title: Joey Bosa

text: In Week 14 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Bosa sacked rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew twice in the 45–10 blowout win. Bosa made the Pro Bowl after accumulating 11.5 sacks and 67 tackles in total for the 2019 season. He was ranked 34th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2020.


title: Joey Bosa

text: On 28 July 2020, Bosa signed a five-year, $135 million contract extension with the Chargers, making him the highest-paid defensive player in the league. In Week 12 against the Buffalo Bills, Bosa recorded three sacks on Josh Allen and recovered a fumble lost by Allen during the 27–17 loss. He earned his third Pro Bowl nomination. He was ranked 32nd by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2021.


title: Joey Bosa

text: The 2021 season saw Bosa record a career-high 7 forced fumbles. Bosa's best single game for solo tackles in the 2021 season was the 17 October 2021 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Bosa made 5 solo tackles in the Chargers loss to the Ravens.


title: Joey Bosa

text: Bosa earned his fourth trip to the Pro Bowl but did not play after pulling out of the game with an undisclosed injury. Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau and Bosa are the only Chargers defensive players selected to four Pro Bowls over the first five seasons of a career. He was ranked 30th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2022 list.


title: Joey Bosa

text: During Week 3 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Bosa left the game with a groin injury. It was later revealed that he needed surgery to repair the core muscle area of the groin. He was placed on injured reserve on September 28, 2022.


title: Joey Bosa

text: Bosa's father, John Bosa, played in the NFL from 1987 to 1989. His brother, Nick Bosa, also played defensive end at Ohio State, and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers with the second overall pick in 2019. His cousin Jake Kumerow is also an NFL player. Bosa's grandfather Palmer Pyle, uncle Eric Kumerow, and grand-uncle Mike Pyle all played in the NFL as well, while his great-grandfather was Chicago Outfit boss Tony Accardo.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: A Gentleman in Moscow is a 2016 novel by Amor Towles. It is his second novel, published five years after his " New York Times" best seller, "Rules of Civility" (2011).


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: The protagonist is the fictional Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 24 October 1889. He was raised on his Rostov family's estate "Idlehour" in Nizhny Novgorod. Rostov's godfather was his father's comrade in the cavalry, Grand Duke Demidov. When the Count's parents died of cholera within hours of each other in 1900, Grand Duke Demidov became the 11-year-old's guardian. Demidov counseled him to be strong for his sister Helena, because "...adversity presents itself in many forms, and if a man does not master his circumstances, then he is bound to be mastered by them." The Rostov siblings are aristocrats, making social visits to nearby estates by horse-drawn troika or sleigh.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: As a young man, the Count was sent out of the country (as was the custom at the time) by his grandmother for wounding Helena's suitor, a cad who broke her heart. Upon returning home from Paris after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, the Count was arrested.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: Towles's inspiration for the novel was his experience staying at luxury hotels, specifically, a hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, where some guests were permanent residents. He combined the idea of luxury hotels with his knowledge of Russia's long-time historical tradition of house arrest.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: The Count is charged as a social parasite before a Bolshevik tribunal, with the expectation that he will be found guilty and shot. He is unrepentant, and eloquently refuses to confess. Because of a revolutionary poem attributed to him, the Count is spared a death sentence. Instead, he is placed under house arrest for life at his current residence, the Hotel Metropol in central Moscow.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: A military guard escorts the Count back to the Hotel Metropol, where he is ordered to vacate his luxurious suite and move to the cramped servant's quarters on the sixth floor. As time goes on, the Count cultivates a social circle of friends from his youth as well as selected residents, staff, and customers of the Hotel and its restaurants. These include a one-eyed cat, a young girl, a seamstress, a Russian chef, a French maître d'hotel and former circus juggler, a poet, an actress, an underemployed architect, an orchestra conductor, a prince, a former Red Army colonel, and an aide-de-camp of an American general.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: Due to his diminished circumstances and restricted freedom, the Count has time for self-reflection. He is a brilliant conversationalist, readily discussing diverse subjects such as evolution, philosophy, Impressionism, Russian writers and poetry, food, post-revolutionary Russian society, and Russia's contributions to the world.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: An early acquaintance at the hotel is nine-year-old Nina Kulikova, the daughter of a widowed Ukrainian bureaucrat, who is fascinated by princesses.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: In 1938, an unexpected arrival changes the Count's circumstances. Nina Kulikova, now a married woman, visits the Count. She confides that her husband Leo was arrested and sentenced to five years of forced labor by the Gulag. Nina decides to follow her husband to Sevvostlag in Kolyma, a remote region of the Soviet Union bounded by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean. She begs the Count to accept temporary custody of her young daughter Sofia, while she makes arrangements for the child to join her in Siberia to be near her father. This is the last time the Count sees Nina, so at the age of 49, he becomes Sofia's surrogate father.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: Sofia is a quiet, highly intelligent child. Her potential manifests itself during games of hide-and-seek that she wins in record time.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: Later, Sofia takes piano lessons. She surprises the Count by playing a Chopin nocturne (Opus 9, number 2, in E-flat major) after only a few lessons. It is clear to both the piano teacher and the Count that Sofia is a musical prodigy.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: Many classic French and world wines are mentioned in the book. Châteauneuf-du-Pape is especially key to the storyline.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: Towles's approach in "A Gentleman in Moscow" was described as a "gorgeous sleight of hand" by "The New York Times":


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: "Kirkus Reviews" found the book to be "a great novel, a nonstop pleasure brimming with charm, personal wisdom, and philosophic insight. This book more than fulfills the promise of Towles' stylish debut, "Rules of Civility"." NPR opined that ""A Gentleman in Moscow" is a novel that aims to charm ... and the result is winning, stylish ... Flair is always the goal – Towles never lets anyone merely say goodbye when they could bid adieu, never puts a period where an exclamation point or dramatic ellipsis could stand." At Book Marks, a review aggregator website, the novel received a cumulative "Positive" rating based on 11 reviews: 3 "Rave", 5 "Positive", and 3 "Mixed". Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall recommended the book to those in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: "A Gentleman in Moscow" was a finalist for the 2016 Kirkus Prize in Fiction & Literature. It was also an International Dublin Literary Award nominee (2018 longlist).


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: The audiobook, narrated by Nicholas Guy Smith, was an AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award winner in 2016.


title: A Gentleman in Moscow

text: In August 2017 it was reported that a limited series based on the book was in development at Entertainment One. In August 2022, it was announced that Ewan McGregor will star as Count Rostov in the television series, and that it will release on Paramount+ and Showtime.


title: Lee Jun-young (entertainer)

text: Lee Jun-young (; born January 22, 1997), also known as Jun, is a South Korean singer, rapper and actor. In June 2014, he debuted as a member of U-KISS. In October 2017, he joined survival program , in which he finished in first place and became a member of the project group UNB.


title: Lee Jun-young (entertainer)

text: Apart from his group's activities, he has participated in various television dramas, notably "Avengers Social Club" (2017), marking his career breakthrough, "Goodbye to Goodbye" (2018), "Class of Lies" (2019), "Good Casting" (2020), "Please Don’t Date Him" (2020), "Imitation" (2021) and "Let Me Be Your Knight" (2021).


title: Lee Jun-young (entertainer)

text: On May 15, 2014, NH Media announced, via U-KISS's official Korean website, new member Jun to the public. On June 2, 2014 Jun made his debut with U-KISS and the group released its ninth mini album "Mono Scandal" along with the 19+ rated music video of the album's title track "Quit Playing."


title: Lee Jun-young (entertainer)

text: On October 28, 2017, Lee joined survival program "". He made it to the final Top 9 and was voted number one. He promoted with UNB, which consisted of finalists from the show, from April 7, 2018 to January 27, 2019.


title: Lee Jun-young (entertainer)

text: From April to May, Lee appeared as “Compass” on MBC's TV program "King of Mask Singer". He performed a duet with Lee Sang-hoon of "It Was Like That Then" and a solo cover version of "Eraser". In May 2018, he made his second acting appearance as Han Min-soo in the MBC television series "Goodbye to Goodbye" (2018) and received a new actor award at the 2018 MBC Drama Awards.


title: Lee Jun-young (entertainer)

text: On April 10, 2019 Lee released his first Japanese solo single "Phenomenal World," which explored the futurepop genre. He performed his first solo showcase in Tokyo on February 4. Prior to the release, he also held a series of concerts on April 6 in Osaka and April 8 in Tokyo. Tower Records Japan ranked "Phenomenal World" as the #7 best-selling Japanese single by a Korean artist for the first half of 2019. He starred in the OCN television series "Class of Lies", which aired from July 17 to September 5. On November 6, he released both a Korean and Japanese version of his solo single "My Way," for which he wrote the lyrics. The single featured rapper Reddy and was produced by Sway D and was accompanied by two music videos. After a digital download was released on October 30, the Japanese version ranked #2 on the dwango.jp K-POP Life weekly singles chart. On November 28, he released his first Korean solo single "Tell". On December 5, he made his solo debut in Korea with the title track "Curious About U" and the single album "Gallery".


title: Lee Jun-young (entertainer)

text: On January 22, 2020, Lee released his first Japanese album "22" which featured the title track "Come Alive". In 2020, he acted in the musical "Swag Age: Shout out, Chosun!" and received a new actor award at the fifth Korea Musical Awards. He played Kang Woo-won in the SBS television series "Good Casting" (2020), which was entirely pre-produced and he made a special appearance in the SBS drama "Backstreet Rookie." Later that year, Lee acted in the MBC Every 1 drama "Please Don't Date Him". He participated in the soundtrack for Please Don't Date Him with the single "To you who will be tired". On October 7, he released a new Korean single "Amen", which explored his interest in rap and hip hop.


title: Lee Jun-young (entertainer)

text: In 2021, Lee starred in the KBS drama "Imitation" (2021) as a talented idol, he joined the Netflix film "Love and Leashes" with Seohyun, and he was cast in the dramas "D.P." and "Let Me Be Your Knight". After departing NH Media in August, he announced in November that he co-founded a new company J-flex, which will serve as his current agency for his acting projects.


title: 2012 United States men's Olympic basketball team

text: The men's national basketball team of the United States won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Defending the gold medal won by the 2008 team in the previous Olympic Games, the Americans qualified for the 2012 Games after winning the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The Olympic team lost some players to injuries who might have made the team, and appeared to be short on big men. Their roster featured five players returning from the 2008 Olympic team and five others from the 2010 World Championship.


text: The US went undefeated but appeared vulnerable in five exhibition games. They finished the tournament with a perfect 8–0 record, defeating opponents by an average of 32 points while trailing in the fourth quarter only once. The Americans often played with a small lineup that emphasized speed, quickness, and outside shooting. The team set an Olympic single-game record with 156 points scored against Nigeria in the preliminary round. In a rematch of the 2008 finals, Team USA again defeated Spain to capture the gold.


text: The 2012 team consisted of returning 2008 Olympic gold medal winners small forwards LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, point guards Chris Paul and Deron Williams, and shooting guard Kobe Bryant. It also featured 2010 World Championship winners small forwards Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala, power forward Kevin Love, center Tyson Chandler, and point guard Russell Westbrook. Players earning All-NBA honors in the 2011–12 NBA season included Bryant, Durant, James and Paul on the first team; second-teamers Love and Westbrook; and Anthony and Chandler from the third team.


text: The final two Olympics roster spots were claimed by shooting guard James Harden and power forward Blake Griffin; they were chosen over shooting guard Eric Gordon, small forward Rudy Gay, and power forward Anthony Davis. Griffin then sustained a torn meniscus during practice and was replaced by Davis, the first overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft, who earlier was unable to practice during the final tryouts due to an ankle injury. Forward Lamar Odom removed himself from consideration in July before the start of training camp.


text: The initial 20 finalists were announced in January 2012. In addition to Griffin, others withdrew due to injury including power forwards Chris Bosh (abdomen) and LaMarcus Aldridge (torn meniscus), point guards Derrick Rose (ACL) and Chauncey Billups, shooting guard Dwyane Wade (knee), and center Dwight Howard (back surgery). Harden and Davis were added as replacements. Center Andrew Bynum declined an invitation to be added as a finalist.


text: The final team was built on quickness and speed. While the roster appeared to be weakened by the injuries to its inside players, Team USA executive director Jerry Colangelo believed the team was deeper, more athletic and more experienced than the 2008 gold-medal team.


text: The United States went undefeated at 5–0 in their exhibition games, but were behind early against Brazil and Spain and played a close game against Argentina.


text: The Americans went an undefeated 8–0 and averaged 116 points per game, winning by an average margin of 32.1 points—the fifth highest in US Olympic history. Team USA trailed in the fourth quarter only once, against Lithuania in the opening round. James became the leader of the team with Bryant—who would turn 34 in August 2012—stepping back. James facilitated the offense from the post and perimeter, called the defensive sets, and provided scoring when needed. After winning the gold, Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said James "is the best player, he is the best leader and he is as smart as anybody playing the game right now". Durant scored a United States Olympics record of 156 points in the tournament. He also made 34 three-point field goals, doubling the previous United States mark of 17; Anthony (23) also exceed the old record. Bryant was not in peak condition early, but he played himself into shape and was a key contributor in the final three games. While Chandler was the team's only true center—Davis was thin and had no professional experience—Krzyzewski also played Love, James or Anthony as Team USA's de facto center. Love led the team with 61 rebounds (27 offensive).


text: Compensating for its lack of big men, the US played small ball and spread its playmakers around the three-point line and with a player penetrating and passing the ball back outside. They won with "basically five players on the perimeter," Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. Bryant and Krzyzewski declared at the completion of the tournament that 2012 was their final Olympic appearance. They both joined Team USA after the disappointing bronze finish in the 2004 Games. Krzyzewski left with a 62–1 record and a 50-game winning streak in international play for the Americans. He joined Henry Iba as the only US coaches to lead the team to consecutive Olympic gold medals. In 2013, Team USA announced Krzyzewski would return as head coach from 2013 through 2016.


text: The US competed in Group A in the opening round. Teams played in a round-robin format with the top four teams advancing to the next round. The Americans ended group play 5–0, the only undefeated team and the group's top seed.


text: Durant scored 22 points, and James had eight assists while taking only six shots as the US won their opening game 98–71 over France. The US was never in any real trouble, but played sloppy in the beginning, missing their first six three-point attempts and being called for 18 personal fouls in the first half. Anthony and Westbrook spent the final six minutes of the half on the bench after their third personal fouls. The team led 52–36 at halftime, which expanded to 78–51 after three quarters. Krzyzewski was able to rest Bryant, James, and Durant for most of the final period, and even the 19-year-old Davis played.


text: Durant, Anthony, and Chandler contributed nine rebounds each, and Love finished with 14 points. Bryant, James and Durant finished the game a combined 6 for 12 on three-pointers, while the rest of the team shot 2 for 13. France's team featured six NBA players, including Tony Parker.


text: The US won in a 110–63 blowout over Tunisia, but only after Krzyzewski benched his starters—Bryant, James, Durant, Paul, and Chandler—to begin the second half. The reserves—Love, Anthony, Iguodala, Williams and Westbrook—responded with a 21–3 run to open the half, turning a 46–33 halftime lead to a 67–36 advantage. Tunisia, the consensus weakest team in the Olympics and listed by one website as 54-point underdogs, led the game 15–12 after nine minutes, and trailed only 35–30 with about minutes remaining in the first half. The Americans then scored 11 consecutive points.


text: Like the opening game when they missed their first six three-pointers, the US started this game an even worse 0-for-8. Colangelo said opponents' strategy was to force the Americans to shoot from outside and hope for an off night. The US made 17 of 22 on conventional field goals in the first half, while missing 10 of 12 from three-point range. This was the team's second consecutive slow start in the Olympics, following the pattern in their five earlier exhibition games. The Americans scored on a variety of dunks once the game was in hand. Anthony and Love led the team with 16 points. Six Americans scored in double figures, including Durant who had 13 points and added 10 rebounds and 5 assists.


text: The US answered critics of their slow starts and outside shooting with a 156–73 blowout of Nigeria. The Americans scored an Olympic-record 78 points in the first half en route to breaking the record for points in a game of 138, set by Brazil against Egypt in 1988. The record was broken with 4:37 left to play, and the team set US records for 3-pointers (29), field goals (59), field goal percentage (71%), and margin of victory (83).


text: Anthony scored 37 points in only 14 minutes of play, shooting 10 of 12 on three-pointers and breaking the US single-game scoring record in less than three quarters. He broke Stephon Marbury's record of 31 against Spain in 2004. Bryant scored 16 points, 14 in the first quarter, as the US scored 49 points in the opening period. They led 78–45 at halftime before doubling their scoring total in the second half. The Americans shot 29 of 46 on three-point attempts (63 percent). They more than doubled their previous record of 13 made, which was broken by halftime after 11 three-pointers in the first quarter alone. Krzyzewski defended the blowout, noting that he removed his stars in the second half, ordered a zone defense, and stopped allowing fast breaks in the opening period.


text: Mainly a facilitator in the first three games, James scored 9 of his 20 points in the final four minutes as the US came back to defeat Lithuania 99–94. Linas Kleiza scored 25 to lead Lithuania, which led by 84–82 with 5:50 remaining. The US took a three-point lead, but Lithuania pulled within 87–86 with 4:12 in the game. James followed with a three-pointer and a dunk. Entering the contest, James was averaging just 6.7 points but with 5.7 assists.


text: Anthony added 20 points, and Paul contributed seven rebounds, six assists and four of the Americans' 17 steals. The US made only 10 of 33 attempts on three-point attempts and too often settled for outside shots. Lithuania outrebounded the US 42–37 and shot an impressive 58 percent from the field. The Americans struggled to defend Lithuania's high pick-and-roll. However, the US team's deep bench wore Lithuania down in the final period, forcing several turnovers to determine the outcome in the final minutes. Winning their first three games by an average of 52.2 points and playing so well, the team had canceled their previous two practices and rested while watching other sports instead.


text: Durant scored 17 of his 28 points in the third quarter as the US turned a one-point game into a 126–97 blowout over Argentina. The US led just 60–59 at halftime, when Durant matched Argentina's point total during a 42-point third quarter explosion by the Americans. James scored the first seven in the quarter before Durant took over and shot 5 of 6 from three-point range. He finished 8 of 10 from three-point range, and the team was 20 of 39. James had 18 points in the game, and Paul added 17.


text: The US allowed Argentina to make 11 of its first 15 shots, and the Americans lead was never bigger than six in the second quarter. Argentina's Luis Scola did not play in the second period, and starting point guard Pablo Prigioni sat the entire game. They rested their starters in the fourth quarter in preparation for their quarterfinal meeting against Brazil, and a possible rematch against the Americans in the semifinals. Manu Ginóbili led the Argentines with 16 points, all in the first half. The US finished the first round as the top seed in their group and the only team undefeated in group play. An American loss by at least 13 points would have placed Argentina instead into the top spot from Group A.


text: The single-elimination round features the top four teams from each of the two groups from the opening round.


text: Bryant made six straight three-pointers in the second half and James finished with the first triple-double in US Olympic history. The Americans surrendered 11 consecutive points to start the second half. The US was leading by six when Bryant, who shot 0 for 3 in the first half, made consecutive threes to give his team a 70–58 lead. He scored all of his 20 points in the second half, including four consecutive three-pointers in a 66-second span. He entered the game averaging only 9.4 points.


text: James finished with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, and he almost had a triple-double by halftime (seven points, 10 rebounds, and six assists). Love added 10 points and 11 rebounds (eight offensive), Anthony scored 17, and Durant had 14.


text: The US met Argentina for the third time in a span of 17 days in the third straight Olympic semifinal meeting between the two countries. Argentina in 2004 was the last team to beat the Americans in Olympic play.


text: Durant scored 19 points, while James and Anthony added 18 each as the US pulled away from Argentina in the second half for a 109–83 win. Ginóbili hit a three-pointer at the buzzer at the end of the first half to bring Argentina within 47–40, and he scored another three to open the second half to cut the lead to four points. Durant and James took over the game as the Americans led by 17 points to start the fourth.


text: Bryant scored 13 points in the first half—including 11 in the first quarter—and Durant made four three-pointers in the third, while Anthony made four of his own in the fourth. The US made 18 three-pointers in the game. James finished the game with seven rebounds and seven assists.


text: The US met Spain in the gold medal game, a rematch of the finals in the 2008 Olympics. The Americans had won 118–107 in Beijing that year after leading by just four with about minutes left. Spain in 2012 was ranked second in the world behind the US, and had a size advantage with brothers Pau and Marc Gasol. The Spaniards lost games to Russia and Brazil in group play and trailed the Russians by 13 points early in their semifinal win. The US had also beaten Spain for Olympic gold in 1984. The Americans were 8–1 against Spain since the introduction of the NBA players into FIBA events in 1992.


text: The Olympics' own daily preview of the 2012 rematch said it would "likely take a great game from Spain and an off-day from the US to cause an upset". The Americans had been tested only once against Lithuania, and they had dominated opponents in points off turnovers (198–77) and fast-break points (175–55). In a game that was close until the final minutes, the US defeated Spain 107–100. The Americans led the Spanish by only one point after three quarters, but James scored on a dunk and then a three-point basket for a 102–93 lead with 1:59 to play. James had 19 points in the game, joining Michael Jordan as the only players to win the NBA regular-season Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, NBA championship, NBA Finals MVP, and Olympic gold in the same year. Durant added 30 points, the first 30-point game in an Olympic final in US history. Spain was led by Pau Gasol with 24 points, including his team's first 13 points in the second half to give them a 71–70 lead halfway into the third quarter. Gasol added eight rebounds and seven assists in the game.


text: Spain also trailed by one after the first half, which included their guard Juan Carlos Navarro scoring 19 of his 21 points. The Spanish kept the game close despite Marc Gasol being called for four fouls in the first quarter and a half. James, who frequently guarded one of the Gasols due to the Americans' lack of big men, went to the bench with 7:23 in the game after his fourth foul before returning for the final five minutes. Bryant had 17 in the game for Team USA, and Love contributed nine points and nine rebounds. The final margin of seven points was the second-closest Olympic final ever after the Soviet Union's controversial one-point defeat of the United States in 1972.


text: Bryant and James believed the 2012 team would win against the Dream Team, the 1992 Olympic team considered by some the greatest sports team ever assembled. Bryant said, "[T]hey were a lot older, at kind of the end of their careers. We have just a bunch of young racehorses, guys that are eager to compete". Dream Team member Charles Barkley said that he "just started laughing" upon hearing Bryant's comment and thought the 1992 team would win by double digits. Michael Jordan added: "For [Bryant] to compare those two teams is not one of the smarter things he ever could have done... Remember now, they learned from us. We didn't learn from them". Bird joked, "They probably could. I haven't played in 20 years and we're all old now." Bryant later clarified that he thought the 1992 team was better, but it was "ludicrous" to think his team could not beat the Dream Team in one game. "You didn't ask me if we could beat them in a 7-game series", he said.


text: Most experts believed the 1992 team would prevail with a distinct advantage with their centers, David Robinson and Patrick Ewing, over the smaller 2012 team. Chandler was the only player on the 2012 team, but his offensive game was limited. Some felt the discussion might have been more compelling if Dwight Howard and other injured big men were on the 2012 squad. NBA coach Doc Rivers felt the London team had an advantage with their outside shooting over the Dream Team. Like Barkley, CBSSports.com opined that only three members of the 2012 team—Bryant, James, and Durant—would have made the Dream Team.


text: The Dream Team averaged 117.3 points and won its games by an average of 43.8 points. The 2012 team averaged a similar point total (115.5) but won by a lesser margin (32.1). The Dream Team beat Croatia by 32 in the gold-medal game, while the 2012 team won by just seven. However, the level of international competition improved since 1992. The 2012 team faced a tougher opponent in Spain, which had seven NBA players; Croatia in 1992 had only two NBA players at that point. Overall, the 2012 Olympic field had 39 NBA players and 18 former NBA players were on team rosters, while rosters in 1992 had 17 NBA players and three other former players—more than half of those NBA players were on the Dream Team.


title: History of the rupee

text: The history of the rupee traces back to ancient Indian subcontinent. The mention of "rūpya" by Pāṇini is seemingly the earliest reference in a text about coins. The term in Indian subcontinent was used for referring to a coin.


title: History of the rupee

text: The word "rupee" is derived from a Sanskrit word "rūpya", which means "wrought silver", and maybe also something stamped with an image or a coin. As an adjective it means "shapely", with a more specific meaning of "stamped, impressed", whence "coin". It is derived from the noun "rūpa" "shape, likeness, image".


title: History of the rupee

text: "Arthashastra", written by Chanakya, prime minister to the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta Maurya (c. 340–290 BC), mentions silver coins as "rūpyarūpa", other types including gold coins (suvarṇarūpa), copper coins (tāmrarūpa) and lead coins (sīsarūpa) are mentioned [This claim is disputed]. Rūpa means form or shape, example, rūpyarūpa, rūpya – wrought silver, rūpa – form.


title: History of the rupee

text: In the intermediate times there was no fixed monetary system as reported by the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions.


title: History of the rupee

text: Sher Shah Suri, during his five-year rule from 1540 to 1545, set up a new civic and military administration and issued a coin of silver, weighing 178 grains, which was also termed "Rupiya". The Mughal ruler issued coins honouring the Hindu deities in 1604–1605.


title: History of the rupee

text: The coins depicting Ram and Sita were issued in both silver and gold; minting ended right after Akbar's death in 1605.


title: History of the rupee

text: The silver coin remained in use during the Mughal period, Maratha era, as well as in British India. Among the earliest issues of paper rupees include the "Bank of Hindostan" (1770–1832), the "General Bank of Bengal and Bihar" (1773–75, established by Warren Hastings), and the "Bengal Bank" (1784–1791).


title: History of the rupee

text: The Indian rupee was a silver-based currency during much of the 19th century, which had severe consequences on the standard value of the currency, as stronger economies were on the gold standard. During British rule, and the first decade of independence, the rupee was subdivided into 16 annas. Each anna was subdivided into 4 pices. So one rupee was equal to 64 pice (paisa) and 192 pies as 1 Pice was equal to 3 pies In 1957, decimalisation occurred and the rupee was divided into 100 naye paise (Hindi/Urdu for "new paisas"). After a few years, the initial "naye" was dropped.


title: History of the rupee

text: For many years in the early and mid-20th century, the Indian rupee was the official currency in several areas that were controlled by the British and governed from India; areas such as East Africa, Southern Arabia and the Persian Gulf.


title: History of the rupee

text: Pāṇini used "rūpya" to mean beautiful or stamped ("ahāta"). The second meaning applies to a coin. Kasikakara expands upon this, these coins that stamped were the Dinara, Kedara and Karshapana. The term "Rupataraka" is mentioned by Patanjali in reference to one who checks the Karshapana coins. An early Pali scripture uses the term "Mashaka-rupa", Mashaka being a token Karshapana. The term was no longer in much use to refer to a coin in later eras. In the Rajatarangini, the term "rupakas" is used for gold coins, they are called "svarna-rupakas". The Kathasaritsagara calls the gold Dinar coins "svarna-rupakas".


title: History of the rupee

text: "Arthashastra", written by Chanakya, prime minister to the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta Maurya (c. 340–290 BC), mentions silver coins as "rūpyarūpa", other types of coins including gold coins (suvarṇarūpa), copper coins (tāmrarūpa) and lead coins (sīsarūpa) are also mentioned. Rūpa means form or shape, example, rūpyarūpa, rūpya – wrought silver, rūpa – form.


title: History of the rupee

text: During his five-year rule from 1540 to 1546, Sher Shah Suri set up a new civic and military administration and issued a coin of silver, weighing 178 grains, which was also termed the "Rupiya". The silver coin remained in use during the Mughal period, the Maratha era (1674–1818) and in British India, as well.


title: History of the rupee

text: The British settlements in Western India, South India, and the Eastern Province of Bengal (Calcutta) independently developed different coinages in consonance with the local acceptability of the coins for the purposes of trade.


title: History of the rupee

text: There are many fake coins of East India Company, with Indian gods depicted on the obverse side as shown in side-bar. Original East India Company coins show only the coat of arms of the East India Company.


title: History of the rupee

text: The coins of Bengal were developed in the Mughal style and those of Madras mostly in a South Indian style. The English coins of Western India developed along Mughal as well as English patterns. It was only in AD 1717 that the British obtained permission from the Emperor Farrukh Siyar to coin Mughal money at the Bombay mint. The British gold coins were termed Carolina, the silver coins Anglina, the copper coins Cupperoon and tin coins Tinny. By early 1830, the British had become the dominant power in India. The Coinage Act of 1835 provided for uniform coinage throughout India. The new coins had the effigy of William IV on the obverse and the value on the reverse in English and Persian. The coins issued after 1840 bore the portrait of Queen Victoria. The first coinage under the crown was issued in 1862 and in 1877 Queen Victoria assumed the title the Empress of India. The gold silver ratio widened during 1870–1910. Unlike India, Britain was on the gold standard. To meet the Home Charges (i.e., expenditure in England) the colonial government had to remit a larger number of rupees due to the ratio change; this necessitated increased taxation and unrest.


title: History of the rupee

text: The 1911 accession to the throne of the King-Emperor George V led to the famous "pig rupee". On the coin, the king appeared wearing the chain of the Order of the Indian Elephant. Through poor engraving, the elephant looked very much like a pig. The Muslim population was enraged and the image had to be quickly redesigned.


title: History of the rupee

text: Acute shortage of silver during the First World War, led to the introduction of paper currency of one rupee and two and a half rupees. The silver coins of smaller denominations were issued in cupro-nickel. The Second World War led to experiments in coinage where the standard rupee was replaced by the "Quaternary Silver Alloy". The Quaternary Silver coins were issued from 1940. In 1947 these were replaced by pure Nickel coins.


title: History of the rupee

text: Immediately after independence, the British coinage was continued. The monetary system remained unchanged at One Rupee consisting of 64 pice, or 192 pies.


title: History of the rupee

text: The "Anna Series" was introduced on 15 August 1950. This was the first coinage of the Republic of India. The King's image was replaced by the Ashoka's Lion Capital. A corn sheaf replaced the tiger on the one rupee coin. The monetary system was retained with one rupee consisting of 16 Annas. The 1955 Indian Coinage (Amendment) Act, that came into force with effect from 1 April 1957, introduced a "Decimal series". The rupee was now divided into 100 'Paisa' instead of 16 Annas or 64 Pice. The "Naye Paise" coins were minted in the denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 Naye Paise. Both the Anna series and the Naye Paise coins were valid for some time. From 1968 onward, the new coins were called just Paise instead of Naye Paise because they were no longer 'naye' (English = new).


title: History of the rupee

text: With high inflation in the sixties, small denomination coins which had been made from bronze, nickel-brass, cupro-nickel, and aluminium-bronze were gradually minted in aluminium. This change commenced with the introduction of the new hexagonal 3 paise coin. A twenty paise coin was introduced in 1968 but did not gain much popularity.


title: History of the rupee

text: Over a period, cost-benefit considerations led to the gradual discontinuance of 1, 2 and 3 paise coins in the 1970s. Stainless steel coinage of 10, 25 and 50 paise was introduced in 1988 and of one rupee in 1992. The very considerable costs of managing note issues of Rs 1, Rs 2, and Rs 5 led to the gradual replacement of notes by coins for these denominations in the 1990s.


title: History of the rupee

text: Since its Independence in 1947, Indian rupee was adopted as currency in the nation. During this period almost till mid 1960's Indian rupee was also a legal tender in Trucial States, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.


title: History of the rupee

text: The price of 16 Annas is 0.5 rupee in 1947. The demand for decimalization existed for over a century. Sri Lanka decimalised its rupee in 1869. The "Indian Coinage Act" was amended in September 1955 for the adoption of a decimal system for coinage. The Act came into force with effect from 1 April 1957. The rupee remained unchanged in value and nomenclature. It, however, was now divided into 100 'Paisa' instead of 16 Annas or 64 Pice. For public recognition, the new decimal Paisa was termed 'Naya Paisa' until 1 June 1964 when the term 'Naya' was dropped. The coins of that period also mentioned their value in terms of the rupee to avoid confusion and cheating. For example, the one paisa coin carried the text "एक रुपये का सौंवा भाग"(One hundredth of one rupee).


title: History of the rupee

text: Indian currency began with a devaluation in 1949 due to devaluation of Pound sterling. However since India's trade was largely in Pound sterling it did not register much impact like the two major devaluations of the rupee: In 1966 and 1991 in the face of economic crisis.


title: History of the rupee

text: From 1950, India ran continued trade deficits that increased in magnitude in the 1960s. Furthermore, the Government of India had a budget deficit problem and could not borrow money from abroad or from the private corporate sector, due to that sector's negative savings rate. As a result, the government issued bonds to the RBI, what increased the money supply, leading to inflation. In 1966, foreign aid, which had hitherto been a key factor in preventing devaluation of the rupee, was finally cut off and India was told it had to liberalise its restrictions on trade before foreign aid would again materialize. The response was the politically unpopular step of devaluation accompanied by liberalisation. Furthermore, the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 led the US and other countries friendly towards Pakistan to withdraw foreign aid to India, which necessitated more devaluation. Defense spending in 1965/1966 was 24.06% of total expenditure, the highest it has been in the period from 1965 to 1989 (Foundations, pp 195). Another factor leading to devaluation was the drought of 1965/1966 which resulted in a sharp rise in prices.


title: History of the rupee

text: At the end of 1969, the Indian Rupee was trading at around 13 British pence. A decade later, by 1979, it was trading at around 6 British pence. Finally, by the end of 1989, the Indian Rupee had plunged to an all-time low of 3 British pence. This triggered a wave of irreversible liberalisation reforms away from populist measures.


title: History of the rupee

text: Reserve Bank of India and Government of India adopted multiple adjustments to Indian rupee following the Nixon shock of 1971 and Smithsonian Agreement. The currency gradually shifted from Par value system to pegged system and to basket peg by 1975.


title: History of the rupee

text: In 1991, India still had a fixed exchange system, where the rupee was pegged to the value of a basket of currencies of major trading partners. India started having the balance of payments problems since 1985, and by the end of 1990, it found itself in serious economic trouble. The government was close to default and its foreign exchange reserves had dried up to the point that India could barely finance three weeks’ worth of imports. As in 1966, India faced high inflation and large government budget deficits. This led the government to devalue the rupee. and now it is growing day by day


title: History of the rupee

text: In the period between 2000 and 2007, the Rupee stopped declining and stabilised ranging between 1 $ = Rs 44– Rs 48. In late 2007, the Indian Rupee reached a record high of 39 Indian national rupee per United States dollars, on account of sustained foreign investment flows into the country. This posed problems for major exporters, IT and BPO firms located in the country who were incurring losses in their earnings given the appreciation in rupee. The trend reversed with the 2008 world financial crisis as Foreign investors transferred huge sums out to their own countries. Such appreciations were reflected in many currencies, e.g. the British sterling pounds, which had gained value against the dollar and then has lost value again with the recession of 2008.


title: History of the rupee

text: Due to stagnant reforms, and declining foreign investment, rupee started depreciating in the early 2013. Measures were announced by the government before this drop to prevent it from dropping further, but none managed to slow down the depreciation. After continued depreciation, and high inflation, the then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, made a statement in the Parliament of India on the issue. He was of the view that, the present depreciation is partly led by global factors as well as domestic factors. He also asked the political parties to help his Government, tide over the crisis that the country was facing with rupee losing its value.


title: History of the rupee

text: 2016 saw the discontinuation of ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes due to the 2016 Indian bank note demonetisation and consequently the introduction of new a ₹500 note, and a ₹2,000 note- a first for the currency. Later on, new notes of old denominations viz. ₹10, ₹20, ₹50 and ₹100 were issued with old notes of the same value still being legal tender. A ₹200 note, also a first for the Indian Rupee, is currently in circulation.


title: History of the rupee

text: The Paper Currency Act,1861 gave the Government the monopoly of note issue throughout the vast expanse of British India, which was a considerable task. Eventually, the management of paper currency was entrusted to the Mint Masters, the Accountant Generals and the Controller of Currency.


title: History of the rupee

text: The Reserve Bank of India was formally inaugurated on Monday, 1 April 1935 with its Central Office at Calcutta. Section 22 of the RBI Act, 1934, empowered it to continue issuing Government of India notes until its own notes were ready for issue. The bank issued the first five rupee note bearing the portrait of George VI in 1938. This was followed by Rs. 10 in February, Rs 100 in March and Rs 1,000 and Rs 10,000 in June 1938. The first Reserve Bank issues were signed by the second Governor, Sir James Taylor. In August 1940, the one-rupee note was reintroduced as a wartime measure, as a Government note with the status of a rupee coin. During the war, the Japanese produced high-quality forgeries of the Indian currency. This necessitated a change in the watermark. The profile portrait of George VI was changed to his full frontal portrait. The security thread was introduced for the first time in India. The George VI series continued till 1947 and thereafter as a frozen series till 1950 when post-independence notes were issued.


title: History of the rupee

text: Following the Independence of India the Government of India brought out the new design Re.1 note in 1949. Initially, it was felt that the King's portrait is replaced by a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. Finally, however, the Lion Capital of Ashoka was chosen. The new design of notes were largely along earlier lines. In 1953, Hindi was displayed prominently on the new notes. The economic crisis in the late 1960s led to a reduction in the size of notes in 1967. High denomination notes, like Rs. 10,000 notes were demonetized in 1978.


title: History of the rupee

text: The first "Mahatma Gandhi Series" was introduced in 1996. Prominent new features included a changed watermark, windowed security thread, latent image and intaglio features for the visually handicapped.


title: History of the rupee

text: The five hundred (₹500) and one thousand rupee notes (₹1,000) were demonetised by an unscheduled address to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi starting from midnight 8 November 2016. These notes are being replaced by the Mahatma Gandhi New Series of notes.


title: History of the rupee

text: The rupee was never equal to the dollar. At the time of independence (in 1947), India's currency was pegged to pound sterling, and the exchange rate was a shilling and six pence for a rupee — which worked out to Rs 13.33 to the pound. The dollar-pound exchange rate then was $4.03 to the pound, which in effect gave a rupee-dollar rate in 1947 of around Rs 3.30. The pound was devalued in 1949, changing its parity from 4.03 to 2.80. India was then a part of the sterling area, and the rupee was devalued on the same day by the same percentage so that the new dollar exchange rate in 1949 became Rs 4.76 — which is where it stayed till the rupee devaluation of 1966 made it Rs 7.50 to the dollar and the pound moved to Rs 21.


title: History of the rupee

text: In Mozambique the British India rupees were overstamped, and in Kenya the British East Africa company minted the rupee and its fractions as well as pice. It was maintained as the florin, using the same standard, until 1920. In Somalia the Italian colonial authority minted 'Rupia' to exactly the same standard, and called the paisa 'besa'. Early 18th-century E.I.C. rupees were used in Australia for a limited period.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New York City. It is known as a New England summer resort and is famous for its historic mansions and its rich sailing history.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: It was the location of the first U.S. Open tournaments in both tennis and golf, as well as every challenge to the America's Cup between 1930 and 1983. It is also the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport, which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and an important Navy training center. It was a major 18th-century port city and boasts many buildings from the Colonial era.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: The city is the county seat of Newport County, which has no governmental functions other than court administrative and sheriff corrections boundaries. It was known for being the location of the "Summer White Houses" during the administrations of presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. The population was 25,163 at the 2020 census.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport was founded in 1639 on Aquidneck Island, another name given to Rhode Island. Its eight founders and first officers were Nicholas Easton, William Coddington, John Clarke, John Coggeshall, William Brenton, Jeremy Clark, Thomas Hazard, and Henry Bull. Many of these people were part of the settlement at Portsmouth, along with Anne Hutchinson and her followers. They separated within a year of that settling Portsmouth, so Coddington and the others began the settlement of Newport on the southern side of the island.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport eventually grew to be the largest of the four original settlements that later became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, including Providence Plantations and Shawomett. Many of the first colonists in Newport became Baptists, and the second Baptist congregation in Rhode Island was formed in 1640 under the leadership of John Clarke.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: In 1658, a group of Jews was welcomed to settle in Newport. Fleeing the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal, they were not allowed to settle elsewhere. This group eventually came to be known as Congregation Jeshuat Israel, and is the second-oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. They also meet in the oldest synagogue in the U.S., Touro Synagogue.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations received its royal charter in 1663. Benedict Arnold was elected as the first governor. Upon its completion in 1741, The Old Colony House, at the head of Washington Square in Newport, served as the seat of Rhode Island's government until the current Rhode Island State House in Providence was completed in 1904. At that time, Providence, Rhode Island became the state's sole capital city.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Prior to that, Newport was the most important port in colonial Rhode Island, and a public school was established in 1640. The commercial activity that raised Newport to its fame as a rich port began with the immigration of a second wave of Portuguese Jews, who settled there around the middle of the 18th century. The new settlers had been practicing Judaism secretly for 300 years in Portugal, and they were attracted to Rhode Island because of its freedom of worship. Besides their religion, they brought with them commercial experience, connections, capital, and a spirit of enterprise.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Most prominent among them were Jacob Rodrigues Rivera, who arrived in 1745 (died 1789). Rivera introduced the manufacture of sperm oil, derived from sperm whales. This became one of Newport's leading industries and made the town a wealthy, prominent whaling community. Newport developed 17 manufacturers of oil and candles, and enjoyed a practical monopoly of this trade until the American Revolution.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Aaron Lopez is also credited with making Newport an important center of trade. He encouraged 40 Portuguese Jewish families to settle there, and within 14 years, Newport had 150 vessels engaged in trade. Lopez was involved in the slave trade, as were other shipping magnates, and the manufacture of spermaceti candles, ships, barrels, rum, chocolate, textiles, clothes, shoes, hats, and bottles. Although Lopez became the wealthiest man in Newport, he was denied citizenship on religious grounds, even though British law protected the rights of Jews to become citizens in England.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Lopez appealed to the Rhode Island colonial legislature for redress and was refused with this ruling:


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: From the mid-17th century, the religious tolerance in Newport attracted numbers of Quakers, known also as the "Society of Friends". The Great Friends Meeting House in Newport (1699) is the oldest existing structure of worship in Rhode Island.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: In 1727, James Franklin (brother of Benjamin Franklin) printed the "Rhode-Island Almanack" in Newport. In 1732, he published the first newspaper, the "Rhode Island Gazette". In 1758, his son James founded the weekly newspaper "Mercury". The famous 18th-century Goddard and Townsend furniture was also made in Newport.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Throughout the 18th-century, Newport suffered from an imbalance of trade with the largest colonial ports. As a result, Newport merchants were forced to develop alternatives to conventional exports. In the 1720s, Colonial leaders arrested many pirates, acting under pressure from the British government. Many were hanged in Newport and buried on Goat Island.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport was a major center of the slave trade in colonial and early America, active in the "triangle trade" in which slave-produced sugar and molasses from the Caribbean were carried to Rhode Island and distilled into rum that was then carried to West Africa and exchanged for captives. In 1764, Rhode Island had about 30 rum distilleries, 22 in Newport alone. Most of these enslaved people were buried at the Common Burial Ground on Farewell Street.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: 60% of slave-trading voyages launched from North America were issued from Rhode Island, in some years more than 90%, and many from Newport. Almost half were trafficked illegally, breaking a 1787 law prohibiting residents of the state from trading in slaves. Slave traders were also breaking federal statutes of 1794 and 1800 barring Americans from carrying slaves to ports outside the United States, as well as the 1807 Congressional act abolishing the transatlantic slave trade.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: A few Rhode Island families made substantial fortunes in the trade. William and Samuel Vernon were Newport merchants who later played an important role in financing the creation of the United States Navy; they sponsored 30 African slaving ventures. However, it was the DeWolfs of Bristol, Rhode Island, and most notably James De Wolf, who was the largest slave-trading family in all of North America, mounting more than 80 transatlantic voyages, most of them illegal. The Rhode Island slave trade was broadly based. Seven hundred Rhode Islanders owned or captained slave ships, most of who were substantial merchants, though many were ordinary shopkeepers and tradesmen who purchased shares in slaving voyages.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Although it was one of America's most active slave ports, Newport was inhabited by a small group of abolitionists and free blacks. Reverend Samuel Hopkins, minister at Newport's First Congregational Church, has been called "America's first abolitionist". Among subscribers to Hopkins' writings were 17 free black citizens, most of whom lived in Newport. This community of freemen, including Newport Gardner, founded the Free African Union Society in 1780: the first African mutual aid society in America.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport was the scene of much activity during the American Revolution. William Ellery, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was a Newport native. Ellery went on to serve on the Naval Committee.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: In the winter of 1775 and 1776, the Rhode Island Legislature placed militia general William West in charge of rooting out loyalists in Newport, which resulted in several individuals being exiled to the northern part of the state, including Joseph Wanton and Thomas Vernon.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: On 8 December 1776, the British occupied the city without opposition. Sir Peter Parker led 50-gun British ships, while Lieutenant-General Henry Clinton led 7000 troops. According to Alfred Thayer Mahan, "The immediate effect was to close a haven of privateers, which flanked the route of all vessels bound from Europe to New York."


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: In the summer of 1778, the Americans began the campaign known as the Battle of Rhode Island. This was the first joint operation between the Americans and the French after the signing of the Treaty of Alliance. The Americans based in Tiverton planned a formal siege of the town. However, the French refused to take part, instead preferring a frontal assault. This weakened the American position, and the British were able to expel the Americans from the island.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: In 1779, the British abandoned the location. Rodney lamented, "The evacuating Rhode Island was the most fatal measure that could possibly have been adopted. It gave up the best and noblest harbor in America, capable of containing the whoile Navy of Britain, and where they could in all seasons lie in perfect security; and from whence squadrons, in forty-eight hours, could blockade the three capital cities of America; namely, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia."


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: On July 10, 1780, a French expedition arrived in Narragansett Bay off Newport with an army of 450 officers and 5,300 men, sent by King Louis XVI and commanded by Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau. For the rest of the war, Newport served as the base of the French forces in the United States. In July 1781, Rochambeau was finally able to leave Newport for Providence to begin the decisive march to Yorktown, Virginia, along with General George Washington. The first Roman Catholic mass in Rhode Island was said in Newport during this time. The Rochambeau Monument in King Park on Wellington Avenue, along Newport Harbor, commemorates Rochambeau's contributions to the Revolutionary War and to Newport's history.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport's population fell from over 9,000 (according to the census of 1774) to fewer than 4,000 by the time that the war ended (1783). Over 200 abandoned buildings were torn down in the 1780s. As well, the war destroyed Newport's economic wealth, because years of military occupation closed the city to any form of trade. The Newport merchants moved to other areas; some to Providence, others to Boston and New York.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: It was in Newport that the Rhode Island General Assembly voted to ratify the Constitution in 1790 and become the 13th state, acting under pressure from the merchant community of Providence.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: The city was the last residence of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and the birthplace of Commodore Matthew C. Perry and the Unitarian theologian William Ellery Channing.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, wealthy southern planters seeking to escape the heat began to build summer cottages on Bellevue Avenue, such as Kingscote (1839). Around the middle of the century, wealthy northerners, such as the Wetmore family, began construction on larger mansions, such as Chateau-sur-Mer (1852) nearby. Most of these early families made a substantial part of their fortunes in the Old China Trade.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: By the turn of the 20th century, many of the nation's wealthiest families were summering in Newport, including the Vanderbilts, Astors, and the Widener family, who constructed the largest "cottages," such as The Breakers (1895) and Miramar (1915). They resided for a brief summer social season in grand mansions with elaborate receiving rooms, dining rooms, music rooms, and ballrooms—but with few bedrooms, since the guests were expected to have "cottages" of their own. Many of the homes were designed by New York architect Richard Morris Hunt, who kept a house in Newport himself.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: The social scene at Newport is described in Edith Wharton's novel "The Age of Innocence". Wharton's own Newport "cottage" was called Land's End"." Today, many mansions continue in private use. Hammersmith Farm is the mansion where John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy held their wedding reception; it was open to tourists as a "house museum", but has since been purchased and reconverted into a private residence. Many of the other mansions are open to tourists, and others were converted into academic buildings for Salve Regina College in the 1930s, when the owners could no longer afford their tax bills.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: In the mid-19th century, a large number of Irish immigrants settled in Newport. The Fifth Ward of Newport in the southern part of the city became a staunch Irish neighborhood for many generations. To this day, St. Patrick's Day is an important day of pride and celebration in Newport, with a large parade down Thames Street.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: The oldest Catholic parish in Rhode Island is St. Mary's, located on Spring Street, though the current building is not original.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: In the late nineteenth century, Newport became the center of an emerging pastime for young, athletic, upper-class men: bicycling. On May 29, 1880, representatives of 31 cycling clubs convened in Newport to hold a parade and meeting, and formed the League of American Wheelmen, the first national bicycling organization. The League was instrumental in establishing the Good Roads Movement.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Rhode Island did not have a fixed capital during and after the colonial era, but rotated its legislative sessions among Providence, Newport, Bristol, East Greenwich, and South Kingstown. In 1854, the sessions were eliminated in cities other than Providence and Newport, and Newport was ultimately dropped in 1900 as a constitutional amendment that year restricted the meetings of the legislature to Providence.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had many ties to Newport. She spent her childhood summers at Newport's Hammersmith Farm. She and John Fitzgerald Kennedy attended nearby St. Mary's Church and were married there on September 12, 1953. The Kennedys sailed their yacht "Honey Fitz" in Narragansett Bay, golfed at Newport Country Club, dined at The White Horse Tavern, and attended social events at The Breakers.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower both made Newport the sites of their "Summer White Houses" during their years in office. Eisenhower stayed at Quarters A at the Naval War College and at what became known as the Eisenhower House, while Kennedy used Hammersmith Farm.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: The city has long been entwined with the United States Navy. It held the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy during the American Civil War (1861–65) when the undergraduate officer training school was temporarily moved north from Annapolis, Maryland. From 1952 to 1973, it hosted the Cruiser-Destroyer Force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and subsequently, it has hosted smaller numbers of warships from time to time. Today it hosts Naval Station Newport (NAVSTA Newport) and remains home to the U.S. Naval War College, the center for Surface Warfare Officer training, the Navy Supply Corps School and other schools, and the headquarters of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. The decommissioned aircraft carrier was moored in an inactive status at the docks previously used by the Cruiser-Destroyer Force until it was towed to Brownsville, Texas in August–September 2014 to be dismantled. The shared the pier until June 2010.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: The departure of the Cruiser-Destroyer fleet from Newport, and the closure of nearby Naval Air Station Quonset Point in 1973 were devastating to the local economy. The population of Newport decreased, businesses closed, and property values plummeted. However, in the late 1960s, the city began revitalizing the downtown area with the construction of America's Cup Avenue, malls of stores and condominiums, and upscale hotels. Construction was also completed on the Newport Bridge. The Preservation Society of Newport County began opening Newport's historic mansions to the public, and the tourist industry has become Newport's primary commercial enterprise over the subsequent years.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport is located at . It is the most populous municipality on Aquidneck Island in Narragansett Bay. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 32.64%, is water. The Newport Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in New England, connects Newport to neighboring Conanicut Island across the East Passage of the Narragansett.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Being surrounded by ocean water, Newport is often cooler in the summer than some coastal cities further north, such as Boston.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: As of 2013, there were 24,027 people, 10,616 households, and 4,933 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 13,069 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 82.5% White, 6.9% African American, 0.8% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.1% some other race, and 5.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.4% of the population (3.3% Puerto Rican, 1.2% Guatemalan, 1.1% Mexican).


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: There were 10,616 households, out of which: 21.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.9% were headed by married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 53.5% were non-families. 41.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.7% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.05, and the average family size was 2.82.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: The age distribution was 16.5% under the age of 18, 16.3% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: For the period 2009–2011, the estimated median annual income for a household in the city was $59,388, and the median income for a family was $83,880. Male full-time workers had a median income of $52,221 versus $41,679 for females. The per capita income for the city was $35,644. About 10.7% of the population were below the poverty line.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: The Newport Historic District–one of the city's three National Historic Landmark Districts—boasts one of the highest concentrations of colonial homes in the nation. Doris Duke, heir to the tobacco fortune of her father, James B. Duke, founded the Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF) in 1968, and for the next 25 years, until her death in 1993, saved much of Newport's colonial architectural heritage. Under Duke's leadership, the NRF restored more than 80 18th- and early 19th-century buildings in Newport and neighboring Middletown, Rhode Island, most of which are still owned by the Foundation. In addition to colonial architecture, the city is known for its many mansions—summer "cottages" built in varying styles copied from the royal palaces of Europe—mostly built between 1870 through 1915.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: The White Horse Tavern was built prior to 1673 and is one of the oldest taverns in the US. Newport is also home to the Touro Synagogue, one of the oldest Jewish houses of worship in the Western hemisphere. Newport also has the nation's oldest lending libraries, the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: The Save The Bay Exploration Center and Aquarium, located in the rotunda at Easton's Beach, welcomes 30,000 visitors and 3,500 students and teachers from across southern New England each year.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Because of its history as a summer playground for the wealthy, Newport has played a major role in the history and development of several sports. The League of American Wheelmen was formed in Newport in 1880. The first were held in 1881 on grass courts at the Newport Casino. The first U.S. Open golf tournament was played in 1895 at the Newport Country Club. The America's Cup sailing races were held in Newport from 1930 to 1983.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport is sometimes referred to as the "Sailing Capital of the World". The city was chosen as the new home of the National Sailing Hall of Fame which moved from Annapolis, Maryland in 2019. Several sailing clubs are based in the city, including the New York Yacht Club and the Ida Lewis Yacht Club.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport was the site of the America's Cup sailing races from 1930 to 1983, and it remains the starting point of the biannual 635 nautical-mile Newport Bermuda Race.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport Casino was the site of the earliest American lawn tennis championships. Since 1954 it has housed the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The Newport Casino also hosted the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954. The Hall of Fame Open has been held every July since 1976, during the week following Wimbledon. The week also includes annual inductions into the Hall of Fame.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport is home to the Newport Country Club, which hosted both the first U.S. Amateur Championship and the first U.S. Open in 1895. More recently, the Newport Country Club hosted the 1995 Men's US Amateurs and the 2006 U.S. Women's Open.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Fort Adams which houses the Museum of Yachting and hosts both the Newport Folk Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival, dates back to the War of 1812. The Jazz Festival was established in 1954 by local socialite Elaine Lorillard and music promoter George Wein. It was held annually until 1971, and was re-established in Newport in 1981. In 1959, George Wein, folk singer Pete Seeger, and music manager Albert Grossman established the Newport Folk Festival as a counterpart to the Jazz Festival. It was held in Newport through 1969, returned to the city in 1985, and has been held annually at Fort Adams since. The Folk Festival was the venue for a controversial performance by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in July 1965 that proved influential to the "folk rock movement". Both festivals were held at other venues in Newport before moving to Fort Adams when they were revived in the 1980s.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: In Fall 2013, Newport was designated a Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Aquidneck Island has several beaches, both public and private. The largest public beach is Easton's beach or First Beach, which has a view of the Newport Cliff Walk. The Cliff Walk is one of the most popular attractions in the city. It is a public access walkway bordering the shoreline and has been designated a National Recreation Trail. Sachuest Beach or Second Beach in Middletown is the second-largest beach in the area. Gooseberry Beach is private but is open to the public on certain days of the year. It is located on Ocean Drive, along with the private beaches, Bailey's Beach and Hazard's Beach. In 2014 Maya Lin, the architect who designed the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C., completed a $3.5 million renovation of Queen Anne Square Park, titled "The Meeting Room."


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport Public Schools operates public schools for the area including Claiborne Pell Elementary School, Thompson Middle School, Rogers High School, Newport Area Career and Technical Center, and the Aquidneck Island Adult Learning Center. Prior to 2013, multiple small public elementary schools served the Newport community; the Pell School, a consolidation of those schools, opened in 2013.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: St. Michael's Country Day School is the only private elementary school in the city. Nearby private primary schools include All Saints Academy in Middletown, The Pennfield School in Portsmouth, and St. Philomena School in Portsmouth. Nearby private secondary schools include Portsmouth Abbey School in Portsmouth and St. George's School in Middletown.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: St. Joseph of Cluny School was formerly located in Newport, on property given by the estate of Arthur Curtiss James to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence in 1941. Military families from Fort Adams requested a Catholic school, so St. Joseph of Cluny opened in September 1957 as a kindergarten and added grades until 1965, when the first eighth-grade graduation was held. Later on, the overall population of Newport declined along with the concentration of middle class families. Much of the housing became too expensive for families with young children, and there were relatively few houses sold to new residents. In addition, many families previously going to the school instead sent their children to the Portsmouth School Department. From 2014 to 2017, the enrollment decreased by a quarter. The school administration stated that this decline and the general competition among private schools in the Newport area meant the operation of the school was no longer viable. It closed in 2017. Betsy Sherman Walker of "Newport This Week" described the closure as a "curveball," unexpected by the community.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Post-secondary schools include the Naval Academy Preparatory School, Salve Regina University, Naval War College, International Yacht Restoration School, and the Community College of Rhode Island Newport Campus.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: While technology and defense are the largest employment sector in the region, seasonal tourism is a major economic engine of the city of Newport, including hotels, restaurants, and retail. As of 2013, 89.64% of all private employment in the city of Newport was in the service sector. Retail trade was the third largest sector, with 1,341 jobs. Retail and restaurant employment can swell by as many as 1,500 jobs during the peak summer season.


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: According to Newport's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the principal employers in the city are:


title: Newport, Rhode Island

text: Newport was a filming location for "High Society" (1956), "The Great Gatsby" (1974), "Mr. North" (1988), "Wind" (1992), and "Moonrise Kingdom" (2012).


title: Tony Benn

text: Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament for Bristol South East and Chesterfield for 47 of the 51 years between 1950 and 2001. He later served as President of the Stop the War Coalition from 2001 to 2014.


title: Tony Benn

text: The son of a Liberal and later Labour Party politician, Benn was born in Westminster and privately educated at Westminster School. He was elected for Bristol South East at the 1950 general election but inherited his father's peerage on his death, which prevented him from continuing to serve as an MP. He fought to remain in the House of Commons and campaigned for the ability to renounce the title, a campaign which succeeded with the Peerage Act 1963. He was an active member of the Fabian Society and served as chairman from 1964 to 1965. He served in the Labour government of Harold Wilson from 1964 to 1970 first as Postmaster General, where he oversaw the opening of the Post Office Tower, and later as Minister of Technology.


title: Tony Benn

text: Benn served as Chairman of the National Executive Committee from 1971 to 1972 while in Opposition. In the Labour government of 1974–1979, he returned to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Industry and subsequently served as Secretary of State for Energy. He retained that post when James Callaghan succeeded Wilson as Prime Minister. When the Labour Party was in opposition through the 1980s, he emerged as a prominent figure on the left wing of the party and unsuccessfully challenged Neil Kinnock for the Labour leadership in 1988. After leaving Parliament at the 2001 general election, Benn was President of the Stop the War Coalition until his death in 2014.


title: Tony Benn

text: Benn was widely seen as a key proponent of democratic socialism and Christian socialism, though in regards to the latter he supported the United Kingdom becoming a secular state and ending the Church of England's status as an official church of the United Kingdom (known as disestablishmentarianism). Originally considered a moderate within the party, he was identified as belonging to its left wing after leaving ministerial office. The terms Bennism and Bennite came into usage to describe the left-wing politics he espoused from the late 1970s and its adherents. He was an influence on the political views of Jeremy Corbyn, who was elected Leader of the Labour Party a year after Benn's death, and John McDonnell, who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer under Corbyn.


title: Tony Benn

text: Benn was born in Westminster, London, on 3 April 1925. He had two brothers, Michael (1921–1944), who was killed in the Second World War, and David (1928–2017), a specialist in Russia and Eastern Europe. After the Thames flood in January 1928 their house was uninhabitable so the Benn family moved to Scotland for over 12 months. Their father, William Benn, was a Liberal Member of Parliament from 1906 who crossed the floor to the Labour Party in 1928 and was appointed Secretary of State for India by Ramsay MacDonald in 1929, a position he held until the Labour Party's landslide electoral defeat in 1931. William Benn was elevated to the House of Lords and Tony Benn was subsequently titled with the honorific prefix, "The Honourable." William Benn was given the title of Viscount Stansgate in 1942: the new wartime coalition government was short of working Labour peers in the upper house. In 1945–46, William Benn was the Secretary of State for Air in the first majority Labour Government.


title: Tony Benn

text: Benn's mother, Margaret Benn ("née" Holmes, 1897–1991), was a theologian, feminist and the founder President of the Congregational Federation. She was a member of the League of the Church Militant, which was the predecessor of the Movement for the Ordination of Women; in 1925, she was rebuked by Randall Davidson, the Archbishop of Canterbury, for advocating the ordination of women. His mother's theology had a profound influence on Benn, as she taught him that the stories in the Bible were mostly about the struggle between the prophets and the kings and that he ought in his life to support the prophets over the kings, who had power, as the prophets taught righteousness.


title: Tony Benn

text: Benn was for over 30 years a committed Christian. He said that the teachings of Jesus Christ had a "radical political importance" on his life, and made a distinction between the historical Jesus as "a carpenter of Nazareth" who advocated social justice and egalitarianism and "the way in which he's presented by some religious authorities; by popes, archbishops and bishops who present Jesus as justification for their power", believing this to be a gross misunderstanding of the role of Jesus. He believed that it was a "great mistake" to assume that the teachings of Christianity are outdated in modern Britain, and Higgins wrote in "The Benn Inheritance" that Benn was "a socialist whose political commitment owes much more to the teaching of Jesus than the writing of Marx". (Indeed, he did not read "The Communist Manifesto" until he was in his 50s.) "The driving force of his life was Christian socialism," according to Peter Wilby, linking Benn to the "high-minded" founding roots of Labour.


title: Tony Benn

text: Later in his life, Benn emphasised issues regarding morality and righteousness, as well as various ethical principles of Nonconformism. On "Desert Island Discs" he said that he had been powerfully influenced by "what I would call the Dissenting tradition" (that is, the English Dissenters who left or were ejected from the established church, one of whom was his ancestor William Benn). "I've never thought we can understand the world we lived in unless we understood the history of the church", Benn said to the "Catholic Herald". "All political freedoms were won, first of all, through religious freedom. Some of the arguments about the control of the media today, which are very big arguments, are the arguments that would have been fought in the religious wars. You have the satellites coming in now—well, it is the multinational church all over again. That's why Mrs Thatcher pulled Britain out of UNESCO: she was not prepared, any more than Ronald Reagan was, to be part of an organisation that talked about a New World Information Order, people speaking to each other without the help of Murdoch or Maxwell."


title: Tony Benn

text: According to Wilby in the "New Statesman", Benn "decided to do without the paraphernalia and doctrine of organised religion but not without the teachings of Jesus". Although Benn became more agnostic as he became older, he was intrigued by the interconnections between Christianity, radicalism and socialism. Wilby also wrote in "The Guardian" that although former Chancellor Stafford Cripps described Benn as "as keen a Christian as I am myself", Benn wrote in 2005 that he was "a Christian agnostic" who believed "in Jesus the prophet, not Christ the king", specifically rejecting the label of "humanist".


title: Tony Benn

text: Both of Benn's grandfathers were Liberal Party MPs; his paternal grandfather was John Benn, a successful politician, MP for Tower Hamlets and later Devonport, who was created a baronet in 1914 (and who founded a publishing company, Benn Brothers), and his maternal grandfather was Daniel Holmes, MP for Glasgow Govan. Benn's contact with leading politicians of the day, dates back to his earliest years. He met Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald when he was five years old, whom he described as: "A kindly old gentleman [who] leaned over me and offered me a chocolate biscuit. I've looked at Labour leaders in a funny way ever since." Benn also met former Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George when he was 12, and later recalled that, while still a boy, he once shook hands with Mahatma Gandhi, in 1931, while his father was Secretary of State for India.


title: Tony Benn

text: During the Second World War, Benn joined and trained with the Home Guard from the age of 16, later recalling in a speech made in 2009: "I could use a bayonet, a rifle, a revolver, and if I'd seen a German officer having a meal I'd have tossed a grenade through the window. Would I have been a freedom fighter or a terrorist?" In July 1943, Benn enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman 2nd Class. His father and elder brother Michael (who was later killed in an accident) were already serving in the RAF. He was granted an emergency commission as a pilot officer (on probation) on 10 March 1945. As a pilot officer, Benn served as a pilot in South Africa and Rhodesia. In June 1944, he made his first solo flight, at RAF Guinea Fowl, an RAF Elementary Flying Training School, in Rhodesia. The aircraft was a Canadian-built Fairchild Cornell. In a 1993 article recounting the experience, he said, "I always thought that I would feel a sense of panic when I saw the ground coming up at me on my first solo, but strangely enough I didn't feel anything but exhilaration ...". He relinquished his commission with effect from 10 August 1945, three months after the Second World War ended in Europe on 8 May, and just days before the war with Japan ended on 2 September.


title: Tony Benn

text: After attending Mr Gladstone's day school near Sloane Square, Benn attended Westminster School, and studied at New College, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics and was elected President of the Oxford Union in 1947. In later life, Benn removed public references to his private education from "Who's Who". In 1970 all references to Westminster School were removed, and in the 1975 edition his entry stated "Education—still in progress". In the 1976 edition, almost all details were omitted except his name, jobs as a Member of Parliament and as a Government Minister, and address; the publishers confirmed that Benn had sent back the draft entry with everything else struck through. In the 1977 edition, Benn's entry disappeared entirely, and when he returned to "Who's Who" in 1983, he was listed as "Tony Benn" and all references to his education or service record were removed.


title: Tony Benn

text: In 1972, Benn said in his diaries that "Today I had the idea that I would resign my Privy Councillorship, my MA and all my honorary doctorates in order to strip myself of what the world had to offer". While he acknowledged that he "might be ridiculed" for doing so, Benn said that "'Wedgie Benn' and 'the Rt Honourable Anthony Wedgwood Benn' and all that stuff is impossible. I have been Tony Benn in Bristol for a long time." In October 1973, he announced on BBC Radio that he wished to be known as Mr. Tony Benn rather than Anthony Wedgwood Benn, and his book "Speeches" from 1974 is credited to "Tony Benn". Despite this name change, social historian Alwyn W. Turner writes that "Just as those with an agenda to pursue still call Muhammed Ali by his original name ... so most newspapers continued to refer to Tony Benn as Wedgwood Benn, or Wedgie in the case of the tabloids, for years to come".


title: Tony Benn

text: Benn met Caroline Middleton DeCamp (born 13 October 1926, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States) over tea at Worcester College, Oxford, in 1949; just nine days after meeting her, he proposed to her on a park bench in the city. Later, he bought the bench from Oxford City Council and installed it in the garden of their home in Holland Park. Tony and Caroline had four children—Stephen, Hilary, Melissa, a feminist writer, and Joshua—and 10 grandchildren. Caroline Benn died of cancer on 22 November 2000, aged 74, after a career as an educationalist.


title: Tony Benn

text: Two of Benn's children have been active in Labour Party politics. His eldest son Stephen was an elected Member of the Inner London Education Authority from 1986 to 1990. His second son Hilary was a councillor in London, stood for Parliament in 1983 and 1987, and became Labour MP for Leeds Central in 1999. He was Secretary of State for International Development from 2003 to 2007, and then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs until 2010, later serving as Shadow Foreign Secretary (2015–16). This makes him the third generation of his family to have been a member of the Cabinet, a rare distinction for a modern political family in Britain. Benn's granddaughter Emily Benn was the Labour Party's youngest-ever candidate when she failed to win East Worthing and Shoreham in 2010. Benn was a first cousin once removed of the actress Margaret Rutherford.


title: Tony Benn

text: Benn and his wife Caroline became vegetarian in 1970, for ethical reasons, and remained so for the rest of their lives. Benn cited the decision of his son Hilary to become vegetarian as an important factor in his own decision to adopt a vegetarian diet.


title: Tony Benn

text: Following the Second World War, Benn worked briefly as a BBC Radio producer. On 1 November 1950, he was selected to succeed Stafford Cripps as the Labour candidate for Bristol South East, after Cripps stood down because of ill-health. He won the seat in a by-election on 30 November 1950. Anthony Crosland helped him get the seat as he was the MP for nearby South Gloucestershire at the time. Upon taking the oath on 4 December 1950 Benn became "Baby of the House", the youngest MP, for one day, being succeeded by Thomas Teevan, who was two years younger but took his oath a day later. He became the "Baby" again in 1951, when Teevan was not re-elected. In the 1950s, Benn held middle-of-the-road or soft left views, and was not associated with the young left wing group around Aneurin Bevan.


title: Tony Benn

text: As MP for Bristol South East, Benn helped organise the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott against the colour bar of the Bristol Omnibus Company against employing Black British and British Asian drivers. Benn said that he would "stay off the buses, even if I have to find a bike", and Labour leader Harold Wilson also told an anti-apartheid rally in London he was "glad that so many Bristolians are supporting the [boycott] campaign", adding that he "wish[ed] them every success".


title: Tony Benn

text: Benn's father was created Viscount Stansgate in 1942 when Winston Churchill increased the number of Labour peers to aid political work in the House of Lords; at this time, Benn's elder brother Michael, then serving in the RAF, was intending to enter the priesthood and had no objections to inheriting a peerage. However, Michael was later killed in an accident while on active service in the Second World War, and this left Benn as the heir-apparent to the peerage. He made several unsuccessful attempts to renounce the succession.


title: Tony Benn

text: In November 1960, Lord Stansgate died. Benn automatically became a peer, preventing him from sitting in the House of Commons. The Speaker of the Commons, Sir Harry Hylton-Foster, did not allow him to deliver a speech from the bar of the House of Commons in April 1961 when the by-election was being called. Continuing to maintain his right to abandon his peerage, Benn fought to retain his seat in a by-election caused by his succession on 4 May 1961. Although he was disqualified from taking his seat, he was re-elected. An election court found that the voters were fully aware that Benn was disqualified, and declared the seat won by the Conservative runner-up, Malcolm St Clair, who was at the time also the heir presumptive to a peerage.


title: Tony Benn

text: Benn continued his campaign outside Parliament. Within two years, though, the Conservative Government of the time, which had members in the same or similar situation to Benn's (i.e., who were going to receive title, or who had already applied for writs of summons), changed the law. The Peerage Act 1963, allowing lifetime disclaimer of peerages, became law shortly after 6 pm on 31 July 1963. Benn was the first peer to renounce his title, doing so at 6.22 pm that day. St Clair, fulfilling a promise he had made at the time of his election, then accepted the office of Steward of the Manor of Northstead, disqualifying himself from the House (outright resignation not being possible). Benn returned to the Commons after winning a by-election on 20 August 1963.


title: Tony Benn

text: In the 1964 Government led by Harold Wilson, Benn was Postmaster General, where he oversaw the opening of the Post Office Tower, then the UK's tallest building, and the creations of the Post Bus service and Girobank. He proposed issuing stamps without the Sovereign's head, but this met with private opposition from the Queen. Instead, the portrait was reduced to a small profile in silhouette, a format that is still used on commemorative stamps.


title: Tony Benn

text: Benn also led the government's opposition to the "pirate" radio stations broadcasting from international waters, which he was aware would be an unpopular measure. Some of these stations were causing problems, such as interference to emergency radio used by shipping, although he was not responsible for introducing the Marine Broadcasting Offences Bill when it came before Parliament at the end of July 1966 for its first reading.


title: Tony Benn

text: Earlier in the month, Benn was promoted to Minister of Technology, which included responsibility for the development of Concorde and the formation of International Computers Ltd. (ICL). The period also saw government involvement in industrial rationalisation, and the merger of several car companies to form British Leyland. Following Conservative MP Enoch Powell's 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech to a Conservative Association meeting, in opposition to Harold Wilson's insistence on not "stirring up the Powell issue", Benn said during the 1970 general election campaign:


title: Tony Benn

text: The mainstream press attacked Benn for using language deemed as intemperate as Powell's language in his "Rivers of Blood" speech (which was widely regarded as racist), and Benn noted in his diary that "letters began pouring in on the Powell speech: 2:1 against me but some very sympathetic ones saying that my speech was overdue". Harold Wilson later reprimanded Benn for this speech, accusing him of losing Labour seats in the 1970 general election.


title: Tony Benn

text: Labour lost the 1970 election to Edward Heath's Conservatives and upon Heath's application to join the European Economic Community, a surge in left-wing Euroscepticism emerged. Benn "was stridently against membership", and campaigned in favour of a referendum on the UK's membership. The Shadow Cabinet voted to support a referendum on 29 March 1972, and as a result Roy Jenkins resigned as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.


title: Tony Benn

text: In the Labour Government of 1974, Benn was Secretary of State for Industry and as such increased nationalised industry pay, provided better terms and conditions for workers such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was involved in setting up worker cooperatives in firms which were struggling, the best known being at Meriden, outside Coventry, producing Triumph Motorcycles. In 1975, he was appointed Secretary of State for Energy, immediately following his unsuccessful campaign for a "No" vote in the referendum on the UK's continued membership of the European Community (Common Market). Later in his diary, (25 October 1977) Benn wrote that he "loathed" the EEC; he claimed it was "bureaucratic and centralised" and "of course it is really dominated by Germany. All the Common Market countries except the UK have been occupied by Germany, and they have this mixed feeling of hatred and subservience towards the Germans".


title: Tony Benn

text: Upon the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, Benn described Mao as "one of the greatest—if not the greatest—figures of the twentieth century: a schoolteacher who transformed China, released it from civil war and foreign attack and constructed a new society there" in his diaries, adding that "he certainly towers above any twentieth-century figure I can think of in his philosophical contribution and military genius". On his trip to the Chinese embassy after Mao's death, Benn recorded in an earlier volume of his diaries that he was "a great admirer of Mao", while also admitting that "he made mistakes, because everybody does".


title: Tony Benn

text: Harold Wilson resigned as Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister in March 1976. Benn later attributed the collapse of the Wilson government to cuts enforced on the UK by global capital, in particular the International Monetary Fund. In the resulting leadership contest Benn finished in fourth place out of the six cabinet ministers who stood—he withdrew as 11.8 per cent of colleagues voted for him in the first ballot. Benn withdrew from the second ballot and endorsed Michael Foot; James Callaghan eventually won. Despite not receiving his support in the second and third rounds of the vote, Callaghan kept Benn on as Energy Secretary. In 1976, there was a sterling crisis, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Denis Healey sought a loan from the International Monetary Fund. Underlining a wish to counter international market forces which seemed to penalise a larger welfare state, Benn publicly circulated the divided Cabinet minutes in which a narrow majority of the Labour Cabinet under Ramsay MacDonald supported a cut in unemployment benefits in order to obtain a loan from American bankers. As he highlighted, these minutes resulted in the 1931 split of the Labour Party in which MacDonald and his allies formed a National Government with Conservatives and Liberals. Callaghan allowed Benn to put forward the Alternative Economic Strategy, which consisted of a self-sufficient economy less dependent on low-rate fresh borrowing, but the AES, which according to opponents would have led to a "siege economy", was rejected by the Cabinet. In response, Benn later recalled that: "I retorted that their policy was a siege economy, only they had the bankers inside the castle with all our supporters left outside, whereas my policy would have our supporters in the castle with the bankers outside." Benn blamed the Winter of Discontent on these cuts to socialist policies.


title: Tony Benn

text: During Benn's time as energy minister from 1975 to 1979 he supported the United Kingdom's use of nuclear power. However, later in his life he became an opponent of nuclear power, attributing his time as running it as a minister to persuading him it was not cheap, safe or peaceful. When asked in an interview in January 2009 on what he had changed his mind on over the course of his life he expanded on this issue by saying:


title: Tony Benn

text: By the end of the 1970s, Benn's views had shifted to the left-wing of the Labour Party. He attributed this political shift to his experience as a Cabinet Minister in the 1964–1970 Labour Government. Benn ascribed his move to the left to four lessons:


title: Tony Benn

text: Benn's philosophy consisted of a form of syndicalism, state planning where necessary to ensure national competitiveness, greater democracy in the structures of the Labour Party and observance of Party Conference decisions. Alongside an alleged 12 Labour MPs, he spent 12 years affiliated with the Institute for Workers' Control, beginning in 1971 when he visited the Upper Clyde Shipyards, arguing in 1975 for the "labour movement to intensify its discussion about industrial democracy".


title: Tony Benn

text: He was vilified by most of the press while his opponents implied and stated that a Benn-led Labour Government would implement a type of Eastern European state socialism, with Edward Heath referring to Benn as "Commissar Benn" and others referring to Benn as a "Bollinger Bolshevik". Despite this, Benn was overwhelmingly popular with Labour activists in the constituencies: a survey of delegates at the Labour Party Conference in 1978 found that by large margins they supported Benn for the leadership, as well as many Bennite policies.