Alberto Contador

Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice (2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the Vuelta a España three times (2008, 2012, 2014). He is one of only seven riders to have won all three Grand Tours of cycling. He has also won the Vélo d'Or a record 4 times.

He was regarded as the natural successor of Lance Armstrong and won the 2007 Tour de France with the  team. During his time at the Astana team, he won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España and the 2009 Tour de France. Between 2007 and 2011 he won six consecutive Grand Tours that he entered. This included winning the 2010 Tour de France with Astana, although it later emerged that he had tested positive for clenbuterol during the race. After a long battle in court, he was suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and stripped of his 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro wins.

Contador was known as an attacking rider who excelled as a climber, and on his best days was also an excellent time-trialist. He was also known for being able to turn races around to his favour, most notably during the Fuente Dé stage at the 2012 Vuelta a España. Following his return from suspension, he won the Vuelta twice and the Giro once more. On the penultimate day of his career, he won a stage victory at the mountaintop finish of the Alto de l'Angliru.

Personal life and early career
Contador was born on 6 December 1982 in Pinto in the Community of Madrid, the third of four children. He has an older brother and sister and a younger brother, who has cerebral palsy. Having previously taken part in other sports, such as football and athletics, Contador discovered cycling at the age of 14 thanks to his elder brother Francisco Javier.

When Contador was 15, he began to compete in races at the amateur level in Spain, joining the Real Velo Club Portillo from Madrid. Although he got no victories that year or the next, he demonstrated great qualities and was soon nicknamed Pantani (after Marco Pantani, regarded as one of the best climbers of all time) for his climbing skills. In 2000, he experienced his first victories, winning several mountains classification prizes from prominent events on the Spanish amateur cycling calendar.

He dropped out of school at the age of 16 without having finished his Bachillerato and signed with Iberdrola–Loinaz, a youth team run by Manolo Saiz, manager of the professional  team. In 2001, he won the under-23 race at the Spanish National Time Trial Championships.

Contador lives with his wife Macarena in the city of Pinto when not competing. He has a fascination for birds, keeping personally bred canaries and goldfinches at home.

Professional career

ONCE–Eroski/Liberty Seguros (2003–2006)

Contador turned professional in 2003 for . In his first year as a professional he won the eighth stage of the Tour de Pologne, an individual time trial. He deliberately let himself fall back on the morning's road stage and saved energy to deliver the winning effort in the time trial in the afternoon. During the first stage of the 2004 Vuelta a Asturias he started to feel unwell, and after  he fell and went into convulsions. He had been suffering from headaches for several days beforehand and was diagnosed with a cerebral cavernoma, a congenital vascular disorder, for which he underwent risky surgery and a recovery to get back on his bike. As a result of the surgery, he has a scar that runs from one ear to the other over the top of his head. Contador started to train again at the end of November 2004 and eight months after the surgery he won the fifth stage of the 2005 Tour Down Under racing for , as the team previously known as ONCE had become. He subsequently described this win as the greatest of his career. He went on to win the third stage and the overall classification of the Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme, thus winning his first stage race as a professional. He also won an individual time trial during the Tour of the Basque Country, where he finished third, and the fourth stage of the Tour de Romandie, where he finished fourth overall.

In 2006, he won stages at the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse in preparation for the Tour de France. Prior to the start of the race he was implicated along with several teammates in the Operación Puerto doping case by the Spanish authorities, and the team was not able to start. He was later cleared by the Union Cycliste Internationale, cycling's governing body. Contador returned to racing in the Vuelta a Burgos but he crashed after finishing fifth in stage 4, when he was riding back down to the team bus, and briefly lost consciousness.

Discovery Channel (2007)

After having been implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case, Contador was without a professional contract until mid-January 2007, when he signed with .

Contador's first major professional victory came with Paris–Nice, which he won on the race's final stage.  effectively wore down the remnants of the race leader Davide Rebellin's  team, allowing Contador to launch an attack on the final climb. With Rebellin leading the chase, Contador held off his competitors in the final kilometres, winning him the race.

In the Tour de France, he won a stage at the mountaintop finish of Plateau de Beille, and was second in the general classification to Michael Rasmussen. Upon Rasmussen's removal from the race before stage 17 for lying to his team about his pre-race training whereabouts, Contador assumed the overall lead and the yellow jersey, though he did not don it until after the stage. In the stage 19 individual time trial, he managed to defy expectations and keep hold of the yellow jersey by a margin of only 23 seconds over challenger Cadel Evans and 31 seconds over teammate Levi Leipheimer. As this was the Tour's penultimate stage, it was the last real competition of the race (since the final stage is traditionally non-competitive save for a bunched sprint to the finish line) and it secured Contador his first Tour de France victory. It is the closest the top three finishers in the Tour de France have ever finished to one another.

Astana (2008–10)
After  announced 2007 would be its final season in professional cycling, Contador announced on 23 October 2007 that he would move to the  team for 2008.

2008 season

On 13 February 2008, the organiser of the Tour de France, the Amaury Sport Organisation, announced that Astana would not be invited to any of their events in 2008 due to the doping previously perpetrated by Astana, despite the fact that its management and most of its ridership had changed before the 2008 season. Consequently, Contador was unable to defend his Paris–Nice and Tour de France victories. He went on to win his second Vuelta a Castilla y León, as well as the Tour of the Basque Country by winning the opening stage and the final individual time trial. His next scheduled race and objective was the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré but his team received an invite to the Giro d'Italia one week prior to the start of the race. Contador was on a beach in Spain when he was told he was going to ride the Giro.
Despite the lack of preparation, he finished second in the first individual time trial and took the pink jersey after the 15th stage up to Passo Fedaia. Upon winning the final pink jersey in Milan, he became the first non-Italian to win the Giro d'Italia since Pavel Tonkov in 1996 and also the second Spanish rider to win the Giro after Miguel Induráin won in 1992 and 1993. He later emphasized the importance of this win by saying that "taking part in the Giro and winning it was a really big achievement, bigger than if I'd had a second victory in the Tour de France".

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Contador competed in the road race and the individual road time trial. He did not finish in the road race, in which 53 of the 143 starters did not complete the course in particularly hot and humid conditions. He placed fourth in the individual time trial, eight seconds behind his regular teammate Leipheimer.

Contador entered the Vuelta a España as the main candidate to win. His biggest challenger was likely to be compatriot Carlos Sastre, who had won the Tour de France just a month before. Contador won stage 13 by attacking on the fabled Angliru climb and this resulted in him capturing the golden jersey as the leader of the race. He extended his lead by winning stage 14 to Fuentes de Invierno and maintained his lead in subsequent flat stages and the final time trial, won by Leipheimer by a wide margin. Contador later took some offence to Leipheimer seemingly riding with winning the Vuelta in mind, after it had been established earlier in the race that Contador was Astana's team leader. In the final standings, Contador finished 46 seconds ahead of Leipheimer and more than four minutes ahead of Sastre. The win made him the fifth cyclist, at that point, to win all three Grand Tours, after Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, and Bernard Hinault. In the process he also became the first Spaniard, youngest (age 25), and shortest amount of time to accumulate all three wins (15 months). He also became only the third cyclist to win the Giro and the Vuelta in the same year, joining Merckx (who did it in 1973) and Giovanni Battaglin (who did it in 1981).

Later in the year, Contador won the Vélo d'Or award for the best rider of the year for the second consecutive season. The Giro and Vuelta winner beat Olympic time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara and Sastre in a vote by international cycling writers.

2009 season
On 9 September 2008, Lance Armstrong announced that he was returning to professional cycling with the express goal of participating in the 2009 Tour de France.  manager Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's former mentor and sporting director, said that he could not allow Armstrong riding for another team and later signed him. The announcement by Armstrong clashed with the ambitions of Contador, who insisted he deserved the leadership of Astana, and hinted at the possibility of leaving the team if he was given a secondary role supporting Armstrong. Contador was later given assurances by Bruyneel that he would remain team leader and decided to remain at Astana for the 2009 season. Contador later claimed the situation was drastically overblown by the media. Contador decided to miss the Giro d'Italia to focus on winning the Tour de France.

Contador started his 2009 season at the Volta ao Algarve race in Portugal, winning the overall classification, placing second on stage 3, and winning the decisive  individual time trial. He was in position to win Paris–Nice again after winning the prologue and the toughest mountain stage, but suffered a breakdown in stage 7, losing his yellow jersey to fellow Spaniard Luis León Sánchez. Contador and his Astana team later blamed the breakdown on Contador eating inadequately, leaving him without the energy to chase attacks. Contador finished fourth overall; he continued his build up to the Tour de France by racing the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. He put in a strong performance of the opening time trial and stayed in touch with race leader Cadel Evans on the longer time trial. However, the strong ride of compatriot Alejandro Valverde up Mont Ventoux distanced Contador and he rode to help Valverde take the Yellow Jersey while finishing comfortably in third place overall. On 26 June, Contador competed in the Spanish National Time Trial Championships. He stated that he entered the race in order to gain more experience on his new Trek time trial bike, but he came away with a convincing victory over Sánchez, the defending champion, winning by 37 seconds. This was his first National Championship as a professional.

Contador won Stage 15 of the Tour de France by soloing to the finish line more than a minute ahead of most of his closest general classification competitors, and in so doing took the yellow jersey. He then extended his lead on Stage 17, after finishing second in a breakaway of three riders with the same time as the stage winner, and then the next day he won the second time trial, increasing his overall advantage to more than four minutes. Contador won his second Tour de France on 26 July with a winning margin of 4' 11" over Andy Schleck, and finished 5' 24" ahead of Armstrong, who finished third in his return to the Tour after a four-year absence. Contador had won the last four Grand Tour races that he had entered. During the celebration at the podium, the organisers of the Tour wrongly played the Danish national anthem instead of the Spanish Royal March. In the aftermath of the tour, Contador and Armstrong engaged in a war of words, with Contador quoted as saying that, although Armstrong "is a great rider and [..] did a great Tour[, but] on a personal level [..] I have never admired him and never will", and Armstrong responding that "a champion is also measured on how much he respects his teammates and opponents." The sniping caused others, such as the director of the Tour, to wonder "what it would have been like to have had Contador and Armstrong in different teams." Contador later described the experience as "psychologically tough", likening it to having to compete in two races – one on the road, the other in the team hotel. Armstrong's control of the team during the race extended to its entire fleet of team cars, forcing Contador to rely on his brother to take him from stage finishes to the hotel.

On 31 July, Contador's agent (who is also his brother) announced that Contador had turned down an offer to remain with Astana under a new four-year contract because he had felt so uncomfortable being caught between the Kazakhstan owners of the team on one side and Bruyneel on the other, and he was hoping to leave Astana at the end of the year, although his contract did not expire until the end of 2010. However, on 11 August, Contador's teammate and close friend Sérgio Paulinho accepted a two-year contract with , indicating that Contador might not be able to leave Astana as readily as he and his agent wished. This was confirmed on 15 August, when a spokesperson for the Kazakhstan sponsors of Astana said that they intended to sponsor the Astana team on the UCI ProTour through 2013 and that they intended to enforce the last year of Contador's contract with Astana in 2010.

2010 season

On 21 February, Contador won his first race of the season, the Volta ao Algarve, by winning its queen stage and finishing second in the final time trial. Due to new UCI regulations concerning the nose cone of time trial bikes, Contador did not use his Shiv time trial bike, and instead used the standard red Specialized time trial bike. On 14 March, Contador won his second Paris–Nice, finishing ahead of other pre-race favorites like Alejandro Valverde and Luis León Sánchez. His main attack came in the hilltop finish to Mende, where he crossed the finish line alone and successfully secured the yellow jersey. Contador also competed in and concluded the Critérium International with a second place in the final time trial, only 2 seconds behind stage winner David Millar, while Pierrick Fédrigo successfully defended the maillot jaune against rivals such as Cadel Evans and Samuel Sánchez.

Contador was a favourite coming into the Tour de France, along with Team Saxo Bank's Andy Schleck. On Stage 15 Schleck was race leader and pressing the pace over the day's final climb of Port de Bales when he threw his chain. Contador and Denis Menchov immediately moved to the front and attacked, pressing the advantage over the crest of the climb and all the way back down into Bagneres-de-Luchon. They were aided by Samuel Sánchez and two others making a group of five riders. Schleck chased hard, but had no other riders to help bridge the gap. By stage's end, he had lost the yellow jersey and 39 seconds to Contador. Contador, who now had an eight-second lead in the race, met with a mixed reception as he received the yellow jersey on the podium at the end of the stage. It is an unusual occurrence in the Tour for the new race leader to be met with whistles and cat calls as he is given the yellow jersey. The yellow jersey changing shoulders made a large difference in the remainder of the race, for now the onus was on Schleck to attack Contador, and not the other way around.

Jered Gruber, writing for VeloNation, argued that Contador was right to attack, defending him on the basis that Schleck did not wait for Contador when he was delayed behind a crash on the cobblestones in stage 3 and lost 1' 13" to Schleck, a crash that cost Schleck the aid of his best ally in the tour, his brother Fränk Schleck. But of course that was early in the race and neither rider had the yellow jersey at the time. Race commentator Paul Sherwen thought the attack in poor form, whereas his co-commentor Phil Liggett thought not. Schleck said he considered Contador's actions to be unsporting. Hours after the conclusion of the stage, Contador voiced an apology for his behaviour on his YouTube channel. Five days later in the stage 19 time trial, Contador beat Schleck again, taking 31 seconds from him. Contador went on to win the Tour de France for the third time with an advantage of 39 seconds over Andy Schleck, the exact amount of time he had taken from Schleck on Stage 15. Contador became the seventh rider to win a Tour de France without winning a stage, but this win was later nullified due to his doping suspension.

Saxo Bank–SunGard (2011–16)
Contador signed a two-year contract with  for the 2011 season, to ride under team manager Bjarne Riis, who revealed that he would like Contador to try winning all three Grand Tours in one season, a feat never before accomplished. Contador's agent and brother Fran later countered the statement by saying it was "nothing but a dream". Within two weeks, three of Contador's Spanish teammates signed to make the same transfer: Jesús Hernández, Daniel Navarro and Benjamín Noval.

2011 season

Amidst the clenbuterol controversy, Contador earned his first win in the Vuelta a Murcia. He won the overall classification as well as two stage victories en route to his victory. Later in the month of March, Contador entered in the Volta a Catalunya, where he claimed a win on the third stage to Vallnord, maintaining his advantage until the end of the race. He also won the individual time trial of Vuelta a Castilla y León.

Contador competed in the Giro d'Italia, his first time racing in the Giro since his victory in 2008. Contador won the ninth stage on Mount Etna, his first stage win at the Italian Grand Tour. He attacked midway through the climb, dropping his overall rivals and gaining almost a minute on them. That stage gave him the overall lead in the Giro, as well as the points classification lead. Contador extended his overall lead to 3 minutes over second place Vincenzo Nibali where he broke away with José Rujano on the Grossglockner. He solidified his lead through stage 14 up the Monte Zoncolan and a very difficult stage 15 through the Dolomites taking his lead up to 4 minutes ahead of second place Michele Scarponi. He also won the  mountain time-trial to Nevegal. On 29 May, Contador went on to win the race for the second time finishing 6 minutes ahead of second place Scarponi. In addition to winning the general classification, Contador also won the points classification and finished second in the mountains classification.

Despite the fact that he was scheduled to appear before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in early August, Contador announced in early June he would compete in the Tour de France. The CAS had planned to hear the case in early June but the dates were pushed back to early August. Contador aimed to become the first rider to win both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year since Marco Pantani accomplished the feat in 1998.

In the opening stage Contador was slowed by a crash and lost more than one minute. He lost additional time in the team time trial at Les Essarts but finished second in the fourth stage up to Mûr-de-Bretagne. Contador suffered four crashes in the opening nine days of the Tour, injuring his right knee before facing the Pyrenees mountain stages. He was dropped in the final kilometre in the stage to Luz Ardiden and finished two seconds behind Andy Schleck at the top of the Plateau de Beille. On the sixteenth stage to Gap, Contador attacked on the ascent of the Col de Manse, with Cadel Evans and Samuel Sánchez joining him in taking a time advantage over the other favourites in the general classification, including more than a minute over Schleck. He was also aggressive in the next stage to Pinerolo but unable to win time to the other favourites besides Thomas Voeckler and Ivan Basso. In the stage to the Col du Galibier he lost time to the other favourites after Schleck launched a solo attack  from the finish and Contador was later unable to follow the pace set by Evans. Contador launched an early attack on the last mountain stage to Alpe d'Huez, reaching the top of Galibier with Schleck, but their effort proved unsuccessful and they were captured by the rest of the main contenders following the long descent from the mountain. Contador launched another attack on the first kilometres of Alpe d'Huez but he was eventually beaten to victory by Pierre Rolland with Samuel Sánchez second. Contador finished fifth in the overall classification, 3 minutes 57 seconds behind Evans, bringing an end to his streak of winning six consecutive Grand Tours that he entered.

2012 season
Contador started his season with still no verdict in the clenbuterol case. He finished second overall in the Tour de San Luis and he won both uphill finishes, only falling short in the time trial stage of the race. On 6 February he was stripped of these early results, as well the 2010 Tour de France and 2011 Giro d'Italia wins and many other victories. He was also suspended until 5 August and his contract with  was annulled.

On 8 June it was announced that Contador would rejoin  upon the completion of his ban, signing a contract that would keep him with the team until the end of the 2015 season. After the completion of his suspension, Contador competed in the Eneco Tour as preparation for the Vuelta a España where he finished 4th in the general classification. Consequently, Contador was named leader of  for the Vuelta a España. Contador attacked numerous times throughout the mountains in the first sixteen stages of the race, but with no avail, since the race leader Joaquim Rodríguez always countered and finished ahead of him. This proved costly since there were bonus seconds awarded to the first three riders of each stage: twelve seconds for first, eight seconds for second and four seconds for third. Even on the queen stage of the race, finishing atop the Cuitu Negru and featuring slopes with a gradient of more than 20% close to the line, Rodríguez annulled the numerous attacks of Contador and sailed past him to the finish. However, his fortunes turned around during the seventeenth stage; he attacked in that latter portion of the stage and made a solo effort up the final climb of the day after his breakaway companion Paolo Tiralongo of  was dropped. Contador won the stage by six seconds over the first chase group and took the lead away from Rodríguez, who was relegated to more than two minutes in the general classification. He held on to the race lead during the last mountain stage leading atop the Bola del Mondo, where he was dropped by Rodríguez and Alejandro Valverde (), who held second place overall. He managed to limit his losses and retain the lead of the race. On the next day, Contador crossed the finish line in Madrid with the race leader's red jersey, earning the second Vuelta victory of his career.

Contador participated in the UCI Road World Championships held in Valkenburg in both the road race and the individual time trial. He was ninth in the time trial, after being overtaken by eventual winner Tony Martin, who started two minutes behind him. For the road race, Contador rode in support of his Spanish teammates and finished 53 seconds in arrears of the victor, Belgian Philippe Gilbert. Days later, Contador headed for Italy to take part in the newly resurrected Classic Milano–Torino. He took the win by accelerating on the final slope of the day in sight of the final kilometre banner, dropping all contenders. It was the first time in his career that he won a single-day race, and he dedicated the event to the memory of Víctor Cabedo, a young professional cyclist who died in a training accident a week prior.

2013 season

In 2013, Contador's only victory was a stage in the Tour de San Luis in January. From then on, his season did not go as expected: though finishing 3rd in Tirreno–Adriatico he became ill during the race. This disrupted his preparations for the rest of the season. Contador returned to racing in the Tour of the Basque Country in April and finished fifth in the general classification. He was too late to be in optimal condition for the Tour de France, where he could not match up to Chris Froome and finished in fourth place. After the Tour, main sponsor Oleg Tinkov expressed critical comments on Contador's style of riding. At the end of the season, Tinkov bought the team ownership, but Contador stayed loyal to the team.

2014 season

After a disappointing 2013 season, Contador went into the season trying to find the form that allowed him to take numerous victories in the past. Contador's first objective of the season was the Volta ao Algarve. Although he would lose time to Michał Kwiatkowski after his two consecutive stage wins, Contador showed his much improving form in the race, taking third in the second stage and fourth in the third stage individual time trial before taking his first win of the season on the fourth stage. In the stage featuring a summit finish at Alto do Malhão, Contador attacked a kilometre from the finish as he eventually soloed to the stage win, three seconds ahead of Rui Costa. He eventually finished second overall, 19 seconds down on Kwiatkowski.

Contador's next race was Tirreno–Adriatico where he faced stiffer competition with riders such as Nairo Quintana and Jean-Christophe Péraud. He continued to show his strong form by winning the third stage of the race going to Cittareale after he outsprinted Quintana, his main rival for the race. He took the lead in the general classification on the next day, winning a second successive stage as he attacked on the stage's penultimate climb before soloing to the finish. He kept his lead for the remainder of the race, finishing more than two minutes clear ahead of runner-up Quintana. Contador raced the Volta a Catalunya next, where he had his first duel with riders such as Chris Froome and Joaquim Rodríguez. On the race's first mountain stage, he followed attacks set by his fellow general classification contenders before he had to settle for second in the stage, 5 seconds behind Rodríguez. He finished the race in second place overall, just 4 seconds behind Rodríguez.

Contador's next objective for the season was the Tour of the Basque Country. He got into a duel with fellow Spaniard Alejandro Valverde and both riders did not disappoint on the first stage. Contador followed Valverde's attack on the stage's last climb before putting on an attack that Valverde was not able to answer. He negotiated the descent and soloed to the stage win and yellow jersey, 14 seconds ahead of Valverde. He kept the race lead to the end, finishing second on the final stage time trial and winning the race by 49 seconds ahead of Michał Kwiatkowski. As his final preparation for the Tour de France, Contador entered the Critérium du Dauphiné where he battled with Froome and Vincenzo Nibali, his main rivals for the Tour. Contador started the Dauphiné on good form, finishing second to Froome on the race's short individual time trial before dueling with Froome on the Col du Béal. Unlike in 2013 where he was unable to follow the accelerations of Froome, Contador was able to stay on his rival's wheel, eventually finishing second on the stage after Froome outsprinted him to the line. He had his next duel with Froome on the seventh stage, the queen stage of the race. Contador attacked with  left on the stage and Froome (who was suffering from the effects of a crash on the previous day's stage) was not able to bridge the gap to him as Contador took the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification. However, Contador fell victim to an ambush on the next stage as several riders in the top ten went into the breakaway including Andrew Talansky, who was sitting in third place overall, 39 seconds behind Contador. Contador was left isolated with no teammates around him as he tried to bridge the gap to the leading group but he ran out of steam as Talansky won the race overall. However, Contador dealt a psychological blow to Froome ahead of the Tour as Froome struggled in the stage, eventually dropping to 12th place overall.

In the Tour de France, Contador entered the race in much better form. He avoided crashing during the first week but he lost a lot of time in the fifth stage of the race, the stage featuring cobbles as part of the route. He lost around 2 and a half minutes to fellow overall contender, Nibali, as he was unable to bridge the gap to him after mud became stuck in his gears. On the Tour's first summit finish going to Gérardmer, he attacked as Nibali went with him. Contador made a final acceleration near the finish line as he took 3 seconds back on Nibali. On the descent of the Petit Ballon in the tenth stage, Contador crashed heavily before he was treated on the side of the road. He tried to ride for nearly  after the crash but he eventually abandoned the Tour. He initially ruled himself out of the Vuelta a España as well but he eventually joined the start list of the race.

His Vuelta started well as his team, , finished seventh in the opening team time trial, 19 seconds behind the , the team which fielded fellow overall contenders, Quintana and Valverde. On the race's first mountain stage to La Zubia, he was able to stay with the overall contenders as he eventually finished the stage in third place behind Froome and Valverde. He showed his improving form on the next mountain stage to Valdelinares, attacking with around  to go while dropping Froome and Valverde among others as he sat 3 seconds behind red jersey holder Quintana before the individual time trial. He took the red jersey on the individual time trial as he finished fourth. He showed he could defend the red jersey by staying with his fellow overall contenders. On the race's queen stage to La Farrapona, he followed Froome's attack with  to go while distancing other overall contenders. He stayed in his rival's wheel before putting on a finishing kick with around  to go, winning the stage and strengthening his hold on the red jersey. The same thing happened on the penultimate stage to Puerto de Ancares where he followed Froome throughout the climb, distancing the other contenders once again before kicking on to take the stage, all but securing the red jersey. On the final stage individual time trial, he rode conservatively in wet conditions to avoid any mishaps and though he lost time to the other favourites, he had more than enough time in hand to win his third Vuelta.

During the Vuelta, Contador announced he would not contest the UCI Road World Championships in Ponferrada, saying the course did not fit his characteristics at all. Contador suffered a crash in the Giro di Lombardia, injuring the knee that he had hurt in the Tour de France and ending his chances of winning the 2014 UCI World Tour overall classification, as he decided to forego the Tour of Beijing to better prepare for the 2015 season.

2015 season

For 2015, Contador announced that he would attempt to win both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, a feat that had not been done since Marco Pantani accomplished it in 1998. His debut race was the Vuelta an Andalucía in February. He took the race lead after the time trial on stage 1b, finishing fourth. Contador then won stage 3, a mountaintop finish, by attacking with  to go. He did however lose the race leader's jersey on the very next stage, another mountain affair, where Chris Froome snatched both the stage win and the race lead. Froome did not relinquish his lead and Contador finished the race second in the overall classification, only 2 seconds behind. In mid-March, Contador finished fifth overall at Tirreno–Adriatico, helping his teammate Peter Sagan win stage 6 by accelerating on a climb and shedding the pure sprinters off the leading group. At the end of March, Contador took fourth place in the Volta a Catalunya, where he crashed severely in the penultimate stage. Contador was able to remount and participate in the last stage, securing his general classification placing. At the end of April, and days before the start of the Giro d'Italia, Contador revealed that he was ready for the Grand Tour race. His injuries sustained in the Volta a Catalunya were healed and included a micro-fissure in his sacrum. He stated: "I'm going very well, the big blocks of training here in the Canaries are all but finished and I'm now beginning to go through the recovery phase prior to the Giro. I've done a huge amount of climbing rides in these last three weeks and now what we've got to do is ease back before next week."

At the Giro d'Italia, Contador's  team performed well in the opening team time trial, finishing 2nd to . He gained 6 seconds on Fabio Aru, 12 seconds on Rigoberto Urán, and 20 seconds on Richie Porte. Contador took the maglia rosa on the summit finish on stage 5 to Abetone. However, the next day, Contador dislocated his shoulder after crashing on the finishing straight. He was able to finish but dislocated the shoulder again before the podium presentation. Despite this, Contador was able to continue in the race, holding on to the jersey. However, on stage 13, on what most assumed was an "easy day" of racing, Contador crashed in a pile-up,  from the finish; he crossed the line 42 seconds behind the peloton, including Aru. Thus Contador lost the pink jersey, the first time he lost the leader's jersey in any Grand Tour up to that point in his career. However the next day, on a  individual time trial, Contador led the field, taking back the pink jersey and created a sizable time difference over the rest of the peloton. On stage 16, Contador suffered a mechanical problem on the descent of Apria and other teams including Astana tried to take advantage. Still, Contador made contact with Aru at the Mortirolo Pass and put another two minutes into his rival as Mikel Landa became the second-placed rider on the general classification. On Stage 20, Contador lost some time to both Landa and Aru but retained his pink jersey. Eventually, he won the overall classification by 1:53 over Aru. Despite being stripped of his 2011 title for a doping suspension, Contador insisted that this was his third Giro victory, therefore including the 2011 race in his count. With his second official Giro title, along with two official Tour de France titles and three Vuelta a España overall wins, Contador joined Bernard Hinault as the only cyclists to have achieved multiple victories at each of the Grand Tours.

In preparation for the Tour, Contador chose to ride the four-day Route du Sud, where he won the queen stage and the overall classification. His main rival was Nairo Quintana, a competitor he had to contend with at the Tour de France. Contador had solid opening to the first week of the tour; despite losing a little time to Chris Froome in the team time trial, he gained time on his rivals including Nibali and Quintana who both lost time on stage 2. He struggled though on the opening summit finish losing 3 minutes to stage winner Froome putting a serious dent to his victory chances. Despite this setback he improved on the next two Pyrenean stages staying in contact with his big rivals where he also remained 6th overall. His chances faded after he crashed on the descent of the Colle d'Allos on stage 17. Despite a hard effort on the finishing climb after, he lost over 2 minutes to Froome and Quintana. He was unable to recover from his crash on stage 17 and his efforts in the Giro which made him unable to match his rivals on the last 2 mountain stages. Contador finished the Tour de France in fifth place, 9' 48" down on winner Froome. Though he failed to achieve the double in the end, Contador had no regrets over his attempt. "It's true that there are riders that would dream of finishing fifth. For me that was not my objective but I'm glad that I tried. If I hadn't tried then after my career I might have wondered whether I could have done the Giro-Tour double and now I know. I don't think it's impossible to do the double but it's really complicated because nobody has the experience on how to prepare it. However, I prefer having tried than being left with a desire to do it".

After the Tour, Contador planned on racing the Clásica de San Sebastián but had to cancel due to sickness, ending his 2015 season.

2016 season
In March 2015, Contador signed a contract extension with his team, , but at the same time announced that 2016 would be his final season in professional cycling. He competed in his first race of the season at the Volta ao Algarve, finishing third overall and winning the final stage of the race. He went on to claim runner-up finishes in Paris–Nice, where he attacked race leader Geraint Thomas from  out and again on the final climb of Col d'Èze before Thomas closed the gap on the final descent to the finish line, and the Volta a Catalunya, before taking the general classification and the stage six time trial at the Tour of the Basque Country, subsequently stating to the press that he would postpone his retirement for at least another year.

Contador got off to a difficult start to the Tour de France, crashing in the opening stages and losing time to his rivals. He was in 20th place on the general classification with a deficit of 3 minutes 12 seconds to leader Chris Froome before the ninth stage, where after attempting to make the breakaway at the start of the day, he withdrew from the race, citing a fever which had developed overnight. In August, Contador won the overall classification of the Vuelta a Burgos, beating both Ben Hermans and Sergio Pardilla by just one second. He went on to finish fourth at the Vuelta a España.

Trek–Segafredo (2017)

During the 2016 Tour de France it was reported that Contador would race for  for the 2017 season, with the deal being confirmed by the team in September, along with the transfer of teammate Jesús Hernández and Tinkoff directeur sportif Steven de Jongh. This would be his final season as a professional cyclist.

In February, Contador began his season by finishing Vuelta an Andalucía, one second behind 's Alejandro Valverde. In March, Contador missed out on victory in Paris–Nice to a  rider by a narrow margin for the second year running after Sergio Henao managed to fend off a final-day attack to win the race by just two seconds. Contador had trailed by 31 seconds overnight, but had gone clear with  rider David de la Cruz and Marc Soler of the ; after taking a couple of seconds at an intermediate sprint, Contador was beaten to the line in Nice by de la Cruz, which cost him four bonus seconds and decided the race in favour of Henao. Later that month, Contador finished second overall at the Volta a Catalunya, 63 seconds behind Valverde. In April, Contador finished second overall at the Tour of the Basque Country, again behind Valverde.

In July, Contador rode the Tour de France for the final time, but was unable to challenge for overall victory, finishing ninth overall, 8 minutes and 49 seconds down on the winner, Chris Froome. In August, Contador rode the Vuelta a España, which was to be his final race as a professional. Contador rode an aggressive race in search of a stage victory, placing fifth overall, winning the combativity award in his final Grand Tour, as well as winning the final mountain stage atop the iconic Alto de l'Angliru after attacking on the penultimate climb of the day.

Doping

Operation Puerto
After final rosters had been presented for the 2006 Tour de France, Contador and five other members of the  team were barred from competing due to alleged connections with the Operación Puerto doping case. Contador and four other members of his team at the time, , were eventually cleared of all charges on 26 July 2006 by the Spanish courts and later two out of the five (including Contador) were cleared by the UCI. Each received a written document signed by Manuel Sánchez Martín, secretary for the Spanish court, stating that "there are not any type of charges against them nor have there been adopted any type of legal action against them."

In May 2006, a document from the summary of the investigation (Documento 31) was released. In it, the initials "A.C." were associated with a hand-written note saying, "Nada o igual a J.J." (). J.J. were the initials of Jörg Jaksche, who later admitted to being guilty of blood doping prepared by the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes in 2005. Contador was questioned in December 2006 by the magistrate in charge of the Puerto file. The rider declared to Judge Antonio Serrano that he did not know Fuentes personally. According to French daily Le Monde, he refused then to undergo a DNA test that would have judged whether or not he had any link to the blood bags that were found in the investigation.

On 28 July 2007, Le Monde, citing what it claimed was an investigation file to which it had access, stated that Contador's name appeared in several documents found during Operación Puerto. A second reference includes initials of riders' names that appeared on another training document, although neither of those two references could be linked to doping practices.

On 30 July 2007, German doping expert Werner Franke accused Contador of having taken drugs in the past and being prescribed a doping regimen by Fuentes, who was connected with Operación Puerto. He passed his allegations on to the German authorities the following day. Contador denied the accusations, saying "I was in the wrong team at the wrong time and somehow my name got among the documents." On 10 August, Contador publicly declared himself to be a clean rider in face of suspicions about his alleged links to the Operación Puerto blood doping ring.

2010 Tour de France
In September 2010, Contador revealed that a urine sample he had given on 21 July, a rest day in the Tour de France, had contained traces of clenbuterol. He has stated, due to the number of other tests he passed and that only a tiny amount of the substance was detected in the one he failed, that food contamination was to blame. Adding credibility to the explanation, anti-doping doctor Don Catlin said that of the contaminants found in food supplements, clenbuterol is one of the more common. However, when asked if it was plausible that Contador had ingested the clenbuterol through contamination, Catlin said "without knowing what the level in his sample is, it's impossible to say." Contador stated that he is the victim, and he can "hold his head high" and that he thinks he should not be punished. Several people related to the sport defended Contador saying that there is little benefit from using the drug in the amounts that were discovered and that no one would intentionally take such an easily detectable substance.

There was some scepticism of Contador's claim that contaminated meat was to blame. In 2008 and 2009, only one animal sample came back positive for clenbuterol out of 83,203 animal samples tested by EU member nations. Out of 19,431 animal tests in Spain over the same period, there were no samples that came back positive for clenbuterol.
Contador's urine sample, taken during the day before his clenbuterol positive sample, was reported to contain plastic residue (plasticizers) indicating possible blood doping as these materials are introduced to the bloodstream from blood bags used in blood doping, but the test was not recognised by the World Anti-Doping Agency, so no charges in relation to this finding were brought. A theory circulated that blood doping could account for the minute traces if the clenbuterol was introduced through a transfusion, re-introducing contaminated blood that had been extracted at a time when he had been taking Clenbuterol. It was supposed that this caused the presence of it in his system and the subsequent failed test, rather than the direct ingestion or injection of the drug at the time. This theory also recognised that Clenbuterol is not very effective at all as a performance-enhancing drug, but effective if used to strip fat and hence reduce a rider's weight pre-season, and it is theorized that this is when the blood was taken which was later re-introduced by transfusion.

The UCI issued a statement reporting that the concentration was 50 pg/mL, and that this was 400 times below the minimum standards of detection capability required by WADA, and that further scientific investigation was required. Contador was provisionally suspended from competition, although this had no short-term effect as he had already finished his racing programme for the 2010 season. Contador had been informed of the results over a month earlier, on 24 August. Later the amount discovered was clarified as 40 times below the minimum standards, rather than the 400 times originally reported by the UCI. Contador's scientific adviser claimed that he would have needed 180 times the amount detected to gain any benefit in his performance.

In late January 2011, the Royal Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) proposed a one-year ban, but it subsequently accepted Contador's appeal and cleared him of all charges. Contador returned to racing in February in the Volta ao Algarve, a race he won in 2009 and 2010. The UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency each appealed the RFEC decision independently to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in March 2011, but Contador remained free to ride until the CAS made its ruling. The hearing with CAS was initially scheduled for June, but following an extension requested by Contador's legal team, it was rearranged for August, in the week following the Tour de France, and later postponed again until November, with the result to be given in 2012. The decision on 6 February 2012 found Contador guilty of accidental ingestion of the prohibited substance Clenbuterol and hence he was stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title, and his results since that race, including victory in the 2011 Giro d'Italia and fifth place in the 2011 Tour de France, were voided, and he was suspended until August 2012. The following day, in a press conference, his contract with  was annulled.

Career achievements

Major results

2001
 3rd Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships
2002
 1st  Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships
 9th Overall Ruban Granitier Breton
2003
 1st Stage 8 (ITT) Tour de Pologne
 9th Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama
2004
 1st Mountains classification Vuelta a Aragón
 5th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
2005
 1st  Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
1st Combination classification
1st Stage 3
 1st Stage 5 Tour Down Under
 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
1st  Points classification
1st Stage 5b (ITT)
 4th Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Stage 4
 7th Klasika Primavera
2006
 1st Stage 8 Tour de Suisse
 2nd Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Stage 3
 4th Klasika Primavera
 5th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 9th GP Miguel Induráin
2007
 1st  Overall Tour de France
1st  Young rider classification
1st Stage 14
 1st  Overall Paris–Nice
1st  Young rider classification
1st Stages 4 & 7
 1st  Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
1st  Combination classification
1st Spanish rider classification
1st Stage 4
 1st Stage 4 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
 3rd Trofeo Sóller
 6th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
2008
 1st  Overall Giro d'Italia
 1st  Overall Vuelta a España
1st  Combination classification
1st Stages 13 & 14
 1st  Overall Tour of the Basque Country
1st Stages 1 & 6 (ITT)
 1st  Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
1st  Combination classification
1st Spanish rider classification
1st Stages 1 (ITT) & 4
 2nd Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama
 3rd Overall Vuelta a Murcia
 4th Time trial, Summer Olympics
 6th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
2009
 1st UCI World Ranking
 1st  Time trial, National Road Championships
 1st  Overall Tour de France
1st Stages 4 (TTT), 15 & 18 (ITT)
 1st  Overall Tour of the Basque Country
1st Stages 3 & 6 (ITT)
 1st  Overall Volta ao Algarve
1st Stage 4 (ITT)
 1st RaboRonde Heerlen
 2nd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
 3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 4th Overall Paris–Nice
1st Stages 1 (ITT) & 6
2010
 1st  Overall Paris–Nice
1st Stage 4
 1st  Overall Volta ao Algarve
1st Stage 3
 1st  Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
1st  Combination classification
1st Spanish rider classification
1st Stage 4 (ITT)
 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
1st  Points classification
1st Prologue & Stage 6
 3rd La Flèche Wallonne
 9th Liège–Bastogne–Liège

 1st  Overall Tour de France
2011
 1st  Overall Giro d'Italia
1st  Points classification
1st Stages 9 & 16 (ITT)
 1st  Overall Volta a Catalunya
1st Stage 3
 1st  Overall Vuelta a Murcia
1st Points classification
1st Stages 2 & 3 (ITT)
 1st Stage 4 (ITT) Vuelta a Castilla y León
 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
 4th Overall Volta ao Algarve
 5th Overall Tour de France
2012
 2nd Overall Tour de San Luis
1st Stages 3 & 5

2012
 1st  Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stage 17
 Combativity award Overall
 1st Milano–Torino
 4th Overall Eneco Tour
 9th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
 9th Giro di Lombardia
2013
 2nd Overall Tour of Oman
 3rd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
1st  Points classification
 3rd Klasika Primavera
 4th Overall Tour de France
 4th Overall Tour de San Luis
1st Stage 6
 5th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 5th Milano–Torino
 10th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
2014
 1st  Overall Vuelta a España
1st  Combination classification
1st Stages 16 & 20
 1st  Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
1st Stages 4 & 5
 1st  Overall Tour of the Basque Country
1st Stage 1
 2nd UCI World Tour
 2nd Overall Volta ao Algarve
1st Stage 4
 2nd Overall Volta a Catalunya
 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
 6th Milano–Torino
2015
 1st  Overall Giro d'Italia
 1st  Overall Route du Sud
1st Stage 3
 2nd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
1st Stage 3
 4th Overall Volta a Catalunya
 5th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
 5th Overall Tour de France
 7th UCI World Tour
2016
 1st  Overall Tour of the Basque Country
1st Stage 6 (ITT)
 1st  Overall Vuelta a Burgos
 2nd Overall Paris–Nice
 2nd Overall Volta a Catalunya
 3rd Overall Volta ao Algarve
1st Stage 5
 4th Overall Vuelta a España
 Combativity award Stage 15 & Overall
 5th UCI World Tour
 5th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
1st Prologue
 5th Overall Abu Dhabi Tour
2017
 2nd Overall Paris–Nice
 2nd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
 2nd Overall Volta a Catalunya
 2nd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 5th Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stages 17 & 20
 Combativity award Overall
 9th Overall Tour de France
 Combativity award Stages 13 & 17
 10th UCI World Tour

General classification results timeline

Monuments results timeline

Awards
Vélo d'Or: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014


Pipalmadi

Pipalmadi  is a village development committee in Sindhuli District in the Janakpur Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 3853 people living in 552 individual households.


Cercyon haemorrhoidalis

Cercyon haemorrhoidalis is a species of water scavenger beetle in the family Hydrophilidae. It is found in Australia, Europe & Northern Asia (excluding China), North America, and Southern Asia.


The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? and Other Essays is a collection of writings by William Goldman on the film industry. Many of the pieces had previously been published in magazines such as Premiere. It was published by Applause Books in 2000.

Michael Sragow, reviewing The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? and Other Essays, writes, "Much of his gruff humor and charm derives from emphatic statements of the obvious.  In writing about movies, seeing the obvious is an undeniable gift—and pounding it home conveys how difficult it can be for common sense to penetrate hype. Goldman also applies a fine-honed sledgehammer to Good Will Hunting, a movie on which he consulted for one day and insists he likes.  He observes that Robin Williams, playing (he chortles) 'the shrink with only one patient,' finds an awesomely simple solution to curing the mental torment of the young genius Matt Damon: he tells the boy,  'It's not your fault,' 10 times. Goldman, like a gleeful prosecutor, repeats the phrase for us 10 times, in italics.


Skull Hill, Malaysia

Skull Hill () is an archaeological site hill located at Tampi Tampi Road, about  south of Semporna town.

Geology
The hill is a volcanic rock-shelter site and a part of volcano mouth of  in diameter. It is surrounded by numerous isolated hills and mountains with most representing the sites of extinct volcanoes ranging from Pliocene to Quaternary in age.

History
Between 1994–95, joint archaeological research was undertaken by Centre for Archaeological Research of Malaysia and Sabah Museum team at the hill. Based on the findings from two seasons of excavations until the base of the undisturbed cultural deposits for about a period of five weeks at two volcanic outcrops near the hill summit, the subsequent layers contained undisturbed artefacts. A broad range of archaeological materials were recovered during the excavations which include large quantities of potsherds, chert, agate and obsidian stone tools, polished stone adzes, a stone barkcloth beater as well as some shell and bone artefacts. Abundant of food remains also discovered, mostly being the marine molluscs, fish bones and some terrestrial animal bones.

The site has been identified as the largest pottery making factory in Southeast Asia during the Neolithic period. The hill slopes are littered with numerous pottery shards with various patterns dating 3,000 BP. An ethno-archaeological study shows that such pottery making is still practised by the Bajau community in Semporna until this day. This pottery site has links between local communities and traders from around the Andaman Sea. The hill provides evidence of prehistoric sea trade and one of the world's longest human movement dating back to 3,000 years.


Cyril Arthur Bennett Horsford

Cyril Arthur Bennett Horsford FRCS (25 January 1876 – 16 December 1953) was for many years a leading authority on the anatomy and physiology of the throat. A passion for music led him to publish a work for singers, Why Voices Fail, after which he was much sought after by the leading singers of his day. He later became Laryngologist to the Royal Choral Society, the Royal College of Music and the Royal Society of Musicians.

Biography
Cyril Arthur Bennett Horsford was born in 1876, the son of the Hon. Samuel Horsford of St Kitts in the West Indies.  He was educated at Bedford Modern School and the University of Edinburgh graduating with an MB ChB in 1898. He graduated with an MD in 1902, and was elected FRCS in the same year.

Horsford served as clinical assistant at the Throat Hospital in Golden Square and was registrar at the Central Throat and Ear Hospital (1905–13). He later set up private practice on Harley Street. In 1912 he wrote a medical paper entitled ‘Why voices fail’ following which he attracted many singers to his practice on Harley Street. Such was his success that he became laryngologist to the Royal College of Music, the Royal Choral Society and the Royal Society of Musicians. He regularly lectured on the medical aspects of voice production.

Horsford's later hospital appointments included the posts of honorary surgeon to the Princess Beatrice Hospital in Kensington and honorary surgeon in charge of the ear, nose and throat department of the St Pancras Dispensary.

Horsford married Edith Louise (née Sayers), the adopted daughter and ward of the late Miss Lascelles-Jones. He died on 16 December 1953 and was survived by his eife, a daughter and son.

Selected papers
 Why Voices Fail
 An Original Method of Facilitating Intralaryngial Operations
 The Epiglottic Suture - Its value in Indirect Laryngoscopy
 Cancer of the Larynx


Cannabis and the United States military

Cannabis usage is currently prohibited in the United States military, but historically it has been used recreationally by some troops, and some cannabis-based medicines were used in the military as late as the twentieth century.

Military medicine
In 1909, a military manual from the Mounted Service School in Fort Riley recommended cannabis indica for treating abdominal pains in horses, or to supplement ether for treating spasms. During World War I, military doctors recommended that the American Expeditionary Force carry cannabis indica tablets to treat headaches, insomnia, and cramps.

Drug use in Panama and investigations
Some of the earliest reports of recreational cannabis use in the military came from the Panama Canal Zone in 1916, where troops were noted to be using the drug. Also in 1916, thousands of US troops used marijuana while in Mexico on General John Pershing's punitive expedition against Pancho Villa (1916–1917). In 1921, the commanding officer of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, prohibited the use of cannabis on the base.

A 1933 report by the U.S. Army Medical Corps published in the publication Military Surgeon, titled Marijuana Smoking in Panama, based on a study of U.S. Army personnel in the Panama Canal Zone, found that cannabis was generally not addictive and was less harmful to soldiers than alcohol. The report recommended that use of cannabis on military bases should continue to be prohibited, but outside of these areas there should be no further restriction.

Industrial hemp
The Rens Hemp Company of Brandon, Wisconsin, closed in 1958, was the last legal hemp producer nationwide in operation following World War II. Prior to its 1957 shutdown, Rens had been the primary provider of hemp rope for the United States Navy.

Edgewood Arsenal human experiments

From the 1950s to the 1970s, Edgewood Arsenal conducted experiments on human subjects with cannabis and its derivatives. One study indicated "no loss of motivation or performance after two years of heavy (military sponsored) smoking of marihuana."

Vietnam War
Though alcohol was the drug most commonly used by American troops in the Vietnam War, cannabis was the second-most common. Initially rates of usage among deployed soldiers were comparable to those of their stateside peers, with 29% of troops departing Vietnam in 1967 reporting having ever used marijuana in their lives. A 1976 study however showed that from 1967–1971, the proportion of troops having used marijuana peaked at 34% before stabilizing to 18%, while the number of troops who had used cannabis prior to deployment stayed around 8%. Cannabis use by troops in Vietnam was generally dealt with using Article 15 non-judicial punishment in units such as the 101st Airborne.

During the Vietnam War period, cannabis use also became common among US forces in the United States and in Europe, with a 1971 article claiming that over 1,000 midshipmen at Annapolis Naval Academy used cannabis, and a survey in Germany showing that half of the soldiers in the surveyed battalion were regular cannabis users.

References


Matías Garavano

Matías Daniel Garavano (born 24 August 1984) is an Argentine footballer that currently plays as goalkeeper.

External links


Calleary

Calleary is an Irish surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Dara Calleary (born 1973), Irish politician
Phelim Calleary (1895–1974), Irish politician
Seán Calleary (1931-2018), Irish politician


Cordyline stricta

Cordyline stricta, known as the Slender Palm Lily, or Narrow-leaved Palm Lily (not to be confused with C. congesta, which is also known by this common name) is an evergreen Australian plant. A shrub to 5 metres tall found in wet sclerophyll forest and rainforest, usually on the coastal lowlands. From near Bilpin, New South Wales further north to Queensland. C. stricta has become naturalised in Victoria.

Description
Leaves are long and thin, 30 to 50 cm long, 1 to 2 cm wide. Mauve flowers form on panicles, 20 to 40 cm long. The flowering stem is 15 to 30 cm long. Fruit are purple to black, 10 to 15 mm in diameter. This is the only Australian species with black fruit.

Uses

Cultivation
Cordyline stricta is widely planted in gardens and commercial landscapes for the ornamental value of both its foliage and flower heads and berries. It's tall, narrow habit makes it useful as a screen plant. C. stricta is adaptable to a wide range of climate and planting situations, from full sun to shade, and is moderately drought tolerant once established. It does not tolerate frost well.

Ecological
Cordyline stricta is a host plant for Yellow-streaked Swift caterpillars.


1860 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

The Pennsylvania gubernatorial of 1860 was held on October 9, almost one month before Presidential election. Andrew Curtin of the newly formed Republican Party won the governor's mansion over Democrat Henry Donnel Foster.

Candidates

Democratic
Henry Donnel Foster, former U.S. Congressman (from Westmoreland County)

Republican
Andrew Curtin, former Secretary of the Commonwealth (from Centre County)

Campaign
As in most of the county, the growing tension over the expansion of slavery was the dominant electoral issue. Although outgoing Governor William F. Packer had been lauded for expanding public education and for aiding the state's iron and glass industries through tough economic times, his reputation was tainted by a strong connection to President James Buchanan. Nonetheless, the state Democratic Party remained strong, and, despite the national split, leadership united behind Foster. By contrast, the Republicans, which had participated in only one prior gubernatorial election, was marked by division. Although Abraham Lincoln was emerging as the party's presidential candidate, state party bosses had hoped to nominate Simon Cameron; it took some time for the party establishment to unify around Curtin, a Lincoln supporter, and his campaign got off to somewhat of a slow start.

Although both candidates discussed similar issues in their campaign, particularly public education and industrial development, local issues were totally overshadowed by the impending threat of war. While Democrats, who backed the Stephen A. Douglas and the Northern plank of their national party almost unanimously, rallied hard behind Foster, the problems with the party's national machinery caught up with their candidate. Curtin, a powerful speaker, was able to convince voters that choosing the Republican line was the only way to keep the nation from division, a message that allowed him to achieve a narrow victory.

Results

Notes


RAF Wyton

Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton  is a Royal Air Force station near St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, England.

In terms of organisation RAF Wyton was part of the combined station RAF Brampton Wyton Henlow, a merger of Wyton with two previously separate bases, RAF Brampton and RAF Henlow. Wyton is the largest of the three. It is home to Equipment Support (Air) and Corporate Technical Services. The airfield is now decommissioned but was used for flight training by 57(R) Squadron EFT, the University Air Squadrons of London and Cambridge and No. 5 Air Experience Flight.

History

1916–1939
Wyton has been a military airfield since 1916, when it was used for training by the Royal Flying Corps and then its successor the Royal Air Force (RAF).

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1916 and 1935:
 No. 46 Squadron RFC between 1916 and 1916.
 No. 65 Squadron RFC between 1916 and 1917.
 No. 83 Squadron RFC between 1917 and 1917.
 No. 96 Squadron RAF between 1918 and 1918.
 No. 104 Squadron RFC between 1917 and 1917.
 No. 117 Squadron RAF between 1918 and 1919.
 No. 119 Squadron RAF between 1918 and 1918.
 No. 120 Squadron RAF between 1918 and 1918.
 No. 130 Squadron RAF between 1918 and 1918.
 No. 156 Squadron RAF between 1918 and 1918.
 No. 211 Squadron RAF between 1919 and 1919.

In 1935, it was upgraded to contemporary standards.

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1935 and 1939:
 No. 44 Squadron between 1937 and 1937.
 No. 114 Squadron between 1936 and 1939.
 No. 139 Squadron between 1936 and 1939.

1939–1945

During the Second World War it was used primarily as a bomber base, flying Bristol Blenheim, de Havilland Mosquito and Avro Lancaster aircraft. In 1942 it became the home of the Pathfinder Force under the command of Group Captain Don Bennett.

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1939 and 1945:
 No. 15 Squadron between 1939 and 1940.
 No. 15 Squadron for a second time between 1940 and 1942.
 No. 40 Squadron between 1939 and 1941.
 No. 57 Squadron between 1940 and 1940.
 No. 57 Squadron for a second time between 1940 and 1940.
 No. 83 Squadron for a second time between 1942 and 1944.
 No. 109 Squadron between 1942 and 1942.
  ((NO. 105 Squadron RAF|No. 105 Squadron)) between 1942 and 1945
 No. 109 Squadron for a second time between 1942 and 1943.
 No. 128 Squadron between 1944 and 1945.
 No. 139 Squadron for a second time between 1943 and 1944.
 No. 156 Squadron for a second time between 1945 and 1945.
 No. 163 Squadron between 1945 and 1945.

1946–2011

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1946 and 2011:
 No. 13 Squadron between 1978 and 1982.
 No. 15 Squadron for a third time between 1946 and 1950.
 No. 25 Squadron between 1983 and 1989.
 No. 26 Squadron between 1969 and 1976.
 No. 39 Squadron between 1970 and 1982.
 No. 44 Squadron for a second time between 1946 and 1951.
 No. 51 Squadron between 1963 and 1995.
 No. 58 Squadron between 1953 and 1970.
 No. 82 Squadron between 1953 and 1956.
No. 85 Squadron between 1989 and 1991
 No. 90 Squadron between 1946 and 1950.
 No. 100 Squadron between 1956 and 1956.
 No. 100 Squadron for a second time between 1982 and 19??.
 No. 138 Squadron between 1946 and 1950.
 No. 207 Squadron between 1969 and 1984.
 No. 360 Squadron between 1975 and 19??.
 No. 540 Squadron between 1953 and 1956.
 No. 542 Squadron between 1954 and 1955.
 No. 542 Squadron for a second time between 1955 and 1955.
 No. 543 Squadron between 1955 and 1974.

After the war Wyton became home to the Strategic Reconnaissance Force, adding English Electric Canberra to the aircraft flown. Vickers Valiants, modified for reconnaissance, moved there in 1955 and a Handley Page Victor in 1959. Provision was made to store nuclear weapons if necessary.

The Victor belonged to a separate Radar Reconnaissance Flight (initially of one aircraft - rising to three by the time RRF was disbanded in 1962) to supplement the work of the Valiants of 543 Sqn. The Canberras of 58 Sqn were a mix of PR7 and PR 9s.

Also based at RAF Wyton were the T17 and T17A Canberras of 360 Sqn, the only joint RAF and RN Squadron specialising in ECM training.  In the early 1990s one of its pilots was Ft Lt Rory Underwood. Other residents at RAF Wyton were 100 Sqn with a mixture of Canberra types in the Targeting Role. Also resident but "never officially present" were the three Nimrod R1s belonging to 51 Sqn used in the Elint and Sigint role.

During a four-month period in autumn 1989, two squadrons of U.S. Air Force Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II jets were operated out of RAF Wyton while the runway at their base, nearby RAF Alconbury, was resurfaced. During the late 1980s and until the airfield closures in 1995, RAF Wyton and the USAF run RAF Alconbury used a joint air traffic control operation.

In May 1995 both RAF Wyton and RAF Alconbury airfields were decommissioned and Wyton was formally amalgamated with RAF Brampton, and later with RAF Henlow to make all three locations a single RAF Station for administrative purposes.

The decommissioning of the airfield saw the end of regular jet powered flight from Wyton. However the airfield continued to host light aircraft in the form of two University Air Squadrons, an RAF flying club and an RAF sponsored microlight club. The UAS squadrons moved to Wyton were the University of London and the University of Cambridge. Both units flew the Grob G 115 Tutor. By the turn of the century, the operation had been expanded to include Elementary Flying Training for ab initio pilot recruits.

The microlight club consisted of a small group of flex-wing microlight and 3-axis aircraft, there was a thriving flight school with two instructors, the former Chief Inspector of the BMAA David Marshall and the training instructor pilot Paul Foggoa. The school was based in the old crash building - the original purpose of which was to house the crash-rescue fire engines. The success of the club, and the inclusion of non-RAF members, led to the club expanding to the corner of one of the large hangars.

The RAF Wyton Flying Club operated the Slingsby T67 Firefly and a Robin DR400. It offered flying tuition to all ranks with an emphasis on junior ranks and those whose day jobs did not include flying.

2011–present

The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review announced the formation of Joint Forces Command (JFC), and on 2 April 2012, the RAF Brampton Wyton Henlow tri site was disbanded. JFC assumed responsibility for RAF Brampton/ Wyton, with RAF Henlow remaining under the control of Headquarters Air Command. The decision to close RAF Brampton by December 2013 led to the command and control of the Station transferring to RAF Wyton. RAF Brampton was renamed Brampton Camp and became a satellite unit of RAF Wyton.

RAF Wyton is undergoing transformation through the Programme to Rationalise and Integrate the Defence Intelligence Estate (PRIDE). Under JFC, RAF Wyton will become home to the Headquarters of the Joint Forces Intelligence Group (JFIG).  Through JFIG, a number of key components of the Defence Intelligence community have been brought together. JFIG Headquarters will be alongside the imagery intelligence capability of the Defence Geospatial Intelligence Fusion Centre (DGIFC). Formerly the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre (JARIC), DGIFC provides imagery intelligence to the armed forces and other customers. They do this through the use of satellite imaging, as well as airborne and ground-based systems. DGIFC use these sources to provide regional intelligence assessments.

Joining HQ JFIG and DGIFC at RAF Wyton from 2013 will be 42 Engineer Regiment. They will be accompanied by elements of Defence Human Intelligence and specialist staff from Defence Intelligence. These elements will come together to support worldwide operations from purpose-built facilities within the Pathfinder Building. In future years, other elements of JFIG and the wider Defence Intelligence community are expected to work together at Wyton.

No. 1 Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Squadron of the RAF moved to Wyton from RAF Marham in April 2017.

By 2014, RAF Wyton's population grew 5-fold to approximately 1,800 personnel, with every likelihood of a further 1,500-2,000 personnel joining before the end of the decade. Alongside the build-up of the Defence Intelligence footprint at RAF Wyton, the Station also plays host to several Lodger Units.  The active airfield hosts the 57 (Reserve) Sqn Elementary Flying Training School, No. 5 Air Experience Flt, 2 University Air Squadrons (UAS) as well as the Pathfinder Flying Club. 57(R) Squadron is responsible for conducting Elementary Flying Training (EFT) for around 50 percent of the RAF's entry of new student pilots. Students arrive following completion of Initial Officer Training (IOT) at RAF Cranwell and remain for around 6 months of flying training on the Grob Tutor 115E. The course is broadly split into 2 phases. During the 1st phase, students are taught the basics of flying an aircraft, fly solo and learn general handling, including aerobatics. The 2nd phase of the course sees the students progress onto more advanced flying, including instrument flying, low level navigation and formation flying. The course culminates in a demanding final test, where all elements taught on the course can be assessed. Following the successful completion of this test, students are moved to either fast jet, rotary or multi engine to continue their flying training.

The 2 UAS's teach undergraduate students to fly to the standard of a Private pilot licence (PPL), with additional opportunities to fly Aerobatics, Formation Flying and Low Level Navigation.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) also has a large presence at Wyton with both its Operations Accommodation and International elements.  DIO Ops Accommodation is responsible for the management of 49,000 Service Family Accommodation in the UK and infrastructure support for the United States Visiting Forces. DIO International looks after the International Estate used by Defence, including the maintenance and provision of facilities on the Permanent Joint Operating Bases.

Other units include the Chief Information Officer's Defence Security Assurance Service, the Air Training Corps Headquarters for the Central and Eastern Region, 2331 (St. Ives) Squadron ATC, and the US Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA).

DCMA International maintains a significant presence at Wyton. DCMA International established the headquarters for DCMA Northern Europe at Wyton in 2013. Shortly thereafter, in 2014, DCMA disestablished DCMA Northern Europe and established DCMA United Kingdom (UK). Since 2014, from its headquarters at Wyton, DCMA UK has been providing itinerant contract administration services throughout the UK, Northern Europe, and Scandinavia. In addition, DCMA UK manages its footprints in contractor plants from its headquarters at Wyton.

RAF Wyton hosts the annual Pathfinder March, a  walk which starts and finishes at RAF Wyton.

Previous units
Units moved (now disbanded)

The following units were here at some point:
Currently Operational Units moved

On 25 March 2013 it was decided to relocate the flying units due to the maintenance costs of the airfield.

57(R) Squadron relocated to RAF Cranwell in Summer 2013.
Cambridge University Air Squadron relocated to RAF Wittering in mid-2014.
University of London Air Squadron relocated to RAF Wittering in mid-2014.
5 Air Experience Flight also relocated to RAF Wittering in mid-2014.

Current units
Notable units based at RAF Wyton.

Joint Forces Command
Defence Intelligence
 Joint Forces Intelligence Group (JFIG)
 Defence Intelligence Fusion Centre (DIFC)
Information Systems and Services
 Defence Assurance and Information Security

British Army
Joint Forces Command / Royal Engineers
 42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic)
 13 Geographic Squadron
 14 Geographic Squadron
 16 Geographic Support Squadron
 135 Geographic Squadron Royal Engineers

Ministry of Defence
 Defence Infrastructure Organisation
 Defence Intelligence Estates Rationalisation Team (PRIDE)

Royal Air Force
No. 1 Group (Air Combat) RAF
 No. 1 Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Wing
 No. 1 Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Squadron
 RAF Wyton Area Voluntary Band
No. 22 Group (Training) RAF
 Air Training Corps Central & Eastern Region Headquarters
 No. 2331 (St Ives) Squadron (Air Training Corps)

United States Department of Defense
 Defense Contract Management Agency United Kingdom


Halina Kanasz

Halina Kanasz (born January 30, 1953 in Henrykowo) is a Polish luger who competed during the 1970s. She won two medals in the women's singles event at the FIL European Luge Championships with a silver in 1974 and a bronze in 1975.

Kanasz also competed in the women's singles event at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, finishing tied for sixth and at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck finished at 14th.


Kaden Tower

Kaden Tower is a 15-story office building at 6100 Dutchmans Lane in suburban Louisville, Kentucky. The building opened in 1966 as the headquarters for Lincoln Income Life Insurance Company and was originally named Lincoln Tower. Designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, the building is notable for its cantilevered structure and its suspended lacework facade. A single-story building on the same site and in the same architectural style adjoins the tower. This smaller building which originally housed a branch office of Liberty National Bank and Trust Company is now leased by WBKI-TV.

Design
Both buildings' designs are often attributed to Frank Lloyd Wright, but they were actually designed by Wright's protégé and son-in-law William Wesley Peters. Wright's widow, Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, is also cited as an influence.  Peters became the head of Wright's architectural firm Taliesin Associates after Wright's death in 1959.

Though Peters had his own style, he collaborated with Wright for more than twenty years. He based the design of the Louisville complex largely on three of Wright's projects, only one of which was actually built. Like the Kaden Tower, Wright's never-constructed 1946 sketches for the Sarabhai Calico Mills Store in Ahmedabad, India, had grillwork over the outside windows, a feature that evokes the jali of traditional Mughal architecture.  This feature served the dual role of reducing interior solar heat gain while preserving views from interior to exterior (though traditionally jalis also permitted ventilation). Even though Louisville's humid sub-tropical climate has much lower temperatures throughout the year than Ahmedabad's hot semi-arid climate, the exterior cladding still functions as a solar shading device.  Peters' design is also evocative of another unbuilt Wright plan, the 40-story Rogers Lacy Hotel. This striking, innovative skyscraper had been commissioned also in 1946 for downtown Dallas, Texas, by oil tycoon Rogers Lacy but was never built due to his untimely death.

Undoubtedly, the one Wright blueprint that Peters incorporated as his biggest source of inspiration was the H.C. Price Company Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The Price Tower, commissioned in 1952 by another oil businessman, Harold C. Price, opened in 1956 and is one of only two completed tall buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Peters was a collaborator with Wright on the Price Tower project, so it is not surprising that the Kaden and Price buildings have many common components, including their distinctive cantilever design which provides open interior space, free of columns, by suspending the floors from a central core. Both buildings sit on large, landscaped sites, adjacent to similarly-styled smaller buildings, are decorated in pastel earthtones, and have somewhat obscured windows.

Like the Calico Mills design, the Kaden Tower, when occupied at night, is reminiscent of a Japanese lantern with inside lighting illuminating the grillwork with a soft, yellow glow. During the month of December in the 1970s and early 1980s, transparent color gels were placed on the inside of the windows to form large seasonal symbols when the office lights were left on. Other notable features of the building are several Wright-inspired stained glass windows and a glass elevator system on the building's exterior, surrounded by a low dome that houses the building's air conditioning systems and accented with a reflecting pool and fountain.

Ownership
An affiliate of In-Rel Properties (www.in-rel.com) acquired the property from Kaden Companies Partnership in 2018. Kaden acquired the building in 1986 and changed its name from the Lincoln Income Life Insurance Tower to the Kaden Tower. After purchasing the tower, Kaden contracted Louisville's Grossman Chapman Klarer Architects and invested $2 million in an extensive renovation of the property. Completed in 1987, the renovation included updating the office spaces, upgrading the onsite auditorium, and repainting the exterior. A subsequent update in 2003 added air conditioning to the unique exterior elevator system. A Ruth's Chris Steak House restaurant is located on the top floor. The lower floors are all office space.

During its 40-plus years of standing  above suburban Louisville, reactions to the tower from neighbors, tourists, locals, and architecture enthusiasts have covered the entire spectrum of commentary from disdain to praise. A plaque attached to the building describes some of its history and characterizes it as both "controversial" and "a jewel."


Aleksandar Kovačević

Aleksandar Kovačević (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Ковачевић; born on 9 January 1992) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Greek club Xanthi.

Honours
Red Star
Serbian SuperLiga (1): 2013–14


Ed Valentine

Ed Valentine is a former U.S. soccer player who played with the amateur Fall River, Massachusetts-based club Ponta Delgada S.C. in the mid to late 1940s.  Ponta Delgado was runner up in the 1946 National Challenge Cup.  The next year, the team won the National Challenge Cup and the National Amateur Cup. This led to the United States Soccer Federation selecting Ponta Delgado to represent the U.S. in the 1947 NAFC Championship.

In 1947, the then recently founded North American Football Confederation held its first regional championship, known as the NAFC Championship.  On July 13, 1947, Valentine earned his first cap with the U.S. national team in a 5-0 loss to Mexico. Seven days later, he earned his second cap, and scored his lone goal, with the national team in a 4-2 loss to Cuba.


Charles Rasp

Charles Rasp, born Hieronymous Salvator Lopez von Pereira, (7 October 1846 – 22 May 1907) is known as the first person to identify the economic potential of the ore deposits at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia.

He was born at Stuttgart, Duchy of Württemberg, where he was educated and he was trained in chemistry.  He emigrated to Australia to improve his health in 1869 and worked at a variety of jobs on rural stations, eventually ending up at the Mount Gipps Station managed by George McCulloch, where he was employed as a boundary rider (Coulls, 1976 and Camilleri, 2006).

Biography
Inspired by the silver rush to nearby Silverton, he began to prospect in the area of Broken Hill.

One day while mustering sheep in the Broken Hill paddock towards the end of September 1883, he was struck by the mineral appearance and formation of the 'Broken Hill'.  He joined forces with local contractors David James and James Poole, and they took out a mining lease on part of Broken Hill and sank a small shaft.  Though discouraged by early assay results, they persisted and soon after were joined by four others (all working on Mount Gipps) forming the Syndicate of Seven. George McCulloch and Charles Rasp pegged out further leases which took in the whole of Broken Hill, the original name of which was said to be Wilyu-Wilyu-yong (Curtis, 1908).

They were prospecting for tin, but early assay results found only low grade lead ore and traces of silver (Curtis, 1908).  It was not until late 1884 or early 1885 that rich quantities of silver were found and the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) was floated to mine the leases. Rasp received an allocation of shares and, within five years, he was rich (Coulls, 1976).

Rasp moved to Adelaide, married and dabbled in mining interests until his death in 1907.


Thomas Moore Costello

Thomas Moore Costello (April 27, 1883 – October 29, 1954) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Ontario. He represented Renfrew Southin the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1926 to 1929 as a Conservative member.

He was born in Brudenell, Renfrew County in 1883, the son of James Costello and Rachel Craig, and was educated in Brudenell, in Renfrew, at the University of Ottawa and at Osgoode Hall. Costello was called to the Ontario bar in 1914. He married Mae McKay. Costello ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Ontario assembly in 1923. He was named a judge for the Huron County court in 1931. Still serving as Huron County Judge, Costello died in a collision on a highway intersection, when his vehicle collided with a truck, in 1954.


Sonnet 76

Sonnet 76 is one of 154 sonnets published by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare in 1609. It's a member of the Fair Youth sequence.

Interpretation

This sonnet continues the theme of Sonnet 38 (38 sonnets ago), in which the sweet argument of the young man is predicted to inspire endless invention. Sonnets 76 and 38 share four key words: invention, sweet, write and argument.

This sonnet begins by asking why the poet's verse is lacking in new variations, why the poet doesn't look around at the verse of others and pick up some of the latest fashions, and why his verse is always dressed in a familiar style. The poem's reference to the writings of others anticipates the "Rival Poet" sequence (sonnets 78 to 86), which more explicitly considers other poets. The poem answers its own questions by pointing out that his best work is inspired by fidelity to the subject of the poems.

The sonnet seems to be sincerely self-denigrating about the poet's lack of variety, and lack of incorporating the latest fashions, but at the same time there is a sense that the self-effacing pose doesn't ring true.  There is instead a self-asserting quality being implied: that when the poet compares himself with others in the first quatrain they appear to be mere followers of fashion, and (in the second quatrain) that his way of writing is a way for a writer to achieve a style that is distinct.  There is also the assertion implied in the sestet that the poet requires fidelity to his subject in order to arrive at a proper style, as opposed to the fickle valuing of constantly changing fashions.

The poet's values, including fidelity to his subject, become dominant by the end of the sonnet, which is suggested metaphorically by the evolution of the meaning of the word love.  It is first used (line 9) to refer to the young man ("sweet love"), then in the next line the meaning is changed, and love is something that parallels the young man ("you and love").  Then in the last line the change is complete so that love identifies the poet ("So is my love still telling what is told").  The image of the rising and setting sun (line 13) invites the initial assumption that it will refer to the young man as the sun, but that assumption is derailed when the last line indicates that the sun is a metaphor for the poet's love as expressed in verse.

Structure
Sonnet 76 is an English or Shakespearean sonnet. The English sonnet has three quatrains, followed by a final rhyming couplet. It follows the rhyme scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, and is composed in iambic pentameter, a type of metre based on five feet in each line, and each foot composed of a pair of syllables accented weak/strong. The 7th line is an example of a regular iambic pentameter:

  ×   /  ×  /    ×    /  ×    /   ×  /
That every word doth almost tell my name, (76.7)
/ = ictus, a metrically strong syllabic position. × = nonictus.

The 1st line begins with a common variation, an initial reversal (a figure repeated several times in the sonnet), and ends with a less-frequent one, the rightward movement of the 4th ictus (resulting in a 4-position figure, × × / /, sometimes referred to as a minor ionic). The 2nd line repeats the minor ionic at the same point in the line:

  / ×   ×  /     ×  /  ×  ×   /    /
Why is my verse so barren of new pride,

 ×  /    ×   / ×/  ×  ×   /      /
So far from variation or quick change? (76.1-2)

Notes

In the reference of line 4 to "new-found methods" found in the works of others, Shakespeare may be referring to Michael Drayton's sonnets that were republished with many variations beginning in 1599, and were advertised to have a "readiness to experiment".

The word weed in line 6 is an expression common in Shakespeare's works used to mean garments or dress. It occurs in that sense in many plays, including in The Two Gentleman of Verona, when the character Julia wants to dress herself as a young man, she says "fit me with such weeds/As may beseem some well reputed page."

"Noted weed" means familiar clothing. The Norton Shakespeare annotates "and keep invention in a noted weed" thus: And keep literary creativity in such familiar clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary's definition of weed is "an article of apparel; a garment", and is consistent with the theme of mending, re-using, etc. ("all my best is dressing old words new").

The "noted weed" of line 6 and the images of lines 7 and 8 seems to be echoed in a poem by Ben Jonson, published in the first pages of the First Folio that notes the distinctiveness and authenticity of Shakespeare's lines:

The suggestion that Shakespeare used the word weed in its contemporary connection with hemp is suggested by nobody. In 2001 some scientists from South Africa tested clay pipes that had been dug up over the years from various locations around Stratford-upon-Avon, tested them for chemicals and found no evidence that Shakespeare smoked clay pipes or used marijuana. This was not a notable study and is largely ignored.

Interpretations
Diana Rigg, for the 2002 compilation album, When Love Speaks (EMI Classics)

In music
 Poeterra recorded a pop rock version of Sonnet 76 on their album "When in Disgrace" (2014).
 Alfred Janson set the sonnet for SATB choir with Tenor/Baritone solo (2000).


De Havilland Aircraft Museum

The de Havilland Aircraft Museum, formerly the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, is a volunteer-run aviation museum in London Colney, Hertfordshire, England. The collection is built around the definitive prototype and restoration shops for the de Havilland Mosquito and also includes several examples of the de Havilland Vampire - the third operational jet aircraft in the world.

Salisbury Hall

The site has been occupied by a number of large manor houses since the 9th Century. The present house was built around 1668 by the London Banker James Hoare, bringing with it associations with Charles II and Nell Gwynne, who lived in a cottage by the bridge to the Hall. The Hall subsequently passed through various hands, and during the latter part of the 19th century was occupied by a succession of farmers. However, about 1905 Lady Randolph Churchill, as Mrs. Cornwallis West, came here to live. Her son, Winston Churchill, became a regular visitor.

During the 1930s, Sir Nigel Gresley, of the London and North Eastern Railway, was in residence. He was responsible for the A4 Pacific steam locomotives, one of which, Mallard, still holds the world speed record for steam locomotives of . Rumour has it that the name came from the ducks in the moat.

In September 1939, the de Havilland Aircraft Company established the Mosquito design team in the Hall, the prototype Mosquito, E0234/W4050, subsequently being built in the adjacent buildings. Nell Gwynne's cottage was the centre of a silk worm farm, which supplied the silk for the Queen's wedding and Coronation robes. After de Havilland left in 1947 the Hall slipped into a derelict condition.

When Walter Goldsmith, a retired army major, purchased Salisbury Hall, he soon came to realise that it had been used by de Havilland during the war. On contacting Bill Baird, then in charge of PR at de Havilland at Hatfield, he discovered that the company had used it as the design centre for the Mosquito, and that Baird had squirrelled the original prototype away in the Fiddlebridge stores, just off the airfield at Hatfield. Having resisted several calls to burn the aircraft, Baird was delighted to find someone who could offer the old aircraft a home. de Havilland carried out basic restoration work at Hatfield, and Goldsmith accepted the aircraft back at Salisbury Hall in 1959.

Prototype Mosquito
The prototype Mosquito became the first aircraft to be displayed at Salisbury Hall, and was followed by examples of the de Havilland Vampire and Venom in 1968. In 1970, the collection was joined by a further example of the de Havilland Mosquito, which had been donated by Liverpool Corporation, following its use in the film Mosquito Squadron.

The collection was later expanded with examples of the single-seat Vampire, Sea Venom, Sea Vixen, Chipmunk and Dove all arriving by 1978. Additionally, the fuselage of a Mosquito FB6 arrived in 1976; it is now the only survivor of the most numerous sub-type to be preserved in Europe. The museum houses the fuselage of the last surviving square-windowed de Havilland Comet 1, the world's first jet airliner. The museum is the largest such museum devoted to one manufacturer in the country.

Aircraft restoration
The supporters' society has been responsible for the high quality restoration and conservation of many of the exhibits, starting with the Chipmunk in 1978, an airframe which was subsequently restored by members once more in 2003-2007. The supporters were also active in building a hangar to house the ex-Liverpool Mosquito in 1980, and then completely restored the aircraft, completing the work in 1990. The supporters society has also been responsible for work on Tiger Moth, Hornet Moth, Vampires, Mosquito 6, Heron, Dove and many other aircraft in the collection.

In 2001, it was recognised that the prototype Mosquito was in dire need of conservation work, something that is continuing in a very detailed and careful fashion to this day with BAE Systems supporting the project. Current projects include the DH Rapide being restored to flight status, the DH88 comet replica, the Comet 1 fuselage, the Mosquito Mk 6 and the Sea Venom.

The collection

Aircraft on display

The following important historic aircraft are on display or under restoration:
G-EBQP, DH53 Humming Bird - Privately owned, original wings and empennage, fuselage built by DH Technical school.
G-ABLM, Cierva C.24 — Long term loan from the Science Museum collection
G-ACSS, DH88 Comet - replica — Currently under restoration in the workshop
G-ADOT, DH87 Hornet Moth
G-AKDW,  DH89 Dragon Rapide — Currently  under restoration in the workshop
G-ANRX, DH82 Tiger Moth — Crop spraying configuration
G-AOTI, DH114 Heron 2D Rolls Royce colours
G-AREA, DH104 Dove 8 — Executive layout
G-ARYA, DH125, Original prototype - Cockpit section only (stored offsite)
G-ARYC, DH.125 Srs 1 — 1st production aircraft
G-AVFH, HS121 Trident 2E — Cockpit open to visitors when staff are available. BEA markings.
F-BGNX, DH106 Comet 1A — (G-AOJT) Complete fuselage, used for tests at Farnborough after withdrawal from service (restoration)
W4050, DH98 Mosquito I prototype - External Restoration complete - on view in Walter Goldsmith Hangar
LF789, DH82 Queen Bee - Fuselage only
TA122, DH98 Mosquito FB.VI — Currently  under rebuild in the main hangar 605 Squadron markings 'UP-G'
TA634, DH98 Mosquito TT(B)35 — The film star, flown in Mosquito Squadron  571 Squadron markings
TJ118, DH98 Mosquito TT35 - Fuselage, with nose section removed, and stored.
VV217, DH100 Vampire FB5 - dismantled, awaiting restoration (stored offsite)
WM729, Vampire NF10 — fuselage pod only; stored offsite
WP790, DHC1 Chipmunk T.10 — Restored in Birmingham UAS Markings
WR539, Venom FB4 — Complete aircraft; stored offsite
WX853, DH112 Venom NF.3, Stored offsite
XG730, DH112 Sea Venom FAW.22 — 894 Sqd markings, under restoration - on view
XJ565, DH110 Sea Vixen FAW.2 — 899 Sqd markings
XJ772, DH115 Vampire T.11 - CATCS markings
XK695, DH106 Comet C.2(R) — Cockpit section, Amateur Radio Station
DH106, Comet 2 SIM — Nose section
G-ANAV DH106 Comet 1A - Nose Section
J-1008, Vampire FB.6 — Ex Swiss Air Force
J-1632, Venom FB.50 — Ex G-VNOM - ex Swiss AF. Stored offsite.
J-1790, Venom FB.54 - ex G-BLKA/WR410, ex Swiss AF. Store offsite.
G-JEAO, BAe 146, srs 100, ex Filton, fuselage only;
D-IFSB, DH104 Dove 6 (On loan to ARG Fishburn)
BAPC.232, Airspeed Horsa I/II — Composite fuselage Walter Goldsmith Hangar

Engines on display
A number of historic de Havilland engine types are also on display.

Piston engines
de Havilland Gipsy
de Havilland Gipsy Major
de Havilland Gipsy Minor
de Havilland Gipsy Queen
de Havilland Gipsy Twelve
Rolls-Royce Merlin

Gas turbine engines
de Havilland Goblin
de Havilland Gyron
de Havilland Gyron Junior
Rolls-Royce Gnome

Rocket engines
de Havilland Super Sprite
de Havilland Spectre


Otto Pius Hippius

Otto Pius Hippius (, Saint Petersburg — , Saint Petersburg) was a Baltic German architect, particularly noted for several buildings in present-day Estonia. Otto Hippius was born in the family of a painter and lithographer Gustav Adolf Hippius who taught his son Art since the earliest childhood. At the teenage age Otto Hippius studied in Germany and in 1849 he graduated with honors from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Since 1849 to 1851 he studied at the Russian Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg and upon graduation continued working as an architect and teacher at several art schools. In 1864 Hippius became a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and in 1879 he became a professor.

Among his works Sagnitz Manor (now in Sangaste) in southern Estonia, built for Count Friedrich Wilhelm Rembert von Berg between 1879 and 1883, Münkenhof Manor (now in Muuga), built for painter Carl Timoleon von Neff between 1866 and 1873, Charles' Church in Reval (now Tallinn), constructed between 1862 and 1870 and Alexander Church (et) in Narva, constructed between 1881 and 1884.


Carbonium ion

In chemistry, carbonium ion is any cation that has a pentavalent carbon atom, The name carbonium may also be used for the simplest member of the class, properly called methanium (), where the five valences are filled with hydrogen atoms.

The next simplest carbonium ions after methanium have two carbon atoms. Ethynium, or protonated acetylene , and  ethenium  are usually classified in other families.  The ethanium ion  has been studied as an extremely rarefied gas by infrared spectroscopy.  The isomers of octonium (protonated octane, ) have been studied. The carbonium ion has a planar geometry.

In older literature the name "carbonium ion" was used for what is today called carbenium. The current definitions were proposed by the chemist George Andrew Olah in 1972 and are now widely accepted.

A stable carbonium ion is the complex pentakis(triphenylphosphinegold(I))methanium , produced by Schmidbauer and others.

Preparation
Carbonium ions can be obtained by treating alkanes with very strong acids.  Industrially, they are formed in the refining of petroleum during primary thermal cracking.