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Merritt Parkway

The Merritt Parkway (also known locally as "The Merritt") is a controlled-access parkway in Fairfield County, Connecticut, with a small section at the northern end in New Haven County. Designed for Connecticut's Gold Coast, the parkway is known for its scenic layout, its uniquely styled signage, and the architecturally elaborate overpasses along the route. As one of the first, oldest parkways in the United States, it is designated as a National Scenic Byway and is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Signed as part of Route 15, it runs from the New York state line in Greenwich, where it serves to continue the Hutchinson River Parkway, to Exit 54 in Milford, where the Wilbur Cross Parkway begins. Facing bitter opposition, the project took six years to build in three different sections, with the Connecticut Department of Transportation constantly requiring additional funding due to the area's high property value. The parkway was named for U.S. Congressman Schuyler Merritt. In 2010, the National Trust for Historic Preservation called the Merritt Parkway one of "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places".

Trucks, buses, trailers, towed vehicles, and all vehicles 8 ft tall or taller are not allowed on any part of the parkway due to its low bridges, narrow lanes, and tight curve radii.

The roadway sign of the Merritt features a blue shield with white lettering, along with the foliage of Kalmia latifolia, commonly known as the mountain laurel, the state flower of Connecticut.

Route description

The Merritt is one of a handful of United States highways listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is acknowledged for the beauty of the forest through which it passes, as well as the architectural design of its overpasses; at the time of its construction, each bridge was decorated in a unique fashion so that no two bridges on the parkway looked alike. Newer overpasses used at exit 39 (US 7), though, did not maintain this tradition, and as a result, exit 39 on the parkway is now spanned by several ordinary modern bridges constructed using undecorated concrete-on-steel I-beams.

The parkway has two lanes in each direction. Due to its age, it was originally constructed without the merge lanes, long on-ramps, and long off-ramps that are found on modern freeways. Some entrances have perilously short and/or sharp ramps; some entrances even have stop signs, with no merge lane whatsoever; this leads to some dangerous entrances onto the highway. Most have since been modernized, with the interchange of Route 111 in Trumbull featuring Connecticut's first single-point urban interchange (SPUI). The stretch of road between exit 42 in Westport and exit 44 in Fairfield is a very long stretch, roughly 5+1/2 mi long without a single exit, referred to by local traffic reports as the "No Exit Zone" or "No Man's Land". An exit 43 was planned in the middle of this stretch, but was never built because it would have connected to a northerly extension of the Sherwood Island Connector, which itself was never built to that point.

Vehicles 8 ft tall or taller in height, weighing 8000 lb or more, towing a trailer, or having more than four wheels are not allowed on the parkway. Under extenuating circumstances, however, ConnDOT may issue permits for oversized vehicles to use the parkway.

History

The Merritt Parkway is one of the oldest scenic parkways in the United States. The portion from Greenwich to Norwalk was opened on June 29, 1938. The section from Norwalk to Trumbull was completed in November 1939, and in 1940, it was finished to the Housatonic River in Stratford. The parkway was named for U.S. Congressman Schuyler Merritt, who was instrumental in enacting legislation allowing the parkway to be built. The Merritt Parkway is the first leg of what later became modern Route 15. Built between 1934 and 1940, the Merritt Parkway runs for 37 mi from the New York state line in Greenwich to the Housatonic River in Stratford. It was conceived as a way to alleviate congestion on the Boston Post Road (U.S. Route 1) in Fairfield County.

After the parkway fully opened in 1940, travelers commonly stopped to picnic along the side of the road. The Merritt Parkway Advisory Commission (later the Merritt Parkway Advisory Committee) decided to ban horses and buggies, bicycles, pedestrians, billboards, and U-turns, while a system of horse trails along the parkway was developed, but later abandoned.

To ease objections from county residents, who feared an influx of New Yorkers on their roads, in their towns, on their beaches, and through their forests, highway planners called on engineers, landscape architects, and architects to create a safe and aesthetically pleasing limited-access highway, one with exit and entrance ramps, but no intersections, that would not spoil the countryside.

The bridges played a prominent role in the design. Architect George L. Dunkelberger designed them all. They reflected the popularity of the Art Deco style, with touches of neoclassical and modern design. Some of these bridges were constructed by the Works Progress Administration.

Tolls were collected on the parkway at one toll plaza in Greenwich from June 21, 1939, until June 27, 1988. Two additional tolls were also located on the Wilbur Cross Parkway, in Milford and Wallingford. One of the parkway's former toll plazas is now preserved in Stratford's Boothe Memorial Park near Exit 53, complete with still-flashing lights over each toll lane.

In April 2001, a complete reissuance of the parkway's signs was carried out, instituting a uniform white-on-green color scheme, and a sawtooth border.

Services
Six rest areas/service plazas, featuring parking lots, gas stations, and convenience stores, were also built along the Merritt Parkway so that drivers would not have to exit to refuel. Pairs of plazas are located opposite each other on either side of the parkway in Fairfield (near exit 46), New Canaan (near exit 37), and Greenwich (just beyond the CT-NY state line). The northbound-side plaza in Greenwich also houses a Connecticut welcome center. The plazas were originally constructed during the parkway's days as a tolled highway, but remained even after the tolls were removed in 1988, making the parkway one of only a few toll-free highways with service plazas along its length. Between 2011 and 2015, all six of the service plazas (along with the four located further north along the Wilbur Cross Parkway) were completely renovated. The renovations preserved the original brick-and-stone façade of the buildings, but completely redesigned and modernized the interiors. The plazas now include more modern gas pumps, Alltown convenience stores, and a Dunkin' Donuts shop at each location; three of the Merritt's six plazas also include a Subway shop. Prior to the renovations, no fast-food service had previously been available at the plazas. The renovation project was completed during the summer of 2015, when the New Canaan plazas were reopened.

In 2013, electric-vehicle (EV) charging stations for Tesla automobiles were added to both the northbound and southbound Greenwich service plazas, with four Superchargers installed in each direction. In addition, charging for CHAdeMO-equipped EVs was added to the northbound Greenwich service plaza. The parking/charging stalls are some of the first in the U.S. to be designated "shared use" - EVs may use the stall for up to 45 minutes to charge, or internal-combustion engine vehicles may park for up to 15 minutes.

Safety

One of the Merritt's aesthetic features is also a potential danger to its drivers. Trees that line either side of the parkway, and often in the center median, grow branches that cover the roadway, and occasionally fall during severe weather, or with natural aging. Stretches of the parkway also lack guardrails on the right shoulders, creating a risk of tree-impact accidents if cars veer off the pavement.

In 2007, after complaints were voiced about the danger of the trees along the parkway, state officials announced they would trim and eliminate some of them more aggressively. A large, seemingly healthy tree fell on a car near exit 42 in Westport in June 2007, killing a couple from Pelham, New York. On June 23, 2011, a driver was killed in Stamford when a tree fell onto his car.

A state study of fatalities on Connecticut highways showed that from 1985 to 1992, about 10 people died every three years in tree-related accidents, although no other state roadway averaged more than one in three years.

The state Department of Transportation commonly sends out work crews twice a year to drive along both sides of the parkway at 5 mph in search of decrepit trees. Trees that had been scheduled to be cut down in five to 10 years would be removed sooner. Some more trees also would be removed, as the shoulder of the parkway is being widened to 8 ft to give drivers room to pull over.

Following the 2007 and 2011 incidents, the state became more aggressive in closing the parkway in times of severe weather. The parkway was closed during Tropical Storm Irene and the Halloween nor'easter in 2011, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. With each of those storms, many trees and limbs fell across the parkway. After Sandy, the state began a large effort to remove unhealthy trees, and in the process created much wider clearances between the roadside and forest.

The Merritt Parkway Advisory Committee meets quarterly.

Future
ConnDOT is currently reviewing plans and holding community meetings over a redesign of the Merritt's interchange with U.S. Route 7 (US 7) and Main Avenue in Norwalk, exits 39 and 40. The US 7 freeway was extended north to Wilton from its previous terminus in the northern part of Norwalk in 1992, passing the Merritt along the way. Due to a lack of funds, a full interchange was not built between the Merritt and US 7, which led to the lack of the important southbound Merritt to southbound US 7 connection. Not long after, ConnDOT and the federal government drew up plans for a three-level interchange that provided all connections between Main Avenue, the Merritt, and US 7. Work was supposed to begin on the Main Avenue portion in 2005 and on the US 7 and Merritt portion in 2007, but local activists filed and won a lawsuit in 2006 against ConnDOT and the federal government, alleging that not only was the proposal too expensive, but also the plans were rushed and did not take into account the beauty and historical significance of the parkway. Similar lawsuits were brought on earlier during the construction of the interchanges at Route 8 and Route 25, but both failed. The lawsuit specifically mentioned the flyover ramps between the Merritt and US 7 as a significant issue. ConnDOT and the federal government were forced to redesign their plans, with hopes of construction starting in 2009. Plans soon fell apart, and ConnDOT was forced to temporarily drop the issue. Community outreach started back up in 2017, and ConnDOT is actively drawing up plans as of May 2019 with hopes of starting construction sometime between 2021 and 2024.

Exit list
Like most highways in Connecticut, exits are numbered sequentially, not mile-based, though the state is gradually transitioning to milepost-based exit numbers. Exit numbers on the Merritt Parkway continue from the original sequential exits of the Hutchinson River Parkway, which ended at 27; since 2021, the Hutchinson River Parkway has used a mileage-based system ending at 19A. King Street (NY 120A), which travels along the state border, is served by exit 27 on the Merritt Parkway and exit 19A on the Hutchinson River Parkway. Prior to 2021, because additional interchanges had been added on the New York side, exit 19A on the Hutchinson River Parkway was numbered as exit 30.

In popular culture

 * The Willem de Kooning oil-on-canvas painting Merritt Parkway (1959) is owned by the Detroit Institute of Arts.
 * Lisa Seidenberg, a filmmaker from Westport, produced a documentary film, The Road Taken...The Merritt Parkway (2008).

title: Merritt Parkway


text:
User talk:Adorable ruffian

stop mucking around with moves, you've caused the page to be deleted while I tried to undo your changes. RickK 02:31, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Would you like to be blocked from editing? RickK 02:40, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

OK, all you had to do was explain what you were doing. I'll retract the warning. You really should fill in the edit summaries so that people know what it is you're doing. RickK 02:43, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

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

title: User talk:Adorable ruffian


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Heworth

Heworth may refer to:

 * Heworth, York
 * Heworth A.R.L.F.C., a rugby league club
 * Heworth, Tyne and Wear

title: Heworth


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Johannes Zukertort

Johannes Hermann Zukertort (Polish: Jan Hermann Cukiertort; 7 September 1842 – 20 June 1888) was a Polish-born British-German chess master. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, but lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally regarded as the first World Chess Championship match. He was also defeated by Steinitz in 1872 in an unofficial championship.

Zukertort filled his relatively short life with a wide range of other achievements as a soldier, musician, linguist, journalist and political activist.

Early life and non-chess achievements
Zukertort was born on 7 September 1842 in Lublin, Congress Poland, Russian Empire as Jan Hermann Cukiertort. He said that his mother was the Baroness Krzyżanowska (Krzyzanovska). His father was a Protestant Christian missionary of Polish descent. Because the Christian Protestant mission among the Jewish population in Russian-occupied Poland was considered illegal and heretical, the Zukertort family emigrated to Prussia. He was educated at the gymnasium of Breslau, and in 1866 at the University of Breslau, from which he graduated in medicine in 1866. As a member of the medical corps of the Prussian army he saw service in 1866 during the Austro-Prussian war, and again during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870–1871.

Zukertort is widely suspected to have embellished his biography. In an account of his life for the Eastern Daily Press in 1872 many claims were made on his behalf: Aristocratic descent, fluency in nine languages (fourteen, according to other sources), and proficiency in swordsmanship, dominoes, and whist; it was also stated that he had played 6,000 games of chess with Adolf Anderssen, fought in numerous battles, and was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle, the Iron Cross of the German Army, and seven other medals. He also found time to get an M.D. at Breslau in 1865, and work on the staff of the Allgemeine Zeitung – Otto von Bismarck's private organ – in addition to writing two chess books and working as the editor of a chess magazine for several years. The Oxford Companion to Chess comments, "There is some truth in the last sentence: He was co-author of the books [and] co-editor of the chess magazine."

Style of play
In an age where the majority of players played exclusively 1.e4, Zukertort was an occasional early experimenter with openings such as 1. Nf3 (The Zukertort Opening) and 1. c4

In his prime Zukertort also excelled at blindfold chess. In 1876, he played sixteen games simultaneously while blindfolded, winning eleven, drawing four, and losing only one.

Learning chess
Zukertort learned to play chess in Breslau when he was about age 19. Entering a tournament in that city, and receiving the odds of the queen, he lost every game, whereupon he took up the study of Bilguer's Handbuch, with the result that in 1862 he won games from the leading German chess player Adolf Anderssen at the odds of a knight. Zukertort studied with Anderssen and within a very few years he became one of the strongest players in Germany.

Among many other notable matches that Zukertort played with Anderssen, he defeated him in 1866, lost in 1868 by a score of eight wins, three losses, one draw, and finally defeated him convincingly (5–2; no draws) in a match in 1871. In 1867 he moved to Berlin and in 1872 to London. In that year, he played Wilhelm Steinitz in London, losing 9–3 (7 losses, 1 win, 4 draws).

Late 1870s–early 1880s
Although Zukertort lost both his matches against Steinitz, he proved that he was superior to other opponents throughout the late 1870s and early 1880s. During this period top-class tournaments were rare and Zukertort's best performances were mostly in matches, notably against Anderssen in 1871 and Joseph Henry Blackburne in 1881 (6 wins, 2 losses, 5 draws). Nonetheless Zukertort was one of the most successful tournament players of his time: third place behind Steinitz and Blackburne at London, 1872; first place at Cologne, and second at Leipzig in 1877; tied for first with Simon Winawer at the Paris 1878 chess tournament and beat Winawer in the playoff; second at Berlin in 1881, behind Blackburne; tied for fourth at Vienna in 1882; first at London in 1883, 3 points ahead of Steinitz. The 1878 win in Paris led to some suggestion that Zukertort was the world's leading player, although Steinitz did not compete.

Zukertort's win in the London 1883 chess tournament was his most significant success: He won his games against most of the world's leading players, scoring 22/26, and he finished 3 points ahead of Steinitz, who was second with 19/26. This tournament established that Steinitz and Zukertort were clearly the best two players in the world, and led to the World Chess Championship match between these two.

The 1886 World Chess Championship match lasted from 11 January to 29 March 1886. After building up a 4–1 lead Zukertort wilted, lost four of the last five games, and lost the match by 12½–7½.

Decline and death
After his 1886 defeat, Zukertort's health suffered and he was a greatly weakened player for the remaining two years of his life. Diagnoses of his ailments include rheumatism, coronary heart disease, kidney problems, and arteriosclerosis. His results after the 1886 match declined steeply: Seventh at London, and third at Nottingham in 1886; fifteenth at Frankfurt, and fourth at London in 1887; lost a match in 1887 against Blackburne (1 win, 5 losses, and 8 draws); and seventh at London in 1888.

Poor health and lack of physical stamina appeared to be one of Zukertort's two long-term weaknesses: Some commentators attributed to illness the severity of his defeat in the 1872 match against Steinitz; aside from the tournaments mentioned above, in the 1883 London tournament he won 22 of his first 23 games – enough to give him an uncatchable lead – but lost his last 3 games.

His other weakness was that, while no one had greater attacking flair, Zukertort never approached Steinitz' understanding of positional play, and Steinitz often outmaneuvered him fairly simply.

Zukertort died on 20 June 1888, in London, from a cerebral haemorrhage after playing a game in a tournament at Simpson's Divan, which he was leading at the time. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.

Notable games

 * Zukertort vs. NN, Leipzig, 1877, Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit (C26), 1–0 White sacrifices the queen and hunts the black king to death. In the final position, 17.Bf4 mate is unavoidable.
 * Mikhail Chigorin vs. Zukertort, Tnmt, London 1883, Spanish Game: Berlin Defense. Rio de Janeiro Variation (C67), 0–1 Two strong central pawns against the white king.
 * Zukertort vs. Joseph Henry Blackburne, London, 1883 Zukertort sacrifices his queen but Blackburne cannot accept, Zukertort sacrifices a rook which Blackburne declines, soon Zukertort forces Blackburne to take the rook and resign three moves later. Steinitz described this as "one of the most brilliant games on record".

title: Johannes Zukertort


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Statocyst

The statocyst is a balance sensory receptor present in some aquatic invertebrates, including bivalves, cnidarians, ctenophorans, echinoderms, cephalopods,  crustaceans, and gastropods, A similar structure is also found in Xenoturbella. The statocyst consists of a sac-like structure containing a mineralised mass (statolith) and numerous innervated sensory hairs (setae). The statolith's inertia causes it to push against the setae when the animal accelerates. Deflection of setae by the statolith in response to gravity activates neurons, providing feedback to the animal on change in orientation and allowing balance to be maintained.

In other words, the statolith shifts as the animal moves. Any movement large enough to throw the organism off balance causes the statolith to brush against tiny bristles which in turn send a message to the brain to correct its balance.

It may have been present in the common ancestor of cnidarians and bilaterians.

Hearing
In cephalopods like squids, statocysts provide a cochlea-like mechanism to hear. As a result, the longfin inshore squid for instance can hear low-frequency sounds between 30 and 500 Hz when the water temperature is above 8 C.

title: Statocyst


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Jonathan Tunick

Jonathan Tunick (born April 19, 1938, New York City) is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer, and one of nineteen of the "EGOT" – people to have won all four major American show business awards: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. He is best known for orchestrating the works of Stephen Sondheim, their collaboration starting in 1970 with Company and continuing until Sondheim's death in 2021.

Biography
Tunick graduated from Hunter College Elementary School, the LaGuardia Performing Arts High School, and holds degrees from Bard College and the Juilliard School. Tunick's principal instrument is the clarinet.

Much of his work has arisen from his involvement in theatre, and he is associated especially with the musicals of Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim said of Tunick's work: "'I think he's tops'..." and further noted that "Tunick is a standout in his field not only because of his musicianship and imagination, but primarily because of 'his great sensitivity to theatrical atmosphere'".

Tunick also has a band, the "Broadway Moonlighters", which played at Birdland in March 2012 and in 2008 with Barbara Cook as his special guest. He has worked as an arranger and/or conductor on recordings with Judy Collins, Kiri Te Kanawa, Brian Asawa, Sir Neville Mariner, Itzhak Perlman, Plácido Domingo, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney, and Bernadette Peters. In his review of the Bernadette Peters recording Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers and Hammerstein (Angel Records, 2002), John Kenrick wrote: "Jonathan Tunick provides the brilliant arrangements." Tunick won the Grammy Award as "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)/Best Background Arrangement" for his work on the song "No One Is Alone" from the Cleo Laine album Cleo Laine Sings Sondheim (RCA Victor, 1987).

Tunick won the first Tony Award for Best Orchestrations that was awarded, in 1997, for Titanic.

In addition to the other awards, he has won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations three times and won a Drama Desk Special Award in 1982.

Tunick was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in January 2009.

Personal life
Tunick is married to actress Leigh Beery (also known as "Lee Beery"), who appeared in the television soap opera Dark Shadows in 1971.

Stage

 * Sources - AllMusic; Internet Broadway Database

 * Take Five (composer: "Gristedes," "The Pro Musica Antiqua")(Julius Monk Revue) - 1957
 * From A to Z - 1960
 * All in Love - 1961
 * Promises, Promises - 1968
 * Here's Where I Belong - 1968
 * Dames at Sea - 1969
 * Company - 1970
 * The Grass Harp - 1971
 * Follies - 1971
 * MASS - 1971
 * The Selling of the President - 1972
 * Sondheim: A Musical Tribute - Concert - 1973
 * A Little Night Music - 1973
 * Smith - 1973
 * A Chorus Line - 1975 ("Opening," "Nothing," "At The Ballet," "...And," "What I Did For Love")
 * Goodtime Charley - 1975
 * The Frogs - 1975
 * Pacific Overtures - 1976
 * Ballroom - 1978
 * Sweeney Todd - 1979
 * Merrily We Roll Along - 1981
 * Nine - (musical supervisor and orchestrations) 1982
 * Alice in Wonderland - (musical supervisor) 1982
 * Baby - 1983
 * Dance a Little Closer - 1983
 * Wind in the Willows - (musical supervisor) 1985
 * Into the Woods - 1987
 * Nick & Nora - 1991
 * Phantom - 1992
 * A Grand Night for Singing - 1993
 * Company (re-orchestrated) - 1993
 * Sweeney Todd (re-orchestrated) - 1993
 * Passion - 1994
 * The Petrified Prince - Public Theater 1994
 * Patti LuPone on Broadway - Walter Kerr Theatre Concert 1995
 * Company - 1995

 * A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (re-orchestrated; originals by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal) - 1996
 * Martin Guerre - 1996
 * Into the Woods - 1997
 * Titanic - 1997
 * Saturday Night - 1999
 * Minnelli on Minnelli - (orchestrations) Palace Theatre Concerts 1999
 * Marie Christine - 1999
 * Putting It Together - 1999
 * Napoleon - 2000
 * Follies (re-orchestrated) - 2001
 * Into the Woods (re-orchestrated) - 2002
 * Elaine Stritch At Liberty - 2001
 * Nine - (re-orchestrated) 2003
 * 110 in the Shade (re-orchestrated from Hershy Kay's originals) - 2003
 * The Frogs (re-orchestrated & expanded) - 2004
 * Pacific Overtures - (re-orchestrated) 2004
 * The Color Purple - 2005
 * A Chorus Line - (re-orchestrated) 2006
 * The Apple Tree - (re-orchestrated from Eddie Sauter's originals) 2006
 * 110 in the Shade - (re-orchestrated from Hershy Kay's originals) 2007
 * Lovemusik - 2007
 * A Catered Affair - 2008
 * Road Show - 2008 and 2003
 * The Story of My Life - 2009
 * Oklahoma! - (re-orchestrated from Robert Russell Bennett's originals) 2009
 * Bye Bye Birdie - (re-orchestrated from Robert Ginzler's originals) 2009
 * Paradise Found - 2010
 * Some Lovers - Old Globe Theatre 2011
 * Sweeney Todd (re-orchestrated) - 2012
 * Passion (re-orchestrated) - 2013
 * A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder - 2013
 * Waterfall - Pasadena Playhouse 2015
 * Dames at Sea (re-orchestrated) - 2015
 * Cabin in the Sky - Encores! 2016
 * Carousel - (re-orchestrated from Don Walker's originals) 2018
 * Here We Are - 2023

Filmography

 * Sources - AllMusic; Internet Movie Database

 * The Twelve Chairs - 1970 - musical director, orchestrator
 * Blazing Saddles - 1974 - orchestrator
 * Young Frankenstein - 1974 - orchestrator
 * The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - 1975 - orchestrator
 * A Little Night Music - 1977 - composer orchestrator, conductor (winner, Academy Award)
 * Columbo: Murder Under Glass - 1978 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * Flying High - 1978 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * 3 by Cheever: "O Youth and Beauty", "The Sorrows of Gin" and 3 by Cheever: The 5:48 - 1979 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * Rendezvous Hotel - 1979 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * Swan Song - 1980 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * Blinded by the Light - 1980 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * The Jilting of Granny Weatherall - 1980 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * Fort Apache the Bronx - 1981 - composer, conductor
 * Endless Love - 1981 - composer, conductor
 * Reds - 1981 - orchestrator
 * The Shady Hill Kidnapping - 1982 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * Night of 100 Stars - 1982 - (television) - music arranger
 * Sweeney Todd - 1982 - (television) - orchestrator
 * Alice in Wonderland - 1983 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * I Am the Cheese - 1983 - composer, conductor
 * Murder, She Wrote - 1984 - (television) - series composer, conductor
 * Concealed Enemies - 1984 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * Brotherly Love - 1985 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories - 1985 - (television) - series composer, conductor
 * The B.R.A.T. Patrol - 1986 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * American Masters - 1986 - (television) - composer (theme only)
 * You Ruined My Life - 1987 - (television) - composer, conductor
 * Into the Woods - 1991 - (television) - orchestrator
 * Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall - 1993 (televised) (concert in 1992) - (television) - orchestrator
 * The Last Good Time - 1994 - composer, conductor
 * The Birdcage - 1996 - music arranger and adapter, composer, conductor
 * Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh - 1998 - (television) - orchestrator
 * The Fantasticks - 2000 - music adaptor and arranger, conductor
 * Find Me Guilty - 2006 - composer, conductor
 * Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton film) - 2007 - music adaptor and orchestrator
 * Into the Woods - 2014 - orchestrator
 * Beauty and the Beast - 2017 - orchestrator

title: Jonathan Tunick


text:
Age of Mythology: The Titans

Age of Mythology: The Titans is an expansion pack to the real-time strategy video game of Age of Mythology. It was developed by Ensemble Studios and released on 30 September 2003. It was followed in 2016 by a second expansion pack to the original game called Tale of the Dragon.

The Titans adds a fourth culture to the game, the Atlanteans, and three new major gods, plus new units, buildings and god powers. It also includes many new features, such as auto-queueing (allows indefinite training of units as long as you have sufficient resources), and the ability to summon a Titan, a gargantuan, godlike being that forms the game's focal point. Critics gave Titans an average rating of 84% according to GameRankings.

Atlanteans
The largest new addition to Titans is a new civilization, the Atlanteans. The Atlanteans have no specific hero units, but can convert most human units into a hero. Citizens have no drop off point for resources, and town centers can be built at any time during the game. Atlantean Citizens are much more effective in work than their Greek, Norse or Egyptian counterparts and do not require drop-off points for resources; instead, harvested resources are automatically added to stockpiles. They are also slower to train, and much more expensive. Atlanteans gain favor through possessing town centers. The more they control, the faster the rate of favor generation.

A new unit, the Oracle, is introduced on the side of the Atlanteans. With a line of sight that expands when he stands still and a researchable ability to pick up relics, he can be very effective in the early game, but he only has an attack if upgraded to hero.

Most Atlantean human units can be transformed into heroes (including Citizens), which become a little bit better at everything they do. Myth Units, Naval Units, Siege Units, and Titans are the exceptions. As well as being strong against Myth Units, Atlantean heroes retain their own strengths and weaknesses, so, for example, Murmillo heroes are still weak against archers and strong against cavalry.

Titan/god powers
Titan worshippers have special powers, such as Kronos' ability to move buildings from one location on the map to another, or Oranos' Sky Passages, which allow instant unit transportation across the map. This can significantly affect the gameplay of older maps designed for Age of Mythology pre-expansion, as areas of maps that were inaccessible become accessible. The Earth entity Gaia has the ability to grow lush from buildings, preventing enemy players from constructing buildings nearby, as well as providing a small healing effect to said buildings. Other, lesser god powers are available to the Atlanteans at any time during the game. Unlike the other civilizations, the Atlanteans can use certain god powers multiple times. Some, like Gaia's Forest, cause a new forest to generate, which provides a far more effective wall that only villagers (or forest fires or colossi) can break through. These too may alter gameplay on older maps.

Myth units
Worshipping the Titans (Kronos, Oranos or Gaia) entitles the player to summon one of several new myth units: the Behemoth, essentially a living regenerating siege unit, the Automaton, a robot that repairs other Automatons during breaks in the fighting, and the Argus, an indescribable creature with eyes covering its whole body, floating in the air that kills units with acid. Naval myth units include the Servant, which heals naval and coastal units and has a moderate attack, also the Man O' War, a lightning-shooting Jellyfish that causes damage to multiple units.

The Servant affects game-play by adding the option of loading up a coastal region with Servants who are not easily attacked by ground troops - thus fighting there is a serious advantage to the player with Servants. Like the Fenris Wolf that grows in attack effectiveness with numbers, the Automaton grows also in effectiveness because a large army of them can self-repair in time to be at full fighting strength before the next skirmish. These features make the Servant and Automaton particularly effective defensive units.

Another flying healer, the Caladria, and flying attack unit, the Stymphalian bird, round out the aerial myth units while the Nereid is available for naval combat. The Satyr throws spears, the Lampades unleashes the chaos power on units at range, and the Heka Gigantes generates shockwaves. Prometheans split into smaller Prometheans when killed. Planting a Hesperides tree allows players to summon Dryads, and another reusable god power puts carnivorous plants in the way of enemies.

Overall, the game favors the more offensive player in the late game and the more defensive player early (who builds up to summon the Titan or earn these powers). The Titan (also a myth unit) is the strongest useable unit in the game. Titans can only be summoned by researching "The Secrets of the Titans" in the Mythic Age. After researching the secrets, players will be able to summon a Titan Gate anywhere within their line of sight. Once it is placed, villagers must be tasked on releasing the Titan (and must protect the gate from enemy attacks until the Titan is released). The game has been criticized for having too much emphasis on the Titan, the construction of a Titan gate being now an all-or-nothing gambit to win the game: if the gate is destroyed, no new one can be built.

Map types
Titans introduces six new maps types, and seven new AI personalities. For the original civilizations, several upgrades and changes were added. The upgrade Beast Slayer causes the Greek gods' unique units to do bonus damage against Myth units. Hands of the Pharaoh lets Egyptian priests pick up Relics; a power formerly reserved for the Pharaoh unit only. Range of attack is also increased by two for Egyptian priests. The Norse gain the Axe of Muspell upgrade, which gives Throwing Axemen bonus damage against flying units.

In terms of bonuses for every civilization, the upgrade Heroic Fleet gives ships bonus damage against myth units. The non-Atlanteans can build town centers in the Classical Age in Titans, as opposed to Heroic in the original. Finally, the Titan unit is introduced to the game. Titans are huge units possessing large amounts of hitpoints and armor while having high attack.

Plot
The story begins with Kronos, still trapped in Tartarus, watching the Atlanteans survive the harsh winters in the Norselands after Atlantis was destroyed 10 years ago in the events of Age of Mythology. He sends his unnamed servant to the colony, who kills the Theocrat Krios and possesses his body. "Krios" tells of a temple he saw in a vision. The Atlanteans leave the Norselands by using the foreseen temple, called a Sky Passage, and arrive at a resourceful island. Upon their arrival, Krios points out the plant-covered Temples to Oranos and Kronos, convincing everyone, including Kastor, to worship them. This angers the Greeks, who promptly attack them. The Atlanteans retaliate by destroying the entire Greek colony. The survivors tell of their defeat to General Melagius. The Atlanteans invade Melagius' city, Sikyos, and slay him. Just as the Atlanteans kill Melagius, his Egyptian and Norse allies come to aid the city. Kastor retreats, but decides to attack their homelands while they are defending Greece. In the Norselands, Kastor destroys Norse temples and replaces them with Atlantean temples. He also destroys the Tower of Odin with a god power from Kronos.

Some Atlantean forces then sail to Egypt. Queen Amanra is warned by Arkantos that the Atlanteans are coming to steal relics. Despite Amanra's efforts, the Atlanteans succeed. Arkantos protects Amanra and tells her that Kastor is being tricked. Meanwhile, Krios congratulates Kastor and shows him a Sky Passage which will take him behind Greek lines. Kastor enters it and finds himself on Mount Olympus. Using temples that change his men into myth units, Kastor slays the followers of the Olympian Gods. However, once he does this, the temple to Zeus on the mountain collapses. Back in Greek territories, the Titan Prometheus and his army from Tartarus attack Sikyos. Krios announces that Kastor's actions in Greece, Egypt and the Norselands, along with his invasion of Olympus, have weakened the Olympian Gods' control over these territories and allowed titans to spawn. Krios reveals his true form and allegiance to Kronos, and flees.

Kastor is then attacked by other Atlanteans under Krios's control. Amanra meets Ajax, and aided by a flock of Rocs, they move to rescue Kastor. He expresses his regrets and journeys with Amanra and Ajax after the titans. In Egypt, they restore the Guardian (who previously aided them in Age of Mythology) and use it to slay Cerberus. Next, they travel to the Norselands, and meet King Folstag, a powerful Frost Giant whose lands are being destroyed by the Titan Ymir. With the help of Folstag and the Nidhogg Dragon, the heroes kill Ymir and restore peace.

The heroes then travel to Greece to find the countryside in flames from Prometheus's attacks. Arkantos explains that Gaia, also a Titan, has been empowered by Kastor's actions, and has been using her power to heal Greece. They spread the green lush of the benevolent Titan, weakening Prometheus and overcoming him in his weakened state. The heroes then venture back to New Atlantis, which Kastor and his army retake from Automatons, and pursue Kronos' Servant to Old Atlantis. Kronos announces his future arrival as the King of the Titans. The only way to defeat him is to plant four magical seeds to summon Gaia. After the planting of the trees, Kronos appears.

As Kronos advances to destroy any opposition, Gaia is eventually released, battling Kronos and burying him in a landslide by Tartarus, and returns to the earth. Kronos' Servant attempts to escape, but Kastor stabs him through the heart. Arkantos appears to the Atlanteans and grants Kastor rulership of the Atlantean people by giving him the Staff of Atlantis, and the Atlanteans begin to rebuild their civilization.

Reception
In the United States, Titans sold over 100,000 copies by August 2006. Combined sales of the Age of Mythology franchise reached 1.3 million units in the United States by August 2006.

Titans was well received by critics, with an average score of 84 on Metacritic and GameRankings. GameSpot gave Titans an 8.3 out of 10, and commented "There's plenty more depth to be found here since having a brand-new civilization with three new primary gods creates many more...new strategies. On the other hand, it would have been nice to see the original civilizations get fleshed out some more...because experienced Age of Mythology players will want more than just one big reason to keep playing as their favorite factions." About.com declares that the "most significant unit to come form [sic] Age of Mythology The Titans Expansion is the Titan unit itself. If you are fortunate to have the resources, these extremely expensive war machines can literally decide the outcome of the game, by destroying virtually everything in their path." IGN gave the game an 8.9 out of 10 and mentioned "But as we suspected, it's an expansion well worth the wait."

Game Revolution gave the game a B+ and said "While not innovative in any way, AOM: The Titans is everything you should expect from a quality expansion." GameSpy gave Titans a 4.5 out of 5 and best summed it up with "Great new units and tons of gameplay enhancements make Age of Mythology: The Titans a model for how expansion packs should be done."

title: Age of Mythology: The Titans


text:
Culture of Iceland

The culture of Iceland is largely characterized by its literary heritage that began during the 12th century but also traditional arts such as weaving, silversmithing, and wood carving. The Reykjavík area hosts several professional theaters, art galleries, bookstores, cinemas and museums. There are four active folk dance ensembles in Iceland. Iceland's literacy rate is among the highest in the world.

Architecture
Icelandic architecture draws from Scandinavia and traditionally was influenced by the lack of native trees on the island. As a result, grass and turf-covered houses were developed. The original grass houses constructed by the original settlers of Iceland were based on Viking longhouses.

Literature
Much of the history of Iceland has been recorded in the Icelandic sagas and Edda. The most famous of these include Njáls saga, about an epic blood feud, and Grænlendinga saga and Eiríks saga, describing the discovery and settlement of Greenland and Vinland (now the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador). Egils saga, Laxdæla saga, Grettis saga, Gísla saga, and Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu are also notable and popular.

Iceland has produced many great authors including Halldór Laxness, Guðmundur Kamban, Tómas Guðmundsson, Davíð Stefánsson, Jón Thoroddsen, Steinn Steinarr, Guðmundur G. Hagalín, Þórbergur Þórðarson, and Jóhannes úr Kötlum. W. H. Auden and Louis MacNeice wrote Letters From Iceland (1937) to describe their travels through that country.

Painting and sculpture
The first professional secular painters appeared in Iceland in the 19th century. This group of artists included Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval, who painted village life in Iceland. Ásmundur Sveinsson, a 20th-century sculptor, was from Iceland. Einar Hákonarson is an expressionistic and figurative painter who brought the figure back into Icelandic painting in 1968. He is a pioneer in the Icelandic art scene and art education. He has been called "The crusader of the painting", because of his involvement in those conflicts many Icelandic painters had with the public fine art centers. He was a driving force in founding the Icelandic Printmaking Association and its first president.

Attitudes and customs
Icelanders generally have a traditional liberal Nordic outlook, similar to other Nordic countries such as Norway and Sweden. Yet, an important key to understanding Icelanders and their culture (which differentiates them from the majority of their contemporary Nordic peoples) is the high importance they place on the traits of independence and self-sufficiency. In the June 2005 European Commission Eurobarometer public opinion analysis, over 85% of Icelanders found independence to be "very important", contrasted with the EU25 average of 53%, 47% for the Norwegians, and 49% for the Danish.

Icelanders are proud of their Viking heritage and Icelandic language and take great care to preserve their traditions. Modern Icelandic remains close to the Old Norse spoken in the Viking Age. Prior to the Christianization of Iceland, Pagan beliefs were strongly held, remnants of which remain today.

Icelandic society and culture has a high degree of gender equality, with many women in leadership positions in government and business. Iceland has a highly progressive gay rights legislation, with couples having been able to register civil unions since 1996, adopt since 2006, and marry since 2010. Women retain their names after marriage, since Icelanders generally do not use surnames but patronyms or (in certain cases) matronyms.

The 2003 Children's Act outlawed spanking, verbal and emotional abuse, and makes child protection a priority. Physical or mental violence is punishable by imprisonment and/or fine. In 2006, Iceland was ranked as the fourth happiest nation in the world. Local and national festivals include the annual National Day, celebrating the country's independence in 1944, Sumardagurinn fyrsti which celebrates the first day of summer, and Sjómannadagurinn which is held every June to pay tribute to the country's maritime history.

Cuisine

Iceland offers wide varieties of traditional cuisine. Þorramatur (food of the þorri) is the Icelandic national food. Nowadays þorramatur is mostly eaten during the ancient Nordic month of þorri, in January and February, as a tribute to old culture. Þorramatur consists of many different types of food. These are mostly offal dishes like hrútspungar (pickled ram's testicles), putrefied shark, singed sheep heads, singed sheep head jam, black pudding, liver sausage (similar to Scottish haggis) and dried fish (often cod or haddock).

Much of the cuisine centers on Iceland's fishing industry. Traditional dishes include gravlax (smoked salmon marinated in salt and dill), hangikjöt (smoked lamb), and slátur (sausages made from sheep entrails). A popular food is skyr made of cultured skim milk. Brennivin is an Icelandic liquor made from potatoes and caraway.

Education
The system of education in Iceland is loosely based upon the Danish system, and there are four levels: pre-school, compulsory, upper secondary and higher. Education is mandatory for children aged six to sixteen. Most institutions are funded by the state, there are very few private schools in the country. The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture has jurisdiction over education. Over the years, the educational system has been decentralised, and responsibility for primary and lower secondary schools lies with the local authorities. The state runs upper secondary schools and higher education institutions. Students can quit at age 16 or can continue until age 20.

Entertainment
The popular children's TV programme LazyTown (Latibær), created by Magnús Scheving, was produced in Iceland. Notable Icelandic musicians and bands include Björk, Kaleo (band), Sigur Rós, Laufey, and Of Monsters and Men.

Technology
Iceland is a technologically advanced and digitally-connected country. In 2006 it had the highest number of broadband Internet connections per capita among OECD countries.

Icelandic people
Famous early Icelanders were Leif Erikson, who introduced Christianity to Greenland and discovered the North American mainland (c. 1000). Two famous statesmen were Bishop Jón Arason and Jón Sigurðsson, who championed for autonomy from Denmark. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir served four consecutive terms as president from 1980 to 1996, becoming the first female elected to the presidency of any republic.

Prominent writers were Ari Þorgilsson, father of Icelandic historical writing; Snorri Sturluson, author of the famous Prose Edda, a collection of Norse myths; and Hallgrímur Pétursson, author of Iceland's beloved Passion Hymns. Leading poets include Bjarni Thorarensen and Jónas Hallgrímsson, pioneers of the Romantic movement in Iceland; Matthías Jochumsson, author of Iceland's national anthem; Þorsteinn Erlingsson, lyricist; Einar Hjörleifsson Kvaran, a pioneer of realism in Icelandic literature and an outstanding short-story writer; Einar Benediktsson, ranked as one of the greatest modern Icelandic poets; Jóhann Sigurjónsson, who lived much of his life in Denmark and wrote many plays based on Icelandic history and legend, as well as poetry; and the novelist Halldór Laxness, who received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1955.

Stefán Stefánsson was the pioneer Icelandic botanist. Helgi Pjeturss, geologist and philosopher, was an authority on the Ice Age and the geology of Iceland. The former world chess champion Bobby Fischer became an Icelandic citizen in 2005. Russian pianist and composer Vladimir Ashkenazy has been a citizen since 1972.

Language
The principal language of Iceland is Icelandic, a highly inflected North Germanic language. Danish and English are also taught in schools. Linguistic purism is strongly supported in Iceland to prevent loanwords from entering the language. Instead, neologisms are coined from Icelandic roots, creating a compound word to describe new concepts. For example, the word for computer (an introduced object) is tölva which combines the ancient terms for number and seer. It is often the case that old words which are no longer used are recycled with a new meaning.

Leisure

Though changing in the past years, Icelanders remain a very healthy nation. Children and teenagers participate in various types of leisure activities. Popular sports today are mainly soccer, athletics, handball and basketball. Sports such as tennis, swimming, chess and horseback riding are also popular.

Chess has historically been a common pastime in Iceland. The country's chess clubs have produced chess grandmasters such as Friðrik Ólafsson, Jóhann Hjartarson, Margeir Pétursson, and Jón Loftur Árnason. Glíma is a form of wrestling that is still practiced in Iceland, thought to have originated with the Vikings. Golf is common; around 1 in 8 Icelanders play the sport. Handball is often referred to as a national sport, Iceland's team is one of the top ranked teams in the world, and Icelandic women are surprisingly good at soccer compared to the size of the country, the national team ranked the 18th best by FIFA.

Ice climbing and rock climbing are favorites among many Icelanders, for example to climb the top of the 4,167-foot (1,270 metre) Þumall peak in Skaftafell is a challenge for many adventurous climbers, but mountain climbing is considered to be more suitable for the general public and is a very common type of leisure activity. Hvítá, among many other of the Icelandic glacial rivers, attracts kayakers and river rafters worldwide.

Music
Icelandic music is related to Nordic music forms, and includes vibrant folk and pop traditions, including medieval music group Voces Thules. The only folk band whose recordings are available abroad is Islandica.

The national anthem of Iceland is "Lofsöngur", composed by Matthías Jochumsson and Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson. The song was written in 1874, when Iceland celebrated the one thousandth anniversary of settlement on the island. It was in the form of a hymn, first published under the title A Hymn in Commemoration of Iceland's Thousand Years.

Religion
Norse Paganism was the primary religion among the Norsemen who settled Iceland in the 9th century AD. Christianity later came to Iceland around 1000 AD. In the middle of the 16th century, the Danish crown formally declared Lutheranism the state religion under the Icelandic Reformation. This increasing Christianization culminated in the Pietism period when non-Christian entertainments were discouraged. At present the population is overwhelmingly, if nominally, Lutheran (75.4% in 2017). Other denominations of Christianity are also practiced such as Catholicism and Mormonism. Other major religions that are practiced include Islam, Judaism, and various and folk religions such as Ásatrúarfélagið.

Tourism
One of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland is visiting the geothermal spas and pools that can be found all around the country, such as Bláa Lónið (The Blue Lagoon) on the Reykjanes Peninsula near the Keflavík International Airport.

Transport
There are no railways in Iceland. The country has an extensive road network, and a ring road follows the coast, so that one can drive around the island. Road routes in some parts of the country (e.g. the Westfjords) are very circuitous, and many roads are closed for a long winter season, so air and sea transport are popular to connect remoter areas.

title: Culture of Iceland


text:
Southern Connecticut State University

Southern Connecticut State University (Southern Connecticut, Southern Connecticut State, SCSU, or simply Southern) is a public university in New Haven, Connecticut. Part of the Connecticut State University System, it was founded in 1893 and is governed by the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education.

History
On September 11, 1893, New Haven State Normal School, a two-year teacher training school, was established. The Skinner School, a two-story building, was used as the first campus. It was situated on State Street at the corner of what was then known as Summer Street. Arthur Boothby Morrill served as the first principal of the Normal School from 1893 to 1924. Two female teachers and Morrill made up the faculty. Prospective students had to be at least 16 years of age, and typically had either a three year high school degree or two years teaching experience. There were 85 women in the first class. Tuition was free for students, in-state or out-of-state, as long as a declaration to complete their studies and teach in Connecticut was signed. All textbook materials were provided by the school. Boarding was available for between $3.50 and $4.00 a week, although the majority of the students were from New Haven and commuted.

The Skinner School was soon outgrown by the rapidly growing Normal School. In 1896, it was moved to a new building on Howe and Oak St. This was a better location because of its larger size and its proximity to several elementary schools where students could train. At this point, the Normal School could only award certificates in teaching to graduates.

By 1937 the school was able to grant bachelor's degrees, and thus renamed New Haven State Teacher's College. Graduate degrees were offered starting in 1954, a year after the school moved to its current campus on Crescent St.

New Haven State Teacher's College became Southern Connecticut State College in 1959. In March 1983 the school was renamed Southern Connecticut State University and made part of the Connecticut State University System.

Campus
Southern has one campus located at 501 Crescent Street, in New Haven, bordering parts of Hamden, Connecticut. Fitch Street separates the academic and residential sections of the campus. As part of an effort to expand on the university's science programs, the laboratory science building was opened in 2015. The four-story building specializes with cancer research, physics and optics, along with other fields of sciences. The School of Business was moved from the renovated former student center to the new building on Wintergreen and Farnham Ave in Summer 2023. The building is the first building constructed by the State of Connecticut to utilize Net Zero Energy, and houses numerous conference rooms, a community room with seating for 100 people, offices for faculty, trading rooms, a 100-seat auditorium with tiered seating, and numerous study rooms for students.

Teacher Education
Southern Connecticut State University remains a center for teacher education. Southern is the only school in Connecticut to offer a master's degree concentration in autism spectrum disorders. The university received approval for its first doctoral program, an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership.

Nursing
NCLEX passing rates for Southern students hover between 90 and 100 percent in the past three decades.

Liberal Education Program
The LEP program consists of electives, and is a requirement for all majors. This program is meant to expose students to different types of classes outside side of their major. It is broken up into three tiers of classes and accounts for 42 credits of a student's degree. Tier one includes Inquiry 101, Writing 102 and a couple other basic classes that are geared towards Freshmen. It also requires completion of a 200 level language course in any of 10 languages, including American Sign Language. Tier two is broken into 9 categories. Students are required to take one class for each category. The categories include American Experience, Cultural Expression, Creative Drive, Global Awareness, Mind and Body, Natural World I and II, Social Structure, and Time and Place. Tier Three is considered a "Capstone" and only one class is taken. Generally a student's major requires a 300 or 400 level course in the major to complete this capstone. Every major is required to take 3 W or written intensive courses before graduating.

Greek life
There are many Greek-lettered social organizations on campus. Each organization strives for the betterment of students. Each organization is unique in its make-up, beliefs, and traditions.

Here is a list of the fraternities and sororities that are active or inactive on campus.

(*)Omega Zeta Pi is currently suspended due to mocking the strolls of Zeta Phi Beta

Library
Southern Connecticut State University's Hilton C. Buley Library was named after Hilton C. Buley, the president of the New Haven State Teachers College which was a former name of the institution, from July 1, 1954, to February 18, 1971. He was an educator and administrator in New York, New Jersey, and Wisconsin prior to earning a doctorate degree from Columbia University. He served as an administrator in the New Hampshire public schools before joining Southern.

The first library was housed at 2 Howe Street, New Haven, the original home of the university which was then called New Haven Normal School and consisted of a reading room with two walls of wooden bookshelves and a stack area in the balcony on the third wall. When the school opened in 1893, the library contained 500 books. By 1950 a collection of over 28,000 books and 200 periodical subscriptions was crammed into the space which was originally intended for 10,000 volumes. The library's move to the main building on Crescent Street, Engleman Hall, was accomplished in 1954 shortly before Buley came to Southern. By the year 1969 it contained over 200,000 volumes and was outgrowing its space yet again.

The dedication ceremony of a new Hilton C. Buley Library was held on October 31, 1970, a few months prior to the president's retirement. The library could hold up to 500,000 volumes with flexible space that could accommodate an equal number of additional volumes. However, as the library's collections kept growing, space was a major concern. When funding for a new addition and renovation to the existing library was approved by the legislature, a building planning committee was formed in 1999 with a new library building finally opening in March 2014.

The current library features four Tiffany Windows. Louis C. Tiffany (1848-1933), one of America's most talented and renowned artists best known for his work in stained glass, created these beautiful pieces. Three of these, "Angel of Praise", "Water Brooks", and "Hector" are located on the south side of the Learning Commons area just behind the Reference Desk in large boxes to be viewed against natural light. These were donated to the university in the sixties from the First Center Church of Christ in New Haven. A fourth window, the "Congregational window", was donated by the Congregational Church in the 1990s and is currently displayed in the second floor reading room. The windows were installed in the old library in 1972 but just before the building was renovated they were removed, restored by Serpentino Stained Glass Studio, and kept in storage till they were ready to be displayed.

The Water Brooks window (1898-1904) was created in memory of Ezekiel Hayes Trowbridge, a descendant of one of the founders of the Church, and is 54" wide and 98" high. The Hector, which was designed in 1898, is the ship which transported the early colonist to New Haven in 1638. The four corners of the window contain the four meeting houses of the congregation dated 1640, 1670, 1757, and 1814.

Library holdings include the Carolyn Sherwin Bailey's Collection of Children's Literature, Helen Liveten Juvenile Collection, William Cahn Labor Collection, Connecticut Collection, Eula H. Davies Napoleonica Collection, A.H. Gosselin Sound Collection, David Libbey Collection of Library Postcards, Edward G. Levy collection of Nineteenth Century Textbooks and Ephemera, Sherman Reilly Collection of Tracts, and the Artists' Book Collection. The university's digital collections include American Publishers' Binding, 1829–1975; Connecticut Libraries, the newsletter of the Connecticut Library Association; Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame containing samples of ephemera owned by women who belonged to the Hall of Fame; and the Libbey Library Postcard Collection consisting of over 1,400 library postcards donated by Dr. David Libbey, professor emeritus.

Sustainability
On May 30, 2019, Southern officially declared a "Climate Emergency" after recent student advocacy and Faculty from the Department of the Environment, Geography and Marine Sciences advocating for the university to take stronger action in addressing climate change. This makes Southern the first university in the U.S. to make such a declaration.

Notable alumni

 * Timothy I. Ahern – U.S. Air Force general
 * Tony Amendola – actor
 * Kevin Anderson – head men's soccer coach at Columbia University
 * Joe Andruzzi – former professional American football player
 * Lynn Austin – Christy Award-winning author
 * John Ball – professional soccer player
 * Brian Bliss – professional soccer player
 * Dorinda Keenan Borer – Connecticut State Representative
 * Steve Bush – professional American football player
 * Jacques Cesaire – professional American football player
 * Jerome Cunningham - professional American football player
 * John DeBrito – professional soccer player
 * Warren Doyle – Appalachian Trail hiker, supporter, and speed hiker.
 * James Economou – professional American football player
 * Anthony Fantano – host of The Needle Drop music program, famous music critic YouTuber
 * Ancil Farrier – professional soccer player
 * Kaliegh Garris – Miss Connecticut Teen USA and Miss Teen USA 2019
 * Dave Gettleman – professional American football general manager
 * Ficre Ghebreyesus – Eritrean-American painter
 * Kevin Gilbride – Head Coach of the New York Guardians, former NFL head coach and Offensive Coordinator
 * Marilyn Giuliano – Connecticut State Representative
 * Tim Holt – college and professional football coach
 * Rep. Jahana Hayes – Congresswoman for Connecticut's 5th district
 * Chris Houser – professional soccer player
 * Cathy Inglese – collegiate basketball coach
 * Gilbert Jean-Baptiste – professional soccer player
 * Mike Katz – professional bodybuilder and NFL player for the New York Jets
 * George Kiefer – head men's soccer coach at the North Carolina State University
 * Dan Lauria – actor
 * James Marshall – author and illustrator
 * Bonaventure Maruti – professional soccer player
 * Nangolo Mbumba – Namibia's fourth president, politician
 * Scott Mersereau – former defensive end for the New York Jets
 * Nick Nicolau – college and professional American football coach
 * Olivier Occéan – professional soccer player
 * Andrew Olivieri – professional soccer player
 * Bo Oshoniyi – professional soccer player
 * Juan Carlos Osorio – professional soccer player
 * Paul Oyuga – professional soccer player
 * Chris Palmer – professional American football coach
 * Henry E. Parker – Connecticut State Treasurer (1975–1986)
 * Rob Parker – professional television journalist
 * Mike Petke – professional soccer player
 * Neil Thomas Proto – lawyer, teacher, lecturer, and author
 * Ray Reid – head men's soccer coach at the University of Connecticut
 * Carlos Rocha – professional soccer player
 * Jordan Russolillo – professional soccer player
 * John Searles – author, book critic, and editor-at-large at Cosmopolitan magazine
 * Cristian da Silva – professional soccer player
 * Parrish Smith – musician
 * Victoria Leigh Soto – teacher, murdered in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
 * Erik Stocklin – American actor
 * Jeff Stoutland – professional American football coach
 * Andy Talley – Former Villanova University head football coach
 * Daniel Trust – Rwandan genocide survivor, motivational speaker
 * Travis Tucker – former tight end for the Cleveland Browns
 * Heidi Voight - news anchor and Miss Connecticut 2006
 * Norby Williamson – ESPN vice president of studio and remote production
 * Gary Winfield - Connecticut State Senator, former State Representative

title: Southern Connecticut State University


text:
List of presidents of Lebanon

This is a list of presidents of Lebanon since the creation of the office in 1926.

Constitutionally (de jure), the president's post carries significant responsibilities and influence. In practice, the president is largely a ceremonial and symbolic post due to external pressure or the formation of "consensus" cabinets, forcing the president to compromise. In theory, however, the president is responsible for appointing the entire government, therefore the ministers should work to his pleasure. Nevertheless, the president is still able to exercise influence on policy-making and has the role, in conjunction with the prime minister, of choosing ministers in the Government and safeguarding the Constitution of Lebanon.

National Pact
Though it is not specifically stated in the constitution, an unwritten understanding known as the National Pact, agreed in 1943, has resulted in the holder of the post being a Maronite Christian in every electoral cycle since that time.

title: List of presidents of Lebanon


text:
Forbidden Zone

Forbidden Zone is an American absurdist musical fantasy comedy film produced and directed by independent filmmaker Richard Elfman, and co-written by Elfman and Matthew Bright. Shot in 1977 and 1978, the film premiered in 1980 and was distributed in 1982. Originally shot on black-and-white film, Forbidden Zone is based upon the stage performances of the Los Angeles theater troupe The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, of which Elfman, Bright and many of the cast and crew were a part, and revolves around an alternate universe accessed through a door in the house of the Hercules family.

The composing debut of Danny Elfman, it stars Hervé Villechaize, Susan Tyrrell and members of the Mystic Knights, with appearances by Warhol superstar Viva, Joe Spinell and The Kipper Kids. Villechaize kicked his cheque back into production and even painted sets on weekends. The only paid actor was Phil Gordon, who played Flash; all the other SAG actors put their money back into the show.

The film was made as an attempt to capture the essence of The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo's live performances in a cinematic sense, and also as a means for both director Elfman to retire from music to work on film projects, and to serve as a transition between the group's former cabaret style and a new wave-based style. Amid negative reactions to content in the film that had been perceived as being offensive, Forbidden Zone was screened as a midnight movie, where it was met with positive notices, and developed a large and eventually worldwide cult following. In 2004, the film was digitally restored and released on DVD, and in 2008, the film was colorized.

Said Elfman, "Doing anything original is taking a chance. Financially it bankrupted me and we lost our house. But I'm still glad I did it (although I'd change a few things if I had a time machine, of course)."

A prospective sequel, entitled Forbidden Zone 2: The Forbidden Galaxy, has long been in development by Elfman, who launched a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2014 to raise an initial sum. As of 2019, the sequel is still in the stages of development but regularly updated and discussed by Elfman. Elfman has also licensed Forbidden Zone as an intellectual property for manufacturers to produce collectibles based on the film's characters.

Plot
On "Friday, April 17" at 4 p.m. in Venice, California, Huckleberry P. Jones (pimp, narcotics peddler, and slumlord) enters a vacant house that he owns. While stashing heroin in the basement, he stumbles upon a mysterious door and enters it, falling into the Sixth Dimension, from which he promptly escapes. After retrieving the heroin, he sells the house to the Hercules family. On their way to school, Frenchy Hercules and her brother Flash talk with Squeezit Henderson, who says that, while being beaten by his mother, he has a vision of his transgender sister René, who had fallen into the Sixth Dimension through the door in the Hercules' basement.

Frenchy returns home to confide in her mother, and decides to take a "little peek" behind the basement's forbidden door. There, she is captured by the perpetually topless Princess, who brings Frenchy to the rulers of the Sixth Dimension, the midget King Fausto and his queen, Doris. When the king falls for Frenchy, Doris orders their frog servant, Bust Rod, to lock her up. To make sure that Frenchy is not harmed, Fausto tells Bust Rod to take Frenchy to Cell 63, where the king keeps his favorite concubines (as well as René).

The next day at school, Flash tries to convince Squeezit to help him rescue René and Frenchy. When Squeezit refuses, Flash enlists the help of Gramps instead. In the Sixth Dimension, they speak to an old Jewish man who reveals how to help Frenchy escape, but they soon are captured by Bust Rod. Doris interrogates Flash and Gramps before lowering them into a septic tank. She then plots her revenge against Frenchy, relocating all the denizens of Cell 63 to a torture chamber. She leaves the Princess to oversee Frenchy's torture and execution. However, when a fuse is blown, the torture is put on hold and the prisoners from Cell 63 are relocated to keep the King from finding them.

After escaping the tank, Flash and Gramps come across a woman who says that she was once happily married to the king, until Doris stole the throne by seducing her. The ex-queen has been sitting in her cell for 1,000 years, and has been writing a screenplay to keep her sanity. Meanwhile, Pa Hercules is blasted through the stratosphere by an explosion caused by improperly extinguishing his cigarette in a vat of flammable tar during his work break at the La Brea Tar Pit Factory. After re-entry, Pa falls through the basement and into the Sixth Dimension, where he is imprisoned.

Finding a phone, Flash calls Squeezit and again asks for his help. Squeezit agrees to help rescue Frenchy and René. In the Sixth Dimension, he is captured by Satan, with whom he makes a deal to bring him the Princess in exchange for Satan's help freeing René and Frenchy. Squeezit accomplishes this task, but failed to include himself in the deal to rescue his friends, and the devil has him decapitated. Queen Doris sends Bust Rod to keep an eye on the king, and to ensure he does not find out where she has hidden Frenchy.

Fausto catches Bust Rod and forces him to lead him to Frenchy and René, whom he orders to leave the Sixth Dimension to avoid the Queen's wrath. However, en route to safety, René is stricken with pseudo-menstrual cramps, and they are again captured by the frog. Squeezit's head, which has now sprouted chicken wings, finds the king and reveals what has happened.

While preparing to kill Frenchy, Doris is confronted by the ex-queen, and the two engage in a cat-fight; Doris eventually coming out as the victor. Just as she is about to kill Frenchy, Fausto stops her, explaining that Satan's Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo are holding the Princess hostage, and will kill her should anything befall Frenchy. Flash and Gramps arrive, and Flash is knocked down by Gramps. Ma Hercules enters and, seeing a seemingly dead Flash, shoots Doris. Fausto mourns Doris, then marries Frenchy.

The surviving characters later plan to take over everyone and everything in the Galaxy.

Cast

 * Hervé Villechaize as King Fausto of the Sixth Dimension
 * Susan Tyrrell as Queen Doris of the Sixth Dimension / Ruth Henderson
 * Gisele Lindley as The Princess
 * Jan Stuart Schwartz as Bust Rod
 * Marie-Pascale Elfman as Susan B. "Frenchy" Hercules.
 * Virginia Rose as Ma Hercules
 * Ugh-Fudge Bwana as Huckleberry P. Jones / Pa Hercules
 * Phil Gordon as Flash Hercules
 * Hyman Diamond as Gramps Hercules
 * Toshiro Boloney as Squeezit Henderson / René Henderson
 * Danny Elfman as Satan
 * Viva as The Ex-Queen
 * Joe Spinell as Mr. Henderson
 * The Kipper Kids as Themselves
 * Kedric Wolfe as Miss Feldman / Human Chandelier
 * Herman Bernstein as Mr. Bernstein, the Old Yiddish Man
 * Richard Elfman as a masseuse and a prisoner

Musical numbers

 * 1) "Forbidden Zone" (Danny Elfman) – Danny Elfman and The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo
 * 2) "Some of These Days" (Shelton Brooks) – Pa Hercules, Frenchy and Ma Hercules
 * 3) "Beautiful Dreamer" (excerpt) (Stephen Foster) – Ma Hercules
 * 4) "La Petite Tonkinoise" (Vincent Scotto, Henri Christiné, Georges Villard) - Frenchy (voice of Josephine Baker)
 * 5) "Bim Bam Boom" (Noro Morales, Johnny Camacho) - The Kipper Kids and Miguelito Valdés
 * 6) "Witch's Egg" (Susan Tyrrell, Georg Michalski) – Doris
 * 7) "Pleure" (Jérôme Savary) – Frenchy (voice of Josephine Baker)
 * 8) "Alphabet Song" (D. Elfman) – Miss Feldman, Flash, Squeezit and Schoolkids
 * 9) "Queen's Revenge" (D. Elfman) – Doris, Frenchy, Princess, René and Prisoners
 * 10) "Pico and Sepulveda" (Eddie Maxwell, Jule Styne) – Pa Hercules and Chorus (voices of Felix Figueroa & His Orchestra)
 * 11) "Squeezit the Moocher" (Cab Calloway, Irving Mills, D. Elfman) – Squeezit, The Princess, Satan and The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo
 * 12) "Yiddishe Charleston" (Billy Rose, Fred Fisher) – Mr. Bernstein and Doris
 * 13) "Finale" (D. Elfman, R. Elfman, Nicholas James) – Frenchy, Fausto, Princess, Doris, Ex-Queen, The Kipper Kids, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, Flash, Gramps, René, Squeezit, Huckleberry and Company

Development
The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo were formed in late 1972 by Richard Elfman, as a musical theatre troupe. As Richard's interest shifted to filmmaking, he passed leadership of the band to younger brother Danny Elfman. Danny, who had begun to lose interest in musical theatre, had gained interest in other musical styles such as ska, and had become "sick of lugging around so much stuff with the theatre troupe. Towards the end", he remembers, "it was a big production... there was, like a semi full of stuff. And that was becoming burdensome. So, for me, the idea of being a band that can fit all their gear into a van and set up in a club, and an hour later be playing, became a goal." Production began during a transitional period when the group was moving from its cabaret style towards a more pop/rock format; by the time the film was completed, the band had shortened its name to Oingo Boingo.

The film was originally conceived as The Hercules Family, a 16mm musical that consisted of twelve musical numbers and a story loosely constructed around them. But as the project grew to 35mm and the storyline evolved, Richard Elfman found himself re-shooting many of the original scenes to fit the new film. Two sequences from the original 16mm footage were featured on the 2004 DVD release: one of Danny Elfman, as Satan, performing "Minnie the Moocher" (later reshot with visual elements borrowed from the original 16mm sequence and alternate lyrics), and another of Marie-Pascale Elfman, singing "Johnny". The sequence with Elfman as Satan, and members of the Oingo Boingo as his minions, came from live shows, in which the band would perform Cab Calloway tunes like "St. James Infirmary Blues" in the same costumes.

Marie-Pascale Elfman, at the time of shooting, was married to director Richard Elfman. She designed the film's expressionistic sets and starred in the film. Actor and former Mystic Knight Gene Cunningham helped fund the film. When Cunningham and Elfman ran out of money during production, Richard and Marie-Pascale Elfman helped finance by selling houses, before Carl Borack put money into the production in order for Elfman to complete the film. According to Elfman, he had originally intended the film to be screened in color, stating that the original plan was to ship the film to China, where each frame would be hand-tinted, but that this plan was not practical within the production costs. Elfman ultimately went bankrupt during the production of Forbidden Zone and had to assign the rights away in order to finish the film; in 2015, Elfman regained the full rights to Forbidden Zone.

Casting
Actor Hervé Villechaize was a former roommate of co-writer and co-star Matthew Bright; Villechaize had previously dated co-star Susan Tyrrell. The Elfmans' grandfather, Herman Bernstein, also appeared in the film, and Richard Elfman's accountant appeared under the name "Hyman Diamond" because Elfman had no idea whether or not he wanted to be credited. Others who worked on the film include The Kipper Kids (Brian Routh and Martin von Haselberg), Joe Spinell, and former Warhol superstar Viva.

Writing
Forbidden Zone featured Bright's first work on film, and his only work as an actor (under the name "Toshiro Baloney"). A founding member of the Mystic Knights, Bright later became a screenwriter and director in his own right. Bright's credits include Freeway, Ted Bundy, and Tiptoes. Bright and director Richard Elfman's only dispute during the screenwriting process was over a scene in which his character, Squeezit, was originally to have been beaten up for eight minutes and having the walls wiped with his blood. Another scene cut from the script would have had Squeezit being castrated. According to Bright, "I didn't have any sense of limits or balance then, at the time, I... you know, I was just, didn't know what I was doing. I needed reining in." During filming, Bright was sitting on the set in costume when a lighting stand fell onto his head, cracking his skull, and he had to be rushed to the hospital. When Bright returned to work the next day, he had a mild concussion and whiplash, but he continued with filming.

Directing
Richard Elfman had never gone to film school when production started, and "I didn't know what I was getting into." The production, from its original 16mm roots to its finish, took three years. Cast and crew members would sleep on the film's stage, wearing spare gorilla suits to stay warm. Among the film's artistic influences included 1940s big band and jazz music and Max Fleischer cartoons of the 1930s (such as Betty Boop). Some of the film's cast was made up of non-professionals cast off the street. In one scene, Richard Elfman brought in a young man to mouth the words of "Bim Bam Boom", but when he was put in front of the camera, he stood there as the scene was shot. Elfman left the scene in the film by editing in Bright's lips over the actor's face. Another scene featured homeless men.

Animation
The film's animation was created by then-unknown animator John Muto. Because of the film's low budget, Muto created all of the film's animation sequences himself. Muto made frequent use of airbrush techniques to establish for himself a distinctive style. For sequences in which live-action and animation were combined, the actors were photographed in tight head-on and profile shots, and the photos were cut out and pasted into the animation in a style recalling Terry Gilliam's work on Monty Python's Flying Circus. Muto also credits the Fleischer Brothers as another inspiration.

Music
Forbidden Zone was the first film scored by Danny Elfman, who would eventually score, among other films, Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The song Witch's Egg was written by Georg Michalski and Tyrrell. In some scenes, characters lip synch to old records, including recordings by Cab Calloway, Josephine Baker, and others.

The alphabet song performed in a classroom scene was inspired by the "Swinging the Alphabet" song from The Three Stooges short Violent Is the Word for Curly.

For the "Yiddishe Charleston" scene, Richard Elfman had shot the sequence with him lip-syncing to an old recording of the song, but was later unable to acquire the rights to the recording, and had to record a new version of the song while attempting to sync the new recording with the footage.

The film's soundtrack has also become popular, and its theme song was eventually reused by Danny Elfman, who rearranged it as The Dilbert Zone for use as the theme for the television series Dilbert.

Release and reception
Forbidden Zone premiered at the Los Angeles Filmex film festival in 1980. The film played at the New Beverly Cinema as a midnight movie beginning March 28, and added three theatres in San Francisco, Seattle, and Columbus in May. The film received another limited theatrical release through The Samuel Goldwyn Company in 1982. Following its theatrical run, Forbidden Zone fell out of circulation for roughly twenty years, though bootleg recordings helped find the film new life as a highly sought-after and well-regarded cult film. In 2004, Film Threat magazine dubbed Forbidden Zone "the Citizen Kane of underground movies". The film currently has a score of 83% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.6/10.

Home media
It was digitally restored and released on Region 1 DVD by Fantoma in 2004, receiving a Region 2 release by Arrow Film Distributors Ltd. in 2006. In 2008, with Elfman's blessing and input, a colorized version of Forbidden Zone was issued on DVD by Legend Films, and was later screened in exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 2010. Arrow released a Blu-Ray edition in the UK in 2012, followed by "Ultimate Edition" North American Blu-Ray and DVD releases by MVD Entertainment Group in 2015; all contained both the black-and-white and color versions.

Controversies
Upon its original release, Forbidden Zone was singled out for criticism for its use of broadly-drawn racist, homophobic, antisemitic and anti-Christian visuals and characters. Elfman, himself of Jewish heritage, has disputed many of these accusations, noting that elements seen as homophobic were inspired by his time as a director and occasional performer in the San Francisco avant-garde drag troupe The Cockettes, while the character of "Mr. Bernstein", accused of being an exaggerated Jewish stereotype, was played by Elfman's Jewish grandfather Herman Bernstein, of whom Elfman wryly asserted "wasn't acting".

In particular, Forbidden Zone has been criticized for its brief use of surreal blackface. In 2020, Elfman digitally removed the blackface images and replaced them with "clown-face". In an interview with Dread Central, he explained "Going back to our very first test screening in 1980, there were a few things that really bugged me. The film is an absurdist fever-dream with hundreds of crazy, cartoonish images. I regretted the few seconds of Max Fleischer-era black-face and wanted to change it to 'clown-face'. But the film had – literally – bankrupted me, I had lost control and couldn't complete it exactly the way I wanted. Well, forty years later, I fucking can!". Elfman's director's cut was released in early 2021.

Sequel
In June 2009, it was revealed through an entry on IMDb that Elfman had been developing a sequel to Forbidden Zone entitled Forbidden Zone 2: The Forbidden Galaxy. The prospective project was more formally detailed in March 2014 when Elfman launched a successful crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo to raise part of the film's financing. As of the campaign's most recent update in May 2023, Elfman confirmed the project is "still alive" and noting that he "will not give up on FZ2", describing Forbidden Zone 2 as "number one on his ." "As long as I am breathing, I will do Forbidden Zone 2!"

Stage show
In 2010, Forbidden Zone was performed as a live stage show with the support of Richard Elfman. It is a production of the Sacred Fools Theater Company, and premiered there in Los Angeles on Friday, May 21, 2010.

Mixed media
Richard Elfman entered into a licensing deal with the creative resource company, PANGEA, to provide licensees with the opportunity to create merchandise based on the cult film. According to articles that appeared in the media on May 3, 2016, the arrangement calls for content to be created that will include a Storyboard Book of the original film, featuring commentary and anecdotal notes from director. Shot glasses and sculpted pieces were among the list of immediate items that would be released. A fantasy novella series was also noted as being under development.

Rocky Horror "shadow cast" companies have begun performing screenings of the film. Elfman sometimes participates in these live performances. He enters in a clown suit and beats a big bass drum that is accompanied by a Brazilian percussion ensemble—reminiscent of his former group, the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.

The Syfy Channel has run a teaser piece musical number, "Princess Polly" from Forbidden Zone 2: The Forbidden Galaxy on its show Monster Man, starring Cleve Hall. Elfman opens the Forbidden Zone shadow cast shows (after the march in) with Erin Holt singing Princess Polly live in front of her screened “monster” image on stage.

title: Forbidden Zone


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Mikhail Chigorin

Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (also Tchigorin; Михаи́л Ива́нович Чиго́рин; 12 November 1850 – 25 January 1908) was a Russian chess player. He played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing both times. The last great player of the Romantic chess style, he also served as a major source of inspiration for the "Soviet chess school", which dominated the chess world in the middle and latter parts of the 20th century.

Chess career
Chigorin was born in Gatchina but moved to nearby Saint Petersburg some time later. His father worked in the Okhtensk gunpowder works. Chigorin's parents died young and Chigorin entered the Gatchinsk Orphans' Institute at the age of 10. He became serious about chess uncommonly late in life; his schoolteacher taught him the moves at the age of 16, but he did not take to the game until around 1874, having first finished his studies before commencing a career as a government officer.

Once smitten with the game, he terminated his employment and started life as a chess professional. In 1876, he started a chess magazine, Chess Sheet, which he edited until 1881 (only 250 subscribers in all of Russia). He played a series of matches with established masters Emanuel Schiffers (1878–1880) and Semyon Alapin (1880) and notched up a large plus score against each. It was not long after that he was regarded as the best player in the city and possibly the whole of Russia.

His first international tournament was Berlin 1881, where he was equal third (+10−5=1) with Szymon Winawer, behind Johannes Zukertort and Joseph Henry Blackburne. This event included 17 master competitors.

At the great London tournament of 1883, he finished fourth (+16−10=0) behind Zukertort, Wilhelm Steinitz and Blackburne. The 14 competitors in this double round robin event included practically all of the best chessplayers in the world.

At the very strong tournament of New York 1889 he was equal first with Max Weiss. Following this great success he challenged the world champion Steinitz for a match with the World Championship at stake.

The World Championship match was played at Havana in 1889, but he lost 10½–6½ (+6−10=1). A second World Championship match was played also at Havana in 1892, but he narrowly lost 12½–10½ (+8−10=5).

His overall record against Steinitz was very close (+24−27=8). He also played a much publicised 'telegraph match' against Steinitz in 1890, devised to settle a theoretical argument. Chigorin had the slight advantage of choosing the openings in advance from a list supplied by Steinitz and duly won both games.

Towards the end of the century, his standing at home and abroad continued to rise, and he was in the world's top four or five players. His reputation as a match player too, continued to grow. He drew an 1893 match with Siegbert Tarrasch in Saint Petersburg (+9−9=4) and in his lifetime, maintained a narrow plus score against Tarrasch (+14−13=8), who was a fearsome player in his own right. He had a strong plus score against Richard Teichmann (+8−3=1), but a poor record versus David Janowski (+4−17=4). Most of his losses to Janowski occurred late in Chigorin's life, when he was past his best.

In all likelihood, his best performance occurred at the Hastings 1895 chess tournament, where he placed second, ahead of reigning world champion Emanuel Lasker, Tarrasch and former world champion Steinitz. All of the greatest players of the time participated in the event and Chigorin's outstanding result included winning his individual encounter with tournament victor, Harry Nelson Pillsbury. Pillsbury had great respect for Chigorin's ability and for good reason, as Chigorin had a marginal lifetime plus score against him (+8−7=6). Although Chigorin had a poor record against Lasker in serious play (+1−8=4), he was victorious with the black pieces in their first game of this 1895 tournament, in which he outplayed Lasker in a classic two knights versus two bishops ending.

In other major competitions, he was joint winner at Budapest 1896, and beat Rudolf Charousek (+3−1) in the playoff. At Cologne in 1898, he was equal second with Charousek and Wilhelm Cohn after Amos Burn. His 7th-place finish at London 1899 was disappointing in comparison, but this was another tournament notable for its impressive list of participants. At Monte Carlo 1901, he placed equal third after Janowski and Carl Schlechter.

A highly skilled exponent of gambit lines, he won the King's Gambit-themed Vienna Tournament of 1903 and defeated Lasker (+2−1=3) in a sponsored Rice Gambit tournament in Brighton. The latter was however something of a hollow victory, as it was emerging that the Rice Gambit was unsound and so, playing the black side in each game gave him a distinct advantage. He was also perhaps the most skilled 19th century practitioner of the Evans Gambit, which featured in many of his great duels with Steinitz. At Łódź 1906, in a four-person event, he finished second to Akiba Rubinstein.

Alongside these international events, he also entered and won the first three All-Russia Tournaments of 1899, 1900/01 and 1903. These prestigious successes further cemented his reputation as Russia's best player. Upon losing the fourth such event in 1906, he challenged the winner Gersz Salwe to a match and came out the victor (+7−5=3).

Style and demeanour
His playing style featured a well-honed tactical ability and an imaginative approach to the opening. He rejected many of the inflexible doctrines put forward by Tarrasch and Steinitz, but accepted Steinitz' teachings about the soundness of the defensive centre. Indeed, he went on to add to the development of the concept through the work he carried out with closed variations of the Ruy Lopez. He also pioneered some variations of the Slav Defence. A large bearded man, Chigorin was described as 'decidedly handsome'.

Frank Marshall once commented on the highly agitated state that would possess Chigorin when faced with difficult positions. Aside from the usual frantic foot-tapping and crossing of legs, he would occasionally become "a bundle of nerves", at which point his temperament could turn "quite fierce".

Later life
As an ambassador for Russian chess, Chigorin was a shining example; he gave many lectures, wrote magazine articles and chess columns and subsidised or otherwise supported a number of periodicals to keep them afloat despite low readership levels. He also founded a chess club in Saint Petersburg and tried for many years to establish a chess association, an attempt that finally succeeded just a few years after his death.

According to the Canadian International Master Lawrence Day, Chigorin travelled with the young Fedor Bogatyrchuk to Russian events in the 1905–1907 period, helping to train him. After moving to Canada following World War II, Bogatyrchuk then trained Day.

By 1907, Chigorin's health (both mental and physical) started to decline dramatically. He failed badly in a chess tournament. He was clearly not in good health and was diagnosed by doctors in Carlsbad with an advanced and untreatable case of diabetes. This prompted a prediction that he had only months to live, whereupon he returned to his estranged wife and daughter in Lublin and died the following January. Not long before he died, at while having an emotional outburst, Chigorin burned his chess set. In 1909, a Chigorin Memorial tournament was played in St. Petersburg. After that many more followed: from 1947 onwards mainly in Sochi and from 1990 back in Saint Petersburg.

Legacy
Through his original talent, lively games and prolific teachings, many Russians regard Mikhail Chigorin as the founder of their "School of chess", later to become known as the Soviet School of Chess. Overshadowed to some extent in the 1920s by the exciting new theories of the hypermodern movement, Chigorin's influence nevertheless demands a prominent and permanent place in the Soviet chess hegemony of the 20th century.

Openings
Chigorin has several chess openings or variations of openings named after him, the two most important being the Chigorin Variation of the Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7) and the Chigorin Defence to the Queen's Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6). Whilst the former has remained popular through the 1900s, the latter struggled to attract a great many devotees until relatively recently. Igor Miladinović has used the Chigorin Defence with great regularity, but its current revival owes much to the efforts of Alexander Morozevich, who has championed the opening both in play and in his book – The Chigorin Defence According To Morozevich (published 2007).

Another opening line invented by Chigorin is 1.e4 e6 2.Qe2 in the French Defence. It is now generally regarded as a forerunner of King's Indian setups, but Chigorin also played it with other ideas (such as b2–b3) in mind.

In popular culture
A famous Chigorin game played against Steinitz in 1892 is used as the base for the plot of The Squares of the City, a 1965 science-fiction novel by John Brunner.

title: Mikhail Chigorin