title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: For 2007 LS models, a "Palm Beach" trim option was available; it consisted primarily of special upholstery and badging. For 2009, following the introduction of a "No-Stock" marketing guideline by Lincoln-Mercury, the Grand Marquis trim line underwent a revision. Aside from long-wheelbase GCC export models, the GS was dropped, while the LS was split into two series: "LS Fleet" and "LS Retail". The former was available exclusively for fleet purchase in the United States while the latter was available only by dealer special order to minimize unsold inventory of cars. Moreover, incentives as high as $4000 per vehicle were added to remove previous stock from dealer lots. As Ford had announced the discontinuation of the Mercury brand in the summer of 2010, all 2011 examples are "Mercury Grand Marquis LS Ultimate Editions."


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: On June 2, 2010, Ford announced that it would end production of all Mercury vehicles by the end of 2010 as it discontinued the brand after 72 years. As a result of an unplanned delay in parts shipments, the final Grand Marquis was produced on January 4, 2011 at 7:46 am. The St. Thomas Assembly plant in Ontario, Canada closed in September 2011, bringing an end to the production of the Ford Crown Victoria and Lincoln Town Car.


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: In continuous production for 36 years, the Grand Marquis was the longest-produced Mercury. In total, over 2.7 million were produced, making it the best-selling vehicle sold by the brand. Among Ford Motor Company models in North America, only the Ford Econoline, Ford Mustang, Ford Thunderbird, Ford F-Series, and Lincoln Continental nameplates have been produced longer. The Panther platform served as the basis for Grand Marquis design for 32 years. Nearly unmatched by other automakers for longevity, the external appearance of the Grand Marquis remained largely unchanged for the last 19 years of its production life (along with its engine, the 2011 model shared a number of body panels with its 1992 counterpart).


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: During its production, the Grand Marquis was sold throughout North America, although it was not always badged as a Mercury. Outside of North America, exports were concentrated on the Middle Eastern market, where its large size and V8 power were attributes still sought by buyers towards the end of production.


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: After 1999, Ford of Canada discontinued sales of the Ford Crown Victoria outside of commercial fleets and law enforcement, concentrating civilian sales in Canada on the Mercury Grand Marquis. Following the 2004 model year, the Mercury brand was phased out in Canada, though Ford of Canada would market the Grand Marquis through its Ford dealerships. Sales continued through the end of production in 2011, as it was replaced by the redesigned Ford Taurus introduced for 2010.


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: Ford de Mexico would market the Mercury Grand Marquis under the Ford brand twice. In 1982, the Grand Marquis was introduced as the replacement for the Ford LTD Crown Victoria and wagons, but it was always sold in Mexico as a Ford model. The Grand Marquis wagon was produced and sold for the Mexican market as the Ford Grand Marquis Country Squire; it was sold through the 1984 model year. From 1982 to 1984 it was manufactured in Mexico, after which it was imported from St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. Wearing both Ford and Mercury badging, the Grand Marquis adapted a Ford Blue Oval on the trunk lid after 1998.


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: Although the Ford Grand Marquis was considered a sales success in Mexico and developed a reputation for luxury and prestige as the most expensive domestic nameplate available for sale, as in the United States, sales began to decline as the model aged. For the 2005 model year, Ford de Mexico replaced the Grand Marquis with the Ford Five Hundred, sold through 2007.


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: The Grand Marquis and its Ford Crown Victoria counterpart were marketed in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, two members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The "GCC-Spec" vehicles initially offered a lower price, reliability, and relative simplicity (compared to German and Japanese luxury sedans), but the GCC-spec Mercury Grand Marquis began to lose market share in the 2000s towards updated competitors (such as the Holden-produced Chevrolet Caprice and Dodge Charger).


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: Produced alongside North American examples in St. Thomas, Ontario, GCC-Spec versions of the Mercury Grand Marquis included several mechanical and trim modifications.


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: All were fitted with the High Ambient Temperature and Speed Package, heavy-duty battery, and an auxiliary transmission fluid cooler. Prior to 2002, export vehicles included a catalytic converter delete option. All standard-wheelbase examples were fitted with true dual exhaust.


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: To upgrade handling, the Grand Marquis was available with an Export Handling Package as an option. The counterpart to the Handling and Performance Package sold in the United States, the Export Handling Package consisted of rear air suspension (with stiffer springs), a larger front stabilizer bar, and a heavy-duty rear stabilizer bar. In contrast to the U.S., the GCC-spec option retained the stock rear axle ratio. Standard on the LS trim level, the package was available for any standard-wheelbase GCC-spec Grand Marquis. Following 2003, the model was identified by a trunk lid spoiler (shared with the Mercury Marauder).


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: From 1998, the GCC-spec Mercury Grand Marquis was fitted with the 40/20/40 split front seats of the Lincoln Town Car (in place of a 50/50 split-bench). To accommodate for the Middle Eastern climate, cloth seats are standard equipment, with leather upholstery as an option. In addition, the language of warning labels are in Arabic.


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: Middle Eastern versions of the Grand Marquis are equipped with slightly different options and features than their North American counterparts. Prior to 2009, six different trim levels were available:


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: In 2009, the LS models were only available with a column shifter and 40/20/40 Lincoln Town Car seats, available in luxury cloth or leather trim. The GSL is a long-wheelbase model offering of extra legroom for rear passengers. It is equipped like an LS model, with standard features such as an 8-way power driver's seat (2-way manual passenger seat), side airbags, leather-wrapped steering wheel, automatically dimming rearview mirror, electronic climate control, power-adjustable pedals, premium sound system with CD and cassette, 17-inch wheels with 235/55WR17 Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires, heated door mirrors, fog lights and special "GSL" badging. The once-optional gauge cluster is standard, with controls located on the center of the dashboard, between the headunit and climate controls. In North America, this model was only available to fleet customers as a commercial (taxi) version of the Ford Crown Victoria.


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: For 2009, the Grand Marquis was only available in two different trim levels: GSL and LS, both of which were near-identical in terms of features and options. The LS was a Fleet model, which was heavily de-contented, losing once-standard features such as an overhead console with a compass and a power passenger seat. The Export Handling Package was dropped, eliminating features such as the Mercury Marauder spoiler and rear air suspension.


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: For 2010, the GS model reappeared in the lineup, and several features (such as the Mercury Marauder spoiler) became available as standalone options. The Export Handling Package was made standard along with a power passenger seat. In Kuwait, the LS model (M7F) was not available to the general public in 2010, as they are heavily sold to fleet buyers, such as the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Health and state-owned Kuwait Oil Company, where they are given to employees as fringe benefits.


title: Mercury Grand Marquis

text: For 2011, the long-wheelbase GSL was replaced by the GS, and the LS model was made available again to the general public in Kuwait. The LS Ultimate Edition remains a Fleet model and differed slightly from the GS, equipped with leather seats, electronic automatic temperature control (EATC), and an automatically dimming rear-view mirror. Lumbar support was no longer available.


title: Malese Jow

text: Elizabeth Melise Jow, known professionally as Malese Jow and Melise, is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Geena Fabiano on the Nickelodeon sitcom "Unfabulous", Lucy Stone on the Nickelodeon musical sitcom "Big Time Rush" and as Anna, a teenage vampire on The CW's fantasy drama "The Vampire Diaries". She starred as Julia Yeung in the short-lived CW science fiction romantic drama "Star-Crossed". Jow starred as Mareth Ravenlock in season two of "The Shannara Chronicles". She voiced Dupli-Kate in the Amazon Prime Video animated series "Invincible".


title: Malese Jow

text: Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jow moved to California with her mother Lanae Tillery Jow, one sister, Makenna Jow, two brothers Jensen and Braden Jow when she was nine years old. Jow is mixed; she is European, Cherokee, and Chinese American. As a child, she would often sing the national anthem at local baseball games.


title: Malese Jow

text: When she was six years old, Jow appeared on "Barney" and "Dellaventura", but her acting career took off when she won a co-starring role in the Nickelodeon sitcom "Unfabulous" with Emma Roberts where she played Geena Fabiano, one of the best friends of Roberts' character Addie Singer. The show ran for three seasons from 2004 to 2007 and earned Jow several Young Artist Award nominations.


title: Malese Jow

text: When "Unfabulous" ended in 2007, Jow co-starred in the animated film "Bratz: The Movie" as Quinn and has guest-starred on the shows "Wizards of Waverly Place", "The Young and the Restless", "iCarly", "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and the Disney Channel series "Hannah Montana" and co-starred in the 2009 science fiction comedy "Aliens in the Attic".


title: Malese Jow

text: In 2010, Jow appeared in the first season of The CW fantasy drama "The Vampire Diaries". She played Anna, a vampire. Jow briefly re-appeared in the third season. That same year, Jow co-starred in the fantasy romance film "You're So Cupid!" as Megan, and the drama film "The Social Network" as Alice Cantwell. She also guest-starred on an episode of TNT crime comedy-drama "Leverage". Then she went on to star in the Nickelodeon action/science fiction sitcom "The Troop" as Cadence Nash.


title: Malese Jow

text: In 2011, Jow began a recurring role in the second season of the Nickelodeon musical sitcom "Big Time Rush" as Lucy Stone, an aspiring rock musician and a brief love interest of Kendall Knight (Kendall Schmidt) and later on becomes the love interest of James Diamond (James Maslow). She guest-starred in the ABC mystery comedy-drama "Desperate Housewives" as Violet.


title: Malese Jow

text: In 2012, Jow starred in The CW drama pilot "Shelter", produced by J. J. Abrams and Mark Schwahn, where she played Morgan. It was not picked up by the network.


title: Malese Jow

text: In January 2013, Jow confirmed her role in the crime comedy "Plastic". That same month, it was also announced that Jow would reprise her role as Lucy Stone on "Big Time Rush" in the fourth and final season.


title: Malese Jow

text: In February 2013, Jow was revealed to be the new host of "The Vampire Diaries" side show, "TVD Rehash (Re#ash)" replacing previous host Arielle Kebbel. Later that month, it was announced that Jow would be joining the CW science fiction romantic drama pilot "Oxygen", as Julia Yeung, a girl who has an illness which may be cured by aliens. In May 2013, "Oxygen" was picked up and retitled "Star-Crossed". The series was part of the 2013–14 mid season schedule. In August 2013, production began for "Star-Crossed". The show ran for one season from February 17 to May 12, 2014. In 2014, Jow was in the television movie "Presumed Dead in Paradise" and played Madison Ashland. On October 27, 2014, she was announced to have a recurring role as Linda Park on the CW's superhero drama "The Flash". In 2015, Malese was listed in "Maxim"s Hot 10. On August 25, 2015, Malese was announced to be reprising her role as Linda Park as a friend of Iris for multiple episodes. In the second season's fifth episode, "The Darkness and the Light," Malese played villainess Dr. Light, who is Earth 2 Linda Park. On February 2, 2017, it was announced Malese would be playing Mareth Ravenlock on MTV's "The Shannara Chronicles".


title: Malese Jow

text: On "", she played Jennifer Kim, who is the illegitimate daughter of late NCIS Assistant Director Owen Granger (Miguel Ferrer).


title: Malese Jow

text: In September 2017, it was revealed that Malese would be playing Daya in the upcoming "" movie. Malese has begun filming a new feature film as of November 2017 titled "I Wrote This For You".


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 1866.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: The third son of the 6th Duke of Bedford, Russell was educated at Westminster School and Edinburgh University before entering Parliament in 1813. In 1828 he took a leading role in the repeal of the Test Acts which discriminated against Catholics and Protestant dissenters. He was one of the principal architects of the Reform Act 1832, which was the first major reform of Parliament since the Restoration, and a significant early step on the road to democracy and away from rule by the aristocracy and landed gentry. He favoured expanding the right to vote to the middle classes and enfranchising Britain's growing industrial towns and cities but he never advocated universal suffrage and he opposed the secret ballot. Russell was outspoken on many issues over the course of his career, advocating Catholic emancipation in the 1820s, calling for the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1845, denouncing Pope Pius IX's revival of Catholic bishoprics in 1850, and supporting Italian unification during the 1860s.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell's ministerial career spanned four decades. In addition to his two terms as prime minister, between 1831 and 1865 he served in the cabinets of Earl Grey, Viscount Melbourne, the Earl of Aberdeen, and Viscount Palmerston. Russell's relationship with Palmerston was often stormy and contributed to bringing down Russell's first government in 1852 and Palmerston's first government in 1858. However, their renewed alliance from 1859 was one of the foundations of the united Liberal Party, which would go on to dominate British politics in the following decades. While Russell was an energetic and effective minister during the 1830s and helped to commit the Whigs to a reform agenda, he proved less successful as prime minister. During his two periods as prime minister he often suffered from a disunited cabinet and weak support in the House of Commons, meaning he was unable to carry out much of his agenda. During his first premiership, his government failed to deal effectively with the Irish Famine, a disaster that saw the loss of a quarter of Ireland's population through death and emigration. During his second premiership, he split his party by pressing for further parliamentary reform and was forced from office only to watch Derby and Disraeli carry a more ambitious Reform Bill. It has been said that Russell's ministry of 1846–1852 was the ruin of the old Whig party and that his ministry of 1865–1866 was very nearly the ruin of the Liberal Party that took its place.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell was born on 18 August 1792 into the highest echelons of the British aristocracy, being the third son of John Russell, later 6th Duke of Bedford, and Georgiana Byng, daughter of George Byng, 4th Viscount Torrington. The Russell family had been one of the principal Whig dynasties in England since the 17th century, and were among the richest handful of aristocratic landowning families in the country, but as a younger son of the 6th Duke of Bedford, he was not expected to inherit the family estates. As a younger son of a duke, he bore the courtesy title "Lord John Russell", but he was not a peer in his own right. He was, therefore, able to sit in the House of Commons until he was made an earl in 1861 and was elevated to the House of Lords.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell was born two months premature and was small and sickly as a child (even in adulthood he remained under 5 feet 5 inches tall, and his small stature was frequently the butt of jokes by political opponents and caricaturists). In 1801 at the age of nine he was sent away to school. Shortly thereafter his mother died. After being withdrawn from Westminster School in 1804 due to ill health, Russell was educated by tutors, including Edmund Cartwright. In 1806 Russell's father was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the short-live Ministry of All the Talents and it was during this time that the young Russell met Charles James Fox. Fox was Russell's formative political hero and would remain an inspiration throughout his life. Russell attended the University of Edinburgh from 1809 to 1812, lodging with Professor John Playfair, who oversaw his studies. He did not take a degree. Although often in poor health, he travelled widely in Britain and on the continent, and held commission as Captain in the Bedfordshire Militia in 1810. During his continental travels Russell visited Spain where his brother was serving as aide-de-camp to Lord Wellington in the Peninsular War. The following year he had a 90-minute meeting with Napoleon in December 1814 during the former emperor's exile at Elba.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell entered the House of Commons as a Whig in 1813 at the age of 20. The future reformer gained his seat by virtue of his father, the Duke of Bedford, instructing the 30 or so electors of Tavistock to return him as an MP even though at the time Russell was abroad and under age.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell entered Parliament more out of a sense of duty and family tradition than out of serious political ambition. With the exception the 1806-1807 coalition government in which Russell's father had served, the Whigs had been out of power since 1783, and Russell could have had had no certain expectation of a ministerial career. In June 1815, Russell denounced the Bourbon Restoration and Britain's declaration of war against the recently-returned Napoleon by arguing in the House of Commons that foreign powers had no right to dictate France's form of government.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: In 1817, tired of the prospect of perpetual opposition, Russell resigned from Parliament. After spending a year out of politics and travelling on the continent, he changed his mind and re-entered Parliament for Tavistock at the 1818 general election. In 1819, Russell embraced the cause of parliamentary reform and he led the more reformist wing of the Whigs throughout the 1820s. In 1828, while still an opposition backbencher, Russell introduced a Sacramental Test bill with the aim of abolishing the prohibitions on Catholics and Protestant dissenters being elected to local government and from holding civil and military offices. The bill gained the backing of the Tory Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel and was passed into law.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: When the Whigs came to power in 1830, Russell entered Earl Grey's government as Paymaster of the Forces. Despite being a relatively junior minister, as a vocal advocate for Parliamentary reform for over a decade, Russell became a principal leader in the fight for the Reform Act 1832. He was one of the committee of four tasked by Grey with drafting the reform bill, alongside cabinet ministers Lord Durham, Lord Duncannon and Sir James Graham. Despite not yet being in the Cabinet, Russell was chosen to introduce the bill in March 1831 and over the following year he successfully steered the Reform Act's difficult progress through the Commons.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell earned the nickname "Finality Jack" from his pronouncing the Act a final measure but in later years he would go on to push for further reform of Parliament. In May 1834, Russell made a speech on the Irish Tithes bill, in which he argued that the revenue generated by tithes was more than was justified by the size of the established Protestant church in Ireland. Russell argued that a proportion the tithe revenue should instead be appropriated for the education of the Irish poor, regardless of denomination.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: The speech was seen by its opponents as an attack on the established church in Ireland and it cemented a split within Grey's government over the issue of Irish tithes. The following month four members of the Cabinet resigned over the issue, weakening the government's hold on Parliament. Sensing that his position was now hopeless, Grey offered his resignation to the King in July, and was replaced by Viscount Melbourne at the head of the government.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: In November 1834, when the leader of the Commons, Lord Althorp, succeeded to the peerage as Earl Spencer, Russell became the leader of the Whigs in the Commons. Russell's appointment prompted King William IV to terminate Melbourne's government, in part because the King objected to Russell's views on the Irish Church. This remains the last time in British history that a monarch has dismissed a government. The subsequent minority Conservative government lasted less than five months before resigning in April 1835. Russell then returned to office as Home Secretary in Melbourne's second government, before serving as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1839 to 1841. Through this period, he continued to lead the more reformist wing of the Whig party.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: As Home Secretary, Russell recommended and secured royal pardons for the Tolpuddle Martyrs and partial commutation of their sentences. In 1836, he introduced the Marriages Act, which introduced civil marriages in England and Wales and allowed Catholics and Protestant Dissenters to marry in their own churches.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: In 1837, he steered a series of seven Acts through Parliament, which together reduced the number of offences carrying a sentence of death from thirty-seven to sixteen. This number was reduced further by the Substitution of Punishments of Death Act 1841. After these reforms the death penalty was rarely used in the United Kingdom for crimes other than murder. As Home Secretary Russell also introduced the public registration for births, marriages and deaths and played a large role in democratising the government of cities outside of London.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: In 1841 the Whigs lost the general election to the Conservatives and Russell and his colleagues returned to opposition. In November 1845, following the failure of that year's potato harvest across Britain and Ireland, Russell came out in favour of the repeal of the Corn Laws and called upon the Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel to take urgent action to alleviate the emerging food crisis.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Peel had by this time already become convinced of the need for repeal, but he was opposed in this by the majority of his own cabinet and party. On 11 December 1845, frustrated by his party's unwillingness to support him on repeal, Peel resigned as Prime Minister and Queen Victoria invited Russell to form a new government. With the Whigs a minority in the Commons however, Russell struggled to assemble the necessary support. When Lord Grey declared that he would not serve in cabinet if Lord Palmerston was made Foreign Secretary it became clear to Russell that he could not form a viable government.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell declined the Queen's invitation on 21 December and Peel agreed to stay on as Prime Minister. In June 1846, Peel repealed the Corn Laws with Whig support, bitterly dividing the Conservative Party in the process. Later that same night Peel's Irish Coercion Bill was defeated after vengeful anti-repeal Tories voted with the opposition; and Peel, taking this as a vote of no confidence, resigned as Prime Minister. Russell accepted the Queen's offer to form a government; this time Grey did not object to Palmerston's appointment.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell took office as Prime Minister with the Whigs only a minority in the House of Commons. It was the bitter split in the Conservative Party over the Corn Laws that allowed Russell's government to remain in power in spite of this, with Sir Robert Peel and his supporters offering tentative support to the new ministry in order to keep the protectionist Conservatives under Lord Stanley in opposition. At the general election of August 1847 the Whigs made gains at the expense of the Conservatives, but remained a minority, with Russell's government still dependent on the votes of Peelite and Irish Repealer MPs to win divisions in the Commons.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell's political agenda was frequently frustrated by his lack of a reliable Commons majority. However, his government was able to secure a number of notable social reforms. Russell introduced teachers' pensions and used Orders in Council to make grants for teacher training. The Public Baths and Wash-houses Acts of 1847 and 1848 enabled local authorities to build municipal baths and washing facilities for the growing urban working classes. Russell lent his support to the passage of the Factories Act 1847, which restricted the working hours of women and young persons (aged 13–18) in textile mills to 10 hours per day.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: 1848 saw the introduction of the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers and the Public Health Act 1848, by which the state assumed responsibility for sewerage, clean water supply, refuse collection and other aspects of public health across much of England and Wales.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Following the election of Lionel de Rothschild in the 1847 general election, Russell introduced a Jewish Relief bill, which would have allowed Rothschild and other Jews to sit in the House of Commons without their having to take the explicitly Christian oath of allegiance. In 1848, the bill was passed by the House of Commons, receiving support from the Whigs and a minority of Conservatives (including future Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli). However, it was twice rejected by the Tory dominated House of Lords, as was a new bill in 1851. Rothschild was re-elected in the 1852 general election following the fall of the Russell government but was unable to take his seat until the Jews Relief Act was finally passed in 1858.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell's government led the calamitous response to the Irish Famine. During the course of the famine, an estimated 1 million people died from a combination of malnutrition, disease and starvation and well over 1 million more emigrated from Ireland. After taking office in 1846, Russell's ministry introduced a programme of public works that by the end of that year employed some half-a-million but proved impossible to administer. In January 1847, the government abandoned this policy, realising that it had failed, and turned to a mixture of "indoor" and "outdoor" direct relief; the former administered in workhouses through the Irish Poor Laws, the latter through soup kitchens. The costs of the Poor Law fell primarily on the local landlords, some of whom in turn attempted to reduce their liability by evicting their tenants. In June 1847, the Poor Law Extension Act was passed, which embodied the principle, popular in Britain, that Irish property should support Irish poverty. Irish landlords were believed in Britain to have created the conditions that led to the famine, a view which Russell shared.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: In 1847, Russell's government was confronted by a financial crisis. Sir Robert Peel's 1844 Bank Charter Act required that all bank notes issued by the Bank of England be fully backed by gold. However, the failure of harvests in Britain and Ireland during 1846 had led to large outflows of gold in order to pay for imported grain, resulting in a dramatic decline in the Bank's gold reserves over the course of 1847. Faced with the prospect of running out of gold and being unable to issue money, the Bank of England repeatedly raised the discount rate at which it would lend money to other banks, leading to a drastic curtailment of available commercial credit and contributing to the collapse of numerous businesses. This in turn led to a loss of public confidence in the creditworthiness of the banks, culminated in the "week of terror" of 17–23 October when multiple banks were forced to close their doors as frightened depositors attempted to withdraw their funds. Faced with the potential collapse of the banking system, on Monday 25 October Russell and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Wood wrote a letter to the Governor of the Bank of England authorising him to break the terms of the Bank Charter Act and issue new notes without gold backing to facilitate lending to other banks. This move restored depositor confidence in the banks, and the crisis abated.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: In the first half of his premiership Russell aimed to improve the British government's relations with the Papacy and the Catholic clergy in Ireland, which he saw as one of the keys to making Ireland a more willing part of the United Kingdom. Russell proposed to make an annual grant of £340,000 to the Catholic Church in Ireland, with the aim of ameliorating Irish Catholic opinion towards the Union. In 1847, Russell's father-in-law the Earl of Minto was dispatched on a confidential mission to Rome to seek the Pope's support for the grants plan. In the end, the idea had to be abandoned due to Catholic objections to what they saw as an attempt to control their clergy.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: However, Russell pressed ahead with plans to re-establish formal diplomatic relations between the Court of St James's and the Holy See, which had been severed when James II was deposed in 1688. Russell managed to pass an Act to authorise an exchange of ambassadors with Rome, but not before the bill was amended by Parliament to stipulate that the Pope's ambassador must be a layman. The Pope refused to accept such a restriction on his choice of representative and so the exchange of ambassadors did not take place. It would not be until 1914 that formal UK-Vatican diplomatic relations were finally established.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Relations with the Papacy soured badly in late 1850 after Pope Pius IX issued the bull Universalis Ecclesiae. By this bull Pius unilaterally reintroduced Catholic bishops to England and Wales for the first time since the Reformation. Anti-Catholic feelings ran high with many Protestants incensed at what they saw as impertinent foreign interference in the prerogative of the established Church of England to appoint bishops. Russell, not withstanding his long record of advocating civil liberties for Catholics, shared the traditional Whig suspicion of the Catholic hierarchy, and was angered at what he saw as a Papal imposition. On 4 November 1850, in a letter to the Bishop of Durham published in "The Times" the same day, Russell wrote that the Pope's actions suggested a "pretension to supremacy" and declared that "No foreign prince or potentate will be permitted to fasten his fetters upon a nation which has so long and so nobly vindicated its right to freedom of opinion, civil, political, and religious". Russell's "Durham letter" won him popular support in England but in Ireland it was viewed as an unwarranted insult to the Pope. It lost Russell the confidence of Irish Repealer MPs and the cabinet were angered that he had made such an incendiary statement without having consulting them.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: The following year Russell passed the Ecclesiastical Titles Act 1851 with Tory support, which made it a criminal offence carrying a fine of £100 for anyone outside of the Church of England to assume an episcopal title "of any city, town or place, or of any territory or district...in the United Kingdom." The Act was widely ignored without consequences and only served to further alienate Irish MPs, thereby weakening the government's position in the Commons.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell frequently clashed with his headstrong Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, whose belligerence and support for continental revolution he found embarrassing. In 1847 Palmerston provoked a confrontation with the French government by undermining the plans of the Spanish court to marry the young Spanish Queen and her sister into the French royal family.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: He subsequently clashed with Russell over plans to increase the size of the army and the navy to defend against the perceived threat of French invasion, which subsided after the overthrow of the French king in 1848.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: In 1850 further tension arose between the two over Palmerston's gunboat diplomacy in the Don Pacifico affair in which Palmerston sought compensation from the Greek government for the ransacking and the burning of the house of David Pacifico, a Gibraltarian holder of a British passport. Russell considered the matter "hardly worth the interposition of the British lion," and when Palmerston ignored some of his instructions, the Prime Minister wrote to Palmerston telling him he had informed the Queen that he "thought the interests of the country required that a change should take place at the Foreign Department." However, less than a month later Lord Stanley successfully led the House of Lords into passing a motion of censure of the Government over its handling of the affair and Russell realised that he needed to align with Palmerston in order to prevent a similar motion being passed by the House of Commons, which would have obliged the Government to resign. The Government prevailed, but Palmerston came out of the affair with his popularity at new heights since he was seen as the champion of defending British subjects anywhere in the world.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell forced Palmerston to resign as Foreign Secretary after Palmerston recognised Napoleon III's coup of 2 December 1851 without first consulting the Queen or Cabinet. Russell tried to strengthen his government by recruiting leading Peelites such as Sir James Graham and the Duke of Newcastle to his administration, but they declined. Out of office, Palmerston sought revenge by turning a vote on a militia bill into a vote of confidence in the Government. A majority vote in favour of an amendment proposed by Palmerston caused the downfall of Russell's ministry on 21 February 1852. This was Palmerston's famous "tit for tat with Johnny Russell."


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Following Russell's resignation, on the 23 February 1852 the Earl of Derby accepted the Queen's invitation to form a government. The new Conservative ministry were a minority in the Commons due to the continuing rift with the Peelites. Derby called a general election for July but failed to secure a majority. After the election Derby's Conservatives held 292 out of the 662 seats in the Commons but were able to carry on in office due to divisions among the opposition. Negotiations over a Whig-Peelite coalition stalled over the question of who would lead it. Russell's authority and popularity within the Whigs had been dented by his falling out with Palmerston, who flatly refused to serve under him again. Moreover he had alienated many in the Peelites and the Irish Brigade, who held the balance of power in the Commons, leaving them unwilling to support another Russell-led government. Palmerston proposed Lord Lansdowne as a compromise candidate. This was acceptable to Russell but Lansdowne was reluctant to take on the burdens of leading a government. The defeat of Disraeli's Budget in December 1852 forced the issue. Derby's government resigned and the Queen sent for Lansdowne and the Peelite Lord Aberdeen. Lansdowne declined the Queen's invitation, pleading ill-health and so Aberdeen was tasked with forming a government.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell, as the leader of the Whigs, agreed to bring his party into a coalition with the Peelites, headed by Aberdeen. As the leader of the largest party in the coalition, Russell was reluctant to serve under Aberdeen in a subordinate position, but agreed to take on the role of Foreign Secretary on a temporary basis, to lend stability to the fledgling government. He resigned the role in February 1853 in favour of Clarendon, but continued to lead for the government in the Commons and attended cabinet without ministerial responsibilities. Russell was unhappy that half of Aberdeen's cabinet was made up of Peelites, despite the fact that the Whigs contributed hundreds of MPs to the Government's support in the Commons, and the Peelites only around 40. However, he came to admire some of his Peelite colleagues, particularly the Chancellor of the Exchequer William Gladstone, who would go on to become an important political ally in later years.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: With Aberdeen's agreement, Russell used his position as Leader of the House of Commons to push for a new Reform Act. Although Russell had promoted the 1832 Reform Act as a one-off measure to re-balance the constitution, after twenty years he had become convinced of the need for further electoral reform. In February 1854 Russell introduced his bill to the House. The property qualification was to be reduced from £10 to £6 in boroughs, and from £50 to £10 in the counties. Additionally 66 seats would be removed from undersized constituencies and redistributed. The second reading of the bill was set for March 1854, but the prospect of imminent war with Russia led to it being postponed until April. After the outbreak of war on 28 March Russell came under pressure from the cabinet to withdraw the bill entirely. Russell threatened to resign if the cabinet abandoned the reform bill, but he was convinced to stay on by Aberdeen, who promised that he would support the reform bill if Russell reintroduced it in a future session. However, with the fall of the Aberdeen government the following year, it would be 12 years before Russell had another chance to introduce a reform bill.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Together with Palmerston, Russell supported the government taking a hard line against Russian territorial ambitions in the Ottoman Empire, a policy which ultimately resulted in Britain's entry into the Crimean War in March 1854, an outcome which the more cautious Aberdeen had hoped to avoid. In the following months Russell grew frustrated by what he saw as a lack of effective war leadership by Aberdeen and the Secretary of State for War, the Duke of Newcastle. Dispatches from the front reported that the army was suffering from supply shortages and a lack of adequate accommodation and medical facilities. In November 1854 Russell urged Aberdeen to replace Newcastle with Palmerston, who he believed would get a firmer grip on the organisation of the war, but these suggestions came to nothing. In January 1855, after a series of military setbacks, a Commons motion was brought by the radical MP John Roebuck to appoint a select committee to investigate the management of the war. Russell, not wishing to vote against an inquiry he believed was badly needed, resigned from the cabinet in order to abstain. Aberdeen viewed the Roebuck motion as a vote of no confidence in his leadership and, accordingly, when it passed by 305-148, he resigned.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: In the eyes of many, including the Queen and Aberdeen, Russell's temperamental behaviour and personal ambition had undermined the stability of the coalition. On visiting Windsor Castle to resign, Aberdeen told the Queen "Had it not been for the incessant attempts of Lord John Russell to keep up party differences, it must be acknowledged that the experiment of a coalition had succeeded admirably," an assessment with which the Queen agreed. Russell accepted an invitation from the Queen to form a new government but found that he could not assemble the necessary support, with many of his colleagues having been angered by his abandonment of Aberdeen over the Roebuck motion. Palmerston became Prime Minister, and Russell reluctantly accepted the role of Colonial Secretary in his cabinet. Russell was sent to Vienna to negotiate peace terms with Russia, but his proposals were rejected and he resigned from the cabinet and returned to the backbenches in July 1855.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Following his resignation Russell wrote to his father-in-law that he would not serve again under Palmerston or any other Prime Minister. For a time it appeared as if his career in frontbench politics might be over. Russell continued to speak out from the backbenches on the issues he most cared about - lobbying for increased government grants for education and for reduction in the property qualification for Parliamentary elections. In early 1857 Russell became a vocal critic of Palmerston's government over the Anglo-Persian War and the Second Opium War. Russell spoke in support of a motion tabled by Richard Cobden, which criticised British military action in China and calling for a select committee inquiry. When the motion passed on 3 March, Palmerston dissolved Parliament and went to the country. In the subsequent general election Palmerston was swept back into power on a tide of patriotic feeling with an increased majority. Many of Palmerston's critics lost their seats but Russell hung on in the City of London, after fighting off an attempt to deselect him and replace him with a pro-Palmerston Whig candidate. Palmerston's triumph was short-lived. In February 1858 the Government rushed through a Conspiracy to Murder bill, following the attempted assassination of Napoleon III by Italian nationalist Felice Orsini - an attack planned in Britain using British-made explosives. Russell attacked the bill, which he saw as undermined traditional British political liberties to appease a foreign government. On 19 February Russell voted in favour of Thomas Milner Gibson's motion, which criticised the government for bowing to French demands. When the motion passed by 19 votes Palmerston's government resigned.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: In 1859, following another short-lived Conservative government, Palmerston and Russell made up their differences, and Russell consented to serve as Foreign Secretary in a new Palmerston cabinet, usually considered the first true Liberal cabinet. This period was a particularly eventful one in the world outside Britain, seeing the Unification of Italy (the change of British government to one sympathetic to Italian nationalism had a marked part in this process), the American Civil War, and the 1864 war over Schleswig-Holstein between Denmark and the German states. Russell arranged the London Conference of 1864, but failed to establish peace in the war. His tenure of the Foreign Office was noteworthy for the famous dispatch in which he defended Italian unification: "Her Majesty's Government will turn their eyes rather to the gratifying prospect of a people building up the edifice of their liberties, and consolidating the work of their independence, amid the sympathies and good wishes of Europe" (27 October 1860).


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: In 1861 Russell was elevated to the peerage as Earl Russell, of Kingston Russell in the County of Dorset, and as Viscount Amberley, of Amberley in the County of Gloucester, and of Ardsalla in the County of Meath


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Henceforth, as a suo jure peer, rather than merely being known as 'Lord' because he was the son of a Duke, he sat in the House of Lords for the remainder of his career.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: When Palmerston suddenly died in late 1865, Russell again became prime minister. His second premiership was short and frustrating, and Russell failed in his great ambition of expanding the franchise, a task that would be left to his Conservative successors, Derby and Benjamin Disraeli. In 1866, party disunity again brought down his government. Russell never again held any office. His last contribution to the House of Lords was on 3 August 1875.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell married Adelaide Lister (widow of Thomas Lister, 2nd Baron Ribblesdale, who had died in 1832) on 11 April 1835. Together they had two daughters:


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Adelaide came down with a fever following the birth of their second child and died a few days later on 1 November 1838. Following her death, Russell continued to raise his late wife's four children from her first marriage, as well their two daughters.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: On 20 July 1841 Russell remarried, to Lady Frances ("Fanny") Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, daughter of Russell's cabinet colleague Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Earl of Minto. Together they had four children:


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: In 1847 Queen Victoria granted Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park to Lord and Lady John. It remained their family home for the rest of their lives.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell was religious in a simple non-dogmatic way and supported "broad church" stances in the Church of England. He opposed the "Oxford Movement" because its "Tractarian" members were too dogmatic and too close to Roman Catholicism. He supported Broad Churchmen or Latitudinarians by several appointments of liberal churchmen as bishops. In 1859 he reversed himself and decided to free non-Anglicans of the duty of paying rates (taxes) to the local Anglican parish. His political clumsiness and opposition to Church finance made him a target of attack and ridicule in many Church circles.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Following the death of their daughter-in-law Viscountess Amberley in 1874 and their son Viscount Amberley in 1876, Earl Russell and Countess Russell brought up their orphaned grandchildren, John ("Frank") Russell, who became 2nd Earl Russell on his grandfather's death, and Bertrand Russell who would go on to become a noted philosopher and who in later life recalled his elderly grandfather as "a kindly old man in a wheelchair."


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Earl Russell died at home at Pembroke Lodge on 28 May 1878. The Prime Minister, the Earl of Beaconsfield, offered a public funeral and burial at Westminster Abbey for Russell but this was declined by Countess Russell in accordance with her late husband's wish to be buried among his family and ancestors. He is buried at the 'Bedford Chapel' at St. Michael's Church, Chenies, Buckinghamshire.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Scion of one of the most powerful aristocratic families, Russell was a leading reformer who weakened the power of the aristocracy. His great achievements, wrote A. J. P. Taylor, were based on his persistent battles in Parliament over the years on behalf of the expansion of liberty; after each loss he tried again and again, until finally, his efforts were largely successful. E. L. Woodward, however, argued that he was too much the abstract theorist:


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: He was succeeded as Liberal leader by former Peelite William Gladstone, and was thus the last true Whig to serve as Prime Minister. Generally taken as the model for Anthony Trollope's Mr. Mildmay, aspects of his character may also have suggested those of Plantagenet Palliser. An ideal statesman, said Trollope, should have "unblemished, unextinguishable, inexhaustible love of country... But he should also be scrupulous, and, as being scrupulous, weak."


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: The 1832 Reform Act and extension of the franchise to British cities are partly attributed to his efforts. He also worked for emancipation, leading the attack on the Test and Corporation acts, which were repealed in 1828, as well as towards legislation limiting working hours in factories in the 1847 Factory Act, and the Public Health Act of 1848.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: His government's approach to dealing with the Great Irish Famine is now widely condemned as counterproductive, ill-informed and disastrous. Russell himself was sympathetic to the plight of the Irish poor, and many of his relief proposals were blocked by his cabinet or by the British Parliament.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Queen Victoria's attitude toward Russell was coloured by his role in the Aberdeen administration. On his death in 1878 her journal records that he was "a man of much talent, who leaves a name behind him, kind, & good, with a great knowledge of the constitution, who behaved very well, on many trying occasions; but he was impulsive, very selfish (as shown on many occasions, especially during Ld Aberdeen's administration) vain, & often reckless & imprudent."


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: A public house in Bloomsbury, large parts of which are still owned by the Bedford Estate, is named after Russell, located on Marchmont Street.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: The town of Russell in the Northland Region of New Zealand, was named in honour of him as the then Secretary of State for the Colonies.


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: Russell published numerous books and essays over the course of his life, especially during periods out of office. He principally wrote on politics and history, but also turned his hand to a variety of other topics and genres. His published works include:


title: John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

text: "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens was dedicated to Lord John Russell, "In remembrance of many public services and private kindnesses." In speech given in 1869, Dickens remarked of Russell that "there is no man in England whom I respect more in his public capacity, whom I love more in his private capacity."


title: Ben Hogan

text: William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory and his ball-striking ability.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan's nine career professional major championships tie him with Gary Player for fourth all-time, trailing only Jack Nicklaus (18), Tiger Woods (15) and Walter Hagen (11). He is one of only five players to have won all four majors: the Masters Tournament, The Open Championship (despite only playing once), the U.S. Open, and the PGA Championship. The other four are Nicklaus, Woods, Player, and Gene Sarazen; Hogan's first major win came at age 34.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan was born in Stephenville, Texas, the third and youngest child of Chester and Clara (Williams) Hogan. His father was a blacksmith and the family lived southwest in Dublin until 1921, when they moved northeast to Fort Worth. When Hogan was nine years old in 1922, his father Chester committed suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot at the family home. By some accounts, Chester committed suicide in front of him, which some (including Hogan biographer James Dodson) have cited as the cause of his introverted personality in later years.


title: Ben Hogan

text: The family incurred financial difficulties after his father's suicide, and the children took jobs to help their seamstress mother make ends meet. Older brother Royal quit school at age 14 to deliver office supplies by bicycle, and nine-year-old Ben sold newspapers after school at the nearby train station. A tip from a friend led him to caddying at age eleven at Glen Garden Country Club, a nine-hole course to the south. One of his fellow caddies at Glen Garden was Byron Nelson, later a tour rival. The two would tie for the lead at the annual Christmas caddie tournament in December 1927, when both were fifteen. Nelson sank a putt to tie on the ninth and final hole. Instead of sudden death, they played another nine holes; Nelson sank another substantial putt on the final green to win by a stroke.


title: Ben Hogan

text: The following spring, Nelson was granted the only junior membership offered by the members of Glen Garden. Club rules did not allow caddies age 16 and older, so after August 1928, Hogan took his game to three scrubby daily-fee courses: Katy Lake, Worth Hills, and Z-Boaz.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan dropped out of Central High School during the final semester of his senior year. He turned pro in the golf industry six months shy of his 18th birthday at the Texas Open in San Antonio, in late January 1930. Hogan met Valerie Fox in Sunday school in Fort Worth in the mid-1920s, and they reacquainted in 1932 when he landed a low-paying club pro job in Cleburne, where her family had moved. They married in April 1935 at her parents' home.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan's early years as a pro were very difficult; he went broke more than once. He did not win his first tournament (as an individual) until March 1940, when he won three consecutive events in North Carolina at age 27. Although it took a decade for Hogan to secure his first victory, his wife Valerie believed in him, and this helped see him through the tough years when he battled a hook that he later cured.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Despite finishing 13th on the money list in 1938, Hogan took an assistant pro job at Century Country Club in Purchase, New York. He worked at Century as an assistant and then as the head pro until 1941, when he took the head pro job at Hershey Country Club in Hershey, Pennsylvania.


title: Ben Hogan

text: During Hogan's prime years of 1938 through 1959, he won 63 professional golf tournaments despite the interruption of his career by World War II and a near-fatal car accident. Hogan served in the U.S. Army Air Forces from March 1943 to June 1945; he was stationed locally at Fort Worth and became a utility pilot with the rank of lieutenant.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Driving home to Fort Worth after a Monday playoff loss at the 1949 Phoenix Open, Hogan and his wife Valerie survived a head-on collision with a Greyhound bus east of Van Horn, Texas. On the morning of Wednesday, February 2, Hogan had reduced his speed in the limited visibility ground fog; the bus was attempting to pass another vehicle on a narrow bridge, which left no place to avoid the crash. Hogan threw himself across Valerie in order to protect her. He would have been killed had he not done so, because the steering column punctured the driver's seat of their new Cadillac sedan.


title: Ben Hogan

text: This accident left Hogan, age 36, with a double-fracture of the pelvis, a fractured collar bone, a left ankle fracture, a chipped rib, and near-fatal blood clots: he would suffer lifelong circulation problems and other physical limitations. His doctors said he might never walk again, let alone play golf competitively. While Hogan was in the hospital in El Paso, his life was endangered by a blood clot problem that led doctors to tie off the vena cava. He left the hospital on the first of April, 59 days after the accident, and returned to Fort Worth by train.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan regained his strength by extensive walking and resumed his golf activities in November 1949. He returned to the PGA Tour to start the 1950 season at the Los Angeles Open, where he tied with Sam Snead over 72 holes, but lost the 18-hole playoff, held over a week later (due to course conditions).


title: Ben Hogan

text: The win at Carnoustie was only a part of Hogan's watershed 1953 season, a year in which he won five of the six tournaments he entered, including three major championships (a feat known as the Triple Crown of Golf).


title: Ben Hogan

text: It still stands among the greatest single seasons in the history of professional golf. Hogan, 40, was unable to enter—and possibly win—the 1953 PGA Championship (to complete the Grand Slam) because its play (July 1–7) overlapped the play of The Open at Carnoustie (July 6–10), which he won. It was the only time that a golfer had won three major professional championships in a year until Tiger Woods won the final three majors in 2000 (and the first in 2001).


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan often declined to play in the PGA Championship; he skipped it more and more often as his career wore on. There were two reasons for this. First, the PGA Championship was, until 1958, a match play event, and Hogan's particular skill was "shooting a number"—meticulously planning and executing a strategy to achieve a score for a round on a particular course (even to the point of leaving out the 7-iron in the U.S. Open at Merion, saying "there are no 7-iron shots at Merion"). Second, the PGA required several days of 36 holes per day competition, and after his 1949 auto accident, Hogan struggled to manage more than 18 holes a day.


title: Ben Hogan

text: After the win at Carnoustie, Hogan and his wife Valerie were passengers on the SS "United States" westbound to New York City, where he received a ticker tape parade down Broadway on July 21.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Ben Hogan is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest ball strikers who ever played golf. Although he had a formidable record with 64 PGA tour victories, it is Hogan's ball-striking ability that mostly underpins his modern reputation.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan was known to practice more than any of his contemporary golfers and is said to have "invented practice". On this matter, Hogan himself said, "You hear stories about me beating my brains out practicing, but... I was enjoying myself. I couldn't wait to get up in the morning, so I could hit balls. When I'm hitting the ball where I want, hard and crisply, it's a joy that very few people experience." He was also one of the first players to match particular clubs to yardages, or reference points around the course such as bunkers or trees, in order to improve his distance control.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan thought that an individual's golf swing was "in the dirt" and that mastering it required plenty of practice and repetition. He is also known to have spent years contemplating the golf swing, trying a range of theories and methods before arriving at the finished method which brought him his greatest period of success.


title: Ben Hogan

text: The young Hogan was badly afflicted by hooking the golf ball. Although slight of build at 5'8½" and 145 pounds – attributes that earned him the nickname "Bantam", which he thoroughly disliked – he was long off the tee early in his career. Like many professional golfers of his day, he competed in long drive contests as well as matchplay and strokeplay events.


title: Ben Hogan

text: It has been alleged that Hogan used a "strong" grip, with hands more the right of the club grip in tournament play prior to his accident in 1949, despite often practicing with a "weak" grip, with the back of the left wrist facing the target, and that this limited his success, or, at least, his reliability, up to that date. Jacobs alleges that Byron Nelson told him this information, and furthermore that Hogan developed and used the "strong" grip as a boy in order to be able to hit the ball as far as bigger, stronger contemporaries. This strong grip is what resulted in Hogan hitting the odd disastrous snap hook.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan's late swing produced the famed "Hogan Fade" ball flight, lower than usual for a great player and from left to right. This ball flight was the result of his using a "draw" type swing in conjunction with a "weak" grip, a combination that all but negated the chance of hitting a hook.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan played and practiced golf with only bare hands, i.e., without wearing gloves. Moe Norman did the same, playing and practicing without gloves. The two were arguably the greatest ball strikers golf has ever known; even Tiger Woods quoted them as the only players ever to have "owned their swings", in that they had total control of it and, as a result, the ball's flight.


title: Ben Hogan

text: In May 1967, the editor of Cary Middlecoff's 1974 book "The Golf Swing" watched every shot that 54-year-old Hogan hit in the Colonial National Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas. "Hogan shot 281 for a third-place tie with George Archer. Of the 281 shots, 141 were taken in reaching the greens. Of the 141, 139 were rated from well-executed to superbly executed. The remaining two were a drive that missed the fairway by some 5 yards and a 5-iron to a par-3 hole that missed the green by about the same distance. It was difficult, if not impossible to conceive of anybody hitting the ball better over a four-day span."


title: Ben Hogan

text: In the spring of 1953, Hogan announced he had discovered a "secret" that made his swing nearly automatic. There are many theories as to its exact nature. The earliest theory is that the "secret" was a special wrist movement known as "cupping under". This information was revealed in a 1955 "Life" magazine article. However, many believed Hogan did not reveal all that he knew at the time. It has since been alleged in "Golf Digest" magazine, and by Jody Vasquez in his book "Afternoons With Mr Hogan", that the second element of Hogan's "secret" was the way in which he used his right knee to initiate the swing and that this right knee movement was critical to the correct operation of the wrist.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan revealed later in life that the "secret" involved cupping the left wrist at the top of the backswing and using a weaker left-hand grip (thumb more on top of the grip as opposed to on the right side).


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan did this to prevent himself from ever hooking the ball off the tee. By positioning his hands in this manner, he ensured that the club face would be slightly open upon impact, creating a fade (left to right ball flight) as opposed to a draw or hook (right to left ball flight).


title: Ben Hogan

text: Many believed that although he played right-handed as an adult, Hogan was actually left-handed. In his book "Five Lessons," in the chapter entitled "The Grip," Hogan said "I was born left-handed -- that was the normal way for me to do things. I was switched over to doing things right-handed when I was a boy but I started golf as a left-hander because the first club I ever came into possession of, an old five-iron, was a left-handed stick." This belief also seemed to be corroborated by Hogan himself in his earlier book "Power Golf." However, some mystery still remains about this since Hogan in subsequent interviews said that the belief of his being left-handed was actually a myth (noted in what was probably his last video interview and in his 1987 "Golf Magazine" interview).


title: Ben Hogan

text: In these interviews Hogan said that he was indeed a right-handed player who early on practiced/played with a left-hand club that had been given to him because it was all that he had and that it was this issue that brought about the myth that he was left-handed. This may be the reason that his early play with right-handed equipment found him using a cross-handed grip (right hand at the end of the club, left hand below it). In "The Search for the Perfect Golf Swing", researchers Cochran and Stobbs held the opinion that a left-handed person playing right-handed would be prone to hook the ball.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hy Peskin, a staff photographer for "Sports Illustrated", took a famous photo of Ben Hogan playing a 1-iron shot to the green at the 72nd hole of the 1950 U.S. Open. It was ranked by "Sports Illustrated" as one of the greatest sports photographs of the 20th century.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan believed that a solid, repeatable golf swing involved only a few essential elements, which, when performed correctly and in sequence, were the essence of the swing. His book "Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf" (written with Herbert Warren Wind) is perhaps the most widely read golf tutorial ever written, although Harvey Penick's "Little Red Book" would also have a claim to that title, and the principles therein are often parroted by modern "swing gurus". In the "Five Lessons", Hogan breaks down the swing into four parts: The Fundamentals, The Grip, Stance and Posture, and The Swing.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan explains that the average golfer underestimates himself. He believes that beginners place too much emphasis on the long game. If you have a correct, powerful and repeating swing, then you can shoot in the 70s. "The average golfer is entirely capable of building a repeating swing and breaking 80." Through years of trial and error, Ben has developed techniques that have proved themselves under various types of pressure.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan says, "Good golf begins with a good grip." Without a good grip, one cannot play to his or her potential. The grip is important because it is the only direct physical contact you have with the ball via your golf club. A bad grip can cause dipping of the hands at the top of the swing and a decrease in club head speed. This can cause a loss of power and accuracy. The following describes the perfect golf grip in the eyes of Mr. Hogan:


title: Ben Hogan

text: "With the back of your left hand facing the target, place the club in the left hand so that, 1) The shaft is pressed up under the muscular pad at the inside heel of the palm, and 2) The shaft also lies directly across the top joint of the forefinger".


title: Ben Hogan

text: "Crook the forefinger around the shaft and you will discover that you can lift the club and maintain a fairly firm grip on it by supporting it just with the muscles of that finger and the muscles of the pad of the palm."


title: Ben Hogan

text: "Now just close the left hand-close the fingers before you close the thumb-and the club will be just where it should be."


title: Ben Hogan

text: "To gain a real acquaintance with this preparatory guide to correct gripping, I would suggest practicing it five or 10 minutes a day for a week until it begins to become second nature."


title: Ben Hogan

text: "To obtain the proper grip with the right hand, hold it somewhat extended, with the palm facing your target. Now-your left hand is already correctly affixed-place the club in your right hand so that the shaft lies across the top joint of the four fingers and definitely below the palm."


title: Ben Hogan

text: "The right hand is a finger grip. The two fingers which should apply most of the pressure are the two middle fingers."


title: Ben Hogan

text: "Now with the club held firmly on the fingers of your right hand, simply fold your right hand over your left thumb."


title: Ben Hogan

text: The right stance not only allows for proper alignment, but also for a balanced swing, prepared usage of the proper muscles, and the maximum strength and control over your swing. We align our body to the target only after we have aligned the club head to the target.


title: Ben Hogan

text: A proper stance starts with your feet being aligned at the target, followed by your knees, hips and shoulders. Your feet should be shoulder width apart, your front foot should be slightly opened towards the target and your back foot should be perpendicular to the target. As you increase in club, your stance should widen for further stability. Your shoulders will be naturally open to the target line because your arms are not at equal length while holding the club. Make sure to close your shoulders slightly to stay aligned with the target line. The proper stance affects how controlled the backswing is, governs the amount of hip turn in the backswing, and allows for the hips to clear through the downswing. Your front arm should be extended at all times to allow the club to travel in its maximum arc.


title: Ben Hogan

text: "The elbows should be tucked in, not stuck out from the body. At address, the left elbow should point directly at the left hipbone and the right elbow should point directly at the right hipbone. Furthermore, there should be a sense of fixed jointness between the two forearms and the wrists, and it should be maintained throughout the swing."


title: Ben Hogan

text: "You should bend your knees from the thighs down. As your knees bend, the upper part of the trunk remains normally erect, just as it does when you sit down in a chair. In golf, the sit-down motion is more like lowering yourself onto a spectator-sports-stick. Think of the seat of the stick as being about two inches or so below your buttocks."


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan advocates the use of a waggle not only because it helps you loosen your muscles, but also because it allows for your hands and arms to remember where to go for the first part of your backswing. The angle of the swing should feel like you are swinging under a slanting plane of glass. The "glass" has a hole for your head while it rests on your shoulders and touches the ground on top of your ball. Also, the backswing should be slightly steeper than the downswing. At the top of your backswing, your back should be facing the target.


title: Ben Hogan

text: "Actually, the hands start the club head back a split second before the arms start back. And the arms begin their movement a split second before the shoulders begin to turn."


title: Ben Hogan

text: "Just before your hands reach hip level, the shoulders, as they turn, automatically start pulling the hips around. As the hips begin to turn, they pull the left leg in to the right."


title: Ben Hogan

text: "When you have turned your shoulders all the way, your back should face squarely toward your target."


title: Ben Hogan

text: "As you begin the backswing, you must restrain your hips from moving until the turning of the shoulders starts to pull the hips around…It is this increased tension that unwinds the upper part of the body. It unwinds the shoulder, the arms and the hands in that order, the correct order. It helps the swing so much it makes it almost automatic."


title: Ben Hogan

text: "If he executes his backswing properly, as his arms are approaching hip level, they should be parallel with the plane and they should remain parallel with the plane, just beneath the glass, till they reach the top of the backswing. At the top of his backswing, his left arm should be extended at the exact same angle (to the ball) as the glass."


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan believes the second part of the swing, the downswing, is initiated by the hips starting to turn. A baseball player throws a ball by transferring his weight and rotates his hips. Then his shoulders and arm follow after. Hogan thinks that the downswing is very similar to this action. The downswing is at a slightly shallower angle and therefore the arms and hands should come from the inside-out on the downswing. The club head reaches its maximum speed, not at impact, but right after, when both arms are fully extended.


title: Ben Hogan

text: "At impact the back of the left hand faces toward your target. The wrist bone is definitely raised. It points to the target and, at the moment the ball is contacted, it is out in front, nearer to the target than any part of the hand."


title: Ben Hogan

text: "At that point just beyond impact where both arms are straight and extended the club head reaches its maximum speed."


title: Ben Hogan

text: "The Five Lessons" were initially released as a five-part series in "Sports Illustrated" magazine, beginning with the issue of March 11, 1957. It was compiled and printed in book form later that year and is currently in its 64th printing. Even today it continues to maintain a place at or near the top of the Amazon.com golf book sales rankings. The book was co-authored by Herbert Warren Wind, and illustrated by artist Anthony Ravielli.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan's ball striking has also been described as being of near miraculous caliber by other very knowledgeable observers such as Jack Nicklaus, who only saw him play some years after his prime. Nicklaus once responded to the question, "Is Tiger Woods the best ball striker you have ever seen?" with, "No, no - Ben Hogan, easily".


title: Ben Hogan

text: Further testimony to Hogan's (and Moe Norman's) status among top golfers is provided by Tiger Woods, who said that he wished to "own his (golf) swing" in the same way as Moe Norman and Hogan had. Woods claimed that this pair were the only players ever to have "owned their swings", in that they had total control of it and, as a result, of the ball's flight.


title: Ben Hogan

text: By most accounts, Ben Hogan was the best golfer of his era and still stands as one of the greatest of all time. "The Hawk" possessed fierce determination and an iron will, which combined with his unquestionable golf skills, formed an aura that could intimidate opponents into competitive submission. In Scotland, Hogan was known as "The Wee Ice Man", or, in some versions, "Wee Ice Mon," a moniker earned during his famous British Open victory at Carnoustie in 1953. It is a reference to his steely and seemingly nerveless demeanor, itself a product of a golf swing he had built that was designed to perform better the more pressure he put it under. Hogan rarely spoke during competition, and mostly kept to himself. Hogan was also highly respected by fellow competitors for his superb course management skills. During his peak years, he rarely if ever attempted a shot in competition which he had not thoroughly honed in practice.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Although his ball striking was perhaps the greatest ever, Hogan's putting skills are thought to have been below average, though he was capable of putting very well. Solid and sometimes spectacular in his early and peak years, Hogan by his later years deteriorated to the point of being an often poor putter by professional standards, particularly on slow greens. The majority of his putting problems developed after his 1949 car accident, which nearly blinded his left eye and impaired his depth perception. Toward the end of his career, he often stood over the ball inordinately long before drawing his putter back.


title: Ben Hogan

text: While he suffered from the "yips" in his later years, Hogan was known as an effective putter from mid to short range on quick, U.S. Open style surfaces at times during his career.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Ben Hogan won ten tournaments in 1948 alone, including the U.S. Open at Riviera Country Club, a course known as "Hogan's Alley" because of his success there. His 8-under par score in 1948 set a U.S. Open record that was matched only by Jack Nicklaus in 1980, Hale Irwin in 1990, and Lee Janzen in 1993. It was not broken until Tiger Woods shot par in 2000 (Jim Furyk also shot par in the 2003, Rory McIlroy set the current record with 16-under par in 2011, which was matched by Brooks Koepka in 2017).


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan remains the only player to win at least 10 PGA tour events in a year twice (13 in 1946 and 10 in 1948). Hogan owns the longest streaks of consecutive major attempts finishing in both the top 5 with 12 (1940–1947) and the top 10 with 18 (1948–1956). He is the only player to win as many as 8 majors in as few as 11 attempts (1948–1953). Hogan owns the longest streak of consecutive U.S Open attempts finishing in the top 10 with 16 (1940–1960). The next longest streak is 7. Hogan is one of only two players to win 3 consecutive U.S. Opens in 3 attempts (the other is Willie Anderson). Hogan finished in the top 10 in 12 consecutive U. S. Open attempts (1941–1956) which is the longest such streak in Open history. He achieved this on 12 different courses and won 5 times.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, a modern PGA Tour tournament venue, is also known as "Hogan's Alley" and may have the better claim to the nickname as he won its tour event five times. It was his home course after his retirement, and he was an active member of Colonial as well for many years. The sixth hole at Carnoustie, a par five on which Hogan took a famously difficult line off the tee during each of his rounds in the 1953 Open Championship, was renamed Hogan's Alley in 2003 during a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hogan's Open victory at Carnoustie.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Prior to the 1949 accident, Hogan never truly captured the hearts of his galleries, despite being one of the best golfers of his time. Perhaps this was due to his perceived cold and aloof on-course persona. But when Hogan shocked and amazed the golf world by returning to tournament golf only eleven months after his accident, and took second place in the 1950 Los Angeles Open after a playoff loss to Sam Snead, he was cheered on by ecstatic fans. "His legs simply were not strong enough to carry his heart any longer," famed sportswriter Grantland Rice said of Hogan's near-miss. However, he proved to his critics (and to himself, especially) that he could still win by completing his famous comeback five months later, defeating Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio in an 18-hole playoff at Merion near Philadelphia to win his second U.S. Open title.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan went on to achieve what is perhaps the greatest sporting accomplishment in history, limping to twelve more PGA Tour wins (including six majors) before retiring. In 1951, Hogan entered just five events, but won three of them – the Masters, U.S. Open, and World Championship of Golf, and finished second and fourth in his other two starts. He finished fourth on that season's money list, barely $6,000 behind the season's official money list leader Lloyd Mangrum, who played over twenty events. That year also saw the release of a biopic starring Glenn Ford as Hogan, called "Follow the Sun: The Ben Hogan Story". He even received a ticker-tape parade in New York City in 1953, upon his return from winning the British Open, the only time he played the event. With that victory, Hogan became just the second player, after Gene Sarazen, to win all four of the modern major championships—the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan remains the only player to win the Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open in the same calendar year (1953). His 14-under par at the 1953 Masters set a record that stood for a dozen years; as of 2018, he remains one of just twelve (Jack Nicklaus, Raymond Floyd, Ben Crenshaw, Tiger Woods, David Duval, Phil Mickelson, Charl Schwartzel, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, and Patrick Reed) to have recorded such a low score in the tournament. In 1967, at age 54, Hogan shot a record 30 on the back nine at the Masters; the record stood until 1992.


title: Ben Hogan

text: In 1945, Hogan set a PGA Tour record for a 72-hole event at the Portland Open Invitational by shooting 27-under-par. The record stood until 1998, when it was broken by John Huston (it has since been surpassed by nine others, including most recently Phil Mickelson's 28-under in the 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open).


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan never competed on the Senior PGA Tour, as that circuit did not exist until he was in his late sixties.


title: Ben Hogan

text: According to his PGA Tour profile, Hogan earned just $332,516 in official PGA events, however, a 2021 study concluded that Hogan's tournament performances could have earned him $91.8M if he had played in the modern era.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Many supporters of Hogan and some golf historians feel that his victory at the Hale America Open in 1942 should be counted as his fifth U.S. Open and 10th major championship, since the tournament was to be a substitute for the Open after its cancellation by the USGA. The Hale America National Open was held in the same time slot and was run like the U.S. Open with more than 1,500 entries, local qualifying at 69 sites and sectional qualifying at most major cities. The top players, who were not away fighting in World War II, participated and the largest purse of the year was awarded. Included in the field were the very top players of the day including Byron Nelson, Gene Sarazen, Jimmy Demaret, Lloyd Mangrum, and defending Open champion Craig Wood. The only player of that level who did not play was Sam Snead, but the field did also include Bobby Jones who had competed in his own Masters event in April of that year.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Following his most successful season, Hogan started his golf club company in the fall of 1953 in Fort Worth. Production began in the summer of 1954, with clubs targeted toward "the better player." Always a perfectionist, Hogan is said to have ordered the entire first production run of clubs destroyed because they did not meet his exacting standards.


title: Ben Hogan

text: In 1960, he sold the company to American Machine and Foundry (AMF), but stayed on as chairman of the board for several more years. AMF "Ben Hogan" golf clubs were sold continuously from 1960 to 1985 when AMF was bought by Minstar who sold The Ben Hogan company in 1988 to Cosmo World, who owned the club manufacturer until 1992, when it was sold to another independent investor, Bill Goodwin.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Goodwin moved the company out of Fort Worth, and a union shop, to Virginia so it would be close to his home of operations for other AMF brands and, incidentally, a non-union shop in an effort to return the company to profitability. Goodwin sold to Spalding in 1997, closing the sale in January 1998. Spalding returned manufacturing to Hogan's Fort Worth before eventually including the company's assets in a bankruptcy sale of Spalding's Top Flite division to Callaway in 2004. After over a half century and numerous ownership changes, the Ben Hogan line was discontinued by Callaway in 2008. The brand name was sold to Perry Ellis International in 2012. In May 2014, Eidolon Brands approached Perry Ellis International and got the rights to use Ben Hogan's name for a line of golf clubs. The company ceased trading in 2022.


title: Ben Hogan

text: Hogan died at age 84 in Fort Worth on July 25, 1997; his wife Valerie died two years later, and they are interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth.


title: Tirzepatide

text: Tirzepatide, sold under the brand name Mounjaro, is a medication used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Tirzepatide is given by weekly subcutaneous injection (under the skin). Common side effects may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, upper abdominal discomfort, and abdominal pain.


title: Tirzepatide

text: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) are hormones involved in blood sugar control. After a person has eaten, these hormones are secreted by cells of the intestines and in turn cause the secretion of insulin. Tirzepatide is a first-in-class medication. It is a GIP-analogue that activates both the GLP-1 and GIP receptors, leading to improved blood sugar control.


title: Tirzepatide

text: Tirzepatide is indicated to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes, as an addition to diet and exercise.


title: Tirzepatide

text: Tirzepatide should not be used in people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer or in people with multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2.


title: Tirzepatide

text: Preclinical, phase I, and phase II clinical trials indicated that tirzepatide exhibits adverse effects similar to those of other established GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as dulaglutide. These effects occur largely within the gastrointestinal tract. The most frequently observed are nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, which increased in incidence with the dosage amount (i.e. higher likelihood the higher the dose). The number of patients who discontinued taking tirzepatide also increased as dosage increased, with patients taking 15 mg having a 25% discontinuation rate vs 5.1% for 5 mg patients and 11.1% for dulaglutide. To a slightly lesser extent, patients also reported reduced appetite. Other side effects reported were dyspepsia, constipation, abdominal pain, dizziness and hypoglycaemia.


title: Tirzepatide

text: Tirzepatide is an analogue of gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP), a human hormone that stimulates the release of insulin from the pancreas. Tirzepatide is a linear polypeptide of 39 amino acids that has been chemically modified by lipidation to improve its uptake into cells and its stability to metabolism. It completed phase III trials globally in 2021.


title: Tirzepatide

text: Tirzepatide has a greater affinity to GIP receptors than to GLP-1 receptors, and this dual agonist behavior has been shown to produce greater reductions of hyperglycemia compared to a selective GLP-1 receptor agonist. Signaling studies reported that tirzepatide mimics the actions of natural GIP at the GIP receptor. However, at the GLP-1 receptor, tirzepatide shows bias towards cAMP (a messenger associated with regulation of glycogen, sugar and lipid metabolism) generation, rather than β-arrestin recruitment. This combination of preference towards GIP receptor and distinct signaling properties at GLP-1 suggest this biased agonism increases insulin secretion. Tirzepatide has been reported to increase levels of adiponectin, an adipokine involved in the regulation of both glucose and lipid metabolism, with a maximum increase of 26% from baseline after 26 weeks, at the 10 mg dosage.


title: Tirzepatide

text: Tirzepatide is an analog of the human GIP hormone with a C fatty-diacid portion attached, used to optimise the uptake and metabolism of the compound. The fatty-diacid section (eicosanedioic acid) is linked via a glutamic acid and two (2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethoxy)acetic acid units to the side chain of the lysine residue. This arrangement allows for a much longer half life, extending the time between doses, because of its high affinity to albumin.


title: Tirzepatide

text: The synthesis of tirzepatide was first disclosed in patents filed by Eli Lilly and Company. This uses standard solid phase peptide synthesis, with an allyloxycarbonyl protecting group on the lysine at position 20 of the linear chain of amino acids, allowing a final set of chemical transformations in which the sidechain amine of that lysine is derivatized with the lipid-containing fragment.


title: Tirzepatide

text: Eli Lilly and Company first applied for a patent for a method of glycemic control using tirzepatide in early 2016. The patent was published late that year. After passing phase III clinical trials, Lilly applied for FDA approval in October 2021, with a priority review voucher.


title: Tirzepatide

text: Following the completion of the SURPASS-2 trial (NCT03987919), the company announced on 28 April 2022 that tirzepatide had successfully met their endpoints in obese and overweight patients without diabetes.


title: Tirzepatide

text: In industry-funded preliminary trials comparing tirzepatide to the existing diabetes medication semaglutide (an injected analogue of the hormone GLP-1), tirzepatide showed minor improvement of reductions (2.01%–2.30% depending on dosage) in glycated hemoglobin tests relative to semaglutide (1.86%). A 10 mg dose has also been shown to be effective in reducing insulin resistance, with a reduction of around 8% from baseline, measured using HOMA2-IR (computed with fasting insulin). Fasting levels of IGF binding proteins like IGFBP1 and IGFBP2 increased following tirzepatide treatment, increasing insulin sensitivity.


title: Tirzepatide

text: A 2021 meta-analysis showed that over one-year of clinical use, tirzepatide was observed to be superior to dulaglutide, semaglutide, degludec, and insulin glargine with regards to glycemic efficacy and obesity reduction.


title: Tirzepatide

text: In a phase 3 double-blind, randomized, controlled trial supported by Eli Lilly, non-diabetic adults with a body mass index of 30 or more, or 27 or more and at least one weight-related complication, excluding diabetes, were randomized to receive once-weekly, subcutaneous tirzepatide (5 mg, 10 mg, or 15 mg). The mean percentage change in weight at week 72 was −15.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], −15.9 to −14.2) with 5-mg weekly doses of tirzepatide, −19.5% (95% CI, −20.4 to −18.5) with 10-mg doses, and −20.9% (95% CI, −21.8 to −19.9) with 15-mg doses and −3.1% (95% CI, −4.3 to −1.9) with placebo.


title: Tirzepatide

text: On 21 July 2022, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the medicinal product Mounjaro, intended for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.


title: The Slits

text: The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma Romero, who played briefly with Spizzenergi and later left to join the Raincoats), with Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt replacing founding members Kate Korus and Suzy Gutsy. Their 1979 debut album, "Cut", has been called one of the defining releases of the post-punk era.


title: The Slits

text: The Slits formed in 1976 when Ari Up went to a Patti Smith gig. After having an argument with her mother, Ari was approached by Palmolive and Kate Corris with the offer to form a band. The next day they had their first rehearsal.


title: The Slits

text: The group supported the Clash on their 1977 "White Riot" tour along with Buzzcocks, the Prefects and Subway Sect. Club performances of the Slits during this period are included in "The Punk Rock Movie" (1978). In November 1978, the Slits toured with the Clash again on the "Sort it Out Tour" and were joined by the Innocents who opened the shows. Joe Strummer said the group would be "great" with intense gigging.


title: The Slits

text: Palmolive left the band in 1978 and debuted with the Raincoats on 4 January 1979. She was replaced by the drummer Budgie (Peter Clarke), formerly of the Spitfire Boys and later of Siouxsie and the Banshees. With the change of drummer came a change of musical style. The Slits' originally raw, raucous and drum-dominated live sound, as captured on two Peel Sessions in 1977 and 1978, was cleaned up and polished to a more bass-orientated sound with the Budgie line up, and their new style drew heavily from reggae, dub and world music.


title: The Slits

text: Their Dennis Bovell-produced debut album "Cut" was released in September 1979 on Island Records, with Neneh Cherry joining as additional vocalist. The album's sleeve art depicted the band naked, except for mud and loincloths. It is often claimed that Palmolive left partly because she did not like the album artwork, including by Palmolive herself, but Viv Albertine has stated that Palmolive had been asked to leave the band several months previously, and she does not appear on the record.


title: The Slits

text: The Slits' sound and attitude became increasingly experimental and avant-garde during the early 1980s, when they formed an alliance with Bristol post-punk band the Pop Group, sharing drummer Bruce Smith and releasing a joint single, "In the Beginning There Was Rhythm / Where There's a Will..." (Y Records). This was followed by a bizarre untitled compilation album of mostly homemade demos and live performances from before the release of "Cut". The band toured widely and released their second studio album, "Return of the Giant Slits", before breaking up in early 1982. Ari Up went on to be part of the New Age Steppers.


title: The Slits

text: Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt reformed the band with new members in 2005, as Viv Albertine was unwilling to rejoin, and in 2006 released the EP "Revenge of the Killer Slits". The EP featured former Sex Pistols member Paul Cook and Marco Pirroni (formerly of Adam and the Ants, and Siouxsie and the Banshees) as both musicians and co-producers. Cook's daughter Hollie played with the band, singing and playing keyboards. Other members of the reformed band were No (of the Home Office) on guitar, German drummer Anna Schulte, and Adele Wilson on guitar.


title: The Slits

text: The band toured the United States for the first time in twenty-five years during 2006's 'States of Mind' tour, and followed this with tours of Australia and Japan, as well as opening for Sonic Youth at New York's McCarren Park Pool. Adele Wilson and No left the band, to be replaced by American guitarist Michelle Hill. A biography – "Typical Girls? The Story of the Slits" by Zoe Street Howe was published in the UK by Omnibus Press in July 2009, and the band's third full-length album entitled "Trapped Animal" was released three months later.


title: The Slits

text: Founding member Ari Up died in Los Angeles in October 2010 at the age of 48. The band's final work, the video for the song "Lazy Slam" from "Trapped Animal", was released posthumously according to Ari Up's wishes. A final song, the unreleased 1981 recording "Coulda Woulda Shoulda", was due to be released in early 2011.


title: Westphalia

text: Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.


title: Westphalia

text: The territory of the region is almost identical with the historic Province of Westphalia, which was a part of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1918 and the Free State of Prussia from 1918 to 1946. In 1946, Westphalia merged with North Rhine, another former part of Prussia, to form the newly created state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1947, the state with its two historic parts was joined by a third one: Lippe, a former principality and free state.


title: Westphalia

text: The seventeen districts and nine independent cities of Westphalia and the single district of Lippe are members of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association ("Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe").


title: Westphalia

text: Previous to the formation of Westphalia as a province of Prussia and later state part of North Rhine-Westphalia, the term "Westphalia" was applied to different territories of different sizes such as the western part of the ancient Duchy of Saxony, the Duchy of Westphalia or the Kingdom of Westphalia. The Westphalian language, a variant of the Low German language, is spoken beyond modern Westphalia's borders in neighbouring southwestern Lower Saxony and northwestern Hesse.


title: Westphalia

text: Being a part of the North German Plain, most of Westphalia's north is flat. In the south the German Central Uplands emerge. Westphalia is divided into the following landscapes.


title: Westphalia

text: Flat to hilly "( and under):" East Westphalia, Münsterland, eastern Ruhr Metropolitan Area, Tecklenburg Land, Westphalian Hellweg


title: Westphalia

text: Westphalia is roughly the region in between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located both north and south of the Ruhr River. Other important rivers are the Ems and the Lippe.


title: Westphalia

text: The Langenberg () and the Kahler Asten () in the Sauerland part of the Rothaar Mountains are Westphalia's and also North Rhine-Westphalia's highest mountains.


title: Westphalia

text: The term "Westphalia" contrasts with the much less used term "Eastphalia", which roughly covers the southeastern part of the present-day state of Lower Saxony, western Saxony-Anhalt and northern Thuringia.


title: Westphalia

text: Westphalia is divided into three governmental districts. These are subdivided into further districts and independent cities.


title: Westphalia

text: All districts and independent cities of the governmental districts of Arnsberg and Münster are considered to be a part of Westphalia as a historic region. The District of Lippe as successor of the Free State of Lippe in the Governmental District of Detmold is rather considered to be a separate historic region.


title: Westphalia

text: The traditional symbol of Westphalia is the Westphalian Steed: a white horse on a red field. It is derived from the Saxon Steed in the coat of arms of the medieval Duchy of Saxony which most of today's Westphalia was part of. In official contexts the coat of arms of Westphalia is being used by the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association, which represents these two historic parts of North Rhine-Westphalia.


title: Westphalia

text: The coat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia uses the Westphalian Steed to represent Westphalia as one of its parts alongside the Lippish Rose representing Lippe and the Rhine River representing the Northern Rhineland.


title: Westphalia

text: The coat of arms of Lower Saxony uses a different version of the Saxon Steed since the state also covers large parts of the Old Saxons' duchy.


title: Westphalia

text: The colours of Westphalia are white and red. The flag of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association uses these colours with the Westphalian coat of arms in its centre.


title: Westphalia

text: The flag of North Rhine-Westphalia is a combination of the Northern Rhineland's colours green/white and the Westphalian white/red.


title: Westphalia

text: Composed in Iserlohn in 1886 by Emil Rittershaus, the "Westfalenlied" is an unofficial anthem of Westphalia.


title: Westphalia

text: While the Northern Rhineland, Westphalia and Lippe are different historic territories of today's North Rhine-Westphalia, the old border between the former Rhine Province and the Province of Westphalia is also a language border. While in Westphalia and Lippe, people tend to speak West Low German dialects and especially the Westphalian variant of the Low German language, Central German and Low Franconian dialects are spoken in the Northern Rhineland.