title: Zinc oxide

text: Zinc oxide (ZnO) is used as a pretreatment step to remove hydrogen sulfide (HS) from natural gas following hydrogenation of any sulfur compounds prior to a methane reformer, which can poison the catalyst. At temperatures between about , HS is converted to water by the following reaction:


title: Zinc oxide

text: ZnO has wide direct band gap (3.37 eV or 375 nm at room temperature). Therefore, its most common potential applications are in laser diodes and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Moreover, ultrafast nonlinearities and photoconductive functions have been reported in ZnO. Some optoelectronic applications of ZnO overlap with that of GaN, which has a similar band gap (~3.4 eV at room temperature). Compared to GaN, ZnO has a larger exciton binding energy (~60 meV, 2.4 times of the room-temperature thermal energy), which results in bright room-temperature emission from ZnO. ZnO can be combined with GaN for LED-applications. For instance, a transparent conducting oxide layer and ZnO nanostructures provide better light outcoupling. Other properties of ZnO favorable for electronic applications include its stability to high-energy radiation and its ability to be patterned by wet chemical etching. Radiation resistance makes ZnO a suitable candidate for space applications. ZnO is the most promising candidate in the field of random lasers to produce an electronically pumped UV laser source.


title: Zinc oxide

text: The pointed tips of ZnO nanorods result in a strong enhancement of an electric field. Therefore, they can be used as field emitters.


title: Zinc oxide

text: Aluminium-doped ZnO layers are used as transparent electrodes. The components Zn and Al are much cheaper and less toxic compared to the generally used indium tin oxide (ITO). One application which has begun to be commercially available is the use of ZnO as the front contact for solar cells or of liquid crystal displays.


title: Zinc oxide

text: Transparent thin-film transistors (TTFT) can be produced with ZnO. As field-effect transistors, they do not need a p–n junction, thus avoiding the p-type doping problem of ZnO. Some of the field-effect transistors even use ZnO nanorods as conducting channels.


title: Zinc oxide

text: Zinc oxide nanorod sensors are devices detecting changes in electric current passing through zinc oxide nanowires due to adsorption of gas molecules. Selectivity to hydrogen gas was achieved by sputtering palladium clusters on the nanorod surface. The addition of palladium appears to be effective in the catalytic dissociation of hydrogen molecules into atomic hydrogen, increasing the sensitivity of the sensor device. The sensor detects hydrogen concentrations down to 10 parts per million at room temperature, whereas there is no response to oxygen. ZnO have been used as immobilization layers in immunosensors enabling the distribution of antibodies across the entire region probed by the measuring electric field applied to the microelectrodes.


title: Zinc oxide

text: ZnO has also been considered for spintronics applications: if doped with 1–10% of magnetic ions (Mn, Fe, Co, V, etc.), ZnO could become ferromagnetic, even at room temperature. Such room temperature ferromagnetism in ZnO:Mn has been observed, but it is not clear yet whether it originates from the matrix itself or from secondary oxide phases.


title: Zinc oxide

text: The piezoelectricity in textile fibers coated in ZnO have been shown capable of fabricating "self-powered nanosystems" with everyday mechanical stress from wind or body movements.


title: Zinc oxide

text: In 2008 the "Center for Nanostructure Characterization" at the Georgia Institute of Technology reported producing an electricity generating device (called flexible charge pump generator) delivering alternating current by stretching and releasing zinc oxide nanowires. This mini-generator creates an oscillating voltage up to 45 millivolts, converting close to seven percent of the applied mechanical energy into electricity. Researchers used wires with lengths of 0.2–0.3 mm and diameters of three to five micrometers, but the device could be scaled down to smaller size.


title: Zinc oxide

text: In form of a thin film ZnO has been demonstrated in miniaturised high frequency thin film resonators, sensors and filters.


title: Zinc oxide

text: ZnO is a promising anode material for lithium-ion battery because it is cheap, biocompatible, and environmentally friendly. ZnO has a higher theoretical capacity (978 mAh g) than many other transition metal oxides such as CoO (715 mAh g), NiO (718 mAh g) and CuO (674 mAh g). ZnO is also used as an electrode in supercapacitors.


title: Zinc oxide

text: As a food additive, zinc oxide is on the U.S. FDA's list of generally recognized as safe, or GRAS, substances.


title: Zinc oxide

text: Zinc oxide itself is non-toxic; it is hazardous, however, to inhale zinc oxide fumes, such as generated when zinc or zinc alloys are melted and oxidized at high temperature. This problem occurs while melting alloys containing brass because the melting point of brass is close to the boiling point of zinc. Exposure to zinc oxide in the air, which also occurs while welding galvanized (zinc plated) steel, can result in a malady called metal fume fever. For this reason, typically galvanized steel is not welded, or the zinc is removed first.


title: Zinc oxide

text: In sunscreen formulations containing zinc oxide and other UV absorbers, zinc oxide was found to cause photodegradation of small-molecule UV absorbers, which exhibited toxicity in embryonic zebrafish assays.


title: Gloria Reuben

text: Gloria Elizabeth Reuben is a Canadian-American actress, producer, and singer. She is well-known for her role as Jeanie Boulet on the medical drama "ER" (1995–1999, 2008), for which she was twice nominated for an Emmy Award, and for portraying Elizabeth Keckley in the 2012 Academy Award–winning, Steven Spielberg–directed film "Lincoln".


title: Gloria Reuben

text: Additionally, she has been featured in films such as "Timecop" (1994), "Nick of Time" (1995), "Admission" (2013), and "Reasonable Doubt" (2014). She played Krista Gordon on "Mr. Robot" (2015–2019), as well as a recurring character on "City on a Hill" (since 2019). She also played Adina Johnson on "Cloak & Dagger" from 2018 to 2019.


title: Gloria Reuben

text: Gloria Reuben was born in Toronto, Ontario, to Pearl Avis (Mills), a classical singer, and Cyril George Reuben, an engineer. Her parents are both Jamaican-born. Her father was mostly Jewish (with Ashkenazi and Sephardi roots), though he also had some African ancestry; her mother is of mostly African descent. Her father died when she was young. Reuben was the subject of a segment of Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s television genealogy series "Finding Your Roots".


title: Gloria Reuben

text: Reuben grew up one of six children. Her older half-brother, Denis Simpson, was an actor and children's television host and died in 2010. Her younger brother David died in 1988. Reuben details her relationship and experience with the deaths of her brothers in her 2019 memoir "My Brothers' Keeper."


title: Gloria Reuben

text: Reuben began learning piano as a child and later studied music technique and theory, ballet and jazz at the Royal Conservatory of Music.


title: Gloria Reuben

text: Reuben began her career as an actress after having a few jobs as a model and in television advertisements.


title: Gloria Reuben

text: Reuben came to prominence on the American television series "ER" as Jeanie Boulet, an HIV-positive physician assistant on the hospital's staff. She was a guest star throughout the first season and was promoted to full-time cast member at the beginning of the second. She continued that role until early in the sixth season. In 2008, Reuben returned to "ER" for one episode during its 14th season. She has stated that this role led to her HIV/AIDS activism. In 1996, she was chosen by "People magazine" as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.


title: Gloria Reuben

text: Reuben again held a major role in a television series when she starred as FBI agent Brooke Haslett in "1-800-Missing" (2003–2004). She later starred as Rosalind Whitman in the TNT series "Raising the Bar".


title: Gloria Reuben

text: Reuben guest-starred in the season two finale of "Drop Dead Diva" as Professor Kathy Miller. Reuben guest-starred in season 12 of NBC's "", reprising her role as U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson. In 2012, she appeared in the CBS TV movie "". In 2012, Reuben played Elizabeth Keckley in the historical drama film "Lincoln" and her portrayal of the character received critical praise. In 2013, she guest starred on the sci-fi drama series "Falling Skies".


title: Gloria Reuben

text: In October 2014, it was announced that Reuben had joined the cast of the USA Network series "Mr. Robot". Reuben plays Dr. Krista Gordon, the psychiatrist of the show's unstable main character, Elliott. The show premiered on in June 2015. She acted in all four seasons of the show. At first a recurring role, Reuben's character was upgraded to a season regular for the fourth and final season.


title: Gloria Reuben

text: In 1999, Reuben acted in an off-Broadway production of "The Vagina Monologues". In 2006, she starred as Condoleezza Rice in the play "Stuff Happens" at the Public Theater. The following year, she won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress, the preeminent honour for off-Broadway productions, for her portrayal. In 2008, she returned to the Public Theater for "Conversations in Tusculum."


title: Gloria Reuben

text: Reuben is a regularly performing jazz singer and pianist. She released her first record, "Just for You", in December 2007. Her second album, "Perchance to Dream", was released in April 2015; it was her first jazz record. Her latest album, "For All We Know", was released on February 14th 2020 on the MCG Jazz recording label, where she is accompanied by guitarist and Grammy winning producer Marty Ashby. She performed all around New York City in the fourth quarter of 2019 to promote her upcoming record.


title: Gloria Reuben

text: On November 19, 2019, Reuben released a memoir, "My Brothers' Keeper", detailing her journey and an exploration of the life she shared with her two brothers, as well as her emotions and experiences after their sudden deaths.


title: Gloria Reuben

text: Reuben is a committed social activist. In large part due to her role as an HIV-positive character in "ER", she continues to raise awareness about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, lobbying for increased advocacy and speaking at several major fundraising events. She also takes great interest in global issues, predominantly climate change, nature, and human rights. Gloria Reuben is the president of Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization that strengthens and grows a global network of grassroots leaders protecting everyone’s right to clean water. She is also a special adviser on climate change for The Climate Reality Project, former United States vice president Al Gore's environmental organization. She was formerly on the board for the National Wildlife Federation. Reuben is also on the Leadership Council for the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights.


title: Phil Collen

text: Philip Kenneth Collen (born 8 December 1957) is an English musician who is best known as the co-lead guitarist for the rock band Def Leppard, joining the band in 1982 during the recording of the "Pyromania" album. Prior to joining Def Leppard, Collen had performed with a number of bands in the burgeoning British glam metal scene. Outside of Def Leppard, with which he still records and performs live, he has been involved in a number of side projects most notably the trio Man Raze, with which he is the lead singer and sole guitarist.


title: Phil Collen

text: Collen was born in Hackney, London. He got his first guitar, a red Gibson SG, on his 16th birthday, and taught himself how to play. He played with several bands including Lucy, Tush, and Dumb Blondes.


title: Phil Collen

text: He left school to work as a motorcycle dispatch rider for a type setters until his band Girl got their first record contract. During his tenure with Girl, Collen's career began rising, spurred by the relative success of the albums "Sheer Greed" and "Wasted Youth", which allowed him the opportunity to play at more significant venues.


title: Phil Collen

text: A young Collen can also be seen on the back cover of Deep Purple's live album "Made in Japan" as the live photo was actually taken at the Rainbow Theatre in London, a concert Collen attended, and not in Japan.


title: Phil Collen

text: In a recent interview, Collen revealed that he was approached by Steve Harris to join Iron Maiden replacing guitarist Dennis Stratton.


title: Phil Collen

text: Before Collen joined Def Leppard on 13 July 1982 during the recording of "Pyromania", he had previously been asked to consider joining the band during the 1981 tour for "High 'n' Dry" by Joe Elliott and Steve Clark, whom he knew at the time. Despite this invitation, there was no need to replace Pete Willis. As a result, Collen stayed as a member of Girl.


title: Phil Collen

text: After Willis was fired due to alcohol problems, Joe Elliott called and asked Collen to audition. He was asked to perform the solos on the songs "Stagefright" and "Photograph" during the recording sessions of "Pyromania". Mutt Lange, the band's producer, said to Collen, "just have fun on it, play some solos on it". "Photograph", "Rock of Ages", "Foolin, "Stagefright", and "Rock Till You Drop" were all songs that he played solos on. He and fellow guitarist Clark quickly bonded, becoming close friends and leading to the trademark dual-guitar sound of Def Leppard. Collen and Clark became known as the "Terror Twins", in recognition of their talents and hard drinking lifestyles. By this time, Collen had also become noted for his trademark bare-chested stage appearances.


title: Phil Collen

text: In 1988, Collen quit drinking alcohol, which had developed into a serious addiction, stopped eating meat and adopted a generally healthy lifestyle. According to Collen, he began suffering from blackouts due to alcohol and quit when he realized that he was losing control of his addiction, which was starting to dominate his life. In contrast, Clark did not follow such standards and died due to alcohol abuse in early 1991.


title: Phil Collen

text: After Clark died, Collen was faced with the challenge of not only dealing with the loss of a friend and bandmate but also with the burden and responsibility of the "Adrenalize" recordings. The music had already been written but Clark's playing style differed so much from Collen's that recording Clark's parts proved very difficult. While Clark's playing style was rhythmic, melodic and sometimes even characterized as "sloppy", Collen's style was technical and precise, leading to difficulties in mimicking the sound of Clark's playing style. Due to the aftermath of Clark's death, as well as the issues with the recording of "Adrenalize", Collen seriously considered leaving Def Leppard. According to Joe Elliott, Collen did not want to continue in the band with Clark not being there. He said, "I'd rather be a plumber."


title: Phil Collen

text: Clark would ultimately be replaced as the band's co-lead guitarist by Vivian Campbell, formerly of Dio and Whitesnake, shortly before the "Adrenalize" tour. This relieved Collen of some of the pressures of the "overkill" production style of Def Leppard, as well as the challenge of reproducing Clark's guitar parts for live shows.


title: Phil Collen

text: Collen has been involved in several side projects over his career, most notably the band Man Raze, formed as a joint collaboration with former Girl bandmate Simon Laffy as bassist and drummer Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols.


title: Phil Collen

text: Collen played lead guitar on Donny Osmond's song "Just Between You and Me" in 1990. Due to his band disapproving of him playing on this song, he was credited as Rory James Collen on the track.


title: Phil Collen

text: In 1991, Collen offered a song he had written, "Miss You in a Heartbeat" to the band The Law, which was featured on the band's self-titled album. This album was the band's only release. "Miss You in a Heartbeat" was later recorded and released by Def Leppard.


title: Phil Collen

text: In 1993, Collen executive produced the album "Sublime to the Ridiculous" for the band, Sheer Greed, composed of former members of Girl, an act Collen was also associated earlier in his career.


title: Phil Collen

text: Collen has also worked in side projects with Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott. One of these recent projects was a tribute to David Bowie and Mick Ronson. He and Elliott also joined with Trevor Bolder and Mick "Woody" Woodmansey from Spiders from Mars and keyboardist Dick Decent to form the band Cybernauts. In 2001 they released a live album of Bowie songs.


title: Phil Collen

text: In 1996, Collen performed as a featured guitarist on the "Jeffology: A Guitar Chronicle" album – a tribute album to Jeff Beck. Collen performed on the single, "'Cause We've Ended As Lovers" from the album.


title: Phil Collen

text: In 2010, Collen recorded the song "Hard Times Celebrate" with rapper Bazaar Royale, featured on the album "The Ride."


title: Phil Collen

text: Collen formed a blues project by the name of Delta Deep with vocalist Debbi Blackwell Cook of the 1980s group The Jammers, which released an eponymous debut album in 2015.


title: Phil Collen

text: In 2017, Collen was featured on three tracks of the reunited The Professionals album "What in the World."


title: Phil Collen

text: Collen joined Joe Satriani and John Petrucci on the 2018 edition of the G3 Tour in the United States.


title: Phil Collen

text: Collen has lived in the United States for 25 years and currently resides in Orange County, California. He commented, "I'm almost a California native now." He has five children: Rory (born 1990), Samantha (born 2004), Savannah (born 2009), Charlotte (born 2014) and Jaxson (born 2018). He was married to Jacqueline Collen-Tarolly (1989) and Anita Thomas-Collen (1999). He married actress and costume designer Helen L. Simmons in 2010.


title: Phil Collen

text: Collen has been training extensively in martial arts for over 20 years. He began his martial arts training in Kempo Karate, earning a black belt. He also has studied kickboxing with Benny Urquidez and Muay Thai with Jean Carillo. He currently works out off and on tour with Eric the Trainer.


title: Phil Collen

text: In 1989, Collen worked with Jackson Guitars to develop an ergonomically correct electric guitar, although according to Collen, he designed them because "they looked cool," and they ended up having bad balance, as well as a "really weird shape."


title: Phil Collen

text: Recently, his live rig with Def Leppard consists of various Jackson PC1 guitars, some are modified, all equipped with Dimarzio pickups, Floyd Rose Tremolo Units and Sustainers. For acoustics, Collen uses several Fenders acoustics. For strings, Collen uses D'Addario 0.13 – 0.54 and 0.13 – 0.56 gauge strings, and for picks he uses steel picks.


title: William Perry (American football)

text: William Anthony "The Refrigerator" Perry (born December 16, 1962) is a former American football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Chicago Bears. Nicknamed "the Refrigerator" because of his imposing size, he played college football at Clemson and was selected by the Bears in the first round of the 1985 NFL Draft. Perry gained popularity during his rookie season as a member of the Bears team that won the franchise's first and only Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XX. During the season, Perry occasionally played fullback in goal line situations and set the then-record for the heaviest player to score a touchdown at 335 lb (152 kg). He remains the heaviest player to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl and has the largest Super Bowl ring at size 25.


title: William Perry (American football)

text: Perry was born in Aiken, South Carolina, tenth of twelve children (third youngest of eight sons and four daughters) of Hollie Perry, Sr (d. 2013), a house painter, and Inez (née Smith), a school dietitian. He has stated in an interview that "Even when I was little, I was big"; by the time he was 11 years old, he weighed 200 pounds. Frequently ridiculed for his weight while growing up, Perry took advantage of his athleticism to silence his critics. He attended Aiken High School and played as a 295-pound nose guard on the school's football team and ran on its track team. During an exercise in which his coach instructed all of his fastest players to line up for a 100-yard dash, Perry joined the group of running backs, wide receivers and defensive backs and eventually was timed as the 6th fastest runner on the entire team, with a time of 11 seconds flat. He was also able to run the 100 meters in under 12 seconds, and competed in the shot put event, recording a top-throw of . He could also execute 360-degree dunks on regulation basketball hoops and perform a complicated dive into the swimming pool.


title: William Perry (American football)

text: Perry's athletic performances earned him a full-ride scholarship to attend Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina, where he played for coach Danny Ford's Clemson Tigers football team from 1981 to 1984. He was a member of a national championship team in 1981, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American as a junior in 1983. As a freshman in 1981, he earned his "Refrigerator" nickname when a fellow player could barely squeeze into an elevator with Perry and their laundry which they were taking to be washed. The player, Ray Brown, said "Man, you're about as big as a refrigerator."


title: William Perry (American football)

text: In 1985, he was selected in the first round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears; he had been hand-picked by coach Mike Ditka. However, defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, who had a highly acrimonious relationship with Ditka, called Perry a "wasted draft-pick". Perry soon became a pawn in the political power struggle between Ditka and Ryan.


title: William Perry (American football)

text: Perry's "Refrigerator" nickname followed him into the NFL and he quickly became a favorite of the Chicago Bears fans. Teammates called him "Biscuit," as in "one biscuit shy of 350 pounds".


title: William Perry (American football)

text: While Ryan refused to play Perry, Ditka decided to use Perry as a fullback when the team was near the opponents' goal line or in fourth and short situations, either as a ball carrier or a lead blocker for star running back Walter Payton. During his rookie season he rushed for two touchdowns and caught a pass for one. Ditka stated the inspiration for using Perry as a fullback came to him during five-yard sprint exercises. About halfway through his rookie season, Ryan finally began to play Perry, who soon proved that he was a capable defensive lineman. Perry even had the opportunity to run the ball during Super Bowl XX, as a nod to his popularity and contributions to the team's success. The first time he got the ball, he was tackled for a one-yard loss while attempting to throw his first NFL pass on a halfback option play. The second time he got the ball, he scored a touchdown (running over Patriots linebacker Larry McGrew in the process).


title: William Perry (American football)

text: His Super Bowl ring size is the largest of any professional football player in the history of the event. His ring size is 25, while the ring size for the average adult male is between 10 and 12.


title: William Perry (American football)

text: Perry went on to play for ten years in the NFL, retiring after the 1994 season. In his ten years as a pro, he regularly struggled with his weight, which hampered his performance at times. He played in 138 games, recording 29.5 sacks and five fumble recoveries, which he returned for a total of 71 yards. In his offensive career he ran five yards for two touchdowns, and had one reception for another touchdown. Perry later attempted a comeback, playing an unremarkable 1996 season with the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football (later NFL Europa).


title: William Perry (American football)

text: During his popular tenure with the Bears, Perry participated in the recording of three rap records, all in 1985, in addition to the team's popular "Super Bowl Shuffle". Walter Payton and Perry recorded an anti-drug, pro-peace rap tune entitled "Together" which was written by four Evanston, Illinois teens. "Together" was re-released in 1999 with part of the profits going to the Walter Payton Foundation.


title: William Perry (American football)

text: In 2002, Perry participated in (and lost) a "Celebrity Boxing" match against 7'7" former NBA player Manute Bol.


title: William Perry (American football)

text: Perry participated in a World Wrestling Federation battle royal at "WrestleMania 2" in Rosemont, Illinois in 1986. In 2006, he returned to the Chicago area to be inducted into the "Celebrity Wing" of the WWE Hall of Fame by John Cena.


title: William Perry (American football)

text: In 2003, he appeared in Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest as a "celebrity contestant." He stopped eating 5 minutes into the competition. Also in 2003, he appeared in a TV movie on Comedy Central called "Windy City Heat", opposite an aspiring actor named Perry Caravello, who is led to believe he is acting in a major motion picture. He also made a short appearance in the opening of "According to Jim" (Season 8, Episode 15).


title: William Perry (American football)

text: In 1987, Hasbro included an action figure of Perry in their G.I. Joe toy line. The Fridge – William "Refridgerator" Perry – was first available as a mail-order offer from Hasbro Direct in early 1987. He was available through 1988, and then again in 1989. The figure had the number 72 emblazoned on his chest (the number Perry wore on his Chicago Bears jersey).


title: William Perry (American football)

text: In 1986, Perry appeared as himself in an episode of "The A-Team" alongside fellow WWE star Hulk Hogan.


title: William Perry (American football)

text: In June 2007, Perry was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome, a chronic inflammatory disorder of the peripheral nerves. On April 22, 2009, Perry was hospitalized in South Carolina in serious condition from his Guillain–Barré syndrome. Perry spent approximately a month in the hospital before being released. In June 2010, it was reported that Perry suffered from hearing loss, but that he was improving after his diagnosis of Guillain–Barré syndrome. He had lost more than one hundred pounds (45.36 kg), but was by this time, back up to .


title: William Perry (American football)

text: In February 2011, ESPN ran a somber article about Perry, citing ongoing health and drinking problems and a weight of .


title: William Perry (American football)

text: In April 2011, Cliff Forrest, a 10-year-old child, discovered Perry's Super Bowl ring for sale. With help from his mother he purchased it for $8,500 and returned the ring to Perry. In September 2015, it was reported that Perry's Super Bowl ring had been auctioned off for more than $200,000 by the man Perry had sold it to several years earlier.


title: William Perry (American football)

text: As of October 29, 2014, Perry was confined to his late father's home. Michael Dean Perry, his younger brother and another former NFL defensive lineman, was William's guardian and conservator for his affairs. In January 2016, Perry, weighing more than 425 pounds, checked himself into the hospital to receive treatment for diabetes. Confined to a wheelchair, Perry revealed he had no feeling in his feet and was in danger of having his leg amputated. In June 2016, "Sports Illustrated" reported that Perry was living in a retirement home, had financial difficulties and continued to drink alcohol despite having publicly acknowledged his alcoholism in 2011. However, in 2018, he reported that he was moving around again, and he felt "better than he has in a long time."


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Donald Henry "Pee Wee" Gaskins Jr. (born Donald Henry Parrott Jr.; March 13, 1933 – September 6, 1991) was an American serial killer and rapist from South Carolina who stabbed, shot, drowned, and poisoned more than a dozen people. Before his convictions for murder, Gaskins had a long history of criminal activities resulting in prison sentences for assault, burglary, and statutory rape. His last arrest was for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, 13-year-old Kim Ghelkins (Gehlken), who had gone missing in September 1975. During their search for the missing girl, police discovered eight bodies buried in shallow graves near Gaskins's home in Prospect, South Carolina.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: In May 1976, a Florence County jury took only 47 minutes before finding Gaskins guilty for the murder of one of the eight victims, Dennis Bellamy, and sentenced him to death by the electric chair. That death sentence was overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court in February 1978, and rather than face a new trial, Gaskins pled guilty to the murders of Bellamy and eight other friends and associates. He was given 10 concurrent life sentences, to be served at Central Correctional Institution (CCI) prison in Columbia, South Carolina.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: While at CCI, Gaskins brutally murdered Rudolph Tyner, a fellow inmate on death row, using C4 explosive. After his conviction for killing Tyner, he received his second death sentence, which was administered in September 1991. Just before his execution Gaskins said he killed 110 people but, with few exceptions, these statements have been discredited by law enforcement and journalists who allege this was his attempt to gain notoriety. In his sworn testimony as part of a plea agreement to avoid trial for the murder of John Henry Knight, Gaskins was confirmed to have killed thirteen people between 1970 and 1975. Of the fifteen people total that he murdered during his lifetime, ten were under age 25 and six were teenagers.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Donald Henry Gaskins was born in Florence County, South Carolina, to Eulea Parrott, the last in a string of illegitimate children. Gaskins was small for his age and immediately gained the nickname "Pee Wee." As an adult, he was between and and weighed approximately .


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Gaskins's early life was characterized by a great deal of neglect from his mother and abuse by a male relative. His mother apparently took so little interest in him that the first time he learned his given name—Donald—was when it was read out in his first court appearance. Gaskins was often described as a great manipulator and con artist who was "street smart", and with "a keen sense of humor and a friendly, entertaining personality."


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: When he was one year old, Gaskins reportedly drank a bottle of kerosene which caused him to have convulsions until he was aged 3. In adolescence, Gaskins engaged in a violent crime spree with a group of fellow delinquents which included burglaries, assaults, and a gang rape. At age 13, Gaskins was convicted for assaulting a young woman by hitting her in the head with an axe when she caught him breaking into her family home. He was sentenced to five years in a reform school, the South Carolina Industrial School for White Boys in Florence, where he was regularly raped by his fellow inmates.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: After escaping from the reform school, getting married and voluntarily returning to complete his sentence, Gaskins was released in 1951 at the age of 18. He briefly worked on a tobacco plantation until he was arrested in 1953 for attacking a teenage girl with a hammer over an alleged insult. He was sentenced to six years' imprisonment at the South Carolina Penitentiary. There, Gaskins earned his fellow inmates' respect by killing the most feared man in the prison, Hazel Brazell, in what Gaskins claimed was self-defense. As a result, Gaskins received an extra three years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, but from that point on he became the aggressor instead of the victim. He escaped from prison in 1955 by hiding in the back of a garbage truck and fled to Florida, where he took employment with a traveling carnival. He was re-arrested, remanded to custody, and paroled in August 1961.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Following his release from prison, Gaskins reverted to committing burglaries and fencing stolen property. Two years after his parole, he was arrested for the rape of a twelve-year-old girl, but absconded while awaiting sentence. Gaskins was rearrested in Georgia and sentenced to eight years of imprisonment. He was paroled again in November 1968. Upon his release, Gaskins moved to the town of Sumter, South Carolina, and began work with a roofing company.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Gaskins said his first non-prison-related murder victim was a blonde female hitchhiker whom he tortured and murdered in September 1969, before sinking her body in a swamp. In his memoirs, he said: "All I could think about is how I could do anything I wanted to her." This hitchhiker was to be the first of many he said he picked up and killed while driving around the coastal highways of the American South. Gaskins classified these victims as "coastal kills": people, both men and women, who he killed purely for pleasure, on average approximately once every six weeks, when he went hunting to quell his feelings of "bothersome-ness". He said he tortured and mutilated his victims while attempting to keep them alive for as long as possible. He confessed to killing these victims using a variety of methods including stabbing, suffocation, mutilation, and even said he cannibalized some of them.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Gaskins later confessed to killing "eighty to ninety" such victims, although his statements to have committed any "coastal kills" have never been corroborated. In his memoirs, Gaskins said he committed coastal kills every six weeks, yet contradicts this statement later in the book by stating he felt the overpowering need to seek out and commit a coastal kill by the tenth date of each calendar month. He also specifically named three further individuals whom he classified among his "serious murders": an African-American couple he named as "Eddie and Bertie Brown" (aged 24 and 20 respectively) that he murdered in 1972 and buried "behind the Tenant House" (a location Gaskins failed to precisely pinpoint in his autobiography beyond once stating was a "shortcut to go around Columbia"), and a man named Horace Jones (40), who he said was murdered in 1974.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: There is no evidence to support any of the statements made by Gaskins that he had committed any murders other than that of Hazel Brazell and the fourteen victims listed below, whose bodies have been found and identified, and whose law enforcement records and Gaskins's sworn testimony substantiate.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: In November 1970, Gaskins committed the first of a series of confirmed murders, primarily people whom he knew and killed for personal reasons. His first confirmed victims were his own niece, Janice Kirby (aged 15), and her friend, Patricia Ann Alsbrook (aged 17), both of whom he beat to death. He said he was enraged at their drug abuse, while others say he was attempting to sexually assault them in Sumter.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: He poisoned Martha Ann Dicks ("Clyde"), aged 20, in March 1971 either because she said Pee Wee was the father of her unborn child, or because she was an alleged drug dealer who supplied Kirby and Allsbrook with drugs.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Gaskins was an overt racist and he raped and drowned both Doreen Hope Dempsey, 22, and her two-year-old daughter, Robin Michelle Dempsey in June 1973. Gaskins had befriended Doreen Dempsey several years prior and was angry upon hearing she had become pregnant a second time with an African American man. She had been living with Gaskins's friend Johnny Sellers and his brother Carl Sellers in North Charleston, South Carolina. They brought her to Gaskins's home in Prospect, and left her there to speak with Gaskins about staying with him for a short time while she was pregnant. Upset that Doreen was having a second biracial child, Gaskins responded by walking her to his backyard pond where he drowned both the mother and her toddler.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: In June 1974, Gaskins shot his friend and criminal associate Johnny Sellers, aged 36, in the back of the head, and stabbed to death Johnny's ex-girlfriend Jessie Ruth Judy, aged 22, after Sellers asked for money he was owed from the sale of a stolen boat. Gaskins feared Sellers would reveal Gaskins was also involved in an auto theft ring. Jessie Judy was murdered at the same time because she could have told police about Gaskins's criminal activities, including murdering her boyfriend, Johnny Sellers.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Silas Barnwell Yates, age 45, was murdered in February 1975 by having his throat slit in a murder-for-hire scheme. The forensics showed it was by knife, but Gaskins disputed this, saying it was done by karate chop. Yates was in a dispute with his ex-girlfriend Suzanne Kipper Owens, and she and her husband John Owens paid Gaskins $1,500 to murder Yates.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Diane Bellamy Neeley, age 25, was separated from her husband Walter Neeley, who was one of Gaskins closest friends and criminal co-conspirator. On April 10, 1975, Gaskins stabbed to death Dianne Bellamy and shot dead her boyfriend Avery Leroy Howard, aged 34. Among other reasons, Gaskins murdered Dianne Bellamy because she had threatened to report to police that Gaskins was allowing underage teenagers to have sex in his home. Avery Howard was murdered because he asked for money to pay attorneys and cover legal expenses following his arrest for fraud and auto theft. Gaskins worried Avery Howard would tell police about Gaskins's criminal activities.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Kim Ghelkins, age 13, was stabbed to death to keep her from telling police Gaskins had moved her from North Charleston without permission, and to keep her from telling police she was being sexually abused by several adult men, including Gaskins.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Dennis Bellamy, aged 27, and John Henry Knight, age 15, were half-brothers, and Dianne Bellamy was their sister. Within minutes of each other, Gaskins shot the two brothers in the back of the head on October 10, 1975. Gaskins had promised to pay Dennis Bellamy for some stolen guns. When confronted by Bellamy at Gaskins's trailer home in Prospect, South Carolina, he responded by offering to return the guns from the woods behind his home. He took Bellamy into the woods to retrieve the guns, but murdered him instead. John Henry Knight was directed to the same area, allegedly to meet his brother, but was also murdered to ensure he could never speak of the crimes.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Rudolph Tyner, aged 23, was on death row in CCI prison for a March 1978 double-murder when he was murdered by Gaskins on September 12, 1982. Tyner was appealing his own death sentence after being convicted for robbing a Murrells Inlet convenience store and killing store owners Bill and Myrtle Moon on March 18, 1978. The Moons' son, Tony Cimo, hired Gaskins for $2,000 to kill Rudolph Tyner because in Cimo's view, the appeals process was taking too long. Tony Cimo asked Gaskins what he needed to kill Tyner, then Gaskins told him to insert some C4 inside the heel of a shoe and mail it to him.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: This way Gaskins obtained plastic explosives with a blasting cap, a long wire, and a radio speaker to create an imitation intercom speaker that Tyner put to his ear to test. Gaskins then detonated the makeshift bomb by plugging the wire into a prison cell power outlet.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Gaskins was arrested on November 14, 1975, when a criminal associate named Walter Neeley confessed to police that he had knowledge of Gaskins killing Dennis Bellamy, aged 28, and Johnny Knight, aged 15. Neeley confessed to police that Gaskins had confided in him to having killed several people who had been listed as missing people during the previous five years, and had indicated to him where they were buried. On December 4, 1975, Neeley led police to land near Gaskins home in Prospect, where police discovered the bodies of eight of his victims.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Gaskins was tried on one charge of murder on May 24, 1976, found guilty on May 28 and sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life in prison when the South Carolina General Assembly's 1974 ruling on capital punishment was changed to conform to the U.S. Supreme Court guidelines for the death penalty in other states.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: On September 2, 1982, Gaskins committed another murder, for which he earned the title of the "Meanest Man in America". While incarcerated in the high security block at the South Carolina Correctional Institution, Gaskins killed a death row inmate named Rudolph Tyner, who had received his sentence for killing an elderly couple during a bungled armed robbery of their store in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Gaskins was hired to commit this murder by Tony Cimo, the son of Tyner's victims. Cimo was initially charged with murder, but pled guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to 8 years in prison. He was paroled in 1986.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Gaskins initially made several unsuccessful attempts to kill Tyner by lacing his food and drink with poison before he opted to use explosives to kill him. To accomplish this, Gaskins rigged a device similar to a portable radio in Tyner's cell and told Tyner this would allow them to "communicate between cells". When Tyner followed Gaskins's instructions to hold a speaker (laden with C-4 plastic explosive, unbeknownst to him) to his ear at an agreed time, Gaskins detonated the explosives from his cell and killed Tyner. He later said, "The last thing he [Tyner] heard was me laughing." Gaskins was tried for Tyner's murder and sentenced to death. It was the first time in the history of South Carolina that a white man was sentenced to death for the murder of a black man.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: While on death row, Gaskins said he committed between 100 and 110 murders, including that of Margaret "Peg" Cuttino, the 13-year-old daughter of then South Carolina State Senator James Cuttino Jr. of Sumter. These murders have been widely disputed and there has been no evidence to support Gaskins's statements.


title: Donald Henry Gaskins

text: Gaskins was executed on September 6, 1991, at 1:10 a.m. in the electric chair, hours after he tried to kill himself by slitting his wrists. His last words were: "I'll let my lawyers talk for me. I'm ready to go."


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: Battle of the Sexes is a 2017 biographical sports film directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton and written by Simon Beaufoy. The plot is loosely based on the between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. The film stars Emma Stone and Steve Carell as King and Riggs, leading an ensemble cast including Andrea Riseborough, Elisabeth Shue, Austin Stowell, Bill Pullman, Natalie Morales, Eric Christian Olsen, and Sarah Silverman in supporting roles. The film marks the second collaboration between Carell and Stone after "Crazy, Stupid, Love" and the second collaboration between Riseborough and Stone after "Birdman."


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: The film had its premiere at the 44th Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States by Fox Searchlight Pictures on September 22, 2017. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised the performances of Stone and Carell and the direction, with some calling it the best performance of Stone's career. Despite the positive reviews, the picture was a box office bomb, grossing $18.6 million against a $25 million budget.


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: At the 75th Golden Globe Awards, Stone and Carell received nominations for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy respectively. Both received Critics Choice Awards nominations in the categories Best Actress in a Comedy and Best Actor in a Comedy. At the 24th Screen Actors Guild Awards, Carell received a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: In 1970, Billie Jean King and Gladys Heldman confront Jack Kramer, who has organized a tennis tournament where the top prize for women is one-eighth of the men's prize, despite equal ticket sales. King and Heldman threaten to start their own tour but Kramer won't alter the terms, citing the inferiority of women's tennis. When Billie Jean, Julie Heldman, Valerie Ziegenfuss, Judy Dalton, Kristy Pigeon, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kerry Melville Reid, Nancy Richey, and Rosie Casals sign on as the “Original 9” players of what becomes the WTA Tour, Kramer bans them from tournaments organized by the US Lawn Tennis Association.


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: While the women's tour struggles during its early days, Billie Jean begins an affair with Marilyn Barnett, her hairdresser, threatening her marriage to Larry King. Meanwhile, Bobby Riggs' marriage to the wealthy Priscilla Whelan is in trouble because of his addiction to gambling. Thrown out of his house when he can't conceal a Rolls Royce he won in a tennis bet, he hits upon the idea of a challenge match against the top woman player, boasting that even at age 55 he can beat any woman.


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: The women's tour has slowly gained a stronger foothold, with the Women's Tennis Association formed in 1973. Riggs continues to pressure King to play him. Eventually, Riggs persuades Margaret Court, who recently overtook King to gain the World No. 1 ranking, to play a match in May 1973. Riggs and King decides she has to accept his challenge, but demands a final say as to the arrangements. King trains intensely, while Riggs relaxes. King objects to Kramer as a game announcer, threatening to not play unless he withdraws, which he does. After a slow start, King wins the match, changing the future of women's tennis. The film ends with a written epilogue that King eventually divorced her husband and had a long-term same-sex relationship while Riggs reunited with his wife.


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: The project and its two leads were announced in April 2015. Brie Larson was, for a brief period, set to replace Stone due to scheduling conflicts, but these were cleared up. On March 3, 2016, Andrea Riseborough was cast to play Marilyn Barnett, King's hairdresser and lover. Later that month, three more were cast in the film, Elisabeth Shue as Riggs' wife; Austin Stowell as Larry King, Billie Jean's husband; and Sarah Silverman as Gladys Heldman, the founder of "World Tennis" magazine. Four actors joined the cast in April: Eric Christian Olsen as Lornie Kuhle, Jessica McNamee as tennis player Margaret Court, Alan Cumming as designer Ted Tinling, and Natalie Morales as player Rosie Casals.


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: Principal photography on the film began in Los Angeles on April 13, 2016, with a budget of more than $25 million.


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: For the tennis match scenes, tennis players Kaitlyn Christian (who portrays “Original 9” member Kerry Melville Reid) and Vince Spadea were the body doubles of Stone and Carell, respectively.


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: "Battle of the Sexes" had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2017. It also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2017, and at the BFI London Film Festival on October 7, 2017. The film began a limited release in the United States on September 22, 2017, before going wide the following week.


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: "Battle of the Sexes" grossed $12.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $5.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $18.4 million.


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: In its opening weekend, the film grossed $515,450 from 21 theaters, an average of $24,545 per theater. The film expanded the following Friday, where it was released alongside the openings of "Flatliners", "'Til Death Do Us Part" and "American Made", and was projected to gross around $6 million from 1,213 theaters over the weekend. It ended up making $3.4 million over the weekend, finishing 6th at the box office. Deadline Hollywood noted the film's weekend gross was disappointing given its cast and positive reviews. The following week the film was added to another 609 theaters and made $2.4 million, dropping just 30%.


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 307 reviews, with an average rating of 7.19/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Battle of the Sexes" turns real-life events into a crowd-pleasing, well-acted dramedy that ably entertains while smartly serving up a volley of present-day parallels." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Battle of the Sexes (2017 film)

text: Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave the film an overall positive score of 74%.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which separates the Beach from the mainland city of Miami. The neighborhood of South Beach, comprising the southernmost of Miami Beach, along with Downtown Miami and the PortMiami, collectively form the commercial center of South Florida. Miami Beach's population is 82,890 according to the 2020 census. Miami Beach is the 26th largest city in Florida based on official 2019 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. It has been one of America's pre-eminent beach resorts since the early 20th century.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: In 1979, Miami Beach's Art Deco Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Art Deco District is the largest collection of Art Deco architecture in the world and comprises hundreds of hotels, apartments and other structures erected between 1923 and 1943. Mediterranean, Streamline Moderne and Art Deco are all represented in the District.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: The Historic District is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the East, Lenox Court on the West, 6th Street on the South and Dade Boulevard along the Collins Canal to the North. The movement to preserve the Art Deco District's architectural heritage was led by former interior designer Barbara Baer Capitman, who now has a street in the District named in her honor.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Miami Beach is the city in the United States most immediately threatened by climate-driven sea-level rise and flooding. Extensive, expensive, and sometimes controversial efforts are underway to address the problem so far as possible.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Miami Beach is governed by a ceremonial mayor and six commissioners. Although the mayor runs commission meetings, the mayor and all commissioners have equal voting power and are elected by popular election. The mayor serves for terms of two years with a term limit of three terms and commissioners serve for terms of four years and are limited to two terms. Commissioners are voted for citywide and every two years three commission seats are voted upon.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: A city manager is responsible for administering governmental operations. An appointed city manager is responsible for administration of the city. The City Clerk and the City Attorney are also appointed officials.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: In 1870, father and son Henry and Charles Lum purchased land on Miami Beach for 75 cents an acre. The first structure to be built on this uninhabited oceanfront was the Biscayne House of Refuge, constructed in 1876 by the United States Life-Saving Service through an executive order issued by President Ulysses S. Grant, at approximately 72nd Street. Its purpose was to provide food, water, and a return to civilization for people who were shipwrecked. The structure, which had fallen into disuse by the time the Life-Saving Service became the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915, was destroyed in the 1926 Miami Hurricane and never rebuilt.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: The next step in the development of the future Miami Beach was the planting of a coconut plantation along the shore in the 1880s by New Jersey entrepreneurs Ezra Osborn and Elnathan T. Field, but this was a failed venture. One of the investors in the project was agriculturist John S. Collins, who achieved success by buying out other partners and planting different crops, notably avocados, on the land that would later become Miami Beach. In fact, the pine trees on today's Pinetree Drive served as an erosion buffer for Collins' plantations. Meanwhile, across Biscayne Bay, the City of Miami was established in 1896 with the arrival of the railroad and developed further as a port when the shipping channel of Government Cut was created in 1905, cutting off Fisher Island from the south end of the Miami Beach peninsula.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Collins' family members saw the potential in developing the beach as a resort. This effort got underway in the early years of the 20th century by the Collins/Pancoast family, the Lummus brothers (bankers from Miami) and Indianapolis entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher. Until then, the beach here was only the destination for day-trips by ferry from Miami, across the bay. By 1912, Collins and Pancoast were working together to clear the land, plant crops, supervise the construction of canals to get their avocado crop to market and set up the Miami Beach Improvement Company. There were bathhouses and food stands, but no hotel until Brown's Hotel was built in 1915 (still standing, at 112 Ocean Drive). Much of the interior landmass at that time was a tangled jungle of mangroves. Clearing it, deepening the channels and water bodies, and eliminating native growth almost everywhere in favor of landfill for development, was expensive. Once a 1600-acre, jungle-matted sand bar three miles out in the Atlantic, it grew to 2,800 acres when dredging and filling operations were completed.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: With loans from the Lummus brothers, Collins had begun work on a 2½-mile-long wooden bridge, the world's longest wooden bridge at the time, to connect the island to the mainland. When funds ran dry and construction work stalled, Indianapolis millionaire and recent Miami transplant Fisher intervened, providing the financing needed to complete the Collins Bridge the following year in return for a land swap deal. That transaction kicked off the island's first real estate boom. The Collins Bridge cost over $150,000 and opened on June 12, 1913. Fisher helped by organizing an annual speed boat regatta, and by promoting Miami Beach as an Atlantic City-style playground and winter retreat for the wealthy. By 1915, Lummus, Collins, Pancoast, and Fisher were all living in mansions on the island, three hotels and two bathhouses had been erected, an aquarium built, and an 18-hole golf course landscaped.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: The Town of Miami Beach was chartered on March 26, 1915; it grew to become a City in 1917. Even after the town was incorporated in 1915 under the name of Miami Beach, many visitors thought of the beach strip as Alton Beach, indicating just how well Fisher had advertised his interests there. The Lummus property was called Ocean Beach, with only the Collins interests previously referred to as Miami Beach. In 1925, the Collins Bridge was replaced by the Venetian Causeway, described as "a series of drawbridges and renamed the Venetian Causeway".


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Carl Fisher was the main promoter of Miami Beach's development in the 1920s as the site for wealthy industrialists from the north and Midwest to and build their winter homes here. Many other Northerners were targeted to vacation on the island. To accommodate the wealthy tourists, several grand hotels were built, among them: The Flamingo Hotel, The Fleetwood Hotel, The Floridian, The Nautilus, and the Roney Plaza Hotel. In the 1920s, Fisher and others created much of Miami Beach as landfill by dredging Biscayne Bay; this man-made territory includes Star, Palm, and Hibiscus Islands, the Sunset Islands, much of Normandy Isle, and all of the Venetian Islands except Belle Isle. The Miami Beach peninsula became an island in April 1925 when Haulover Cut was opened, connecting the ocean to the bay, north of present-day Bal Harbour. The great 1926 Miami hurricane put an end to this prosperous era of the Florida Boom, but in the 1930s Miami Beach still attracted tourists, and investors constructed the mostly small-scale, stucco hotels and rooming houses, for seasonal rental, that comprise much of the present "Art Deco" historic district.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Carl Fisher brought Steve Hannagan to Miami Beach in 1925 as his chief publicist. Hannagan set-up the Miami Beach News Bureau and notified news editors that they could "Print anything you want about Miami Beach; just make sure you get our name right." The News Bureau sent thousands of pictures of bathing beauties and press releases to columnists like Walter Winchell and Ed Sullivan. One of Hannagan's favorite venues was a billboard in Times Square, New York City, where he ran two taglines: "'It's always June in Miami Beach' and 'Miami Beach, Where Summer Spends the Winter.'"


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Anti-semitism was rampant in the 1920s and into the 30s. Developer Carl Fisher would sell property only to gentiles so Jews were required to live south of Fifth Street. As recently as the 1930s, hotels refused to accept Jews. As the 1930s developed, the "dismantling on Miami Beach of restrictive barriers to Jewish ownership of real estate" was underway; many Jews bought properties from others.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: By the 1940s and 50s, an increasing number of Jewish families built hotels. The first "skyscraper" was the 18-story Lord Tarleton Hotel built in 1940 by Samuel Jacobs. The Jewish mobster Meyer Lansky, who ran some "carpet joints" (gambling operations) in Florida by 1936, and eventually controlled casinos in Cuba and Las Vegas, retired in Miami and died in Miami Beach.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: During the Second World War, Jewish doctors were not granted staff privileges at any area hospitals so the community built Mount Sinai Medical Center (Miami) on Miami Beach. The North Shore Jewish Center was built in 1951 and became Temple Menorah after an expansion in 1963.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Post–World War II economic expansion brought a wave of immigrants to South Florida from the Northern United States, which significantly increased the population in Miami Beach within a few decades. After Fidel Castro's rise to power in 1959, a wave of Cuban refugees entered South Florida and dramatically changed the demographic make-up of the area. In 2017, one study named zip code 33109 (Fisher Island, a 216-acre island located just south of Miami Beach), as having the 4th most expensive home sales and the highest average annual income ($2.5 million) in 2015.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: The sun and warm climate attracted many Jewish families and retirees. One estimate states that "20,000 elderly Jews" were part of the population of the beach in the late 1970s". In a 2017 interview, a demographer from the University of Miami estimated that there "might have been as many as 70,000 Jews in Miami Beach at one point" declining to "around 19,000 in 2014". The decline was motivated partly by "increasing prices during the art deco movement and an


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: In 1980 however, 62 percent of the population of Miami Beach was still Jewish. During the 1980s many of the Jewish citizens left and moved to "Delray Beach, Lake Worth and Boca Raton". During the 1990s, South Beach transformed into a home of the fashion industry and celebrities. In 1999, there were only 10,000 Jewish people living in Miami Beach.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: South Beach (also known as SoBe, or simply the Beach), the area from Biscayne Street (also known as South Pointe Drive) one block south of 1st Street to about 23rd Street, is one of the more popular areas of Miami Beach. Although topless sunbathing by women has not been officially legalized, female toplessness is tolerated on South Beach and in a few hotel pools on Miami Beach. Before the TV show "Miami Vice" helped make the area popular, SoBe was under urban blight, with vacant buildings and a high crime rate. Today, it is considered one of the richest commercial areas on the beach, yet poverty and crime still remain in some places near the area.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Miami Beach, particularly Ocean Drive of what is now the Art Deco District, was also featured prominently in the 1983 feature film "Scarface" and the 1996 comedy "The Birdcage".


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Lincoln Road, running east–west parallel between 16th and 17th Streets, is a nationally known spot for outdoor dining and shopping and features galleries of well known designers, artists and photographers such as Romero Britto, Peter Lik, and Jonathan Adler.. In 2015, the Miami Beach residents passed a law forbidding bicycling, rollerblading, skateboarding and other motorized vehicles on Lincoln Road during busy pedestrian hours between 9:00 am and 2:00 am.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: By the 1970s, jet travel had enabled vacationers from the northern parts of the US to travel to the Caribbean and other warm-weather climates in the winter. Miami Beach's economy suffered. Elderly retirees, many with little money, dominated the population of South Beach.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: To help revive the area, city planners and developers sought to bulldoze many of the aging art deco buildings that were built in the 1930s. By one count, the city had over 800 art deco buildings within its borders.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: In 1976, Barbara Baer Capitman and a group of fellow activists formed the Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) to try to halt the destruction of the historic buildings in South Beach. After battling local developers and Washington DC bureaucrats, MDPL prevailed in its quest to have the Miami Beach Art Deco District named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. While the recognition did not offer protection for the buildings from demolition, it succeeded in drawing attention to the plight of the buildings.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Due in part to the newfound awareness of the art deco buildings, vacationers, tourists and TV, and movie crews were drawn to South Beach. Investors began to rehabilitate hotels, restaurants and apartment buildings in the area.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Despite the enthusiasm for the historic buildings by many, there were no real protections for historic buildings. As wrecking crews threatened buildings, MDPL members protested by holding marches and candlelight vigils. In one case, protestors stood in front of a hotel blocking bulldozers as they approached a hotel.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: After many years of effort, the Miami Beach city commission created the first two historic preservation districts in 1986. The districts covered Espanola Way and most of Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue in South Beach. The designation of the districts helped protect buildings from demolition and created standards for renovation.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: While some developers continued to focus on demolition, several investors like Tony Goldman and Ian Schrager bought art deco hotels and transformed them into world famous hot spots in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Among the celebrities that frequented Miami Beach were Madonna, Sylvester Stallone, Cher, Oprah Winfrey and Gianni Versace.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Additional historic districts were created in 1992. The new districts covered Lincoln Road, Collins Avenue between 16th and 22nd Streets and the area around the Bass Museum. In 2005, the city began the process of protecting the mid-century buildings on Collins Avenue between 43rd to 53rd Streets including the Fontainebleau and Eden Roc Hotels. Several North Beach neighborhoods were designated as historic in 2018. A large collection of MiMo (Miami Modern) buildings can be found in the area.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Jackie Gleason hosted his "Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine" (September 29, 1962 – June 4, 1966) television show, after moving it from New York to Miami Beach in 1964, reportedly because he liked year-round access to the golf course at the nearby Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill (where he built his final home). His closing line became, almost invariably, "As always, the Miami Beach audience is the greatest audience in the world!" In the Fall 1966 television season, he abandoned the American Scene Magazine format and converted the show into a standard variety hour with guest performers. The show was renamed "The Jackie Gleason Show", lasting from September 17, 1966 – September 12, 1970. He started the 1966–1967 season with new, color episodes of "The Honeymooners", with Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean as Alice Kramden and Trixie Norton, respectively. The regular cast included Art Carney as Ed Norton; Milton Berle was a frequent guest star. The show was shot in color on videotape at the Miami Beach Auditorium (later renamed the Jackie Gleason Theatre of the Performing Arts), now known as Fillmore Miami Beach, and Gleason never tired of promoting the "sun and fun capital of the world" on camera. CBS canceled the series in 1970.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Each December, the City of Miami Beach hosts Art Basel Miami Beach, one of the largest art shows in the United States. Art Basel Miami Beach, the sister event to the Art Basel event held each June in Basel, Switzerland, combines an international selection of top galleries with a program of special exhibitions, parties and crossover events featuring music, film, architecture, and design. Exhibition sites are located in the city's Art Deco District, and ancillary events are scattered throughout the greater Miami metropolitan area.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: The first Art Basel Miami Beach was held in 2002. In 2016, about 77,000 people attended the fair. The 2017 show featured about 250 galleries at the Miami Beach Convention Center.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Miami Beach is home to the New World Symphony, established in 1987 under the artistic direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. In January 2011, the New World Symphony made a highly publicized move into the New World Center building designed by Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry. Gehry is famous for his design of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. The new Gehry building offers Live Wallcasts™, which allow visitors to experience select events throughout the season at the half-acre, outdoor Miami Beach SoundScape through the use of visual and audio technology on a projection wall.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Miami beach is also home to Miami New Drama, the resident theater company at the historic Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road. The regional theater company was founded in 2016 by Venezuelan playwright and director, Michel Hausmann, and playwright, director, and Medal of the Arts winner, Moises Kaufman. In October 2016, Miami New Drama took over operations of the Colony Theatre, and since then, the 417-seat Art Deco venue hosts Miami New Drama's theatrical season as well as other live events.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: The Miami City Ballet, a ballet company founded in 1985, is housed in a building near Miami Beach's Bass Museum of Art.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Miami Beach is home to several Orthodox Jewish communities with a network of well-established synagogues and yeshivas, the first of which being the Landow Yeshiva, a Chabad institution in operation for over 30 years. There is also a liberal Jewish community containing such famous synagogues as Temple Emanu-El, Temple Beth Shalom and Cuban Hebrew Congregation. Miami Beach is also a magnet for Jewish families, retirees, and particularly snowbirds when the cold winter sets into the north. These visitors range from the Modern Orthodox to the Haredi and Hasidic – including many rebbes who vacation there during the North American winter. Till his death in 1991, the Nobel laureate writer Isaac Bashevis Singer lived in the northern end of Miami Beach and breakfasted often at Sheldon's drugstore on Harding Avenue.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: There are many kosher restaurants and even kollels for post-graduate Talmudic scholars, such as the Miami Beach Community Kollel. Miami Beach had roughly 60,000 people in Jewish households, 62 percent of the total population in 1982, but only 16,500, or 19 percent of the population in 2004, said Ira Sheskin, a demographer at the University of Miami who conducts surveys once a decade. The Miami Beach Jewish community had decreased in size by 1994 due to migration to wealthier areas and aging of the population.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Miami Beach has been regarded as a gay mecca for decades as well as being one of the most LGBT friendly cities in the United States. Miami Beach is home to numerous gay bars and gay-specific events, and five service and resource organizations. After decades of economic and social decline, an influx of gays and lesbians moving to South Beach in the late-1980s to mid-1990s contributed to Miami Beach's revitalization. The newcomers purchased and restored dilapidated Art Deco hotels and clubs, started numerous businesses and built political power in city and county government.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: The passage of progressive civil rights laws, election of outspokenly pro-gay Miami Beach Mayor Matti Bower, and the introduction of Miami Beach's Gay Pride Celebration, have reinvigorated the local LGBT community in recent years, which some argued had experienced a decline in the late 2000s. In January 2010, Miami Beach passed a revised Human Rights Ordinance that strengthens enforcement of already existing human rights laws and adds protections for transgender people, making Miami Beach's human rights laws some of the most progressive in the state.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Miami Beach Pride has gained prominence since it first started in 2009, there has been an increase in attendance every year. In 2013 there were more than 80,000 people who participated to now more than 130,000 people that participate in the festivities every year. It has also attracted many celebrities such as Chaz Bono, Adam Lambert, Gloria Estefan, Mario Lopez, and Elvis Duran who were Grand Marshals for Pride Weekend from 2012 through 2016 respectively. There are over 125 businesses who are LGBT supportive that sponsor Miami Beach Pride.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (62.37%) is water.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Miami Beach encounters tidal flooding of certain roads during the annual king tides, though some tidal flooding has been the case for decades, as the parts of the western side of South Beach are at virtually above normal high tide, with the entire city averaging only above mean sea level (AMSL). However, a recent study by the University of Miami showed that tidal flooding became much more common from the mid-2000s. The fall 2015 king tides exceeded expectations in longevity and height. Traditional sea level rise and storm mitigation measures including sea walls and dykes, such as those in the Netherlands and New Orleans, may not work in South Florida due to the porous nature of the ground and limestone beneath the surface.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: In addition to present difficulty with below-grade development, some areas of southern Florida, especially Miami Beach, are beginning to engineer specifically for sea level rise and other potential effects of climate change. This includes a five-year, US$500 million project for the installation of 60 to 80 pumps, building of taller sea walls, planting of red mangrove trees along the sea walls, and the physical raising of road tarmac levels, as well as possible zoning and building code changes, which could eventually lead to retrofitting of existing and historic properties. Some streets and sidewalks were raised about over previous levels; the four initial pumps installed in 2014 are capable of pumping 4,000 US gallons per minute. However, this plan is not without criticism. Some residents worry that the efforts will not be sufficient to successfully adapt to rising sea levels and wish the city had pursued a more aggressive plan. On the other hand, some worry that the city is moving too quickly with untested solutions. Others yet have voiced concerns that the plan protects big-money interests in Miami Beach. Pump failures such as during construction or power outages, including a Tropical Storm Emily-related rain flood on August 1, 2017, can cause great unexpected flooding. Combined with the higher roads and sidewalks, this leaves unchanged properties relatively lower and prone to inundation.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: According to the Köppen climate classification, Miami Beach has a tropical monsoon climate (Am). Like much of Florida, there is a marked wet and dry season in Miami Beach. The tropical rainy season runs from May through October, when showers and late day thunderstorms are common. The dry season is from November through April, when few showers, sunshine, and low humidity prevail. The island location of Miami Beach, however, creates fewer convective thunderstorms, so Miami Beach receives less rainfall in a given year than neighboring areas such as Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Proximity to the moderating influence of the Atlantic gives Miami Beach lower high temperatures and higher lows than inland areas of Florida. Miami Beach is in hardiness zone 11a, with an annual mean minimum temperature of . Miami Beach has never reported temperatures below .


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Miami Beach's location on the Atlantic Ocean, near its confluence with the Gulf of Mexico, make it extraordinarily vulnerable to hurricanes and tropical storms. Miami has experienced several direct hits from major hurricanes in recorded weather history – the 1906 Florida Keys hurricane, 1926 Miami hurricane, 1935 Yankee hurricane, 1941 Florida hurricane, 1948 Miami Hurricane, 1950 Hurricane King and 1964 Hurricane Cleo, the area has seen indirect contact from hurricanes: 1945 Homestead Hurricane, Betsy (1965), Inez (1966), Andrew (1992), Irene (1999), Michelle (2001), Katrina (2005), Wilma (2005), and Irma (2017).


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 82,890 people, 40,084 households, and 21,028 families residing in the city.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: , those of Hispanic or Latino ancestry accounted for 53.0% of Miami Beach's population. Out of the 53.0%, 20.0% were Cuban, 4.9% Colombian, 4.6% Argentine, 3.7% Puerto Rican, 2.4% Peruvian, 2.1% Venezuelan, 1.8% Mexican, 1.7% Honduran, 1.6% Guatemalan, 1.4% Dominican, 1.1% Uruguayan, 1.1% Spaniard, 1.0% Nicaraguan, 0.9% Ecuadorian and 0.8% were Chilean.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: , those of African ancestry accounted for 4.4% of Miami Beach's population, which includes African Americans. Out of the 4.4%, 1.3% were Black Hispanics, 0.8% were Subsaharan African, and 0.8% were West Indian or Afro-Caribbean American (0.3% Jamaican, 0.3% Haitian, 0.1% Other or Unspecified West Indian, 0.1% Trinidadian and Tobagonian.)


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: , those of (non-Hispanic white) European ancestry accounted for 40.5% of Miami Beach's population. Out of the 40.5%, 9.0% Italian, 6.0% German, 3.8% were Irish, 3.8% Russian, 3.7% French, 3.4% Polish, 3.0% English, 1.2% Hungarian, 0.7% Swedish, 0.6% Scottish, 0.5% Portuguese, 0.5% Dutch, 0.5% Scotch-Irish, and 0.5% were Norwegian.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: , those of Asian ancestry accounted for 1.9% of Miami Beach's population. Out of the 1.9%, 0.6% were Indian, 0.4% Filipino, 0.3% Other Asian, 0.3% Chinese, 0.1% Japanese, 0.1% Korean, and 0.1% were Vietnamese.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: In 2010, 2.8% of the population considered themselves to be of only American ancestry (regardless of race or ethnicity), and 1.5% were of Arab ancestry (with the majority of them being of Palestinian and Lebanese descent), .


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: , there were 67,499 households, while 30.1% were vacant. 13.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.3% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 61.1% were non-families. 49.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older (4.0% male and 8.0% female.) The average household size was 1.84 and the average family size was 2.70.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: In 2010, the city population was spread out, with 12.8% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 38.0% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.0 males.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: , the median income for a household in the city was $43,538, and the median income for a family was $52,104. Males had a median income of $42,605 versus $36,269 for females. The per capita income for the city was $40,515. About 10.9% of families and 15.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.0% of those under age 18 and 27.5% of those aged 65 or over.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: In 2010, 51.7% of the city's population was foreign-born. Of foreign-born residents, 76.9% were born in Latin America and 13.6% were born in Europe, with smaller percentages from North America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: As of 2000, speakers of Spanish at home accounted for 54.90% of residents, while those who spoke exclusively English made up 32.76%. Speakers of Portuguese were 3.38%, French 1.66%, German 1.12%, Italian 1.00%, and Russian 0.85% of the population. Due to the large Jewish community, Yiddish was spoken at the home of 0.81% of the population, and Hebrew was the mother tongue of 0.75%.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: As of 2000, Miami Beach had the 22nd highest concentration of Cuban residents in the United States, at 20.51% of the population. It had the 28th highest percentage of Colombian residents, at 4.40% of the city's population, and was tied with two other locations for the 14th highest percentage of Brazilian residents, at 2.20% of its population. It also had the 27th largest concentration of Peruvian ancestry, at 1.85%, and the 27th highest percentage of people of Venezuelan heritage, at 1.79%. Miami Beach also has the 33rd highest concentration of Honduran ancestry at 1.21% and the 41st highest percentage of Nicaraguan residents, which made up 1.03% of the population.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Public Transportation in Miami Beach is operated by Miami-Dade Transit (MDT). Along with neighborhoods such as Downtown and Brickell, public transit is heavily used in Miami Beach and is a vital part of city life. Although Miami Beach has no direct Metrorail stations, numerous Metrobus lines connect to Downtown Miami and Metrorail (i.e., the 'S' bus line). The South Beach Local (SBL) is one of the most heavily used lines in Miami and connects all major points of South Beach to other major bus lines in the city. Metrobus ridership in Miami Beach is high, with some of the routes such as the L and S being the busiest Metrobus routes.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: The Airport-Beach Express (Route 150), operated by MDT, is a direct-service bus line that connects Miami International Airport to major points in South Beach. The ride costs $2.65, and runs every 30 minutes from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. seven days a week.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Since the late 20th century, cycling has grown in popularity in Miami Beach. Due to its dense, urban nature, and pedestrian-friendly streets, many Miami Beach residents get around by bicycle.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: In March 2011 a public bicycle sharing system named Decobike was launched, one of only a handful of such programs in the United States. The program is operated by a private corporation, Decobike, LLC, but is partnered with the City of Miami Beach in a revenue-sharing model. Once fully implemented, the program hopes to have around 1000 bikes accessible from 100 stations throughout Miami Beach, from around 85th Street on the north side of Miami Beach all the way south to South Pointe Park.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Private schools include Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy, St. Patrick Catholic School, Landow Yeshiva – Lubavitch Educational Center (Klurman Mesivta High School for Boys and Beis Chana Middle and High School for Girls), and Mechina High School. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami operates St. Patrick Catholic School in Miami Beach. The archdiocese formerly operated Saint Joseph School in Miami Beach.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: In the early history of Miami Beach, there was one elementary school and the Ida M. Fisher junior-senior high school. The building of Miami Beach High was constructed in 1926, and classes began in 1928.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: The Florida International University School of Architecture has a sister campus at 420 Lincoln Road in South Beach, with classroom spaces for FIU architecture, art, music and theater graduate students.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: The City of Miami Beach accounts for more than half of tourism to Miami Dade County. Of the 15.86 million people staying in the county in 2017, 58.5% lodged in Miami Beach. Resort taxes account for over 10% of the city's operating budget, providing $83 million in the fiscal year 2016–2017. On average, the city's resort tax revenue grows by three to five percent annually. Miami Beach hosts 13.3 million visitors each year. In fiscal year 2016/2017, Miami Beach had over 26,600 hotel rooms. Average occupancy in fiscal year 2015/2016 was 76.4% and 78.5% in fiscal year 2016/2017. Mayor Harold Rosen is credited with beginning the revitalization of Miami Beach when he notably abolished rent control in 1976, a move that was highly controversial at the time.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: The Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority is a seven-member board, appointed by the City of Miami Beach Commission. The authority, established in 1967 by the State of Florida legislature, is the official marketing and public relations organization for the city, to support its tourism industry.


title: Miami Beach, Florida

text: Wood, Travis. “As Hundreds of Golf Courses Close, Nature Gets a Chance to Make a Comeback.” Ensia, As hundreds of golf courses close, nature gets a chance to make a comeback.


title: Mastani

text: Mastani (29 August 1699 – 28 April 1740 CE) was the daughter of Chhatrasal and Ruhani Bai Begum. She was the second wife of the Maratha Peshwa (Prime Minister) Baji Rao I. Her relationship within the Maratha Brahmin family has been subject of both admiration and controversy and well adapted in Indian novels and cinema.


title: Mastani

text: Mastani was born to Chhatrasal, and his Persian Mistress Ruhaani Bai. Her father was the founder of the Panna State.


title: Mastani

text: She and her father were followers of the Pranami Sampradaya, a Hindu sect based on the Bhakti worship of Sri Krishna, but as her mother was Shia, she was also a follower of Islam.


title: Mastani

text: In 1728, Nawab Muhammad Khan Bangash invaded Chhatrasal's kingdom, defeated him and besieged his capital. Chhatrasal secretly wrote to Bajirao requesting his help. But being occupied in a military campaign in Malwa Bajirao did not respond until 1729 when he marched on towards Bundelkhand. Ultimately Bajirao defeated Bangash after reaching Jaitpur near Kulpahar in present Uttar Pradesh.


title: Mastani

text: In gratitude, Chattrasal gave Bajirao the hand of his daughter Mastani, dominion over Jhansi, Sagar and Kalpi - amounting to a third of his kingdom. After his marriage to Mastani, he also gifted Bajirao with 33 lakh gold coins and a gold mine. At the time, Bajirao was already married and monogamous by both nature and family tradition. He, however, accepted out of regard for Chattrasal.


title: Mastani

text: Back in Pune, the marriage was not generally accepted because of the tradition of monogamy. Mastani lived for some time with Bajirao at his palace of Shaniwar Wada in the city of Pune. The palace's north-east corner held Mastani Mahal and had its own external doorway called Mastani Darwaza. Bajirao later built a separate residence for Mastani at Kothrud in 1734, some distance away from Shaniwar Wada. The site still exists at the "Mrutyunjay" temple on Karve road. The palace at Kothrud was dismantled and parts of this are displayed at a special section of Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum.


title: Mastani

text: Mastani bore a son who was named Krishna Rao at birth, within a few months of Bajirao's first wife Kashibai delivering a son. The boy was eventually named Shamsher Bahadur I.


title: Mastani

text: After the closely following deaths of Bajirao and Mastani in 1740, Kashibai took the 6 year-old Shamsher Bahadur under her care and raised him as one of her own. Shamsher was bestowed upon a portion of his father’s dominion of Banda and Kalpi. In 1761, he and his army contingent fought alongside the Peshwa in the Third Battle of Panipat between the Marathas and Afghans. He was wounded in that battle and died a few days later at Deep.


title: Mastani

text: Mastani died in 1740, shortly after Bajirao's death. Her cause of death is unknown. According to some, say she died of a shock after perceiving her husband's death. But, many believe that she committed suicide after she heard of Bajirao's death by consuming poison. Mastani was buried in the village of Pabal. Her grave is called both "Mastani's samadhi" and "Mastani's mazar".


title: Mastani

text: Shamsher Bahadur's son Ali Bahadur I was given the Rajputana provinces that came in Mastani's dowry - Jhansi, Sagar and Kalpi. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 his son Nawab Ali Bahadur II responded to a rakhi from Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi and fought against the British. Ali Bahadur (Krishna Singh) established his authority over large parts of Bundelkhand and became the Nawab of Banda. The descendant of Shamsher Bahadur continued their allegiance to baihi bai fought the English in the Anglo-Maratha War of 1803. His descendants were known as Nawabs of Banda. But after the defeat of Ali Bahadur, the British abolished the Banda state.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG (C197 / R197) is a front mid-engine, 2-seater, limited production grand tourer developed by the Mercedes-AMG division of German automotive manufacturer Mercedes-Benz, with the assistance of David Coulthard. The car is the successor to the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren and was described by Mercedes-Benz as a spiritual successor to the Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, mainly because it was inspired by the latter. SLS stands for "Super Leicht Sport" (Super Light Sport).


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The SLS was the first Mercedes-Benz automobile designed and built from scratch entirely by AMG. Upon its introduction at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, the SLS AMG's M159 engine was according to AMG "the world's most powerful naturally aspirated production series engine" ever produced.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: An electric version of the car, the SLS AMG Electric Drive, was presented at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. Production ended in 2014 with the introduction of the SLS AMG GT Final Edition.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: As compared to its predecessor (the Mercedes-McLaren SLR), the SLS is per Mercedes-AMG head Tobias Moers, the faster car on the track, both in the hands of normal drivers as well as race car drivers. The Mercedes-McLaren SLR came in at . The SLS, however, has a curb weight of when equipped with the standard wheels.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The SLS AMG was designed by Mark Fetherston to be a modern 300SL Gullwing revival from October 2006 to April 2007. The SLS AMG has also adapted the feature of the gull-wing doors that swing open upwards on gas struts, and must be closed manually as AMG engineers decided against the of additional weight that auto-closing systems would have added to the car. In case of a roll-over, the doors can be fully detached to allow the occupants to leave the vehicle.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: Although there is some overlapping in price and performance, the lighter SLS AMG is considered more of a sporty track-oriented car, compared to the Mercedes-Benz SL which is a grand tourer especially with its optional V12 engine. Compared to the SLS AMG Roadster, the SL is a hardtop convertible with technological and comfort amenities, and it also has available heated seats with a massage function.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The SLS AMG has won a number of design awards, including the 2010 red dot "best of the best" award, the iF product design award 2010 for the "Transportation Design" category, and the "Auto Bild" Design Award 2010 as "Europe's most attractive car". It is also the only automobile to have won the gold Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The SLS AMG was assembled largely by hand, with its chassis and aluminum body shell produced by Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria and then transferred to Sindelfingen, Germany for assembly, with its engine being hand built by AMG in Affalterbach, Germany.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The SLS AMG was officially introduced at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, and sales commenced in mid-2010 in Europe and in mid-2011 in the United States.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The 6.2-litre V8 engine (based on the M156 block) was modified to such an extent that AMG gave it a separate engine code—M159—to signify the more than 120 different modifications done to the engine (as well as the addition of a dry-sump lubrication system to handle the car's high cornering speeds).


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: "AMG SPEEDSHIFT DCT" 7-speed dual-clutch automatic is connected to the engine through a lightweight carbon fibre driveshaft in a transaxle arrangement. Selectable driving modes include "C" (Controlled Efficiency), "S" (Sport), "S+" (Sport plus) or "M" (Manual; allowing the driver to change gears via paddles present on the steering column behind the steering wheel). A true manual transmission is not available. All SLS AMG models except the SLS AMG Electric Drive use the DCT, with the Electric Drive using two single speed transmissions allowing individual distribution of torque to each wheel.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: Standard brakes are (front) and (rear) cast iron disc brakes with 6-piston aluminium (front) and 4-piston (rear) calipers. Optional on the SLS AMG are carbon-ceramic disc brakes. discs with 6-piston aluminium calipers (front) and discs with 4-piston calipers (rear). These brakes provide increased stopping power with a 40% weight reduction compared to the standard braking system.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The SLS AMG is capable of accelerating from 0 to in 3.8 seconds (manufacturer claimed), and can reach a top speed of . The sports car can also perform a quarter mile time of 11.7 seconds at .


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The SLS AMG achieves a lateral acceleration of 0.99, improving upon the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, which achieves a 0.97 figure.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: In the June 2010 issue of "Car and Driver" magazine, safety specifications were revealed pertaining to the safety of the SLS AMG's gullwing doors. Ten to fifteen milliseconds after a detected rollover, explosive bolts situated at the top of the door frame fire and bell cranks separate the doors from the car for easy exit during a serious accident. An anti-lock braking system and a 3-stage electronic stability program (ESP) are standard equipment.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The exterior aluminum body is supplied by Magna Steyr. The SLS and the CL65 AMG 40th Anniversary Edition are the only roadgoing Mercedes-Benz automobiles with the "AMG Alubeam Silver" exterior paint available, at an extra cost of €11,900 in Germany. Other colours include both metallic and matte colours, such as Designo Magno Kashmir, the matte paint known from the SL63 AMG IWC edition.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The SLS AMG has a retractable rear wing which extends at a speed of for stability and handling and acts as an airbrake when braking.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The first model introduced in the SLS lineage was the coupé with gullwing doors. In mid-2010, an FIA-GT3 racing version was introduced; and for 2011–2013, Mercedes introduced a roadster version (with conventional doors and a soft top), an electric "E-Cell" version (coupé), and the ultimate iteration named the Black Series, which has a reduced weight of .


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The SLS AMG includes 9.5x19-inch (front) and 11x20-inch (rear) AMG 7-spoke light-alloy wheels with 5-twin-spoke wheels and 10-spoke forged wheels available as an option, 265/35 R 19 front and 295/30 R 20 rear tyres, a tyre pressure monitoring system, Formula-1-style LED fog lamp/reversing light, black diffuser insert, dual exhaust tips with chrome finish, an electronically retractable rear wing automatically deployed at a speed of , choice of 9 exterior colours including the AMG ALU-BEAM silver (an approximately US$12,750 option applied at a specialized location in 7 layers by hand after the surface of the car first receives additional polishing and finishing, with each flake of paint aligned to create a gleaming sheen of bluish silver that has the appearance of molten silver, a labour-intensive process that restricted Mercedes to only 2–3 cars finished in that colour per week), designo magno allanite grey (matte), AMG magno sylvanite grey (matte) and Mars Red (metallic), an instrument cluster with LED upshift indicator and two white backlit dials, COMAND APS multimedia system with its 7-inch screen between the two centre air vents, AMG DRIVE UNIT facing the driver, E-SELECT shift lever, Nappa leather upholstery, solid metal and (optional) genuine carbon-fibre trim; choice of five leather colours for the interior upholstery (black, classic red, sand, porcelain and light brown), sports seat backrests made from magnesium, sports seats with two-zone seat cushions and four-way lumbar support and optional Memory package (three configurable individual settings), integrated head restraints and sporty transverse fluting upholstered in designo leather (in optional classic red, sand and porcelain), performance leather steering wheel in a three-spoke design with 365-millimetre rim, a 3.7-litre glove compartment with a spectacles section, a 176-litre luggage compartment, carbon-fibre driveshaft at the rear axle, AMG SPEEDSHIFT DCT 7-speed sports transmission, 3-stage ESP with acceleration skid control system, optional carbon ceramic brakes (an approximately US$12,500 option), and a 1,000 watt stereo system (an approximately US$6,500 option).


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: The initial introduction took place at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, and later at the 2009 Tokyo Game Show, Auto China 2010, and the second terminal of the Haneda Airport. The production model went on sale in spring 2010. Commercial release of the German model began on 16 November 2009. Pre-orders of the Japanese model began on 14 April 2010 with sales beginning from 10 June 2010 and deliveries beginning on 28 September 2010. Various minor changes and variations ensued, as identified below, with a very small gain in horsepower (though the torque remained identical) and in the case of the final edition in model year 2015, certain visual add-ons (a fixed spoiler and carbon-effect).


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: Unveiled at the 2010 Dubai International Motor Show, this variant of the SLS AMG Coupé showcased further customisation options for the SLS AMG including decorative features in shining chrome or Silver Shadow colours, black-painted AMG light-alloy wheels in size 9.5 x 19 at the front and 11.0 x 20 at the rear with a golden ring on the rim flange and a matte gold body colour dubbed "desert gold".


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: Ordered by Mercedes-Benz's Australian subsidiary for the Australian International Motor Show, the Blackbird is a one-off variant of the 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Coupé with designo magno Night Black body colour with red highlights.


title: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

text: Unveiled at the 2011 North American International Auto Show, the SLS AMG E-Cell is based on the SLS AMG Coupé, but is powered by four electric motors that provide a combined power output of and . The battery is a 400 Volt lithium unit with a capacity of 48 kWh. Other features include pushrod damper struts, 402 x 39 mm (front) and 360 x 32 mm (rear) carbon ceramic brake discs. Full-LED headlamps, AMG 10-spoke light-alloy wheels with smooth-surfaced design, 265/35 R 19 (front) and 295/30 R 20 (rear) tyres, AMG Drive Unit angled towards the driver, sports seats made of quality Nappa leather in a black/white colour combination, performance leather/Alcantara steering wheel and the door linings, centre tunnel.