Rod Stewart

Sir Roderick David Stewart  (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. Stewart is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 120 million records worldwide. He has had  nine number-one albums in the UK Albums Chart and his tally of 62 UK hit singles includes 31 that reached the top ten, six of which gained the #1 position. Stewart has had 16 top ten singles in the US, with four reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity.

With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and the early 1970s with The Jeff Beck Group, and then with Faces, though his music career had begun in 1962 when he took up busking with a harmonica. In October 1963, he joined The Dimensions as a harmonica player and part-time vocalist. In 1964, Stewart joined Long John Baldry and the All Stars, and in August, Stewart signed a solo contract, releasing his first single, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", in October. He maintained a solo career alongside a group career, releasing his debut solo album, An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down in 1969. Stewart's early albums were a fusion of rock, folk music, soul music, and R&B.

From the late 1970s through the 1990s, Stewart's music often took on a new wave or soft rock/middle-of-the-road quality, and in the early 2000s, he released a series of successful albums interpreting the Great American Songbook. In 1994, Stewart staged the largest free rock concert in history when he performed in front of 3.5 million people in Rio de Janeiro.

In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the "Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists". A Grammy and Brit Award recipient, he was voted at #33 in Q Magazines list of the Top 100 Greatest Singers of all time, and #59 on Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Singers of all time. As a solo artist, Stewart was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and was inducted a second time into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Faces.

Early life
Roderick David Stewart was born at 507 Archway Road, Highgate, North London, on 10 January 1945, the youngest of five children of Robert Joseph Stewart (26 December 1904–1990) and Elsie Rebecca Gilbart (14 December 1905–1996). His father was Scottish and had been a master builder in Leith, Edinburgh, while Elsie was English and had grown up in Upper Holloway in North London. Married in 1928, the couple had two sons and two daughters while living in Scotland, and then they moved to Highgate.

Stewart came after an eight-year gap following his youngest sibling; he was born at home during World War II. The family was neither affluent nor poor; Stewart was spoiled as the youngest, and has called his childhood "fantastically happy". He had an undistinguished record at Highgate Primary School and failed the eleven plus exam. He then attended the William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School (later Fortismere School), Muswell Hill. When his father retired from the building trade he bought a newsagent's shop on the Archway Road and the family lived over the shop. Stewart's main hobby was railway modelling.

The family was mostly focused on football; Stewart's father had played in a local amateur team and managed some teams as well, and one of Stewart's earliest memories was of the pictures of Scottish players such as George Young and Gordon Smith that his brothers had on the wall. Stewart was the most talented footballer in the family and was a supporter of Arsenal F.C. at the time. Combining natural athleticism with near-reckless aggression, he became captain of the school football team and played for Middlesex Schoolboys as centre-half.

The family were also great fans of the singer Al Jolson and would sing and play his hits. Stewart collected his records and saw his films, read books about him, and was influenced by his performing style and attitude towards his audience. His introduction to rock and roll was hearing Little Richard's 1956 hit "The Girl Can't Help It", and seeing Bill Haley & His Comets in concert. His father bought him a guitar in January 1959; the first song he learned was the folk tune "It Takes a Worried Man to Sing a Worried Song"; the first record he bought was Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody". In 1960, he joined a skiffle group with schoolfriends called the Kool Kats, playing Lonnie Donegan and Chas McDevitt hits.

Stewart left school at age 15 and worked briefly as a silk screen printer. Spurred on by his father, his ambition was to become a professional footballer. In summer 1960, he went for trials at Brentford F.C., a Third Division club at the time.

Contrary to some longstanding accounts, Stewart states in his 2012 autobiography that he was never signed to the club and that the club never called him back after his trials. In any case, regarding possible career options, Stewart concluded, "Well, a musician's life is a lot easier and I can also get drunk and make music, and I can't do that and play football. I plumped for music ... They're the only two things I can do actually: play football and sing."

Music career

1961–1963: Early work and The Dimensions
Stewart worked in the family shop and as a newspaper delivery boy. He then worked briefly as a labourer for Highgate Cemetery, which became another part of his biographical lore. He worked in a North Finchley funeral parlour and as a fence erector and sign writer. In 1961 he went to Denmark Street with The Raiders and got a singing audition with well-known record producer Joe Meek, but Meek stopped the session with a rude sound.  Stewart began listening to British and American topical folk artists such as Ewan MacColl, Alex Campbell, Woody Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and especially Derroll Adams and the debut album of Bob Dylan.

Stewart became attracted to beatnik attitudes and left-wing politics, living for a while in a beatnik houseboat at Shoreham-by-Sea. He was an active supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament at this time, joining the annual Aldermaston Marches from 1961 to 1963 and being arrested on three occasions when he took part in sit-ins at Trafalgar Square and Whitehall for the cause. He also used the marches as a way to meet and bed girls. In 1962 he had his first serious relationship, with London art student Suzannah Boffey (a friend of future model and actress Chrissie Shrimpton); he moved to a bed-sit in Muswell Hill to be near her. She became pregnant, but neither Rod nor his family wanted him to enter marriage; the baby girl was given up for adoption and Rod and Suzannah's relationship ended.

In 1962, Stewart began hanging around folk singer Wizz Jones, busking at Leicester Square and other London spots. Stewart took up playing the then-fashionable harmonica. On several trips over the next 18 months Jones and Stewart took their act to Brighton and then to Paris, sleeping under bridges over the River Seine, and then finally to Barcelona. Eventually, this resulted in Stewart being rounded up and deported from Spain for vagrancy during 1963. At this time, Stewart, who had been at William Grimshaw School with three of their members, was briefly considered as singer for the embryonic Kinks.

In 1963, Stewart adopted the Mod lifestyle and look, and began fashioning the spiky rooster hairstyle that would become his trademark. (It was made possible with sugar water or large amounts of his sisters' hair lacquer, backcombing, and his hands holding it in place to protect it from the winds of the Highgate Underground station.) Disillusioned by rock and roll, he saw Otis Redding perform in concert and began listening to Sam Cooke records; he became fascinated by rhythm and blues and soul music.

After returning to London, Stewart joined a rhythm and blues group, the Dimensions, in October 1963 as a harmonica player and part-time vocalist. It was his first professional job as a musician, although Stewart was still living at home and working in his brother's painting and picture frame shop. A somewhat more established singer from Birmingham, Jimmy Powell, then hired the group a few weeks later, and it became known as Jimmy Powell & the Five Dimensions, with Stewart being relegated to harmonica player. The group performed weekly at the famed Studio 51 club on Great Newport Street in London, where The Rolling Stones often headlined; this was Stewart's entrée into the thriving London R & B scene, and his harmonica playing improved in part from watching Mick Jagger on stage. Relations soon broke down between Powell and Stewart over roles within the group and Stewart departed. Contrary to popular legend, during this time Stewart likely did not play harmonica on Millie Small's 1964 hit "My Boy Lollipop". That was probably Peter Hogman of the Dimensions, although Powell has also claimed credit. Powell did record and release a single during this period, though Stewart did not appear on it.

1964–67: Steampacket and "Rod the Mod" image
In January 1964, while Stewart was waiting at Twickenham railway station after having seen Long John Baldry and the All Stars at Eel Pie Island, Baldry heard him playing "Smokestack Lightnin'" on his harmonica, and invited him to sit in with the group (which passed into his hands and was renamed the Hoochie Coochie Men when Cyril Davies died of endocarditis on 7 January); when Baldry discovered Stewart was a singer as well, he offered him a job for £35 a week, after securing the approval of Stewart's mother. Quitting his day job at the age of nineteen, Stewart gradually overcame his shyness and nerves and became a visible enough part of the act that he was sometimes added to the billing as "Rod the Mod" Stewart, the nickname coming from his dandyish style of grooming and dress. Baldry touted Stewart's abilities to Melody Maker magazine and the group enjoyed a weekly residence at London's fabled Marquee Club. In June 1964, Stewart made his recording début (without label credit) on "Up Above My Head", the B-side to a Baldry and Hoochie Coochie Men single. While still with Baldry, Stewart embarked on a simultaneous solo career. He made some demo recordings, was scouted by Decca Records at the Marquee Club, and signed to a solo contract in August 1964. He appeared on several regional television shows around the country and recorded his first single in September 1964.

Turning down Decca's recommended material as too commercial, Stewart insisted that the experienced session musicians he was given, including John Paul Jones, learn a couple of Sonny Boy Williamson songs he had just heard. The resulting single, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", was recorded released in October 1964; despite Stewart performing it on the popular television show Ready Steady Go!, it failed to enter the charts. Also in October Stewart left the Hoochie Coochie Men after having a row with Baldry.

Stewart played some dates on his own in late 1964 and early 1965, sometimes backed by the Southampton R & B outfit The Soul Agents. The Hoochie Coochie Men broke up, Baldry and Stewart patched up their differences (and indeed became lifelong friends), and legendary impresario Giorgio Gomelsky put together Steampacket, which featured Baldry, Stewart, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll, Micky Waller, Vic Briggs and Ricky Fenson; their first appearance was in support of The Rolling Stones in July 1965. The group was conceived as a white soul revue, analogous to The Ike & Tina Turner Revue, with multiple vocalists and styles ranging from jazz to R & B to blues. Steampacket toured with the Stones and The Walker Brothers that summer, ending in the London Palladium; seeing the audience react to the Stones gave Stewart his first exposure to crowd hysteria. Stewart, who had been included in the group upon Baldry's insistence, ended up with most of the male vocal parts. Steampacket was unable to enter the studio to record any material due to its members all belonging to different labels and managers, although Gomelsky did record one of their Marquee Club rehearsals.

Stewart's "Rod the Mod" image gained wider visibility in November 1965, when he was the subject of a 30-minute Rediffusion, London television documentary titled "An Easter with Rod" that portrayed the Mod scene. His parallel solo career attempts continued on EMI's Columbia label with the November 1965 release of "The Day Will Come", a more heavily arranged pop attempt, and the April 1966 release of his take on Sam Cooke's "Shake", with the Brian Auger Trinity. Both failed commercially and neither gained positive notices. Stewart had spent the better part of two years listening mostly to Cooke; he later said, "I didn't sound like anybody at all ... but I knew I sounded a bit like Sam Cooke, so I listened to Sam Cooke." This recording solidified that singer's position as Stewart's idol and most enduring influence; he called it a "crossing of the water."

Stewart departed from Steampacket in March 1966, with Stewart saying he had been sacked and Auger saying he had quit. Stewart then joined a somewhat similar outfit, Shotgun Express, in May 1966 as co-lead vocalist with Beryl Marsden. The other members included Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green (who would go on to form Fleetwood Mac), and Peter Bardens. Shotgun Express released one unsuccessful single in October 1966, the orchestra-heavy "I Could Feel The Whole World Turn Round", before disbanding. Stewart later disparaged Shotgun Express as a poor imitation of Steampacket, and said "I was still getting this terrible feeling of doing other people's music. I think you can only start finding yourself when you write your own material." By now, Stewart had bounced around without achieving much success, with little to distinguish himself among other aspiring London singers other than the emerging rasp in his voice.

1967–69: Jeff Beck Group period
Guitarist Jeff Beck recruited Stewart for his new post-Yardbirds venture, and in February 1967, Stewart joined the Jeff Beck Group as vocalist and sometime songwriter. This would become the big break of his early career. There he first played with Ronnie Wood whom he had first met in a London pub in 1964; the two soon became fast friends. During its first year, the group experienced frequent changes of drummers and conflicts involving manager Mickie Most wanting to reduce Stewart's role; they toured the UK, and released a couple of singles that featured Stewart on their B-sides. Stewart's sputtering solo career also continued, with the March 1968 release of non-hit "Little Miss Understood" on Immediate Records.

The Jeff Beck Group toured Western Europe in spring 1968, recorded, and were nearly destitute; then assistant manager Peter Grant booked them on a six-week tour of the United States starting in June 1968 with the Fillmore East in New York. Stewart, on his first trip to America, suffered terrible stage fright during the opening show and hid behind the amplifier banks while singing; only a quick shot of brandy brought him out front. Nevertheless, the show and the tour were a big success, with Robert Shelton of The New York Times calling the group exciting and praising "the interaction of Mr. Beck's wild and visionary guitar against the hoarse and insistent shouting of Rod Stewart," and New Musical Express reporting that the group was receiving standing ovations and pulling receipts equal to those of Jimi Hendrix and The Doors.

In August 1968, their first album Truth was released; by October it had risen to number 15 on the US albums chart but failed to chart in the UK. The album featured Beck's masterly guitar technique and manipulated sounds as Stewart's dramatic vocalising tackled the group's varied repertoire of blues, folk, rock, and proto-heavy metal. Stewart also co-wrote three of the songs, and credited the record for helping to develop his vocal abilities and the sandpaper quality in his voice. The group toured America again at the end of the year to a very strong reception, then suffered from more personnel upheaval (something that would continue throughout Beck's career). In July 1969, Stewart left, following his friend Wood's departure. Stewart later recalled: "It was a great band to sing with but I couldn't take all the aggravation and unfriendliness that developed.... In the two and a half years I was with Beck I never once looked him in the eye – I always looked at his shirt or something like that."

The group's second album, Beck-Ola, was released in June 1969 in the US and September 1969 in the UK, bracketing the time the group was dissolving; it also made number 15 in the US albums chart and placed to number 39 in the UK albums chart. During his time with the group, Stewart initially felt overmatched by Beck's presence, and his style was still developing; but later Stewart felt the two developed a strong musical, if not personal, rapport. Much of Stewart's sense of phrasing was developed during his time with the Jeff Beck Group. Beck sought to form a new supergroup with Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert (of the similarly just-breaking-up Vanilla Fudge) joining him and Stewart, but Stewart had other plans.

1969–75: Solo career established and Faces albums
Mercury Records A&R man Lou Reizner had seen Stewart perform with Beck, and on 8 October 1968 signed him to a solo contract; but contractual complexities delayed Stewart's recording for him until July 1969. Meanwhile, in May 1969, guitarist and singer Steve Marriott left English band The Small Faces. Ron Wood was announced as the replacement guitarist in June and on 18 October 1969, Stewart followed his friend and was announced as their new singer. The two joined existing members Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, and Kenney Jones, who soon decided to call the new line-up Faces.

An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down became Stewart's first solo album in 1969 (it was known as The Rod Stewart Album in the US). It established the template for his solo sound: a heartfelt mixture of folk, rock, and country blues, inclusive of a British working-class sensibility, with both original material ("Cindy's Lament" and the title song) and cover versions (Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town" and Mike d'Abo's "Handbags and Gladrags"). The backing band on the album included Wood, Waller and McLagan, plus Keith Emerson and guitarists Martin Pugh (of Steamhammer, and later Armageddon and 7th Order) and Martin Quittenton (also from Steamhammer).

Faces released their début album First Step in early 1970 with a rock and roll style similar to the Rolling Stones. While the album did better in the UK than in the US, the Faces quickly earned a strong live following. Stewart released his second album, Gasoline Alley that autumn. Stewart's approach was similar to his first album and mandolin was introduced into the sound. He then launched a US tour with the Faces. Stewart sang guest vocals for the Australian group Python Lee Jackson on "In a Broken Dream", recorded in April 1969 but not released until 1970. His payment was a set of seat covers for his car. It was re-released in 1972 to become a worldwide hit.

Stewart's 1971 solo album Every Picture Tells a Story made him a household name when the B-side of his minor hit "Reason to Believe", "Maggie May", (co-written with Martin Quittenton) started receiving radio play. The album and the single occupied number one in both the US and the UK simultaneously, a chart first, in September. Set off by a striking mandolin part (by Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne), "Maggie May" was also named in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, one of three songs by him to appear on that list. The rest of the album was equally strong, with "Mandolin Wind" again showcasing that instrument; "(I Know) I'm Losing You" adding hard-edged soul to the mix; and "Tomorrow Is a Long Time", a cover of a Bob Dylan song. But the ultimate manifestation of the early Stewart solo style was the Stewart-Wood-penned "Every Picture Tells a Story" itself: powered by Mick Waller's drumming, Pete Sears's piano and Wood's guitar work in a largely acoustic arrangement; it is a song relating to the picaresque adventures of the singer.

The second Faces album, Long Player, was released in early 1971 and enjoyed greater chart success than First Step. Faces also got their only US Top 40 hit with "Stay With Me" from their third album A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...To a Blind Horse released in late 1971. This album reached the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic on the back of the success of Every Picture Tells A Story. Steve Jones from The Sex Pistols regarded the Faces very highly and named them as a main influence on the British punk rock movement.

The Faces toured extensively in 1972 with growing tension in the band over Stewart's solo career enjoying more success than the band's. Stewart released Never a Dull Moment in the same year. Repeating the Every Picture formula, for the most part, it reached number two on the US album charts and number one in the UK, and enjoyed further good notices from reviewers. "You Wear It Well" was a hit single that reached number 13 in the US and went to number one in the UK, while "Twisting the Night Away" made explicit Stewart's debt to Sam Cooke.

For the body of his early solo work Stewart earned tremendous critical praise. Rolling Stone'''s 1980 Illustrated History of Rock & Roll includes this in its Stewart entry:

Rarely has a singer had as full and unique a talent as Rod Stewart; rarely has anyone betrayed his talent so completely. Once the most compassionate presence in music, he has become a bilious self-parody – and sells more records than ever [... A] writer who offered profound lyricism and fabulous self-deprecating humour, teller of tall tales and honest heartbreaker, he had an unmatched eye for the tiny details around which lives turn, shatter, and reform [...] and a voice to make those details indelible. [... His solo albums] were defined by two special qualities: warmth, which was redemptive, and modesty, which was liberating. If ever any rocker chose the role of everyman and lived up to it, it was Rod Stewart.

The Faces released their final album Ooh La La, which reached number one in the UK and number 21 in the US in 1973. During the recording of the album, the rift between Stewart and the rest of the Faces grew further, as (according to Ian McLagan), Stewart didn't participate until two weeks into the sessions, "and then complained that some songs were in the wrong key for him. So we recorded them again and waited a week for him to come back. We cut the track for 'Ooh La La' three times before he eventually passed on it, leaving it for Woody to sing. [...] The week the album came out he did all he could to scuttle it and told anyone who would listen how useless it was.". The band toured Australasia, Japan, Europe and the UK in 1974 to support the album and the single "Pool Hall Richard".

In late 1974, Stewart released his Smiler album. In Britain, it reached number one, and the single "Farewell" number seven, but only number 13 on the Billboard pop album charts and the single "Mine for Me" only number 91 on the Billboard pop singles charts. It was his last original album for Mercury Records. After the release of the double album compilation The Best of Rod Stewart he switched to Warner Bros. Records and remained with them throughout the vast majority of his career (Faces were signed to Warner Bros., and Stewart's solo releases in the UK appeared on the Riva label until 1981). In 1975, Faces toured the US twice (with Ronnie Wood joining The Rolling Stones' US tour in between) before Stewart announced the Faces' break-up at the end of the year.

1975–88: Height of fame and critical reaction

In 1975, Stewart moved to Los Angeles. He released the Atlantic Crossing album for his new record company, using producer Tom Dowd and a different sound based on the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Atlantic Crossing marked both a return to form and a return to the Top 10 of the Billboard album charts. The first single, a cover of the Sutherland Brothers song "Sailing", was a number-one hit in the UK, but it only reached the Top 60 of the US charts. The single returned to the UK Top 10 a year later when used as the theme music for a BBC documentary series about . Having been a hit twice over, "Sailing" became, and remains, Stewart's biggest-selling single in the UK. His Holland-Dozier-Holland cover "This Old Heart of Mine" was also a Top 100 hit in 1976. In 1976 Stewart covered The Beatles' song "Get Back" for the musical documentary All This and World War II.

Later in 1976, Stewart topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks and the Australian ARIA chart with the ballad "Tonight's the Night", with an accompanying music video featuring actress Britt Ekland. It came from the A Night on the Town album, which went to number two on the Billboard album charts and was Stewart's first album to go platinum. By explicitly marking the album as having a "fast side" and a "slow side", Stewart continued the trend started by Atlantic Crossing. "The First Cut Is the Deepest", a cover of a Cat Stevens song, went number one in the UK in 1977, and top 30 in the US. "The Killing of Georgie (Part 1 and 2)", about the murder of a gay man, was also a Top 40 hit for Stewart during 1977.Foot Loose & Fancy Free (1977) featured Stewart's own band, the original Rod Stewart Group that featured Carmine Appice, Phil Chen, Jim Cregan, Billy Peek, Gary Grainger and John Jarvis. It continued Stewart's run of chart success, reaching number two. "You're in my Heart" was the hit single, reaching number four in the US.

"Hot Legs" achieved a lot of radio airplay as did the confessional "I Was Only Joking". In appearance, Stewart's look had evolved to include a glam element, including make-up and spandex clothes. Stewart scored another UK number one and US number one single with "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", which was a crossover hit reaching number five on the Billboard black charts due to its disco sound. This was the lead single from 1978's Blondes Have More Fun, which went to number one on the Billboard album charts and sold 3 million albums.

A focal point of criticisms about this period was his biggest-selling 1978 disco hit "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", which was atypical of his earlier output, and disparaged by critics. In interviews, Stewart, while admitting his accompanying look had become "tarty", has defended the lyrics by pointing out that the song is a third-person narrative slice-of-life portrayal, not unlike those in his earlier work, and that it is not about him. The song's refrain was identical to Brazilian Jorge Ben Jor's earlier "Taj Mahal" and a lawsuit ensued. Stewart donated his royalties from "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" to UNICEF, and he performed it with his band at the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in 1979.

Stewart moved to a more new wave direction in 1980 by releasing the album Foolish Behaviour. The album produced one hit single, "Passion", which reached No. 5 on the US Billboard Charts. In August 1981, MTV was launched in the US with several of Stewart's videos in heavy rotation. Later in 1981, Stewart added further elements of new wave and synthpop to his sound for the Tonight I'm Yours album. The title song reached No. 20 in the US, while "Young Turks" reached the Top 5 with the album going platinum. On 18 December 1981, Stewart played the Los Angeles Forum, along with Kim Carnes and Tina Turner, in a concert broadcast worldwide via satellite.

Stewart was criticised for breaking a widely observed cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa by performing at the Sun City resort complex in Bophuthatswana as part of his Body Wishes (1983) and Camouflage (1984) tours.

Stewart had four US Top 10 singles between 1982 and 1988, "Young Turks" (No. 5, carrying over from 1981 into 1982), "Some Guys Have All the Luck" (No. 10, 1984), "Infatuation" (No. 6, 1984) and "Love Touch" (No. 6, 1986, a Holly Knight/Mike Chapman collaboration), although "Baby Jane" became his sixth and final UK number one in 1983. It reached No. 14 in the US. The corresponding Camouflage album went gold in the UK, and the single "Infatuation" (which featured his old friend Jeff Beck on the guitar) received considerable play on MTV. The second single "Some Guys Have All The Luck" reached No. 15 in the UK and No. 10 in the US.

A reunion with Jeff Beck produced a successful take on Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready", but an attempt to tour together fell apart after a few dates. In the UK, "Every Beat of My Heart" reached number two in 1986. In January 1985, Stewart performed to a large audience at the Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro.

1988–94: Out of Order Tour, Vagabond Heart and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
In 1988, Stewart returned with Out of Order, produced by Duran Duran's Andy Taylor and by Bernard Edwards of Chic. "Lost in You", "Forever Young", "Crazy About Her", and "My Heart Can't Tell You No" from that album were all top 15 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and mainstream rock charts, with the latter even reaching the Top Five. "Forever Young" was an unconscious revision of Bob Dylan's song of the same name; the artists reached an agreement about sharing royalties. The song reached No. 12 in the US. In September 1988, Stewart performed "Forever Young" at the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, and in 1989 he received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song.

In January 1989, Stewart set out on the South American leg of the Out of Order Tour playing to sell-out audiences throughout Americas. There were 80,000 people at his show at Corregidora Stadium, Querétaro, México (9 April), and 50,000 at Jalisco Stadium, Guadalajara, Jalisco (12 April). In Buenos Aires, the audience at the River Plate Stadium, which seats 70,000+, was at over 90,000, with several thousand outside the stadium. Firehoses were sprayed on the crowd to avoid heat prostration.

Stewart's version of the Tom Waits song "Downtown Train" went to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1990. This song was taken from a four-CD compilation set called Storyteller – The Complete Anthology: 1964–1990.

Released in 1991, the Vagabond Heart album continued Stewart's renewal and inspiration. The lead single "It Takes Two" with Tina Turner, was released in 1990 in advance of the full album's release, and reached number five on the UK charts, but did not chart in the US. The follow-up songs from Vagabond Heart both reached the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991, with "Rhythm of My Heart" peaking at No. 5 and "The Motown Song" peaking at No. 10.

At the 1993 Brit Awards in London, Stewart picked up the prize for Outstanding Contribution to Music. Stewart brought back the Faces on stage for an impromptu reunion. In 1993, Stewart recorded "All For Love" with Sting and Bryan Adams for the soundtrack to the movie The Three Musketeers; the single reached number one in the US and number two in the UK. Also in 1993, he reunited with Ronnie Wood to record an MTV Unplugged special that included "Handbags and Gladrags", "Cut Across Shorty", and four selections from Every Picture Tells a Story. The show featured an acoustic version of Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately", which topped the Billboard adult contemporary chart and No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. A rendition of "Reason to Believe" also garnered considerable airplay. The resulting Unplugged...and Seated album reached number two on the Billboard 200 album charts.

Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, presented by Jeff Beck. On 31 December 1994, Stewart played in front of 3.5 million people on Copacabana beach in Rio, and made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for staging the largest free rock concert attendance in history.

1995–2001: New ventures and record labels

By the early 1990s, Stewart had mostly abandoned creating his own material, saying that he was not a natural songwriter and that the tepid response to his recent efforts was not rewarding. In 1995, Stewart released A Spanner in the Works containing a single written by Tom Petty, "Leave Virginia Alone", which reached the Top 10 of the adult contemporary charts. The latter half of the 1990s was not as commercially successful though the 1996 album If We Fall in Love Tonight reached number 8 in the UK, and went gold and hit No. 19 on the Billboard album chart.When We Were the New Boys, his final album on the Warner Bros. label released in 1998, contained versions of songs by Britpop acts such as Oasis and Primal Scream, and reached number two on the UK album charts. That same year, he recorded the song "Faith of the Heart", written by Diane Warren, for the film Patch Adams. In 2000, Stewart left Warner Bros. and moved to Atlantic Records, another division of Warner Music Group. In 2001, he released Human. The single "I Can't Deny It" went Top 40 in the UK and Top 20 in the adult contemporary. Stewart then signed to Clive Davis' new J Records label. The Story So Far: The Very Best of Rod Stewart, a greatest hits album compiled from his time at Warner Bros., is certified four times platinum in the UK with over 1.2 million copies sold, and reached number one in 2001 in Belgium and France.

2002–10: The Great American Songbook series and Soulbook

In June 2002, Stewart performed "Handbags and Gladrags" at the Party at the Palace held at Buckingham Palace Garden, a concert which celebrated the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II and featured stars from five decades of music.

By 2002, Stewart had sold over 100 million records during his career. While growing up, he heard in his home classic songs written by songwriters such as Cole Porter, Gus Kahn and George and Ira Gershwin. Stewart joined others who had recorded the classic songs. He concentrated on singing 1930s and 1940s pop standards from the Great American Songbook with great popular success. These albums have been released on Clive Davis's J Records label and have seen Stewart enjoy album sales equal to the 1970s.

The first album from the songbook series, It Had to Be You: the Great American Songbook, reached number four on the US album chart, number eight in the UK and number ten in Canada when released in late 2002. The track "These Foolish Things" (which is actually a British, not American, song) reached number 13 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart, and "They Can't Take That Away From Me" went Top 20.

The second series album, As Time Goes By: the Great American Songbook 2, reached number two in the US, number four in the UK and number one in Canada. "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", a duet with Cher, went Top 20 on the US adult contemporary charts. "Time After Time" was another Top 30 track on the US adult contemporary charts. A musical called Tonight's The Night, featuring many of Stewart's songs, opened 7 November 2003 at London's Victoria Palace Theatre. It is written and directed by Ben Elton, who previously created a similar production, We Will Rock You, with music by Queen.

In 2004, Stewart reunited with Ronnie Wood for concerts of Faces material. A Rod Stewart and the Faces best of album, Changing Faces, reached the Top 20 of the UK album charts. Five Guys Walk into a Bar..., a Faces box set compilation, was released. In late 2004, Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3, the third album in Stewart's songbook series, was released. It was his first US number one album in 25 years, selling over 200,000 albums in its first week. It also debuted at number one in Canada, number three in the UK and Top 10 in Australia. His version of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", featuring Stevie Wonder, made the Top 20 of the world adult charts. He also recorded a duet with Dolly Parton for the album – "Baby, It's Cold Outside". Stewart won his first ever Grammy Award for this album.

2005 saw the release of the fourth songbook album, Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook 4; it included duets with Diana Ross and Elton John. Within weeks of its release, the CD made it to number two on the Top 200 list. In late 2006, Stewart made his return to rock music and his new approach to country music with the release of Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time, a new album featuring rock and southern rock milestones from the last four decades, including a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?", which was released as the first single. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard charts with 184,000 copies in its first week. The number one début was helped by a concert in New York City that was on MSN Music and an appearance on Dancing with the Stars. He performed tracks from his new album live from the Nokia Theater on 9 October. Control Room broadcast the event Live on MSN and in 117 cinemas across the country via National CineMedia. In November 2006, Stewart was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame.

On 1 July 2007, Stewart performed at the Concert for Diana held at Wembley Stadium, London, an event which celebrated the life of Princess Diana almost 10 years after her death.Diana concert a 'perfect tribute' BBC News. Retrieved 12 April 2012 He performed "Sailing", "Baby Jane" and "Maggie May". On 12 December, he performed for the first time at the Royal Variety Performance at the London Coliseum in front of HRH Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, singing another Cat Stevens number, "Father and Son", and Bonnie Tyler's song "It's a Heartache". On 22 December 2006, Stewart hosted the 8th Annual A Home for the Holidays special on CBS at 8:00 pm (PST).

On 20 May 2009, Stewart performed "Maggie May" on the grand finale of American Idol season 8. On 2, July 2009 Stewart performed his only UK date that year at Home Park, Plymouth. On 29 September 2009 a 4-CD, 65-track compilation entitled Rod Stewart Sessions 1971–1998 was released; it is composed of previously-unreleased tracks and outtakes from the bulk of his career. Stewart has also mentioned plans for a compilation of covers of soul classics, the possible release of another edition of the Great American Songbook album and a country covers album.

On 17 October 2009, Stewart released the studio album Soulbook which was composed of covers of soul and Motown songs. On 14 November 2009, Stewart recorded a TV program in the UK for ITV that was screened on 5 December 2009.  The music in the programme featured tracks from his new album and some old favourites. On 14 January 2010, Rhino records released Stewart's Once in a Blue Moon, a "lost album" originally recorded in 1992, featuring ten cover songs including the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday", Bob Dylan's "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" and Stevie Nicks' "Stand Back", as well as Tom Waits' "Tom Traubert's Blues". On 19 October 2010, Stewart released another edition of his Great American Songbook series titled Fly Me to the Moon...The Great American Songbook Volume V on J Records.

2011–2012: Christmas album and autobiography

In 2011, Stewart performed with Stevie Nicks on their Heart & Soul Tour. Starting on 20 March in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the tour visited arena concerts in North America – with performances in New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa and Montreal, among others.

Stewart headlined the Sunday show at the 2011 Hard Rock Calling Festival on 26 June in London's Hyde Park. Stewart signed on to a two-year residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, commencing on 24 August. Performing his greatest hits, the residency also saw him perform selected tracks from his upcoming, untitled blues album.

On 7 June 2012, it was announced that Stewart had signed a recording agreement with Universal Music Group. On 4 September 2012, it was announced that Stewart would be releasing his first Christmas album, titled Merry Christmas, Baby, on the Verve Music Group label (a division of Universal Music Group) on 30 October 2012. The album was produced by David Foster and features several duets, as well as an original song written by Stewart, Foster and Amy Foster called "Red-Suited Super Man". According to IFPI, Merry Christmas, Baby was the seventh best-selling album worldwide in 2012. In October 2012, Stewart's autobiography titled Rod: The Autobiography was released (exact dates vary worldwide).

In November 2012, Stewart performed "Auld Lang Syne" from his Christmas album and his hit "Sailing" at the Royal Albert Hall for the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, which was attended by Queen Elizabeth II. Later that month, Stewart again performed at the Royal Albert Hall in front of the Queen during the 100th Royal Variety Performance, singing "When You Wish upon a Star". On 26 November, Stewart's recording of "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" reached the top of the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart. Stewart has had the number one song on this chart three times previously, the last being in 1993 with "Have I Told You Lately", giving him the second-largest hiatus between number ones in the history of the chart. The song remained in the No. 1 spot for a total of five weeks, tying it for the longest-leading holiday title in the chart's 51-year history. On 10 December 2012, Stewart was a guest singer on Michael Bublé's television Home for the Holidays Christmas special. Stewart was the tenth best-selling artist in Canada in the year 2012 according to year-end sales data from Nielsen Soundscan Canada. In February 2013, Stewart was nominated for a Canadian Juno Award in the International Album of the Year category for his album Merry Christmas, Baby.

2013–2015: Return to songwriting – Time and Another Country
In May 2013, Stewart released Time, a rock album of his own original material. It marked a return to songwriting after what Stewart termed "a dark period of twenty years"; he said that writing his autobiography gave him the impetus to write music again. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1, setting a new British record for the longest gap between chart-topping albums by an artist. Stewart's last No. 1 on the chart had been Greatest Hits Volume 1 in 1979 and his last studio album to top the chart was 1976's A Night on the Town.

In September 2013, Stewart presented his friend Elton John with the first Brits Icon award in a special show at the London Palladium, recognising John's "lasting impact" on UK culture. Stewart quipped that John was "the second-best rock singer ever", before the two performed a duet on stage.

On 23 June 2015, Stewart announced the release of a new studio album, Another Country. It was made available for pre-order and was released on 23 October 2015. The video for the first single "Love Is" is available on his Vevo account.

2016–present: Continuing to record - Blood Red Roses

Stewart recorded vocals with Joe Walsh on the Frankie Miller album Frankie Miller's Double Take, which was released on 30 September 2016. He sang his cover of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" as Sgt. Pepper for Beat Bugs episode 17b, which debuted 18 November 2016 on Netflix.

On 28 September 2018, Stewart released his 30th studio album, Blood Red Roses, on Republic Records. He duets with Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler on the track "Battle of the Sexes" from her 2019 studio album, Between the Earth and the Stars. Stewart collaborated with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for the release of You're in My Heart in November 2019. The album contains new versions of the hit songs "Maggie May", and "It Takes Two" featuring Robbie Williams.

Personal life
In May 2000, Stewart was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, for which he underwent surgery in the same month. It had been previously reported he suffered from a benign vocal cord nodule. Besides being a major health scare, the resulting surgery also threatened his voice, and he had to re-learn how to sing. Since then he has been active in raising funds for The City of Hope Foundation charity to find cures for all forms of cancer, especially those affecting children. In September 2019, Stewart revealed that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017, and has been given the all-clear after treatment.

Before returning to the UK, Stewart played for his LA Exiles team made up of mostly English expatriates plus a few celebrities, including Billy Duffy of The Cult, in a senior soccer league in Palos Verdes, California.

Despite his father being a supporter of Hibernian, Stewart is a supporter of Celtic, which he mentions in "You're in My Heart". He supports the Scotland national team and follows Manchester United as his English side, and he explains his love affair with both Celtic and Manchester United in Frank Worrall's book, Celtic United. Stewart clarifies this more in his 2012 book (pp 163–64), Rod: The Autobiography, mentioning he "only had an attachment to Manchester United in the 1970s, but that was because they had so many great Scottish players in the 1970s, including Denis Law ... When I did eventually click with a team, it was Celtic". He presented Celtic with the trophy after they won the 2015 Scottish League Cup Final.

Stewart is a model railway enthusiast. His  HO scale layout in his Los Angeles home is modelled after the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroads during the 1940s. Called the Three Rivers City, the layout was featured in the cover story of the December 2007, December 2010, February 2014, and June 2017 issues of Model Railroader magazine. In the 2007 article, Stewart said that it meant more to him to be in a model railroad magazine than a music magazine. The layout, which has a mainline run of , uses code 70 flextrack and a Digital Command Control (DCC) system made by Digitrax. Stewart has a second, smaller layout at his UK home, based on Britain's East Coast Main Line. In a sidebar to the 2014 Model Railroader article, Stewart confirmed (in an anecdote about his having unwittingly mixed red scenery texturing material into a "turf" mix he used around the bases of buildings) that he is colour-blind.

A car collector, Stewart owns one of the 400 Ferrari Enzos. In 1982, Stewart was car-jacked on Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard while he was parking his $50,000 Porsche. The car was subsequently recovered.

In September 2002, Stewart's son, Sean, was sentenced to three months in jail for attacking a man outside a restaurant in Los Angeles. Sean Stewart was also required to pay compensation and to attend anger management, drug and alcohol treatment courses.

Rod Stewart was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2007 New Year Honours for services to music. At his investiture in July 2007, at Buckingham Palace, Stewart commented: "It's a marvellous occasion. We're the only country in the world to honour the common man." He was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for "services to music and charity".

Stewart was estimated to have a fortune of £190 million in the Sunday Times Rich List of 2019, making him one of the 10 wealthiest people in the British music industry.

Relationships and family

Stewart is known for his liaisons with women and has eight children, by five mothers:

In reference to his divorces, Stewart was once quoted as saying, "Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."

In January 2020, Stewart and his 39 year old son, Sean, were arrested and Stewart was charged with alleged assault following an incident at a Florida hotel. He is due to appear in court on 5 February.

Awards and recognition

 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, 1993.
 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1994 (as a solo artist.)
 Received the first ever Diamond Award from the World Music Awards for over 100 million records sold worldwide, 2001.
 Received a Legend Award from the World Music Awards.
 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, 2005, Stardust ... The Great American Songbook Volume III''.
 On 11 October 2005, Stewart received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the music industry, located at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard.
 Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, 2006.
 According to Stewart, soul singer James Brown called him music's "best white soul singer" in September 2006.
 Awarded CBE in the 2007 New Year Honours.
 Appointed Knight Bachelor in the 2016 Birthday Honours.
 Received the ASCAP Founders Award in 2011.
 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 2012 (as a member of Faces).
 To date, Stewart has received seven various Canadian Juno Award nominations.
Goldene Europa 1991 Best International Singer

List of bands
During his career, Rod Stewart has been a member of a number of groups including:
 Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions (1963)
 The Hoochie Coochie Men (19641965)
 Steampacket (19651966)
 Soul Agents (19651966)
 Shotgun Express (1966)
 The Jeff Beck Group (19671969)
 Faces (19691975)

Discography

Stewart's album and single sales total have been variously estimated as more than 100 million, or at 200 million, in either case earning him a place on the list of best-selling music artists.

Tours

Foot Loose & Fancy Free Tour (1977)
Blondes 'Ave More Fun Tour (1978–1979)
Foolish Behaviour Tour (1980–1981)
Worth Leavin' Home For Tour (1981–1982)
Body Wishes Tour (1983)
Camouflage Tour (1984–1985)
Every Beat of My Heart Tour (1986)
Out of Order Tour (1988–1989)
Vagabond Heart Tour (1991–1992)
A Night to Remember Tour (1993–1994)
A Spanner in the Works Tour (1995–1996)
All Rod, All Night, All the Hits Tour (1998–1999)
Human Tour (2001)
Live in Concert Tour (2002)
From Maggie May to the Great American Songbook Tour (2004)
Tour (2005)
Rockin' in the Round Tour (2007)
Rocks His Greatest Hits Tour (2008–2009)
One Rockin' Night Tour (2009)
Soulbook Tour (2010)
Heart & Soul Tour (2011–2012)  with Stevie Nicks
Live the Life Tour (2013)
The Voice, The Guitar, The Songs Tour (2014)  with Santana
The Hits Tour (2014–2015)
Hits Tour 2015 (2015)
Hits Tour 2016 (2016)
From Gasoline Alley to Another Country: Hits 2016 (2016)
Summer Tour 2017 (with Cyndi Lauper) (2017)
Summer Tour 2018 (with Cyndi Lauper) (2018)
Red Blood Roses Tour (2019-)

Residency show
Rod Stewart: The Hits (2011–2017)


Berwick Bay (ship)

Berwick Bay was a steamer engaged in transporting supplies for the Confederates in the Mississippi River area. She was captured and destroyed on 3 February 1863 by Ellet's Ram Fleet as she came out of the Red River heavily laden with supplies for Port Hudson, Louisiana.  She displaced 64 tons and was named for Berwick Bay, Louisiana.


Phragmataecia anikini

Phragmataecia anikini is a species of moth of the family Cossidae. It is found in south-western Mongolia (Hovd aimak, Dzhungarian Gobi desert).


Sri Lanka blue magpie

The Sri Lanka blue magpie or Ceylon magpie (Urocissa ornata) is a brightly coloured member of the Corvidae family and found exclusively in Sri Lanka. This species is adapted to hunting in the dense canopy, where it is highly active and nimble. However, its flight is rather weak and rarely used to cover great distances.  In spite of the Sri Lanka blue magpie's ability to adapt to the presence of humans, it is classified as being vulnerable to extinction due to the fragmentation and destruction of its habitat of dense primary forest in the wet zone of Southern Sri Lanka.

Description
The Sri Lanka blue magpie measures between 42–47 cm in size, and is larger than a mynah but smaller than a crow, with a sturdy bill. Its plumage is bright blue, with a reddish-brown or chestnut head, neck, and wing. The blue tail is long and graduated, with a white tip. The bill, legs, feet, and featherless eye ring of this species are all vibrant red. Both the male and female of the species share this description. The juvenile of this species has a plumage similar to that of an adult, but overall duller, with a brown eye ring and a greyish hue to its blue feathers, especially on its underside. Moulting season for Sri Lanka blue magpies is from August to November.

Taxonomy
The Sri Lanka blue magpie is a member of the order Passeriformes, in the family Corvidae.

The genus that this species belongs to is Urocissa, a group of Southeast Asian magpies, of which there are 5 known species total. They share a recent common ancestor with another genus of Asian magpies, Cissa. Both Urocissa and Cissa are genera of the Oriental region, where the diversity of corvid species originated. They share a distant common ancestor with new world jays and magpies.

Habitat and distribution
This species is endemic to Sri Lanka, where it is found in tall, undisturbed forest in the mountains, foothills, and adjoining lowlands of the wet zone. It can be found from elevations of 2,135m to below 150m. It is not often seen in disturbed habitat such as gardens or plantations.

Surveys conducted from 2004-2006 found individuals of this species in 38 separate forest patches contained within 6 forest complexes within its range in the wet zone of Southern Sri Lanka.

Behaviour
In spite of their avoidance of human-disturbed habitats, research conducted at a highly visited nature trail in a forest reserve in Sri Lanka has shown that the Sri Lanka blue magpie tolerates and is even attracted to the presence of humans. In response to low and moderate levels of recreational disturbance, and small to medium-sized groups of human visitors, numbers of Sri Lanka blue magpies increased, unlike other birds included in the study. A group of individuals were often observed waiting near trails, expecting to be fed by groups of human visitors.

Vocalizations
The Sri Lanka blue magpie produces a great variety of vocalizations, including a jingle, a chink-chink, crakrakrakrak, and a whee-whee.

Thirteen different common call types have been identified for the Sri Lanka blue magpie, including mimicry calls. Individuals have been recorded using two raptor calls quite frequently, usually while mobbing a predator (the Accipiter high-pitched call and the Mountain Hawk Eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis kelaarti) call) These raptor calls are mimicked by another species that occupies the same region, the Greater racket-tailed drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus), implying that these imitated predator calls can act as alarm signals for multiple species.

Sri Lanka blue magpies don't just imitate the calls of predators, however. They have been observed mimicking the calls and songs of other birds in their prolonged and elaborate subsong.

Diet
These birds use their strong legs and feet to forage, and have been observed hanging upside down and holding down their prey with ease.

Their diet is mainly carnivorous, featuring insects, frogs and small lizards. However, they have been known to consume fruit as well, and some observations suggest that they also prey on eggs or young of other bird species. Sri Lanka blue magpies have been observed rubbing hairy caterpillars against mossy branches to remove irritating hairs prior to consuming them.

Reproduction
Sri Lanka blue magpies are monogamous, and use co-operative breeding to raise their young and can be seen in small flocks of up to 7 birds, while each bird maintains a territory.

The generation length of Sri Lanka blue magpies is 6.7 years. Breeding season is from January through March and 3-5 eggs, which are white covered with brown spots, are laid in a clutch. Cup-shaped nests are built atop small slender trees and lined with soft materials like lichen.

Both sexes build the nest and feed offspring with only the female incubating them.

Conservation status
The Sri Lanka blue magpie is listed as Vulnerable, due to the fragmentation and ongoing decline of the population. Surveys performed in 2004-2006 estimate the population at 10,181-19,765 individuals, although their breeding strategy of monogamy and co-operative breeding has led to that estimate being reduced to 9,500-19,500 individuals total to reflect their effective population size.

The main threat to the survival of the Sri Lanka blue magpie is habitat loss due to forest being cleared for agricultural land, mines, logging, and human settlement. A moratorium on logging in wet zones in 1990, plus the legal protection of this species in Sri Lanka have the potential to slow their population decline, but air pollution causing forest die-back and the use of biocides in the hill country continue to threaten the Sri Lanka blue magpie.

It has been suggested that one of the factors preventing the Sri Lanka blue magpie from moving into disturbed habitat is the presence of another bird, the Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopacea) which is a brood-parasite.

In culture

In Sri Lanka, this bird is known as  () in Sinhala. The blue magpie appears in a 10c Sri Lankan postal stamp, which was in wide usage in the 1980s through 1990s.

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
ARKive - images and movies of the Sri Lanka magpie (Urocissa ornata)


IAM (band)

IAM (pronounced "I am") is a French hip hop band from Marseille, formed in 1989, and composed of Akhenaton (Philippe Fragione), Shurik'n (Geoffroy Mussard), Khéops (Éric Mazel), Imhotep (Pascal Perez), and Kephren (François Mendy). 'IAM' has several meanings, including 'Invasion Arrivée de Mars' ('Invasion from Mars', 'Mars' is frequently used as a metaphor for Marseille in IAM's songs). Another meaning is Imperial Asiatic Man, while AKH often refers to L'homme Impérial Asiatique.

Themes

Africa and Ancient Egypt
One of IAM’s central themes in its songs is Africa.  The group is one of the pioneer French rap groups and draws heavily on allusions to Africa, and particularly to ancient Egypt, in its music. Their 1991 song "Les tam-tam de l'Afrique" was one of the first French rap hits and the first song to deal expressly with the issue of slavery. Using a sample of a Stevie Wonder song, "Les tam-tam de l'Afrique" focuses on the “abduction of its inhabitants, the Middle Passage, and the plantation system in the Americas.”

IAM promotes an ideology that is based upon images associated with ancient Egypt, primarily upon the mythical allusions to pharaohs. By 1989 the group developed a unique rap style, mixing French beats and lyrics with Middle Eastern and Egyptian influences.  Their stage names are of Egyptian origin; one of the group members, Eric Mazel, goes by the name Kheops, an allusion to the Egyptian pharaoh who built pyramids.  This connection with ancient Egypt allows IAM “to assert connections to the contemporary Arab world in an indirect way.”

Indeed, this "pharaoism", as French rap music specialist Andre Prevos calls it, represents an attempt to negotiate and maintain a cultural identity in the context of a social scene rife with racist and discriminatory ideologies. Because many Muslims don't feel at home in white French society, references to Arabic origins and Islamic fundamentalism
are part of a highly socially contested discourse on identity politics in French music. Thus, by employing 'pharaoism' to hide these references to and elicitations of the Arab world, IAM successfully articulates its connections with the "Franco-Maghrebi" cause and establishes an important social space for itself. The pharaoist aspects of IAM'S rap help the group stay in touch with its origins where some non-white French people have assimilated unquestioningly into the surrounding French culture. Therefore, the group's rap is both politically charged and defiant, as it attempts to subvert notions of racial superiority by "[proposing] multiracial alliance as an alternative to the 'old' [French] politics." Most importantly, rap provides IAM with a place to address social issues and speak out against racial intolerance where the group can actually be heard. In fact, the first single release from their second album, "Je danse le Mia", "went on to prove an enormous hit on the French mainstream", according to French radio station RFI Musique. In this way, the use of 'pharaoism' as a mystical and coded  strategy for the injection of Arabic and Egyptian lyrics, ideas, and sentiments [citation needed] into the music is what makes it commercially viable [citation needed]. Otherwise, if the music were any more outright in its references to Arabic origins, white French conservatives might identify it with Islamic Fundamentalism's grips over North African diasporatic communities living in France and try to censor it and impede the cause it stands for [citation needed].

"'Les tams-tams de l'Afrique' was one of the first hits of French rap and dealt expressly with slavery. Using a sample of 'Past Time Paradise' by Stevie Wonder, this track focused on the plunder of Africa, the abduction of its inhabitants, the Middle Passage, and the plantation system in the Americas."

Collaborations
IAM have a long history of collaborations with the American hip hop group, the Wu-Tang Clan. IAM have sampled an Inspectah Deck lyric from the Wu-Tang Clan song, "C.R.E.A.M", which states “Life as a shorty shouldn't be so rough” in their 1998 single, "Petit frère". Additionally, they featured a number of Wu-Tang affiliated artists on their 1997 single “La saga” and later members Method Man and Redman on their 2004 single "Noble Art" the video was directed by New York-based artist "Brad Digital".  They were also featured in the song of RZA "Seul face à lui". These hip hop groups have a number of similarities, probably due to the fact that IAM member Akhenaton has listed Wu-Tang as one of his five favorite hip hop artists of all time. One notable example is that both groups have connections to Islam. The Wu-Tang Clan are known members of the Five Percent Nation and often include Islamic references in their music. On the previously mentioned IAM collaboration, “La saga,” rapper Prodigal Sunn states that “IAM, sunz of man from the royal fam, never ate ham, never gave a damn,” referencing the dietary restrictions that Muslims have to follow. Similarly, French rappers IAM have used their music to display an alternative Muslim identity [Ref. necessary]. IAM also collaborated with US rapper Lucas on the song, Spin The Globe, with rappers from 5 different countries spitting in 5 different languages showcasing the universal appeal and voice of hip hop.

Discography

Albums

Mixtapes
1989: IAM Concept
2007: Official Mixtape
2012: Assassins Scribes
2013: Assassins Scribes 2

Live albums

DVD Live
2007: Live au Dôme de Marseille (DVD)

Compilation albums

Singles

Other releases
 1997: "La saga" (featuring Timbo King, Dreddy Krueger and Prodigal Sunn)
 2004: "Second souffle"
 2007: "Une autre brique dans le mur"
 2007: "Ca vient de la rue"
 2007: "Offishall
 2008: "Coupe Le Cake"

Discography (Solo projects)

Soundtracks


Thomas Chamberlayne (priest)

Thomas Chamberlayne, D.D was Dean of Bristol from 1739 to 1757.


Euterpiodes

Euterpiodes is a genus of moths of the family Noctuidae.


Janelle Shane

Janelle Shane is an optics research scientist and artificial intelligence researcher, writer and public speaker. She keeps a popular science blog called AI Weirdness, where she documents various machine learning algorithms, both ones submitted by readers and ones she personally creates.  Shane published You Look Like A Thing And I Love You: How AI Works And Why It's Making The World A Weirder Place in November 2019, a book that covers many of the topics from her AI Weirdness blog for a general audience.

Early life and education
Shane studied electrical engineering at Michigan State University and graduated in 2007. She started out in a research group that worked on genetic algorithms, and then worked with Marcos Dantus on genetic algorithms for femtosecond lasers. She earned her master's degree in physics at the University of St Andrews, where she worked with Kishan Dholakia on pulse shaping and dispersion compensation. In 2008, Shane joined University of California, San Diego as a graduate student, where she worked on ultra-fast nanoscale optics.

Career
Shane works at Boulder Nonlinear Systems, an organisation who are developing holographic optical trapping modules for the International Space Station. She is also working on low size, weight and power (SWaP) 3D wind sensor technologies for unmanned aerial vehicles. The optical trapping systems (tweezers) use focused laser beams to trap transparent microparticles, and the holographic optical trapping uses liquid crystal spatial light modulators that can convert a single beam into separate steerable beams. This system allows Shane to position trapped particles in arrays. The technologies include liquid polarisation gratings for airborne Doppler lidar systems.

Shane came across a list of neural network cookbook recipes written by Tom Brewe. AI Weirdness, Shane's blog on Artificial Intelligence, features everyday neural networks and algorithms. Shane writes for Fast Company and O'Reilly Media. She has collaborated with CNN, The Guardian, The New York Times Magazine and The New York Times. Shane delivered a talk at TED 2019, where she spoke about the realities of artificial intelligence. She argued that while artificial intelligence is celebrated as a gift to society, in reality it often doesn't live up to the hype. Her book You Look Like A Thing And I Love You: How AI Works And Why It's Making The World A Weirder Place was released in November 2019.

Selected publications


Davids' Island (New York)

Davids' Island is a  island off the coast of New Rochelle, New York, in Long Island Sound. Currently uninhabited, in the past it was the site of Fort Slocum. The island is home to the endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle, and birds such as osprey and least terns. Davids' Island also supports valuable wetlands, rare rocky intertidal areas, and sandy beaches. The waters surrounding the island are home to winter flounder, Atlantic herring, and Atlantic silverside.

Etymology
The name is often given as "David Hawk's" or "David Hawk" Island, but neither is correct. The island is named after its next-to-last civilian owner before the Army acquired it: New York City ink manufacturer and Westchester County resident Thaddeus Davids. It was first leased (1861–1867), then owned (1867–1965), by the U.S. government, and was known as "Davids' Island Military Reservation" until it was renamed "Fort Slocum" on July 1, 1896. Previously, it had been named after other owners and was called successively Bouteillier's, Rodman's, Myer's, Treadwell's, Hewlett's, Allen's, and Morse's Island.

Historical uses

During the last periods before European explorers and colonists arrived, Native Americans inhabited Davids' Island. By the mid 17th century, the area that would become New Rochelle was inhabited by a Native American group known as the Siwanoy. Archeological evidence from Davids' Island indicates that Native Americans inhabited the island from 1,000 to 1,500 AD. Native Americans began to withdraw from New York's coastal areas in the 1600s, as European traders and colonists began to enter the region. In 1654, Thomas Pell acquired from the Siwanoys title for the land that now includes Davids' Island and southern Westchester County.

From colonial times to the mid-19th century, Davids' Island was one of many small islands off the north shore of Long Island Sound used for farming and pasturing animals. Permanent Euro-American occupation of Davids' Island began with the arrival of Huguenot settlers to the area in the late 1600s.

By the middle of the 19th century, summertime steamboat excursions to New Rochelle gave city dwellers from New York City and Brooklyn a chance to escape the urban crowds and grime for a few hours. Davids', Neptune, and Glen Islands were all regular stops for excursion steamers.

In November 1856, ink manufacturer Thaddeus Davids purchased the island, after which time the island took his name. Davids had intended to move his factory to the island but never did so. In 1862, he leased the island to Simeon Leland, a prominent hotelier, who then subleased it to the U.S. War Department for hospital purposes. De Camp General Hospital was soon established, and wooden structures were erected to house thousands of wounded prisoners from the battlefields of the Civil War. By late 1862, De Camp was the Army's largest general hospital, housing more than 2,100 patients. Originally, the hospital treated only Union soldiers, but following the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the War Department opened it to care for hundreds of wounded Confederate soldiers. Davids' Island soon held more than 2,500 Confederate prisoners. Most had recovered by October and were moved to prisoner of war camps elsewhere.

A ferry connection was established from Neptune Island, under the control of Simeon Leland. At the end of the war, Congress authorized the island's purchase for military purposes, and it was conveyed to the United States in 1867. From this date, the federal government operated its own ferry to and from Neptune Island. In July 1878 Davids' Island was made a principal depot of the U.S. Army General Recruiting Service, taking over this assignment from Governors Island. This marked the beginning of the installation's longstanding mission as a recruitment and training center.

It was later converted to a coastal artillery defense post and was named Fort Slocum, after Major General Henry W. Slocum, U.S. Volunteers. Between 1891 and 1904, artillery batteries were erected at three places on the eastern half of the island: Battery Practice near the southeastern shoreline; the state-of-the-art heavy mortar battery, Battery Haskin-Overton, near the southern end of the island; and two adjoining medium-range gun batteries, Fraser and Kinney, on the northeastern shore.

At the start of the 20th century, the island had become the East Coast assembly point for units being assigned to America's new overseas operations. By the onset of World War I, it had become one of the busiest recruiting stations in the country, processing 100,000 soldiers per year. From 1946 to 1949, Fort Slocum housed the headquarters of the First Air Force. In June 1949, it was renamed "Slocum Air Force Base"; this only lasted for a year before it was turned back into an Army post in June 1950. From 1955 to 1960, Fort Slocum housed Nike Ajax air-defense battery NY-15. The missiles were stored in underground silos on Hart Island with the radar and control base on Davids' Island. In July 1960, after only five years of operation, Nike Battery NY-15 was closed.

Fort Slocum was deactivated on November 30, 1965. During the decades that followed, the facilities of the former Army post were neglected and deteriorated severely.

Redevelopment
In 1967, the city of New Rochelle purchased Davids' Island, initially using it for the site of a summer camp for New Rochelle youth. During the summers of 1967 and 1968, David’s Island was the site for two conferences sponsored by Up With People. In 1968, Consolidated Edison (Con Ed) purchased the island for three million dollars, with a view to building a nuclear power plant there. Con Ed dropped these plans in 1973 and resold the island to New Rochelle in 1976, for $1. In 1977, following ten years of neglect, New Rochelle designated the island, with its remnants of Fort Slocum, as an urban renewal area.

Xanadu Properties Associates proposed to redevelop Davids' Island in 1981. Their plans included the construction of a bridge, breakwater for an 800-boat marina, and 2,000 luxury condominium units. However, because of the grand scale of Xanadu's plans, the proposed development was highly controversial among the public. In 1987, a conservation group called Save Davids' Island for the Citizens, comprising neighboring property owners and concerned Westchester County residents, formed to oppose Xanadu. Further opposition came from state officials concerned about the potential lack of general public access to shoreline areas. In 1992, the city of New Rochelle opted not to extend Xanadu's status as the designated developer for Davids' Island and instead sought new proposals. In response, developer Donald Trump briefly pursued the opportunity to redevelop the island, but the plans were cancelled while still preliminary.

The ruins of Fort Slocum continued to occupy Davids' Island into the beginning of the 21st century and were among the factors complicating redevelopment of the island. Beginning in 2004, however, Congress appropriated funds to remove the ruins through a Defense Department program that assists communities in reusing former defense facilities. During the summer of 2008, the city of New Rochelle demolished all remaining structures on the island, including the iconic water tower on the northern end of the island, with plans to turn the island into a park.

In 2015, a French offer was made to buy the island in order to create a data center. This project is still ongoing.

Gallery


Jean-Pierre Montagny

Jean-Pierre Montagny (31 July 1789 – 1862) was a French medallist and coiner, one of the most notable such figures in the 19th century Monnaie de Paris.

He was born at Saint-Étienne and studied under his father Clément Montagny and under Cartellier. He produced several coins and medals in bronze, copper and tin on the main events in French history from 1800 to 1850, such as the inauguration of the July Column in 1840, with his most intense production being designs relating to the 1848 Revolution.  He died in Belleville.


Estola insularis

Estola insularis is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Blair in 1933.

Subspecies
 Estola insularis cribrata Blair, 1933
 Estola insularis duncani Van Dyke, 1953
 Estola insularis insularis Blair, 1933
 Estola insularis subnigrescens Breuning, 1974


Carolina Power and Light Company Car Barn and Automobile Garage is a historic streetcar barn and automobile repair shop located at Raleigh, North Carolina.  It built in 1925, and is a one-story, rectangular brick building in the Art Deco style.  It measures 210 feet and 6 inches in length, and 59 feet and 7 inches in width and features terra cotta ornamentation.  The building was built originally to house the Carolina Power and Light Company's electric streetcars and buses. It was converted to automotive and service vehicle storage in the 1940s.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.


Tolubeyev

Tolubeyev () is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

 Andrei Tolubeyev
 Yuri Tolubeyev


Sugarloaf Fire Tower Historic District

The Sugarloaf Fire Tower Historic District encompasses a collection of historic buildings located near the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain, a hill 1150 feet in elevation in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest of northeastern Stone County, Arkansas.  The main structure is a braced metal-frame fire tower, alongside which stand a residence, privy, and vaulted stone storage cellar.  These structures were all built in 1937 by a crew of the Civilian Conservation Corps, and is particularly unusual because the fire watch facility included a residence.

The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.


Abdus Sobur

Abdus Sobur is a Bangladeshi art director and actor. He won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Art Direction five times for the films Aradhana (1979), Surjogrohon (1986), The Affliction of Estrangement (1989), Surjogrohon (1990), Ghatak (1994).

Selected films

As a actor
 Jibon Nouka - 1981

As an art director

Awards and nominations
National Film Awards


Giuseppe Tamborini

Giuseppe Tamborini (born March 19, 1943 in Lacchiarella) is an Italian former football coach and professional player who played as a midfielder. He played for 9 seasons (257 games, 19 goals) in Serie A for Sampdoria, Roma and Varese.


CGram Software

CGram Software is a Swansea-based software authoring company established in 1982. It provides accounting software, enterprise resource planning (ERP), CRM, production control and supply chain management software for small to medium-sized companies, and has a long history in the UNIX and Linux commercial world.

History
CGram Software was founded by Emrys Jones and Terry Crook in 1982. They started developing a Unix manufacturing system. Jones was at that time being actively involved with UKUUG (the UK's Unix & Open Systems User Group), becoming temporary chairman in 1982 and was Chairman of the European Unix User Group until 1985.

CGram Software started shipping the first Unix Manufacturing system in 1984 written in 'C', being sold on Plexus and Arete machines.  These were Motorola MC68000 based machines. The problem with the MC68000 was that every manufacturer had their own system of memory addressing, which made portability a challenge for software add-on vendors.  To solve this CGram introduced their '68000Fix' product, which processed the relocation information in a program and converted the program to work on the required target.  This allowed CGram to offer their Manufacturing system on a variety of other MC68000 systems, such as Fortune & Sperry.

This system implemented a just-in-time business model with Supplier Chain management for synchronous supply in 1987.  The implementation at Ikeda Hoover was the subject of a case study into manufacturing for synchronous supply in 2002. It was later extended with a full Kanban system for final assembly in 1990.

In 1998 the company discontinued its original manufacturing system, developing a new ERP system with a desktop client written in Java and Swing communicating over the internet with server-side software written in C.

Recognition
 Winner of Best Linux Business Provider Solution 2005  - UK Linux & Open Source Awards (Formerly Linux User and Developer Awards)
 Runner up Best Mid Range Software Package, Accountancy Age Awards 2005.
 Shortlisted for Best Business Software Supplier 2005 - Computing


Massachusetts Route 137

Massachusetts Route 137 is a  north–south state route on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The route begins at an intersection with Route 28 in the town of Chatham. The route serves as a connector between Chatham, the town of Harwich (where it meets US 6) and Brewster. In Brewster, Route 137 ends at a junction with Route 6A, a short distance southwest of Route 124.

Route description
Route 137 begins at an intersection with Route 28 (Main Street) just east of South Chatham, within the town of Chatham. Route 137 proceeds north along Meetinghouse Road, passing a residential strip before bending northeastward. The route soon enters the community of East Harwich, crossing through some woods at the southern end. At Old Queen Anne Road, Route 137 makes a sharp turn to the northwest and enters downtown East Harwich.

The route continues northwest as the main northwest–southeast road through East Harwich, passing a local cemetery, and leaving downtown East Harwich. After passing a large complex, Route 137 enters an intersection with Route 39 (Orleans Road). The route continues northwest through Harwich, becoming a residential street through town. After Pleasant Bay Road, Route 137 enters a partial cloverleaf interchange (exit 11) with US 6 (Mid-Cape Highway). After the interchange, Route 137 crosses between Cahoon and Mill ponds, continuing into the town of Brewster. Now known as Long Pond Road, Route 137 continues northwest through Brewster.

The route soon reaches the community of South Brewster, becoming the main street on the far eastern side of the community. After the intersection with Brady Cartway, Route 137 turns west through Brewster, crossing the Cape Cod Rail Trail and the former South Brewster Railroad Station. A two-lane road through Brewster, the route enters an intersection with Route 124 (Harwich Road), which ends nearby. Continuing northwest, Route 137 enters an intersection with Route 6A (Main Street). The right-of-way ends at the junction, near Cape Cod Bay.

Major intersections


Vajin Armstrong

Vajin Armstrong (born Luke Armstrong; 12 May 1980) is an ultra-distance runner from Christchurch, New Zealand. Armstrong is a disciple of Sri Chinmoy. He and his wife Prasasta manage a musical instrument shop.

Races and results
2010–2012 Kepler Challenge, 1st
2012 American River 1st
2013 Swiss Alpine Marathon, 2nd
2013 Zugspitz Ultra Trail, 2nd
2014 Bedrock50 Ultra, 1st
2014 Buffalo Stampede Marathon, 1st
2015 Two Bays 56 km Trail Run, 1st
2016 Swiss Alpine Marathon, Davos, 1st


Brian Shima

Brian Matthew Isoa Shima (born December 22, 1981) is a professional inline skater. He also holds the record for the most pro skates held by any person. Shima owned his own skate brand, named Shima Skate Manufacturing, also known as SSM, which was launched after he abandoned his former company NIMH.   He is also co-founder of the World Rolling Series.

Coming from rollerblading brands like USD (universal skate design) & Razor Skates, he was, along with Jon Elliot, a former pro skater, co-owner and team rider of Ground Control-Frames, NIMH Skates, 4x4 Wheels, Vicious Bearings, King Crow bearings and Shima Skate Manufacturing. Along with Jon Elliott and Jan Welch started a distribution company called Rat Tail in 2002.

Competitions
1994 Sea Otter Classic - Monterey, CA - 1st
2000 ASA Amateur Finals - Las Vegas, NV - 1st
April 8, 2001 IMYTA #2 - Paris, France - 1st
2001 Gravity Games - 4th
2001 ASA Pro Tour - Anaheim, California - 1st
2001 Eisenberg's Hoedown - Plano, Texas - 1st
2001 IMYTA #3 - Detroit, MI - 2nd
2002 Gravity Games - 2nd
2002 Superhick - Atlanta, GA 1st
2002 Eisenberg's Hoedown - Plano, Texas - 3rd
2002 Eisenberg's Hoedown - Plano, Texas - 1st Best Trick
July 7, 2002 IMYTA #8 - Montreal, Canada - 1st
2002 ASA World Championships - 19th
2002 ASA Pro Tour - San Diego, California - 17th
2003 RFCC Tour Contest (915 Skatepark) - Greensboro, NC - 2nd
2003 RFCC Tour Contest (Vertigo Skatepark) - Boardman, OH - 1st
2003 Superhick - Atlanta, Georgia - 1st
2003 RFCC World Finals (Airborne Skatepark) - Detroit, MI - 1st
November 13, 2004 - RFCC World Finals - Kona, FL - 2nd
2004 Barn Burner - Renton, WA - 1st
2004 Eisenberg's Hoedown - Plano, Texas - 2nd
2005 Fise Competition - Montpellier, France - 1st
May 30, 2005 LG Action Sports Tour - Cincinnati, Ohio - 1st
2005 LG Action Sports Tour - Paris, France - 8th
2005 LG Action Sports Tour - Munich, Germany - 3rd
2005 LG Action Sports Championship, Manchester, UK - 3rd
2005 LG Action Sports Tour - Sacramento, California - 10th (VERT)
2008 Asian X Games - Shanghai, China - 5th
2008 Bitter Cold Showdown - Bordman, Ohio - 4th
2008 LG Action Sports Tour - Seattle, Washington - 4th
2009 Barn Burner - Seattle, Washington - 1st
2009 Australian Rolling Open  - Melbourne, Australia- 3rd
2009 FISE - Montpellier, France - 10th
2010 Bitter Cold Showdown - Detroit, Michigan - 8th
2011 Bitter Cold Showdown - Detroit, Michigan - 9th

Signature products

Hardgoods
Fifty-50 Shima Grindplate (1999)
Medium Rat Bastard Wheel
Mindgame Shima Wheel
4x4 Shima Edition 1 Wheel 60mm/88a
4x4 Shima Edition 2 Wheel 60mm/88a
4x4 Shima Edition 3 Wheel 58mm/89a
4x4 Shima Hi-Lo Wheel 56mm/90a
4x4 Shima Hi-Lo Wheel 47mm/90a
Ground Control Hi-lo Shima frame
Ground Control Featherlite Shima frame

Filmography
Brian has appeared in several videos such as:
 Children of the Night (c) 1996 Medium
 Film of the Year (C) 1997 Medium
 Espionage (C) 1997 PRN
 Smell the Glove (C) 1998 Medium
 Amateur (C) 1998 Joe Navran
 Elements 2 (C) 1999 PRN
 United Front (C) 2000 Jan Welch
 Brain Fear Gone (C) 2000 Trendkiller
 Coup de Tat (C) 2000 Joe Navran & USD
 UnCloned. Razor team Video 2001
 What Do You Believe In? (C) 2001 Trendkiller
 Concentration (C) 2001 Escozoo Media
 VG ROOTZ (C) 2002 Unreleased
 United Front 2: Trash (C) 2003 Jan Welch
 Razor's Closer (C) 2003 Beau Cottington & Razor's
 8th Annual Hoedown (C) 2004 Jason Reyna Project
 Leading The Blind (C) 2004 Jan Welch/Patrick Lennen & 4x4 Urethane
 Ego (C) 2004 Adam Johnson & Razor's
 Killer Boots (C) 2005 Artistry Productions
 Barely Dead (C) 2006 Misled Media
 Drip Drop (C) 2008 Old Apple Films
 Nimh Video'' (C) 2011 Monk & Race


Fradique Coutinho (São Paulo Metro)

Fradique Coutinho is a metro station on Line 4 (Yellow) of the São Paulo Metro operated by ViaQuatro. The station is located at Rua dos Pinheiros, 623 in the Pinheiros neighborhood. Although originally slated to open in 2010, the station was not inaugurated until 15 November 2014.

History
The station construction were put at hold in 2007, when a report about the metallic structures was published, indicating the possibility of an "accident of unpredictable proportions". Metro and ViaQuatro disqualified the conclusion of the report and ensured that there was safety in the station. Specialists heard by Folha de S. Paulo said that there was no risk.

In the same year, the construction work in Rua dos Pinheiros lasted longer than the predicted after the asphalt broke after the passage of excavation equipment in the area, known as shield or "tatuzão". Any house was interdicted because of this problem. The same track had been closed for more than an year for construction work since June 2005 and has caused many traffic problems in the neighbourhood. On November 2005, an excavator that worked in the construction broke a Comgás pipe.

The opening was scheduled to 2010, but was delayed to 2012, 2014, and was predicted to open on the second semester of 2013, along with Oscar Freire station. The State Government scheduled the station opening for 25 September 2014 but, two days before, Governor Geraldo Alckmin announced the new prediction, this time for October. This new prediction also did not happen and, on 23 October 2014, the administration announced a new delay, this time for November.

Toponymy
Fradique Coutinho is the name of the homonymous street that crosses the station. Fradique de Melo Coutinho was a bandeirante born in Espírito Santo, son of Vasco Fernandes Coutinho and Antônia Escobar and grandson of Vasco Fernandes Coutinho, which was the first Captain-major of the Captaincy of Espírito Santo. Fradique Coutinho participated of many expeditions, along with Simão Álvares Martins, his father-in-law, and Raposo Tavares. He died in São Paulo, on 28 January 1633. The Azevedo Maruqes and Estancieiro streets were renamed to Fradique Coutinho by the Municipal Executive Order no. 6,618, of 8 September 1966.

Station layout


Carl Wilhelm Wirtz

Carl Wilhelm Wirtz (24 August 1876 in Krefeld – 18 February 1939 in Hamburg) was an astronomer who spent his time between the Kiel Observatory  in Germany and the Observatory of Strasbourg, France. He is known for statistically showing the existence of a redshift-distance correlation for spiral galaxies.

Scientific career

As already Vesto Slipher in 1912, Wirtz in 1918 observed a systematic redshift of spiral nebulae, which was difficult to interpret in terms of a cosmological model in which the Universe is filled more or less uniformly with stars and nebulae. Wirtz additionally used the equivalent in German of K correction. The term continues to be used in present-day observational cosmology, but Wirtz's observational evidence that the Universe is expanding is not often mentioned. He wrote:

In 1922, he wrote a paper where he argued that the observational results suggest, that the redshifts of distant galaxies are becoming higher than more closer ones, which he interpreted as an increase of their radial velocities with distance, and that larger masses have smaller redshifts than smaller ones. In another note of the same year, he argued that counter-clockwise spiraling galaxies have smaller redshifts than clockwise spiraling ones. In 1924 he obtained more precise results, and interpreted them both as a confirmation of an increase of radial velocities with distance, but also as confirmation of a de Sitter universe, in which the increase of redshift is seen as caused by an increased time dilation in distant parts of the universe.

In 1936, Wirtz wrote a short paper alluding to the priority for his 1922-conclusion that the radial velocities of galaxies are increasing with their distance.

Honors
Mars-crossing asteroid 26074 Carlwirtz and the Martian crater Wirtz were named after him.


Hydrogenophilaceae

The Hydrogenophilaceae are a family of the Hydrogenophilalia, with two genera – Hydrogenophilus and Tepidiphilus. Like all "Proteobacteria", they are Gram-negative. All known species are thermophilic, growing around 50 °C and using molecular hydrogen or organic molecules as their source of electrons to support growth - some species are autotrophs.

The genus Thiobacillus was previously considered to be a member in this family but was reclassified into the order Nitrosomonadales at the same time that the Hydrogenophilales were removed from the Betaproteobacteria and the class Hydrogenophilalia was formed.

Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus is a facultative chemolithoautotroph originally isolated from a hot spring; however, it was detected 2004 in ice core samples retrieved from a depth around 3 km within the ice covering Lake Vostok in Antarctica. The presence of DNA from (and potentially live cells of) thermophilic bacteria in the ice suggests that a geothermal system could exist beneath the cold water body of Lake Vostok, or simply that non-thermophilic strains of Hydrogenophilus exist and were present in the ice.