1.
Gary Winick
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Born in Manhattan, New York City, Gary Winick attended Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in that borough, graduating in 1979. A1984 graduate of Tufts University, he went on to receive Master of Fine Arts degree from both the University of Texas at Austin and the AFI Conservatory. Winick directed the films Out of the Rain, Tadpole,13 Going on 30, and his final films were Bride Wars and Letters to Juliet. He produced such films as Pieces of April and November through his New York City-based independent film production company InDigEnt, Winick died of pneumonia in Manhattan on February 27,2011, at age 49, resulting from brain cancer that had spread throughout him since 2009. 2002 Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for producing Personal Velocity Gary Winick at the Internet Movie Database Jardin, four Directors Share Hard-Learned Lessons on the Pros and Cons of Digital Filmmaking. Archived from the original on July 4,2008, Gary Winick, A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
2.
Jennifer Garner
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Jennifer Anne Garner is an American actress. Her breakthrough film debut was in the comedy Dude, Wheres My Car, following a supporting role in Pearl Harbor, Garner gained recognition for her performance as CIA officer Sydney Bristow in the ABC spy-action thriller Alias, which aired from 2001 to 2006. For her work on the series, she won a Golden Globe Award, while working on Alias, Garner gained a cameo role in Catch Me if You Can, followed by a praised leading performance in the romantic comedy film 13 Going on 30. Garner has appeared in supporting as well as film roles including the superhero films Daredevil and Elektra, the comedy-drama Juno. Garner works frequently as an activist for early education and is a board member of Save the Children. She is also an advocate for anti-paparazzi campaigns among children of celebrities, Garner had a five-year relationship with Scott Foley from 1998 to 2003, during which they married. Garner married Ben Affleck in 2005, with whom she has three children, they separated in 2015, Jennifer Garner was born on April 17,1972 in Houston, Texas but moved to Charleston, West Virginia at the age of three. Her father, William John Garner, worked as an engineer for Union Carbide and her mother, Patricia Ann, was a homemaker and, later. She has a sister, Melissa Wylie, and a younger sister. Garner has described herself as a middle child who sought to differentiate herself from her accomplished older sister. While Garner did not grow up in an active household, her father was very conservative. She attended a local United Methodist Church every Sunday and went to Vacation Bible School. As teenagers, Garner and her sisters were not allowed to wear makeup, paint their nails, pierce their ears or dye their hair, she has joked that her familys take on the world was practically Amish. Garner attended George Washington High School in Charleston, she played saxophone in the band, competed on the swim team. While Garner was a student, she did not get straight As. She participated in musicals at the community theater, the Charleston Light Opera Guild. In 1990, Garner enrolled at Denison University in Granville, Ohio and she briefly majored in chemistry before turning her attention to theater. She spent the fall semester of 1993 studying at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene ONeill Theater Center in Waterford, in 1994, she graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater performance
3.
Mark Ruffalo
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Mark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, humanitarian, social activist and film producer. He made his debut in an episode of CBS Summer Playhouse. He was part of the original cast of This Is Our Youth, following were his roles in 13 Going on 30, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, and What Doesnt Kill You. In 2010, he starred in the psychological thriller Shutter Island, for the latter, he received nominations for the SAG Award, BAFTA Award, and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also co-starred in the mystery films Now You See Me, Ruffalo gained international prominence by portraying the Marvel Comics character the Hulk in The Avengers and Avengers, Age of Ultron. The same year, he portrayed Dave Schultz in Foxcatcher, for which he was nominated for awards, including a Golden Globe, Ruffalo was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His mother, Marie Rose, is a hairdresser and stylist and he has two sisters, Tania and Nicole, and a brother, Scott. His father is of Italian descent, from Girifalco, and his mother is of half French Canadian, Ruffalo attended both Catholic school and progressive schools. Ruffalo has described himself as having been a kid, although he struggled from undiagnosed dyslexia and ADD as a child. Ruffalo spent his teen years in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where his father worked and he competed in wrestling in junior high and high school in Wisconsin and Virginia. With the Orpheus Theatre Company, he wrote, directed, and starred in a number of plays, Ruffalo had minor roles in films like The Dentist, the low-key crime comedy Safe Men and Ang Lees Civil War Western Ride with the Devil. He appeared opposite Tom Cruise as a detective in Michael Manns crime-thriller Collateral. In the mid 2000s, Ruffalo appeared as a lead in View From the Top,13 Going on 30, Just Like Heaven. In 2006, Ruffalo starred in Clifford Odets Awake and Sing. at the Belasco Theatre in New York, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In March 2007, he appeared in Zodiac as SFPD homicide inspector Dave Toschi, in 2007, Ruffalo played divorced lawyer Dwight Arno, who accidentally kills a child and speeds away, in Terry Georges film Reservation Road, based on the novel by John Burnham Schwartz. In 2008, Ruffalo starred as a con man in The Brothers Bloom with Adrien Brody and Rachel Weisz,2008 also saw Ruffalo in Brian Goodmans What Doesnt Kill You with Ethan Hawke and Amanda Peet, which was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2009, he played a role in the film Where The Wild Things Are as Maxs mothers boyfriend. In 2010, he co-starred in the Martin Scorsese thriller Shutter Island as U. S, marshal Chuck Aule, the partner of Leonardo DiCaprios character Teddy Daniels
4.
Judy Greer
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Judy Greer is an American actress, model and author, known for several television and film roles. In film, Greer is known for supporting roles in romantic comedies, with appearances in What Women Want, The Wedding Planner,13 Going on 30,27 Dresses and Love. Her other film appearances include roles in The Descendants, Carrie,2014 also saw the publication of her first book, I Dont Know What You Know Me From, Confessions of a Co-Star. Greer was born in Detroit, Michigan and her mother, Mollie Ann, is a hospital administrator and former nun, and her father, Rich Evans, is a mechanical engineer. She was raised as a Catholic and grew up in Redford Township, Greer attended Churchill High School and graduated from The Theatre School at DePaul University in 1997. Greer had a role on the Fox comedy series Arrested Development, playing Kitty Sanchez in 10 episodes total. In an August 2009 interview, Greer said that she is most recognized for this role and she had supporting roles in Jawbreaker, What Women Want, The Wedding Planner, Adaptation,13 Going on 30, The Village, Elizabethtown,27 Dresses, and Love Happens. Greer has made guest appearances on Just Shoot Me, CSI, Miami, My Name Is Earl, Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Californication, ER, House, Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Warren the Ape. She took on a role in the ABC sitcom Miss Guided. She also starred in the indie satire Visioneers, in April 2008, Greer appeared as a yoga instructor in the Get a Mac ad series featuring John Hodgman and Justin Long. Greer starred in a CBS sitcom entitled Mad Love, which premiered in February 2011 as a mid-season replacement, the show was canceled after the first season. Greer has also portrayed two characters on Two and a Half Men, Bridget Schmidt the ex-wife of Walden Schmidt, Myra a love interest of Charlie Harper, and she is the first actress to be honored with the award. She played the gym teacher Miss Desjardin in the 2013 film adaptation, Carrie, alongside Chloë Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore, in 2014, Greer made her directorial debut, with a short film for AOL, Quiet Time. Greer stars with Nat Faxon in the FX comedy series Married, in 2015, Greer co-starred in the films Tomorrowland, Jurassic World and Ant-Man, among others. In 2016, she debuted in the voice role of Beep in the Netflix childrens animated programs. She will reprise her role of the chimp Cornelia in War for the Planet of the Apes, Greer is married to Dean E. Johnsen, an executive producer of Real Time with Bill Maher. During an interview, Greer stated that she is no longer a practicing Catholic, in 2014, she told Glamour, I had been wanting to try and learn how to meditate, and I did research on the different types of meditation. TM seemed the easiest, and I liked that it wasnt religious in any way, I Dont Know What You Know Me From, Confessions of a Co-Star
5.
Andy Serkis
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Andrew Clement Andy Serkis is an English film actor, director and author. Upcoming performance capture roles include Caesar in War for the Planet of the Apes, Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars, The Last Jedi, Serkis film work in motion capture has been critically acclaimed. He has received an Empire Award, and two Saturn Awards for his motion-capture acting, in 2015, he began playing Ulysses Klaue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe beginning with Avengers, Age of Ultron. Serkis has his own motion capture workshop, The Imaginarium Studios in London, Serkis was born and brought up in Ruislip Manor in Middlesex. His mother, Lylie, was English and taught disabled children and his father, Clement Serkis, was an Iraqi gynaecologist of Armenian ethnicity. His ancestors original surname was Sarkisian and his father often worked away in the Middle East, while Serkis and his siblings were raised in Britain, with regular holidays in the Middle East including to Tyre, Sidon, Damascus and Baghdad. Serkis was educated at St Benedicts School, Ealing, and then studied arts at Lancaster University. He chose theatre as a subject so that he could design posters. Serkis was a member of the County College and part of the student radio station Bailrigg FM and he joined the Nuffield Studio, getting involved in designing and producing plays. Having agreed to act in a couple of productions, towards the end of his first year Serkis played the role in Barrie Keeffes play Gotcha. In his third year at college, Serkis joined the team at the local Dukes Playhouse to earn his Equity card. Like many British actors, Serkis made the move to television by appearing in small roles, however, one of his first major starring roles was in the joint BBC/HBO production of Einstein and Eddington. Serkis played Albert Einstein, following the development of his theory of relativity, Serkis joined director Mike Leighs ensemble for two film productions, and appeared in the romantic comedy Loop alongside Susannah York. His work on The Lord of the Rings started a debate on the legitimacy of CGI-assisted acting, some critics felt Serkis should have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, since his voice, body language, and facial expressions were used. There is the argument that his CGI actions were partially, or in some cases fully, animated without his movements, Serkis does appear briefly as Sméagol before he transforms into Gollum, and the CGI Gollums facial characteristics are fundamentally based on Serkis own. Serkis worked with game developers Ninja Theory on the 2007 release Heavenly Sword, providing the motion capture and voice for King Bohan and he has played 30 roles in film and television productions. He appeared alongside Sacha Baron Cohen in The Jolly Boys Last Stand, Serkis was cast as serial killer Ian Brady in the BAFTA-nominated Longford, co-starring Samantha Morton as Myra Hindley and Jim Broadbent as Lord Longford. The film was attacked by relatives of Bradys and Hindleys victims, in 2006, Serkis appeared in the role of Mr. Grin in the film rendition of Anthony Horowitzs Alex Rider novel Stormbreaker
6.
Columbia Pictures
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The studio was founded in 1918 as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and Jacks best friend Joe Brandt, released its first feature film in August 1922. It adopted the Columbia Pictures name in 1924, and went public two years later and its name is derived from Columbia, a national personification of the United States, which is used as the studios logo. In its early years, it was a player in Hollywood. With Capra and others, Columbia became one of the homes of the screwball comedy. In the 1930s, Columbias major contract stars were Jean Arthur, in the 1940s, Rita Hayworth became the studios premier star and propelled their fortunes into the late 1950s. Rosalind Russell, Glenn Ford, and William Holden also became major stars at the studio, in 1982, the studio was purchased by The Coca-Cola Company, and launched TriStar Pictures as a joint venture with HBO and CBS. Five years later, Coca-Cola spun off Columbia, which was sold to Tri-Star, after a brief period of independence with Coca-Cola maintaining a financial interest, the combined studio was acquired by Sony in 1989. It is one of the film studios in the world. It was one of the so-called Little Three among the eight major film studios of Hollywoods Golden Age, Brandt was president of CBC Film Sales, handling sales, marketing and distribution from New York along with Jack Cohn, while Harry Cohn ran production in Hollywood. The studios early productions were short subjects, Screen Snapshots, the Hall Room Boys. The start-up CBC leased space in a Poverty Row studio on Hollywoods famously low-rent Gower Street, among Hollywoods elite, the studios small-time reputation led some to joke that CBC stood for Corned Beef and Cabbage. Brandt eventually tired of dealing with the Cohn brothers, and sold his stake to Harry Cohn. In an effort to improve its image, the Cohn brothers renamed the company Columbia Pictures Corporation on January 10,1924, Cohn remained head of production as well, thus concentrating enormous power in his hands. He would run Columbia for the next 34 years, the second-longest tenure of any studio chief, even in an industry rife with nepotism, Columbia was particularly notorious for having a number of Harry and Jacks relatives in high positions. Humorist Robert Benchley called it the Pine Tree Studio, because it has so many Cohns, Columbias product line consisted mostly of moderately budgeted features and short subjects including comedies, sports films, various serials, and cartoons. Columbia gradually moved into the production of higher-budget fare, eventually joining the tier of Hollywood studios along with United Artists. Like United Artists and Universal, Columbia was an integrated company. It controlled production and distribution, it did not own any theaters, helping Columbias climb was the arrival of an ambitious director, Frank Capra
7.
Aluminium
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Aluminium or aluminum is a chemical element in the boron group with symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery-white, soft, nonmagnetic, ductile metal, Aluminium metal is so chemically reactive that native specimens are rare and limited to extreme reducing environments. Instead, it is combined in over 270 different minerals. The chief ore of aluminium is bauxite, Aluminium is remarkable for the metals low density and its ability to resist corrosion through the phenomenon of passivation. Aluminium and its alloys are vital to the industry and important in transportation and structures, such as building facades. The oxides and sulfates are the most useful compounds of aluminium, despite its prevalence in the environment, no known form of life uses aluminium salts metabolically, but aluminium is well tolerated by plants and animals. Because of these salts abundance, the potential for a role for them is of continuing interest. Aluminium is a soft, durable, lightweight, ductile. It is nonmagnetic and does not easily ignite, a fresh film of aluminium serves as a good reflector of visible light and an excellent reflector of medium and far infrared radiation. The yield strength of aluminium is 7–11 MPa, while aluminium alloys have yield strengths ranging from 200 MPa to 600 MPa. Aluminium has about one-third the density and stiffness of steel and it is easily machined, cast, drawn and extruded. Aluminium atoms are arranged in a cubic structure. Aluminium has an energy of approximately 200 mJ/m2. Aluminium is a thermal and electrical conductor, having 59% the conductivity of copper. Aluminium is capable of superconductivity, with a critical temperature of 1.2 kelvin. Aluminium is the most common material for the fabrication of superconducting qubits, the strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper. This corrosion resistance is reduced by aqueous salts, particularly in the presence of dissimilar metals. In highly acidic solutions, aluminium reacts with water to form hydrogen, primarily because it is corroded by dissolved chlorides, such as common sodium chloride, household plumbing is never made from aluminium
8.
Zinc
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Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table, in some respects zinc is chemically similar to magnesium, both elements exhibit only one normal oxidation state, and the Zn2+ and Mg2+ ions are of similar size. Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in Earths crust and has five stable isotopes, the most common zinc ore is sphalerite, a zinc sulfide mineral. The largest workable lodes are in Australia, Asia, and the United States, Zinc is refined by froth flotation of the ore, roasting, and final extraction using electricity. Zinc metal was not produced on a large scale until the 12th century in India and was unknown to Europe until the end of the 16th century, the mines of Rajasthan have given definite evidence of zinc production going back to the 6th century BC. To date, the oldest evidence of pure zinc comes from Zawar, in Rajasthan, alchemists burned zinc in air to form what they called philosophers wool or white snow. The element was named by the alchemist Paracelsus after the German word Zinke. German chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf is credited with discovering pure metallic zinc in 1746, work by Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta uncovered the electrochemical properties of zinc by 1800. Corrosion-resistant zinc plating of iron is the application for zinc. Other applications are in batteries, small non-structural castings. A variety of compounds are commonly used, such as zinc carbonate and zinc gluconate, zinc chloride, zinc pyrithione, zinc sulfide. Zinc is an essential mineral perceived by the public today as being of exceptional biologic and public health importance, Zinc deficiency affects about two billion people in the developing world and is associated with many diseases. In children, deficiency causes growth retardation, delayed sexual maturation, infection susceptibility, enzymes with a zinc atom in the reactive center are widespread in biochemistry, such as alcohol dehydrogenase in humans. Consumption of excess zinc can cause ataxia, lethargy and copper deficiency, Zinc is a bluish-white, lustrous, diamagnetic metal, though most common commercial grades of the metal have a dull finish.6 pm. The metal is hard and brittle at most temperatures but becomes malleable between 100 and 150 °C, above 210 °C, the metal becomes brittle again and can be pulverized by beating. Zinc is a conductor of electricity. For a metal, zinc has relatively low melting and boiling points, the melting point is the lowest of all the transition metals aside from mercury and cadmium. Many alloys contain zinc, including brass, Other metals long known to form binary alloys with zinc are aluminium, antimony, bismuth, gold, iron, lead, mercury, silver, tin, magnesium, cobalt, nickel, tellurium, and sodium
9.
Fantasy film
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Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction films and horror films, Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, escapism, and the extraordinary. Several sub-categories of fantasy films can be identified, although the delineations between these subgenres, much as in literature, are somewhat fluid. The most common fantasy subgenres depicted in movies are High Fantasy and Sword, both categories typically employ quasi-medieval settings, wizards, magical creatures and other elements commonly associated with fantasy stories. High Fantasy films tend to feature a more richly developed fantasy world, often, they feature a hero of humble origins and a clear distinction between good and evil set against each other in an epic struggle. Many scholars cite J. R. R, to some, the term Sword and Sandal has pejorative connotations, designating a film with a low-quality script, bad acting and poor production values. Another important subgenre of films that has become more popular in recent years is contemporary fantasy. Such films feature magical effects or supernatural occurrences happening in the world of today. Fantasy films set in the afterlife, called Bangsian Fantasy, are less common, other uncommon subgenres include Historical Fantasy and Romantic Fantasy, although 2003s Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl successfully incorporated elements of both. As noted above, superhero movies and fairy tale films might each be considered subgenres of fantasy films, as a cinematic genre, fantasy has traditionally not been regarded as highly as the related genre of science fiction film. Since the late 1990s, however, the genre has gained new respectability in a way, tolkiens The Lord of the Rings and J. K. Jacksons The Lord of the Rings trilogy is due to its ambitious scope, serious tone. These pictures achieved phenomenal commercial and critical success, and the installment of the trilogy became the first fantasy film ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Harry Potter series has been a financial success, has achieved critical acclaim. Following the success of ventures, Hollywood studios have greenlighted additional big-budget productions in the genre. These have included adaptations of the first, second, and third books in C. S and this is in contrast to science fiction films, which are often released during the northern hemisphere summer. The huge commercial success of these pictures may indicate a change in Hollywoods approach to fantasy film releases. Fantasy films have a history almost as old as the medium itself, however, fantasy films were relatively few and far between until the 1980s, when high-tech filmmaking techniques and increased audience interest caused the genre to flourish
10.
Romantic comedy film
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Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is a movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily. Another definition states that its primary distinguishing feature is a plot in which two sympathetic and well-matched lovers are united or reconciled. Romantic comedy films are a genre of comedy films as well as of romance films. However a romantic comedy is classified as a film with two genres not a new genre. Some television series can also be classified as romantic comedies, a wedding-bells, fairy-tale-style happy ending is practically mandatory. The basic plot of a comedy is that two characters meet, part ways due to an argument or other obstacle, then ultimately reunite. Sometimes the two meet and become involved initially, then must confront challenges to their union. Sometimes they are hesitant to become involved because they believe that they do not like each other, because one of them already has a partner. However, the screenwriters leave clues that suggest that the characters are, in fact, attracted to each other, the protagonists often separate or seek time apart to sort out their feelings or deal with the external obstacles to their being together. While the two protagonists are separated, one or both of them realizes that they are ideal for each other, or that they are in love with each other. Then, after one of the two makes some effort to find the other person and declare their love, or through an astonishing coincidental encounter. Then, perhaps with some comic friction or awkwardness, they declare their love for each other, the couple does not, however, have to marry, or live together happily ever after. The ending of a comedy is meant to affirm the primary importance of the love relationship in its protagonists lives. There are many variations on this basic plotline, sometimes, instead of the two lead characters ending up in each others arms, another love match will be made between one of the principal characters and a secondary character. Alternatively, the film may be a rumination on the impossibility of love, the basic format of a romantic comedy film can be found in much earlier sources, such as Shakespeare plays like Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Nights Dream. Some comedy films, such as Knocked Up, combine themes of romantic comedies and stoner comedies, often known as bromance, such films usually use sexual elements which bring the two characters together. Films in this genre include American Pie 2 and even Wedding Crashers, romantic comedies have begun to spread out of their conventional and traditional structure into other territory
11.
Billy Joel
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William Martin Billy Joel is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since releasing his first hit song, Piano Man, in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and his compilation album Greatest Hits Vol.1 &2 is one of the best-selling albums in the US. Joel had Top 40 hits in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, achieving 33 Top 40 hits in the US and he is also a six-time Grammy Award winner who has been nominated for 23 Grammy Awards. He has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the artists of all time. Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 2001, Joel received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2013, Joel received the Kennedy Center Honors, the nations highest honor for influencing American culture through the arts, with the exception of the 2007 songs All My Life and Christmas in Fallujah, Joel stopped writing and releasing pop/rock material after 1993s River of Dreams. However, he continues to tour, and he plays songs from all eras of his solo career. William Martin Joel was born in the Bronx on May 9,1949, in 1963, when ZIP codes were assigned, the section of Levittown in Oyster Bay was given a Hicksville, New York ZIP code and has since been part of Hicksville. Joels father, Howard Joel, a classical pianist, was born in Germany, to a Jewish family, Howard immigrated to Switzerland and later to the US to escape the Nazi regime. Joels mother, Rosalind, was born in England to Jewish parents, Philip, Rosalind and Howard Joel divorced in 1957. Howard Joel moved to Vienna, Austria, Billy Joel has a sister, Judith, and a half-brother, Alexander Joel, a classical conductor in Europe, who was the chief musical director of the Staatstheater Braunschweig from 2001 to 2014. He reluctantly began piano lessons at an age, at his mothers insistence, his teachers including the noted American pianist Morton Estrin. As a teenager, Joel took up boxing so he could defend himself and he boxed successfully on the amateur Golden Gloves circuit for a short time, winning 22 bouts, but abandoned the sport shortly after his nose was broken in his 24th boxing match. Joel attended Hicksville High School until 1967, but he did not graduate with his class, though Joel was a comparatively strong student, at the end of his senior year, he did not have enough credits to graduate. Rather than attend school to earn his diploma, Joel decided to begin a career in music, I told them. If Im not going to Columbia University, Im going to Columbia Records, Joel did eventually sign with Columbia. In 1992, he submitted essays to the board and was awarded his diploma at Hicksville Highs annual-graduation ceremony,25 years after leaving. After seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, Joel decided to pursue a career in music, in an interview he said of the groups impact, That one performance changed my life … Up to that moment Id never considered playing rock as a career
12.
Michael Jackson
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Michael Joseph Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, actor, and philanthropist. Called the King of Pop, his contributions to music, dance, the eighth child of the Jackson family, Michael made his professional debut in 1964 with his elder brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5. He began his career in 1971. In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music, the popularity of these videos helped bring the television channel MTV to fame. Jacksons 1987 album Bad spawned the U. S and he continued to innovate with videos such as Black or White and Scream throughout the 1990s, and forged a reputation as a touring solo artist. Through stage and video performances, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and his distinctive sound and style has influenced numerous artists of various music genres. Thriller is the album of all time, with estimated sales of 65 million copies worldwide. Jacksons other albums, including Off the Wall, Bad, Dangerous and he is recognized as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time by Guinness World Records. Jackson won hundreds of awards, making him the most awarded recording artist in the history of popular music. He became the first artist in history to have a top ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades when Love Never Felt So Good reached number nine on May 21,2014. Jackson traveled the world attending events honoring his humanitarianism, and, in 2000, aspects of Jacksons personal life, including his changing appearance, personal relationships, and behavior, generated controversy. In 1993, he was accused of sexual abuse, but the civil case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of child sexual abuse allegations. While preparing for his concert series, This Is It, Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication on June 25,2009. The Los Angeles County Coroner ruled his death a homicide, and his personal physician, Jacksons death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and a live broadcast of his public memorial service was viewed around the world. Forbes ranks Jackson as the dead celebrity with earnings of $825 million in 2016. Michael Joseph Jackson was born on August 29,1958 and his mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovahs Witness. She played clarinet and piano and once aspired to be a country-and-western performer, michaels father, Joseph Walter Joe Jackson, a former boxer, was a steelworker at U. S. Steel
13.
Pat Benatar
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Patricia Mae Andrzejewski, known professionally by her stage name Pat Benatar, is an American coloratura mezzo-soprano singer, actress, songwriter, and four time Grammy Award winner. Other popular singles include Heartbreaker, Treat Me Right, Fire and Ice, Promises in the Dark, Shadows of the Night, Benatars recordings were heavily played in the early days of MTV, she was the second artist to be played there, performing You Better Run. Patricia Mae Andrzejewski was born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City and her mother, Mildred, was a beautician, and her father, Andrew Andrzejewski, was a sheet-metal worker. Her father was of Polish descent and her mother was of German, English and her family moved to North Hamilton Avenue in Lindenhurst, New York, a village in the Long Island town of Babylon. She became interested in theater and began voice lessons, singing her first solo at the age of eight, at Daniel Street Elementary School, a song called It Must Be Spring. Benatar trained as a coloratura with plans to attend the Juilliard School, in 1971, Benatar quit her job to pursue a singing career after being inspired by a Liza Minnelli concert she saw in Richmond. She got a job as a waitress at a flapper-esque nightclub named The Roaring Twenties and got a gig singing in the lounge band Coxons Army. The band was the subject of a never-aired PBS special, its bassist Roger Capps was later the original bass player for the Pat Benatar Band, in 1975 Benatar performed at an amateur night at the comedy club Catch a Rising Star in New York. Her rendition of Judy Garlands Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Melody earned her a call back by club owner Rick Newman, who became her manager. The couple moved to New York following Dennis discharge from the army, Halloween 1977 proved a pivotal night in Benatars early, spandexed stage persona. She entered a Halloween contest at the Cafe Figaro in Greenwich Village dressed as a character from the film Cat-Women of the Moon, later that evening, she went onstage at Catch a Rising Star still in costume. Between appearances at Catch a Rising Star, she recorded commercial jingles for Pepsi Cola and she headlined New York Citys Tramps nightclub for four days in the spring of 1978, where her performance was heard by representatives from several record companies. She was signed to Chrysalis Records by co-founder Terry Ellis the following week, Benatar and Dennis divorced shortly after. Benatars debut album In the Heat of the Night was released in August 1979, mike Chapman produced three tracks on the album, while engineer Peter Coleman oversaw the rest. The album also featured two songs written by Roger Capps and Benatar, and I Need a Lover written by John Mellencamp and Dont Let It Show written by Alan Parsons, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in December 1980. In Canada it was certified 4x platinum where it peaked at number 3 on the RPM albums chart If You Think You Know How to Love Me was the first single to be released on September 14,1979. Benatars second single Heartbreaker was released on October 26,1979 and became a hit, a third single We Live for Love, which was written by her future husband Neil Giraldo, was released in February 1980, and reached US #27. Hit Me With Your Best Shot was her first single to break the US Top 10, the album also featured a changed-tempo cover of Kate Bushs Wuthering Heights
14.
Whitney Houston
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Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time, Houston is one of pop musics best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200 million records sold worldwide. She released seven albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive No.1 Billboard Hot 100 hits and she is the second artist behind Elton John and the only woman to have two number-one Billboard 200 Album awards on the Billboard magazine year-end charts. Houstons debut album, Whitney Houston, became the debut album by a woman in history. Rolling Stone named it the best album of 1986, and ranked it at number 254 on the magazines list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Her second studio album, Whitney, became the first album by a woman to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Houstons first acting role was as the star of the feature film The Bodyguard. The films original soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and its lead single, I Will Always Love You, won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became the best-selling single by a woman in music history. With the album, Houston became the first act to sell more than a million copies of an album within a week period under Nielsen SoundScan system. The album makes her the top female act in the top 10 list of the albums of all time. Houston continued to star in movies and contribute to their soundtracks, including the films Waiting to Exhale, the Preachers Wife soundtrack became the best-selling gospel album in history. On February 11,2012, Houston was found dead in her guest room at the Beverly Hilton, in Beverly Hills, the official coroners report showed that she had accidentally drowned in the bathtub, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors. News of her death coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards and featured prominently in American, Whitney Houston was born on August 9,1963 in what was then a middle-income neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. She was the daughter of Army serviceman and entertainment executive John Russell Houston, Jr. and her elder brother Michael is a singer, and her elder half-brother is former basketball player Gary Garland. Her parents were both African American, through her mother, Houston was a first cousin of singers Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. Her godmother was Darlene Love and her aunt was Aretha Franklin. Houston was raised a Baptist, but was exposed to the Pentecostal church. After the 1967 Newark riots, the moved to a middle-class area in East Orange, New Jersey
15.
Billboard 200
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The Billboard 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists, often, a recording act will be remembered by its number ones, those of their albums that outperformed all others during at least one week. The chart is based mostly on sales of albums in the United States, the weekly sales period was originally Monday to Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but since July 2015, tracking week begins on Friday and ends on Thursday. A new chart is published the following Tuesday with an issue post-dated to the Saturday of the following week, the charts streaming schedule is also tracked from Friday to Thursday. Example, Friday January 1 – sales tracking week begins Thursday January 7 – sales tracking week ends Tuesday January 12 – new chart published, New product is released to the American market on Fridays. Digital downloads of albums are included in Billboard 200 tabulation. Albums that are not licensed for sale in the United States are not eligible to chart. As of the issue dated April 15,2017, the album on the Billboard 200 is More Life by Drake. Billboard began an album chart in 1945, initially only five positions long, the album chart was not published on a weekly basis, sometimes three to seven weeks passing before it was updated. A biweekly, 15-position Best-Selling Popular Albums chart appeared in 1955, the position count varied anywhere from 10 to 30 albums. The first number-one album on the new weekly list was Belafonte by Harry Belafonte, the chart was renamed to Best-Selling Pop Albums later in 1956, and then to Best-Selling Pop LPs in 1957. Beginning on May 25,1959, Billboard split the ranking into two charts Best-Selling Stereophonic LPs for stereo albums and Best-Selling Monophonic LPs for mono albums and these were renamed to Stereo Action Charts and Mono Action Charts in 1960. In January 1961, they became Action Albums—Stereophonic and Action Albums—Monophonic, three months later, they became Top LPs—Stereo and Top LPs—Monaural. On August 17,1963 the stereo and mono charts were combined into a 150-position chart called Top LPs, on April 1,1967, the chart was expanded to 175 positions, then finally to 200 positions on May 13,1967. In 1960, Billboard began concurrently publishing album charts which ranked sales of older or mid-priced titles and these Essential Inventory charts were divided by stereo and mono albums, and featured titles that had already appeared on the main stereo and mono album charts. In January 1961, the Action Charts became Action Albums—Monophonic, Albums appeared on either chart for up to nine weeks, then were moved to an Essential Inventory list of approximately 200 titles, with no numerical ranking. This list continued to be published until the consolidated Top LPs chart debuted in 1963, in 1982, Billboard began publishing a Midline Albums chart which ranked older or mid-priced titles. The chart held 50 positions and was published on a bi-weekly basis, on May 25,1991, Billboard premiered the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart
16.
MTV Movie & TV Awards
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The MTV Movie & TV Awards is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV, winners are decided online by the general public. Presently voting is done through MTVs official website through a special Movie Awards link at movieawards. mtv. com, the most recent award show took place on April 9,2016. Winners are presented with the golden statue, made by New York firm. Unlike its sister event MTV Video Music Awards, the MTV Movie Awards were taped, the entire production was taped in a completely different order than what the MTV viewing audience saw. For example, the shows host would tape all his/her monologues and introductions at one time, celebrities would often only appear at the live taping for the announcement of their award category, and members of the general audience fill their vacant seats during the other times. Through editing, MTV was able to present to its audience a awards show which appears to be taped in live sequence. This method of production allowed profanity to be edited from the show, the actual live taping aired same-day on pay-per-view channels in most metropolitan cities around the world. Some awards telecasts had also shown in television syndication. However, in 2007, this changed, as MTV and Survivor producer Mark Burnett announced that the 2007 edition would be broadcast live on MTV for the first time on June 3,2007 in Los Angeles. The 2016 broadcast was the first show since 2006 not to air live as the event was taped on April 9,2016 before airing on Viacoms MTV networks the following day on April 10. Since 2007, polls for several awards were voted by users on MTVs official website. Prior to announcing the winner MTV would air testimonials from major Hollywood celebrities praising the winners greatness while only offering a slight tease as to who the winner was, following Clint Howards win and emotional reaction the award was discontinued. The MTV Generation Award is the successor to the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award, the recipient of the award is celebrated for great achievement in movies. The distinction is given to an artist who has shown us a variety of roles, a personal and professional flair and of course. 2016, Will Smith The Silver Bucket of Excellence is an award that was given to a film that has made lasting impact on moviegoers and it was further defined in 2006 as honoring a film of the past that resonates with even more meaning today. The award is given to an actor of young age that managed to inspire others with a portfolio of work. Emma Stone was awarded the first MTV Trailblazer Award on 2012,2013, Will Ferrell 2015, Kevin Hart 2016, Melissa McCarthy Since 1993, scenes are spoofed, mostly from that years most popular films, although television shows and older movies have also been chosen
17.
Blu-ray
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Blu-ray or Blu-ray Disc is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was designed to supersede the DVD format, in that it is capable of storing high-definition, the plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Conventional Blu-ray Disc discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the standard for feature-length video discs. Triple-layer discs and quadruple layers are available for BD-XL re-writer drives, the name Blu-ray refers to the blue laser used to read the disc, which allows information to be stored at a greater density than is possible with the longer-wavelength red laser used for DVDs. The main application of Blu-ray is as a medium for video material such as films and physical distribution of video games for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4. Besides the hardware specifications, Blu-ray is associated with a set of multimedia formats, high-definition video may be stored on Blu-ray discs with up to 2160p resolution, at up to 60 frames per second. DVD discs had been limited to a resolution of 480p or 576p. The BD format was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, a group representing makers of consumer electronics, computer hardware, Sony unveiled the first Blu-ray disc prototypes in October 2000, and the first prototype player was released in April 2003 in Japan. Afterwards, it continued to be developed until its release in June 2006. During the high definition disc format war, Blu-ray Disc competed with the HD DVD format. Toshiba, the company that supported HD DVD, conceded in February 2008. According to Media Research, high-definition software sales in the US were slower in the first two years than DVD software sales, Blu-ray faces competition from video on demand and the continued sale of DVDs. As of January 2016, 44% of U. S. broadband households had a Blu-ray player, the information density of the DVD format was limited by the wavelength of the laser diodes used. Following protracted development, blue laser diodes operating at 405 nanometers became available on a production basis, Sony started two projects in collaboration with Philips applying the new diodes, UDO, and DVR Blue, a format of rewritable discs that would eventually become Blu-ray Disc. The core technologies of the formats are similar, the first DVR Blue prototypes were unveiled at the CEATEC exhibition in October 2000 by Sony. A trademark for the Blue Disc logo was filed February 9,2001, on February 19,2002, the project was officially announced as Blu-ray Disc, and Blu-ray Disc Founders was founded by the nine initial members. The first consumer device arrived in stores on April 10,2003, the Sony BDZ-S77, but there was no standard for prerecorded video, and no movies were released for this player. On October 4,2004, the name Blu-ray Disc Founders was officially changed to the Blu-ray Disc Association, the Blu-ray Disc physical specifications were completed in 2004
18.
Leave It to Beaver
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Leave It to Beaver is an American television sitcom about an inquisitive and often naïve boy, Theodore The Beaver Cleaver, and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood. The show also starred Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont as Beavers parents, June and Ward Cleaver, the show has attained an iconic status in the United States, with the Cleavers exemplifying the idealized suburban family of the mid-20th century. The show was created by the writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher and these veterans of radio and early television found inspiration for the shows characters, plots and dialogue in the lives, experiences and conversations of their own children. Leave It to Beaver is one of the first primetime sitcom series written from a point of view. Like several television dramas and sitcoms of the late 1950s and early 1960s, in a typical episode, Beaver gets into some sort of boyish scrape, then faces his parents for reprimand and correction. Neither parent was omniscient, the series showed the parents debating their approach to child rearing. Leave It to Beaver ran for six full 39-week seasons, the series had its debut on CBS on October 4,1957. The following season, it moved to ABC, where it stayed until completing its run on June 20,1963, throughout the shows run, it was shot with a single camera on black-and-white 35mm film. The shows production companies included the comedian George Gobels Gomalco Productions and Kayro Productions with filming at Revue Studios/Republic Studios, the show was distributed by MCA TV. Contemporary commentators praised Leave It to Beaver, with Variety comparing Beaver to Mark Twains Tom Sawyer, much juvenile merchandise was released during the shows first run, including board games, novels, and comic books. The show has enjoyed a renaissance in popularity since the 1970s through off-network syndication, a reunion telemovie, in 1997, a movie version based on the original series was released to moderate acclaim. In October 2007, TV Land celebrated the shows 50th anniversary with a marathon, although the show never broke into the Nielsen ratings top 30 or won any awards, it placed on Time magazines unranked 2007 list of The 100 Best TV Shows of All-Time. According to Tony Dow, If any line got too much of a laugh and they didnt want a big laugh, they wanted chuckles. In 1957, the radio, film and television writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher developed a concept for a TV show about childhood and family life featuring a fictional suburban couple, working titles during the shows gestation period included Its a Small World and Wally and the Beaver. The pilot aired April 23,1957, as Its a Small World on the anthology series Heinz Studio 57, the stars of the pilot were Casey Adams and Paul Sullivan. They were replaced as production of the series neared, six months after the broadcast of the pilot, the series debuted on CBS on Friday October 4,1957, as Leave It to Beaver, with the episode third in production order, Beaver Gets Spelled. The intended premiere, Captain Jack, displayed a toilet tank, Captain Jack has claimed its place in television history as the first American TV show to display a toilet tank. In 1997, it was ranked number 42 in TV Guides 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time, remington Rand was a potential sponsor during the shows conception and counseled against the shows suggested title, Wally and the Beaver, believing viewers would think the show was a nature program
19.
Fifth Avenue
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Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare going through the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It stretches from West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square North at Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village and it is considered among the most expensive and best shopping streets in the world. The lower stretch of Fifth Avenue extended the stylish neighborhood of Washington Square northwards, Fifth Avenue is the central scene in Edith Whartons 1920 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Age of Innocence. The novel describes New Yorks social elite in the 1870s and provides context to Fifth Avenue. Originally a narrower thoroughfare, much of Fifth Avenue south of Central Park was widened in 1908, the midtown blocks, now famously commercial, were largely a residential district until the start of the 20th century. In 1906 his department store, B. Altman and Company, the result was the creation of a high-end shopping district that attracted fashionable women and the upscale stores that wished to serve them. Lord & Taylors flagship store is located on Fifth Avenue near the Empire State Building. In the 1920s traffic towers controlled important intersections from 14th to 59th Streets, traffic crosses the river on the Madison Avenue Bridge. Fifth Avenue serves as the line for house numbering and west-east streets in Manhattan. It separates, for example, East 59th Street from West 59th Street, the most expensive street in the world moniker changes depending on currency fluctuations and local economic conditions from year to year. For several years starting in the mid-1990s, the district between 49th and 57th Streets was ranked as having the worlds most expensive retail spaces on a cost per square foot basis. In 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Fifth Avenue as being the most expensive street in the world, some of the most coveted real estate on Fifth Avenue are the penthouses perched atop the buildings. The American Planning Association compiled a list of 2012 Great Places in America and this historic street has many world-renowned museums, businesses and stores, parks, luxury apartments, and historical landmarks that are reminiscent of its history and vision for the future. Below is a list of sites on Fifth Avenue with their designation dates,500 Fifth Avenue Building – December 14,2010 Aeolian Building – – December 10,2002 George W. It recognizes structures, buildings, sites, and districts associated with important events, people, Fifth Avenue from 142nd Street to 135th Street carries two-way traffic. Fifth Avenue carries one-way traffic southbound from 135th Street to Washington Square North, the changeover to one-way traffic south of 135th Street took place on January 14,1966, at which time Madison Avenue was changed to one way uptown. From 124th Street to 120th Street, Fifth Avenue is cut off by Marcus Garvey Park, Fifth Avenue is one of the few major streets in Manhattan along which streetcars did not operate. Instead, Fifth Avenue Coach offered a more to the taste of fashionable gentlefolk
20.
Greenwich Village
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Greenwich Village, often referred to by locals as simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Greenwich Village has been known as a haven, the Bohemian capital, the cradle of the modern LGBT movement. Groenwijck, one of the Dutch names for the village, was Anglicized to Greenwich, two of New Yorks private colleges, New York University and the New School, are located in Greenwich Village. The neighborhoods surrounding it are the East Village and NoHo to the east, SoHo to the south, the East Village was formerly considered part of the Lower East Side and never associated with Greenwich Village. The western part of Greenwich Village is known as the West Village, some believe it starts at Seventh Avenue and its southern extension, a border to the west of which the neighborhood changes substantially in character and becomes heavily residential. The Far West Village is another sub-neighborhood of Greenwich Village that is bordered on its west by the Hudson River and on its east by Hudson Street. Greenwich Village is located in New Yorks 10th congressional district, New Yorks 25th State Senate district, New Yorks 66th State Assembly district, encyclopaedia Britannicas 1956 article on New York states that the southern border of the Village is Spring Street, reflecting an earlier understanding. The newer district of SoHo has since encroached on the Villages historic border, many of the neighborhoods streets are narrow and some curve at odd angles. This is generally regarded as adding to both the character and charm of the neighborhood. In addition, as the meandering Greenwich Street used to be on the Hudson River shoreline, much of the neighborhood west of Greenwich Street is on landfill, but still follows the older street grid. When Sixth and Seventh Avenues were built in the early 20th century, they were built diagonally to the street plan. Unlike the streets of most of Manhattan above Houston Street, streets in the Village typically are named rather than numbered, while some of the formerly named streets are now numbered, they still do not always conform to the usual grid pattern when they enter the neighborhood. The Districts convoluted borders run no farther south than 4th Street or St. Lukes Place, redevelopment in that area is severely restricted, and developers must preserve the main façade and aesthetics of the buildings during renovation. In the 16th century, Native Americans referred to its farthest northwest corner, by the cove on the Hudson River at present-day Gansevoort Street, the land was cleared and turned into pasture by Dutch and freed African settlers in the 1630s, who named their settlement Noortwyck. In the 1630s, Governor Wouter van Twiller farmed tobacco on 200 acres here at his Farm in the Woods, sir Peter Warren began accumulating land in 1731 and built a frame house capacious enough to hold a sitting of the Assembly when smallpox rendered the city dangerous in 1739. The building was designed by Joseph-François Mangin, who would later co-design New York City Hall, by 1821, the prison, designed for 432 inmates, held 817 instead, a number made possible only by the frequent release of prisoners, sometimes as many as 50 a day. The oldest house remaining in Greenwich Village is the Isaacs-Hendricks House, when the Church of St. Luke in the Fields was founded in 1820 it stood in fields south of the road that led from Greenwich Lane down to a landing on the North River. In 1822, a fever epidemic in New York encouraged residents to flee to the healthier air of Greenwich Village
21.
New Jersey
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New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania, New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state but the 11th-most populous and the most densely populated of the 50 United States. New Jersey lies entirely within the statistical areas of New York City. New Jersey was inhabited by Native Americans for more than 2,800 years, in the early 17th century, the Dutch and the Swedes made the first European settlements. New Jersey was the site of decisive battles during the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century. In the 19th century, factories in cities such as Camden, Paterson, Newark, Trenton, around 180 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period, New Jersey bordered North Africa. The pressure of the collision between North America and Africa gave rise to the Appalachian Mountains, around 18,000 years ago, the Ice Age resulted in glaciers that reached New Jersey. As the glaciers retreated, they left behind Lake Passaic, as well as rivers, swamps. New Jersey was originally settled by Native Americans, with the Lenni-Lenape being dominant at the time of contact, scheyichbi is the Lenape name for the land that is now New Jersey. The Lenape society was divided into clans that were based upon common female ancestors. These clans were organized into three distinct phratries identified by their animal sign, Turtle, Turkey, and Wolf and they first encountered the Dutch in the early 17th century, and their primary relationship with the Europeans was through fur trade. The Dutch became the first Europeans to lay claim to lands in New Jersey, the Dutch colony of New Netherland consisted of parts of modern Middle Atlantic states. Although the European principle of ownership was not recognized by the Lenape. The first to do so was Michiel Pauw who established a patronship called Pavonia in 1630 along the North River which eventually became the Bergen, peter Minuits purchase of lands along the Delaware River established the colony of New Sweden. During the English Civil War, the Channel Island of Jersey remained loyal to the British Crown and it was from the Royal Square in St. Helier that Charles II of England was proclaimed King in 1649, following the execution of his father, Charles I. The North American lands were divided by Charles II, who gave his brother, the Duke of York, the region between New England and Maryland as a proprietary colony. James then granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River to two friends who had remained loyal through the English Civil War, Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton, the area was named the Province of New Jersey. Since the states inception, New Jersey has been characterized by ethnic, New England Congregationalists settled alongside Scots Presbyterians and Dutch Reformed migrants
22.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
23.
Kathy Baker
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Katherine Whitton Kathy Baker is an American stage, film and television actress, known for her leading and supporting performances in film and television. Baker began her career in theatre and made her debut in the 1983 drama film. She received the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, Banks and The Age of Adaline. She later received three nominations and a Primetime Emmy Award for her performances in Touched by an Angel, Boston Public. Baker was born in Midland, Texas, and raised a Quaker in New Mexico, the daughter of John Seawand Baker, a geologist and educator and she attended high school at Mills High School in Millbrae, California. Her drama instructor, Allen Knight, was an influence in her desire to become a professional actress. She studied acting at the California Institute of the Arts in the early 1970s and she later earned a B. A. degree in French in 1977 from UC Berkeley. Baker began her career at San Franciscos Magic Theatre, performing in several of Sam Shepards plays before getting her break in an off-Broadway production of Fool for Love opposite Ed Harris. She won an Obie Award for this role, in same year she was cast as Louise Shepard, Alan Shepards wife, in the drama film The Right Stuff. She later had dramatic performances as a prostitute in Street Smart and she later starred in films Dad, Jacknife and Edward Scissorhands. From 1992 to 1996, Baker starred as Jill Brock, a doctor, in the CBS critically acclaimed drama series. Baker has appeared in the over 50 theatrical films in supporting and leading roles and she starred in two movies directed by Rodrigo García, Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her and Nine Lives. Her other major credits include The Cider House Rules, Cold Mountain,13 Going on 30, The Jane Austen Book Club, Last Chance Harvey, Take Shelter and she starred opposite Tom Selleck in the Jesse Stone television films series in 2000s. Also on television she guest-starred on Nip/Tuck, Law & Order, Special Victims Unit, Greys Anatomy and she also starred in the short-lived Lifetime drama series Against the Wall in 2011. In 2016, it was confirmed that Baker will appear in the new series of Netflix The Ranch along with Ashton Kutcher and she lives in Southern California with her second husband, director/producer Steven Robman. She has a son and daughter with her first husband, Donald Camillieri, Kathy Baker at the Internet Movie Database Kathy Baker at AllMovie Kathy Baker 2003 Interview on Sidewalks Entertainment
24.
Lynn Collins
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Viola Lynn Collins is an American actress. She has made appearances in True Blood and Law & Order, Special Victims Unit. Born Viola Lynn Collins, reported variously in May or June 1977, Collins is from Houston, Texas, and has English, Scottish and she has also claimed Cherokee ancestry, referring to herself as Irish and Cherokee. She spent her years in Singapore, with summers in Japan where her parents were getting their fourth and fifth and sixth dan in Shitō-ryū. During a childhood Christmas pageant in which she played Mrs. Claus and she attended Singapore American School and Klein High School in Texas. She graduated from the Juilliard Schools Drama Division with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and her first leading film role came in 2012 when she was cast as the headstrong Martian princess Dejah Thoris in John Carter. Collins married then 21-year-old actor Steven Strait on December 23,2007 after a four-year relationship, Collins and Strait separated in 2013. She married musician Matthew Boyle in November 2014 and they have one child, Asher Hendrix Boyle. Collins was raised in a very, very religious family of Southern Baptists, Lynn Collins at the Internet Movie Database
25.
Scout Taylor-Compton
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Scout Taylor-Compton is an American actress. She has appeared in small television roles and in feature films. Her most notable roles include Laurie Strode in the horror films Halloween and Halloween II, Taylor-Compton also sang the theme song for her film Chicken Night. Taylor-Compton also provided voice work in other films, including The Core. Scout Taylor-Compton was born Desariee Starr Compton in Long Beach, California, Taylor-Compton says she grew up in that whole genre and visiting my dad at the mortuary. I have no problem with that stuff, whether it was a coffin or my dad bringing his work home. Andy Biersack from Black Veil Brides, her ex-boyfriend whom she dated for six years, in 1998, Taylor-Compton began her acting career with an appearance in the film A. W. O. L. With David Morse, and later in the short film Thursday Afternoon and she went on to have small roles in both television and film including Ally McBeal, ER, Frasier, The Guardian and The Division. She appeared in student films, commercials for Fuji Film and the Disney Cruise Line. In 2001, she had a role as Clara Forrester. Taylor-Compton was nominated for Best Performance in a TV Series – Recurring Young Actress for her portrayal of Clara and she made a comedic appearance in the film Four Fingers of the Dragon playing herself auditioning for a role in a fictional Kung Fu film. Later in 2004, she appeared in the teen comedy Sleepover, the cast of the film was nominated for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Ensemble Cast at the Young Artists Award. Following Sleepover, she appeared in television series including Hidden Howie, Unfabulous, Cold Case, Thats So Raven, Charmed. In 2007, Taylor-Compton joined the cast on ABCS Friday Night Live and that year as well, she starred in the drama Tomorrow is Today and the horror film Wicked Little Things. Tomorrow is Today features Taylor-Compton as Julie Peterson, a girl who saves the life of and she won Best Actress for her performance in the film at the Method Fest Independent Film Festival. Wicked Little Things was one of the featured in After Darks 8 Films to Die For. Following these films, she appeared in Standoff and Close to Home, Taylor-Compton then returned to the horror genre as Laurie Strode in Rob Zombies remake of the classic Halloween. She endured a long process, but as director Zombie explains
26.
Jim Gaffigan
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James Christopher Jim Gaffigan is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His humor largely revolves around fatherhood, observations, laziness, and he is also regarded as a clean comic, using little profanity in his routines. He has had several comedy specials, including Mr. Universe and Jim Gaffigan, Obsessed. His memoir, Dad Is Fat and his most recent book, Food and he co-created and starred in a TV Land television series based on his life called The Jim Gaffigan Show. He collaborates extensively with his wife, actress Jeannie Gaffigan, and they are Catholic, a topic that comes up in his comedy, and live in Manhattan, New York City. Gaffigan was born on July 7,1966 in Chesterton, Indiana and he is the youngest of six children and often jokes about growing up in a large family. His father, a banker, was the first in his family to attend college, however, at about the age of five, Jim announced that when he grew up, he wanted to be an actress. As a teenager, Jim watched Saturday Night Live and he attended La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana. He played varsity football at Georgetown and Purdue, after graduating, Gaffigan moved to New York to pursue comedy, a move that was inspired by his admiration for David Letterman. He found a job in advertising, and he would work during the day, however, his career began in earnest when a friend from the class dared him to take a stand-up seminar that required a live set at the end. He fell in love with stand-up, and began to play comedy clubs nightly—after his evening acting classes—until the wee hours of the morning and he was often found sleeping on the job, his boss had to wake him up to fire him. For the first seven years of his career, he tried various styles, ranging from comedy to impressions. Also, live comedy was in following its peak of the 1980s. However, after a successful stand-up routine on The Late Show with David Letterman, Gaffigans style is largely observational, and his principal topics relate to laziness, eating, and parenthood. He is famous for his Hot Pocket routine, which was inspired by a commercial he saw that he mistook for a Saturday Night Live sketch, Universe using the voice and saying Really, Hes using diarrhea jokes. He calls that voice his connection with the audience, in an interview with the Duluth News-Tribune, he explained that the voice was developed over time, beginning as a teenager when he would disarm people by talking for them in their presence. He also used it as a way to fend off hecklers earlier in his career and he cursed early in his career, and he added cursing to his comedy album Doing My Time, at the request of his label, in the hopes of drawing more teenagers. However, he has largely removed profanity from his routine, as he feels that his subject matter doesnt lend itself to cursing, Jim has appeared at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, Quebec numerous times
27.
Ashley Benson
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Ashley Victoria Benson is an American actress and model, known for her role as Hanna Marin on the mystery television series Pretty Little Liars. Ashley Victoria Benson was born and raised in Anaheim Hills, Anaheim, California and she has a sister, Shaylene, who is a year older. She started dancing competitively in ballet, jazz, hip hop and she also enjoys singing, and has appeared in several musicals. At age four, she was asked to audition to sing solo at four Christmas services at her church, at five, she modeled in dance catalogs, and at age eight, she began modeling under The Ford Modeling Agency in print advertisements. She also appeared in a Lil Romeo music video as a schoolgirl in 2002 and she made a brief appearance in the Zoey 101 episode Quinns Date in March 2005. She has also appeared in the videos for NLTs That Girl, One Calls BlackLight. In 1999, Benson started pursuing an acting career and she began working and appearing in a number of commercials, but quickly made the transition into film and television acting. She explained that, because of the number of episodes filmed a day, you cant really mess up, you have to all of your lines. She played a witch disguised as a cheerleader in a 2008 episode of the CW series Supernatural. In films, she was one of the Six Chicks in 13 Going on 30, and appeared as Carson in Bring It On, In It to Win It, the fourth installment of the Bring It On franchise. To land the role, she had to end her contract with Days of our Lives, I got off it, I mean I had talked with the producers about doing this film. I had just passed up so many opportunities where I could have done a film, so this big thing just came up, and I ended up getting to do this. Im happier that I got off the soap though, I mean I give all my credit to them, because I have learned so much from being on soap operas and working with amazing actors whove been on there for like thirty, forty years. It was an honor to work with them and its definitely given me all my background. But getting off the soap opera helped me a lot too, so I am definitely thankful I got to be on a soap opera though. For Bring It On, In It to Win It, she had to attend cheerleading practice, nonetheless, she was glad to do her own stunts, even though she wasnt expecting for it to be so hard. She loved working with her onscreen mother Tatum ONeal, from whom she learned about acting, Benson starred in ABCs 2009 television series Eastwick. The show was based on John Updikes novel, The Witches of Eastwick, and her character, Mia, was the teen-aged daughter of Roxie Torcoletti
28.
Brie Larson
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Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers, known professionally as Brie Larson, is an American actress, director, and singer. Born in Sacramento, California, Larson was home-schooled before she studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater and she began her acting career in television, appearing as a regular on the 2001 sitcom Raising Dad, for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award. As a teenager, Larson had brief roles in the 2004 films 13 Going on 30 and Sleepover. Her performance in the comedy film Hoot was praised, and she played supporting roles in the films Greenberg, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,21 Jump Street. From 2009 to 2011, Larson featured as a teenager in the television series United States of Tara. Larsons breakthrough role came with the independent drama Short Term 12, further success came in 2015 when she starred in Room, an acclaimed drama based on Emma Donoghues novel of the same name. In 2017, she starred as a war photographer in the adventure film Kong, Skull Island, Larson was born in Sacramento, California, the first daughter of Heather and Sylvain Desaulniers. Her parents were chiropractors who ran a practice together and her parents divorced when she was a child, and she moved to Los Angeles with her mother and her sister. She studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and her paternal grandparents were French-Canadians from Manitoba. Her paternal grandmother, Gabrielle Desaulniers, died in December 2015, growing up, Larsons first language was French. Brie stated in an interview with Glamour that she chose Larson as her name from her Swedish great-grandmothers maiden name. She later stated on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she took her stage name from Kirsten Larson. Larsons first job was performing in sketches on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, soon after, she was cast in the television series Schimmel, which never aired because its star, Robert Schimmel, was diagnosed with cancer shortly before filming was to begin. After it was on hold for ten months, Fox canceled the show, Larson later auditioned for a new show for The WB called In Your Dreams, and landed the role of Bob Sagets characters younger daughter, Emily. The show was selected for the 2001–02 fall season, and was renamed Raising Dad and it was then canceled after 22 episodes. Larson was also cast in the pilot for the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith, in 2003, she starred alongside Beverley Mitchell on the Disney Channel original movie Right on Track. In July 2004, she co-starred with a large cast of teen actors in the film Sleepover and she also had a small role in the movie 13 Going on 30. Larson appeared in the 2006 film Hoot, opposite actors Logan Lerman and her voice is also featured in the film Farce of the Penguins as a teenage penguin
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Renee Olstead
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Renee Olstead is an American actress and singer. Active since childhood as an actress, she is best known for her roles in the TV sitcoms Still Standing as Lauren Miller, in addition, she has recorded four studio albums, primarily of jazz music. Olstead was born in Kingwood, Texas, to Christopher Eric Olstead, as a child actress, she made films and commercials from age eight onwards. She also attended Centre Stage theatrical school and is mentioned on their websites list of alumni, from 2002 to 2006, she appeared in the TV sitcom Still Standing as middle sister Lauren Miller. Olstead was presented with the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series - Supporting Young Actress for Still Standing in 2002 and she also had a small part in the 2004 film 13 Going on 30. She co-starred in the ABC Family series The Secret Life of the American Teenager, about fifteen-year-old Amy Juergenss struggle through her unexpected pregnancy, Olstead played the character Madison Cooperstein, one of Amys best friends. In 2004, Olstead released an album of jazz songs. Since her previous releases had limited distribution, this album was considered her official debut and she subsequently performed in Berlin during the Live 8 concert on July 2,2005. Olstead also recorded with trumpeter Chris Botti on his 2005 album To Love Again, The Duets and appeared on the 2006 DVD Chris Botti Live with Orchestra and her singing style is influenced by such great jazz vocalists as Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Reportedly, her talent was discovered by composer David Foster. She later performed with him on The Oprah Winfrey Show. com and it was then scheduled for a June 2008 release, but was delayed once again. It was finally released on January 27,2009, nearly four years after it was originally announced, as a result of the investigation, 35-year-old Christopher Chaney of Jacksonville, Florida, was arrested in October 2011. During the trial, Olstead testified that she attempted suicide after the photographs were leaked. Chaney was sentenced to 10 years in prison in December of 2012 and she appeared in a PETA ad, Fish Are Friends Not Food, urging her fans to become vegan themselves. In 2012, Olstead joined PETAs campaign to free the elephant Mali from captivity at the Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden, Olstead most recently starred as Kaitlan in the 2013 supernatural thriller The Midnight Game and as Jess Felton in the 2014 technology-themed thriller film Unfriended. Renee is married to pianist Tommy King, and legally took his last name
30.
Maz Jobrani
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Maziyar “Maz” Jobrani, also known as Persian Pink Panther, is an Iranian-American comedian and actor who is part of the Axis of Evil comedy group. The group appeared on a special on Comedy Central. Jobrani has also appeared in films, television shows, including Better Off Ted, on radio. His filmography includes roles in The Interpreter, Friday After Next and he appears as a regular character on the 2017 CBS sitcom Superior Donuts. Jobrani was born in Tehran, Iran and he and his parents moved to California when he was six years old. He was raised in Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay area and he attended Redwood High School in Larkspur, and was inducted into the Redwood distinguished alumni class of 2017. Jobrani studied political science and Italian at UC Berkeley, where he received a B. A. degree and he was enrolled in a Ph. D. program at UCLA when he decided to pursue his childhood dream of acting and performing comedy. He also made an appearance in 13 Going on 30 and he has toured with the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour. He provided the voice of Ahmed Farahnakian in the version of World War Z. Jobrani has written a movie with a friend called Jimmy Vestvood. Jobrani makes occasional appearances on NPRs news quiz show Wait Wait, dont Tell Me. and American Public Medias Wits. He appeared on episode 118, October 28,2010 of WTF with Marc Maron, additionally, Jobrani co-hosts his own podcast on the All Things Comedy podcasting network with fellow comedians Al Madrigal and Chris Spencer. Titled Minivan Men, the podcast chronicles the lives and experiences of the three hosts with particular focus on fatherhood and he played Jafar in the 2015 musical fantasy television film Descendants. Jobranis jokes focus on race and the misunderstanding of Middle Easterners in America and he also talks about his family. Jobrani sits on the board of the Persian American Cancer Institute, in 2006, Jobrani married an Indian-American attorney named Preetha. They have a son and daughter and reside in California, iranian stand-up comedy Axis of Evil Comedy Tour Official website Maz Jobrani at the Internet Movie Database Maz Jobrani at TED Bakshi, Amar. Maz Jobrani and Jack Bauer in How the World Sees America, Interview and photos Maz Jobrani speaks out about Democracy for Iranians Interview with SanDiego. com, 2/14/2011 Maz Jobrani speaks about the immigrant experience for an Iranian-American
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Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
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