title: Adam F. Goldberg

text: Goldberg's first comedy-writing job began in 2003 for the sitcom "Still Standing", where he worked for four years and finished as a co-producer. After his first year on "Still Standing", he teamed up with Picture Machine, Trigger Street Productions, and college friend Kyle Newman to develop the screenplay for "Fanboys". After a year, they sold it to The Weinstein Company. The screenplay ended up seventh on the 2005 Black List for most popular unproduced scripts of the year.


title: Adam F. Goldberg

text: After the success of "Fanboys", Goldberg was hired to write the screenplays for "The Jetsons"; a 2007 remake of "Revenge of the Nerds" (1984) starring Adam Brody, which was cancelled after three weeks of filming; "Aliens in the Attic"; and "The Muppets' Wizard of Oz". He also spent a year writing on DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon", before moving over to write "" as well as the 2011 "How to Train Your Dragon" Christmas special, "Gift of the Night Fury". He is currently adapting the graphic novel "Seal Team 7" for director Shawn Levy, and bringing the book "Simon Bloom: Gravity Keeper" to the screen for Walden Media. Goldberg has also produced several movies, including "The Comebacks", "Daddy Day Camp", "Bobism", "Jeff the Immortal", and a remake of "Night of the Living Dorks".


title: Adam F. Goldberg

text: On the television side, Goldberg teamed up with Adam Sandler's production company Happy Madison to write four pilots for various networks. In 2010, Happy Madison introduced him to "King of Kong" director Seth Gordon and together they created the 2011 Fox comedy series "Breaking In". The show was pitched as ""The Office" meets "The A-Team"" and, after a year of development, was picked up to series. Prior to "Breaking In", Goldberg also wrote on the shows "Aliens in America", "Secret Girlfriend", "Voltron Force", "WordGirl" and Kevin Williamson's "Glory Days".


title: Adam F. Goldberg

text: In 2011, Goldberg signed a three-year overall deal with Sony Pictures TV. During this time, Goldberg was a producer on NBC's "Community" while developing new projects. In 2012, Goldberg got a pilot commitment to shoot an autobiographical show about his family titled "How the F--- Am I Normal?", and also reunited with Fox on a pilot starring AJ Michalka and Sean Giambrone. The autobiographical show was picked up by ABC with a title change to "The Goldbergs".


title: Adam F. Goldberg

text: On July 22, 2020, Goldberg, along with Uncle Louie, launched challenge coins with the Garbage Pail Kids. They were licensed by Topps and sold out in minutes.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: Arthur John Shawcross (June 6, 1945 – November 10, 2008), also known as the Genesee River Killer, was an American serial killer active in Rochester, New York from 1972 through 1989.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: Shawcross's first known murders took place in his hometown of Watertown, New York, where he killed a young boy and a girl. Under the terms of a plea bargain, he was allowed to plead guilty to one charge of manslaughter, for which he served 14 years of a 25-year sentence. Shawcross killed most of his victims in 1988 and 1989 after being granted an early parole, which later led to controversy. A food service worker, Shawcross trawled the streets of Rochester in his girlfriend's 1984 Dodge Omni (later using her 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity), looking for sex workers to kill.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: Shawcross died on 10 November 2008, while serving a prison sentence of 250 years for his crimes, at the age of 63. Dr. Michael H. Stone, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and an authority on violent behavior, identified Shawcross as "one of the most egregious examples of the unwarranted release of a prisoner" in his book "The Anatomy of Evil".


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: Arthur John Shawcross was born in Kittery, Maine, the first of four children of Arthur Roy Shawcross and Elizabeth "Bessie" ("Betty") Yerakes Shawcross. His family moved to Watertown, New York, when he was young. While several later tests showed his intelligence to be sub-normal or even "borderline disabled," Shawcross received As and Bs in his first two years of grade school but was later tested to have an IQ of 86, signifying below-average intelligence.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: Shawcross said throughout his childhood, he was a frequent bed-wetter (which is one part of the Macdonald triad). He later claimed his mother performed oral sex on him for several years starting when he was aged 7, and that during junior high school he had sexual relations with his sister. Shawcross had a reputation at school as a bully and would frequently act out violently. He dropped out of high school in 1960.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: In April 1967, at age 21, Shawcross was drafted into United States Army. At this time he divorced his first wife and gave up his rights to their 18-month-old son, whom he never saw again. He served one tour of duty with the 4th Supply and Transport Company of the 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam. He later boasted of grotesque combat exploits, such as "beheading mama-sans and nailing their heads to trees as a warning to the Vietcong" and engaging in cannibalism; in reality he never served in a combat position.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: After the war, Shawcross was stationed at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma, as an armorer. His second wife Linda experienced several aspects of his disturbing behavior, especially his penchant for starting fires; an Army psychiatrist told her that Shawcross derived sexual arousal from setting fires.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: After his discharge from the Army, Shawcross moved with Linda from Oklahoma to Clayton, New York. Linda would soon divorce him, after which he began committing crimes such as arson and burglary. Shawcross's offenses earned him a five-year sentence at Attica Correctional Facility, and later Auburn Correctional Facility. After serving 22 months, he was granted an early release in October 1971, in part due to his role in the rescue of a correctional officer during a prison riot. Shawcross returned to his hometown of Watertown, New York, eventually getting a job with the Watertown Public Works Department and marrying for the third time.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: On May 7, 1972, he raped and killed his first known victim, 10-year-old Jack Owen Blake, after luring the boy into a wooded area in Watertown. Blake's body was not found until authorities received a tip by telephone on September 5. On September 2, just prior to the body's discovery, Shawcross raped and killed eight-year-old Karen Ann Hill, who had been visiting Watertown with her mother for the Labor Day weekend. He was arrested the next day.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: A grand jury indicted Shawcross for murder in Hill's death. On October 17, 1972, he was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of first degree manslaughter for both deaths and was sentenced to an indeterminate term with a maximum of 25 years at Attica Correctional Facility. In November he was transferred to Green Haven Correctional Facility.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: Jefferson County District Attorney William McClusky explained the plea bargain by stating that other than Shawcross's confession to police, there was no direct evidence linking him to the Blake killing. McClusky also suggested Shawcross could have argued at trial that he was under "extreme emotional disturbance," and a jury would have been likely to arrive at a verdict of manslaughter.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: After fourteen years' imprisonment, inexperienced prison staff and social workers concluded that Shawcross was "no longer dangerous", disregarding the warnings of psychiatrists who had assessed Shawcross as a "schizoid psychopath." He was released on parole in April 1987.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: Shawcross had difficulty settling down, as neighbors would protest his presence and employers would refuse to hire him. He first moved to Binghamton, New York, then relocated to Delhi with a girlfriend, Rose Marie Walley. When Delhi residents became aware of Shawcross' presence, the couple moved to nearby Fleischmanns, only to be met with hostility there as well. In late June 1987, Shawcross' parole officer moved him and Walley into a transient hotel in Rochester, but failed to notify local authorities of this action. In mid-October, Shawcross and Walley found more permanent lodgings at 241 Alexander Street in Rochester.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: In March 1988, Shawcross began murdering again, primarily targeting sex workers in the Rochester area, before his capture less than two years later. He was convicted of eleven murders, with a twelfth not officially ascribed to him. The victims were:


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: All the victims were murdered in Monroe County except for Gibson, who was killed in neighboring Wayne County. Retired detective Robert Keppel has argued that the detectives investigating the case over-relied on the concept of "modus operandi", at times searching for multiple suspects due to small differences in the profiles of each victim.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: On January 5, 1990, two days after June Cicero's body was discovered by aerial surveillance, police arrested Shawcross. He had been spotted by an eyewitness and a police surveillance team standing near his car, apparently urinating on a bridge over Salmon Creek near where Cicero's body had been dumped.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: In November 1990, Shawcross was tried by Monroe County First Assistant District Attorney Charles J. Siragusa for the ten murders in Monroe County. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, with testimony from forensic psychiatrist Dorothy Lewis that he had brain damage, multiple personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder) and post-traumatic stress disorder, and had been sexually abused as a child. Lewis also claimed that Shawcross moved into a separate internal personality named "Bessie" when he killed, arguing for him to be institutionalized rather than being returned to the prisons system.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: In response to the defense's claim that Shawcross's actions were the product of post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from his war service, FBI criminal profiler Robert K. Ressler reviewed the claim on behalf of the prosecution before the trial. Ressler wrote that "[Shawcross's] claim of having witnessed wartime atrocities was patently outrageous and untrue." Prosecution psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz testified that Shawcross had antisocial personality disorder. It was later determined that Shawcross had a cyst pressing on the temporal lobe of his brain, as well as scarring on his frontal lobes areas that are responsible for decision-making and self-control.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: Shawcross was held at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, New York, where he was held until his death.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: In 2003, Shawcross was interviewed by British reporter Katherine English for a documentary on cannibalism. He bragged about slicing out and eating the vulvae of three victims, but refused to discuss his earlier claim of eating the genitals of his first victim, Jack Blake.


title: Arthur Shawcross

text: Officials said 63-year old Shawcross complained of a pain in his leg on the afternoon of November 10, 2008, his date of death. He was taken to Albany Medical Center where he went into cardiac arrest, and died shortly thereafter. He was pronounced dead at 9:50 p.m.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio, commonly referred to as Sassuolo (), is an Italian football club based in Sassuolo, Emilia-Romagna. Their colours are black and green, hence the nickname "Neroverdi" (literally "black and green", in Italian).


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: Sassuolo have played in Serie A since the 2013–14 season, joining a select group of teams playing in the Serie A but not belonging to a provincial capital city: U.S. Savoia 1908 (Torre Annunziata), Empoli, Legnano, Pro Patria (Busto Arsizio), Carpi and Casale.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: The club was founded in 1920 and played in the Emilian amateur divisions for most of its history until its first promotion to Serie D in 1968. In this era, the club merged with other local football teams to eventually form the current US Sassuolo Calcio in 1974. In 1984, the club gained promotion to Serie C2, the lowest level of professional football in Italy. However, they were relegated in 1990 and subsequently spent most of the 1990s in Serie D. In 1998, a second-place finish ensured promotion back to Serie C2.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: Sassuolo reached Serie C1 for the first time in 2006 after winning the Serie C2 promotion play-offs by beating Sansovino in the final. In the following years, Sassuolo proved to be a serious contender for promotion to Serie B. With Gian Marco Remondina as head coach, they barely missed it in 2007, as they lost immediate promotion to Grosseto in the final days of the season, finishing in second-place; and then were defeated by fifth-placed Monza in the play-off semi-finals. Remondina then left Sassuolo to join Serie B's Piacenza, and former Serie A player Massimiliano Allegri was then chosen as new head coach.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: Under Allegri, Sassuolo quickly revived their hopes to obtain promotion to Serie B; this ultimately came on 27 April 2008, when they won the Serie C1/A title, thus ensuring a historical promotion to Serie B, the first in the club's history.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: Following Sassuolo's promotion to the Italian second tier, Allegri left Sassuolo to fill the head coaching position at Serie A team Cagliari. In July 2008, the club appointed former Atalanta and Siena boss Andrea Mandorlini for the 2008–09 season.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: Sassuolo had a surprisingly good start to the 2008–09 campaign and held a promotion playoff place for very long time. They only won two points in their last five matches to eventually finish in seventh place. Despite a successful season, Mandorlini left Sassuolo by mutual consent in June 2009, whereupon the team then appointed former Piacenza coach Stefano Pioli on 11 June 2009.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: Sassuolo successively qualified to the Serie B promotion playoffs in 2009–10 by placing fourth, and 2011–12 in third, being eliminated at the semi-finals in both seasons.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: In the 2012–13 season, however, under the guidance of new head coach Eusebio Di Francesco, Sassuolo played a majority of the season in first place in the table, and eventually secured direct promotion with a 1-0 victory over Livorno on 18 May 2013. At the conclusion of the season, Sassuolo had won the Serie B title and had ensured a first top-flight campaign ever for the 2013–14 season. The club had reached the highest level of the Italian football league system only seven years after playing in Serie C2. The key role that was played in this achievement by 18-year-old academy product Domenico Berardi saw the player win the league's Player of the Year award.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: During pre-season training in July 2013, Sassuolo won the TIM Trophy after beating Juventus on penalties then beating Milan 2–1, marking the first time a team other than Milan, Internazionale or Juventus have won the Cup.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: On 25 August 2013, Sassuolo played their first-ever Serie A match, a 2–0 loss away at Torino. The team's second match was their first at home, against Livorno, where striker Simone Zaza scored Sassuolo's first top-flight goal as they lost 4–1. On 22 September 2013, Sassuolo endured a heavy 7–0 defeat at home to Internazionale. The team earned their first point in their fifth match, on 25 September away to Napoli. Zaza equalised as the game finished 1–1, ending the hosts' perfect start to the season. This was followed by a first home point on 29 September, a 2–2 draw with Lazio. On 20 October 2013, Sassuolo won their first Serie A game, defeating Bologna 2–1 at home with goals from Domenico Berardi and Antonio Floro Flores, moving the club off bottom place. Sassuolo won away for the first time in Serie A on 3 November against Sampdoria, with Berardi scoring their first top-flight hat-trick to win 4–3. Since the following match, a 1–1 draw at Roma on 10 November, the club has been outside the relegation zone. On 12 January 2014, Berardi was the only player in the season to score four goals in a game, as Sassuolo came from 2–0 down to win 4–3 against Milan. Towards the end of January 2014, Sassuolo were in bottom place and so manager Di Francesco was relieved of his duties and Alberto Malesani was brought in. The managerial change did not have the desired effects and so in early March, Sassuolo re-entrusted the side to the management of Di Francesco. Sassuolo won its away match against Fiorentina 4–3 on 6 May 2014, and after winning 4–2 against Genoa on 11 May, Sassuolo guaranteed its place in Serie A for the 2014–15 season. Berardi finished in equal 7th place in the Serie A top scorers list, with 16 goals for the season.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: The Neroverdi had a much better 2014–15 Serie A season, finishing comfortably beyond relegation in 12th place. Berardi was once more the club's top goalscorer with 15 league goals.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: Sassuolo improved again in the 2015–16 Serie A season, finishing ahead of the likes of Milan and Lazio in sixth place. The season included an opening day win over Napoli, a Round 10 1–0 victory over Juventus at Mapei Stadium and a 1–0 victory over Inter at the San Siro.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: On 21 May 2016, Sassuolo achieved their first ever Europa League qualification after finishing sixth in 2015–16 courtesy of a Juventus Coppa Italia win over Milan as Milan would have gone to Europe instead if they had won the final. On 25 August 2016, Sassuolo qualified for the Europa League group stage after beating Red Star Belgrade 4–1 on aggregate in the playoff round.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: Over the following three seasons, the Neroverdi returned to mid-table, ending the 2016–17 season in 12th position, and then the club followed this up with consecutive 11th place finishes in 2018 and 2019, as well being knocked out in the round of 16 in three successive Coppa Italia campaigns. In the home match against Lazio on 25 February 2018, club captain Francesco Magnanelli made his 400th appearance for Sassuolo since joining the club's in its most recent spell in Serie C2 in 2005, having led the Neroverdi through three promotions and also playing in European competition in that time. On 13 June 2018, Roberto De Zerbi was appointed as manager, after impressing with his possession-based tactics at relegated Benevento in the previous season.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: The 2019–20 season oversaw an improvement in Sassuolo's fortunes. The club concluded the season in 8th position, just outside the final qualifying position for the UEFA Europa League, marking only the second top-half Serie A finish in its history. A primary reason for Sassuolo's growth was due to De Zerbi's innovative, attack-minded style of play, which began to flourish and led to a record-breaking Serie A goal return of 69, the most prolific the club has been since promotion in 2013. The transfer of Francesco Caputo from Empoli in the preceding off-season was particularly crucial to this, as the striker ended the campaign with 21 league goals, and wingers Jérémie Boga and Domenico Berardi also achieved double-figure goal tallies.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: The club continued its development as a top 10 team in Serie A in the following season, in which the record of 61 points in 2015–16 was broken with another 8th place finish on 62 points. After eight matches, Sassuolo was placed second in the table, which in part was the result of the excellent form of the likes of Berardi, Manuel Locatelli, Filip Đuričić, amongst others. An impressive 2-0 away win against Napoli on matchday six was perhaps the best reflection of this impressive early-season form. Although the club's form declined slightly in the mid-stage of the season, a 2-0 victory over Lazio on the final matchday meant that Sassuolo reached the same points total as Roma in 7th place, but narrowly missed out on European qualification on goal difference. Berardi, in his eighth professional season with the club, enjoyed the best year of his career with 17 league goals and his double in a 3-1 against Fiorentina on 17 April 2021 meant that he had reached 100 goals in all competitions for the Neroverdi. De Zerbi announced he would leave the club at the end of the season to take up the vacant head coach position at Shakhtar Donetsk. On 11 July 2021, Sassuolo’s Manuel Locatelli, Domenico Berardi and Giacomo Raspadori were part of the Italy national squad that defeated England in the UEFA Euro 2020 final.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: Sassuolo's home stadium is the Stadio Enzo Ricci in Sassuolo, still used by the club for training, but due to its tiny capacity (4,000) the club played Serie B seasons in Modena's Stadio Alberto Braglia.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: Starting from the 2013–14 season, the first Serie A campaign for the club, Sassuolo plays in Reggio Emilia at the renovated Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore (formerly Stadio Giglio) in a venue-sharing agreement with Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Reggiana. The stadium was also bought by the parent company of Sassuolo, Mapei.


title: U.S. Sassuolo Calcio

text: Sassuolo's famous green kit originates from a donation from English side Lancaster Rovers FC. During a tour of Italy in 1921, the Rover's side were unable to fulfil a fixture with Sassuolo and as a way of apology, donated their green shirts for Sassuolo to keep.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, (Louisa Caroline Alberta; 18 March 1848 – 3 December 1939) was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: In her public life, she was a strong proponent of the arts and higher education and of the feminist cause. Her early life was spent moving among the various royal residences in the company of her family. When her father died in December 1861, the court went into a long period of mourning, to which with time Louise became unsympathetic. She was an able sculptor and artist, and several of her sculptures remain today. She was also a supporter of the feminist movement, corresponding with Josephine Butler, and visiting Elizabeth Garrett.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Before her marriage, Louise served as an unofficial secretary to the Queen from 1866 to 1871. The question of Louise's marriage was discussed in the late 1860s. Suitors from the royal houses of Prussia and Denmark were suggested, but Victoria did not want her to marry a foreign prince, and therefore suggested a high-ranking member of the British aristocracy. Despite opposition from members of the royal family, Louise fell in love with John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, the heir of the Duke of Argyll. Victoria consented to the marriage, which took place on 21 March 1871. After a happy beginning, the two drifted apart, possibly because of their childlessness and the Queen's constraints on their activities.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: In 1878, Lorne was appointed Governor General of Canada, a post he held 1878–1884. Louise was viceregal consort, starting a lasting interest in Canada. Her names were used to name many features in Canada, including Lake Louise and the province of Alberta. Following her mother's death in 1901, she entered the social circle established by her elder brother, the new king, Edward VII. Louise's marriage with Lorne survived thanks to long periods of separation; they reconciled in 1911, and Louise was devastated by Lorne's death in 1914. After the First World War she began to retire from public life, undertaking few public duties outside Kensington Palace, where she died at the age of 91.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise was born on 18 March 1848 at Buckingham Palace, London. She was the fourth daughter and sixth child of the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria, and her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her birth coincided with revolutions which swept across Europe, prompting the queen to remark that Louise would turn out to be "something peculiar". The queen's labour with Louise was the first to be aided with chloroform.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Albert and Victoria chose the names "Louisa Caroline Alberta". She was baptized on 13 May 1848 in Buckingham Palace's private chapel by John Bird Sumner, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Though she was christened Louisa at the service, she was invariably known as Louise throughout her life. Her godparents were Duke Gustav of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (her paternal great-great-uncle, for whom Prince Albert stood proxy); the Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen (for whom her great-aunt Queen Adelaide stood proxy); and the Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (her first cousin once-removed, for whom the Duchess of Cambridge stood proxy). During the ceremony, the Duchess of Gloucester, one of the few children of King George III who was still alive, forgot where she was, and suddenly got up in the middle of the service and knelt at the queen's feet, much to the queen's horror.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Like her siblings, Louise was brought up with the strict programme of education devised by her father, Prince Albert, and his friend and confidant, Baron Stockmar. The young children were taught practical tasks, such as cooking, farming, household tasks and carpentry.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: From her early years, Louise was a talented and intelligent child, and her artistic talents were quickly recognised. On his visit to Osborne House in 1863, Hallam Tennyson, the son of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, remarked that Louise could "draw beautifully". Because of her royal rank, an artistic career was not considered. However, the queen first allowed her to attend art school under the tutelage of the sculptor Mary Thornycroft, and later (1863) allowed her to study at the National Art Training School, now The Royal College of Art. Louise also became an able dancer, and Victoria wrote, after a dance, that Louise "danced the sword dance with more verve and accuracy than any of her sisters". Her wit and intelligence made her a favourite with her father, with her inquisitive nature earning her the nickname "Little Miss Why" from other members of the royal family.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise's father, Prince Albert, died at Windsor on 14 December 1861. The queen was devastated, and ordered her household to move from Windsor to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. The atmosphere of the royal court became gloomy and morbid in the wake of the prince's death, and entertainments became dry and dull. Louise quickly became dissatisfied with her mother's prolonged mourning. For her seventeenth birthday in 1865, Louise requested the ballroom to be opened for a debutante dance, the like of which had not been performed since Prince Albert's death. Her request was refused, and her boredom with the mundane routine of travelling between the different royal residences at set times irritated her mother, who considered Louise to be indiscreet and argumentative.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: The queen comforted herself by rigidly continuing with Prince Albert's plans for their children. Princess Alice was married to Prince Louis, the future Grand Duke of Hesse, at Osborne House on 1 July 1862. In 1863, Edward, the Prince of Wales, married Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The queen made it a tradition that the eldest unmarried daughter become her unofficial secretary, a position which Louise filled in 1866 following the marriage of her elder sister Helena, despite the queen's concern that she was indiscreet.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise, however, proved to be good at the job: Victoria wrote shortly afterwards: "She is (and who would some years ago have thought it?) a clever dear girl with a fine strong character, unselfish and affectionate." However, when Louise fell in love with her brother Leopold's tutor, the Reverend Robinson Duckworth (14 years her senior), between 1866 and 1870, the queen reacted by dismissing Duckworth in 1870. He later became Canon of Westminster Abbey.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise was bored at court, and by fulfilling her duties, which were little more than minor secretarial tasks, such as writing letters on the queen's behalf; dealing with political correspondence; and providing the queen with company, she had more responsibilities. She also undertook her share of public and philanthropic duties, for example inaugurating the new North Eastern Hospital for Children in 1867 and launching the ship HMS "Druid" in 1869.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: As a daughter of the queen, Louise was a desirable bride; more so as she is regarded as the queen's most beautiful daughter by both contemporary and modern biographers. However, she was accused by the press, without substantiation, of romantic affairs. This, coupled with her liberalism and feminism, prompted the queen to find her a husband. The choice had to suit Victoria as well as Louise, and the queen insisted that her daughter's husband should live near her, a promise which had also been extracted from the husband of Helena, Louise's sister. Various suitors were proposed by the leading royal houses of Europe: Princess Alexandra proposed her brother, the Crown Prince of Denmark, but the queen was strongly opposed to another Danish marriage that could antagonise Prussia at a time of diplomatic tension over the Schleswig-Holstein question. Victoria, Louise's eldest sister, proposed the tall and rich Prince Albert of Prussia, but Queen Victoria disapproved of another Prussian marriage that would have been unpopular in England. Prince Albert was also reluctant to settle in England as required. William, Prince of Orange, was also considered a suitor, but because of his extravagant lifestyle in Paris, where he lived openly with a lover, the queen quickly vetoed the idea.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise viewed marriage to any prince as undesirable, and announced that she wished to marry John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, heir to the Dukedom of Argyll. No marriage between a daughter of a monarch and a British subject had been given official recognition since 1515, when Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, married King Henry VIII's sister Mary. Louise's eldest brother, the Prince of Wales, was strongly opposed to a marriage with a non-mediatized noble. Furthermore, Lorne's father, George Campbell, was an ardent supporter of William Ewart Gladstone, and the Prince of Wales was worried that he would drag the royal family into political disputes. Nevertheless, the opposition was crushed by the queen, who wrote to the Prince of Wales in 1869:


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: The queen averred that Louise's marriage to a subject would bring ""new blood"" into the family, while all European princes were related to each other. She was convinced that this would strengthen the royal family morally and physically.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise became engaged to the Marquess of Lorne on 3 October 1870 while they were visiting Balmoral. Lorne was invited to Balmoral Castle in Scotland, and accompanied Louise, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Hatherley and Queen Victoria's lady-in-waiting Lady Ely on a drive. Later that day, Louise returned and announced to the queen that Lorne had "spoken of his devotion" to Louise, and she accepted his proposal in the knowledge of the queen's approval. The queen later gave Lady Ely a bracelet to mark the occasion.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: The Queen found it difficult to let go of her daughter, confiding in her journal that she "felt painfully the thought of losing her". The new breach in royal tradition caused surprise, especially in Germany, and Queen Victoria wrote to the Queen of Prussia that princes of small impoverished German houses were "very unpopular" in Britain and that Lord Lorne, a "person of distinction at home" with "an independent fortune" was "really no lower in rank than minor German Royalty".


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Victoria settled an annuity on Louise shortly before her marriage. The ceremony was conducted at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on 21 March 1871, and the crowd outside was so large that, for the first time, policemen had to form chain barriers to keep control. Louise wore a wedding veil of Honiton lace that she designed herself, and was escorted into the chapel by her mother, and her two eldest brothers, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh. On this occasion, the usually severe black of the queen's mourning dress was relieved by the crimson rubies and blues of the Garter star. Following the ceremony, the queen kissed Louise, and Lorne – now a member of the royal family, but still a subject – kissed the queen's hand.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: The couple then journeyed to Claremont in Surrey for the honeymoon, but the presence of attendants on the journey, and at meal times, made it impossible for them to talk privately. The short four-day visit did not pass without an interruption from the queen, who was curious about her daughter's thoughts on married life. Among their wedding gifts was a maplewood desk from Queen Victoria, now at Inveraray Castle.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Following her marriage, Louise continued her charitable and artistic interests. In 1871, the Ladies Work Society was founded in South Audley Street, promoting the making and sale of needlework and embroidery for poverty relief: Louise became its president, and designed some of their products.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: In 1878, British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli nominated Lorne to be Canada's Governor General, and he was duly appointed by Queen Victoria. Louise thus became his viceregal consort.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: As viceregal consort, she used her position to support the arts and higher education and the cause of female equality, although she said "the subject of Domestic Economy lies at the root of the – highest life of every true woman." But her stay in Canada was unhappy as a result of homesickness, dislike of Ottawa and a bad sleighing accident.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: On 15 November 1878, the couple left Liverpool and arrived in Canada for the inauguration at Halifax on 25 November.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise became the first royal to take up residence in Rideau Hall, officially the queen's royal residence in Ottawa. However, the hall was far from the splendour of British royal residences, and, as each viceregal couple decorated the hall with their own furnishings, and thus took them when they departed, the Lornes found the palace sparse in décor upon their arrival. Louise put her artistic talents to work and hung many of her watercolour and oil paintings around the hall, also installing her sculpted works. Though the news that a daughter of the queen would be viceregal consort of Canada first saw a "thrill of joy burst upon the Dominion", it being felt that the princess would be a strong link between Canadians and their sovereign, the arrival of the new governor general and his wife was not initially welcomed by the Canadian press, which complained about the imposition of royalty on the country's hitherto un-regal society.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Relations with the press further deteriorated when Lorne's private secretary, Francis de Winton, threw four journalists off the royal train. Although the Lornes had no knowledge of de Winton's action, it was assumed by the press that they did, and they earned an early reputation for haughtiness. Louise was horrified by the negative press, and when she heard about reports of "a nation of flunkies" at the viceregal court, taking lessons in "the backward walk," Louise declared that she "wouldn't care if they came in blanket coats!" (A reference to the ubiquitous "capote".) Eventually the worries of a rigid court at Rideau Hall and the "feeble undercurrent of criticism" turned out to be unfounded as the royal couple proved to be more relaxed than their predecessors.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise's first few months in Canada were tinged with sadness as her favourite sister Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, died on 14 December 1878. Although homesick over that first Christmas, Louise soon grew accustomed to the winter climate. Sleighing and skating were two of her favourite pastimes. In Canada, as the monarch's direct representative, Lorne always took precedence over his wife, so that at the Opening of the Parliament of Canada on 13 February 1879, Louise was ranked no differently from others in attendance. She had to remain standing with the MPs, until Lorne asked them to be seated. In order for Lorne to meet every Canadian member of Parliament, he held bi-weekly dinners for 50 people. However, some of the Canadian ladies responded negatively to the British party. One of her ladies-in-waiting reported that some had an I'm as good as you' sort of manner when one begins a conversation." Court entertainments were open; anyone who could afford the clothing to attend functions was simply asked to sign the visitor's book. Louise's first state ball was given on 19 February 1879, and she made a good impression on her guests when she ordered the silk cordon, separating the viceregal party from the guests, be removed. However, the ball was marred by various mishaps, including a drunken bandsman nearly starting a fire by pulling a curtain over a gas lamp. The open house practice was criticized by guests who complained about the low social status of other guests. One attendee was horrified to find the attendee's grocer dancing in the same set.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: One of her works as a sculptor is the statue of Queen Victoria, which now stands in front of the Royal Victoria College, Montreal, now the Strathcona Music Building of McGill University. Lorne's father, The Duke of Argyll, arrived with two of his daughters in June, and in the presence of the family, Louise caught a salmon. The women's success at fishing prompted the Duke to remark that fishing in Canada required no skill.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise, Lorne, and two attendants, were hurt in a sleigh accident on 14 February 1880. The winter was particularly severe, and the carriage in which they were traveling overturned, throwing the coachman and footman from the sleigh. The horses then panicked, and dragged the overturned carriage over more than of ground. Louise was knocked unconscious when she hit her head on the iron bar supporting the roof, and Lorne was trapped underneath her, expecting "the sides of the carriage to give way at any moment". Eventually, as they overtook the sleigh ahead, the horses calmed, and the occupant of that sleigh, Princess Louise's aide-de-camp, ordered an empty carriage to convey the injured party back to Rideau Hall.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: The doctors who attended Louise reported she was severely concussed and in shock, and that "it was a wonder her skull was not fractured". Louise's ear had been injured when her earring caught on the side of the sleigh, tearing her ear lobe in two. The press played down the story on instructions from Lorne's private secretary, an act that was described by contemporaries as "stupid and ill advised". For example, one New Zealand newspaper reported, "Excepting immediately after the blow, the princess was perfectly sensible during the whole time..." Knowledge of Louise's true condition might have elicited sympathy from the Canadian people. As it was, one Member of Parliament wrote: "Except the cut in the lower part of the ear I think there was no injury done worth mentioning." Therefore, when Louise cancelled her immediate engagements, people thought she was malingering. News of the accident was also played down in Britain and in letters home to the anxious Queen Victoria. Princess Louise left Canada for England in 1881 while her husband remained in Canada until 1883.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: She played a major role in the development of the nascent tourism industry of the colony of Bermuda, south-east of Nova Scotia. In 1883, because of her fragile health, she spent the winter in Bermuda (arriving on the 29 January 1883 from Charleston, South Carolina, aboard , popularising a trend for wealthy North Americans to escape to Bermuda's relatively mild climate during the winter months. Her visit brought such attention to Bermuda that a palatial hotel, which opened in 1885, intended to cater to these new visitors, was named after her; the Princess Hotel was built on the shore of Hamilton Harbour, in the parish of Pembroke (the Princess herself having occupied "Inglewood", the home of JH Timingham, in Paget Parish, during her visit).


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: After returning to Britain in 1883, Louise continued to take an interest in Canada. During the North-West Rebellion of 1885 she sent a certain Dr. Boyd medical supplies and a large fund of money for distribution. Her express instructions were that assistance was to be rendered to friend and foe indiscriminately. To fulfill her wishes, Boyd accompanied the Militia Medical Staff under Dr. Thomas Roddick to the sites of the Battle of Fish Creek and the Battle of Batoche to help give medical treatment to the wounded, including the Métis opposition.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: In 1905, the province of Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta. In the province, there is Lake Louise, and Mount Alberta is named in her honour.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise returned to Britain with her husband on 27 October 1883. Queen Victoria had allocated them apartments at Kensington Palace, and the couple took up official residence in the suite that was to remain Louise's home for the rest of her life.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise resumed public duties in Britain, for example, opening St George's Gardens, Bloomsbury on 1 July 1884. and Lorne his political career, campaigning unsuccessfully for the Hampstead seat in 1885. In 1896, he won the South Manchester seat, entering parliament as a Liberal. Louise, unlike Lorne and his father, was in favour of Irish Home Rule, and disappointed when he defected from Gladstonian Liberalism to the Liberal Unionists. Relations between Louise and Lorne were strained, and, despite the queen's attempts to keep them under one roof, they often went their separate ways. Even when he accompanied Louise, he was not always received with favour at court, and the Prince of Wales did not take to him. Out of all the royal family, Lorne was the only one to be identified closely with a political party, having been a Gladstonian liberal in the House of Commons.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise's relationship with the two sisters closest to the queen, Beatrice and Helena, was strained at best. Beatrice had married the tall and handsome Prince Henry of Battenberg in a love match in 1885, and they had four children. Louise, who had a jealous nature, had grown accustomed to treating Beatrice with pity on account of the queen's constant need for her. Beatrice's biographer, Matthew Dennison, claims that in contrast to Beatrice, Louise remained strikingly good looking throughout her forties. Louise and her husband were no longer close, and rumours spread about Lorne's alleged homosexuality. Thus, Beatrice was enjoying a satisfying sexual relationship with her popular husband, which Louise was not. Louise may have considered Prince Henry a more appropriate husband for herself. Certainly, following Prince Henry's death in 1896, Louise wrote that: "he [Henry] was almost the greatest friend I had—I, too, miss him more than I can say". In addition, Louise attempted to champion her late brother-in-law by announcing that she was his confidante and that Beatrice, a mere cipher, meant nothing to him.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Further rumours spread that Louise was having an affair with Arthur Bigge, later Lord Stamfordham, the queen's assistant private secretary. Beatrice mentioned the rumours to the queen's physician, calling it a "scandal", and Prince Henry claimed to have seen Bigge drinking Louise's health at dinner. Louise denied the rumour, claiming that it was started by Beatrice and Helena to undermine her position at court. However, on Henry's death, relations between the sisters sporadically improved, and it was Louise, rather than the queen, who was the first to arrive at Cimiez to be with the widowed Beatrice. Nevertheless, Louise's jealousy did not evaporate completely. James Reid, the queen's physician, wrote to his wife a few years later: "Louise is as usual much down on her sisters. Hope she won't stay long or she will do mischief!"


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Rumours of affairs did not concern only Bigge. In 1890, the sculptor Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm died in Louise's presence at his studio in London, leading to rumours that the two were having an affair. According to historian Lucinda Hawksley, the two had a long-lasting love affair. Boehm's assistant, Alfred Gilbert, who played a central role in comforting Louise after Boehm's death, and supervised the destruction of Boehm's private papers, was rapidly promoted as a royal sculptor. Louise was also romantically linked to fellow artist Edwin Lutyens; her equerry, Colonel William Probert; and an unnamed music master. However, Jehanne Wake, Louise's biographer, argues that there is no substantial evidence to suggest that Louise had sexual relationships with anyone other than her husband.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: During Victoria's last years, Louise carried out a range of public duties, such as opening public buildings, laying foundation stones, and officiating at special programmes. Louise, like her eldest sister Victoria, was more liberally minded, and supported the suffragist movement, completely contrary to the queen's views. Louise privately visited Elizabeth Garrett, the first British woman openly to qualify as a physician. Queen Victoria deplored the idea of women joining professions, especially medicine, and described the training of female physicians as a "repulsive subject".


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise was determined to be seen as an ordinary person and not as a member of the court. When travelling abroad, she often used the alias "Mrs Campbell". Louise was known for her charity towards servants. On one occasion, the butler approached her and requested permission to dismiss the second footman, who was late getting out of bed. When she advised that the footman be given an alarm clock, the butler informed her that he already had one. She then went so far as to suggest a bed that would throw him out at a specified time, but she was told this was not feasible. Finally, she suggested that he might be ill, and when checked, he was found to have tuberculosis. The footman was therefore sent to New Zealand to recover.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: On another occasion, when she visited Bermuda, she was invited to a reception and chose to walk rather than be driven. She became thirsty along the way and stopped at a house, where she asked a Black woman named Mrs McCarthy for a glass of water. Owing to the scarcity of water, the woman had to go some distance to obtain it, but was reluctant because she had to finish her ironing. When Louise offered to continue the ironing, the woman refused, adding that she was in a great hurry to finish so that she could go and see Princess Louise. Realising that she had not been recognised, Louise enquired whether McCarthy would recognise her again. When the woman said that she would have thought so, but was admittedly unsure, Louise replied: "Well take a good look at me now, so you can be sure to know me tomorrow at St. Georges." The princess clung to her privacy, and enjoyed not being recognised.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise and her sisters had another disagreement after the death of the queen's close friend, Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill. Determined not to put her mother through more misery, Louise wanted the news to be broken to the queen gradually. When this was not done, Louise voiced sharp criticism of Helena and Beatrice. One month later, on 22 January 1901, Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. In her will, the queen bequeathed Kent House, on the Osborne Estate, to Louise as a country residence, and gave Osborne Cottage to Louise's youngest sister, Beatrice. Louise and Beatrice were now neighbours both at Kensington Palace and Osborne.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Upon Queen Victoria's death, Louise entered the social circle of her brother, the new King Edward VII, with whom she had much in common, including smoking. She had an obsession with physical fitness, and if she was sneered at for this, she would retort by saying: "Never mind, I'll outlive you all." Meanwhile, Louise's husband, 9th Duke of Argyll since 1900, took his seat in the House of Lords. The Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, offered him the office of Governor-General of Australia that year, but the offer was declined. Louise continued her sculpture, and in 1902, designed a memorial to the colonial soldiers who died in the Boer War. In the same year, she began a nude study of a married woman suggested by the English painter Sir William Blake Richmond.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise spent much of her time at Kent House, and she frequently visited Scotland with her husband. Financial pressures did not disappear when Lorne became Duke, and Louise avoided inviting the King to Inveraray, Argyll's ancestral home, because the couple were economising. When Queen Victoria had visited the house before Lorne became Duke of Argyll, there were seventy servants and seventy-four dogs. By the time of Edward VII's accession, there were four servants and two dogs.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: The Duke of Argyll's health continued to deteriorate. He became increasingly senile, and Louise nursed him devotedly from 1911. In these years Louise and her husband were closer than they had been before. In spring 1914 Louise stayed at Kensington Palace while her husband remained on the Isle of Wight. He developed bronchial problems followed by double pneumonia. Louise was summoned on 28 April 1914, and he died on 2 May. Following his death, Louise had a nervous breakdown and suffered from intense loneliness, writing to a friend shortly afterwards: "My loneliness without the Duke is quite terrible. I wonder what he does now!"


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise spent her last years at Kensington Palace, occupying rooms next to her sister Princess Beatrice. She made occasional public appearances with the royal family, such as at the Cenotaph at Whitehall on 11 November 1925. However, her health deteriorated. In 1935, she greeted her nephew, King George V, and his wife, Queen Mary, at Kensington Town Hall during their Silver Jubilee celebrations, and was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Kensington. Her last public appearance occurred in 1937, at the Home Arts and Industries Exhibition. Between these occasions, her great nephew, King Edward VIII, abdicated on 11 December 1936. In December 1936, Louise wrote to the British prime minister, Stanley Baldwin, sympathising with him about the crisis.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Following the accession of Edward's brother King George VI, she became too ill to move around, and was confined to Kensington Palace, affectionately called the "Auntie Palace" by Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. She developed neuritis in her arm, inflammation of the nerves between the ribs, fainting fits, and sciatica. Louise occupied herself by drafting prayers, one of which was sent to Neville Chamberlain, reading "Guide our Ministers of State and all who are in authority over us ... "


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Princess Louise died at Kensington Palace on the morning of 3 December 1939 at the age of 91, wearing the wedding veil she had worn almost 70 years earlier. Following a simple funeral, owing to the war, her remains were cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 8 December 1939. Her ashes were quietly placed in the Royal Crypt at St. George's Chapel on 12 December 1939, with many members of the British royal family and Argyll family present. Her ashes were moved to the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore near Windsor, on 13 March 1940. Louise's will stated that if she died in Scotland she should be buried at the Campbell mausoleum in Kilmun next to her husband; if in England, at Frogmore near her parents. Her coffin was borne by eight NCOs of her own regiment, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Her estate was probated as £239,260, 18 shillings and sixpence, with her debts including 15 shillings for cigarettes.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise bestowed her name on four Canadian regiments: The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) in Hamilton, Ontario; the Princess Louise Dragoon Guards in Ottawa, Ontario (later the 4th Princess Louise Dragoon Guards - inactive since 1965); the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) in Moncton, New Brunswick; and the Princess Louise Fusiliers in Halifax, Nova Scotia.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Queen Elizabeth II later recalled that Louise and her sister Beatrice would talk until they stunned their audience with their output of words.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: The province of Alberta in Canada is named after her. Although the name "Louise" was originally planned, the princess wished to honour her dead father, so the last of her given names was chosen. Lake Louise in Alberta is also named after her, as is Mount Alberta. Although her time in Canada was not always happy, she liked the Canadian people and retained close links with her Canadian regiments. Back at home, she gained a reputation for paying unscheduled visits to hospitals, especially during her later years. Her relationship with her family was generally close. Although at times she bickered with the queen, and her sisters Helena and Beatrice, the relations did not remain strained for long. She retained a lifelong correspondence with her brother, Prince Arthur, and was one of King Edward VII's favourite sisters. Of all her siblings, she was closest to Prince Leopold, later Duke of Albany, & Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine and she was devastated by their deaths in 1884 & 1878 respectively.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Among the younger generations of the family, Louise's favourite relatives were the Duke and Duchess of Kent, her grandnephew and his wife. At the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937, Louise lent the Duchess the train that she designed and wore for the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1902.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: A war hospital in Erskine, Scotland, is named after Louise. It took her name as she was the first patron of the unit. It was originally called "Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers". The name changed over the years to "Erskine Hospital" and then just "Erskine". The charity has grown to become the biggest ex-service establishment in the country.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise had artistic training from childhood, first with Susan Durant from 1864, then Mary Thornycroft from 1867, and further lessons with Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm. She also then attended National Art Training School. Like many women artists in the nineteenth century, Louise had to make do with training intended for industrial designers and art teachers rather than fine artists. There was no training from the nude model, as there was for male art students.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: Louise was the most artistically talented of Queen Victoria's daughters and was a prolific artist and sculptor. When Louise sculpted a statue of the queen, portraying her in Coronation robes, the press claimed that her tutor, Sir Edgar Boehm, was the true creator of the work. The claim was denied by Louise's friends, who asserted her effort and independence. The work was intended to be exhibited in 1887, but production was delayed until 1893. A memorial to her brother-in-law, Prince Henry of Battenberg, and a memorial to the colonial soldiers who fell during the Second Boer War, reside at Whippingham Church on the Isle of Wight, and another statue of Queen Victoria remains at McGill University in Montreal, as well as the statue of Queen Victoria on the north side of Lichfield Cathedral.


title: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll

text: In 1858, Louise and the three younger of her sisters were granted use of the royal arms, with an inescutcheon of the shield of Saxony and differenced by a label of three points argent. On Louise's arms, the outer points bore cantons gules, and the centre a rose gules. In 1917, the inescutcheon was dropped by royal warrant from George V.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: The 2016 clown sightings were reports of people disguised as evil clowns in incongruous settings, such as near forests and schools. The incidents were reported in the United States, Canada, and subsequently in other countries and territories starting during August 2016. The sightings were first reported in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in what turned out to be a marketing stunt for a horror film. The phenomenon later spread to many other cities in the US. By mid-October 2016, clown sightings and attacks had been reported in nearly all U.S. states, 9 out of 13 provinces and territories of Canada, and 18 other countries.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: Prior to the spate of incidents in 2016, numerous sightings of people dressed as clowns in odd or incongruous settings have occurred throughout the world since 2013. The proliferation of videos and images of these precursor sightings spread through social media posts and viral sharing of the content.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: One possible precursor event was the 2013 sightings of a "creepy clown" in Northampton, England. The Northampton clown sightings, which were in the town during September and October 2013, were the work of three local filmmakers Alex Powell, Elliot Simpson, and Luke Ubanski. The clown shared similar looks to Pennywise the Dancing Clown from Stephen King's book "It". The trio started a Facebook page for the so-called "Northampton clown" and was using the appearances to drive traffic to the page.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: In March 2014, Matteo Moroni from Perugia, owner of the YouTube channel DM Pranks, began dressing up as an evil clown and terrifying unsuspecting passersby, with his videos racking up hundreds of millions of views. A rash of sightings appeared in California, USA in October 2014, which centered around the "Wasco clown", and primarily occurred in the Wasco, California, area with photos appearing on social media.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: The 2014 documentary "Killer Legends" featured a segment called "Why Are Clowns Scary?". The filmmakers traveled to Chicago to explore the previous clown panics that swept the city in 1991 and again in 2008, linking them to John Wayne Gacy who was a killer, and the Stranger Danger panic. It was around this time in 2014 that some of the first clown sighting appeared in the U.S., including early sightings in Staten Island, New York.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: A person in clown attire was spotted in a cemetery in Chicago in July 2015. This occurrence involved two residents who spotted the "creepy clown" scaling the gate at the Rosehill Cemetery late at night. After the clown entered the cemetery, they turned to face the residents and began waving slowly as they made a video recording. After waving for a few seconds, the clown ran into a dark wooded area and was not seen again. Police investigation of the sighting did not lead to any arrests.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: The 2016 clown phenomenon began in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in early August. Five pictures of a creepy clown roaming a vacant parking lot under a bridge in Downtown Green Bay at night started going viral on August 1, 2016. A Facebook page was created shortly after, claiming that the clown was named "Gags". In the days that followed, the pictures ended up being discussed on numerous news outlets including Fox News, and USA Today. Suspicions of the character being related to a horror film were confirmed when a Wisconsin filmmaker announced the pictures were a marketing stunt for a then-unreleased short film titled "Gags". A feature film was produced based on the short film and premiered in 2018, with a wide release planned for September 2019.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: After the Wisconsin incident, numerous other incidents started popping up across the United States at the end of August 2016. In early October 2016, further incidents were reported in Canada and the first occurrences in the United Kingdom and Australia. British communities were described as "horrified" and pressure had been placed on police resources.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: Throughout this time, Internet social media sites received numerous postings related to the phenomenon. The World Clown Association president Randy Christensen took a stance against the current trend of people dressing up as clowns to frighten people. Circuses and other clown-related businesses were affected. In October 2016, McDonald's decided that Ronald McDonald would keep a lower profile as a result of the incidents. A sociologist has called 2016 "a bad time to be a professional clown". The killer clown craze was linked to a significant increase in sales of clown suits in and near Glasgow, Scotland. During Halloween, some Floridians decided to go armed while trick-or-treating.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: On October 12, the Russian Embassy in London issued a warning for Russian and British citizens because of the clown scare.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: Several New Zealand shops withdrew clown costumes from their shelves. In the United States, the East Side Union High School District, the West Milford school district, Ohio school district, and Springboro Community Schools issued a blanket ban on all clown costumes and clown masks in addition to previously existing policies and restrictions. Target pulled clown masks from its website and stores as a result of the scare, as did Canadian Tire. The village of Memramcook, New Brunswick asked residents not to dress up as clowns on Halloween. Employees of theme parks were instructed to remove any horror costumes and make-up before leaving work.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: By October 25, 2016, several news outlets reported on an alleged clown-initiated "purge" or "attack", which supposedly was to take place on Halloween Eve of 2016. While there were no widespread "purge" attacks as threatened, a family from Florida was attacked on October 31, 2016, by a group of approximately 20 people in clown masks (and masks styled after "The Purge" movie). No arrests were made.


title: 2016 clown sightings

text: Students at Pennsylvania State University and Michigan State University were involved in mobs that searched for clowns on campus after reported sightings. Campgrounds floated with rumors of clown attacks.


title: Fine Young Cannibals

text: Fine Young Cannibals (FYC) was a British pop rock band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1984, by bassist David Steele, guitarist Andy Cox (both formerly of The Beat), and singer Roland Gift (formerly of the Akrylykz). Their self-titled 1985 debut album contained "Johnny Come Home" and a cover of "Suspicious Minds", two songs that were top 40 hits in the UK, Canada, Australia, and many European countries. Their 1989 album, "The Raw & the Cooked", topped the UK, US, Australian, and Canadian album charts, and contained their two "Billboard" Hot 100 number ones: "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing".


title: Fine Young Cannibals

text: In 1990, the band won two Brit Awards: Best British Group, and Best British Album (for "The Raw & the Cooked"). Their name came from the 1960 film "All the Fine Young Cannibals" starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood.


title: Fine Young Cannibals

text: The group was formed in 1984 after the dissolution of The Beat, with whom Cox and Steele previously played. The duo of Steele and Cox spent eight months listening to over 500 cassettes of potential singers before picking Gift. They had difficulty obtaining a record contract, but when a video of their song "Johnny Come Home" appeared on British TV show "The Tube", recording contract offers flowed in immediately. The band's eponymous debut album was released in 1985, spawning two UK hit singles, "Johnny Come Home" and a cover of Mark James' "Suspicious Minds" featuring additional vocals by Jimmy Somerville. These two songs also became hits internationally, charting in the top 40 in Europe, Canada and Australia, although they failed to make a significant impact on the US charts.


title: Fine Young Cannibals

text: Fine Young Cannibals appeared as the house band in a nightclub in the 1987 comedy film "Tin Men" and also contributed songs to the film's soundtrack.


title: Fine Young Cannibals

text: In the gap between their first and second albums, Steele and Cox released an instrumental house single under the moniker "Two Men, a Drum Machine and a Trumpet" in 1987, called "Tired of Getting Pushed Around", which reached No. 18 in the UK Singles Chart and was popular on the U.S. dance chart. During this time, Gift appeared in the movie "Sammy and Rosie Get Laid".


title: Fine Young Cannibals

text: The band continued their international success with the singles "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing", from the 1989 album "The Raw & the Cooked". Both songs reached #1 in the US, while She Drives Me Crazy topped the Australian Chart for 3 non-consecutive weeks. The latter song was their second #1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 on 8 July 1989. It also peaked at #7 on the UK Singles Chart and in Australia. "The Raw & the Cooked" included three songs the band had recorded for "Tin Men" (including "Good Thing"), and their cover of the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" recorded for the film "Something Wild".


title: Fine Young Cannibals

text: In 1990, the band contributed a cover version of Cole Porter's song "Love for Sale" for the album "Red Hot + Blue" produced by the Red Hot Organization, a collection of 20 Cole Porter songs recorded by various artists as a benefit for AIDS research.


title: Fine Young Cannibals

text: Fine Young Cannibals disbanded in 1992, although they briefly returned to the studio in 1996 to record a new single, "The Flame", which complemented their greatest hits compilation "The Finest" released that year.


title: Gymnosperm

text: The gymnosperms ( lit. revealed seeds) are a group of seed-producing plants that includes conifers, cycads, "Ginkgo", and gnetophytes, forming the clade Gymnospermae, the living members of which are also known as Acrogymnospermae. The term "gymnosperm" comes from the composite word in ( and ), literally meaning 'naked seeds'. The name is based on the unenclosed condition of their seeds (called ovules in their unfertilized state). The non-encased condition of their seeds contrasts with the seeds and ovules of flowering plants (angiosperms), which are enclosed within an ovary. Gymnosperm seeds develop either on the surface of scales or leaves, which are often modified to form cones, or solitary as in yew, "Torreya", "Ginkgo". Gymnosperm lifecycles involve alternation of generations. They have a dominant diploid sporophyte phase and a reduced haploid gametophyte phase which is dependent on the sporophytic phase. The term "gymnosperm" is often used in paleobotany to refer to all non-angiosperm seed plants. In that case, to specify the modern monophyletic group of gymnosperms, the term Acrogymnospermae is sometimes used.


title: Gymnosperm

text: The gymnosperms and angiosperms together comprise the spermatophytes or seed plants. The gymnosperms are subdivided into five Divisions, four of which, the Cycadophyta, Ginkgophyta, Gnetophyta, and Pinophyta (also known as Coniferophyta) are still in existence while the Pteridospermatophyta are now extinct. Newer classification place the gnetophytes among the conifers.


title: Gymnosperm

text: By far the largest group of living gymnosperms are the conifers (pines, cypresses, and relatives), followed by cycads, gnetophytes ("Gnetum", "Ephedra" and "Welwitschia"), and "Ginkgo biloba" (a single living species). About 65% of gymnosperms are dioecious, but conifers are almost all monoecious.


title: Gymnosperm

text: Some genera have mycorrhiza, fungal associations with roots ("Pinus"), while in some others ("Cycas") small specialised roots called coralloid roots are associated with nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria.


title: Gymnosperm

text: A formal classification of the living gymnosperms is the "Acrogymnospermae", which form a monophyletic group within the spermatophytes. The wider "Gymnospermae" group includes extinct gymnosperms and is thought to be paraphyletic. The fossil record of gymnosperms includes many distinctive taxa that do not belong to the four modern groups, including seed-bearing trees that have a somewhat fern-like vegetative morphology (the so-called "seed ferns" or pteridosperms). When fossil gymnosperms such as these and the Bennettitales, glossopterids, and "Caytonia" are considered, it is clear that angiosperms are nested within a larger gymnospermae clade, although which group of gymnosperms is their closest relative remains unclear.


title: Gymnosperm

text: The extant gymnosperms include 12 main families and 83 genera which contain more than 1000 known species.


title: Gymnosperm

text: Over 1000 living species of gymnosperm exist. It was previously widely accepted that the gymnosperms originated in the Late Carboniferous period, replacing the lycopsid rainforests of the tropical region, but more recent phylogenetic evidence indicates that they diverged from the ancestors of angiosperms during the Early Carboniferous. The radiation of gymnosperms during the late Carboniferous appears to have resulted from a whole genome duplication event around . Early characteristics of seed plants are evident in fossil progymnosperms of the late Devonian period around 383 million years ago. It has been suggested that during the mid-Mesozoic era, pollination of some extinct groups of gymnosperms was by extinct species of scorpionflies that had specialized proboscis for feeding on pollination drops. The scorpionflies likely engaged in pollination mutualisms with gymnosperms, long before the similar and independent coevolution of nectar-feeding insects on angiosperms. Evidence has also been found that mid-Mesozoic gymnosperms were pollinated by Kalligrammatid lacewings, a now-extinct family with members which (in an example of convergent evolution) resembled the modern butterflies that arose far later.


title: Gymnosperm

text: All gymnosperms are perennial woody plants, apart from the cycads. The soft and highly parenchymatous wood in cycads is poorly lignified, and their main structural support comes from an armor of sclerenchymatous leaf bases covering the stem, with the exception of species with underground stems. There are no herbaceous gymnosperms and compared to angiosperms they occupy fewer ecological niches, but have evolved both parasites (parasitaxus), epiphytes (Zamia pseudoparasitica) and rheophytes (Retrophyllum minus).


title: Gymnosperm

text: Conifers are by far the most abundant extant group of gymnosperms with six to eight families, with a total of 65–70 genera and 600–630 species (696 accepted names). Most conifers are evergreens. The leaves of many conifers are long, thin and needle-like, other species, including most Cupressaceae and some Podocarpaceae, have flat, triangular scale-like leaves. "Agathis" in Araucariaceae and "Nageia" in Podocarpaceae have broad, flat strap-shaped leaves.


title: Gymnosperm

text: Cycads are the next most abundant group of gymnosperms, with two or three families, 11 genera, and approximately 338 species. A majority of cycads are native to tropical climates and are most abundantly found in regions near the equator. The other extant groups are the 95–100 species of Gnetales and one species of Ginkgo.


title: Gymnosperm

text: Gymnosperms have major economic uses. Pine, fir, spruce, and cedar are all examples of conifers that are used for lumber, paper production, and resin. Some other common uses for gymnosperms are soap, varnish, nail polish, food, gum, and perfumes.


title: Gymnosperm

text: Gymnosperms, like all vascular plants, have a sporophyte-dominant life cycle, which means they spend most of their life cycle with diploid cells, while the gametophyte (gamete-bearing phase) is relatively short-lived. Like all seed plants, they are heterosporous, having two spore types, microspores (male) and megaspores (female) that are typically produced in pollen cones or ovulate cones, respectively. The exception is the females in the cycad genus Cycas, which form a loose structure called megasporophylls instead of cones. As with all heterosporous plants, the gametophytes develop within the spore wall. Pollen grains (microgametophytes) mature from microspores, and ultimately produce sperm cells. Megagametophytes develop from megaspores and are retained within the ovule. Gymnosperms produce multiple archegonia, which produce the female gamete.


title: Gymnosperm

text: During pollination, pollen grains are physically transferred between plants from the pollen cone to the ovule. Pollen is usually moved by wind or insects. Whole grains enter each ovule through a microscopic gap in the ovule coat (integument) called the micropyle. The pollen grains mature further inside the ovule and produce sperm cells. Two main modes of fertilization are found in gymnosperms. Cycads and "Ginkgo" have flagellated motile sperm that swim directly to the egg inside the ovule, whereas conifers and gnetophytes have sperm with no flagella that are moved along a pollen tube to the egg. After syngamy (joining of the sperm and egg cell), the zygote develops into an embryo (young sporophyte). More than one embryo is usually initiated in each gymnosperm seed. The mature seed comprises the embryo and the remains of the female gametophyte, which serves as a food supply, and the seed coat.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, often referred to as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge or the Sunshine Skyway, consists of a pair of long beam bridges with a central cable-stayed bridge that spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect St. Petersburg, Florida to Terra Ceia. The current Sunshine Skyway opened in 1987 and is the second bridge of that name on the site. It was designed by the Figg & Muller Engineering Group and built by the American Bridge Company. The bridge is considered the flagship bridge of Florida and serves as a gateway to Tampa Bay. The four-lane bridge carries Interstate 275 and U.S. Route 19, passing through Pinellas County, Hillsborough County and Manatee County. It is a toll road, with a $1.50 toll assessed on two-axle vehicles traveling in either direction and collected via cash or the state's SunPass system.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: The original Sunshine Skyway was a two-lane beam bridge with a central truss bridge built directly to the west of the current structure. It was completed in 1954, and a second span was added in 1971.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: The original Skyway was the site of two major maritime disasters over a four-month period, the second of which resulted in the bridge's partial destruction and eventual replacement. On the night of January 28, 1980, the United States Coast Guard Cutter collided with the tanker "Capricorn" just west of the bridge, resulting in the sinking of the cutter with the loss of 23 crew members in the worst peacetime disaster in the history of the US Coast Guard. On the morning of May 9, 1980, the freighter MV "Summit Venture" collided with a support pier near the center of the bridge during a sudden squall, resulting in the catastrophic failure of the southbound roadway and the deaths of 35 people when several vehicles (including a Greyhound Bus) plunged into Tampa Bay. Within a few years, the damaged span was partially demolished, the surviving span was partially demolished and converted into a long fishing pier, and the modern Sunshine Skyway was built. The current bridge incorporates numerous safety features designed to protect the structure from ship collisions, as it spans one of the busiest shipping lanes in the United States.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: In 1924, J.G. "Jim" Foley, a realtor, and his partner Charles R. Carter joined with James E. Bussey, an attorney, to create the Bee Line Ferry Company. The service started on March 7, 1927, and originally had two ferries: "Fred D. Doty" and the "City of Wilmington" (which was later renamed "Pinellas"). The ferry crossed from the end of Bay Vista Park in St. Petersburg and went to Piney Point on the other side of the bay.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: A physiotherapist from St. Petersburg named Herman Simmonds proposed building a "high-level suspension bridge" in 1926. Sometime during 1927, Simmonds received congressional approval and a permit from the US War Department to build a bridge. However, efforts were put on hold due to the Great Depression.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: The Florida State Legislature gave the Bee Line Ferry a franchise for 50 years to operate it in 1929. Another unsuccessful proposal to build a crossing would occur in 1929 when a bill was introduced into the state legislature to build a tunnel crossing lower Tampa Bay running from Pinellas Point to Piney Point. With the tunnel itself being buried under the bay and going for a length of . However this proposal was not successful in the end with unspecified "Tampa officials" arguing that any bridge or tunnel would be a navigational hazard during periods of war time.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: The ferry service continued to expand with the "Fred D. Doty" being replaced by another ferry called the "Manatee" in 1932. A fourth vessel, the "Sarasota" was bought and put into service in 1937. Ferries departed every 30 minutes between 7:30 am and 9 pm during the winter. In the summer, they departed every 45 minutes. The ferry company ceased operating when the US federal government confiscated the boats as they needed them for the World War II war effort in 1942.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: At close to the same time when the proposal from Simmonds ended, another proposal originating from Louis E. Saupe emerged. Saupe who was the head of the West Coast Bridge and Tunnel Co. wanted a combination of a causeway and a tunnel. The causeway portion would go from Maximo Point to Mullet Key while the tunnel portion would run for less than a 1/2 mile before transitioning to a causeway until reaching Terra Ceia. Pinellas County commissioners liked the idea and agreed to it. In 1939 they pushed state officials to approve it and the state legislature agreed to back it. Since the bridge would cross into part of Hillsborough County, which was not included in the bill for the bridge, it was declared unconstitutional.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: In 1944, the St. Petersburg Port Authority bought the franchise from the company that operated the ferry. They continued to operate the ferry until the opening of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: Bail, Horton, and Associates along with Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Hogan & Macdonald received a contract from the port authority on December 20, 1944, to design the bridge. Both firms released a report in November 1945 about the bridge. Freeman Horton of Bail, Horton and Associates proposed Snead Island as its southern terminus and 10th Street in Palmetto be the thoroughfare. Bail, Horton, and Associates was awarded the contract but as it was unable to get $10 million in revenue bonds, the state government halted the project sometime during the late 1940s. The design competition was reactivated again in the early 1950s with Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Hogan & Macdonald getting the contract this time and they ended up serving as the engineers for construction and design. The partner-in-charge for Brinckerhoff was M. N. Quade. The successful attempt for building the bridge came after the Florida State Improvement Commission was approached with a proposal that they finance it while the State Road Department (SRD) built it. The Florida's State Improvement Commission proceeded to at some point take over the St. Petersburg Port Authority's assets which included $520,000 seen with bonded indebtedness. A $21,250,000 bond issue was passed by the Improvement Commission and sales started after the Port Authority's assets were acquired.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: On July 4, 1950, a day-long celebration was held in St. Petersburg called "Spans Across the Bay". The name of the bridge was announced that day being the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The name was submitted by Virginia Seymore of Indian Rocks, Florida as part of a national contest to give the bridge a name with 20,000 entries being submitted. The contest was held by the St. Pete Junior Chamber of Commerce and the State Road Department. Names that were prohibited would be those that referred to a person's name or a geographic place. Construction bids began to be accepted during that day as well. Construction started on October 19, 1950 with 544 people helping to build the bridge in total. It was built by the Virginia Bridge Company and another firm that was involved doing engineering work was Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Hall and McDonald. Staging areas for the construction of the bridge were established at both crossing sites. An entire concrete factory was established near Piney Point while prefabricated concrete parts were delivered via barge from a site in Tampa where they were made. 4,100,000 cubic yards of material would be dredged as part of building the causeways for the bridge. To physically build the bridge: of structural steel, of rebar and 115,980 cubic yards of concrete would be used.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: The original two-lane bridge opened to traffic on September 6, 1954. At the time of the bridge's opening it would be among the longest bridges on Earth and it was the longest continuous bridge in the United States. Notable participants in opening ceremonies that day would be: US Senator and former Governor Spessard Holland, former Governors Charley E. Johns and Fuller Warren along with James Melton and General James Van Fleet. Delegations from 10 Florida counties would participate that day as well. On the day the original bridge opened, it would be toll free from 11 AM to 11 PM. It was reported that 15,086 cars crossed the bridge starting at 11:40 AM when opening ceremonies ended and 11 PM when the toll free time ended.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: The bridge's central span would be long with a opening for a ship channel. It consisted of 32 concrete piers set every apart with the exception of the ship channel and the bridge went upwards at a 5% grade. There would be two lanes for it with no passing allowed. The original maximum speed limit would be and the minimum was . There would be no illumination as well making the bridge dark at night. The bridge would not be easily accessible to reach however and drivers would often have to take detours to reach it. US Route 19's final segment which ended at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge would be opened on July 19, 1955.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: In 1969, construction began on a second two-lane span was built beside the original to ease traffic and bring the bridge up to Interstate Highway standards. Opening of the newer span was delayed until 1971 for reinforcing of the south main pier, which had cracked due to insufficient supporting pile depth. It was dedicated on May 19, 1971. Both Governor Reuben Askew and the mayor of Bradenton, B.T. Arbuckle, attended the second span's dedication. The second span was used for all southbound traffic, while the original span was converted to carry northbound traffic.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: The southbound span (opened in 1971) of the original bridge was destroyed at 7:38 a.m. on May 9, 1980, when the freighter MV "Summit Venture" collided with a support column during a sudden squall, causing the catastrophic failure of over of the span. Six cars, a truck, and a Greyhound bus plummeted into Tampa Bay, resulting in thirty-five deaths. The only survivor of the fall was Wesley MacIntire, whose Ford Courier pickup truck bounced off the hull of the "Summit Venture" and into the water. MacIntire managed to escape his vehicle before it sank and was pulled to safety aboard the freighter. He sued the company that owned the ship and won a $175,000 settlement in 1984 ($ today). Several other drivers - including former Major League Baseball player Granny Hamner - were able to stop their vehicles in the stormy weather before reaching the gap.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: John Lerro, the veteran harbor pilot who was steering the ship at the time of the accident, was cleared of wrongdoing by both a state grand jury and a Coast Guard investigation. A microburst with sudden torrential rains and winds had hit the inbound freighter just as it was maneuvering into the narrow channel under the bridge, cutting visibility to near zero and temporarily rendering the ship's radar useless. Lerro put the ship's engines into full reverse and ordered the emergency dropping of the anchor as soon as he realized that the freighter was out of the channel, but the forward momentum of the 20,000-ton ship along with strong winds from astern pushed the bow into support beams to the right of the shipping lane. The main support pier nearest to the center of the bridge withstood the strike without significant damage, but the secondary pier just to the south was not designed to withstand such an impact and failed catastrophically, causing most of the span to fall into Tampa Bay.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: Soon after the disaster, the undamaged northbound span was converted back to a two-lane, two-way bridge while the state of Florida considered proposals for a replacement. Ideas included the construction of a tunnel (which was deemed impractical due to Florida's high water table) and a simple reconstruction of the broken section of the old bridge which would not widen the narrow shipping lane. Governor Bob Graham's idea to build a "signature" cable-stayed bridge with a span that would be 50% wider than that of the old Skyway Bridge won out over other proposals. In addition to a wider shipping lane, the channel would be marked by a -long series of large concrete barriers and the support piers would be protected by massive concrete "dolphins".


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: Construction began in January 1983 with the pounding of pilings for the foundation, and work on the main piers began the following September. The complicated project was delayed several times by bad weather and various difficulties in construction, and the planned opening was pushed back several times. Finally, the opening ceremony was set for April 30, 1987. However, on April 29 at about 3:30 PM, the new bridge's protective bumpers were hit head-on by the "Deliverance", a shrimp boat. The bumper sustained minor damage and the bridge was not affected, but the vessel took on water and was towed out of the channel into shallow waters, where it promptly sank. The opening ceremonies proceeded as scheduled.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: In 1990, the FDOT awarded a bid to Hardaway Company to demolish all steel and concrete sections of the older Sunshine Skyway spans. The scope of the project required that all underwater piles and piers, and surface roadway, girders, and beams be dismantled. Special care had to be taken in removing underwater bridge elements near the channel, and the central portion of the original bridge had to be removed in one piece to minimize closure of the only approach to the busy Port of Tampa. Most of the concrete material was used to create an artificial reef near the southbound approach of the old bridge, which was converted into a long pier for newly created Skyway Fishing Pier State Park. Unused approaches to the original spans were demolished in 2008.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: Wesley MacIntire, the only survivor of the collapse, was the last person to drive over the intact original span before it was demolished. Accompanied by his wife, he stopped at the apex of the bridge and dropped 35 white carnations into the water, one for each person who died in the disaster.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: At least 316 people have committed suicide by jumping from the bridge or its predecessors into the waters of Tampa Bay. An estimated 47 others have survived. Many other missing persons are suspected of having jumped from the bridge but their deaths could not be confirmed as no bodies were recovered.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: In response to the high number of suicide attempts from the bridge, the state of Florida installed six crisis hotline phones along the center span in 1999, and began 24-hour patrols. , the call center at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay received 18 calls from potential jumpers, all of whom survived, according to a 2003 "St. Petersburg Times" report.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: In 2006, a feature film "Loren Cass" was released, which depicted a suicide jump off the Sunshine Skyway. Two years later, a second filmmaker, Sean Michael Davis of Rhino Productions, was inspired by his haunting experience witnessing a woman jump off the bridge so quickly that no one could intervene, to create a not-for-profit film titled "Skyway Down". His objectives: to deter other potential jumpers by " 'punch[ing] them in the face' with interviews with survivors and family members", to give them "hope and to try to de-glorify the romanticism of the bridge", in part by informing those who have "mulled a leap to know about the bloody, battered aftermath."


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: In 2020, FDOT announced they would install the Skyway Vertical Net, a vertical barrier in an effort to deter suicide attempts. The vertical barrier was placed on the outside walls of the bridge and extends vertically from the side barriers. It spans each side of the bridge for about . Construction for the project has been completed.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: As part of any Florida controlled-access highway, pedestrians and bicycles are prohibited. Stopping on the bridge for any non-emergency, including sightseeing, is prohibited. Traffic on the bridge is monitored by the Florida Highway Patrol, and a stopped vehicle, bicyclist, or pedestrian will result a police dispatch.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: A major problem with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is corrosion of the steel in the precast concrete segmental columns on the high level approaches. Because the segments are hollow, workers were able to enter the bridge superstructure in 2003 and 2004 to reinforce the corroded sections of the bridge, ensuring its future safety. Another problem arose around 2005–06 when several news bureaus reported paint discolorations on the bridge's cables. These paint splotches and patches were a result of touch-ups that were performed sometime in 1998 but began to show through as a result of using newer, environmentally-safe paint. The change in the paint's composition caused it to fade faster than expected.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: From 2006 to 2008, Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) hired a contractor to perform the first full repainting of the bridge since it opened in 1987. The work included repainting the bridge's 42 steel cables one consistent shade of yellow and rehabilitating the lighting system at the summit of the bridge. In 2022, the yellow steel cables were repainted and corrosion protection was added to the ship impact system on each side of the channel.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: A 2014 FDOT study noted that the Skyway's low bridge clearance prevented larger vessels from using the Port Tampa Bay terminals, but made no recommendation about options as the air draft of most new cruise ships exceeds the bridge's height limit at .


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: The former and current bridge have been featured in various forms of media. The original Sunshine Skyway Bridge is featured in "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" and the opening credits to "Superboy". The current bridge has provided the setting for several films such as "Loren Cass" and "The Punisher". The bridge also served as plot devices to various novels such as Dennis Lehane's 1997 novel "Sacred" and Ben Bova's 2005 novel "Powersat". The bridge is also the subject of the song "Skyway Avenue" by We the Kings.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: The United States Postal Service featured the bridge in 2012 on a Priority Mail postage stamp. Carl T. Hermann worked on the painting and the digital illustration was created by artist Dan Cosgrove.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: In 2005, an act of the Florida Legislature officially named the current bridge the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, after the former Governor of Florida and then U.S. Senator who presided over its design and most of its construction. According to sources, he was inspired to suggest the current design by a visit to France, where he saw a similar cable-stayed bridge, the Brotonne Bridge. The original bridge was dedicated to state engineer William E. Dean, as noted on a plaque displayed at the rest area at the south end of the bridge.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: In November 2017, work began on installing decorative lighting to the Skyway's columns, main spans, and sloped spans. The $15.6 million lighting project provides a visual aesthetic while also enhancing safety and security by providing more light to the underside of the bridge from dusk to dawn. Over 1,800 LEDs were installed along of the bridge which cycles through animated routines. The lighting project was completed in October 2019 and funded by FDOT through collected toll fees.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: On January 11, 1987, the Skyway Bridge opened up to 10,000 runners, joggers and walkers before the bridge was opened to motor vehicle traffic the following week. Runners participated in four races that ran simultaneously across the bridge, with two races going southbound and two races directed northbound.


title: Sunshine Skyway Bridge

text: On March 4, 2018, in partnership with the Armed Forces Families Foundation, the Skyway Bridge was closed for the Inaugural Skyway 10K. In contrast to the one-time race in 1987, the Skyway 10K has been held annually since 2018 with the exception of 2021 as it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and would be held virtually instead.


title: Billie Burke

text: Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke (August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970) was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie musical "The Wizard of Oz" (1939).


title: Billie Burke

text: Burke was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in "Merrily We Live" (1938). She is also remembered for her appearances in the "Topper" film series. Her unmistakably high-pitched, quivering and aristocratic voice, made her a frequent choice to play dimwitted or spoiled society types.


title: Billie Burke

text: She was married to Broadway producer and impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. from 1914 until his death in 1932.


title: Billie Burke

text: Burke was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Blanche (née Beatty) and her second husband, William "Billy" Ethelbert Burke. She toured the United States and Europe with her father, a singer and clown who worked for the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Her family settled in London where she attended plays in the West End. She began acting on stage in 1903, making her debut in London in "The School Girl". Her other London shows included "The Duchess of Dantzic" (1903) and "The Blue Moon" (1904). She eventually returned to America to star in Broadway musical comedies.


title: Billie Burke

text: Burke went on to play leads on Broadway in "Mrs. Dot", "Suzanne", "The Runaway", "The "Mind-the-Paint" Girl", and "The Land of Promise" from 1910 to 1913, along with a supporting role in the revival of Sir Arthur Wing Pinero's "The Amazons". There she met producer Florenz Ziegfeld, marrying him in 1914. Two years later they had a daughter, author Patricia Ziegfeld Stephenson (1916–2008).