title: 2008 NFL season

text: The New York Giants 2007 season/Super Bowl video was only released on DVD the previous year despite the fact that Toshiba dropped support of HD DVD (the primary rival of Blu-ray) just two weeks after Super Bowl XLII.


title: Simone Veil

text: Simone Veil (; ; 13 July 1927 – 30 June 2017) was a French magistrate and politician who served as Health Minister in several governments and was President of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1982, the first woman to hold that office. As health minister, she is best remembered for advancing women's rights in France, in particular for the 1975 law that legalized abortion, today known as "Veil Act" (). From 1998 to 2007, she was a member of the Constitutional Council, France’s highest legal authority.


title: Simone Veil

text: A Holocaust survivor, of both Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen, she was a firm believer in the European integration as a way of guaranteeing peace. She served as president of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, from 2000 to 2007, then subsequently as honorary president. Among many honours, she was made an honorary dame in 1998, was elected to the Académie Française in 2008, and in 2012 received the grand cross of the Légion d’honneur, the highest class of the highest French order of merit.


title: Simone Veil

text: One of France’s most revered figures, Simone Veil and her husband were buried at the Panthéon on 1 July 2018. Her eulogy was given by President Emmanuel Macron.


title: Simone Veil

text: Simone Jacob was born in Nice in south-east France on 13 July 1927, in an atheist Jewish family. Her father André Jacob was an architect who graduated from the Beaux-Arts de Paris and went on to win the Prix de Rome for Architecture. In 1922 he married Yvonne Steinmetz, who had just passed her Baccalaureate and was about to start studying chemistry. André Jacob insisted that she abandon her studies upon marriage. The family moved from Paris to Nice in 1924, hoping to benefit from construction projects on the Côte d’Azur. Simone was the youngest of four siblings, Madeleine (nicknamed Milou) was born in 1923; Denise in 1924 and Jean in 1925.


title: Simone Veil

text: On her father’s side, the family had come from Lorraine, on her mother’s from the Rhineland region and from Belgium.


title: Simone Veil

text: When Germany invaded France and the Vichy regime came to power in June 1940, the family managed to avoid being deported, as Nice had been included in the Italian occupation zone. Asked not to come to school by its superintendent, Simone Jacob had to study at home. As the round-up of Jews intensified, the whole family split up and lived with different friends under false identities. Denise left for Lyon to join the resistance, while 16-year-old Simone kept studying and passed her baccalaureate exam under her real name in March 1944. The next day, as she was on her way out to meet friends and celebrate the end of her secondary education, she was arrested by the Gestapo. On the same day, the rest of the family was also rounded up.


title: Simone Veil

text: On 7 April 1944, Simone, her mother, and her sisters were sent to the transit camp of Drancy, then on 13 April were deported to Auschwitz in Convoy 71. Simone’s brother and father were deported to the Baltic states in Convoy 73, never to be seen again, and thus were assumed to have been murdered. Her sister Denise was deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp, which she survived, and after the end of World War II in Europe was reunited with Simone.


title: Simone Veil

text: On 15 April 1944, Simone Jacob arrived at Auschwitz. She later wrote that she managed to avoid the gas chamber by lying about her age and was registered for the labour camp. In January 1945, Simone, along with her mother and sister, was sent on a march to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where her mother died of typhus. Madeleine also fell ill but, like Simone, was saved when the camp was liberated on 15 April 1945.


title: Simone Veil

text: Simone Jacob returned to France and started studying law at the University of Paris before going to the Institut d'études politiques, where she met Antoine Veil. The couple married on 26 October 1946, and would go on to have three sons, Jean, Nicolas, and Pierre-François. They moved to Germany, where they lived in the American occupied zone. In 1952, Madeleine Jacob died with her son in a car accident, after visiting Simone in Stuttgart. In 1956, Simone gave up working as a lawyer and instead passed the national examination to become a magistrate.


title: Simone Veil

text: After graduating from Institut d'études politiques de Paris with a law degree, Veil spent several years practising law. In 1954, she passed the national examination to become a magistrate. She entered and held a senior position at the National Penitentiary Administration under the Ministry of Justice. She was responsible for judicial affairs and improved women's prison conditions and the treatment of incarcerated women. In 1964, she left to become the director of civil affairs, where she improved French women's general rights and status. She successfully achieved the right to dual parental control of family legal matters and adoptive rights for women. In 1970, she became secretary general of the Supreme Magistracy Council ().


title: Simone Veil

text: From 1974 to 1979, Veil was a Minister of Health in the governments of prime ministers Jacques Chirac and Raymond Barre: from 28 May 1974 to 29 March 1977, Minister of Health; from 29 March 1977 to 3 April 1978, Minister of Health and Social Security; and from 3 April 1978 to 4 July 1979, Minister of Health and Family.


title: Simone Veil

text: She pushed forward two notable laws. The first, passed on 4 December 1974, facilitated access to contraception, the sale of contraceptives such as the combined oral contraceptive pill, which was legalized in 1967.


title: Simone Veil

text: The second, passed on 17 January 1975, legalized abortion in France - this was her hardest fought political initiative and the one for which she is best known. The abortion debate was particularly difficult for her because those in favor of keeping abortion illegal launched aggressive personal attacks against Veil and her family. However, since the passing of the law, many have paid tribute to Veil and thanked her for her courageous and determined fight.


title: Simone Veil

text: In 1976, Veil also helped to introduce a ban on smoking in certain public places and worked on the problem of medically underserved rural areas.


title: Simone Veil

text: In 1979, Veil was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in the first European parliamentary election. In its first session, the new Parliament elected Veil as its first President, a position she held until 1982. The archives concerning her term as President of the European Parliament are deposited at the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence.


title: Simone Veil

text: In 1981, Veil won the prestigious Charlemagne Prize an award given to honour the contributions made by individuals to advance the unity of Europe.


title: Simone Veil

text: After the end of her term as President, in 1982, she remained a member of the European Parliament. She became Chair of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party until 1989. She was re-elected for the last time in the 1989 election, standing down in 1993.


title: Simone Veil

text: Between 1984 and 1992, she served on the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, and the Committee on Political Affairs. After standing down from these committees, she served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its related Subcommittee on Human Rights. Between 1989 and 1993, she was also a member of Parliament's delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, serving as its vice-chairwoman until 1992.


title: Simone Veil

text: From 31 March 1993 to 16 May 1995, Veil was again a member of the cabinet, serving as Minister of State and Minister of Health, Social Affairs and the city in the government of Prime Minister Édouard Balladur.


title: Simone Veil

text: In the mid-1990s, she worked to help the disabled, HIV-positive patients, and mothers of young children.


title: Simone Veil

text: In 1998, she was appointed to the Constitutional Council of France. In 2005, she put herself briefly on leave from the council in order to campaign in favour of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. This action was criticized because it seemed to contradict the legal provisions that members of the council should keep a distance from partisan politics: the independence and impartiality of the council would be jeopardized, critics said, if members could put themselves "on leave" in order to campaign for a project. In response, Veil said that she, the President of the Constitutional Council and colleagues had deliberated on the issue beforehand and they had given her permission to take her leave without having to resign. Being a staunch supporter of the European project, she believed others should not "ignore the historical dimension of European integration".


title: Simone Veil

text: In 2003, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Criminal Court's Trust Fund for Victims.


title: Simone Veil

text: In 2007, Simone Veil supported presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy. She was by his side on the day after he received 31 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential elections that year.


title: Simone Veil

text: Simone Veil was the sixth woman to be elected to the Académie française, in 2008. She joined the Academy's forty "immortals", as the members are informally known, occupying the 13th seat, once the seat of literary figure Jean Racine. Her induction address was given in March 2010 by Jean d'Ormesson. On her sword, given to her as to every other immortal, is engraved her Auschwitz number (number 78651), the motto of the French Republic (liberté, égalité, fraternité) and the motto of the European Union, Unity in diversity (Unis dans la diversité).


title: Simone Veil

text: Her son Jean said at her public ceremony on 5 July, "I forgive you for having poured water over my head", in reference to an event where she had emptied a carafe of water over his head in disgust at what she considered to be his misogynist remarks.


title: Simone Veil

text: On 5 July 2017, Veil was honoured with a national ceremony and military honours in les Invalides courtyard, after which she was interred next to her husband, who died in 2013, at Montparnasse Cemetery. The ceremony at les Invalides was attended by President Macron, Holocaust survivors, politicians and dignitaries. In his speech during the ceremony, President Macron announced the decision to rebury Veil and her husband in the Panthéon, which was done on .


title: Simone Veil

text: In 2018, the government of France established a prize in memory of Veil to honour people who fight for women's causes. The intent is to draw attention to efforts in promoting women's autonomy, education, participation in leadership roles, and freedom from violence and discrimination. The prize is awarded each year on 8 March, International Women's Day, with €100,000 to support work in the winner's area of concern. On 8 March 2019, the first Simone Veil Prize was awarded to Aissa Doumara Ngatansou, co-founder of the Association for the Elimination of Violence against Women (ALVF) in Cameroon.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: The pubic symphysis is a secondary cartilaginous joint between the left and right superior rami of the pubis of the hip bones. It is in front of and below the urinary bladder. In males, the suspensory ligament of the penis attaches to the pubic symphysis. In females, the pubic symphysis is close to the clitoris. In most adults it can be moved roughly 2 mm and with 1 degree rotation. This increases for women at the time of childbirth.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: The pubic symphysis is a nonsynovial amphiarthrodial joint. The width of the pubic symphysis at the front is 3–5 mm greater than its width at the back. This joint is connected by fibrocartilage and may contain a fluid-filled cavity; the center is avascular, possibly due to the nature of the compressive forces passing through this joint, which may lead to harmful vascular disease. The ends of both pubic bones are covered by a thin layer of hyaline cartilage attached to the fibrocartilage. The fibrocartilaginous disk is reinforced by a series of ligaments. These ligaments cling to the fibrocartilaginous disk to the point that fibers intermix with it.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: Two such ligaments are the superior pubic ligament and the inferior pubic ligament, which provide the most stability; the anterior and posterior ligaments are weaker. The strong and thicker superior ligament is reinforced by the tendons of the rectus abdominis muscle, the abdominal external oblique muscle, the gracilis muscle, and by muscles of the hip. The superior pubic ligament connects together the two pubic bones superiorly, extending laterally as far as the pubic tubercles. The inferior ligament in the pubic arch is also known as the arcuate pubic ligament or subpubic ligament; it is a thick, triangular arch of ligamentous fibers, connecting together the two pubic bones below, and forming the upper boundary of the pubic arch. Above, it is blended with the interpubic fibrocartilaginous lamina; laterally, it is attached to the inferior rami of the pubic bones; below, it is free, and is separated from the fascia of the urogenital diaphragm by an opening through which the deep dorsal vein of the penis passes into the pelvis.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: Fibrocartilage is composed of small, chained bundles of thick, clearly defined, type I collagen fibers. This fibrous connective tissue bundles have cartilage cells between them; these cells to a certain extent resemble tendon cells. The collagenous fibers are usually placed in an orderly arrangement parallel to tension on the tissue. It has a low content of glycosaminoglycans (2% of dry weight). Glycosaminoglycans are long, unbranched polysaccharides (relatively complex carbohydrates) consisting of repeating disaccharide units. Fibrocartilage does not have a surrounding perichondrium. Perichondrium surrounds the cartilage of developing bone; it has a layer of dense, irregular connective tissue and functions in the growth and repair of cartilage.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: Hyaline cartilage is the white, shiny gristle at the end of long bones. This cartilage has poor healing potential, and efforts to induce it to repair itself frequently end up with a similar, but poorer fibrocartilage.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: In the newborn, the symphysis pubis is 9–10 mm in width, with thick cartilaginous end-plates. By mid-adolescence the adult size is achieved. During adulthood the end-plates decrease in width to a thinner layer. Degeneration of the symphysis pubis accompanies aging and postpartum. Women have a greater thickness of this pubic disc which allows more mobility of the pelvic bones, hence providing a greater diameter of pelvic cavity during childbirth.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: Analysis of the pelvis shows the skinny regions function as arches, transferring the weight of the upright trunk from the sacrum to the hips. The symphysis pubis connects these two weight-bearing arches, and the ligaments that surround this pelvic region maintain the mechanical integrity.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: The main motions of the symphysis pubis are superior/inferior glide and separation/compression. The functions of the joint are to absorb shock during walking and allow delivery of a baby.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: The pubic symphysis widens slightly when the legs are stretched far apart. In sports where these movements are often performed, the risk of a pubic symphysis blockage is high, in which case, after completion of the movement, the bones at the symphysis do not realign correctly and can get jammed in a dislocated position. The resulting pain can be severe, especially when further strain is put upon the affected joint. In most cases, the joint can only be successfully reduced into its normal position by a trained medical professional.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: Metabolic diseases, such as renal osteodystrophy, produce widening, while ochronosis results in calcific deposits in the symphysis. Inflammatory diseases, such as ankylosing spondylitis, result in bony fusion of the symphysis. Osteitis pubis, the most common inflammatory disease in this area, is treated with anti-inflammatory medication and rest. Degenerative joint disease of the symphysis, which can cause groin pain, results from instability or from abnormal pelvic mechanics.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: "Symphysiolysis" is separation or slipping of the symphysis. It has been estimated to occur in 0.2% of pregnancies.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: During pregnancy in the human, hormones such as relaxin remodel this ligamentous capsule allowing the pelvic bones to be more flexible for delivery. The gap of the symphysis pubis, normally is 4–5 mm but during pregnancy there will be an increase of at least 2–3 mm, therefore, it is considered that a total width of up to 9 mm between the two bones is normal for a pregnant woman. The symphysis pubis separates to some degree during childbirth. In some women this separation can become a diastasis of the symphysis pubis. The diastasis could be the result of a rapid birth, or a forceps delivery, or may be a prenatal condition. A diastasis of the symphysis pubis is a cause of pelvic girdle pain (PGP). Overall, about 45% of all pregnant women and 25% of all women postpartum suffer from PGP.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: Symphysiotomy is a surgical procedure in which the cartilage of the pubic symphysis is divided to widen the pelvis allowing childbirth when there is a mechanical problem. It allows the safe delivery of the fetus where Caesarean section is not an option. Symphysiotomy is suggested for woman in isolated areas experiencing obstructed labor where other medical intervention is unavailable.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: This practice was carried out in Europe before the introduction of the Caesarean section. Historically, during obstructed labor, the skull of the fetus was also, at least occasionally, crushed in order to further facilitate the delivery.


title: Pubic symphysis

text: Pubic symphyses have importance in the field of forensic anthropology, as they can be used to estimate the age of adult skeletons. Throughout life, the surfaces are worn at a fairly predictable rate. By examining the wear of the pubic symphysis, it is possible to estimate the age of the person at death.


title: Concrete masonry unit

text: A concrete masonry unit (CMU) is a standard-size rectangular block used in building construction. CMUs are some of the most versatile building products available because of the wide variety of appearances that can be achieved using them.


title: Concrete masonry unit

text: Those that use cinders (fly ash or bottom ash) as an aggregate material are called cinder blocks in the United States, breeze blocks ("breeze" is a synonym of "ash") in the United Kingdom, and hollow blocks in the Philippines. In New Zealand and Canada they are known as concrete blocks (a name common in the United States also). In New Zealand, they are also called construction blocks. In Australia, they are known as Besser blocks or Besser bricks, because the Besser Company was a major supplier of machines that made concrete blocks. Clinker blocks use clinker as aggregate.


title: Concrete masonry unit

text: In non-technical usage, the terms "cinder block" and "breeze block" are often generalized to cover all of these varieties.


title: Concrete masonry unit

text: Concrete blocks are made from cast concrete (e.g. Portland cement and aggregate, usually sand and fine gravel, for high-density blocks). Lower density blocks may use industrial wastes, such as fly ash or bottom ash, as an aggregate. Recycled materials, such as post-consumer glass, slag cement, or recycled aggregate, are often used in the composition of the blocks. Use of recycled materials within blocks can create different appearances in the block, such as a terrazzo finish, and may help the finished structure earn LEED certification. Lightweight blocks can also be produced using autoclaved aerated concrete; these are widely used for construction in Finland and similar northern countries for the material's inherent thermal isolation characteristics, as are expanded clay aggregate blocks.


title: Concrete masonry unit

text: The use of blockwork allows structures to be built in the traditional masonry style with layers (or courses) of staggered blocks. Concrete blocks may be produced with hollow centers (cores) to reduce weight, improve insulation and provide an interconnected void into which concrete can be poured to solidify the entire wall after it is built. Blocks come in modular sizes, with the most popular typically referred to (by their thickness) as "4-inch", "6-inch", "8-inch", and "12-inch". In the US, CMU blocks are nominally long and wide. Their actual dimensions are less than the nominal dimensions (to allow for -inch mortar joints between blocks in any orientation). In Ireland and the UK, blocks are usually excluding mortar joints. In Australia, New Zealand and Canada, blocks are usually excluding mortar joints.


title: Concrete masonry unit

text: Block cores are typically tapered so that their top surface (as laid) has a greater surface on which to spread a mortar bed and for easier handling. Most CMUs have two cores, but three- and four-core units are also produced. A core also allows for the insertion of steel reinforcement to span courses in order to increase tensile strength. This is accomplished by grouting the voids of blocks containing rebar with concrete. Thus reinforced, CMU walls are better able to resist lateral forces such as wind load and seismic forces. Cores may also be filled with expanded-polystyrene (EPS) block foam insulation, substantially increasing the R-value of the resulting wall to be in compliance with the US national energy code.


title: Concrete masonry unit

text: A variety of specialized shapes exist to allow special construction features. U-shaped blocks or knockout blocks with notches to allow the construction of bond beams or lintel assemblies, using horizontal reinforcing grouted into place in the cavity. Blocks with a channel on the end, known as "jamb blocks", allow doors to be secured to wall assemblies. Blocks with grooved ends permit the construction of control joints, allowing a filler material to be anchored between the un-mortared block ends. Other features, such as radiused corners known as "bullnoses" may be incorporated. A wide variety of decorative profiles also exist.


title: Concrete masonry unit

text: CMUs may be formulated with special aggregates to produce specific colors or textures for finish use. Special textures may be produced by splitting a ribbed or solid two-block unit; such factory-produced units are called "split-rib" or "split-face" blocks. Blocks may be scored by grooves the width of a mortar joint to simulate different block modules. For example, an block may be scored in the middle to simulate masonry, with the grooves filled with mortar and struck to match the true joints.


title: Concrete masonry unit

text: Concrete block, when built with integral steel reinforcement, is a very common building material for the load-bearing walls of buildings, in what is termed concrete block structure (CBS) construction. One of the common foundation types for American suburban houses is the "crawl space foundation" which consists of a concrete block wall around the perimeter on which dimensional lumber floor joists are supported. Retaining walls, which also can be constructed of concrete blocks, either using blocks designed to be set back each course and used with a sand base and without mortar or reinforcing (gravity wall), or using blocks (typically an architectural style of block or clad with a veneer such as brick) with a concrete base, steel reinforcing and mortar (piling wall). Other very common, non-structural uses for concrete block walls (especially in American schools) are as interior fire-rated and extremely durable partition walls, and as exterior backup curtain walls for attachment of building envelope systems (rigid foam insulation and an air/vapor barrier) and veneers (stucco, steel, brick, or split-face concrete block).


title: Concrete masonry unit

text: Concrete masonry walls may be ungrouted, partially grouted, or fully grouted, the latter two enhancing their structural strength. Additionally, steel reinforcement bars (rebar) can be used both vertically and horizontally inside a CMU wall to maximize its structural performance. The cells in which the rebar is placed must be grouted for the bars to bond to the wall. For this reason, high seismic zones typically only allow fully grouted walls in their building codes. The American design code that guides design engineers in using CMU as a structural system is the "Masonry Standards Joint Committee's Building Code Requirements & Specification for Masonry Structures" (TMS 402/ACI 530/ASCE 5).


title: Concrete masonry unit

text: The compressive strength of concrete masonry units and masonry walls varies from approximately based on the type of concrete used to manufacture the unit, stacking orientation, the type of mortar used to build the wall, it depends on whether it is a load bearing partition or not and other factors.


title: Wedding ring

text: A wedding ring or wedding band is a finger ring that indicates that its wearer is married. It is usually forged from metal, traditionally gold or another precious metal. Rings were used in ancient Rome during marriage, though the modern practice of exchanging rings during weddings has a Christian origin.


title: Wedding ring

text: Depending on the culture, a wedding ring is typically worn on the base of the left ring finger; if the wearer is left-handed, often it will go onto the right hand. The ring finger is widely claimed to be associated with the traditional belief known as "vena amoris" ("vein of love"). Many spouses wear their wedding rings day and night, causing an indentation in the skin that is visible even when the ring is removed.


title: Wedding ring

text: The Western traditions of wedding rings can be traced to ancient Rome and Greece, and were first associated with the marital dowry and later with a promise of fidelity. The modern exchange of rings derived from the customs of Europe in the Middle Ages as part of Christendom.


title: Wedding ring

text: During the 16th and 17th centuries, European husbands bestowed a gimmel ring upon their wives. Similar to the puzzle ring, the gimmel ring consisted of two interlocking bands. The bride and groom both wore one of these bands after their engagement, and the two bands were reunited during the wedding ceremony. Subsequently, the wife wore the combined ring.


title: Wedding ring

text: The poesy ring was a style of ring that was popular during the Renaissance era. It was a band of sterling silver inscribed with a poem or "poesy".


title: Wedding ring

text: Different cultures used many other historical styles of wedding ring. For example, see the image below of the Byzantine ring depicting Christ uniting bride and groom. Also, in the Middle East the puzzle ring was a historical custom: this ring consisted of several pieces that joined together into a cohesive band when worn properly. The object of this style of ring was to render it very difficult to put on the finger properly such that, if the wife removed it, her husband would know. The fede ring, being a band consisting of two hands clasped in betrothal, is another historical custom of Europe that ostensibly dates from antiquity.


title: Wedding ring

text: In 1942 during the Second World War, British wartime restrictions on the manufacture of jewelry resulted in "utility" wedding rings that were limited to a maximum mass of two pennyweights, being slightly heavier than 3 grams, and were forged of 9 carat gold rather than the traditional 22 carat. The Regional Assayer Office hallmarked these rings, which guaranteed their gold content and compliance with the wartime regulations with a special utility mark adjacent to the mark for the year on the inside of the band; the hallmark resembled a capital "U" with the bottom curve absent or two parentheses enclosing a space, i. e., "()".


title: Wedding ring

text: The double-ring ceremony describes the exchange of wedding rings by and for both spouses. In several European nations such as the Nordic countries, it is common to exchange plain engagement rings of the same form for both sexes, and typically, an additional, more precious, and bejeweled wedding ring is given to the bride. In the nuptials, the groom's ring becomes a wedding ring also, and can be bestowed anew by the bride as a part of the wedding ceremony. The engagement is commonly a matter of agreement between the two, and the wedding rings are chosen together. Both engagement and wedding rings are worn on the left hand, the bride having both rings together. Occasionally, the groom receives a separate wedding ring. In Germany and Austria, both parties use engagement rings worn on the left hand. At the nuptials, a wedding ring is placed on the right hand, as in several east European nations, including Bulgaria, Poland, and Russia. This can be a new ring for the bride or both, or reusing the engagement rings. Any engagement rings can then remain on the left hand or be transferred to the right hand. In Germany, it has been customary for both the bride and the groom to wear a wedding ring since at least the 1870s and mentions of couples exchanging rings during the wedding ceremony in the Netherlands can be found at least as far back as 1815. In both the United States and Canada, wedding rings were initially only worn by wives, but became customary for both spouses during the 20th century. In Brazil, Mexico, and Spain both sexes also wear engagement rings, and the groom's ring often becomes a wedding ring in the nuptial exchange ceremony. In The Netherlands plain bands can be worn on either hand, left for Catholics and right for Protestants. When engaged, both bride and groom wear what will be the wedding band on the opposite hand and switch hands after the wedding.


title: Wedding ring

text: In Western nations, wedding rings are often forged of gold, palladium, platinum, argentium silver, titanium, tungsten, or more recently, silicone. The perpetuity of noble metals symbolizes the permanence of the marriage. Common engravings on the inside of the ring include the name of one's spouse, the names of both spouses, the date of the wedding or a phrase of significance to the spouses. In many nations the engagement rings are plain while the bride's wedding ring commonly is bejeweled.


title: Wedding ring

text: Some customs include the wedding ring as the final of a series of gifts, which also may include the engagement ring, traditionally given as a betrothal present. This custom was practiced in ancient Rome.


title: Wedding ring

text: In several traditions, the best man or maid of honor has the duty of keeping track of a couple's wedding rings and to produce them at the symbolic moment of the giving and receiving of the rings during the traditional marriage ceremony. In more elaborate weddings, a ring bearer (who is often part of the family of the bride or groom) may assist in the ceremonial parading of the rings into the ceremony, sometimes on a special cushion.


title: Wedding ring

text: In Western Christianity, engagement rings are exchanged during the betrothal rite, while wedding rings are given during the celebration of holy matrimony itself. Among Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Lutheran and Eastern Catholic Christians, the exchange of rings is not technically part of the wedding service, but rather are exchanged at the betrothal. It is always a two-ring set given to her by the priest or by the best man. Unlike most other Orthodox Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church of Greece has recently stopped performing betrothal blessings separately, and now a betrothal ceremony is the initial part of the wedding service. In Greece, the ceremony of betrothal may be performed immediately before the wedding (or "crowning" as it is more properly called), and the actual symbolic act of marriage is not the exchange of rings, but the crowning.


title: Wedding ring

text: Historically, the wedding ring was connected to the exchange of valuables at the moment of the wedding rather than a symbol of eternal love and devotion, a sign of "earnest money". According to the 1549 edition of the Book of Common Prayer: after the words 'with this ring I thee wed' follow the words 'This gold and silver I give thee', at which point the groom was supposed to hand a leather purse filled with gold and silver coins to the bride. It is a relic of the times when marriage was a contract between families, not individual lovers. Both families were then eager to ensure the economic safety of the young couple. Sometimes it went as far as being a conditional exchange as this old (and today outdated) German formula shows: 'I give you this ring as a sign of the marriage which has been promised between us, provided your father gives with you a marriage portion of 1000 Reichsthalers' (approximately 20 kg of silver).


title: Wedding ring

text: After marriage the wedding ring is worn on the hand on which it had been placed during the ceremony. By wearing rings on their fourth fingers, married spouses symbolically declare their life-long love for and fidelity to each other. This symbol has public utility, and is presently expected as a matter of tradition and etiquette, so much so that its absence is often interpreted as meaning that the person is single. Many spouses wear their wedding rings day and night. It is not uncommon for either marriage partner who have professions that the wearing of jewelry may be dangerous such as, actors, police, electrical workers, not to wear rings. So it is not uncommon for one to wear it on a chain around their neck. Since the 19th century in the West, it has been considered unlucky to remove a wedding ring once it has been placed on the finger in church.


title: Wedding ring

text: Some cultures exchange additional rings. In some parts of India, Hindu women may wear a toe ring or "bichiya" instead of a finger ring, but the "bichiya" is increasingly worn in addition to a finger ring. In eastern India, primarily in West Bengal, women wear an iron bangle, which may be gold- or silver-plated, called a "loha". In Romania, spouses celebrate their silver wedding anniversary, i. e., twenty-fifth anniversary, by exchanging silver rings, which are worn on the fourth finger of the left hands along with their original, and usually gold, wedding rings.


title: Wedding ring

text: While most Christian Churches (such as the Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican) have the exchange of rings within their wedding liturgies, some Christian denominations eschew the use of wedding rings.


title: Wedding ring

text: The wearing of plain dress has historically been practiced by many Methodist Churches, in keeping with the teaching of John Wesley, who stated that people should not be "adorned with gold, or pearls, or costly apparel" (this clause is contained in The General Rules of the Methodist Church). The first Methodist liturgical text, The Sunday Service of the Methodists, omitted the ring ceremony. As such, members of some Methodist Churches, such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Bible Methodist Connection of Churches, do not wear wedding rings. However, other Methodist Churches contain the exchange of wedding rings within their services for Holy Matrimony. In the wedding liturgy for the Free Methodist Church, for example, the groom and bride say the following when exchanging rings: "This ring I give you in token and pledge of our constant faith and steadfast love". "A Service of Christian Marriage, Rite I" contained in The United Methodist Book of Worship states that the exchange of rings is optional but when it is done, they are blessed and pronounced as "the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, signifying to us the union between Jesus Christ and His Church". Following this, the bride and groom state the following as they exchange rings: ""Name", I give you this ring as a sign of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."


title: Wedding ring

text: Some conservative Mennonite groups do not wear jewelry, including wedding rings, as part of their practice of plain dress. The Amish do not wear wedding rings but the men are clean shaven before marriage and grow a full beard after marriage.


title: Wedding ring

text: Among Quaker Christians, especially Conservative Friends and Holiness Friends, the wedding ring is traditionally not worn as a part of their testimony of simplicity. Among Quaker groups that do wear wedding rings, the following wording is used by the bride and groom as they are exchanged: "With this ring, I thee wed." The Friends General Conference, for example, teaches that "Although wedding rings are not necessary in a Quaker wedding, the couple may exchange them if they wish. This is often done after they speak their vows."


title: Wedding ring

text: Traditionally, adherents of the Seventh-day Adventist Church do not wear wedding rings. The usage of wedding rings among Seventh-day Adventists, however, has increased.


title: Wedding ring

text: In recent years Smart rings were used by royals and celebrities as an alternative to classic wedding rings. Such smart rings can be a activity trackers or communication devices allowing to feel partner's heartbeat.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: Rebecca Mawii Zahau (March 15, 1979 – July 13, 2011), also known as Rebecca Nalepa, was a Burmese American woman who was found hanging at the Spreckels Mansion in Coronado, California, United States, on July 13, 2011, and pronounced dead by first responders called to the residence. Her death occurred two days after 6-year-old Max Shacknai, the son of her boyfriend Jonah Shacknai, had fallen from the staircase of the mansion. At the time he was in critical condition in a hospital. Rebecca and her younger sister, Xena, were the only known people present at the time of Max's fall. Subsequently on July 16, 2011, Max Shacknai died of his injuries.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore announced on September 2, 2011, that Zahau's death was a suicide while the younger Shacknai's death had been ruled an accident, and that neither was the result of foul play. Members of Zahau's family disputed this finding and filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against Jonah Shacknai's brother Adam. The jury in that civil trial found Adam Shacknai responsible for Zahau's death and granted her family a $5 million judgment for loss of love and companionship as well as an additional $167,000 for the loss of financial support Zahau would have provided her mother and siblings.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: In February 2019, Adam Shacknai appealed the judgment with the defense arguing procedural errors and juror misconduct. Prior to final arguments being presented to the judge, Shacknai's insurance company and the Zahau family reached a settlement of $600,000 resulting in the civil case being dismissed with prejudice, and vacating the original $5 million judgment.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: Rebecca Zahau (born March 15, 1979), was of Burmese immigrant origin. She was born in Falam, Chin State, a town in the Chin Hills in northwestern Burma (or Myanmar), to her father Khua Hnin Thang and mother Zung Tin Par (or Pari). After living in Nepal and Germany, Zahau moved to the United States about ten years before her death.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: Zahau came from a family of Chin ethnicity and was raised as a Protestant. Her parents and most family members live in Saint Joseph, Missouri. She had an older sister, Mary Zahau-Loehner; a younger sister, Snowem Horwath, who lives in Germany; and a teenage sister, Xena Zahau, among other siblings.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: In August 2009, Zahau was arrested for shoplifting after stealing $1,000 worth of jewelry from a Macy's in Phoenix, Arizona, to which she pled guilty. In 2002, she married 36-year-old nursing student Neil Nalepa of Scottsdale, Arizona; they divorced in February 2011. She worked as an ophthalmic technician until quitting in December 2010.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: In 2008, Zahau began dating Jonah Shacknai, the CEO of Medicis Pharmaceutical, while she was still married to Nalepa. Shacknai's position at Medicis made him the ninth-highest-paid CEO in Arizona, earning $6.4 million in 2010. He had two previous marriages. His first marriage to Kimberly James resulted in a divorce and a three-year custody fight over the couple's two children. He had a son, Maxfield Aaron "Max" Shacknai (June 7, 2005 – July 16, 2011), with second wife Dina Romano.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: On July 11, 2011, Zahau, Max, and Zahau's teenaged sister, Xena, were at the Spreckels Mansion in Coronado, California, which Shacknai used as a summer estate. At some point during that day, Max fell face-first over a second-floor banister, suffering injuries to his spinal cord and facial bones, the former of which affected his heart rate and breathing. Zahau said she was in the bathroom at the time; she found Max moments later, and Xena called 9-1-1. Max was not breathing and unresponsive, and was taken to Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. He died on July 16 due to brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation resulting from his injuries.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: On July 26, investigators ruled Max's death as an accident, speculating that he somehow tripped. However, a trauma doctor who examined the child prior to his death and autopsy stated to police that he did not believe the injuries from his fall were consistent with the cardiac arrest and brain swelling experienced by him, suggesting that Max may have suffocated prior to his fall.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: On July 12, 2011, Zahau dropped off Xena at the airport for her flight back to Missouri, and then picked up Jonah Shacknai's brother, Adam, who had just arrived on a flight from Memphis, Tennessee. Zahau, Jonah, and Adam ate dinner with a friend named Howard that evening. Zahau and Adam returned to the Spreckels Mansion, while Jonah reportedly kept a vigil at Max's bedside with the child's mother, Dina Romano; he would leave the hospital to recuperate at a nearby Ronald McDonald House. There were reports of loud music coming from the Spreckels Mansion later that night.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: On the morning of July 13, at roughly 6:45 AM, Adam stated that he found Zahau's nude body hanging from a balcony, with her wrists and ankles bound and her hands behind her back. He called 9-1-1 at 6:48 AM, then sent a text message to his brother to inform him of the news. He cut down Zahau's body before the police arrived. Medics attempted to revive her, but pronounced her dead at the scene. Police initiated forensic and toxicology testing on her body as part of an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Speculations of foul play began early on in the case; however, investigators were unable to find any other DNA at the scene besides Zahau's. On September 2, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department formally announced their finding that Zahau committed suicide.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: Zahau's autopsy results revealed four instances of head trauma, about which investigators and outside commentators expressed various theories. San Diego Medical Examiner Jonathan Lucas stated that "because there was evidence that she went over the balcony in a non-vertical position, she may have struck her head on the balcony on the way down." Werner Spitz, an expert witness who testified during the trial of Casey Anthony, said it was a possibility, stating, "When the body first dropped, she doesn't necessarily jump to her death, so she would drop directly downward and she could easily hit against the side of the structure from which she is hanging." However, he noted that to draw stronger conclusions he would have preferred to see what the body looked like before the wrist bindings were removed. Forensic consultant Dr. Maurice Godwin expressed doubt, stating, "The chances of bumping into the railing, going over the balcony and hitting your head four times is highly unlikely."


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: A second autopsy on Zahau was conducted by pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht at her family's request. Wecht testified that he believed fractures in Zahau's throat were caused by manual strangulation, not by suicidal hanging. He further stated that he thought Zahau's death "was a homicide." An attorney for Zahau's family stated that other inaccuracies were found with the Sheriff's Department investigation, including evidence that indicated that Zahau was sexually assaulted before her death.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: Family members expressed suspicions for why Zahau's hands and feet were bound. San Diego Sheriff Roy Frank stated, "There are documentations of incidents throughout the country where people have secured their feet and hands as well to commit suicide," to prevent themselves from changing their minds. Police re-enacted the scenario in an effort to determine whether it would have been possible for Zahau to bind herself in that fashion, and showed a video demonstration in which a woman wrapped a rope around her hands several times in front of her, slipped one hand out of the binding, then placed her hands behind her back, rebound them, and tightened the bindings with the aid of a string similar to the one which police found in Zahau's hands.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: A message had been painted on the door of the room leading to the balcony below where police found Zahau's body; according to Zahau's ex-husband Nalepa, it read, "She saved him, can he save her." Officials initially declined to confirm this. In media comments, Sheriff Gore only stated that it was "not a clear suicide note"; however, investigators took it as further evidence of suicide. Zahau liked to paint as a hobby and had signed her paintings in the past; her siblings contended that the message did not match her handwriting. Nalepa also stated the note "did not appear to be something [Zahau] would have written."


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: Police served Verizon and AT&T with search warrants to obtain cell phone billing records, and took Zahau's Samsung Focus cell phone as evidence. According to AT&T records, from roughly 8:00pm until 10:00pm, Zahau talked and texted with her older sister Mary, who confirmed that Xena had arrived home safely. At 10:48 PM, Zahau received a text from Nina Romano, the twin sister of Jonah Shacknai's ex-wife, who wanted to stop by the house and talk about Max's accident. Zahau did not reply to that message. Police said Zahau checked her voicemail a few hours later, at 12:50am, and listened to a message. Billing records do not show who left that message. Police stated it was a message regarding the worsening of Max's condition, but declined to confirm at that time who left the message; Mary stated that police told her it was from Jonah. The message was deleted, meaning that police and Zahau's family never heard the contents of the message.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: Investigators initially did not attempt to power up or operate the cell phone, fearing that they might overwrite evidence contained in its memory. Instead, they tried to determine whether forensic software was available which would allow them to examine that model of phone. On August 15, unable to identify any such technology, a detective turned on the phone and conducted a manual search of it, finding that the voicemail message was not stored on the phone. They did not request that AT&T try to retrieve the deleted message from its servers. Later, on September 21, an investigator announced that they would be using "new technology" to copy the phone's data for further investigation. In early October, investigators completed their second examination of the phone, stating that they did not uncover any additional information and would soon return it to Zahau's family.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: Zahau and Max's deaths drew intense public and media scrutiny. On July 14, 2011, Medicis had its sharpest one-day decline in stock price since February. News of the investigations received international coverage in various countries including Brazil, New Zealand, Finland, Spain, and the U.K. throughout July and August.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: In early September, various "Forbes" writers, including true crime writer Cathy Scott and lawyer Victoria Pynchon, expressed doubts about the investigators' conclusions; Pynchon described the ruling as an "embarrassing public blunder." "The Daily Beast" published a column by trial lawyer Roy Black, in which he criticized "half-baked theories" about Zahau's death, in particular stating the lack of DNA evidence: "How could anyone do all this without leaving behind a scintilla of microscopic evidence? They would have to have been wearing a full rubber suit or some type of space suit and levitated over the scene." He called on the media and public to "stop calling it murder."


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: On September 19, 2011, it was reported that local Coronado author Kathleen McKenna would be writing a book on the case; McKenna expressed doubts that Zahau's death was a suicide.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: Family members and people close to Zahau expressed doubt that her death was suicide. Her younger sister, Snowem Horwath, insisted that, "Becky did not commit suicide. My sister was murdered." Her former trainer also stated that, "She was always happy [and] always smiling when she came in. I didn't see a problem or anything like that." Family members disputed police characterizations of Zahau as depressed, describing her instead as a happy person. Furthermore, they state that Zahau believed as a Christian that suicide was wrong. After the suicide ruling, Nalepa was quoted as stating, "I would not believe Rebecca would commit suicide. It's out of character."


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: However, Sheriff Gore, who investigated the death, stated of the family's reluctance to accept the suicide ruling, "We laid out the case extensively to them in Missouri to answer their questions, and it's unfortunate [Zahau's sister] can't accept the results." On September 7, the family launched the website JusticeForRebecca.org, seeking donations to fund their own investigation into Zahau's death. The site states: "It was obvious that the Sheriff's Department had worked too hard to paint this picture of suicide and they were not about to let the Zahaus ruin it." In late September, they continued to demand that the case be re-opened.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: On September 20, 2011, Jonah Shacknai wrote a letter to California Attorney General Kamala Harris requesting a state review of the investigation. Shacknai himself did not doubt the findings of investigations, but said he hoped a review would bring "confidence, comfort and resolution" to others close to Zahau. However, Chief Assistant Attorney General Dane Gillette replied the following day, stating that "we must decline your invitation to review this investigation at this time." On September 30, family members appeared on NBC's "Today" and called for an independent investigation by the state attorney general's office.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: Zahau's family hired Seattle attorney Anne Bremner, who derided the medical examiner's conclusions, stating, "This would be the first case in the history of the world that a woman killed herself like this ... It's ridiculous on the face of it." Dan K. Webb of Winston & Strawn LLP, a lawyer for Jonah Shacknai, alleges that other statements of Bremner's imply that Shacknai used his wealth and profile to improperly influence the investigation. He sent a cease and desist letter to Bremner warning her that certain statements of hers constituted defamation, as well as being "highly insensitive on a human level" and contributing to "the harsh and unkind glare of a national media frenzy." However, Jim Edwards of "BNET" suggested it was unlikely that Shacknai would actually sue, as it would simply bring more publicity to the case; he expected that the situation effectively "leaves the Zahau family to continue their claims unchallenged."


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: Shacknai hired public relations firm Sitrick and Company to represent him the week after Zahau's death. In response to media inquiries, a Sitrick and Company employee stated that he had hired the firm to handle his large volume of incoming calls in the days after the deaths, to give him time to grieve and make arrangements for the funerals. Sitrick and Company executives later held discussions with journalists whom they believed had made errors in their reporting on the case.


title: Death of Rebecca Zahau

text: In 2018, jurors on the panel in the wrongful death suit against Adam Shacknai found him responsible in the death of Rebecca Zahau, and awarded the Zahau family $5 million.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: Raphaël Adelino José Guerreiro (; born 22 December 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as left-back or as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Portugal national team.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: He began his career at Caen, signing in 2013 with Lorient where he made his Ligue 1 debut. In June 2016, he joined Borussia Dortmund.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: Born in France, Guerreiro represented Portugal at under-21 and senior level, first appearing for the latter in 2014. He was part of their squad at two World Cups and two European Championships, winning Euro 2016.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: Born in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis to a Portuguese father and a French mother, Guerreiro played youth football for three clubs, finishing his formation at Stade Malherbe Caen after signing in 2008 at the age of 14. After starting as a senior with the reserve team he made his professional debut in the 2012–13 season, appearing in all the games and failing to start only once in an eventual fourth-place finish in Ligue 2; he was also elected to the Team of the Year.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: On 27 June 2013, Guerreiro moved to Ligue 1 after signing a four-year contract with FC Lorient. His maiden appearance in the competition took place on 10 August, as he featured the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away loss against Lille OSC.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: On 1 November 2014, Guerreiro scored his first goal for Lorient, opening the scoring at title-holders Paris Saint-Germain F.C. but in an eventual 2–1 defeat. He finished the campaign with seven goals to help his team stave off relegation, including the equaliser as they came from behind to defeat his former employers 2–1 at the Stade du Moustoir.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: Guerreiro opened the scoring in a Derby Breton on 24 October 2015, assisted by Majeed Waris in a 1–1 home draw against Stade Rennais FC.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: On 16 June 2016, Borussia Dortmund signed Guerreiro to a four-year contract for a reported fee of €12 million (£9.5 million). Under coach Thomas Tuchel, he was primarily deployed as a midfielder.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: Guerreiro scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League on 14 September 2016, in a 6–0 away win against Legia Warsaw in the group phase. In the 2018–19 edition of the competition, and also at that stage, he added braces in victories over Atlético Madrid (4–0, home) and AS Monaco FC (2–0).


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: Guerreiro accepted the call to represent the Portugal under-21 team after being spotted by Rui Jorge's coaching staff, making his debut on 21 March 2013 in a 0–1 home defeat against Sweden. On 7 November 2014, even though he hardly spoke the language, he was called up by Fernando Santos to the full side, for a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Armenia and a friendly with Argentina. He made his debut on 14 November against the former opponent, playing the entire 1–0 win in Faro. Four days later, against Argentina, he scored in the last minute for the only goal at Old Trafford.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: Guerreiro returned to the under-21s for the 2015 UEFA European Championship in the Czech Republic, helping them finish in second place. He was one of five Portuguese included in the Team of the Tournament.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: Guerreiro was selected by the main squad for their UEFA Euro 2016 campaign, playing the full 90 minutes in the first game, a 1–1 draw with Iceland in Saint-Étienne. Portugal went on to win the competition, defeating hosts France 1–0 in the final in extra time; following his performances throughout the competition, he was nominated for the Young Player of the Tournament Award, which ultimately went to his teammate Renato Sanches.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: In spite of an injury-riddled season, Guerreiro was picked for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He started four matches in Russia, in a round-of-16 exit.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: Guerreiro also made the squad for UEFA Euro 2020. He opened the 3–0 victory over Hungary in the first group fixture, but scored an own goal the following one in a 4–2 loss to Germany.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: In November 2022, Guerreiro was named in the final squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. On 6 December, he scored his team's fourth in an eventual 6–1 rout of Switzerland in Lusail in the round of 16.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: In 2014, Guerreiro said that he supported S.L. Benfica, dreamed of playing for Real Madrid and his favourite player was Cristiano Ronaldo. His Portugal under-21 manager, Rui Jorge, remembered him as a very introverted character, in part due to his language difficulties.


title: Raphaël Guerreiro

text: Guerreiro and his family used to watch matches of the Portuguese national team, of which Pauleta was a footballer he admired.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Mary Ann Cotton (' Robson; 31 October 1832 – 24 March 1873) was an English convicted murderer who was executed for poisoning her stepson. Despite her sole conviction for murder, she is believed to have been a serial killer who killed many others including 11 of her 13 children and three of her four husbands for their insurance policies. Her preferred method of killing was poisoning with arsenic.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Cotton's undoing came after she tried to have the son of her deceased husband sent to a workhouse. When that failed, within days she told parish officials that Charles Edward Cotton had died. Investigations into her behaviour soon showed a pattern of deaths. The body of the stepson was examined and found to contain arsenic. Cotton was convicted of his murder and sentenced to death. She was hanged at Durham Gaol. She did not die on the gallows from breaking of her neck but died by strangulation because the rope was set too short, possibly deliberately.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Mary Ann Robson was born on 31 October 1832 at Low Moorsley, County Durham to Margaret, née Londsdale and Michael Robson, a colliery sinker; and baptised at St Mary's, West Rainton on 11 November. Her sister Margaret was born in 1834 but lived only a few months. Her brother Robert was born in 1835.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: When Mary Ann was eight, her parents moved the family to the County Durham village of Murton. At the time of her trial, "The Northern Echo" published an article containing a description of Mary Ann as given by her childhood Wesleyan Sunday school superintendent at Murton, describing her as "a most exemplary and regular attender", "a girl of innocent disposition and average intelligence", and "distinguished for her particularly clean and tidy appearance."


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Soon after the move, Mary Ann's father fell to his death down a mine shaft at Murton colliery in February 1842. Her father's body was delivered to her mother in a sack bearing the stamp 'Property of the South Hetton Coal Company'. As the miner's cottage they inhabited was tied to Michael's job, the widow and children would have been evicted. In 1843, her mother married George Stott (1816–1895), also a miner. At 16, Mary Ann left home to become a nurse at the nearby village of South Hetton, in the home of Edward Potter, a manager at Murton colliery. After all of the children had been sent to boarding school in Darlington over the next three years, she returned to her stepfather's home and trained as a dressmaker.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: In 1852, 20-year-old Mary Ann married colliery labourer William Mowbray at Newcastle Upon Tyne register office; they soon moved to South West England. At the time of her trial, there were reports of four or five of their children dying young while they were living away from County Durham. None of these deaths are registered, as although registration was compulsory at the time, the law was not enforced until 1874. The only birth recorded was that of their daughter Margaret Jane, born at St Germans in 1856.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: William and Mary Ann moved back to North East England, where William worked as a fireman aboard a steam vessel sailing out of Sunderland, then as a colliery foreman. Another daughter, Isabella, was born in 1858, and Margaret Jane died in 1860. Another daughter, also named Margaret Jane, was born in 1861, and a son, John Robert William, was born in 1863, but died the next year from gastric fever.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: William died of an intestinal disorder in January 1865. The lives of William and of their children were insured by the British and Prudential Insurance office and Mary Ann collected a payout of £35 on William's death (, about half a year's wages for a manual labourer at the time) and £2 5s for John Robert William.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Soon after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to Seaham Harbour, County Durham, where she struck up a relationship with Joseph Nattrass. During this time, her 3½-year-old daughter, the second Margaret Jane, died of typhus fever, leaving her with one child of up to nine she had borne. She returned to Sunderland and took up employment at the Sunderland Infirmary, House of Recovery for the Cure of Contagious Fever, Dispensary and Humane Society. She sent her surviving child, Isabella, to live with her mother.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: One of her patients at the infirmary was engineer George Ward. They married at St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth, on 28 August 1865. Ward continued to suffer ill health and died on 20 October 1866 after a long illness characterised by paralysis and intestinal problems. The cause of death recorded on his death certificate is that of English cholera and typhoid. The attending doctor later gave evidence that Ward had been very ill, yet he had been surprised that his death was so sudden. Once again, Mary Ann collected insurance money in respect of her husband's death.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: James Robinson was a shipwright at Pallion in Sunderland, whose wife Hannah had recently died. He hired Mary Ann as a housekeeper in November 1866. A month later, when James' baby John died of gastric fever, he turned to his housekeeper for comfort and she became pregnant. Then Mary Ann's mother, living in Seaham Harbour, County Durham, became ill with hepatitis, so she immediately went to her. Although her mother began to recover, she also began to complain of stomach pains. She died at age 54 in the spring of 1867, nine days after Mary Ann's arrival. In 1867, Mary Ann's stepfather George Stott married his widowed neighbour, Hannah Paley.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Mary Ann's daughter Isabella Mowbray was brought back to the Robinson household and soon developed severe stomach pains and died, as did two of Robinson's children, Elizabeth and James. All three children were buried in the last week of April and first week of May 1867. Mary Ann received a life-insurance payment of £5 10s 6d for Isabella.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Robinson married Mary Ann at St Michael's, Bishopwearmouth on 11 August 1867. Their first child Margaret Isabella (Mary Isabella on her baptismal record) was born that November, but she became ill and died in February 1868. Their second child George was born on 18 June 1869.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Robinson, meanwhile, had become suspicious of his wife's insistence that he insure his life; he discovered that she had run up debts of £60 behind his back and had stolen more than £50 that she had been expected to bank. Then he found that Mary Ann had been forcing his older children to pawn household valuables. He threw her out, retaining custody of their son George.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Mary Ann was desperate and living on the streets until her friend Margaret Cotton introduced her to her brother Frederick, a pitman and recent widower living in Walbottle, Northumberland, who had lost two of his four children. Margaret had acted as substitute mother for the remaining children, Frederick Jr. and Charles, but in late March 1870 she died from an undetermined stomach ailment, leaving Mary Ann to console the grieving Frederick Sr. Soon her twelfth pregnancy was underway.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Cotton and Mary Ann were bigamously married on 17 September 1870 at St Andrew's, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and their son Robert was born early in 1871. Soon after, Mary Ann learnt that her former lover, Joseph Nattrass, was living away in the County Durham village of West Auckland, and was no longer married. She rekindled the romance and persuaded her new family to move near him. Cotton died in December of that year, from "gastric fever." Insurance had been effected on his life and those of his sons.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: After Frederick's death, Nattrass soon became Mary Ann's lodger. She gained employment as nurse to an excise officer recovering from smallpox. Popular cultural sources have called him John Quick-Manning, though there appears to be no trace of a John Quick-Manning in the records of the West Auckland Brewery or the National Archives. The census records, birth, death and marriage records also show no trace of him. Richard Quick Mann was a custom and excise man specialising in breweries and has been found in the records and this may be the real name of Mary Ann Cotton's lover. Soon, Mary became pregnant by him with her thirteenth child.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Frederick Jr. died in March 1872 and the infant Robert soon after. Then Nattrass became ill with gastric fever and died just after revising his will in Mary Ann's favour. The insurance policy Mary Ann had taken out on (the still living) Charles' life still awaited collection.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Mary Ann's downfall came when a parish official, Thomas Riley, asked her to help nurse a woman who was ill with smallpox. She complained that the last surviving Cotton boy, Charles Edward, was in the way and asked Riley if he could be committed to the workhouse. Riley, who also served as West Auckland's assistant coroner, said she needed to accompany him. She told Riley that the boy was sickly and added: "I won’t be troubled long. He’ll go like all the rest of the Cottons."


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Five days later, Mary Ann told Riley that the boy had died. Riley went to the village police and convinced the doctor to delay writing a death certificate until the circumstances could be investigated.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Mary Ann's first visit after Charles' death was not to the doctor but the insurance office. There, she discovered that no money would be paid out until a death certificate was issued. An inquest was held and the jury returned a verdict of natural causes. Mary Ann claimed to have used arrowroot to relieve his illness and said Riley had made accusations against her because she had rejected his advances.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Then the local newspapers latched on to the story and discovered Mary Ann had moved around northern England and lost three husbands, a lover, a friend, her mother, and 11 children, all of whom had died of stomach fevers.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Rumour gave rise to suspicion and scientific investigation. Doctor William Byers Kilburn, who had attended Charles, had kept samples, and tests showed they contained arsenic. He told the police, who arrested Mary Ann and procured exhumation of Charles' body. She was charged with his murder, although the trial was delayed until after the delivery in Durham Gaol on 7 January 1873 of her thirteenth and final child, whom she named Margaret Edith Quick-Manning Cotton.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Cotton's trial began on 5 March 1873. The delay was caused by a problem in the selection of prosecution counsel. A Mr Aspinwall was first considered but the Attorney General, Sir John Duke Coleridge, whose decision it was, chose his friend and protégé Charles Russell. Russell's appointment over Aspinwall led to a question in the House of Commons. However, it was accepted, and Russell conducted the prosecution. The Cotton case was the first of several famous poisoning cases he would be involved in during his career, including those of Adelaide Bartlett and Florence Maybrick.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: The defence in the case was handled by Thomas Campbell Foster, who argued during the trial that Charles had died from inhaling arsenic used as a dye in the green wallpaper of the Cotton home. The doctor testified that there was no other powder on the same shelf in the chemist's shop as the arsenic, only liquid; the chemist himself claimed that there were other powders. Campbell Foster argued that it was possible that the chemist had mistakenly used arsenic powder instead of bismuth powder (used to treat diarrhea), when preparing a bottle for Cotton, because he had been distracted by talking to other people. The jury retired for 90 minutes before returning a guilty verdict.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: "The Times" correspondent reported on 20 March: "After conviction the wretched woman exhibited strong emotion but this gave place in a few hours to her habitual cold, reserved demeanour and while she harbours a strong conviction that the royal clemency will be extended towards her, she staunchly asserts her innocence of the crime that she has been convicted of." Several petitions were presented to the Home Secretary, but to no avail. Mary Ann Cotton was hanged at Durham County Gaol on 24 March 1873 by William Calcraft; she died, not from her neck breaking, but by strangulation caused by the rope being rigged too short, possibly deliberately.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: Of Mary Ann's 13 children, only two survived her: Margaret Edith (1873–1954) and her son George from her marriage to James Robinson.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: In 2015 ITV filmed a two-part television drama, "Dark Angel", starring Joanne Froggatt as Cotton. The series also featured Alun Armstrong, Jonas Armstrong and Emma Fielding. The first part of the dramatisation was broadcast on 31 October 2016, the second part was broadcast on 7 November. The drama was inspired by the book "Mary Ann Cotton: Britain's First Female Serial Killer" by David Wilson, a criminologist.


title: Mary Ann Cotton

text: The Mary Ann Cotton case was partly dramatized on an episode of the 2022 BBC Radio podcast series "Lucy Worsley's Lady Killers".


title: Ironic (song)

text: "Ironic" is a song by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette. It was released in February 1996 as the third single from her third studio album, "Jagged Little Pill" (1995). It was written by Morissette and Glen Ballard, and was produced by him. "Ironic" is a song written in the key of B major, and includes a moderate tempo of eighty-five beats per minute. The lyrics present several situations that are described as "ironic"; this has led to debate as to whether any of these actually match the accepted meaning of "irony".


title: Ironic (song)

text: For six weeks, the track topped the Canadian "RPM" Top Singles chart. It also reached the top five in Australia, New Zealand, and Norway. In the United States, the song reached number four on April 13, 1996, and since then it has been her highest-charting single on the "Billboard" Hot 100. "Ironic" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song won the Juno Award for Single of the Year, and received two Grammy Award nominations in 1997, for Record of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video. French director Stéphane Sednaoui filmed the music video. In it, Morissette drives through a winter landscape, and she plays multiple roles as her passengers. MTV nominated the music video for six MTV Video Music Awards in 1996, winning three of them. The music video was listed on VH1's "Greatest Music Videos" list and was parodied by DBA Flip, Allison Rheaume, Rusty and "Weird Al" Yankovic.


title: Ironic (song)

text: In September 2001, following the September 11 attacks, "Ironic" was labeled inappropriate due to its lyrics by American mass media company Clear Channel Communications. The song was included on the set list of Morissette's Jagged Little Pill World Tour (1995), and her compilation albums "MTV Unplugged" (1999), (2005), among others. The song was covered by Mexican duet Jesse & Joy for their album "Esta Es Mi Vida Sesiones" (2007), and by American band Four Year Strong for their cover album "Explains It All" (2009).


title: Ironic (song)

text: "Ironic" was written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, and produced by the latter for her third studio album, "Jagged Little Pill" (1995). In an interview with Christopher Walsh of "Billboard", Ballard explained how he and Morissette met, and how "Ironic" was written. He commented: "I'm telling you, within 15 minutes we were at it—just writing. 'Ironic' was the third song we wrote. Oh God, we were just having fun. I thought 'I don't know what this is—what genre it is—who knows? It's just good". According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, it is a song set in the time signature of common time, composed in a moderate tempo of eighty-two beats per minute. It is set in the key of B major with Morissette's vocal range from the tone of E to B, and "Ironic" chord progression starts with the sequence of Emaj7–F♯6–Emaj7–F♯6, before changing to F♯–Badd9–F♯–G♯m7 in the chorus.


title: Ironic (song)

text: The song's usage of the word "ironic" attracted media attention; according to Jon Pareles of "The New York Times", it gives a distinct "unironic" sense in its implications. According to the "Oxford English Dictionary", "irony" is "a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what was or might be expected; an outcome cruelly, humorously, or strangely at odds with assumptions or expectations". Thus, lyrics such as "It's a free ride when you've already paid" and "A traffic jam when you're already late" are not ironic.


title: Ironic (song)

text: Morissette said: "For me the great debate on whether what I was saying in 'Ironic' was ironic wasn't a traumatic debate. I'd always embraced the fact that every once in a while I'd be the malapropism queen. And when Glen and I were writing it, we definitely were not doggedly making sure that everything was technically ironic." In 2014, Michael Reid Roberts wrote a defense of the song for "Salon," saying that it cites situational ironies: the "state of affairs or event[s] that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result". Michael Stevens of the YouTube channel Vsauce devoted time to the discussion of irony in the 2014 episode "Dord". In this video, Stevens considers the difference between the typically cited "situational" irony, versus "dramatic" irony. According to him, the irony of the song may not necessarily be in the situations themselves, but rather in the dramatic irony – when someone is unaware of the significance of the event while others are: the situations aren't ironic themselves, but life itself is ironic.


title: Ironic (song)

text: Comedian Ed Byrne performed a skit in which he jokingly attacked the song for its lack of ironies: "The only ironic thing about that song is it's called 'Ironic' and it's written by a woman who doesn't know what irony is. That's quite ironic." Satirists Berger and Wyse parodied the song in one segment of their cartoon strip "The Pitchers". In that episode, a superhero named "Irony Man" compared his superpowers to lyrics from Morissette's song, causing his cohorts to rename him "The Man from Alanis". In December 2009, the comedy website "CollegeHumor" released a spoof video of the song called "Actually Ironic", featuring actress Sarah Natochenny, in which Patrick Cassels amended the lyrics in a form that would be appropriately ironic. For example, "it's like rain on your wedding day, to the Egyptian sun god Ra." The "CollegeHumor" spoof was similarly replicated in July 2013 with a song called, "It's Finally Ironic" by sisters Rachael and Eliza Hurwitz, from New York City, who published their version on YouTube. The sisters adjusted the lyrics to reflect irony (e.g., "it's a black fly in your chardonnay, that was specifically purchased to repel black flies") and sing the line "We fixed it for you, Alanis. You're welcome." throughout their video. In his 2014 song "Word Crimes", "Weird Al" Yankovic references Morissette's lyrics by singing "Irony is not coincidence", and the music video for the song shows a fire truck burning (depicted as "Irony") compared with rain during a wedding (which is described as "Weather"). Morissette herself poked fun at her grammar mistakes during a 2013 performance of "Semicolon" with The Lonely Island on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!". In it, Morissette cut off their song to explain that their use of hashtag rap to demonstrate the function of a semicolon is incorrect, to which they respond that her critiquing their grammar is "ironic". Morissette further poked fun at herself in a 2015 performance of an updated version "Ironic" on "The Late Late Show with James Corden", in which she added the line "It’s singing 'Ironic', when there are no ironies" to the song.


title: Ironic (song)

text: Jaime Gill from Dot Music commented on the original version of "Ironic", on his review of "Jagged Little Pill Acoustic" (2005), that "["Jagged Little Pill"] gave us pop's greatest parlour game, with spot the genuine irony in 'Ironic'" and calling the song "pretty" and "catchy". Additionally, he noted that the acoustic version “actually sounds more relaxed and engaging without the hoary loud guitars of the original". Even though Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic marked the track as one of the "All Media Guide track pick" of the album, in a separate review, from the same website, the CD single release was rated with two-and-a-half out of five stars. Pareles noted that in verses of "Ironic", and another song from the album ("Mary Jane"), "it's easy to envision Morissette on the stage of a club, singing wry couplets backed by acoustic guitar". He also commented in another article he wrote, that the song was actually "unironic". British magazine "Music Week" rated it four out of five, noting that it "builds into another powerful anthem with beautiful echoes of The Cocteau Twins. It could see her break into the Top 20 for the first time." Dave Brecheisen of "PopMatters" felt that the acoustic version of "Ironic", was much worse than the original version. The single won the Juno Award for Single of the Year at the 1997 ceremony, and in the same year it was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the category of Record of the Year.


title: Ironic (song)

text: In Canada, "Ironic" debuted on the "RPM" Singles Chart at number 95 on the issue dated January 8, 1996. Twelve weeks later the track topped the chart, on April 1, 1996, staying there for six weeks, being replaced by "Closer to Free" by American band BoDeans. Spending twenty-nine weeks within the top 100, it was last seen on July 22, 1996, at number 81. It spent 14 weeks in the Top 10 and was the number two song of 1996, behind Morissette's own "You Learn" at number one. On other "RPM" charts, the single topped the Alternative Rock Chart for a single week, spending 11 weeks in the Top 10, finishing 1996 as the number five song for the year on that chart. It reached number six on the Adult Contemporary Chart.


title: Ironic (song)

text: In the U.S., the track debuted at number 11 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 following its commercial release, becoming the highest debut on the issue ending March 16, 1996. The single eventually reached its peak position, at number four, on April 13, 1996. "Ironic" is currently Morissette's highest-charting hit on the Hot 100 chart. On other US charts, the single became her third number-one hit on the "Billboard" Modern Rock Tracks, where it stayed for three weeks. The song topped the Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) chart, reached number two on the Hot 100 Airplay chart (which includes both pop and rhythmic/crossover radio stations), reached number five on Adult Top 40 chart and peaked at number 28 of the Adult Contemporary chart.


title: Ironic (song)

text: In Australia, the song debuted at number 40 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In its eighth week, it peaked at number three on May 12, 1996, where it stayed for two weeks. It was last appeared on the chart on July 21, 1996, at number 37. To date, "Ironic" is her best charting song on the country. In New Zealand, where the song was released as a double A-side with "You Oughta Know", it debuted at number 13 on April 21, 1996, peaked at number three on May 19, and made its last appearance on the chart at number 36 on June 30, staying at total of 11 weeks in the top 50. Like in Australia, "Ironic" became Morissette's highest-peaking single in New Zealand, but only at the time; "Thank U" and "Hands Clean" would chart higher in 1998 and 2002, respectively.


title: Ironic (song)

text: The song was generally well-received throughout Europe. In the United Kingdom "Ironic" debuted and peaked at number 11, on April 20, 1996. It left the chart eight weeks later, at number 67. In the Norwegian Singles Charts, it debuted at number 18, rising to number 17 the next week. It rose to number five on its third week, and later peaked at number four, staying there for five weeks. It later dropped one place, and remained there for another two weeks. "Ironic" kept within the chart for seventeen weeks. In Belgium, it reached sixth place on the Ultratop 50 (Flanders region), and ninth place on the Ultratop 50 (Wallonia zone).


title: Ironic (song)

text: The music video for "Ironic" was directed by Stéphane Sednaoui and released on January 23, 1996. In the beginning of the video, Morissette is at a gas station, walking to her automobile (1978 Lincoln Continental Mark V) with a cup of coffee in her hand. Then, she drives her car through a winter landscape, and she begins to sing the song's first verse. When it comes to the chorus, a second Morissette comes in. She is in a green sweater and sits in the backseat on the passenger side. When the first chorus ends, a third Morissette comes in, and she is in a yellow sweater with braided hair, also in the backseat, but on the driver's side. Along the way, the yellow Morissette is singing and eating at the same time, and when it comes to the second verse, a fourth and last Morissette comes in, she is in a red sweater sitting in the front passenger seat. During the second chorus, she climbs out of the window when they are still driving and almost gets knocked out by a bridge, but still manages a smile after doing so. The camera comes back to the driving Morissette, after the breakdown, and she takes off her hat, tosses it into the back seat, and becomes as loud as the other three while singing the song. When Morissette sings the outro, she is still driving through the winter landscape, and suddenly the car breaks down (possibly having run out of gas, which may be "ironic" in itself since the video started with her at a gas station). Morissette (as the driver) gets out of the car, and all her "passengers" have disappeared.


title: Ironic (song)

text: In an interview for "Vogue" in 2015, Morissette revealed that her clothes in the video reflected the personalities of each character. The driver in a red knit beanie was the one in control, "the responsible one". The spunky character, who Morissette refers to as the “quirkster,” wears a yellow sweater with a crown of long swaying braids. Morissette liked the braids so much that she would often wear them on stage. The passenger-seat girl wearing a deep red sweater and pajama-type pants was "the romantic—wistful and thoughtful and also the risk-taker". As for the girl head-banging in the backseat in green sweater, Morissette said; "The girl in green feels the most like the 'whole me'. The green sweater girl—fun and frolic-y. [She] gets into trouble—she's the girl you want with you when you are heading to a water park."


title: Ironic (song)

text: Blaine Allan noted in the book "Television: Critical Methods and Applications" (2002) how Morissette interacts with the watcher. He commented that unlike Britney Spears' "Lucky" music video, where Spears plays dual role of a girl named "Lucky" and her fan, and both appear together in some scenes helped by visual effects, "Ironic" does not utilize them, using solely editing, giving the sense that all the Morissettes interact with each other. Journalist Carol Vernallis also found that Morissette's "chitchat" way of singing the song creates an intimate connection with the viewer. She mentioned the video in her book "Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context" (2004), where she studied how the audience may pay attention to the lyrics of the song in a music video. Vernallis added that "Ironic" music video functions as a limited example of how the meaning of a song's lyrics become "inaccessible" when they are videotaped and televised.


title: Ironic (song)

text: Charles Aaron from "Spin" called "Ironic" music video "neat". The video was nominated for six MTV Video Music Awards in 1996: "Video of the Year", "Best Direction in a Video", "Viewer's Choice", "Best Female Video", "Best New Artist in a Video" and "Best Editing", winning the last three. It was nominated in 1997 for the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. Also, it was listed number eighteen at VH1's 100 Greatest Videos.


title: Ironic (song)

text: In late 1996, a parody version of the video was released featuring a 6-year-old Canadian girl named Allison Rheaume, who mimics Morissette's actions and wardrobe while lip syncing to the original song. At the end, her father notices her in the car sitting in the driveway and tells her to stop fooling around. This version of the video, directed by David Rheaume, was played on MTV and was included on Morissette's CD/DVD "" (2005).


title: Ironic (song)

text: Also in late 1996, the video was spoofed by Jimmy The Cab Driver during a commercial on MTV. Inglewood, CA rapper DBA Flip parodied the video for his 1996 single "It's Friday Night (Just Got Paid)". At the end of the video, Flip's car runs out of gas as he rolls up on an Alanis Morissette lookalike carrying a gas can and wearing one of the jackets from the "You Learn" video.


title: Ironic (song)

text: Canadian band Rusty parodied "Ironic" on the version 2 of the music video for their 1997 single "Empty Cell".


title: Ironic (song)

text: "Weird Al" Yankovic produced a parody version of the video in 2003 for his television comedy series "Al TV", in which he takes the place of the fourth version of Morissette in the front passenger seat.


title: Ironic (song)

text: In 2018, Toronto R&B singer Ramriddlz paid tribute to "Ironic" on the music video for his single "Worst Love".


title: Ironic (song)

text: The single was added in the set list for Morissette's concert tour, Jagged Little Pill World Tour (1995). The song was added to the tour's video album "Jagged Little Pill Live" (1997). Since then, "Ironic" has been included in her albums "MTV Unplugged" (1999), "Feast on Scraps" (2002), "" (2002), and "The Collection", as well as 1997 Grammys and the "MTV Unplugged" compilation albums.


title: Ironic (song)

text: With "Ironic", Morissette denoted her support for same-sex marriage. In March 2004, Morissette amended a lyric at the fifteenth annual GLAAD Media Awards: "It's meeting the man of my dreams /And then meeting his beautiful husband". She commented to "USA Today" that her support about same-sex unions "goes a step further than clever lyrics." She remarked that "[her] fantasy would now be to marry some of [her] gay couple friends." Later in June 2004, she said to VH1: "I don't have any gay-couple friends who are formally engaged, but I would be honored to support the gay community in that way ... I did it as a sort of spontaneous thing at a radio station about a month ago with a couple, and my heart was so with them." Morissette recorded an acoustic version of the song with the changed lyric for her "iTunes Originals" release, in 2004. Another acoustic version was recorded for the album "Jagged Little Pill Acoustic", as well for the compilation album "Cities 97 Sampler, Volume 16" (2004). Morissette also performed the song with Avril Lavigne at the House of Blues in 2005.


title: Ironic (song)

text: In 2003, Ji-In Cho covered the song for the German version of the "Fame Academy" talent show, which became a success in the German charts. "Ironic" was covered in 2007 by Mexican duet Jesse & Joy for their album "Esta Es Mi Vida Sesiones", and the pop punk band Four Year Strong for their 90s cover album "Explains It All" (2009).


title: Ironic (song)

text: In the 1996 novel "Naïve. Super" by Norwegian author Erlend Loe, the protagonist watches the video for the song on television and dreams about "meeting an Alanis-girl and living in a house together with her". In the Jay and Silent Bob comic "Chasing Dogma" (1998), the character Tricia Jones is singing "Ironic" before Jay steps into the shower. The music of the song was featured in the romantic comedy film "I Could Never Be Your Woman" (2007), where Saoirse Ronan, as Izzie Mensforth, sings an altered version of the lyrics in a talent show. It also made a predominant appearance as the opener to 2013 comedy film "The Internship", starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, as they sing along to it.


title: Ironic (song)

text: In 2015, Morissette appeared on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" and sang a version of the song with new lyrics "updated" for the technology era, and an homage to the linguistics of the original mentioned above.


title: Alfred Schreuder

text: Alfred Schreuder (; born 2 November 1972) is a Dutch football coach, currently as head coach of Ajax.


title: Alfred Schreuder

text: During his career, Schreuder played for RKC Waalwijk, NAC Breda, Feyenoord, FC Twente and Vitesse. After he had stopped playing for FC Twente in March 2008, he joined SDV Barneveld on an amateur basis. After about three months, he returned as professional football player, signing a contract for one year at Vitesse. He retired in January 2009.


title: Alfred Schreuder

text: Schreuder started his managerial career immediately after his retirement as assistant manager of Vitesse. In the summer of 2009, he signed with FC Twente to be the assistant manager of Steve McClaren. After McClaren resigned his position on 26 February 2013, Schreuder was appointed as interim manager. However, in March 2013, the club officially appointed Michel Jansen as head coach and Schreuder as his assistant, because Schreuder was not yet appropriately licensed as a manager. This arrangement continued for the 2013–14 season, while Schreuder was studying for the UEFA Pro Licence, which he obtained in May 2014. Subsequently, Schreuder was installed as manager of FC Twente, with Jansen as his assistant. On 30 August 2015, Schreuder was sacked after winning one point in the first four matches of the 2015–16 season.


title: Alfred Schreuder

text: On 26 October 2015, Schreuder was appointed the assistant manager of Huub Stevens at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. After Stevens' resignation on 10 February 2016, he remained at the club as the assistant of Julian Nagelsmann.


title: Alfred Schreuder

text: On 5 January 2018, it was announced that Ajax had reached an agreement with Hoffenheim to sign Schreuder as the assistant of their new head coach Erik ten Hag.


title: Alfred Schreuder

text: In March 2019, it was announced that Schreuder would succeed Julian Nagelsmann as head of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim from 1 July 2019, after signing a contract until 2022. However he was sacked by the club on 9 June 2020, since his form was not up to the expectations of the board.


title: Alfred Schreuder

text: In August 2020, Schreuder joined FC Barcelona as assistant manager under Ronald Koeman, both signing a two-year deal with an escape-clause option after the first year.


title: Alfred Schreuder

text: On 3 January 2022, Schreuder was appointed as head coach of Club Brugge, replacing Philippe Clement who left to manage Monaco. After winning the Belgian League, he was appointed by Ajax on a two-year contract from the 2022–23 season onwards.


title: BDO Global

text: BDO (an acronym for Binder Dijker Otte) is an international network of public accounting, tax, consulting and business advisory firms that provide professional services under the name BDO. It is the fifth-largest accounting network in the world. Global fee income of the member firms in the network for the year ended 30 September 2021, including the members of their exclusive alliances, totaled US$11.8 billion.


title: BDO Global

text: Each BDO member firm is an independent legal entity in its own country. The network, founded in 1963 as Binder Seidman International Group by firms from Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US, is coordinated by BDO Global Coordination B.V., with an office in Zaventem, Belgium. In 1973, the organisation adopted the name BDO, made up from the initials of the three founding firms: Binder (UK), Dijker (Netherlands) and Otte (Germany).


title: BDO Global

text: Established in 1975, BDO Australia has offices in Brisbane, Cairns, Sunshine Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin. It offers financial services and business advisory services.


title: BDO Global

text: While starting as an association of independently owned accounting firms, BDO Australia has since undergone several significant merges that include:


title: BDO Global

text: BDO Canada is one of Canada's largest accounting services firms. Founded by James M. Dunwoody (affectionately known as "The Colonel" by BDO's employees) it opened its first location in the 1920s in Winnipeg, Manitoba. By the early 2000s, Dunwoody and BDO Ward Mallette, a firm based out of Toronto, had merged. The union also consolidated the firm's affiliation with BDO International, a global network of national accounting firms.


title: BDO Global

text: In 2007, BDO had 95 offices across Canada, with 1,200 professionals and over 300 partners. BDO's services run from assurance, accounting and taxation services to financial advisory and corporate recovery. The company has merged a number of times, including a merger announced in October 2009 with the accounting firm of Hudson LLP.


title: BDO Global

text: From 1 January 2010 'Dunwoody' was dropped from the company name to coincide with a global rebrand which saw all of the BDO member firms change their names to BDO. The rebrand, which included design, messaging, all of the separate global websites, marketing collateral and trickle-down implementation across the 110 country network took just over five months. The intention was to create a global consistency, so that the BDO network could be presented as a single entity.


title: BDO Global

text: BDO Auditores & Consultores Ltda. is a Chilean member of the global network of BDO International. It has 3 offices in Santiago, Viña del Mar and Temuco, and more than 300 partners and staff. Among others, they provide services such as Audit, IFRS, BSO (Outsourcing), Tax & Legal, and Advisory.


title: BDO Global

text: BDO China Shu Lun Pan CPAs ("Shu Lun Pan CPAs") was founded by ShuLun Pan in Shanghai in 1927. It was one of the earliest accounting firms in China.


title: BDO Global

text: Lixin Certified Tax Agents Co., Ltd. ("Lixin"), is a member firm of BDO International, with headquarters located in Shanghai. It is a professional tax agents company under the "LIXIN" brand. Approved by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People's Republic of China (SAIC) and Shanghai Certified Tax Agents Association, BDO Lixin Tax was established by six leading A-level tax agent corporations from across China. The name of the enterprise's legal representative is Zilin Zou and the registered capital of enterprise is 50 million RMB. BDO Lixin Tax has obtained AAAAA level, which is the highest standard, from the China Certified Tax Agents Association.


title: BDO Global

text: In Hong Kong, BDO McCabe Lo was merged with K.L. Lee & Partners in 2005 and Shu Lun Pan Horwath Hong Kong in 2009. In 2010, the businesses of BDO Limited and Grant Thornton Hong Kong were also merged.


title: BDO Global

text: BDO Simpson Xavier is a partnership of chartered accountants in the Republic of Ireland that was formed by Anthuan Xavier and Dave Simpson in 1982. It is the Irish member firm of BDO International. The firm adopting the worldwide branding of BDO in 2009. The rebrand took just over five months. The intention was to create a global consistency, so that the BDO network could be presented as a single entity.


title: BDO Global

text: With offices throughout Ireland, the firm offers auditing, consultancy and tax services to organisations in the private and public sectors and is the 5th largest accountancy firm in Ireland. Revenues were €62 million for the year ending 28 February 2006, with average revenue per partner of €1.5 million.


title: BDO Global

text: BDO Mauritius originates from DCDM, a firm founded in Mauritius in 1952. It is a firm of Chartered Accountants, registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. DCDM joined the BDO network in 2007 as BDO DCDM and as of 2010, became known as BDO Mauritius.