text:
Spread betting

Spread betting is any of various types of wagering on the outcome of an event where the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple "win or lose" outcome, such as fixed-odds (or money-line) betting or parimutuel betting.

A point spread is a range of outcomes and the bet is whether the outcome will be above or below the spread. , spread betting was a major growth market in the UK, with the number of gamblers heading towards one million. Financial spread betting (see below) can carry a high level of risk if there is no "stop". In the UK, financial spread betting is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority rather than the Gambling Commission who regulate spread betting on sports.

Purpose
The general purpose of spread betting is to create an active market for both sides of a binary wager, even if the outcome of an event may appear prima facie to be biased towards one side or the other. In sports, almost every contest has a favorite and an underdog, most obviously when a historically strong team is playing a weaker team. If the wager is simply "Will the favorite win?", more bets are likely to be made for the favorite, possibly to such an extent that there would be very few betters willing to take the underdog.

The point spread is essentially a handicap towards the underdog. The wager becomes "Will the favorite win by more than the point spread?" The point spread can be moved to any level to create an equal number of participants on each side of the wager. This allows a bookmaker to act as a market maker by accepting wagers on both sides of the spread. The bookmaker charges a commission, or vigorish, and acts as the counterparty for each participant. As long as the total amount wagered on each side is roughly equal, the bookmaker is unconcerned with the actual outcome; profits instead come from the commissions.

Because the spread is intended to create an equal number of wagers on either side, the implied probability is 50% for both sides of the wager. To profit, the bookmaker must pay one side (or both sides) less than this notional amount. In practice, spreads may be perceived as slightly favoring one side, and bookmakers often revise their odds to manage their event risk.

One important assumption is that to be credited with a win, either team only needs to win by the minimum of the rules of the game (i.e., 1 point), without regard to the margin of victory. This presumes that winning teams never unnecessarily extend a winning margin—and losing teams never uselessly narrow an inevitable loss. In other words, each team is only playing to win rather than to beat the point spread.

This assumption does not necessarily hold in all situations. For example, at the end of a season, the total points scored by a team can affect future events such as playoff seeding and positioning for the amateur draft; winning teams may "run up" the score, and losing teams may bench their starters in favor of developing less-experienced players for the future.

In virtually all sports, players and other on-field contributors are forbidden from being involved in sports betting and thus have no incentive to consider the point spread during play; any attempt to manipulate the outcome of a game for gambling purposes would be considered match fixing. The lack of tolerance for athletes and coaching staff engaging in this practice is so serious that the penalty is typically a lifetime banishment from the sport.

Spreads in sports wagering (U.S.)
Spread betting was invented by Charles K. McNeil, a mathematics teacher from Connecticut who became a bookmaker in Chicago in the 1940s. In North America, the gambler usually wagers that the difference between the scores of two teams will be less than or greater than the value specified by the bookmaker, with even money for either option. An example:
 * The bookmaker advertises a spread of 4 points in a certain game;
 * If the gamblers bet on the "underdog", they are said to take the points and will win if the underdog's score plus the spread is greater than the favorite's score.
 * The eventual score is Underdog 8, Favorite 10: 8 + 4 > 10, so the gambler wins;
 * The eventual score is Underdog 8, Favorite 13: 8 + 4 < 13, so the gambler loses.
 * If the gamblers bet on the "favorite", they give the points (sometimes called lay the points) and will win if the favorite's score minus the spread is greater than the underdog's score:
 * The eventual score is Underdog 5, Favorite 10: 10 – 4 > 5, so the gambler wins;
 * The eventual score is Underdog 8, Favorite 10: 10 – 4 < 8, so the gambler loses.
 * Ties aka "Push"
 * The eventual score is Underdog 9, Favorite 13: 9 + 4 = 13, so the gambler ties "pushes". The reverse is also the same the gambler takes the favorite and it is 13 - 4 = 9

Spreads are frequently, though not always, specified in half-point fractions to eliminate the possibility of a tie, known as a push. In the event of a push, the game is considered no action, and no money is won or lost. However, this is not a desirable outcome for the sports book, as they are forced to refund every bet, and although both the book and its bettors will be even, if the cost of overhead is taken into account, the book has actually lost money by taking bets on the event. Sports books are generally permitted to state "ties win" or "ties lose" to avoid the necessity of refunding every bet.

Betting on sporting events has long been the most popular form of spread betting. Whilst most bets the casino offers to players have a built in house edge, betting on the spread offers an opportunity for the astute gambler. When a casino accepts a spread bet, it gives the player the odds of 10 to 11, or -110. That means that for every 11 dollars the player wagers, the player will win 10, slightly lower than an even money bet. If team A is playing team B, the casino is not concerned with who wins the game; they are only concerned with taking an equal amount of money of both sides. For example, if one player takes team A and the other takes team B and each wager $110 to win $100, it doesn't matter what team wins; the casino makes money. They take $100 of the $110 from the losing bet and pay the winner, keeping the extra $10 for themselves. This is the house edge. The goal of the casino is to set a line that encourages an equal amount of action on both sides, thereby guaranteeing a profit. This also explains how money can be made by the astute gambler. If casinos set lines to encourage an equal amount of money on both sides, it sets them based on the public perception of the team, not necessarily the real strength of the teams. Many things can affect public perception, which moves the line away from what the real line should be. This gap between the Vegas line, the real line, and differences between other sports books betting lines and spreads is where value can be found.

A teaser is a bet that alters the spread in the gambler's favor by a predetermined margin – in American football the teaser margin is often six points. For example, if the line is 3.5 points and bettors want to place a teaser bet on the underdog, they take 9.5 points instead; a teaser bet on the favorite would mean that the gambler takes 2.5 points instead of having to give the 3.5. In return for the additional points, the payout if the gambler wins is less than even money, or the gambler must wager on more than one event and both events must win. In this way it is very similar to a parlay. At some establishments, the "reverse teaser" also exists, which alters the spread against the gambler, who gets paid at more than evens if the bet wins.

Sports spread betting
In the United Kingdom, sports spread betting became popular in the late 1980s by offering an alternative form of sports wagering to traditional fixed odds, or fixed-risk, betting. With fixed odds betting, a gambler places a fixed-risk stake on stated fractional or decimal odds on the outcome of a sporting event that would give a known return for that outcome occurring or a known loss if that outcome doesn't occur (the initial stake). With sports spread betting, gamblers are instead betting on whether a specified outcome in a sports event will end up being above or below a ‘spread’ offered by a sports spread betting firm, with profits or losses determined by how much above or below the spread the final outcome finishes at.

The spread on offer will refer to the betting firm's prediction on the range of a final outcome for a particular occurrence in a sports event, e.g., the total number of goals to be scored in a football (US: soccer) match, the number of runs to be scored by a team in a cricket match or the number of lengths between the winner and second-placed finisher in a horse race.

The gambler can elect to ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ on the spread depending on whether they think the final outcome will be higher than the top end of the spread on offer, or lower than the bottom end of the spread. The more right the gambler is then the more they will win, but the more wrong they are then the more they can lose.

The level of the gambler's profit or loss will be determined by the stake size selected for the bet, multiplied by the number of unit points above or below the gambler's bet level. This reflects the fundamental difference between sports spread betting and fixed odds sports betting in that both the level of winnings and level of losses are not fixed and can end up being many multiples of the original stake size selected.

For example, in a cricket match a sports spread betting firm may list the spread of a team's predicted runs at 340 – 350. The gambler can elect to ‘buy’ at 350 if they think the team will score more than 350 runs in total, or sell at 340 if they think the team will score less than 340. If the gambler elects to buy at 350 and the team scores 400 runs in total, the gambler will have won 50 unit points multiplied by their initial stake. But if the team only scores 300 runs then the gambler will have lost 50 unit points multiplied by their initial stake.

It is important to note the difference between spreads in sports wagering in the U.S. and sports spread betting in the UK. In the U.S. betting on the spread is effectively still a fixed risk bet on a line offered by the bookmaker with a known return if the gambler correctly bets with either the underdog or the favourite on the line offered and a known loss if the gambler incorrectly bets on the line. In the UK betting above or below the spread does not have a known final profit or loss, with these figures determined by the number of unit points the level of the final outcome ends up being either above or below the spread, multiplied by the stake chosen by the gambler.

For UK spread betting firms, any final outcome that finishes in the middle of the spread will result in profits from both sides of the book as both buyers and sellers will have ended up making unit point losses. So in the example above, if the cricket team ended up scoring 345 runs both buyers at 350 and sellers at 340 would have ended up with losses of five unit points multiplied by their stake.

Bets on the total (over/under)
In addition to the spread bet, a very common "side bet" on an event is the total (commonly called the over/under or O/U) bet. This is a bet on the total number of points scored by both teams. Suppose team A is playing team B and the total is set at 44.5 points. If the final score is team A 24, team B 17, the total is 41 and bettors who took the under will win. If the final score is team A 30, team B 31, the total is 61 and bettors who took the over will win. The total is popular because it allows gamblers to bet on their overall perception of the game (e.g., a high-scoring offensive show or a defensive battle) without needing to pick the actual winner.

In the UK, these bets are sometimes called spread bets, but rather than a simple win/loss, the bet pays more or less depending on how far from the spread the final result is.

Example: In a football match the bookmaker believes that 12 or 13 corners will occur, thus the spread is set at 12–13.
 * A gambler believes that there will be more than 13 corners, and "buys" at £25 a point at 13.
 * If the number of corners is 16, the gambler wins (16–13) = 3 x £25.
 * If the number of corners is 10, the gambler loses (13–10) = 3 x £25.
 * A "sell" transaction is similar except that it is made against the bottom value of the spread.
 * Often "live pricing" changes the spread during the course of an event, increasing a profit or minimizing a loss.

In North American sports betting many of these wagers would be classified as over-under (or, more commonly today, total) bets rather than spread bets. However, these are for one side or another of a total only, and do not increase the amount won or lost as the actual moves away from the bookmaker's prediction. Instead, over-under or total bets are handled much like point-spread bets on a team, with the usual 10/11 (4.55%) commission applied. Many Nevada sports books allow these bets in parlays, just like team point spread bets. This makes it possible to bet, for instance, team A and the over, and be paid if both
 * team A "covers" the point spread (wins by that amount or more)

and
 * the total score is higher than the book's prediction.

(Such parlays usually pay off at odds of 13:5 with no commission charge, just as a standard two-team parlay would.)

Mathematics
The mathematical analysis of spreads and spread betting is a large and growing subject. For example, sports that have simple 1-point scoring systems (e.g., baseball, hockey, and soccer) may be analysed using Poisson and Skellam statistics.

Financial spread betting
By far the largest part of the official market in the UK concerns financial instruments; the leading spread-betting companies make most of their revenues from financial markets, their sports operations being much less significant. Financial spread betting in the United Kingdom closely resembles the futures and options markets, the major differences being
 * the "charge" occurs through a wider bid–ask spread;
 * spread betting has a different tax regime compared with securities and futures exchanges (see below);
 * spread betting is more flexible since it is not limited to exchange hours or definitions, can create new instruments relatively easily (e.g. individual stock futures), and may have guaranteed stop losses (see below); and
 * the trading is off-exchange, with the contract existing directly between the market-making company and the client, rather than exchange-cleared, and is thus subject to a lower level of regulation.

Financial spread betting is a way to speculate on financial markets in the same way as trading a number of derivatives. In particular, the financial derivative contract for difference (CFD) mirrors the spread bet in many ways. In fact, a number of financial derivative trading companies offer both financial spread bets and CFDs in parallel using the same trading platform.

Unlike fixed-odds betting, the amount won or lost can be unlimited as there is no single stake to limit any loss. However, it is usually possible to negotiate limits with the bookmaker:
 * A stop loss or stop automatically closes the bet if the spread moves against the gambler by a specified amount.
 * A stop win, limit or take profit closes the bet when the spread moves in a gambler's favor by a specified amount.

Spread betting has moved outside the ambit of sport and financial markets (that is, those dealing solely with share, bonds and derivatives), to cover a wide range of markets, such as house prices.

Tax treatment
In the UK and some other European countries the profit from spread betting is free from tax. The tax authorities of these countries designate financial spread betting as gambling and not investing, meaning it is free from capital gains tax and stamp duty, despite the fact that it is regulated as a financial product by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK. Most traders are also not liable for income tax unless they rely solely on their profits from financial spread betting to support themselves. The popularity of financial spread betting in the UK and some other European countries, compared to trading other speculative financial instruments such as CFDs and futures is partly due to this tax advantage. However, this also means any losses cannot be offset against future earnings for tax calculations.

Conversely, in most other countries financial spread betting income is considered taxable. For example, the Australian Taxation Office issued a decision in March 2010 saying "Yes, the gains from financial spread betting are assessable income under section 6-5 or section 15-15 of the ITAA 1997". Similarly, any losses on the spread betting contracts are deductible. This has resulted in a much lower interest in financial spread betting in those countries.

Financial spread bet example
Suppose Lloyds Bank is trading on the market at 410p bid, and 411p offer. A spread-betting company is also offering 410-411p. We use cash bets with no definite expiry, or "rolling daily bets" as they are referred to by the spread betting companies.

If I think the share price is going to go up, I might bet £10 a point (i.e., £10 per penny the shares moves) at 411p. We use the offer price since I am "buying" the share (betting on its increase). Note that my total loss (if Lloyds Bank went to 0p) could be up to £4110, so this is as risky as buying 1000 of the shares normally.

If a bet goes overnight, the bettor is charged a financing cost (or receives it, if the bettor is shorting the stock). This might be set at LIBOR + a certain percentage, usually around 2-3%.

Thus, in the example, if Lloyds Bank are trading at 411p, then for every day I keep the bet open I am charged [taking finance cost to be 7%] ((411p x 10) * 7% / 365 ) = £0.78821 (or 78.8p)

On top of this, the bettor needs an amount as collateral in the spread-betting account to cover potential losses. Usually this is either 5 or 10% of the total exposure you are taking on but can go up to 100% on illiquid stocks. In this case £4110 * 0.1 or 0.05 = £411.00 or £205.50

If at the end of the bet Lloyds Bank traded at 400-401p, I need to cover that £4110 – £400*10 (£4000) = £110 difference by putting extra deposit (or collateral) into the account.

The punter usually receives all dividends and other corporate adjustments in the financing charge each night. For example, suppose Lloyds Bank goes ex-dividend with dividend of 23.5p. The bettor receives that amount. The exact amount received varies depending on the rules and policies of the spread betting company, and the taxes that are normally charged in the home tax country of the shares.

Terminology and acronyms

 * HoD
 * High of day (the highest price the market traded at for the day).

 * Intraday trader
 * A trader operating from within each day's trade times.

 * LoD
 * Low of day (the lowest price the market traded at for the day).

 * London Turn
 * The time when markets subtly change direction between 12:15 and 13:15 GMT with a regularity that is more than coincidental.

 * Market session
 * The time of day that is governed mostly by the regional stock markets. Times vary from broker to broker, but the following are typical: Asian session (22:30 to 08:45 GMT), European session (06:45 to 16:45 GMT), US session (13:00 to 21:30 GMT).

 * Spread
 * The difference between the ask and bid prices, which may vary between markets and between brokers substantially.

Dangers of financial spread betting
According to an article in The Times dated 10 April 2009, approximately 30,000 spread bet accounts were opened in the previous year, and that the largest study of gambling in the UK on behalf of the Gambling Commission found that serious problems developed in almost 15% of spread betters compared to 1% of other gambling. A report from Cass Business School found that only 1 in 5 gamblers ends up a winner. As noted in the report, this corresponds to the same ratio of successful gamblers in regular trading. Evidence from spread betting firms themselves actually put this closer to being 1 in 10 traders as being profitable.

title: Spread betting


text:
Israel Putnam

Israel Putnam (January 7, 1718 – May 29, 1790), popularly known as "Old Put", was an American military officer and landowner who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). He also served as an officer with Rogers' Rangers during the French and Indian War (1754–1763), when he was captured by Mohawk warriors. He was saved from the ritual burning given to enemies by the intervention of French officer Molang, with whom the Mohawks were allied. Putnam's courage and fighting spirit became known far beyond his home of Connecticut's borders through the circulation of folk legends in the American colonies and states celebrating his exploits.

Early life
Putnam was born in 1718 in Salem Village (now Danvers), Massachusetts to Joseph and Elizabeth (Porter) Putnam, a prosperous farming Puritan family. His parents had opposed the Salem witch trials in the 1690s.

Putnam moved west in 1740 at age 22 to Mortlake, Connecticut (today Brooklyn) where land was cheaper. He killed a wolf in 1743 with the help of a group of farmers from Mortlake seeking to safeguard their sheep. They tracked the wolf to its den and tried sending in their dogs, but all the dogs returned frightened or injured by the wolf. They tried smoking out the wolf and burning sulfur at the mouth of the cave, all to no avail. After Putnam arrived, he tried getting his dog to enter the den, with no luck. He also tried to get his servant to enter with a torch and gun to shoot the wolf. His servant refused, as did all the other farmers. Putnam then reportedly crawled into the den with a torch, a musket loaded with buckshot, and his feet secured with rope to be quickly pulled out. While in the den, he killed the wolf.

In celebration of the event, Putnam was carried in a torch-lit procession through Pomfret in a celebration that lasted until about midnight. He earned the nicknames "Wolf Putnam" and "Old Wolf Put", which stayed with him for decades afterward. A section of Mashamoquet Brook State Park in Pomfret, including the den, is named "Israel Putnam Wolf Den". The name "Wolf Den Road" in adjacent Brooklyn also attests to the days of wolves.

Putnam married twice, first to Hannah Pope in 1739, the mother of his children. Two years after her death in 1765, he married Deborah Lothrop.

Early military service
Putnam was one of the first men in Connecticut in 1755 to sign up to serve as a private in the militia in the French and Indian War at age 37. Over the course of the war, he was promoted to second lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel. He served with Robert Rogers, who gained fame as the commander of Rogers' Rangers, and the two of them had various exploits together, in one of which Putnam saved Rogers' life. Putnam's reputation for courage was made famous by his participation in the war. It was said that "Rogers always sent, but Putnam led his men to action."

In 1757, the Rangers were stationed on an island off Fort Edward. The following February, Putnam and his Rangers were still on Roger's Island when fire broke out in the row of barracks nearest the magazine. The danger of an explosion was imminent, but Putnam took a position on the roof and poured bucket after bucket of water upon the flames, only descending when the buildings fell only a few feet from the magazine. In spite of his severe wounds, he continued to fight the fire, dashing water upon the magazine until the fire was under control. He was laid up for a month due to burns and exposure.

Putnam was captured on August 8, 1758 by Kahnawake Indians from a mission settlement south of Montreal during a military campaign near Crown Point in New York. He was saved from being ritually burned alive by a rainstorm and the last-minute intervention of a French officer.

In 1759, Putnam led a regiment into The Valley of Death in the attack on Fort Carillon and he was with the British army that marched on Montreal in 1760. In 1762, he survived a shipwreck during the British expedition against Cuba that led to the capture of Havana. Putnam is believed to have brought back Cuban tobacco seeds to New England, which he planted in the Hartford area. This reportedly resulted in the development of the renowned Connecticut Wrapper. In 1763, during Pontiac's Rebellion, Putnam was sent with reinforcements to relieve Chief Pontiac's siege of Fort Detroit.

After the war, he returned to his homestead, a remnant of which exists today as Putnam Farm in Brooklyn, Connecticut. Putnam publicly professed his Christian faith following the Seven Years' War in 1765 and joined the Congregational Church in his town. He was among those who objected to British tax action policies. Around the time of the Stamp Act crisis in 1766, he was elected to the Connecticut General Assembly and was one of the founders of the state's chapter of the Sons of Liberty. In the fall of 1765, he threatened Governor Thomas Fitch over this issue. He said that Fitch's house "will be leveled with the dust in five minutes" if Fitch did not turn over the stamp tax paper to the Sons of Liberty.

Battle of Bunker Hill
By the eve of the American Revolution, Putnam had become a relatively prosperous farmer and tavern keeper, with more than a local reputation for his previous exploits. On April 20, 1775, while plowing one of his fields with his son, he received news of the Battle of Lexington and Concord that started the war the day before. He literally "came off the plow", leaving it in the field and riding 100 mi in eight hours, reaching Cambridge the next day and offering his services to the Patriot cause. Putnam was named a major general, making him second in rank to General Artemas Ward in the Army of Observation, which preceded the founding of the Continental Army.

Putnam was one of the primary figures at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775, both in its planning and on the battlefield. During the battle, Putnam may have ordered William Prescott to tell his troops, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes." It is debated exactly who said these words first; they are attributed to a number of officers. This command has since become one of the American Revolution's notable quotations. It was given to make the best use of the low ammunition stocks that the troops had.

In the planning for the Battle of Bunker Hill, Putnam was likely the one who argued in favor of also fortifying the adjacent hill, which later became known as "Breed's Hill". This hill was closer to Boston, and from the hill cannons could fire on the British forces in Boston, forcing them to come out and attack the hill. The British soldiers were mowed down as they marched toward the American fortifications. However, the Americans ran out of powder and were eventually forced to retreat. American casualties were 449, while British casualties were 1,054. By the standard of the day the Americans lost, since they gave up the ground. However, Continental Army Brigadier General Nathanael Greene wrote to his brother that "I wish we could sell them another hill, at the same price."

Years after the battle, and after Putnam's death, he was accused by Henry Dearborn of failing to supply reinforcements and even of cowardice during the battle. The accusations created a long-standing controversy among veterans, family, friends, and historians. People were shocked by the rancor of the attack, and this prompted a forceful response from defenders of Putnam, including such notables as John and Abigail Adams. Historian Harold Murdock wrote that Dearborn's account "abounds in absurd misstatements and amazing flights of imagination." The Dearborn attack received considerable attention because at the time he was in the middle of controversy himself. He had been relieved of one of the top commands in the War of 1812 due to his mistakes. He had also been nominated to serve as U.S. Secretary of War by President James Monroe, but was rejected by the United States Senate (which was the first time that the Senate had voted against confirming a presidential cabinet choice).

Long Island and later service
On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress voted to create the Continental Army. George Washington was chosen as Commander-in-Chief, with Putnam and three others appointed as major generals under Washington. Of the votes, only Washington and Putnam were unanimous.

After Bunker Hill, Washington arrived and Putnam served under him in the Siege of Boston. Due largely to the ingenious efforts of Henry Knox and Putnam's cousin Rufus Putnam, the British were forced to abandon Boston.

Putnam subsequently served as temporary commander of the American forces in New York while waiting for Washington's arrival there on April 13, 1776. Putnam's fortunes declined at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, where he was forced to effect a hasty retreat from the British. Some in the Second Continental Congress blamed Putnam for the defeat, but Washington, who was in overall command and witnessed the battle, did not.

It is possible that Putnam's efforts saved Washington's life or prevented his capture. As Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan described it, "...it could be argued that we owe our national existence to the fortifications which General Israel Putnam threw up in April 1776 on the Buttermilk Channel side [of Governors Island, New York]... [British troops] landed on Long Island and headed for George Washington and his army. He had to flee, and he made it because Putnam's artillery firing on Brooklyn Heights, over the Buttermilk Channel, held Howe back just long enough for Washington to escape to Manhattan and for the Revolutionary War to proceed."

With future Vice President Aaron Burr in his charge, Putnam was fooled in October 1777 by a feint executed by British troops under the command of General Sir Henry Clinton, making way for Clinton's capture of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton. As was standard procedure, Putnam was relieved of command and brought before a court of inquiry for these losses. It was ascertained that the events in question were the result of a lack of men, not of the fault of any commander, and he was exonerated of any wrongdoing.

Putnam had personal friendships and deep respect for many of his British former comrades in arms in the French and Indian War, who were now his enemies. While in command in New York, there were several occasions on which he showed personal courtesies, such as providing newspapers to read or medical attention, to British officers who had become his prisoners of war. This offended many New Yorkers. He also showed an "unconquerable aversion" to many of those who were entrusted with the disposal of Tory property who Putnam felt were instead embezzling the funds. This also led to Putnam becoming unpopular with many influential New Yorkers, who complained to Washington.

Washington had also lost some of his faith in Putnam, due to an incident in which Putnam delayed in forwarding troops to Washington when first ordered to do so. One possible explanation was that his wife, mistaken for dead, had apparently been buried alive, expiring in the casket after burial. The grave was later exhumed, and it is possible that Putnam learned of the tragic error at the time he received Washington's order. Regardless, Washington felt he could not have Putnam in charge of troops in New York without the support of that state, and transferred Putnam to recruiting duties in Connecticut after the court of inquiry finished its investigation of the loss of Forts Montgomery and Clinton. Putnam was later put in command of the Eastern Division, consisting of three brigades of New Hampshire and Connecticut troops. In 1779, he was put in command of the right wing of the army, which included the Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania divisions.

During the winter of 1778–1779, Putnam and his troops were encamped at the site now preserved as the Putnam Memorial State Park in Redding, Connecticut. On February 26, 1779, Putnam escaped from the British, riding down a steep slope in Greenwich, Connecticut, for which he became famous. A statue commemorating this escape was erected at Putnam Memorial State Park. In December 1779, Putnam suffered a paralyzing stroke, which ended his military service.

Personality and characteristics
Israel Putnam did not fit the stereotype of the taciturn New Englander. He was a gregarious tavern-keeper, a very industrious farmer, and an aggressive soldier, always looking for an excuse to discipline his soldiers. His farm was one of the most productive in the area (he bought out his partner and paid off his mortgage after only two years). In battle, he would lead from the front, not from behind. After hours, he would lead his comrades in singing the popular drinking songs of the day.

Putnam served as Washington's second in command, and the two shared some key characteristics that other general officers of the time did not. Neither one of them had as much education as elite people of the era had. Putnam's lack of education and unsophisticated manner prompted a captured Hessian officer to comment that "This old gray-beard may be a good honest man, but nobody but the rebels would have made him a general." Some of America's proper Philadelphians agreed. However, the common soldier admired Putnam's courage and could see from his many visible battle scars that he knew what it was like to be on the front lines. They knew that he had achieved his position through first-hand experience, rather than just education or family connections. Historian Nathaniel Philbrick says flatly that "Israel Putnam was the provincial army's most beloved officer."

Putnam, whose spelling was a language all its own, nevertheless had a way with words. Both Washington and Putnam had to use their words to put down mutinies (on separate occasions) by their long-suffering, disgruntled troops. Biographer David Humphreys, who witnessed the Putnam event, wrote about it as follows:

"The troops who had been badly fed, badly cloathed and worse paid ... formed the design of marching to Hartford, where the General Assembly was then in session, and of demanding redress at the point of the bayonet. Word having been brought to General Putnam that the second Brigade was under arms for this purpose, he mounted his horse, galloped to the Cantonment and thus addressed them:

"'My brave lads, whither are you going? Do you intend to desert your Officers and to invite the enemy to follow you into the country?  Whose cause have you been fighting and suffering so long in, is it not your own?  Have you no property, no parents, wives or children?  You have behaved like men so far – all the world is full of your praises – and posterity will stand astonished at your deeds: but not if you spoil all at last.  Don't you consider how much the country is distressed by the war, and that your officers have not been any better paid than yourselves?  But we all expect better times and that the Country will do us ample justice.  Let us all stand by one another then and fight it out like brave Soldiers.  Think what a shame it would be for Connecticut men to run away from their officers.'"

Putnam's speech worked. After he finished, "he directed the acting Major of Brigade to give the word for them to shoulder, march to their Regimental parades, and lodge arms. All of which they executed with promptitude and apparent good humor."

After hearing of the mutiny, Washington wrote to Putnam commending him for his success in quelling it. Putnam wrote to Washington that the incident had "not been repeated, or attended with any farther ill consequences.".

Both Washington and Putnam were aggressive by nature and did not hesitate to put themselves in harm's way if that was what was called for in battle. Both were fearless or at least able to function calmly while bullets whizzed around them. Yet, each was nevertheless able to calculate risk and make decisions accordingly. After leading inexperienced men in a successful engagement while being bombarded with cannonballs, Putnam commented, "I wish we could have something of the kind to do every day; it would teach our men how little danger there is from cannon balls, for though they have sent a great many at us, nobody has been hurt by them."

Putnam has been criticized by historians as having not been a great strategic thinker, and during one of the planning sessions during the siege of Boston with Washington and his senior officers, Putnam grew tired of the endless discussion, and went to the window and started observing the British. Washington invited him back to the planning table, and Putnam responded, "Oh, my dear General, you may plan the battle to suit yourself, and I will fight it."

However, Putnam was not without the ability to foresee both effective battlefield strategy and the big picture. He ordered his men to aim for the British officers, knowing the crippling effect it would have. He knew the value of inoculating the American troops against small pox, and the tendency of nervous soldiers to fire too soon and aim too high (possibly thus the orders to not fire until "you see the whites of their eyes" and to "Take aim at the waistbands."). Putnam had a feel for the common soldier and how to make good use of him. He knew that a soldier was not worried about his head, but if his body was protected with earthworks, he would "fight forever." Putnam also understood that a retreat could be a very effective tactic. "Let me pick my officers, and I would not fear to meet [the enemy] with half the number... I would fight them on the retreat, and every stone wall we passed should be lined with their dead ... our men are lighter of foot, they understand their grounds and how to take advantage of them…"

For one who was not supposed to be much of a strategic thinker, in some cases he was more prescient than his fellow generals. In discussion with Joseph Warren and General Artemas Ward before the Battle of Bunker Hill, Putnam advocated aggressive action against the British. Ward replied that "As peace and reconciliation is what we seek for, would it not be better to act only on the defensive and give no unnecessary provocation?" Putnam turned to Warren and said with emphasis, "You know, Dr. Warren, we shall have no peace worth anything, till we gain it by the sword."

Shortly after Washington took command at Cambridge in 1775, he and the other generals hoped for a speedy resolution of the war. On one occasion with them gathered around his dinner table, Washington offered a toast: "A speedy and honorable peace." A few days later, Putnam offered a different one: "A long and moderate war." The sober and seldom-smiling Washington laughed out loud. Washington addressed Putnam, "You are the last man, General Putnam, from whom I should have expected such a toast, you who are always urging vigorous measures, to plead now for a long, and what is still more extraordinary, a moderate, war, seems strange indeed." Putnam replied that a false peace would divide Americans and not be long-lasting. Putnam went on, "I expect nothing but a long war, and I would have it a moderate one, that we may hold out till the mother country becomes willing to cast us off forever."

The Revolutionary War would drag on for eight-and-a-half years, the longest in United States history until the Vietnam War. Washington did not soon forget Putnam's prescient toast. For years after, he more than once reminded Putnam of it.

Burial
Putnam died in Brooklyn, Connecticut, in 1790. He was buried in an above-ground tomb in the town's South Cemetery. He is honored with an equestrian monument near his original burial site on Canterbury Road (Route 169).

Over the years, souvenir hunters removed fragments of the headstone of his tomb and eventually the marble marker became badly mutilated, and the overall condition of the tomb was deemed unsuitable for General Putnam's remains; it was removed for safekeeping to the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford. Sculptor Karl Gerhardt, who designed the nearby Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument as well as Civil War monuments in New York and New Jersey, was chosen to create a monument to house Putnam's remains. In 1888, Putnam's remains were removed from the Brooklyn cemetery and reinterred in a sarcophagus in the base, and the original headstone inscription was recreated on the monument.

Legacy, namesakes, and honors
Putnam's birthplace in Danvers, Massachusetts, now known as the Putnam House, has been designated and preserved as a historic structure. His Connecticut farmhouse on Putnam Farm still stands today and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A statue of Israel Putnam stands in Hartford's Bushnell Park, near the Connecticut State Capitol. It was sculpted by John Quincy Adams Ward in 1873 and presented to the city in 1874.

Numerous places bear his name, including nine counties, starting with Putnam County, New York, which embraces the east bank of the Hudson Highlands where he once held command. Towns in New York and Connecticut are also named for him. His many namesakes include:
 * Putnam County, Georgia
 * Putnam County, Illinois
 * Putnam County, Indiana
 * Putnam County, Missouri
 * Putnam County, New York
 * Putnam County, Ohio
 * Putnam County, Tennessee
 * Putnam County, West Virginia
 * Putnam, Connecticut
 * Putnam, New York
 * Israel Putnam Refectory, a dining hall at the University of Connecticut
 * East Putnam Avenue in Greenwich, Connecticut, named for his path of retreat from the British
 * Putnam's cottage, an 18th-century residence that may have served as a tavern at the time of his escape, located on East Putnam Avenue in Greenwich
 * Putnam Farm, the remnant of Putnam's original 500-acre holding in Brooklyn, Connecticut
 * Putnam Memorial State Park, the oldest state park in Connecticut, where an Equestrian statue of Israel Putnam by Anna Hyatt Huntington was dedicated in 1969
 * Putnam Avenue, in Port Chester, New York, a continuation of the avenue of the same name in Greenwich, Connecticut.
 * Putnam Drive, in Port Chester, New York
 * Putnam Avenue in Hamden, Connecticut
 * Putnam Avenue in Brooklyn, New York
 * Putnam Street in Scranton, Pennsylvania
 * Putnam Street in Olean, New York
 * Putnam Pond and Putnam Creek in Ticonderoga and Crown Point, NY
 * Putnam Place in the Bronx, New York, which stands among other local neighborhood streets named for figures from the Revolutionary War and War of 1812
 * Israel Putnam Brown Ale, a beer brewed by Black Pond Brews of Danielson, Connecticut
 * Putnam Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts
 * Putnam Engine & Hose Co., No. 2, a Company of the Port Chester, New York Fire Department organized in 1854
 * Putnam Russet Apple. Putnam had a very successful farm in Brooklyn, Connecticut, which was known for its apples and sheep. The farmhouse at Putnam Farm still stands, and the Putnam Russet is still grown by farmers of heirloom apple varieties.
 * Putnam Pond, a body of water (and adjacent campground) near Ticonderoga, New York, known locally as "Putt's Pond"
 * Several ships including the USS General Putnam

Putnam has been featured in numerous biographies and works of fiction, including an 1876 biography by Increase N. Tarbox, a historian, theologian, and author, and as the name of the first motel visited by the characters in the 1992 motion picture My Cousin Vinny. He also appeared in Assassin's Creed III in a minor role.

His descendant John Day Putnam became a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Israel Putnam


text:
Brunch

Brunch is a meal, generally accompanied by alcoholic drinks (typically champagne or a cocktail), taken sometime in the late morning or early afternoon – the universally accepted time is 10am-1pm, though modern brunch often extends as late as 3pm. The meal originated in the British hunt breakfast. The word brunch is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch. The word originated in England in the late 19th century, and became popular in the United States in the 1930s.

Origin of the word
The 1896 supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary cites Punch magazine, which wrote that the term was coined in Britain in 1895 to describe a Sunday meal for "Saturday-night carousers" in the writer Guy Beringer's article "Brunch: A Plea" in Hunter's Weekly.

Despite the substantially later date it has also been claimed that the term was possibly coined by reporter Frank Ward O'Malley, who wrote in the early 20th century for the New York City newspaper, The Sun from 1906 until 1919. It is thought that he may have come up with the term after observing the typical mid-day eating habits of his colleagues at the newspaper.

At colleges and hotels
Some colleges and hotels serve brunch, often serve-yourself buffets, although menu-ordered meals may be available as well. The meal usually consists of standard breakfast foods such as eggs, sausages, bacon, ham, fruits, pastries, pancakes, waffles, cereals, and scones.

Military
The United States, Canada and United Kingdom militaries often serve weekend brunch in their messes. They offer breakfast and lunch options, and usually are open from 09:00–12:00.

Dim Sum brunch
The dim sum brunch is popular in Chinese restaurants worldwide. It consists of a variety of stuffed buns, dumplings, and other savory or sweet foods that have been steamed, deep-fried, or baked. Customers select small portions from passing carts, as the kitchen continuously produces and sends out freshly prepared dishes. Dim sum is usually eaten at a mid-morning, midday, or mid-afternoon teatime.

Special occasions
Brunch is prepared by restaurants and hotels for special occasions and holidays, such as weddings, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, and Easter.

Chinese
The Chinese word "早午饭" is defined as brunch, with "早饭" (早: morning, 饭: meal) meaning breakfast; and "午饭" (午: noon, 饭: meal) meaning lunch. The combination of "早饭" and "午饭" is thus "早午饭", brunch.

French
The Office québécois de la langue française accepts 'brunch' as a valid word but also provides a synonym déjeuner-buffet. Note that, however, in Quebec, déjeuner alone (even without the qualifying adjective petit) means 'breakfast'. In Quebec, the word—when francized—is pronounced. The common pronunciation in France is.

Italian
In Italian, the English loanword 'brunch' is generally used, though the neologism/calque is increasingly popular, being derived from  (breakfast) and  (lunch). Even less common but occasionally used is pranzolazione, derived from the same sources.

The usage of these terms varies in Italy, as different regions have different cultural definitions of mealtimes and their names. Traditional usage, particularly in northern Italy, included calling the first meal of the day prima colazione (first colazione), and the second meal either colazione or seconda colazione (second colazione), as distinguished from pranzo, the evening meal (now generally used as the term for the midday meal). In this scheme, a separate term for 'brunch' would not be necessary, as colazione could be used as a general term for any meal taken in the morning or early afternoon. Although Italian meal terminologies have generally shifted since widespread use of this naming scheme, the concept of a distinct mid-morning meal combining features of breakfast and lunch is largely one imported from the UK and North America in the last century, so the Anglicism 'brunch' is predominant.

Canada
The area now known as Leslieville neighbourhood is sometimes called the brunch capital of Toronto, as many renowned establishments serve brunch there. Brunch buffets also exist in other parts of Southern Ontario, including Kitchener-Waterloo.

In Canada, brunch is served in private homes and in restaurants. In both cases, brunch typically consists of the same dishes as would be standard in an American brunch, namely, coffee, tea, fruit juices, breakfast foods, including pancakes, waffles, and french toast; meats such as ham, bacon, and sausages; egg dishes such as scrambled eggs, omelettes, and eggs Benedict; bread products, such as toast, bagels or croissants; pastries or cakes, such as cinnamon rolls and coffee cake; and fresh cut fruit or fruit salad. Brunches may also include foods not typically associated with breakfast, such as roasted meats, quiche, soup, smoked salmon, sandwiches, and salads, such as Cobb salad.

When served at home or in a restaurant, a brunch may be offered buffet style, in which trays of foods and beverages are available and guests may serve themselves and select the items they want, often in an "all-you-can-eat" fashion. Restaurant brunches may also be served from a menu, in which case guests select specific items that are served by waitstaff. Restaurant brunch meals range from relatively inexpensive brunches available at diners and family restaurants to expensive brunches served at high-end restaurants and bistros.

Philippines
Brunch in the Philippines is served between 9:00 am and noon. Contrary to what is observed in other countries, brunch in the afternoon, between 3:00 and 4:00 pm, is called merienda, a traditional snack carried over from Spanish colonialism.

title: Brunch


text:
Nassau County

Nassau County may refer to:

 * Nassau County, Florida, part of the Jacksonville metro area.
 * Nassau County, New York, part of Long Island in the New York City metro area.
 * County of Nassau, a former county and state of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by the Counts of Nassau, in modern Germany

title: Nassau County


text:
Piet Hein Tunnel

The Piet Hein Tunnel (52.37296°N, 4.94763°W) is a 1.9 km long tunnel under the IJ in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It provides a road link running east–west between the city center and the A10 ring-road, and since May 2005 also provides a tram link between the Amsterdam Centraal railway station and Haveneiland, IJburg. Completed in 1997, the tunnel, approaches and related buildings were designed by the hypermodernist Dutch architectural firm Van Berkel + Bos, and was named after the Dutch naval hero Piet Hein.

title: Piet Hein Tunnel


text:
Zuiderzee

The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (old spelling Zuyderzee or Zuyder Zee), historically called Lake Almere and Lake Flevo, was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands. It extended about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 metres (13–16 feet) and a coastline of about 300 km (200 miles). It covered 5000 km2. Its name is Dutch for "southern sea", indicating that the name originates in Friesland, to the north of the Zuiderzee (cf. North Sea).

In the 20th century the majority of the Zuiderzee was closed off from the North Sea by the construction of the Afsluitdijk, leaving the mouth of the inlet to become part of the Wadden Sea. The salt water inlet changed into a fresh water lake now called the IJsselmeer (IJssel Lake) after the river that drains into it, and by means of drainage and polders, an area of some 1500 km2 was reclaimed as land. This land eventually became the province of Flevoland. Part of the IJsselmeer was also divided into the Markermeer.

Lake Flevo
In classical times there was already a body of water in this location, called Lake Flevo (Flevo Lacus ) by Roman authors. This was the central and largest lake in a region filled with a mixture of lowland and freshwater lakes occupying the area later filled by the Zuiderzee. It was separated from the sea by a belt of marsh and fen; at the time, the original coastline ran along the line of the Frisian Islands. A number of streams, including the Vecht, Eem, and Ysel, fed into the lake. The lake itself fed out into the North Sea through the Vlie (Latin Flevus). It existed in Roman times and the early Middle Ages.

From the Indo-European root *plew- "flow", the name was transmitted by the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela in describing this region. In his treatise on geography of 44 AD, Pomponius speaks of a Flevo Lacus. He writes: "The northern branch of the Rhine widens as Lake Flevo, and encloses an island of the same name, and then as a normal river flows to the sea". Other sources rather speak of Flevum, which could be related to today's Vlie (Vliestroom), i.e. the seaway between the Dutch islands of Vlieland and Terschelling. This last name is grammatically more probable for a geographical indication, which is why it is assumed that Pomponius confused the declension of the word giving the name Flevo. In fact the Vlie formed outfall from the lake into the North Sea.

In the second half of the twentieth century the Flevopolders and a new province, Flevoland, took the name of the body of water which lay there long ago.

Over time these lakes gradually eroded their soft peat shores and spread (a process known as waterwolf). Some part of this area of water was later called the Vlie; it probably flowed into the sea through what is now the Vliestroom channel between the islands of Vlieland and Terschelling.

During a period of rising sea level between 250 and 600 CE, the connection to the sea and the lake were significantly enlarged. A period of lower sea levels followed.

Almere
The Marsdiep was once a river (fluvium Maresdeop) which may have been a distributary of the Vlie. During the early Middle Ages this began to change as rising sea levels and storms started to eat away at the coastal areas which consisted mainly of peatlands. In this period the inlet was referred to as the Almere, indicating it was still more of a lake, but the mouth and size of the inlet were much widened in the 12th century and especially after a disastrous flood in 1282 broke through the barrier dunes near Texel. The disaster marked the rise of Amsterdam on the southwestern end of the bay, since the seagoing traffic of the Baltic trade could now visit.

Lake Almere is mentioned among others in a life of saints written by Anglo-Saxon Bishop Saint Boniface in 753, and a deed of gift from the town of Urk. Its etymology may be eels, in Dutch aal or ael, so: ael mere = "eel lake" Presumably, the water of Lake Almere at that time was fresh water or slightly brackish. The name of the new town of Almere in Flevoland was given in 1984 in memory of this body of water.

A number of occurrences during the Middle Ages led to the transformation of the lake to an inland sea that would be called the Zuiderzee, which are:

Especially during the 12th century, particularly in 1219 and 1282, high tides and storms eroded the western banks of the Vlie and submerged large areas of land. The land between Stavoren, Texel, and Medemblik was washed away around 1170. The waterway between Stavoren and Enkhuizen, however, did not appear until around 1400. The erosion was stopped to the south and east by the high sandy shores of Gooi, Veluwe, Voorst, and Gasterland in the provinces of Utrecht, Gelderland, Overysel, and Friesland respectively.
 * rising sea levels due to global warming known as the Medieval Warm Period.
 * excavation of peat by the Frisians in West Friesland near the Vlie, a river that connected lake Almere to the North Sea.
 * floods such as the All Saints' Flood (1170) and St. Lucia's flood 1287.

Zuiderzee
The even more massive St. Lucia's flood occurred 14 December 1287, when the seawalls broke during a storm, killing approximately 50,000 to 80,000 people in the fifth largest flood in recorded history. The flood occurred during a memorable storm in Friesland and Holland, and came from the North Sea, breaking and destroying several dams and dunes and transforming it into a bay which was then called the Zuiderzee, meaning Southern Sea. The name "Zuiderzee" came into general usage around this period.

The size of this inland sea remained largely stable from the 15th century onwards due to improvements in dikes, but when storms pushed North Sea water into the inlet, the Zuiderzee became a volatile cauldron of water, frequently resulting in flooding and the loss of ships. For example, on 18 November 1421, a seawall at the Zuiderzee dike broke, which flooded 72 villages and killed about 10,000 people. This was the Second St. Elizabeth's flood.

The process of creating polders had developed to a point by 1667 that the damming of the Zuiderzee was proposed, but a feasible method did not appear until the 20th century.

The Netherlands was part of the First French Empire between 1810 and 1813. A département was formed in 1811 and named as Zuyderzée after the Zuiderzee, whose territory roughly corresponded to the present provinces of North Holland and Utrecht.

In 1928, the 6-meter and 8-meter sailing events for the Amsterdam Summer Olympics were held on the Zuiderzee.

Zuiderzee Works
The construction between 1927 and 1932 of a 19-mile long dam (the Afsluitdijk), under plans originating from Cornelius Lely, enclosed the Zuiderzee. The creation of this dam was hastened by the Flood of January 1916. Plans for closing the Zuiderzee had been made over thirty years earlier but had not yet passed in parliament. With the completion of the Afsluitdijk in 1932, the Zuiderzee became the IJsselmeer, and the outer portion of the Zuiderzee became the Wadden Sea. Large areas of land, mainly for agricultural use, were subsequently reclaimed from the water through the construction of polders with dams, pumping, and other hydrological technology. Four had been built by the early 1980s. They were the Wieringermeer Polder built in 1930; the Northeast (Noordoost) Polder, built in 1942; the East (Oostelijk) Flevoland Polder, built in 1957; and the South (Zuidelijk) Flevoland Polder, completed in 1968. A fifth, Markewaard, began construction in 1963, and became partially complete, but was abandoned in the mid-1980s. Collectively, this system of dams, dikes, and polders is called the Zuiderzee Works.

Geography
Around the Zuiderzee many fishing villages grew up and several developed into walled towns with extensive trade connections, in particular Kampen, a town in Overijssel, and later also towns in Holland such as Amsterdam, Hoorn, and Enkhuizen. These towns traded at first with ports on the Baltic Sea, in England, and in the Hanseatic League, but later also with the rest of the world when the Netherlands established its colonial empire. When that lucrative trade diminished, most of the towns fell back on fishing and some industry until the 20th century when tourism became the major source of income.

Contained within the Zuiderzee were five small islands, the remains of what were once larger islands, peninsulas connected to the mainland, or in the case of Pampus, an artificial island. These were Wieringen, Urk, Schokland, Pampus and Marken. The inhabitants of these islands also subsisted mainly on fishing and related industries and still do in the case of Urk and Wieringen. All of these islands, except for Pampus, are now part of the mainland or connected to it.

title: Zuiderzee