years apart, the band appeared on stage together as presenters at the February 2009 Grammy Awards, and announced their reunion. The trio embarked on successful a reunion tour of North America from July to October 2009, with a European trek following from August to September 2010. Barker, suffering from a fear of flying after his accident, travelled via bus domestically and in Canada, and by an ocean liner for overseas dates. The recording process for Neighborhoods (2011), the band's sixth studio album, was stalled by its studio autonomy, tours, managers, and personal projects. DeLonge recorded at his studio in San Diego while Hoppus and Barker recorded in Los Angeles—an extension of their strained communication. The self-produced album—their first without Jerry Finn since Enema of the State—was released in September 2011 and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200; its singles, "Up All Night" and "After Midnight", only attracted modest chart success. Pop punk was in a period of diminished commercial relevance, and label Interscope—now their home after a series of corporate mergers—was reportedly disappointed with album sales. The band continued to tour in the early 2010s, "despite growing evidence of remaining friction" between the members, according to AllMusic biographer John Bush. They headlined the 10th Annual Honda Civic Tour in North America in 2011 with My Chemical Romance, and launched a 20th Anniversary Tour the next year. For that tour, the band played in Europe twice, North America, and Australia; drummer Brooks Wackerman filled-in for Barker, as he was not yet ready to fly. Additionally, the trio pursued a tenth anniversary celebration of Blink-182 with a series of shows, and played the Reading and Leeds Festivals; it was the band's fourth appearance at the festival and second headlining slot. The band also parted ways with long-time label UMG, self-releasing their next project, Dogs Eating Dogs, an EP. DeLonge's final performance with the group was at the Wine Amplified Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 11, 2014. This initial reunion of the band has been characterized as dysfunctional by both Barker and DeLonge. Hoppus commented on this era of the band in a later interview: "Everything was always very contentious. There was always just a strange vibe. [...] I knew there was something wrong." In his memoir, Can I Say, Barker claims DeLonge's behavior on tour was "introverted" until "money started coming in," after which "he'd get excited about Blink." He states DeLonge abruptly quit sometime in mid-2014, and re-joined the following day. DeLonge's second exit and Matt Skiba era (2015–2021) The group planned to begin writing their seventh album in January 2015, which had continually seen delays. "I'd do interviews and I just felt awful for fans because they were promised albums for years and we couldn't do it," Barker later said. A record deal with independent service BMG was finalized and sessions were booked before DeLonge's manager informed the band he intended to spend more time on "non-musical activities" and indefinitely depart from the group. In his own statement, DeLonge remarked that he "Never planned on quitting, [I] just find it hard as hell to commit." For the rest of the 2010s, DeLonge focused on his company To the Stars... Academy of Arts & Sciences full-time, devoted to investigating UFOs. Hoppus and Barker decided to continue on without DeLonge, and enlisted Alkaline Trio vocalist/guitarist Matt Skiba to "fill in" for three shows in March 2015. Hoppus and Skiba had been wanting to work together musically for several years, so he was the first and only person considered for the role. After legal battles with DeLonge were worked out, Skiba joined Blink-182 as an official member and began preparations for new music. The resulting album, California, was produced by John Feldmann, the group's first new producer since long-time collaborator Jerry Finn. Upon its July 2016 release though BMG, California became the band's second number-one album on the Billboard 200, and first in 15 years; it also topped the charts for the first time in the United Kingdom. Its lead single, "Bored to Death", became their biggest hit in years, marking their third domestic chart-topper on the Alternative Songs chart. Both the single and album became their first gold-certified releases in over a decade, with the LP earning the band their first Grammy Award nomination. The band supported the album with a large headlining tour across North America between July and October 2016, and a European leg in June and July 2017. A double-disc deluxe edition of California was issued in 2017. During these years, the band was active in collaborating with a variety of outside artists, sometimes without Skiba's involvement; the group jointly issued singles with XXXTentacion, Lil Wayne, Goody Grace, Steve Aoki, Powfu, Oliver Tree, and the Chainsmokers. The trio moved back to a major label, Columbia, for their eighth studio effort, Nine (2019). While Nine builds upon their partnership with Feldmann, it also utilizes additional outside producers and songwriters. Musically, the LP augments the band's pop punk sound with hip hop-inspired programming, as well as electronics. The promotional cycle for NINE was stunted by the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020; a planned tour with the Used was shelved, with live concerts considered unsafe. The band responded with the release of "Quarantine", though the track–credited only to Barker, Hoppus, and other songwriters–raised questions about Skiba's continued involvement in the band. A partially-completed EP did not see release, and the band's last performance with Skiba, a pre-pandemic gig at iHeartRadio's 2020 ALTer EGO, took place in Los Angeles on January 18, 2020. Hoppus' cancer battle and DeLonge's second return (2022–present) As the band entered its fourth decade, a series of events prompted a change in the band's direction. Barker—experiencing a renewed spotlight due to his marriage to Kourtney Kardashian— helped re-ignite a rise in pop-punk's mainstream viability, and also overcame his long-held fear of flying. During this time, DeLonge began to repair his relationship with Barker, with the two frequently discussing when he could return to the band. Hoppus on the other hand still held some grievances against DeLonge, and while Barker would discuss DeLonge's return to the band with him, he was still uncertain. That same year, Hoppus was diagnosed with a deadly lymphoma; he underwent extensive chemotherapy and emerged cancer-free by late 2021. His diagnosis prompted DeLonge to re-convene with him again and overcome old disputes. Barker felt that the band having successfully toured and made albums in DeLonge's absence established themselves; he termed it a "wake-up call" for DeLonge. Likewise, Barker's renewed ability to travel by air opened possibilities to tour in areas the band had never, namely Latin America. With restored friendship and focus, the three tentatively began recording in secret in early 2022. Skiba quietly stepped aside with poise for DeLonge to reclaim his spot, maintaining he was happy for his time in the band. The band announced DeLonge's return in October 2022, as well as a large world tour. News of DeLonge's imminent return had swirled in fan communities for months. A new single, "Edging", accompanied the announcement, which became their fourth number one on Billboard's Alternative Airplay, and the band's highest-charting single on the all-genre Hot 100 in eighteen years. The band returned to the stage with a surprise appearance at Coachella in April 2023, their first performance with DeLonge in nine years. The North American leg of the World Tour began mid-year, and became their best-performing outing yet, grossing over $85 million; a European tour commenced in September. The band continued to perform throughout 2024, with the band mounting their first tour of Australia in over a decade, and first-ever South American shows as a part of Lollapalooza in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. They undertook a second North American leg alongside Pierce the Veil midway through the year, and headlined Reading and Leeds in the U.K. in August, marking the tenth anniversary since their last time headlining. These tours marked the first time the group were able to upgrade to stadiums. The band's ninth studio album, One More Time..., was released in October 2023, and became the band's third number-one album on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., reaching the top five in a dozen other countries. The LP received largely favorable responses from music critics, with most celebrating the band's back-to-basics approach. The album's title track became the band's longest-running number one single on the Alternative Airplay chart domestically. A deluxe edition of One More Time called One More Time... Part-2 was released on September 6, 2024. In August 2024, DeLonge stated that while they intended to take a break once the tour concluded, the band will "be the priority forever [...] Honestly, I think this is a whole new beginning for the band. With what we’re planning on doing, who we’ve become, and how we’re doing it now I think it’s really, really exciting." Musical style, lyrical themes, and influences Blink-182's musical style is mainly considered pop-punk, a genre that combines influences of pop music with traditional punk rock. Throughout the band's career, though their sound has diversified, a large component of the band's music favors fast tempos, catchy melodies, prominent electric guitar with distortion, and power chord changes. Earlier albums by the band have also been considered as skate punk and punk rock, owing to the genre's most representative bands which they were influenced by and toured with. In addition, the band has also been classified under the umbrella of alternative rock as a whole. The band have claimed punk rock group the Descendents to be their greatest influence on a number of occasions. They have also named The Beatles, The Ramones, The Beach Boys, The Cure, Depeche Mode, U2, Stiff Little Fingers, All, Dinosaur Jr., NOFX, Bad Religion, Refused, Fugazi, Screeching Weasel, The Vandals, the Queers, and Jimmy Eat World as inspirations. Common lyrical themes for the band involve relationships, suburbia, toilet humour, and teen angst. Hoppus and DeLonge, and later Skiba, split songwriting duty, and much of their lyrics tend toward autobiography. According to Nitsuh Abebe, of New York, the band's biggest recurring topic is maturity—"more specifically, their lack of it, their attitude toward their lack of it, or their eventual wide-eyed exploration of it". One of the band's biggest singles, "What's My Age Again?", specifically addresses the Peter Pan syndrome, while "Dammit", the band's first mainstream hit single, contains the hook "Well, I guess this is growing up." Albums such as Take Off Your Pants and Jacket near-exclusively deal in toilet humour and teen-cantered lyrics, leading Rolling Stone to dub it a concept album chronicling adolescence. For Hoppus, these themes were not exclusively adolescent: "The things that happen to you in high school are the same things that happen your entire life. You can fall in love at sixty; you can get rejected at eighty." Mid-career albums, such as Neighborhoods (2011), explore darker territory, such as depression and loss. More recent efforts, like California (2016), aim for universality but also focus on miscommunication and loss of identity. Musically, the band's sound has progressed throughout their 30-year career. Tom DeLonge's guitar style, which trades solos for riffs, is often down-stroked and power-chord heavy, with large amounts of palm muting. His later guitar work heavily delves into effects, exploring ambience and delay prominently. Many Blink songs centre on the I–V–vi–IV progression. As a bassist, Hoppus is known for his well-defined midrange tone. Since the band is a trio, he approaches his role as a combination of being a rhythm guitarist and bassist. Early albums, such as Cheshire Cat (1995) and Dude Ranch (1997), were recorded with original drummer Scott Raynor, and consist of fast-paced, double-time songs. Drummer Travis Barker diversified the band's sound rhythmically when he joined in 1998. Throughout their discography, Barker's drumming references myriad musical genres, including Afro-Cuban music, bossa nova, reggae, and hip hop. Barker grew up playing in marching band, and it still influences his drum fills and kit setup. Blink-182 were considered more radio-friendly than their predecessors. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times writes that the band "[took] punk's already playful core and [gave] it a shiny, accessible polish." Luke Lewis, writing for Total Guitar in 2003, summarized it aptly: "They wrote catchy songs, radio stations played them." The band's biggest hit, "All the Small Things", was written partially because DeLonge figured the label might want a song for radio. "It was obvious from the beginning it would fit that format," he told Lewis. "There's nothing wrong with that. We don't want obstacles between us and our audience." DeLonge commented on the band's mainstream appeal in an interview in 2014: Punk rock was becoming polished. NOFX [was] a punk band we grew up listening to, and they had a record called Punk in Drublic, and it was awesome. It was game-changing; it sounded good. We wanted to take it to the next level. [...] There had never been a pop punk band that sounded like nursery rhymes on steroids, on the mainstream level at least. And that's what I used to have daydreams of. I used to think the radio could use that, could use a band that was really powerful and catchy and fast and youthful and angsty. Public image Over the band's thirty-year career, the public image of Blink-182 has evolved with their sound. Whereas other punk acts emerged from sometimes dangerous urban environments, Blink-182 professed a love for their upbringing in the suburbs—"beige little boxes in a row", Hoppus extolled in one song. "They weren't selling out; they were buying in," observed Pitchfork critic Jeremy Gordon. "Part of that was Hoppus and Delonge's exurban SoCal upbringing, which encouraged a sunny prankishness at odds with urban despair." The band attracted criticism for their simplified arrangements and clean sound. British publication NME was particularly critical, with reviewer Steven Wells comparing them to "that sanitized, castrated, shrink-wrapped 'new wave' crap that the major US record companies pumped out circa 1981 in their belated attempt to jump on the 'punk' bandwagon." Blink-182 were frequently listed among the most derided global rock acts in the 2000s, alongside acts like Creed or Nickelback; meanwhile, a 2001 Federal Trade Commission report condemned the entertainment industry for marketing lewd lyrics to American youth, specifically naming Blink-182 as among the most explicit acts. Their goofy public image and juvenilia also found detractors. Original punk veterans like John Lydon dismissed them as "comedy act", and forebears like Green Day openly critiqued their stage presence. NOFX, progenitors of this clownish camaraderie, felt they had copied their act; Fat Mike, its frontman, was known to sing "fuck fans of Blink-182" at shows. The band's conventional appeal, as well as partnerships with MTV, boardsport companies, and clothing brands, led to accusations that they were betraying the independent spirit of punk rock. The band were considered sellouts from the underground punk scene as early as 1996, when they first partnered with music conglomerate UMG. A more far-left segment of the scene decried their fixation on female fans flashing them at concerts, in addition to lyrics considered sexist or misogynistic. Some writers have called their stage banter—juvenile, occasionally homophobic or sexist for shock value—an accurate reflection of millennial male conversation in its era. Others have considered them among the least offensive of the aughts pop-punk wave and its common disdain for women. "Many of Blink's best songs endure because they turn inward: the lovelorn boy has sense enough to wonder what's wrong with him," observed Kelefa Sanneh. To this end, the band has also been examined through a homosocial lens, with the band's internal drama and the friendship between DeLonge and Hoppus scrutinized in this light: "A queer reading of Blink-182 may almost be too obvious to make," admitted Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic, "but playing with and panicking at the idea of being gay was actually vital to the band's identity [...] the guys' [brotherhood] is part of what inspires "shipping" blogs and slash fanfiction." Legacy Blink-182 was one of the most popular rock bands at the turn of the millennium, and spearheaded the second wave of pop-punk and its journey into the mainstream. The glossy production instantly set Blink-182 apart from the other crossover punk acts of the era, such as Green Day. Its third LP Enema of the State catapulted the band to stardom, creating what New York's Abebe described as a "blanket immersion among America's twenty-some million teenagers." At the band's commercial peak, albums such as Take Off Your Pants and Jacket and Enema sold over 14 and 15 million copies worldwide, respectively. According to Kelefa Sanneh of The New Yorker, Blink-182 "spawned more imitators than any American rock band since Nirvana. Their seeming ordinariness convinced a generation of goofy punks that maybe they, too, could turn out deceptively simple songs as well constructed as anything on the pop chart." Most Blink-182 songs are considered straightforward and easy to play on guitar, making them a popular choice of practice for beginner musicians. Lewis of Total Guitar notes that this was key in influencing a generation of kids to "pick up the guitar and form bands of their own." Despite this, the band never received particularly glowing reviews, with many reviewers dismissing them as a joke. Nevertheless, subsequent reviews of the band's discography have been more positive. Andy Greenwald of Blender wrote, "the quick transformation from nudists to near geniuses is down-right astonishing." James Montgomery of MTV said that "despite their maturation, Blink never took themselves particularly seriously, which was another reason they were so accessible." A new generation of rock fans found the Blink sound "hugely influential," according to Nicole Frehsée of Rolling Stone. Sanneh concurred: in his 2021 book Major Labels, he calls the band a "generational touchstone", arguing their sound and humor aged gracefully. In 2011, Jon Caramanica of The New York Times asserted that "no punk band of the 1990s has been more influential than Blink-182," stating that even as the band receded after their initial 2005 split, "its sound and style could be heard in the muscular pop punk of Fall Out Boy or in the current wave of high-gloss Warped Tour punk bands, like All Time Low and The Maine." Montgomery agrees: "...without them, there'd be no Fall Out Boy, no Paramore, or no Fueled by Ramen Records." Maria Sherman of The Village Voice took this a step further, writing "Apart from the sound, Blink's ideology has been popularized [...] their presence is everywhere." "When it comes to having inestimable influence, Blink-182 might well be contemporary punk's version of the Beatles", wrote Scott Heisel in a 2009 Alternative Press cover story on the band. The same magazine later ranked Blink the fourth of the "30 Most Influential Bands of the Past 30 Years," just behind Radiohead, Fugazi, and Nirvana. Bands such as Panic! at the Disco and All Time Low originated covering Blink-182 songs, while You Me at Six, and 5 Seconds of Summer have also named the band as influences. "Anyone in our genre would be lying if they said they weren't influenced by Blink-182," said Joel Madden of Good Charlotte. The band's influence extends beyond punk and pop-punk groups as well: the band has been cited as an influence by Avril Lavigne, Best Coast, Juice Wrld, Lil Peep, DIIV, FIDLAR, Grimes, Male Bonding, Neck Deep, Mumford & Sons, A Day to Remember, Machine Gun Kelly, Owl City, Charly Bliss, Tucker Beathard, Joyce Manor, Wavves, Taylor Swift and the Chainsmokers; the latter even mentioned the band in the lyrics of their number-one hit song "Closer". In 2019, Blink-182's song "All the Small Things" became the theme song of the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche. Band members Current members Mark Hoppus – bass, vocals (1992–2005, 2009–present); guitars (2020) Tom DeLonge – guitars, vocals (1992–2005, 2009–2015, 2022–present); keyboards (2012) Travis Barker – drums (1998–2005, 2009–present; touring member 1998); occasional backing vocals (2003, 2016, 2023–present), keyboards, piano (2012, 2018–2019) Former members Scott Raynor – drums (1992–1998) Matt Skiba – guitars, vocals (2015–2022; touring member 2015) Former touring musicians Timeline Discography Cheshire Cat (1995) Dude Ranch (1997) Enema of the State (1999) Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001) Blink-182 (2003) Neighborhoods (2011) California (2016) Nine (2019) One More Time... (2023) Tours Headlining Co-headlining Pop Disaster Tour (with Green Day) (2002) Summer Tour 2004 (with No Doubt) (2004) 10th Annual Honda Civic Tour (with My Chemical Romance) (2011) Blink-182 and Lil Wayne Tour (with Lil Wayne) (2019) Awards and nominations Notes References Bibliography External links Official website Blink-182 at AllMusic
Pop_Disaster_Tour	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_Disaster_Tour	[ 224 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_Disaster_Tour" ]	The Pop Disaster Tour was a concert tour co-headlined by American rock bands Blink-182 and Green Day. The two groups, with supporting acts Jimmy Eat World, Kut U Up, Saves the Day, and Simple Plan toured for two months across the United States, as well as one in Canada, mostly in outdoor amphitheatres. Background The tour was conceived by Blink-182 to echo the famous Monsters of Rock tours; the idea was to have, effectively, a Monsters of Punk tour. The tour, from the band's point of view, had been put together as a show of unity in the face of consistent accusations of rivalry between the two bands, especially in Europe. Instead, Green Day's Tré Cool acknowledged in a Kerrang! interview that they committed to the tour as an opportunity to regain their status at the top of the tree, as their spotlight had faded over the years. "We set out to reclaim our throne as the most incredible live punk band from you know who", said Cool. Cool contended that "we heard they were going to quit the tour because they were getting smoked so badly […] We didn't want them to quit the tour. They're good for filling up the seats up front." Riding in Vans with Boys The 2003 film Riding in Vans with Boys follows the Pop Disaster Tour throughout the U.S from Kut U Up's perspective. DeLonge and Hoppus had the idea for the film, and enlisted Matt Beauchesne, who also worked on their documentary The Urethra Chronicles II: Harder Faster Faster Harder, to direct. It was designed to be "a social experiment that shows exactly what would happen if an average Joe band spent two months with two of the biggest groups in rock." Set list Tour dates Reception Many reviewers were unimpressed with Blink-182's headlining set following Green Day. "Sometimes playing last at a rock show is more a curse than a privilege […] Pity the headliner, for instance, that gets blown off the stage by the band before it. Blink-182 endured that indignity Saturday at the Shoreline Amphitheatre", a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle wrote in 2002. The Pop Disaster Tour as a whole grossed nearly $20 million from 45 shows. Personnel See also Hella Mega Tour References Shooman, Joe (June 24, 2010). Blink-182: The Bands, The Breakdown & The Return. Independent Music Press. ISBN 978-1-906191-10-8. == Notes ==
Capital_One_Arena	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_One_Arena	[ 224 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_One_Arena" ]	Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Chinatown section of the larger Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. The arena was opened on December 2, 1997, as MCI Center but renamed to Verizon Center in 2006 when MCI was acquired by Verizon Communications and changed again to its current name in 2017. Owned and operated by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, it is the home arena of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Georgetown University men's basketball team. It was also home to the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1998 to 2018, after which they moved to the Entertainment and Sports Arena in southeast Washington for the 2019 season. Though the arena project was a commercial success for its backers, it has contributed to the gentrification of the surrounding area, the displacement of most of its Asian-American residents (the local Chinese-American population, which numbered over 3,000 before the arena's construction, was a mere 300 in 2023), and the replacement of most of the small businesses and restaurants that served the Asian-American community by large national corporations. History The block where the arena was built, between 6th and 7th and F and G Streets, historically held a mix of residences and small businesses. By the 1960s, it was suffering from urban decay, like much of the eastern end of Downtown Washington. In 1973, while the Gallery Place Metro station was being developed below it, the District government bought the land in hopes of redeveloping it. Capital Landmark Associates was selected in 1979 to develop the site with a planned mixed-use complex including retail, offices, apartments, and a hotel. Most of the remaining buildings on the site were demolished in 1985. The project languished for many years but never materialized, and was finally canceled in 1992. Before the arena's opening, the Capitals and the Wizards (then known as the Washington Bullets) played at USAir Arena in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. The teams experienced subpar attendance because the location was inconvenient for both Washington and Baltimore residents, and their arena, though only 20 years old, was not up to the standards of other NBA and NHL venues. In December 1993, Abe Pollin, the owner of both teams, began studying options to move the teams to a new arena to be built with public financing, with possible locations including Baltimore, downtown Washington, and Laurel, Maryland. A group of Washington business leaders brokered a deal between Pollin and the District government to build an arena at the Gallery Place site, with the District paying for the $150 million project, which was envisioned to have shopping, food, and exhibitors for daily use even when there was no arena event. The D.C. Council approved a special tax on businesses to finance the deal. However, a competing proposal soon emerged, when Robert Johnson, head of Black Entertainment Television, offered to build the arena with mostly private financing. With the arena deal facing criticism amid the District's budget crisis, Pollin eventually agreed to privately fund the construction of the building, which ultimately came to $200 million (US$365 million in 2023 dollars). The District would pay for other costs, including purchasing the portion of the land it did not already own, preparing the site, and expanding the Metro station; these eventually amounted to $79 million (US$138 million in 2023 dollars). The District leased the land to Pollin at a below-market rate of $300,000 per year. A naming rights deal was struck with MCI Communications to name the arena as the MCI Center. The groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held in October 1995. On December 2, 1997, the arena held its first event, a game between the Wizards and the Seattle SuperSonics, with President Bill Clinton in attendance. The arena had a 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m2) Discovery Channel Store from 1998 to 2001 and the MCI National Sports Gallery, an interactive sports museum with interactive games, memorabilia, and the American Sportscasters Hall of Fame inside from 1998 to 2000 or 2001 which was repurposed for office space. Clinton toured the gallery before the game, playing the museum games. A block of F Street NW between 6th and 7th Street NW outside the arena was declared Fun Street, complete with signage. This block later was declared Abe Pollin Way in 2007. The arena was noted for building spectator seats vertically rather than out, creating better views for all attending albeit with limited leg room in the upper levels, as well as spacious quarters for players and coaches with advanced competitive research technology. The arena concourse featured multimedia arenaNet stations where fans could check scores, watch highlights, and send digital postcards over email. These replaced an abandoned idea to have smart seats with televisions and technology that was scrapped due to technological challenges. Arena technology was powered by a virtual LAN software and switching technology called ArenaNET from Cabletron Systems. In 1999, a group led by technology executive Ted Leonsis bought a 36% stake in Pollin's holdings, including the MCI Center, as well as full ownership of the Capitals. The Leonsis group increased its stake to 44% in 2000. In January 2006, Verizon Communications purchased MCI and the arena's name was changed accordingly to Verizon Center. VIDA Fitness opened its first location in the arena that same year. The following year, in 2007, the "first true indoor high-definition LED scoreboard" was installed in the arena. In May 2024, VIDA Fitness announced they will be closing their Gallery Place location. Gallery Place, a 14-screen movie theater, opened at Capital One Arena in 2004. In June 2010, following Pollin's death in November 2009, the Leonsis group, newly organized as Monumental Sports & Entertainment, bought out Pollin's interests, gaining full ownership of the arena and the Wizards. A report emerged in May 2015 that Verizon would not renew its naming rights to the Verizon Center when its agreement with Monumental was to end in 2018. In the same week, it was announced that Etihad Airways signed a deal to become the official airline of the arena, sparking speculation that Etihad might be the leading contender to assume naming rights in 2017. However, on August 9, 2017, it was announced the bank Capital One had purchased the rights, renaming the venue Capital One Arena. In 2019 and 2020, Monumental Sports undertook a $30 million renovation of the stadium. This included completely replacing the arena's seating, improving the concourse, and altering many of the arena's dining options. A new, larger overhead video board was also added as well as a new SkyRing video screen that goes around the top of the arena. In July 2020, bookmaker William Hill opened a sportsbook at the arena, following the 2018 legalization of sports betting in Washington. It was the first brick-and-mortar sportsbook in the District, and the first to open at a professional sports venue in the United States. On June 23, 2023, The Washington Post reported that Monumental Sports was considering moving the Capitals and Wizards to a new arena in the National Landing area of Arlington in Northern Virginia if the Washington, D.C. government did not invest in upgrades to the arena and surrounding area. Despite this, the article outlined that the city intended on continuing its dialogue with the company to keep both teams in Capital One Arena. Monumental later pivoted to a part of the National Landing area lying in a different Northern Virginia jurisdiction, announcing on December 13, 2023, that it planned to build the new arena in the Potomac Yard area of Alexandria. Under the revised plan, Capital One Arena would have remained in use as a concert and event venue during the NBA and NHL seasons, and also become the permanent home of Monumental's Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team, the Washington Mystics. In March 2024, after officials in Alexandria announced that the $2 billion entertainment and sports complex plans were scrapped, Washington, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser announced she has signed a deal with both teams' majority owner, Ted Leonsis, to keep the Capitals and Wizards in the District "at least until 2050." In May 2024, Capital One Arena was ranked as the 8th most dangerous arena based on factors including fan behavior and the crime rates for the surrounding area. Sports Ice hockey The arena has been home to the Capitals NHL team since its opening. As a result, numerous memorable moments in franchise history have occurred in the arena. The arena hosted games three and four of the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals, when the Capitals lost to the Detroit Red Wings in four games. The Red Wings hoisted the namesake Stanley Cup in the arena on June 16, 1998, after winning game four by a score of 4–1. On April 5, 2008, the Capitals won the Southeast Division in the last game of the regular season, after beating the Florida Panthers 3–1. Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern Conference semifinals between the Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, played on May 4, 2009, saw dueling hat tricks from Ovechkin and rival Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, culminating in a 4–3 victory for Washington thanks to an additional goal from David Steckel. The arena also hosted games three and four of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals. The Capitals won both games and then went on to win game five in Las Vegas to capture the Stanley Cup for the first major sports championship for a Washington, D.C. team since the 1991 Washington Redskins. The Capitals had their Stanley Cup banner installation ceremony in the arena before their first game of the next season, which took place on October 3, 2018. Non-NHL hockey events The arena hosted the 2009 "Frozen Four", the final round of the 2009 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament Boston University took Miami OH in overtime 4–3. The JMU vs UVA non-varsity club teams played a 60 min thrilling rink-of-dreams-style match shortly after Washington's win against New York UVA Took JMU 6–4. The inaugural 2024 Capital Hockey Classic is scheduled to take place on December 12, 2024, This event marks the first full-fledged college hockey event since the 2009 D1 Finals. It will feature military and club collegiate ice hockey teams, showcasing talent and competition. The Capital Hockey Classic aims to capture attention, especially since it occurs just two days before the Army-Navy game at the nearby Commanders Field. The event will include two matches: the first game will feature Army vs Navy Club hockey, followed by the Army Black Knights vs. the Penn State Nittany Lions. Basketball The arena has been home to the Wizards NBA team since its opening and was home to the Washington Mystics WNBA team from 1998 to 2018, before the Mystics moved to a new, smaller arena in the Congress Heights area of southeast Washington. In 2024, the Mystics relocated their June 7 and September 19 games against the Indiana Fever to CapitalOne Arena, citing the demand of tickets as a result of the rising popularity of Caitlin Clark. The Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team has also played there since the arena's opening. The arena has hosted three basketball all star games: the 2001 NBA All-Star Game and the 2002 and 2007 WNBA All-Star Games. The arena has been home to many playoff games, but has yet to host an NBA Finals. The arena has hosted games for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament several times. It hosted first- and second-round games in 1998, 2002, 2008 and 2011, and hosted the regional finals in 2006, 2013 and 2019. Most notably the 2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team from nearby Fairfax, Virginia advanced to the Final Four in the arena. The arena also hosted the Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament in 2018 and 2022. It hosted the ACC men's basketball tournament in 2005, 2016, and 2024. In 2017 the arena hosted the Big Ten men's basketball tournament. The Harlem Globetrotters play in the arena on an annual basis. Fighting and wrestling In the professional fighting world, the arena has hosted WWE events, as well as the final four editions of WCW's Starrcade. The arena has hosted Backlash in 2000, SummerSlam in 2005, Cyber Sunday in 2007, Survivor Series in 2009, Capitol Punishment in 2011, and Battleground in 2016. The arena frequently hosts Raw and SmackDown shows as well. The arena was also home to Mike Tyson's final non-exhibition fight (Mike Tyson vs. Kevin McBride) on June 11, 2005. On October 1, 2011, UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson was held at the arena. On December 7, 2019, UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik was held at the arena. On October 2, 2019, Capital One Arena hosted AEW Dynamite, the first televised professional wrestling event by All Elite Wrestling. It was broadcast on TNT in the United States of America and on ITV4 in the United Kingdom. Arena football In 2017, the Washington Valor began play at the arena for their inaugural season in the Arena Football League. The Valor folded in 2019 and the arena has not hosted an Arena League game since. Gymnastics and figure skating The arena hosted the 2003 World Figure Skating Championships and the 2016 Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions. Music and other entertainment The arena is a major location for concerts and cultural events in the D.C. region. Among the musical performers, cultural figures, and entertainment shows that have performed at the arena are Olivia Rodrigo, Duran Duran, Ricardo Arjona, Kylie Minogue, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Muse, Paul McCartney, Queen, U2, Iron Maiden, Shakira, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Britney Spears, The Three Tenors, Drake, Barbra Streisand, Bon Jovi, Prince, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Beyoncé, the Dalai Lama, Tina Turner, Keith Urban, Paul Simon, Sting, The Police, Taylor Swift, Tame Impala, Coldplay, Tyler, the Creator, Elton John, Usher, Green Day, blink-182, The Who, Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Cage the Elephant, Monster Jam, Disney on Ice, K-POP groups Ateez, Seventeen, NCT DREAM, Jonas Brothers, AJR, IU, Howard University graduation speech by U.S. President Joe Biden, and a Michelle Obama book tour event. The Washington International Horse Show took place every October in the arena for more than 20 years through 2019, after which it was moved out because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Criticism Gentrification When the arena opened, there was concern that it would lead to the displacement of Chinese businesses and culture in the area that is the city's Chinatown. The surrounding area has indeed been dramatically gentrified, and most of the Chinese residents and businesses who lived and operated in the neighborhood when the arena first opened have been displaced because of the spike in real estate prices. 2011 estimates hold that the number of Chinese in the neighborhood is down to around 400 to 500. The Chinese-owned restaurants and businesses in the Chinatown area are largely gone and there has not been a full-service Chinese grocery in the neighborhood since 2005. A similar stadium project proposed for Philadelphia's Chinatown sparked comparisons in 2023 to the Capital One Arena, and has caused some community backlash. Ice quality issues In December 2007, then-Capitals captain Chris Clark stated that he believed the arena had the worst ice in the NHL. "There's a lot of ruts in the ice. It's soft. It's wet half the time. I could see a lot of injuries coming from the ice there. It could cost [players] their jobs... Even guys on other teams say the same thing. When we're facing off, they say, 'How do you guys play on this?'" Capitals owner Ted Leonsis addressed this criticism directly. The ice quality issue has been persistent both since the opening of the facility and with the Capitals franchise in general. Since Leonsis' acquisition of the facility, the quality of the ice has improved and number of complaints has noticeably decreased. During playoff games, the arena installs additional portable refrigeration units outside the arena to aid the ice conditions during the warm and humid summer months. Gallery See also List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas List of National Hockey League arenas List of National Basketball Association arenas Sports in Washington, D.C. References External links Official website
Theresa_May	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_May	[ 225 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa_May" ]	Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead, (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidenhead from 1997 to 2024, and has been a member of the House of Lords since 2024. May is the second female UK prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher, and the first woman to have held two of the Great Offices of State. Ideologically, May is a one-nation conservative. May grew up in Oxfordshire and attended St Hugh's College, Oxford. After graduating in 1977, she worked at the Bank of England and the Association for Payment Clearing Services. She also served as a councillor for Durnsford in Merton. After two unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the House of Commons, she was elected as the MP for the new seat of Maidenhead at the 1997 general election. From 1999 to 2010, May held several roles in shadow cabinets and was Chair of the Conservative Party from 2002 to 2003. Following the formation of the coalition government after the 2010 general election, May was appointed Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities, giving up the latter role in 2012. Reappointed after the Conservatives won the 2015 general election, she became the longest-serving home secretary in more than 60 years. During her tenure as home secretary, she pursued reform of the Police Federation, implemented a harder line on drugs policy, including banning khat, and further restricted immigration. She oversaw the introduction of elected police and crime commissioners, the deportation of Abu Qatada and the creation of the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency. Although she supported the unsuccessful remain campaign, May supported Brexit following the outcome of the 2016 referendum. She was elected and appointed prime minister unopposed to succeed Cameron after Andrea Leadsom withdrew from the contest. As prime minister, May began the process of withdrawing the UK from the EU, triggering Article 50 in March 2017. In April, she announced a snap general election, with the aim of strengthening her hand in Brexit negotiations and highlighting her "strong and stable" leadership. This resulted in a hung parliament with the number of Conservative seats reduced to 317 (from 330), despite the highest vote share since 1983 and the largest increase in electoral support enjoyed by a governing party since 1832. The loss of an overall majority prompted her to enter a confidence-and-supply arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland to support a minority government. Following the 2017 election, May's premiership continued to be dominated by Brexit, in particular by her government's negotiations with the EU, adhering to the Chequers plan, which led to a draft Brexit withdrawal agreement. Other events that occurred during May's premiership included terrorist attacks in Westminster, at the Manchester Arena and at London Bridge, the Grenfell Tower fire, and the Windrush scandal. Her government announced the NHS Long Term Plan and was responsible for negotiating and approving the near-entirety of the UK's terms of exit from the EU. May was also a prominent figure in leading the international condemnation and response to Russia over the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in March 2018. May survived two votes of no confidence in December 2018 and in January 2019, but after versions of her draft withdrawal agreement were rejected by Parliament three times and her party's poor performance in the 2019 European Parliament election, she left office on 24 July and was succeeded by Boris Johnson, her former foreign secretary. May remained in the House of Commons as a backbencher until she stood down at the 2024 general election, and was succeeded as MP for Maidenhead by the Liberal Democrats' Joshua Reynolds. She was elevated to the House of Lords later that year as Baroness May of Maidenhead. In historical rankings of prime ministers, academics and journalists have ranked May in the bottom fourth quartile. Early life and education Theresa May was born on 1 October 1956 in Eastbourne, Sussex. She is the only child of Zaidee Mary (née Barnes; 1928–1982) and Hubert Brasier (1917–1981). Her father was a Church of England clergyman (and an Anglo-Catholic) who was chaplain of an Eastbourne hospital. He later became vicar of Enstone with Heythrop and finally of St Mary's at Wheatley, to the east of Oxford. May's mother was a supporter of the Conservative Party. Her father died in 1981, from injuries sustained in a car accident, and her mother of multiple sclerosis the following year. May later stated she was "sorry they [her parents] never saw me elected as a Member of Parliament". May initially attended Heythrop Primary School, a state school in Heythrop, followed by St. Juliana's Convent School for Girls, a Roman Catholic independent school in Begbroke, which closed in 1984. At the age of 13, May won a place at the former Holton Park Girls' Grammar School, a state school in Wheatley. During her time as a pupil, the Oxfordshire education system was reorganised, and the school became the new Wheatley Park Comprehensive School. May attended the University of Oxford, read geography at St Hugh's College, and graduated with a second class BA degree in 1977. She was taught political geography at St Hugh's by John Patten, Baron Patten, a future Conservative Secretary of State for Education under John Major. At St Hugh's, May's contemporaries included the barrister Alicia Collinson, wife of May's future deputy Damian Green; businesswoman Louise Patten; and Emma Hood, wife of former Oxford University Vice-Chancellor John Hood. May worked at a bakery on Saturdays to earn pocket money and was a "tall, fashion-conscious young woman who from an early age spoke of her ambition to be the first woman prime minister," according to those who knew her. A university friend, Pat Frankland, said, "I cannot remember a time when she did not have political ambitions." Early career Between 1977 and 1983, May worked at the Bank of England. From 1985 to 1997, she was a financial consultant at the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS). She served as Head of the European Affairs Unit from 1989 to 1996 and Senior Adviser on International Affairs from 1996 to 1997 in the organisation. May served as a councillor for Durnsford ward on the Borough Council of the London Borough of Merton from 1986 to 1994, where she was Chairman of Education (1988–1990) and Deputy Group Leader and Housing Spokesman (1992–1994). In the 1992 general election May was the Conservative Party candidate for the safe Labour seat of North West Durham, placing second to incumbent MP Hilary Armstrong, with future Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron placing third. May then stood at the 1994 Barking by-election, which was prompted by the death of Labour MP Jo Richardson. The seat had been continuously held by Labour since it was created in 1945, and Labour candidate Margaret Hodge was expected to win easily, which she did. May placed a distant third. Election Around 18 months ahead of the 1997 general election, May was selected as the Conservative candidate for Maidenhead, a new seat which was created from parts of the safe seats of Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham. She was elected comfortably with 25,344 votes (49.8%), almost double the total of second-placed Andrew Terence Ketteringham of the Liberal Democrats, who took 13,363 votes (26.3%). Despite this, her party suffered their worst defeat in over 150 years. Early parliamentary career Having entered Parliament, May became a member of William Hague's front-bench Opposition team, as Shadow Spokesman for Schools, Disabled People and Women (1998–1999). She became the first of the 1997 MPs to enter the Shadow Cabinet when in 1999 she was appointed Shadow Education and Employment Secretary. After the 2001 election the new Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith kept her in the Shadow Cabinet, moving her to the Transport portfolio. May was appointed the first female Chairman of the Conservative Party in July 2002. During her speech at the 2002 Conservative Party Conference, she explained why, in her view, her party must change: "You know what people call us? The Nasty Party. In recent years a number of politicians have behaved disgracefully and then compounded their offences by trying to evade responsibility. We all know who they are. Let's face it, some of them have stood on this platform." She accused some unnamed colleagues of trying to "make political capital out of demonising minorities", and charged others with indulging themselves "in petty feuding or sniping instead of getting behind a leader who is doing an enormous amount to change a party which has suffered two landslide defeats". She admitted that constituency selection committees seemed to prefer candidates they would "be happy to have a drink with on a Sunday morning", continuing to say, "At the last general election 38 new Tory MPs were elected. Of that total, only one was a woman and none was from an ethnic minority. Is that fair? Is one half of the population entitled to only one place out of 38?" In 2003, after Michael Howard's election as Conservative Party and Opposition Leader in November that year, May was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Transport and the Environment. In June 2004, she was moved to become Shadow Secretary of State for the Family. Following the 2005 general election she was also made Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. After David Cameron's election as Conservative Party and Opposition Leader, he appointed May as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons in December 2005 and as Shadow Minister for Women and Equality in July 2007. In January 2009, May was made Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. On 6 May 2010, May was re-elected MP for Maidenhead with an increased majority of 16,769 – 60% of the vote. This followed an earlier failed attempt by the Liberal Democrats to unseat her in 2005, as one of that party's leading "decapitation-strategy" targets. Home Secretary Following the formation of the coalition government after the 2010 general election on 12 May 2010, May was appointed Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities by Prime Minister David Cameron as part of his first Cabinet. She became the fourth woman to hold one of the British Great Offices of State, after Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister), Margaret Beckett (Foreign Secretary) and Jacqui Smith (Home Secretary). As Home Secretary, May was also a member of the National Security Council. She was the longest-serving Home Secretary for over 60 years, since James Chuter Ede who served over six years and two months from August 1945 to October 1951. May's appointment as Home Secretary was somewhat unexpected, with Chris Grayling having served as shadow Home Secretary in opposition. May's debut as Home Secretary involved overturning several of the previous Labour government's measures on data collection and surveillance in England and Wales. By way of a government bill which became the Identity Documents Act 2010, she brought about the abolition of the Labour government's National Identity Card and database scheme and reformed the regulations on the retention of DNA samples for suspects and controls on the use of CCTV cameras. In May 2010, May announced the adjournment of the deportation to the United States of alleged computer hacker Gary McKinnon. She also suspended the registration scheme for carers of children and vulnerable people, with May saying that the measures were "draconian. You were assumed to be guilty until you were proven innocent, and told you were able to work with children." On 4 August 2010, it was reported that May was scrapping the former Labour government's proposed "go orders" scheme to protect women from domestic violence by banning abusers from the victim's home. In June 2010, May faced her first major national security incident as Home Secretary with the Cumbria shootings. She delivered her first major speech in the House of Commons as Home Secretary in a statement on this incident, later visiting the victims with the Prime Minister. Also in June 2010, May banned the Indian Muslim preacher Zakir Naik from entering the United Kingdom. According to The Daily Telegraph, a Home Office official who disagreed with this decision was suspended. In late June 2010, May announced plans for a temporary cap on UK visas for non-EU migrants. The move raised concerns about the impact on the British economy. In August 2013, May supported the detention of David Miranda, partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, under the Terrorism Act 2000, saying that critics of the Metropolitan Police action needed to "think about what they are condoning". Lib Dem peer and former Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald accused May of an "ugly and unhelpful" attempt to implicate those who were concerned about the police action of "condoning terrorism". The High Court subsequently acknowledged there were "indirect implications for press freedom" but ruled the detention legal. A 2016 ruling by the Court of Appeal found that the provision of the Terrorism Act used for Miranda's detention was "incompatible with the European convention on human rights", but that the detention itself was lawful. May also championed legislation popularly dubbed the Snooper's Charter, requiring internet and mobile service providers to keep records of internet usage, voice calls, messages and email for up to a year in case police requested access to the records while investigating a crime. The Liberal Democrats had blocked the first attempt, but after the Conservative Party obtained a majority in the 2015 general election May announced a new Draft Investigatory Powers Bill similar to the Draft Communications Data Bill, although with more limited powers and additional oversight. Police and crime Speaking at the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) conference in June 2010, May announced radical cuts to the Home Office budget, likely to lead to a reduction in police numbers. In July 2010, May presented the House of Commons with proposals for a fundamental review of the previous Labour government's security and counter-terrorism legislation, including "stop and search" powers, and her intention to review the 28-day limit on detaining terrorist suspects without charge. In July 2010, May announced a package of reforms to policing in England and Wales in the House of Commons. The previous Labour Government's central crime agency, Soca (Serious Organised Crime Agency), was to be replaced by a new National Crime Agency. In common with the Conservative Party 2010 general election manifesto's flagship proposal for a "Big Society" based on voluntary action, May also proposed increasing the role of civilian "reservists" for crime control. The reforms were rejected by the Opposition Labour Party. Following the actions of some members of Black Bloc in vandalising allegedly tax-avoiding shops and businesses on the day of the March 2011 TUC march, the Home Secretary unveiled reforms curbing the right to protest, including giving police extra powers to remove masked individuals and to police social networking sites to prevent illegal protest without police consent or notification. In 2012, despite inquiries by both Scotland Yard and the Independent Police Complaints Commission ruling that there was no new evidence to warrant further investigation, after discussions with Doreen Lawrence, May commissioned Mark Ellison to review Scotland Yard's investigations into alleged police corruption. The report was presented to Parliament by May on 6 March 2014. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police said the report, which has prompted an inquiry into undercover policing, was "devastating". In July 2013, May welcomed the fact that crime had fallen by more than 10% under the coalition government, while still being able to make savings. She said that this was partly due to the government removing red tape and scrapping targets to allow the police to concentrate on crime-fighting. In 2014, May delivered a speech to the Police Federation, in which she criticised aspects of the culture of the police force. In the speech, she said: When you remember the list of recent revelations about police misconduct, it is not enough to mouth platitudes about "a few bad apples". The problem might lie with a minority of officers, but it is still a significant problem and a problem that needs to be addressed ... according to one survey carried out recently, only 42% of black people from a Caribbean background trust the police. That is simply not sustainable ... I will soon publish proposals to strengthen the protections available to whistleblowers in the police. I am creating a new criminal offence of police corruption. And I am determined that the use of stop and search must come down, become more targeted and lead to more arrests. On 9 December 2010, in the wake of violent student demonstrations in central London against increases to higher-education tuition fees, May praised the actions of the police in controlling the demonstrations but was described by The Daily Telegraph as "under growing political pressure" due to her handling of the protests. In December 2010, May declared that deployment of water cannon by police forces in mainland Britain was an operational decision which had been "resisted until now by senior police officers." She rejected their use following the widespread rioting in summer 2011 and said: "the way we police in Britain is not through use of water cannon. The way we police in Britain is through consent of communities." May said: "I condemn utterly the violence in Tottenham... Such disregard for public safety and property will not be tolerated, and the Metropolitan Police have my full support in restoring order." In the aftermath of the riots May urged the identification of as many as possible of the young criminals involved. She said: "when I was in Manchester last week, the issue was raised to me about the anonymity of juveniles who are found guilty of crimes of this sort. The Crown Prosecution Service is to order prosecutors to apply for anonymity to be lifted in any youth case they think is in the public interest. The law currently protects the identity of any suspect under the age of 18, even if they are convicted, but it also allows for an application to have such restrictions lifted, if deemed appropriate." May added that "what I've asked for is that CPS guidance should go to prosecutors to say that where possible, they should be asking for the anonymity of juveniles who are found guilty of criminal activity to be lifted". Anti-social behaviour In July 2010, May proposed to review the previous Labour Government's anti-social behaviour legislation signalling the abolition of the "Anti-Social Behaviour Order" (ASBO). She identified the policy's high level of failure with almost half of ASBOs breached between 2000 and 2008, leading to "fast-track" criminal convictions. May proposed a less punitive, community-based approach to tackling social disorder. May suggested that anti-social behaviour policy "must be turned on its head", reversing the ASBO's role as the flagship crime control policy legislation under Labour. Former Labour Home Secretaries David Blunkett (who introduced ASBOs) and Alan Johnson expressed their disapproval of the proposals. Drug policy In July 2013, May decided to ban the stimulant khat, against the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). The council reached the conclusion that there was "insufficient evidence" it caused health problems. Explaining the change in the classification May said: "The decision to bring khat under control is finely balanced and takes into account the expert scientific advice and these broader concerns", and pointed out that the product had already been banned in the majority of other EU member states, as well as most of the G8 countries including Canada and the US. A report on khat use by the ACMD published in January 2013 had noted the product had been associated with "acute psychotic episodes", "chronic liver disease" and family breakdown. However, it concluded that there is no risk of harm for most users, and recommended that khat remain uncontrolled due to lack of evidence for these associations. Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker accused May of suppressing proposals to treat rather than prosecute minor drug offenders from a report into drug policy commissioned by the Home Office. The Home Office denied that its officials had considered this as part of their strategy. Baker cited difficulties in working with May as the reason for his resignation from the Home Office in the run-up to the 2015 general election. Immigration In 2010, May promised to bring the level of net migration down to less than 100,000. The Independent reported in February 2015, "The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced a net flow of 298,000 migrants to the UK in the 12 months to September 2014—up from 210,000 in the previous year." In total, 624,000 people migrated to the UK in the year ending September 2014 and 327,000 left in the same period. Statistics showed "significant increases in migration among both non-EU citizens—up 49,000 to 292,000—and EU citizens, which rose by 43,000 to 251,000." In May 2012 she told The Daily Telegraph of her intention "to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration". May rejected the European Union's proposal of compulsory refugee quotas. She said that it was important to help people living in war-zone regions and refugee camps but "not the ones who are strong and rich enough to come to Europe". In May 2016, The Daily Telegraph reported that she had tried to save £4m by rejecting an intelligence project to use aircraft surveillance to detect illegal immigrant boats. Family migration In June 2012, May announced that new restrictions would be introduced to reduce the number of non-European Economic Area family migrants. The changes were mostly intended to apply to new applicants after 9 July 2012. The newly introduced rules came into effect on 9 July 2012 allowing only those British citizens earning more than £18,600 to bring their spouses or their children to live with them in the UK. This figure would rise significantly in cases where visa applications are also made for children. They also increased the current two-year probationary period for partners to 5 years. The rules also prevent any adult and elderly dependents from settling in the UK unless they can demonstrate that, as a result of age, illness or disability, they require a level of long-term personal care that can only be provided by a relative in the UK. The House of Lords was concerned about the immigration issue and therefore addressed the PM in Parliament as to whether she had examined the impact on communities and families on modest incomes, but it received no direct response. The human rights group Liberty concluded that the new rules showed scant regard to the impact they would have on genuine families. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Migration conducted an evidence based inquiry into the impact of the rules and concluded in their report that the rules were causing very young children to be separated from their parents and could exile British citizens from the UK. Deportation decisions At the Conservative Party Conference in October 2011, while arguing that the Human Rights Act needed to be amended, May gave the example of a foreign national who the Courts ruled was allowed to remain in the UK, "because—and I am not making this up—he had a pet cat". In response, the Royal Courts of Justice issued a statement, denying that this was the reason for the tribunal's decision in that case, and stating that the real reason was that he was in a genuine relationship with a British partner, and owning a pet cat was simply one of many pieces of evidence given to show that the relationship was "genuine". The Home Office had failed to apply its own rules for dealing with unmarried partners of people settled in the UK. Amnesty International said May's comments only fuelled "myths and misconceptions" about the Human Rights Act and Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke subsequently called May's comments "laughable and childlike." In June 2012, May was found in contempt of court by Judge Barry Cotter, and stood accused of "totally unacceptable and regrettable behaviour", being said to have shown complete disregard for a legal agreement to free an Algerian from a UK Immigration Detention Centre. As she eventually allowed the prisoner to be freed, May avoided further sanctions including fines or imprisonment. May responded to a Supreme Court decision in November 2013 to overturn her predecessor Jacqui Smith's revocation of Iraqi-born terror suspect Al Jedda's British citizenship by ordering it to be revoked for a second time, making him the first person to be stripped twice of British citizenship. May was accused by Lord Roberts of Llandudno of being willing to allow someone to die "to score a political point" over the deportation of mentally ill Nigerian man Isa Muazu. According to Muazu's solicitor, May had arranged for the asylum seeker, who was said to be "near death" after a 100-day hunger strike, to be deported by a chartered private jet. To strengthen the Home Office's tough stance, an "end of life" plan was reportedly offered to Muazu, who was one of a number of hunger strikers at the Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre. Abu Qatada deportation In July 2013, Abu Qatada, a radical cleric arrested in 2002, was deported to Jordan after a decade-long battle that had cost the nation £1.7 million in legal fees, and several prior Home Secretaries had not resolved. The deportation was the result of a treaty negotiated by May in April 2013, under which Jordan agreed to give Qatada a fair trial, by not using evidence that may have been obtained against him through torture. May pointed to Qatada's deportation as a triumph, guaranteeing in September 2013 that "he will not be returning to the UK", and declaring in her 2016 leadership campaign announcement that she was told that she "couldn't deport Abu Qatada" but that she "flew to Jordan and negotiated the treaty that got him out of Britain for good". The Qatada deportation also shaped May's views on the European Convention on Human Rights and European Court of Human Rights, saying that they had "moved the goalposts" and had a "crazy interpretation of our human rights laws", as a result, May has since campaigned against the institutions, saying that British withdrawal from them should be considered. "Go Home" advertisements In August 2013, the Home Office engaged in an advertising campaign directed at illegal immigrants. The advertisements, in the form of mobile advertising hoardings on the back of lorries, told illegal immigrants to "go home or face arrest", with an image of a person in handcuffs, and were deployed in six London boroughs with substantial ethnic minority populations. They were widely criticised as creating a hostile atmosphere for members of ethnic minority groups. The shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, described their language as being reminiscent of that used by the National Front in the 1970s. An adjudication by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that "the claim [that 106 arrests were made last week] was misleading and had not been substantiated" was followed by the advertisements being withdrawn after being banned by the ASA. Passport backlog In mid 2014, the Passport Office faced a backlog in developing processing passport applications, with around 30,000 applications hit by delays. David Cameron suggested this had come about due to the Passport Office's receiving an "above normal" 300,000-rise in applications. It was revealed, however, that May had been warned the year before, in July 2013, that a surge of 350,000 extra applications could occur owing to the closure of processing overseas under Chancellor Osborne's programme of cuts. Around £674,000 was paid to staff who helped clear the backlog. Windrush scandal In April 2018, May's hostile environment policy became the focus of British politics in what came to be known as the Windrush scandal, in which members of the Windrush generation of Afro-Caribbean Britons were threatened with deportation by the Home Office and in at least 83 cases, illegally deported from the UK. The policy also affected the lives of many thousands of people who were in the United Kingdom legally by causing them to be sacked from employment, preventing access to health care, illegally demanding money, exiling them and preventing their return to the UK, and leaving them destitute. The scandal led to the resignation of May's successor Amber Rudd as Home Secretary, and her replacement by Sajid Javid. Responding to questions in Parliament on the Windrush scandal on 25 April, May maintained that the hostile environment policy would remain government policy. Birmingham schools row In June 2014, an inflamed public argument arose between Home Office and Education Ministers about responsibility for alleged extremism in Birmingham schools. Prime Minister David Cameron intervened to resolve the row, insisting that May sack her Special Advisor Fiona Cunningham (now Hill) for releasing on May's website a confidential letter to May's colleagues, and that Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, apologise to the Home Office's head of Security and Counter-Terrorism, Charles Farr, for uncomplimentary briefings of him appearing on the front page of The Times. Minister for Women and Equalities May held the office of Minister for Women and Equalities in parallel to her office of Home Secretary from 2010 to September 2012, when this role was taken over by Maria Miller. May's appointment as Minister for Women and Equalities was controversial, and was met with criticism by many in the LGBT community due to May's record of consistently opposing LGBT rights from 1997 to 2004: she voted against equalising the age of consent in 1998, she spoke in favour of Section 28 in 2001, and she spoke against greater adoption rights for homosexuals in 2002. May later stated, during an appearance on the BBC's Question Time in 2010, that she had "changed her mind" on gay adoption. Writing for PinkNews in June 2010, May detailed proposals for improving LGBT rights including measures to tackle homophobia in sport, advocating British society's need for "cultural change". In July 2010, May stated she would be supporting the previous Labour Government's Anti-Discrimination Laws enshrined in the Equality Act 2010 despite having previously opposed it. The Equality Act came into effect in England, Wales and Scotland on 1 October 2010. She did however announce that a clause she dubbed "Harman's Law" which would have required public bodies to consider how they can reduce socio-economic inequalities when making decisions about spending and services would be scrapped on the grounds that it was "unworkable". Leadership bid In June 2016, May announced her candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative Party to succeed David Cameron, who resigned following the outcome of the European Union membership referendum in which 52 per cent of voters voted in favour of leaving the EU. May emphasised the need for unity within the party regardless of positions on leaving the EU, saying she could bring "strong leadership" and a "positive vision" for the country's future. Despite having backed a vote to remain in the EU, she insisted that there would be no second referendum, saying: "The campaign was fought... and the public gave their verdict. There must be no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it through the back door... Brexit means Brexit". An opinion poll that day found 47 per cent of people choosing May as their preferred candidate to be prime minister. May's supporters included a number of Cabinet ministers, such as Amber Rudd, Chris Grayling, Justine Greening, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Fallon and Patrick McLoughlin. She received the most votes in the first round of voting on 5 July, receiving support from 165 MPs, with rivals Andrea Leadsom receiving 66 votes and Michael Gove 48. The two candidates with the fewest votes, Liam Fox and Stephen Crabb, immediately announced their support for May. May came in first place in the second ballot on 7 July with an overwhelming majority of 199 MPs, compared with 84 for Leadsom and 46 for Gove, who was eliminated. Afterwards, May stated that she was delighted with her support among MPs, and she progressed to a vote of the Conservative Party membership against Leadsom. In July, Leadsom announced her withdrawal from the leadership contest hours after May had made her first official campaign speech, saying her lack of support amongst Conservative MPs compared to May would be too great a hindrance to becoming a credible prime minister. As the sole remaining candidate, May was formally declared Leader of the Conservative Party that evening. Premiership (2016–2019) Appointment On 13 July 2016, two days after becoming Leader of the Conservative Party, May was appointed prime minister by Queen Elizabeth II, becoming the second female British prime minister after Margaret Thatcher. Addressing the world's media outside 10 Downing Street, May said that she was "honoured and humbled" to become prime minister. On becoming prime minister, May became the first woman to have held two of the Great Offices of State. Responding to some calls for an early general election, "sources close to Mrs May" said there was no need for such an election. In a speech after her appointment, May emphasised the term "Unionist" in the name of the Conservative Party, reminding all of "the precious, precious bond between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland." By 15 July, May had travelled to Edinburgh to meet with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to reinforce the bond between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. "I'm coming here to show my commitment to preserving this special union that has endured for centuries," she explained. Cabinet changes May's first Cabinet appointment was described by Reuters as "one of the most sweeping government reshuffles for decades", and called "a brutal cull" by The Daily Telegraph. Nine of Cameron's ministers, including several prominent members, were sacked or resigned from their posts. The early appointments were interpreted both as an effort to reunite the Conservative Party in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the EU and as "a shift to the right," according to The Guardian. ITV's Political Editor Robert Peston commented: "Her rhetoric is more left-wing than Cameron's was, her cabinet is more right-wing than his was." Although May had supported remaining in the EU, she appointed several of the most prominent advocates of Brexit to key Cabinet positions responsible for negotiating the United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union, including Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary, David Davis as Brexit Secretary, and Liam Fox as International Trade Secretary, the latter two being new positions. Other key appointees included Amber Rudd as Home Secretary and Philip Hammond as Chancellor of the Exchequer. First term (2016–2017) The First May ministry delayed the final approval for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in July 2016, a project which May had objected to when she was Home Secretary. Her political adviser Nick Timothy wrote an article in 2015 to oppose China's involvement in sensitive sectors. He said that the government was "selling our national security to China" without rational concerns and "the Government seems intent on ignoring the evidence and presumably the advice of the security and intelligence agencies". In July 2016, when George Kerevan asked her whether she would be prepared to authorise the killing of a hundred thousand innocent persons by a nuclear strike; during the "Trident debate" inside the House of Commons, May said "Yes. And I have to say to the honourable gentleman: the whole point of a deterrent is that our enemies need to know that we would be prepared to use it. Unlike some suggestions that we could have a nuclear deterrent but not actually be willing to use it, which come from the Labour Party frontbench." On 20 July, May attended her first Prime Minister's Questions since taking office, then afterwards made her first overseas trip as prime minister, visiting Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During the visit, May said that she would not trigger Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon—the process for withdrawing from the European Union—before 2017, suggesting it would take time for the UK to negotiate a "sensible and orderly departure" from the EU. However, although Merkel said it was right for the UK to "take a moment" before beginning the process, she urged May to provide more clarity on a timetable for negotiations. Shortly before travelling to Berlin, May had also announced that in the wake of the referendum, Britain would relinquish the presidency of the Council of the European Union, which passes between member states every six months on a rotation basis, and that the UK had been scheduled to hold in the second half of 2017. May supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and defended selling arms to Saudi Arabia, which is accused of committing war crimes in Yemen, insisting that Britain's close relationship with Saudi Arabia was "helping keep people on the streets of Britain safe". On 21 January 2017, following the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President, the White House announced that May would meet the President on 27 January, making her the first foreign leader to meet Trump since he took office on 20 January. In a joint press conference, May indicated an interest in increased trade between the United States and the United Kingdom. She also affirmed a desire to maintain an American involvement in NATO. May was criticised by members of major parties, including her own, for refusing to condemn Trump's Executive Order 13769, as well as for inviting Trump to a state visit with Queen Elizabeth II. In January 2017, when it came to light that a Trident test had malfunctioned in June 2016, May refused to confirm whether she knew about the incident when she addressed parliament. May's Chancellor, Philip Hammond, continued government policies of freezing benefits in his 2017 budget. 2017 general election In May announced that she would call a parliamentary vote to hold an early general election on 8 June, saying that it was the "only way to guarantee certainty and security for years ahead". May had previously ruled out an early election on five occasions over nine months. The election was the first snap election held under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 after MPs gave May the two-thirds super-majority required. Unveiling the Conservative manifesto in Halifax on 18 May, May promised a "mainstream government that would deliver for mainstream Britain". It proposed to balance the budget by 2025, raise spending on the NHS by £8bn per annum and on schools by £4bn per annum by 2022, remove the ban on new grammar schools, means-test the winter fuel allowance, replace the state pension "triple lock" with a "double lock" and require executive pay to be approved by a vote of shareholders. It also contained May's previously-announced flagship energy reform of a cap on gas and electricity bills for households on standard variable tariffs. It dropped the 2015 pledge to not raise income tax or national insurance contributions but maintained a commitment to freeze VAT. New sovereign wealth funds for infrastructure, rules to prevent foreign takeovers of "critical national infrastructure" and institutes of technology were also proposed. The manifesto was noted for its intervention in industry, lack of tax cuts and increased spending commitments on public services. On Brexit it committed to leaving the single market and customs union while seeking a "deep and special partnership" and promised a vote in parliament on the final agreement. The manifesto also proposed reforms to social care in England that would raise the threshold for free care from £23,250 to £100,000 while including property in the means test and permitting deferred payment after death. After attracting substantial media attention, four days after the manifesto launch May stated that the proposed social care reforms would now include an "absolute limit" on costs in contrast to the rejection of a cap in the manifesto. She criticised the "fake" portrayal of the policy in recent days by Labour and other critics who had termed it a "dementia tax". Evening Standard editor George Osborne called the policy change a "U-turn". The Financial Times contrasted her "Strong and Stable" leadership slogan with her own record of nine rapid U-turns claiming she was "making a habit of retreating from policies." The general election in June resulted in a hung parliament, prompting her to broker a deal with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), involving £1 billion of additional public funding for Northern Ireland. Second term (2017–2019) Less than two weeks after the 2017 State Opening of Parliament, May ordered a full public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal. For this she was widely praised as successive governments going back to the 1980s had refused such an inquiry, some though speculated that May had simply been forced to announce the inquiry after a group legal action and news of fresh evidence were brought by Jason Evans. Additionally, Andy Burnham had threatened to take evidence to the police if an inquiry were not announced. With over 1,000 core participants, the Infected Blood Inquiry is the biggest public inquiry ever held in the UK. Myanmar May is the first British prime minister to visit Buenos Aires after the Falklands War. In November 2017, May said the actions of Myanmar Army and police against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar "looks like ethnic cleansing". According to May, "it is something for which the Burmese authorities – and especially the military – must take full responsibility." From the 2017 general election to December 2017, May suffered no defeats in whipped votes in the House of Commons. On 13 December 2017, May lost a vote on the EU Withdrawal Bill by 309 votes to 305, due to 11 Conservatives voting against the government, including Stephen Hammond who was then vice-chairman of the Conservative Party. Russia May accused Russia of "threatening the international order", "seeking to weaponise information" and "deploying its state-run media organisations to plant fake stories". She further suggested the country had been meddling in the 2017 German federal election in contradiction of German government officials and security experts, who had dismissed the possibility. May's government accused Russia for orchestrating the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. The UK's official assessment of this incident was supported by 28 other countries, who expelled an unprecedented total of 153 Russian diplomats. May said in the House of Commons on 12 March: It is now clear that Mr Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia. This is part of a group of nerve agents known as 'Novichok'. Based on the positive identification of this chemical agent by world-leading experts at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down; our knowledge that Russia has previously produced this agent and would still be capable of doing so; Russia's record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views some defectors as legitimate targets for assassinations; the Government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Mr Speaker, there are therefore only two plausible explanations for what happened in Salisbury on 4 March. Either this was a direct act by the Russian State against our country. Or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others. China May promised to confront China on human rights but was praised in Communist Party-controlled media for "sidestepping" human rights in China during her first official visit to the country. The Global Times said: "For the Prime Minister, the losses outweigh the gains if she appeases the British media at the cost of the visit's friendly atmosphere." Assassination plot In 2017, Islamic State terrorist Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman was foiled in a plot to assassinate May at Downing Street. Turkey In May 2018, during a three-day state visit to the UK by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, May declared that Britain is a "true friend" of Turkey, but she added that "It is important that in defence of democracy, which has been facing extraordinary pressures from the failed coup, instability across the border from Syria and from Kurdish terrorism, Turkey does not lose sight of the values it is seeking to defend." Contempt of Parliament On 4 December 2018, on a motion passed by MPs by 311 to 293 votes, the May Government was found in contempt of Parliament; the first government to be found in contempt in history. The vote was triggered by the government failing to lay before Parliament any legal advice on the proposed withdrawal agreement on the terms of the UK's departure from the European Union, after a humble address for a return was unanimously agreed to by the House of Commons on 13 November 2018. The government then agreed to publish the full legal advice for Brexit that was given to the Prime Minister by the Attorney General during negotiations with the European Union. Vote of confidence (Conservative Party) In December 2018, May faced a vote of confidence in her leadership of the Conservative Party over opposition to her negotiated Brexit deal, after the number of Conservative MPs exceeded the 48 no-confidence letter threshold that the 1922 Committee Chairman, Sir Graham Brady required for the vote of confidence to be held. May won the vote with 200 Conservative MPs voting for her, compared to 117 voting against. As part of her speech to the Parliamentary Conservative Party before the confidence vote was opened, it was reported that May conceded that she would step down as prime minister after delivering Brexit and would not lead the Conservative Party into the next General Election in exchange for Conservative MPs voting to have confidence in her leadership so that she would be able to keep the party, Parliament and the UK stable during the final stages of Brexit. May later confirmed this to BBC News Political editor, Laura Kuenssberg after meeting EU leaders, including Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels. Vote of no confidence (House of Commons) On 17 December 2018 in the House of Commons, the Leader of the Opposition and Labour Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, tabled a motion of no confidence in May's premiership, citing May's refusal to set the date for the meaningful vote on her Brexit deal before Christmas, and instead pushing it back to mid-January. The following day the government refused to allow time for the motion to be debated. John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, confirmed that they were under no obligation to do so. Following the defeat of May's Brexit deal on 15 January 2019, Corbyn tabled a motion of no confidence in the Government, to be voted on by parliament the following evening. The motion was defeated by 325 votes to 306; a majority of 19. Brexit deal defeats In January 2019, May's government was defeated in the House of Commons by a margin of 230 votes (202 in favour and 432 opposed) in a vote on her deal to leave the European Union ("first meaningful vote"). It was the largest majority against a United Kingdom government in history. In March, May was again defeated in the Commons by 149 votes (242 in favour and 391 against) on her latest deal after she secured last-minute concessions from the EU ("second meaningful vote"). May was then again defeated by 58 votes in the Commons (286 in favour and 344 against) on the withdrawal deal but not the political declaration ("third meaningful vote"). Resignation I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold – the second female Prime Minister but certainly not the last. I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love. On 27 March 2019 at a meeting of the 1922 Committee, May confirmed that she will "not lead the UK in the next stage of Brexit negotiations", meaning she was expected to resign after the third meaningful vote, if it had passed successfully. However, no date was stated, and her reported wording was ambiguous and thus carried no binding force. On 29 March, the third meaningful vote was defeated, and while May did not state anything in regards to standing down, Corbyn stated that if May could not find an alternative to her deal "she must go, not at an indeterminate date in the future but now." On 22 April it was announced that the leaders of 70 Conservative Associations had signed a petition calling for a vote of no confidence. Under party rules an Extraordinary General Meeting must be convened if one is demanded by 65 associations. The non-binding vote, to be determined by 800 of the party's senior officials, would be the first time such an instance has occurred. On 24 April, the party's 1922 Committee ruled out changing the leadership challenge rules, but its chair, Graham Brady, asked for clarity on when May would step down from office. On 24 May she confirmed that she would resign as Conservative Party leader on 7 June, stating, "it is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort." She continued to serve as prime minister until she tendered her resignation to the Queen on 24 July. This coincided with the arrival of Boris Johnson as prime minister, who was elected by the Conservative Party membership. By constitutional convention May did not step down until she assured the Queen that Johnson would be able to command the confidence of the House of Commons. In one of May's last Prime Minister's Questions, Barry Sheerman, the Labour MP for Huddersfield, urged May not to "cut and run" and instead reconsider her resignation. May responded by saying she would return to the role of a backbench MP after leaving office. On 24 July 2019, May ended her consecutive service at the frontbench since 1998 when she had been appointed Shadow Spokesman for Schools, Disabled People and Women. Ministerial resignations May's premiership had 51 resignations with 33 relating to Brexit. These included 12 departures from the Cabinet. The pace and number of resignations have been described as 'unprecedented' by the Institute for Government, with resignations impacting the functioning of the government. In less than three years, May received more resignations than Thatcher (11 years) or Blair (10 years). The Chief Whip Julian Smith described May's Cabinet as exhibiting the 'worst cabinet ill-discipline in history'. Public opinion May had a high approval rating during her first week as prime minister. The results of an Ipsos MORI survey released in July 2016 indicated that 55% of those surveyed believed that May was a suitable PM while only 23% believed that the Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn would make a good prime minister. A ComRes poll taken in September 2016 after her election suggested May was seen as substantially more "in touch with ordinary British people" than her predecessor David Cameron and a majority of voters saw her as "the right person to unite the country". At the beginning of 2017, nearly six months after becoming prime minister, a ComRes found May was the most popular UK politician with a net rating of +9 which was described as the longest honeymoon period enjoyed by any sitting Conservative prime minister since the end of the Second World War. The Conservative Party had a 21-point lead over Labour in a poll released the day before May announced a snap election but this lead narrowed substantially. In mid-June, following the election, a YouGov poll showed that May's popularity had dropped to a rating of −34. In April 2018, May had a higher approval rating than Corbyn for the first time since the general election, leading him by −13 to −23. Plans to reform social care came to dominate the Conservative election campaign during the 2017 snap election, with some arguing it ultimately cost May her majority. May's promised green paper on the future of adult social care was plagued by frequent delays, ultimately never materialising during her premiership. A December 2019 poll by learning disabilities charity Hft found that 59% of social care providers in England believed that the situation in social care worsened under May's premiership, compared to just 3% who said it was slightly better. Political positions May has identified herself with the one-nation conservative position within her party. Since coming into prominence as a front-bench politician, May's public image has divided media opinion, especially from some in the traditionalist right-wing press. Commenting on May's debut as Home Secretary, Anne Perkins of The Guardian observed that "she'll be nobody's stooge", while Cristina Odone of The Daily Telegraph predicted her to be "the rising star" of the Coalition Government. Allegra Stratton, then with The Guardian, praised May as showing managerial acumen. Describing her as a liberal Conservative, the Financial Times characterised May as a "non-ideological politician with a ruthless streak who gets on with the job", in doing so comparing her to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Conversely, in The Independent, Rebecca Glover of the Policy Innovation Research Unit contrasted May to Boris Johnson, claiming that she was "staunchly more conservative, more anti-immigration, and more isolationist" than he was. During her leadership campaign, May said that "We need an economy that works for everyone", pledging to crack down on executive pay by making shareholders' votes binding rather than advisory and to put workers onto company boards (although she later claimed that the last pledge was not to be mandatory), policies that The Guardian describes as going further than the Labour Party's 2015 general election manifesto. After she became prime minister, May's first speech espoused the left, with a promise to combat the "burning injustice" in British society and to create a union "between all of our citizens" and promising to be an advocate for the "ordinary working-class family" and not for the affluent in the UK. "The government I lead will be driven not by the interests of the privileged few but by yours. We will do everything we can to give you more control over your lives ... When we take the big calls, we'll think not of the powerful, but you. When we pass new laws we'll listen not to the mighty, but to you. When it comes to taxes we'll prioritise not the wealthy but you." May has described herself as a personal supporter of fox hunting with hounds, saying that foxes' numbers had to be controlled and that hunting them with dogs was the most humane way to do it. The Conservative manifesto for the 2017 election included a pledge to hold a parliamentary vote to repeal the Hunting Act 2004, which prohibits a range of hunting activities. After the Conservatives' manifesto for the 2017 election was released, some people, including Fraser Nelson of The Spectator, called her a "red Tory", saying that she had moved her party to the left in politics. Politico called her policies "Mayism", saying that Mayism was "a working-class conservatism openly critical of the "cult of individualism" and globalization". May praised the former prime minister Winston Churchill and has a portrait of Churchill on the wall of her study. May's spokesman said: "The prime minister has quoted and referenced Sir Winston Churchill on many occasion and acknowledged him as one of the great prime ministers of the 20th century." May welcomed the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying that "no one is above the law." Assange had fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012 after being accused of sexual assault in Sweden. He is also wanted by the US for "conspiracy to commit computer intrusion" relating to the Wikileaks release of classified material in 2010, including footage of US soldiers killing civilians in Iraq. Foreign policy In 2003, May voted to approve the invasion of Iraq and in 2013 voted in favour of British military intervention in the Syrian civil war. The May Ministry delayed the final approval for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in July 2016, a project which May had objected to when she was Home Secretary. Her political adviser Nick Timothy wrote an article in 2015 to oppose People's Republic of China's involvement in sensitive sectors. He said that the government was "selling our national security to China" without rational concerns and "the Government seems intent on ignoring the evidence and presumably the advice of the security and intelligence agencies." Politicians and human rights activists urged Theresa May's government to vote against Saudi Arabian retention of the membership of the UN Human Rights Council. Amnesty International's UK Foreign Policy Programme Director Polly Truscott said: "Rather than turning a blind eye to Saudi Arabia's continuing bully tactics, the UK should publicly hold the Saudi authorities to account for its appalling human rights record and the ongoing war crimes in Yemen and should stop selling weapons to Saudi as a matter of urgency." May defended selling arms to Saudi Arabia stating that close ties with the country "keep people on the streets of Britain safe". Economic policy Prior to her premiership, May outlined plans to backtrack on the longstanding government plan to achieve a surplus by 2020, following the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. With uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook, Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond has suggested that the government's Autumn Statement may be used to "reset" economic policy. In 2015, while May was Home Secretary, an 18% funding cut in the police force had taken place with the loss of around 20,000 police officers. Before the Manchester Arena bombing and after the Paris attacks, she was warned by a Manchester senior police officer that the cuts in the force and community policing risked terror attacks in the city due to the lack of resources to undertake proper intelligence and anti-terrorist measures. In May and Hammond's 2017 budget, continued government policies were confirmed regarding freezing benefits. May's government published a Green Paper in November 2016 which considered forcing companies to reveal the difference between what their CEOs are paid and what their ordinary workers are paid. On 1 January 2019 new regulations came into force for UK listed companies with over 250 employees to annually disclose the ratio of their CEO's pay to the median, lower quartile, and upper quartile pay of their UK employees. Workers' representatives Before her premiership began, May said that she planned to have workers represented on company boards, saying "If I'm prime minister ... we're going to have not just consumers represented on company boards, but workers as well." May aimed to put workers' and consumers' representatives on boards to make them more accountable. Nils Pratley, a journalist at The Guardian, wrote in July "Fundamental principles of Britain's boardroom governance are being rethought. It is a very welcome development. In the more enlightened quarters of the UK corporate world, they can see that boardroom pay has eroded trust in business." Workers' representatives, it appeared, would have made UK companies more like those in Germany and France. May was accused of backtracking in November 2016 when she said that firms would not be forced to adopt the proposal, saying "there are a number of ways in which that can be achieved". Environmental policy Following the impact of Blue Planet II in 2017, the May administration outlined plans to approve further green policy. A particular focus has been on plastic and its impact on the environment. Her government's "25 Year Environment Plan" was published in January 2018: targets were set for achievement of a number of environmental benefits with dates ranging from 2025 to 2060. In March 2018, May announced plans for a plastic deposit scheme modelled on a similar policy in Norway to boost recycling. EU and Brexit May publicly stated her support for the UK remaining in the EU during the 2016 referendum campaign, but did not campaign extensively in the referendum and criticised aspects of the EU in a speech. It was speculated by political journalists that May had sought to minimise her involvement in the debate to strengthen her position as a future candidate for the Conservative party leadership. Some in David Cameron's ministry likened May to a "submarine" on the issue of Brexit due to her perceived indifference towards the referendum and the EU. In a leaked recording prior to the Brexit referendum, May stated: I think the economic arguments are clear. I think being part of a 500-million trading bloc is significant for us. I think, as I was saying to you a little earlier, that one of the issues is that a lot of people will invest here in the UK because it is the UK in Europe. If we were not in Europe, I think there would be firms and companies who would be looking to say, do they need to develop a mainland Europe presence rather than a UK presence? So I think there are definite benefits for us in economic terms. May also said Britain was more secure as part of the EU due to the European arrest warrant and Europe-wide information sharing among other factors. She said, "There are definitely things we can do as members of the European Union that I think keep us more safe". May's public reticence during the referendum campaign resulted in tensions with David Cameron and his pro-EU team. Following the referendum and her election as party leader, May signalled that she would support full withdrawal from the EU and prioritise immigration controls over remaining within the single market, leading some to contrast this with her earlier remarks on the earlier economic arguments. She later went on to say before the 2017 United Kingdom general election that she would be willing to leave the EU without a deal, saying that "no deal is better than a bad deal. We have to be prepared to walk out". The Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron, said it was "disappointing that Theresa May lacked the political courage to warn the public as she did a bunch of bankers in private about the devastating economic effects of Brexit. More disappointing is that now she is supposedly in charge, she is blithely ignoring her own warnings and is prepared to inflict an act of monumental self-harm on the UK economy by pulling Britain out of the single market." Phil Wilson for the Open Britain group said, "It's good to know that privately Theresa May thinks what many of us have been saying publicly for a long time, leaving the single market would be bad for businesses and for our economy. Now she is prime minister, Theresa May is in an unrivalled position to act on her previous concerns, starting by putting membership of the single market at the heart of her government's negotiating position." On 22 September 2017, May officially made public the details of her Brexit proposal during a speech in Florence, urging the European Union to maintain a transitional period of two years after Brexit during which trade terms remain unaltered. During this period, the UK would also continue to honour its budget commitments of about €10 billion per annum, and accept immigration from Europe. Her speech was criticised by leading Eurosceptic Nigel Farage. The European Union's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier welcomed May's proposal as "constructive," but said it also "must be translated into negotiating positions to make meaningful progress." May did not initially wish to give MPs a vote on withdrawal from the European Union. Nicky Morgan stated "in 2016 MPs aren't asking for a veto but they do want a say and we hope the Prime Minister will remember her earlier words". Anna Soubry and Nick Clegg also called for more parliamentary involvement. In November 2016, the High Court ruled in R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union that parliament must vote on the decision to leave the EU but May appealed to the Supreme Court. Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister has joined the case as did representatives from Wales and Northern Ireland. Sturgeon felt that the Scottish Parliament should also consent to the UK triggering of Article 50. She said she was not seeking to prevent England and Wales leaving but wanted to preserve Scotland's place in the EU. In the end the Supreme Court required a vote in the UK parliament. May was accused of not having a plan if Brexit talks broke down. There were fears that if talks failed Britain could be left trading under WTO rules which it was feared by some analysts would seriously damage jobs and livelihoods in Britain and Europe. May's ministers repeatedly promised to walk away from a bad final deal but, it was argued by some commentators, had no plans for how to manage without a deal. Ivan Rogers described May's Brexit strategy as "an accident waiting to happen". He said completing Brexit was "guaranteed" to take a decade and alleged May's hopes of a trade deal made to order meant that instability in the next few months was "quite likely". In late October 2018, the National Audit Office claimed that it was already too late to prepare the necessary Irish border security checks in the event of a No-deal scenario—a weakness that could be exploited by criminals. On 5 February 2019, May gave a speech to business leaders in Belfast to address Brexit stating the United Kingdom's relationship with Ireland was closer than the 26 other members of the EU. She affirmed the government's "absolute" commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and stated that Britain would seek to have no hard border in Northern Ireland. It was reported in 2020 that former MI6 operative Christopher Steele accused May, while Boris Johnson was foreign secretary, of ignoring claims that Russia may have secretly funded Brexit. Steele accuses May's government of selling British interests short by not taking matters further: "In this case, political considerations seemed to outweigh national security interests. If so, in my view, HMG made a serious mistake in balancing matters of strategic importance to our country." In July 2020 the Intelligence and Security Committee report on Russia was released. It stated that the British government and intelligence agencies failed to conduct any assessment of Russian attempts to interfere with the 2016 Brexit referendum. It stated the government "had not seen or sought evidence of successful interference in UK democratic processes". Stewart Hosie, SNP member said "The report reveals that no one in government knew if Russia interfered in or sought to influence the referendum because they did not want to know". However, the report stated no firm conclusion could be ascertained on whether the Kremlin had or had not successfully interfered in the referendum. Feminism In 2005, May co-founded the mentoring and pressure group Women2Win. This group and May's personal efforts have been credited with increasing the number of Conservative women MPs and with supporting them. In government she lobbied for improvements to maternity leave, and as Home Secretary she acted on FGM and introduced a law on coercive control. However, she has been criticised for the financial cuts made by her government, which have been claimed to have had the greatest impact on poor and vulnerable women. Same-sex relationships In 1998, May voted against lowering the age of consent for homosexual acts. May was also a supporter of Section 28, calling a failed repeal in 2000 to be "a victory for commonsense". She was absent for the vote when it was successfully repealed in 2003. She also voted against the Adoption and Children Act 2002 that allowed same-sex couples to adopt. Beginning in 2012, however, May expressed support for the introduction of same-sex marriage by recording a video for the Out4Marriage campaign, in which she stated "I believe if two people care for each other, if they love each other, if they want to commit to each other... then they should be able to get married and marriage should be for everyone". In May 2013, May voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, which legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales. In 2017, May apologised for her past votes while taking credit for helping advance LGBT rights within her party. Post-premiership (2019–present) After leaving 10 Downing Street, May took her place on the backbenches, remaining an MP to "devote her full time" to her constituency of Maidenhead, Berkshire. In the 2019 general election she was re-elected as the constituency's MP. In May 2020, May criticised Dominic Cummings when he broke lockdown rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. She abstained in the vote on the second lockdown in Parliament. On 13 July 2021, May was one of 24 Conservative MPs who voted against their party, defying the whip for the first time in 24 years, over the government's proposal to cut its foreign aid budget. She criticised the government, saying in an address to Parliament, "We made a promise to the poorest people in the world. The Government have broken that promise." Amid the Partygate scandal, May was critical of Boris Johnson after the publication of the summary of the Sue Gray report, stating "either my right honourable friend had not read the rules or didn't understand what they meant and others around him, or they didn't think the rules applied to Number 10. Which was it?" On 16 March 2022, Russia banned May from visiting the country over its invasion of Ukraine. In September 2023, the House of Commons official portrait of May by artist Saied Dai was unveiled. In a radio interview with Nick Robinson she said that her Brexit deal would have been better and that she regretted saying "nothing has changed". Also in that month, May's book titled The Abuse of Power - Confronting Injustice in Public Life was published. In October 2023, May appeared as the guest star in 2 episodes of The Rest Is Politics: Leading, hosted by Alastair Campbell, and a former minister in her government, Rory Stewart. In March 2023, May was reselected as the Conservative candidate for Maidenhead at the 2024 general election, however in March 2024, May announced that she would not seek re-election as an MP at the general election, joining a record number of Conservative MPs standing down at the election. May said she is spending much of her time on causes "close to my heart": "These causes have been taking an increasing amount of my time. Because of this, after much careful thought and consideration, I have realised that, looking ahead, I would no longer be able to do my job as an MP in the way I believe is right and my constituents deserve." Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called May a "relentless campaigner" who had been "fiercely loyal" to Maidenhead, and added that she "defines what it means to be a public servant". Her predecessor David Cameron called her "a brilliant public servant" who could "hold her head high", and said she had done much to "modernise the Conservative Party and promote women in public life". Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer thanked May for her service, saying that she had "served this House and her constituents with a real sense of duty" and added that her "unwavering commitment to ending modern slavery is commented by all of us." She was succeeded as MP for Maidenhead by Liberal Democrat Joshua Reynolds, the first liberal MP to be elected to represent this constituency in over 100 years. May has been mentioned as a possible candidate to replace NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg following his retirement. In June 2021, British Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace expressed support for a potential May candidacy, saying "she would be an excellent candidate." Following her retirement from the House of Commons, May has been identified as a potential candidate in the 2024 University of Oxford Chancellor election to succeed Chris Patten. Peerage After standing down as an MP, May was nominated for a life peerage in the 2024 Dissolution Honours. She was created Baroness May of Maidenhead, of Sonning in the Royal County of Berkshire, on 21 August 2024. She was introduced to the House of Lords on 12 September 2024. Personal life May has been married to Sir Philip May, an investment relationship manager, since 6 September 1980. It has been reported that former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto introduced the two during their time at Oxford. May credits future Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull for encouraging Philip to propose to her. May has expressed regret that she and her husband did not have children. The Mays are passionate walkers, and they regularly spend their holidays hiking in the Swiss Alps. May is also a cricket fan, stating that Sir Geoffrey Boycott was one of her sporting heroes. She also enjoys cooking, and has said that she owns 100 cookery books. Philip has said that she "is a very good cook". May and her husband reside in the Thames village of Sonning which is within her former constituency. She is the first cousin once removed of the Labour MP Alistair Strathern. May is a member of the Church of England and regularly worships at church (usually at St Andrew's, Sonning) on Sundays. The daughter of an Anglican priest, Hubert Brasier, May has said that her Christian faith "is part of me. It is part of who I am and therefore how I approach things". She was raised in the Anglo-Catholic or High Church tradition of Anglicanism, of which her Mirfield-trained father was a proponent. May is known for a love of fashion, and in particular of distinctive shoes; she wore leopard-print shoes at her 'Nasty Party' speech in 2002, as well as her final Cabinet meeting as Home Secretary in 2016. On Desert Island Discs in 2014, she chose a subscription to Vogue as her luxury item. However, she has been critical of the media focusing on her fashion instead of her achievements as a politician. May was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 1 in November 2012. She is treated with daily insulin injections. Honours and arms Commonwealth honours Foreign honours Scholastic University degrees Chancellor, visitor, governor, and fellowships Honorary degrees Freedom of the City 30 August 2018: Abuja, Nigeria. Memberships and Fellowships Awards Prior to and since her appointment to Government, May has actively supported a variety of campaigns on policy issues in her constituency and at national level. She has spoken at the Fawcett Society promoting the cross-party issue of gender equality. She is the Patron of Reading University Conservative Association, in Berkshire (the county of her Maidenhead constituency). Her activism has earned her a number of awards. She was nominated as one of the Society's Inspiring Women of 2006. In February 2013, BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour described her as Britain's second-most powerful woman after Queen Elizabeth II; May was Home Secretary at the time, and the most senior woman in that government. In 2001 she was made a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Marketors. In September 2017, she was listed by Forbes as the second most powerful woman in the world, behind Angela Merkel. Arms See also Electoral history of Theresa May References Further reading Allen, Nicholas. "‘Brexit means Brexit’: Theresa May and post-referendum British politics." British Politics 13 (2018): 105-120. online Allen, Nicholas. "Brexit, Butchery and Boris: Theresa May and her first cabinet." Parliamentary Affairs 70.3 (2017): 633-644. online Atkins, Judi, and John Gaffney. "Narrative, persona and performance: The case of Theresa May 2016–2017." British journal of politics and international relations 22.2 (2020): 293-308. online Blackburn, Virginia. Theresa May-The Downing Street Revolution (Kings Road Publishing, 2016) online. Brusenbauch Meislova, Monika. "Brexit means Brexit—or does It? The legacy of Theresa May's discursive treatment of Brexit." Political Quarterly 90.4 (2019): 681-689. Cole, Mike. Theresa May, the hostile environment and public pedagogies of hate and threat: The case for a future without borders (Routledge, 2019) online. Dyson, Stephen Benedict. "Theresa May and Brexit: Leadership style and performance." British Politics 19.2 (2024): 213-233. Harrois, Thibaud. "Towards ‘Global Britain’? Theresa May and the UK’s Role in the World after Brexit." Observatoire de la société britannique 21 (2018): 51-73. online Holman, Mirya R., Jennifer L. Merolla, and Elizabeth J. Zechmeister. "The curious case of Theresa May and the public that did not rally: Gendered reactions to terrorist attacks can cause slumps not bumps." American Political Science Review 116.1 (2022): 249-264. online Prince, Rosa. Theresa May: The enigmatic prime minister (Biteback Publishing, 2017) online. Schnapper, Pauline. "Theresa May, the Brexit negotiations and the two-level game, 2017–2019." in The Nested Games of Brexit (Routledge, 2022) Pp. 68-79. online Williams, Blair E. "A tale of two women: A comparative gendered media analysis of UK Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May." Parliamentary Affairs 74.2 (2021): 398-420. Worthy, Ben, Jessica C. Smith, and Laura Richards-Gray. "Remind you of anyone? Comparing the gendered heroic leadership of Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May." British Politics 19.2 (2024): 288-306. online External links Constituency website of Theresa May MP Theresa May on Twitter Profile at the Conservative Party website Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom Contributions in Parliament at Hansard Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005 Voting record at Public Whip Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou Appearances on C-SPAN
Liz_Truss	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Truss	[ 225, 246 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Truss", "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Truss" ]	Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down amid a government crisis, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. The member of Parliament (MP) for South West Norfolk from 2010 to 2024, Truss held various Cabinet positions under three prime ministers—David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson—lastly as foreign secretary from 2021 to 2022. Truss studied philosophy, politics and economics at Merton College, Oxford, and was the president of the Oxford University Liberal Democrats. In 1996 she joined the Conservative Party. She worked at Royal Dutch Shell and Cable & Wireless and was the deputy director of the think tank Reform. After two unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the House of Commons, she became the MP for South West Norfolk at the 2010 general election. As a backbencher she called for reform in several policy areas including the economy, childcare and mathematics in education. Truss co-founded the Free Enterprise Group of Conservative MPs and wrote or co-wrote a number of papers and books, including After the Coalition and Britannia Unchained. Truss was the parliamentary under-secretary of state for childcare and education from 2012 to 2014 before Cameron appointed her secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs in a cabinet reshuffle. Although she campaigned for the UK to remain in the European Union, Truss supported Brexit following the outcome of the 2016 referendum. Following Cameron's resignation in 2016 his successor, Theresa May, appointed her secretary of state for justice and lord chancellor, making Truss the first woman to serve as lord chancellor in the office's thousand-year history; in the aftermath of the 2017 general election she was demoted to chief secretary to the Treasury. After May announced her resignation in May 2019 Truss supported Johnson's successful bid to become Conservative leader and prime minister. He appointed Truss secretary of state for international trade and president of the Board of Trade in July and subsequently to the additional role of minister for women and equalities in September. Johnson promoted Truss to foreign secretary in the 2021 cabinet reshuffle; during her time in the position she led negotiations on the Northern Ireland Protocol and the UK's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In September 2022 Truss defeated Rishi Sunak in a leadership election to succeed Johnson, who had resigned because of an earlier government crisis, and was appointed as prime minister by Elizabeth II two days before the monarch's death; her government's business was subsequently suspended during a national mourning period of ten days. In response to the rising cost of living and increased energy prices, her ministry announced the Energy Price Guarantee. The government then announced large-scale tax cuts and borrowing, which led to financial instability and were largely reversed. Facing mounting criticism and loss of confidence in her leadership, Truss announced her resignation as leader of the Conservative Party on 20 October. Sunak was elected unopposed as her successor, and appointed prime minister on 25 October. After spending the duration of Sunak's premiership on the backbenches, Truss lost her seat at the 2024 general election. Early life and education (1975–1996) Mary Elizabeth Truss was born on 26 July 1975 at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England. She was the second child of John and Priscilla Truss (née Grasby); the year before Truss's birth, their first son, Matthew, had died. Truss was known by her middle name, Elizabeth, from early childhood, with her father—a professor of pure mathematics at the University of Leeds—using it regularly, which she preferred; after being given a badge with "Mary" on it on her first day of school, Truss asked her teacher that it be changed. She later described her parents' politics as being "to the left of Labour"; her mother, a teacher and nurse, was a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. When Truss stood for election as a Conservative, her mother agreed to campaign with her but her father declined to do so. Her parents divorced in 2003. In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim". After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds, where Truss attended Roundhay School; she later said in 2022 that at the school she "saw kids ... being let down", a claim which was criticised as inaccurate by several former Roundhay pupils. When Truss was 12 she and her family spent a year in Burnaby, British Columbia, where she attended Parkcrest Elementary School whilst her father taught at Simon Fraser University. Truss praised the Canadian curriculum and the attitude that it was "really good to be top of the class", which she contrasted with her education at Roundhay. Truss's parents had initially wanted her to study at the University of Cambridge, but Truss instead elected to go to Oxford in what her biographers, Cole and Heale, call a "bout of teenage rebellion". She applied to Merton College but was instead pooled to the all-women's St Hilda's College; annoyed, she then complained to both colleges, after which she was accepted by Merton and began her studies there in September 1993. Truss read philosophy, politics and economics and graduated in 1996. During her time at university, Truss was active in the Liberal Democrats and was a member of the Oxford Reform Club. She became the president of the Oxford University Liberal Democrats in her first year and a member of the national executive committee of Liberal Democrat Youth and Students (LDYS) in 1995. During Truss's previous, unsuccessful bid for the LDYS executive, the party's leader, Paddy Ashdown, said she was "a good debater and is utterly fearless". As a Liberal Democrat, Truss supported the abolition of the monarchy and the legalisation of cannabis, and campaigned against the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. However, by November 1995 Truss had become critical of the Liberal Democrats, as she "realised the Tory Party was saying quite sane things"; in her last year at the university, she resigned from the LDYS. By 1996 Truss had joined the Conservative Party. Career Employment and candidatures (1996–2010) From 1996 to 2000 Truss worked for Royal Dutch Shell, living in Lewisham and Greenwich and qualifying as a chartered management accountant. In 2000 she was employed by Cable & Wireless and rose to the position of economic director before leaving in 2005; one of her colleagues there, the Labour peer George Robertson, said that Truss "had a passion for politics ... she [was] fresh minded, enthusiastic and the Tory Party needed people like that". In January 2008, after losing her first two elections, Truss became the deputy director of Reform, a centre-right think tank, where she advocated for more focus on countering serious and organised crime and higher standards in schools and action to tackle what Reform perceived as Britain's "falling competitiveness". She co-authored The Value of Mathematics, Fit for Purpose, A New Level, Back To Black and other reports. Whilst working at Shell, Truss served as the chair of the Lewisham Deptford Conservative Association from 1998 to 2000, having been introduced to the branch by her friend and later Conservative MP Jackie Doyle-Price. During this time, at a reception at the Greenwich Conservative Association, Truss met her future husband, Hugh O'Leary, whom she married in 2000 and with whom she has two daughters: Frances (born 2006) and Liberty (born 2008). Truss unsuccessfully stood for election twice in Greenwich London Borough Council: for Vanbrugh ward in 1998 and Blackheath Westcombe in 2002. The deputy leader of Greenwich Conservatives, Graeme Coombes, recalled in 2022 that Truss "said [in 1998] she was hoping to stand for Parliament ... she was destined for bigger and better things". However, Alex Grant, the candidate who had defeated Truss in 2002, called her "largely invisible during the campaign". In the 2006 council election, Truss was elected for Eltham South, but did not seek re-election to the council in 2010, standing down the day she became an MP. At the 2001 general election Truss was selected for the safe Labour seat of Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, coming a distant second but achieving a 3.2 per cent swing to the Conservatives, thought impressive by her party colleagues. The election saw the Conservatives make a net gain of one seat, which was considered a disappointment; the party leader William Hague subsequently resigned, with Truss supporting the former defence secretary Michael Portillo's unsuccessful leadership campaign. In January 2005 Sue Catling, the parliamentary candidate for the Calder Valley constituency, was forced to resign by the local Conservative Association because of an affair with the association's chairman. Catling claimed that the members of the party that had opposed her were sexist and said that she was "accused of everything except murder and paedophilia". Truss, who was selected as the candidate for the seat, narrowly lost to the Labour incumbent after an active Conservative campaign which The Yorkshire Post described as "Blitzkrieg". Beginning in 2004, Truss embarked on an 18-month affair with the Conservative MP Mark Field, which ended shortly after the following year's election. Following the 2005 general election David Cameron replaced Michael Howard as leader, and Truss was added to the party's A-List, a list of potential Conservative candidates; in October 2009 she was selected for the constituency of South West Norfolk by members of the local Conservative Association, winning over 50 per cent of the vote in the first round of the final against 5 other candidates, including the future deputy prime minister Thérèse Coffey. Shortly after her selection, some members of the constituency association objected to Truss's selection because of her failure to declare her affair with Field. The Mail on Sunday was the first to report on the affair, and party members claimed to have been misled over Truss's "skeleton in the cupboard". A motion was proposed to terminate Truss's candidature; the proponents of Truss's deselection were branded the "Turnip Taliban" by Conservative Party officials and the press, including by the Mail, a reference to stereotypes about Norfolk being a county of farmers. There was also controversy over the fact that Truss was not from Norfolk, with some in the association asking for a local candidate and saying that she had been "parachuted in". On 16 November, the motion was put to the association: following both sides making their arguments, including what Cole and Heale call an "impassioned" speech from Truss, it was defeated by 132 votes to 37. Backbencher (2010–2012) Truss was elected as an MP in the 2010 general election, which saw 148 other Conservatives become MPs for the first time; many of what The Independent described as the "golden generation" would later reach high ranks in government. The Conservatives did not reach an overall majority in the House of Commons and entered into a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, with Cameron becoming prime minister. Following her election to Parliament, Truss campaigned for issues relating to her constituency, including the retention of the Tornado GR4 airbase at RAF Marham in her constituency; the replacement of the old aircraft with around 150 new F-35 strike fighters; the conversion of the A11 west of Thetford into a dual carriageway, which was completed in 2014; and preventing a waste incinerator being built in King's Lynn. Truss co-founded the Free Enterprise Group (FEG)—a grouping of over 30 Thatcherite Conservative MPs—in October 2011; the month prior, she had co-authored After the Coalition with some of the people that would later join the FEG: Priti Patel, Kwasi Kwarteng, Dominic Raab and Chris Skidmore. The book advocated for a number of policies, including a reduction in the top rate of tax to 40 pence per pound and the introduction of a carbon tax to reduce pollution. On the publication, Truss wrote: Our message must be that the state cannot do everything: while the government can help, it can never fully solve any individual's problems. The NHS can't keep you healthy if you don't eat or exercise properly. A teacher can't get you the grades if you aren't prepared to work. The job centre can't find you work if you aren't prepared to write a CV. Another book by the same authors, Britannia Unchained, was published in September 2012. The book attracted controversy for claiming that "the British are among the worst idlers in the world. We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor". In 2022 Truss stated that the authors had each written a different chapter of the book; Raab had written the chapter which contained that claim. Truss soon became well known amongst members of Parliament in Norfolk for her frequent photo ops but was well respected amongst Conservative MPs, who recognised her as dedicated and hard-working, and by staff as attentive to local issues. Some of Truss's earliest contributions to parliamentary discourse were on the subject of education: she advocated for more rigorous teaching in school subjects, especially mathematics, calling for mathematics lessons to be compulsory for all students until the age of 18 and expressing concern about a perceived overreliance on calculators from primary school pupils. Truss criticised "[giving] media studies the same value as further maths" and suggested in 2011 that students should have to sit GCSEs for "5 traditional academic subjects". Education under-secretary (2012–2014) In September 2012 Truss was appointed as parliamentary under-secretary of state for education and stepped back from the leadership of the FEG, with Kwarteng taking her place. Truss was pleased with her appointment, and praised Michael Gove, the secretary of state for the department; she also formed a friendly rivalry with the future health secretary Matt Hancock. In January 2013, Truss wrote a white paper—More Great Childcare—in which she proposed increasing the maximum number of children childminders could look after at a time from three to four, as a means of reducing childcare costs. The press, including Conservative-leaning papers like The Daily Telegraph and The Times, were largely hostile to the plan. The former claimed that prices would not fall; the latter claimed that "her appointment signal[led] a rapid deregulation of the sector"; and the Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee challenged Truss to demonstrate how to care for so many children on her own. Following a negative response from trade unions and childminders, Truss met with the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, who told her that "some of this is fine" but the maximum childminder increase went "much too far", and advised her to revise the proposal; Truss ignored Clegg and pushed ahead with the plan, angering Clegg, who then blocked the proposals. Truss also announced proposals to reform A-levels by concentrating exams at the end of two-year courses and said that the UK should attempt to "out-educate" countries in Asia. Environment secretary (2014–2016) In July 2014 during a cabinet reshuffle, Truss was appointed secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs; the changes made the Cabinet one third women. Truss was originally to be made a minister of state, but Cameron changed his mind on the morning of the reshuffle. Truss's predecessor Owen Paterson "stormed out" of Cameron's Commons study when told he was to be dismissed; nevertheless, he gave her his phone number and offered his support. Paterson was dismissed partly because of his culling plans for badgers with tuberculosis, which Truss later supported. Truss's early actions at the department included setting up a "food crime unit" to prevent incidents similar to the 2013 horse meat scandal, approving planning for the Thames Tideway Tunnel and development of Flood Re, a scheme designed to insure homes at a high risk of flooding. During her two years in the department Truss launched a ten-year strategy to counter falling bee populations, approved the limited temporary lifting of a European Union ban on the use of two neonicotinoid pesticides and cut subsidies for solar panels on agricultural land. In March 2015 Truss was one of two cabinet ministers to vote against the government's proposal to mandate plain packaging for cigarettes. When she had been asked previously about the issue during a constituency meeting, Truss said "when it comes to things like this, I take a more libertarian approach ... I don't know if it's the government's role to regulate this". At the Conservative Party conference in September 2014 Truss made a speech in which she said "we import two thirds of our cheese. That is a disgrace" and "in December, I'll be in Beijing, opening up new pork markets". Four days after Truss delivered the speech, parts of the video were featured on the satirical panel show Have I Got News For You; the awkward, stilted delivery led her to be mocked and clips of the speech went viral online. During the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union, Truss endorsed Remain, saying that the Conservatives had "a golden chance to reform Britain over the next few years" and to avoid "[spending] that time negotiating Britain's exit from the European Union". The referendum resulted in the defeat of Remain and Cameron's resignation; the home secretary Theresa May won the ensuing leadership election and subsequently became leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister. Justice secretary and lord chancellor (2016–2017) In July 2016 Truss was appointed as secretary of state for justice and lord chancellor in the first May ministry, becoming the first female lord chancellor in the office's thousand-year history. May's decision to appoint her was criticised by the minister of state for justice, Edward Faulks, who resigned from the government, questioning whether Truss would "have the clout to be able to stand up to the Prime Minister when necessary, on behalf of the judges". Other Conservative members of Parliament criticised Truss's appointment owing to her lack of legal experience; in response, Truss's supporters accused one of the MPs, Bob Neill, of "thinly veiled misogyny". Before Truss's arrival, the budget of the Ministry of Justice—which is responsible for the administration of British prisons—had been subjected to successive cuts under the coalition government. The cuts were blamed for the prisons' rising rates of violence owing to the consequential drop in prison officer numbers. Truss lobbied the chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, for £104 million in order to hire an additional 2,500 officers, which Hammond reluctantly delivered. In November 2016, Truss was accused of failing to support the judiciary after three judges of the High Court were criticised by politicians and by the Daily Mail—which ran with the headline "Enemies of the People"—for ruling against the government on whether Article 50—which would begin the process of leaving the EU—could be triggered without Parliament's approval. A former lord chancellor, Charlie Falconer, suggested that, like her immediate predecessors, Truss lacked legal expertise and called for her to be dismissed as justice secretary as her perceived inadequate response "[signalled] to the judges that they have lost their constitutional protector". She denied that she had failed to defend them, writing:An independent judiciary is the cornerstone of the rule of law, vital to our constitution and freedoms. It is my duty as lord chancellor to defend that independence. I swore to do so under my oath of office. I take that very seriously, and I will always do so. Chief secretary to the Treasury (2017–2019) In June, following the 2017 general election, May demoted Truss from justice secretary to chief secretary to the Treasury, meaning she could attend cabinet meetings but was not a full member; Truss was enraged and called the demotion "incredibly unfair" and was, according to one of her friends, "seething for a good couple of days". Despite what Cole and Heale describe as her "knocked" confidence from the demotion, Truss soon began to contribute to the department, using it, according to a Treasury worker, "like her own personal think tank" by asking for research and advice on monetary policy. In her first few months there, she was largely left out of decision-making processes by Hammond, who was described by Kwarteng as "quite a closed, centrally controlling chancellor"; nevertheless, Truss and the Chancellor were reported to have a good relationship. Beginning in December 2017 she developed an enthusiasm for cultivating her presence on Twitter and Instagram; Truss began to plan ministerial visits around photo ops for her social media. Some of her civil servants were reported as finding her tenure as chief secretary "exhausting", owing to her work schedule and asking them multiplication questions, a tactic she had first employed as an MP. Despite her governmental role, Truss remained relatively unknown by the public, with only seven per cent recognising her in March 2019. In June 2018 Truss gave a speech criticising rules and regulations which she said "just g[ot] in the way of consumers' choices and lifestyles", including the government's efforts to reduce alcohol consumption and unhealthy eating habits, and warned that raising taxes could see the Conservatives being "crushed" at the polls. She also attacked colleagues who she said should realise "it's not macho just to demand more money", a jibe at the defence secretary Gavin Williamson, who had mounted a largely unsuccessful campaign for an extra £20 billion for his department, including threatening to write "Liz Truss blocked your pay" to everybody in the British Armed Forces. Truss's speech, which also mocked Michael Gove, was criticised by Hammond; Ed Vaizey, an ally of Gove's; and Gove himself; a speech she gave in November similarly joked about Matt Hancock, the newly appointed home secretary, Sajid Javid, and the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt. Before May's resignation announcement on 24 May 2019 Truss had sought the opinion of her colleagues on whether she could credibly stand and courted media attention. As it became apparent she could not win, she ruled herself out the day after May announced her resignation and subsequently endorsed the former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, the first minister to do so. International trade secretary (2019–2021) After Johnson became prime minister Truss was widely expected to be promoted because of her endorsement of his leadership campaign; it was thought she might have been appointed chancellor or business secretary, but she was instead promoted to the position of secretary of state for international trade and president of the Board of Trade. Following the resignation of Amber Rudd, Truss was additionally appointed minister for women and equalities in September that year. Shortly after becoming international trade secretary, Truss embarked on international trips to the US, New Zealand, Australia and Japan. Truss met with her American counterpart Robert Lighthizer on her first trip to the US, where she gave what Cole and Heale describe as an "incendiary" speech on a potential US–UK trade deal. In Australia she made unscripted comments on their free-trade negotiations with the UK; both events were to the dismay of Downing Street officials. Sebastian Payne described Truss's tenure as international trade secretary as "enthusiastic yet disruptive". She continued to document her trips through social media. In February 2020 a reshuffle took place following the general election which had been held in December. Truss feared that she would be dismissed after the comments she had made on her previous international trips, but Johnson decided to keep her in post following Javid's resignation as chancellor. During her time at the department Truss became notorious for leaking information. Dominic Cummings, Johnson's chief adviser, later wrote that Truss was "the only minister I shouted at in Number 10" because of her "compulsive pathological leaking". Truss's pursuit of a trade deal with the US concerned some in the National Farmers' Union (NFU), which worried about an influx of lower-quality food products if passed; the NFU, along with The Mail on Sunday, campaigned against such a deal in May. The COVID-19 lockdowns eliminated international travel, and Truss instead attended virtual meetings. By early 2021 Truss's attempted US trade deal was deemed futile. Instead, she focused on joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which necessitated free trade agreements with Australia, Japan and New Zealand. The Australia deal, finalised in December, was described by one of Truss's aides as "the hardest thing she's ever got through"; the New Zealand deal was agreed to shortly thereafter. By mid-2021 she had started to ingratiate herself with the parliamentary party in anticipation of a leadership election. In September plans for a National Insurance increase were opposed by Truss; Downing Street expected her resignation, but Truss later decided against it. Foreign secretary (2021–2022) In September 2021, during a cabinet reshuffle, Johnson promoted Truss from international trade secretary to secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, replacing Dominic Raab, who had been criticised for holidaying in Crete during the Fall of Kabul; the move was despite Johnson finding Truss "flaky", according to the historian Anthony Seldon. Truss became the second woman to occupy the office and kept the post of equalities minister. Her early actions as foreign secretary included negotiating at the United Nations General Assembly for the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe; meeting with her Japanese, Canadian and German counterparts; mounting an unsuccessful attempt to join the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement; and a visit to Estonia where—like Margaret Thatcher in West Germany—she was photographed in a tank, with the pictures generating both praise and mockery. In early 2022 Truss's attention was directed towards a build-up of Russian troops near the Russia–Ukraine border. Truss supported a plan which declassified a large amount of intelligence on Russia, releasing it to the public for the first time in order to weaken the Russian government in the event of an invasion. On 10 February 2022 she met the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, becoming the first British minister to go on a diplomatic trip there since the 2018 Salisbury poisonings. The meeting was, according to Payne, a "disaster": Lavrov described it as being "between the dumb and the deaf", and the two ministers spoke over each other and found it difficult to communicate. Five days later, Truss stated that the world was on the "brink of war in Europe", which transpired in the early hours of 24 February as Russia invaded Ukraine. Before the invasion and during its immediate aftermath, Truss advocated for sanctions on Russia and encouraged other G7 leaders to impose them; in March 2022 she stated that the sanctions would end only in the event of a "full ceasefire and withdrawal". Johnson praised Truss's actions, saying that "she was always terrific on Ukraine ... other governments faffed around ... she was very clear and focused". Throughout the first half of 2022 Johnson's position as prime minister became increasingly unstable owing to successive scandals damaging his government and his personal reputation, including Partygate, which resulted in him and the chancellor Rishi Sunak receiving fixed penalty notices. During this time, Truss announced the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which was intended to overhaul the Northern Ireland Protocol, including measures to free goods produced in Great Britain from what she described as "unnecessary bureaucracy" entering Northern Ireland. The plan was criticised by the European Commission but was received well by the European Research Group—a Eurosceptic faction within the parliamentary Conservative party—and the right-wing Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party. Amid mounting pressure on Johnson following the Chris Pincher scandal, on 5 July Sunak and Javid resigned within minutes of each other. Johnson again considered giving Truss the chancellorship, but decided against it owing to what Payne calls the "fragile geopolitical situation" and instead selected Nadhim Zahawi as Sunak's replacement. However, Johnson's premiership proved untenable and on 7 July he announced his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party, a move which Truss called "the right decision". Leadership election (July–September 2022) On 10 July Truss announced her intention to run in the leadership election to replace Johnson. She pledged to cut taxes, said she would "fight the election as a Conservative and govern as a Conservative" and would take "immediate action to help people deal with the cost of living". She said she would cancel a planned rise in corporation tax and reverse the increase in National Insurance rates, funded by delaying the date by which the national debt was planned to fall, as part of a "long-term plan to bring down the size of the state and the tax burden". The political scientist Vernon Bogdanor said in a 2022 article that "[Truss] appreciated that winning over the membership required not detailed policy proposals but the creation of a mood". Truss received 50 votes on the first of Conservative MPs' 5 ballots, with the number of votes cast for her increasing in each; on 20 July Truss and Sunak were chosen by the parliamentary party to be put forward to the membership for the final leadership vote, with Truss receiving 113 votes to Sunak's 137. In the membership vote, the leader of the 1922 Committee, Graham Brady, announced on 5 September that 43 per cent of ballots were for Sunak and 57 per cent for Truss, making her the new leader. In Truss's victory speech, she said that she would deliver on her campaign promises and pledged to win a "great victory" for the Conservatives at the next general election. Premiership (2022) Cabinet and death of Elizabeth II As the leader of the Conservative Party, the majority party in the House of Commons, Truss was appointed as prime minister by Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle on 6 September 2022 and began to select her cabinet ministers. With the appointment of Kwarteng as chancellor of the Exchequer, James Cleverly as foreign secretary and Suella Braverman as home secretary, for the first time in British history, no white men held any of the Great Offices of State. Other appointments included Thérèse Coffey as deputy prime minister and health secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg as business secretary, Kemi Badenoch as international trade secretary, Kit Malthouse as education secretary, Penny Mordaunt as leader of the House of Commons and Michelle Donelan as culture secretary. Truss retained Ben Wallace as defence secretary, Alok Sharma as president for COP26, Alister Jack as Scotland secretary, Robert Buckland as Wales secretary and James Heappey as minister of state for the armed forces and veterans. Her cabinet was composed almost entirely of those who had supported her during the leadership contest. Truss was the fifteenth and final British prime minister to serve under Elizabeth II, who died on 8 September, two days after appointing Truss. She was told in the early morning that the Queen was unwell and likely to survive a "matter of hours, not days"; Truss ordered black clothes from her Greenwich home in anticipation of the Queen's death, as she had not yet had time to move her belongings to Westminster. Upon Elizabeth's death, Truss delivered a statement outside 10 Downing Street paying tribute to her: Queen Elizabeth II was the rock on which modern Britain was built. Our country has grown and flourished under her reign. Britain is the great country it is today because of her. ... Through thick and thin, Queen Elizabeth II provided us with the stability and the strength that we needed. She was the very spirit of Great Britain, and that spirit will endure. On 10 September Truss attended Charles III's accession ceremony and took an oath of allegiance to the King with fellow senior MPs. On 19 September she attended the Queen's funeral service in Westminster Abbey, reading the second lesson. Domestic policies and mini-budget On 8 September, in response to the ongoing cost of living crisis, Truss announced the Energy Price Guarantee, which was planned to cap average household energy bills at £2,500 per year, costing between 31 and £140 billion for the two years it covered. Truss, who announced the measure in the House of Commons, made an effort to keep the energy cap and the tax plan announcements—which the Chancellor was planned to unveil—separate. On 23 September Kwarteng announced a controversial mini-budget which proposed cutting taxation significantly, including abolishing the 45 per cent rate of income tax and the proposed Health and Social Care Levy, cutting stamp duty and the basic rate of income tax and cancelling rises in National Insurance contributions and corporation tax; the package, which had been constructed by Truss and Kwarteng together, was to be funded by borrowing and was intended to stimulate growth. The mini-budget was received badly by financial markets because it included temporary spending measures whilst permanently cutting tax rates. It was blamed for the pound falling to its lowest ever rate against the US dollar (US$1.033) and prompted a response from the Bank of England which, amongst other measures, bought up government bonds; the public reaction was also broadly negative. The mini-budget was criticised by the International Monetary Fund, the US president Joe Biden, the Labour Party and many within Truss's party, including the senior politicians Michael Gove and Grant Shapps. Government crisis and resignation After initially defending the mini-budget, on 3 October Truss instructed Kwarteng to reverse the abolition of the 45 per cent income tax additional rate. She later reversed the cut in corporation tax and dismissed Kwarteng, replacing him with Jeremy Hunt on 14 October. Hunt reversed many of the remaining policies announced in the mini-budget, leading to further instability; because of Truss's perceived weakness, he was described by some Conservative MPs and newspapers as the de facto prime minister. During this time, Truss became increasingly unpopular with the public, and contributed to a large fall in support for the Conservatives; in October, she became the most unpopular prime minister in British history, with her personal approval rating recorded in one survey as nine per cent. She was pilloried in national and international press as a u-turner, and a chaotic vote on fracking along with the resignation of Braverman as home secretary compounded a rapid deterioration of confidence in her leadership. On 19 October, in response to a question by the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, Truss said that she was a "fighter and not a quitter", quoting a 2001 phrase by Peter Mandelson. Shortly before noon on 20 October, Truss's forty-fifth day in office, Brady held a meeting with Truss where she asked if she would be able to remain in office; his response was "I don't think so, Prime Minister". At 1:35 pm, Truss announced her resignation as the leader of the Conservative Party and as prime minister. She gave the following 89-second-long statement: I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability. Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills. Putin's illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent. And our country has been held back by for too long by low economic growth. I was elected by the Conservative Party with a mandate to change this. We delivered on energy bills and on cutting National Insurance. And we set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit. I recognise though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party. This morning I met the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady. We've agreed there will be a leadership election to be completed within the next week. This will ensure that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plans and maintain our country's economic stability and national security. I will remain as prime minister until a successor has been chosen. Thank you. Heale describes a "funereal atmosphere" within the government in the days following her resignation statement. She was succeeded by Sunak as leader of the Conservative Party on 24 October and the next day advised the King to appoint him as the new prime minister; Sunak went on to further reverse many of the economic measures she had made as prime minister but retained Hunt as chancellor. Resigning on her fiftieth day, Truss became the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, surpassing George Canning, who was prime minister for 119 days in 1827. The short length of her premiership was the subject of much ridicule, including a livestream of a head of lettuce, started the week prior, which invited viewers to speculate whether Truss would resign before the lettuce wilted. Post-premiership (2022–present) Truss was reselected as the Conservative candidate for South West Norfolk in February 2023 and in August that year, she submitted the list of her resignation honours, which were released in December to coincide with the 2024 New Year Honours. In early September 2023 she announced her memoirs about her time as prime minister, Ten Years to Save the West, which was published in April 2024. That same month, Truss gave a speech to the Institute for Government think tank in which she blamed "groupthink" amongst officials and the media for the collapse of her premiership. Similarly, in October at the Conservative Party Conference, she held an event dubbed the "Great British Growth Rally" which was attended by hundreds of Conservative Party members, in contrast to government ministers who gave speeches to a hall which was, according to the Telegraph, "at times almost empty". In February 2024 she co-launched the Popular Conservatism group with others including Jacob Rees-Mogg, Lee Anderson and Priti Patel and spoke at its inaugural event. The 2024 general election, held on 4 July, resulted in Truss losing her seat, in which she was defending a majority of over 26,000, to the Labour challenger, Terry Jermy; the result was described as a Portillo moment by The Spectator, a right-leaning magazine. Political positions Domestic issues Truss has economically liberal views and supports free trade and deregulation. She supports the neoliberal philosophy of supply-side economics, often referred to as "trickle-down economics". After Truss's dismissal of Kwarteng and Hunt's reversal of many of the mini-budget's economic measures, the BBC's political editor Faisal Islam wrote that "Trussonomics is dead". During her time as a Liberal Democrat, Truss supported the abolition of the monarchy. In 2022 a video of a 19-year-old Truss at the 1994 Liberal Democrat conference criticising the notion of people being "born to rule" resurfaced; in an interview with LBC during her leadership campaign, Truss stated that "almost as soon as I made the speech, I regretted it". In 2021 Truss stated that the Conservatives should "reject the zero-sum game of identity politics, [reject] the illiberalism of cancel culture, and [reject] the soft bigotry of low expectations that holds so many people back". She voted to legalise same-sex marriage but has opposed the expansion of transgender rights. Truss spoke against gender self-identification, stating that "medical checks are important" and that "only women have a cervix". Despite initially supporting single-sex toilets being restricted on the basis of biological sex, she later said in February 2022 that the government was not interested in enacting such a measure. Foreign policy Truss was described as a hawkish foreign secretary. She called for Britain to reduce its economic dependency on China and Russia and supported certain diplomatic and economic sanctions imposed by the British government against the former. Truss has supported Taiwan in the context of deteriorating cross-strait relations but, citing precedent, refused to visit the island as prime minister and condemned the Chinese government's treatment of the Uyghur people as "genocide". In 2022 she called Saudi Arabia an ally of Britain but said she was not "condoning" the country's policies, including its handling of human rights and its treatment of women. Truss supported the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union during the 2016 referendum. Since the referendum, Truss has supported Brexit, and publicly stated in 2017 that she had changed her mind. During the July 2022 leadership election Truss said that "I was wrong and I am prepared to admit I was wrong". Notes and references Notes References Sources Books and journals News Websites and others Further reading External links Official website Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom Contributions in Parliament at Hansard Voting record at Public Whip Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou Appearances on C-SPAN
Rishi_Sunak	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rishi_Sunak	[ 225 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rishi_Sunak" ]	Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024. He has been Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022; after the general election in July 2024, he became Leader of the Opposition. The first British Asian to hold those offices, he previously held two Cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, latterly as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022. Sunak has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond and Northallerton, previously Richmond (Yorks), since 2015. He is the most recent Conservative Party prime minister. Sunak was born in Southampton to parents of Indian descent who immigrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s. He was educated at Winchester College, studied philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, and earned a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University in California as a Fulbright Scholar. During his time at Oxford University, Sunak undertook an internship at Conservative Central Office, and joined the Conservatives. After graduating, Sunak worked for Goldman Sachs and later as a partner at the hedge fund firms the Children's Investment Fund Management and Theleme Partners. Sunak was elected to the House of Commons at the 2015 general election. As a backbencher, Sunak supported the successful campaign for Brexit in the 2016 European Union membership referendum. Sunak was appointed to the junior ministerial position of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government by Theresa May in 2019, and was appointed to the cabinet-attending role of Chief Secretary to the Treasury by Johnson in 2019. In 2020, Sunak was promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer. During his time in the position, Sunak was prominent in the government's financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, including the furlough and Eat Out to Help Out schemes, and was also prominent in the government's response to the cost-of living crisis. He resigned as chancellor in July 2022 amid a government crisis that culminated in Johnson's resignation, and stood in the leadership election to succeed him. He received the most votes in each of the series of MP votes, but lost the members' vote to Liz Truss. After spending the duration of Truss's premiership on the backbenches, Sunak was elected unopposed in the leadership election to succeed Truss, who resigned amid another government crisis; aged 42 at the time he became prime minister, Sunak became the youngest prime minister since The Earl of Liverpool in 1812. During his premiership, Sunak attempted to improve the economy and stabilise national politics. He outlined five key priorities: halving inflation, growing the economy, cutting debt, reducing National Health Service waiting lists, and stopping the illegal small-boat crossings of the English Channel by enacting the Rwanda asylum plan. On foreign policy, Sunak authorised foreign aid and weapons shipments to Ukraine in response to the Russian invasion of the country, and pledged support for Israel after the attacks which began the Israel–Hamas war whilst later calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. He did not avert further unpopularity for the Conservatives, reflected in the party's poor performances in the 2023 and 2024 local elections. Sunak called a general election for July 2024 despite being widely expected to call the election in the autumn; the Conservatives lost this election in a landslide to the opposition Labour Party led by Keir Starmer, ending 14 years of Conservative government. After leaving office, Sunak became Leader of the Opposition and has remained Conservative leader while the leadership election to replace him is taking place, and formed a shadow cabinet. He also intends to remain as a backbench MP for the next five years. As chancellor, Sunak received high approval and popularity ratings in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, although his popularity later declined amid the cost-of living crisis in 2022. Early life and education (1980–2001) Rishi Sunak was born on 12 May 1980 in Southampton General Hospital in Southampton, Hampshire, to East African-born Hindu parents of Indian Punjabi descent. His father was born in the Kenya Colony in 1949, while his mother was born in the Tanganyika Territory (modern-day Tanzania). His paternal grandfather Ramdas Sunak had migrated from Gujranwala, located in present-day Pakistan, to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in 1935, while his maternal grandfather, Raghubir Berry, grew up in Punjab before eventually moving to Tanzania as an engineer. Both of Sunak's parents had moved to the UK in 1966. While in the UK they eventually met and would get married in 1977.Sunak attended Stroud School, a preparatory school in Romsey, and later studied at Winchester College as a dayboy, becoming head boy of the college. He worked as a waiter, at the curry house Kuti's Brasserie in Southampton, during his summer holidays. He read philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, graduating with a first in 2001. During his time at university, he undertook an internship at Conservative Campaign Headquarters and joined the Conservative Party. In 2006 Sunak earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University as a Fulbright Scholar. Sunak's paternal grandfather was from Gujranwala (in present-day Pakistan), while his maternal grandfather was from Ludhiana (in present-day India); both cities at the time were part of the Punjab province in British India. His grandparents migrated to East Africa, and then to the United Kingdom in the 1960s. His father was born and raised in the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya (present-day Kenya), and was a general practitioner in the National Health Service (NHS). His mother, born in Tanganyika (which later became part of Tanzania), was a pharmacist who owned the Sunak Pharmacy in Southampton between 1995 and 2014, and has a degree from Aston University. Sunak is the eldest of three siblings. His brother is a psychologist and his sister works in New York as chief of strategy and planning at Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations Global Fund for Education in Emergencies and Protracted Crises. Career Business career (2001–2015) Sunak worked as an analyst for the investment bank Goldman Sachs between 2001 and 2004. He then worked for hedge fund management firm The Children's Investment Fund Management (TCI), becoming a partner in September 2006. He left in November 2009 to join former colleagues in California at a new hedge fund firm, Theleme Partners, which launched in October 2010 with $700 million under management (equivalent to $978 million in 2023). At both hedge funds, his boss was Patrick Degorce. Sunak was also a director of the investment firm Catamaran Ventures, owned by his father-in-law, the Indian businessman N. R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys, between 2013 and 2015. Backbencher (2015–2018) Sunak was selected as the Conservative candidate for Richmond (Yorks) in October 2014. The seat was previously held by William Hague. In the same year Sunak was head of the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Research Unit of the conservative think tank Policy Exchange, for which he co-wrote a report on BME communities in the UK. He was elected as MP for the constituency at the 2015 general election with a majority of 19,550 (36.2%). During the 2015–2017 Parliament he was a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.Sunak supported the successful campaign to leave the European Union in the 2016 European Union membership referendum, criticising the EU's immigration laws: "We are discriminating against countries with whom we have ties of history, language and culture" That year, he wrote a report for the Thatcherite think tank Centre for Policy Studies supporting the establishment of free ports after Brexit, and the following year wrote a report advocating the creation of a retail bond market for small and medium-sized enterprises. Following Cameron's resignation, Sunak endorsed Michael Gove in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election, and later endorsed successful candidate Theresa May after Gove was eliminated in the second round of voting. Sunak was re-elected at the 2017 general election with an increased majority of 23,108 (40.5%). In the same year, Sunak wrote a paper for Policy Exchange on the importance and fragility of the UK's undersea infrastructure. Sunak was re-elected at the 2019 general election with an increased majority of 27,210 (47.2%). Following boundary changes in the 2024 general election, Sunak won the seat of Richmond and Northallerton, which replaced his former seat of Richmond (Yorks), with a majority of 23,059 (51.4). Local government under-secretary (2018–2019) Sunak was appointed to a junior ministerial position in May's second government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government in the 2018 cabinet reshuffle. Sunak voted for May's Brexit withdrawal agreement on all three occasions, and voted against a second referendum on any withdrawal agreement. May's withdrawal agreement was rejected by Parliament three times, leading to May announcing her resignation in May 2019. Sunak supported Boris Johnson's successful bid to succeed May in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election and co-wrote an article with fellow MPs Robert Jenrick and Oliver Dowden to advocate for Johnson during the campaign in June. Chief secretary to the Treasury (2019–2020) Sunak was appointed to the senior cabinet role of chief secretary to the Treasury by Johnson, serving under Sajid Javid. He became a member of the Privy Council the next day. During the 2019 general election, Sunak represented the Conservatives in debates. Chancellor of the Exchequer (2020–2022) In the weeks leading up to Johnson's first cabinet reshuffle in February 2020, a number of briefings in the press had suggested that a new economic ministry led by Sunak might be established, to reduce the power and political influence of the Treasury. By February 2020, it was reported that Javid would remain in his role as Chancellor and that Sunak would stay on as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, in order to "keep an eye" on Javid. On 13 February 2020, the day of the reshuffle, Javid resigned as Chancellor, following a meeting with Johnson. During the meeting, Johnson had offered to allow Javid to keep his position on the condition that he dismiss all his advisers at the Treasury and replace them with ones selected by 10 Downing Street. Upon resigning, Javid told the Press Association that "no self-respecting minister would accept those terms". Sunak was promoted to chancellor to replace Javid as part of Johnson's first cabinet reshuffle later that day. COVID-19 pandemic In response to the first confirmed COVID-19 cases in January 2020, Sunak introduced advice for travellers coming from affected countries in late January and February 2020, and began contact tracing, although this was later abandoned. There were further societal restrictions on the public as the virus spread across the country in the following weeks, initially resisting more stringent measures introduced elsewhere in Europe and Asia. On 23 March 2020, as COVID-19 had become a pandemic and began rapidly spreading across the country, Sunak became prominent in the government's response to the pandemic and its economic impact. On 20 March 2020, Sunak gave a statement on COVID-19, saying: Now, more than any time in our history, we will be judged by our capacity for compassion. Our ability to come through this, won’t just be down to what government or businesses do, but by the individual acts of kindness that we show each other. When this is over, we want to look back on this moment and remember the many small acts of kindness done by us and to us. We want to look back on this time and remember how we thought first of others and acted with decency. We want to look back on this time and remember how, in the face of a generation-defining moment, we undertook a collective national effort - and we stood together. It’s on all of us. Furlough scheme Sunak introduced a programme providing £330 billion in emergency support for businesses, as well as the Coronavirus Job Retention furlough scheme for employees. This was the first time a British government had created such an employee retention scheme. The scheme was introduced on 20 March 2020 as providing grants to employers to pay 80% of a staff wage and employment costs each month, up to a total of £2,500 per person per month. The cost was estimated at £14 billion a month to run. The furlough scheme initially ran for three months and was backdated to 1 March. Following a three-week extension of the countrywide lockdown the scheme was extended by Sunak until the end of June 2020. At the end of May, Sunak extended the scheme until the end of October 2020. The decision to extend the job retention scheme was made to avoid or defer mass redundancies, company bankruptcies and potential unemployment levels not seen since the 1930s. In March 2021, Sunak announced that the scheme had been extended once more until September 2021. Eat Out to Help Out In July 2020, Sunak unveiled a plan for a further £30 billion of spending which included a stamp duty holiday, a cut to value-added tax (VAT) for the hospitality sector, a job retention bonus for employers and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, aimed at supporting and creating jobs in the hospitality industry. The government subsidised food and soft drinks at participating cafes, pubs and restaurants at 50%, up to £10 per person. The offer was available from 3 to 31 August on Monday to Wednesday each week. In total, the scheme subsidised £849 million in meals. Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty were not informed of the scheme. Some considered the scheme to be a success in boosting the hospitality industry, whilst others disagreed. A 2020 study found that the scheme contributed to a rise in COVID-19 infection, which Johnson acknowledged but the Treasury rejected. It was later said by Vallance during the COVID-19 Inquiry that Sunak had not informed medical advisers of the scheme until it was announced, whereas written evidence from Sunak said that the scheme had been discussed with medical advisers, including Vallance, and they had not objected. Cost of living crisis and energy crisis Amid the rising cost of living and energy crises, Sunak intensified efforts to respond to the crisis in May 2022, with a £5 billion windfall tax on energy companies to help fund a £15 billion support package for the public. The package included every household getting a £400 discount on energy bills, which would be in addition to a £150 council tax refund the government had already ordered. For about 8 million of the UK's lowest income households, a further £650 payment was announced. Additionally, pensioners or those with disability would qualify for extra payments, on top of the £550 that every household gets, and the £650 they would receive if they had a low income. Budgets Sunak presented his first budget, Delivering on Our Promises to the British People, on 11 March 2020. It was scheduled to be followed by another budget in the autumn, but in September 2020 he announced that budget would be scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic, stating "now is not the right time to outline long-term plans – people want to see us focused on the here and now". Instead, additional statements were given by the chancellor in both summer and autumn. The Winter Economy Plan was delivered by Sunak on 24 September 2020. The purpose of the statement was to announce measures aimed at further helping to promote economic recovery following the impact of COVID-19. The plan aimed to further promote economic recovery while preserving jobs and businesses which were considered viable. After a second lockdown in England on 31 October 2020, the programme was extended several times, until 30 September 2021. The July 2020 summer statement (also known as the coronavirus mini-budget) was delivered by Sunak on 8 July 2020. The purpose of the statement was to announce measures aimed at helping to promote economic recovery following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement was delivered to the House of Commons, where Sunak unveiled a spending package worth £30bn. Concerns were subsequently raised by organisations including HM Revenue and Customs and the Institute for Fiscal Studies about the statement's impact, as well as its cost-effectiveness, while at least one major retailer declined to take advantage of a financial bonus scheme intended for rehiring employees placed on furlough during the pandemic. In his March 2021 budget, Sunak emphasized the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the economy, with 700,000 people losing their jobs, the economy shrinking by 10% (the largest fall in 300 years), and the highest borrowing outside wartime. The budget included an increase in the rate of corporation tax from 19% to 25% in 2023, a five-year freeze in the tax-free personal allowance and the higher rate income tax threshold, and the extension of the furlough scheme until the end of September. Sunak was the first Chancellor to raise the corporation tax rate since Labour's Denis Healey in 1974. In October 2021, Sunak made his third and final budget statement, which included substantial spending promises related to science and education. The budget increased in-work support through the Universal Credit system by increasing the work allowances by £500 a year, and reducing the post-tax deduction taper rate from 63% to 55%. £560 million of investment was announced for the Levelling Up White Paper. Many of the announcements to be made in the budget were previewed before budget day, drawing criticism and anger from the House of Commons. In response to the criticism, Sunak said the budget "begins the work of preparing for a new economy". Sunak made what would ultimately be his final budget, his spring statement, on 23 March 2022. He cut fuel duty, removed VAT on energy saving equipment (such as solar panels and insulation) and reduced national insurance payments for small businesses and, while continuing with a planned national insurance rise in April, he promised to align the primary threshold with the basic personal income allowance as of July. He also promised a reduction in income tax in 2024. Sunak also provided some funding which was intended to help vulnerable people cope with the cost of living. Other actions Sunak hosted a G7 summit in London in June 2021. A tax reform agreement was signed, which in principle sought to establish a global minimum tax on multinationals and online technology companies. In October 2021, the OECD signed an accord to join the tax reform plan. Later that month, Sunak attended COP26 in Glasgow. During his speech given on 3 November, he said that he felt optimism despite daunting challenges and that by bringing together finance ministers, businesses and investors, COP26 could begin to deliver targets from the Paris Agreement. Resignation On 5 July 2022, Sunak and Javid resigned almost simultaneously amid a scandal surrounding the sexual harassment allegations against Chris Pincher, which arose after it was revealed that Johnson had promoted Pincher to the position of Deputy Chief Whip while knowing of the allegations beforehand. Sunak was the second of 61 Conservative MPs to resign during the government crisis. He was succeeded as chancellor by Nadhim Zahawi. Following the resignations of Sunak and Javid, numerous junior ministers and among the parliamentary private secretary (PPS) also resigned, most of whom cited a lack of honesty and integrity on the part of Johnson. In the following 24 hours, 36 MPs resigned from their roles in government and Johnson announced his resignation. In his resignation letter Sunak said: The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously. I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning. It has become clear to me that our approaches are fundamentally too different. I am sad to be leaving Government but I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we cannot continue like this. Conservative leadership bids On 8 July 2022, Sunak announced his candidacy in the leadership election to replace Johnson. Sunak launched his campaign in a video posted to social media, writing that he would "restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country". He said that his values were "patriotism, fairness, hard work", and pledged to "crack down on gender neutral language". During the campaign, Sunak pledged to included tax cuts only when inflation was under control, scrapping of the 5% VAT rate on household energy for one year, introducing a temporary £10 fine for patients who fail to attend GP appointments, capping of refugee numbers, and a tightening of the definition of asylum. On 20 July, Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss emerged as the final two candidates in the contest on 20 July to be put forward to the membership for the final leadership vote. He had received the most votes in each of the series of MP votes with Sunak receiving 137 to Truss's 113 in the final round. Sunak opposed Truss' economic plans and predicted they would result in economic damage, saying "Liz, we have to be honest. Borrowing your way out of inflation isn’t a plan, it’s a fairytale.” A spokesperson for Sunak later said: “The reality is that Truss cannot deliver a support package as well as come good on £50bn worth of unfunded, permanent tax cuts in one go. To do so would mean increasing borrowing to historic and dangerous levels, putting the public finances in serious jeopardy and plunging the economy into an inflation spiral." In the membership vote, Truss received 57.4% of the vote, making her the new leader. Sunak responded by offering his support to Truss, saying "It’s right we now unite behind the new PM, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times." He spent the duration of Truss's premiership on the backbenches. As Sunak predicted, Truss announced large-scale tax cuts and borrowing in a mini-budget on 23 September, which was widely criticised and – after it rapidly led to financial instability – largely reversed. She announced her resignation on 20 October 2022 amid a government crisis, triggering a leadership contest. On 22 October, it was reported that Sunak had the required number of supporters—100 members of the House of Commons—to run in the ballot on 24 October. The total number of MPs who publicly declared support passed 100 on the afternoon of 22 October. On 23 October, Sunak declared that he would stand for election. After Johnson ruled himself out of the race and Penny Mordaunt withdrew her candidacy, Sunak was announced as the new leader on 24 October. Premiership (2022–2024) As the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons, Sunak was appointed as prime minister by Charles III on 25 October 2022, becoming the first British Asian to take the office. At 42, Sunak became the youngest prime minister since Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, in 1812. In his first speech as prime minister, Sunak said that Truss "was not wrong" to want to improve growth and that he "admired her restlessness to create change", but admitted that "some mistakes were made", and that he was elected prime minister in part to fix them: I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda. I will unite our country, not with words, but with action. I will work day in and day out to deliver for you. This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level. Trust is earned. And I will earn yours. Cabinet Sunak selected his cabinet ministers after his appointment as prime minister. Jeremy Hunt was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Dominic Raab was also re-appointed as deputy prime minister and Justice Secretary, he later resigned from these roles in April 2023 and was replaced by Oliver Dowden. James Cleverly was appointed Foreign Secretary with Suella Braverman as Home Secretary. Ben Wallace was appointed Secretary of State for Defence. Michael Gove was appointed Levelling Up Secretary, Grant Shapps was appointed as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and Penny Mordaunt became Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the council. Other key appointments included Simon Hart as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip of the House of Commons, Nadhim Zahawi as Chairman of the Conservative Party, Oliver Dowden as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Thérèse Coffey as Environment Secretary, Mel Stride as Work and Pensions Secretary and Mark Harper as Transport Secretary. Reshuffles Sunak's first cabinet reshuffle in February 2023 saw a significant restructuring of government departments. New departments included those for Business and Trade, Energy Security and Net Zero, and Science, Innovation and Technology. The Department for International Trade and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy were split and merged into other departments. Ministers who joined the cabinet in the first reshuffle included Greg Hands took over as chairman from Zahawi, though later resigned and replaced by Richard Holden. Lucy Frazer became Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport taking over from Donelan. Rachel Maclean left the backbenches and joined the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Sunak's last cabinet reshuffle in November 2023 saw the return of former prime minister David Cameron to government following a seven-year absence from frontline politics, replacing James Cleverly as foreign secretary. It also saw the departures of Braverman and Coffey from government and Hands from the cabinet, and the appointment of Laura Trott as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Foreign policy In February 2023, Sunak negotiated a proposed agreement with the EU on Northern Ireland's trading arrangements which was published as the Windsor Framework. On 27 February, Sunak delivered a statement to the House of Commons, saying that the proposed agreement "protects Northern Ireland's place in our Union. On 22 March, the date of the parliamentary vote, 22 Conservative MPs and six DUP MPs voted against the government legislation. The vote ultimately passed by 515 votes to 29. Immigration In 2019 the Conservative Party and Boris Johnson pledged to reduce net migration below 250,000 per year, but Sunak said in 2023 that the priority was not to reduce legal immigration but to stop illegal immigration. Nearly 30,000 undocumented migrants crossed the Channel in small boats to the UK in 2023. Long-term net migration to the United Kingdom (the number of people immigrating minus the number emigrating) reached a record high of 764,000 in 2022, with legal immigration at 1.26 million and emigration at 493,000. Of the 1,218,000 legal migrants coming to the UK in 2023, only 10% were EU Nationals. Sunak continued the Rwanda asylum plan to have asylum seekers and illegal immigrants sent to Rwanda for processing. After the plan was blocked by the UK's Court of Appeal in June 2023 due to concerns over international law and the possibility of refoulement (persecution of those sent to Rwanda), Sunak vowed to appeal against the verdict to the Supreme Court. On 15 November 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling and declared the plan unlawful. In response, Sunak sent Cleverly to Rwanda to negotiate a treaty with Rwanda focused on preventing refoulement which must now be ratified by the British and Rwandan Parliaments. The government also introduced the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, emergency legislation giving ministers the power to disapply sections of the Human Rights Act 1998 and certain aspects of international law in order to allow them to declare Rwanda a safe country according to UK law. The bill was criticised by many on the right of the party for not going far enough, resulting in the resignation of the minister for immigration, Robert Jenrick. On 12 December 2023 Sunak secured a government majority of 44 for the Safety of Rwanda Bill, despite the opposition of all other parties and abstentions from members of the European Research Group. Russia and Ukraine Following the 15 November missile explosion in Poland, Sunak met US President Joe Biden and delivered a speech about it. Sunak later met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and pledged to give Ukraine £50 million in aid. After meeting Zelenskyy, Sunak said: "I am proud of how the UK stood with Ukraine from the very beginning. And I am here today to say the UK and our allies will continue to stand with Ukraine, as it fights to end this barbarous war and deliver a just peace." Sunak visited Ukraine on 12 January 2024 to sign a new U.K.-Ukraine Agreement on Security Cooperation with Zelenskyy promising £2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine, including long-range missiles, artillery ammunition, air defence and maritime security, in addition to £200 million to be spent on military drones, making the UK the largest deliverer of drones to Ukraine out of any nation according to Downing Street. Israel and Palestine In October 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that devolved into a war and a growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Sunak pledged the UK's support for Israel and declared that Israel "has an absolute right to defend itself". Sunak backed calls for humanitarian pauses to allow for aid to be brought into Gaza, although he initially rejected calls for a full ceasefire as he argued that this would only benefit Hamas. Israel used British-supplied weapons in the war. However, Sunak later condemned the high number of civilian casualties in Gaza and called for a "sustainable ceasefire" in which all Israeli hostages were returned to Israel, attacks against Israel ceased and humanitarian aid was allowed into Gaza. His government supported the two-state solution as a resolution to the conflict. When the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan announced that he would seek to charge Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with war crimes, Sunak criticised the move as "unhelpful" and accused Khan of drawing a moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas. Local election results Sunak was faced with the task of rebuilding the Conservatives' reputation which had been significantly damaged by the controversies and scandals of the previous year and the Truss ministry. While their poll ratings recovered slightly over the following months, it still wasn't enough to bring them back to pre-Truss levels. Sunak contested his first local elections as leader on 4 May 2023, where the Conservatives suffered heavy losses. Two months later, on 20 July 2023, they lost two seats in by-elections; one to Labour and one to the Liberal Democrats. Their fortunes remained unchanged throughout policy changes of the following year, such as the shelving of the HS2 northern phase in October. The Conservatives lost two further seats in by-elections on 15 February 2024. In March 2024, there were suggestions that Sunak could face a leadership challenge before the upcoming general election — which was expected within the calendar year — if the Conservatives perform poorly at the local elections on 2 May. Sunak however said he would resist a challenge, even if that ends up being the case. As predicted, 2 May saw grim showing for the Conservatives, who suffered their worst local election results since 1996. Additionally, they lost another seat to Labour in the Blackpool South by-election, and narrowly lost the West Midlands mayoral election in a knife-edge vote. Sunak's premiership was described as more stable than that of his two predecessors, while still not being able to represent a turnaround for the Conservatives. 2024 general election and resignation On the afternoon of 22 May 2024, Sunak announced that he had asked the King to call a general election for 4 July 2024, surprising his own MPs. Though Sunak had the option to wait until December 2024 to call the election, he said that he decided on the date because he believed that the economy was improving, and that "falling inflation and net migration figures would reinforce the Conservatives' election message of 'sticking to the plan'". Sunak sought to rebuild the Conservative's reputation following a slump in popularity after the short-lived Truss ministry and a slew of controversies including Partygate that irreparably damaged Johnson's ministry, through campaigning on stabilising the economy, the Rwanda asylum plan, further strengthening the State Pension, and introducing National Service. He released the Conservative manifesto Clear Plan. Bold Action. Secure Future. on 11 June, addressing the economy, taxes, welfare, expanding free childcare, education, healthcare, environment, energy, transport, and crime. Sunak stated during the general election campaign that if his party lost the election he intended to remain as a backbench MP for the next 5 years. On 6 June 2024, the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Sunak was heavily criticised for leaving commemoration events early to do an interview with ITV, including by veterans. Sunak apologised three times over the following week. Labour won a landslide victory in the general election, ending 14 years of Conservative government. A record number of Conservative MPs either stood down or lost their seats at the election. Three Cabinet members stood down and eight full members and four who attended Cabinet lost their seats, the highest number of sitting cabinet seat losses in history. Sunak conceded the election on 5 July. In his resignation speech before tending his resignation to the King, Sunak apologised to Conservative voters and candidates for the party's heavy defeat, and announced his intention to resign as party leader once a new leader is elected. He also offered support to the incoming prime minister Keir Starmer, saying he was "a decent, public-spirited man" he respected and expressed hope he would be successful. To all the Conservative candidates and campaigners who worked tirelessly but without success, I am sorry that we could not deliver what your efforts deserved. It pains me to think how many good colleagues, who contributed so much to their communities and our country, will now no longer sit in the House of Commons. I thank them for their hard work, and their service. Following this result, I will step down as party leader, not immediately, but once the formal arrangements for selecting my successor are in place. It is important that after 14 years in government the Conservative Party rebuilds, but also that it takes up its crucial role in Opposition professionally and effectively. Post-premiership (2024–present) Leader of the Opposition (2024–present) After Starmer succeeded Sunak as prime minister, Sunak immediately became Leader of the Opposition and formed his shadow cabinet on 8 July. Most members of Sunak's cabinet heading into the 2024 general election were given the same portfolios in the shadow cabinet, including former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who became shadow chancellor, and former home secretary James Cleverly, who became shadow home secretary. Former foreign secretary David Cameron chose to retire from frontline politics, with his former deputy Andrew Mitchell becoming shadow foreign secretary instead. Richard Holden resigned as party chairman, and was succeeded by Richard Fuller in an interim capacity outside shadow cabinet. Sunak appointed new officeholders to the portfolios held by the eleven cabinet ministers who lost their seats in the election, including Edward Argar, who became shadow justice secretary after the outgoing justice secretary Alex Chalk lost his seat, as well as Helen Whately, who became shadow transport secretary after the outgoing transport secretary Mark Harper also lost his seat. Among other noteworthy appointments, Kemi Badenoch became the shadow housing, communities and local government secretary and former deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden became deputy leader of the opposition. Sunak will remain leader until his successor is elected in the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election, which is expected to take place later in the year. Responding to the 2024 State Opening of Parliament, Sunak said his party would not oppose the government "for the sake of it", but would hold them to account on their election promises. On proposals to change planning laws, Sunak said that though such changes were needed "a system that does not allow local people to have a say will damage public consent for more housing in the long term". While he respected Starmer's decision to scrap the Rwanda asylum plan, Sunak said that there needed to be an alternative deterrent, otherwise "a large number of those who crossed the Channel illegally will end up remaining here". On the Government benches life comes at you fast. Soon you might be fortunate enough to be tapped on the shoulder and be offered a junior ministerial role, then you’ll find yourself attending cabinet, then in the cabinet and then when the prime minister’s position becomes untenable you might end up being called to the highest office. And before you know it you have a bright future behind you and you’re left wondering whether you can credibly be an elder statesman at the age of 44. Political positions Sunak has been described as a moderate within his party with a technocratic or managerial leadership style. According to Euronews, Sunak is "frequently perceived as a pragmatist and as belonging to the centre-ground of the Conservative Party". He opposed the economic policies of Truss, and although described as a fellow Thatcherite, he is viewed as less economically liberal than Truss. In April 2023, Sunak's perception as a centrist contrasted with descriptions of his government's policies on transgender and migration issues as being socially conservative, with Jessica Elgot of The Guardian describing Sunak as "perhaps the most socially conservative PM of his generation". Robert Shrimsley of the Financial Times described Sunak as someone whose "easy manner, career in global finance and ethnic background might suggest a more cosmopolitan conservative", even though he is socially conservative and pragmatic. Meanwhile, the New Statesman described Sunak as uneasily straddling both liberal-conservative and national-conservative instincts. In July 2023, The Economist described him as "the most right-wing Conservative prime minister since Margaret Thatcher". Public image Following his appointment as chancellor, Sunak arrived in public discourse from relative obscurity. Some political commentators saw Sunak's appointment as signalling the end of the Treasury's independence from Downing Street, with Robert Shrimsley, chief political commentator of the Financial Times, arguing that "good government often depends on senior ministers – and the Chancellor in particular – being able to fight bad ideas". In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was popular by the standards of British politics, described by one analyst as having "better ratings than any politician since the heydays of Tony Blair". Various polls showed Sunak remained overwhelmingly popular among Conservative supporters and many other Britons throughout 2020. In an Ipsos MORI poll in September 2020, Sunak had the highest satisfaction score of any British chancellor since Labour's Denis Healey in April 1978, and was widely seen as the favourite to become the next Conservative leader. Sunak developed a cult media following, with jokes and gossip about his attractiveness widespread on social media and in magazines, gaining the nickname "Dishi Rishi". Public attitudes towards Sunak remained broadly positive in 2021, though his popularity declined steadily over time. By early 2022, with the cost of living becoming a growing focus of public concern, Sunak's response as chancellor was perceived as inadequate and he received some of his lowest approval ratings, which continued as the Sunak family's financial affairs came under scrutiny. By the time he resigned as chancellor in July 2022, Sunak's approval ratings slightly recovered. In October 2022, following his appointment as prime minister, Sunak's personal favourability ratings increased. By July 2023, Sunak's approval ratings had decreased back to a similar level to when he resigned as chancellor. The New Statesman named him as the second most powerful right-wing figure of 2023, behind only Nigel Farage. By his resignation as prime minister in July 2024, he had his lowest approval ratings to date. Following the 2024 general election, Sunak has received praise for being gracious in defeat, with some commentators recommending for the Conservatives to keep him on as leader. Personal life In August 2009, Sunak married Akshata Murty, the daughter of N. R. Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty. His father-in-law is the founder of the technology company Infosys, in which Murty owns a stake. Sunak and Murty met while studying at Stanford University in the US; they have two daughters: the first born in 2011 and the second in 2013. In November 2020, Sunak was reported by The Guardian to have not declared a significant amount of his wife and family's financial interests on the register of ministers' interests, including a combined £1.7 billion shareholding in the Indian company Infosys. Ministers are required to declare interests that are "relevant" to their responsibilities and "which might be thought to give rise to a conflict" with their public duties. The independent adviser on ministers' interests investigated and concluded that Sunak had not broken any rules. In early 2022, newspapers reported that Murty had non-domiciled status, meaning she did not have to pay tax on income earned abroad while living in the UK. The status cost approximately £30,000 to secure, and allowed her to avoid paying an estimated £20 million in UK taxes. On 8 April Murty issued a statement saying that she would pay UK taxes on her global income, and that she regretted the issue had become "a distraction for [her] husband". An inquiry was set up to identify the source of the leak regarding her tax status. Reporting around this time also revealed that Sunak had continued to hold United States' permanent resident (green card) status he had acquired in the 2000s until 2021, including for 18 months after he was made chancellor, which required filing annual US tax returns. An investigation into both his wife's tax status and his residency status found that Sunak had not broken any ministerial rules. Sunak and Murty own several houses, including one in North Yorkshire; a mews house in Earl's Court in central London; a flat on the Old Brompton Road, South Kensington; and a penthouse apartment on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, California. In April 2022, it was reported that Sunak and Murty had moved out of the flat above 10 Downing Street to a newly refurbished West London home for domestic reasons. In October 2022, the Sunaks resumed residence of their former official home at 10 Downing Street, this time as prime minister and reversing the trend started in 1997 of prime ministers living in the four-bedroom flat above 11 Downing Street. In April 2022, amid the Partygate scandal, Sunak was issued a fixed penalty notice by the police who believed he had committed offences under COVID-19 regulations by attending a birthday gathering for Boris Johnson on 19 June 2020. The police also issued 125 fixed penalty notices to 82 other individuals, including Johnson and his wife Carrie Symonds, who all apologised and paid the penalties. After receiving the penalty notice, Sunak said he was "extremely and sincerely sorry" for the hurt caused by him attending the party, and that he respected the police's decision to give him a fine. In January 2023, Sunak was issued a fixed penalty notice by Lancashire Constabulary after a social media video of him failing to wear a seat belt in a moving vehicle was published. Sunak apologised for the incident and said he made a "brief error of judgment". Sunak is a teetotaller. He stated in 2022 that he had seven dental fillings due to excessive consumption of Coca-Cola when he was younger, and expressed a strong preference for Mexican Coke. He was previously a governor of the East London Science School. Sunak has a Labrador called Nova and is a cricket and horse racing enthusiast. As chancellor, Sunak rose early for a daily Peloton workout and was a fan of fitness instructor Cody Rigsby. Sunak is a close friend of The Spectator's former political editor James Forsyth, whom he has known since their school days. Sunak was the best man at Forsyth's wedding to the journalist Allegra Stratton, and they are godparents to each other's children. He appointed Forsyth as his political secretary in December 2022. Sunak is a steadfast Southampton F.C. fan. When asked what his ideal job would be if he was not a politician, he replied that if he could "run Southampton Football Club" he would be a "very happy man". Sunak is a Hindu and identifies as British Indian, stating that he is "thoroughly British" but with an Indian religious and cultural heritage. He took his oath as an MP at the House of Commons on the Bhagavad Gita. During the coronation of Charles III, Sunak gave a reading from the New Testament book of Epistle to the Colossians – Colossians 1:9–17. After the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, Sunak said he had also faced racism in his life. Speaking about his childhood during the 2024 general election campaign, Sunak said his parents "wanted to put everything into our education and that was a priority" and that he didn't have Sky TV growing up. See also Electoral history of Rishi Sunak Notes References Further reading External links Official website Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom Contributions in Parliament at Hansard Voting record at Public Whip Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou Appearances on C-SPAN Final Speech as Prime Minister after July 4, 2024 election on The Guardian
List_of_Scottish_monarchs	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scottish_monarchs	[ 225 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scottish_monarchs" ]	The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, Kenneth I MacAlpin (Cináed mac Ailpín) was the founder and first King of the Kingdom of Scotland (although he never held the title historically, being King of the Picts instead). The Kingdom of the Picts just became known as the Kingdom of Alba in Scottish Gaelic, which later became known in Scots and English as Scotland; the terms are retained in both languages to this day. By the late 11th century at the very latest, Scottish kings were using the term rex Scottorum, or King of Scots, to refer to themselves in Latin. The Kingdom of Scotland was merged with the Kingdom of England to form a single Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Thus, Queen Anne became the last monarch of the ancient kingdoms of Scotland and England and the first of Great Britain, although the kingdoms had shared a monarch since 1603 (see Union of the Crowns). Her uncle Charles II was the last monarch to be crowned in Scotland, at Scone in 1651. He had a second coronation in England ten years later. Heraldry List of monarchs of Scotland House of Alpin (848–1034) The reign of Kenneth MacAlpin begins what is often called the House of Alpin, an entirely modern concept. The descendants of Kenneth MacAlpin were divided into two branches; the crown would alternate between the two, the death of a king from one branch often hastened by war or assassination by a pretender from the other. Malcolm II was the last king of the House of Alpin; in his reign, he successfully crushed all opposition to him and, having no sons, was able to pass the crown to his daughter's son, Duncan I, who inaugurated the House of Dunkeld. *Eochiad was a son of Run, King of Strathclyde, but his mother was a daughter of Kenneth I. Evidence of his reign is unclear. He may have never actually been king and if he was, he was co-king with Giric. ¤Amlaíb is known only by a reference to his death in 977, which reports him as King of Alba; since Kenneth II is known to have still been King in 972–973, Amlaíb must have taken power between 973 and 977. House of Dunkeld (1034–1040) Duncan succeeded to the throne as the maternal grandson of Malcolm II. The House of Dunkeld was therefore closely related to the House of Alpin. Duncan was killed in battle by Macbeth, another maternal grandson of Malcolm II. House of Moray (1040–1058) Macbeth came to power in 1040 after killing Duncan I in battle and had a long and relatively successful reign. Macbeth was a cousin of Duncan and was a maternal grandson of Malcolm II. In a series of battles between 1057 and 1058, Duncan's son Malcolm III defeated and killed Macbeth and Macbeth's stepson and heir Lulach and became the king, thereby passing the throne back to the House of Dunkeld. House of Dunkeld (restored) (1058–1286) In a series of battles between 1057 and 1058, Duncan's son Malcolm III defeated and killed Macbeth and Macbeth's stepson and heir Lulach, claiming the throne. The dynastic feuds did not end there: on Malcolm III's death in battle, his brother Donald III, known as "Bán", claimed the throne, expelling Malcolm III's sons from Scotland. A civil war in the family ensued, with Donald III and Malcolm III's son Edmund opposed by Malcolm III's English-backed sons, led first by Duncan II and then by Edgar. Edgar triumphed, sending his uncle and brother to monasteries. After the reign of David I, the Scottish throne was passed according to rules of primogeniture, moving from father to son, or where not possible, brother to brother. Alexander III was the last ruler from the house of Dunkeld, and having no sons, the throne was inherited by his granddaughter Margaret, Maid of Norway. House of Sverre (1286–1290) Margaret, Maid of Norway inherited the throne in 1286, but died in 1290 in Orkney on her way to be crowned. During her absence, Scotland was ruled by a set of guardians. After her death, Scotland entered a period of interregnum, where 13 contenders fought for the throne and ultimately, John Balliol succeeded. The status of Margaret, as a Scottish monarch is debated by historians. She was never crowned, and her contemporaries in Scotland described her as "queen" very rarely, referring to her instead as Scotland's "lady", "heir", or "lady and heir". On the other hand, documents issued from late 1286 no longer refer to the "king whosoever he may be", indicating that the throne may have been regarded as already occupied by Margaret. In modern historiography she is nearly unanimously called "queen", and reference books give 19 March 1286, the date of Alexander III's death, as the start of her reign. First Interregnum (1286–1292) The First Interregnum began upon the death of Alexander III of Scotland in 1286. Alexander's only surviving descendant was his granddaughter Margaret, Maid of Norway, a young child, who inherited the throne in 1286. A set of guardians were appointed to rule Scotland in her absence since she was living in Norway where her father Eric II was king. She was finally sent to Scotland in 1290 but died before arriving in Scotland. The next king of Scots was not determined until completion of an arbitration in 1292. House of Balliol (1292–1296) The death of Margaret of Norway began a two-year interregnum in Scotland caused by a succession crisis. With her death, the descent of William I became extinct and there was no obvious heir. Thirteen candidates presented themselves; the most prominent were John Balliol, great-grandson of William I's younger brother David of Huntingdon, and Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale, grandson of David of Huntingdon. The Scottish magnates invited Edward I of England to arbitrate the claims. He did so but forced the Scots to swear allegiance to him as overlord. Eventually, it was decided that John Balliol should become king. He proved weak and incapable and, in 1296, was forced to abdicate by Edward I who then attempted to annex Scotland into the Kingdom of England. Second Interregnum (1296–1306) John Balliol abdicated in March 1296. That same month Edward I invaded Scotland. The second set of guardians were appointed under Edward I who ruled from 1296 to 1306, until the election of Robert the Bruce as the king of Scotland. House of Bruce (1306–1371) For ten years, Scotland had no king. The Scots, however, refused to tolerate English rule. First William Wallace and Andrew Moray, then John Comyn, and finally Robert the Bruce (the grandson of the 1292 competitor, Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale who in turn was the grandson of David of Huntingdon, younger brother of William I) fought against the English. Bruce and his supporters had murdered their rival to the throne of Scotland, John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, on 10 February 1306 at Greyfriars Church in Dumfries. Shortly after in 1306, Robert was crowned King of Scots at Scone. Robert Bruce was then hunted down for his crime of murder, and subsequently, he escaped to the outskirt islands, leaving the country completely leaderless, and the English invaded once again. Bruce returned a year later and gained support for his cause. His energy, and the corresponding replacement of the vigorous Edward I with his weaker son Edward II in 1307, allowed Scotland to free itself from English rule. At the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the Scots routed the English, and by 1328 the English had agreed by treaty to accept Scottish independence. Robert's son, David, acceded to the throne as a child. The English renewed their war with Scotland, and David was forced to flee the kingdom by Edward Balliol, son of King John, who managed to get himself crowned (1332–1356) and to give away Scotland's southern counties to England before being driven out again. David spent much of his life in exile, first in freedom with his ally, France, and then in prison in England. He was only able to return to Scotland in 1357. Upon his death, childless, in 1371, the House of Bruce came to an end. House of Balliol (Disputed claimant) (1332–1356) Edward Balliol was the son of King John Balliol, who had himself ruled for four years following his election in the Great Cause. Following his abdication, John Balliol lived out his life in obscurity in Picardy, France. During the minority of David II, Edward Balliol seized the opportunity to assert his claim to the throne, and backed by the English, he defeated the forces of David's regency and was himself crowned king at Scone in 1332. He was quickly defeated by loyalist forces and sent back to England. With English support, he would mount two more attempts to seize the throne again, in 1333 and 1335, each time his actual control of the throne was brief before being sent back to England, for the last time in 1336. When David returned from exile in 1341 to rule in his own right, Edward lost most of his support. When David II was captured in battle in 1346, Edward made one last attempt to seize the throne for himself but had little support and the campaign fizzled before it gained much traction. In 1356 he renounced all claims to the throne. House of Stewart/Stuart (1371–1651) Robert the Stewart was a grandson of Robert I by the latter's daughter, Marjorie. Having been born in 1316, he was older than his uncle, David II. Consequently, he was at his accession a middle-aged man, already 55, and unable to reign vigorously, a problem also faced by his son Robert III, who also ascended in middle age at 53 in 1390, and suffered lasting damage in a horse-riding accident. These two were followed by a series of regencies, caused by the youth of the succeeding five boy kings. Consequently, the Stewart era saw periods of royal inertia, during which the nobles usurped power from the crown, followed by periods of personal rule by the monarch, during which he or she would attempt to address the issues created by their minority and the long-term effects of previous reigns. Governing Scotland became increasingly difficult, as the powerful nobility became increasingly intractable. James I's attempts to curb the disorder of the realm ended in his assassination. James III was killed in a civil war between himself and the nobility, led by his son. When James IV, who had governed sternly and suppressed the aristocrats, died in the Battle of Flodden, his wife Margaret Tudor, who had been nominated regent for their young son James V, was unseated by noble feuding, and James V's wife, Mary of Guise, succeeded in ruling Scotland during the regency for her young daughter Mary I only by dividing and conquering the noble factions, distributing French bribes with a liberal hand. Finally, Mary I, the daughter of James V, found herself unable to govern Scotland faced with the surliness of the aristocracy and the intransigence of the population, who favored Calvinism and disapproved of her Catholicism. She was forced to abdicate, and fled to England, where she was imprisoned in various castles and manor houses for eighteen years and finally executed for treason against the English queen Elizabeth I. Upon her abdication, her son, fathered by Henry, Lord Darnley, a junior member of the Stewart family, became King as James VI. James VI became King of England and Ireland as James I in 1603 when his cousin Elizabeth I died. Thereafter, although the two crowns of England and Scotland remained separate, the monarchy was based chiefly in England. Charles I, James's son, found himself faced with the Civil War. The resultant conflict lasted eight years and ended in his execution. The English Parliament then decreed their monarchy to be at an end. The Scots Parliament, after some deliberation, broke their links with England and declared that Charles II, son, and heir of Charles I, would become King. He ruled until 1651 when the armies of Oliver Cromwell occupied Scotland and drove him into exile. Third Interregnum (1651–1660) House of Stuart (restored) (1660–1707) With the Scottish Restoration, the Stuarts became Kings of Scotland once more but Scotland's rights were not respected. During the reign of Charles II, the Scottish Parliament was dissolved and James was appointed Governor of Scotland. James II himself became James VII in 1685. His Catholicism was not tolerated, and he was driven out of England after three years. In his place came his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange, the ruler of the Dutch Republic. The two were accepted as monarchs of Scotland after a period of deliberation by the Scottish Parliament and ruled together as William II and Mary II. An attempt to establish a Scottish colonial empire through the Darien Scheme, in rivalry to that of England, failed, leaving the Scottish nobles who financed the venture for their profit bankrupt. This coincided with the accession of Queen Anne, daughter of James VII. Anne had multiple children but none of these survived her, leaving as her heir her half-brother, James, then living in exile in France. The English favored the Protestant Sophia of Hanover (a granddaughter of James VI) as heir. Many Scots preferred Prince James, who as a Stuart was a Scot by ancestry, and threatened to break the Union of Crowns between England and Scotland by choosing him for themselves. To preserve the union, the English elaborated a plan whereby the two Kingdoms of Scotland and England would merge into a single Kingdom, the Kingdom of Great Britain, ruled by a common monarch, and with a single Parliament. Both national parliaments agreed to this (the Scots albeit reluctantly, motivated primarily by the national finances), and some subterfuge as a total majority of signatories were needed to ratify the Scottish parliament's assent, bribes, and payments. Thereafter, although monarchs continued to rule over the nation of Scotland, they did so first as monarchs of Great Britain, and from 1801 of the United Kingdom. Acts of Union The Acts of Union were twin Parliamentary Acts passed during 1706 and 1707 by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland, putting into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union, agreed on 22 July 1706, following prolonged negotiation between Queen Anne's Commissioners representing both parliaments. The Acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland to form a united Kingdom of Great Britain. Scotland and England had shared a common monarch since the Union of the Crowns in 1603 when the Scottish king James VI succeeded to the English throne. Although described as a Union of Crowns, before the Acts of Union of 1707, the crowns of the two separate kingdoms had rested on the same head. Three unsuccessful attempts (in 1606, 1667, and 1689) were made to unite the two kingdoms by Acts of Parliament, but it was not until the early 18th century that the idea had the will of both political establishments to succeed, thereby bringing the two separate states together under a single parliament as well as a single monarch. Later claimants James VII continued to claim the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. When he died in 1701, his son James inherited his father's claims and called himself James VIII of Scotland and III of England and Ireland. He would continue to do so all his life, even after the Kingdoms of England and Scotland were ended by their merging as the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1715, a year after the death of his half-sister, Queen Anne, and the accession of their cousin George of Hanover, James landed in Scotland and attempted to claim the throne. He failed and was forced to flee back to the Continent. A second attempt by his son Charles, on behalf of his father, in 1745–6, also failed. Both James's children died without legitimate issue, bringing the Stuart family to an end. "James VIII", also known as The Old Pretender, son of James VII, was claimant from 1701 until he died in 1766. "Charles III", also known as The Young Pretender and often called Bonnie Prince Charlie, son of James VIII, was claimant from his father's death until his death in 1788 without legitimate issue. "Henry I", brother of Charles III and youngest son of James VIII. Died unmarried in 1807. After 1807, the Jacobite claims passed first to the House of Savoy (1807–1840), then to the Modenese branch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (1840–1919), and finally to the House of Wittelsbach (since 1919). The current heir is Franz, Duke of Bavaria. Neither he nor any of his predecessors since 1807 have pursued their claim. In 1971, Ugandan President Idi Amin proclaimed himself to be the uncrowned king of Scotland, although this claim gained no international recognition. Timeline of Scottish monarchs Coronation oath The Scottish coronation oath sworn by James VI, Charles I, and Charles II and approved by the Parliament of Scotland in 1567: I, N.N., promise faithfully, in the presence of the eternal, my God, that I, enduring the whole Course of my Life, shall serve the same Eternal, my God, to the utmost of my Power, accordingly as he required in his most Holy Word, revealed and contained in the New and Old Testament; and according to the same Word shall maintain the true Religion of Jesus Christ, the preaching of his Holy Word, and due and right administration of his Sacraments, now received and practised within this Realm; and shall abolish and oppose all false Religion contrary to the same; and shall rule the People committed to my Charge, according to the Will and Command of God, revealed in his foresaid Word, and according to the lovable Laws and Constitutions received in this Realm, in no way repugnant to the said Word of the Eternal, my God; and shall procure to my utmost to the Kirk of God and whole Christian people true and perfect Peace in all times coming; the Rights and Rents, with all just privileges of the Crown of Scotland, I shall preserve and keep inviolate, neither shall I transfer nor alienate the same; I shall forbid and repress in all Estates and all Degrees theft, Oppression and all kind of Wrong; in all Judgements, I shall command and procure that Justice and Equity be kept to all creatures without exception, as he be merciful to me and you that is the Lord and Father of all Mercies; and out of all my lands and empire I shall be careful to root out all Heresy and Enemies to the true Worship of God, that shall be convicted by the true Kirk of God of the foresaid Crimes; and these Things above-written I faithfully affirm by my solemn Oath. The coronation oath sworn by William II, Mary II and Anne was approved by the Parliament of Scotland on 18 April 1689. The oath was as follows: WE William and Mary, King and Queen of Scotland, faithfully promise and swear, by this our solemn Oath, in presence of the Eternal God, that during the whole Course of our Life we will serve the same Eternal God, to the uttermost of our Power, according as he has required in his most Holy Word, revealed and contained in the New and Old Testament; and according to the same Word shall maintain the true Religion of Christ Jesus, the preaching of his Holy Word, and the due and right Ministration of the Sacraments, now received and preached within the Realm of Scotland; and shall abolish and gainstand all false Religion contrary to the same, and shall rule the People committed to our Charge, according to the Will and Command of God, revealed in his aforesaid Word, and according to the laudable Laws and Constitutions received in this Realm, no ways repugnant to the said Word of the Eternal God; and shall procure, to the utmost of our power, to the Kirk of God, and whole Christian People, true and perfect Peace in all time coming. That we shall preserve and keep inviolated the Rights and Rents, with all just Privileges of the Crown of Scotland, neither shall we transfer nor alienate the same; that we shall forbid and repress in all Estates and Degrees, Reif, Oppression and all kind of Wrong. And we shall command and procure, that Justice and Equity in all Judgments be kept to all Persons without exception, us the Lord and Father of all Mercies shall be merciful to us. And we shall be careful to root out all Heretics and Enemies to the true Worship of God, that shall be convicted by the true Kirk of God, of the aforesaid Crimes, out of our Lands and Empire of Scotland. And we faithfully affirm the Things above-written by our solemn Oath. See also Notes References Bibliography Anderson, Alan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500–1286, 2 Vols (Edinburgh, 1922). Broun, Dauvit (2007), Scottish Independence and the Idea of Britain. From the Picts to Alexander III., Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-2360-0 Duncan, Archibald Alexander McBeth (2002). The Kingship of the Scots, 842–1292: Succession and Independence. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0748616268. Hudson, Benjamin T., Kings of Celtic Scotland (Westport, 1994). Oram, Richard (2002). The Canmores: Kings & Queens of the Scots, 1040–1290. Tempus. ISBN 0752423258. Reid, Norman (1982). "Margaret, "Maid of Norway" and Scottish Queenship" (PDF). Reading Medieval Studies. 8: 75–96. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 September 2022. Skene, W. F. (ed.), Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots and other Early Memorials of Scottish History (Edinburgh, 1867) External links Scottish Monarchs British Royal Family History – Kings and Queens of Scotland
Marie_Curie	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie	[ 226, 442 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie", "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie" ]	Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (Polish: [ˈmarja salɔˈmɛa skwɔˈdɔfska kʲiˈri] ; née Skłodowska; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( KURE-ee; French: [maʁi kyʁi]), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. Her husband, Pierre Curie, was a co-winner of her first Nobel Prize, making them the first married couple to win the Nobel Prize and launching the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. She was, in 1906, the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris. She was born in Warsaw, in what was then the Kingdom of Poland, part of the Russian Empire. She studied at Warsaw's clandestine Flying University and began her practical scientific training in Warsaw. In 1891, aged 24, she followed her elder sister Bronisława to study in Paris, where she earned her higher degrees and conducted her subsequent scientific work. In 1895, she married the French physicist Pierre Curie, and she shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with him and with the physicist Henri Becquerel for their pioneering work developing the theory of "radioactivity"—a term she coined. In 1906, Pierre Curie died in a Paris street accident. Marie won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of the elements polonium and radium, using techniques she invented for isolating radioactive isotopes. Under her direction, the world's first studies were conducted into the treatment of neoplasms by the use of radioactive isotopes. She founded the Curie Institute in Paris in 1920, and the Curie Institute in Warsaw in 1932; both remain major medical research centres. During World War I, she developed mobile radiography units to provide X-ray services to field hospitals. While a French citizen, Marie Skłodowska Curie, who used both surnames, never lost her sense of Polish identity. She taught her daughters the Polish language and took them on visits to Poland. She named the first chemical element she discovered polonium, after her native country. Marie Curie died in 1934, aged 66, at the Sancellemoz sanatorium in Passy (Haute-Savoie), France, of aplastic anaemia likely from exposure to radiation in the course of her scientific research and in the course of her radiological work at field hospitals during World War I. In addition to her Nobel Prizes, she received numerous other honours and tributes; in 1995 she became the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in the Paris Panthéon, and Poland declared 2011 the Year of Marie Curie during the International Year of Chemistry. She is the subject of numerous biographical works. Life and career Early years Maria Skłodowska was born in Warsaw, in Congress Poland in the Russian Empire, on 7 November 1867, the fifth and youngest child of well-known teachers Bronisława, née Boguska, and Władysław Skłodowski. The elder siblings of Maria (nicknamed Mania) were Zofia (born 1862, nicknamed Zosia), Józef (born 1863, nicknamed Józio), Bronisława (born 1865, nicknamed Bronia) and Helena (born 1866, nicknamed Hela). On both the paternal and maternal sides, the family had lost their property and fortunes through patriotic involvements in Polish national uprisings aimed at restoring Poland's independence (the most recent had been the January Uprising of 1863–65). This condemned the subsequent generation, including Maria and her elder siblings, to a difficult struggle to get ahead in life. Maria's paternal grandfather, Józef Skłodowski, had been principal of the Lublin primary school attended by Bolesław Prus, who became a leading figure in Polish literature. Władysław Skłodowski taught mathematics and physics, subjects that Maria was to pursue, and was also director of two Warsaw gymnasia (secondary schools) for boys. After Russian authorities eliminated laboratory instruction from the Polish schools, he brought much of the laboratory equipment home and instructed his children in its use. He was eventually fired by his Russian supervisors for pro-Polish sentiments and forced to take lower-paying posts; the family also lost money on a bad investment and eventually chose to supplement their income by lodging boys in the house. Maria's mother Bronisława operated a prestigious Warsaw boarding school for girls; she resigned from the position after Maria was born. She died of tuberculosis in May 1878, when Maria was ten years old. Less than three years earlier, Maria's oldest sibling, Zofia, had died of typhus contracted from a boarder. Maria's father was an atheist, her mother a devout Catholic. The deaths of Maria's mother and sister caused her to give up Catholicism and become agnostic. When she was ten years old, Maria began attending the boarding school of J. Sikorska; next, she attended a gymnasium for girls, from which she graduated on 12 June 1883 with a gold medal. After a collapse, possibly due to depression, she spent the following year in the countryside with relatives of her father, and the next year with her father in Warsaw, where she did some tutoring. Unable to enrol in a regular institution of higher education because she was a woman, she and her sister Bronisława became involved with the clandestine Flying University (sometimes translated as Floating University), a Polish patriotic institution of higher learning that admitted women students. Maria made an agreement with her sister, Bronisława, that she would give her financial assistance during Bronisława's medical studies in Paris, in exchange for similar assistance two years later. In connection with this, Maria took a position first as a home tutor in Warsaw, then for two years as a governess in Szczuki with a landed family, the Żorawskis, who were relatives of her father. While working for the latter family, she fell in love with their son, Kazimierz Żorawski, a future eminent mathematician. His parents rejected the idea of his marrying the penniless relative, and Kazimierz was unable to oppose them. Maria's loss of the relationship with Żorawski was tragic for both. He soon earned a doctorate and pursued an academic career as a mathematician, becoming a professor and rector of Kraków University. Still, as an old man and a mathematics professor at the Warsaw Polytechnic, he would sit contemplatively before the statue of Maria Skłodowska that had been erected in 1935 before the Radium Institute, which she had founded in 1932. At the beginning of 1890, Bronisława—who a few months earlier had married Kazimierz Dłuski, a Polish physician and social and political activist—invited Maria to join them in Paris. Maria declined because she could not afford the university tuition; it would take her a year and a half longer to gather the necessary funds. She was helped by her father, who was able to secure a more lucrative position again. All that time she continued to educate herself, reading books, exchanging letters, and being tutored herself. In early 1889 she returned home to her father in Warsaw. She continued working as a governess and remained there until late 1891. She tutored, studied at the Flying University, and began her practical scientific training (1890–91) in a chemistry laboratory at the Museum of Industry and Agriculture at Krakowskie Przedmieście 66, near Warsaw's Old Town. The laboratory was run by her cousin Józef Boguski, who had been an assistant in Saint Petersburg to the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleyev. Life in Paris In late 1891, she left Poland for France. In Paris, Maria (or Marie, as she would be known in France) briefly found shelter with her sister and brother-in-law before renting a garret closer to the university, in the Latin Quarter, and proceeding with her studies of physics, chemistry, and mathematics at the University of Paris, where she enrolled in late 1891. She subsisted on her meagre resources, keeping herself warm during cold winters by wearing all the clothes she had. She focused so hard on her studies that she sometimes forgot to eat. Skłodowska studied during the day and tutored evenings, barely earning her keep. In 1893, she was awarded a degree in physics and began work in an industrial laboratory of Gabriel Lippmann. Meanwhile, she continued studying at the University of Paris and with the aid of a fellowship she was able to earn a second degree in 1894. Skłodowska had begun her scientific career in Paris with an investigation of the magnetic properties of various steels, commissioned by the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry. That same year, Pierre Curie entered her life: it was their mutual interest in natural sciences that drew them together. Pierre Curie was an instructor at The City of Paris Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution (ESPCI Paris). They were introduced by Polish physicist Józef Wierusz-Kowalski, who had learned that she was looking for a larger laboratory space, something that Wierusz-Kowalski thought Pierre could access. Though Curie did not have a large laboratory, he was able to find some space for Skłodowska where she was able to begin work. Their mutual passion for science brought them increasingly closer, and they began to develop feelings for one another. Eventually, Pierre proposed marriage, but at first Skłodowska did not accept as she was still planning to go back to her native country. Curie, however, declared that he was ready to move with her to Poland, even if it meant being reduced to teaching French. Meanwhile, for the 1894 summer break, Skłodowska returned to Warsaw, where she visited her family. She was still labouring under the illusion that she would be able to work in her chosen field in Poland, but she was denied a place at Kraków University because of sexism in academia. A letter from Pierre convinced her to return to Paris to pursue a PhD. At Skłodowska's insistence, Curie had written up his research on magnetism and received his own doctorate in March 1895; he was also promoted to professor at the School. A contemporary quip would call Skłodowska "Pierre's biggest discovery". On 26 July 1895, they were married in Sceaux; neither wanted a religious service. Curie's dark blue outfit, worn instead of a bridal gown, would serve her for many years as a laboratory outfit. They shared two pastimes: long bicycle trips and journeys abroad, which brought them even closer. In Pierre, Marie had found a new love, a partner, and a scientific collaborator on whom she could depend. New elements In 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen discovered the existence of X-rays, though the mechanism behind their production was not yet understood. In 1896, Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium salts emitted rays that resembled X-rays in their penetrating power. He demonstrated that this radiation, unlike phosphorescence, did not depend on an external source of energy but seemed to arise spontaneously from uranium itself. Influenced by these two important discoveries, Curie decided to look into uranium rays as a possible field of research for a thesis. She used an innovative technique to investigate samples. Fifteen years earlier, her husband and his brother had developed a version of the electrometer, a sensitive device for measuring electric charge. Using her husband's electrometer, she discovered that uranium rays caused the air around a sample to conduct electricity. Using this technique, her first result was the finding that the activity of the uranium compounds depended only on the quantity of uranium present. She hypothesized that the radiation was not the outcome of some interaction of molecules but must come from the atom itself. This hypothesis was an important step in disproving the assumption that atoms were indivisible. In 1897, her daughter Irène was born. To support her family, Curie began teaching at the École Normale Supérieure. The Curies did not have a dedicated laboratory; most of their research was carried out in a converted shed next to ESPCI. The shed, formerly a medical school dissecting room, was poorly ventilated and not even waterproof. They were unaware of the deleterious effects of radiation exposure attendant on their continued unprotected work with radioactive substances. ESPCI did not sponsor her research, but she would receive subsidies from metallurgical and mining companies and from various organisations and governments. Curie's systematic studies included two uranium minerals, pitchblende and torbernite (also known as chalcolite). Her electrometer showed that pitchblende was four times as active as uranium itself, and chalcolite twice as active. She concluded that, if her earlier results relating the quantity of uranium to its activity were correct, then these two minerals must contain small quantities of another substance that was far more active than uranium. She began a systematic search for additional substances that emit radiation, and by 1898 she discovered that the element thorium was also radioactive. Pierre Curie was increasingly intrigued by her work. By mid-1898 he was so invested in it that he decided to drop his work on crystals and to join her. The [research] idea [writes Reid] was her own; no one helped her formulate it, and although she took it to her husband for his opinion she clearly established her ownership of it. She later recorded the fact twice in her biography of her husband to ensure there was no chance whatever of any ambiguity. It [is] likely that already at this early stage of her career [she] realized that... many scientists would find it difficult to believe that a woman could be capable of the original work in which she was involved. She was acutely aware of the importance of promptly publishing her discoveries and thus establishing her priority. Had not Becquerel, two years earlier, presented his discovery to the Académie des Sciences the day after he made it, credit for the discovery of radioactivity (and even a Nobel Prize), would instead have gone to Silvanus Thompson. Curie chose the same rapid means of publication. Her paper, giving a brief and simple account of her work, was presented for her to the Académie on 12 April 1898 by her former professor, Gabriel Lippmann. Even so, just as Thompson had been beaten by Becquerel, so Curie was beaten in the race to tell of her discovery that thorium gives off rays in the same way as uranium; two months earlier, Gerhard Carl Schmidt had published his own finding in Berlin. At that time, no one else in the world of physics had noticed what Curie recorded in a sentence of her paper, describing how much greater were the activities of pitchblende and chalcolite than uranium itself: "The fact is very remarkable, and leads to the belief that these minerals may contain an element which is much more active than uranium." She later would recall how she felt "a passionate desire to verify this hypothesis as rapidly as possible." On 14 April 1898, the Curies optimistically weighed out a 100-gram sample of pitchblende and ground it with a pestle and mortar. They did not realise at the time that what they were searching for was present in such minute quantities that they would eventually have to process tonnes of the ore. In July 1898, Curie and her husband published a joint paper announcing the existence of an element they named "polonium", in honour of her native Poland, which would for another twenty years remain partitioned among three empires (Russian, Austrian, and Prussian). On 26 December 1898, the Curies announced the existence of a second element, which they named "radium", from the Latin word for "ray". In the course of their research, they also coined the word "radioactivity". To prove their discoveries beyond any doubt, the Curies sought to isolate polonium and radium in pure form. Pitchblende is a complex mineral; the chemical separation of its constituents was an arduous task. The discovery of polonium had been relatively easy; chemically it resembles the element bismuth, and polonium was the only bismuth-like substance in the ore. Radium, however, was more elusive; it is closely related chemically to barium, and pitchblende contains both elements. By 1898 the Curies had obtained traces of radium, but appreciable quantities, uncontaminated with barium, were still beyond reach. The Curies undertook the arduous task of separating out radium salt by differential crystallisation. From a tonne of pitchblende, one-tenth of a gram of radium chloride was separated in 1902. In 1910, she isolated pure radium metal. She never succeeded in isolating polonium, which has a half-life of only 138 days. Between 1898 and 1902, the Curies published, jointly or separately, a total of 32 scientific papers, including one that announced that, when exposed to radium, diseased, tumour-forming cells were destroyed faster than healthy cells. In 1900, Curie became the first woman faculty member at the École Normale Supérieure and her husband joined the faculty of the University of Paris. In 1902 she visited Poland on the occasion of her father's death. In June 1903, supervised by Gabriel Lippmann, Curie was awarded her doctorate from the University of Paris. That month the couple were invited to the Royal Institution in London to give a speech on radioactivity; being a woman, she was prevented from speaking, and Pierre Curie alone was allowed to. Meanwhile, a new industry began developing, based on radium. The Curies did not patent their discovery and benefited little from this increasingly profitable business. Nobel Prizes In December 1903 the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Pierre Curie, Marie Curie, and Henri Becquerel the Nobel Prize in Physics, "in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel." At first the committee had intended to honour only Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel, but a committee member and advocate for women scientists, Swedish mathematician Magnus Gösta Mittag-Leffler, alerted Pierre to the situation, and after his complaint, Marie's name was added to the nomination. Marie Curie was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize. Curie and her husband declined to go to Stockholm to receive the prize in person; they were too busy with their work, and Pierre Curie, who disliked public ceremonies, was feeling increasingly ill. As Nobel laureates were required to deliver a lecture, the Curies finally undertook the trip in 1905. The award money allowed the Curies to hire their first laboratory assistant. Following the award of the Nobel Prize, and galvanised by an offer from the University of Geneva, which offered Pierre Curie a position, the University of Paris gave him a professorship and the chair of physics, although the Curies still did not have a proper laboratory. Upon Pierre Curie's complaint, the University of Paris relented and agreed to furnish a new laboratory, but it would not be ready until 1906. In December 1904, Curie gave birth to their second daughter, Ève. She hired Polish governesses to teach her daughters her native language, and sent or took them on visits to Poland. On 19 April 1906, Pierre Curie was killed in a road accident. Walking across the Rue Dauphine in heavy rain, he was struck by a horse-drawn vehicle and fell under its wheels, fracturing his skull and killing him instantly. Curie was devastated by her husband's death. On 13 May 1906 the physics department of the University of Paris decided to retain the chair that had been created for her late husband and offer it to Marie. She accepted it, hoping to create a world-class laboratory as a tribute to her husband Pierre. She was the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris. Curie's quest to create a new laboratory did not end with the University of Paris, however. In her later years, she headed the Radium Institute (Institut du radium, now Curie Institute, Institut Curie), a radioactivity laboratory created for her by the Pasteur Institute and the University of Paris. The initiative for creating the Radium Institute had come in 1909 from Pierre Paul Émile Roux, director of the Pasteur Institute, who had been disappointed that the University of Paris was not giving Curie a proper laboratory and had suggested that she move to the Pasteur Institute. Only then, with the threat of Curie leaving, did the University of Paris relent, and eventually the Curie Pavilion became a joint initiative of the University of Paris and the Pasteur Institute. In 1910 Curie succeeded in isolating radium; she also defined an international standard for radioactive emissions that was eventually named for her and Pierre: the curie. Nevertheless, in 1911 the French Academy of Sciences failed, by one or two votes, to elect her to membership in the academy. Elected instead was Édouard Branly, an inventor who had helped Guglielmo Marconi develop the wireless telegraph. It was only over half a century later, in 1962, that a doctoral student of Curie's, Marguerite Perey, became the first woman elected to membership in the academy. Despite Curie's fame as a scientist working for France, the public's attitude tended toward xenophobia—the same that had led to the Dreyfus affair—which also fuelled false speculation that Curie was Jewish. During the French Academy of Sciences elections, she was vilified by the right-wing press as a foreigner and atheist. Her daughter later remarked on the French press's hypocrisy in portraying Curie as an unworthy foreigner when she was nominated for a French honour, but portraying her as a French heroine when she received foreign honours such as her Nobel Prizes. In 1911 it was revealed that Curie was involved in a year-long affair with physicist Paul Langevin, a former student of Pierre Curie's, a married man who was estranged from his wife. This resulted in a press scandal that was exploited by her academic opponents. Curie (then in her mid-40s) was five years older than Langevin and was misrepresented in the tabloids as a foreign Jewish home-wrecker. When the scandal broke, she was away at a conference in Belgium; on her return, she found an angry mob in front of her house and had to seek refuge, with her daughters, in the home of her friend, Camille Marbo. International recognition for her work had been growing to new heights, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, overcoming opposition prompted by the Langevin scandal, honoured her a second time, with the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This award was "in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element." Because of the negative publicity due to her affair with Langevin, the chair of the Nobel committee, Svante Arrhenius, attempted to prevent her attendance at the official ceremony for her Nobel Prize in Chemistry, citing her questionable moral standing. Curie replied that she would be present at the ceremony, because "the prize has been given to her for her discovery of polonium and radium" and that "there is no relation between her scientific work and the facts of her private life". She was the first person to win or share two Nobel Prizes, and remains alone with Linus Pauling as Nobel laureates in two fields each. A delegation of celebrated Polish men of learning, headed by novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz, encouraged her to return to Poland and continue her research in her native country. Curie's second Nobel Prize enabled her to persuade the French government to support the Radium Institute, built in 1914, where research was conducted in chemistry, physics, and medicine. A month after accepting her 1911 Nobel Prize, she was hospitalised with depression and a kidney ailment. For most of 1912, she avoided public life but did spend time in England with her friend and fellow physicist, Hertha Ayrton. She returned to her laboratory only in December, after a break of about 14 months. In 1912 the Warsaw Scientific Society offered her the directorship of a new laboratory in Warsaw but she declined, focusing on the developing Radium Institute to be completed in August 1914, and on a new street named Rue Pierre-Curie (today rue Pierre-et-Marie-Curie). She was appointed director of the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University of Paris, founded in 1914. She visited Poland in 1913 and was welcomed in Warsaw but the visit was mostly ignored by the Russian authorities. The institute's development was interrupted by the coming war, as most researchers were drafted into the French Army, and it fully resumed its activities in 1919. World War I During World War I, Curie recognised that wounded soldiers were best served if operated upon as soon as possible. She saw a need for field radiological centres near the front lines to assist battlefield surgeons, including to obviate amputations when in fact limbs could be saved. After a quick study of radiology, anatomy, and automotive mechanics, she procured X-ray equipment, vehicles, and auxiliary generators, and she developed mobile radiography units, which came to be popularly known as petites Curies ("Little Curies"). She became the director of the Red Cross Radiology Service and set up France's first military radiology centre, operational by late 1914. Assisted at first by a military doctor and her 17-year-old daughter Irène, Curie directed the installation of 20 mobile radiological vehicles and another 200 radiological units at field hospitals in the first year of the war. Later, she began training other women as aides. In 1915, Curie produced hollow needles containing "radium emanation", a colourless, radioactive gas given off by radium, later identified as radon, to be used for sterilising infected tissue. She provided the radium from her own one-gram supply. It is estimated that over a million wounded soldiers were treated with her X-ray units. Busy with this work, she carried out very little scientific research during that period. In spite of all her humanitarian contributions to the French war effort, Curie never received any formal recognition of it from the French government. Also, promptly after the war started, she attempted to donate her gold Nobel Prize medals to the war effort but the French National Bank refused to accept them. She did buy war bonds, using her Nobel Prize money. She said: I am going to give up the little gold I possess. I shall add to this the scientific medals, which are quite useless to me. There is something else: by sheer laziness I had allowed the money for my second Nobel Prize to remain in Stockholm in Swedish crowns. This is the chief part of what we possess. I should like to bring it back here and invest it in war loans. The state needs it. Only, I have no illusions: this money will probably be lost. She was also an active member in committees of Polonia in France dedicated to the Polish cause. After the war, she summarised her wartime experiences in a book, Radiology in War (1919). Postwar years In 1920, for the 25th anniversary of the discovery of radium, the French government established a stipend for her; its previous recipient was Louis Pasteur, who had died in 1895. In 1921, she was welcomed triumphantly when she toured the United States to raise funds for research on radium. Mrs. William Brown Meloney, after interviewing Curie, created a Marie Curie Radium Fund and raised money to buy radium, publicising her trip. In 1921, U.S. President Warren G. Harding received her at the White House to present her with the 1 gram of radium collected in the United States, and the First Lady praised her as an example of a professional achiever who was also a supportive wife. Before the meeting, recognising her growing fame abroad, and embarrassed by the fact that she had no French official distinctions to wear in public, the French government offered her a Legion of Honour award, but she refused. In 1922 she became a fellow of the French Academy of Medicine. She also travelled to other countries, appearing publicly and giving lectures in Belgium, Brazil, Spain, and Czechoslovakia. Led by Curie, the Institute produced four more Nobel Prize winners, including her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie and her son-in-law, Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Eventually it became one of the world's four major radioactivity-research laboratories, the others being the Cavendish Laboratory, with Ernest Rutherford; the Institute for Radium Research, Vienna, with Stefan Meyer; and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry, with Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner. In August 1922 Marie Curie became a member of the League of Nations' newly created International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation. She sat on the committee until 1934 and contributed to League of Nations' scientific coordination with other prominent researchers such as Albert Einstein, Hendrik Lorentz, and Henri Bergson. In 1923 she wrote a biography of her late husband, titled Pierre Curie. In 1925 she visited Poland to participate in a ceremony laying the foundations for Warsaw's Radium Institute. Her second American tour, in 1929, succeeded in equipping the Warsaw Radium Institute with radium; the Institute opened in 1932, with her sister Bronisława its director. These distractions from her scientific labours, and the attendant publicity, caused her much discomfort but provided resources for her work. In 1930 she was elected to the International Atomic Weights Committee, on which she served until her death. In 1931, Curie was awarded the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh. Death Curie visited Poland for the last time in early 1934. A few months later, on 4 July 1934, she died aged 66 at the Sancellemoz sanatorium in Passy, Haute-Savoie, from aplastic anaemia believed to have been contracted from her long-term exposure to radiation, causing damage to her bone marrow. The damaging effects of ionising radiation were not known at the time of her work, which had been carried out without the safety measures later developed. She had carried test tubes containing radioactive isotopes in her pocket, and she stored them in her desk drawer, remarking on the faint light that the substances gave off in the dark. Curie was also exposed to X-rays from unshielded equipment while serving as a radiologist in field hospitals during the First World War. When Curie's body was exhumed in 1995, the French Office de Protection contre les Rayonnements Ionisants (OPRI) "concluded that she could not have been exposed to lethal levels of radium while she was alive". They pointed out that radium poses a risk only if it is ingested, and speculated that her illness was more likely to have been due to her use of radiography during the First World War. She was interred at the cemetery in Sceaux, alongside her husband Pierre. Sixty years later, in 1995, in honour of their achievements, the remains of both were transferred to the Paris Panthéon. Their remains were sealed in a lead lining because of the radioactivity. She became the second woman to be interred at the Panthéon (after Sophie Berthelot) and the first woman to be honoured with interment in the Panthéon on her own merits. Because of their levels of radioactive contamination, her papers from the 1890s are considered too dangerous to handle. Even her cookbooks are highly radioactive. Her papers are kept in lead-lined boxes, and those who wish to consult them must wear protective clothing. In her last year, she worked on a book, Radioactivity, which was published posthumously in 1935. Legacy The physical and societal aspects of the Curies' work contributed to shaping the world of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Cornell University professor L. Pearce Williams observes: The result of the Curies' work was epoch-making. Radium's radioactivity was so great that it could not be ignored. It seemed to contradict the principle of the conservation of energy and therefore forced a reconsideration of the foundations of physics. On the experimental level the discovery of radium provided men like Ernest Rutherford with sources of radioactivity with which they could probe the structure of the atom. As a result of Rutherford's experiments with alpha radiation, the nuclear atom was first postulated. In medicine, the radioactivity of radium appeared to offer a means by which cancer could be successfully attacked. In addition to helping to overturn established ideas in physics and chemistry, Curie's work has had a profound effect in the societal sphere. To attain her scientific achievements, she had to overcome barriers, in both her native and her adoptive country, that were placed in her way because she was a woman. She was known for her honesty and moderate lifestyle. Having received a small scholarship in 1893, she returned it in 1897 as soon as she began earning her keep. She gave much of her first Nobel Prize money to friends, family, students, and research associates. In an unusual decision, Curie intentionally refrained from patenting the radium-isolation process so that the scientific community could do research unhindered. She insisted that monetary gifts and awards be given to the scientific institutions she was affiliated with rather than to her. She and her husband often refused awards and medals. Albert Einstein reportedly remarked that she was probably the only person who could not be corrupted by fame. Commemoration and cultural depictions As one of the most famous scientists in history, Marie Curie has become an icon in the scientific world and has received tributes from across the globe, even in the realm of pop culture. She also received many honorary degrees from universities across the world. Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win two Nobel Prizes, the only woman to win in two fields, and the only person to win in multiple sciences. Awards and honours that she received include: Nobel Prize in Physics (1903, with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel) Davy Medal (1903, with Pierre) Matteucci Medal (1904, with Pierre) Actonian Prize (1907) Elliott Cresson Medal (1909) Legion of Honour (1909, rejected) Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1911) Civil Order of Alfonso XII (1919) Franklin Medal of the American Philosophical Society (1921) Order of the White Eagle (2018, posthumously) Entities that have been named after Marie Curie include: The curie (symbol Ci), a unit of radioactivity, is named in honour of her and Pierre Curie (although the commission which agreed on the name never clearly stated whether the standard was named after Pierre, Marie, or both). The element with atomic number 96 was named curium (symbol Cm). Three radioactive minerals are also named after the Curies: curite, sklodowskite, and cuprosklodowskite. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions fellowship program of the European Union for young scientists wishing to work in a foreign country In 2007, a metro station in Paris was renamed to honour both of the Curies. The sole Polish nuclear reactor in operation, the research reactor Maria The 7000 Curie asteroid Marie Curie, a registered charitable organisation in the United Kingdom The IEEE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award, an international award presented for outstanding contributions to the field of nuclear and plasma sciences and engineering, was established by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2008. The Marie Curie Medal, an annual science award established in 1996 and conferred by the Polish Chemical Society The Marie Curie–Sklodowska Medal and Prize, an annual award conferred by the London-based Institute of Physics for distinguished contributions to physics education Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology in Poland École élémentaire Marie-Curie in London, Ontario, Canada; Curie Metropolitan High School in Chicago, United States; Marie Curie High School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Lycée français Marie Curie de Zurich, Switzerland; see Lycée Marie Curie for a list of other schools named after her Rue Madame Curie in Beirut, Lebanon. Numerous biographies are devoted to her, including: Ève Curie (Marie Curie's daughter), Madame Curie, 1938. Françoise Giroud, Marie Curie: A Life, 1987. Susan Quinn, Marie Curie: A Life, 1996. Barbara Goldsmith, Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie, 2005. Lauren Redniss, Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, a Tale of Love and Fallout, 2011, adapted into the 2019 British film. Marie Curie has been the subject of a number of films: 1943: Madame Curie, a U.S. Oscar-nominated film by Mervyn LeRoy starring Greer Garson. 1997: Les Palmes de M. Schutz, a French film adapted from a play of the same title, and directed by Claude Pinoteau. Marie Curie is played by Isabelle Huppert. 2014: Marie Curie, une femme sur le front, a French-Belgian film, directed by Alain Brunard and starring Dominique Reymond. 2016: Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge, a European co-production by Marie Noëlle starring Karolina Gruszka. 2016: Super Science Friends, an American Internet animated series created by Brett Jubinville featuring Hedy Gregor as Marie Curie. 2019: Radioactive, a British film by Marjane Satrapi starring Rosamund Pike. Curie is the subject of the 2013 play False Assumptions by Lawrence Aronovitch, in which the ghosts of three other women scientists observe events in her life. Curie has also been portrayed by Susan Marie Frontczak in her play, Manya: The Living History of Marie Curie, a one-woman show which by 2014 had been performed in 30 U.S. states and nine countries. Lauren Gunderson's 2019 play The Half-Life of Marie Curie portrays Curie during the summer after her 1911 Nobel Prize victory, when she was grappling with depression and facing public scorn over the revelation of her affair with Paul Langevin. The life of the scientist was also the subject of a 2018 Korean musical, titled Marie Curie. The show was since translated in English (as Marie Curie a New Musical) and has been performed several times across Asia and Europe, receiving its official Off West End premiere in London's Charing Cross Theatre in summer 2024. Curie has appeared on more than 600 postage stamps in many countries across the world. Between 1989 and 1996, she was featured on a 20,000-zloty banknote designed by Andrzej Heidrich. In 2011, a commemorative 20-zloty banknote depicting Curie was issued by the National Bank of Poland on the 100th anniversary of the scientist receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 1994, the Bank of France issued a 500-franc banknote featuring Marie and Pierre Curie. As of the middle of 2024, Curie is depicted on French 50 euro cent coins to commemorate her importance in French history. See also Charlotte Hoffman Kellogg, who sponsored Marie Curie's visit to the US Eusapia Palladino: Spiritualist medium whose Paris séances were attended by an intrigued Pierre Curie and a sceptical Marie Curie List of female Nobel laureates List of female nominees for the Nobel Prize List of Poles in Chemistry List of Poles in Physics List of Polish Nobel laureates Timeline of women in science Treatise on Radioactivity, by Marie Curie Women in chemistry Explanatory notes References Further reading Nonfiction Curie, Eve (2001). Madame Curie: A Biography. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81038-1. Curie, Marie (1921). The Discovery of Radium . Poughkeepsie: Vassar College. Dzienkiewicz, Marta (2017). Polish Pioneers: Book of Prominent Poles. Translated by Monod-Gayraud, Agnes. Illustrations: Rzezak, Joanna; Karski, Piotr. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Dwie Siostry. ISBN 9788365341686. OCLC 1060750234. Giroud, Françoise (1986). Marie Curie: A Life. Translated by Lydia Davis. New York: Holmes & Meier. ISBN 978-0-8419-0977-9. OCLC 12946269. Kaczorowska, Teresa (2011). Córka mazowieckich równin, czyli, Maria Skłodowska-Curie z Mazowsza [Daughter of the Mazovian Plains: Maria Skłodowska–Curie of Mazowsze] (in Polish). Związek Literatów Polskich, Oddział w Ciechanowie. ISBN 978-83-89408-36-5. Retrieved 15 March 2016. Opfell, Olga S. (1978). The Lady Laureates : Women Who Have Won the Nobel Prize. Metuchen, N.J.& London: Scarecrow Press. pp. 147–164. ISBN 978-0-8108-1161-4. Pasachoff, Naomi (1996). Marie Curie and the Science of Radioactivity. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509214-1. Quinn, Susan (1996). Marie Curie: A Life. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-201-88794-5. Redniss, Lauren (2010). Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-135132-7. Wirten, Eva Hemmungs (2015). Making Marie Curie: Intellectual Property and Celebrity Culture in an Age of Information. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-23584-4. Retrieved 15 March 2016. Fiction Olov Enquist, Per (2006). The Book about Blanche and Marie. New York: Overlook. ISBN 978-1-58567-668-2. A 2004 novel by Per Olov Enquist featuring Maria Skłodowska-Curie, neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, and his Salpêtrière patient "Blanche" (Marie Wittman). The English translation was published in 2006. External links Works by Marie Curie at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) Works by Marie Curie at Open Library Works by Marie Curie at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Marie Curie at the Internet Archive Newspaper clippings about Marie Curie in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW Marie Curie on Nobelprize.org
Grazia_Deledda	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grazia_Deledda	[ 226 ]	[ "en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grazia_Deledda" ]	Grazia Maria Cosima Damiana Deledda (Italian: [ˈɡrattsja deˈlɛdda]; Sardinian: Gràssia or Gràtzia Deledda [ˈɡɾa(t)si.a ðɛˈlɛɖːa]; 27 September 1871 – 15 August 1936) was an Italian writer who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926 "for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island [i.e. Sardinia] and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general". She was the first Italian woman to receive the prize, and only the second woman in general after Selma Lagerlöf was awarded hers in 1909. Biography Deledda was born in Nuoro, Sardinia, into a middle-class family, to Giovanni Antonio Deledda and Francesca Cambosu, as the fourth of seven siblings. She attended elementary school (the minimum required at the time) and was then educated by a private tutor (a guest of one of her relatives) and moved on to study literature on her own. It was during this time that she started displaying an interest in writing short novels, mostly inspired by the life of Sardinian peasants and their struggles. Her teacher encouraged her to submit her writing to a newspaper and, at age 13, her first story was published in a local journal. Some of Deledda's early works were published in the fashion magazine L'ultima moda between 1888 and 1889. In 1890 Trevisani published Nell'azzurro (Into the Blue), her first collection of short stories. Deledda's main focus was the representation of poverty and the struggles associated with it through a combination of imaginary and autobiographical elements. Her family wasn't particularly supportive of her desire to write. Deledda's first novel, Fiori di Sardegna (Flowers of Sardinia) was published in 1892. Her 1896 book Paesaggi sardi, published by Speirani, is characterized by a prose both informed by fiction and poetry. Around this time Deledda initiated a regular collaboration with newspapers and magazines, most notably La Sardegna, Piccola Rivista and Nuova Antologia. Her work earned significant visibility as well as critical interest. In October 1899, Deledda met Palmiro Madesani, a functionary of the Ministry of Finance, in Cagliari. Madesani and Deledda were married in 1900 and the couple moved to Rome right after the publication of Deledda's Il vecchio della montagna (The Old Man from the Mountain, 1900). Despite the birth of her two sons, Sardus (1901) and Francesco "Franz" (1904), Deledda managed to continue to write prolifically, publishing about a novel a year. In 1903 she published Elias Portolu, which was met with commercial and critical success, boosting her reputation as a writer. This was followed by Cenere (Ashes, 1904); L'edera (The Ivy, 1908); Sino al confine (To the Border, 1910); Colombi e sparvieri (Doves and Sparrows, 1912); and her most popular book, Canne al vento (Reeds in the Wind, 1913). In 1916 Cenere was the inspiration for a silent movie with famed Italian actress Eleonora Duse. It was the first and only time that Duse, a theatre performer, appeared in a film. Deledda was one of the contributors of the nationalist women's magazine, Lidel, which was established in 1919. In 1926 Henrik Schück, a member of the Swedish Academy, nominated Deledda for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Deledda won "for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general." She was awarded the Prize in a ceremony in Stockholm in 1926. Her initial response to the news was "Già?" ("Already?") Deledda's win contributed to an increase in popularity of her writing. Benito Mussolini, who had just consolidated his grip on power, sent Deledda a signed portrait of himself with a dedication where he expressed his "profound admiration" for the writer. Flocks of journalists and photographers started visiting her home in Rome. Deledda initially welcomed them but eventually grew tired of the attention. One day she noticed that her beloved pet crow, Checca, was visibly irritated by the commotion, with people constantly coming in and out of the house. "If Checca has had enough, so have I," Deledda was quoted as saying, and she returned to a more retired routine. The events also put a strain on Deledda's extremely methodical writings schedule. Her day would start with a late breakfast, followed by a morning of hard reading, lunch, a quick nap and a few hours of writing before dinner. Deledda continued to write even as she grew older and more fragile. Her subsequent works, La Casa del Poeta (The House of the Poet, 1930) and Sole d'Estate (Summer Sun, 1933), indicate a more optimistic view of life even as she was experiencing serious health issues. Deledda died in Rome at the age of 64 of breast cancer. La chiesa della solitudine (The Church of Solitude, 1936), Deledda's last novel, is a semi-autobiographical depiction of a young Italian woman coming to terms with a fatal disease. A completed manuscript of the novel Cosima was discovered after her death and published posthumously in 1937. Accolades Deledda's work has been highly regarded by writers of Italian literature, including Luigi Capuana, Giovanni Verga, Enrico Thovez, Pietro Pancrazi, Renato Serra. Sardinian writers including Sergio Atzeni, Giulio Angioni and Salvatore Mannuzzu, were greatly influenced by her work, prompting them to found what has later become known as the Sardinian Literary Spring. In 1947 artist Amelia Camboni was commissioned a portrait of Deledda, currently standing close to her home in Rome in the Pincio neighbourhood. Deledda's birthplace and childhood home in Nuoro was declared a national heritage building and purchased in 1968 by the Municipality of Nuoro, which in 1979 handed it over to the Regional Ethnographic Institute (ISRE) for the symbolic price of 1,000 Italian Lire. The Institute transformed the house into a museum commemorating the writer, and it's now called the Museo Deleddiano. The museum consists of ten rooms showcasing the most important episodes in Deledda's life. A coal power plant opened in Portoscuso in 1965. As of 2013, this powerplant called Grazia Deledda has a capacity of 590 MW. Tribute On 10 December 2017 Google celebrated her with a Google Doodle. Work The life, customs, and traditions of the Sardinian people are prominent in Deledda's writing. She often relies on detailed geographical descriptions and her characters often present a strong connection with their place of origins. Many of her characters are outcasts who silently struggle with isolation. Overall Deledda's work focuses on love, pain and death, upon which rests feelings of sin and fatality. Her novels tend to criticize social values and moral norms rather than the people who are victims of such circumstances. In her works it can be recognized the influence of the verism of Giovanni Verga and, sometimes, also that of the decadentism of Gabriele D'Annunzio, although her writing style is not so ornate. Despite her groundbreaking role in Italian and World literature, Deledda has failed to be acknowledged as a feminist writer, possibly due to her tendency of depicting women's pain and suffering as opposed to women's autonomy. Complete list of works Below is a complete list of Deledda's works: See also List of female Nobel laureates References Bibliography Attilio Momigliano, "Intorno a Grazia Deledda", in Ultimi studi, La Nuova Italia, Florence, 1954. Emilio Cecchi, "Grazia Deledda", in Storia della Letteratura Italiana: Il Novecento, Garzanti, Milan, 1967. Antonio Piromalli, "Grazia Deledda", La Nuova Italia, Florence, 1968. Natalino Sapegno, "Prefazione", in Romanzi e novelle, Mondadori, Milan, 1972. Giulio Angioni, "Grazia Deledda: l'antropologia positivistica e la diversità della Sardegna", in Grazia Deledda nella cultura contemporanea, Satta, Nuoro, 1992 Giulio Angioni, "Introduzione", in Tradizioni popolari di Nuoro, Ilisso, Biblioteca Sarda, Nuoro, 2010. "Museo Deleddiano di Nuoro". Fidelity House (in Italian). 5 February 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2016. Garwood, Duncan (2009). Sardinia. Lonely Planet. p. 193. ISBN 978-1741048193. Retrieved 24 May 2016. Onnis, Omar; Mureddu, Manuelle (2019). Illustres. Vita, morte e miracoli di quaranta personalità sarde (in Italian). Sestu: Domus de Janas. ISBN 978-88-97084-90-7. OCLC 1124656644. Voice recording The voice of Grazia Deledda speaking (in Italian) at the Nobel Prize Ceremony in 1926. External links Media related to Grazia Deledda at Wikimedia Commons Works by Grazia Deledda in eBook form at Standard Ebooks Works by Grazia Deledda at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Grazia Deledda at the Internet Archive Works by Grazia Deledda at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) Grazia Deledda on Nobelprize.org Werkverzeichnis Summary of works by Grazia Deledda and complete texts Martha King's English translation of Cosima. Martha King's English translation of Canne al vento as Reeds in the Wind. BBC Radio 4's 10-part dramatisation of Reeds in the Wind 2012 Il bilinguismo di Grazia Deledda - Il Manifesto Sardo (article written in Italian) Biography: Deledda, Grazia at The Italian Women Writers project Newspaper clippings about Grazia Deledda in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
List_of_female_Nobel_laureates	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_Nobel_laureates	[ 226 ]	[ "en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_Nobel_laureates" ]	The Nobel Prizes are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to Mankind." Additionally, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was established by Sveriges Riksbank in 1968 and awarded to a "person or persons in the field of economic sciences who have produced work of outstanding importance." As of 2023, 65 Nobel Prizes and the Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences have been awarded to 64 women. Unique Nobel Prize laureates include 894 men, 64 women, and 27 organizations. The distribution of Nobel prizes awarded to women is as follows: nineteen women have won the Nobel Peace Prize (16.3% of 110 awarded); seventeen have won the Nobel Prize in Literature (14.28% of 119 awarded); thirteen have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (5.6% of 230 awarded); eight have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (4.1% of 191 awarded); five have won the Nobel Prize in Physics (1.8% of 224 awarded); and three (Elinor Ostrom, Esther Duflo and Claudia Goldin) have won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2.17% of 92 awarded). The first woman to win a Nobel Prize was Marie Curie, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 with her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel. Curie is also the first person and the only woman to have won multiple Nobel Prizes; in 1911, she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Curie's daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935, making the two the only mother–daughter pair to have won Nobel Prizes and of Pierre and Irène Curie the only father-daughter pair to have won Nobel Prizes by the same occasion, whilst there are 6 father-son pairs who have won Nobel Prizes by comparison. The most Nobel Prizes awarded to women in a single year was in 2009, when five women became laureates in four categories. The most recent women to be awarded a Nobel Prize were Claudia Goldin in Economics, Narges Mohammadi for Peace, Anne L'Huillier in Physics and Katalin Karikó in Physiology or Medicine (2023), Annie Ernaux in Literature and Carolyn R. Bertozzi for Chemistry (2022), Maria Ressa for Peace (2021), Louise Glück in Literature, Andrea M. Ghez in Physics, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna in Chemistry (2020), and Esther Duflo in Economics (2019). Female laureates Physiology or Medicine Physics Chemistry Literature Peace Economic Sciences See also List of female nominees for the Nobel Prize List of female Clarivate Citation laureates References Specific General "Nobel Prize awarded women". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2022-10-06. "Women - Nobel Prize laureates". nobelists.org. Retrieved 24 June 2024. Further reading Sanchez, Chelsey (2 November 2021). "These Are the Four Women Who Won Nobel Prizes in 2020". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 22 May 2022. Alan Asaid (26 September 2009). "Så ratade Akademien kvinnorna" [How the Academy Rejected the Women]. SvD (in Swedish).
Irène_Joliot-Curie	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irène_Joliot-Curie	[ 226 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irène_Joliot-Curie" ]	Irène Joliot-Curie (French: [iʁɛn ʒɔljo kyʁi] ; née Curie; 12 September 1897 – 17 March 1956) was a French chemist, physicist and politician, the elder daughter of Pierre Curie and Marie Skłodowska–Curie, and the wife of Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Jointly with her husband, Joliot-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of induced radioactivity, making them the second-ever married couple (after her parents) to win the Nobel Prize, while adding to the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. This made the Curies the family with the most Nobel laureates to date. Her mother Marie Skłodowska–Curie and herself also form the only mother–daughter pair to have won Nobel Prizes whilst Pierre and Irène Curie form the only father-daughter pair to have won Nobel Prizes by the same occasion, whilst there are six father-son pairs who have won Nobel Prizes by comparison. She was also one of the first three women to be a member of a French government, becoming undersecretary for Scientific Research under the Popular Front in 1936. Both children of the Joliot-Curies, Hélène and Pierre, are also prominent scientists. In 1945, she was one of the six commissioners of the new French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) created by de Gaulle and the Provisional Government of the French Republic. She died in Paris on 17 March 1956 from an acute leukemia linked to her exposure to polonium and X-rays. Biography Early life and education Irène was born in Paris, France, on 12 September 1897 and was the first of Marie and Pierre's two daughters. Her sister was Ève, born in 1904. They lost their father early on in 1906 due to a horse-drawn wagon incident and Marie was left to raise them. Education was important to Marie and Irène's education began at a school near the Paris Observatory. This school was chosen because it had a more challenging curriculum than the school nearby the Curie's home. In 1906, it was obvious Irène was talented in mathematics and her mother chose to focus on that instead of public school. Marie joined forces with a number of eminent French scholars, including the prominent French physicist Paul Langevin, to form "The Cooperative", which included a private gathering of nine students that were children of the most distinguished academics in France. Each contributed to educating these children in their respective homes. The curriculum of The Cooperative was varied and included not only the principles of science and scientific research but such diverse subjects as Chinese and sculpture and with great emphasis placed on self-expression and play. Irène studied in this environment for about two years. Irène and her sister Ève were sent to Poland to spend the summer with their Aunt Bronia (Marie's sister) when Irène was thirteen. Irène's education was so rigorous that she still had a German and trigonometry lesson every day of that break. Irène re-entered a more orthodox learning environment by going back to high school at the Collège Sévigné in central Paris until 1914. She then went onto the Faculty of Science at the Sorbonne to complete her baccalaureate, until 1916 when her studies were interrupted by World War I. World War I Irène took a nursing course during college to assist her mother, Marie Curie, in the field as her assistant. She began her work as a nurse radiographer on the battlefield alongside her mother, but after a few months she was left to work alone at a radiological facility in Belgium. She taught doctors how to locate shrapnel in bodies using radiology and taught herself how to repair the equipment. She moved throughout facilities and battlegrounds including two bombsites, Furnes and Ypres, and Amiens. She received a military medal for her assistance in X-ray facilities in France and Belgium. After the war, Irène returned to the Sorbonne in Paris to complete her second baccalaureate degree in mathematics and physics in 1918. Irène then went on to work as her mother's assistant, teaching radiology at the Radium Institute, which had been built by her parents. Her doctoral thesis was concerned with the alpha decay of polonium, the element discovered by her parents (along with radium) and named after Marie's country of birth, Poland. Irène became a Doctor of Science in 1925. Research As she neared the end of her doctorate in 1924, Irène Curie was asked to teach the precision laboratory techniques required for radiochemical research to the young chemical engineer Frédéric Joliot, whom she would later wed. From 1928 Joliot-Curie and her husband Frédéric combined their research efforts on the study of atomic nuclei. In 1932, Joliot-Curie and her husband Frédéric had full access to Marie's polonium. Experiments were done using gamma rays to identify the positron. Though their experiments identified both the positron and the neutron, they failed to interpret the significance of the results and the discoveries were later claimed by Carl David Anderson and James Chadwick respectively. These discoveries would have secured greatness indeed, as together with J. J. Thomson's discovery of the electron in 1897, they finally replaced John Dalton's model of atoms as solid spherical particles. However, in 1933, Joliot-Curie and her husband were the first to calculate the accurate mass of the neutron. The Joliot-Curies continued trying to get their name into the scientific community; in doing so they developed a new theory from an interesting experiment they conducted. During an experiment bombarding aluminium with alpha rays, they discovered that only protons were detected. Based on the undetectable electron and positron pair, they proposed that the protons changed into neutrons and positrons. Later in October 1933, this new theory was presented to the Seventh Solvay Conference. The Solvay Conferences consisted of prominent scientists in the physics and chemistry community. Irene and her husband presented their theory and results to their fellow scientists, but they received criticism of their finding from most of the 46 scientists attending. However they were able to build on the controversial theory later on. In 1934, the Joliot-Curies finally made the discovery that sealed their place in scientific history. Building on the work of Marie and Pierre Curie, who had isolated naturally occurring radioactive elements, the Joliot-Curies realised the alchemist's dream of turning one element into another: creating radioactive nitrogen from boron, radioactive isotopes of phosphorus from aluminium, and silicon from magnesium. Irradiating the natural stable isotope of aluminium with alpha particles (i.e. helium nuclei) resulted in an unstable isotope of phosphorus: 27Al + 4He → 30P + 1n. This phosporus isotope is not found in nature and decays emitting a positron. This discovery is formally known as positron emission or beta decay, where a proton in the radioactive nucleus changes to a neutron and releases a positron and an electron neutrino. By then, the application of radioactive materials for use in medicine was growing and this discovery allowed radioactive materials to be created quickly, cheaply, and plentifully. The Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1935 brought with it fame and recognition from the scientific community and Joliot-Curie was awarded a professorship at the Faculty of Science. The work that Irène's laboratory pioneered, research into radium nuclei, would also help another group of physicists within Germany. Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman on 19 December 1938 bombarded uranium with neutrons, but misinterpreted their findings. Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch would theoretically correct Hahn and Strassmann's findings, and after replicating their experiment based on Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard's theory that he had confided to Meitner back in 1933, confirmed on 13 January 1939 that Hahn and Strassmann had indeed observed nuclear fission: the splitting of the nucleus itself, emitting vast amounts of energy. Lise Meitner's now-famous calculations actually disproved Irène's results and proved that nuclear fission was possible and replicable. In 1948, using work on nuclear fission, the Joliot-Curies along with other scientists created the first French nuclear reactor. The Joliot-Curies were a part of the organization in charge of the project, the Atomic Energy Commission, Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA). Irène was the commissioner of the CEA and Irène's husband, Frédéric, was the director of the CEA. The reactor, Zoé (Zéro énergie Oxyde et Eau lourde) used nuclear fission to generate five kilowatts of power. This was the beginning of nuclear energy as a source of power for France. Years of working so closely with radioactive materials finally caught up with Joliot-Curie and she was diagnosed with leukemia. She had been accidentally exposed to polonium when a sealed capsule of the element exploded on her laboratory bench in 1946. Treatment with antibiotics and a series of operations relieved her suffering temporarily but her condition continued to deteriorate. Despite this, Joliot-Curie continued to work and in 1955 drew up plans for new physics laboratories at the Orsay Faculty of Sciences, which is now a part of the Paris-Saclay University, south of Paris. Political views The Joliot-Curies had become increasingly aware of the growth of the fascist movement. They opposed its ideals and joined the Socialist Party in 1934, the Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes a year later, and in 1936 they actively supported the Republican faction in the Spanish Civil War. In the same year, Joliot-Curie was appointed Undersecretary of State for Scientific Research by the French government, in which capacity she helped in founding the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Frédéric and Irène visited Moscow for the two hundred and twentieth anniversary of the Russian Academy of Science and returned sympathizing with Russian colleagues. Frédéric's close connection with the Communist Party caused Irène to later be detained on Ellis Island during her third trip to the US, coming to speak in support of Spanish refugees, at the Joint Antifascist Refugee Committee's invitation. The Joliot-Curies had continued Pierre and Marie's policy of publishing all of their work for the benefit of the global scientific community, but afraid of the danger that might result should it be developed for military use, they stopped: on 30 October 1939, they placed all of their documentation on nuclear fission in the vaults of the French Academy of Sciences, where it remained until 1949. Joliot-Curie's political career continued after the war and she became a commissioner in the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique. However, she still found time for scientific work and in 1946 became director of her mother's Institut Curie. Joliot-Curie became actively involved in promoting women's education, serving on the National Committee of the Union of French Women (Comité National de l'Union des Femmes Françaises) and the World Peace Council. The Joliot-Curies were given memberships to the French Légion d'honneur; Irène as an officer and Frédéric as a commander, recognising his earlier work for the resistance. Personal life Irène and Frédéric hyphenated their surnames to Joliot-Curie after they married in 1926. The Joliot-Curies had two children, Hélène, born eleven months after they were married, and Pierre, born in 1932. Between 1941 and 1943 during World War II, Joliot-Curie contracted tuberculosis and was forced to spend time convalescing in Switzerland. Concern for her own health together with the anguish of her husband's being in the resistance against the German troops and her children in occupied France was hard to bear. She did make several dangerous visits back to France, enduring detention by German troops at the Swiss border on more than one occasion. Finally, in 1944, Joliot-Curie judged it too dangerous for her family to remain in France and she took her children back to Switzerland. Later in September 1944, after not hearing from Frédéric for months, Irene and her children were finally able to rejoin him. Irène fought through these struggles to advocate for her own personal views. She was a passionate member of the feminist movement, especially regarding the sciences, and also advocated for peace. She continually applied to the French Academy of Sciences, an elite scientific organization, knowing that she would be denied. She did so to draw attention to the fact they did not accept women in the organization. Irène was also involved in many speaking functions such as the International Women's Day conference. She also played a big role for the French contingent at the World Congress of Intellectuals for Peace, which promoted the World Peace movement. In 1948, during a strike involving coal miners, Joliot-Curie reached out to Paris Newsletters to convince families to temporarily adopt the children of the coal miners during the strike. The Joliot-Curies adopted two girls during that time. Death In 1956, after a final convalescent period in the French Alps, Joliot-Curie was admitted to the Curie Hospital in Paris, where she died on 17 March at the age of 58 from leukemia, possibly due to radiation from polonium-210. Frédéric's health was also declining, and he died in 1958 from liver disease, which too was said to be the result of overexposure to radiation. Joliot-Curie was an atheist and anti-war. When the French government held a national funeral in her honor, Irène's family asked to have the religious and military portions of the funeral omitted. Frédéric was also given a national funeral by the French government. Joliot-Curie's daughter, Hélène Langevin-Joliot, went on to become a nuclear physicist and professor at the University of Paris. Joliot-Curie's son, Pierre Joliot, went on to become a biochemist at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Notable honours Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for the discovery of artificial radioactivity with Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Barnard Gold Medal for Meritorious Service to Science in 1940 with Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Officer of the Legion of Honor. Her name was added to the Monument to the X-ray and Radium Martyrs of All Nations erected in Hamburg, Germany. See also List of female Nobel laureates Women in chemistry Stefania Maracineanu Timeline of women in science Radioactive (film) References Further reading Opfell, Olga S. (1978). The Lady Laureates: Women Who have Won the Nobel Prize. Metuchen, N.J. & London: Scarecrow Press. pp. 165–182. ISBN 0810811618. Conference (Dec. 1935) for the Nobel prize of F. & I. Joliot-Curie, online and analysed on BibNum [click 'à télécharger' for English version]. External links Newspaper clippings about Irène Joliot-Curie in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW Irène Joliot-Curie on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture on 12 December 1935 Artificial Production of Radioactive Elements
Phoenix_Open	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Open	[ 227 ]	[ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Open" ]	The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. The tournament was originally the Arizona Open but was known for most of its history as the Phoenix Open until the investment bank Friedman Billings Ramsey became the title sponsor in October 2003. For the next six editions, it was known as the FBR Open. Waste Management, Inc. began its sponsorship in 2010. The event's relaxed atmosphere, raucous by professional golf standards, has earned it the nickname "The Greatest Show on Grass" and made it one of the most popular events on the PGA Tour calendar. History The Phoenix Open began 92 years ago in 1932 but was discontinued after the 1935 tournament. The rebirth of the Phoenix Open came in 1939 when Bob Goldwater Sr. convinced fellow Thunderbirds to help run the event. The Thunderbirds, a prominent civic organization in Phoenix, were less enthusiastic about running the event than he was, leaving Goldwater Sr. to do most of the work in getting a golf open started. The event was played at the Phoenix Country Club in Phoenix (33.48°N 112.06°W / 33.48; -112.06), both in its earlier incarnations and after Goldwater resuscitated it. Beginning in 1955, the Arizona Country Club (also in Phoenix) (33.49°N 111.96°W / 33.49; -111.96), alternated as event host with Phoenix Country Club; this arrangement lasted until Phoenix Country Club took The Arizona Country Club's turn in 1975 and became the event's permanent home again. The tournament moved 37 years ago in 1987 to its current home, the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale, northeast of downtown Phoenix. The approximate average elevation of the course is 1,530 feet (465 m) above sea level. The purse was $8.2 million in 2022, then increased over 140% to $20 million for 2023, with a winner's share of $3.6 million. Popularity The five-day attendance of the tournament is usually around a half million, the best-attended event in golf. In 2016, it set a PGA Tour and Phoenix Open single-day attendance record with 201,003 fans on Saturday, February 6, and a tournament week attendance record of 618,365 fans. The most popular location for spectators is the par-3 16th hole, nicknamed "The Coliseum." (33.64°N 111.91°W / 33.64; -111.91) One of the shortest holes on tour at 162 yards (148 m), it is enclosed by a temporary 20,000-seat grandstand. The hole could be described as "one big party," with many students from the nearby Arizona State University in Tempe in attendance. Poor shots at the 16th hole receive boos because the hole is straightforward by the PGA's standards. Good shots, however, are cheered loudly. Players who make holes in one at the 16th will cause the gallery to erupt, leading to beverages and other objects being tossed in celebrations; Tiger Woods (1997), Jarrod Lyle (2011), and Sam Ryder (2022) have each aced the hole on Saturday, creating raucous celebrations at the hole. The anger of a poor shot can lead to tempers flaring, as Justin Leonard gave obscene gestures to the gallery after a poor shot one year. After 2013, the PGA Tour banned the practice of caddies racing the 150 yards (140 m) from the tee box to the green, citing injury concerns. Former Arizona State players are very popular at the Phoenix Open, with many often wearing a Pat Tillman jersey when entering the 16th-hole stadium. Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm are popular there for that reason. In addition to golf, there is a concert/party held in the Scottsdale area called the Birds Nest, at which music artists like Huey Lewis and the News play. The Thunderbirds are still highly active in organizing the tournament. The Thunderbirds use portions of the proceeds to fund Special Olympics activities in Phoenix. Conflicts with the Super Bowl Since 1973, the Phoenix Open has been played on the weekend of the Super Bowl. In 1976, coverage of the tournament's final round was joined in progress immediately after CBS's coverage of Super Bowl X. In 1996, it was played Wednesday through Saturday, as Super Bowl XXX was held at Sun Devil Stadium in nearby Tempe. In 2009, the tournament overlapped with Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida, when Kenny Perry and Charley Hoffman went to a playoff. That denied the spectators a chance to watch the beginning of the game on NBC, which featured the local Arizona Cardinals. Because of the Super Bowl weekend status, the PGA Tour's television contracts with CBS and NBC include an alternating tournament. Usually, a CBS tournament occurs when NBC or FOX televises the Super Bowl, the Phoenix Open airs on NBC when CBS has the Super Bowl, and NBC's Honda Classic aired on CBS during the 2018 Winter Olympics. Highlights 1949: Ben Hogan loses in a playoff; driving home with his wife; he is involved in a near-fatal accident. 1987: Paul Azinger wins the first edition of the Phoenix Open held at TPC Scottsdale. 1990: Tom Pernice Jr. makes the first double eagle in tournament history on the par-5 15th hole. 1996: Grant Waite sets the course record of 60 (−11). Phil Mickelson, an alumnus of nearby Arizona State University, wins the tournament for the first time. 1997: Tiger Woods aces the par-3 16th hole in the third round on Saturday. 2000: Andrew Magee makes the first ace on a par-4 in PGA Tour history on the par-4 17th hole. 2001: Mark Calcavecchia sets the tournament record for lowest aggregate score with 256 (−28), including a course record-tying 60 (−11) in the second round. 2011: Jarrod Lyle aces the par-3 16th hole in the first round. 2019: Amy Bockerstette, a golfer with Down syndrome, pars the par-3 16th hole during the pro-am in front of Gary Woodland, a moment that went viral on social media. 2020: Woodland and Bockerstette reunite one year after their viral moment with a $25,000 contribution to the I Got This! Foundation, launched the previous year. 2022: Sam Ryder aces on the par-3 16th hole during the third round on Saturday. Records The tournament's lowest 72-hole score was set by Mark Calcavecchia in 2001 with 256 (–28), which was matched by Mickelson in 2013. In the second round Calcavecchia scored a 60 (–11), which equalled the lowest score at the Phoenix Open (by Grant Waite in 1996) and subsequently matched by Mickelson in 2005 and 2013. Calcavecchia had 32 birdies in the tournament, which was also an all-time record. There have been only two double eagles in the history of the Phoenix Open. Tom Pernice Jr. made the first one on the 558-yard (510 m) par-5 15th hole in 1990. Andrew Magee scored the second on the 332-yard (304 m) par-4 17th hole in 2001, and was the first-ever ace on a par-4 in PGA Tour history. Winners Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records. Sources: Notes References External links Official website Coverage on the PGA Tour's official site